The life of Ash Face

Cold Stone Love

2009-03-08T11:48:00.005-06:00

This is a tale of Ice Cream, texting, meeting, talking and then nothing. You should be excited.

So i have an account on ldsmingle.com yes it is an LDS dating service online. I hadn't checked said account for oh about a month. Late one January evening i got an e-mail saying i had a message and flirt from some guy named geek in the pink. So i went to my account and checked it out. This guy was cute and seemed nice. So i sent a flirt and message back. Well with an hour i had another message from him. So of course i messaged him back. This went on until Sunday evening when he gave me his phone number. He said my phone number is blah blah blah feel free to text me if you want.

Guess what? I did it, i texted him, that night! We texted back and forth from like 6:30 to like 11:00, keep in mind my bedtime is like 10:15 because i go to work at the butt crack of dawn. He was so nice, so nice. So Monday comes and he texted me. He said hi hope you have a good day. So we kept talking that day. Well he wanted to hang out that night but i had hair cut, you all know about my hair cutting fetish. I had to go! So i said i'm sorry i have had this appointment for like 2 weeks, maybe another night? He said for sure.

We keep talking and texting. So here comes the Cold Stone part. He owns/manages the Cold Stone in Draper. My mom went and got ice cream just to check him out for me. How nice is that? Looking out for me! So that same night i had gone to dinner with a friend. She convinced me to go see him, meet him face to face. We drove there, sat in the car for like 45 minutes spying on him. Keep in mind durning that 45 minutes i was texting him. So i finally got up the courage to go in! AHH! I was so flipping nervous. We waited in line(they were busy) finally got to the front and i said hi how are you? Yadda yadda yadda. We talked for maybe a minute then i was like well i'll go you are super busy. I didn't even order anything. Haha, looking back i now feel stupid. Oh well.

Next night (saturday) i was at a movie with a friend. He had been talking to me that day but hadn't mentioned the previous night. While i was in the movie he text me and said, you know you should have hung around last night. It would have been fun to talk. So i got all excited and i was like ya! okay it was alright that i went and saw him.

Things were great for the next 2 days. Then he didn't text or anything for 2 days. I had said hello and got no response. I was sad. He finally then texted me and said im sorry i have been sick and not wanted to talk. I was like ok understandable. We talked the next day, things were fine for about 3 days.

Here comes the dumb part! My ward was going to the Draper temple open house. We had lots of extra tickets. I had been texting him and texting my friend Lindsey. I meant to text Lindsey and ask her if she thought it would be lame and creepy if i invited him to go with us. I texted it to him. I felt so dumb and lame. I apologized and said sorry for the awkwardness. He didn't text me the rest of the night. In fact i have not heard from him since. Nothing. He hasn't answered a text, an e-mail and he deleted his facebook account.

What the crap am i doing wrong here folks? Really? I know that i am not the prettiest flower in the bunch. I know i can be grumpy and crazy. But, really what am i doing wrong? He didn't even say he didn't want to talk to me anymore, he just doesn't say anything to me period.

This might sound lame and cheesy but i kind of started to like him. Something felt right and good when i talked to him. I am kind of over it now. I just wish i know what i did wrong so i can fix it.

I helped at a friends wedding this weekend. It was fun. I'm not going to lie. I was jealous. Every part of me was jealous. Wishing, hoping that someday i will get to marry someone special. Somebody who loves me for me, someone i can have an eternal family with. Darn ice cream man, i was hoping he could have been it.

Draper Temple

2009-03-08T11:29:00.003-06:00

About a month ago i got to go to the Draper Temple Open house. What an awesome thing! I remember when i was like 8 the Bountiful temple had an open house and my family went. I don't remember a alot of details or anything. So i wasn't sure what to expect when i went this time.

I went with the young women in my ward. I drove with my friend Celia and her hubby Scott. I sure love them. They give me advice on my "dating" and assure me things will be ok when i do something stupid. Scott had a hard time finding the correct parking lot. We finally found it. We went in and sat down in the gym. I was a little nervous/excited for what i was about to see. We waited for about 30 minutes. Then we went and watched the video of the temple and its purpose. Awesome video!

We then got on the bus to go up to the temple. We just chit chatted and then listened to a nice man tell us some facts about the temple. We couldn't really hear him, i was bummed about that. We drove up and the temple was getting closer and closer and i was getting so excited!

We got to the temple got off the bus and walked through the tents and then BAM we were in the temple. Right when i walked in the door i had this feeling of peace and comfort come over me. I knew that this was holy place. As we walked through the different rooms my friend Scott kind of explained what happened in each. (Our group didn't have any instruction or explanation of anything) We got to the room where the brides get dressed/ ready and it was very pretty. As we went through i looked at all the artwork and it was beautiful.

We were at our last room....the sealing room. I walked into this room and the feelings that went through me were so amazing. I felt peace, calm, warmth. It was beautiful. My friend Celia then pulled my arm and said Ash, you need to come see this. She took me by the alter where you can see the mirrors. This was amazing. I heard people talk about this before but actually seeing it myself was amazing. I started crying. I realized how blessed i am to be apart of a family that is sealed and is together forever!

Seeing those mirrors also made me remember that if i have the chance to be married i want to do it in the temple. There is no other place i want to be married. I need to keep myself worthy to go there. I hope i have the opportunity to marry a worthy mate in the temple someday. It is something i want very much.

My testimony was up lifted by going to the temple. I am grateful for friends who explain the things to me. There are scared things they couldn't tell me and i'm ok with that. I am also grateful for a grandpa who was able to explain somethings to me.

