Reading Challenge 2014: The Book of Mormon

Let's do this together :]

Well, what better way to start off the new year than by committing to reading The Book of Mormon? I'll be honest. I am the WORST scripture reader. I don't mean that I can't pronounce half the words in the scriptures (which is entirely true but besides the point...), I mean that I almost never read. It's so bad. Forgive my lack of reading..

As I was cleaning out my church bag and preparing it with new materials for my primary class, I found my scripture study journal. I looked inside, ashamed that it had been a while since I had done any studying, and found a schedule for a reading challenge I had found online. I was really good about sticking with it for about a week, and then I never went back to it. I decided that starting January 1st, I am going to start and complete my challenge!!

The challenge that I am going to participate in is called 

40 Days & 40 Nights

This challenge has a list of scriptures for you to read morning and night and has a highlighted scripture/chapter for you to focus on. As I said, I don't remember where I found the reading list, but if you are interested in joining in, you can email me at aanderson[at]gmail[dot]com and I will be happy to email you the schedule :] I have one for The Book of Mormon and one for the New Testament! 

If you're looking for something a little easier...

Check out my friend Ashley's cute idea for her 2014 Challenge

Her's is broken down so you can finish the BoM by the end of 2014! All you have to do is ready 4.5 pages a day! It's easy!!

So join me, brothers & sisters :]

Tell me about your experience

Share with me what you have learned!! 

Follow me & my experiences on Twitter

Email me at aanderson805[at]gmail[dot]com

Or comment below :] 

For Time & All Eternity {Preview}

I apologize for being MIA lately..

Hopefully you will forgive me by looking at a preview shot from our sealing

Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California
November 30th, 2013

Marriage

Location: Snow White's Wishing Well at Disneyland in Anaheim, California

August 1st, 2013

Well, does this photo need any more explanation?! ;)
I love you hunny, thank you for the several amazing birthday gifts 

and for 5 years of absolute joy, love, and support

PACKING

In less than 2 days

we are 

MOVING HOME

However,

I absolutely hate packing

Even though we don't have that much stuff.. 

I know we have enough boxes and suit cases to pack everything,

but I still feel like I always need some sort of magic spell to fit everything into boxes

See you soon

Flash-Back-Friday: 20th Birthday

I posted about this last year.. but I'm posting about it again!

One year ago this Sunday,

Jayson and I moved from Salt Lake City back home to California

I can't believe its already been that long!!

When we moved home, we really wanted to see our friends before we started work, but by the time we had seen our families and celebrated my birthday with my family, we were about to go to Disneyland for my birthday. I started calling and texting everyone, asking if they wanted to get together but they were either busy, didn't answer, or didn't want to hang out. I told them I wanted to get together for my birthday and I still got the same response :( Sad, Right?

By about 5pm that day, I told Jayson that I wanted to just stay home. We had so many chores to get done and we needed to wake up early the next day to go to Disneyland. He told me that was fine, but that his brother Cody had wanted to go to Chili's with us because he had a coupon for queso dip. He finally convinced me to go, but I didn't want to take the time and effort to get all dressed up. I mean, we were just going with his brother.. I don't need to look "pretty" to go out. But here's where it gets interesting.. Jayson really likes my natural hair-unstraightened. I think he's nuts, so I almost never go a day without straightening it. We had a conversation a few weeks prior to this that I should just try to go a few weeks without touching it and see if it tames itself naturally... I finally agreed since my new job would be me working with kids, so I would have it pulled back anyway. It took us a loooong time to get over that 'discussion.' So that night, when I decided to just leave my hair alone, he mad a HUGE deal about the fact that I wouldn't put make up on or straighten my hair. I was a little more than frustrated, because we had just had this huge talk about it. I held my ground and told him that I wasn't going to 'get dressed up' just to go eat dinner for an hour and then come home and go to bed. He tried getting dressed up with a button up shirt and tie, hoping that would make me want to get dressed up more, but all that did was make me change out of my sweat pants and put on a pair of nicer jeans.

About 10 minutes before we left, Cody left the house and said he would meet us there. I told Jayson that it makes no sense for us to wait to leave and we should just leave too, but he kept telling me he had finances to run on the computer before we left. I didn't think anything unusual was happening, because he checks our finances pretty frequently.

