2010

I think I will always remember 2010 as the year that I went from being a kid to an adult, and actually started my life. In the past year I have graduated high school, maintained an awesomely amazing relationship with Nick, lost some friends but gained some others, started my college career and completed my first quarter, and overall really learned a lot about myself. I know there are things that I need to do in order to maintain this happiness I currently have going for me, but I'm not going to let the fact that it is almost a new year define that. I'm not saying I won't make any new year's resolutions, but I think that this year I'm just going to change what I want when I feel it's the right time to do so.

So overall, thanks for being a great year 2010! With your ups and your downs, you have really helped me to figure out who I am and what I want to become. And with that, let us celebrate!

HERE'S TO 2011!

Winter Break

I can't believe how quickly it's coming to an end! It is definitely ending with a bang though! Double dates, an awesome boyfriend, best friends, Kinect and Wii parties - what else could you ask for? :D

 

Ryan and Alyssa used to be mine and Nick's best friends. We sort of had a falling out, but now we're reunited and had a blast with our first double date in forever! Girl time with one of my best friends tomorrow, another game night with Ryan and Alyssa on Saturday, probably hanging out with Alexa on Sunday! I can't wait :D school starts Monday though! Yuck. But it's Nick's birthday :D so I can't wait!

Anyways, I'm definitely rambling.. but today and this week has been amazing and I definitely couldn't be any happier!

You learn something new every day..

I just realized that I have the same camera as my best friend! :P
SUPER awesome though, because she's helping me figure it all out! Hehe
I can't wait to take pictures with her and learn some cool tricks :D!

Best Present Ever!

I GOT A CANON XS CAMERA FOR CHRISTMAS!
EEEEEEEP!
Thank you, Nick and Peter! :D!

I've barely used anything else the past few days, I can't put my camera down! I love it so so much :D I'm still getting used to it since it's been forever since I've used a nice camera, but it's so much fun! I can't thank Nick and his dad enough :)

What did everyone else get for Christmas? (:

C-Minus 1 Day!

That's what Nick has been saying all day long :P
It's Christmas Eve though! Yipppie :D
I've been so extremely excited lately, and it's finally here!

I'm having a sleepover at Nick's house tonight with his family too! There's going to be a boy room with Nick and his brothers and a girl room with me and his sisters :) We're all going to wake up early and run downstairs to presents from Santa and the family! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, can you tell I'm excited? :D!

Now I just need to figure out what the heck I'm wearing! Yikes!

Merry Almost Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve is how I like to put it :) it all started today too! A small present exchange with my mom, Chelsey, and EMILY! :D! Christmas Eve tomorrow (obviously) where I get to open one present from Nick! Then, the day I've been waiting very impatiently for! CHRISTMAS DAY! :D!  Time couldn't go by any faster..

Oh my goodness!

I just realized what day it is!

HAPPPPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLEST SISTER, ISABELLE! :D!

That lucky little girl is in Hawaii right now with her dad and will be until the 6th! And she's already been there for a week! Sheesh, she's so spoiled. Well anyways, happy birthday, Isabelle! I love you babygirl :)

Holiday Madness

There is plenty to go around! Christmas shopper driving, intensely cold weather, you name it. On the other hand though, there are all of the wonderful Christmas lights, last minute crafting ideas, trips to the airport, ah! All of this anticipation for Christmas is absolutely killing me! I already have so many presents under all of my trees! I have one in my room for Nick's presents, one in my living room for the family ones, and one over at Nick's for my second family Christmas :D! Apparently I have a huge Christmas surprise over there too! Nick is being a punk too and tormenting me about it daily. Why can't time go any faster?! I hope everyone else is as excited for Christmas as I am! ONLY THREE DAYS LEFT! :D!

T-Minus 7 Days!

Can you believe it? I can't wait :D I'm not really sure why, but I woke up so extremely excited for Christmas this morning! Maybe it's because it's only a week away, or maybe it's because I'm almost all done with making my presents? I don't really care why I'm so excited, I just wish time would go by faster :) and to add an awesome surprise and make all of this even better? Nick's grandparents are coming up from New Mexico on Tuesday to visit for Christmas! I love them, his whole family is awesome (: it's been so cute too because his little five year old twin brothers have known about it for a while and Nick never believed them until earlier tonight when I told him, after his mom told me while we were shopping together :P how silly!

I'm definitely very excited to say the least! :D!

