my week via iPhone

< one cannot simply... help themselves around unlimited office supplies
> my favorite kids at Malawi's for dinner on Thursday to celebrate their Uncle Sean's graduation!


< showing off their balloons that Sean gave them.
> you've just gotta meet this little girl. she's the funniest. endless entertainment when Addison is around.


< shops at riverwoods. so pretty.
> i took my flowers home, because i didn't want to leave them at work over the weekend to die, so they sat in the cup holder on the way home. it was awkward.


< preparing for a weekend of rock climbing at Joe's!
> i love getting packages in the mail. even though it's to myself, from myself.


< lindt chocolate is the best kind of chocolate. especially Touch of Sea Salt.
> one of my 5 food groups: french fries. (others: coca-cola, berries, soft serve ice cream, and cotton candy.)

 
< this is what Devin's work nights look like on my end: catching up on hulu shows in a bed that is two times too big when it's just me.
> man, do i miss those kids!!!



reason #874 why my niece is the cutest. and funniest: she will demand to be put down in the middle of a restaurant, for the sole purpose of dancing right in the middle of it. following by greeting strangers. she literally walked right up to a guy that was on a date, shook his hand, and began flirting. she's a bold one! love her! (ignore my really annoying laugh...) she had already been dancing for a good 5 minutes before i started recording her.

whoops...

I made the mistake of putting off making plans for my friday until... right now.

Devin is closing tonight at the gym - and on weekends, they close at 11:00 - plus it's in Sandy, so I'm guess he'll be home around midnight.. only 5 1/2 more hours to go!

we decided late last week to join some of devin's climbing friends down at joe's valley, and are heading down early tomorrow morning. i'm nervous, because i've never climbed outside before, and i feel really unprepared. i know it will be totally different, so i am trying to keep that in mind, but i've already been frustrated with my climbing lately, anyway, so i'm biting my nails a bit about this. 

i'm more excited to finally be camping again. one of my biggest problems with winter is the lack of camping. winter camping is just not my cup of tea. i'm also excited to get some color back in my skin, hopefully, and eat camping food, which to us has always meant constant snacking, and also hang out with friends, and have nothing to do! it is going to be the perfect break, and it will hold us over until our anniversary trip (that i am still have absolutely not one clue what it will be!). 

after we get home, i'm sure my posts will be much more interesting. come this weekend, life will be exciting again! we've been a bit of a lull over the past 3 weeks or so as we both adjust to new jobs and new schedules and new routines, but that is starting to become the norm again, so we'll be back to exciting in no time, I think.

monumental things that happened this week:

>>i bought my first pair of jeggings

>>our brother sean graduated from UVU

>>little bayli turned 1 month old

>>i bought my first every pair of actual sandals

>>we celebrated 11 months of marriage!

lots of great is on it's way

lots of good stuff is about to happen to us ashby's.

and i'm not just talking about my mini-shopping spree that is on route, at this moment, to my doorstep. 

i'm talking about how yesterday, my husband was actually home for once. and we were going to cook, clean and rock out... or something like that...

but then we found a coupon for wing nutz, so we basically ran out the door.

after that? we went up rock canyon, and climbed up a big rock they call "the kitchen" and found a perfect little spot that had an amazing view:

and after that? we stopped at coldstone. our favorite, and we took that ice cream home and went directly to bed and ate it while we watched the office.

i'm also talking about how today, my dear sweet mother turned 50. golden birthday. she is amazing! happy birthday mom!

i'm talking about how tonight, we are meeting up with family and friends to celebrate how Sean, devin's brother GRADUATION. how cool is he? he as literally worked his butt off for years and years and is graduating! honestly, though, i think i'm more excited for chloe. probably because i can relate better. sure, sean just did this amazing thing by being really smart and spending endless nights studying, but chloe gets her husband back. and i can't imagine how great that's gonna feel! i am pretty lucky to see devin as often as i do, even with our new opposite work schedules, so i'm pretty excited for them. pretty. darn. excited.

i'm talking about how friday is friday. it really doesn't need an explanation. devin is working late, but i think i need a night to myself. it will be good.

i'm talking about saturday. we're heading down to joe's valley for a weekend of rock climbing with some of devin's good climbing friends. we're only going over night, but it will be so worth it! a small trip like this is definitely overdue.

i'm talking about how next weekend, my cute cousin Nichole is getting married and we get to go to the sealing and photograph the whole day! i am so excited! (we even get work off!)

i'm talking about how May is going to be all sort of great, because my husband turns 25, and? we celebrate ONE WHOLE YEAR OF WEDDEDNESS. can you even believe that? we are 11 months strong today! i can hardly remember what life was like pre-devin, and i'm glad it's that way. at the same time... it's already been a year? what?! in a good way. i love that man. can i fathom what i lucky girl i am to be mrs. devin ashby? never. i don't think i'll ever get used to how great he is.

i'm talking about how devin has planned an entire anniversary trip for us, and i am COMPLETELY IN THE DARK. no idea what we're doing. won't know until the morning of. i can't wait! i love surprises.

and now, let's talk about all the good that's already been happening:

like how i bought one of those huge containers of chocolate covered raisins... to keep in my filing cabinet... you know, the filing cabinet below the one full of coke... obviously, working in a cubical has caused me to develop a lot of really healthy habits. like constantly snacking on junk food and listening to my ipod slightly too loud on purpose so i can ignore people "on accident' - just kidding. 

