Scott's Secret...

This is what Scott likes to do while blowing up the air mattress...

He flips the switch and likes to lay on it until it fully inflates.  This happens just about every time we blow it up:)

Bed Half Made, or Bed Half Un-made... you decide

Ever since we've been married Scott has almost always made the bed. The other day I thought I would be nice and started making the bed while he was in the shower. I got distracted by something and went to do something else. Scott comes in and sees that I only made half the bed, my side of the bed. He said, "What is this?! You're only going to make your half of the bed?" I started laughing because I didn't realize that I had only made my half of the bed.

The next day I walked into our room after getting ready and see this:

Scott was giving me a taste of my own medicine:)  So here is the question would you consider our bed half made, or half unmade?   

By the way... I made the whole bed yesterday morning.

Long Needed Haircut

We went home to Utah in June and at that time Scott needed a haircut which he never got...  I wanted him to go somewhere to get it cut, but it never happended.   Now it is October, well almost the end of October and I finally caved in and cut his hair.  I wanted to show before and after pictures so everyone could see how long his hair was.

Sidenote:  For those of you wondering why it took me a long time to finally cut his hair---first of all Scott kept saying he wanted to grow it out to see what it would look like, second of all anyone who knows me knows I'm hair-phobic.  Hair that is out of someone's head freaks me out, even my own!  Also, it typically takes me FOREVER to cut his hair.  The first time it took 2 hours, second 1 1/2 hours.  This time only took me about 30 minutes, I would say that is progress!

Before: 

After: 

Morning Fog

Yesterday morning I was getting ready for work and Scott says, "Ashley, you have to see this!"  I walk over to the window, and this was the view outside with the fog over the river.  It was so cool!  Just thought I'd share. 

Hawaii

Just over a week ago I returned from a trip with my parents and younger sister to Hawaii.  It was a lot of fun!  I just wanted to post a few pictures to document this trip.  I am very behind on blogging....  Most of these pictures I stole from my Mom's Facebook, thanks Mom!  We stayed on the big island of Hawaii in Waikoloa.

We took pictures of ourselves for entertainment while waiting for everyone to board the plane.

  

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery while we were there.  I really love palm trees.

We were able to take a trip over to the wet side of Hawaii where it rains more to the Volcanoes National Park.  It was very lush and beautiful on the wet side. 

Here is a picture of the vegetation we saw while going to the lava tubes.

 Inside the lava tubes.

.

One day we rode in a glass bottom boat and were able to see fish, turtles, and coral.

 These guys were working very hard keeping the trees at the hotel looking good.  They had these weird things on their legs to help them climb the trees.  It was interesting to watch.

 Of course we had some Shave Ice while we were there.

We also went to a luau, but I don't have any pictures from that. 

We went on a helicopter ride for my dad's birthday which was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  Flying over where eruptions had been felt like you were on a different planet.  It was so cool/crazy to see. 

Here are some pictures from the ride: 

This was at the end of the ride with our pilot.

It was a very fun trip!  It was also so nice to fly back to Utah and be able to see the rest of my family.  We celebrated my Dad's birthday along with my sister Amber's birthday.  I love my family!

 We got out the dress up stuff for my niece Taesya, and my brothers enjoyed it the most... lol.

It was a very enjoyable trip!  I felt bad that Scott was home studying though....

P.S. I still haven't unpacked all the way from my trip, I'm bad...

These are definitely on the list of things to make!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

For those of you that know Scott really well, you know that he loves his cinnamon rolls.  He doesn't like raisins, apples, or chocolate chips added, just classic cinnamon rolls.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and made them on Sunday to enjoy during General Conference.  I also actually took my own pictures this time which I hardly ever do for recipes, that's why the photos aren't very good.  Also, I wasn't very good at keeping the rolls the same thickness which is why you see varying sizes.

Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour (regular if you don’t have it)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine* in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.

After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.**

Roll dough into a 16 x 21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter*** and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

*This recipe has you use a bread machine. If you don’t have one just mix/knead/raise dough as you usually would. The bread machine just makes the process easier.

**I cut the cinnamon and sugar in half. Last time I made this there was way too much cinnamon and sugar. Adjust this depending on how rich you want your cinnamon rolls.

***For the butter I didn’t measure out the butter. I just added it and spread it on until it looked covered probably using a couple of tablespoons.

I have a pumpkin....named Jack

I came home one day after work, and realized that Scott bought some gourds and a cute small pumpkin from the farmer's market.  I was excited and was thinking about where I was going to put them to decorate.  Then the other night I said something to Scott about how I was going to put some ribbon on them.  Scott's said something like, "Why are you going to put a ribbon on the pumpkin? I bought that to cook with..."  I said, "You can't buy me a cute little pumpkin, let me get attached, and then say we are going to eat it!"  He said, "Why, did you already name it?"  I said, "Yes, I named it... Jack!"  (That was the first name I could think of when he asked me). 

