Happy St. Patty's Day!

I remember when I was little, my mom would make us green eggs and pancakes, and I would wear my favorite green shirt on St. Patrick's Day.  But this year, the Jensen household is pretty boring.  I didn't make any green food, and I didn't even wear green!  Although, it was fun to have an excuse to wake up Ki today by pinching him! :)    He was confused because he forgot what day it was and asked why I was pinching him, so I had to remind him by saying "cause its St. Patrick's Day and you aren't wearing any green!"  Then he was like neither are you... so I admit it... I lied, and pulled out that old Jr. High trick and said "yes huh!  My underwear are green!"  He must have been really tired still, because he didn't even notice that what I said couldn't possibly be true with G's being white and all :P  haha... I am sure I will get a retaliation pinch when I get home from school :)  Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Just a Thought...

Yesterday in my Family Finance class before my teacher started the lecture, he shared a thought with us that really struck me, so I thought I would write about it on the blog so that I can remember it.  :)  Obviously, I won't be stating anything quite as elegantly as he did, but I will do my best.  He started off by telling us which general  authority's talk he had read that particular morning on the subject, but I missed which general authority it was and what the talk was called, because usually during his 10 minute spiritual thought I half listen/ half do my hw that is due at the end of class so at that point, I wasn't giving my full attention :P.  But after a couple minutes, I started to really listen and was touched by what he was saying, and knew  it was something I needed to hear at the moment.  He  was talking about how in life, it is easy to see the bad things rather than the good, especially in the people with who we associate.  It is easy to see the flaws in people, or to get stuck on the quirks they have that totally just rub you the wrong way.  This is true with people you work with, friends, siblings, parents, co-workers, spouses, EVERYONE!  My teacher went on to say that if his wife were to focus on all of his flaws, and shortcomings, rather than his good qualities, she would be one frustrated wife.  That when you focus on one flaw suddenly you find 100 more and all you are noticing are the things that drive you crazy.  But likewise, when you concentrate on a good quality in someone else, it is more easy to see the other good qualities that they have until the good blots out the bad.  I guess it just totally hit home for me because I realized that Ki and I had been allowing ourselves to only focus on the things that were bugging us about this particular person in our life instead of focusing on all the things he/she did that were good/virtuous/praiseworthy.  I realized how true what my teacher was saying really was.  That once you focus on one thing that bugs you about another person, suddenly everything they are doing is just downright driving you nuts!  So right then and there I decided I am going to try to focus on the positive in the people around me, in the good of my life, instead of focusing on the things other people do that drive me crazy :) 

This post might make me look like I'm a terrible person who judges other people, and I hope I didn't lower anyone's view of me as a person because I don't consider myself to be either a terrible person OR one that is constantly judging others.  But every once in awhile, I am prone to being annoyed at someone else because of something that they've done that just bugs me.  But I know its wrong to do so because I have a million flaws and shortcomings of my own, so I am going to try to see the good!  I am going to try to be better at ignoring the things that annoy me, and searching for the good in everyone, and I am going to try to work on my own shortcomings instead of looking at others'.

This is all, I just loved his thought, and realized it to be something that I could definately apply to my life.  Please don't think I am a terrible person :)  I am definately far from a perfect person, but not a terrible person I hope!

Also, on an unrelated note, do you like the new & improved blog background/colors?  I decided my old background was SUPER girly... and since Ki is technically an author on this blog (even though he hasn't updated it since like 2 years ago) I should maybe do a less gender specific background.  This one is still girly... but at least it isn't pink with hearts and birds right?  Hope you all are having a fabulous Saturday!

Hallelujah!

Alrighty folks, it has been a fantastic week and let me tell you why!  For some time now, like MONTHS, we have been saying we need to look into better options for car insurance because we felt like we were paying out the ears for it!  This week, we finally decided to take action, and thank heavens we finally decided to.  We have officially gone from paying $168.20/month for our 2 cars, to $72/month!  SERIOUSLY.  Would I really joke about something this serious?  We have been giddy all day about it.  That is almost $100/month we will be saving!  Ki made a comment earlier about how he used to always think that the ecstatic people on the car insurance commercials on tv that saved $ by switching companies were so cheesy, but that now he could be on one!  Haha, that made me giggle just thinking about it :)  We switched to Bear River Mutual, who are a little more strict about the people they insure but luckily since neither of us have any tickets/accidents on our record, we have good credit, and we don't drink or do drugs they approved us!  woohoo!  We also decided to just insure our Dodge Neon with Liability instead of Liability & Comprehensive because with it being a re-built title and all its market value isn't really that high, so we felt like it wasn't worth it to pay for comprehensive coverage anymore.

