Crafty, Crafty, Crafty!

So I've never really been into crafty things. Until the last few months. I don't know what has gotten into me, but I have been in such a crafty/decoratey (yes, thats a word) mood lately! Here are a few of my super fun projects from the last little while :)




Making giant flower baby headbands is SO fun! This is one I made Haylee for Thanksgiving.



I made our Christmas wreath! So fun, and way easier than you'd think! There is actually quite a bit of shimmer and sparklyness (yes, thats a word too) in it, but you can't really tell in the picture.

I've had quite a few other projects going too, but a lot of them are Christmas gifts so I can't put pictures of them up yet... :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

So I'm a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For Thanksgiving this year Robbie and I were able to go spend a few days with his family! Our school schedules haven't coordinated very well this semester, so we hadn't seen them since August; we were so glad we were finally able to go! I realized when I got home I didn't really take any pictures, other than of Haylee I mean. lol. It is SO fun having a little niece to spoil! We love it! And she loved Robbie's hair, which you can see in the picture. lol.

Go Ahead and Make Fun of Me, I Don't Care

Robbie,
I'm sorry, Love. I waited as long as I could to put the tree up. I know I've always made fun of those crazy people who put their tree up before Thanksgiving, but this is the first year we've had a tree that was over two feet tall, and I was just so excited! And I discovered Tai Pan Trading Wholesale this year, which is probably the most fabulous home decor store in existance. And you have to admit, you like the way I reorganized the living room to fit the tree in.
Muah! ;)
Love, Ashlee

Why Do They Hate Me?

(First of all, if you're not familiar with the nursing field, let me explain something. Just as there is with everything else, there's a food chain in nursing. It goes like this: CNA (nurse assistant)--> LPN (Licenced Practical Nurse)--> RN (Registered Nurse) --> BSN (bachelors degree nurse) --> MSN (masters degree nurse). Yeah... an RN is an associates degree, but it takes like 5 years to get it. Don't get me started on that. Some people go from not even being a part of the hierarchy straight to the top. Other people go through all of the steps. It doesn't mean their education is ANY DIFFERENT WHATSOEVER, it just means they stopped to get the various licences along the way. And of course, most people stop some where along the way.)

Okay I'm frustrated. And I need to rant. May I remind you, no one is making you read this, lol. But here it goes.

I'm an LPN. Not an RN, but still a nurse. I'm working on my RN, and hopefully by this time next year, I'll have accomplished that goal. This is just a step I decided to take on my way to becoming an RN. What bothers me is the dean of the nursing program I am currently in doesn't think I should be allowed to try. The ONLY reason I can is because they had the LPN to RN program before she became the dean. However, she's trying to do away with the program I'm in. She doesn't believe LPN's should even exist. She doesn't even believe RN's should exist. It's her opinion that a BSN should be the only acceptable entry into the nursing field. And she's not the only one who feels that way. The majority of the faculty at the university I'm at feel the same, and have no problems with treating the LPN's in the program as if our intelligence just isn't quite up to the same level as the other students- many of whom have never even been a nurse's aid by the way and know NOTHING about nursing. Nevermind that when the professor asks us (LPN's) a question in class, clearly thinking it's going to be difficult to answer, we're able to give long detailed answers, and able to back them up as well. I'm tired of the surprised look on my teachers faces when I can answer a question. They EXPECT me to be stupid, and they treat me that way. It wouldn't be a big deal if they treated EVERYONE that way, but its just the LPN's.
Okay fine, so you don't think LPN's should exist. So you won't let them in your program to continue their education and become RN's (or get their BSN if thats what you're demanding)? That seems a little counter productive doesn't it? They treat the other nursing students- who are either CNA's or nothing at all, with more respect than they treat me. I'm not asking to be treated better, just to be treated the same.
I guess I just don't see why people are so anti-LPN anyway. I can do EVERYTHING an RN can do, with the exception of IV's. If I take an "IV-certification course" I can even do that, and then there really isn't a difference between an LPN and an RN other than the letters (and by the way, there is absolutely no difference between an RN and a BSN whatsoever. they don't even get paid more. A BSN just takes longer, and looks better. ).
Anyway, it just bothers me that all of my teachers are so against me. And they are actively trying to keep other LPN's out of the program. It's so frustrating.

