Fitness blog

I started a new blog about fitness. It is meant to be a journal of my exercise routine. Check it out and join in!
www.ashleesfitnessblog.blogspot.com

Pillow snatcher...

Okay, Shane got a brand new down pillow for Christmas, something he has been wanting for awhile. I've had my down pillow for a few years and i LOVE it. He is always stealing it from me in the night! Anyway, the one he got is even better quality than mine AND it is king size! The first night he used his new pillow i was excited b/c i knew that i wouldn't have to worry about waking up without one. WRONG! Lo and behold, i wake up in the middle of the night and i have NO pillow. I look over and he is sprawled out over 2/3 of the bed(king size) AND he is using MY pillow! HA! He wasn't even using his brand new pillow! Hmmm...so, just for the heck of it i yanked my pillow back. hehe. I don't have to feel bad anymore for stealing it back. Yes, i could have just grabbed his pillow and used it, but it is STILL an ongoing battle and i had to keep it alive. :)

Our ups and downs over Christmas Vacation...

Below are some pictures from our Christmas Vacation in Minnesota.

Here is Tanner using his cheesy smile for the camera. So cute!











Papa and Gavin put tribal signs on their faces. I came home from the hospital and there they were. They were making all these funny faces and noises. It was so funny.










Here i am in the hospital. My dad and Shane stayed with me for nine hours while i was in the ER. Holly and my mom and Stephen came later to visit.









Santa made a visit to Zsa Zsa and Papa's house on Christmas Eve. Gavin is telling him what he wants for Christmas.












Our family picture with Santa.












Chowing down on Christmas Eve. The little girl to the left is my cousins daughter. She is five.












Presents under the tree. It is tradition that we put all the presents under the tree on Christmas Eve night.











In a recent post i talked about how my brother was in my dad's truck when it flipped 70 feet off the freeway. Here is my dad's demolished truck. Click on it to see a bigger image.

We tried taking some family pictures with my mom's camera.

It strikes AGaiN!

We arrived home last night. What a drive it was!!! My goodness. I had NO leg room whatsoever. We were loaded without one inch of room to spare! I didn't realize we had soooo much until we got into the car to take off. I was cramped the whole time. Gavin was secluded in his seat in the 3rd row surrounded by luggage and all his toys. Holly and Tanner didn't have much room either. They were surrounded and closed off to each other by the luggage and toys as well. We were so glad to get out of the car last night. I got a phone call right after we got home and it was Holly telling me that she is sick with what Tanner, my dad and i had. Good thing it waited until we got home! Then today Gavin has been vomitting a lot. Everyone has had it now except for Shane. Hopefully he doesn't get it. I woke up thinking i was gonna go to the ER again last night. I was getting sharp stabbing pains throughout my upper abdomen. It has been doing it all day today as well. I think i have over-exerted myself, but am not really sure what it is. Tylenol keeps the pain away. I was going to post pics, but i am waiting for my mom to send me all the pics from when we were there b/c we forgot our camera. I am sooooo excited b/c my mom and dad gave me their old SLR camera(with 2 lenses and a tripod) for Christmas. What a surprise that was! I have taken pics with it before and it takes AmAzING pictures. It isn't digital, but i don't care for now. I am just excited to see what i can do with it. Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas. Drive safe when you return home!

MeRRy Christmas...

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. We had a great one, considering the fact that i got the flu last night and so did Tanner. Luckily this morning i felt better and i was able to enjoy watching Gavin open his presents. Tanner was still throwing up this morning so he couldn't enjoy it much. The pounds that i was gaining in the first week here are already off b/c i haven't been able to eat anything for 3 days. Last night Santa came and the kids loved it, except for Tanner. Tanner was freaked out by him. Today we have spent most of the day playing games. We had a Texas Hold'em Tournament. The winner received $25, 2nd place received $10, 3rd place received $5. Seven of us played and i WON!!! It was a lot of fun. Tomorrow we are going shopping for clothes(pants for me) of which i am in desperate need of. I will post pics tomorrow of my dad's wrecked car, me in the hospital, Santa's visit to our house, opening Christmas gifts, and Gavin's B-day. There are so many pics. Overall today was great. I can't wait to go home and rearrange the toy room.