and how my husband... that guy that for some reason loves me every morning all over again, sent me FLOWERS. he legit got a beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to my office. this is how that went down:

we actually had met up for lunch. ernies. classic. delicious. i ordered a full. which i always do. which i should never do. because it's way too much food. we had a good, quick date and i headed back to work. i love getting to go to lunch with him, so we take advantage of it as often as possible. i forgot to change my little status on our office messenger, so it still said "at lunch" and about 10 minutes later, i got a message from the receptionist. it said "when you get back from lunch, there is something waiting for you here at reception."

i immediately raised one eyebrow. 

and i can't even do that, which shows you how confused i was.

my first reaction is to message her back and say: "are you sure you have the right girl? everyone mixes Kate A and I up all the time."

she replies right back, "it says Katie Ashby on it"

i basically ran downstairs, trying not to smile. trying to think what in the world could possibly be down there.

and there it is, this adorable, sweet thing that had my husband written all over it. 

nobody has ever done anything like this for me before.

he's just that good. 

and how about the fact that i started reading tina fey's book, bossypants? hilarious. i love it so much.

and how target is now equipped with a full on starbucks. are you freaking kidding me? this totally makes up for how they just reorganized the entire store and i can't find anything anymore. now, i have such easy access to my favorite: vanilla bean frappuccino, which is probably the wimpiest, most utah mormon thing you could ever get at a coffee shop, but that's the way it goes, and they are delicious. you know they are.

and these other things that i took random pictures of, which had points and explanations at one time, but are now null and void, and just for looks (ha, pun intended):

birthday sandwich

today is a kayla - mom sandwich.

kayla's birthday was yesterday

and mom's is tomorrow.

so i thought today was the appropriate time to brag about them both.

first of all: have you met them? my mom and my baby sister? they are 2 of the most amazing women in the world. two of the strongest. two of the funniest!

my mother, who will be 50 tomorrow (but you would never be able to tell by looking at her), has been a silent influence on me my whole life. she is quiet and loves to keep to herself, but she has lead me by example. she is so incredibly selfless. she will drop everything to help me if i ever need it, even if i don't ask. she worries, just like a mom should, and has grounded me at least a thousand times for being such a rebellious teenager (which i'm now glad for, believe it or not), but she has also been the one to give me advice, like a best friend. and stay at home on a saturday night watching weird movies i would be too embarrassed to watch with my friends.

she probably rolled her eyes at my decisions way more often then either of us would've liked, but she has made me a better person by being my mom. i so admire her attitude and her work ethic. i admire her beautiful garden, and perfect nails. i love that she is an absolute expert on everything dan fogelberg, and she is happy as ever if she's got a pepsi and a handful of m&m's, with a good, classic novel. she is so simple, and i hope i grow up to be just like her! as i get older, she becomes one of my closest friends. she amazes me! i look just like she did at my age, and when people tell me that, i consider it a huge compliment - she is the best mom i could have ever asked for!

 

huntington beach 200...7?

 

thanksgiving 2009

 

october 2010

 

kelli's wedding day, may 2011

me and my momma! circa 1992 or 1993?

and kayla... kayla is blowing my mind lately. i feel like she has grown up so much in the last year. a lot of that growing up was forced, i think, by some major break-ups, high school drama, and the death of one of very closest friends - but i know she is stronger for it. it takes a lot to break that girl down, and i think her bullies are finally starting to realize it. i wish i was more like my little sister on a regular basis. she has such simple, logical thinking about life, and the way it should be. she is tall, tan and beautiful, and has at least 50 guys drooling over her at any given time - she is that cool. and, she's a genius! she is so smart, and it comes so naturally to her! this girl is the total package, i tell you. she is incredibly mature for her age, and i am so excited to watch her take on the real world after she graduates high school next month! i love you, little cheecher!

 

september 2010

 

summer 2010

 

thanksgiving 2009

 

post-op 2010. she was such a rockstar! 

october 2010

happy birthday!

golden

it's a year of big birthdays in our family this year, mostly.

my little brother turned 16 in january

my little sister turns 18 tomorrow

my mom turns 50 on wednesday

my dad turns 50 in june

i turn 21 in august

those are all pretty big deal birthdays.

anyhow... my mom has a ton of sisters, and they are the coolest aunts ever. seriously.

they decided that since my grandma (their mom), is turning 70 this year, they wanted to throw her a surprise party. that ended up not working out, and they decided to throw my mom a party instead. something about how turning 50 is a bigger milestone than 70.

so... they tricked my mom into thinking they were still doing a party for her mom, when all the while, we've been planning a surprise party for her! we invited both her family and my dad's, her neighbors, and friends and a lot of people showed up! she was totally surprised! i can't believe we pulled it off. my mom loves birds - especially owls, and her favorite color is orange, so they decorated everything so cute and we had a great night celebrating all the birthdays with everyone!

i'm sorry, instagram followers. i was totally overloading, but this party was so cute! i couldn't help it! also - i've been seeing lots of my two sisters lately, and that, i totally love. they are the greatest. the older we get, the better friends we become, and i love it! they are the greatest. and so is my baby brother. he is everyone's favorite. he's the golden child, and none of us care because he's our favorite, too!

anyway, here's how tonight went:

 

presents

 

she was so surprised!

 

my sister made the cake!

orange duct tape

 

i was in charge of the drinks - raspberry lemonade w/ sprite

 

owls...

 

i love family parties!

 

my aunt folded up tons of money to look like clothes because all my mom wanted was money to buy clothes! so cool!

 

same aunt freezed money for my sister and put it in a briefcase and said it was "cold hard cash"

my cousin's son ben! he's such a goofball.

my wonderful sisters!

it was a great night! mom had a great golden birthday, and it was an awesome excuse to get together with so many great people. weekend: accomplished.