lately

lately things have been changing. and changing fast!

i recently took dallas out to my grandparent's house {peavler's} to play in the snow while i went in to get some stuff. he's so good at their house and just runs around outside while i'm busy and then comes right to the back door when he's tired of being alone! i went out and snapped some pics of him playing...

he heard some other doggies playing

he was running so fast. it was hard to catch him in mid-play!

i also went to jordan's last basketball game in the church league. it was a great game and they won! i took some great pics and a couple videos and actually caught her shoot {and make!} the last shot of the game!

jordan and her trophy

the winning shot

and as of yesterday i have officially started my job as a nanny for the lanksters. i'll try to get a pic up of the girls soon. i'm taking care of olivia, almost 3 and lily, 3 months. they are precious little girls and their parents, holly and jeremy, are fab! i'm so excited to be back in lexington full time.

looking for an apartment with barclay...yes we will soon be reunited and we can't wait! {neither can dallas!}

right now i'm staying at trav's house until we move and it's been great. he took us grocery shopping and has been so awesome about me being in his way!

speaking of food...tonight we made a mexican style hamburger for dinner. it was so yum, yum, yummy!

this was trav's burger

it was pretty messy but he loved it!

this was mine...a little smaller and more manageable!

theses burgers were so easy to make and were so tasty. i took regular ground beef and added some salt and pepper. then cooked on the george forman.

i made some corn salsa with peppers and corn and some spicy salsa. travis added some cayenne pepper and horseradish to his. {he said it was great but i'm skeptical!}

i also grilled a poblano pepper.

we then put the burgers on some grilled buns, added some pepper jack cheese, the poblano, the corn salsa, lettuce and spicy salsa. if you like mayo you could add your own special chipotle mayo, but we opted out of that.

they were so delicious and i can't wait to try a new recipe again. now that i'm moving out on my own again i'll be cooking a lot more and hope to share my creations!

hope everyone's doing well and living and loving life. {i sure am!}

saw austin got some snow today and dallas had a whole bunch last week. we'll be getting more this week, so everyone stay safe and warm! :)

change of plans

so my life plans have changed a bit.

i will not be taking the job at churchill downs.

"oh my gosh." i know it's what you're thinking but i have my reasons.

i got a better job nannying for a family {if you want more info just ask but i'm not typing out the extremely long story} in lexington and i'm really excited about it. {so if you're thinking about giving me your opinion about me being "just a babysitter"...save it.}

GOD has big things planned for me and i'm excited. ecstatic.

i start on monday and i'll be staying at trav's house until i find a place to live...looking with barclay next week.

happy to be back there and even more happy to be on my own again.

louisville's been great and i love my fam and friends here but it's time to move on.

wish me luck!

lent

i'm only posting about this because in order to keep myself accountable i need to write it down {type, whatever!} and have someone else know so that i won't cheat or succumb to peer pressure!

i gave up fast food for lent. although i'm not catholic, i've always given something up every year and i like the challenge. i did this one the last three years as well and it's worked out well. i don't need fast food, it's just easy. so from today on i'm not doing it! won't go near any. i will not eat fast food.

in love...

with the 2010 winter olympics!

i mean really, these games are awesome. have you ever really sat down and watched winter sports? for me, i'd totally rather watch than participate. except for curling, it's my fav. and i think i'd totally dominate at that sport! :) anyway, these athletes are so awesome. they're all in great shape, spend so much time working on their individual skills and just get it their all out there. ah.maz.ing.

so here are some of my favorites!

sean white...snowboarder. wow. he won the gold before his final run and then just put on a show for the crowd. powerful guy.

lindsey vonn. won the downhill women's gold. even on a badly bruised shin this awesome athlete beat all others on a downhill course that was at the least treacherous. after so much rain the course froze over and they were saying on t.v. today that it was like skiing on concrete. um, no thanks for me but for lindsey? yes please!

my fav winter sport is curling. i mean, yeah i like the inside events because it tends to be less dangerous. let's be reminded of my awful skiing experience last april when i was carried down the mountain by the medic and puking out the side of his sled thing...bad day. but seriously. this is way under estimated sport. it's gaining popularity but it's so much more of a mental game and it's so hard. i love it!

and let me not forget, i'm totally falling in love with vancouver. i mean look at that beauty! i'm going there. i don't know when but i'll do it.

so it's 2:15 in the morning.

i'm watching the series finale of friends.

i.

love.

this.

show.

why did they ever stop making it? i mean it's the best tv series i've ever watched and i swear i could watch it everyday. in fact, i have now watched the entire series 7 times. and this last time i watched it in two weeks {thanks to no job, who says you can't be productive?!} i've decided that if this were real life i'd totally be monica. and i'm ok with that! we're totally alike and i feel more connected to her character. but really what this show makes me do is think about my own friends. the ones i have, the ones i've lost and the ones i'll make later on. the truth is, friends are really important. my friends know more about me than my own family at times. they love unconditionally and you know they're going to be there for you. so while i'm sitting here crying in the early morning hours at a silly tv show, i like to think it's not just because i'm so happy monica and chandler are getting a baby {well 2 babies} or that ross and rachel are finally going to be together but it's because i know that my friends are so important to me and that their happiness is my happiness. our lives are interconnected, intertwined and i love them.

5 years

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

i can't believe it's been five years.

who knew that a boy and a girl from the same town, same high school would go off to the same college 900 miles from home and fall in love.

not me!

travis.

i love you. you are such a gift and i cannot imagine my life without you. {i won't go on because this is a public blog and chances are my mom is reading this...} haha!

i can't wait to see what the next five years bring {hopefully we won't still be dating in five years ;)!}

we'll be spending the weekend in lexington and i can't wait. dinner at p f changs, the movie valentines day, wine and maybe bowling? sounds awesome!

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
- Captain Corelli's Mandolin6. "Love is the beauty of the soul."
--St. Augustine

uk vs alabama

went to the uk basketball game last night!

we had such a blast and it was my and trav's first game post graduation. and we won, duh!

here's some pics from the night...

rupp was packed even with a blizzard outside!

trav was concentrating so hard!

being silly!

slamming on alabama!

love him!

friday

i can't wait to see this on friday with trav!

i am really excited about this...

i can't wait to eat ketchup now!

things i want...

so lately there are some things i've been wanting.

a cute little cottage to live in.

a chocolate lab puppy...i know, i know. do i really want two of them? :)

a trip to madrid...so beautiful!

a job here {churchill downs for you non kentuckians}

OH WAIT!!!!!! I DID GET A JOB HERE!

that's right, ash has a new job on the event team at churchill downs! more deets to come!

party day!

so saturday was so, so, so fun!

to start the day off, travis took me to see avatar in 3d and i loved it! thought it was a great story and the graphics were amazing. james cameron is a beast.

we then went shopping a little bit and then got ready for the party!

we met a whole bunch of friends and fam at bj's brewhouse. so delicious! i love this place so much. if you haven't been there you need to go asap. and try the jambalaya!

then we went bowling. i'm not very good but i love to go! there's nothing more fun on a saturday night than going bowling with friends, sharing a pitcher of beer and making fun of each others bowling skills!

here are a few pics from the night. {i don't have many because other people were taking pics but i'll add theirs later}

trav and i

barclay and i

jules and josh

sorry there aren't more! but seriously we had a great time. thanks so much to everyone who came out and made the night super fun. i have some of the best friends and fam in the whole world. i don't know what i'd do without them.

and that concludes the birthday festivities. now, what will i have to look forward to? well, valentines day is coming up and some other birthdays and travis and i will be celebrating 5 years together in feb. so i guess there's a lot more celebrating to come...i'm a lucky girl!