Dear 2009

Dear 2009,

You've been a good year. To mark your timely demise, I have a bunch of random thoughts to share to catch everyone up on my life... in an untimely manner.

Ok the biggest development in my life since we last visited, is that I am now dating a boy named Phillip... I'm sure that will come up at some point.

On to my real blog~

Dear 2009,

You were pretty sublime.
...It was truly a great time.


Allow me to highlight the year in pictures.

I befriended the intern, Daxface, after he was put to the test and ran over a squirrel to "put him out of his misery." (Ok so that part didn't happen in 2009, but I did spend a large part of 2009 working with Dax in marketing). Emely (pictured top left) and I also became friends from working together... Emely eventually moved into the house of girls.

Welcome Baby McKenna! Michelle had her adorable baby girl. As far as I'm concerned, I am Auntie Ashlee.



Then there was a bunch of awesomeness in there somewhere. Kimberlea came to visit a few times, but Sydney moved to California. John and Jackie came down for his graduation, and then there was that time that the brothers got weirded out and opted to start talking about the rocks in the fireplace.


Yes, this is a photo of us after oatmeal wrestling... Birthday festivities for Kate's 24th. We celebrate with style.I got "wrung" into leading decorating for this summer's VBS at church... most definitely a labor of love.


My dear friend Nicky left for Fuller Seminary (but not before she taught me a few things first).

Anna kicked my trash at chubby bunny... and fantasy football come to think of it ;o)

I also helped to make the best diabetic-friendly, sugar-free ice cream cake--complete with dinosaurs and little green army men figures.



In July, I needed a little R&R stat. My dear friend Melissa and I ventured to McCall where we soaked up the sun on the north shore... I also found the best sun hat EVER that I will probably always regret not forking over the $50 for it. Sad day.

Disneyland! Woot Woot! Anne, Kyla, LeeAnne, Kate and I ventured down to Cali in August to meet up with Sydney and Jackie for good times. I conquered my fear of upside-down roller coasters in California Adventure and got hit on by a Jedi master in Tomorrow Land. The 3rd picture is the snapshot that caused a long laugh-attack on the tram. I didn't realize the face that Kate was making, but a nearby, middle-aged African American woman did... and she busted up laughing. I also got the hiccups somewhere in there, and when I saw the picture... well, I lost it for approximately 30-45 minutes.

This is my adorable grandma who turned 82 this year. So I took her to the Glenn Miller Orchestra. So presh.

Somewhere in there (ok October 31st) I threw a kickin' Halloween party for the Cole Young Adults Group. I was Gilly from SNL, but no one knew who I was. Oh well. Phil and I went to the San Jose State vs. BSU game that day. 2009 was a year of football for me... I even joined a fantasy football league.


The Haidles hosted their annual cider pressing which served as an engagement party of sorts for Kyla and Steve. Woot Woot!

December came upon me fast... but it was a good one. Phil took me to see these insane Christmas lights in Boise (above). The man even has a Christmas dolphin. What Christmas light display is complete without the Christmas dolphin? I just don't even know. The neighbor's house has wreaths and holly, and the only lights spell out "ditto" and point to the neighbor's display. But my award for best Christmas spirit yard display definately goes to the woodlin creatures singing with the snowman. No words.

Good bye 2009. You will be missed.

High heels

I have random thoughts at random times. Today I was literally walking across campus, and I wished that my brain was connected to a computer that automatically typed because I had my whole blog figured out. Seriously.

So I have this cute pair of black open-toed wedges that I absolutely love. Alas, it's probably really time to throw them out because every time I wear them, I regret it. The unfortunate thing is that they are one of my favorite pair... thus my love for them overrules my extreme discomfort. Aside from this dilemma, one of my biggest problems with them is that they are extremely loud on some surfaces. Like today for example, in my campus meanderings I was able to evaluate the sounds of my shoes.

I love how they dress up my outfit, but sometimes the clickity-click is a little too much for me. They're A-OK on the carpet, but on the hardwood (like in the sanctunasium) or on the really wide sidewalks (especially the one by Wiley) they are out of control... On the upside, they are much better on the narrow sidewalks that run the majority of campus.

So my question to you is: Do different types of heels make different noises, or did I just miss that "high heel" walking etiquette class?

I've tried different techniques while I move, and I know there is an art to walking in high heels... but no amount of shifting my weight or walking lightly does anything for this particular pair of heels... Is it because they are wedges?

The Balancing Act

It's interesting to me that "we" used to make women prance around with various items like novels (and apparently milkshakes according to this photo) on their heads. Yes, I believe the primary purpose was an exercise in posture and poise, but I also think there is something to be said about what could really be going on here.

I grew up hearing that "life only got busier," but I really didn't buy into it. Year after year I've had to revoke my claim that this statement was simply untrue. The worst part is that as my life changes, my relationships change and I continue to storm through this thing called life, I realize that life is very very messy. My life is a constant balancing act, and I'm a chronic people-pleaser. Basically, I'm trying the hardest I can, but it is a constant struggle to keep all these books on my head.

Work, work, work; friends of all shapes and sizes; church; obligations; family; down-time and more. Basically, every aspect is like a book on my head. Oh and by the way, there is also the need to be sure and look dead sexy all the while.

A collection of short stories from my roadtrip to California

Hello faithful blog-followers. Yes, I did just get back from vacation, and it was glorious. Please see above.

