My husband is a big silly!

What this man is silly? Why yes he is. The silly actions of Michael William Kasten this morning (please feel bad for me ;) !):

- this morning (a morning where I wasn't getting up at 6 or 7, my alarm was actually set for 9) Michael comes in and jumps on the bed at 7:30 am telling me I should wake up and eat breakfast with him. He had a test at 9 and was studying in the morning.  I said no. And he kept sitting there staring at me. Fine. I'll eat with you.

-Well then my husband decides he wants to make oatmeal. So I stand there and wait to put milk in my cereal until he's done making his oatmeal. So we can eat together, because that was the whole point of me getting up at 7:30 am. Seeing he was done, I put milk on my cereal and then ended up eating alone because he continues to stand in the kitchen by the sink studying while eating his oatmeal. Lame.

-THEN Michael proceeds to BEG me to drive him to school. It's raining and there won't be any spots are his begging points. After a bunch of no's from me I somehow found  myself in the car driving through the pouring rain taking him to school. I reminded  him I was not his mother, this was not something to get used to. But he should do well on his test.

-WELL then I'm at school and my group wants to work on our project after class. Thing is I have to pick up my car-less husband from the hospital. Well I told him I'd pick him up real quick and he could hang with us as we worked on the project for like 45 minutes. Well that wasn't what he wanted to do so he arranged a ride home from the hospital.

-Well remember how he didn't drive himself?!! Yeah, that means no car keys, which means no house keys. Which means fail. He texts me and says he'll wait outside, remember its raining and chilly. He had already tried crawling into the windows (which he blamed me for locking, oh goodness gracious, thats why they're locked so crazies don't crawl into our house) he also said he got the ladder out of the shed and tried the upstairs windows. Luckily the new neighbors moving in next door did not see these shenanigans.

-I told him I may be a while. So the solution to the issue was to have Steve pick him up and go to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. I respond with well please don't buy beer, we have some at home (remember neither of us have a job, this is not an unnecessary request). Well I get a text back saying, Steve made me buy him a beer. Well then. That meant he had to have a beer too. Michael knew he was in trouble and actually vocalized it via text.

-When he finally got home, I was home before he was. He was very sorry for his sillyness. He was so sorry that he suggested I write about him in my blog. I told him I didn't want to make him look stupid or me seem mean, but he told me to do it. And that is also why, on his own, he just left for Kroger to get grocerys while I sit here typing my blog and watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".

Please don't read this in a hateful tone. Half of it was funny. Half of it was frustrating to me because Michael had literally pushed me out of the wrong side of the bed in the morning. I just warned him that you don't mess with a woman and her beauty sleep! :)

So that was Michael's sillyness for today. In a semi-shortened version. My man isn't perfect, but I love him anyway. Our life would be super boring without him. <3

Considering the haircuts

I want your opinion. I haven't had my haircut since August and I'm trying to decide whether or not to get my haircut like last time.  The positives of short hair, it actually has a style. The positives of long hair, I can pull it back, especially with running all the time I like being able to put it in a bun when I run. I don't know why girls become so attached to their hair but every time you cut it, its always hard the next time you get it cut.

Short Straight hair

Short Curly Hair

Short hair pony tail...no bun capabilities and bobby pins...urgh...annoying!

Long Hair

Long Curly Hair

The nasty "I ran 9 miles" bun, please don't judge!

Long straight hair

So this post is semi-lame. But since I normally only have Michael's opinion on haircuts, he always just tells me to do what I wanna. So tell me your opinion. You may not even be able to tell a difference, but oh well. (if you don't wanna comment you can vote in the poll on the right!)

Silly Victoria Secret Models!

So I'm sitting here in bed. About to dive into the Victoria Secret SWIMSUIT catalog (notice I am wearing pajama pants, a sweatshirt and bundled up in my bed) and I am just so mad at these girls (ok, maybe not girls, I mean they are barely dressed, um women?! models?!) for 2 reasons:

1. They are in a tropical location. It appears the sun is shining. It appears to be so warm that they are only wearing bathing suits. Some of those bathing suits being hardly there. So warm that they are in the water. Oh gosh. I would not get in water that I found in Lexington, I would freeze. What a lovely thought of sunshine and warmth. Maybe one day in a few months I will be able to experience such a grand idea! Although unlike these girls I probably won't roll around in the sand. Who likes having sand stuck all over you, plus, it always seems to find a way into your hair, ears, and even mouth, that gritty crunchy taste of sand..mmmm.... and I definitely will not be wearing jewelry with my bathing suit. That just seems dangerous. Choking hazard anyone?! Or having an earring ripped out from a riveting game of beach volleyball?! OUCH!

Hello there mister sunshine!

2. These girls are tan. I am pasty. Ew. Sometimes it just makes you feel better about yourself when you're tan. I feel like my legs are 2394093 times more awesome when they have more color on them. This is not a vain comment, I'm just sayin'. A good ol' tan makes a girl feels good! I know, it is unhealthy to be brown as leather. I'm saying I enjoy the healthy looking, I'm active tan look. You get my gist. I just don't like when my skin matches my socks when I'm running in shorts at the gym. Sunshine, I welcome you. Please come! :)

Those were just a few thoughts! I hope you enjoyed your Saturday!! I know I did (well except for the 5 hours spent at the library and the 2 hours working on a paper at home, otherwise a pretty grand day!) OH and Michael and I filed our taxes today! Married Filing Jointly! WOO WOO! And me, being the tax return loving accountant, it was a pretty thrilling experience. D.O.R.K.

