Tuesday, October 27, 2015

I'm going to be a MRS.!!!

Today marks exactly 1 month since I said YES!!!!

September 27, 2015 is a day I will never forget and a day I am sooooo happy took place. Here is our engagement story:

About a week prior to this day I mentioned I wanted to go to Disneyland on Sunday and just hang out and walk around since I would be starting a new quarter on Monday. Disneyland would be my last little hoo-rah before starting school. Andrew wasn't too shocked by request and responded by saying "ask my mom and see if she will get us in" (side note: Andrew's dad work[ed] at Disney & just retired after 40 years of service there, so either of his parents can sign us in for free anytime we want). 



But let's rewind some...

He had been talking to my mom and trying to plan out the perfect proposal for about a month (it's easy for them to communicate without me knowing since they work at the same place). His original plan was to have a surprise dinner set up for just the two of us at the Mission Inn in Riverside where a surprise photographer would be. This was to take place on 12.23.15. It ended up being way to expensive to pull off, but he also didn't want to have to wait until December to ask the biggest question of his life (obviously I would not have said no either way). So he came up with option B, a Disneyland proposal! The Wednesday prior to our engagement we celebrated his niece's birthday, and while we were there his mom asked what we had planned for Sunday. I smiled and said "Disneyland?". She answered by saying "I was actually going to ask if you guys wanted to go." (this was obviously a way to throw me off, because I just thought it was all a coincidence). So we planned our day with both of his parents, the two of us and his niece. 

Proposal day...

So Sunday arrives and I wake up feeling terrible. My throat was hurting, my body was tired and I did not feel like doing anything. I told Andrew how I was feeling and he told me to just get up, take an allergy pill and get myself ready...I was sure to feel better after all of that. I went along with it and tried telling myself I was fine. There was nothing that was going to stop this day according to him! We arrived at Disneyland around 12:30 or so. When we got there they were talking about how cool it would be if his dad could take us backstage to see where he has worked all of these years before he retires. At the same time we were also talking about what ride to go on first and we decided on Indiana Jones. Once we got near the Indiana Jones entrance all of a sudden Andrew and his dad started walking off in a different direction leaving me, his mom and his niece. I was so confused and even said "I thought I was going with them" and his mom replied saying "they don't even know if they will be able to go back there and we can't have too many people, don't want him to get in trouble." I thought this made sense so I blew it off and we got into line. (this was actually their excuse to sneak off and finish off the details for the proposal) It was so miserably hot while we were waiting in line all I could think about was wanting to just people watch and not stand in long hot lines. After standing there for about 15 minutes they announced that the ride was shut down (coincidence?), so we left. We met up with Andrew and his dad and decided to go to Haunted Mansion next. Conveniently, on the walk from Indiana Jones to Haunted Mansion we pass by a caricature stand in the New Orleans area. We stop at the little stand and his mom starts talking about how we should get ours done. This is actually something I have always wanted to do but never done. I looked at the prices and thought no way! Too expensive! They convinced me it would be fine with the discount his dad gets and we should just go for it. So we did! The artist begins by drawing Andrew and once he was done with Andrew he mentioned it was time to draw me. At this point Andrew's parents and niece had walked off to check out one of the nearby shops and he starts panicking. At this point he is completely uninterested in what is going on with the caricature and all I can see out of the corner of my eye was him looking for his family. Then he pulls out his phone to tell them to get there quick. (He thought the guy was almost done with the drawing which was going to be his cue, so he was freaking out because he wanted his parents there to take pictures). At this point I just felt confused as to why he was caring so much where they went. Almost two hours later, our drawing is almost complete. The artist says to us "I'm just about done, but Ashley, there is something I need you to come look at and tell me if you approve of first" I stand up and walk over to look at the picture and there is a speech bubble above Andrew's head on the drawing that says "Will you Marry Me?" When I looked up all I saw was him on one knee, and the rest is a blur. While we were hugging, Andrew says to me "look over there to take a picture" so I turn my head and there stands my mom! Second best surprise of the day! Of course I said YES! but the artist reminded me I needed to write my response in the speech bubble above my head. I made a silly joke and asked Andrew if I should write "Duh!" It was such a wonderful moment and I was so happy with all of the thought he put into it. From having his niece there with us to share that moment, and having my mom surprise me at the end of it all. I am so happy to have this moment captured by photos and to have a special keepsake that will be with us forever!






Loved having these people there to witness such a special moment!

The awesome artist who did an amazing job!



We spent the remainder of the day hanging out in the parks, riding rides and enjoying the day!!! It's still such a shock sometimes to realize I no longer have a boyfriend, I have a fiance!!! After almost 8 years, it still feels strange to no longer call him my boyfriend, but I cannot wait for the moment to call him my husband!!! We plan on getting married Spring 2017, and I am so excited so start planning for this beautiful day!!!

The ring!!! It's so beautiful I can't stop staring at it. This picture does not do it justice but it's the best I have as of now!