I am excited for the dedication in a few weeks. It will be awesome.

Wow

2008-12-16T17:11:00.006-07:00

So i really suck at blogging. I haven't blogged in over 2 months. I haven't wanted to. My life is pretty much boring. I did do some fun things since the last time i blogged. I'll share with ya. Lets see where oh where to start? Lets start with Thanksgiving.

This year we went with alot of my Mom's family to California to see my aunt and her family. The main reason was to go hear my cousins homecoming talk. The trip was way way fun. We drove. I'm not a big fan of long trips but this wasn't to bad. We left Wednesday night and stayed at Whiskey Pete's in Primm Nevada. Then we got up finished driving the rest of the way on Thursday.

The dinner was amazing. My aunt and her family had cooked everything and so when we go there we just headed to the church and ate. We were joined by the missionaries from her branch and the ward mission leader. That night was way fun. We finished eating and cleaned up and then just hung out at the church for a bit. I dont know if we had all had to much turkey or bubbly, but the laughing wouldn't stop that night. We laughed so hard that my grandma who has narcalepsie ended falling down. Don't worry we made sure she was ok. She was so then i snapped a few photos.

Friday we went back to the church and did a craft. We modge podged wood leters. Some people did JOY some did NOEL. It was super fun. I have crafty family! They all turned out so cute and so different. Then we went to my aunts house and watched Fred Clause. I thought it was kind of dumb.

Saturday we all went to Trader Joe's (a yummy shopping place) and spent about an hour there. After that our very large group split up. Most the group went to some place kind of like Bondocks and some of us went shopping. I got some killer deals. I got a way cute sweater for 10 bucks from Sears and another shirt/jacket thing for 10. A new pair of shoes for 20. If you know me you know my Jewelry fetish! I went to Icing by Claires....BIG mistake. I got 2 new necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I dont have my ears pierced and they had the best clip ons so i bought like 6 pair. We then met up with everyone and went to dinner at this amazing mexican food place...so tasty!! Then we went and saw Bolt. If you haven't seen this, go see it. It is so cute.

Sunday we got up and it was super foggy! Scary. We drove to church and all was well. My family did a musical number in the program and it was very nice. The missionaries spoke and then David. It was an ok meting. David didn't talk to much about his mission, which was crappy. The spirit was there though.

Sunday we left and came home. We got home Monday and that was the end of the trip. I had lots of fun and im grateful for the memories made. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Although life is going pretty well. I have been feeling a little bit lonely lately. It has never really bothered me that i am singe until recently. Things with "operation Tom" will not be working out. I have been talking to a guy that lives in St. George. He is a friends cousin. I kind of liked this guy but things have come to light that made me realize i want nothing to do with him. I think i knew this a while ago but really enjoyed talking to someone and having some ones attention. I know i'm not old old but all my friends are either married or getting married i feel old. The thought of marriage keeps popping in my head. Will ever get married? Will i ever find that "special someone"? My brother wrote me and wanted to know how the dating scene was and i told him not so well. He wrote me back and he put this quote in my letter, Nephi said i will go and do not sit and stew. Haha how great is that? So now i just wish i could find someone to go on a date with. I sick of feeling lonely and being the odd one out at things because im not married and don't have a date. So if you know of anyone i could go on a date with, someone who is ok with a larger person i.e. myself. Hook a sister up...PLEASE?! There is a song on the radio by Nickelback that i have fallen in love with. I love this song. The words are amazing.

Gotta Be Somebody- Nickelback

This time I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life
The one we all dream of
But dreams just aren't enough
So I´ll be waiting for the real thing.
I'll know it by the feeling.
The moment when we´re meeting
Will play out like a scene straight off the silver screen
So I`ll be holdin’ my breath
Right up to the end
Until that moment when
I find the one that I'll spend forever with

`Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There`s gotta be somebody for me like that.

`Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere.
There`s gotta be somebody for me out there.

Tonight out on the street out in the moonlight
And damn it this feels too right
It´s just like Déjà Vu
Me standin’ here with you
So I´ll be holdin`my breath
Could this be the end?
Is it that moment when
I find the one that I'll spend forever with?

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There´s gotta be somebody for me like that.

`Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There`s gotta be somebody for me out there.

You can´t give up!
When you're Lookin´ for a diamond in the rough
Because you never know when it shows up
Make sure you´re holdin` on
‘Cause it could be the one, the one you´re waiting on

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There's gotta be somebody for me
Ohhhhhh.

Nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There `s gotta be somebody for me out there.

Nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There's gotta be somebody for me out there.

Christmas.

Christmas came and went. What an amazing feeling you get around the holidays. I wasn't really feeling that this year until i served some people. I love to give, i love to see the looks on peoples faces when you give them something. Its amazing! For christmas i got the circut expression. Well they were on back order so my clever mom got me real crickets...so that i would have something to open christmas morning. Talk about a shocker. Holy mother i screamed and said wha the hell? It freaked me out. Im so excited to actually get my machine and start using it! The highlight of the day was talking to the Elder. I had been counting down the days for like a month. He sounds so amazing. I love him and im so proud of him. It was so good to hear his voice and know that he is still there. He has done so well out there. He has had 5 baptisms in the time he has been gone. They have 10 people investagating the church right now. 1 has committed to baptism. He had a crappy companion but luckily that kid got transfered the week before christmas. Our home has seen the blessings of a mission and im so grateful to dallin for that! I hope that everyone had an enjoyable christmas. I hope that it was filled with the magic of wonderment of the season. Happy New Year!!