Goodnight!

My mentee says the cutest things!

Audit Exam out of the way. What a relief. Now I can focus on the LOADS of schoolwork and 2 finals that I have next week. BOO!

To celebrate #2 of the 4 part CPA exam I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the night with the lovely Miss Adrielle. We got free tickets to the UK gymnastics meet and it was the breast cancer awareness night so everyone there was donning pink! So, honestly at first you could tell that Adrielle wasn't that excited about going. But once we were there and the meet started the first thing she said to me was "I didn't really know what gymnastics was like, I had no idea how cool this was. Can we go every week?!" Haha I was like seeeeee I told you gymnastics are awesome. Later she said, "I'm going to ask my mom to buy me a leotard, they are so cool!". My 9 year old mentee is the best!

Side rant: I have been obsessed with watching gymnastics since the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. It is definitely my favorite event to watch and I am amazed at what these girls can do with their bodies. If only I had kept up with gymnastics beyond the backhand sprang haha.

Everyone remember Kerri Strug?!

Back to Adrielle. So we had a great time. Adrielle had a few dollars to spend on food and she got popcorn. She was hilarious too. She kept telling me how salty it was but continued to eat the whole thing, silly girl!

One thing that was super precious of her tonight unfortunately happened when one of UK's gymnasts hurt herself during the floor routine. It was after a long sequence of tumbling and she just collapsed onto the ground grabbing her leg (my friend who is friends with the girl informed me afterwards, that they think she tore her ACL :( ) The whole crowd went silent and I think Adrielle screamed when it happened. She kept saying she was so sad and that she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight knowing Whitney (the gymnast) was hurt. Then she told me "I'm going to send her flowers and chocolates and a teddy bear to make her feel better." I suggested that she should pray for Whitney. Her response

"I  can't pray for her, I'm not very good at it."

Saddest, yet most precious thing I have heard her say. I tried to encourage her to do it. But who knows. At least I planted that thought/idea in her head.

UK ended up winning the meet which allowed for a happy ending and as we were driving home Adrielle noticed that the street we were on was called Rose street, which was the last name of the gymnast that got hurt. She said something to the effect of "well maybe it'll make her feel better knowing that she has a street named after her. "AWWW! :)

What a fun night, I can always count on Adrielle to make me feel good. OH and you know what else she did?!? While we were sitting and watching the meet she played with my hair, on her own without prompting, for like 5 minutes and it was wonderful. She said she loves playing with peoples hair, so she's definitely a keeper!!

Well I have to get up in the morning and write a paper before meeting with a group at the library at 10 so its off to bed for me!! Goodnight world!

This accountant has rhymes

Twas the night before Audit and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.
The flashcards and notes lain on the table with care,
in hope for the Audit exam to prepare.

The puppies were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of dog bones danced in their heads.
And Ashley in her PJs, nope not a night cap,
had settled her brain for a winter night nap.

Now Ashley did not have the same dreams,
Misstatements, risks, sampling, information in reams.
Unqualified, Qualified, Adverse and Disclaimer
gave her the night sweats, it made her feel lame-r.

This future CPA only hopes with all her might,
that maybe, oh maybe success is in sight.
2 exams left after this one, she'll be halfway through,
this year is a tiring one, halfway = phew!


I hope you enjoyed my poem! Its one way to make accounting semi exciting.

Today was full of attempts of studying, but major distractions of technology and television. I've been told you are supposed to relax a little before a big test, so I guess I'm ok with that.

The end of my day was much more exciting, I got to workout with Elyse at the JC, we both ran 4 miles on the good ol' treadmill because it's been pouring all day. but it was good.  And I had human interaction for the first time that day AND I was able to leave the house for the first time since Monday evening!

Then I got to eat dinner with Miss Katrina Hall. Recently we have been getting to know each other a lot more than before and its great! We hung out from 7 until 9:30. We ate at the restaurant that Nicole (my bstud leader and awesome friend) works. So it was great to see her during the week as well!! What a good evening! Well maybe a little more studying and then it's bed time. I think I'll be having anxious sleep tonight, the past 2 nights have been spent waking up every other hour with night sweats, NOT COOL BODY! oh well!! goodnight folks, hope you had a great one!

Human Deprived and Sleep Deprived

Let's just say that our home is really fun right now. Me being human deprived during the day and Michael being sleep deprived always...I'll explain.

So today I spent the entire day studying at our house. No interactions with humans. At. All. It gets very lonesome when you don't see a human all day until your husband gets home around 6. I mean, as much as I love chatting it up with my dogs, its just not the same. They don't really answer my questions they just twist their heads back and forth as if they are trying to understand.

Then there's Michael. As soon as he got home from work today he passed out on the couch. Like literally, dead. After about an hour of sleeping he sits up and asks me "Who called". Um well, nobody called so I said no one. He said "ok" and laid back down. Then he sat up and said "Who called" again. Once again I reassured him no one. Then he "woke up" again and said he thought he was in the hospital still. My poor husband, he's confused and tired, lucky him he's on call tomorrow night too, so sleep will not be coming his way anytime soon. I tried to convince him to go to bed at 8, but he's such a devoted UK fan he was determined to stay up, even though he missed the first few minutes of the game because he dozed off again.