The second reason why this week has been fun and unique is because it just has!  I don't know why, but I've been in pretty good spirits :)  Not that I'm not normally in a good mood, cause most the time I am, but this week I've been in an extra good mood!   It always helps when you have a husband as cute as Ki though :)  Yesterday after I went grocery shopping I called him to have him come out and help me cart the groceries up our 3 flights of stairs, and when he came out he surprised me with a rose!  It was so unexpected, that it gave me butterflies and made me feel all giddy!  They were selling them at his school, and he decided he wanted to buy one for me :)  I love being married to someone who is always thinking of things he can do for me!  He is the best friend ever.

The third reason this week has been awesome is because the weather has been soo beautiful!  :)  Blue skies make my heart glad.

The fourth reason I love this week, is that I reconnected with my dear old roommate Holly who I haven't spent time with in way too long!  Ki and I met her and Troy (her fiance) at a frozen yogurt place where we stayed for 3 HOURS!  When we left I couldn't believe it had been that long.  It is always so fun to catch up with people you love dearly, but haven't seen in awhile.  It was also great to get to know her new fiance Troy and see how perfect they are for each other :)  I am so glad they are getting married April  28th (the day before we move) so that I can go to her reception!

So yeah, life is good, in our neighborhood, and since I don't want to do the homework I am supposed to be doing at the moment, I thought I would quickly blog about it :)

But since I STILL don't want to do my homework, I think I will keep blogging :)  (Also I will keep blogging because Ki is at UVU working on a project, so he isn't here to stop me and help me be productive! mwahahahaha)

A couple weeks ago, on February 24th to be exact, we celebrated our 2 year first date anniversary!  It is an easy day to remember, because it is also my parents wedding anniversary!  (cool huh?)  I know it is so cliche to say, but my first date with Ki, was the best first date I had ever been on!  Immediately we got along so well, and could talk about everything.  Those who know Ki, aren't shocked because he is the outgoing one, but for me, this NEVER happened on first dates!  For those of you who don't already know, our first date was to a Jazz game, and I don't even remember who they played, but it was so fun!  My favorite part of the date, was that every time the opposing team would shoot a free throw I would scream AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-MISS!  I was being such a dork, but seriously it was working!  Finally Ki was like, "you are so lucky, I can't believe that is working!  If they miss the next 3 free throws you scream AAA-MISS during, I will buy you dippin dots during half time."  Of course I was game for that challenge!  Lucky for me, my luck held out for three more free throws and I won dippin dots!  The second most memorable thing about this date was that while we were waiting in line for my dippin dots during half time, we saw this man that looked just like you would picture Santa Claus to look but we are in real life!  We both laughed about it, but then Ki upped the ante and said, "If you go up to that man and tell him what you want for Christmas, I will buy you the biggest size of Dippin Dots and anything else you want."  And... I did it!  Oh my goodness I am kidding, there is no way I would ever do that!  I would feel mean... and stupid... and I am way too chicken!  But its all good I still got my Dippin Dots :)  Then on the way home from the game, we had some pretty personal conversaton and it was just so great to connect that way with someone!  He even got me to tell him my most embarrassing secret!  Which I am pretty sure he is one of a select few to know!  I would share with the class, but... it IS pretty embarrassing... and I am afraid you would all be disgusted haha.  Anyways, thanks for letting me ramble and reminisce about our amazing 1st date!  Sometimes I get carried away with the details nobody probably cares about, but since this is the closest thing I have to a journal, I tell myself it is okay.  Anyways, to celebrate our special 1st date day, we went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and then since Tiff & Jake happened to be in Orem, they came over and we all skipped out on homework obligations!  It is so fun to have such good friends :)  Welp... I think that is all the HW procrastination my sleep deprived brain can handle.  I better buck up and get to it!  But to end this post, I will of course leave ya with a few pictures.

