Hello Everyone!
October has seemed to fly right by. I have been settling in to life back here in Provo (I must say I had definitely been missing this place) I have my room all organized...well it's actually kind of a mess right now, but at least it's unpacked. I started a job...I work at a call center called Response Marketing with Jacey and Sidney (it's quite fun since they work there). I wouldn't say that I LOVE my job, but it is a lot better than what I was anticipating, and hey it pays the bills :D haha I also started going to school. I am about half-way done with my program (midterm is this weekend) and I have been loving every minute of it. My teacher is phenomenal and the other students are lots of fun. I found out that one of the girls that was in my ward last year is in my class--seriously what are the odds of that? I just took my radiology exam this past weekend and passed with an 87%...hopefully I will do just as well or better with my midterm!
So it has been almost a month since I have seen Daniel, he is still down in St. George working on his car. We found out that he has a bone spur in his knee; Daniel is trying to decide if he is going to have the surgery or if he is going to see if he can tough it out/it will get better. We were happy to finally have some answers, however slightly disappointed with how long it took to actually find out. Meanwhile, as I said he has been working on his 4runner. From the sounds of it (and I don't know how accurate this is considering that I am a girl and have very basic knowledge of cars) all he has left to do is replace the transmission. He already has the new one ready to put in, but he is switching from an automatic transmission to a manual transmission...so I have no clue how that's going to work.
Other than that, life has been pretty quite. I joined an intramural volleyball team with some friends, so far we are 2-0 which is AWESOME! It has however made me realize that I need to build up a little muscle in my knee again (I got a little lax this summer) but other than that it's been great. Nic, Jacey, and I went to Color Me Mine last weekend and we each made a piece. I'll put pictures of that up in a different post, but it was a lot of fun! I had done it once before when I visited my cousin Chelsea before highschool, but I had forgotten how much fun it was!
Have a Happy Halloween!
Love,
Ashlyn
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
St. George
Before I tell of my adventures in St. George, I just want to say thanks to Daniel and all of his family for being so gracious/accepting of me while I was there (they were awesome!) I had an amazing time getting to know them all!
After Daniel picked me up from the airport, we went over to his older sister and brother-in-law's, Lilia and Houston, house to meet everyone. I get introduced to adults and children alike and am plopped down in a chair so Lilia can do my hair for me. I got blonde highlights (starting to become a favorite of mine) and a slight trim to my hair; I LOVE IT! Meanwhile, Daniel's mom, Linda, is showing all the beautiful vintage clothing she picked up that day to sell on her Etsy store. We all chit chatted (only as women can) while the men went outside to look/talk about cars (I can only assume at least. . .I wasn't out there). Then Daniel's older brother and his wife came by, Chance and Meleah (I'm really sorry if I am butchering names here!) with their kids as well as his step-sister and her husband, Kerri and I actually didn't catch her husbands name. Seeing all the kids together reminded me what it was like when my cousins, siblings, and I are like when we got together (our poor parents), LOUD and FUN!
When the boys got back, we unloaded everything from Daniel's Subaru that he was selling to Chance and Meleah and packed it all in Kurt and Linda's car for the drive back to St. George. On the way we stopped at Yogurt Land (mmmmm, my FAVORITE!) and for the rest of the drive I pretty well slept. . .I was absolutely exhausted from all the traveling. But of course once we got to St. George I was wide a wake (at least for a little while) I got all set up in my room and then Daniel and I went out and watched some Once Upon a Time (yes, he started watching that. . .it about made my day when I found out!) and then he came and tucked me in to bed (seriously he can be the sweetest guy).
The next morning, I woke up the sounds of cooking, the smell of crepes, and a bloody nose! You know your back in Utah when you get three bloody noses in one day. I rushed into the bathroom to take care of it just as Daniel is getting out of bed, he asks if he can do anything in which I said no (again super sweet, but there's not much you can do to help with a bloody nose). Then we all got to enjoy delicious and healthy crepes for breakfast. Afterwards, Linda got a bunch of different outfits for her Etsy store and had Daniel and I model them for her (hee hee, Daniel kept making fun of me until he had to do it). It was a lot of fun, but it sure does make me happy not to be a model for a career, it was slightly exhausting! The boys then split as fast as they could to get things to fix the motorcycle that Daniel got from his twin, David, while Linda and I watched Vampire Diaries (wow, a lot happens in the third season!). When the boys came home we ate a Salad for dinner and Daniel made me a deal that if I would let him work on his motorcycle for a while that he would then take me around St. George. So I watched a couple more episodes, chatted with Linda and then we headed out.