So since my husband has been sleeping for the majority of the time he's been home I haven't really had any more human interaction than I had before he got home...OH WELL!

Our little house is sad. It's kinda funny and kinda pitiful.

There's only one full day of studying left for me before I have the big exam, so tomorrow hopefully I can crank some good studying out and throw in a little work on a group presentation and hopefully I'll be set. Well, back to the UK game, come on CATS we need a road win!

One check off the list of never ending THINGS

Well today I finally finished one of my TWO group projects. Did our 20 minute presentation and cleaned our hands of that silly time consuming thing. I didn't die when presenting either, which I normally have a huge fear of. And with the project completion means no class until next Monday!

A normal person would say YAY ! NO CLASS...but the reasoning behind this is to allow us Masters students to study for our CPA exam! Which I will be taking on Friday at 1 pm. So let the even more intense studying begin! Wednesday and Thursday will be day and evening long events of studying. Kind of like a studying marathon.

And don't you all worry, I'll have plenty of work to do after the exam because next Monday we have a 12-15 page Audit group paper due and the next day a 15 minute presentation and then Thursday and Friday we have finals. Oh what fun I have in store. Let's just say I am grateful for the study time but am also looking forward to have all of this behind me!

Well that's all I've really got for today, sorry for the boringness!! Maybe my studying will bring some good thoughts for tomorrow's post, otherwise I can fill you in on exciting things such as Audit Risk, Substantive Procedures, GAAS Standards of Fieldwork, or Compilation Reports! HAH!

Andy and Herbert the Heater

Today I will discuss 2 things that saved/save me.

#1 Herbert the Heater

This is Herbert. He is a heater. And he is awesome.
When I am sitting, all by my lonesome at the kitchen table, studying my life away he is ALWAYS there to warm me up. When the harsh winter weather chills my toes, he knows what to do and he brings the heat! I don't know what I would do without Herbert. His warmth is infectious and I feel it from my toes up to my head. Everyone could use a good friend like Herbert. He's the bee's knees!

#2 Mr. Andy --> American --> Republican --> Soon to be Lawyer --> AND Hero!

Patriotic Right? (if you don't know Andy, this is typically him in a nutshell)

 This is Andy Yocum. He's been a good friend of mine since sophomore year of college maybe?! Anyway, today after class around 7 I went to leave the building I was in and OH NO! Torrential down pours were whipping through Lexington. I mean, seriously crazy windy rain. And ALAS I had no umbrella. I called Michael for help (he was making me dinner apparently and was covered in chicken so he couldn't answer the phone) and when he didn't respond I knew I could call Mr. Yocum. You see, Andy is a great guy and I knew he would pull through for me! I called and asked if he was feeling generous and he was! Andy hopped in his car and drove down to the building in the nasty weather and delivered me safely to my car (which is parked behind his house). Let's just say, Andy was a lifesaver from a drenched 10 minute walk to my car. Thanks to him only my shoes got wet! Go ANDY! What a great friend! :)

So those are 2 things I am thankful for on this rainy Monday evening! Give thanks!

I wish it was one of those lazy Sundays!

Hey yall, its about bedtime so this will be quick here's a recap of the day:

7:30 - Eggos for breakfast, you know it!
7:45-10:00 - HOMEWORK
11:30 - Church with the hubs
1:00 - Qdoba with my Daddy and my hubs!
2-6: Homework, Cleaning, Homework, Cleaning, Grocery, Cleaning
6:30 - Bstud at our house
10:30 bedtime

This week is the start of a pretty testing and trying week. 1 group paper is due tomorrow. Group presentation Tuesday and CPA exam on Friday, which I have not had a ton of time to prepare for. I would love to have your positive thoughts and prayers this week! Much love!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Glee songs from this past week's episode
"Sing" - My Chemical Romance

Did I really eat THAT today?

Do you ever have one of those days when you look back at what you ate and you were like ... I ate that?!! Well that happens to me often, far too often and today was kind of one of those days...

Today was my "hangout with Adrielle (mentee)" day. I was having a hard time figuring out what to do with her and I had been craving donuts for a while now SO we went to Krispy Kreme..mmmm healthiness. We both got chocolate cream filled chocolate iced donuts and they were glorious. We watched the blueberry cake glazed donuts fly down the conveyor belt and frying as they were being prepared to be shipped all over town and the best part of it was Adrielle had coupons for FREE donuts, so I only had to pay for her orange juice.

I was also able to tell her that when I was her age we were allowed to bring in snacks on our birthdays and I would ALWAYS bring in Krispy Kreme donuts, my dad would go and get them for me and bring them to school, how awesome was he?! When I told her the story she was honestly like, "you are so nice", I thought that was awesome haha!  Anyway back to the unhealthiness, yes, the donut input part was enjoyable. Let's just saying the processing was not. My tum tum HURT when I got home, and I ended up getting a headache...sugar rush?!

Well guys, you'd think I'd learn right?! NOPE! last night I had mentioned to Michael that I was craving a nasty McDonalds burger. I probably eat there like twice a year if that but I was really craving one of those tiny cheese burgers (before we married Michael would frequent McDonalds more than I would like to think about, his poor body!)! So tonight after my stomach attack from the donut and UK's domination of South Carolina, Michael convinced me to head to McDonalds with him. It was a lovely dinner. And surprisingly my stomach didn't bother me at all after that.

