Friday Photo

Another week, another Friday, and the promise of another weekend that will fly by before I can really enjoy it...

*sigh*


Don't mind my funk. I'm in a current state of annoyance. Add to that the fact that my weekend will be spent doing homework and blahhhhh... Okay, enough of that. Let's have a zen, fall moment with the Friday photo, shall we?



Taken from my back porch last week. Gotta love the sky on a fall day.

Thankful Thursdays

Since there's only two Thursdays until Thanksgiving I figured I would throw this in for those two Thursdays. If I had thought ahead I guess I could have started it with the first Thursday in November but oh well...

I'm thankful for my family. Both my blood family and my in-laws. Without my Beth and Kristen I wouldn't be a tia. Without Eric I wouldn't have a functioning computer. I could go on and on, but what about my own family? I'm so my mother and I'm completely okay with it. I have incredibly strong grandmothers who deserve awards for some of the stuff they've dealt with. I have cousins (mine and Tim's actually) who are some of the best friends I could hope for. I just have an awesome family. There's no way to argue otherwise.

I'm thankful that I've got my education. And that it's almost done! Yay! I've always known what I wanted to do, I just got distracted along the way. Then I met Tim and it all came together. I had to quit screwin' around and get school out of the way. And here I am almost done. I met some awesome people and learned a ton along the way.

One more for the week... I'm thankful for color pencils and Sharpies. I know, it's not a serious one, but I love them. I'm looking at them sitting on my coffee table next to my little journal. I've been feeling particularly doodly since I decided I want to learn to sew. I want to make little felt dolls for the kids. And for me...

What are y'all thankful for? Blog it with me.

Blahhhh

I have nothing to say. My Veteran's day consisted of homework. All day. So my brain is on strike. So today I will leave you with one of my new favorite blogs...

Super Cute Mushroom Meadows

I wish I could doodle like her.

My Monday...

... was happy. Tim had the day off from both jobs. I had the day off due to inservice for the district (one highlight of not being a paid employee - no trainings!). So we slept in a little. Then did our grocery shopping after a stop at each of our banks.

Funny how a trip that we took with the intent of picking up "a few things" turned into a total of almost a hundred buck. On the upside we've got enough meat in the freezer for quite a few dinners. Tilapia, chicken, steak, ground turkey, turkey sausage... oh the meal possibilities. Then of course there's the lamb chop (that I won't eat) from Tim's dad. And the bear sausage.

Wait, did I forget to mention the bear? I won't eat that either. But you don't care about that, do you? You just want to know why the bloody hell there is bear sausage in my freezer. You're thinking, "This girl is woodsy? I didn't know mountain folk have internet!"

No. I'm not a mountain girl. I have family in Alabama*, but I am definitely not backwoods. I have two Starbucks stores within a mile radius.

Tim comes from a family of hunters. This doesn't bother me because he would never force me to eat something he shot. So a couple weeks ago his dad was out hunting and shot a bear. And gave us some sausage. Yay (said with much sarcasm).

Sorry, that was a tangent there. I've got ADHD. Windows are a dangerous thing when I'm supposed to be paying attention. Oh look, a leaf fell off the tree... see what I mean?

So back to my Monday. After this trip to the store we decided that we needed to have a date. So we went to lunch after going home to unload. Had some pizza (mmmm, tasty, tasty pizza). Then hit the $3 theater to catch The Dark Knight again. We saw it the first time around, but wanted to again. And that was quite the interesting trip...

There was a girl sitting down the row from us waiting for someone. When he got there he decided to climb over us instead of going around (which would have made sense seeing as how she was on the END OF THE ROW). So he got on my fecal roster from the start. Then the couple was arguing. They were trying to do it quietly, but Tim and I could obviously hear them. So I got the giggles. I kept them to myself, but I couldn't help it. Really? You're going to get to the theater and argue with your girlfriend? Then it took a different turn. She started to get up and he grabbed her belt or something and pulled her back down. She didn't yell or scream, just continued whisper-shouting at him and he wasn't letting go. I saw Tim tense up out of the corner of my eye (he trains in jiu-jitsu for those of you who don't know, and we have been witness to a loved one suffering an abusive control freak). I put my hand out to take his hat that he had been holding and knew if the guy didn't let go Tim would put his ass to sleep. But the guy let go and the girl walked off.

