SeVeN

Today is our 7th Anniversary! This is going to be kind of a 2 part thing. I'd like to share the story of how Nate and I met, and then share with you some things we've done and learned in our marriage.


Part 1: The Story

Call it Fate, Destiny, or the Hand of God, but I'm a firm believer that Nate and I were directed into each other's lives and meant to be together. It was June of 1998. I was with my youth conference group for church attending the Manti Pageant. We were playing a game called 'sting' with a volleyball on some grass across from the temple grounds, waiting for the pageant to start.
All the girls were talking about him, the boy in the baseball cap sitting alone under a tree. They were all gushing about how 'cute' he was. I wholeheartedly agreed with them, but kept it to myself. Then I did something TOTALLY out of character for me. I went over to him and invited him to play with us. He accepted. All the other girls were flirting shamelessly. I don't flirt(ask Nate) or I can't flirt. That might be a better way to put it. We found out he was from Las Vegas and was traveling with his grandparents. Anyway, he left that night with about 6 of our names and addresses and had given his to us. It was so funny because all my friends said they weren't going to write to him, but I found out later that they ALL did. So, Nate and I exchanged 3 letters. He stopped writing me because his mom found out and nixed it.
Fast forward to the Spring of 2001. I was in my first year of college at Southern Utah University. One day, while writing a few of my missionary friends, I came across Nate's picture with his address on the back. Something told me to write him a letter. I dismissed the feeling, but it just kept pestering me. So I wrote the letter. I didn't hear from him for a few months because he was on his mission in Mexico. We started writing regularly.
He came home from his mission on April 10, 2002. Exactly one week later he showed up at my door. He was actually on his way to see a different girl up in Logan(needless to say, he never made it). He and his friend were stopping in Roy to visit his friend's mom(I was living with my Mom in Farr West). It was snowing really hard(as it sometimes does in April here in Utah) and they were locked out of the house and had no coats. His friend asked if he knew anyone up here and he thought of me. He hadn't been planning to stop and see me, but they were freezing. So, he came over and we ended up spending the entire evening together. We started talking on the phone every night and he came up again two weeks later. That was the weekend that we got engaged. Eight weeks after that, we were married.



Things Nate & Ashley Have Done or Learned during Our 7 Years of Marriage

• We've moved 8 times
• Brought 3 children into the world in 3 different cities with 3 different doctors
• Held 15 different jobs- I've only had 2- The rest were Nate
• Attended 3 different colleges
• Attempted camping 3 times with our longest camping trip totalling 24 hrs. Yeah, we're not avid campers
• Had our own little weekend away at Disneyland, Denver, Pocatello, Evanston, and Salt Lake
• We learned very quickly that 10 weeks is not long enough to know someone before getting married
• We also learned to roll with the punches and appreciate our differences
• We grew up
• We've owned 8 vehicles
• We've watched approximately 2,555 movies together(probably more)
• I don't even want to think about how many diapers we've changed
• Held 12 church callings
• Almost given up
• We've learned the art of forgiveness
• We've supported each other through difficult situations(I won't go into details)
• Overall, we've learned what love and marriage and family are really all about

So...Happy Anniversary to Us! Here's to an Eternity More!

Goblin Valley Part 3: A 3 Mile Hike with 3 Little Kids & The Goblins of the Valley

So...after my wonderful shower fiasco, we were all dressed and ready for our day of adventure! We decided to hike over and see the goblins. At the entrance to the park, they gave us this nifty map with 3 trails on it for viewing the valley. We chose the shortest one(1.5 miles). We packed Jayne into the backpack carrier and put on our sunscreen and hats and headed out. We hadn't gotten far along the trail when I realized that this was not the best idea.

The trail was really narrow and the kids got tired of it easily. We did see lots of little lizards running around, which Jonah loved. It was hard to keep him moving because he kept wanting to stop and look for lizards.

Lilly's sun hat was a bit too small and wouldn't stay on. So my ingenious husband pulled out his pocket knife and cut two little slits in the back of it for her pig tails.
It took us a LONG time to get to the end of the trail. I'm not sure how long because none of us had a watch, but it felt like eternity! The kids were excited to see the 'goblins' even though Kaleb kept telling them that they were live goblins that would eat them. I reassured them that no one was going to get eaten.