Merry Christmas Eve!...

These past few days have been CrAZy! On Friday, me, my sister and my mom went and got our hair done. That was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went out to lunch and i thought i was having major hunger pains, but after i ate it was still there, so i thought i was getting gas pains. We came home and what i thought were gas pains, increased to ExTRemE gas pains. I tried everything that is supposed to help the gas out, but nothing worked. I started feeling very nauseated like i was going to puke. I took Ibuprofen, gas-x, drank some chamomille tea(which is supposed to help gas pain), laid on my left side, and it subsided for awhile. We went to bed and it was still bothering me a bit. I woke up at 5:45 in the morning and the pains were really bad again. I also felt extreme anxiety, almost like my body was trying to tell me that it was more than gas pains. So i went upstairs and read for awhile and decided that something wasn't right. I woke up my dad and we waited it out for awhile. We decided to go into the ER at about 10:00 in the morning. I was in the ER for 9 hours because they couldn't quite figure out what was wrong. The doctor that was trying to figure it out came in and said, "you know, i have been doing this in the ER for years and years...i have been the most proficient doctor in here trying to get people in and out quick, but you have broken my record. You have got all of us confused as to what is wrong." Anyway, i didn't have all the symptoms that the average person has with appendicitis, so they thought it might have been something with my ovaries or fallopian tube. Turns out that i did have appendicitis. I went into surgery. The nice thing about it was that all the doctors and nurses knew my dad so they treated me extra special. :) The next morning i was released and it hasn't been bad at all. I feel great. This is nothing compared to a C-section, hernia repair, & vaginal birth. I feel sorry for my poor belly. I have had 3 surgeries on my stomach in 4 years, plus major stretching from being preggo with 2 BIG boys. I still plan to get a tummy tuck after i am done having babies, but my belly might collapse if i have another surgery on it.
Anyway, the day i came home my brother left to go get his girlfriend a gift and ended up rolling my dad's truck and demolishing it. Luckily he is okay. His left leg is in a brace and they still have yet to find out what is wrong with it. But, they think it is his ACL and that he will have to get surgery. Then, that night my dad gets a phone call from the hospital b/c they can't get a hold of the anesthesiologist on call, which has never happened before. He went in and on his way home he came down with something bad b/c he was up all night with severe stomach flu symptoms. And they called him an hour or two after he got home, the hospital called again to see if he could come in again to do an epidural. He had to tell them no because he was too sick to come in and since he wasn't on call he can't get in trouble for it. This is quickly becoming the craziest Christmas vacation I have ever had. HOPEFULLY nothing else happens and we can enjoy our Christmas Eve and Day accident- free .

Cleveland Rocks...

What is the deal with people saying how much they dislike Cleveland?! Seriously. Shane and I love it a lot, actually. First of all...
1. African Americans are everywhere. They add so much spunk and personality to the city. I will be in line at the store and this black lady behind me starts telling me how hot some actor is in the PEOPLE magazine. "Oh girl, look at him." It is hilarious. They are so outgoing and always have something fun to say. (i must admit, the teens in cleveland have more attitude than i can deal with)
2. As much as i already dislike the winter's, the fall and and summer's are really great, not to mention beautiful!
3. We are within good driving distance of Kirtland, Palmyra, Niagara Falls, NYC, D.C., Amish country, the lake, the ocean, outlet malls, etc.
4. We have Lebron James! , Cavaliers, Browns, Indians, Buckeyes.(who all are doing great right now)
5. We have every store we need IN our city.
6. Our ward. I have never been in a better ward. I have NEVER had so many people sooooo willing to help!
7. Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
8. All kinds of pools and playgrounds within walking distance of our homes.
9. Only live 30 minutes from the airport!
10. Great Dental School for our husbands!
11. People here are so nice. They actually wave when you let them in front of you when you are in your car. They wave 95% of the time. NEVER have i lived anywhere where that has happened.

Yes, there are downsides to Cleveland...
1. construction on main roads that slow you down big time.
2. Constant cloud cover in the winter.
3. People don't know how to use the walking signal at intersections. They walk out in the street like they own it and you have to stop and wait for them!

Other than that, what is so wrong with Cleveland?!?! Seriously. It is a great place.

