technologically dependent...bleauggghhh.

it's time for another rant.


i hate technology.
i hate texting.
i hate the constant need i have to check my facebook, and feel connected to all of you.

i hate that facebook alone has completely changed the types of relationship that i have with my friends. not only does it allow us to feel less guilty for not seeing each other so often, but we almost always use the phrase "on facebook.." it's HORRIBLE.


i've always hated texting. it's just time-consuming and stuff. i'd rather just talk on the phone. i text a lot anyway though, but for good reason. usually, it's convenient. devin and i text throughout the day while we're too busy with work and other stuff to have a real conversation. and it works well for quick questions. but that's about it.


i'm also really starting to hate facebook. i want to deactivate my account and just QUIT for awhile... but i would miss EVERYTHING. it's awful, but facebook is the only way i know about people getting engaged, having babies... I've even used FB to work out scheduling issues with my co-workers.


Right now, Devin is working on a paper for english, and his topic is how social networking has changed communication.


which is for the bad.


I had this problem before he chose the topic, but it has surfaced more since then.


I hate that we rely on the internet for EVERYTHING. The answers to all the questions, literally... my work uses an online schedule... that fails us frequently...


I just wish the world were simpler. that's all.


(sigh)


I could probably make a lot more strong points, and be a lot more witty about this, but I'm not really in the mood. I just felt like I owed you guys another blog... and there I go again. Another reason why technology CONSUMES US.


oh also, before i forget, this is a great example: devin's older brother, Brandon (awesome) decided he wanted to delete his facebook account, but when he went to... he was given this huge questionaire, about why he was deleting his account. it's like FB was personally offended. and THEN they gave him 14 days to make sure it was what he wanted... like they are so confident that within 14 days, people will be having such huge withdrawls, they will NEED to log on.... so the point was that within those 14 days, his account was deactiviated, and if he logged in once, any time within those 14 days, the account would become active again.


Little did he know, his PHONE logged on automatically to sync contacts (which makes this whole situation even MORE technology's fault!). and he's stuck on facebook. FOREVER. his status was "FACEBOOK OWNS ME" it's so true. and sad.


isn't that kind of creepy?


P.S. In case you were wondering... i've been FB chatting with Kylee while writing this entire post... and also checking my e-mail. SEE WHAT I MEAN?!?!

never a dull moment

there is something to look forward to every single day for me! i'm so lucky!


sunday: church, and family dinner at the Ashby's
monday: the bachlor and pretty little liars
tuesday: top off tuesdays! at gas-n-go, 32 oz refills are only 41 cents total. but only on tuesdays.
wednesday: I almost always work on wednesday. and I love my job so much. Other than that, I really can't think of a very specific reason to love Wednesday... but every day is a good day for me, so there's gotta be something about it!
thursday: the office. obviously.
friday: no school for Dev, so typically friday is date night, either just us, or another awesome couple
saturday: Devin doesn't have school or work, so we have more time, and we get a lot done!


and then, of course: the thing i look forward to most every single day: ELLEN!


hahaha just kidding. I see Devin every single day... I couldn't be happier :) I love being with him so much. He is my best friend. Ellen is my newest addiction, but she'll never top Dev!


I had to write this, becauses I just realized how excited I am to get up in the morning and watch my DVR list: The Bachlor, Pretty Little Liars... eeeeee!!!! Can't wait.


Also, tonight with Devin was so much fun :) I worry about him, and how stressed he is, but he is always SO happy. I don't know how he does it! He is always in a good mood, and we laughed and played the whole night while he did his homework. He even let me read his synthesis on social networking -- he's such a great writer, and I mean that, Dev! ;)


P.S. "Cookies and Cream Poptarts with Tampico Punch, the official midnight snack of Katie Johnson." in case you were wondering...

gnomeo? REALLY?

so, there is this new movie out... or coming out... about...


GNOMES.


seriously? are we really that far out of ideas? i keep seeing these interviews about it with elton john... he produced it or something, and he keeps saying how the movie will help raise the new baby he and his husband just adopted.


you are going to raise your children on lessons from gnomes? that's just weird.


I personally apologize to Shakespeare, on Hollywood's behalf, for turning one of his masterpieces into something so lame.


Then I noticed that there really haven't been any good movies out lately. I haven't seen any of the new movies, but that's because they aren't really appealing!


Here's hoping Sherlock Holmes' sequel will cheer me up!
Oh wait. Of course it will. It's Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, My dear Watson! Duh!


