Just Realized...

Yeah...I just realized it has been like 8 months since I last posted and there is a lot to tell. Most of you are FB friends anyway. I will get there no worries! Just give me another month or so and I will be a blogging fool!! :)

I am still alive and well. Hope you are too!

Ash

Grateful.

Yesterday was a hard day. It's been an emotional week. I've had a lot of time to think. (after school that is...and it's been more of a "coma" like state of thinking.) And yesterday, after I talked to my little sister on the phone after she got off of work, and listening to her talk about all of my friends and everyone I miss, I broke. It wasn't because I wished I could go back. It was because, I suddenly felt alone (literally and emotionally) I don't have my family or my friends here that I had in St. George. I haven't laughed insanely hard at work in weeks. I haven't teased anyone or had anyone tease me in weeks and I haven't felt...what's the word? Needed? Loved? Something...in weeks. And it just hit me hard.

Enter the Sabbath. I go to church and it starts with amazing talks on the sacrament. (I do have to admit that I nodded off to sleep for who knows why for the last 5 minutes of the BEST talk, and I missed it. But what I heard was awesome.)

I then proceed, in my dreamy barely awake state to Sunday School. (Honestly...you would think with church at 1:30, I would be able to handle staying awake, but for some reason this time of day hits me harder than normal.) It continued with an awesome lesson on building our foundation and anchoring ourselves in Jesus Christ. We transition into relief society, and there is yet, another AMAZING lesson about the laborers in the Vineyard, a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland in the April Conference. There were so many insights to that parable in Matthew that I had never even thought of.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I am so grateful that I have this gospel in my life. I have taken it for granted so many times, but I am so grateful that I have been blessed to have it in my life. I am so blessed, and I don't show my gratitude for my blessings very often, which needs to change. I have been enlightened by the spirit of the Holy Ghost, and I am so grateful because it was so needed at this point in time. I know that I don't have those things I mentioned. I know that sometimes it's hard to be single at this point in my life, and that I do feel alone. But I also know that I have one thing that will always keep me floating, keep me swimming, and keep me going. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the hope and happiness it brings to my life and I am so happy that I have it!

Happy Sunday!
Ash

My Mother's Dreams

I have this funny story about my mom. (I love you mother. You know I do. But I have to share it.)


A couple years ago, well...more than a couple. More like 10? Anyway, years ago, my mom had a dream about our family. We had just put a dog "down" for like the 5th or 6th time in like 3 years. We weren't having a lot of luck, and we were pretty set on not having a dog for a while. In my mom's dream, we got a pure bread golden lab puppy named Murphy. Well, because my mom had that dream, she became set on getting a pure bread golden lab puppy and naming it Murphy. And that's where this little cutie came from. I sure love her and miss her tons.

So anyway, back to my story. On Friday, my little sister called me in a panic, stressed mood when she was on her way to work. She was mad at me because I guess I told her we get paid every two weeks on Friday, which is SO not true. ANYWAY, after talking to her, I was a little worried something else was up, so I called my mom. Her phone being dead (probably for the billionth time...) I called my dad. I talked to him for a minute and he said that his phone was gonna die, but that I could talk to my mom. So, after talking to my mom about Kenz, she started asking me about the faculty and about school. Pretty normal for her. Then she asks...

 "And are any of the male teachers single?"

Me: ....(silence)..."...yes." 

Mom: "Oh. Okay. Well I was just wondering because I had this dream..."

And the phone died. 

Well, I had to call her today to talk to her about our little rabbit situation and asked her what she meant. She told me that back when I announced I had gotten this job, that she had a dream where I moved up here and got into a serious relationship with one of the single teachers at my school. But apparently I wouldn't tell her anything about it and she was so furious at me because I didn't tell her. 

So, if this dream goes anything like the one my mom had about Murphy, I may be in a serious relationship soon folks. Guess I shouldn't mention anything but....

I have an announcement? 

Apparently I'm having a boy....

Yay Me. 

Enjoy your wonderful weekend! I am done clogging up your feeders. 

Ash

My House :)

I will now take you on a tour of my home. I love it. It is adorable. I live with a girl I have known since I was five and have been on all of the Young Women's presidencies with, as well as attended every girls' camp with and pretty much spent a lot of my time with her. Her name is Katelynn. She also got a job in American Fork at Forbes Elementary school as a Kindergarten/OEK teacher. When we found that out, we just said, well...guess that settles the question of who we are living with! We are so blessed to have found this great place and we love it! 

We are #13 

 This is our living room. We don't have a ton of furniture but the couch is COMFY! 

Our dining room/look into our kitchen. This is from the living room.

 This kitchen. Don't mind the dishes. 

