Shredding the Mountain!

Merry Christmas to Shane and I. This year for our Christmas present, my sister Alli, made up fake lift passes for us good for a Day Pass at Brighton Resort and snowboarding lessons. We all headed up there on January 11th so that we could experience the rush of flying down the mountain. I have skiied before, but the only snow sport Shane had ever done was sledding. He did amazing and I was impressed with how quickly he caught on. Me on the other hand.....let's just say that I have a really nice sister to follow me down the Bunny Hill for 20-25 minutes on my first run. It's the hill in the above picture if you have never been there. Little kids were passing me left and right quite a few times, and that was after I figured out how to stand on the board. I envy little kids for how fearless they are. Shane was doing so well that he got back on the lift and made it to the bottom before I completed my first run. Sorry Shane! Anyway, we were getting back on the lift and my parents had shown up to take pictures of us. Thanks Mom and Dad! My second run started better than the first. It was the only run the whole day that I didn't fall getting off the lift. But then I started down the hill and flipped over like 3 times in one fall. I actually heard someone from the lift above ask if I was okay. Never the less, I got back up and kept on going. It was tons of fun and both Shane and I were starting to finally get a hang of it. Before lunch, Shane went with Alli on the next biggest run. After that, he stuck to the bunny hill with me to get a little more experience. Snowboarding is definitely something that we will be doing again in the near future and it was all thanks to Alli for the gift that she knew we would enjoy.

Alli, me and Shane outside the lodge.

Alli and I

Next to us, Alli looked like an Olympic Gold Medalist.

It may look like I was doing okay, but that was just before one of my many falls.

Alli again. A little girl told her she liked all her pink.

Waiting in line for the lift.

Look at Shane go.

My nice sister taking a break with me.

Shane on the lift by himself.

.......And we were only sore for about 2 days after. I got a huge bruise on the back of my knee and both of my knees were swollen. Shane slept like a baby for the following 3 days.

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Nighttime view from our Vegas hotel room.

Max enjoyed supervising the building of our new patio awning this summer.

Buddy dressed up for Halloween!

Shane's new paint job!

Alli and Mom at Race for the Cure 2008

Alli and I at Race for the Cure 2008

Biker Shane at Balanced Rock in Arches National Park

Here I am going along for the ride in Arches.

Alli and Cimara on Christmas Eve

My office put together and decorated this tree for Festival of the Trees.

It was a 50's sock hop theme.

The court at the Jazz Season opener against the Denver Nuggets.

Shane's rock crawler

Auld Lang Syne

As the year comes to a close, I thought that it would be the perfect time to review memories of the year. After 5 years at American Eagle as my main job (3 of those as manager), I found myself at a crossroads. I had the chance to move up in the company or start a whole new career. I quit my full-time job at AE and started my job with the State of Utah working for the Department of Workforce Services as an employment counselor. There was a ton of new stuff to learn, but almost a year later, I think I have started getting the hang of it. I turned 24 this year and Shane turned 26. Our ages are getting older, but I don't think that either one of us feels any older that we were when we first got married. We celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary this year with a trip to Las Vegas. I know Shane must really love me if he is willing to spend a weekend in the Vegas heat. The city wasn't that bad, but even I thought that I was going to melt when we were at the Hoover Dam. I started Jazzercise in March. For those of you who don't know, Jazzercise is totally different than what you would think. There are no leotards, brightly colored tights with leg warmers or headbands. I didn't realize how out of shape I was until I couldn't keep up with the older ladies in my class. My mom and I both go to the same class and it has been nice spending time with her and having her there to encourage me to keep going. I had hoped to be in better shape by the time we went to Moab, but there was no need for that. It was cold, total opposite of what we experienced in Vegas. We were stuck in pants and most of the time sweatshirts. To make matters worse, we rode the motorcycle down and didn't really have a vehicle to drive around. But we toughed it out and went to Arches National Park while we were down there. It is amazing to see what the earth can create. We saw Delicate Arch but didn't hike up to it. Maybe when its warmer and I'm not dressed for riding the bike. When we got home, I starting feeling like I had a cold with a really bad cough. Nope, just pneumonia. For a month it was hard to breath, let alone workout. I got past that and still feel that wheezy feeling in my chest. But life goes on! I walked in Race for the Cure with my mom, sister and other Jazzercisers about a week after finding out that I had pneumonia. It made feel good to be out supporting a cause that effects so many women. We spent Father's Day in Wendover like every other year, but this year Alli's 21st birthday fell on Father's Day so she got to be out there with us. Both of our families planned camping trips in August. My mom's uncle has a cabin up at Strawberry Reservoir and we spent a weekend up there enjoying the solitude. Labor Day weekend we took Buddy on his 2nd camping trip with Shane's family to Potter's Pond. If you didn't know, the first time we took Buddy camping we went for one night and it was a good thing. He didn't go to the bathroom once. Shane and I were worrying about the second trip because we were staying for 2 nights. I was so happy when he ran up to tree when we first got there and peed. Sad, but true. He enjoyed himself that weekend and slept the whole way home. Shane bought a remote control rock crawler. It's his new toy. He has been bored since it has started snowing because he can't go crawling as much. The Bird got a face lift this year too. Shane worked hard on the body work and painting the car and it turned out great. He finished it in time to take it to the Wendover car show. Now he wants to paint the motorcycle. We went to lots of weddings this summer. It made me happy that ours had come and past. It still doesn't feel like two years though. Shane got tickets from his work to go to the Jazz Season Opener against the Denver Nuggets. It was a great game. With the way the economy went, both of us weren't laid off. Shane feels pretty secure with his job and I have almost passed probation at mine. This year, we had Thanksgiving at our house with Shane's family. I had never roasted a turkey in my life, or even watched someone do it, but ours turned out okay. It made a good end to the year. We spent Christmas with our families and ended the year together.
We've had a lot change in a year and are looking forward to making 2009 even more memorable.