I wish I would have gotten some pictures but alas, I forgot. First he took me to this place where we hike a little ways up, and then had this AMAZING view of all of St. George. We could see Main St. (or the drag), the first Chapel, the Temple, and more. It was absolutely incredible, and it was great to share with him. Then we climbed back down, got in the car, and drove down to the temple so that we could walk around the grounds. They were pretty spectacular. . .it reminded me a lot of the Mesa, Arizona temple. I got even luckier because then we went to Cafe Rio (probably one of my most favorite restaurants ever) and split the Pulled Pork salad. Mmmmmmm!!!
When we got home, we watched the Avengers with his family (that movie seems to hold a special place in my heart right now). We even watched a little more Vampire Diaries (somehow I saw the season finale even though I was like ten or so episodes behind, meh whatev's). Again I was tucked into bed like a good little girl and I finished reading my book before going to bed.
Before heading out the next morning, I heated up left overs for the two of us, we headed picked up a couple more parts for his motorcycle. Then we had to scramble to find car keys because his Mom and Step-dad didn't get back before I left. I got there just in time, and this time I was able to keep it together (I might have cried a little bit when he left AK).
I absolutely loved my trip to St. George/Vegas, and I definitely cannot wait to go back soon. Love you!
After Daniel picked me up from the airport, we went over to his older sister and brother-in-law's, Lilia and Houston, house to meet everyone. I get introduced to adults and children alike and am plopped down in a chair so Lilia can do my hair for me. I got blonde highlights (starting to become a favorite of mine) and a slight trim to my hair; I LOVE IT! Meanwhile, Daniel's mom, Linda, is showing all the beautiful vintage clothing she picked up that day to sell on her Etsy store. We all chit chatted (only as women can) while the men went outside to look/talk about cars (I can only assume at least. . .I wasn't out there). Then Daniel's older brother and his wife came by, Chance and Meleah (I'm really sorry if I am butchering names here!) with their kids as well as his step-sister and her husband, Kerri and I actually didn't catch her husbands name. Seeing all the kids together reminded me what it was like when my cousins, siblings, and I are like when we got together (our poor parents), LOUD and FUN!
When the boys got back, we unloaded everything from Daniel's Subaru that he was selling to Chance and Meleah and packed it all in Kurt and Linda's car for the drive back to St. George. On the way we stopped at Yogurt Land (mmmmm, my FAVORITE!) and for the rest of the drive I pretty well slept. . .I was absolutely exhausted from all the traveling. But of course once we got to St. George I was wide a wake (at least for a little while) I got all set up in my room and then Daniel and I went out and watched some Once Upon a Time (yes, he started watching that. . .it about made my day when I found out!) and then he came and tucked me in to bed (seriously he can be the sweetest guy).
The next morning, I woke up the sounds of cooking, the smell of crepes, and a bloody nose! You know your back in Utah when you get three bloody noses in one day. I rushed into the bathroom to take care of it just as Daniel is getting out of bed, he asks if he can do anything in which I said no (again super sweet, but there's not much you can do to help with a bloody nose). Then we all got to enjoy delicious and healthy crepes for breakfast. Afterwards, Linda got a bunch of different outfits for her Etsy store and had Daniel and I model them for her (hee hee, Daniel kept making fun of me until he had to do it). It was a lot of fun, but it sure does make me happy not to be a model for a career, it was slightly exhausting! The boys then split as fast as they could to get things to fix the motorcycle that Daniel got from his twin, David, while Linda and I watched Vampire Diaries (wow, a lot happens in the third season!). When the boys came home we ate a Salad for dinner and Daniel made me a deal that if I would let him work on his motorcycle for a while that he would then take me around St. George. So I watched a couple more episodes, chatted with Linda and then we headed out.
