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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Everybody loves a good survey.

I love filling out surveys.. I got this one from one of my favorite blogs, A Foodie Stays fit, Love her Blog, Go check it out. 
Four names that people call me other than my real name:
  • Smashley (family nickname)
  • Ash Boo (family nickname)
  • Bird
  • Bird Stal

Four jobs I’ve had:
  • Car Hop at Sonic!   
  • Teller at Aggieland Credit Union. (still one of my favorite jobs)
  • Intern at Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It was an excellent experience. 
  • Skin Laboratory- I was a skin care specialist (over the phone)-- So many things I miss about this job, aka my boss, my crazy co-workers, the fact that I wore PJs to work most days, and I got to work with my brother. We were a dysfunctional family at it's best. 
Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
  • Blades of Glory-- I have a love for Will Farrell that is ridiculous. 
  • Julie and Julia  
  • Dumb and Dumber 
  • All the Harry Potter movies X 1989454309854

Four books I’d recommend: 
  • Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
  • It Was Me All Along by Andie Mitchell----This book is amazing. Read it. 
  • Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 
  • Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Four places I’ve lived
  • San Antonio, TX 
  • College Station, TX
  • Charleston, SC
  • Los Angeles, CA
Four places I’ve visited:
  • Riviera Maya, Mexico 
  • Nassau, Bahamas 
  • Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 
  • Grand Turk and Caicos Island
Four places I’d rather be right now:
  • Cancun. 
  • Cat Island, Japan! 
  • Nassau, Bahamas- soaking up all the sun and culture. 
  • Somewhere in Europe.
Four things I prefer not to eat:
  • Brussel sprouts--weird, because I love cabbage. 
  • Overripe apples. 
  • Frozen broccoli
  • Cheese whiz
Four of my favorite foods:
  • CHEESE, ANY CHEESE.  
  • Sushi
  • Tacos. Mmmmmmmmm. 
  • Chips and salsa
Four TV shows I watch:
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Revenge
  • The Walking Dead
  • The Mindy Project

Four things I’m looking forward to this year:
  • Making our Los Angeles house a home. 
  • Spending the summer in sunny California.
  • Traveling/doing more. 
  • Getting an RN job!
Four things I’m always saying:
  • Shut. Up. 
  • That's valid.  
  • GIZMO GET DOWN, I JUST FED YOU!
  • What is wrong with you, cats?! --- I'm unemployed and spend a lot of time with cats. SO... 


Tell me four things about yourself. ANYTHING! 



Monday, March 30, 2015

A Santa Monica Weekend!

So I've really been sucking at these Short Post Sundays... I've missed two weeks in a row.. I will get better. Maybe. BUT my life is pretty much just consumed of resumes, cover letters and endless job applications. The unemployed life is hard for a type A person like myself. The struggle!!!



On Saturday, we needed to do a little exploring. So we braved the dreaded Los Angeles traffic, the weird thing is, I think we're both getting used to it = we stopped b*tching about it as much.

We initially wanted to scope out the Santa Monica aquarium, but kind of got side tracked.. by the The Pier. I've wanted to go on this pier for as long as I could remember.


We ate lunch at a ridiculously, expensive place for lunch time, but hey I guess it's all about the experience. One day, we'll have kids and won't be able to do this as much

Yes, that's a lobster roll, it was like eating a buttery, carb-y roll of cholesterol. I enjoyed every bit. I got to sit, eat this and people watch on Ocean Ave. It was pretty spectacular. 

I know my people watching friends are peanut butter and JEALOUS!


I've pretty much made up my mind that the Santa Monica Pier is a multitude of things that are fabulous. 



1. The views. You cannot beat these views. The weather was amazing. Not only was it sunny, it was 70 degrees, but actually felt like 60 degree weather. Note: I had a scarf on that I didn't have to take off. Amazing. 


2. To the average joe, you might see a crowd of people and say to yourself, "Hell, no. Way too many people for me!". For me this is a treasure trove of people watching. I saw people wearing ridiculous things, shameful things, elderly people wearing next to nothing (my goodness, I should have put that under shameful things), tons of kiddos so happy to be in the hustle and bustle and some amazing musicians trying to make their mark on the world with their wonderful talents. 

