A Celebrity Among Us

Did you know that Charlie is already famous in blogland? Okay , well maybe not entirely famous, but my friends Cody and Christa did feature him on their blog. You can check it out here. Don’t they look so much alike?!

xo

Ash

Why So Serious?

Brother Sister Bonding

Playing around…Melis antagonizes Greg…

Greg laughs at her attempts…. Melis thinks her finger is damaged….

We check things out… All is well….

Torment resumes…

PS – Aren’t the pictures from my new camera great?!! More to come on that later….

Have you Cried Yet?

If not this series on Oprah might make you:

Part 1

Part 2

They Grow Up So Fast!!

College Graduates!

Melissa and Eric – You’re graduating from Michigan State today!! Dan, Charlie and I are sad we can’t be there with you to celebrate, but I know Greg will take a ton of pictures so we can pretend we were there (okay, I know Mom will take a ton of pictures).

Anyway, cheers to the two of you! I’ll see you next week and will come bearing hugs and gifts then. Have a great day today!

Love you,

Ash

I Hiked This!

So here in Colorado there is kind of a famous trail that Olympic athletes, firemen, policemen and everyday joes and janes hike up and down on a fairly regular basis to test their endurance and strength. It’s called the Manitou Springs Incline and I’m lucky enough to live about 15 minutes from it. It’s about 1 mile in length and incorporates a 2000 foot increase in elevation ending at about 8500 feet. Two Wednesdays ago, I gave it my first try and made it all the way to the top! It was a really challenging cardiovascular workout, and was so much fun! The view above is from the start of the Incline. What looks like the summit, is actually a false summit, that takes a lot of people by surprise each year. Luckily, I’d done my homework up front and knew about it going in. Once you get up to the false summit there is still about 1/4 way to go. It took me a little over an hour to get up to the top the first hike, but I went a little bit quicker this past week when I climbed it again! You have the choice at the top to either take the steps back down to the bottom, or hike down on the Barr Trail. It’s a pretty long hike to go that route, but it’s a bit safer if you have balance issues, are afraid of heights or aren’t very sure footed. I made the mistake of just wearing my cross trainers both times and fell once or twice. The Incline is actually illegal to climb because it’s on private land, but because so many people train on it the law is never enforced. There’s been talk over the last few years about legalizing it, so that necessary improvements can be made, but so far, that hasn’t come to pass.

Anyway, I’m trying to climb this thing on a weekly basis through the fall. My goal is to be able to get up and back down in just over an hour and a half. Right now it takes me just over 2 hours to do it all. I’ll keep you posted.

The View from the Top!

Something is wrong with me

So I think something is wrong with me.  I have not cried in 2 weeks. Not 1 tear, not even any watering of the eyes, in 12 days (yes, i’ve been keeping track).  For some people, not crying for long periods of time is normal- but not in my case. I would say on average i shed tears of happiness and/or sadness around 2-3 times a week, and to not have cried AT ALL for two weeks is just weird. What is very strange about this whole thing is that during the past 2 weeks many events have transpired that should have evoked more emotion.

examples:

1. my last kappa event & meeting.  a tribute to the seniors and a recap of the past 4 years

2. greys anatomy episode- little girl dies in her dads arms (all of my roommates were hysterical)

3. moving out of my apartment/ graduating college

4. more things i just can’t think of right now..

this all may sound very stupid…. but it worries me (not enough for me to cry about it though… ha..ha)

Here is my issue…

So the reason I haven’t posted yet is because I only have access to a computer through work… I don’t like posting to a site throughh work for obvious reasons. I will buy a computer soon though, and then we’ll be in business. In the meantime, keep up the entries and I will start pulling my weight soon. Can’t wait to see you this weekend Melis, and Ashley next week. The 14th-16th is going to be a wild one!!

P.S. I dislike the fact that the new site doesn’t tell you who posted very clearly

The Best Day of the Year

I don’t know about you all, but the best day of the year at our house is the day the sprinklers get turned on… well, at least if you’re consulting Charlie about it.

Today I went home at lunch time and met the sprinkler guy. I left to go back to work with one really happy puppy sleeping in my family room. Not only does turning the sprinklers on mean that he’s able to get as wet as possible, but it also means that he got to follow the sprinkler guy around the yard as he did what needed to be done, he got to go downstairs into the basement and see what was happening down there, and he got to drink water directly out of the sprinkler head! To top it all off, his mom, who’s pretty awesome might I add, took him on a walk after everything was taken care off.

He’s the happiest guy in the world today. Here he is surveying his newly wet territory.

Earth Day Goodness Continued

Funny that you’re way of  ‘going green’ on earth day was buying a water bottle, because mine was too! I got the moosejaw (BPA free) camelbak in purple.  Eric got it in black. I love it. I find myself drinking a lot more, but have to pee every 10 minutes, which is annoying.