Burger happiness!

Michael loved his burger so much it was his  photo of the day

So then of course it was dessert time a after some more studying after we got home. I had ice cream, with chocolate syrup and crumbled up cookies on top. Did I mention I polished off the 1/2 gallon that we bought like a week ago and only I have consumed?! BUT it was soooo yum-o!

So, this is where I am now. Thinking back to, did I really eat that?! And you know why I am telling myself it is ok in my head? Because running has saved me. Becca met up with me at 9 am this morning and we rocked a pretty hilly 6.8 mile run on the hamburg/Man o War side of Lexington. It was wonderful to run with Bec again and I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. She pushed me through the hills, encouraged me, laughed with me, it was awesome. Her favorite part she said was when I asked (we had 2 options left = uphill after many hills we had already climbed or right = dead end and bushes) are we turning left? She said Yes and I replied sarcastically with "we would". Although I didn't enjoy the hills, I'm sure my body enjoyed the run, especially my glutes!

Well that's it for the day! Another busy day of studying and homework tomorrow! Goodnight friends!

Bikes, Matches, and Ice Cream

Today was yet ANOTHER bea-uuuu-tiful day in the bluegrass! Like seriously February, you are pretty wonderful currently, I know you can't last this way forever, but I'll take it.

In response to the warm weather (and a day off from running) I decided that when I had to go to the library at noon today that I would brave the bike. First I had to wrestle it out of the tiny shed behind our house, which I'm sure was pretty comical looking but I was finally able to get it out of there after much fighting. Ok, so when I used to live on campus riding my bike was not too terrifying. But riding it where I live now is slightly more scary to me. It is definitely a higher traffic area at faster speeds and the route the emergency vehicles take on their way to the hospital. Also,  I just don't trust drivers sometimes. And I don't like trying to get into a turning lane from the right side of the road, and when your hair is down and you turn around to look behind you and then your hair gets stuck in your face, terrifying, yes terrifying. Anyway, I had a lovely bike ride to campus (once off of Tates Creek Road), and I survived! I even arrived earlier than planned, but also sweatier than planned.

Speaking of terrifying things, I am absolutely terrified of lighting matches.

AHHHHH!

 I can do it (I recently lit my first match) but it absolutely freaks me out. I feel like the fire flies up the match so quick and then i just want to throw it out of my hands. And then I imagine my clothes catching fire or the carpet anything but what I intended to burn, most typically a candle. I am so glad someone created lighters. A much safer option for scaredy cats like me!

Anyway, another awesome thing, besides riding bikes that I did today involved the phone call I received from my husband at around 5:30, he was off work AND he offered to pick me up and take me to get ICE CREAM (one of my favorite things in the world!).

Yes, this is a Bruster's Cherry Vanilla Waffle Cone, a popular flavor at Brusters

 It was great because picking me up involved fitting my bike in his Honda Accord. And what a wonderful surprise it was. Sadly, I was kind of in a bad mood on our way to get the ice cream because I really hadn't eaten much during the day, and people who know me should understand, that if I'm not fed I get cranky. Let's just say the ice cream helped! One of my favorite ice cream condiments are SPRINKLES !
 
I based our ice cream store location off of the fact of who had sprinkles (and who was close because we didn't have much time) We went to I can't believe its yogurt. I got a Birthday Cake cone with sprinkles and Michael got a cup of Banana Split ice cream. We enjoyed our random surprise treats! (Although it was no Brusters Ice cream, if many of you do not know my parents own a Brusters Ice Cream store in Florence, KY, I will probably devote a post to this place soon and then you'll understand my true love for ice cream!)

 At Flo Critt tonight we watched "Easy A" as well, pretty funny.

All in all, I had a pretty great day. The weather was definitely a factor that played into the great day, despite the studying which I didn't let get me down (the CPA is a week from today!) Well that's it for today, night folks!

A Thursday evening with Francis Chan

Hello Friends! What a lovely Thursday it was, wasn't it?! I mean, the weather was perfection, can you believe it's the middle of February?!

ALSO, I went out for my first outdoor run in a long time...planning on running a 4 mile loop, or what I thought was 4 miles, turns out once I ran it and came home and mapped it, it was really 5.82 miles. haha oh well.

ALSO today I had the title of my car transferred to me..woo...I am now the proud owner of a '98 civic haha, and I'll get to pay taxes on it ..woooo!!

Now for the real thing that I'd like to talk about. And I'm feeling super pumped about it. Tonight I went to Synergy (thursday night worship service at the Christian Student Fellowship)because it was a special, different night tonight. We (CSF) had the opportunity to Skype with THE Francis Chan and of course have awesome worship lead by Matt Edin. If you don't know who Francis Chan is, here's a little video of him preaching, but he's wonderful and funny too (Google him)! (Also, I got to go with some girlies: Miss Becca Colbert, Mrs Andrea Edin, and Mrs. Danielle Hughes)

Francis Chan was the founder and minister of a HUGE church in California, who recently left because he felt God needed him somewhere else. He is also the author of 2 books, "Crazy Love" and "Forgotten God" and has also written a few childrens books. The Skype session we had with him tonight was amazing. Brian, our campus minister, and some students had the opportunity to just ask him questions and his automatic responses were great! A lot of things he said were things I hadn't really thought about before..but here are some key points that I took down during the session:

-People in America base what church they attend and how they meet with God solely on the personality of the minister or the music style of the church and it's not about that. In his travels in China and India, where most of the population of the earth is, he was able to discuss with people there the church services in America and they thought it was comical. They couldn't believe we had meeting places like churches, where we could freely worship,  or that we picked them based solely on music. He described their faith as intense, and he realized the shallowness of US christianity.

