Being a 20 yr. old four times

What a fun privilege to be 20, four times.
This is how I like to look at it. I'm as energetic as ever. I still need excitement & thrills. I still do dumb things, but yet, I'm maturing at the same time. I find joy with my family. I love being a Mom. I still overcook the simplest meals. People still think I'm 2 years older than I really am. I crave playing sports. I continue to say weird things that are totally off the wall. I enjoy sweating.... when I work out, of course. I love dancing to music in my room etc. . .

I AM, 24.    

I have to give my husband props this year because he seriously ROCKED my birthday.

All the possible things that can make me happy . . . were mine for my celebration:

#1- Doing something I've never done before. Check
#2- Spending time outside. Check
#3- Taking lots of pictures of my special day. Check
#4- Wearing comfy clothes. Check
#5- ADVENTURE! Check.
#6- Doing something potentially dangerous & harmful, yet exciting. Check
#7- Babysitting for Wyatt all taken care of. Check
#8- A nice night out with my hot husband. Check
#9- Delicious food that I don't have to make. Check
#10- Live concert full of great music. Check
#11- Meeting someone famous (that is a good person worth meeting) Check
#12- A gift I actually want. Check
#13- Being surprised. Check
#14- Bouquet of flowers. Check
#15- Slideshow of pictures. Check
#16- Spending time with family. Check
#17- Laughter. Check
#18- Day full of happiness. Check 

This was the beginning of my adventurous birthday. Thanks to Ethan and his work, I was privileged to participate in an entire day full of FUN doing as many things in 10 hrs as possible. (A HUGE thank you to all the ladies who watched Wyatt for us during the day so I could do this-- so awesome.)

It's nice to see that I haven't lost all my muscle due to being 20, four times :-)   I got all geared up and dressed in a harness for my activities. We started out with hiking and using a compass. We had to work as a group and figure out where our destination was- way fun. Then, we had to rock climb to get to higher ground.

Repelling down a mountain anyone?

These pictures seriously show how absolutely HAPPY I was this entire day. This is not a smile that had to be created with my lips and forced out for a picture. This is a smile of pure happiness. Honestly, at this moment I was somewhat terrified because it was 100 ft. down and I was just falling off of it, but I was still so happy. What a thrill! Next time I'll go for a 300 ft. cliff I think.

Again, I'm totally ecstatic. Perhaps a little cheesy? Well, I couldn't help it. Riding on one of the longest zip lines (700ft.) over a canyon of death (I added that in for affect) produces such a face. I really did go over a canyon.

Wooooooooooooooooooooo! You can't see it, but it was raining :)

By this time it was lunchtime, so we enjoyed a homemade meal on the rocks. We had been going for a few hours already. For most people (they were older- like being 40, 4 or 5 times :) they were tired and done for the day, but for 5 of us, we wanted MORE. Oh, and the five of us being me, and four other men. That's how I roll.

SOLTIS had sweet mountain bikes ready for us at the top of the hill. The good part was, we didn't have to ride up all the hills. We just started at the top and got to do the fun part of the riding- downhill.

I'm sure these men I was with were thinking, "Oh great, we've got a girl in our group... we're going to be waiting on her." Hee, hee, hee, little do they know right? Don't worry, I was at the front of the pack and I most definitely did NOT slow anybody down :)  St. George is known for its awesome bike trails that are EVERYWHERE and the one we went on didn't disappoint. It's called, "The Loop" and there are 3 levels/trails of difficulty that you can choose from. My innards were telling me to take on the difficulty, but my heart and smarts (since my life is much more important now that I'm a wife and mother) convinced me to be smart and take it easy.

I have never done full out, real mountain biking before, and WOAH BABY it was intense! This was my #6 on the list up above. I was clenching my handles so hard as I cruised over rocks and bumps and peddled hard up steep hills. I went through sand, I squeezed between large rocks, I had to turn almost 80 degree angles sometimes while going fast down the hills. I admit, one turn got the best of me. I was scared going down one part and the nerves won me over. I fell off the side of the cliff while trying to turn in the right direction. It was a tough spot with a stupid rut, and I hit it. Luckily, when I toppled over, there was a small sand pit that I landed in so I didn't fall completely off the little cliff and CRASH at the very bottom. That would have been bad. I scraped up my hand pretty dang good and it was pounding with pain, my knees had blood, but I shot right back up as soon as I fell down. I wasn't going to sit down and moan, I wanted these guys to know that I was tough. Two were watching above me and when they saw my orange helmet pop up they were relieved. I made sure to warn them and yelled up to them, "DON'T GO TOO SLOW!" They had a great laugh and so did I as a mounted my bike and headed down the steep hill again. This time, a little more scared than before.

