Day 10-A baby photo

Here are a few!

 My grandparents, Jenny, and David at the hospital

I think this picture of me looks just like Sam, especially the hair!

Day 9- Favorite places to eat

Cutlers
Buca di Beppo
Antonio's (Catalina Island)
Iggy's
Pizza Hut (Sit down Pizza Huts)
IHOP
Cracker Barrel
Famous Dave's
Chevy's Mexican Food (DC)
Meadows (PA)
Texas Hot Dogs (PA)
Maddox Steakhouse
Any room service

Day 8- Friends

Sorry I am a few days behind!!

Here are some of my best friends that I have had throughout my life...

Day 7-Favorite movies

You've Got Mail
Remember The Titans
Jane Eyre
Hope Floats
A Few Good Men (Edited)
The Fugitive
Only You

The Zoo

Yesterday was my sister's birthday (Happy Birthday Jess). We decided to take the kids to the zoo..turns out the Zoo was free! What luck huh! Sam loved seeing the animals up close and really loved the carousel. So here are some pictures of our day...

Day 6-A picture of the last thing you purchased

I got a Ross gift card for Christmas and I just used it to get 2 new sweaters and a St. Patrick's Day table cloth. I LOVE Ross!!

Day 5-Your Family

My current family

 Siblings

 My Parents

My in-laws

It's funny how the word "family" takes on so many different meanings throughout your life. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father gave me such a wonderful family to grow up with, such a wonderful husband and daughter, and for allowing me to marry into such a great family. Love You All!

Day 4: A Favorite Recipe

I wanted to find a really good breakfast casserole recipe for Christmas morning. I don't love casseroles with a lot of egg, so this was perfect. It is my favorite breakfast casserole I have ever had. I think it will be our new Christmas morning tradition.

I don't like onions, so I left that out. I added red and green peppers and they were delicious! I think the peppers really added to the flavor and gave it a nice color.

Amish Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
1 pound sliced bacon, diced (ham would also work nicely)
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
6 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Directions
1.In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp; drain. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in bacon mixture. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.

2.Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until set and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting

Day 3-A picture and description of how your day was

I think its funny that this is today's question when we had such a crazy day. Sam decided at 4:15am that she was no longer tired. She wasn't up and crying... she was walking around, reading books, and watching movies. She never fell back asleep. She was hyper during church and stayed awake the whole time. When it came time to nap in the afternoon she didn't even sleep longer. What a kid, what a day! We are so exhausted and are going to bed right now!

Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name

I hate my blog name. I created it before I had really started looking at blogs and understanding how it all works. I love my blog title "The Ashley Adventures" because that describes what I like to blog about, my daily adventures. However the url http://ashleynaf.blogspot.com/ I hate. It is hard to remember and I should have just went for AshleyAdventures.blogspot.com. I was trying to think of what I loved and that's how I came up with the naf: Nic, Animals & Facts. So there you have it!

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, interesting facts

All about me...

I was born in State College Pennsylvania. That's a fact that I am very proud of. Although I only lived there for a short period of my childhood, I still feel a wonderful sense of home when I go back.  I come from a family of 8 and I am the third of six children (yes..middle child syndrome here). I had a wonderful childhood filled with a lot of happiness.

I had the opportunity to be involved in a myriad of activities throughout Junior High and High School...softball, soccer, track, class officer, cheerleading, dance. I loved them all and made so many great friends through those years. Friends have always been very important to me and I tend to hang on to them for many years.

After high school I attended Snow College where I got my associates degree in Business Management. I loved going to school there and had so much fun living on my own and living with roommates.

In the summer of 2004 I literally met the man of my dreams. If you know Nic you know that he is simply wonderful. We welcomed our first baby girl in 2009 and our lives are forever changed. I am a stay at home with Sam and my love for her can not be put into words.

So that's me in a nutshell!

Some Facts...