-He also talked a little about saving and how, in his opinion, it isn't necessary. That people in America are scared of not having the level of comfort we need. He said when we pick and save for a retirement home, it MUST have shuffleboard. But in countries like India and China, some of these people don't know if they will even survive a month,  these people are starving, homeless, and even being raped, why must we live so selfishly? We can't do this, we must give everything we can.

-I found this interesting - he was discussing how some people have been trained to be missionaries in the US but they ignore the people around them here,  he wondered what brings out that holiness in them when they go oversees if they can't witness to the people, friends, and family around them now?!

A question was asked as to what are the most important things for our generation to learn and he said:
#1 Discipleship - We cannot fall into the rut of believing that someone else will witness to our friends, it is up to you.
#2 Develop time alone with God - God may lead you to crazy things...don't let people talk you out of things because its not the norm, just do it and be strong, have others pray for your boldness and strength

-funny note: he mentioned that church people are socially awkward and they can't chill and make friends...I thought that was kinda true and kinda funny! :)

And the last and one of the most important things I thought he said was to ACT IMMEDIATELY --> do something with what you've learned. Don't just jump into the next lesson and let it become a pattern, to hear the word of God and not act. Yes, you hear a message and you understand the point, but is that all you're doing? Listening and not acting? You would probably be better off not even hearing it to begin with. We need to act immediately on these messages, there's a reason why we heard them. He said to focus on today, and tonight, not further on down the road. The present holds the things that matter the most.

Francis also talked about a lot of other things, but those were some things that stood out to me. And honestly, he seemed like a really cool guy. His gorgeous wife was cooking in the background while he was skyping and one of his 4 kids popped in the picture for a bit. He seemed so laid back and cracked jokes and even talked about Coach Cal. I must say, although I should have been studying, I am so glad I was able to hear him speak. Now I need to buy his books and read them!! haha...is that backwards?!

Well it's late and I have A TON of work to do tomorrow so I'm outta here. Sorry if the post is poorly written, I just needed to get this all down for you all to hear. Have any of you read Francis Chan books? What do you think of him?

The Great Debacle...TV or studying?!

The weather today was awesome. Didn't really get to experience too much of it being cooped up all day in school buttttt I did like the warmness factor. It was so wonderful the crazy thought came into my mind to run for a second time today (I ran 4 miles on the treadmill at 6:45am)...but then I talked myself out of it.... way to be Ashley!

Thoughts and notes about the day:

-Michael's on call tonight... lonely wife

- Due to the recent warm weather I am trying to decide if it is the right time to take my decorative door hangings and decorations down from our front door. I love my snowflakes, I made them myself and they make the door so festive. But as sad as I will be to see them go, I'll be even happier seeing warmer weather! Any ideas for fun spring door decorations?! I love doors with personality!

- In disturbing news...today I finished off the HUGE tub of Country Crock that Michael and I purchased after the honeymoon sometime last July. Nearly seven months later we have polished off this big guy off....mmmm yummmmm! At least it's "light"?!

- For some reason tonight I am lacking all focus what-so-ever...here's what is occurring with me, shown in pictures:

Becker flashcards or television?!

I how I love thee oh television and the hilarious, dramatic, and entertaining tv shows you provide...we have been separated for too long...

Death to thee flashcards, you provide no fun!

ok, fine I'll compromise, sweet tarts and flashcards (for a lil bit)

Ok folks, so I must admit, I did watch an episode of Glee (last night's beiber episode) so not all is lost in the TV world.

Well as much as I'd love to play around some more with the blog, school is calling to my attention....boo booo boooooo

P.S. Thanks to all of you that have gone out of your way to tell me you read the blog..much love!

I almost titled this about Monday but then realized it was Tuesday..

Life is hectic currently.

2 - 12 page group project papers due next week
2 group presentations of 20 minutes a piece - one next week one the following week
1- CPA Audit exam on the 25th
1- Job
1- house to look after and clean
1- husband
2- dogs
1- tired, half marathon trainer
1- sleep deprived dog mommy, wife, student, employee, runner, study-er, and apparently whiner

0- comments, feedback, or anything on my blogs recently
0- votes on my poll

All of these have contributed to my lack of wanting to post today. I don't know if I'm boring people or if you're just too busy to read or post. But please, if you are reading and you like what I am writing or have any suggestions just let me know. Comment Below. I need some positive reassurance on the continuation of this thing. I have way too many things going on to be worrying about this if no one is really enjoying it or reading. Sorry to be the Debbie Downer today. but WHEW I am tired!

Send me the love readers, cause I sure do need it!

Goodnight and Sleep Tight 
Yours Truly,
Ash Pash (Michael's nickname for moi)

Valentines Day!

