5 Things

1 | the sweetest baby boy, who is so, so ticklish these days

2 | leftover bridal shower flowers make for great nightstand additions. also, i resolve to have fresh flowers in the house more often, because i love this.

3 | this little dog knows exactly what sundays are all about 

4 | he spent the weekend climbing in the uinta's. i spent the weekend at my parents house. even though it was only one night, our reunion was sweet. although, he reminded me of the 5 day trip he is taking in october for his wilderness skills class and i about cried.

5 | wanted the kate spade version of this ring. until i saw this one for $3 at forever 21. problem solved.

five things: i've found what you're looking for

I've stumbled across a lot of really beautiful things lately. the kind that you weren't really consciously looking for, but are glad you found.

1 / this beautiful and inspiring photography project. go here

2 / this gorgeous acoustic cover of "radioactive" done by my girl, Allie Gardiner of The Gardiner Sisters. go here.

3 / this quiet, humbling photo essay of a woman fighting cancer. photos taken by her husband. go here.

4 / my newest travel obsession. go here.

5 / this reminder. go here.

five things

can you believe it's march already? for the first time in awhile, i'm actually looking forward to the upcoming time change, just so i can have a little more daylight! it will mean a lot of great things around here. we spent our weekend skiing at Deer Valley again, because we just didn't get enough last time we went! it was fun to have the day all to ourselves, and Devin was lucky enough to borrow some skis that Blue House custom made for Momentum. They are awesome and he loved it! the weather was absolutely perfect - it was so sunny and warm! we got in a good 5 hours, had some delicious, overpriced resort lunch, and ended the day with me taking a pretty bad fall. a few big bruises, but i'm okay! the snow got really heavy and slushy by the afternoon, so we were okay to leave after that. after skiing, we went down to Momentum to the premier of "Project American Fork" - a new and long awaited rock climbing movie. It was a lot of fun to see friends and learn more about AF's climbing history. anyway, devin's been letting me use his fancy camera for my shop, and i've resolved to become a decent and knowledgeable photographer. so here's five things / some photo practice. and yes, i'm aware that three out of five of these things are my dog. he's a pretty good model to practice with. oh, and he's freakin adorable. 

 

-devin got me flowers earlier this week. "just because."-

 

-finally got a photo of cooper crossing his paws! it's so funny. we call it "sitting pretty" he's such a gentlman.-

 

-new favorite necklace. a forever 21 find.-

 

-his copper cheeks are my favorite thing, next to his puppy eyes.-

-suit up! coop loves his addison renee boutique bandana and looks like a gentleman in it!-

over here, over here! (+5 things)

did you notice? today, i am guest posting on one of the funniest blogs, written by one of my favorite people: Danica! our husbands are BFFs. and we share a mutual obsession of The Office. did i mention she's hilarious? you should read her blog today, and always.

anyway, click HERE to read about my favorite way to stay in shape, as a part of Danica's Fitness Series to help us all get motivated in our own ways to do the same!

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in other news...

ever since I got caught up on all my drafts after our Anniversary trip, not much has been going on. We've just been doing our normal things. Lots of thinking going on lately though.. for example:

1. have I really been married for 1 whole year to Devin Ashby? i'm so lucky, it blows my mind!

2. we have decided to casually start looking for pet-friendly apartments. which obviously shows how badly we want a dog, because we are pretty much living the cheap newlywed dream over here at the APT. but seriously, i need a dog immediately. i will go nuts. i look at these guys all day long:

so if you happen to know of any awesome apartments (complexes or basements), a little further north (Lehi/Draper/Sandy area) that allow us to get one of these guys, I will give you anything you want. seriously. (maybe not, but i'd definitely consider, and I would love you).

3. we did get a small bit of our puppy-hungry fix when we got a phone call from brandon's roommate, Tom 2 weekends ago. you see, Brandon was in new england for a few weeks with amy, and left the dogs at home with his roommate, who decided to go out of town, as well, so he called us, because brandon left our number, just in case. this also happened to be the same weekend that devin's parents were out of town with amanda and jason and the babies. we ended up staying at devin's parents for a night with the dogs (since we can't have them at our place) and it was pretty fun. not the best night's sleep (koda slept ON ME. not next to me, not resting her head on me, she was on top of me. she's convinced she's a lap dog), but Riley and Koda are such good dogs, and they make it easy. it made for a fun weekend!

4. devin has been commissioned to build a program for Momentum. seriously. this is exactly the kind of thing we were hoping for when we took the huge risk of deciding to have him take the job. it wasn't an easy decision, but it has proved to be the right decision ever since he started! i am so excited for him to gain this experience, to use what he learns at school to build this program, and to use what he learns from building the program at school. we couldn't be more excited for this!