I Guess I've Just Been Needing a Change

So a few weeks ago I dyed my hair! It was only a semi-permanent dye and its pretty much all faded out now. But then today I decided I was just feeling sick of it again, so I went and had it done! I looove it :) Seriously, getting a new cute haircut can just totally make your day.

Before and After

Before...



After!



You can't really see it very well since both of these pictures suck, but I dyed my hair! It's not a huge change (Robbie didn't even notice...lol) but I like it! :)

Yay for Autumn!

According to my computer, it is 48 degrees outside. How wonderful is that!? And yesterday it was quite overcast. Lovely! And the day before that it even rained!! :) Last night I wrapped myself up in a cozy blanket and curled up on the couch with a good book and a delicious steaming cup of apple cider. *sigh* ah, I love fall. And this is why!:

1. Rain!
2. Sweatshirts
3. Apple cider
4. Hot chocolate
5. Less use of air conditioning = lower electric bills
6. Cozy blankets
7. 'Comfort food' (ie, soup, mashed potatos, etc)
8. It's getting darker earlier, meaning the sun is in your eyes a little less!
9. My car isn't 120 degrees when I get in it! But it isn't 10 degrees either :)
10. I start holiday planning/shopping (which I loooove).

I heart Washington.

Last weekend Robbie and I went to Washington! ah, home sweet home. It felt good to get out of here, even if it was just for a few days. We stayed with Grandma Susie and Grandpa Dave, which was a lot of fun, and got to see Dan and Shelley's new home, which is beautiful!

On Friday I saw Wicked!! I'd never seen a Broadway production before. Whoa. That was absolutely unreal. So awesome! I can't recommend it enough! I don't really know how to describe it other than incredible. It was so much fun!! If it ever comes within a state or two of where I am I would love to go again someday. The special effects, the vocals, the costumes... I mean honestly, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before. The whole experience was so much fun. Oh, and as a side note, the inside of the Paramount Theater in Seattle is stunning.





Robbie opted not to go so he would have a chance to hang out with some of his friends. From what I hear he had a great time! And I think it made him miss Washington even more. Seriously... I'd count the days until school is over for us and we can move if it wouldn't be so depressing. Anyway! I was excited for him that he got to see everyone for awhile again.

And then Saturday we went to a Mariners game!! They were playing the Yankees. We so did not want to watch them loose to the Yankees (of all teams). We were excited because the the Mariners had played the yankees Friday night and won, so we were hoping the same thing might happen Saturday. And then we found out Felix Hernadez wasn't pitching. And Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't batting (super dissapointing). So we had an idea it wasn't going to go incredibly well... and it didn't. They lost. Badly. but hey! We still got to go! And we still had amazing seats! And it was SO. MUCH. FUN! We got to boo A-Rod every time he stepped up to bat! lol. Anyway, we both loved just being there.











Thank you so much to my parents who let us ride with them and got us the tickets to both Wicked and the Mariners. Thank you, ThAnK YoU, THANK YOU!! We love you guys! :)

Happy Birthday Robbie!

Robbie's 24th birthday was a few weeks ago!! (yeah... I am way late with this post). This is the cake Audrey made him! Isn't it beautiful? Yeah, she's amazing. Cake #2 was a very chocolately Costco round cake that we had with my family. We ate about half of Audrey's cake with all our friends, and about half of the Costco cake with my family... so we had an entire cake left over. Oh my gosh.... WAY. TOO. MUCH. CAKE. Robbie loved it though, lol.

He seemed to love his presents too :) I got him a game played baseball autographed by Felix Hernandez. (I'm pretty great, I know.) It's currently sitting next to his Ken Griffey Jr. ball, looking awesome.

Well... seeing as how it's waaay late, I guess I can't really say happy birthday... so ugh... Happy Birthday Month, love! I love you!

