Exciting News!

BLAKE: 2 years of surgery...from the first back surgery in July of 2009 to the same back surgery in March of 2011. Two weeks before that was eye surgery(lasik) and a couple weeks ago of having toe surgery from a broken toe. WE ARE DONE WITH SURGERY! We have been getting confirmations from doctors saying that if Blake is feeling better, he won't need anymore back surgery! We couldn't be more thrilled. I can't believe what a releif it is. He is 100% sure that he won't need surgery for 20 years worst case scenario.

ASHLEY: I think every girl was excited for the new Breaking Dawn. I was. ha ha. I was even more excited when I was asked to come to a preview showing the day before at 5 and we could win prizes before the movie of Twilight merchandise. They were Geri's (Natalie's mom) tickets so she invited Natalie, Sandy, and I to go. I got off work at 3pm ran to catch a ride with Sandy and Natalie to meet Geri at the theater but we were grabbing dinner before at the District. When we walked in Natalie and I had our Breaking Dawn shirts...I already thought we were embarrassing...until we find Geri in Red Robin...with veils that she made. Oh yes, she made veils for everyone to wear even at dinner. Alot of people were staring and if they weren't they were trying not to stare. I figured that since this a preview everyone would dress up and I wouldn't look so rediculous. I even heard there was gonna be women in wedding dresses. awkward. NOPE! We were the only ones who did something. ha ha. Even worse, Geri told us the reason she got the tickets is cause she acted crazy at the last premiere she went to and they need her(and us) to excite the crowd. Well, whatever people thought of me then was going to change if I had to be crazy. It started out with alot of screaming then it turned into me laughing so hard I had to sit down. Geri had won a prize and climbing over seats and getting stuck. By the time she got to the bottom she was doing the wedding walk to the prize.

The movie, it was a really good Twilight movie. I have to make it clear that it was a great TWILIGHT movie. There was part I just burst into loud laughter in the movie when it got corny. It was the part when Jacob and Leah are talking and they finally "bond" and he says to her, "will you run on my flank" and then they run off like little children. I have seen my 3 year old nephew run off like that. They weirdest part is they don't even turn into wolves!!! Next time you watch it. Look for it.

Get in the Game!

Wow...I feel ashamed that I have a blogging account and I have been seriously neglecting it. Well, the summer has been non stop fun and vacation. I feel pretty lucky to have gone on all of them!! Just recently we went to Lake Powell...I took my camera like normal. I usually have a 4gb sd card and it holds about 2400 pictures. I have 2. I only brought 1. After deleting a blurry pictures I still used 2200 of them!!! Some good high flying tubing! But, I have been doing some deep "summer cleaning" with my brother to make our house more homey for the winter. Upon cleaning my grandmother(dad's side) and my mother have hid pictures...that is a NO NO! I found out why they hid them from me. I did find some goodies though...

I can explain them....from the top!: My mom took this picture in an airplane before she got married....I am 23...do the math.

The middle one is the Bungalow where they had their reception in 198...yes, she will kill me if I put the last number.

The last I am pretty sure went in their announcement.

March

How is it march already?? I thought it was just the beginning of February still. I had the best february that I could have asked for. Blake surprised me with my iPhone for valentines and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. The only day I will like things that are pink. Blake's back surgery was postponed because of complications with insurance. Now we are looking at march for the big surgery day.
A lady I work with told me the cutest thing. It might be corny but for all the stuff Blake is doing with surgery she told me "he is just getting fixed broken so he can work later". I hope so. It will be nice to go on four wheeler rides and snow mobile rides with out having to go back and ice and heat blakes back.
Since I am getting closer to being absolutely done with school it's taking a lot more of my time. I haven't done any scrapbooking in forever. I have to get birthday presents months in advance or have Blake get them. (gift cards are his specialty).
I haven't even been to the cabin this whole year! At the end of janurary we made a quick run to st George. Grandpa wasn't doing to great. But, when we got there he perked right up. We even got a chance to take him and grandpa up to zions! It was wonderful. Grandpa isn't very mobile so we were very happy he decided to go.
March is already speeding by. We celebrated jared's birthday yesterday with elk burgers and a movie. Hopefully he had fun!

Back Surgery...

This is not going to be a normal post. I have had a lot of people tell me not to be with Blake because he will be broken 30 years down the road. Well, I am glad to tell those people, he is broken now, he needs fixing and he will be just fine 30 years down the road. I know this for a fact. Blake's dad also had the same problem when he was even younger than Blake. Since the surgery with Kelly, 30 odd years ago, he has built multiple homes and has maintained more than his share of houses to this day.