5. cookie dough balls. did you see that photo in my week via iphone? here it is again:

these things are amazing. cookie dough is basically the only reason I even like to bake, but it's hard not to feel guilty (and really sick, if you eat as much cookie dough as I do!) when you're eating the raw eggs - that according to "them" are so diseased and things. BUT, some genius found the solution and invented edible, egg-less cookie dough. which i took the liberty of forming into bite sized balls, and smothering with chocolate - it's the only way, right? anyway, here's the recipe. it's so easy, and you can do it in about 30 minutes total (including forming all the balls)

Ingredients:

1 stick softened butter

1/4 sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips (mini work better for the balls, I hear)

1/2 tsp salt (i used sea salt. because i like salty cookies)

Steps:

1. beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy

2. mix in milk and vanilla

3. mix in flour and salt

4. stir in chocolate chips

5. cover cookie sheets with wax paper

6. scoop or roll dough into bite-sized balls (I used a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, and sort of just whacked it on the sheet to get it to come out, and it worked great. plus, i like the look of the scoop, over the look of the rolled ones. they look less oily, and more like ice cream)

7. melt chocolate:

     - i threw some chocolate chips in a small saucepan that was on medium heat (I don't measure things, but it was maybe 1/2 cup - not much), I added maybe 1 1/2 tbsp of crisco (this is the secret nobody tells you about!) and stir CONSTANTLY until you have really runny chocolate. it takes about 1 minute, so you really need to stir it, or else it will cease up or burn. I used a funnel and poured it into a condiment squirty thing we got at bed bath and beyond. it looks like a restaurant ketchup bottle, with a tiny little spout, and I immediately went over the bites with a few drizzles of the chocolate.

8. refrigerate. they will get firm within about 30 minutes, maybe less depending on how cold you keep your fridge (we tend to accidentally freeze eggs in the fridge sometimes) - but you can leave them in there forever.

-they do soften up pretty fast once you pull them out, so if you have leftovers (what are those?), you want to keep them in the fridge, for when you husband needs a midnight snack (he will). 

also, during this little cookie dough craze we've been having (i've made these several times since I found the recipe), devin and I discovered that we both prefer cookie dough without the chocolate chips - which is mostly funny, because the only reason I even put chocolate chips in them, was because I know how much he loves chocolate! we're totally going to be the kind of old people that start to look alike the longer they're together.

you're welcome. 

5 Things

1. got to hang out with little baby bay - man is she perfect! she is still so tiny. when i visited her, she was 10 days old, had grown 1 inch, and 7 oz! she isn't allowed to use a binky. they are too big for her face and block off her nose so she can't breathe! i think that's a little funny. she is just too tiny! she slept on me for awhile, and then as she started to wake up, she was making the funniest faces and it was adorable! i sure love that little bales! we took valeri and garrison some soup, too! i can only imagine how busy your lives get once you have a tiny human to be responsible for.

2. Costco is the absolute worst place to be impulsive. you end up spending way too much money. heck, we end up spending way too much money there regardless. anyway, the point is: costco is a bad place to shop impulsively, unless that impulsive buy is this extremely soft and fuzzy blanket that technically just sits on the couch, but i have claimed it. even though it was devin's idea. i am planning on going back for a second one to keep at my desk at work. i'm serious. i'm also convinced this blanket is infused with tryptophan, or some other sleep-indusing thing, because every time i get under it, i am immediately comfortable enough to fall asleep!

3. every once in awhile i'll try to do my hair in this scrunchie, "natural beach wave" sort of thing. it lasts about 30 minutes, and then just looks stupid. and i forget that every time. i caught it in a semi-good state before it fell flat and weird this time though. you think i'd learn my lesson! 

4. late night cravings resulting in mcdonald's runs with my husband bring pure joy. just like the bag says. mmm. this makes me think of that meme that says "one does not simply... drive home without eating the fries" or something like that. totally me.

5. remember how outdated my doctor's office is? this man delivered me as a baby.. and i'm sure the last time his office was updated... was before that... because look at this table. i'm almost positive i've seen this in a scary movie before... and yes. i had to lay on it. 

6. part of our new conference tradition... apparently... for the past 3 sessions... has been a drive up a canyon. last april, we came up provo canyon and went on a walk up big springs. in october 2011, we went up to silver lake to test out the truck's 4WD, and this year, we took our new altima up south fork to see how zippy it was. our findings: pretty zippy.

also... i realize that was 6 things.

just deal with it.

5 Things x2

I find that I use "5 Things" posts to wrap up all the random. It's been so long since I did a 5 things post, though, that I have a lot of random to wrap up! So this is 5 things twice. 2 5things. 5 things x2.

five things once:

1. she's two! (very, very two! - and also not until Friday. officially.)

 

2. valentine's day present from Devin - so sweet.

3. a dinner plate-sized cinnamon roll for dessert (and breakfast the next day!) at Wallaby's - an impromptu dinner date with devin's parents last saturday.

