Newest addition to our family...

I am so excited to announce the newest addition to our family - my new camera! I have been saving up for a LONG time, I have done a LOT of research, debated and then re-debated and I officially made my purchase last night because I found a REALLY good deal! Yaay!

I bought the Canon 60d and I bought a nice lens to go with it. I'm excited! Thanks to everyone who gave me birthday and Christmas MONEY (instead of presents) because every penny added up! I still have plenty left over for cool accessories and another lens eventually!

Now, I need to know if I should buy Lightroom or Photoshop. BYU has amazing deals on both...hmm.

Girls Night Out

Bryson went to California for the weekend, so naturally Kaitlyn has been spending every single moment by my side. She knows that I do NOT like being alone and I especially don't like sleeping alone haha. SO, we had slumber parties and girls night out all weekend!

FRIDAY

It all started on Friday when Kaitlyn came down to my school ALL day. My class LOVES "Miss Kaitlyn" and she even brought them popsicles and was a celebrity of the day. :) After school, we drove to Carabas for delicious bread and a bowl of soup. We went home, took a 2 hour long nap, went and got samples from Farrs and then went to see...drumroll please...THE JUSTIN BIEBER MOVIE!! haha. I never, ever, ever, EVER in my life thought I would see the Justin Bieber movie, but we thought, "What the heck?" haha. We joined a bunch of screaming pre-teens and laughed the whole way through the movie. It was good - but the giggling, screaming girls definitely made it even better! :) "Baby, baby, baby OH."

SATURDAY

Saturday morning, we slept in. We went to Chick Fil-a for lunch and walked around the mall for a while. Then, once again we went home and took a nap! haha (I have been overly tired lately!) When I woke up from my nap, Kaitlyn had cleaned the entire kitchen and together we cleaned the rest of the apartment. Deep cleaned, organized, threw SO much away, mopped, scrubbed...and it feels SO good to have a nice, clean apartment! Kaitlyn is my inspiration when it comes to being organized and clean - she is SO good at keeping her stuff neat and tidy. Every time I feel stressed, Kaitlyn will say, "Ash, sit down and relax," and she will clean something in my apartment...it helps me MORE than she will ever know! What a wonderful sister I have! After cleaning, we headed to Walmart to stock up on more cleaning supplies and some groceries. On the way home, we went to Farr's for the second time this weekend, but this time actually got a big bowl of ice cream and toppings. When we got home, we made banana smoothies, stove-popped popcorn (in honor of our childhood with Mom) and watched the Karate Kid. As soon as the movie ended, Kaitlyn got up and started cleaning and organizing our refrigerator (I KNOW, I'm telling you, she's amazing) haha. It's midnight and she is still going at it!

Tomorrow, we're planning on making tacos for dinner, going to church and I will do ALL the laundry that has been piling up for a LONG time! :) Now, to you this may sound like the world's most boring weekend, but words cannot express how amazing it feels to have cleaned the apartment with so much help! I am SO grateful for my little sister! :) She certainly spoils me! :)

LOVE YOU!! mwaah!

Kiddos

I have a student teacher in my class right now and so I get to sit back and just watch my little class a lot more than usual. I have found myself laughing to myself SO many times about just how funny and cute they are. I love these kids! What a perfect age - 2nd graders get excited about everything, are super curious and say the funniest things. I love getting little notes every day that say things like, "Mrs. Webster is the BEST teacher ever." and "Mrs. Webster is a fabolis teacher." I've said it before and I'm sure I will say it again, these kids CERTAINLY know how to make a girl feel like a rock star. :) Cute cute cute. We had our Friendship Program on Tuesday and I LOVED seeing them all wearing their cute outfits (some even came in button up shirts and ties with little slacks and tiny little brown loafers) and sing their little hearts out for our school and for their parents! They did GREAT!

