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.