The trail lasted about 45min but at the end, we all wanted more. We almost drove all the way back up so we could come down again but decided we needed to get cleaned up for the nice dinner that night. I went home and showered, got all dressed up, cleaned my wounds, and drove with Ethan down to a golf resort where we enjoyed a delicious meal together in a fancy building. 

Ethan and I had a wonderful night together talking with guests and enjoying the food. After dessert, we got a private concert with Jenny Oaks Baker.

This is her latest CD that she recorded and I am trying to spread the word and let everyone know how BEAUTIFUL and fun this CD is. It received a Grammy award nomination this year and almost won, it is THAT good. 

 

 

Anyone who loves Disney or has children, GET THIS CD.

The cool part is, all of songs were arranged by this guy...

KURT BESTOR

Kurt is AMAZING at making music and his talents are exhibited in this CD, as well as Jenny Oaks Baker.

Why should you buy this CD?

#1- They are Disney songs, which are classic, but there are no words to the songs. Perfect for singing along or just peaceful music around the house.

#2- These tunes are perfect for children and bedtime. (It's classical music which is very good for children to listen to.)

#3- You get to enjoy these arrangements that are very different than on the Disney movies which makes you anticipate what you're listening to. "Aladdin" is arranged as a tango! :)

#4- You will be supporting a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints who uses her talents to uplift others through good music, and a very talented and incredible music artist, Kurt Bestor who has done lots of music for the church and the world.

#5- The cost of a CD is well worth it. You won't be disappointed.

I'm always inspired by good people who use their talents to uplift others and bring happiness into the world. I am also amazed at professional violinists who can create such beautiful sounds with their violins. It makes me want to pull mine out more and play! She was incredible to listen to.

Ethan bought the CD for me and secretly got her to sign it inside, "Happy Birthday Ashley!" When I opened it I was thrilled :) After the dinner I got to pick up my happy little boy and took him home and fell asleep with him on the floor. It was an incredible day.

Ethan, you really did good honey bunches. THAT is how I like to celebrate my birth! Props to you this year lover boy.

Thanks to SOLTIS, the babysitters, and everyone else who called me and wished me Happy Birthday!

(This was all done on the 27th of April, so technically not on my birthday, but it was all FOR my b-day. I was actually in Rexburg at my parents house for my birthday while Ethan was still in St. George finishing his internship for the last week. Eth sent me flowers for my birthday, so even though we were apart, he still thought of me and surprised me with something. Later that day, he made me a slideshow of all the pictures of the adventures on my birthday and the stuff we did together as a family while in St. George. He really worked hard for this birthday and made me feel special.)

UPDATE ON OHIO COMING NEXT!

Cactus country! What did we do for 4 months?

Soltis is the whole reason why we even came to live in St. George, Utah. Ethan was privileged to work with some incredibly smart and talented businessmen for his internship. Another bonus= 3 of them are my uncles, whom I love :)

Ethan and I are so grateful and fortunate to have had such an opportunity as this. Ethan learned a lot about responsibilities within a company, communication, professionalism, clients, managing finances, assembling portfolio's, stock market, interviews, meetings, and so much more! The skills he learned while working with these men have increased his ability to be successful in the future. 

THANK YOU, SOLTIS.

What else did we do?

Well, let me show you...

St. George is an incredible place to live with nice people, warm weather, beautiful mountains/rocks, and lots of bike trails and hiking trails. One weekend we went to Snow Canyon and spent over 4 hours hiking there. It was a great family outing.

Sweet pic right?

We did a lot of fun things when Daddy got home from work. One particular weekend we made pizza's, decorated sugar cookies, and made a tent in the front room where we watched a movie, "Puss in Boots" and ate popcorn.

I love Wyatt's curly hair. I miss it :-(

 

I had fun making this cookie for a friend of mine that is a die hard ZUMBA gal, but I must say, I'm totally getting into it too. I think it is SO FUN. It's one of the funnest ways to exercise, I think. I love rocking out to music and to be able to dance, sweat, and get gross without people looking at your wet pits and saying, "Ewwww, she's gross!" it's actually acceptable. Hahahahaha. Seriously though. 

We went on SO MANY bike rides together as a family. There were tons of trails to go on and this bike trailer made Wyatt's ride most enjoyable. This activity became almost a daily routine. I commend Ethan for picking it up and being about to pedal our 200lb. chunky bike AND the bike trailer everywhere we went- definitely gave him a work out.

