Snakes.

So, the house I live here in Oregon is really quite cute.

I have no complaints.
Except, for the lawn. It is horrible. I've never seen anything like it.
It looks like that lawn has never been mowed.
There are weeds that are literally taller than me. I'm not even kidding me.
Take a look for yourself:

Last Sunday morning, there was a knock on the door.
It was a police officer.
Apparently, there had been a complaint about the lawn.

He issued a citation to my roommate (the girl who owns the house) and she had two days to take care of it.

Yikes.
So, the poor girl spent her entire Memorial Day in the yard.
It looks great.

Wednesday comes along and the weather was amazing.
It was so nice and warm outside. 85 degrees.
I decided to go lay out in the freshly mowed backyard and get some sun while I studied.
I found some lawn chairs in the garage and set them up in the backyard and got to studying.
Within a couple minutes, I see something moving.
I look and its a snake.

I freaked out!

But, it was so nice outside I decided to stay out a little longer.

But then, another snake shows up.

Then another.

And ANOTHER.

5 snakes total!

They were only gardener (garter?) snakes. I know they're harmless.
But, I had to get out of there.

But, I was in the middle of the backyard.
And I was bare foot.
And there were 5 snakes blocking my path back to the house.
How was I supposed to get back inside the house?

It took a lot of maneuvering with my two lawn chairs.
But I was able to successfully make it inside without ever touching the ground.

I will NEVER step foot in the backyard ever again.

New Shoes.

Last week was the Nordstrom Half-Yearly sale.
Did you go? I sure did.
And I got these:

I guess their nothing too spectacular.

But, they are certainly a step above the Old Navy $5 flip-flops I usually wear all summer. And I love them.

I feel 10 times more stylish the moment I put them on.

Guaranteed, if you see me at all this summer I will be wearing them.

Fun in Sequim.

Last weekend, Paul and I went up to Sequim to chill with my family and hang out with Ally before she started her internship.

We also went up to announce our engagement.
I decided to surprise them and see how long it took them to figure it out.

It took them a little while to notice the ring on my finger but they were pretty excited once they did.

My family has a thing for tide pools.
We go to them all the time.
Last weekend we went out to tide pools at Sequim Bay.
For once, we got there when the tide was out and were able to find lots of little critters.
Later, we had ourselves a BBQ.

I dedicate this photo to you Ally. Here is your duck.

Eddy looks scared.

Ally is so colorful.

I'm Engaged!

August 22nd is the big day!

My Missionaries.

I think its about time I give a shout-out to my Sister Missionaries:

Sister (Heidi) Morris

This adorable girl is currently serving in the Provo, UT mission.

Next week is her 5 month mark.

____________________________________________________________

Sister (Heather) Low

Heather is serving in the Budapest, Hungary mission.
After 3 long months in the MTC, Heather finally made it to Hungary on Monday.

_________________________________________________________

When it came to living with these girls, there was NEVER a dull moment.
Words cannot express how much I love and miss them.
Last semester just wasn't the same without them around.
But, I am so very proud of them and cannot wait to get more letters!

Ally blogs.

I am honored to be the first to announced that...

Ally has started her own blog!

Its entertaining. Its funny. Its colorful.
You really should go check it out.
Because, lets be honest, her blog really is better than mine.

And in celebration of Ally starting her own blog, here is a picture.
(Yay for twins!)

Dear Paul.

I just remembered that in that same dream from last night, I threw your cot into that same river.
I don't know why I did this.

I have no explanation. Forgive me?

Also, I would like to apologize in advance for the disgusting cookies I am about to feed you. I was bored this morning so I decided to cook up a batch. But, I didn't have enough butter. I thought it would be enough though. Guess not. Forgive me in advance?

Love,
Ashley

P.S. Ally, I am still waiting for you explanation.

Dear Ally.

Last night I had a dream that you threw my brown purse and hair straightener into a river.

Why did you do that?

I am anxiously waiting your explanation.

Love,

Ashley

Carded for milk.

Last night I had my first experience being “carded”

Paul and I went out for dessert late last night and because and because of the time, they sat us in the lounge/bar area.

They then asked to see our ID's so they could check if we were of legal drinking age before they aloud us to order our chocolate cake, smores and MILK.

I'm sure the waitress wasn't expecting that.

Fun in Cali.

Last weekend, Paul and I took a little road-trip down to California.
The 11.5 hours it took us to get from Hillsboro to Palo Alto (where his sister lives) seemed to take forever.
Still, it was a fun adventure filled with lots of good times and SURPRISES.

For weeks, Paul has been telling me that he had a surprise in store for me in California.
Friday night came and we got all dressed up and went into the city.
I had no idea what we were doing until we turned the corner and saw a sign for:

Wicked

He got us tickets to see Wicked!
It was the ultimate surprise considering I didn't even know Wicked was in San Francisco.
And yes, Wicked really was everything I thought it would be and more.
It was so great.
I've been listening to the songs all week. Can't get enough.
Here are lots and lots of pictures of us all dressed up and on the town:

On Saturday, we went to a wedding reception for Paul and Annette's friend.

It was lovely.

New job. (Kind of)

This week I officially begin my new full time job:
studying for the DAT.

This "job"of my mine will last from now until June-ish (haven't decided on an exact date to take the DAT yet) and will consist of me studying for the DAT.
All day. Everyday.

This "job" of mine will take place in Hillsboro, OR...where Paul lives.
I'm living in a house that a girl in his ward owns.
There is another girl who lives there with us who I have yet to meet.
Even though we share a bathroom and have rooms right next to each other, we have yet to cross paths.
Weird. We just have opposite schedules, I guess.

I can't seem to get any Internet access on my laptop at the house.
At first I thought it was a curse. Now, I realized its probably a blessing in disguise.
Since I have no Internet (or TV either) there's nothing left for me to do except study... so I do.
All day. Everyday.

Because of my lack of internet, I've been behind on the updates.
I have lots of fun pictures and stories to share.
But, since I can only get on the internet at Paul's house (or in the parking lot of Intel as I discovered today) they will be slow to come.
However, they will come!

Garth L. Lee.

I got an e-mail from the Chemistry department today.
Apparently, I have won the Garth L. Lee undergraduate teaching award.
For some reason, out of all the teaching assistants in the Chemistry department, they seem to think I do the best job.
I feel honored.
Not to mention the fact that they are sending a bonus check my way.
Score.