Rainy Day

Do you remember in elementary school how you had a "Rainy Day Box" that you brought with things to do in it when it rains and you have to stay inside?  I was just thinking about this memory at work because today is a "Rainy Day Box" kind of day.

Recipes on my list of things to make...

I was looking online at this website and saw all these yummy things I want to make over the next few weeks.  I thought I'd share some of my recipe finds.  Warning--I haven't tried to make these yet, so I can't give my full recommendation until I try them.  They look good though!

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Southwestern Bean Salad

Southwestern Chicken Drumsticks

Roasted Vegetable Whole Wheat Calzones

Baked Penne with Sweet Italian Sausage

P.S. Does anyone else out there only try recipes that have a picture with the recipe?  It's like I trust the recipe more if they show proof that it has been made... maybe I'm the only one that thinks like that...

10 Cops Go Into a Donut Shop....

It sounds like the beginning of a joke right?  As I was leaving for lunch I saw 10 cops walking into a little Dunkin Donuts, I started laughing because that is totally a stereotype (cops and donuts).  I wanted to take a picture but I didn't think they'd like that very much (Sorry this picture is from this website talking about a cop stealing donuts).

P.S.: When I worked at Tasty's (donut/sandwich shop in Kaysville, UT) cops would come in all the time.  You'd see a parking lot full of cop cars.  I always thought it was funny.

My New Best Friend

I had the best Post Office visit ever today! 

Do you want to know why? 

Post Office Kiosk, and drop box! 

No longer will I have to deal with angry postal workers...

These Kiosks have been at the Post Office

by my work for a while, but only today did I truly

appreciate and use them to their full potential:)

Rough morning... I feel like going to bed and starting over....

Yesterday at work I started feeling really sick.  I could feel a cold coming on and my stomach was killing me.  I sneezed probably 100 times at work, and I'm not even joking.  The commute was successful and I made it home.  When I got home Scott gave me some medicine, and warned me it would knock me out.  I felt like it was working and didn't feel tired until all of a sudden I was on the couch and fell asleep around 8:30.  I woke up and hurried to bed and fell right to sleep.  I continued to sleep until about 6:30 am when I woke up. 

I decided to get up and get ready since that usually makes me feel better.  I got ready and headed off to work (thought about calling in sick but didn't want to waste vacation days).  I got to the subway station and saw waited for the train.  I initially got onto the C train, but the A came, so I decided to switch trains.  Right when I got on the train, I sat down and smelled something funny.  I soon realized that it smelled like something was burning, and decided to get off the next stop and get on the C when it got there.  While I waited for the C, I noticed MTA workers and a police officer trying to figure out what was causing the smell.  The C came, and as I was getting on they announced that the A train was no longer in service, so everyone from that train packed on...  It seemed like forever on the train, I ended up getting to my transfer stop 15 minutes later than usual.  I transferred to my train and was freaking out because it was looking like I was going to be late.  I get to the stop right by my office and get off having to climb the monstrous escalator while I felt I didn't have any energy.  I made it to work and clocked in at 9:34 which is "late" for work since work starts at 9:30, but they give us until 9:37 to not be considered late, which saved me.  I clocked in "on time! barely."  Now the story doesn't end here. 

I start working, and doing the usual morning routine and at about 10:15 I decided to eat my breakfast that I had packed--lemon yogurt. This sounded really good to me, because it was cold, and I thought it would feel good on my throat.  I started eating it and it was really good until I noticed a clump in the yogurt I was eating.  I then looked down at my yogurt and realized there was mold in it!  I throw the container into my garbage and start spitting it out.  I start freaking out, I yelled, "yuck, I'm going to be sick!" Then I ran into the bathroom.  I started to wash out my mouth, scrubbing my tongue to get it out.  I run into the kitchen and grab half of a bagel to take a few bites to get the taste out of my mouth.  I come back to my pod and explain what happened to the 2 people who sit next to me.  They just look at me like, "and the problem is..."  No sympathy whatsoever. 

So not only am I sick, tired, was almost late, now I have consumed moldy yogurt... I'm ready to call a do over...

It's not even 11:00 am yet.

Subway Pro Now

One year ago I could have never given directions to anyone on the subway...

Yesterday I saw a lady on the E train that looked so confused. I asked her where she needed to go and figured out she was on the wrong train so I gave her instructions and told her to get off and wait for the correct train.

Then today on the way home I saw a girl looking at the subway map on the train and seemed stressed. I asked where she was going and told her which stop she needed to transfer at without even thinking about it. It just seemed like second nature.

I'm pretty proud of myself:)

Look What Scotty Did!

He bought this from a student moving out....

And turned it into this!  Isn't it so cute? 

What an amazing hubby!  Thanks Scotty!

P.S. For those of you who have backyards/frontyards/garages to do projects, we're jealous...