When we did get to the end, we were at the observation point of Goblin Valley and we could see that there was a nice paved road going directly from our campground to the place where we were. We totally should have driven! But, hiking is what you do when you're camping, right? Here is a picture of the valley...We walked down into the valley and played on the goblins. The kids loved climbing on all the rocks and finding shapes in them.

Then we took a breather up at the observation point. Here's a shot of Jayne enjoying the view and the wind. Then we geared up to trek another mile and a half back to camp. Lilly was getting really tired by now and I carried her on my back for a while. Then she walked a bit and Daddy put her on his shoulders. So Nate was carrying Jayne and Lilly for the last half of the hike. I was bringing up the rear with Jonah. That kid was exhausted! I could barely get him to put one foot in front of the other. But...we made it!

The first thing we did when we got back to camp was eat lunch. Then the wind really kicked up and we were getting sand in our eyes. So we thought we'd try to get the kids to take a nap. How silly of us. Who could sleep in a hot tent when you can't open the door or window because of the sand blowing everywhere and the tent is making crazy loud noise from the wind that is threatening to blow us all to Kansas?! It didn't take us long to decide it was time to go home. The wind wasn't lightening up and there were more dark clouds headed our way. So we packed up our sandy belongings and hit the road. The drive home was pretty uneventful, we got rained on again and I was just trying hard to stay awake!

So, there you have it. Our camping trip, which totaled 24 hours of actual camping, 8 hours of driving, and at least three days to clean up and recover from it all.

Goblin Valley Part 2: Burning Dinner, Trying to Sleep, & Outwitting the Shower

We arrived in Goblin Valley Saturday afternoon. While Nate and Kaleb set up the tent, Jonah and Lilly wasted no time getting out their camping chairs and building their own 'fire'.

So.... burning dinner. I made my first attempt at foil dinners. Nate built the fire and placed them in the coals. I kept thinking we should check on them, but we got distracted and then it started pouring rain. Our fire stayed lit through the rain, and once it dried out a bit we finally checked the dinners and they were very well done. Luckily we had two more that hadn't been put on the fire yet and they turned out okay. Next time, I'm sticking to hot dogs on a stick. We actually slept pretty good that night, once we got everyone in bed. We put the kids to bed and Nate, Kaleb, and I stayed up and played some poker with starbursts. Nate came out the winner, but was generous enough to share his bounty. We went to bed around 11:30.

Apparently, our sweet Lilly talks in her sleep. She also wiggles out of her covers A LOT! We were up every hour or two tucking her back in. Luckily, it wasn't too cold. Jayne and Jonah slept great, but they both woke us up in the wee hours of the morning. Jayne for a bottle, and Jonah for a trip to the bathroom. Here's Jonah on the trail back to our campsite after his early morning trek to the potty.

This is how early Jayne and Jonah got up.

None of us really went back to sleep after that. We got everyone up and dressed and munched on some cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Once I got the kids dressed and ready to go, I decided that I wanted to rinse off in the shower before getting dressed for our daily activities. So, I gathered my towel and clothes(I forgot the soap) and walked down to the showers. I really wanted some soap, so I stopped in the restroom and filled my hand with the liquid soap they have for washing hands. Then I got in the shower stall and proceeded to, very carefully, undress without losing the precious soap in my hand. I'm happy to report I was successful in that endeavor. In turning on the shower? Not so much. I tried EVERYTHING to get the water to come on! I turned the handle a ZILLION times! I wiggled and jiggled and poked everything I could think of, and no water! Baffled, I decided to try another stall. So I managed to wrap my towel around me, gather my belongings, and move one stall over(all while holding my precious soap). I tried the shower again....no dice. By this time I was getting VERY frustrated. I heard a shower on in the stall next to mine, so I decided to patiently wait for the person to come out and ask them what the secret was. So, there I stood, wrapped in my blue towel outside the showers. When the lady emerged, I asked my question. She informed me that there is a 'sensor' shaped like a circle that you have to touch. It's not a 'button'. It looks like this tiny little decorative thing and I hadn't even thought to try it. She said she had the same problem the first time she used them. Yeah...I was a little embarrassed. Anyway...I finally got the water on, but by this time I had lost my soap. So I just rinsed myself off the best I could and got dressed.