I love my name

I love animals, but I am allergic to most

I love decorating cakes, cupcakes, desserts

I go to the doctor a lot

Nic and I are the only people left on earth that don't text message

I love wrapping presents, I wish I could have a job doing that

I love doing makeup and hair (I wish I would have gone to Cosmetology school)

I love taking pictures of wildlife and scenery

I could go to Yellowstone several times a year

I love casseroles..making them and eating them

I change my hair color several times a year

I LOVE "love" (Valentines Day, Chick Flicks, Love Stories, Weddings, Fairytales)

I love buying people presents
2 of the coolest things I have done in my life...shark diving in Hawaii and helping to deliver twin lambs

30 Day Blog Challenge

I am following many others who have jumped on the 30 Day Blog Challenge. I have had fun reading others, so I hope it will be fun to do. If you haven't done one already..you should try it too! This list combines a couple different ones that I have seen.

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, interesting facts

Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name

Day 3-A picture and description of how your day was

Day 4- A favorite recipe

Day 5-Your Family

Day 6-A picture of the last thing you purchased

Day 7-Favorite movies

Day 8- Friends

Day 9- Favorite places to eat

Day 10-A baby photo

Day 11-Favorite TV shows

Day 12 –Detailed to-do list from today

Day 13- A fun memory

Day 14-A picture you love

Day 15-Dream house

Day 16-Something you're looking forward to

Day 17-Pet Peeves

Day 18 -Something you miss

Day 19- A Hobby

Day 20-Picture of yourself from 10 years ago

Day 21-A recipe

Day 22-Favorite vacation

Day 23-Something you want to buy

Day 24-A photo you took

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 26-Favorite Music/Artists

Day 27-What’s in your purse

Day 28- Favorite Books

Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing

Day 30 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days

Sam's 1st Dance Class

I enrolled Samantha and I in a mommy and me dance class. She loves dancing and music so much, so I thought she would like it. She is the youngest in the class, and definitely runs around a lot, but she LOVED it. I really think it is the most fun she has ever had!

 Standing on her star

 She loved the little obstacle course

Dancing with her teacher

Toddler Bed

Is she seriously old enough for this? All the books I have read say "yes". Sam can crawl out of a crib and a pack n play so we made the decision to move Sam to a toddler bed. She was in love with the bed when Nic was putting it together, she even insisted on helping him. She was really excited about her new bedding and jumped right into bed. After we sang a song to her and said our prayers we left the room and she immediatly ran to the door and screamed for 10 minutes straight (which totally broke my heart). But now, she is completely silent. I hope that means she is asleep comfortably in her bed, but I am sure we will find out in the morning :) Wish us luck on this adventure!

The LAST Semester

Nic started his last semester of law school today! If you are wondering if I am excited, you can check out my new countdown to the right. Now that we have gotten to this point I will admit that it seems like just yesterday Nic and I were traveling around looking at law schools and trying to make the decision of where we should go. I have known Nic for almost 7 years and he has always been in school. I can't express how excited I am for Nic to be done with school and to move on from this phase of our lives. Now the tricky part comes..trying to find a job. Please keep us in your prayers as we start this process!

2011 Goals

Life as a stay at home mom for me is very different then anything I have done before. I have a hard time making goals when everyday seems the same. I have overall goals, or rather important priorities, that I want to make better. Instead of making a huge list of resolutions for the new year, I want to simply make a daily task list of ways to improve my life in the following areas:

• I want to be a good wife
• I want to be a good mother
• I want to be a good member of the church
• I want to be a good housekeeper/homemaker
• I want to be happier with who I am

Everyday I am going to do at least one task in each of these areas. I hope that in return I will feel that I am improving the most important areas of focus in my life.

Sorry, this post is just for my own benefit!
Monday, January 10th Task List
Good Wife: Meal Plan, Pay Bills
Good Mother: Read Sam a book, work on 3 letters
Member of the church: Read Scriptures, Plan Family Home Evening Lesson
Housekeeper/Homemaker: 2 loads of laundry, Sort through 1 toy bin
Happier: 30 minutes of exercise, watch a movie while Sam naps

Vegas Bowl Game

We drove down to see the Utes play in the Las Vegas Bowl right before Christmas. Although the game turned out to be a sad one, we had a really fun trip. Sam did a great job being in the car for so long and she was also really good at the game. I wanted to post some pictures of our little adventure.

 

 

 Welcome to Las Vegas

We stayed at Circus Circus 

 Our Utes

 The drive home was gorgeous!