OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok Ok I know, two posts in one day is a little ambitious, BUT I just found out SUPER exciting news!!!!!!!!!!!! My favorite band of all time...Journey...Is...Going...To...Be...At...The...IOWA STATE FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! August 23. I am there. Special guest is Heart. It is going to be amazing. If anyone wants to join me, I will drive. And my family lives in Des Moines, so we would have a place to stay. And the Iowa State Fair is one of my favorite things in the world. The tickets go on sale April 11. I am there. Front Row. Wow. I am so excited. The concert is on a Sunday night, so darn, I will have to take Monday off from work. But it will totally be worth it. Again, anyone want to go with me?? Let me know... So long for now...

WHOA

I just realized how long it has been since I updated my blog...too long basically... I am trying to think of all of the things that have happened since then. Well a few weekends ago, my Grandparent's (Mom's side) came down for the weekend. It was a nice weekend. Friday night we went to Bloomington to see the Gaither's. The average age was about 60, but I really enjoyed it. It is a Southern Gospel type show. It was enjoyable, but long. The show started at 7, and I don't think we left until after 11!!! We really got our money's worth though. The next day, Mom, Grandma, and I went to LaTeaDa for lunch. It is a cute teas room in Clinton. After lunch, we went shopping to a few different crafty stores in the area. It was beautiful weather, and a really enjoyable day. That night was another exciting night of Extreme Football. Doug and Mindy were there again, so that proved to be entertaining. I told Doug that I wanted to see him on the Dance Cam...he never was on there. Wait until the wedding, and there should be a little dance-off... But only if there is a trophy involved!!! Needless to say the Extreme lost at the very last minute. To give them credit though, Sioux Falls (the team they were playing) was the team that they played for the championship last season, and reported to be the toughest in the league. Anyways, it was a sad loss. Let's see...what else has happened since the? Well last weekend we celebrated Mindy's birthday!!!! That was a fun night. We went to Guadalajara for dinner, then went to The Wharf, which is a little dive place in Decatur for the night. It was a lot of fun. There were only a few mishaps at dinner with Alyssa's children, but hey, they did pretty darn good! Also, my Aunt is famous now apparently. Her dog Augie ate $400 from her dresser, and now she is on all kinds of shows and in papers, worldwide!!! It is pretty surreal to follow all of the places she has been on. I even read an article that was published in INDIA!!!! Anyways, Augie ate the money, then it 'processed' and a few days later, she was mining for money! She got most of it back, and is planning on sending it to the Treasury department for a refund! There are even political cartoons inspired by it. Bryce was home for Spring Break, so it was nice to see him! Even though it was brief. Also last weekend was Bryce's birthday too!!! The big 2-0. Mom had a little moment when she realized that he kids are not teenagers anymore! all of my other time has been consumed by doing homework. My 3rd class started for the semester last week. It is a Psych class, so it should be interesting. Well, I think that is all for now. I can't think of anything exciting that happened. I will try and keep up with this more regularly from now on... Try being the key word. So long for now...