We finally left and he called Cody to let him know that we were just pulling into the parking lot. Again, still didn't think anything of it because he was asking where Cody was sitting. Then we got out of the car and I saw a big black truck drive by. I didn't think much of it.. I just thought it looked cool, but then Jayson saw me looking at it. So he grabbed my hand and RAN inside Chili's. I thought he was just being cute and having fun with me (I'll explain why he did that in a bit). We got inside and started walking toward the table. I was looking for Cody as I walked, and then I noticed my friend Karla sitting at a table. I got super upset, because when I asked her if she wanted to do anything, she told me she had to do some stuff at home and couldn't. By the time I had thought about why she told me she couldn't hang out, I also noticed Sarah..and Chris..and Lilly..and soon realized that every person sitting at the table were people I had called and told me that they were busy. As I realized that, they all shouted SURPRISE! At first I was like "who the heck are they talking to?" and then I realized that they were talking to me.

sorry for the watermark, I used a trial version of editing software to get the 2 videos put together

So my first surprise party was a success. 

I'm glad my friends "lied" to me just to surprise me :p

 But man, I wish I would have listened to my husband and gotten dressed up for dinner.. oops. 
Thanks again guys, that was such a fun night :)

Neverland Family 5K

Guess who is officially running a Disneyland 5k?!!

I have been openly talking about running a Disney Marathon for quite some time now.. I jokingly mentioned it to Jayson a few years ago, and then we never really talked about it much after that. I'm not much of a runner, but I came up with the theory that being inside Disneyland will encourage me to run (since I practically run through the park when we visit anyway).  Lately I've been into watching YouTube vloggers and one guy in particular used to be a Disney World Cast Member, so he travels to all of the Disney parks and vlogs his vacations. He has done a few of the Disney World Marathons and did a Disneyland Marathon last year. Ever since I first watched that video, it kept the runDisney program on my mind. 

I did some research on a few of the runs, and the one that interested me the most was the Disney Princess Marathon because that race in particular was for a charity event, but it was all the way in Florida at Walt Disney World, and cost almost $400 bucks just for one person to race. I was really discouraged after that because after paying for air fair, a hotel that's NOT at the resort (because its ridiculously expensive to stay at the resort), probably needing a rental car, paying for parking, and THEN paying for registration, it would easily cost us a couple thousand dollars. If I'm going to spend a few thousand just to run 26 miles (that's how long a marathon is, right?) then we had better be visiting W.D.W.! But we don't have the money to do that... 

So I let my dream of running at Disneyland just remain a dream. And then I thought that once Jayson and I have kids, it's going to be practically impossible for me to ever have a chance at running again until after they are old enough to stand around and wait for mom to finish a run. Plus, who wants to wake their kids up at 3:00am and convince them to just STAND inside Disneyland and not do anything? Then I came to the conclusion that this is probably my one and only chance to do this before we have kids. 

I did some research, and yet again came across that $400 price tag, just for one person to race, even at Disneyland. My heart sank.. If I'm going to spend $400 to run, half of that money could be used for 2 park-hopper tickets! I did some more research, and then I came across the Neverland Family 5K! 

Now let me explain exactly why I am so thrilled about this.. 

When I first found out about the runDisney program, it immediately climbed its way to the top of my bucket list. But there was just one problem. I am not a runner.. I have never been. Yes, I'm a 5th degree black belt and should have the stamina of a horse, but I have never, ever, been able to run. I don't have asthma, I don't have any medical problems, I just have never been able to run. I get light headed pretty easily, and I've blacked out a time or two after running just a mile at school. The last time I ran a mile was in high school- my sophomore year. If I remember correctly, my fastest mile time was 8 or 9 minutes. I ran because I had a grade that needed to be raised, and who wants to go home to their parents and tell them that of all the classes they take, they fail physical education? But I wouldn't let this crush my dream.. 

I told Jayson about a month ago that I wanted to do the run, and that I was going to do it, even if I had to do it alone. I was going to cross this event off my bucket list, even if it killed me. I got an email reminder this morning saying that registration was already 65% full and I knew that my time to register was running out. I told Jayson about the email, and he immediately responded with "I'll run it with you." My heart literally stopped. Jayson hasn't ran since he played football in high school either, and both of our stamina has dropped tremendously since we graduated.  Before I had time to send him a response, he texted me back and said "Go ahead and sign up." My heart was pounding. I thought to myself "is this really happening?!" 

