Pile pickin'
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Because this was my sister's time of custody with her son, we decided to open Christmas gifts this morning so that he would have time to play with his toys before going back to his dad's tomorrow. This year was more fun with him than last; he's 2 months shy of 3-years old, so he's all about opening his Christmas gifts (because he already opened a couple and knew what they were so we had to tape them back up!). It's always fun to hear and feel a kid's joy during Christmas time.
My sister and I . . . well, we enjoyed it, too. Every year, it's fun to see what kind of odd things my mom gets us. This morning for example, as soon as my mom left the room, my sister's pile grew larger because I regifted. Yes, regifted while opening gifts. :) She inherited a colorful array of bobby pins and a rather hideous (sorry, mom!) pair of red and black fluffy sock/slippers. I also fought her for her awesome pink keychain for my similar blue one until mom stepped in to tell us that they were are birthstones. Oops! When my nephew was preoccupied opening his Chuggington train set, tinkertoy, and VeggieTales DVD, I was picking from his pile. Hey, don't judge me! The reese's bites and bubble gum were so good! ;) Next year, I will be married, beginning my own Christmas traditions, so it will be interesting to see how next Christmas will be different. Really, I can't wait to wake up next to my Husband on Christmas morning laughing because we were too excited and opened our gifts Christmas eve and have nothing to open that morning. :)
Well, here's to you and your family's CHRISTmas peculiarity. ;) Enjoy it!
Posted byAshley C. at 5:08 PM 2 Love Notes
Labels: Andrew, Christmas, family
500+ memories
Saturday, September 11, 2010
I just finished going through all of my photos on Facebook and right clicking them and 'save as' onto my computer. They have to be restored since *sniff sniff* all of my other photos were stolen; but we won't talk about that because I've learned to just let it go and move on. BUT, as I was going through 500+ photos, I felt like I was going through this emotional rollercoaster ride. Here are some things I learned and felt:
1) I looked so much better last Summer when I weighed 129.
2) Some time soon, I need to get back to Indonesia and rescue my heart.
3) I need to go back to Naples, FL and rescue the other piece of my heart.
4) Josh's muscles are/were enough to make me melt.
5) On that topic, I've got one very handsome fiance.
6) Josh and I have changed so much (looks wise).
7) We were not very active this Summer.
8) I cannot and will not look the way I do now on our wedding day.
9) Me and my Lover have been lots of places together.
10) I've been to 3 weddings in such a short time-period.
11) My nephew is pretty much a grown man now. Nooo!
12) While writing this list, I am thinking about how much I want to give my fiance a kiss and eat ice cream . . .
Posted byAshley C. at 3:17 PM 0 Love Notes
Labels: Andrew, Josh, love, random, vacation
choo choo twains and sunny days
Monday, August 2, 2010
I don't really get to see my handsome nephew anymore since he and his mommy moved out of our home; so, when I do get to see him, you better believe all of my attention and energy are focused on him. Since, mommy was working this weekend, we had the honor to watch (and spoil) him. I don't know if I've mentioned before, but this little bugger is obsessed with "choo choo twains." So, me, my mom, and step-dad took him on the train to Chicago and headed to Navy Pier. And as if the hour train ride wasn't enough, when we got to Navy Pier, the first thing he spotted was the Thomas the Train ride. He rode that. 3 times.
I don't know how we managed to do it, but we got him on the ferris wheel . . . he loved it, but would not let us let go of him to sit him next to us. I don't blame him; that ferris wheel feels like it's miles high. So, in my opinion, he was actually pretty brave. :-] I got lots of pictures, but since the loss, I can't load them on here. :-[
Yesterday, we took him to the county fair. He saw and got to pet the pigs, goats, and horses (cows. haha, still working on that!). A couple months ago, he went to another fair and played that game where you throw the balls into the small jars and can win a goldfish; he won a goldfish and surprisingly, it is still alive. When you ask him where you got the fish, he says "That's my fish. Throw balls!" Well, of course, they had a couple of those booths set up and he insisted on playing that game. Needless to say, after $10, we didn't go home with a fish this time. While at the fair, he rode the carousel and a car-ish carousel (4 times!). He probably would have ridden the twain ride a bajillion times if I didn't convince him it was broken (thank goodness his balloon popped and grabbed his attention when it came riding passed us!). Since we spent so much time dilly-dallying around, we missed the demo derby show. He would have really enjoyed that, but maybe next year. ;-] The sun probably wore him out anyway after sitting in it for 2 straight days.
And I thought I'd give you an update: the insurance said we should have the itemized list and a check in the mail by early this week! Yay! Oh, and Josh said that we are separating the money that we get back from each of our stolen items because he "needs it for something." Hmm . . .? It's most likely not what I think it is, but it's fun to entertain the thought. ;-] This means that I'll have a new laptop hopefully by next week! Then, back to rebuilding my photo albums since they were all stolen. ;-[
Posted byAshley C. at 11:33 AM 0 Love Notes
His first trip
Friday, May 21, 2010
Today when I woke up, my mom came in my room and asked me if I wanted to take Andrew (my nephew) to go see Shrek 3 with her. I thought to myself, Hmm . . . skip my work out and tanning and go see a movie? Actually, it was a harder decision than you would think because I promised myself that if I don't work out, I will not tan. I held myself up to that and decided no workout, no tanning and yes to a movie with my sweet nephew.