I wish I would have gotten some pictures but alas, I forgot. First he took me to this place where we hike a little ways up, and then had this AMAZING view of all of St. George. We could see Main St. (or the drag), the first Chapel, the Temple, and more. It was absolutely incredible, and it was great to share with him. Then we climbed back down, got in the car, and drove down to the temple so that we could walk around the grounds. They were pretty spectacular. . .it reminded me a lot of the Mesa, Arizona temple. I got even luckier because then we went to Cafe Rio (probably one of my most favorite restaurants ever) and split the Pulled Pork salad. Mmmmmmm!!!
When we got home, we watched the Avengers with his family (that movie seems to hold a special place in my heart right now). We even watched a little more Vampire Diaries (somehow I saw the season finale even though I was like ten or so episodes behind, meh whatev's). Again I was tucked into bed like a good little girl and I finished reading my book before going to bed.
Before heading out the next morning, I heated up left overs for the two of us, we headed picked up a couple more parts for his motorcycle. Then we had to scramble to find car keys because his Mom and Step-dad didn't get back before I left. I got there just in time, and this time I was able to keep it together (I might have cried a little bit when he left AK).
I absolutely loved my trip to St. George/Vegas, and I definitely cannot wait to go back soon. Love you!
Alaska to Utah: The Journey
Who would have thought that trying to get packed up and ready to move from one state to the other could take so much time. . .THIS GIRL! But I didn't expect the actual travel from Alaska down to Utah to take quite so long. Had everything gone according to plan, I should have been in Provo on 30 September 2012, however I didn't end up getting here until 3 October 2012. I didn't have any clothes, make-up, etc. with me in between all this time as well. It was quite the experience, but in the end I made a surprise visit to Daniel (totally worth it).
The Journey
My boss was kind enough to let me off early on Friday, 28 September so that my mom, sister, and I could drive the 300+ miles down to Anchorage for me to catch my flight the following evening. We had a grand ole time driving through a snow storm that had snowflakes the size of quarters (and that is NOT an exaggeration), rain, and icy roads. My sister decided she would just read her book, while mom and I were forced to entertain ourselves. It was actually quite fun; we finally made it to Anchorage and drove over to the hotel. Well the Westmark Anchorage is in the middle of downtown, lots of one way streets and such, oh and did I mention NO PARKING. So we pull up, I go in to get us all checked in and find out that I seem to have misplaced my debit card (aka I left it in Fairbanks), I check through all of my bag and cannot find it. I ask my mom if she will kindly foot the bill (this was supposed to be her birthday present, can you imagine how embarrassed I felt?) and that I would write her a check as soon as we get upstairs. Leah and I bring in all of our luggage and have it on a cart to take up to the room while mom goes to park. . .except there are no spots left. She gets really, really frustrated and I finally tell her to just come back so that I can take the car over to where she is supposed to park it (she couldn't understand the poor ladies directions). She does so and I go park the car without a problem; we go upstairs to our room only to find out that there is no refrigerator for my mom to have a cold soda the next day (this is very depressing, I mean seriously what hotel doesn't have a mini-fridge in this day and age?!??!!) So I go find us some ice to put a soda in.
The next morning we do what girls do best. . .SHOP! Well actually first we mailed a couple of my Rubber-Maid totes to Utah and had lunch, then we SHOPPED! I was able to get a couple of adorable sweaters and a pair of boots that I have been looking for for ages. I wasn't able to get my leg warmers however like I was told by a vendor at the fair that I would be able to (very disappointed), but we did get to go to Olive Garden (what a mess that was). Unfortunately that was not a good experience, they took forever to bring out any of our food, my mother sat there for another 10-15 minutes without food before I finally got the attention of a waiter to ask where the heck her food was at. No discounts were offered for the horrible treatment/lack of any kind of service which was unfortunate. We had been looking forward to eating there for weeks (it's the only Olive Garden in Alaska at the moment).