Lesson help

2008-10-04T16:31:00.003-06:00

Okay, i need some help. It is my turn to teach in Young Women's in a couple of weeks. the lesson is on marriage standards. If you could share your story of how you met your spouse and share how you prepared yourself to get married and go through the temple i would appreciate it. For some reason i am just struggling preparing for this lesson. I am dork and like making handouts for my lessons. If you have any ideas for a handout, they would be appreciated. The manual gives some handout ideas but they are kind of lame. Thanks in advance for your help.

Guilty

2008-10-04T11:18:00.004-06:00

Guilty!! I just finished listening to Elder Oaks talk on the importance of sacrament meeting. Few things hit super close to home. He mentioned being on time, feeling of the spirit durning the prelude music...hmm. I am not sure when the last time was that i was on time for sacrament meeting, i am thinking like a month. He also mentioned the proper dress for the meeting. Well i think for the most part i do a good job with my clothing options. The footwear on the other hand...GUITLY again. Most the time i am late because i am primping and doing my hair and makeup. I already have the outfit picked out, but not the shoes. So alot of the time i will slip on the flip flops. Mind you they aren't like beach flip flops. I have gotten alot better with the shoe thing thanks to Target.

I am so glad that he mentioned the whole cell phone thing. We had a girl in YW last week who answered her phone in class. She said "oh its my dad, i have to answer it." What? her dad was a bishop and knows what time our church is. Why was he calling her? That bugged me.

Guess I have some things to work on next Sunday. I think we'll start with being on time. My bad!

Living the life

2008-10-04T00:04:00.006-06:00

It's been a while. My bad. Guess I have had "bloggers block". Life is going great!

So i know that all of you are dying to know if i have chosen my new bedroom stuff. Well indeed i have. Thank you for your opinions they were very insightful. Well after a month of going back and forth i have selected option number......2. I ordered this on Wednesday. Now if i could just find a bedroom sent that i like and is not going to break my pocket book.

I got another hair cut. HAHA shocker i know. Me hair cut?...NEVER. This one is my favorite one yet. Chopped alot off, got a few more layers and actually kept the same colors from before.

I had a job interview at work for a new position. The position is HR assistant. I honestly hope i get it. Im sick of being in the same dept at work that i have been in since i started. Wish me luck. I should know in a few weeks.

Dallin is doing really well. He had his first baptism on Tuesday the Tuesday the 23rd. I guess they had kind of a rough day with her on Monday and Tuesday morning, but all worked out and she was baptized. So proud of Dallin. He is doing a great job serving our Heavenly Father.

The craft bug has gotten ahold of me this week. I made more scrapbooked letters. I made the letters BOO! for Halloween. I am in love with the paper that is on sale right now. I am going to finish the word FALL tomorrow. My aunt grabbed me on Sunday and asked me if i would make her 25 cards of any kind and she'll pay me for them. Ya! and excuse to actually make cards. I think this month is card club so actually i just realized i have to make 50 cards by next weekend. Yikes. No pressure. I'm thinking about custom making the scrapbooked letters. If your interested let me know and we can arrange things. I'll post pictures of the ones i've made.

I started walking again. I forgot how much i love it. It's relaxing and well good for me. I usually do between 2.8 and 3 miles. I pop in the ipod and go. The other day my neighbor Dave saw me out walking and he said "you know its not good for mental patients to walk by themselves." Haha thanks Dave.

My dad turned 50 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday old fart. I think he had a fun day. The fam went fourwheeling all day then came home showered and then we went to Chili's. My dad is a funny fella. Here are a few things i love about the pops. He laughs so hard he farts sometimes. He has infectious laugh. He is a LOUD talker. He is caring and compassionate. He is a jack of all trades. Have a problem with a car? Need a birthday cake? Come on over Poppa Martin will help ya out. Love ya dad, Happy Birthday

We had a young single adult activity for our region, our stake was in charge of it. I got "nominated" to be the rep from our ward, so i got to help with that. It was super fun. We didn't think we would have alot of people, but we had about 100 people. I got to know girls from the stake better i also got to play football with cute guys- one of them being Op Tom. Ya for that. More on Op Tom in a later post. :)

Here are some random pics from the month of Sept. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Boys that gather money...

Heather came home for a visit. Ash*Heather*Linds
Yeah we play twister for YW

Don't ask...

Dave is a Diva while doing service

New bedroom-opinion needed!

2008-09-06T18:48:00.006-06:00

So i need your opinion. I have had this itch to redo my bedroom for a while now. Well i got permission from the proper authorities, okay just my mom after all it is her house in which i live.

Right now my room has been the same since i moved in here when i was 12, and its a little to floral for my liking. Don't get me wrong, i loved it when i was 12 but not so much now. My room is foe painted a dark/medium green then a wallpaper border at the top with probably 12 inches of a lighter green above that. I want to change everything!! I have picked out some bed stuff that i kind of like. Help me narrow it down, which one do you like?

3.
4.

I also get to buy myself a new big girl bed. Haha!! Yeah i'm 22 and still sleep on a twin. Depending on which one of these bed covers i get will depend on A. the colors of my room and B. the color of my new bed. I guess that means i'll also be getting a new dresser and night stand and new window coverings. Good-bye lacy frilly crap.

Im so excited!! I also have a bathroom attached to my room. I think i will keep it green and just get a new shower curtain, rugs, towels and toilet seat cover. Oh and some new pictures and wall hangings for both rooms.

It's about LOVE

2008-09-04T22:12:00.004-06:00

So i pretty much love this cute family. The cute mom is Jen. She was mine and my brothers sixth grade teacher. She still works with my mom. Oh how i love her!! I was the first class that she taught after she graduated. She has only gotten better since then.