There was a girl singing Disney songs that made me want to sing-a-long. I didn't, but had I had another beer at lunch, I might have. Matt is a lucky man. 


3. In all the chaos, I found a peaceful place. There will always be something peaceful about watching waves crash upon the shore. Always. 


4. SEALS. When I saw this seal sunbathing on a random boat, I NEARLY DIED, PEOPLE. How freaking amazing. You know you're from Texas when we get super excited about this. You don't see wild life like this in the gulf, at least from Galveston you don't. 


and then another seal tried to hang out too! I was in awe. Matt, didn't even tell me to calm down. He was amazed too. 


I did manage to see how vicious seals can be, Seal #1 was NOT amused by seal #2 barging in to his sunbathing time. I don't blame him, Seal #2 find your own boat! Geez. 

5. Ice cream cones with one the best people in the entire world. I think he found his happy place too, in a cone of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Be still my heart. 


I had an absolute amazing day. Santa Monica Pier was great and I can't wait to take all my friends that I KNOW WILL COME VISIT ME there. You know who you are. 

Our Sunday was somewhat productive, while Matt stressed out about the woahs of the upcoming week, I decided to put some stuff on the walls. It was getting to me that we've been here nearly a month and still had barely anything up on the walls. 

Now this wall is still in progress, but every time I walk by it, I love it a little more. It really kind of symbolizes who we are, a big, crazy, organized mess. 


I hope your week is amazing. 




Wednesday, March 25, 2015

A wedding weekend and selfies with Grandma.

This past week was full of excitement for my cousin's nuptials, traveling and good ol' family chaos.

It was a recipe for all things that fill my soul.

First, I went to one of my favorite places on earth, Camp Creek. I came here to get some peace from the previous long travel day and see my fairy godmother, Sandal. She's amazing and it wouldn't be a trip to Texas without seeing her. We ate an amazing cheesy/tortilla filled Mexican breakfast and came back to drink coffee on the porch with this view.

You can be jealous.


After this glorious morning, I realized in a stir of panic, I had some shopping to do for my cousin, Amber. Every bride needs a copious amount of sweets and goodness to get her through the most stressful time in her life, not counting child birth of course. 



Fast forward to the wedding, because there was much chaos making sure everyone was ready, *ahem Grandma*, we are a habitually late family. It really doesn't matter what it is, we can never get out the door fast enough. 

One of the best parts, was getting to see my sweet baby niece, Scarlett. I can't get enough of this girl, she is clearly not amused in these pictures and is working on her RBF (resting b*tch face). She takes after her aunt and she doesn't even know it! 


My desperate attempt to make her smile... wasn't working. Don't worry i'm working on a new act. 


Then we have the gorgeous bride, my cousin Amber. They say that cousins are our first friends, and this couldn't be more true. We really grew up as sisters. Of all my childhood memories, my favorite ones are with this girl. 

We had imaginary friends (his name was Mars), a tree in our grandparent's backyard that we named Jasmine (we went through an Aladdin phase like you wouldn't believe), our days of eating wayyyyy too much sherbet and watching movies like Sister Act, Pretty Woman and Mrs. Doubtfire. Going back to the days of our forts and always blaming "Mars" for everything we didn't mean to do. I love reminiscing to a place where all of these memories will live forever and will always stay simple and wonderful. 

Everyone needs someone to grow up with and i'm so glad I got to grow up with you. I love you, Amber, never forget that. 


Here is my beautiful cousin and her mom, my Aunty Ginger, who is also my favorite aunt in the entire world. I loved being able to hang out with my Aunt, she's really like my second mom. 

PS. Aunty Ginger, I told you that filters make everything better! The sun was also helping us out, and you look fabulous!