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Vacations are my favorite

Since Andrew and I have our birthdays only 3 days apart, each year we like to try and do something more than just dinner with the family type of deal. We usually will go on some type of weekend get away, but this year I wanted to travel! 
For some time now we have been talking about visiting Zion National Park in Utah but didn't think we would be able to make it happen because we figured it was too far. So this year I was determined to try and make something work, after all we were celebrating our birthdays and me finishing my first year of grad school!!
When we realized it was only a 6 hour drive from home we HAD to plan! Folks, I literally planned this trip down to a "T" in just one short month! I had everything planned from what hikes we would do each day to what food to bring (we filled up a cooler with dinners, sandwich stuff for hikes and breakfast to save on buying food each day).
I found a beautiful lodge to stay at and would recommend it 100 times over for anyone who is interested in visiting the park. It was literally right before the entrance of the park and a 5 minute walk to the visitor center where a shuttle picks you up to take you to the different stops throughout the park. There was a market, movie theater, pub/restaurant, gift shop, and more basically on the property and if we showed our lodge key when purchasing something at any of these places we got a discount. Beautiful views surrounded us in every direction, and it was the most clean and friendly place I have ever stayed.
So instead of me continuing to talk, I'll let these pictures do all the talking!


Here are a few of the bedroom area. The lodge is called Cable Mountain Lodge


Some of the views surrounding our lodge


When we arrived to our lodge it was around 3pm, but there were a few short walk/hikes I wanted to see before the day ended. There was too much to see to let any time pass, so we took advantage of every minute!

The first one we went to was Weeping Rock. It's beautiful! You walk into this cove area where the rock is literally weeping and there is water dripping from above.



Our next short stop was to the Court of the Patriarchs. These are 3 famous rock formations named after figures in the Old Testament. From left to right they are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob


While we were on the shuttle heading back to the visitor's center to end our day it started to rain. It smelled amazing and when we got off the shuttle we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow. It was such a great way to end our first day in the park and a wonderful welcome as well!

The next day we woke up early to head out to the Emerald Pools. This is about a 3 mile hike where you get to view lower, middle and upper pools. Typically there is a waterfall at the upper pools but because it's summer there is not much water around the park (minus the river). It was a beautiful hike and I'm glad we started early because as we were coming down there were a LOT of people coming up and it was getting super hot!
standing under the middle pools looking at the lower pools


all that's left of the upper pools this time of year

After this hike we hung out at Zion Lodge for a while to grab some lunch and soft serve ice cream!
lunch with a view!

newest addiction - soft serve ice cream!!

Then we headed back to our lodge for a while to relax and escape some of the crazy heat for a while. 
Once we felt relaxed we headed out again to walk along the Pa'rus Trail. I highly recommend this one for anyone visiting the park for the first time. Its a nice 3 mile round trip walk on a paved trail. You get gorgeous views of the park and it's perfect for kids to ride bikes on. Also it's the only trail in the park that allows dogs. We started the trail at the visitor center and walked to the end, but because it was so hot we decided to take the shuttle back!


The next day we planned on hiking through the narrows and I am so glad we did. It was 102 that day so that made for the perfect day to hike through the river. This is the hike that Zion is most known for. You begin with a 1 mile hike alongside the river and at the end is the entrance to the narrows. This hike can be done as a day hike or overnight (top down). We decided on the day hike and you have the opportunity to go all the way to the end or turn around at any point. *Just remember, the distance you go in, you have to go out that same distance, and it's all through the flowing river* It was the most unique hike I've ever done and I definitely want to do it again!


We were beat after this hike, so we headed back to the lodge, showered and went to the pub for dinner!

On our final day we chose to drive to Bryce Canyon National Park. The drive was around 2 hours and we figured since we were there we might as well go to see it. It wasn't my favorite place in the world but it is definitely something to see in your lifetime. Learning how the hoodoos are formed is so interesting!
On our way to Bryce we stopped to do a short 1 mile hike on the Canyon Overlook Trail. This provided amazing views of Zion Canyon and is 10 times easier and less scary than Angels Landing (which I refuse to do because walking on 3 foot wide ledges with 1,000 foot drops offs on either side does not sound appealing to me!)

Here are some photos of the Canyon Overlook 


Then of course we stopped to take in the beauty of Checkerboard Mesa!

And lastly, Bryce Canyon. The drive from Zion to Bryce is gorgeous! Open meadows and countryside the entire time. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Bryce.



And the last sight on this trip was this crazy big horn sheep! As we were driving back to Zion from Bryce there was a bus stopped in front of us. Once we realized they had stopped to take photos of the sheep, we decided to do the same. I rolled down my window to get a picture and the sheep had to have been about 100 feet away. He started moving his head around and I promise he started kicking his feet. I snapped some pictures QUICKLY and rolled up the window and told Andrew to book it out of there. At least we left with a funny/interesting story!

So that was our trip. It was definitely one for the books! Such a fun adventure. We were able to do everything we planned to do and saw so many amazing things. Southern Utah is a beautiful place and I would love to go back to explore some more :)

Thursday, March 12, 2015

DIY Party Hats...pup sized edition!