At this point the jerk decided to follow, but apparently thought it would be faster to climb over us, again. Well, even though he said excuse me, there was no way in hell I was making it easy so I kept my feet out and even crossed one so I could make a higher barrier. He just stumbled his way across (I've never wanted to see someone trip so bad in my life) and walked out. They eventually came back in for about ten minutes then left again. But I seriously thought Tim was going to have to restrain the guy.

Besides that the movie trip was fine. There was a group that must have dropped hundreds of pieces of round candy, because I heard it rolling down the aisles several times. I wanted to laugh each time too. We got out and came home. Then vegged, watched some Lost on SciFi, and I baked.

And because this was such a lengthy post today, I'll reward you with a picture. I made brownies tonight, but put them in foil baking cups. And put some leftover Halloween M&M's on the top. And they are miiiiiighty tasty...

*This does not mean that I am profiling my Southern family, or anyone from the South. I loved the people on my trip down there. I'm simply tying my lineage in here.

A is for...

Okay, so I saw this idea of doing a letter and relating it to me. So those will be my Monday blogs for the next twenty-six weeks.

A is for Ashley.

Yeah, that's my name. You all know that. But what not everyone may know is just how popular the name was in the eighties. I was born in 1981, and at the time I think the name was original. My mom didn't mean to give me a name that every other girl would have by the time I reached high school. This is evidenced by the fact that no matter how many other Ashleys I come across I am always the oldest. Ashleys older than me are a rarity.

At the church I went to, there were six of us that attended regularly at some point over a span of about four years. Six Ashleys. Do you have any idea how rough it was to even go by our first names after that? We all started answering to our last names. It was just easier. But of course there were always the boys who would call out, "Ashley!" Yeah, they were doing it just because they thought it was funny to see three or four heads turning at once.

I discovered something about Ashleys. I love all of them. We're pretty much the same people. It's like, being given the name makes you instantly awesome. The boys figured that out too. Two different guys dated three of us. They just couldn't get enough of us Ashleys. Actually, one of those guys went on to date a fourth Ashley, but she didn't go to our church so I can't speak for her awesomeness.

Seeing as how A is for Ashley, we could assume that A is also for awesome, aunt, analytical... a plethora of other things. But I'll stick with the story about my name.

Now I challenge my other blogging friends to try the alphabet. Can ya do it?

Attention Please

*ahem* I only have ten days of student teaching left. The week after I'm done I submit my big test that we've been working on.

Then I go to Disneyland.

I can't believe I'm almost done. This is so weird to me. It feels like I've been in school forever! Now I have to have a job. I'm not going to be a student anymore!

So bizarre to me. Just had to share that with y'all.

Wish List

So a friend did this a couple years ago on his myspace (shout out to James). And I promptly took the idea since I have a birthday in December as well as Christmas.

Wanna know what to buy me? Check it out.

1. Gerard Butler. Okay, I know it sounds bad, but Tim and I have discussed it and he's totally okay with me having a sancho as long as it's King Leonidas.

2. NPH. I want him for a totally different reason. I just think it would be awesome to hang out with the guy.

3. A bakery. I'd have the sickest cupcake shop in town. Or if you aren't rich enough for a bakery, how about a house with a top-notch kitchen.

4. The 2009 350Z. Mmmmm... it's not out until spring, but I'll gladly take a pre-order. White please. Really, have you seen the slight change to the body? Tasty.

5. A personal trainer. To kick my ass out of bed every morning and make me skinny.

6. While we're at it, how about a personal chef. Because cooking is kind of a pain. My chef doesn't have to be here every day, maybe only five days out of the week?

7. Disneyland season passes. For me, Tim, and our nephew. I love that place. I could easily go visit every month.

8. Shoes. I love shoes. Size 7.5 or 8, just depends on the style. Money for shoes would also be acceptable.

9. Baking stuff! Ya know, fun cake pans, tons of decorating stuff... the things I could do with limitless baking supplies...

10. Cookbooks. Specifically some baking ones. Although normal cooking is cool too.

11. A Wii. Because I'm pretty sure it would be fun.

Yeah, I know that this list is way out there. On purpose. Although shoes and cooking stuff aren't out of the question. Anyone else start their list yet?