We will, I promise

We will go to Paris someday like we've planned. I won't worry, we'll just pack our bags and leave. We'll visit all of the places you know, we'll explore cute ones that I find, we'll do it all. I'll take a million pictures, get dressed up to go out, we can be carefree. Maybe it'll be our honeymoon, or maybe just a spontaneous trip that you surprise me with, I don't know. But you know what? I'm actually okay with that. In fact, I'm excited for it. I can't wait to explore with you and to take adventures, not knowing how any of it will turn out. We will go to Paris like we've always talked about though, I promise.

Christmas present swap!

That's right, with 11 days left until Christmas! However, I get presents early because I have such an awesome best friend! We decided that we're going to do our Christmas present swap today when I see her. I can't wait! I'm sure we'll have pictures to post later of what we got each other, so you will all be able to see them then! It's awesome too, because she's making mine! I feel bad that I didn't get to make hers, but I feel like I got some pretty awesome gifts still (: sheesh, you would think I've never had a Christmas before with how excited I am today :P

I want a puppppy!

 

I'M SO OBSESSED WITH THIS PUPPPY!

Nick said that he's thinking about getting me one for my birthday too! How awesome would that present be?! :D It's a Pekingese Dachshund mix - and I'm in love with him (: I hope I can find one just like him to have!

HAPPPPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER! (:

Although her birthday was yesterday, we weren't able to take her to get her very first tattoo until today :P She absolutely loved it though! It looks awesome! 

Here, look for yourself!

The tattoo that I have is the one I got on my 18th birthday, so she wanted to show that we were twins :) haha. But here's a close up of just hers!

 Awesome, right? :)

Anyways, happpy 18th birthday, Chels!

Frogs..

Yes, that's right, frogs. They have decided that my throat would be a good place for them to stay for a while. Everyone around me has had some sort of little bug lately, too. Isabelle had her stomach bug, Nick had caught a touch of a head cold, and now I sound like I have frogs in my throat. Awesome. Thankfully I don't feel terrible though, it just hurts a little to talk right now. Ever heard of "Fisherman's Friends"? I sure as hell hadn't. Apparently they're these super cough drops though, so let's hope they work! On the up side, I think I did really well on my Marriage & Family final this morning! Yippppie :D

But what was up with all of the thunder and lightning on my way into school? It's was tripppy! Did anyone else witness the crazy quick storm this morning as well?

Final!

Eeek! I have my Marriage & Family final today .. wish me luck!
I think I might actually feel pretty decent about this one though (:

Christmas Decorating!

Today made me so happy :) I was talking to Nick this morning about how cute I think it would be to have Christmas lights strung around my window and to have a baby Christmas tree in my room, and guess what? He surprised me by taking me out shopping to buy both!

So now I have a baby white Christmas tree, with the bright colored bulbs that I think are awesome on my nightstand, and the classic multicolored bulbs above my window! It all made me so happy, I loved it!

 I just wish it was easier to take pictures of the two of us doing all of this together, but it mostly ends up with Nick decorating and me taking pictures :P oh well, Nick said if I really wanted pictures of me decorating too, we could take certain pieces of it apart so I can get a picture putting it all up and together too :P isn't he just the greatest? (:

I don't know why I do this to myself. I get overly emotional about the smallest things, cry about them, and then I'm fine the next morning. I guess it's good that I'm getting everything out, but why do I constantly have to go through this routine? Maybe going through it a little more will help me understand something along the way. I don't know what it could be, but maybe there's something I'm supposed to come across. I hope I do find at least one thing though, no matter how big or small, just something. I don't want all of this to be for nothing.

JINGLE BELL BASH!

Jingle Bell Bash in tonight! I'm so overly excited, I have butterflies and everything! Paramore, 3OH!3, Runner Runner, The Maine, All Time Low, The Ready Set, A Rocket to the Moon, Mayday Parade, Cartel, and a special surprise guest! Eeeeeeep! I'm so happy Nick bought me these tickets for Christmas :) He's the best!

Winter Break

Ah, the life of college students! Month long Winter Break, face paced classes, choosing what classes to take and when - I love it all! If you couldn't already tell, today was my last day of my first quarter in college! I think it went really well too, if I do say so myself :) I can't wait to start Winter quarter, I really hope I can get all of the classes I want!

Anyhow, this weekend is going to be awesomely amazing! My youngest sister, Isabelle, is staying the night tonight and I'm babysitting since Nick is working. I get to buy my Twilight:Eclipse movie at midnight :P (no, I'm not obsessed with them. They're just good books and movies). And tomorrow.. JINGLE BELL BASH! I'm so overly excited for this, it's ridiculous :)

What a way to end the week!

I love my best friend :P

Alexa said:
woohoo!

you have such pretty hair (: haha that sounds super creepy.. like I'm going to start smelling your hair or something hahahahahah

:|

:b

Ashley said:
hahaa noo, you're fine!