The 3rd bedroom. I use it for my "office" but I really don't use it that much. It is nice to have though. And great in case we have someone who needs a place or for company. We plan to replace the chair with a futon of some sort. 

My bathroom. On the wall by the door, there is another door that leads to the laundry room, but you can't really see it. 

And this is my room! (And mom...do you notice how clean it is? And no, I did not clean it just for the picture. It has stayed pretty much this clean since I moved in. Surprised?)

 There you have it! I love it. It is only about 10 minutes away from school, and across the street there a Macey's and a Costa Vida. So I am good :)

Sneak Peaks

Here is a just a sneak peak of my classroom. I promise I will get better pictures later. 

 And I'm officially officially official! My name is on the door. No picture yet...but I am MISS LANGSTON :) 

Wish me luck! School starts Monday/Tuesday. (Just the 7th graders on Monday, then everyone on Tuesday.) I'm so nervous but so so excited!! 

Summer Adventures

This summer was chalk full of crazy fun adventures that I wouldn't ever take back. Here are just a few highlights. 

Swim sesh with the seester. I love this girl

Halle Balle showing me her spoon.

We went to my parents' house one day when I was taking care of the girls. We ran through the sprinklers and got sno cones. It was such a fun day. Obviously Addi did not like her hat. 

Probably one of my favorite pictures, besides my ginormous arms.

It looks like Halle doesn't like her Dora the Explorer sno cone. But she most definitely did.

So in June, I went up to the Summer FACS conference and got to reunite with these lovely ladies. Don't mind us, we are just making some fun at the the BYU poster we found. 

Love these girls. 

 I could not have completed this post about summer without mentioning my work. 1-because I lived there (literally...40 hours a week and usually more just being there for meetings and whatnot) and 2-because I met some of the greatest people ever. I had the most fun working there and learned the most about myself and great things I needed to learn for teaching. In June, we went bowling for a work party and to say goodbye to one of the managers, Maddie. It was so much fun! 

Me and Abs

Kayla, Me and Abs. Love these girls! 

Maddie and I. 

Chantay! I miss her. She is the greatest person ever. 

And Carly. I love this girl. And I miss her too. She is the greatest person ever ! 

In July, we had a Pina Colada cupcake for the cupcake of the month. Yes, I helped "create" it...but really it was Aisha who was the brilliant mastermind. 

 For some reason, somehow, I got "assigned" to the task of redoing the window display. It was great. While I was training a new manager, I made some awesome creations all geared towards cupcakes/baking.

Cupcake cake stand with whisk bouquet

Cupcake liner ball. It looks so cool! 

Can't see very well, but it turned out so cute! 

 Also, I am having withdrawals from my nieces. Halle and Addi were so much fun to be around. I love and miss those girls! 

Like I said. A fun eventful summer. Also add in Tuachan plays, nearly getting flooded out because of crazy rainstroms, and awesome family reunions, and I seriously had the best summer ever. :) 

The Babies and Chicks

Okay, finally getting around to some blog posting. Don't worry, nothing on school yet. That is to come.

So looking through my pictures it is hard for me to recognize how hold the babies were at which times so all of the dates are guess-timates.

This is my "neice" Addi. This is right around when they were two weeks old. They were just starting to hop.

EYES! We can see them :)

Cute Sista with Wayne-who turned out to be a girl. We called her Wa-Wa

They were also just starting to hear things. This is probably around 3 weeks when these were taken.

Look how cute and cuddly!!! 

This became my favorite things to do. You would whistle and they would perk their ears up. It was so dang cute! This is about 3 1/2 weeks. 

And for some reason, I don't have anything after that until they were 6 weeks. Spot. He came back to us. 

And cute little Wa-Wa. She was so cuddly and cute. 

So, when the babies were around 4-5 weeks, we had a little mishap happen. Their mom, Pepper, died of heat stroke/exhaustion. She wasn't in direct sunlight, but it go too hot outside and she didn't have enough water. So, because of this incident, my sister was able to choose a baby to keep. She chose Chancho. Oh, I never mentioned we named them did I? It was just so we could keep them apart. We recently (like today) had to take back another one, so if anyone wants a baby boy, (Spot) he is available. We had so much fun raising our babies and we miss having them around. It was fun to watch them grow so fast! 

Also, right around the time we had baby bunnies, we got baby chickens as well. Well, we got them a few weeks before, but still. Here are some pictures of the little darlings. 

Probably my favorite picture ever. 

Yes, they eat right out of my hand! They can jump too. 

Chickens are quite hilarious little creatures. They are noisy. They let you know when they are hungry. But they are so much fun. We got these little worms (you can see them in my hand picture) that we dangle for them and they go nuts! They even jump up in your lap. It's so great. Oh. And they are laying eggs. :) 

That's the farm. Hope you enjoyed :)