Slumber Party!

I spent the night with my parents last night. I had to come back to my home town (about 30 or so minutes from where I live) for a fundraiser so I thought I would go ahead and stay. It was so much fun and I was glad to visit. I had a little bit of dinner then my mom and I went to visit my grandparents. Then we came back home. Then we went to Wal-Mart. You know what, mom - we should have gone to Sonic. We use to always go to Sonic for a late night treat when we were up late planning and scheming.

Last night we were planning and scheming for Halloween. And let me just tell you, we've got some great costumes coming I do believe. I picked out a pattern online and my mom actually found it in the store so we had to go find fabric last night and also picked out a few accessories.

Another thing I got to do while home - watch cable (or satellite - whatever). Oh, my! Lucas, we are definitely missing out! We stayed up past 1:00 a.m. watching MSNBC. How great!

And Sarah - Really? $150,000??? Yea, ladies. She is just like us. Hmmm... I don't think so!!

Run, Ashley, Run

Weekend before last I ran in a 15k but afterwards my left foot has been bothering me a little. It has since gotten much better. But when I am on my feet for a long time (dancing all Saturday night or tennis match last night) it begins to hurt again. Therefore, I have slowed down my running. But I really have to get it in gear. I am less than 2 months away. I'm going to make myself get back on track this week - for sure!

All of this to say - I don't know what to blog about. I have a terrific barn star - thanks to Wendy - that I have yet to found a home for. Halloween costumes in mind but nothing yet accomplished. Crown molding up in the living room but yet to receive it's final coat of paint. Many more home projects to come but little time to accomplish them.

So I leave you for the day with this:

"Time is free but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back." ~Harvey MacKay

NIAGARA

One of my favorite - no - MY FAVORITE Sarah Evans' song is Niagara:

Standing at the edge of this cliff
Gravity being what it is
I'm afraid that I might stumble
'cause I... I've never been this high
I'm so carried away by this place
And the simple beauty of your face
And the walls start to crumble and I'm
Helpless to fight

'cause you can't, ask the sun not to shine
And no one's ever, found a way to stop time
Oh baby it's unstoppable
I can't resist at all
I would never, try to slow down the wind
Baby it just, has to be what it is
And asking me not to love you
Is like asking Niagara
not to fall

I can't, worry my heart with what if
Oh maybe I should just give in
And wrap myself around you and
Let you take you down
Take me down

'cause you can't, ask the sun not to shine
And no one's ever, found a way to stop time
Oh baby it's unstoppable
I can't resist at all
I would never, try to slow down the wind
'cause baby it just, has to be what it is
And asking me not to love you
Is like asking Niagara
not to fall

No you cant, ask the sun not to shine
And no one's ever, found a way to stop time
Oh baby it's unstoppable
I can't resist at all
I would never, try to slow down the wind
'cuase baby it just has to be what it is
And asking me not to love you
Is like asking Niagara
not to fall

Rain Rain Rain down on me

Wash wash wash over me

Fall fall fall into me

............ okay, Sarah and I just had a moment there. Anyway, point of this being - my husband just returned from a work trip to Canada and while there he made a visit to Niagara Falls! How Cool! I wish I could've been there!

Caught Up!

Well..... sorta. When I came back to my bloglines subscriptions, I had over 800 posts to read. I did not read all 800 - but I did scroll and hopefully have not missed all of your important going ons. I made a few comments but for the most part am just starting fresh - so from now on I promise to be a dedicated reader.

I am currently in the midst of Halloween planning. We have found a fun party on the top floor of a parking garage in our dowtown area. We're trying to get a group together at our house to pre-party and pass out candy before we head downtown. I have costume ideas in mind but I'll save them for another day when I have more in progress.

I Miss My Candice!!!

My good friend Candice came to visit and let me just say - well - yes, I felt a few years younger that weekend. Candice is still a 'college girl' - working on her Masters in D.C. I am an old married woman and can barely keep up but I tried my best for her.

The first night there was Mexican - then back to the house - then out to the bars.
The next day there was shoe shopping (because this little devil got a hold of Candice's shoes so we treated her to a new pair)

Then there was card games and a BAMA game!


We cheered on our team!


and ignored the Georgia fan section -

AND CELEBRATED OUR VICTORY OVER THE #1 DAWGS! WOOHOOOO!

ROOOOOOLLLLLLL TIIIIIIDE!!!!!

Then we headed out to a bar to celebrate and throw ourselves obnoxiously around any Auburn fans that dared enter the streets that night. Okay, maybe not - but we danced all night in our Alabama attire!

Then, I got a little sleepy and passed out fell asleep and missed this.
Look - my two friends - dancing! I enjoyed this moment the next morning while flipping through the pictures.

Then she left and my world was a little less bright. :(

Come back soon, Candice!!!

Dear Abandoned Readers,

I hope this letter finds you well. I have been missing for quite some time and have no doubt missed much of your life and many of your creative ideas. I try not to discuss work much but I no doubt have some 'splainin' to do so let me just say this - WORK IS CRAZY!!!! Oh my, goodness! This has been the first time in my short career (2 years in January) where I really felt entirely overwhelmed for an entire month. Yes, I've had my days - but an entire month? Never! Oh, it has been crazy. While I am still not beyond this craziness, I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. As that light draws nearer I hope to see all of my blog friends waving and welcoming me back with open arms - although I may not deserve it after deserting you all for so long!

Soooooo - I'm back! There isn't really a whole lot to catch up with on my side. I'm still working a lot, playing tennis, and training for my marathon in December. I ran a 15K race last weekend! Woohoo! As a warm up I ran 2 miles - that may have been stupid - bringing my running distance now to just over 11 miles. I am about a month and a half out and really need to step up my daily running.

Also, I got my barn star in the mail yesterday! I am going to have to find a special place for it then show it off to all of you.

And guess what? 3 weeks from today I'll be at the beach!! Yea!

So now I'm back to work. I have another pretty heavy task to complete before a Friday morning meeting. I hope to finish it up as quick as possible so I can start to catch up with all of you. I'll do my best.

Sincerely appreciating your patience,

Ashley

Wooohoooo!

Seriously - I don't win these things. But - Now I do! Yay!!! I can't believe I actually won a giveaway! And over 100 people posted for this thing. I am in total shock! Happy shock!!! Wendy over at Shabby Nest had a 50th post giveaway for this gorgeous barn star! Go check her out! She's got some great ideas for Halloween decorating up now.


On a side note, I'm sorry for being a bad blogger. I'm afraid I have not been reading my blog subscriptions, commenting on blogs, or responding to your comment love lately. My great friend came in on Friday and we had a wonderful weekend together. I'll post stories and pictures later. Then, I had to come in on Sunday and work for 7 hours! On Sunday! And work is so crazy this week. I have seriously never been this busy at work. At least the days go by quickly. Oh, and did I tell you I'm training for a marathon? I ran 10-freakin miles yesterday! Unfortunately, my blog has suffered. This should be my last chaotic week (actually I'll be very busy through the first of November but hopefully not this busy) and I'll be back to posting regularly. Hopefully I can get a few posts in this week. I just had to come celebrate my victory with all my bloggy friends!!!

Thank you, Wendy!

And Valerie - for informing me that I won (since I've been a bad blogging friend and haven't been able to read my blogs).

I'll be back soon!