Slacker

Wow, I am really slacking on this whole blogging thing. I know that I am sooooo interesting, but sometimes I just have a hard time pumping myself up to sit and write about my days events. I figured now would be as good of a time as any. So flash back to the last post, since then quite a bit has happened in my life I guess. Friday night was Wine Night at the Decatur Club. The 501 Club was hosting a Wine Pairing dinner for their members, and it just so happens that Alyssa, Mindy, Lauren, and I are all members of the 501 Club. I will try to remember the menu the best that I can. The first course was a salad with a Pecan encrusted Shrimp with a Peanut dressing that was great! That was paired with a Riesling. The second course was a grilled chicken breast with with rice that had a cinnamon/nutmeg sauce over the chicken. Deliciously paired with a Chardonnay. Third course was pork with a sweet potato mash. Then started the red wines, and forgot the names... Oops... Fourth Course was collectively our favorite I think. It was Beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes and asparagus. There was a wine/mushroom/amazing sauce poured over that. Mindy said that she wanted that meal for her wedding... I know what I would order if that was on the menu!! The fifth and final course was a HUGE slice of chocolate cake paired with a Port. We were soooo stuffed by the end of the meal is was ridiculous! I wish I would not have ate all of the 1st and 2nd course, so I could have enjoyed the later courses more! After dinner was over, we headed to Katz for an after dinner drink. After my drink was gone, Alyssa and I headed home, and the other 2 left shortly after us. Come Saturday morning I had a heck of a headache/migraine. Whether it was from the wine or not, I popped a migraine pill and woke up hours later, pretty much free of a headache. Saturday was the first EXTREME game of the season! Well actually it was an exhibition game, but still I was pumped! The team looked great! There are many new players from the NFL and AFL which has really improved that quality of the play, which was not terrible last year, but there is a noticeable difference. The final score was 43-9. We kicked some butt. My entertainment for the evening, besides watching the game, was watching the Jumbo tron to watch for Mindy and Doug appearances. They were celebrities by the end of the night, because the kept showing them. Much to my dismay, they were not featured on the Kiss Cam, which I think would have been comical. Mindy was also entertaining me my texting me the vulgar things the avid fan behind her was screaming. Some of the highlights were "I'm going to slit your throat" and some expletives about him not getting a Free Big Mac. The Extreme have a promotion going that if the team scores 44 points or more in the game, your ticket to the game will get you a free Big Mac at local participating McDonald's the next day. As I mentioned, the Extreme ended up with 43 points. So it was close, but no cigar. Sunday was a fun filled day of helping Bryce do laundry at the Colosseum. We were there for about 5 hours, sitting in a smelly hockey locker room, waiting for the loads to get done. I did get some homework done, and it was nice to just sit and talk with Bryce. That brings us back to the work week. Monday, Doctor's appointment to look at my throat. Every time I swallow it feels like something is stuck in my throat. This has been going on for over a month. It does not hurt, but just annoying. Apparently there is nothing wrong. We had to make an emergency trip to Argenta-Oreana Elementary School to take our test, because our Internet was not working when we wanted to start our online test. Mom was not a happy camper. Everything worked out. Mom thinks she has it figured out because she says that we need 'more Megas or Gigas' She is very technical! After we got home, we watched Jon and Kate, and Dancing with the Stars. I have not been an avid watcher of DWTS but this season there are a few people that I want to watch like Shawn Johnson (the pride of Des Moines!), Holly from The Girl's Next Door, and of course Melissa, the jilted girl from the Bachelor. I thought the guy from Apple was hilarious. My mom and I were laughing so hard when he was dancing. Good for him though, because he is out there having fun! Tuesday brought a dentist appointment, and class. I made the Dentist look down my throat to see if HE could see anything. He couldn't. I am still not going to accept this for an answer. I am convinced that there is something strange going on. Class was ok. We picked our groups for our final projects that are due in May. All I can say is, I am glad that I have one of the girls in my group, as for the other girl, not so much... Everything should work out though. So here we are to Wednesday again. Nothing exciting has happened to me so far today, but then again it IS only 8:16am. I am going to get my haircut/highlights tonight. Of course I am going to the BEST salon in all of Decatur...Fringe...there is a little free PR for you Alyssa!!! And I do believe, that not only do I go to the best salon, but I have the best stylist! I even voted for her in the HR Best of Decatur thingy. I love getting my hair shampooed. There is something so relaxing about it! It feels way better when someone else does it! OK, now I am running out of things to say. So I will end this. Maybe, just maybe, I will upload some pictures from the weekend. I have another exciting weekend coming up this weekend, so I am sure there will be another riveting installment of my life soon! So long for now...

Hump Day!!!!