Marriage. Well, that is on hold. I do get the pressures of getting married a lot and I am excited to get married. But, the way I see it is. Work hard now, enjoy later. Meaning: I am close to being done with school and so is Blake(depending if I get my masters). We both have great jobs right now and not very many bills to pay. This is why we both live at home cause it is close to each other. If we were to get married right away right now back surgery is VERY expensive. With Blake being double insured I don't have to see that bill. The doctor said that it would take a full year to see recovery. Ya, that pretty much blows. Plus, right after surgery it is about 4 months of practically bed rest. My point: I would really enjoy having Blake being healthy than get married right away. (Plus, if I wait longer, I get a bigger ring!! JUST KIDDING) That is a big joke in the Blake's family.

One down side. Blake's sister is trying to get married again. I would love to see her go through the temple. She has to play the waiting game right now to see when she can get married and sealed to Brandt, who I think is the best for her. I love Jo and I never want to see her hurt. I became very close to her after her divorce and I never want to see her sad again. As much as I could help it I would love to get married before her just so I can see her go through. (that is really selfish of me) But she already knows this. lol.

Top: Christmas day Bottom: SnowCross

Summary of 2010

Almost every month is a birthday between Blake's and my family. I remember all the stuff we do by birthdays. January 2010: My mom's birthday, Jennie's birthday, and Kelly's (Blake's dad) birthday. We went to Disneyland and Knottsberry Farm at the end of the month. Lots of cabin trips in between birthday weekends and parties.

Febraury: Sandy's (Blake's mom) Birthday. We went to the Desert Star and saw the show Twi-lite I Was a Teenage Vampire. It is a live show where they mock twilight. It is pretty funny.

March: Jared's, and Mckayla's birthday. 

April: Joannie's Birthday. Easter at Grandma Devereaux's where she makes her famous coconut bunny cake. We were invited up for Joanne's birthday party up at a bar and go dancing.

May: Shaun's Birthday. Went went to Motocross the day before his birthday. When it rained...it poured we were so wet and soaked. We bought ponchos...but Blake left them in the car.  

June: NO BIRTHDAY! Princess Festival with Mckayla. Where every time since she has asked me when we go back.

July: NO BIRTHDAY. Begining of July we headed to Fish Lake where the weather was wonderful. It is my favorite time of year to go there. In the mountains when its blistering hot at home it is jeans and a hoody weather up there. LOVE IT! Then the end of the month we went to Lake Powell. That was blistering hot and our A/C went out the first day. I was so roasted by the time we got home that the basement was freezing to me I needed blankets.

August: MY BIRTHDAY! Adam's first year back being our birthday so we decided to have our birthday together. We invited some of Blake's family over and had a big dinner. Then since Adam didn't get a pool party the year before we went up to Blake's pool and all jumped in. Where then everyone else came. Then we went to the play Lion King!

September: Blake and Shelly's birthday. More cabin trips up the canyon with four wheeling and deer watching. Blake's birthday we had a birthday party at my house where he got a steak and a big baked potato. Hopefully he liked it.

October: Kyle's birthday. More cabin trips. Halloween.

November: Natalie's birthday.  More cabin trips. Getting ready for the cruise and finsihing school early. Then the longest trip I have ever taken.

December: Dad's birthday. and Christmas. Blake is always so good to me. My christmas from him was snow goggles and gloves. a movie. The U pajama pants. (i wear christmas ones all year round). A 2TB hard drive for all my digital movies that I put on my ipad.

**The pictures are not in order of month**

2 Weeks of Europe

This was our first day in Milan. After NO sleep on an 13+ airplane rides. Kelly really wanted to see this church(Duomo) It took us a while to get there cause we got off the plane, took a train, couldn't find our hotel, an hour and a half later found it and left to the Duomo. Which you had to take another train/subway to see. Once you got to the Duomo you had to climb a spiral enclosed marbel staircase till you felt like your legs were going numb. But well worth it. :) It was so beautiful. It looks great in pictures but even better in person.



This is in Barcelone, Spain at a Monistary clear up in the mountains. Joanne and I couldn't believe how big the doors were and we weren't very good about listening to our tour guide so we snuck over and snapped a couple pictures. We REALLY wanted to go hang on the light cause it was huge but Blake and Brandt distracted us.



This is par of the Monistary. Barcelona, Spain.

A long bus ride to the top to see the Monistary.

Shelly and I at our formal night on the cruise ship.

(Sorry my pictures are not in order) This is right next to the Monistary to show how high you have to climb to see it.

Shelly and I on the cruise ship with the weird lights that changed colors. This was before we left on our excursion in Alicante(Canary Islands) to hike a 6km(4.5 miles) a volcano.

This was our Matridee who gave us coke like 3 nights in a row becuase we were Mormon.

(Like I said, not in order) This was part of the volcano rock we saw on our way up to the huge volcano. Alicante is pretty much covered in volcanic rock. We hiked on it on our way back to the bus! It reminds me of Hawaii alot but 10X the amount of volcanic rock. They pride themselves in using the rock to help grow farms. What the rock does is allow the humidity and moisture to stay in the ground so they NEVER have to water the plants.

