A Lasting Impression...

Extra-curricular excitement has been low, I guess. I've been playing a sport the last two Fridays and got bruises both times. Last night, however, the impact was a little harder and left somewhat of an impression on me. Literally. Can you guess what sport I was playing?

This was taken over 2 hours after the fact. Still looks like this the next day!

Needless to say, I blocked the shot - no goal. This is the best exercise for me because I really don't like the gym. Anytime I can get together with people and play something like soccer, volleyball, softball, ultimate frisbee, basketball, tennis, or likewise, I get excited. Maybe I should start setting things up with friends mid-week. Like Tennis Tuesdays or something. At least I'd get more exercise!

I Wish It Were...

I wish this is what I was doing right now...relaxing on a Santa Barbara beach, not worrying about anything except for whether or not Zoe is going to play in the water and sit in my lap again.

Two Weeks Teaching!

The last of my required ECE classes and my first two weeks as a preschool teacher have been completed. So far, so great! I really like the staff I'm working with and I especially like the Lead Teacher I'm working with. Not to mention the kids are awesome! To top off the end of my first two weeks, I had an experience that to some is just cute, but to me expresses why I knew I would love teaching:

A little girl in my class was in the reading corner where there is a mirror. She ran up to me saying, "Ms. Ashleigh, I think my eyes are cracking." 

"What do you mean?" I say.

"My eyes look like they're cracking."

"They look fine to me. Why do you think they're cracking?"

"Look!" she says, closing her eyes.

I see the veins in her eye lids networking across her eyes and realize she thinks they look like cracks.

"Oh! I see, those are veins!"

"What are veins?"

And I got to enthusiastically explain what veins are for and how we have them all over our body. She was so eager to learn something she had discovered on her own and excitedly checked out the rest of her body for veins and told others about their veins. 

Obviously, the new job is going great! Now the hard part is getting a new living arrangement in place! We have been looking to buy and prices are still dropping. Pray for us that we can make it happen!! 

Surprise, Grandma!

So let's see if I can finish this post within the next hour so I can start dinner (I'm going to make sausage and vegetable stir fry) and have it ready before my loving husband gets home...we'll see how it turns out.

To start...I had to kinda stretch the truth with my mom a few times so she'd fall for the big surprise. I told her to prepare a list of things for her birthday on which she could make no plans other than to spend the weekend with me. On Thursday night I would drop off part of her gift that she could choose to wear on her birthday the next day if she so chose...so Thursday night, I did not call before I went over. Instead, I used my key and announced my presence. Fortunately, Mom was on the phone AND cooking so she acknowledged me but did not turn around. I walked in the kitchen with Ashton on my hip and Jess just behind us...Ashton did a VERY good job keeping silent. Then, mom turned around and jumped with a frightened/surprised voice when she saw Ashton and he jumped too, scared by her sudden movement. He thought it was funny though. Mom was pleasantly surprised and we let Ashton tell her what the plan was for her birthday....Legoland! She's actually been wanting to check it out for years, so we made it happen! 

 
Legoland was pretty perfect. We made it around the whole park in one day and even caught a fun little performance! I like that a handful of rides require some effort on behalf of the rider. For example, if you want the roller coaster to go faster, you have to pedal! Ashton was tall enough for all except two or three rides. The four of us had a great time and us old folk were exhausted! 

Saturday, Grandma and Uncle Adam had to work, so Grandpa, Mommy, and Aunt Ashleigh took Ashton to the beach! I asked Ashton if he wanted to invite my friend Caleb who is his age as well as Caleb's sisters. After telling Ashton about Caleb and his sisters, I asked Ashton if he wanted to play with Aunt Ashleigh and Grandpa of if he wanted me to invite Caleb too. Ashton replied, "I want to play with the sisters." Haha, watch out Joe & Lu! :-) Unfortunately, my little friends were out of town, so we left with just the family. Grandpa insisted on going to Salt Creek which worked out PERFECTLY because we ran into Uncle Scotty whom we haven't seen in YEARS! I was seriously probably in elementary school still. We've missed him sooooooooooooooo much and he taught Ashton how to surf. Well, kind of.

Saturday afternoon, we played with Ashton all day and come evening, Jess, Adam, & I went to have dinner with Winston for his birthday!! What a great weekend for friends and family!

 

Sunday morning, Jess asked Ashton if he wanted to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's or if he wanted to go to church with Uncle Adam and Aunt Ashleigh to learn about God. He chose to learn about God and Jesus! Adam and I were very impressed with his behavior since we go to church for three hours, but fortunately I happen to spend the second two hours with the three year olds anyway, so he was with me the whole time. He learned about why bugs are important and who made bugs. Then he colored(-ish) a box with butterflies and grasshoppers and other bugs which he showed to all of the adults at church and then to Grandma, Grandpa, and Mommy. He also like the butterfly game we played in Sunday School. When we were leaving the classroom, I told Ashton that we needed to find Uncle Adam first. He said, "You mean your prince?" Cutest!! 

