my week via iPhone (+ an award)

< last sunday was father's day! we have the 2 best pops ever!
> a snack. i love apples. i love cutting my slices extra thin


< Fantastic Mr. Fox on TV earlier this week! Who doesn't love a good game of whackbat?
> This is a photo Devin took in New England. It's framed in our room and probably my favorite photo we have.


< my daddy
> the kids all playing in Grandpa Verel's palmer on sunday.


< Addi. of course.
> chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting that I made for a father's day treat for the family party


< I may have eaten an entire sleeve of saltine crackers for lunch one day
> making up a marinade for some chicken starting with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar


< i love this guy.
> my baby sister took me out to dinner at Guru's one night while devin was at work

 
< Guru's serves People Water - anybody else watching The Bachelorette? #teamjef (except, I wouldn't mind if Sean won.)
> Devin spent wednesday, thursday and friday morning with his Dad on a scout trip, so I spent that time at home, watching the TV shows he doesn't like, in his sweats.


< closet
> finally reading this book. she is my hero!


< my parents always have skittles at their house
> sammy! my little sister's dog.


< popcorn for dinner... it's normal
> Devin and bean at the surprise party for Grandpa Willis!


< cute banner courtesy of Lee!
> makayla in all her party gear


>< this little girl


>< the birthday boy! He was so surprised!


< devin and grandpa willis hugging
> the baby's sparkly shoes she loves so much


< pepper! such a cute little dog
> party decorations


< addi watching the pinata
> makayla's swing!


< grandpa willis whacks it
> kaden takes a turn


< candy!
> confetti


< devin's cousin put together this awesome book of memories and photos we each wrote about grandpa willis for his birthday!
> addi and i discovered that he neighbors had some ducks in their backyard. in this photo, she was yelling "quack-quack, where are you?! quack-quack, come here!" she cracks me up.


< the neighbor handed me a baby duckling through a hole in the fence, and before we knew it, she was handing over the pen, and a big bucket full of ducklings! all the kids jumped in the pen and played with the ducklings - they were so cute. i can't believe i held one.


< scared baby ducklings
> i absolutely love this photo of kaden. love his blue eyes!


< devin's cousin's daughter watching the ducks eat
> magleby's cake for the birthday boy!


after the party, devin and i drove up to squaw peak to check out the big fire across the lake. it wasn't as epic as we thought it would be, just lots of smoke and an orange sky. it was beautiful. you could see the flames, though.


loves the views of the valley from up there


< moon
> we spent saturday morning driving around american fork and lehi looking for apartments. if we can find the right one, we'll be moving soon so we can be closer to work, and also, so we can get a dog! it's really becoming that important to us, haha. maybe it seems a little extreme to some people, but we have wanted a dog since before we were married. i've always had dogs growing up, and devin has always loved dogs. it's important to us! we'd also like to get out of Orem for awhile and be somewhere new with new people in a new place we don't know very well.


< devin's got me hooked on this stuff!
> saturday evening, Kelli received her endowment in the Salt Lake Temple. It was our first time back since we were married, over a year ago - it was an amazing night! After the session, we walked through city creek and ate at The Cheesecake Factory, and around 10:00 pm, we walked back through temple square to get our cars. The grounds were so quiet and it was warm outside. I had never seen the temple like that without all the crowds!


< our nursery class today was small, but they were out of control! with 5 minute left, we finally got them all to sit down with their pictures and wait for their parents. fwew! cutest kids ever, though.

Also, my dear sweet friend, Valeri, who has been one of my closest friends since we met just a few weeks before high school started, has included me in a blogger award! Wahoo! So sweet of her. I like passing along this kind of goodness! So... I get the turn to award 5 of my favorite small bloggers!

My sisters in law, Chloe and Amanda are both incredible writers. They each inspire me in their own ways to be a better version of myself. I look up to them, and love learning from their example. Amanda is an amazing mother of 3 gorgeous children, and an incredible cook. Chloe is one of the most kind people I have ever met.

Katie, who writes often about her young marriage and adventures in living in different places around the country for her husbands job is always a blog I like to read when I'm looking to be reminded of my blessings. She is so humble, and always aware of her good fortune - something I aspire to do more often!

Eliesa is a girl I met through Danica. Both of their blogs are hilarious and filled with awesome ideas that I often wish I was bold enough to try. I love that I can always count on a new post on Danica's blog to make me LOL, and also challenge me to be more creative with fashion, hair and makeup. I've learned a lot from her that way! Eliesa keeps things simple and beautiful, which is another aspect I am trying to incorporate not just in my blog, but in my life in general!

So, girls... if you feel so inclined, you can award this same Blog Award to your 5 favorite small blogs!

time seems to go by much slower when he's gone

i'm cold

and i miss my husband. 

devin has been gone since yesterday and won't be back until tomorrow. 

i hate it when he does that.

but i love him for it. 

he's helping his dad with a scout trip.

always helping. 

such a good example to me. 

i just want him to come home so he can kiss my forehead and comment on how cold my feet are when we get into bed early, like usual.

watching the office is less funny without him. 

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!

/////////////////////

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. 

Fathers

There really aren't many words to describe the kind of love I have for my father. I have so much respect for the man he is, and the way he has raised my siblings and I. He is one of the hardest working men I have ever known. He is so full of humility. He is always ready to listen and give advice. The most heart felt conversations I have ever had with him happened in the early hours of the morning, when neither of us could sleep. My dad was always there. He was advising me what to do every step of the way in my life, even when I wasn't willing to listen, but in the end, he was always right. I learned the hard way that he is always right, but the way he has raised me is the reason we are so close. He is one of the most influential people in my life, and always will be.

My sweet little brother surprised him and gave a talk in church today on Fathers - it was one of the most touching things I had ever seen. His talk was so genuine, filled with funny stories, and meaningful notes, and my cute dad just cried quietly. Happily. I so love that he is my Dad. 

  

As Devin and I got engaged and began planning our wedding, I immediately knew that I wanted to include a dance with my father, and shortly after making that decision, I knew I wanted my Dad to choose the song. I know him, and I know how much it meant to him. Our dance on my wedding day will always be one of the most treasured memories of my lifetime. 

And let's not forget my amazing father-in-law. Devin was raised in an amazing household, with great parents. I so hope I can parent my children the way they did, and Devin's stories of being raised by his parents are more proof. My father-in-law is so soft-spoken and thoughtful. He is always making sure others feel welcome and comfortable. He also has incredible work ethic. I remember meeting Devin's family, and feeling most welcomed by Gaylon, first. Of course, the rest of the family made me feel like I fit right in, but Devin's sweet father was the first to go out of his way to get to know me in a way that made me feel like we had been friends for years. It's always been that way. He's also one of the first people Devin and I like to consult when we have a big decision to make - and Gaylon is always willing to give an unbiased piece of advise, and let us see things from a different view. So grateful for him!