Then it was time to go to the airport. I gave hugs and kisses to my mom, sister, and grandma and went it to check in, give them my luggage and begin my journey! Going through security was a dream, literally I walked right through the entire thing without really having to stop. I get to my gate and wait, and wait, and wait. . .and waited some more. Meanwhile all the other confirmed passengers get on and the flight takes off. . .without me. The ticket agent tells me that there isn't much room on the flight early the next morning to Minneapolis so we decide to put my name down for the same flight as this evening but for the next night (which had 45 seats available). I call my friend/her husband and tearily tell her I won't be coming in the next morning. Mom picks me up and we leave so we can get some sleep that night (by this time it's like 2:00 AM)
We go out to breakfast the next morning with my grandma, hit up Costco and then they dropped my Grandma and myself back off so they could drive back to North Pole. We kind of just lounged around and before we knew it, we needed to head over to the airport for round two. I get myself all checked in, go through security, and go wait at my gate. I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and I did some more waiting. Again, all confirmed passengers board, the door is locked, and the flight leaves. . .and again I am not on that flight. So I called my friend to let her know I wouldn't be coming, called my mom to tell her we needed to figure something else out in the morning (that was the last direct flight out of Anchorage to Salt Lake until the next weekend) and waited to be picked up by my Grandma. We headed over to her condo and got some beauty sleep.
I was abruptly awakened at 8:20ish by my mother who told me she could get me on a flight that evening to Las Vegas (where Daniel is) for a really good price, she told me to call Daniel and see what the possibilities were of someone driving me from Las Vegas up to Provo. Daniel told me that if I could get in that evening then I could ride back up to Provo with his twin brother and his girlfriend/fiance. Mom looked at that ticket (it ended up costing more) and booked me on the flight. Only thing was I had to be at the airport right then! So I wake up my Grandma, we rush over, I checked in my last remaining bag (I forgot to mention, on that first flight all my checked luggage was taken to SLC even though I was not on the flight, I had absolutely NOTHING with me) and rushed through security. Thankfully the line was not very long and I got right through and back to my gate just as they were boarding my flight.
The flights were pretty uneventful, I almost missed my flight from Seattle to Las Vegas because I lost track of time while getting some food. Then I get to Vegas and get my luggage while I wait for Daniel to pick me up. I wait, wait, wait, and again wait some more. We finally figure out that I am in the ONLY terminal that is not connected to the main terminal and that Daniel as to take an Airport shuttle over to pick me up. I was so incredibly excited to see him. . .I might have possibly jumped on him. .
Being the sweet boyfriend that he is, he grabs my bags and we rush over to catch the shuttle back to where he parked. Because of the delay in finding me, his brother ended up leaving without me and I was stuck in Vegas/St. George. Well stuck isn't the right word, because I had a blast while I was there (see St. George post). On 3 October I caught the St. George shuttle up to Springville where Jacey was waiting to pick me up/take me Salt Lake just so we could pick up my luggage (I have pretty awesome friends). During the car ride we were able to catch up on everything that happened while I was 3000+ miles away. We got back to Provo safely and that is the end of my 5 day journey to Provo, Utah from Alaska.
The Journey
My boss was kind enough to let me off early on Friday, 28 September so that my mom, sister, and I could drive the 300+ miles down to Anchorage for me to catch my flight the following evening. We had a grand ole time driving through a snow storm that had snowflakes the size of quarters (and that is NOT an exaggeration), rain, and icy roads. My sister decided she would just read her book, while mom and I were forced to entertain ourselves. It was actually quite fun; we finally made it to Anchorage and drove over to the hotel. Well the Westmark Anchorage is in the middle of downtown, lots of one way streets and such, oh and did I mention NO PARKING. So we pull up, I go in to get us all checked in and find out that I seem to have misplaced my debit card (aka I left it in Fairbanks), I check through all of my bag and cannot find it. I ask my mom if she will kindly foot the bill (this was supposed to be her birthday present, can you imagine how embarrassed I felt?) and that I would write her a check as soon as we get upstairs. Leah and I bring in all of our luggage and have it on a cart to take up to the room while mom goes to park. . .except there are no spots left. She gets really, really frustrated and I finally tell her to just come back so that I can take the car over to where she is supposed to park it (she couldn't understand the poor ladies directions). She does so and I go park the car without a problem; we go upstairs to our room only to find out that there is no refrigerator for my mom to have a cold soda the next day (this is very depressing, I mean seriously what hotel doesn't have a mini-fridge in this day and age?!??!!) So I go find us some ice to put a soda in.
