Waiting for life to begin....

Now that the countdown to leave Provo has reached three weeks, I've started thinking about the future. Jared and I have all these dreams about what we want to do together. Besides having a baby, what I want to do more than anything is travel. I want to see the world. Rio, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Ireland, oh my goodness.... the list goes on and on. I want to see and experience it all. 

The big problem seems to be.... money. Thats right. Money. You aren't supposed to wait around for your life to begin. You are supposed to make it happen yourself. But how do you do that without the green. How do you live your dreams and make your memories when you have a budget that doesn't stretch far enough for a round trip ticket to Buenos Aires? 

It doesn't seem fair to me that we, working class, have to settle in our lives because everything is so expensive. Its just really frustrating. I dont want to just pop out a few kids, live in the suburbs and be content. I want more out of my life. I want to see and taste and feel and just experience life OUTSIDE of kids. I guess according to LDS and old school views, I may seem selfish or greedy, but I really don't see it that way. I honestly believe its ok to want it all. Just impossible to get.

"Money, money money... Must be funny... in a rich man's world." 

We are officially broken up....

That's right. I have tried for 3 years to make this relationship work. It's been hard, some good times but mostly bad. I have really kept an open mind that things would change, but its clear after today that that is just NOT the case....

UTAH, ITS OVER!! It snowed today, only a few days from APRIL and it snowed! Its 30 degrees and windy outside. I officially HATE Utah..... Its dry, cold, windy, brown, and dont get me started on those mountains. Im packing up my stuff and leaving in 3 weeks! 

I can only reminisce about the days of green, and trees, and humidity, and heat..... and count down to three weeks....

Effects children, the elderly, and ASHLEE!

I just have to say how tired I am of being sick all the time. Growing up, if there was a sickness going around, I got it first. And it seems that children are usually the culprit. When I get around my niece and nephews, if they are sick or have been in the last month guess who gets it? Yep me! I even got Hand Foot and Mouth from my nephew when he was a baby. I looked on the internet about what it was and who it affected..... children under the age of like 4 and elderly. And apparently ME! a 20 year old woman, at the time. Crazy? 

Right now Im coughing my lungs up and my voice is completely gone from this coughing because of, yep you guessed it, another germ carrying kid. My boss's little girl came to my computer desk and coughed and sneezed all over it for about 15 mins. As soon as she left, i wiped it down as clean as I could and washed my hands TWICE! Still got sick. 

The one and only day I decided to substitute teach, I was assigned to the 2nd grade. A little girl comes up to me at recess feeling sick, I sent her to the nurse. Turns out she had the flu. Guess who got it? Yep! Me! And I was only there that day for FOUR HOURS!

I have the immune system of a four year old or a 90 year old. However you want to look at it..... Good Grief.

Camping Weekend

Sorry I havent posted anything in a while. We just hadnt really done anything to write about. But we went camping this weekend and had so much fun. We left Friday after I got off work and drove all the way down to Zions. It was a long drive but we had good travelin' food... haha We got our tent set up right as the sun was setting. We had a tiny can of fuel and roasted those tiny cocktail weenies and marshmellows for dinner. HEHE It was alot of fun. It was pretty cold that night though and really windy. We got up and drove around Zions park. Jared even got me to do a little bit of hiking. We hiked the Emerald Pools trail. For those of you who know me well, you know i HATE to hike. And I feel bad about that cause Jared loves it so much. So we compromised (as a good marriage is about) and just did that one trail. It was 4 miles though so dont feel too bad for Jared. Anyway, we had a great weekend just the two of us. I love that man of mine. He's so wonderful to me. I really lucked out in the eternal companion department. Of course, I always believe luck has nothing to do with it.... its a much higher power. 

Here's One...

Here's a good story with a moral. I love those:

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited
island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the
horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually
managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the
elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for
food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling
up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He
was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could
you do this to me?' Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a
ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I
was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,'
they replied.



The Moral of This Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't
lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our
pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be
burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace
of God.