I absolutely adore this picture. Here we are the four amigos. I love thinking back to the days where it would the four of us, driving to Oklahoma every summer for a family reunion. My grandpa would make us listen to Paul Harvey, a talk radio show, for what seemed like hours on end, and we would whine and complain and ask him to change it. Then he would tell us if we were good (which the Lord knows we never were), he would stop for ice cream/wouldn't throw us out of a moving car. Ok, he never said that last part about throwing us out of a moving car, but I sure know there were times that man was thinking it. 


The Grandparent's first selfie. This is one for the books, people. Bless them, they had no idea what was going on. 



An excellent picture of my cousins Jessica and newest addition Brynlee (she's the sweetest girl), Grandma, my sister Heather and niece Scarlett. 



This is the newest edition of Selfies with Grandma. My grandmother, God bless her sweet soul, has no idea what a selfie is. She absolutely had no idea I was taking actual pictures. I can still hear her in the absolute most Texas accent you've ever heard, "Ash, you got the camera too close!/ Now what are you doing with these pictures?!" "What in the hell is a blog?" Oh Grandma.


You might have thought she knew what was going on here.. Would you believe that my grandma is only 75, and has never had any plastic surgery?! She had better pass those genetics on to me, only she actually shielded herself from the sun her whole life. Should have started sooner.. ugh. 


We finally got a good one, folks. She has mastered the selfie. Stay tuned. I'm absolutely positive we will be grabbing more when I come back to Texas. 


Last but not least. I couldn't come to Texas without going to Bahama Bucks. I am one of those people that loves a snow cone at any season. Even if it's -79080 outside. I'm a weird bird, I know. 

If you do ever go there, wedding cake, birthday cake (they put colored sprinkles!) and grapes flavors are where it's at. Plus, you feel fancy with an umbrella, which they put in everyones cup!



I was even able to drag this old bean (my bro) out to have a last hoorah before we headed home. Evan, please don't kill me, I love you. 


I would like to thank my family for an amazing time. I don't get to see you as often as i'd like, but I'm sure glad we can get together and hang out like no time has passed. 

Until next time, Texas!


Monday, March 16, 2015

A Love letter to my MCM!

Hello.

We all have those days where we get so caught up in daily life that we sometimes forget to simple say thank you and I love you. There are times when I'm absolutely sure my husband thinks to himself, "Woah, she's especially crazy today". Well today, I want to tell you a couple of things that I love about you in a "thanks for putting up with me" kinda way. 

Matt, 

I want to say thank you. Thank you for putting up with the crazy, emotional mess that I am, especially when its that time of the month and I scream at you because the TV is too loud and the cats can't think. 

Thank you for always putting my needs above yours, even when they are outlandish and completely unnecessary, such as buying me plants even when you know they will most likely die within the next week.

You always commiserate with me on all things going on in my world, such as nursing school. When I was ready to jump off the edge of our apartment building, you always lured me back in and told me how great of a nurse i'd be when I graduated.

I love that you have literally turned into one of the greatest cat people I've ever known, and have always supported me by paying a million dollars when one of our cats decides to freak out and get sick. 

I could go on for days about how wonderful you truly are.

I love you for all that you do and all that you are. Even though I may seem unappreciative at times, but I promise somewhere inside is the girl that loves you on your bad days and thinks you're the best guy in the entire world.

Love,
Your Boo






Sunday, March 15, 2015

The SPS with Gifs in it.


Hello all! I hope your Sunday is fabulous and perfect. Here's four things in the life of this Texas girl this week.

1. I have discovered this show: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Once I saw this one scene, I knew this was the show for me. It's super cute and light hearted. It really reminds me of tv shows from the 90's, and everyone knows I'm a 90's girl at heart. AND if you didn't know I AM.
 *Fun fact for you!


2. There is a massive heat wave in LA right now. When I say "heatwave" I mean it's in the 90's-95's, before anyone wants to hate on me for having beautiful weather and say I should just suck it up, I don't have A/C in my house. 

Pump the brakes. 

Yes, I said no Air Conditioner in my house. 