Finally!!! Wednesday!!! It seems like this week has been long, and it is only Wednesday. I have a lot of things to look forward to this weekend! First and fore most is WINE NIGHT Friday with the girls! We are going to a 5 course wine tasting/dinner at the Decatur Club. The 501 Club is hosting it, which is a group that is for young professionals, and helps them to meet/network/have fun with others around their age in the area. That should be a lot of fun! Bryce also comes home Friday for his Spring Break. It is always nice to have Bryce around! I am trying to convince him that he would want to live with his sister in Bloomington if I transfer to Illinois State to finish my Bachelor's. He says he doesn't know how 'his lady friends' would handle that! Oh Bryce, you are too funny!! I said, what about my man friends?! I will keep you posted on the progress of that. Saturday is the exhibition game for the Extreme. I am pumped! The Extreme games are so much fun. They were really good last year, even made it to the final game! This year they should be even better, since the AFL is not playing this year, the Extreme has recruited several players from 'the big league'. This will also be Bryce's debut as the Head Equipment Manager. I am so exciting and proud! Maybe I should get a shirt made with his face on it or something?? Something to think about! What do you think Brycie???? I plan on getting a good chunk of homework done this weekend too. I will try and get some pictures on here from the weekend/Wine Night/the Extreme game. Hope everyone has a great Hump Day!! Mindy, the week is half over, so that means ISATs are half over!!! You will really need a glass of wine by Friday! So long for now...

Hey guys

Sorry I have started to slack off a little on the blogging. Today is just going to be a short one, and a question at that. I have been feeling a little down for some reason lately. What do you guys do to perk yourself up, or cheer yourself up? So long for now...

Mardi Gras update...

Well Lauren and I survived Mardi Gras, and it was a blast! It was so cold, but we survived that, and had so much fun. I am just no catching up on my sleep from while we were there, even though we were old ladies and did not go out as much as we could have. I guess we are just getting too old for this! We needed naps and went to bed 'early' and we still didn't make it out at night! This week, I am looking forward to Girl's Night on Saturday. We are going to have Mexican night at Lauren's apartment. I am going to be bringing a dip, and a dessert. I will be bringing an alternative drink for myself, because I do not do Margarita's!! I will have to keep this short today, but I will update later this week. I hope everyone has a good Hump Day! So long for now...

Wish us luck...

Lauren and I are heading down to St Louis after work today! Wish us luck that we do not get trampled on, and that we do not get frostbite on our extremities. The high is still set at 32 degrees but now there are supposed to be 20-30 mph winds. Of course today is a high of 46, but Mardi Gras is not today. Go figure. I am sure there will be lots of stories to tell once we return! Have a good weekend everyone! So long for now...

Mardi Gras here we come!

Well, it is official. I am heading to St Louis this weekend for Mardi Gras. This is a big tradition and party for people around here, because it is rare that fun things happen. And since STL is conveniently located about 2 hours from here, it is perfect driving distance for the weekend. The parade takes place in historic Soulard for any of you that know a little about St Louis. I am going down with my friend Lauren, and we are meeting up with a bunch of her friends that she went to SLU (St Louis University) with. Both of her sisters go to school in STL so we will be staying with one of them. I am excited. I have only been to the Mardi Gras once in STL, and it was an alright time. By the time we got to the parade, it was practically over, and it was cold... The high for Saturday is a balmy 32. Gotta love the Midwest in the winter. Someone was asking me what I was going to be wearing to the parade, and I said it will be a matter of function over fashion, namely I will probably be wearing long johns and a sweater! I am not about to walk around outside all day long and be freezing cold. It makes it a little harder to enjoy the adult beverages that are served, but it will be fun. I am sure I will update everyone on the time when we get back, and I will try to get some pictures, but my charger for my camera is hiding right now. So if I happen to find where it is hiding, I will be able to have a fully charged camera, otherwise no pictures. Hope everyone is having a great week! So long for now...

Digital Converter Boxes and Chocolate Covered Strawberries...