I actually hear it a lot :b

(and we're talking about me modeling for pictures, by the way. we're not creepers or anything!)

I did it!

I made it through my group presentation today! :D I could feel my face getting hot at one point, and I joked to my professor and said "Oh God, my face is probably bright red right now" and she was super nice about it! She enthusiastically said "Oh no, not at all!" Awesome :) everyone in the class sort of laughed about it and it definitely made me feel more relaxed :P haha. I felt like I did really well though, and I didn't even need my flash cards! Yippppie :D

it made my day! (:

Put one foot in front of the other!

 

Happy December! (there's an actual name for today, but I can't think of it right now :P) anyways, it's December! Which means that Christmas is right around the corner :) I'm overly excited for Christmas already, especially Winter Break! It's my first college break, and it's a whole month long! How awesome is that? I'm so excited that this is my last week of school (except for my one final next week, but oh well)! I really need to get on making my presents for everyone too, only 24 days left to get them all done! They should be easier to make though, now that I know how to sew :D (thanks, Alexa!) To top it all off? The 25 Days of Christmas has officially started! Some of the movies in this picture are what's featured, but not all of them. It's one of my most favorite parts about Christmas time! That, and decorating :)

Today feels good, thank God!

Woke up late this morning which always sucks :\ but then my Tai Chi class was just watching a movie. To make it even better? He just canceled the final all together :D (I have massive stage fright, so the fact that I didn't have to 'perform' in front of my class it awesome!) I'm caught up in school and to top off this wonderful day, I get to hang out with my best friend! We always have so much fun together (:

I couldn't be happier that I'm feeling better now, no more crazy mood swings!

CupKay's Holiday Giveaway! :D

Do you like holiday-themed gifts? Do you like pouches to hold all of your trinkets? If you do then you should DEFINITELY check out CupKay's Holiday Giveaway! (Even if you don't, someone on your Christmas list might!) The holiday pouches in this giveaway are absolutely adorable too! Everyone should make sure to check out her site and enter the giveaway for a chance to win two of them!

You have until Monday, December 6th - so go check it out! :D

On a happier note

HAPPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!

I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH :)

Thank you for all you've done for me over the years, everything has meant the world! I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful Grandpa who is there for me like you are!

Can't sleep..

So I'm blogging. I don't even know what to write about though. It's amazing how a day can go from being so good to pretty stupid so fast though. I mean, really? One of the most frustrating things is when adults don't act like adults. Grow up already. I'm done putting up with this though. I'm going to find a way out. At least I have Nick, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't.

asdfghkl;ugh!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving :D! I can't believe that it's already here. In some ways though, it seems like we should have already had this wonderful holiday. Nick and I are celebrating our 21 month anniversary today as well, how awesome does that make today? :) I can't wait to see all of my family. I get to have an early dinner with my family over at my grandparent's place, and then Nick and I are heading back to his house for a dinner later this evening! I'm going to be completely stuffed. Hahaha. I wasn't really in charge of making anything this year, but that's probably because my sister is definitely the cook in our family. I've gotten to take a ton of pictures though! That part sort of turned into my job. I'm so grateful for everything I have, all of my friends and family, and Nick too! I don't know what I would do without all of my close loved ones, they are there for me through everything, when I ask and even when I don't. So to all of you, thank you so very much! To the rest, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, no matter what you do to celebrate :)

SNOW!

 

I cannot believe that it snowed! I mean I know the weather channels have been saying that we'll get snow, but holy cow, not this much! It's been fun though (: I've gotten to snuggle up with Nick and watch holiday movies, do some holiday baking with my mom and sisters, and have some awesome sleepovers :P With all of this snow though, I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is tomorrow and it's not closer to Christmas! Either way, I've been extremely thankful that I only lost power for about an hour Monday evening. I don't know what I would have done in the cold :\

 

My least favorite part about all of this weather though? The wind! It makes it so hard to go and play out in the snow. It's mostly ice now, but I was able to get a few good pictures before it became unbearable. This was my first time playing with Isabelle in the snow too :D she is usually in Hawaii for Christmas (lucky little girl!) so it was awesome for me to have her over and spending all of this time for me! It's supposed to snow more tomorrow too, from what I've heard? Let's hope that it's nothing too crazy! I'm supposed to go to my cousin's wedding on Saturday, if they have power.. Eeep!

Awesome.

I love when people tell you that they trust you, so in return you trust them, just to have them go behind your back and ruin things. Seriously? If you're going to to tell everyone what I talk about, then why the hell do I even bother? This is just another reason for me not to trust those outside of my "bubble", if that's what I'd even call it. Can a bubble consist of only two people? That's about how many are in mine right now, maybe some more give or take the situation. It's even worse when they don't tell you that they've said anything or you find out from the other person who now isn't talking to you. Whatever, I'll stick to my two. At least I know they'll always be there for me.