The cats can barely handle it.  I have to say that a portable A/C unit will be making a presence in this house very soon. I'm use to battling all sorts of heat, but not having relief at the house makes me crazy. Yes, crazier than I already am. *cue feels sorry for matt/cats/anyonearoundme


3.  This old bear and I ate a super cute place, Black Bear Diner. I had never been to one before and it was so nice to just eat a "normal" place in LA that wasn't trying to be hip or keep up with being fancy. I think that's one thing I miss about Charleston already. The breakfast foods are amazing, we will be frequent visitors for Sunday breakfasts!


4. As you know, I'm currently unemployed and not in school. SHOCK. 




So currently I've been trying to garden. BUT i'm starting extremely small.... with succulents. I figured if I can keep these babies alive, right next the water faucet, then maybe I can condition myself to remember to water plants on the outside of my house. 


I actually would realistically like to grow all of these things (red peppers, tomatoes, dill, cilantro, onions, basil and okra). So I'll keep them out on my counter to remind me to actually do it. I'm taking another trip to Texas this next weekend for some nuptials so it'll be after that. 



4. I recently joined a UFC gym that offers a Barre Class. Barre is like ballet dance class on steroids. I didn't really know what to expect. 

I most likely looked like this trying to keep my balance going from a plie' to squat 98759754 million times and various different moves in between to use muscles I wasn't sure existed.  


With all that moving around and butt sculpting I was doing, I did actually do something. Yes, people that's 712 calories AND I still showed up late and had no idea what I was doing. I kind of just copied the girl in front of me and gave eye gestures to the indian lady beside me. We shared a mutual feeling that we were not going to be able walk the next day. 




I originally had 5 items I wanted to have this week, but got really hungry. So I'll have to catch y'all later. 

Stay Fabulous this week, my friends! 






Friday, March 13, 2015

PSA: I'm no longer a hermit.

Hello all.

The pictures you see before you are ALL the paper leaving my house. The people that packed our house were so good, they wrapped everything in paper. AND I MEAN EVERYTHING.

While unpacking my kitchen I saw a plastic jar of sprinkles wrapped in about 56797698 feet of paper. I mean those sprinkles could have gone everywhere without it, right?!

No. These guys just like killing trees. Good thing California recycles. ALOT.



So after we have emptied just about a million boxes and put almost everything away, we treated ourselves. This hole in the wall sushi place is amazing. If you're ever in the South Bay area of LA, try Sushi Gone Wild. Don't worry we didn't have enough room for dinner that night. We're not complete fatties. 


Meanwhile back at the house, the cats are distraught that we actually left the house.


So Matt went back to work. UGH. Well I've been working towards transferring my RN license from Texas to California. Let's just say it's going to take forever. I can't even apply for jobs without a California license, nobody will even look at my application. Believe me, I've definitely tried. 

So I've been stuck at home with the cats. No school to focus on, and the house is pretty much put together. Plus, now that I've left the house I don't want to hang out there all day. There is way too much I could be doing!

I started going on a walk from my house and about 1 mile out that's when the hills started. The hills are at a 90 degree angle at some parts. My goodness, my butt and lower extremities were burning. I better have some amazing calves after these 3 years. 

This was at the top of the hill, you can totally see the bay from here. 



I still can't believe I live so close to this beautiful view. 



 Are you jealous, yet?! Because after this next picture I'm positive you'll be.


That is a cat. To be even more correct that is a FEREL BEACH CAT. #FBC #thugcatlife

I must have seen five other cats. They were all pretty smug, this one didn't even want to open his eyes to look at me. All these cats live in the jetties. It's crazy. I had no idea I lived so close to a cat compound. 

Lucky me.


Best part, y'all. Someone comes down here and feeds these cats. That makes my heart so happy I can't even tell you how much. Bless this crazy cat lady/man that does this. 


If you look really close, you can totally see Catalina Island behind me. 




Definitely got some rays today. It was 86 degrees. I absolutely loved every minute. There is nothing better than smelling the beach, feeling the cool air on my face and for the first time in a couple of weeks i'm starting to feel at home. 


 I will leave you with this.



You're welcome. Stay amazing.