Anyway, the point is:

P.S. In case you were wondering... the last couple days, whenever I am at home... Milo seems to be attached to my hip! He follows me around, and insists that I hold him constantly. He's like a little baby, it would be adorable if it weren't starting to annoy me! He even cries when I put him down... he will just sit there and stare at me and meow. He is laying on my lap right now, see:

it's hard to take pictures of him, because he's constantly going after the camera cord. also, I weighed him a couple days ago, he's 8 lbs now! what a fatty, haha. 8 lbs, and 8 months old. he's so weird.

"another story for another time" time.

i say that a lot


"...but that's another story for another time..."


and it's almost always about St. George, and Dixie and Newspaper, and why I left, and why I hated it... so it's time.


Oooooh where do I even begin!


I remember "college day" in high school. A ton of different schools from the state came and set up booths, and we had a few hours to go get information on places we were interested. I went to Snow and Dixie... without knowing anything about either of them.


After a lot of debating, and a huge, huge sacrifice of leaving behind my entire life... I decided to move to St. George.


I moved into an apartment just off campus with my best friend, Jessica, and it was the time of our life! It was intimidating, but at the same time, some of the funnest times I had ever had. I had already been accepted to be a Staff Writer/Photographer for the Newspaper, The Dixie Sun, and was taking a ton of journalism classes. My first semester, I took 17 credits. (they recommend 12...)


The first semester was going great, everything was falling into place, things at home seemed to be going well, too. About 2 weeks into my first year of college, the Editor-In-Chief of The Dixie Sun approached me, and offered me an Editor position for the Arts and Entertainment section.


I was thrilled.


It isn't often that a freshman makes it to an Editor position, espeically with as little experience as I had (I was on the newspaper staff in high school my junior year... and it was a complete joke). I jumped right in to the world of mass communication, and I was loving it.


THEN


Things started getting stressful. Taking 17 credit hours of classes, mostly journalism classes, having to write 1 or 2 stories for the paper each week and take pictures for 2 or 3 stories, and edit all the stories for my section on top of that was really waring me down! I have still to this day, never experienced anything as stressful as being an Editor. The advisor, Rhiannon kept me going, though. I had always felt intimidated by her, but she saw potential in me, and had approached me about being Editor-In-Chief by my sophomore year. That is incredible.


I had everything worked out. My dream job was literally right in front of me. But things started to change...


One day, in my Writing for Mass Audiences class, we had a local sports broadcaster give a lecture about the business. This man was in his mid-30's, and admitted to being single, having no social life, no free-time whatsoever, and struggling a lot to accomplish the little work that he did.


I was crushed! I started to realize that all of the stress and pressure and disrespect was really not worth seeing that paper get published each week. It wasn't worth it to me. I wanted this career so badly, and part of me still does, but I choose being a mother over all of that ANY day. That is my ultimate goal, and the news world was starting to look more like an endless cycle, or a trap. I couldn't get over how genuinely UNHAPPY the sports broadcaster was.


I almost immediately asked to step down as Editor. The position was quickly filled with someone with a lot more energy then me, I would guess. I think you have to be a special breed to work in Journalism... it's definitely not for everyone.


So much about that profession appealed to me, and I absolutely loved it, but the cons outweighed the pros, and I had to change direction. I stayed on the Staff as a writer and photographer, mostly because I wanted to think there was still some hope.


The final day of newspaper, I had had an AWFUL week. Things got all mixed up, and the News Editor (I was writing for her section that week) had completely overruled me and had someone else write my story without telling me. I feel like as complicated as the situation was, and as frustrated and angry as it made me, I handled it really well. I worked it out, got the story done, and in on time. The paper looked great, and it was one of our best issues. My story was the front page.


The News Editor came up to me after class and ripped my head off! She went off, and the whole time, I just smiled! I was DONE. I was never going back to journalism. It was such a sad day, but definitely for the better.


I guess there are a lot more details than that to the story, but nothing of interest! It's all very complicated.


NOW, Why I left St. George is only slightly unrelated.


My friend, Jessica, who I had gone down with had really began to find her niche, and was enjoying DSC as much as I was. She was dating a guy she met in our ward, and I was happy for her. Her boyfriend was on the Student Government, and when she joined, so she could spend more time with him, she learned it was something she was really passionate about, and was promoted quikly within the Government. I was starting to see less and less of her, and we hardly talked. We shared a room, so it was a little ridiculous! I was pretty sad, because I really hadn't made any friends at all down there. I spent all my time working or editing in the newsroom, and had no free time as it was.