Well I hooked up my digital converter box to the TV in my room last night. Even though the channels do not have to actually change over until June or whenever now, 3 of the 7 channels that I get decided to go ahead and change over on the original date. It took a few tries,because I misplaced my English instruction manual and my Spanish is not great, but I eventually figured out how to do it, and right after I got it figured out Sarge stood up and I found my English manual. I am very pleased with it, because before I hooked it up, my TV was just plugged in to the wall and on a good day I would get about 7 channels, and depending on the weather or where I was standing/sitting in the room, the reception was always marginal at best. Now that my box is plugged in, I now get a whopping 14 channels, but I am pretty pleased. I now get CBS which I never did before, and even though I rarely watch anything on that channel, it is always nice to have more options. I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. I honestly had probably the best/my favorite Valentine's Day that I can remember. My parents went to St Louis for the weekend, so it was just Sarge and I for the weekend holding the fort down. Friday night I went to get my nails done (thanks G and G!) then I met up with Lauren and we headed to El Matador to dinner for our friend Karen's birthday. The plan was to have dinner then to go see Friday the 13th. Well we never made it to the movie, but we did go to Starship Billiards after dinner and shot some pool and had a good time. Justin and I were having a good time making fun of 'Happy Feet' who was this guy on the other side of the place just breaking it down to the music. I mean he was GETTING IN TO IT!!! I was dying laughing. Then there were the 3 beauties next to us (Lauren you know who I mean!). These girls definitely needed for fashion advice of something. This one girl was wearing a shirt that was way too small for her, and was way too low cut. Ever once in awhile she would bend over the pool table to shoot, and something would fall out, I will just leave that one to your imagination. I was the old fuddy duddy that night, because I had class in the morning, so I made Lauren leave, probably earlier than she wanted to, but all in all it was a fun night. Saturday morning I woke up and was not pleased that I had to go to class because I was cold and just wanted to stay in my warm bed! But I got up and took care of Sarge and started my day. Now my usual breakfast food on the weekend when dad does not make a big spread is my Special K with strawberries. So I got that all poured out in to my bowl and went to get the milk. No milk. No cereal for me. So my breakfast of champions was an extra Soft Taco Supreme from Taco Bell that I had from lunch the day before. I decided that since I was missing my cereal that I would hurry to get ready then make a Starbucks stop before class. I am glad that I did that! I do love my Venti Nonfat Half-Caf Iced Caramel Machiattos! Class was kind of a hoax. It is supposed to last from 10-12. I was walking out of the classroom at 10:27 because we were working on different skills in class and once we got our set things done we were free to leave. The day was looking up! Off to Blockbuster I went and I rented Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, The Secret Life of Bee's, My Best Friends Girl, Zach and Miri Make A Porno, and House Bunny. It is very rare that I rent 5 movies and really enjoy all of them, but I was laughing hysterically and really glad that I rented them. Next stop was Kroger to pick up supplies for dinner. As soon as I walked in I wanted to turn around and leave because it looked like Valentine's Day had thrown up in the store. There were flowers, hearts and balloons everywhere! I forged on and gathered my supplies for my gourmet dinner that I had planned. On the menu was Creamy Seafood Risotto and chocolate covered strawberries. I was so very happy with the menu. The risotto was AMAZING and the strawberries were fun to make. I will post the recipe for the risotto and some pictures of the dinner later. Lauren, maybe you could add this recipe to your repertoire, it is a little labor intensive, but easy, and there is nothing green in it so Chad would eat it! I made a drink of Mountain Dew and Bacardi and settled in for a dinner of movies. Like I said previously I was laughing hysterically, and you know something is funny when you are by yourself and you are laughing out loud. I don't know if I subconsciously picked funny movies, or if the movies that were out were just not the sappy kind. Usually I end up with movies that are all lovey dovey and make me depressed by the end of the movie because things like that never happen in real life. I am glad I did not spend my Valentine's Day watching depressing movies and feeling all sad. I really do have to say that my overall outlook on life and my demeanor towards everything lately has been really positive. I am so glad. I am tired of thinking 'Oh woe is me...'. Anyways finally about 3 am I made it to bed, because I watched Law and Order after one of my movies and it freaked me out and I was sitting in my bed thinking that I kept hearing things, therefore not allowing myself to go to sleep. I am such a baby when it comes to that. That is why I will never be able to live by myself. I would be so severely sleep deprived from not being able to sleep that I would not be able to function. Sunday was just a lazy day around the house. I made scrambled eggs with some of the leftover crab and shrimp mixture from the risotto and they were great. I do have to make one comment on The Amazing Race last night. Now I love this show, and this is the only reality TV show that I would ever consider applying for. For those of you who are now aware of it, the basic gist of it is that there are teams of two that are racing around the world following clues and completing tasks. It is a great show and I recommend everyone watch it. It is on Sunday nights on CBS (I guess I do watch shows on CBS, see comment above). Well last night was the first episode of this season, and I think it was the funniest one that I have every seen. My mom and I were laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my face. Even my dad liked it I think, and you all know how hard he is to impress! Well the teams were in Switzerland and there task was to run up this hill and carry these 50 pound rounds of cheese down. They had to carry a total of 200 lbs of cheese. The funny part came when the cheap wooded racks tat they had to carry the cheese with broke and the cheese starts rolling down the hill. I mean these things were going fast! At one point an older man that was sliding down the hill on his behind screamed 'Don't let the cheese hit me!' If this is not funny to anyone besides my mom and I, then I suggest going to CBS.com and watching the episode. Hilarious. Next week the contestants will be travelling through Germany so that should be cool. Maybe they will be some places that I have been to. That is always neat. OK, well now that this is officially the world's longest post, at least by my standards, I will let everyone continue their days! Hope everyone has a great week! So long for now...