Since then she married cute Braden and they tried and tried and tried to have a baby with no luck. They tried everything and paid oodles and oodles of money, and yet she was still childless. They decided to put in there adoption papers in last year about this time. They played the waiting game, but much to everyone's delight they didn't have to wait long.

On Christmas day they received a letter from the mom who had been looking at their profile and they were chosen!! This sweet sweet mom made such a great choice. This mom was married and had 2 little daughters, she found out she had MS, was pregnant and at the same time going through a divorce. She decided to place the sweet baby for adoption.

Little Tyler joined this amazing family in April. One more month and he gets to become "officially" theirs. This picture doesn't do him justice. He is just the cutest, calmest, happiest smiley baby ever. Ya for adoption! This baby is so lucky to join Jen and Braden, they are some amazing people. It amazes me how the lord blesses people. A sad situation became happy and made an amazing couple parents!! Love ya!

Elder Dallin Martin

2008-08-24T00:52:00.005-06:00

Well the day came and past. Dallin is now gone. He entered the MTC on Wednesday August 13th. It was super hard to say goodbye to him that afternoon. Keep in mind i was the one who was excited for him to go. I knew i would miss him but, i thought it would be easy to say goodbye. Holy cow was i super wrong.

The tears started coming the Sunday of his farewell and have not really stopped yet. His farewell was great. He did such a good job. The day was crazy busy, my aunt came to our house at 9 and started making the "missionary ham sandwiches". We got dressed and went to church at 11. People came over to the house right after sacrament meeting and thats when the fun began. It was lots of fun to spend the hole day with the family and lots of friends. The day ended around 10. What a great day!!

The next part of the special time was Tuesday. We had a family dinner with the grandparents and our little family. It was Dallin's favorite meal, Roast beef, mashed potatoes, yorkshire pudding, gravy, rolls, and some veggies. Yum. Then we went over to the stake center and Dallin was set apart as a missionary. This was an amazing expirence. The spirit was so strong. The night was again spent with lots of family. Lots of tears shed that night.

Wednesday. My mom got up and made our family breakfast. The morning was full of weird feelings. Dallin was busy packing and the rest of us kind of walked around in a daze. My mom gave me a job to decorate the car with window markers, i was excited. The time came that we needed to head down to the MTC for the drop off. I think this was the day that it kind of hit all of us that Dallin was leaving. Emotions were high. My dad gave Dallin a blessing before we left, then my grandpa prayed for us to be safe and comforted and varies other things. We got in the car and were off. My mom brought the Called to Serve CD and popped it in the player. The first song was called to serve, Dallin started to cry and ask her to turn it off. She did.

We got to the MTC and a nice worker said this is where we take the missionary, his baggage and the passengers and the driver will park the car and meet up with the family at the entrance in a minute. We left his bags at spot 36 then walked to the front to meet dad. We entered through the friends and family door and D went through the missionary door. Dallin got his badge and "dork dot". We then went down some halls that led to the "room of doom". They sat us down and we watched some commercials. Of all things to watch it was commercials you see on TV, the isn't it about time....FAMILY commercials. Yeah great thing to watch as you are getting ready to leave your missionary for 2 years. NOT!!!

The meeting started. We were to sing Called to serve as the opening hymn. Stupid song to sing. I think i got two words out of my mouth between all the sobbing. We had some speakers and then a closing prayer. They said it is now time to say good-bye, we suggest you use the "band aide" method, the faster the better. Wow-harsh. We got up, Dad got the first hug then mom then Bry, Cam and then me. According to my brothers i got the longest hug of the siblings. I didn't want to let him go. He told me it would be ok, he was doing the right thing. I said i love you and let him go. Mom gave him a few more hugs and that was that. He walked out his door and didn't look back.

We left the MTC, all crying. We decided to go to Cabelas so we didn't have to go home right away. I have pictures of that i'll post in a bit.

I miss the kid like crazy. I was driving home from work and singing to the radio when i saw missionaries and i started bawling my eyes out. He is doing the right thing, i know that. It is still hard. He made me angry at times but oh man most the time it was lots of laughs with that boy. We have received 2 letters from him. All is well, he seems so grown up now.

My family went to the Buzz game the Monday before he left, i didn't go. My job was to hang up the clothes in the dryer. No fair! They didn't tell me it was ALL of his white missionary shirts. Think i cried on a few of them.

Operation Tom

2008-08-08T16:34:00.002-06:00

Last week was my Stake's Youth Conference. I was not very excited to go, because i thought it was going to be kind of weird. It was quit the opposite. The theme of youth conference was Moroni's Quest. We reinacted some parts of the Book of Mormon. The spirit was so strong and my testimony has been stregenthed so much.

Now on to the title of this post, Operation Tom. As you may know i have a small rush/thing for a guy in my stake. This has been going on for the past oh year or okay two. If you know me very well, you know that i am shy and don't like to leave my comfort zone. The mere fact that i dated "The Boy" for so long shocks me!

So the cute boy is also a youth leader in his ward, so do you know what this means? He was at Youth Conference!! 3 hole days to stare at the cute boy and wishing oh so desperately wishing i could talk to him. A few of my close ward friends and of course my family know that i think he is pretty much the coolest thing since toilet paper.

So on Friday, we had some ward time for about 2 hours. I had planned on taking a nap but somehow we ended up talking about my crush. There was a circle of camp chairs with a mixture of youth and adults. The youth were the "cool" ones the other kids were playing some crazy game. In our circle we talked how the other leaders had met there spouse. Such cute stories! Then we talked about some ideas to break the ice and how i could talk to him.