I know...long story. Typing it has exhausted me. So I'll leave you with a picture of Lilly from Sunday morning. She didn't want her picture taken, so Nate snuck under the table to get this shot. Our next installment will be....."A 3 mile Hike with 3 little kids & the Goblins of the Valley"

Our Trip to Goblin Valley Part 1

Let's start with the drive. It's about a 4 hour drive from Magna to Goblin Valley. I figured it wouldn't be bad because we've done much longer drives with the kids before(Las Vegas). Jonah & Lilly wanted to sit in the very back together, Kaleb and Jayne sat in the middle with Nate and I in the front. The kids loved passing by these at the mouth of the canyon. For the life of me, I can't remember what they're actually called. So we'll just call them the "wind propeller energy thingys."

We made a pit stop at the McDonald's in Price. It was great for the kids to run around and get some wiggles out, and of course Jayne had to eat and get a diaper change. Nate's finally getting used to the fact that when you drive with kids, you've got to stop every couple of hours.

If you've paid any attention to Utah weather recently, you know that it's been rainy. We tried to pack carefully and cover everything in plastic bags(we didn't have a tarp--lesson learned), but everything got soaked on the way down anyway.

Overall, the drive was good. The kids were great(can you say portable DVD players?) and it was so helpful to have Kaleb in the back seat with Jayne. Once we got to the campsite, we got the tent set up and laid everything out to dry. Almost everything got dried out and put away before it started raining on us.

The one thing I didn't get a picture of about the drive was Lilly's very first experience with going potty on the side of the road. She picked a very inconvenient time to have to use the bathroom. We were in the middle of the canyon and it was pouring rain. The image of Nate holding her off the side of the jeep with her feet up and her bare bum hanging down will be etched in my mind forever!

Stay tuned for our next installment:

Trying to Sleep and Outwitting the Shower

Adventures in Camping...

We haven't actually gone camping yet, we leave tomorrow. But I'm already tired! Just getting ready to go camping is so much work and I'm not even done yet!

For the record, I am NOT an avid camper. I went quite a bit with my family and church groups as a kid, but since graduating high school I've been camping a whopping 3 times. Nate and I have only gone once, two years ago. It was not fun, for me anyway. I see camping as a lot of work. It doesn't count as a vacation for me because I still have to do dishes, cook, clean up, take care of the kids, sleep on the hard ground, and... it's smelly.

So Nate decided that he's going to convince me that camping is fun. We're headed to Goblin Valley tomorrow with the kids and my brother, Kaleb. I made sure that our campsite has flushing toilets and showers available, which should cut back on the smelly-ness, and I planned our menu to be super simple.

I'll post an update after we get back. Wish me luck!

My Aunt Cathy!

Today, June 19th, is my Aunt Cathy's birthday. In honor of this most important day I would like to share with you a few of my favorite memories/things about my Aunt Cathy.....

• Sitting on the front porch with her and watching a thunder storm


• Her AMAZING vocabulary!


• How she always encourages me to do my best and to realize my potential


• Going to the symphonies


• She taught me the 'real' way to clean


• Her house is always spotless


• She has perfect penmanship


• Her dedication to teaching


• Having sleepovers at her house on the old sleeper sofa and listening to her read us stories like 'Where the Wild Things Are'


• She makes the yummiest caramels at Christmas time


• Whenever you eat at her house, you always get dessert and it's always delicious!


• She has a very positive attitude


• She taught me a lot about responsibility


• I remember the time that the car caught fire on our way home from school (it was just a little fire)


• I loved having her as my English teacher for 2 of the 3 years of high school


• My Aunt Cathy is one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

I love you Aunt Cathy! I hope you have a fabulous birthday!

Goodbye Pull-ups! Hello Panties!