I confronted her one day about how we never spend time together, and I think a lot of that conversation was miscommunication. She took it the wrong way, and said she would never break up with her boyfriend for me -- those were not my intentions at all. I didn't approve of her boyfriend, and he was never nice to me, but I knew she was happy, so I kept my mouth shut. I never wanted to break them up, but so be it!


This, unfortunately happened at an inconvenient time. Jessica and I had shared absolutely everything. Literally. But I started to notice my clothes were getting stained or ruined, and never washed when I needed them, so I separated all of our stuff. I didn't try to do it to purposefully hurt her feelings -- I'm not 14 years old! I felt like it was extremely fair of me to claim back all of my personal belongings... but she didn't take that well either.


Between the two events, we were obviously no longer on speaking terms. I admit, I was pretty immature about the entire situation, but it went both ways. We stopped talking probably a year ago, almost exactly, so February... and haven't talked since. We even lived together until May. It was horrible.


Especially since I had a lot more free time. I picked up more hours at work, focused hard on school, and got straight A's and huge compliments from my Professors -- having one of the most successful semesters of my life! Taking 21 credits that second semester, and spending almost 2 hours a day at the gym, just to avoid my apartment.


There was a lot of other drama that went on in B-10. There was always the one WEIRD roommate that you couldn't help but wonder.. and the other two girls I lived with were getting involved in things and situations that I didn't want to be a part of -- they were awesome girls, and I loved being their friend, but I didn't want to be involved in the kind of lifestyles they were choosing to live, so I backed away from that, too.


The last semester was horrible, obviously! Everyone I lived with was turned against me, talking behind my back when they thought I couldn't hear, and I was struggling being so far from home. Not feeling homesick, but just missing my social life! And my family, of course.


I learned so much from all of it, though. Especially the situation with Jessica. I learned who my true friends are, and it began the long, long process of combing through my social circle, leaving only a few loyal people behind, but I am grateful. It showed me that Jessica, as sad as it is, was not the kind of person I wanted around me. She was a negitive influence on my life, and was stuck in a mindset that was holding me back. I think she was a little lost, now that I think about it. I had a conversation with Devin about this, regarding someone else recently. About how people copy you because they don't know who they are for themselves, they are lost and decide that because you are seen as someone they admire or look up to, they do things exactly like you. I saw a lot of that in Jessica, and I think it's a little sad.


Regardless, I wish things could have been different, of course, but I am so glad that my life is the way it is.


My St. George experience truly changed my life. I learned a lot about myself, and a lot about the kind of people that I definitely don't want around me, and got rid of them fast. It was hard, and painful, but I am so glad I did it! I am in a much, much better place now, and I wouldn't change it for anything!


I think a lot that experience, in a way, led me to Devin. I moved home, and became really close to Kylee, who is literally one of the most amazing friends I could ask for. She has her ways, but I still love her, and miss her, really, haven't seen her in like 2 weeks! :( but Kylee and I became best friends, and that in turn led me to spend more time with Kylee's best friend Tracey, and I got to know her, and she's one of the most amazing people I have ever met! Being friends with Kylee and Tracey is how I met Devin, at Tracey's wedding! hahaha so it all worked out :)


As bad as it seemed, the refiner's fire worked miracles on my life, and I feel so blessed. I only kept the good ones, and I couldn't be more glad! It was a really hard time for me, but the end result has made every minute SO worth it!


SO. Now you know. That's the story. It's not exactly a good one, but it sure worked out for me :)


NOW, I'm going to school to be a Dental Assistant... great money, great hours, and a perfect job I can come back to after I am a Mom! Because that is definitely my dream job. Nothing I want more than to be able to raise a family some day!


P.S. In case you were wondering... the only good thing about being on the Newspaper Staff was the Christmas party at Golden Corral. And I hate Golden Corral. And I didn't even go. So that shows you how awesome journalism is. Yaaaay.

quotes of the week

I spend time with some pretty hilarious people. There are probably a lot more funny things that were said this week, that I just don't remember.


spencer: "If I could get her, I would do unspeakable, sweet, sweet things to her. Like make her breakfast in bed, and open doors for her and stuff." (talking about how pretty the girl in Prince of Persia is)


chloe: "I hate Mondays. The only good thing about Mondays is The Bachelor." (um.... totally agreed.)


me: "Well, now I'm wide awake!"
dev: "Then I can be the little spoon, and you can cuddle me to sleep." (bahahaha. he really did fall asleep, too.)


kayla: "I'm gonna be so buff! Like Ciara!"
me: "Isn't she fat?"
kayla: "No, that's Mo'Nique."
(hahahahaha, we're rude to celebrities.)


chloe: "It looks like Titanic, in a cave." (about the new movie, Sanctum.)