Wyatt did a lot of funny things throughout the day when we were home together. I walked in the kitchen after getting ready for the day and he was just sitting there quietly on his bar stool. He got in the fridge all by himself and grabbed the ENTIRE clump of grapes and was plucking them off one by one. He triumphantly held them up here and said, "Mommy look! I eating Bbbrapes!"

Eth worked about 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day and this was the kind of job that didn't have a lot of homework. We really had a fun time spending time together. It was nice to have the whole night off.

Wyatt loves to show off his "jammies" to Daddy every night when he puts them on. These were his new ones from Grandma. Oh, and he is wearing a toe sock on his arm haha.

This looks really bad . . . I know, but it was hilarious! Wyatt told me to, so I am not being cruel. I wrapped him all up and was laughing my head off (literally) and at this point he realized it wasn't very fun anymore. He was a little freaked out that he couldn't move- I would freak out too. We were just playing and having fun wrapping things. This was a one time thing but I'm glad I captured the moment. Look how skinny he is!

I just like this picture a lot. Funny smile, but I like it.

On a long weekend, we decided since we were half way to Arizona, we should go visit Ethan's Nana. The drive and visit to Chandler, AZ is always one to remember. Wyatt loved the warm weather and all the crazy, fun toys that Nana had at the house. When we come to visit, all Nana wants to do is watch Wyatt play and be himself. Kids truly bring us JOY and they know how to enjoy the simple things in life. (It was also fun because we stayed at my cousin, Jesika's, house and hung out with her family as well. It was so fun to talk to her and play with her darling kids.)

Tradition: we all gather around the table and we light these candles for Wyatt to blow out with the stopper. He's a pro at it now. What a fun game for him.

Nana adores her grand babies.

DATE NIGHT= GOLFING! in the sprinklers with ducks....

This was one THEE funnest date night we've had in a long time. We actually got a babysitter for the night so the two of us could go play. We went with our awesome friends, Chantel & Kurt Baker, and had a blast. This was my VERY FIRST TIME GOLFING ever. I have to admit, this is not a sport I am good at, at all. I got a workout because I had to run and chase my ball all over the place. Man, it felt good to WHACK that thing though :)  We had some great laughs when the sprinkler drenched the guys kart and all their personal items. The sprinklers made it really cool actually.

"Jumping Jacks"

Thanks to these two lovely ladies, Chantel & Holly, I did not become a hermit in the condo all by myself. These two girls are what made this 4 month experience so much fun! We went to parks together, did Zumba, had dinner together, played games, went on walks, went running in the mornings together, played volleyball, went out to dinner etc...  I am so grateful for these two girls and for the kindness they showed me when we moved in. I LOVE THEM TO PIECES! I miss them so much already.

I am proud of all the exercise I did by myself and with Chantel while I was here. I went running almost every morning or else I took Wyatt on bike rides around town and on trails. Most the time I went so long that he fell asleep. One morning though, Chantel and I actually hitched up our bikes to go on a sweet trail and I ended the joy ride short. We were dangerously close to getting hit by an oncoming truck who was going way too fast, and my instincts just told me to go for it instead of stop in the middle of the road. So I yelled, "GO!" we were both going fast but I was cut off a little too close to the corner and the back wheel of the trailer hit the curb and flipped Wyatt over. It was very scary. Wyatt was terrified, I was just trying to see if he was hurt, and Chantel was the calm one. Wyatt had a huge goose egg on his forehead and was scared to death crying and the crash ripped a hole in the material, bent the back wheel on my bike, and almost tore through the leash. I felt really bad for Wyatt but he was ok. It was stupid of me to even be in that situation. I'm learning as a Mom that I need to be more patient and things don't need to be done so fast. I learned a lesson. Sadly, we hadn't even begun our ride and the ride was over haha.

My family has all been teasing me about when I was going to get rid of Wyatt's binky and I always said, "soon". I finally decided that he really was too old for sucking on a binky so we had a little ceremony one night. We tied the binky to some balloons, along with a note, and let Wyatt hold onto it until he was ready to let it go. When he let go he thought it was really cool as the balloons soared into the sky. He went back and forth from being sad to happy, sad to happy... but he handled it quite well. I'm totally doing this again. It was so funny.

We went and climbed rocks one Sunday afternoon. So cute.

Ummmmm, he likes peanut butter? HA! We found a pine cone, stuck peanut butter all over it, put tootie fruities on it and hung it in the tree with a sack. (You can see it in the background) I looked over and Wyatt was making out with the PB.

ZION NATIONAL PARK!

Another wonderful, fun, beautiful weekend spent together. We love the outdoors.