Dam it!

It's been a while since I have posted a blog, but I have been working on them, just not finishing them. So here is the post that was to follow the Vegas post.
On our way to Vegas for our anniversary, Shane and I were driving through Utah County and he asked what I wanted to do while we were there. "What about going to the Hoover Dam?" Shane asked. I have never been to the Hoover Dam despite my many trips to the Southern tip of Nevada, so of course I said "Sure, that sounds like fun." He must know me too well. How can I pass up a trip to visit something like Hoover Dam? It's kind of a dorky thing to do on your anniversary trip, but SO me! Shane had already MapQuest-ed the directions there from our hotel. But wait!!!!!! "I forgot my camera Shane!" As I am calculating in my head that it is going to take away from Tiffany & Co. time if we turn around, Shane says "Well its a good thing that I have mine." What a life saver! I love him! We went to the dam the next day and it was H-O-T!

This is part of the new edition to the skyline a the Hoover Dam. They are building a suspension bridge over the Colorado River side of the dam. Since it will be complete in 2010, you know I will be planning a trip to Vegas again.

We went on a tour of the dam while we were there. It was pretty cool to see how much is inside of the dam and how it works. This is the pipe that moves the water from the Lake Mead side of the dam to the other side. There's A LOT of pressure in there!

This is the generator room where the water rushing through the pipe above is turned into power. They were huge and the room was not as loud as I thought it would be. If I remember right, there are 6 generators in this room, which is on the Nevada side of the dam and 6 in the generator room that is on the Arizona side of the dam. That's a lot of power and water!

As you walk through the dam, there are these Native American designs in the marble that represent how the water is turned into power.

This is one of the tunnels that you have to walk through to get from room to room. If you know Shane very well, you know that he can get claustrophobic when he is in a small space underground. He was a little worried about it right before we went on the tour, but didn't seem to have a problem with it while we were inside the dam, until.......the elevator that is used to get us from floor to floor hadn't arrived at the time it was supposed to. The longer we waited and the more our guide talked about other people that have been claustrophobic on his tours, the antsier Shane got. I don't think that the elevator could have arrived any quicker.

This is the Lake Mead side of Hoover Dam. It was very pretty. While we were on the tour inside the dam, a girl in our group asked our guide why the rock around Lake Mead was white. Without hesitation the guide said "The BLM thought it would look nicer if we painted the white line around to contrast with the blue water." All she said was "oh." We all got a great laugh at her expense. Poor girl!

Now, its time to share Ashley's Hoover Dam Movie Moments with you!!!!!!!

Remember the 90's movie Fools Rush In starring Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry? I have always enjoyed this movie and often wished that I could have a place to go like Salma's character did with the dam.

Contrary to this picture.......you aren't allowed to sit on the edge of the walls around Hoover Dam. This is very dangerous! Duh! Please don't push her Matthew.