I had our fantastic neighbor Seth take this picture for us before we went to dinner :) Notice how color coordinated we are?  Sometimes we like to be matchy!  Well...I do at least! haha and Ki knows this, so he usually asks me what he should wear on special occasions and lets me dress him.

And for picture #2 I had our waitress take a picture for us :)

The End!  Thanks for reading that incredibly long post!

Valentine's Day!

So... I wrote this post like the day after Valentine's Day, and then I forgot to post it. So...  Happy Belated Valentines Post! :)

I have to admit.  I am a sucker for Valentine's Day :)  It is fun to be over the top romantic and fun to exchange heart felt notes/cards/gifts.  I love, LOVE!  Always have.. haha.  Yesterday, when I went to Wal-Mart to get a few last minute ingredients I needed for the dinner I had planned for Ki, it warmed my heart to see the hundreds of men there making last minute purchases of roses, chocolates, over-sized stuffed animals, cards etc for their loved ones!  It brought a smile to my face lol.  Ki surprisingly was not among the last minute shoppers, he is SUCH a planner.  We are so different that way.  He gets excited about holidays and plans what he is going to get for me/do for me before I even realize the holiday is approaching.  I found my Valentine's Day gift that he had hid in our spare bedroom a week ago while searching for our missing marriage license (we're trying to get my passport changed to the right name)  Don't worry, for once I didn't let my curiosity get the best of me, and I didn't sneakily open it.  Remember the time in July 2009 when I searched Ki's room every day for a week trying to find my engagement ring, and ended up finding the receipt for the diamond and mapquest directions to Nauvoo where he proposed?  yes... I am a terribly curious person which often leads to me to be a stinker and spoil  his surprises.

This Valentines weekend was perfect :)  The best Valentine's Day to date!  On Saturday, Ki took me up to Park City to go skiing/snowboarding with my family and to hang out for a couple nights.  It was a blast :)  We sure wore ourselves out though!  Not to mention we forgot sunscreen, and we both got FRIED!  Seriously, my face was so sunburnt from below my eyes down, that it was like a cancerous purple-red.  I don't know how I managed to get more burnt then my fair-skinned and red-headed love, but I did!  He claims, that he is so white, he reflected the sun off himself onto me. ha. 

For Valentine's day itself we didn't do anything too fancy since we already had spent a lot of money to go up to Park City for the weekend but it was still a fabulous day.  Ki cleaned the house, and did the dishes (which honestly is probably the best V-day gift ever, or any day gift for that matter) and of course got me a gigantic box of chocolate :) yum...  For Ki, I decided food was the in-expensive gift he would like most.  So for dinner we had steak with these potatoes and a salad, followed by these incredible lindt lindor cupcakes!   It was so delicious!  We then hit up Nickelcade with our neighbors, where we became addicted to the arcade game Deal, or no Deal, and eventually with our ticket winnings purchased matching tatoos :D  Upon arriving back at our clean, and aromatic abode, we exchanged our V-day cards and then watched  The Bachelor! :)  Yes.... I STILL watch the Bachelor haha.  Is it a total waste of time? ... yes.  Is it completely over the top dramatic? ... yes.  Is it crazy, and maybe a tad unrealistic that a relationship starting on reality tv could actually work? ... yes.  But I still LOVE every second of it haha.  That is one of the things I LOVE about Ki.  He watches so many chick movies/tv shows with me.  And he never complains!  Even when its his turn to choose a tv show, or a movie, he'll still pick what he knows I want to watch.  (Granted, we do watch plenty of the action packed macho movies as well) But it is still just so sweet.  I love him oodles :)  I wish we had a pic from Valentine's Day, but both our faces are suffering the after-effects of the severe sunburns we got on Saturday, so I didn't much feel like documenting my face as it currently is white from the eyes up, red from the eyes down, and nastily peeling at will.  Here are a few pics from the ski trip though with my fam!

From left to right : Momma, Andrew, Shay, Nate, Ash (me haha), Ki, Kristin, and Tristan

Dad was of course taking the pic, so he is missing

Heck yeah, double black diamond!  We are THAT hardcore!  Well... my family is at least... after the pic, I went down the easier way haha.