As I clicked on the registration forms, filled them out, I paused before pressing the submit button and texted Jayson again, making sure that I wasn't just dreaming up the fact that he told me to sign up. When he reassured me that I wasn't dreaming, I pressed the submit button...

When this popped up on my screen, I was literally in tears. I just stared at my screen for a few minutes. I couldn't believe I had finally signed up for a run! The Neverland Family Run is only 3 miles, but it's a more realistic run for me.. 

I'm still taking it all in. I'm still crying about it too, in a good way. My dream is finally coming true. And not only am I running in Disneyland, I'm running with my husband. I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me to be married to a man who is so supportive of my goals and dreams. He doesn't even like to run anymore, and he's doing it anyway. He's doing it for me. He's doing it with me. All because it makes me happy. I am so blessed.. 

The run is at 5:45am on Friday, January 17th, 2014

Colette Buttler- My YouTube Idol

I just really want to be a mom like her some day 

& I hope my girls will have this much fun with me :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz5wD1Q284w

#ShayLoss 5 Week Challenge

Hello Angel Faces 

...am I the only one who follows Jenna Marbles?

As some of you have more than likely noticed, but also have been way too polite to say anything, I'm sad to say that I've gained about 15 pounds since Jayson and I have been married

15 pounds?!

Why are you freaking out?!?!!

THAT'S NOTHING!!

You're right, it is nothing. But to me? 15 pounds may as well be 100! This is the "biggest" I have ever been in my entire life. I've always maintained a healthy weight of about 130-135lbs. I've always been able to eat whatever I want, literally, and it's never affected me. I've always felt comfortable in my skin,
but as of lately, that's been quite the opposite. As I said, I've gained 15 pounds and grown a full pant size in two years and I feel disgusting..

I used to live off of McDonald's in Junior High.That's because I would get out of school at 3:15pm, only have 45 minutes before I would go teach at my karate studio and then I would be there for 4 hours training and teaching, so I would "work off" the yuckness that my body consumed. After I stopped training, I still ate whatever I wanted and ended up getting heavily addicted to Diet Coke..

When I first realized that I could no longer fit into any of my size five jeans that I owned, I was upset but I just brushed it off of my shoulders. Then as Jayson and I were packing for Colorado, I tried on my favorite pair of capris and was literally in tears when I couldn't pull them up my thighs.. That was the most heart breaking feeling I have ever had in my life. I just stood in the mirror and looked at how "disgusting" it was that I couldn't pull them up any higher.

Now before you all freak out, just step into my shoes for a minute. I don't think that I'm fat. I don't think that I am over weight, and I don't think that I'm unhealthy. But for me, personally, and my body type.. I am not what I consider to be "healthy" for what I've always been. Does that make sense?? Anyway, once Jayson and I moved out here, I was determined to get back into shape. I became so fixated on being able to walk up a flight of stairs without running out of breath. I wanted so bad for that "bird-arm" to get toned. I wanted so bad for my "stomach pooch" to go away. I just wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin. I couldn't even wear a bathing suit in front of my own husband without feeling uncomfortable..

I ended up convincing Jayson to weasel in a 24 Hour Fitness gym pass into our budget. For the first week, Jayson and I went ever night after work, consistently. The next week, "mother nature" kicked in and lezbihonest (bonus points if you caught that reference), what girl goes to the gym during that time?! After that, we both stopped going. I tried eating healthier, but then that chocolate ice cream in our freezer just kept calling my name after long days at work.

I woke up one morning and was just sick of my constant excuses to not get in shape. My constant justifications for filling my mouth with junk and crap that would make me feel ever worse after eating it. Shortly after, my favorite YouTube family, The ShayTards, came up with a brilliant idea. ShayCarl, the husband of the family, has another YouTube channel called ShayLoss where he posts videos of his journey through weight loss. Shay has been blogging for the past 4 years and during that time has gotten back in shape and even ran a marathon! All while holding callings in church, being a YouTube sensation, constantly going to meeting for YouTube channels, hosting events like the Monsters University, Blue Carpet Premiere, all while taking care of his four children and helping his sweet wife, Colette, with their fifth baby boy that's on the way! Can you tell I'm kind of obsessed with this family?! Anyway, his younger brother Logan came down to California to live with them for a while, so Shay and Logan came up with the 5 Week Challenge.