Sledding day...

We went sledding today and it was sooooo much fun! We got those cheap $5.00 sleds, but they worked great! We went flying down the hill. Gavin loved it! Most of the time he just slid down the hill on his bum. We are going again tomorrow because we enjoyed it so much. Then at the end of the week we are going to a ski resort where you can go down the hill on huge tubes with a lot of people. You don't have to walk up the hill b/c they have a rope type thing that pulls you back up. Anyway, we had not been sledding in the LONGEST time, and it was Gavin's first time and we just had a blast.

ChRisTmAs COoKiEs...

Yesterday we spent a few hours making,baking and decorating cookies. We made snicker-doodles, wedding cookies, frosted sugar cookies, and little reese's cookies. YUMMY! I know, i look really weird in this picture, but it is b/c i just licked my finger. We are eating so good that i am gaining weight, but i am not too worried b/c i know we will be going back to eating rice and chicken and will lose the weight fast. :)

Let it snow, let it snow...

Shane and i went out today and did all the Christmas shopping for our boys. As you know, we are students and don't really have much money... the money my mom was going to use to buy the boys Christmas gifts, she gave to us to go shopping for her, plus we would get enjoyment out of shopping for the boys. We had a little money that i earned making cards to put towards their Christmas, but what she did for us helped us feel a lot more involved with getting what they want. Boy was it fun! That was the first time we felt like we were on a shopping spree to buy our boys what we wanted to buy them! It was so exciting! Thanks mom. Then Shane and i went out to lunch. We came home and Shane and Gavin went outside to play in the snow. Here are the pics i took of them outside. I couldn't take too many b/c it was FREEZING outside.

Fun, fun, fun...

Okay, in the top two pics, Gavin is wearing papa's hat and decided he needed to try Santa's cookies to make sure they taste good enough for him. And they did. :) In the next picture Zsa Zsa came home with two huge stuffed animal dogs. Gavin's is the one on the right and he named him Clifford...Gavin named Tanner's dog for him...Flea. Cute huh? I can tell Gavin is growing up because he is putting his terrible two's behind him, and he is going to bed without any fuss. In the past he has never slept good away from home. It is soooo rewarding watching him turn back into the sweet little boy that he is.(Those terrible 2's really were terrible) For the longest time i thought i was doing something wrong as a mother, but now i can relax a little and not be so hard on myself. :) Then in the next picture you can see the boys playing with toys. Papa put all the toys downstairs in a designated toy area. They love playing with all the little people. It is freezing here. It was 9 degrees yesterday. Yikes! Uncle Brion is coming home today and we are excited to see him. Holly is coming home on the 19th, and Stephen is coming home on the 21st. I can't wait because we are having a girls outing...we are going to get our hair cut and highlighted and go out to lunch. Anyway, i will post about that later.

Just a few pics...

Here's my parents Christmas Tree. It is so pretty. Plus, here is the garland with lights that were strung around the rails. There are a lot of other decorations, but i only put these up. Here are some pics of the boys.

Our Ride...

Today we drove to my family's house in Minnesota. We woke up at 4:50 and we were on the road at 5:30 in the morning! Crazy i know, but we made it to Minnesota in good time, at 4:00 p.m. Our drive was very entertaining. Tanner hates sitting in a car seat so he was really fussy and ANGRY a lot of the way. We had to laugh at him most of the time because he was acting out his anger in a way we have never really seen and it was quite funny! Gavin got sick of hearing Tanner so he told him, "I don't want to hear your attitude Tanner!" It was hilarious. Gavin did such a great job! Tanner got upset in the car and randomly puked up all over himself. Very odd, we thought. We actually made it through Chicago in 25 minutes!!! WOAH! That will probably never happen to us again! We got here and my mom had some homemade lasagna made up for us(shane had his own pan since he doesn't like ricotta), the house smelled like Christmas from all the candles she had burning, the house was beautifully decorated, and it just felt like home. She also made us some apple crisp, which was delicious. After a day of driving and not eating too well, dinner and dessert was very enjoyable. It wasn't too long after that we all went downstairs and played Wii. They just bought the 2008 Madden Football and Shane LOVES it! They also got the new Mario Galaxy, which is really cool. We played bowling against each other and also boxing. Boxing was HILARIOUS! I wish i had a video of it! Anyway, we will be spending plenty of wasteful, enjoyable hours on that thing. I will post some pics tomorrow of the Christmas Decor(because it is pretty) and of some of our activities.