 Yay! So today is mine and Michael's first Valentines Day as a married couple!...ok yes we celebrated it on Saturday because I had a midterm today and he had work but it still counts. PLUS I made him a card and we ate the dessert pies his mom brought over the other night and we watched an episode of DVRed "Perfect Couples" while we ate Kroger brand mac n cheese. But who's to judge on what is romantic?!

Due to the fact that I should be studying right now for the CPA exam (this is my life) I will leave you with the song that Michael and I did our first dance to at our wedding! I love me some Ray Lamontagne! His voice is soooo soothing. I used to set my IHome on 30 minute "sleep" and fall asleep to his lovely voice... here it is : "You are the best thing"

I hope you  enjoyed your day of love. We humans were made for love. Husbands, boyfriends, friends, family, I hope you were shown love today!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  ⁸ Love never fails.  

                         - 1 Corinthians 4-8

Reasons to Envy my day...

Some of these you may realistically be envious of, others may just imply sarcasm and I'm really looking for sympathy!...

Reason #1- LEGGO OF MY EGGO!


Yes, today, for dinner I had Eggo waffles. Please be jealous, because I have been craving them all weekend and my lovely husband picked them up yesterday and I haven't had the opportunity to eat them until tonight. And they made me completely happy.

Oh, and in case you were unaware. There are rules for eating/preparing Eggos. First of all, you do NOT microwave them. Apparently Michael microwaves them and eats them like tacos dipped in syrup. Weird. Weird. Weird. NO, you MUST toast them, to the perfect crispiness. Then you must apply a limited amount of butter, cut them evenly based on the squares on the waffle and then smother in syrup. The end.

Reason #2 - Awesome dog family

Ok, so I seem obsessed with my dogs, right?! I'm really not, I promise, they kind of are like children though! Well today at Michael's parents house, Michael's sister Andrea brought her 2 dogs, Brit and Jemaine, over for lunch. It was an awesome dog party. Which one is not like the other?! Willis of course haha! Jan, Michael's mom, is feeding them leftover lamb and has the full attention of the puppy brigade! Super cute!

Reason #3 - Studying is super cool

Ok this is one of those sarcastic ones...but hey....I learned some stuff today. What did you learn?! I'm sure you were relaxing, watching tv or enjoying the nice weather or something...well I was ...uh...expanding the wealth of knowledge in my brain. So. be. jealous.

Reason #4- My bible study group is awesome!

You wouldn't even understand this because of how awesome they are. But we make jokes together. Laugh together. Share the Word together. And pray for each other together. How awesome is that?

Reason #5 - Husband off work at 9:30 AM

Who wouldn't want to hangout with such a big stud for the day?! I mean, he's pretty awesome and helpful and cool. So you should be envious!

Reason #6 - I had THREE, read it, THREE desserts with my lunch today! AND freshly baked by Mrs. Catherine Hamilton chocolate chip cookies at Bible Study! (Oh ya know, no big deal, it was a off day from running)

Dessert #1: Bread pudding with whiskey sauce
Dessert #2: Samoas (girlscout cookies) ice cream
Dessert #3: Strawberries dipped in melted chocolate

Reason #7 - (places up north can be envious of this one) RIGHT NOW - it is 49 degrees outside! FINALLY WARMER WEATHER IS ON ITS WAY! What is more exciting than that?! uhhh...not sure, but I am pretty darn excited about feeling my extremities again when I am outside!

Well that's it for today folks, a girl can only do so many things in a day that you should be envious of... :) Hope you all had a great Sunday...what a fun busy busy busy couple of weeks I have coming up!

Our First Married Early Valentines Day Saturday Celebration!

Yay! Saturday! Well, silly body woke me up at 8am this morning so started the morning off with some Special K and some "Parenthood" and then some Becker while waiting on the hubs to awake.

Once the Meechael was awake we journeyed up to the gym for a good workout.

Running Feet!

 This past week was the first week of the Hal Higdon Intermediate 1/2 marathon training schedule, and although I've been running a little bit more than suggested during the week, I still was committing to a long run of 5 miles. And you know one thing I must admit?! I think I am getting used to this whole running on the treadmill thing, which I have always hated and Michael has always loved. And I have always talked down to it. But this COLD COLD COLD winter has made me love the treadmill, so making the switch back to outdoor running soon will be interesting. But hey, this week apparently we will be seeing the 50's! WOO!!

Well the 5 mile run went really well. Michael was telling me a could do it under 45 minutes (9minute miles) but I didn't want to commit. Well guess what?!? I ran it in 41:33, which is an 8:18 mile. hahah, I guess it really wasn't a problem. I hope I keep the speed work up because I would like to beat my best 1/2 time of 1:52, that I did with Becca in Indy, but let's just say I'm shooting for under 2 hours for now!

After the workout Michael and I tiredly headed back home. I attended to my Becker classes a bit more while Michael did his usual Internet surfing. Well then it was time for the UK game. We won't really discuss that. You know, they just tend to disappoint while playing away. That's all I'm saying.

Well I was a kinda bad mentor today, not really, but I had told Adrielle I'd get her at 4 and I guess my long run really tuckered me out cause I feel asleep on the couch after the game, like passed out. I woke up at like 10 til 4 and rushed to get Adrielle. She's been asking to play "Guitar Hero" on the Wii for weeks, so we played for about an hour. My wrists were killing me afterward but it was fun! When I took Adrielle home she gave me and Michael Valentines with mini Airheads in them. Dang, I hadn't even thought about getting her something. FAIL MENTOR. Maybe I could get her something for next week?!