Later that afternoon, the Fawleys came over for Mom's birthday cake...made by Dad and Jess. The cake was great and Mom loved her present that ALL of us there pitched in to get for her - a stand mixer! Finally! And Ashton provided the entertainment! :-) We told Ashton that Erin was Tinkerbell. He LOVES Tinkerbell. Ben really wanted to teach Ashton that this fruit Ashton had was a lemon and not an orange, so I went out a picked an orange. Ben held the lemon behind his back and Erin sprinkled pixie dust and Ben turned it into an orange! Ashton thought that was funny. Then, back behind Ben's back, Erin sprinkled MORE pixie dust and WOW, a lemon AND an orange! This time Ashton's expression was much more perplexed and intrigued. "Make applesauce!" I rush into the kitchen to find applesauce and we do it all again. "Make a fish!" I find a plastic fish and we do the routine again - Ashton is loving every minute! "Make a dog!" "Make a horse!" And we ran out of pixie dust... ;-). That night I cuddled with Ashton 'til he was ready to go to bed and he told Adam and I to have a boy cousin for him.

Monday morning, I heard Ashton had a hard time sleeping. He was crying all night that he couldn't find his Tinkerbell. Awww....he didn't like that Aunt Ashleigh didn't have magic powers like Erin the night before. I drove over so Jess could pack their things and I took Ashton to the park for an hour. We played Prince and Princess as well as Superheroes until Grandma showed up and brought snacks! When it was time for Jess and Ashton to leave, we ate a quick lunch and sent them on their way. I was so sad to see them go. I wish they could move out here...I'd love to have them around. And I know Jessica would love the help! Anyway, Mom's birthday really couldn't have gotten any better in my opinion.

30 and 1

The days have gone by fast. I've been unemployed now for twenty days and I've been loving it! That doesn't mean I haven't been looking for a job though. I already have a follow up interview scheduled for Tuesday. This job is only part time, but it's something that will give me experience working with children in a classroom environment while I'm finishing my classes toward a Child Development certificate. 

I've really been enjoying my time off though. Adam took two days off last week to watch the opening round of March Madness. We spent the whole weekend lazing around together and I LOVED IT! I've been baking too many sweets though. I've kept my weight down, but that is simply because I'm eating less than I did when I was working (stress), not healthier. I really felt that at the gym today. I've been working out more than when I was commuting four hours a day, but I feel somewhat weak. I just need to better my eating habits and keep putting in effort at the gym.

Adam celebrated his 30th this year and we celebrated our 1st Anniversary! It's hard to believe that the year went by so fast, but I love this marriage!

Below is a short picture calendar of things I've done since my last post...

I threw random stuff together for a little pizza dinner

My nephew Ashton made me a house for my birthday!

We had a big BBQ get together for Adam at his brother's the day after his birthday, so ON his birthday, I  made him a simple meal and dessert.

Carne Asada on a bed of Spinach with Cilantro dressing

Layered strawberry shortcake topped with ice cream. It's just yellow cake, strawberries, and cool whip

Blow out that candle!

Irritations & Excitations

Excitation: Thrilled to go to Big Bear!

Irritation: Have to buy snow chains + long drive because the 330 is closed. Adam spends over an hour out in the windy freezing rain trying to put the snow chains on halfway up the mountain. He is tired and soaked through and through.

Excitation: It's snowing! We make it safely to the top!

Irritation: Our hosts never made it and didn't get a hold of us to tell us. We are stranded at the top of the snowy mountain after midnight on a holiday weekend with hotels that have no vacancy.

Excitation: Motel 6 left the light on for us! They moved rooms around to make a place for us!

Irritation: Our long weekend turned into a one night $350+ sleepover. Should've cost half that since the cabin was supposed to be free.

Excitation: Monday was still a holiday. Thought I would have to work but I didn't! Mom made an AWESOME Oreo Cookie Cake for my birthday and the Fawley's came over to celebrate!

Irritation: I have to go back to work - the hardest show of the year for me - knowing that I'm getting laid off.

Excitation: This is my last Academy Awards!

Irritation: People saying, "I'm so sorry, I heard the news..." 

Excitation: My preschool observations are going great! I love the kids! I love the teacher! The kids love me!

Irritation: I have to work this weekend...on my birthday...

Excitation: Uncle Carlos is allowing us to celebrate my birthday at his house and spend the night so my drive to the Oscars is shorter! Nancy, Brett, Karen, and little Natalie will be there to celebrate too!

Irritation: I still don't know what my severance package is going to be.

Excitation: I can finally focus on finishing my certifications and be a preschool teacher!

A Breath of Fresh Air and A Sigh of Relief

Though there's been much in motion that has been stressing me out as of late, two things are occurring that have made me really excited for this weekend. One is a little breather from the award show madness with a three day weekend which I will be enjoying away from Los Angeles in the clean air and maybe an exciting storm. Do I see snow? The other is something that I've been praying for for a really long time now. I can't share details because I haven't received official word yet, but I've got a positive nervous energy of hope about me.

This weekend is going to be a literal breath of fresh air and, if things go as I hope they do today, a sigh of relief.

Here is a hint of "fresh air"...