4. for a long time, kaden was always complaining of headaches and constantly rubbing his eyes. we couldn't figure out what was wrong with him - turns out he just needed some glasses! now, he looks even more like his uncle Devin! what studs. even though kaden is blurry, i love this photo! i love devin in his ray ban's!

5. devin's dinner creation: chicken rolled around onion, bread crumbs and fresh parmesan cheese - so amazing! where did my husband learn to cook?!

>>><<<

five things twice:

1. my newest food obsession: blackberries. mmm

2. what monday looked like. tons of water. tons of orange juice. (i was very sick)

3. what tuesday looked like - hot water with honey and lemon juice to help my throat. and water. sooo much water. (i was still very sick)

4. what every night looks like -- saved by the bell, the office, or arrested development every night before we fall asleep.

5. our weekends have been SO busy this last month, but our weekdays? nada. 

5 Things

 1. I took this picture of Devin a few months ago, when we were complaining on a regular basis about the lack of ski weather. It really doesn't need an explanation.

2. New polish.

3. Naked-without-a-watch phase.

4. So. Many. Oranges.

5. I helped my almost-18-year-old sister get ready for preference by doing her hair and make-up. She took my almost-16-year-old brother as her date!

5 Things

1. using vintage cameras as bookends for my collection

2. she spent the majority of the afternoon answering to nothing but "santa"

3. breakfast

4. fuel

5. cocoa covered truffles 

5 Things: Blog Lovin'

I thought I'd switch it up a little with this 5 Things post. So instead of posting 5 things, I'm going to list 5 posts from other blogs that I've read within the past week and really enjoyed!


1. Feeling Lucky? A Belleza Mia Giveaway (Delia Creates) - *don't worry. i entered. and i've been crossing my fingers that i win that gorgeous thing!


2.  at breakfast (The Daybook) - *my new favorite blog. cutest little momma ever! this post is just a funny moment in parenthood worth sharing!


3. I am... (Whatever & Stuff) - *probably the single most inspirational woman ever. and also? I get to meet her when we go to New England in May!


4. wish list 1 (The Daybook) - *another Daybook post. some awesome wish list items, and also where I got the idea to post my own wishlists. she did one for herself, her husband, and her baby boy! (you can track the others down on her blog if you want. i'm sure you'll be able to find your way around).


5. Check It Out! (Hue & Hum) - *you already know how much I love these guys. some info on their new Christmas Album (also their first album EVER, btw.) they're amazing. you should get their CD (only $5 on etsy!)


I would post pictures, but that would be stealing from their blogs. All the more reason to click on those links :)

5 things

1. let me tell you a story: Devin always leaves for work about half an hour before me, but we wake up at the same time. Today, after he left, i noticed he forgot his phone (which doubles as his work phone. which means he uses it a lot throughout the day). so, i finished getting ready faster than usual, skipped grabbing any kind of fuel (usually apple cider or a granola bar), and headed down to his office early enough that I could still make it to work on time. I was much faster than i thought, and there was hardly any traffic on the freeway, so i got to sandy with about 20 minutes to spare. the other thing about commuting to work on the freeway every day is that you can never tell what traffic will be like. Some days, crashes will slow it down from Murray all the way to Lehi. other days, there are hardly any cars on the road. It generally takes me almost exactly 30 minutes from my house to where I nanny, but I often get off the 114th south exit 5-10 minutes early, and just take the long way to the house to kill time. Since i didn't grab anything to eat this morning, i decided i might as well kill time somewhere, rather than just drive around wasting gas and getting frustrated in traffic. I had noticed Daylight Donuts before, just in passing, but it came to my mind. It is morning. And donuts are breakfast food (to me, at least. best breakfast you could ask for?!)

The result? 96 cents TOTAL for a delicious original glazed donut. Probably the best I've ever had. And I didn't even had to feel embarrassed about never having cash/change, because the cashier ran my debit card anyway! Some places have a minimum amount you have to reach before you can use a card. Maybe that's for credit cards? I have no idea. I'm always too embarrassed to try, so I will either get more things, or scrounge for change. But also, i had no idea it would be so cheap in the first place! Great discovery nonetheless. I'm thinking this might become a regular thing...

2. The Rockstar Diaries has done it again! She posted about this foundation, and the wonderful people behind it. We've all heard of The 5 Browns, right? amazing piano siblings? They are not only amazing, but they have an incredible story, and what they've gone through has inspired them to help others in similar situations, and spread the word about stopping abuse. Like them on facebook!

3. Finding this gem:

4. pretty things

5. hilarious things: (I would never really call myself a harry potter fan. i didn't read the books (unless you count that one time i tried to read the first one like 10 years ago but don't recall doing so), i've seen some of the movies. i love them, but i'm not crazy about them or anything. but THIS... this is just hilarious. or maybe it's just me. i get a giggle every time. OMG, Malfoy. You act like I even care... bahahahaha