Well tonight was also the night that Michael and I decided would be best to celebrate Valentines Day, considering I have a midterm on Monday and his schedule is super unpredictable (today was Michael's first day off in like 10 days, he works tomorrow morning). We originally planned on Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops but then all of the sudden out of the blue Michael's mom is at our house with a basket full of Valentines Day goodies for us!! You rock Jan! In this basket she had 2 mushroom and spinach stuffed chicken breasts from Critchfield's Meat Market, 2 different slices of pie, a bottle of sparkling wine, Chocolate covered pretzels and a Valentines day card!

It was soooo sweet of her to bring over and we switched our dinner plans to chicken. We also had homemade mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole (I like to have my veggies plain, but I think Michael gets tired of plain peas, green beans, corn, etc, so we spiced it up with a cheesy casserole, can't go wrong with cheese!).

The apron Azra made me for a bridal shower!

 Dinner was great. We had it by candlelight. The candles we used were given to us by Miss Amanda Myser at a bridal shower.  She gave us a whole bunch of different colored candles that had different meanings.

The candles for today were bright pink and are for your first Valentines Day together. Also, just so you all know, Pandora has Valentines Day stations so we listened to that in the background! After a lovely dinner we popped open the sparkling wine and used 1 of the 5 sets of champagne glasses we own. I had never had this stuff before and it was yummy and sweet. I decided to give Michael his Valentines Day gift then. I had ordered him 2 different baseball shirts (baseball season is quickly approaching, yay warmness!), the Indians and the Cardinals. Michael loves baseball and these are his 2 teams, although he is kind of ashamed of the Indians (I liked the Indians shirts better than the St. Louis shirt I got him anyway!). But he was very surprised by the gifts! Afterward, we nestled down to watch our recorded Thursday night comedies together, 30 rock, The office,  and Community.

Funny scene of Michael opening the sparkling wine:

Cork about to pop out

Do you see the tail the cork made out of the bottle?!

enjoying his candlelight dinner!

Enjoying it as well!

One last thing. Carson is famous. Yes, yes he is. What you don't believe it? Check out the awesome Kroger "Value" brand of dog food Michael found at Kroger today (which, by the way was like $4, this stuff has got to be full of flavor and nutritional ingredients for our dogs, right?! haha). That little sneaky dog has been creeping out of the house to be a dog model, displaying himself for the world to see on dog food bags. Crazy thing. He better watch himself!

Well that was our "Valentines-ish Day". Hope you enjoyed your Saturday and goodnight!

Sun-shiny study day!

Hello readers! Today was another nothing out of the ordinary day.

-I woke up and headed to the gym at 6:15, ran, came home.
-ate my usual bowl of Special K
-Watched a little tv
-Showered

And then I decided to open up the front door so the sunshine could come in through the storm door. The dogs love sitting in the sun, kind of like cats. Well as nice as the sunshine was, cue horror music.... the sunlight revealed random pee dribble spots all over the house...ahhhh..nooooo!! Carson apparently has bladder control issues and when excited or knows he is in trouble, leaks a little on the carpet. Well I guess we couldn't see these spots in the dreary daylight of winter, but with the sun shining in I could see everything. And then I noticed spots on the walls, where the dogs and bumped up against them. So my cleaning instinct kicked in. And the scrubbing began. After about an hours work on our downstairs, it was clean! woooo!!! Sometimes a good scrub of the house is such a satisfactory thing, the end results are worth it. Yes, I could have cleaned more but it was study time!

Tonight at the Florence Critt home we played "Minute to Win It Games"!
 
It was hilarious! The games we played were (realize, competitors have 1 minute to complete each challenge):
-Chocolate Unicorn - stacking/balancing 6 chocolate snack cakes on your forehead
-Cookie face - without using your hands, put a cookie on your forehead and try to get it in your mouth
-A game where you have to separate 2 different colored M&Ms into different bowls by using a straw, the team with the most M&Ms win
- A game where you put vaseline on your nose and move cotton balls from one bowl to another using purely your nose
-Breakfast scramble - the fastest to put together the front of a cereal box that has been cut up into pieces.
-A game where 2 people compete together, each only using one hand, One partner has a sock on their hand and the other doesn't and the goal is to wrap as many pieces of candy in a minute as possible.

If you go on the minute to win it website they have a ton of games listed to play, but these were the ones we picked. It was definitely a fun thing to do and the girls were pretty interactive, plus all the leftovers from the game made great, chocolaty snacks!

I also played around with the camera today, here are a few pictures I took and a couple Michael took:

His ears are ALWAYS flipped back

This is how Carson treats his big brother Willis all the time! RESPECT

Willy-mo sitting in his favorite spot in the house, the bean bag chair! The dogs fights over it!

Michael took this close up of Carson

One of my favorite things, I ate popcorn while Michael and I watched "Kick Ass" (Michael took this one too!)

Well thats it for today! See ya tomorrow!

Dinner with Dusty!

Well today was a pretty normal day: run at 6:45 (improved my 4 mile time to 33:30!), shower, school, homework, Becker, CLAAASSSSS (which lasts an eternity)...BUT WAIT.... What was different about today?!?!

DUSTIN WAS IN TOWN!!!!!

In the car together!