My cute brother came up with the code name of OPERATION TOM. The cute boys last name has the word Tom in it. Hence the code name operation tom. Thank you Cameron. So i think the funniest/craziest idea that we came up with was the following cheesy scenario. Me standing with one of the youth by him and then the youth splashing water on him and saying "Ashlee thinks your hot! Wow!! Crazy kids.

That night at dinner i had the perfect chance to talk to him. I didn't have anywhere to sit and eat my dinner so i was standing up with my good pal Lindsey. Well the cute boy happened to be sitting right by our ward. The people that were sitting across from him got up and left, he however was still eating. Lindsey's funny husband Joseph yelled down to us, "hey there is a seat right here come sit down". Well as luck would have it i was not feeling at all well, like i wanted to puck. So i refused to sit down, hence once again i didn't talk to him. Sad! Broke my heart and i'm still disappointed in myself.

Well Saturday came and went. The time to go home had come and i had not said one word to the oh so cute boy. We were talking about it once again, and this time something happened. Not by me of course. HAHA. Joseph went and told the cute boys mom that a leader in our ward thought that her son was so cute and cool and blah blah blah, he told her that she couldn't say anything to him until after youth conference. AH!!!!! So now someone in his family knows, YIKES!! Don't know if he knows or if she has said anything. I kind of hope she does, makes me nervous to think about it though.

Why am i so afraid to talk to him? Fear of rejection, nerves, i have no guts? Well i think that it is all of those things!! I am not the prettiest flower in the garden and he is pretty much handsome. How can i get over these fears? Ah please give me some suggestions, any and all are welcome!!

Catch up

2008-07-26T15:03:00.005-06:00

Lets start of with the beginning of July. I turned 22 on the 3rd. Holy crap monkeys i am old. I had a great birthday. I didn't have to work, so i slept in. I then got dressed and went to work to get my bonus check...YAY for bonuses on birthdays. Then i came home and went to Olive Garden with my mom, gma Chinn, Madi and Peyton. MMM love Olive Garden. Then i took myself and Madi birthday shopping to Target. I Bought tons of necklaces and bracelets...yes tons! I now have almost ever color known to man so if you need jewelry for a special occasion give me a holler. Then we went home and played some Wii bowling, i kicked my brothers butts. Then when Elder Martin got home we went and saw Wall-E....um weird show. Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I got to ride the bull and be sung to, yep my face was red. Then we came home and i opened my present...i got what i have been dying for. A miche bag!! Oh i am in love. Have you heard of them? They are oh so cute. Ill post a pic later. Great birthday, thanks family.

July 4th would be next. We didn't do really anything this year. We stayed home and worked in the yard and i in the house. We then went over to my uncles house for food and chit chat. It was good food and fun chit chat. We all then went down to Thanksgiving Pointe for possibly the lamest firework show ever!! Fireworks sucked but it was fun being with the fam. My aunt was here from Cali for her granddaughters baptism so it was fun to see her. I think the best part of the fireworks was the drive home. It took us a good 20 minutes to even leave the parking lot. My cousin Blake rode with us and let me just tell you, that kid is hilarious. Good times were had in the Martin Family BMW(Big Mormon Wagon aka suburban). Here are some photos from that day.

Cam and Braden-TENDER

Thought these 2 were going to shank me

This is the love circle Dallin.Cam.Blake

My mom the peaceful woman

Blake's mouth full of Oreos

The next event was my birthday dinner the Sunday after my birthday. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and homemade onion rings. I know what you are thinking, lame dinner especially when my mom is a great cooker. But let me tell you this meal was good. Here a pic of the good food. Thanks parentals for the yummy dinner.

Yummy
Good fixings!

got to love popsicles

The next thing is family pictures. The amazingly talented KIM O. took our photos. We went to Murray Park and tried to smile pretty. We got them back on Monday night and let me tell you i am in love. I usually hate pics of myself but Kim is a miracle worker. I will post them as soon as they are purchased!! Thanks again Kim, you are awesome. Love you more than words can describe.

Dallin went through the temple to have his endowments taken out. We had family over after for food and conversation, that was fun. Proud of Dallin and also a bit jealous that he has gone through the temple. Can't wait til i can do that.

The most recent event was the Chinn family reunion. Thats mostly why i havent been blogging. My mom was in charge this year and wow. She is nuts. We had a lot to do. We had so much fun. That is going to be a blog post itself. So many fun stories and pictures to share. Ill have to do another time because i need to clean my sick nasty room and bathroom.

Hope everyone had a fun 24th, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Wow July, really?

2008-07-02T23:33:00.007-06:00

Wow! Where is the time going? So i just realized that i have not posted for almost a month. Life has been so flipping busy. But i have loved every minute of it, well almost every minute.

June flew right by. Did some fun stuff in June. Hung out with my bestfriend before she left me for 2 years. My cute friend Monica is serving a mission in the New York, New York North mission spanish speaking. Oh how i love her!! She has been with me through thick and thin. She is going to make a great missionary. Love her so much.

This month was also spent preparing for Girls Camp. Glad its done. I never realized just how much work it takes to put something like that together. This was my 12th year going. Yeah i said 12th. I have gone every year since i turned 12. I went 2 one year because i was in Cali visiting fam and then i came home and went again with home ward. After i turned 18 I went with the Stake as a cook until i was called into my ward YW's.

Camp this year was great. The spirit was so strong. The theme was More precious than Rubies. I thought it was lame at first but once we got up there, i loved it! On Christ Day they had a special program that they have never done before, and the spirit was so strong. They had the preisthood sing "Walk Tall Your a Daughter". WOW. So amazing. I will remember that feeling for a long time.