National Boards!

Shane is taking his Boards right now. He should be done later today around 3-5. Shane has been studying for 8 hours or more a day for a few weeks. It tires me out just watching him. He is going to do great on his test! Shane has an amazing ability to remember what he learns. Studies come easier to him than it does for some of us. All these guys here at school amaze me. No way could i do it. I could do it, but what Shane learns in a semester would probably take me 3 semesters to learn. My dad and Shane are alike in that way. Why didn't i inherit his smarts? Hopefully my kids inherit "smarts" from Shane because i definitely don't learn quick! When he gets home it is PARTY time! This is a picture of Shane studying. This is what he has looked like for the past 3 weeks. Literally. :) I am so proud of him. I don't think he takes Boards again until his 4th year, which i hear is a day and a half long?!?!

My Story...

MY STORY.
Hi, my name is: Ashlee
but you can call me: Ash
Never in my life have I: Had braces.
The one person who can drive me nuts is: Shane :) i luv u.
My high school is: Jenks High school
When I’m nervous: my stomach gets tied in knots... i try to talk myself out of being nervous.
The last song I listened to was: Josh Groban's CD 'Awake'(luv it)
My hair is: Brown and long.
When I was 4: I was so cute(what happened?)... chubby cheeks(still have those), piggy tails.
Last Christmas: We were at the Jenks home!
I should be: Finishing x-mas card orders.
When I look down I see: Toys all over the toy room. That is what a toy room is for i guess.
The happiest recent event was: Shane finishing his finals.
If I were a character on ‘Friends’ : I would have been Rachel and Phoebe all in one.
By this time next year: We will be in the middle of our third year of Dental School!!!
My current gripe is: I cannot wait until Boards are done!!!!!(i know, i am not the one having to take them, but i feel the pain of it :)
I want to learn more about: photoshop(i took a class on it in College, but can't remember any of it!) and photography.
I have a hard time understanding: why people make life more difficult than it needs to be.
If I won an award, the first person I would tell would be: Shane
I want to buy: a DSLR camera so that i can start doing photography. (next year!)
Where do you plan to visit in the next year: Minnesota, D.C. , Idaho, Riviera Maya, New York.
If you spent the night at my house: Hopefully you would get some sleep.
The world could do without: angry people
Most recent thing I’ve bought myself: hhmmm... i really don't know.
Most recent thing someone else bought me: umm, x-mas gifts, but i don't know what they are yet.
My middle name is: Christina
In the morning I: Feed the boys, clean, and exercise
Last night I was: Helping Shane study.
There’s this guy I know who: has been studying all day and night for 2 weeks. :) hehe.
If I was an animal I’d be a: LION
A better name for me would be: Feisty, believe it or not.
Tomorrow I am: going to work out, clean, get my card orders done, read.
Tonight I am: going to spin, do strength training, attempt to watch some t.v., maybe read some more.

I know...cheesy.

I have to say how much i love and appreciate my husband before i change my mind(no, just kidding!). He always has a way of picking me up when i am feeling down. He makes me feel special and appreciated. He is the happiest person and i am so grateful for him! I am truly blessed. Of course we have our HARD times, but through all of it i still LOVE him more than ever. We have been dealt some difficult, challenging and trying times in just 4 years, but it has made us stronger and better, and helped us grow closer. He can make me laugh like nobody else can and I love it! I don't know WHAT i would do without him. With him by my side we can make it through anything. Anyway, words can't express what i feel. You are the best HUN.

RuN FoR IT!!

Well, i guess i should have listened to Tanner when he said he had to go pee. No, just kidding. The boys decided to pour Gavin's water bottle all over the floor, getting themselves soaked in the process. And this picture is of their getaway when we found out what they were doing! What you don't see in this picture is Tanner's little accomplice...Gavin saw us coming and made a break for it, leaving Tanner high and dry. Some partner in crime he is. As you can see. He is having a difficult time getting up the stairs with his extra load. Just thought this was a funny picture and i wanted to share it with you.