Tenerife, Canary Islands. Our excursion for the day was to go to a theme park there cause that is what they are known for. But, everywhere you do go they really pride themselves on their volocanos. Tenerife has an active volcano that was covered in snow so we didnt want to go see it. (it snowed at home) At Loro Parque which is the animal theme park at Tenerife they have a whale show...which all the whales were born and raised at Sea World in California and brought to Tenerife. Plus there was a dolphin show.

Shaun, Joanne, Me, and Shelly all crammed in the back of a cab so we could fit all 9 of us in 2 cabs. The reason we crammed in is cause we had to make it back in time to get on the ship. This was Malaga, Spain. Sandy's nephew Alix lives in Malaga and knows Spanish so we asked him to come hang out with us while we were in port. He took us up on a 2 hour bus ride to Rhonda. We had no idea what we were getting our selves into. lol. It was so beautful it was one of my favorite places. So to make it back in time we crammed.

Rhonda, Spain. This was the most beautfil place. In Europe everything is bigger and this was huge. With a river flowing underneath it and a view from every angle I couldn't put all the pictures up so I put one of my favorites. It is a really must see place to experience.

The Colloseum! Rome, Italy. I loved it! It was beautiful and so unique I just couldn't get enough of the Colloseum and that was our first day in Rome! We actually disembarked off of the cruise ship 2 days early at Rome so we could see more of Rome. I loved it. It was so nice to get fresh air (cause everyone smokes there) and to ride a double decker bus around to see the sites.

Joanne, Me, and Shelly at the Colloseum. (I am neglecting Blake apparently in my pictures)

Florence, Italy. We spent the night right next to this church which is 1 of 3 most famous sites in Italy. Yet, it is just ANOTHER church! lol. The most unique thing about it is that it took roughly 150 years to build.

My picture got messed up. This is Blake and I at the Duomo(top) It was freezing in Italy and I wasn't feeling too hot with no sleep and no real food.

The one thing I really missed is American food. OH MY! I am to this day so sick of pizza I haven't had any Italian food even though it is Americanized. I won't eat it. Give me another two weeks. We had pizza every day and even though they have fresh cheese they put on their pizza it still stunk. Holy Moly.This is going to be so sad but they have McDonalds everywhere in Europe and a Burger King sometimes. One night I was just sick as a dog of Italian food I turned the corner and saw the yellow arches and almost started crying I was so happy. I had a Big Mac that i will cherish forever. lol.

The worst part is this isn't all the pictures...after I took the last picture of the Colloseum my camera battery died. It was so depressing cause the Colloseum was our first stop of the day in Rome and it was like 9 in the morning. So luckily, my cute Blake said to me, "I have my camera. Now you HAVE to sit back and relax and enjoy the trip. You worry about getting pictures and are not in the pictures." So Joanne, Shelly, Sandy, and Blake took extra pictures for me and with me in them. Except for the fact Shelly's camera battery died like 10 minutes after mine. It also didn't help that Shelly said,"I never sleep walk, I just talk in my sleep" Well the little sleep walker tried to put our books in the fridge and probably unplugged my camera battery from the charger. haha.

So there is more pictures to come even my favorite place the Trevi Fountain and the picture of the Pope. But its Christmas Eve and I still have lots of presents to wrap. :D

Merry Christmas!

I'm Back!!!

It feels so good to be home...let alone it AMERICA! I didn't realize how much I would miss just being in America and all the wonderful food, snacks (junkfood), and things available that you do not get outside the states.

Italy was beautiful. Pictures will post later! I could have stayed in Rome for a week. I loved all the tourist spots. The one thing that I really related to Italy was it was like downtown Salt Lake. You see all these buildings and you turn a corner and this beautiful Temple is there in the middle of everything. The Trevi fountain was my favorite to see.

Once we disembarked off the boat at Rome we stayed in the city and the first stop was the colloseum. My last picture of the colloseum my camera battery died!! (I think my bunkmate was sleep walking at unplugged it) but luckily Blake had his camera and took some great pictures so I could just sit back and enjoy.

I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner! It really didn't hit me until I walked in my front door and my house is decorated! They played christmas music on the ship but it isn't the same cause it was humid and 75 degrees. We had a couple of ports that we were unable to stop at so we had a couple of unscheduled stops but that made the cruise more exciting.

There is so much we did in 2 weeks I don't know where to even start! For our dinner everynight we noticed the Matridee (he is the boss of the dinners) was watching us and he came over and asked if we are one family...we said yes. We even said some are missing and he was shocked. After dinner he said tomorrow he will bring us some of his best wine for our patients with dinner and Sandy(Blake's mom) said we don't drink wine. He was stunned then in his Italian accent he said,"Mormon?" we said, "YEAH!" The next night for dinner he came over with a can of coke for everyone at our table and poored it in our wine glasses.

I will post pictures soon with some captures of the trip.