One downside to camp was that my dear sweet beehives, got ahold of my phone and tried to enter my password or something to many times so it blew the sim card. So i lost all my numbers on my phone. So if you would be so kind to send them to me again, that would be appreciated.

We also celebrated Fathers Day this moth as well. I love my dad very much. I don't tell him that enough. We have defintley not been the best of friends, but i love him. He is a great man and a wonderful father. He provides for us and loves us. My dad is so HARD to shop for. He always just tells us to give him peace and love and he will be happy. I hate that answer, hate it!!

We went big and got him an amazing gift for Fathers Day, his birthday and Christmas for the next year or two haha. We got him a new 46" HD flat screen TV. Wow! The thing is huge and the picture is oh so amazing. Playing the Wii and Guitar Hero on the sucker is amazing. He was totally surprised and we loved every minute of it.

Sorry this is so long. I just want to mention one more thing. There is a family that could use some extra prayers and happy thoughts right now. I went to school with a kid named Josh Hinckley. He and his wife Cali were going to welcome a new baby into the world, however our Heavenly Father had some different plans. There baby passed away before he was born. From the sounds of things they are doing as well as could be expected at a time like this. I know you probably don't know them, heck i don't know them super well but if you could include them in your prayers for a while that would be so wonderful.

Hope all is well with everyone!

The call

2008-06-11T21:25:00.005-06:00

My little brother Dallin got his mission call today. Kind of had mixed emotions about this. For months i have been "counting down the days" 'til Dallin could leave. Well, THE CALL came today in the mail. He opened it at 6:52 as heard him reading the letter from our dear Prophet and the missionary dept of our church i couldn't help but cry. He is such a great example to us.

Elder Dallin Grant Martin, you have been chosen to serve the Lord in the.......Dallas Texas mission. You will be reporting the MTC on August 13th 2008. Yeah August 13th, folks he is leaving 2 months from Friday. WOW!! This just hit me, the boy i use to fight with, the boy that i use to make play "pioneer" with me is leaving for 2 years. 2 WHOLE YEARS!!

I will miss this kid like crazy!! Love him to death and so grateful for the example he is to me!!

Pampering and shopping

2008-05-26T13:21:00.004-06:00

Saturdays around my house usually consist of some kind of cleaning, laundry doing, and yard work on nice days. Well this past Saturday i didn't do one of those things!! YAY!! MY mom and I went and got.....

PEDICURES.

I took my mom and went to this cute little nail place in Salt Lake called Nailed. We both had pedicures I had a manicure and had my eyebrows waxed. Oh let me tell you this was HEAVENLY. My feet feel so much better and they look real cute too and my eyebrows...WOW amazing. My eyebrows have been unruly, I HATE plucking so i have just been shaving them. Haha- i dont recommend this. I would however recommend waxing to anyone. It felt so good. If you are a pedicure person i recommend this place. They are awesome! The shop is cute, clean and the ladies are all so nice!! It is cheap but, the service is anything but cheap. I found them online. They have a website and i fell in love with them. NAILED is my new favorite place.

After our pampering we went to JcPenny. They are having amazing sales right now on these cute little sundresses. I got a cute black and white one for $20.00. They had this cute brown and blue one (the in colors right now) I tried it on and almost bought it but i couldn't justify the purchase when i already have a brown sundress and cute blue jacket cover up thing. If you are in need or just want a cute new dress or two, go to JcPenny!! You won't be sorry.

All in all it was a great weekend. Wish it would have lasted longer. It sounds like an expensive weekend but i only spent $137.42. $80.00 at Nailed (2 pedicures, 1 manicure and an eyebrow waxing) $20.00 (for oh so cute dress) and boo $37.42 (for 12 gallons of precious gas...yuck!)

Life

2008-05-18T01:23:00.003-06:00

So this picture doesn't really have much to do with what I am going to post about, but I really liked it. Thats just my disclaimer.

So I have been thinking again- I know some what amazing for me to be thinking. I have had so much go on the past few weeks. Not sure how i feel about all of it.

The boy and I officially ended our dating relationship. I figured that this was probably coming seeing that we haven't been on a "date, date" in like 2 weeks. Even though i thought it was coming i don't think i was ready. I think the boy was my first true love. I know he was my first kiss, my first hand holding thing, my first feeling of love outside of my family. Love is a funny thing, it feels good but can also cause heartache. Right now im feeling the heartache it brings. The boy and i have an amazing friend relationship and I hope that remains because i do enjoy just being around him.

The other change is not here but is coming. My little brother D. just sent his mission papers in. I have been counting down this day for along time but now that its here im kind of sad. He has really matured and become an amazing young man. Im so proud of the choices and decisions that he makes. He has awesome friends that are all leaving on missions as well. He is such an example to me and my 2 younger brothers. He will be missed! Ill let you know where he goes as soon as he gets his call.

My second youngest brother C. turned 16. Holy mother. Scary!! No actually he is a great driver. Where has 16 years gone? I remember the time he was born. My parents left in the middle of the night and my aunt came over. I remember waking up and being so excited when my aunt told me where the parentals were. He was such a cute baby. Blonde hair, blue eyes. We had a special bond from day one. We are super close to this day. I feel like i can tell him anything and he usually does the same. Happy Birthday C!!! Love ya to pieces.

My grandparents basement flooded today. What a mess. They had 3 inches of standing water in the kitchen. The water spread to the family room, storage room, piano room, computer room, bathroom and the playroom. So yeah the whole basement just covered in water. Luckily all of the important "old stuff" was taken care of. They have so many treasures, im glad they are all safe and sound. They have a long road ahead of them to get back to "normal". Maybe I can help decorate down there when the time comes.

