Oh, Whip Your Hair

I finished all 18 of my chores today. So I decided to make a headband.



























Glue guns are amazing inventions.


Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! Chris and I had an awesome day.
We woke up around 9:30a and watched Toy Story 3 in our pajamas. Then we went to my Grandma's house and hung out with my dad's side of the family, then to my mom's uncle's house to eat and hang with my mom's side of the family, then to my mom's house so Chris could have a nap while the rest of us watched A Christmas Carol by the fire, and I got to love on my beautiful niece, Melodie. Finally, Chris and I got home around 9p and he played a video game while I watched I Love Lucy. Was a great day :)
And today was one of those awesome productive days. Love those days. God is good.

Just want to say congratulations to Logan and Kassi Moyers, your new little baby boy is beyond gorgeous!! Such a GREAT Thanksgiving Day gift God gave you two!

Have a good night, everyone!

{God is Too Good}

Hey guys!

Just wanted to share something really rad that happened today.

Lately things have just been kind of lame, to be honest with you. Not that we're not grateful for so many things in our lives, we absolutely are. But I've been trying to find work because Chris (working two jobs.. technically like 65 hours per week) is just so tired and it makes me so sad. I'm so thankful for how hard he works, but it makes me so sad. So I've been applying places. Mostly retail since that's who's really hiring right now for the holidays. Honestly though... I just suck something awful at retail/customer service jobs. Is that awful of me? As a Christian who believes it's completely important to serve others, I openly admit that I am AWFUL at customer service jobs. However let me clarify that it's not because I don't enjoy serving and helping others, I absolutely enjoy it. I just have a hard time (to say the least...) giving my all to assist someone and have them be rude to me. My goodness, I have never been good at that. I have had, wait, let me count... seven (real) jobs in the past 3 years. That's not including my two-day attempt as a Telemarketer for Brinks Home Security Systems, but maybe that can also be used as an example. Every single one of those jobs have all been either retail or food/bev type jobs. All packed full with customer service.
So it's not a matter of having the experience, it's a matter of having the skill and, admittedly, the right attitude. I've always, since my first job at Bahama Buck's (and coincidentally, the longest job I've held - EVER. ...10 months) been horrible with crappy customers. I just want to yell back at them, "HEY, WEENIE! TRY BEING GRATEFUL THAT WE'RE EVEN OPEN THIS LATE! I'M STINKEN TIRED!" Or, "Seriously, you're THAT upset with ME because YOUR coupon expired last month and I can't allow you to use it?" Retail has always seemed, to me at least, to be a place where adults find excuses to act like children. Tantrums over small, insignificant things, getting upset (yelling or, yes, I have even been cussed at on SEVERAL occasions) at someone who has really nothing to do with the problem. And on the receiving end, I can hardly stand it. My blood boils. And I just have to .. leave. Hence, my seven jobs.

Ironically, the one job I truly enjoyed... I was laid off of when the economy took a real hit. The only job I didn't quit! I was a "Watch Technician" for Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repair. I loved it! Though I dealt with customers regularly, and some were crappy, I mostly got to sit at a desk with all my tools in front of me, put my head gear on (with attached magnifying glass), and sit and fix watches. Peaceful, beautiful job, that was. THAT is my kind of job. A behind-the-scenes, sit and accomplish my task, kind of job. Where I have little to no customer interaction. But those are hard to come by, I'm finding.

Anyway, thank you for allowing me to vent to you. Though, I suppose you have no choice since it's my blog and I am allowed to type pretty much whatever I want. You do have the choice to not read any of this though... which... I may have lost you during my rants and raves. But if you're still reading this, let me get back on track.

Chris is tired. I'm trying to find a job. Money has gotten tight (mostly because of the car stuff). But listen to this! We were generously given $500 to fix our new car! Oh, and that's an update as well. We love our new car... but since we brought it home, it only starts when you jump it! (That's what she said). Okay. Had to get that out of the way. Anyway, like I said, we were given $500 to fix it!! Incredible. What a God moment... surreal. But to add to the craziness, Chris and I haven't gotten to spend much time together that wasn't dedicated to tackling some sort of problem or car issue or financial hoo-hah or what not. The other night I got a lovely text from Shannon, telling me that she's going to send Chris and me on a date to Zoo Lights next Wednesday! What the heck! ANOTHER God moment. Couldn't even believe it!! Chris and I have never been to Zoo Lights and I've wanted to go for several years, so that was amazing.