The 5 Week Challenge started on Monday, June 24th and is going until August 1st. Basically, they are making a video every day of the week (Monday-Friday) to help get us YouTube subscribers motivated to change our eating habits and working out daily. It's been super helpful! Especially since they make videos about at-home workout that you can do. Unfortunately, working out at home just doesn't work for me because I get too easily distracted. So I've been going to the gym instead.

I took some "before" pictures but for obvious reasons, I won't be posting them. I've been to the gym every day this week and have started to watch what I eat. I have also been completely off soda for 16 days! I am so excited and happy about this :) My goal is to just be able to fit into my capris when I get home so I can wear them to Disneyland.

Wish me luck!!

Denver Adventures

Man, I wish I had more pictures of Denver...

But truth be told, we haven't had a chance to do much exploring. I work Monday-Friday and I'm pretty beat once I get off work. Plus, Jayson works until almost 10:00pm and he also works on Saturday, which is my only day off... So we hardly ever have the chance to get out of our room and see the city.

I managed to take a picture of Downtown after I picked up Jayson from work

 (the quality is horrible because Jayson was driving while I took it)

We had the chance to see the temple a few weeks ago :) I picked up Jayson from the far end of Highlands Ranch (which is the same area that I work) and as we were driving home, I saw the Angel Moroni from the freeway and got super excited! Ever since then, I had begged Jayson to take me to see it :) Since Sunday was really our only day we had time to go, and we were already dressed in appropriate attire, we decided to drive over. Luckily the gate was open, so we walked around the temple together. It was beautiful. It took my breath away and reminded me just how lucky I am to be here on this earth. 

Denver Colorado LDS Temple

Last weekend we had some time to our self for once, which was super nice! Our hotel is right next to the train (which is basically the Metro Link or the TRAX). We decided to take it down to County Line to chck out the mall. It was fun because we got to hang out with Jayson's co-workers, the Carolina boys - Joseph and Tyson. We had taken it downtown the week before to check out 16th street which had cute little shops and took us right past Broncos Stadium! So cool to finally see that stadium... I can't wait to go to a game some day.

Today of all days has been a lot of fun. Last night, we moved into a house that we are renting with Jayson's co-workers- Jesse, Joe, and Dane. Being in a house of all boys is pretty interesting... haha. It's a good thing we all get along so well or else we would have problems ;) I love these guys. I'm actually going to be kind of sad when the summer is over, because Dane is getting married and who knows where he'll go, Jesse will be in Utah and Joe will be back on the east coast :( Sad...

 But I'm still excited to go home and see my kids that I nanny, The Holts!! 

Blond Hair Don't Care!

Dear Genetics..

Why did you curse me with a lions mane?

frizzy-can't-decide-to-be-curly-wavy-or-straight hair
WHY?!
Why can't I have beautiful, natural hair?!?! 

-_-

Well, fine then
Good thing TRESemme makes amazing products

before & after

I use TRESemme products for my hair. 
It's amazing
really
I use Split End Remedy Shampoo & Conditioner
and it does WONDERS for my unbelievably damaged hair

Every one gets split ends
but mine are SOOO BAD because I straighten my hair every day
and I basically fried it when I dyed my hair dark dark brown in the beginning of January.. 

-Flash Back Friday Moment-



So like I said, 
my hair is was fried
and it took a HUGE process to get back to blond.. 

Once I started working at the Bridal shop I had to wear black every day,
and having dark hair wasn't cutting it for me anymore
Luckily, the manager at the salon next door was nice enough to help me out!
She gave me a FREE Vitamin-C treatment
which basically brought the shine back to my hair and stripped some of the color out of it
and then she gave me a wicked discount and stripped more color out of my hair 
and started to dye it back to blond
:)

So I rocked the faded gold with caramel highlights and brown undertones look
But that was the last time I had anything done to my hair.. 
5 months of untreated, grown out roots, split ends, messy hair is just...ridiculous
..and boy did the back of my head look ridiculous...
And I knew Jayson missed my blondness so much
So today, I fixed it :)
and I am one step closer to being completely blond!