LeeAnne, Kyla, Anne, Kate and I be-bopped it down through Las Vegas last week and ended up in Anaheim. Jackie, John and Sydney met up with us in Anaheim for a wonderful weekend. John was so nice as to lend us Jackie for Disneyland adventures. Magtastical (my new word) for sure.

Favorite Stories:

Frightening Falls
The Tower of Terror was my favorite by far. We noticed some very attractive guys right in front of us in line. Sydney called dibs on the cutest one, and while we waited for the elevator shaft to open, I started talking to them. For the purposes of this story we will name him "McCulley" (I don't know why). Anyhow, come to find out McCulley was also scared for this upcoming drop and his friends were not being overly easy on him. We load up, and sit Sydney, Anne and Kyla in the second row with LeeAnne, myself and Kate in the third. McCulley and friends were in the first row. The picture they snapped at the top of the ride couldn't be any more perfect. Sydney was more scared than I realized, and LeeAnne yelled, "Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" the whole way down. I was pretty much dying of laughter the whole ride. Please also be sure to check out McCulley and friends in the photo.
Snow White and the Six Sisters
As we wondered around California Adventure on Saturday, we stumbled upon several beloved characters... One of these being Snow White. While waiting in line, we discovered we had an extra packet of delicious apple slices. Being the ingenious crew that we are, we really couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask Snow White if she would be afraid of our apple slices with us. The following encounter went something like this:

Snow White (SW): "Why hello girls. How are you?"
Girls: "Good," they replied while pushing Anne (the chosen one) forward
Anne: "Snow White, we have these apples slices and we were wondering if you would act like you're scared of them with us."
SW: "Why would I be scared of your apple slices?"
Anne: "Oh you know... Cuz one almost killed you one time."
SW: "But that's not my apple. My apple was deep dark red and poisonus. Your apple is nutricious and delicious!"
--Somewhere in here, we all revealed we had apple slices--
Anne: is extremely caught off guard about this time...
SW: "How about you be scared of the apple, and the rest of us will make pretty princess faces."
--End scene--

Little did we know we'd encounter the same actress the next day as Tinkerbell's pixie friend "Fawn."

Jedi Lover
Sadly, I felt a migraine coming on later Friday night so I opted to sit out Space Mountain with the girls. After getting a coke, I walked around Main Street while it was getting darker. A little later, when I started to feel better, I went into the gift store in Tomorrowland that is between Space Mountain and the Star Tours ride. I was dinking around and looking at all of the Star Wars merchandise when an attractive cast member behind the Star Wars photo booth started talking to me. It went something like this.

Jedi: "Hey, how are you doing tonight?"
Ashlee: "I'm doing well."
Jedi: "Are you thinking about taking a photo?"
Ashlee: "Nope, I'm just looking around."
Jedi: "Are you sure? Cuz you'd look awesome in pretty much any of these pictures."
Ashlee: (I think this is the part where I was kind of not sure what to say) "...ummm..."
Jedi: "Especially 771. I'm just sayin."
Ashlee: "Umm I'm good for now. Thanks though." (please note that image 771 featured Natalie Portman's body in the get-up below with her face blotted out where mine would go)

The girls and I went back the next night and he was there again. I considered offering him our extra fast pass to Space Mountain because he kept looking at me. It's really too bad I didn't build that custom light saber. Man, I wish there were Jedis in Idaho.

Well, that's all for now.

Wise words from grandma

Have I shared with you all how adorable my grandma is? Well she is quite adorable, and I love her a lot... In fact I aspire to be like her one day.

Today's wise word from grandma is, "Shit or get off the pot." Which I don't think she can fully take credit for, but she decided to share it with me... So this is me, passing it on. No seriously though.

On growing up...

Ok kids. Here it is. The latest post you've all been waiting for. I hope it does not disappoint.

There are really good things about growing up and really crappy ones. This summer has been a huge turning point in my life. I spent half of the summer in a daze of excitement for something that didn't ever work out, and the other half in utter confusion as I sorted through emotions, crappy relationships, changing friendships and 'temporary' employment.

So as I "leave the storm" so to say, I've decided two things:

1. Learning to be an adult and maturing has a heck of a lot to do with relationships of all types and what we do with those relationships. No matter how much we try, we can't always be in high school and have lockers next to each other or live in the dorms with your 20 best friends in college. Even more importantly, we can't always live with mom (for soooo many reasons), but we have to keep a healthy distance with some of these people so we can develop a level of independence. And along the way, we meet some very interesting people... who we also have relationships with.

My friend Nicky blogged about how each of us are supporting characters in each others' lives. So true. I can honestly say that Nicky has been an awesome supporting character in my life. As our friendship has grown, she's shared some of her life with me that I hope I've gleaned even a smidge of.

2. Life will never go as planned.
I'm a planner... like a very detailed planner. Sometimes it is the bane of my existence, but most times it is just my nature. I never expected to have such a hard time finding a job after college. In fact, I was so sure of myself and my marketability that I always pictured myself skipping town and ruling the world (not quite, but almost). Well, needless to say that didn't happen, and here I am in little old Idaho. Woot. Seriously.

So as I process all of these things, I'm just not so sure what to do with myself. I guess I'll just continue to learn to be myself. Know what else is reassuring to me about now? Zephaniah 3:17 check it out, kids.

"The Lord Your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you; He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Wow. That's oddly enough how I'm feeling about now... quiet.

that girl...

I hate Rachel. ;o)