Home Sweet Home

Well these past couple of months have been certainly busy, but also very exciting! The post heading says it all in that we found a home! Now the saying that "Home is where your heart is" is most defiantly true, but Nathan and I had decided that it was time to find a nice place where we could spread out just a little more. We were starting to outgrow our apartment and really were looking for a change. So we started to look around town and I loved house shopping! It was so fun to see the different layouts and trying to picture which one would be perfect for us to live in. It took a few months but we fell in love with this cute little house on Hershey Loop! The location and layout were just what we wanted and of course what better street to live on then Hershey Loop? Nathan and I have always had a thing for Hershey kisses, even when we were dating back in high school. Plus our handout for our wedding/reception thank you's was Hershey kisses! It seemed like it was where we were meant to be. Once we put in our offer, things went relatively fast and then before we knew it we were packing up our apartment. (I can not believe how much stuff we had for being only married 3 years!) We signed all these official papers (many of which I don't have a clue what they were saying) and then they handed us the keys to the place! Thanks to our family and friends for all their hard work they helped move our stuff into our house Septemeber 28. It is definitely a change and I miss our neighbors and old ward dearly! Even now as I type this, sitting in our new house, I sometimes feel like We are house sitting and that in a week we will be back at our apartment. Well I am sure once I get a few more "home" touches it will start to feel like "Our House". I feel truly blessed and just so proud of all our hard work Nathan and I have done to save to make this big step in our lives.  I hope that we can continue to fill our lives and our home with happiness and work towards becoming a bigger family one day.

Our First Home! 

Christmas in July..... {well it's kinda like Christmas}

July was a busy month for Nathan and me, but all our hard work finally paid off! We both were blessed to be given new work opportunities right around the 25th of the month. YAHOO!!!!! After over a year of searching for a consistent dental hygiene job (that was somewhat closer to home) I was offered a full time position working at Dentistry for Kids working for Dr. Robert McWhorter. I am so excited to be working with this awesome group of people and I am thrilled to be working with kids. Needless to say Nathan was ecstatic that I would no longer have to travel so far for work and on top of that I will be working full-time. This is quite an achievement since opportunities like this are hard to come by. More good news followed that same week when Nathan was promoted to TSR Lead (Tech Support Representative Lead). He has worked so hard for this and it was a bit of a challenge to get to this point, but he is excited for the new position. He will be working with the Digis Tech support team by supervising, creating the schedule, training, and much more! We both feel extremely lucky to be able to be blessed with these new career changes and are so happy to have the support of all our family and friends. So TOTALLY STOKED for what the future holds in store for us!!!

What Happened in Vegas?!?!

This year Nathan and I decided to celebrate our 3rd year anniversary a little late this year. (in part because we were slightly distracted with Ryan and Morgan's wedding, but we didn't mind) We booked a condo in Las Vegas for the beginning of June. I was counting down the days with excitement!

So what happened in Vegas?......I will tell you!

We spent the day traveling on Thursday June 6th. Even though it was a 9 hour drive we both were so happy to be going on a Vacation that we didn't mind too much.  It was clear when we entered into Nevada, we were already dying of heat when we pulled up to the condo. After checking in we decided to hit the strip and find some dinner. Being the awesome wife I am, I took Nathan to eat at 'Hooters'. I have to say it was kind of fun and the 'wings' were not bad ;) We didn't stay too late on our first night but we did wander and admire some of the casinos. I even had the chance to try my very first slot machine! It was a "Wizard of Oz" themed machine and honestly I still don't know how to play it. I must have done something right because when I put in a dollar I ended up winning $12. Haha I was so happy that I called that good enough. One of my favorite free attractions to see is the water show in front of the Bellagio we had to do that our first night there! To end our first night Nathan and I decided to ride the New York New York roller coster. We sat right in the very first cart and I screamed the whole time, but what a thrill !

Too funny not to share !!!