On Sunday morning, while Lilly was getting dressed, she asked me, "Mom, can I wear panties today and not a pullup?" My mind immediately started racing through all the worst possible scenarios such as her peeing all over the bench at church or all over her carseat. Then I stopped and realized that she hadn't even peed in her pullups for over a week and she hadn't dirtied them for at least five days. I really hadn't even noticed! So, Lilly started wearing her big girl panties on Sunday and is now officially potty trained! Hooray for Lilly! I'm sure we might have little hiccups over the next few months. Every kid does. But I'm so proud of my little girl! She pretty much took the reins and did this on her own. Way to go kiddo!

P.S. I lost one more pound this past week.

Losing the Weight~ Week 4

I'm down 1 more pound this week. I know slow and steady is the best way to get it off and keep it off, so I'm not complaining. I probably could have lost more if I didn't indulge in skittles and french fries last week. =)
In case anyone is wondering, here's what's working for me:

LOTS of water! -- I have a 64oz mug that I fill with ice water first thing in the morning. I try to drink the whole thing by lunch and then refill it and down the rest by dinner. I always drink at least 64oz a day if I don't get more than that.

EXERCISE! --For me, the weight has never come off without working out. Some of my favorite ways to work out include the elliptical machine, walking, weights, and right now I'm doing Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred DVD. It's a really tough workout, but I can definitely feel and see the results. I feel a lot stronger and I like that it's only about 30 minutes long. I make sure I workout at least 4 days a week, usually 5 or 6.

No Snacks! --I do cheat sometimes. If I just have to have a snack, I opt for 94% fat free popcorn, an apple, carrots, or a fat free yogurt.

STOP eating after Dinner!--Nate and I watch a movie together every night after the kids are in bed. I discovered that I usually snack all through the movie, and it's not usually very healthy stuff. So, I've been trying not to eat anything after dinner. If I just can't make it without something in my mouth(I'm such a muncher!) I again opt for one of the healthy snacks above, or 1/2 cup of Light or Fat Free ice cream. I LOVE Dreyers Slow Churned ice cream! It's so yummy, you wouldn't even know that it's Light.

Keep Healthy Food in the House! -- Since I'm a stay at home mom, I'm in my kitchen A LOT! It's so easy to just throw food in my mouth. So, I don't keep tempting foods in my house. I hardly ever buy chocolate because it's my worst. If I'm going to have a candy bar or some other chocolatey treat, I buy just one. I'm not an advocate of the whole "Never eat anything with sugar or fat or calories or carbs!" kind of diet. I believe all things in moderation is the best way to go. However, if I buy a big bag of snickers as opposed to just one snicker's bar, I know that bag is going to be gone within the week and I will be the one who ate it. Nate says I should just have more willpower, but that hasn't worked for me.

Anyway....there's my ramblings for the day. Thanks to everyone who is so supportive of me as I work on getting back to Pre-Jayne!

Sittin' up & On the Move!

Jayne is sitting up on her own and is SOOOOO close to crawling! She pulls herself along the ground using mostly her arms and sometimes pushing with her legs. She'll get up on all fours and rock herself back and forth like she's getting ready to go, but she hasn't officially crawled yet. I can tell it's going to happen any day now. I guess it's time to get out the baby gates again.

Here's a picture of her sitting up(please excuse her hair, I hadn't tamed it yet) She had been scooting around on the floor and when I checked on her, she'd gotten all wrapped up in Lilly's toy snake that Grandma Barnum made. As you can tell from the picture, she was having a grand ol' time!Jonah was so cute with his bear the other day. He's had this big black stuffed bear for a long time. It's his favorite stuffed animal and it's name is 'Blackie'. Well, the other day, Jonah got Blackie all dressed up in his cowboy outfit, boots and all. When he showed me, I said, "Wow! Blackie is a cowboy!" Jonah was quick to correct me as he very seriously informed me that Blackie was not a cow-BOY, but a cow-BEAR. All that day Blackie sat outside the bedroom door guarding against bad guys. If you wanted to come in, you had to ask Blackie's permission. It was so cute!

Saving on Groceries.....HELP!