In the movie, every time Salma's character drives over Hoover Dam and crosses the Nevada-Arizona border she tosses a silver dollar into Lake Mead for good luck. I was looking forward to standing in the two states on the border line painted in the road, like in the movie. But guess what?!?!?!? In the movie there is a bold line in the road with large "NEVADA" and "ARIZONA" painted on their respective sides. ITS NOT THERE IN REAL LIFE!! All there is to show where the border is is this plaque. So you can't see me in the picture, but to get shot of the plaque I was standing in Arizona and Nevada. My first time being in two places at once!

My next movie moments were from Transformers!!!!!!!! When we were on the tour, a guy actually asked the silly question that was in my brain. "Where is Megatron?" Apparently he is on level 42 in the middle of the dam, about 20 levels below where we were at the time of the question. That's where we could have gone had we paid to go on the more expensive tour.

Since she is one of Shane's new favorite people to search on the internet, I thought while we were talking about Transformers, I would post this famous movie scene of Megan Fox from the movie. And as an Ashley side-note, her earrings are from American Eagle.

I tried to find pictures from the movie of the spots I saw, but I was unable to find any. In the movie, this is where Sam, Mikayla, Josh Duhmel's character and Tyrese are brought to enter the dam to visit Megatron's ice chamber (remember level 42?). They try to block out which side of the dam they are on in the movie, but in some scenes you can see Nevada Time under the clock. This would be the bridge they filmed on. And across from the bridge........

This is the EXACT same spot that Sam (Shia Lebouf) looks over the side of the dam and where the little devil of a robot falls out of Mikayla's purse and slides down to the bottom.

I know what you are thinking.......why would Shane ever want to take Ashley on another trip. Well, we had a blast and visiting sites like this is something that we both love doing together. In the 7 years that we have been together, we have been to places that at least one of us has never been and shared those memories. Yellowstone with our friends, Jackson Hole and Yellowstone on our Honeymoon, Las Vegas just to get out of town, Disneyland so that Shane could say he has at least been there and seen California other than LAX, Mexico on our first cruise, Moab for my first and second times, Arches National Park in the freezing cold on a motorcycle, Hole in the Rock outside of Moab. And there is so much more that we want to do. Make the most of your lifetime with simple once-in-a-lifetime moments that you will cherish forever.

Christmas Memories

I remember when I was little, sitting at my grandparents on Christmas Eve, Alli, my cousins and I would gather around the TV to watch what we called the California Raisins Christmas Show. It was something that I would look forward to every year. The show was claymation to classic Holiday songs with a twist. From "Here We Go A Waffle-ing" to "We Three Kings" sang by camels. My favorite was always "Carol of The Bells." I would look forward to this one every year and got the best laugh out of the bells. Enjoy the clip of my best Christmas memory.

Calling All Children of the 80's!

You Know You(or your kids) Grew Up In the 80's IF:
1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE.
2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do theCarlton
3. You know that 'WOAH' comes from Joey on Blossom
4. If you ever watched 'Fraggle Rock'
5. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
6. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
7. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
8. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
9. You played the game 'MASH'(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
10. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
11. You know the profound meaning of ' WAX ON , WAX OFF'
12. You wanted to be a Goonie.
13. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (Some of us...head-to-toe)
14. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off, his cheeks shifted and his nationality became questionable.
15. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
16. You took lunch boxes to school...and traded Garbage Pail Kids in the schoolyard.
17. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
18. You still get the urge to say 'NOT' after every sentence.
19. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
21. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
22. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying 'I know you are, but what am I?' 23. You remember 'I've fallen and I can't get up'
24. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
25. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
26. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
27. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.
28. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
29. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
30. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as 'NKOTB'
31. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on 'Saved By The Bell,' The ORIGINAL class.
32. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
33. You just sang those words to yourself.
34. You still sing 'We are the World'
35. You tight rolled or french cuffed your jeans. And still debate on which is the right term!
36. You owned a bannana clip.
37. You remember 'Where's the Beef?'
38. You used to (and probably still do) say 'What you talkin' 'bout Willis?'
39. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!

Check out my friend's blog!

Just wanted to let you know about my friend Emily's blog. http://ukulele-emily.blogspot.com/ She has amazing outdoor pictures posted, but more importantly a link to her MySpace Music page. If you like the sound of the ukulele, her music will really make you wish you were laying on a beach in Hawaii with the sun beating down on your face. I promise I will post more too!