...That Christmas feeling...

Today was a Christmasy kind of day for us. The boys are feeling better and so we decided to go to Beachwood Mall(i love that mall!). Auntie Holly came with us. We walked around, smelled tons of perfume until our noses were confused, looked at tons of shoes(Nordstroms has tons!), enjoyed the Christmas decor, and just had fun together. Unfortunately Santa wasn't at the mall.
We came home and Holly and i decided to put up some Christmas lights outside of our home. So, we did it and it looks cute and humble. :) We were nearly frozen afterwards so we came inside and made some hot chocolate and watched The Christmas Story. It felt so much like Christmas! We are so excited to go to Minnesota for Christmas. My parents are VERY excited. They are soooo excited that they decided to have some people come in and professionally decorate the main level of the house with Christmas decor. My parents have more Christmas decorations than they know what to do with. My dad decorated the entire downstairs for the boys. He put all the boys toys downstairs and decorated it with Christmas stuff. He thinks they will be in awe, and i am sure they will. They also decorated the outside, and they are having Santa Clause come to the house on Christmas Eve night!!! I cannot wait to see how Gavin and Tanner react to him! Growing up, Santa always came to my Grandma and Grandpa Seifert's house. Oh the memories!!! Those are some of the best memories! Their house was full of cousins, aunt's, uncles. My grandma Seifert was the best and was so good at hosting so many get together's at her house. I miss her so bad. She was the best. People were just drawn to her. Anyway, i don't know how i went off about that. Back to Christmas at my parent's house. We are excited. After Shane is done with his Board test i will be so thrilled(i know he will too). But, he has been studying from early morning until 8 p.m. at night. I am dying! He takes his test in one week! Only one more week!!!!! Trying to stay sane!!

...BuRrRrR...

Our boys have been sick lately. First, they had a runny nose and sore throat. Then this weekend they didn't have a fever or anything. But they both had some bouts of vomiting. Tanner decided to do it in our car in the parking lot of Target and Gavin did it a couple times on our living room floor. Needless to say...it was gross. Shane cleaned the car after Tanner, and I guess it was my turn to clean up when Gavin did it. I think he got the better end of the deal. Gavin has a lot bigger belly than Tanner. Gavin also woke up this morning with some bad diarrhea on top of everything else. Fortunately he got most of it in the toilet. But yet again, we had to clean up a mess of bodily waste. This time on our bathroom rugs. Anyway, I have been very lucky. I didn't catch their cold or their stomach virus. What is the deal? I always catch everything! Don't get me wrong, i am thrilled! That has never happened though! They just got their flu shot, which makes me feel so much better because they will avoid at least one type of flu strain.

The other morning our boys were CoLd. We keep our house at about 67-68 degrees, but it feels like 65. It feels CoLd. Anyway, Tanner was shivering while he was eating his cereal so we put his CoAt on. It was cute. Gavin, of course, had his blanky keeping him WaRm. That blanket never leaves his side. The TwO pictures above are just random pictures i took of the boys. Tanner has this cheesy SmiLE that he likes to use a lot lately. It is like he knows i am taking a picture so he puts on this fake cheesy SmiLE and when i am done, he is done. It is so funny. Gavin just looks HaNdsOmE, as always.

JuSt WrEsTLiNg ArOunD...

Shane has been studying A LOT, and by the end of the day all three boys are ready to release some of their built up energy. Here they are wrestling around with each other. I can't wait until the boys get a little bit older so that they can take their daddy down. Shane and i wrestle around once in awhile when he needs to release energy and it is tiring! Of course i always win (my brother was a wrestler so i know the moves, people underestimate me), but it takes all the energy out of me. :)

HoLy CoW!!!

Oh my gosh! Preparing for c-section.