The next morning we do what girls do best. . .SHOP! Well actually first we mailed a couple of my Rubber-Maid totes to Utah and had lunch, then we SHOPPED! I was able to get a couple of adorable sweaters and a pair of boots that I have been looking for for ages. I wasn't able to get my leg warmers however like I was told by a vendor at the fair that I would be able to (very disappointed), but we did get to go to Olive Garden (what a mess that was). Unfortunately that was not a good experience, they took forever to bring out any of our food, my mother sat there for another 10-15 minutes without food before I finally got the attention of a waiter to ask where the heck her food was at. No discounts were offered for the horrible treatment/lack of any kind of service which was unfortunate. We had been looking forward to eating there for weeks (it's the only Olive Garden in Alaska at the moment).
Then it was time to go to the airport. I gave hugs and kisses to my mom, sister, and grandma and went it to check in, give them my luggage and begin my journey! Going through security was a dream, literally I walked right through the entire thing without really having to stop. I get to my gate and wait, and wait, and wait. . .and waited some more. Meanwhile all the other confirmed passengers get on and the flight takes off. . .without me. The ticket agent tells me that there isn't much room on the flight early the next morning to Minneapolis so we decide to put my name down for the same flight as this evening but for the next night (which had 45 seats available). I call my friend/her husband and tearily tell her I won't be coming in the next morning. Mom picks me up and we leave so we can get some sleep that night (by this time it's like 2:00 AM)
We go out to breakfast the next morning with my grandma, hit up Costco and then they dropped my Grandma and myself back off so they could drive back to North Pole. We kind of just lounged around and before we knew it, we needed to head over to the airport for round two. I get myself all checked in, go through security, and go wait at my gate. I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and I did some more waiting. Again, all confirmed passengers board, the door is locked, and the flight leaves. . .and again I am not on that flight. So I called my friend to let her know I wouldn't be coming, called my mom to tell her we needed to figure something else out in the morning (that was the last direct flight out of Anchorage to Salt Lake until the next weekend) and waited to be picked up by my Grandma. We headed over to her condo and got some beauty sleep.
I was abruptly awakened at 8:20ish by my mother who told me she could get me on a flight that evening to Las Vegas (where Daniel is) for a really good price, she told me to call Daniel and see what the possibilities were of someone driving me from Las Vegas up to Provo. Daniel told me that if I could get in that evening then I could ride back up to Provo with his twin brother and his girlfriend/fiance. Mom looked at that ticket (it ended up costing more) and booked me on the flight. Only thing was I had to be at the airport right then! So I wake up my Grandma, we rush over, I checked in my last remaining bag (I forgot to mention, on that first flight all my checked luggage was taken to SLC even though I was not on the flight, I had absolutely NOTHING with me) and rushed through security. Thankfully the line was not very long and I got right through and back to my gate just as they were boarding my flight.
The flights were pretty uneventful, I almost missed my flight from Seattle to Las Vegas because I lost track of time while getting some food. Then I get to Vegas and get my luggage while I wait for Daniel to pick me up. I wait, wait, wait, and again wait some more. We finally figure out that I am in the ONLY terminal that is not connected to the main terminal and that Daniel as to take an Airport shuttle over to pick me up. I was so incredibly excited to see him. . .I might have possibly jumped on him. .
Being the sweet boyfriend that he is, he grabs my bags and we rush over to catch the shuttle back to where he parked. Because of the delay in finding me, his brother ended up leaving without me and I was stuck in Vegas/St. George. Well stuck isn't the right word, because I had a blast while I was there (see St. George post). On 3 October I caught the St. George shuttle up to Springville where Jacey was waiting to pick me up/take me Salt Lake just so we could pick up my luggage (I have pretty awesome friends). During the car ride we were able to catch up on everything that happened while I was 3000+ miles away. We got back to Provo safely and that is the end of my 5 day journey to Provo, Utah from Alaska.
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