I still have some caramel/brown highlights and undertones

because my hair isn't quite ready for a full blond overload

But I did get a pretty stellar cut!

I'm growing my hair out

but I reallllyyy wanted to cut it because I get headaches from my thick head of hair

and the wonderful side of this is that I can still have long hair

and have it thinned out too!

As you can see,

 I added some choppy layers

and got some pretty cool bangs!

I've never had thick bangs like this before

It's so bizarre... 

I'm not used to it at all

They're a little too short

and I cant get them to calm down and not stick straight up

but I love them :) 

..and boy did I miss being blond! 

Do I still love Disney?

I just want to be there already

I feel like I miss Disney so much more when I live out of state..

Maybe it just feels harder now because my hotel room looks exactly like the Farefield Inn Marriott

Around the time I was 13, I started to wonder if I would ever get to a point in my life 

where Disneyland wouldn't be as exciting as it is every year..

I wondered if I would still be willing to get up at 5:00am 4:00am on the morning of my birthday

I wondered if I would still get that  feeling in the pit of my stomach when I saw these signs

I wondered if I would still get excited about skipping down Main Street USA

I wondered if I would still race to Space Mountain and Matterhorn first thing in the morning..
I wondered if "Mickey Food" would still be just as exciting as it was when I was 7 or 8..

Would I still think the canoe ride was dumb?

Would I ever get excited about walking around the stores?

Would I still feel like casually walking around Disneyland was wasting precious ride-time?

Would I still refuse to go back to the hotel to take a nap?
Would I still be a diva when people would take my picture?

I think this was my 6th birthday..

Will I still follow my "Disney-Prep-Routine" when I'm older?

This consisted of watching Disneyland Fun over, and over, several months before my birthday

Will I still pack my suitcase months in advance? 

Will I ever sleep in the car on the way down to Disney?

Will I ever complain about being out until the park closed? 

Will I still want to watch Fantasmic at the end of the day?

Will I still want to ride Haunted Mansion at 9:00 in the morning 

so I can blow out the candles in the Ball Room? 

Worst of all

Would I still want to spend my birthday(s) at Disneyland

 after I turned 18? or 20?

UHM..YES

I know with out a doubt that will never change

I am proud to say that I have spend every, single birthday at Disneyland

(with the exception of my 18th because I was getting baptized)

Have I still followed my "D.P.R"?

Yes. Completely.

But now I have an entire playlist on YouTube that I watch.

(and yes, I am watching it right now) 

Have I packed my suitcase months in advance? 

...more like I just have my outfits picked out months in advanced..

I'm making my 'birthday t-shirt' this year

Have I ever fallen asleep in the car on the way to Disneyland?

... I can't believe I did that last year... even Jayson was shocked...

Have I complained about being in the park until it closed?

No, but I will admit that last year it was so unbelievably packed because of the new Cars Land opening that the shortest wait times for any rides were at least an hour.. so we went home around 7:00pm

Do I still want to watch Fantasmic at the end of the day?

It really kind of depends. If the park was practically empty and we got a lot done in the day, then I don't mind stopping a few hours before it starts to save a decent seat. If it's been a long and crazy day and we don't have a hotel room and we still had more we wanted to get done, then I would probably decide to just skip it.  If we have a hotel room, I usually chose a night to sit down and watch :) 

Do I still want to ride Haunted Mansion first thing in the morning? 

Well first of all, let me explain why I used to want to be in line by 9:00am.

One year, someone in my family (I used to go with my parents, brother, aunt, uncle, other aunt, and cousin) said to me that I needed to blow out the candles that were on the cake in the Ball Room because all the ghosts came to celebrate my birthday. Ever since then I wanted to be on the ride by the time I was born so that way I could blow out the candles, and I wouldn't deem myself a year older until after I did that..

Anyway, I haven't really wanted to ride Haunted Mansion first thing in the morning. I've realized over the years that if you don't jump on Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Indy, (sometimes) Pirates, or Splash (and now Star Tours) first thing in the morning, the lines are ridiculously long..especially after California Adventure opens.. 