Well, i was going through pictures and i came upon this one. I am sorry if this picture makes some of you SiCk! It makes me SiCk! I am probably 8 months preggo here with Tanner. I try to tell people that i look like i am having TwInS, but they give me a look of disbelief. Well, here you go. Now do you believe me?!?! I have had people ask me if i was due any day when i was only 6 months along. You wonder why i HATE being pregnant? AND it is no wonder why i have not gotten the BaBy urge yet. I got the baby urge after i had Gavin when i was about 8 months along. This time around, all i have to do is look at this SiCk picture and it just reminds me why i don't want to get pregnant. I don't know that i will get pregnant ever again as long as i am reminded of this. I gained 30 lbs. with Gavin and almost 40 lbs. with Tanner. People say you get bigger with each child.... if i get any bigger i will EXpLoDe!!!! I know some of you will DiE laughing when you see this...I can already picture some of you! :) Oh, and the stretch marks.... I went 8 months without stretch marks when i was preggo with Gavin and then in the last month they started pOpPiN up all over! My stomach got so stretched out that i've had people ask me if i was pregnant AgAiN about 9 months after Tanner was born! R U KiDDinG Me?!

On the other hand, it was worth the torture for my beautiful boys. BUT, i am not sure i will ever be ready for that torture again! :)

p.s. Gavin just came in here and saw these pictures and said, "Your belly looks big mommy. It looks like a monster."

TAG, U R IT!

4 OR MORE PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
Tulsa and Sand Springs, Oklahoma
Rexburg, Idaho
Logan, Utah
Greenville,South Carolina
Lansing, Michigan
Sandusky and Cleveland, Ohio
California(only for about 6 months)

4 OR MORE PLACES I HAVE WENT ON VACATION:
Port Canaveral, Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida
Santa Barbara, California and San Diego, California and Los Angeles
Belize
Jamaica
Cozumel
Cayman Islands
Tijuana
Key West
Canada
Every state except for Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, W. Virginia, and D.C.


4 OR MORE JOBS I HAVE HAD:
Lifeguard
Swim Instructor
Front Desk receptionist at a few hotels
Maid at a hotel
Daycare worker(ugghhh)
Manager of Apartments
Retail Sales

4 OR MORE FOODS I LIKE:
Chinese (P.F. Chang's)
Thai
Mexican (On The Border)
A good sandwich

4 OR MORE HOBBIES I HAVE:
Scrapbooking
Card making
Exercising
Reading
Taking pictures
Blogging

4 OR MORE THINGS PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME:
I have been bungie(spelling?) jumping.
I have never had braces.
I have a horrible habit of biting my nails.
I love singing, but i can't sing.
I love snowboarding.
I love water skiiing.
I have never broken a bone.
I love playing tennis.
I've had plastic surgery on my ear. (just ask me about it)

4 OR MORE THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A BILLIONAIRE:
Go travel the entire world.
Help tons of people who are in need, here and in 3rd world countries.
Go to the Super Bowl.
Take my entire family on one big vacation.
Put away money for my kids.

I am tagging Lauri, Amanda, Melissa(Amanda's sister), Ace, and Ashley.

Happy Turkey Day!

This was our first Thanksgiving in our own home. We really missed out on having Thanksgiving with Shane's family. We miss them a lot. We wish that we could have been there with everyone.We were excited about making memories in our own home. What a day it has been! I am so proud of the way the whole dinner turned out, being that this was my first time making the Turkey dinner on my own. Let me tell you what we made: Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green bean casserole, crunchy pea salad, apple salad, Ashley's yummy rolls, my mom's homemade absolutely delicious stuffing,(i think it even turned out better than hers!) wassail, (i love it!) and pumpkin pie. Camille made the apple salad, which was delicious! She also made a lemon pie and a razzleberry pie. She did such an awesome job! We also snacked on a cheese ball, with crackers and a salami log, cashews, almond hershey kisses, and a dessert ball. Talk about getting FAT! The turkey was DElish!!! Shane did the honors of slicing the turkey for everyone. After we ate we realized that it didn't even look like we had started eating yet! We have sooooooo much food! If you are hungry, come on over!


Here is Gavin after all the food was eaten. He zonked out big time!
Here is Erik and Shane playing the Wii. They had tons of fun playing this and they played it a lot. We also played A LOT of card games: phase 10, speed, JEN, golf. We listened to Christmas music a lot, watched the Macy's Day Parade, and of course we watched Football! It really has been a fun Thanksgiving for us.
Here are Tanner and McCoy playing together.
Here is Holly. She was very tired in this picture! How could you not be after eating more than your body can handle?!