Left to Right: Kristin&Tristan, Ash&Ki, Nate, and Andrew

My dad got some "action" pics :)

Ki in action

My momma, sissy Kris, and myself enjoying a carmel apple.  (My mom promised treats if any of the boys, could hit one of the signs from the lift with a snowball.  Ki miraculously pulled off a hit for the win)

I realize I look like a grease ball, but I still think its cute... even with the red faces and smushed hair.

haha atleast we all look in desperate need of a shower together :)

Last, but not least, I AM the fruit ninja!  This is Andrew and I battling it out for the win!  But I guess technically we are both fruit ninja's... cause although I beat him in Multi-player, he just recently passed up my high score of 383 that little stinker... I've been trying to beat his highscore of 392 all week!

fun old pics :)

I just found these delightful pics on Ki's camera that we never really used until recently.  These are from our Honeymoon in Park City right after we got married :)  They make me smile..

Now the next following four pics are the best, and crack me up everytime I look at them, brings back such funny memories haha.



This is the first picture in the sequence, me all happy and posing for a pic.  Ki is laughing, but I figure its just cause I am so darn cute :)

2nd pic in the sequence, Ki is just losing it laughing, but I figure its cause I am being a cheese-ball for the camera.

 3rd pic in the sequence, I am beginning to be really confused at his reaction...

 4th pic... I finally ask Ki, "why are you laughing so hard!?"  him, "Oh no reason, I'm just waiting for someone to come get mad at you for ignoring their sign"



I didn't see the sign people!  haha... figured since we could sit in the red one, we'd be able to sit in the blue one too.... guess its like historic or something... woops! :)

so ready...

I am so ready for finals to be over!  I'm running on an average of 4 hrs of sleep a night this week thanks to my research paper, first final, and other projects that have been due.  The good news is only 7 finals stand between me and my fabulously relaxing and festive Christmas Break!  Ki and I are so excited that we actually get to celebrate Christmas this year!  We plan to go to temple square to see the lights, feed the reindeer at thanksgiving point, attend our family christmas parties, and have an ugly sweater eggnog party!  If you will recall we were both working 12 hr. graveyards at the post office last christmas for a little extra cash flow from Dec. 10- Dec. 24th.  Wow, mixed memories from our first Christmas working that much.  Some good, some terrible, MANY hilarious, but all-in-all we are relieved we decided not to subject ourselves to that again this year.  We wish all our dear friends and family who are doing it another year, good luck!  We hope you don't die from exhaustion,  and that you won't have a crazy task-driver demanding you push the OTR's faster in your pit.  We hope you have another  Jamie Suliafu in your pit, who is huge and strong, and lifts all the huge heavy bags full of parcels and letters onto the sorting table for you.  Because lets face it, that was the job we all hated most.  We hope you have a comfy pair of shoes because 12 hrs of standing really takes a terrible toll on your feet and back, but mostly we really hope for your sake that people don't send packages filled with wine bottles that break, pee samples, stinky fish or any of the other terrible crap we had spilled on us last year :)

I am so glad I am only taking 14 credits next semester instead of 18.  Having 18 credits this semester has just about done me  in.  I'm not one of those crazy genius people who can endure large doses of school all at once.  I have a job interview tomorrow at a CPA firm (since I will be able to handle having a job come January, unlike this semester) and I really hope I get it!  It is just for the PT receptionist job, but it would be so great because I really hate looking for jobs, and being receptionist is low key and has a low stress level involved, and I just would love it haha.  So wish me luck!  I really hate interviews.... really really bad.

Have I mentioned I am so excited for Christmas yet?!  Man I can't wait for finals to be over with.  I hope you all survive finals, and I really hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season as much as us!

Wahoo!

We are officially debt-free!  We just made the last car payment on max (the Mazda) today and it feels so great :)  We contemplated running outside barefoot in the snow and screaming we are debt free at the top of our lungs in celebration... but decided against that particular course of action because we are both currently fighting off colds and sore throats... and because we don't want our neighbors to think (or know) that we are crazy :)  I figured the blog was almost as good as acting like a crazy person haha.  So so excited!  Wahoo!  We even managed to save enough to still go to Bulgaria (where he served his mish) next Fall for Ki's graduation gift.  I can't wait!

