Who killed the Don?!

So I have like over 250 pictures from the evening that was AMAZING, known as the Bible Study Murder Mystery Party... I won't overkill yall with allll the pictures but I'll introduce the cast and show you some of the fun pictures we took!!

Joseph Whitney -- Played by Michael  and Ellen Whitney -- Played by Me!

Daria Delarosa -- Played by Catherine (Nico and  Anna) and Luca the dumb bodyguard - Played by Drew Hamilton

Sully - Played by Drew Hestad and Anna Dellarosa (widow, wife of the late Nico Dellarosa) played by Nicole (they were enemies in the real story)

Susan Whitney Sutton -- Played by Rachel (Joseph and Whitney's daughter) & Tom Sutton (married to Susan) -- Played by Jesse

Marietta the waitress -- Played by Danielle (dating Tony) & Tony Delarosa -- Played by Eric Hughes

Frankie the Entertainer -- Played by Michael F & Natalie Knose the reporter - Played by Grace

Fr. Patrick Oreilly -- Played by Jonathan

The scene was set.

The food was prepared.

And a murder mystery began!

So who done it?!!? It was Susan!! She was Nico's lover!

I think I can honestly said everyone had a fun night together!! (If you want to see more pictures from the evening, check out my facebook album, there's only so much I can post on here!) Prom style photos?!? Maybe....awesome-ness...definitely!

Oh and folks.... watch out, Carson is a little obsessed with the computer. Michael and I as parents need to shorten his internet time, silly puppy!

Mixin' up a few days

So since I've been a little slow about updating ya'll on what's been going on the past couple of days I will be updating you on everything from like wednesday-ish to Saturday-ish tonight. Tomorrow I'll recap our AWESOME Sunday activities, cause they were unbelievable and crazy fun!

So what's better than using a picture recap?!?

Well shoot, I had a picture of Annie eating Orange Leaf from Wednesday night and now it's gone!! Silly technology...well just imagine in your mind, super cute Annie making a super cool face eating super yummy ice cream!!

Thursday I went to the dog park with Mrs. Kara and her lovely doggy Lucy. Our dogs had fun. Mine may have had a little too much fun, Willis had a thing for all the ladies if you know what I mean!!

Friday: Still no pictures, gosh this is a pretty crummy picture recap isn't it?!? I went to Flo Critt with Danielle and Kara and we made Lemon Drop Muffins, they had a lemon glaze on them and they were DELISH!! Then it was off to "The Attic" to watch my friend Bryan perform an acoustic set, a large majority of MSACC students were there, we practically filled up the whole bar! ....and here come the Friday pictures:

Shelley and Eric (the one's who just got engaged in Las Vegas!)

Michael and I of course!

Me with some pretty cool accounting girls: Rachel and Shelley! LOVE THEM!

gotta get a pic of that bling!

well, it looks like I'm making a mustache ...buttttt i'm definitely pointing out Shelley's bling!

Friday evening was fun and then came along Saturday pretty rather quickly!!

I woke up and went to KY fit club, the free exercise class I did last week....well this week we did Chalean Extreme and then a little abs after that (super sore again!) and then we had a creamsicle flavored refueling drink after. Great workout to start out the day.

Then I went to help the Robertson's move out like I mentioned before.

Then it was date night with the hubs. We haven't had a formal date night in a while and it was a great night. Like Michael and I both legitimately had a great time! I finally used my living social coupon to "Halls on the river" and man did we like it!! Halls on the river is about a 20ish minute drive from Lexington down Athens-Boonesboro Road (aka Richmond Road) down by the river. We opted to sit outside for dinner on their deck that's over the river. We had a wonderful time and the bugs surprisingly did not attack like they do in Lexington!!

We even got to randomly meet up and chat with my good friend Jennie, she's so much fun!

since we had the coupon for $15 for $30 worth of food, we really didn't hold back since we basically had $15 off our meal. Michael and I both started off with cocktails...I had something like Sugar Cane something, it had light rum and it was pink and tasted like candy!

Michael had something that tasted like fizzy lemonade, I believe it had vodka in it and it was yummmy!

Then we ordered the beer cheese as an appetizer because many of the online reviews suggested that we do so. It was good, but pretty standard beer cheese in our books!

Then it was time for the big meal! Michael ordered a pound of white fish and I ordered a burger with swiss cheese. 2 burgers in one week for me?!? This is unheard of! I NEVER eat burgers, but was definitely craving one and it was great! I got an order of steamed veggies as my side cause I neeed some healthy food in my life!

fish face with his fish!!

After stuffing our faces I wanted to do dessert cause it was date night. Even though we were stuffed to the gills!! Michael and I had never had fried Oreos before. Yes I know, heart attack on a plate right?! but we had to, I mean, it fit with the scenery!!! They were delish of course, but what fried food isn't?!

Overall a great meal, great ambiance, and great time! We ended up spending almost $30 dollars with the coupon but I don't think that's bad for an appetizer, 2 drinks, 2 meals, and dessert!!

After our dinner Michael and I headed home to watch a Netflix movie, we had "Where the Wild Things Are". It was super cute, kinda strange, but interesting!! And then we passed out in bed cause it was 12:30 and it had been a LONGGGGG day!!

Well that wraps up those days, be looking forward to hearing about our super awesome Sunday!! Good night friends!

Ode to the Condo

So I will get to posting about other stuff that has happened this week later...BUT tonight I must write an Ode to the Condo.

Today Michael and I helped our friends Bailey and Tim move out of the "Condo".