Boo

As much as I dislike being sick, I dislike being back to work even more... Hope everyone is having a better day than me!!! So long for now...

Finally a post about the weekend!!!

So, sorry for being a little late in posting, but I have food poisoning, but I am on the mend, and so that has put me back a few days!  Anyways, on to the exciting weekend that we had!  Friday night was fun, because my Grandparents were coming back from North Carolina and they stayed at our house that night. We had a really yummy dinner, and had fun hearing all of the funny stories that happened while they were in North Carolina. Saturday the fun began! I slept in and then got up and did a little bit of homework. After getting ready I headed to Fringe, the best salon in Decatur! My good friend Alyssa was going to do my hair for the big night out. Lauren was in there getting her hair done when I got there, so it was fun to just hang out and chat while we were all there. I must say my hair looked fabulous, and I do always love to get my hair done, especially to get it washed! After hair, Lauren and I went to Verizon so she could get her new Blackberry! She was so excited to finally be getting one! After Verizon, we went to Panera to have lunch because we were STARVING! Actually it was more of a late lunch, since we ate at 2:30 and we had dinner reservations at 5:30, but we could not wait any longer! Our friend Alyssa, and our talented hair stylist met us at Panera. We then all headed to the mall to see if we could find any good deals. Well I think I found the deal of the day. I was looking at the dresses in Von Maur, because I am going to be in Mindy's wedding next October, and with my luck I would not be able to find anything if I waited very long to look. I tried on a very pretty black dress with some black embellishments, and a bubble bottom. Needless to say it was super cute. The tag said that it was $70, so I figured that was a decent price for such a nice dress. Well I went to the check-out to pay and the lady said, "Oh this is on sale!" I figured she meant like 10% off or something. The dress was on sale for $18!!!!! I was so excited!!!! This is the second time that I have bought a dress that was on sale at Von Maur and did not even know it until I checked out! I bought 2 other shirts and a pair of cute earrings as well. After our shopping spree we realized that it was getting late, and we better get going so we could get looking beautiful for the night. Alyssa, Lauren, and I headed off to Lauren's apartment to get ready. It was a rush, but we all looked spectacular by the time we left! Next stop was Pastabilities for dinner. We were meeting Mindy, her 2 friends from high school, Erica Lauren's sister, and our friend Sam there. Dinner was fantastic and there was good conversation all around. I got my present from Mindy and Lauren, and I got the best card. I am thinking about getting the front part framed, it talks about Girls Night, and gives a funny definition of it. We had to rush across downtown to make our movie at the Avon. We went to see "He's Just Not That In To You". I really liked the movies, but I was feeling a little jaded through out the whole movie, because I really don't things like this movie happen in real life. Or at least not to me, and I wish they would! I really did enjoy the movie though. And it is always fun to go see a good girly movie with your friends. After the movie, it was time to head out! After a short stop at Block's, we went to Lincoln for a drink, then we headed to Katz's. We were at Katz's for the majority of the night, and it was a lot of fun. I tried several different flavors of the martinis that they serve there. There were several random things that happened that night. Some of the stories might not be too appropriate for the blog...BUT I did hear the lamest pick-up line ever at Katz's. I was standing at the bar ordering a drink, and this guy comes up to me. He asks me if he was bigger than my boyfriend, when I told him no, he then asked me if he could kiss me. I of course declined, but I did think it was a funny pick-up line. We then ended up seeing him the rest of the night. For clarification, this guy was not a winner, and he could hardly even stand up haha. After we left Katz's we went back to Lincoln, and this is where I met Joe Kinney. I had ordered a shot for Lauren and I, and while Lauren was in the bathroom, Joe was sitting next to me and asked me if the shot was for him. I for some reason said it was, so that is how I started talking to him. It was just nice to have a conversation with someone that was not one of my friends already. After the Lincoln, we went back to Block's because our good friends Chad and Chris were there. I must say that I have missed them, but it was so nice to see them again. After typing all of this, I think I actually met Joe Kinney AFTER we were at Block's because it was right at the end of the night. This was the first time I had been out until bar close, in a VERY long time. I had a blast though, and am so very thankful for the friends that I have. They are amazing, and I couldn't ask for anyone better! The end of the night brought an AOK taxi ride back to Lauren's apartment, a sausage pizza, and a little Facebook before heading to bed around 3:30. For some reason I woke up at 7:30 the next morning, and amazingly I felt great! The rest of the weekend was just spent hanging out and catching up on my sleep. Once again to my friends, thanks so much for such an amazing time! And I can't wait to do it again! I better get going now, I think this is the longest post so far. And I was going to add some pictures to it, but I only ended up with 4 pictures from the whole night, so just use your imagination on how much fun we had! So long for now...