But then today (and honestly.. please don't take this as me being ungrateful, it was more just one of those days), Chris and I were going to wake up and have a calm morning together watching Toy Story 3 in our pajamas (rented from Red Box, we have several codes we use to get free movies.. which is just awesome right now). But we woke up... I was going to make us oatmeal but we didn't have any brown sugar. So he did some work while I ran to Fry's for some brown sugar, sugar, eggs, milk, and.. I think that's it. So I came home, made oatmeal, Chris had already eaten cereal while I was gone, then he realized he had a ton of work to get done for ONEcc, so I did some chores in the mean time but I couldn't really focus because I couldn't get over how I just wanted it to be our relaxing morning together. Ehh long story short, we didn't get to have our time together, Chris did work all morning then left to go to work some more at Apple at 4:20p. So by this time.. I was pretty emotional. I just missed him, you know? Ladies, you know what I mean. Before he left I was feeling really bummed about how the day had turned out. I think at one point I asked him if we could move away to another country where we could live in a hut, all we needed was each other and Harley.. maybe Bixby.. ;). A place where neither of us had to make money money money we could just live and be. But of course that seemed foolish. But there I was, still frustrated. It seems silly now, but I felt like, "God are you listening? What are we supposed to do right now, where do we go? Please help me get a job so Chris doesn't have to work so much, please meet this need here, and this one here". I felt like He wasn't listening. Which is absurd to think. He was listening AND responding when He put it on Shannon's heart to get us a date to Zoo Lights. He responded to us through those who SO GENEROUSLY gave to us to help us with our vehicle.

And to top it off...

As Chris opened the door to leave to go to Apple at 4:20p tonight (after tickling me and making me laugh and just all around making my day better... but I still felt frustrated with God), we discovered something on our doorstep. It may seem insignificant to you readers but I will never forget it. A box. Filled with Christmas decorations.
This note was stuck to the top:














As Chris read it.. I couldn't help but cry like a little girl. He couldn't stay to console me, and that was okay. I knew what it was. It was God responding directly to my feeling that He wasn't hearing me. I'm crying even recalling it. In that moment, I felt so foolish... so unworthy of the things He had provided. I couldn't stop thinking, "You are so beautiful... You are so beautiful. Why do You love me so much? I don't deserve these things.." I felt like God was giving me a physical hug. Reminding me that He is here... and He loves me greatly. Even though I don't deserve it.


God is so beautiful.

I don't always appreciate the things He does or who He is. I really need to try harder to do that. But even if I don't... He still loves me and wants to be my rock. He still wants to change my world and my life. And He wants to change yours, too.

Lacking...

You may have noticed that this blog is lacking some Chris. This was initially made and intended as a record of our Bucket List. But it has turned into... my blog, since we haven't really accomplished much on our List and he's not much of a blogger. So we decided to just have this be my blog and he might make his own eventually. :) He will definitely be mentioned often, though!!

I love Chris. :)

Anyway, just letting y'all know.

-Ash

HEY!!

This is just one of those update blogs. Not so much about any one specific thing.

The car issue was solved, thanks to so many people. RIP sweet Neon. You were truly loved.

Our awesome cousin Kelsey sold us her Ford Focus, and that is what we are driving now. Thanks Kelsey :)

I've started applying at places so we can start saving money. We started using www.mint.com (if you haven't checked it out, seriously, it's amazing), and it really opened our eyes to our finances. We are fine how things are right now, things are just a little tight, but we manage (thanks God). But on mint.com, we set a couple of goals. 1) To save up an emergency fund. 2) To take a trip to Jerusalem. The income/expenses ratio was eye opening in the way that we realized just how long it'd take to reach those goals. Hence, me trying to find a job. Doesn't have to pay much and I don't need too many hours, so we will see what happens. I believe that if I put effort into it and God wants it to happen, it will happen. So I'm trusting in that. So for now, I'm milking being a housewife for all it's worth, I love it so much. I've been baking a butt load and making things and cleaning cleaning cleaning always cleaning. I've got a couple of people lined up whose children I will babysit, so that's sort of perfect for some extra cash and still being able to be home and get stuff done. Also since we only have one car, babysitting is pretty ideal for right now.

But I'm thinking this babysitting money will be going towards Christmas gifts. We'll be making pretty much all of the gifts ourselves but the supplies will still cost something. Here's to frugality!

I can't believe how quickly time flies. It's sad and exciting at the same time. I can NOT wait for my theology class to start at the beginning of 2011. I'm going to try to talk Abel into teaching me Hebrew, too. I would so love to learn Hebrew. (Abel if you're reading this... you knoww you wanttt tooo...). I just want to learn SOMETHING. I never thought I would miss school, but I honestly do.

While I've got laundry going in the dryer right now, I've got a few things in the works for tomorrow's 10 w/ ONE. And to whoever is scheduled to bring tomorrow's 10 w/ ONE, I hope I'm not imposing by bringing some things as well. I made beignets (pronounced ben-yays, like on Princess and the Frog!!) and decided it wasn't a good idea to keep them to myself. And then I noticed my eggs were coming to the last of their days and I knew I wouldn't use them for anything so I made a large pavlova with them. But it only takes the whites, so I have six egg yolks I should use for something but I'm not sure what takes only the yolks. Any ideas?

Can't wait for tomorrow, Sundays are the greatest. We are doing a new song that I absolutely LOVE. I've been playing it on the piano for like the past month and I kept telling Chris, "We've got to do this song someday!" And now it fits the message SO WELL so we are doing it tomorrow! It's so beautiful. I'm going to apologize in advance, I may cry while singing it.