Bryson is going to California tomorrow for the long weekend. I WISH I could go, but I can't take off work. He is SO excited - getting ready to pack in as many visits to as many people as he possibly can! I hope he has a SAFE drive and has fun seeing all the people from his mission! What a sweet hubby I have! :)

And that's all I have to share today. :) Love you all! :)

Valentine's Day

I love my honey bunch! He is so good to me! We celebrated Valentine's Day this year on Saturday because Bryson has a class on Monday until late and doesn't get home until 8:30 or later. Bryson surprised me with a beautiful bunch of tulips. Bryson has given me tulips on Valentine's Day often over the years - it's almost a sentimental thing to get tulips! He gave me tulips on our first Valentine's Day when we were 16 and 17, he even sent me tulips on Valentine's Day while he was on his mission. Sweet hubby of mine. :) He also got me a hilarious card that he ordered from Etsy (cute!). He even drove all over to find me the best camera bag for my new CAMERA (which I finally ordered!). We spent the evening at California Pizza Kitchen, which ended up being the BEST deal. We decided to splurge and order "froo froo" drinks, an appetizer, salads AND pizzas. We knew it was going to end up costing an arm and a leg, but we thought, "We only do this once a year, let's go for it." Towards the middle of our meal, our waitress comes over and says, "I'm so sorry your pizzas are taking so long. We're just going to give you the pizzas on the house." SO, we ended up paying HALF of what we should have paid because of a slight delay. Needless to say, we were SO excited and LOVED that we walked away with full bellies and a GREAT deal! :)

I love Bryson MUCHO! 7 years ago, we celebrated our first Valentine's Day together and each year, I have loved my B more and more and more! Thanks for being the best husband for me, hubby! Happy Valentine's Day!

New Hair (again)! :)

I guess I like to change my hair. I do it a lot, I know. This time, I am hoping it will be for good...that I will stay brunette forever! After all, brunettes have WAY more fun!

I'm so excited!

So, for my birthday and Christmas I asked for only money. This might sound boring...but I told everyone that I was saving up for a new camera and it would all add up! And tah dah! It added up perfectly! Now I am shopping around, trying to find the best camera and lenses for me.

Thankful

Today I've been thinking of the people that I am thankful for. I just feel so lucky...to have people who love me, people who believe in me, people who care about me, people who inspire me. I am lucky.

So, to all of you who have made a difference in my life...thank you. I would not be where I am or who I am without you. Je t'aime!

25 Things To Do Before 25

I have been waiting to turn 24 so that I can make a list of the 25 things I want to do before I turn 25. So...here it is. :)

25 Things To Do Before I Turn 25

1. Buy a nice camera

2. Go to California

3. Send a package to Brad in St. Louis

4. Learn a new song on the piano

5. Switch banks

6. Organize our “important document” files

7. Go to 2 new temples

8. Become a "runner"

9. Ride a tandem bike

10.Read the Book of Mormon

11. Go on a spontaneous trip for the weekend

12. Read one book a month

13. Go to the temple twice a month

14. Go camping

15. Go 24 hours media free

16. Learn to do my taxes

17. Contribute to a Roth IRA

18. Donate plasma or give blood

19. Make a pie from scratch

20. Run a 5K

21. Follow a sports team

22. Move to a house/apartment where we can paint the walls

23. Do one random act of kindness every day

24. Try a new type of food

25. TOP SECRET

What Shall I Give Him?

When I was a little girl, my mom liked to have us (my sister and I) memorize little poems. For Christmas one year, we memorized this cute little poem that has always stuck with me.

What shall I give Him, as small as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I'd give Him a lamb.

If I were a wiseman, I'd do my part.
What shall I give Him?

I'll give him my heart.

Dear Santa...

For Christmas, please bring me the following...

1. Scene It? Box Office Smash for the Xbox 360 (with the cute little big button controllers, pretty please) :)

2. A Nikon d90...or, heck I'd even take the Nikon d5000 (feel free to throw in a nice lens on there, too and I'll leave you extra cookies and whole milk!) :)

3. Snow on Christmas, lots of time with family, warm cups of cocoa and a couple weeks of noooo school! :) :)

Merry Christmas, Ho ho ho!!

Sincerely,

Ashley :) :) :)