Short and Sweet

Not much has been going on this week. The rest of my birthday was great. I received amazing flowers and a balloon from my family later in the day. They are still sitting on my desk at work, but they are starting to droop a little :( The still smell great though! I am getting excited for the weekend! It is almost here. After class tonight it is home to watch the Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice mega extravaganza! I think it should be good. I have made my New Year's Resolutions finally. I wanted to make sure that it was a good one, and one that I could actually follow through with for more than a month. This year I am going to go somewhere at least twice a month that might be out of my comfort level. The whole experience is to hopefully meet some more people, but if not, I will at least get to go to some new places and become more comfotable in different situations. Those of you that know me, know that I am not a shy person with my friends, but for some reason if I do no treally know someone, I am shy. So I am trying to fix that.... More updates to come on that. This might be the last post for a few days unless something fabulous happens. I will for sure post after Saturday night, to fill you in on all of the fun details there! Have a great Thursday! So long for now...

24 seems so old...

Well I am beginning to think that the older you get, the more anti-climatic your birthday is! I remember as a little girl thinking about my birthday for months, or at least once Christmas was over since it was the next 'holiday' in my mind, and how magical and special the day was. You took your cupcakes to school and sometimes even got to wear a crown all day at school. Now ever girl loves to wear a crown whether they admit it or not! I loved being the center of attention for at least one day! Now, you get up, go to work, go to the doctor, go to class, take a test, and then head head just in time for bed. Or at least that is what my day will look like today! Now I do have to give credit to my good friend Kacy, because she got to work before I did today and put up some Happy Birthday paraphernalia around my office, and even had a warm Hardee's breakfast sandwhich waiting for me on my desk! Now there is a girl that knows me best! I mean, food pretty much makes up for the fact that I cannot wear a crown anymore! Last week as I was thinking about my approaching birthday, I was really stunned to think about how much older 24 seems than 23. At 23 you are 'usually' just a year or so out of college and it is ok if you are not sure what you want to do, you don't have as many responsibilities, etc. Now at 24, it seems like the world now will accept you as an adult. I am not sure what I will think about 25, but shoot that is a whole 364 days away! So for now I will concentrate on being 24, and will practice being 'grown up'! Now I guess that means I should pay my phone bill that came in the mail last night. Nothing like getitng a bill in the mail instead of a festive birthday card! I guess this is a 'Welcome to the Real Worl Ashley' sign. As a disclaimer, the picture that I added is not a cake that I received, but I thought it was funny and appropriate! Well better get going. Hope everyone has a fabulous day! So long for now...