School starts in the fall. So this June i will be graduated from high school for 4 years. Wow time flies. I haven't gone to any college at all. I haven't had the desire to do so. I didn't know what i wanted to go into. I do now!!!! FINALLY. Im going to go into Interior Design. Everyone keeps telling me to go for it so alright im going for it!! Thats what im doing with my tax money is registering for classes. YAY!!!!

So i need some advice. There is this guy in my stake, who i think is pretty darn attractive. I have had a little thing for him for like a year. He is so handsome and so nice. I want to talk to him so bad. According to my crazy mom, she thinks that we are meant to be together. She says our names together and then goes oh that just sounds right ash. How can i talk to him? I am deathly shy. Like kill me shy. Any tips on how i can talk to him or what to say to make it less "weird"? I know i am a dork, but please any advice would be helpful.

Thats pretty much life right now. Things are ok. I think im finally figuring somethings out and that is making life bearable. I have learned that asking for help is OK and doesn't make me less of a person. I have learned to ask for a priesthood blessing. Wow so helpful. Hope all is well with everyone!!

Family

2008-04-12T11:52:00.005-06:00

As I sit here and look at this picture, so many emotions are running through my heart and my mind. This picture was taken Feb of 2005, we are already missing 9 people. Holy mother of pearl. Can you say crazy!!

Each one of the people in this picture(and those missing)hold a very special place in my heart. They have all been there for me in times of need. It brings me such comfort knowing that i will be with them FOREVER.

As i have gotten older and *haha* "wiser" i have come to realize that family will be the ones that are always there. Much like the seasons we go through, friends will come and go but family will be there no matter what! My family has gone through weddings, deaths, births, drug addiction, serious illness and most recently evil camp hosts!! All times i hold close to my heart and treasure-even the evil camp hosts at Bryce Canyon.

Love you family and thank you for standing by me. "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!

For the love of hair

2008-04-10T19:38:00.004-06:00

Yeah this post is about me and my obsession for my hair its color and they way its cut.

Can you say Red light?

I get HBO do you?

Lovin it!

So I am obsessed with coloring and cutting my hair. I have a hair appointment with my wonderful hair dresser Tami every 3 months. She has a little card that she keeps all my info on such as the colors we put in my hair, how many inches we chop off and things like that.

That little card is filled on the back and front and now we are on a new card. I never do the same thing twice. NEVER. When this obsession first began, i just had an inch cut off and had blonde added. 3 months later chopped off the new growth and and another inch. Added red-lots of red! YIKES. The Boy told me it was so red we could play red light green light with my hair. Thanks, love you to boy.

3 months later didn't want so much red. Added more blonde, but it still looked red. Just did a trim this time. I know shocker, but i liked the length of it.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. Added lots of blonde and a rich brown. cut off new growth plus an inch and did a slight A line in the back. This is my favorite hair cut and color EVER!! I have gotten so many compliments on this hair do. Even master hair dresser Tami said she loves this length on me.

I think that The Boy doesn't know when to shut up sometimes. He saw me the Monday after i did the new do and he told me i kind of looked like a boy. What the crap? I think that he looked like pooh that day. I told him that he laughed i laughed and we were ok.

Will this love for cutting and coloring my hair stop? Nope and im okay with that thank you very much.

THE BOY.

2008-04-06T11:44:00.010-06:00

The Boy. It will be a year next month that he and have been on and off again dating. Why is that when he is ready for a relationship I am not and when i am ready he is not? Im not sure how much more of the up and down relationship thing with him i can take.

Do i care for the boy? You ask. Why yes, yes i do. I care for him very much. Not sure if these feelings i have for him are love, but it is a very deep caring thats for sure. He is so kind and caring oh and lets not forget handsome.

The boy has been gone for almost 2 weeks. He went home to visit some of his family. I didn't think that i would miss him, but oh geesh i have sure missed him. I miss not seeing him everyday at work, i miss not hearing his goofy laugh and seeing the "Roger Rabbit" smile he gives me.

He called me yesterday and we talked for about an hour (if you know me, you know i hate the phone). We talked about how life was going, what we had been up too. Just life in general. I have been struggling with somethings lately and the boy has been there for me. He has given me some great advice. He gives me an honest opinion on things, he gives me a guys point of view- which by the way is so screwed up sometimes!

The boy has the greatest blue eyes, that i just love to stare at. This boy has the deepest voice for a 23 year old. When i hear this voice it gives me butterflies. The boy gives the best hugs. This boy was my first kiss. Yes i know you are thinking wow Ash you are almost 22 and he was your first kiss? Yep i know lame, but 'tis true. This boy is so GREAT with little kids. My family loves this boy! Which makes it that much harder.

Is it a bad thing that i can see myself spending the rest of my life with this boy; when i don't know how he feels? The other question i ask is, should i tell him how i feel or just let my feelings stay at bay for now? The other thing that crosses my mind alot, is what if i tell him and it gets weird and ruin the amazing friendship that we have built? AH sometimes i just want to tell him hello I am here and i like you alot!!

Although, my feelings are somewhat scattered there is one thing i do know. The boy will be back today!!! After almost 2 weeks of just texting and a few phone calls , i get to pick him up from the airport and drive him to home. I hoping for a kiss on the cheek. If i get a kiss i won't charge him gas money. No kiss? Well then he is so paying me!

