Snow White's Guardian Angel!

Today Snow White, my 98 civic, had a guardian angel looking out for her. Or in other words a good neighbor. 

 This morning I was about to leave for work when I realized that was going to be impossible. I went to unlock my door and it was frozen shut! Oh this is surprising?! Well no, it's not. Snow White has a tendency of freezing shut in the winter. It became so frequent that last winter I always left my back seats down, open to the trunk, so that if the doors were to freeze I could crawl in through my trunk and drive my car until it was warmed up enough to open the doors. Real ghetto and safe sounding right??

Back to the story, I was unable to leave for work. I remember my dad telling me to get a lighter and heat up my key to unfreeze the lock. So I ran in the house and got the lighter, well it was soooo cold the lighter wouldn't really light outside. fail. However, I stuck my key in the lock and I guess it had warmed it up enough to unlock the door. Well that was only the first issue solved. Now that the door was unlocked I go to pull the door and it's super frozen. 

Snow White also has this problem where the door doesn't really seal and sometimes when it rains really hard it rains in my car, only on the drivers side. Well I guess since I had driven my car yesterday some of the water that had melted on my car came in the door jams and frozen in the extreme arctic temperatures last night. I'm sitting there yanking and pulling on my doors when my graduate school-aged neighbor that drives a Honda leaves his garage, pictured behind my car. I guess he could see me just standing outside looking at my car in the frigid weather and he jumped out of the car to help me.

He couldn't open the door immediately either so he ran in the garage and sprayed all of the cracks of the door with de-icing spray. We stood there for a minute waiting for it to work. Well it loosened a bit but we would pull and the door would only move a tiny bit. So he runs to his garage again and grabs a screw driver and a towel. I was thinking, WHAATTTTT is he going to do with that?!? Well he gets the door open with it that's what! I was so grateful, after 10 minutes of work on my car door it was open and I was so relieved! Thank you neighbor dude, you're awesome!

I guess that I can learn from this that Snow White is kind of like me, hating this cold weather and not wanting to go out into it. I don't blame you Snow White, these winters are miserable!

Sleepy, Slouchy, Snowy

Not to make complaining a consistent thing in my blog, but today was another not so fun day. I have a feeling a may be saying this until these 2 classes end the first week of March, but for reals school week, don't make me hate you. This school week has only resulted in negative things for my weekend too. I know all I really have to look forward to is doing homework. No plans of any type, homework is on the horizon. 

ALSO, WHY LEXINGTON?! WHY did you have a snow blizzard that took me 50 minutes to get home from class (normally about 7 minutes)!!! WHY did you have to cancel my fun hangout time with my friends tonight, we were going to eat spaghetti, lounge, watch tv, maybe play a little Just Dance 2. Ya know, cause I've only played it 3 times so far and I wanna play it with some girlfriends cause Michael doesn't particularly enjoy it. and WHY do I always wear the wrong shoes when the weather turns bad? Socks were wet and pants were soaked halfway up my leg?!?!  (ok weather, I will not blame you about the poor shoe choice, it's not your fault I'm not prepared)

I still have hope for this evening. I'm not too sure what it'll bring, but I'm thinking it'll probably be Thursday night television. Ya know, since the snow ruins everything (well everything besides sledding and skiing and snowboarding, it helps with that ;) ) Which most of my shows have made their return from a long winter break! 30 rock, community, and the office are back on tonight, excitement! Still patiently awaiting a few other shows but it's probably for the best, homework is pushing my television programs out of the way! BOOO homework!

The best and funniest 30 rock characer, Kenneth! I love him

 30 Rock quote about Kentucky, man we always look so good! haha

Jack Donaghy: You know, Ted, Kenneth here is one of our more promising young pages. He knows everything there is to know about the business.
Kenneth Parcell: I studied TV theory at Kentucky Mountain Bible College.




In sad news, my friendy friend friend, Jennie Rhoads will be moving away tomorrow! :( sad day. I will be joining her for an early 8 am breakfast at Lexington's very own and very delish Doodles to send her off! If you haven't eaten at Doodles you definitely should, KY proud and yummy too! I will miss you Jennie and your super fun attitude!

Doodles website with menu: http://www.doodlesrestaurant.com/

Jennie is the one my head is on!