This pretty pool was cool, don't drool, fool. Woah.....

I now know that I need to live in a place where there is more sunlight and heat rather than cold. We were lovin' the sun!

EASTER- we painted eggs, made cute cupcakes, talked about the resurrection, and had an easter egg hunt for Wyatt. He was really good at it but the funny thing is that he would find the eggs and put them directly into the bucket. He didn't even care about the candy inside! So weird for a two year old. He definitely had a one track focus on the hunt though. If he found one, he would stare at it and walk right at it, while passing other eggs by his feet that he wouldn't even notice haha.

"I want more of these, or else.........."

Since I was the music coordinator for our ward here, I had the opportunity of putting together the musical Easter program. I was so grateful for this opportunity because I love the challenge of creating music and coming up with a script. It takes a lot of time, effort, and coordinating, but it was so worth it. We had a variety of songs: choir piece, violin/piano duet, singing quartet, sign language piece, choir and congregation etc... The variety kept people's attention and many were brought to tears, including me. Music has an incredible power of touching our hearts. Good, uplifting music truly does help bring in the spirit. It was one of the best programs I've done yet.

Our back porch served as a perfect canvas for Wyatt to draw on. We spent many mornings and afternoons just hanging out here in the sun blowing bubbles, feeding the birds, drawing with chalk, or eating snacks together.

Fortunately we had access to a pool & hot tub so we visited it many times during the week. Wyatt loved going to the "Poo".
My favorite part is that he would say, "Where are my aqua shoes?" He always made sure he had his shoes as seen in this picture. I was amazed at how he could handle the heat of the hot tub! This kid is a mammal! 

Wyatt also entertained himself a lot during the day, which often led to these kinds of incidents ... eating markers.

These pictures only show half of all the cool things we did while living in St. George but hopefully you get the gist. I would come back and live here in a heart beat. The people are great here. I especially have to thank my Aunt Carrie for taking the time almost every Wednesday to teach me how to make bread. I enjoyed bonding with her and the rest of my Aunts and Uncles while we were there. It's so nice to live close to family. 

We are also grateful for Grandma Anderson for allowing us to stay in her condo for four months. This is overly generous of her and we will forever be grateful for how she helped us. We've realized through this experience that being frugal is a good way to live and that families are there to support you. Many others did little things for us here and there and their kindness did not go unrecognized. 

ST. GEORGE ROCKED! It was a wonderful adventure for us and we can't wait for our next one in Cleveland, OHIO!

It was SO worth it!

I DID IT. 

I am a graduate from Brigham Young University--Idaho.

My goal was to graduate with a 3.5 or above--I graduated with a GPA of 3.65

It took me 4 1/2 years to get a Bachelor's degree in Health Education.

I have an English Education minor . . . why did I do that? I am a horrible speller.

I had ACL surgery during one semester and somehow managed to get around with books and crutches.

I met an incredibly handsome young man and somehow juggled dating and homework for a year!

I played 4 seasons of competitive sports and was nominated as MVP in the summer of 2007.

I traveled all across Europe for a month with my boyfriend . . . then got proposed to in Austria!

I was a waitress for two out of the four years and somehow fit homework and social life in there too.

After a month of studying every day, I triumphantly passed both my PRAXIS tests to become a student teacher.

I am certified in CPR and Wilderness First Aide, thanks to my major.

I threw up every day before class & took naps on the floors of buildings when I was pregnant.

I memorized EVERY SINGLE TINY BONE OF THE SKELETAL SYSTEM and got an A on the test!

Throughout these four years, I've had over 5 tutors. One veeeeeeeeeeery interesting tutor...

I served as RS 1st and 2nd counselor, ward choir director, stake choir director, music coordinator, RS pianist, RS committee leader and more during school.

I gave birth to a beautiful but premature baby, Wyatt, during the week of midterms.

I had my 2nd ACL surgery while taking care of a 3 month old infant at the same time.

I helped wash windows in between classes (while pregnant) to help make money for our family.

The hardest of all: I endured 3 months of student teaching ALL DAY. I did not get more than 5 hrs. of sleep at night. I did not see my husband or child all day. I was on my feet from 8-3:00 teaching 7th graders and planning lessons... then came home and found some scratch of energy to give to my son. I often still made dinner when I got home, then gave Wyatt a bath and put him to bed because I wanted to-it was the only time I had with him. Then I would spend hours preparing for the next day while also trying to be a good wife and spend time with my hubby. Toward the end I also joined the bluegrass band and had to fit practicing for 2 hours in there on some nights, and I was stake choir director and had to do a bunch of stuff on Sundays etc...