In the Dominican Republic together!

Hanging out at his house in Louisville

In Ireland together

In London together

In Spain together!

 In case you are unaware, Dustin is my little bro bro. Well not little, but younger, by 13 months that is! Dustin is a University of Louisville Mechanical Engineering student and ended up in Lexington today interviewing an engineer from Lexmark (printer making company based in Lexington) for a group project he is working on. I'd tell you about his project but it is WAY over my head, like WAY. All I know is that they are supposed to redesign this particular printer part that controls a part of a printer that I didn't even know existed. But anyway. Being in Lexington meant he got to have dinner with his sis sis and Meechael!

We debated for a while on where to eat and we ended up chowing down at Drakes. Dustin got some Alfredo Pasta with beef in it, I got their crab rangoon sushi rolls (delish!), and Michael got fish and chips. (tonight I learned I like fish and chips, it's a little late to learn after you've been to London twice and Ireland once haha!). Anyway, since it was a Thursday evening it was kind of crowded, therefore there were no real tables left. We were forced to sit at the awkward bar thing that faced a wall and was about a foot wide. No room for error when eating or your plate would tumble onto your lap.

Despite the awkward seating arrangement, I had to lean back so Michael could talk to Dustin, we had a good time talking and hanging out together! I really enjoy the time I get to spend with my bro, we've been through a lot together and have come to really appreciate each other.

One of my favorite things that I get to do with my brother is travel. My dad has taken us traveling since we were young, due to his Delta flying benefits. When I was in 5th grade we went to London and 6th grade Paris. We went to a lot of Caribbean islands. For spring break we went to London with a group of friends in college. And most recently Dustin and I ventured to Madrid, Spain and Dublin, Ireland. Traveling is something we both really enjoy and I'm glad we get to do it together!

That being said, I'm glad I could have dinner with my bro and my hubs. An enjoyable evening. Now for the rest of the evening I will think about studying. Tell myself I should be studying. And then maybe study a little bit. If I'm lucky. (this studying thing is getting a bit redundant!)

As for you all, hope your Thursday was wonderful and that you are as excited as I am about the warmer weather headed our way!!

Peace readers!

Lela, Laundry, and Lack of Leisure

Hello friends!! So today was  a pretty good day, even though it wasn't super fun, it was productive and I enjoy that!

This morning Elyse picked me up around 6:30 to run at the Johnson Center. I felt like I dominated my 4 mile run on the treadmill and was energized for the rest of the day. After the run I worked on homework for a while but then around noon I headed up to school to meet my friend Lela for lunch at the Student Center. This is the only picture facebook has of me and Lela. It's pretty awesome and a pretty old picture, October 2008 CSF 80's party I would say!

How awesome do we look?!

Lela is a friend of mine who got married this past summer too! Our meeting for lunch ended on a kind of sad note because this will be the last time I see her before she moves with her cats and her hubs to Charleston, WV (her hubby got a new job there!). We had a lovely lunch together though, chatting about a ton of things and it was a nice way to break up my day! Also, we got to discuss blogging, Lela recently started a blog so that's another thing we have in common besides our married-ness, shortness, and awesomeness to say the least.

After lunch Michael texted me to say he was going to take call for the evening. So I planned on a night of studying alone with the pups. Well, much to my surprise, Michael ended up not taking call, which means I don't have to be home alone tonight! YAY! AND I had a dinner buddy! DOUBLE YAY! I cooked dinner as quickly as I could when I heard he was coming home! YAY YAY YAY!

Speaking of Michael being on surgery I must say ONE good thing that has come of it so far (I'm not saying that surgery is bad, I just feel for the boy getting like no sleep every night, but he really loves it so I am 150% supportive! :) )..... LESS LAUNDRY! 

Nobody like laundry!

 With Michael wearing scrubs everyday at work (which he gets to leave behind for people at the hospital to wash because of the nastiness that is probably on it) the only clothes that I really have to wash are my own and a few things of his. It's wonderful, the laundry basket doesn't fill up every 3 days which is super spectacular! Although, with me running a lot more often recently, I tend to run out of workout clothes a lot quicker and wearing a lot of socks (2 pairs a day), therefore, I have to do laundry. But at least there isn't a ton of stinky boy laundry! ;)   (I love my stinky boy!)

Oh and remember how I created a solution to Carson's bed eating problems?! Well just take a look...

Carson figured out how to get under the duct tap and here we are again, in the same fluffy situation. The fluff balls are like tumbleweeds that drift across our house and somehow make it upstairs, sometimes I am shocked as to how things make it to certain places of the house. Or for example, today I used the apple slicer to cut an apple and then immediately put it in a baggy into my backpack. Well, when I was eating my apple today, well lookie there! Yes, a black Willis fur had made it's way onto my apple. I guess my doggies just want to spend the day with me! But really, you don't need to leave your fur on my food, why don't you just write me a nice note with a paw print on it for a signature? That'd be great!

One last thing, these are some super cute stickers Michael got me yesterday along with some AWESOME smelling perfume! With no help from me, he did an awesome job!!

Googly eyes are always a plus!

Well that's it for today! More snow is here and I am really sad about that and I am really sad about the cold temperatures, but according to the weather, warmer temps are on their way towards the end of the week and beginning of next week. I love when it's warm enough that my car locks don't freeze, so let's look forward to that! :)

Good night world!