Over the Weekend

OK, so I promised that I would update you with all of the fun and exciting things that went on this weekend. I already mentioned going to the Bourbon Barrel on Thursday with Lauren. Friday night I did some homework and went to bed early. Saturday morning started with going to class. It was only the second class so it is still kind of new to everyone. We got there a little late, so Mom and I had to sit in the front row. I guess she was nervous that we would not be able to find 2 seats together, but she told me that she would have just asked someone to move! Mom, you are getting so good at this, you would be fine on your own! I ended up having a 'sigher' on the other side of me. She was getting frustrated with not knowing how to do things, and she kept sighing every minute for the whole class. At one point I asked her if I could help, and she asked me a question. When I showed her how to do what she asked, she told me that I was wrong, so that was the end of helping her! I was trying to be nice, but I guess she wanted none of it. After class Mom had a visitation to go to so I just sat in the car and had a little snooze. That was really nice!!! More homework was done that afternoon, and then Bryce showed up!!!! He surprised me! I thought he was just going to meet us in Bloomington for dinner, but he drove all the way home just to be with his favorite sister!!! You know it is true Brycie!!! We decided to open my presents on Saturday, since we were all together, Dad is going to be gone tomorrow on my actual birthday, I have class until late, and Bryce would obviously be back at school. I got just what I asked for...a Wii Fit!!! I am so excited to start using it as often as I can! I also got a pink cover for it, a gift card for Von Maur, which I hope to use to find something exciting to wear for this weekend, and a cookbook of different foods that 'travel' well to potlucks and such. It seems that I was good this year, because I really made out well!!  After that we headed up to Bloomington to eat at Kobe which is a really neat restaurant.  It is a hibachi style restaurant where they cook in front of you and it is all a big show.  I really enjoyed myself.  At the end of the dinner I thought we were done, then all of a sudden these guys came out banging on drums and come up to me.  They tied a really awesome headband around my head and stuck 2 chopsticks in the headbacnd.  They then proceeded to sing to me Japanese style, but funnily enough, none of them were Japanese!!  After that embarassment we drove home and all decided to try out the new Wii Fit.  I must say it was pretty entertaining to see Bryce 'Hula Hoop' and swing his hips this way and that!  We are all going to work on or weight apparantly, and I am sure we will all do great!  Sunday morning we woke up, and Dad made a HUGE breakfast that was very yummy!!  After breakfast we got ready and headed to Champaign.  Our neighbor gave us his tickets and parking pass for the Iowa-Illinois basketball, thanks Dave!!  We had a really good time there!  One of us, who shall reamin nameless, got a little worked up over some of the calls, but they calmed down.  Iowa showed up to play and I think we were all surprised when they only lost by a single digit margin.  Go Hawks!!!  The last excitement of the weekend was of course the Super Bowl.  We rushed home after the game, so we could watch the next game.  I think we were all cheering for the Cardinals, because we love Kurt Warner, being from UNI and Iowa...  Plus it is always fun to cheer for the underdog.  I thought overall it was a great game to watch.  There were a few questionable calls, but overall it was a good time.  I love to watch all of the commercials, and I think there were some pretty funny ones this year.  A few of my favorites were the one on the moon and the astronaunts get their tires stolen which was for car insurance, the 3-D commercials were great, and of course all of the beer commercials are always great.  We of course had WAY too much food, but I love just to snack on things throughout the whole game.  A part of me was sad that this was pretty much the last of football until next fall.  I do love my football.  Well that is all for now, and for my exciting weekend.  Stayed tuned to see what exciting things happen in my life this week!!  And I am sure I will be having lots to write about from next weekend, which is when I am celebrating my birthday with my girlfriends!  I cannot wait.  Hope everyone has a great week and is not too sad that the Groundhog saw his shadow, therefore another 6 weeks of winter...  So long for now...

Quick Note

I just wanted to write a quick note to all to let you know that I will post a full blog, with pictures from the weekend, tonight when I get home. Hope everyone have a GREAT day! Happy Groundhog's Day!!!!