The nice thing about Haunted Mansion is that the line is never that long anyway. I think the longest I have ever waited in line was 45 minutes.. 

~ ~ ~

I must say that I am glad that my family took me to Disney every year when I was younger. I'm glad that I still get to carry on the tradition with Jayson, but I also learned several tricks to our Disney Vacation..

I guess I can share those tips with you.. ;) 

1. Get to the Disneyland Parking lot before it opens
   If you're not staying at a hotel then I highly recommend this! Sometimes they bring you out to the outside parking lot (the part that isn't covered) and usually it's a pain because then your car sits out in the hot sun all day long. The bonus to this, how ever, is that you're parked right next to the sidewalk where the tram is. Then at the end of the day you don't have to do much walking, or spend tons of time searching for your car in the parking structure (because lets be honest, who really tries to remember where they parked when they first get there??).
   
   
2. How to avoid long linesOkay, I'm going just explain how Jayson and I normally tackle the park, and then I'll explain how we did it last year:
   
   We stand in line outside the Disneyland gates at about 7:30ish. When the park opens we hit the big rides first. We don't necessarily do these in any order but we start from one end of the park and work our way across. The "big rides" consist of Space, Star Tours, Matterhorn, Indy, Pirates, Haunted, and Splash (I've been using those ride abbreviations since I can remember...because that's what my Aunt Tara does ;). Now usually, we've been in the park since 8:00am and we can get all of those done by 10:00am, which is when California Adventure Opens. Once we're done with all of those rides (or if 9:30ish comes first..) we head over to California Adventure. Then we tackle all of the big rides there also and again work our way from one side of the park to the other. We usually start at Soarin, then go to Grizzly, Screamin', Toy Story, and then Tower. Once we've finished those then we hang out in CAA until we've done everything we wanted to, which is usually around 3:00 or 4:00. By this time, most of the families with kids that have a hotel with either start heading back or stop along the sides of the streets to eat lunch or watch parades, which leaves the lines that much shorter!
   
   Last year was a total different ball game... because Cars Land had just opened in June (my birthday is the first day of August). We really wanted to try to jump on the new Radiator Springs Racers, so we knew we had to start at California Adventure first. Luckily, they had opened the park two hours earlier than normal (probably because of the new land opening). Jayson and I happened to be second in line outside the gates, but about ten minutes after they opened the Magic Morning gates (Magic Morning is when you get to go to each park and hour before they open to the public ONLY if you are staying at a Disney approved hotel), we started to see a huge line coming down Buena Vista Street. A few moments later, we heard a cast member announce that they were doing additional ride testing on Radiator Springs Racers so they would not be opening that attraction up until 10:00am, but you could still get in line for a fast pass. At this point, Jayson and I realized that there was no way we would be getting a fast past simply because the line for it was now weaving it's way down BVS and outside the main gates..and that was just the Magic Morning Guests! So we decided that we would just got ride some of the bigger rides because everyone would be in Cars Land. The park opened at 10:00am and we sprinted to California Screamin' and we literally rode it at least five times in a row because there was NO ONE in line. I think we ended up riding Screamin' ( all 5 times), Soarin, Toy Story, and Tower in under an hour. After we got off tower of terror, we decided to just walk down Route 66 in Cars Land so we could at least see what it looked like and get it out of the way. It was CRAZY how jam packed it was. We didn't even go inside any of the shops because there were just too many people and strollers to weave around. We walked all the way down to the statue of Stanley, and walked past part of R.S.S. when all of a sudden, I saw a cast member tapping guests on the shoulders, whispering in their ears, and pointing to the line up que. I grabbed Jayson by the wrist and literally drug him in between people to get into the line up que without really explaining to him what I was doing. All I kept telling him was to keep up and follow me. When we were finally in line, I over heard a cast member say that the wait was about 45 minutes from that point. Jayson and I decided that if we really wanted to ride this ride, now would be the time to do it because we managed to get a good spot in line and we didn't have a fast pass. About 15 minutes went by and we heard a cast member on the intercom say that they had finished testing the ride and were now opening it for operation. I think we ended up waiting in line for maybe 30 minutes, because other guests that managed to get fast passes for later in the day decided to leave and come back later. We were so lucky!!! Radiator Springs Racers in now my favorite ride :) 

~ ~ ~

I still have to wait a little over two months before I can go! 