A surprising twist to a poopy day

Most of the day was pretty icky for me today but it took a nice twist after class this evening. I get out of class at 6 everyday and Drew (in my program AND in my couples bible study) invited me over to his swanky apartment for dinner with himself and his wife Catherine. W(Michael was there too of course!) Drew and I worked on homework/projects while awaiting for our spouses to arrive.


This is Drew and Catherine Hamilton:

Aren't they super cute?!?! They got married this past New Years Eve!

 I had just gotten a paper back with a not so great grade, ok so terrible, yeah, it pretty much blew ALL focus I had for the rest of class today. But Drew and Catherine knew how to boost my mood. Michael and I got to enjoy Catherine's yummy baked Ziti, salad, and bread and Michael ran by Kroger on the way there and grabbed some Oreo Klondike bars! PERFECTO!


After a scrum-diddly-umptious dinner, Drew and Catherine asked if we wanted to play a card game.

And then Drew said it... "How about Euchre?"...

Bleck...I threw up in my mouth, growing up in Northern KY there were definitely Euchre snobs and I had been taught Euchre at least 10 times, intentionally forgetting how to play because the game annoyed me. The only game my high school youth group would play together was Euchre and it took too long and required too much of my attention span. 


But being the good sport that I am.. :)... and  Michael's super excitement about learning the game, I decided maybe I could try it again. AND YOU KNOW WHAT?!!? I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Michael and Catherine were on a team and Drew and I were on a team. Let's just say Drew and I dominated (it definitely helped to have a Euchre expert on my team) we won both games!  Michael enjoyed the game so much he made Euchre his "photo of the day" 

I have really enjoyed getting to know Drew and Catherine over the past months and I can't wait to hangout with them more.  We always seem to have a good time together, God has really blessed us with a strong core group of friends and it is amazing how he has extended our friendships beyond our weekly bible study. I feel like we see someone from our bible study 5 out of the 7 days in a week and that makes me happy! :)

And even though I am still up right now finishing up homework and trying to write my blog without falling asleep (Michael and I normally go to bed at like 10:30, Michael's long gone) it was totally worth the sleep deprivation to be able to hang out with such an amazing, God-focused couple!

Sorry if there is SUPER bad grammar beyond the usual or any nonsensical speech, Ashey is exhausted! Good night blog readers!

Some things that I encountered today that I like and dislike.

Like: 

Zumba Class.

Yes these brightly dressed latinos are in the Zumba video that Brittany Meyer owns.

 Not only is dancing as a workout extremely fun, it also makes me feel like I am about to die, which definitely qualifies it as a great workout. Constant dancing for 50 minutes to fast paced latin, hip hop, and other types of music makes my heart feel like it is about to beat out of my chest and definitely brings out some scents from people in this class that you really don't wanna smell. If you have the chance you should definitely try Zumba. I went tonight at the Johnson Center and have been going since last semester, an awesome and fun alternative to running on the treadmill!

Dislike:

Balls on Cars...GROSS

 

Someone in front of me today had balls on their car. I do not like them, they are completely disgusting. The only thing it does signify is that the driver is most likely a tool and to not make eye contact when you pass in fears of creepy nods or eyebrow raises.

Like:

Child-like dinners

Yes you see fish sticks, ketchup, peas, and mashed potatoes. PS I despise any type of seafood but I will eat creepy frozen fish sticks. How weird am I?!?

 Now that I am married it is more rare for me to have dinners like this but Michael and I definitely still enjoy the kiddie meals and it's always a plus that these meals are cheap. Mac and Cheese is definitely a frequent meal at our house and if its a really special dinner ;) we will add hot dogs to our mac and cheese hahaha! Not only do I eat like a child at home I also ALWAYS order Fazoli's child's spaghetti with meat sauce, it's the perfect portion and only like $3 with a drink!

Dislike:

Group Projects

 

 I am in 2 classes right now that last only 8 weeks, lets just say I have those two classes everyday Monday through Thursday so assignments are crammed in here and there CONSTANTLY. Our 2 classes decided to have group projects in them. Apparently us MSACC students have no lives beyond working on group projects together. Yes, when you are in undergrad it's hard to get people together for group projects. Well in grad school its hard too, a lot of us have jobs, responsibilities, spouses, etc. so these next 2 months are going to be a big bundle of joy as we work on these quite large projects. BOO SCHOOL!