Holiday Rice Crispy Treats!

 

My four, almost five, year old sister and I made and decorated rice crispy treats with our mom today! Isabelle loves just about anything that deals with sugar so she was thrilled (: The cut-outs consisted of angels and snowmen and were "dressed" as just about everything imaginable! We made all different kinds of angels - gingerbread looking ones, bikini-wearing ones, and even a supermodel one! :P It was a lot of fun and I loved getting a head start on all of the holiday festivities!

Boots, Scarves, and Snow ..

 

Oh my! Just a few of the wonderful things that come with the season change :) I'm usually not a huge fan of fall and winter due to the harsh cold weather and all of the wetness, but this year I'm ready for it! I love the crunchy leaves on the ground, the air feeling crisp, and I'm actually ready for the snow! I'm embracing it all :) [I just really hope there's not enough snow to get me stranded, that part is always terrible!] I can't wait for the holidays and all of the cheerfulness that comes along with them! Making presents for everyone this year is part of why I'm so darn excited, too! :D I just wish I could take some awesome pictures. Maybe I'll try with my little point-and-shoot :P

Happy holidays! :D

Coffee, coffee, coffee!

I had actual coffee earlier today with my momma, not the Starbucks kind!
It was delicious but mixed with no food today is definitely not a smart combination!

I'm so jittery and shaky right now, I should really eat something
:P

Current goal: A nice camera!

I have decided that I desperately want a camera. Not the little Nikon Coolpix digital one I have now (although I do love my little camera), but a really really nice one! I have no clue as to where I would get the money for it though. Maybe a birthday present to myself? :) I've got awhile to save up until then, so who knows! I miss photography though. I might not take the best pictures in the world, but something about just getting to use it for whatever I want and all of the cool tricks that come along with a nice one! So for now, that is my personal goal :) to buy myself a nice camera!

Which brand is the best though? Nikon or Canon? Those are the two that I see most often. Help, please :)

Holiday Recipes

I love all of the food that comes with the holidays!
What I'm really looking for though is a recipe for Eggnog Bark..
like the Peppermint Bark, yaknow?
It's Nick's favorite and I want to surprise him with it!

Anyone know of a good recipe?
The Eggnog bark is what I'm really looking for,
but feel free to share any that you have :)

Love bug and Love bird

I don't know how these names started, but they've managed to stick. Nick and I have "matching" nicknames for each other, and these just happen to be one of the million. I love him with all of my heart, and everything in the world that I have. I'm so thankful for him and all that he does for me :) I know I don't deserve most of it, but he's still always there for me. It's so amazing to me how long we've been together and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

What makes it even more awesome is the comments we get from other people, just about how we've been together for so long and how happy we look together. Comments like those may be corny and cheesy to some people, but I love hearing it all. The fact that so many people notice how long we've been together amazes me :) Even his best friend talks about it. Apparently we're the only couple he knows that's been dating for as long as we have, and are still this happy! (Thanks, Alex).

Anyways, he makes me happy and I love him. I always will! :D

Hmmph

I'm not sure what's up with today.
I just feel weird :|

I really don't like this feeling.
This is becoming all too regular for me.

Oh well, off to shop for more supplies!
I'll be keeping busy with making Christmas presents tonight.
Maybe even some Scott Pilgrim with Nick :)

Peppermint Mocha

 

My day has already been made :)

I love when Nick surprises me with things. Especially just as I'm waking up!

What could be better than waking up to a kiss from your boyfriend, 

then him handing you Starbucks!

I love him, with everything I've got <3

and not just because he brought me coffee :P

Blogging? Yes please.

The more I've been blogging lately, the better I've been feeling. Maybe it's just because I can write whatever I want in here, whenever I want. I don't have to please people, stick to a certain topic, address things specifically or even clearly for that matter. It's all just for me. Those of you who want to read this and follow it, awesome. I hope what I write entertains you to some extent. For those of you who don't, still awesome. Like I said, this isn't for anyone other than myself.

I love the feeling of doing something I used to. I used to go out with friends on a regular basis, I used to be the social butterfly. Now I stay at home a majority of the time, or I'm over at Nick's. For a while that was perfectly fine with me, but as soon as he leaves for work and I'm home alone, it's terrible. Sometimes I can manage to come up with things to do, and lately I've been getting better. But there was that period, where as soon as he left, I was done. I hated to be home without him, anywhere without him really. But anyways, back to my point. I love being creative and crafty like old times. Writing whatever I was feeling, and focusing on what I want to accomplish in life.