Indecisiveness...

I am so indecisive and it is killing me!  For every single present I have in mind to get Ki for Christmas, and then for his birthday right after Christmas, I keep feeling the need to call him and ask his opinion or advice on every single item!  It is quite ridiculous.  I mean I am capable of making decisions on my own without him,  I just really want him to like his gifts.  Plus it doesn't help that most the items on his wish-list are all high-tech, technology stuff I know nothing about!

The questions running through my head begging to be asked are along the lines of:... "should I buy the least expensive version of this, or will it be poor quality? should I buy a used version of such and such or should I just shell out the money for the new?  Do you prefer this brand, this brand, or this brand when  it comes to this certain item?"  bleh.  I am terrible at Christmas shopping lol.  The clothes part is just about the only part I can do without a ton of research/questions and of course that is the part he cares the least about lol.  I need a christmas shopping tutor, is there such a thing?

Ash

So very THANKFUL!

Wow.  What an awesome Thanksgiving it has been!  The only thing that could've made it better is if we could apparate like real wizards and see both sides of the family in one day!  Some things that I am most thankful for. . .

• The best family in the whole world.  I literally ask myself everyday how I got so lucky to have such a loving family! 
• The best husband I could've ever asked for!  Who works so hard for our little family, who cuddles me, and who loves me no matter what.
• The amazing & supportive friends that Ki and I have both met along the path of life.  We both have been so lucky to associate with so many good people
• The country that we live in, but more importantly those that give so much of their time, and lives to protect our freedom, and the families of those serving.
• The gospel, and the blessings Ki and I have been so abundantly blessed with
• Food, food, and more food.
• Life!  life is so good, and so worth living! 

I could go on, and on, but just a shout out to all our friends and family out there that we are so grateful for everything you have ever done for us and for your examples.  We hope that you all had an amazing Turkey Day shared with your families and loved ones!

Ash

p.s. I will post pics from our Thanksgiving, later on :) 

Hi, its me again :)

Just a couple of things to say.

1) The cruise was the most amazing get-away!  Seriously it was so relaxing, and theraputic, and it was great to forget all responsibilities for a couple days!

2)  I have the best husband ever.  Like really.  We have been so busy the past month, and last night we were so excited to stay up late spending time together and then to sleep in today, and then at 1 am or so Ki remembered he had to work early this morning... he was so sad.  But this morning he got up for work without complaining, and when I was about to get up to try and hurry and make him breakfast before he had to leave he just kissed me and said, go back to sleep for a couple hours babe.  I love you.  Honestly... BEST husband ever. 

3)  I have to speak in church tomorrow... for the first time since I was a Laurel in 2006... I pretty much hate public speaking.  It is the worst, and I am NOT excited to feel humiliated (which inevitably will happen... something about giving a "church" talk, being an emotional person, and nerves don't go together very well for me)  I pretty much plan on getting up then: introducing Ki and I, speed speaking through my talk (can't be helped when I'm nervous), cry talking when I get to the parts of the talk that make me emotional, then being so embarrased I speed speak even faster until I finally get to the end and sit down.  Good thing Ki is a good speaker :)  hopefully he can redeem us, and make up for the time I was supposed to speak but didn't.  I swear it feels like I stand up there 15 minutes, but then everyone tells me I was talking so fast it was really only 5.  Yes, I need help.  And yes, I already took public speaking.  But instead of turning me into a profesh public speaker, it just made me all the more aware of my failings at the pulpit :)  oh well, we all have different talents I suppose!

4)  I swear that eyebrow hairs grow faster in winter!  Does anyone feel the same way?  I think I might just be going crazy, but I literally have to pluck my eyebrows twice as much in the winter time... maybe it just has something to do with my pasty white skin, not hiding the regrowth as well as tan skin?

random post I know, but I finished all my homework and now I have to start my talk... you can see why I am procrastinating :) 

p.s.  I would love if people would comment just so I know people actually read this blog.  I am starting to feel like I am writing to nobody.  So if you are reading this, whoever you are, even if you are a blog stalker leave a comment just saying hello or anything really :)  It would be nice to know their are a few readers out there!