Okay, I know the title is a little melodramatic, but that's how I feel sometimes. I see posts on peoples' blogs(you know who you are) about how they buy tons of stuff for $2 at the grocery store using sales and coupons and for some reason I just can't figure it out! I do clip some coupons here and there and I was proud of myself for getting free BBQ sauce and ranch dressing for $.09 last week at Smith's, but from what I see out there, there's so much more I could be saving.
I did find this nifty website called www.grocerysmarts.com They have lists of the sale items at every grocery store in the area, plus they cross reference it with coupons from the paper or that you can print online. I haven't actually used it for a trip to the store yet, but I'm excited to. If you want to check it out you go to the web page and enter this code g84ckv. This will give you all the stores for Utah. I'm not sure how you'd get the right code for other states.
Anyway, so I am trying to figure out this whole coupon thing. If you're "in" on the secret, please let me know! I've been reading up on some of it, but I have questions. Like, I don't understand the whole "doubling" thing. Is that when you use one coupon, but buy two of the item, thus "doubling" the coupon by using it twice, or can you actually use the coupon for double the value on just one item? I get so confused.
Also, I would love any comments on how you save money at the grocery store or in any other way for your family. Here are some of my favorites.....

Kid-to-Kid Stores~~ They buy used kid's clothes, toys, baby gear, even unopened diapers and formula. If you opt for store credit instead of cash you get 20% more. It's great to be able to get more clothes for your old clothes.

Ebates.com~~If I ever need to buy anything online, I go through Ebates. You get a certain percentage of your purchase as "cash" in your Ebates account. They've got a zillion stores available and will even tell you what coupons or specials are going on at each website. The only downside is that you don't actually get the money until you've got at least $20 in your account. Right now I think I've got about $17 just waiting for me to add in $3 more. But, if you're already going to be buying something online, why not?

Carl's JR. ~~FREE kid's meal with adult meal on Wednesdays. We actually just figured this one out. Nate went there to get us some dinner last Wednesday. I always just get a kid's meal because it's a smaller portion and it's cheaper and when he ordered, mine was FREE! Apparently they do this every wednesday. I think some other fast food places may have the same kind of thing. If you know of any, please pass it on!

~Just today I saved $6 by washing the Jeep myself instead of taking through the carwash like I usually do. I'm not ashamed to say that I was pretty proud of myself. =)

Anyway....leave a note and let us know what YOU do to save money!

Is Summer Over Yet?

That is the question that has been posed to me several times in the last week by my 5 year old, Jonah. The poor kid hates summer vacation because he loves school. He's only been out of school for 2 weeks and he's already asking, on a daily basis, when school starts again. I do my best to keep him busy. We've already been to the zoo, wheeler farm, the park(several times), and even gotten out the little swimming pool and played in the water.

I'm also wondering how much I like summer anymore. Since he's been out of school, I feel like it's 10 times harder to get anything done. I didn't realize how much I relied on those three hours everyday when I only had two kids to drag around on errands or keep happy while I did housework. Now, the simplest thing is a huge inconvenience.

For example, a "quick" trip to the grocery store......First we have to make sure that EVERYONE is dressed, has used the bathroom(or had a diaper change), and gets their shoes on. This is particularly difficult with Lilly because she does not like to have her shoes on or to put on any clothes other than pajamas. After that, we all have to get buckled into the car. This one isn't so bad, it's just time consuming. Once we get to the store, the actual shopping consists of a lot of "stay by Mom", "No, not today", "It's too much money" and the inevitable "I'm hungry/thirsty/tired or I have to go to the bathroom". By the time we get what we needed, get everyone loaded back in the car, get home, and put the groceries away, I'm exhausted! I've tried going by myself in the evenings after Nate gets home, but for some reason, he always suggests that we all go together. Not that I don't LOVE my family, they are fabulous! But, when I go shopping by myself, I spend less time and money, and I feel just a little bit more sane after I get back. For some reason, Nate just doesn't get that. Anyway....Long of the short is that Jonah's not the only one who's counting down to when school is back in.

Losing the Weight: Week 3

Alright, here's my weekly update. I had a very stressfull week and I am definitely an emotional eater, so needless to say, I had a hard time. I got in 4 Jillian Micheals workouts and two evening sessions of water aerobics (thanks Roni!). The eating is what got me.
Anyway....I did lose 1 pound, so I guess that's something to be grateful for. SO, I'm just picking myself up and getting back on the wagon. My goal is 2 pounds for this week.