What is the "Condo" you ask?! Well the condo was the happenin' spot during my undergrad years. When people were looking for a place to hang out, have fun, and not be in the dorms everyone would head out to the "Condo".  Tim's parents own the condo by the way. We would hang out to the wee hours in the morning and sometimes stay the night there. Whether it was board games, New years eve parties (multiple), Super bowl parties, movie night, parties, dinners, hanging out, or just a gathering place I have ALWAYS loved the Condo. The "Condo" really was the meeting point of all our friends and now Bailey and Tim are moving on to bigger and better things in their lives like real jobs! I am sad to see them leave Lexington but excited to see what the future holds for these dear friends!!

P.S. Bay and Tim have a great group of friends (ahem, including us). Why?! Cause we rocked that move out session, we emptied that place like it was our business! And then afterwards we sat on the floor and ate pizza, altogether for the last time in the condo. It's funny cause a lot of the pictures you see here we are laying on that same area on the floor that we ate our final pizza lunch today. That place will be greatly missed, and now I will honor it with a few pictures of the fun times we had:

Ring around the Rosie with a giant cupid balloon!! Freshman year of college

New years eve...Dec. 31, 2010...tummy haha

everyone at New Years

Tummy ha ha freshman year of college...can you tell how camera quality has increased?

New years

New Years Dec. 31, 2009

I just had to add this, I think it's hilarious!! Poor Bailey! :)

The girls, sometime in the summer, 2010

hanging out in the kitchen

Well, that's about all I could dig up in about 10 minutes, but obviously we had some fun times! You will be missed dearly Condo!

Woah it's Friday!

Congrats to Michael Kasten for completing his THIRD year of Medical School! Celebrations were in order because of this and celebrate Michael Kasten did!

For Ashley today involved:

-some work
-a little class
- some Pazzos
-Some flo Critt  time
-Some Mr. Bulkley crooning time
-Some friends time

full recap tomorrow, now it's time for bed because my 8 am wake up call will come before I know it!

Read This One --- Please!

So I wrote this for some close family and friends today and Michael suggested that I post it to my blog. So I thought it wouldn't hurt! Here ya go:

Dear Family and Friends,

I have done it. I have signed up for something that I thought I would never do. Why? Because I have always been afraid to do this, to inconvenience people, to make them go out of their way, and to push myself to really go after something I truly believe in. But I did it. And now I need your support.

I signed up for a race, which is not a new thing because if you know me I do races all the time. This time I signed up to raise money for a cause that I feel passionate about, that Christ led me to over a year ago. I have had so many opportunities to do things like this in the past but always passed them up in the fear of not being able to achieve the fundraising goals. I hate asking others for money. But I was reading Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love” the other day and he talked about how lukewarm Christians only do the things that are convenient and easiest for them and this hit me hard.  I don’t want to halfway do things my whole life. In particular 2 comments he made struck me hard:

“Lukewarm People give money to charity and to their church… as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver right?”

“Lukewarm People will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money, and energy they are willing to give”

Yeah, Michael and I don’t have a ton of money to give but are we doing the most we can? Am I only doing what is most convenient for me? My time on this Earth should not be focused only on me, I will only be here for but a fraction of a second of eternity.  

At the Tuesday Advisory Meeting at Amachi I was asked if I was going to participate with Team LLF and I gave an excuse that I didn’t have enough money. I told them I probably wouldn’t do it. That was before I read the stuff I mentioned above. What kind of advisory member comes up with such a lame excuse, what kind of example am I setting? So I am doing this fundraising run. I paid my higher than normal entry fee for the race, a race I’ve done twice before, the Midsummer Night’s Run 5k on August 6^th. None of the money I put forward for the race will be repaid by others, that is MY contribution, but I do ask you to consider and pray about giving a donation to help support this cause that I will be running for. This race is for the Lexington Leadership Foundation and Amachi (http://www.lexlf.org/amachi/). My connection is to Amachi. Amachi is a mentoring program for children who have a parent that is incarcerated. You can read more about Amachi in a blog post I made in January (I really encourage you to read this):

http://blurbsfromabeancounter.blogspot.com/2011/01/amachi.html

If you have been keeping up with my blog you know that Adrielle is a big part of my life and I see her every week.

 Adrielle is the reason I will be running. Adrielle is not the only little girl in Lexington with a parent that was incarcerated, who didn’t have her father around for 3 years of her life. There are others that need help and Amachi will be able to provide mentors to these children through the funding raised by this race. So I will put forward my best efforts to help support this foundation that I believe in, the foundation that has led me to a great relationship with a little girl that I love and that I am able to help spread the word of God to, which is another great thing about Amachi, spreading the love the of the Lord is ENCOURAGED. How great is that?!

So now that I see this is getting a bit lengthy all I ask is that you take a few minutes and think about this. I won’t be mad or sad if you decide not to do anything, I just ask for your prayers for this organization. If you can give anything it would be greatly appreciated. $5, $10, $20 or however much you feel comfortable giving. OR the foundation will be having a silent auction in mid-October so if you have any idea for a type of donation you could give if you’d prefer to give that. Anything works.

Thank you for your time and patience, this was a big step for me and I am glad that I did it! I hope you realize how significant this organization is for me, Adrielle, and the city of Lexington, KY.

God Bless,

Ashley Kasten

If you’re interested in donating you can send your checks to:

Ashley Kasten

1332 Gray Hawk Road Unit C

Lexington, KY 40502

I will be collecting the funds and submitting them all together so checks can be made payable to myself, or if you’d prefer you can make them out to the Lexington Leadership Foundation, whatever works for you!

*Also, if you need a receipt, I can get that for you too!! It’s a charitable contribution!

**Here are a few other blog posts describing activities and time spent with Adrielle if you are interested:

http://blurbsfromabeancounter.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-mentee-says-cutest-things.html

http://blurbsfromabeancounter.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-eggs-hunts.html

http://blurbsfromabeancounter.blogspot.com/2011/06/off-hook.html