I had a really nice talk with Alexa again tonight, and we talked about our futures. What we want right now, how we hope it goes, and where we'll end up. It was nice to just be happy like old times. To have a best friend to talk to for hours. To get back into my craftyness. To feel included, not because it was necessary, but instead voluntarily.

I could get used to this. These whole "I'm feeling good again" types of days (:

Five Years Later

 

There is so much that can happen in five years. People grow up, fail, succeed, make mistakes, learn lessons, and about a million more things that some experience and others don't. No two people are ever the same. Time changes them, along with experiences and the people they encounter. I can personally say that I am nowhere near the person I was five years ago, when Alexa and I were still good friends and hung out more frequently. But put us together five years later, with no contact in between, and we're still friends like we used to be! We still share stories about our lives, and we still take pictures (This time they're with a nicer camera though, and we're not dressed like gangsters :P) We have deeper conversations and a better grasp on what we want to get out of life. I am truly grateful to have come back in contact with her this past year. We've only hung out twice, but it's nice having someone to talk to. I don't have the best luck with friends, I have those that I'm close with and those that I'll hang out with, but no one that I'm really "best friends" with. Until now, that is. She's not judgmental or hypocritical, she's human. She listens and understands that people have flaws, but that's what makes them all unique. We haven't exactly had the type of conversation where I would be able to experience all of this from her first hand, but I can tell that if I ever did need to go to her with something, she would be there for me, in all of the right ways possible.

Giving

It amazes me how powerful giving is. Lately, that is absolutely all that has been on my mind. What am I going to give everyone for Christmas? How can I give more? Today, I had that question answered. There is a homeless man that has been standing at the bottom of my street everyday for the past week or so, holding a sign like all the others. Something about this man stood out to me though. I'm not sure what it was at all, but for some reason he stood out to me. This is where I come in. Yesterday I was on my way home from class, and as I was rushing home to eat lunch I realized that I can be extremely starving and go home to eat just about anything, but this man doesn't have that luxury. Then I decided to make him a lunch. On my way back down to see him though, he was gone. So today, I went for attempt number two. My boyfriend drove me down, just to be safe, and as soon as we pulled over the man rushed over with an excited look. It made me so happy to see him excited over a grocery bag without knowing what its contents were. Without opening it, he gently took it from me with a smile and made sure to say "thank you" about five times. Once he felt that there was a decent amount of food and goodies in the bag, he said thank you just as many times, but this time added "God Bless". That made my day. This homeless man, who wanders the streets daily and withstands the freezing cold temperatures at night, made my entire day. Now I didn't post this to flaunt my "good deed of the day", I posted this to show how much of an impact giving has. I took five minutes out of my day to make a lunch and throw in some extra things for a complete and total stranger, and not only did it make my day, but his as well. Just think how much better this world would be if people would help out those less fortunate, just because they wanted to help. Not because they were forced to, or wanted to be recognized for it, but just because they were being kind.

Best friend!

So I'm staying the night at my bestie Alexa's house tonight, and I am SO excited! We used to be really good friends in middle school, but then we sort of fell apart. Tonight is our second time hanging out in forever, but we're going to be crafty and make jewelry! I can't wait! :D

This is a super old picture that she posted on her blog, so now it's my turn to post it on mine! This was one of the last times we hung out, and we're about 13 and 14! It's crazy to think how that was only five years ago!

Red in the face.

I have to have the most obnoxious thing in the world. I don't even really know what you'd call it, but my face turns some crazy shade of red at the most random times. It's terrible. It used to just be when I was in front of a crowd or when all of the attention was directed towards me, but now it's becoming a common thing. 

It's bad enough that I think everyone disagrees with my thoughts and actions. But to have my face show it every time I feel the least bit insecure, well that's just fantastic.

Lately

Things have been strange. I'm constantly getting emotional over the smallest things, and I feel as though I cannot do anything right. And let me tell you, it sucks. I used to be so carefree and outgoing, and now I barely do anything. I sit on my laptop and iPod all day long, how boring is that?

I've started talking to an old friend from middle school again though, and it's cool because she is extremely down to earth. We've only hung out once, but it was fun to be out. Alexa is extremely creative too, and a huge inspiration to me since she has amazing photography and writing skills. Two things I wish I was better at.

But anyways, I'm new at this whole blog thing. Lately though, it just seemed like it'd be a good idea and maybe even help some. I've had so many crazy thoughts in my head, it's good for me to get them all out. And maybe this will help improve my writing skills too! It could be a win-win situation :P