I am jogging my brain with something that I encountered today that will allow me to end on a positive, happy, good feeling note...uhhhh.....ummmm....hmmmm...

I've got it!

Like:

French looking puppy dogs!

So yesterday Michael got me flowers, they had this purple papery stuff with them. We decided it would be a good idea to tie it around Willis' neck. Uber cute, and looked spectacular was his black fur. Apparently Carson was jealous of Willis' stylish look, obviously Willis is perturbed that Carson is trying to de-scarf him. He says "Oui Oui, this is my tie not yours Monsieur Carson!"

Well that's it! A little of what I liked and disliked about today!

P.S. I'd like to wish a very happy 86th birthday to the coolest Grandpa in the world. He lives in Atlanta. They got a huge snow storm last week. Please let me share a quick story about him with you. With all of the snow and ice in Atlanta, my grandpa decided it would be wonderful to whip out the old sled and ride it down the street. And that's what he and my Grandmother did. They went SLEDDING and they are in their 80s. My grandpa was telling me that when he was going down the road he saw an SUV coming down the road and imagined the SUV sliding sideways down the hill and smashing him so he lurched his body to the side and threw himself off the sled into the grass! (how intense is he!?!) The SUV ended up turning before it got to him, but I could only imagine that in my head. HILARIOUS!! Way to be Grandpa Chuck!

That's my handsome grandpa on the left! :)

MLK 2011

No, the title of this is not MILK 2011, read carefully, MLK , like Martin Luther King Day silly--- as much as I do like milk, there would probably not be a day dedicated to it! :)

So first thing is first...if ya'll haven't noticed there's a page views counter at the bottom of my blog and I believe last night I surpassed 1,000 views! WOOO celebrations!! hahaha...anyway just wanted to make note of that!

So I will devote today's post to commemorate fun MLK activities of days past. I would like to give this post to a special group of friends who for 2 years went to Gatlinburg, TN for MLK weekend to spend a fun weekend together in a cabin in the mountains! 2008 and 2009

This post is for you: Vanna Armstrong, Mike Armstrong, Sam Coons, Sam Giffin, Laura Benninger, Ian Banta, Becca Colbert, I love you all sooo much!

So much has changed since we went to g-burg, Laura, Mike, Vanna and myself are now married. Sammy Giffin lives in Cali. Sam Coons and Ian Banta are working their behinds off as Christian Student Fellowship Staff. And Becca is rolling her way through her degree and working.

Much thanks to Vanna's parents for letting us trek down to G-burg with their minivan both years. Also, thanks to Poppa Giffin (Sam Giffin) for arranging our lodging each year, he was/still is awesome!

These trips meant so much to me and I miss the times we had together. It was awesome to be able to devote an entire weekend to our special close group of friends. Although we have all moved on in our lives we still have the special bond and laughs that MLK weekend brought us.  Whether we were hiking through the woods, slurping hot chocolate because it was frigidly cold, hot tubbing, playing board games, cooking together, walking the G-burg strip, dancing in the car to sweet jams, or dining together, a good time was always had and smiles were always left imprinted on my face. MLK weekend was like a little preview of heaven and a good time, always!

Let's recap and remember a little bit of the good times that we had!

2008 MLK  - Let me just note that this was the period that I first began text-flirting with Mr. Michael Kasten. He was on UK's ski trip out west and I was here and we practically texted the whole weekend. Who knew what would result from that?! Also, Mike and Vanna were not yet dating, but their relationship was definitely blossoming and growing! :)

Being the college students that we were, we were so proud to make a cheap homemade dinner. This was everyone!

Becca hugged trees while we were there

Our classic group shot!

Mel's Diner, a must-have for G-burg...yummy shakes and burgers

This picture definitely summed up the amount of fun we had

 

And Sam proposed to Vanna. (not)

And 2009- the attendees changed up a little bit but the fun was still had...










The blog is being all funky and not letting me add captions to the '09 photos. But this year Mike and Vanna were officially dating I believe, we celebrated Sam Coons' birthday with a variety of cakes,  and the boys loved playing with the ice daggers when we were hiking

Well there ya go, that is a little summary of 2 very special MLK weekends. I am so lucky to have my hubs for this MLK weekend, it's all just positive happy memories when I think about MLK. I hope everyone enjoyed their MLK day and reflected on good long-weekend times!