Trip to Macaroni Grill

2008-04-06T11:11:00.005-06:00

Last night as the men in my family went to the priesthood session of General Conference the woman went to dinner. I went with my mom, my grandma, my aunt Kelly and the 3 rug rats; Madi, Masen, and Peyton. My moms bestfriend Joan, Joan's mom Jane and Joan's daughter Jenny came along too.

We had decided earlier yesterday that we wanted to go The Macaroni Grill. Well we got to the Macaroni Grill around 6:30ish. We went in and the wait time we were given for our large party was 65-75 minutes. Yes over an hour. Not all that surprising on a Saturday night. We decided to wait. The time flew by, I talked to Jenny the whole time we waited. Jenny is the cutest girl.

The time finally came for us to have a table. Masen was holding the pager thing and was so excited when it went off. He jumped up and down and said to my mom, "aunt Toni, its finally our turn yes!! Hurry lets go, come on."

We sat at our table and the waitress informed us that it was there 20 year anniversary this month and that they would be giving away free meal for 2 tables. Our table was table 21, now mind you we had just sat down and ordered our drinks. The time came for them to give away the free meals. Everyone started clapping and the chef came out and took a bow. He thanked us all for coming and supporting the Macaroni Grill for 20 years yada yada yada. He then pulled out the first table number to win the free meal. TABLE 43. Dang not us. The next table to win is....TABLE 21. Table 21, wait that is us!! YAY!!! Lots of clapping and cheering at our table.

Now when i say free meal, you are probably thinking like 2 meals per table right? WRONG! EVERYONE at our table got the following FREE: drinks, meals(including salad) and desert. Oh and Jenny and Madi got Speciality drinks. They brought the bill just so we could see what we needed to tip. The bill came to 200+ dollars. We paid nothing. We did leave a nice tip, but ill tip alot if my meal is free!!

Thanks Macaroni Grill, you are my new favorite over Olive Garden.

Sugar cookies and girls

2008-02-14T07:41:00.002-07:00

Yesterday for Young Woman's we made homemade sugar cookies. I didn't think that activity would go so well, but suprisingly it did. We made these little gems from scratch.

We had girls rolling out the dough, cutting the shapes, and then everyone had a turn to ice some cookies. They tasted so yummy, i had one okay i had two.

I enjoy my calling so much, the girls i work with are so cute and have the most amazing testimonies. Like i mentioned earlier i am now the beehive advisor, so i work with the 12-14 year old girls.

If you ever need to feel loved and appreciated come to young woman's. My cute girls are so sweet and i love them to death. Let me give you an example of the free love they give. I have never thought i was very fashion savy, however since being in young woman's i feel better about myself. Cute Abby is always telling me how cute i look and how much she loves my jewlery. Thanks girls for the compliments!

SNOW...BLAH!!

2008-02-14T07:04:00.003-07:00

So yesterday as I was leaving work it started snowing. I didn't think much of it until i went out to my car to go to mutal. Blah! My poor car was covered with ice and snow.

The drive to work this morning was one word....SCARY. I almost spun out as i was merging from I-215 to the I-15. Luckily there were no cars by me and my traction control saved me from actually spinning.

While im complaining, what is with the stupid SUV people thinking that just because they have a big car they can go fast in the snow? Hello, snow is snow no matter what kind of car you are driving. Gosh the big jerks, they make the snowy drive even worse.

Excitment

2008-02-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

So on Saturday I spent $150.87 on tickets to see these wonderful men sing to me, okay and couple thousand other screaming fans. The concert is on Friday March 7 at 7:00 P.M. at the Energy Solutions Arena. I am pretty much excited. I bought 2 tickets, 1 for me of course and another for a random guest.

This weekend the fam had a superbowl party at the Grandparentals home. I did not watc the game, I ate some amazing good food, talked to the wonderful cousins who live in Orem/Provo, and made David a Valetines Day card. Then I did the dishes and had a wonderful time talking to my dear sweet aunt about life.

I was released as secretary in the Young Woman's. I am somewhat sad about this but also happy. I was put back in the young womans as the beehive advisor. It will be less work, but still get to work with the cute girls and the awesome woman i have come to love as sisters.

Life on Saturday

2008-01-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

So today is just another Saturday. Nothing special is happening today. So far i have done 1 batch of laundry, cleaned my nasty bathroom and now working on my bedroom. I know you are thinking, wow what an exciting life. Yep thats me.

I have been thinking a lot about life lately. Im not sure why things happen in life but i am sure that its for a reason. I have been at my current job for almost one year! Wow time flies, i think about where i was at this time last year and i am just amazed. Last year was probably the worst year of my life to date. I am so proud of myself and how far i have come. I am financially okay, i am for the most part happy and most of all i feel safe.

As my family is approaching the anniversary of my grandpa's death, i can't help but to think of him. He was a great man and had great qualities. He was always serving someone else and going out of his way to do a kind act. When he would call our house he would answer the phone in the funniest, out of control voice and sadly i am now having troubles remembering what that sounded like. I miss him, i miss him when he is not at family gatherings, i miss him durning a simple Sunday dinner at our house. It's hard to see my grandma by herself. She has been very strong and i am proud of her. I am grateful for the knowledge of the atonement, knowing i will see him again is such a relief.

Last weekend i went on a date with "the boy". I had such a fun time, i really enjoy the time spent with him. We went bowling and then he came back to my house and chatted with the family. He is a great guy and as i have gotten to know him better, i have realized how important good friends are. He always has the kindest things to say to me and somehow he knows when i am down. Thanks Mr. C for being a great guy! You are one of the few good ones left.

My laundry is buzzing and the bleach in the tub is ready to come out so that is all for now.