Just a quick update

Well I have not posted for a few days. Sorry. I have a bunch of exciting things going on this weekend that I will definitely post about next week. In case you have not bought my present yet, my birthday is on Tuesday! Wednesday night I got a haircut, and then I met up with my friend Lauren at Bourbon Barrel. We had a lot of fun with her co-workers and her boyfriend. It was a late night, but worth it! I met some great people and hope to hang out with them again soon! The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. Tonight I have to do homework. I took Sarge back to the vet today, and his ear is almost completely better, but they put some more medicine in his right ear just to be safe. Luckily we do not have to go back for another check-up, unless something seems to be wrong. I am looking forward to my favorite brother coming home this weekend to help me celebrate my birthday! Like I said exciting things are going on this weekend so I will update again once the events are over! Hope you all have a great weekend!!! So long for now...

Oh SARGE!!

So I am not a happy camper this morning. Last night I was getting ready for bed. By the time I was getting ready for bed, I was already really tired, because I had stayed up a little later than normal anyways. So needless to say I was ready to climb in bed and go to sleep. As I was pulling my covers back, I realized they were a little damp. Immediately I flashed back to when I got home and Sarge was laying on my bed. Now I suppose I should backtrack and fill you in on the 'health problems' Sarge has been having. Last week I took Sarge in to the Vet for his yearly check-up and an hour later we left with a bunch of different bottles to help his ear infection, his 'allergies', and the dry skin that he had. One of the bottles was for doggie Prednisone, and the Vet warned that it would make him have to go the bathroom more frequently. We definitely noticed that he was wanting to go outside more often, but he really hadn't had any accidents inside... Until he decided to wet on my bed. So back to 10pm last night, I was hoping that it was just my duvet and its cover that needed to be washed, but each layer that I ripped off my bed, was wet as well. So now after work, I get to take my duvet back to the cleaners and wash all of my sheets. Needless to say I did not have a 'backup' comforter or anything last night, so I just had my fleece tie blanket which is normally warm, but it must have been cool in the house last night because I did not move once in the night, because I was so cold, I was trying to conserve the little heat that was under the blanket. At one point in the night I entertained crawling across to Bryce's bed, but don't worry Bryce, I did not do that since your sheets are clean, and you are going to sleep in them this weekend. So I will bundle up tonight, and the next few nights, until my blankets are all clean. I do want to backtrack to the point where I mentioned that the vet said Sarge could have allergies. Now those of you who know my Dad, will know that he thought this was the craziest thing that he has ever heard. He exact words were "Allergies?! It's just a dog. Allergies?!" But for being 'just a dog' he sure does like spending time with him! I felt like I should add a picture to this post, but since I don't have a picture of Sarge readily available, I will post this one that is NOT him, but looks similar. So long for now...

And so it begins...

So like everyone else says, I have decided to start a blog. Now you may think, "What? Ashley is boring. Why would she start a blog?" and that is exactly what I thought when the idea was first brought to me, but honestly I can be as interesting as I make myself appear... Currently I am typing this blog instead of working. For those of you who may not know, I am a Career Agent for Innovative Staff Solutions in out Clinton office. My office specifically hires people to work at the RR Donnelley plant here in Clinton. It is not exactly my life's calling, but it pays the bills for now. I am going to school at night at Richland Community College. My major is Special Education at Richland, and I hope to specialize in Early Childhood age. I am a long ways off for right now, but I can only take so many classes since I work full time as well. This semester I have 2 classes right now, and a 3rd one that starts in March. I am taking Intro to Applied Statistics, and Technology in the Classroom so far, and if I happen to start the 3rd class, it will be Psychology. If the work load is proving to be too much with my first 2 classes, then I will not start the 3rd class, and just take it next semester. I am taking Technology in the Classroom with my dear Mother. Now, why we thought this would be a good idea is beyond me. We are both pretty stubborn, and can be very emotional for no reason, so 2 weeks in to the class there have already been tears, yelling, hugging, and making up. So we shall see how this turns out. The main problem with the frustration on my Mom's end, is that she does not think she is very good with the computer. Now granted, I have grown up using technology, and I am much more confident in my skills than she is, but man give yourself some credit Mom! You are so much better than you think in your head, and that is what is setting you back!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!! Well this ought to do it for my first post. Now hopefully exciting things will happen to me so I can blog about them! If worse comes to worse, I can always just blog about recipes and food that I have tried!!!! So long for now...