Our pups share the same birthday but are one year apart 
Pancake was born March 26, 2012 (he will turn 3)
Ally was born March 26, 2013 (she will turn 2)
I can't believe another year has passed and my babies will be turning another year older
I remember holding both of them when they were teeny tiny little things, and now they've both grown into my crazy, fun loving fur children.
I couldn't be more thankful to have them around!

So this year I decided I would make them each a birthday hat!
When Pancake turned 1 we bought him one from Target but since then it has fallen apart and some of the pieces attached to it have fallen off and gone missing, plus it was obviously made for a human sized head.
So I took it upon myself to make each of them a pup sized one :)

Here's how it went....

Supplies:
Construction paper (or something similar)
Mod Podge (or regular glue)
Glitter (in your color choice)
Party hat template (found here)
Yarn (in your color choice)
Scissors
Pencil
Paintbrush
String (preferably stretchy)
Hot glue gun

How to:


First, gather the supplies you're going to need and have them nearby


Print and cut out the free party hat template, and trace it onto your construction paper (I traced it onto two pieces of paper because I'm making 2 hats)


Then, cut along the lines of the pattern you just traced


Draw some scattered circles to create a polka dot look (or draw squiggles, lines, etc.)


Then, using your paintbrush, dip it into the mod podge and 'paint' the circles.
Drizzle the glitter on top of the mod podged areas and shake off the excess (remember to have the hat you're working on sitting on a scratch piece of paper to collect the extra glitter so you can save it and place it back into the container)


Then grab some yarn in whatever color you like and create pom poms (tutorials on how to make these can be found all over pinterest!)


Here's one of the pom pom's completed


Then fold your party hat around so the ends are touching, tape it, glue it, or staple it and your have the party hat shape.
Lastly, I hot glued the pom pom to the top
I still have yet to add the string that will help attach the hat to my pups heads but it's real simple.
You can staple one end of the string on each side of the hat and then slip it onto the head of whoever has the pleasure of wearing these hats!

So there you have it! Your very own, handmade party hats. 
These would be great to make for a children's party, New Years Eve, or if you're like me, you make them for your dogs :)
Enjoy! And let me know if you make them by sharing a picture in the comments!

Monday, March 9, 2015

I'm baaaaaaaaack!!

WHOA!!!

The last time I touched this blog was in April of 2013....
Ummmm, hello?! It's March of 2015 already!

I gave up on blogging a few years ago because I became so busy with life that blogging just wasn't at the top of my priority list. 
I still signed in every now and then to see what some of my favorite bloggers were writing about but never felt interested in posting something of my own.
Then recently after looking back on my old posts I realized how awesome it was to be able to document and share my life.
Honestly if no one reads any of it, I'm ok with that.
I'm going to start blogging again for me because I feel it is so important to be able to look back and see what I was doing years or even just months prior.

This first post (after a few years) isn't going to be anything special.

So on to a brief update of my life from almost 2 years!

If you all remember back in this post I wrote about how I started a Master's program in Orthotics and Prosthetics....well that didn't work out so well for me (my decision to withdrawal from the program will be saved for another post)
The good thing that came out of that program is that I learned about what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life...I made the decision to pursue a career as an Occupational Therapist, so I am now in school earning my Master's in Occupational Therapy and I could not be happier with my decision and the trials that were thrown at me to make this decision. I just finished my 3rd quarter and began my first fieldwork (more to come later on the whole OT program) and I seriously cannot wait to see what the rest of this program has to offer and teach me about the rest of my life in this career.

Another thing that is new(er) is that we now have 2 dogs! 
In previous posts, you've all heard about Pancake (our Pembroke Welsh Corgi).
Well one day we got a crazy thought into our head to get another dog and convinced ourselves it was absolutely necessary. It was kind of an 'on the whim' type of decision but at this time in our lives we could not be happier with that decision.
We got a pure bred German Shepherd named Ally (which I will be talking about more later as well).
Our babies were born on the same exact day, one year apart! How crazy right?!
This is another reason why we knew it was meant to be
This month they have their birthday's.
Pancake will be turning 3 and Ally will be 2!!!
Oh how I love my fur babies :)

And lastly, I feel the only other real BIG thing to share is that we no longer live in a condo/apartment.
A year ago in November we moved into a house.
We searched and searched for a long time trying to find a nice house to rent in a safe area, and finally stumbled upon one that fits our needs to perfection as of now.
We would prefer to own our own house, but until I am done with school and a working lady our rental will suffice for now.
It is a 2 bedroom 2 bath house, with a backyard and garage.
It ended up only being another $200 than what we were paying at our condo, where it was only 1 bed 1 bath and no garage or backyard so we had to jump at this opportunity!
I will definitely share what our house has turned into so we can make it our own while we live here because this is definitely something I want to look back at in the future, our first house together :)

Sorry for the long, wordy update but stay tuned for more details on each of these things as well as all the current things we are up to!
I may not post often but that's ok, because like I said I'm doing this blog again for me and if you want to join in along the way I'm more than happy to share with you :)
Happy Monday all!!!!

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