Gladiator and Golden Globes

Today began with a lack of plans because Michael was on call at the hospital and I had no idea when he'd get off work. I thought I'd do some studying, or something boring like that. Well, thankfully, my hubs only had to go in for an hour and a half, very surprising for a call shift, and was at home by 9:30 AM! What exciting news. I thought someone was breaking into our house when he came home cause I wasn't expecting him, but was glad to see it was him!

Since Michael was home we went out to Southland for church and had the typical Sunday lunch with the Kasten family and the dogs kinda day (today's lunch was German themed with cabbage, strudel, and all!). After lunch we actually stayed and watched a movie too (4th movie day in a row!). I had never seen Gladiator before and that is number 2 on Michael's favorite movie list after Braveheart, so I was forced/told to watch the movie. I think the reason I had never seen this movie was due to the fact that it came out in 2000 and I probably wasn't allowed to see and/or interested in a movie like this.  Michael's Dad also enjoys the movie thoroughly so, it was like a family affair watching the movie on a chilly winter afternoon by the fire. Although chopping off of people's head is probably not my most favorite thing to watch (I HATE BLOOD, it gives me the willies!), I still enjoyed the movie, I approve! 

After our Sunday movie viewing, we quickly ran the dogs home and drove out to Georgetown for B-stud at the Schwartz's, where good times and studies were had. Around 9:30 we had to jump out though because the Robertson's had invited us to the condo to watch the Golden Globes! Of course we arrived like 2 hours late but we still had fun. Becca and Mollie were there too and we had some laughs, they had been sippin on some wine and were very giggly. Bay was especially giggly, she was telling me about "Thomas Hanks and Tom Allen" (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen) who had just come out on the stage. She makes me laugh, that is why she is one of my FAVORITE people, silly willy! :) 


Oh and  Michael and I did end up seeing "The King's Speech"  with his sister and parents. I definitely would recommend it! ALSO, Colin Firth won best actor in a drama tonight, so it proves it, the movie was great!

Colin Firth, Oh, what a cutie patootie!

Today was a great day, loved it, also love the fact that there is no school tomorrow! YAY MLK! WOOOOOOO!

A day full of FOOD!

So today was the unintentional day of food for me. I'll start you from the beginning:

This morning I woke up feeling like making Michael breakfast in bed, so I did. I made waffles and sausage and it was fun and hard to eat in bed with the fear of making a syrupy mess!

This was also Michael's "Photo of the Day"

After Breakfast we jetted out to run some errands around town and Michael got a spiffy new suit, dress shirt, and 2 ties. Man, does he look good! :)

After shopping with Michael I met Mrs. Vanna Armstrong (weird, I was about to type Sargent, but that is definitely not her name anymore!) at the mall food court. Yes, I have only eaten at the food court like once or twice before during my whole 4 1/2 years in Lexington and in the span of TWO days I have gone twice. But it was the convenience and food options that led us to meet there. I had a great time chatting with Vanna, she is one of my besties and I hadn't seen her in a LONG while because our schedules always conflict!

This is pretty Vanna on her wedding day! I'm in a black dress in the background, Matron of Honor WHOOP WHOOP!

Then, I came home and Michael and I detailed our cars together, it was barely warm enough but we thought it was about time to clean up our cars, they were covered in salt and POO. So we vacuumed at home and then took our cars to the quarter car wash and did our best, they don't look awesome but better than before.

After the car cleaning escapade, Michael had a ticket to the LSU vs UK game (which we KILLED LSU in) so I stayed home and decided I wanted to cook/bake. Here's what I did:

Ingredients for Stuffed Peppers with Couscous...I have never had stuffed peppers before but was willing to attempt unknowingly

Ingredients for Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing - recipe from the Merchak girls I used to nanny!

Ingredients for more puppy treats, they went through the other ones pretty fast!

my cupcakes, yummy!

The stuffed peppers turned out DELICIOUS! definitely something I will add to my cooking rotation

My baked goods, completed, dog treats in back cupcakes all iced in front (Yes, the cupcake wrappers are Halloween, that's all we had and I'm cheap!) I've never made a carrot cake before and i think it turned out quite well

my "perfect" cupcake

scary, how are they going to taste?!?

No worries, they're tasty!

Next for the evening, going to see the movie I talked about earlier this week, "The King's Speech", with Michael's parents and sister, it should be a good time! Hope everyone had a great Saturday!