P.S. In case you were wondering... it's official. Devin's most used phrase when prefacing explanations is, "Well. Here's the situation..." haha Oooooh that Devin Ashby!

doesn't get better than this!

housewarming party at the Jones' tonight.


I absolutely love Valeri and Garrison. They are the most perfect couple, and I could not be happier for them!


Val let me look at all 500 of the wedding pictures, haha!


And we had a really great conversation between the 2 of us :)


After that, we played apples to apples... and I WON!!! I never win anything!!! It was great.


Their house is soooo perfect for them, and Val has decorated it so cute. I'm very impressed.


Devin, as usual, continues to be the light of my life! There are truly no words to describe how I feel for him, I am overwhelmed! He is so amazing. I don't know what I did, or how I got so lucky... but it must have been something right. He keeps me on my toes, haha, but in a good way! I am so... thrilled! Seeing him every day is such a blessing -- definitely something I don't take for granted.


Also got to spend some quality time with my Mom today, which is always great! We never see each other or talk, so we spent the afternoon buying groceries and catching up, haha. She is the best. One of my very best friends, and such an amazing mother. She wanted all the juicy details about Devin and I and went on about how much she loves him, and loves us together. It was so great to hear that from her :) Not that I didn't already know -- I mean, my whole family has been raving about the guy since we met! But I love knowing that she supports me, and us together. It means so much! Who couldn't love that guy?! He's irresistable! 


Ended the night on the couch with Dev, watching King of Queens and listening and watching Milo run around the living room and kitchen, and up and down the stairs frantically. We finally caught him, but he only let me hold him for like 2 minutes before he was off chasing some imaginary object around the kitchen floor again. He's crazy. He even had crazy eyes! What a psycho. 


I have been so blessed. With great friends, an amazing family, ideal opportunites, and the love of my life! It doesn't get much better than this! :)


Devin had suggested I bring my camera tonight to the party at the Jones'... and totally forgot I had it with me until we went home and it was in the cupholder next to my keys! Oops. I hate posting without pictures, but so be it. You can all pretend you're looking at a really precious picture of my and my dangerously handsome boyfriend :)


P.S. In case you were wondering... While a TIPSTER might be the worst combination... nothing makes me roll my eyes more than a WANNABE. Oooooh Shawn. So much cool, so little fashion sense. hahaha just kidding, sorta... you know i think you're awesome!

antique finds: visit #1

First-timer at the Antique Mall, and first-timer for all antique-shopping! Proved to be so much fun.


Found awesome, awesome stuff. We were there for almost 2 hours... and still didn't look through everything! It was so much fun. Chloe is a PRO antique-shopper. She sees all kinds of cool stuff that I miss! Amanda always knows what things are, that look weird, and she spots all the cute furniture and teapots! Lee was on the hunt for records the whole time, and sort of disappeared for most of the trip... haha but it was seriously SO much fun, and I want to go back when I have at least 4 hours to spare!


You may laugh -- but it really takes time! There is SO much stuff to go through, and all stuff that you really want to look at.


Since it was my first time, I played it safe. Mostly because I didn't know what to expect.
This is what I got!

also, at hobby lobby, I couldn't not get THIS frame!

it is probably the cutest frame i've ever seen in my life. i didn't have a choice. I had originally gone to hobby lobby, because I was out of black acrylic paint, but I love that store so much, I must have been in their for at least an hour just browsing!


the hobby lobby detour is beside the point though... back to the Antiques:

the other thing I got at the antique mall was a spice shelf. I decided to fix it up, flip it upside down, and turn it into a cute key rack for Val and Garrison! Giving it to them at their housewarming party tomorrow!


 It already had holes drilled in it, and I just happened to have hooks the perfect size, so I just had to give it a fresh coat of paint, and put on the hardware! It is dang cute. I wonder if I could have added something else to it... maybe some decoration or something... meh. It's simple, and if Val wants, I'm sure she'll do something cute.


ANYWAY


the point is: I love the Antique Mall. They have things that I would have never thought, and I will totally shop there on a regular basis. It's so cheap, and you can find things that you never expected. I am a total antique junky now.


P.S. Justin Bieber's hair style was only popular when I was in 2nd grade... In case you were wondering.