The Aquarium

We've been having a lot of fun the past few months seeing things that aren't the inside of a mall or a movie theater! (i.e dinosaur museum, planetarium, zoo) Yesterday we went to the aquarium with some of our friends for Robbie's birthday (I'll cover Robbie's birthday excitement in a different post). It was so much fun! Of course we didn't stop and think about how it's a bit warm in aquariums, and as it was the first day in months that it wasn't 90 degrees out, Robbie and I both wore jeans rather than shorts. Way too hot.
And of course the aquarium here is nothing like the Monteray Bay Aquarium or even the one in Seattle, but it was still a lot of fun! We even got to touch a stingray! They're super slimey, but I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, it's hard to take good pictures of things under water, but here are some of the better ones :)





"I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine. And he will be my squishy." -Dori



These two are of the same fish. It's called a Foureyed Fish. It looks like it has two eyes above the surface of the water, and two eyes below the surface. But really its pupils are just split. How cool is that?

Summer Went Too Quickly

Well, summer may not be officially over, but it may as well be. School started Wednesday for both of us. It's definitely going to be a rough semester. Robbie is taking an advanced genetics lab, chemistry II, chemistry II lab, plant kingdom, plant kingdom lab, and statistics. I am taking advanced topics in reproduction, clinical reasoning, health assessment, health assessment lab, statistics, and aerobics. Health assessment and health assessment lab are looking like they will be painfully boring and clinical reasoning probably won't exactly be interesting but it shouldn't be too bad. Statistics just might kill me.

Advanced topics in reproduction seems like it will be fascinating though! It covers all sorts of issues for women including local issues (abstinence only sex education, teen pregnancy, etc), global issues (equity for women, unsafe abortion, etc), infertility, abortion, contraception, midwifery, preterm birth, breastfeeding, menopause, etc.

And aerobics... I thought it would be a good idea to schedule exercising into my school schedule so I have time for it even if I don't really have time for it :) Although I found out there's a dress code for exercise classes... shorts cannot be above your knees. I chose to go to a state school for a reason. Fascist dress codes at some, uh... private schools (that shall remain nameless)... being one of them. however apparently living here that cannot be escaped. Why did this surprise me?

I don't really know much about Robbie's classes (other than stats), but it seems like so far they are going well! Upper division classes are much more enjoyable for him than GE's, even if it means doing more work :)

Anyway! If I don't blog a great deal over the next few months, its because I have way too much going on.

Super Fun Weekend!

Robbie's family came to visit us last weekend! It was so fun to see them; we miss you guys! We went to the Dinosaur museum, which is always cool. And Robbie of course loves it :) It was fun to see them again before our lives get insane and it's hard to take a weekend to go visit. We love you guys!

Ashlee's Family Reunion 2009

So we just got back from Ashlee's family reunion in Idaho! It was so much fun to be able to see everyone again. Just like at Robbie's reunion the other week, I was determined to gets lots and lots of pictures. And I managed to get some pretty awesome ones, along with some pretty disturbing ones of my CRAZY family.
Our day at the beach kind of got rained out as you'll see from some of the pictures, but at least it wasn't completely miserable at 100 degrees right? We had another marshmellow gun war, which was lots of fun. And if you're wondering what the HECK my insane family is doing all dressed up and ridiculous, there was the much dreaded variety show.... oh dear.


I really don't understand Robbie's aversion to smiling in pictures, but this one turned out pretty cute I think.


On my way back from the beach... I barely even got to wear my new hat. Tear.


I love him.




This picture is so terrifying it demands an explaination. Yes that is my husband and my father. I wanted a picture of both of them. They both sponatesously decided to be silly for said picture.... and they both randomly did the same thing. but that doesn't make it any less disturbing. lol.


Beautiful little Kara, being as adorable as ever.


Trevor with his marshmellow gun. So cute!!


Mine and Sheryl's super cute toes :)






Yes... this is my crazy family.... and of course Robbie and Taylor are both touching their coconuts. Would you expect anything else? lol




This is John, the sweet little fox that came right up to me (Robbie named him...). My camera isn't zoomed in at all. I probably could have touched him.

Robbie's Family Reunion 2009

This past week we were in Washington for Robbie's family reunion! We had a lot of fun seeing everyone and hanging out! We went to Harry Potter (which was awesome by the way), played noodle tag (kind of like freeze tag with the floaty noodles you can take in the pool... on sticks so you can hit people with them, lol), and had a home run derby! I felt like last year we hardly took any pictures, and I wanted pictures this year! So I sat out for noodle tag and played photographer instead :)
Anyway, the whole reunion was a ton of fun. We really only see the whole extended fam once a year or so, so we were so glad we were able to go again this year! :)