The next day we slept in a little and after having some breakfast we spent the rest of the morning out by the pool. It was so hot that we couldn't tan for very long before getting into the water to cool down. We took our time getting ready and then took the shuttle back to the strip. We shopped around a bit before heading to Mandela Bay to eat there buffet dinner. It was kind of expensive but so worth it !!! After dinner we had some time to kill before our show, so we went into one of my favorite stores...the M&M store! I love all the merchandise and the giant candy wall full of every color of M&M I have seen! We even stayed to watch the 3-D movie 'I lost my M in Vegas'. We had reserved tickets to see the 'Blue Man Group'. I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much. It was so interactive and had some cool effects with lights and sounds. Our seats were super close to the stage but not in the splash zone (thank goodness). I really liked the end of their show when they released some giant balls from the ceiling that we passed around like it was a party. There was even tons and tons of toilet paper being tossed everywhere (we were covered by the end of it). What a cool show, we both would go back in a heart beat. We had to wait for a little bit before our shuttle came back to pick us up and since our feet were starting to hurt we decided to sit down at only chairs in Ceasers Palace, the casion. We sat there for a couple mins before i realized that my machine appeared to have some credits left on it. Curious if it did I hit the collect button and I can't believe it but I got a voucher for $57.00  Nathan could not believe the luck I had. Haha I really think I could make it big time in Vegas!

Saturday we started our day off as the day before, tanning by the pool for a couple hours before getting ready and heading back to the strip for the evening. We walked through the botanical gardens in the Baligio and watched the Fall of Atlantis in Caesars Palace before eating dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.  Nathan was determined to try his luck at a slot machine as well, so we found a 'Lord of the Rings' themed slot machine for him. He placed in $5 and just when I thought he was about to lose it all he made his way into a bonus round and before we knew it he had $230 !!!! We were a little greedy and wanted to see if we could win more but when he was at $200 we cashed out. We must be a couple of the luckiest people I know! Well our show for that evening we saw Ray Ramano in his stand-up comedy act. He was really funny and we laughed really hard at his jokes about him and his family. At the end of his show he showed us some extra clips from 'Everybody Loves Raymond' that were hilarious! I had my fingers crossed that we would get to meet him but maybe next time.

Sunday was our day to come home, but we still took our time doing so. We spent a couple more hours out by the pool before we decided to check-out. And just to rub it into my mom's face a little we ate a Round House Table pizza....and it was Good! Nathan and I had an amazing time in Vegas and I hope to make it back there again really soon!

.....a May Wedding!!!

So we made it to May and the days seemed to fly by and the wedding was here before we knew it! Ryan and Morgan were married and sealed for Time and all Eternity on May 17 2013 in the Bountiful, Utah temple.  I can't tell you just how beautiful it was and I am extremely proud of my brother and Morgan for their decision to be married in the Temple. It was a very emotional, but spiritual day for everyone. The coolest thing I think I have ever seen is when the sealer himself changed clothes to come out to meet Morgan's parents and take a picture with Ryan and Morgan! We took lots of pictures of the happy couple with family and friends. We enjoyed a great luncheon at a reception hall called the White House not too far from the temple. What a full day, but while Ryan and Morgan headed off to celebrate their wedding night the rest of us hurried home to make sure the reception was a set up and ready for the next day. Kim Harding did the decorations for the gym and it looked amazing!!! Nathan and I had a job too. We were assigned to help with the slide show and music for the evening. I have to say that I think Nathan and I did a great job with the video. Texas Roadhouse even catered for the event (naturally) and it was delicious. The night was perfect and Ryan and Morgan were a picture perfect couple! Congrats to Ryan & Morgan Newsom! 

Oh and I think we are going to have an easy time remembering everyone's Wedding Anniversaries: Ryan & Morgan-May 17th, Nathan & Ashley-May 20th, and Mom & Dad-May 31st. Apparently we all thought that May was the month to be married!

April {Bridal} Showers Bring......

So I really have not got the hang of keeping this journal up very well. Let's go back and discuss what happened in April. We have all been super busy getting ready for the upcoming wedding of Ryan and Morgan! So Morgan's sister, Haylee, and I decided to throw Morgan a bridal shower. We both looked up ideas on Pinterest and decided the theme for the shower should be a Circus! Haylee and I had such a fun time planning out all the details and games we would play. I volunteered to create the invite while she prepared all the decorations. We spent so much time preparing and planning that when it came to the actual day we were so exhausted. Morgan loved everything and she had a great turnout with her guests! We played a couple games including "Kiss the Stud" and a Panty game (Morgan had to identify what panties best represented the person who brought them). We all had so much fun enjoying all the food and laughing with both family and friends. I think it was a hit and I hope to be able to plan another party like this in the future! To see Morgan so happy means that all the hard work Haylee and I put into this party was all worth it. I can't begin to say how lucky I am to be getting a wonderful sister like Morgan. Here is a few pictures from the shower...