It's terrible!!
So to help ease my pain, I downloaded all of the ride sound tracks onto my phone :)

I have almost 30 songs, including the fireworks soundtracks!
I know what I'm going to be listening to on the drive back to California ;)
And I literally listen to my playlist on YouTube every day, all day long
(like right now) 

I'm embarrassed to say that I have yet to find all of the Hidden Mickey's on the rides...
I need to try harder this year to find them..
I was talking to my friend Amanda about it this morning,
AND I NEVER KNEW
that on the Winnie the Pooh ride you could still see the animal heads from Country Bear Jamboree!!
I need to find that....

Angle's Game

GUYS

I went to my first Angle's game!!

It was so much fun

I was so excited!!!

We had realllyyyy good seats..

We were in the outfield under the giant electronic sign. 

I LOVE SITTING IN THE OUTFIELD 

I personally think you can see the game so much better...

Thanks for taking me babe ;) 

Life of a young and married Nanny

Oh, hello world

I still exist, I promise

I don't even remember the last thing that I wrote about honestly.. 

oops. 

Oh well.

 Life hasn't really been all that exciting lately..

But I'll post what has happened as of late:

Did I ever mention that I got a job as a Bridal Consultant?

Wellllllll I did. Hah. 

and let me tell you, it was probably the most fun I have had in a while

Seeing all of these gorgeous gowns and getting to lay eyes on them the moment they came out of the box..

BUT

Unfortunately, my manager was a liar and quite frankly, a sorry excuse for a 'manager'

but somehow he's been able to keep his store alive for 27 years... 

good for him I guess..

So I quit

Almost got my previous nanny job back, 

but she decided to put her daughters into full-time preschool!

Which is so great because those two angles are so ridiculously smart for their age! 

So I was unemployed for a solid two months

But hey, at least I could focus on my online classes a but more

My baby brother turned eighteen at the end of March

EIGHTEEN?!
Where in the world is my little shrimp?!
:(
I can't believe how fast those 18 years went.. 

My home teacher called me during an interview 

and BEGGED me not to accept the new position

why?!
So I could work for him instead

:)
And now I nanny for his 3 beautiful wittle childwen
and I love them to pieces

My Sister-in-law and her family came to visit last week

and we went to the beach! 

oh how I love my home state..
I am so blessed to have grown up in SoCal

<3
This will forever be my home

:)

OH AND WE ARE MOVING AGAIN
I know, I know..
We haven't even been home for a year

BUT
We're going to Denver :)
Yep, Jayson's mission!
FINALLY!!!
We leave 15 days from today
He has a summer internship with ADT security

and we get to live in a cozy little hotel

...in Denver
(did I mention that already??)

Visiting Teacher

I love my VT :)

She is the best. Really, she is. I'm so blessed! She always calls/texts me to go on outing for lunch or dessert just when I need it. I've had some really hard things happen lately and I've been pretty depressed about it for a while, but who wouldn't be? I'm usually the type of person to just brush it off and play the 'everything is okay' game, but when I come home I just break. Today I just tried to distract myself from reality and then I got a text from her asking to go out for a treat. Let me tell you, sugar never sounded so dang good. So we went out and I told her everything that was happening, and she just made me think of all the good that comes from trials. Which was a huge reminder that I needed.

I am strong enough to withstand this trial

At some point in time, I decided that I would be strong enough to handle this

It could always be worse..but I'm thankful that it's not!

Why am I so blessed? 

I have the courage and strength to look fear and 'all bad things' in the eye and say "this is not how it's going to be" 

There is a lesson to be learned from everything I've had to deal with

There is a reason I've had to deal with everything I've had to deal with

I am blessed beyond measure

I am loved beyond measure

I am a Daughter of a Heavenly King.. who knows what is happening

I've been taught exactly what not to do

I am thankful

Thank you, Lori

You're wonderful :) 

Disney and The Gospel

Remember how I said I can relate almost anything to Disney?
Well, I've made several references to the Gospel before

and Jayson usually rolls his eyes at me..

 because he is so socked that I can, infact, find some way to relate the two

Well, here is another perfect example:

How Tangled is related to us being Daughters/Sons of a Heavenly King

You may also remember when I wrote this post,
which summarized a boadcasted devotional

that related The Lion King to turning to our Father in Heaven about who we are

Remind me again how Disney doesn't relate to the Gospel?