Sometimes, I wanted to give up.

But I didn't. 

This is one of the best things I've ever done. I am so glad I didn't give up.

I'm proud to say that I did it.

"I DID IT!"

Fiddlin' Around in a Band

YEEEEEEEEE- HAW!
Mountain River Ranch

You might be thinking, "Hmmmm, is this a musical number for a church party?"
And I say, "NO SIREE! I joined a bluegrass band!"

THIS WAS ANOTHER ITEM ON MY BUCKET LIST, and BY GOLLY I DID IT!
I was more excited than a jumping bean on a counter top. Uhhh, anyway, you get my point?

Throughout the winter season, I had the privilege of playing on this little stage with my bluegrass band at Mountain River Ranch. This is the most fun I've had at a job in my entire life. Now I know what it feels like to get paid doing something you absolutely love. Heck, how could I even call this work?

I got to sing, fiddle around, (haha, get it?) make people smile, bring in the Christmas spirit, tell jokes and act on stage, serve people food, watch people get over-enthused over jingle bells because of the beer, and have fun!

Oh, and a little seducing.
HAHAAHHAAHHAHAA I know that's what it looks like, but pictures can be taken TOTALLY the wrong way. Proof being in this picture. So let me explain,

Since we were the entertainment of the show, we had to tailor all the songs we picked to our various audience members. This particular song, "Santa Baby" was for the ADULTS, (I know what you were thinking... you were thinking I was going to say the men. No. Wrongo.) We definitely made some men's night though.

Especially when I pulled Ethan on stage for a little Santa Baby. . . then the song was completely directed at him, not the crowd :)

HAPPY 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SURPRISE SANTA BABE!

Ethan came to watch me on Dec 14th, 2011 and he had NO CLUE what was in store for him. It caught him completely by surprise. Here was the dialogue:

Nick: "JP, what's on your Christmas list?"
JP: "Pshhhhh. Christmas list? I don't have one. I never get what I want."
Nick: "Oh. Well, do you have a Christmas list Ashley?"
Ashley: "Oh yes I do."
Nick: "What's on it?"
Ashley: "Ooooo lots of good stuff this year. (I list off some things) But actually, there is someone in this room that is on my Christmas list."
Nick: "Wait.... someONE? In this room?"
Ashley: "Yep, and he's sitting right over there...come on up here Santa Baby!" Gimme some suga! (hahaha, no I didn't really say that last part.)

I pointed right at Ethan, as Julie placed a Santa hat on his head behind him. He instantly got a huge smile on his face and started making his way up to the stage while I grabbed my boa. As I was singing, I seriously forgot about the whole crowd. I was just thinking about Ethan and laughing in my head at what I was doing to him right then. He was dying :) He even stole a kiss from me in the middle of the song. (The poor people who didn't know he was my husband probably thought I was a little risk-ay if you know what I mean?)

I had never done anything public like this to Ethan before, so I was actually a little embarrassed by it, but we got it all on tape for future posterity HA! Now that I've watched the playback, when I thought it was all romantic and gushy, it really wasn't . . .it was quite silly looking, but oh well! I was looking forward to that surprise for weeks! If you know anything about Ethan, it's almost impossible to surprise him or keep a secret from him because he always finds out.

Not this time honey bunches! I got you sooo GOOD! And you know it.

THE BAND:
Nick Veil, Me, JP Manning

I came to appreciate the musical talent these boys have as we had many jam sessions together preparing for the shows. There were many long nights, lots of calluses built up, but it was all so totally worth it. I'm so grateful that Nick approached me and asked me if I wanted to fiddle. I've wanted to learn how my entire life. Now, I'm not amazing at it, but I know the basics and am good at making stuff up hee-hee. This was the funnest thing I've done in a long time. I hope this won't be the last time I play in a band.

These two fine folks, Julie & Mike Anglesy, were my bosses, and they were so fun to work with. They treated the musicians very well and we got to eat the most delicious leftovers every night after cleanup. If any of you have never been to the Mountain River Ranch, you NEED TO. It's such a fun place to take the family and enjoy the summer months outdoors, or the winter months indoors with all the Christmas cheer. It is a great getaway for a date or celebration.

I also owe thanks to Ethan. It made my heart flutter when Ethan anxiously told me I needed to do this. He got so excited at the fact that I would be in a band, he could not stop talking about it. It was so cute to see and it made me feel really important. He agreed that he would watch Wyatt for me so I could do this. I couldn't have done it without him too. Thanks sweetheart, for helping me check off another event on my bucket list.