At the same time, I'm thinking of taking my break for one Sunday pretty soon. Sometimes it's nice to have alone time with God during worship instead of leading a song or trying to make sure I get all the chords/harmonies right. Not that I don't experience God during those times, but sometimes it's nice just to focus on the words and that moment with God and nothing else. We'll see :)

I am also stoked about tomorrow because Chris and I got little presents for some of our favorite little girls, Miana, Keira, and Anika. Nothing fancy, we just got them each a pez dispenser (Miana: Tinkerbell, Keira: Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Anika: Belle from Beauty and the Beast).

I took a couple candle jars that the candles had finished burning in, completely cleaning them out, and I used one of them to put all the pez candies in and then wrapped the pez dispensers individually. I'm not even sure if they're allowed to have pez... maybe I should have asked. Haha. I guess we'll find out.

So if any of you hear of anyone who's hiring or someone who needs a sitter, please let me know. Also, if any of you have any ideas of something I could get/make for my 8 year old brother, my dad, or Chris' dad, PLEASE let me know. We have no clue!!

Thanks :)

-Ash

{thankful for} Lorin Merkley (miss you so much)

I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with Lor. What a great friend. We had our ups and downs, when he wanted to be more than friends and I just wanted to be friends or I wanted to be more than friends but he liked some other girl (usually Catherine!) hahah. We all know how those high school boy/girl friendships were! Seems so silly now. But despite all those petty arguments we'd get into about that stuff, Lorin was an amazing friend to me. No matter what time it was he was ALWAYS willing to meet me somewhere if I needed to talk, or come over so I could vent to him. He wasn't even just a great friend to me, but all you who knew him know how much he meant as a friend in your lives as well. There was one night when I was having a rough time with something so I was hanging out at his house, and he got a phone call from a friend of his who was also really struggling with something (something worse than my situation) and needed to leave her house immediately. Without any sense of reluctancy, Lorin was there helping her. An amazing friend. An amazing musician. Every now and again when I'm playing the piano I'll remember the songs he'd play. He always had some kind of "Ya, I know I'm good" smirk on his face while he played, but there was passion there. So talented at football, though he'd be such a WEENIE! after he'd lose a game. I remember one night after a game that QC lost, he was taking me home and he was soooo pissed that they lost, he was getting something out of the glove box of his truck and slammed it closed as hard as he could out of anger and smashed his finger in it when he slammed it closed and his finger was bleeding all over and I said, "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET! CALM DOWN!" Hahah.

Even still, he was a great friend. Every year on this day and on his birthday I will remember him very fondly and be thankful that I got to spend the time with him that I did.

Thanks for being such a great friend to me, Lor!!!

-Ash

{thankful for} Unbelievable People in our Lives

We have incredible people in our lives.

As you may know, our car decided to conveniently stop working Thursday night while Chris was driving home from work at about 10:30p. The lamest thing about was it really wasn't that bad of a car, usually pretty darn reliable. And I thought it was cute. But all of a sudden without any warning, it just stopped running. Turns out it's the head gasket and it costs too much for us to repair.

Honestly though... our friends are amazing. I don't know how people handle situations like these without family and friends, I feel so grateful.

When I first heard from Chris that the car was toast and he was stuck in Gilbert (calling from a Fry's because his phone was also dead, he had to walk quite a long ways to a place with a phone), he asked me to call our friend Stephen and ask him to go pick him up (since that car was our only vehicle, I wasn't able to go get him myself). And Stephen without hesitation or reluctance went and picked Chris up and brought him home.

The next day, Apple gave Chris the day off (without even second guessing him) so we could try to figure out what to do about the car.

Wayne Schick (one of our mechanic friends) met us at Higley High School Friday afternoon to look at the car and make any assumption he could about what could be wrong with it. So thankful to him for doing that.

We got quite a few phone calls/texts from friends just asking what happened, showing they cared, offering to take a look at the car, which meant a lot to us.

We found out the cost to tow it to a shop to get it looked at would have cost more than we were able to do (comfortably). But my parents put money in our account to help us out with that. They're incredible.

Our good friend Mark lent his vehicle to us during this process so we could get to and from our car parked at Higley High School (such a blessing).

Our good friend John Rae lent us his truck to use to get to church early Sunday morning and we still are using that truck now. (Not permanently, just until we can find a new vehicle for us). So thankful to the Rae's for always being so generous like that. Even though initially I couldn't quite figure out the truck's 5-speed system. Way different than our cars 5-speed! Hah. That was funny.

Now my dad is spending a WHOLE BUNCH of his time today getting the car from the shop to his house so he can take a look at it and see what he can do/possibly provide a different analysis.

My amazing cousin, Kelsey is offering her car to us to either use until we find something permanent or to buy from her for a low price (for a car in good shape).

This isn't all coincidence. God is using these extraordinary people in our lives to show His own love. I feel incredibly humbled and thankful and grateful for these people.

-Ash

Ink-Stained Hands

I've had a craft bug lately.

This is what happened.