This was his first trip to a movie theater, so I was pretty excited for his excitement. Get what I'm saying? He kept saying, "Titi, mobie 'n pahcorns, pahcorns." Since he wasn't feeling too well, I knew that we had a possibility of one of two outcomes: 1) He would throw the world's worst tantrum when he started to get bored, or 2) he would be an angel. Fortunately he decided he would choose the latter of the two. He watched the first 25 minutes of it and told me, "Titi, all done. Up." I picked him up and set him on my lap and he was knocked out! We enjoyed the movie just like all of the other little kids there while he had his big ol' cranium crushed against my collar bone, drool spilling down my shirt, and his shoe digging in my shin. Honestly, I wouldn't have traded his vulnerability-induced cuddliness and that Titi-needing moment for any other. :-] Ahh . . . I'm proud to be his "Titi."
Posted byAshley C. at 1:12 PM 0 Love Notes
60s in November
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
It's been a while! I kind of feel guilty that I am blogging instead of doing homework, but I feel like I've neglected you all for too long now. :-]
So much has been happening the past 5 days, I don't even know where to start. Well, 5 days ago would be a good place, eh?
- My mom bought me, Josh, herself, and my stepdad tickets to see Jeff Dunham in February. My favorite comedian ever!
- Me and Josh were finally able to enjoy some nice weather so we went rollerblading. We thought taking Andrew would be a good idea, but his kind of stroller was not made for rollerblading with, I guess.
- We took a trip to a big jumping gym for Andrew. He had a blast. I am still trying to figure out whether the gym was for Andrew or for me and Josh?
- We went rollerblading (by ourselves) one final time before kissing the nice weather good-bye until next May. My rollerblade wheel fell off, but we got back on the road in no time!
Posted byAshley C. at 3:59 PM 2 Love Notes
Labels: Andrew, fun, Josh, random
We have names!
Monday, September 28, 2009
"Ti-ti" and Uncle "Dosh" finally have names! I thought I would just give it a whirl and see if Andrew would copy me and say our names and he did. The amazing thing about this is that he doesn't only know our names, but he knows us. My sister handed Andrew a picture of us four (Me, Josh, Ann-Marie, and Andrew), and he pointed to everyone of us saying our names. I know, he is 19 months, so he should be able to do this stuff at this point, but now that he is actually doing it, it's impressive. I can remember his actual birth day like it was yesterday, now to look at who he has become warms my heart. It's amazing to see the way God has given this child habits, a personality, and an attitude . . . he's uniquely Andrew and I love it. It's really cool to see the changes that occur and how easy it is to teach him new things.
Posted byAshley C. at 6:24 PM 0 Love Notes
Labels: Andrew, family, Josh, love
It's Been A While
Thursday, July 9, 2009
I feel so out of touch with the world (and myself) because I have not blogged in so long! This whole past week, I have thinking to myself "I need to blog about this, I need to blog about that," and now that it is all passed and I don't remember it all that clearly . . . and I do not want to bore you to death, I will pass this week! I will include some pictures that were taken over this past weekend, though.
Posted byAshley C. at 11:52 AM 0 Love Notes
Labels: Andrew, random, struggles
Naughty, Naughty, Goody-Two-Shoes
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
When I said that I was serious about working out, I was serious. No more being lazy.
I woke up, did some homework, and got bored, so I started looking at stuff online. That always turns into something bad. Nothing good ever comes out of me being bored and sitting online. Actually, I did something really bad. Josh and I both love the Yankees. They are our favorite MLB team. I went on the Yankees website and was looking at tickets for when they will be in Chicago. July 30-August 2. I bought tickets. Josh doesn't know about it yet. I figured that since they were good seats, why wait? They might sell out by the time Josh decides to by them. I mean, we were going to go to a game this summer anyway, right? I'm kind of afraid to tell him.
After spending $130 on 2 Yankees tickets, I decided that I had to make it up to myself and do something that would make it easier to tell Josh. Sprinkle some sugar on top, if you will. I hate running outside. There is something about it that makes my teeth hurt and my lungs feel like they are being pinched. I ran a mile outside. Huge accomplishment for me. I could run forever on a treadmill, but for me to run outside is like pulling teeth (and it feels like it, too!). I texted Josh, "I may have just done something really bad. Can't talk about it, going for a run. BYE!" Whew, got that out of the way.
The run was not bad at all. I think I might make it a routine. I am trying my hardest to lose these last few stubborn pounds. I know that they won't come off easily, so I am going to have to work at it. After my run, I went to McDonalds and bought a large Diet Coke. Yum! So refreshing! So really, that was two good things I did to make up for the bad. I ran a mile and resisted some tasty food. Josh oughta be proud!
So, I have officially decided that I want to take acoustic guitar lessons. I have been wanting to do that for so long and I have settled on the decision. I am doing it. Josh's cousin teaches lessons for pretty cheap, so I am going to have to save up some money for an acoustic guitar and sign myself up! A friend of mine is going to do them with me, so that'll make it interesting. Someone to hold me accountable, eh?
Oh, one more thing. I don't really talk too much about my nephew. In fact, I don't think I have mentioned him at all on my blogs. I should be ashamed of myself! He is the cutest 16 month old baby in the world and I am honored to be his Aunt.
Today, I was playing with him outside and this giant ant came crawling by and I said, "Andrew, look. Look at the ant. Ant." I wanted to teach him what an ant was. So, he started running after it and slamming his palm behind the ant's trail, laughing. Finally, he smushed the ant, looked at his palm, and said, "Uh-oh." It was really the cutest thing because he just learned how to say, "Uh-oh." His voice is so low and innocent and he sounded really concerned about killing the ant. So stinkin' cute.
So, I have redeemed myself. If Josh asks, I am wise and know what I'm doing. Thanks for backing me up, you guys!
Posted byAshley C. at 11:19 AM Post a comment (1) Love Notes
Labels: Andrew, Baseball, Health, Josh