;)

Royal Weddings & Engagements

Am I really at that point in my life where all of my single friends graduate to my Engaged/Married friends list? 

This is nuts..
In the past two years I think I can easily name 15+ friends that have gotten married. 

But I am so happy for all of them :) 

And now, I get to add even more to this list!!!

I'm so excited for all of you :)

and I am so happy!

We're all young, but we're very blessed to have found that perfect man or wonderful wife whom we get to spend eternity with, and I'm excited to follow your journey with you all

<3

The Last Skype

Jayson and I couldn't go up to Utah with Cody to say goodbye to him before he entered the MTC, and Kyle (Jayson's brother) had to stay home because he's been super sick lately. So Curtis (Jayson's dad) Skyped us from his phone as they were pulling into the MTC so we could say our final goodbyes. 

Bye Elder, We love you!
(P.S. Jayson is bummed he was stuck at work and missed this..)

Elder Anderson

Another Anderson has left on a mission
Jayson's brother, Cody!
He's serving in the New Jersey, Morristown Mission
Spanish Speaking
He reports tomorrow, February 6th, 2013

I miss him already! When he got set apart last night, I couldn't believe that he was old enough to serve a mission. When I first met him, he was a freshmen in high school, and I was a junior. I'm just so amazed and impressed at how much he has grown up over the past five years. I'm so proud of him and the example that he is to his family, friends, ward family, and so many others. I'm impressed with the choices he has made to stay on a path of worthiness to enter the temple and to prepare to serve the Lord full time. I hope he never loses that... I hope he always strives to be a better person every day. He really truly is so blessed beyond measure. 

Although I know the next two years will be the best two years and that they will fly by faster than I can imagine, I am going to miss the time we could be sharing together. Lately, me, him, and Jayson have been hanging out more around the house or going on random drives around town. Jayson thinks I know practically every song that comes on the radio, but trust me... Cody knows way more. It's funny because every time a song comes on, I sing it obnoxiously to Jayson just to bug him, but when Cody is with us, he does it even worse (and it's usually a rap song.) I also remember when we went to Magic Mountain the day after my birthday, and we all decided to go on Tidal Wave. Jayson, me, Erik, and Ashleigh were in one boat and Cody, Kyle, and Janie were in the one behind us. Cody was the tallest one on the boat and he definitely let the entire boat know. As our boat was going up the ramp, Cody shouts "THAT'S MY SISTER-IN-LAW!! HEEEYYY!! ASHLEY!! HEYY!! LOVE YOU SIS!!!" I think that was the first time he reffered to me as his sister..haha. I'll miss that. But I am excited for him to come home and share all of his experiences with us :)

See you in two years, Elder <3

Love, 

your sister-in-law :)

Oh and by the way, I'm proud to say "THAT'S MY [BROTHER]-IN-LAW!! HEEEYYY!! CODY!!! HEYY!

The power of Prayer

My stomach has been hurting all day

I took midol thinking it would help..

But now that it was getting close to bed time and the pain didn't go away

I was starting to get super bothered by it

So Jayson held me tight and just said a prayer

Praying that my pain would be eased

Praying that I'd be able to sleep well

And within a matter of seconds..the pain was gone!

I'm grateful for a husband who knows how to solve any problem

I'm grateful that he prays for my health

I'm grateful for a loving Father in Heaven

Who watches over me and helps me

But I'm also grateful that he gives me reminders  to use my words when I need something

I believe in the power of prayer

The Disney Wristband

     Part of Jayson's morning routine is to check several websites for news and sports updates. One of the websites is ABC News. Sometimes he find stories that are just off the wall bizarre  and sometimes he finds stories that are extremely interesting. But he knew that once he found an article about anything related to Disney, that I would absolutely love it! This morning was no different.

photo credit via : ABC News

So starting this year, Disney has come up with a wristband that guests will wear throughout the day that will act as their ticket to the parks, hotel room key, fast past selections, photo pass, and option payment method. I personally think it sounds pretty cool. After reading the article and pondering about it, I began to sort through my thoughts and think "Okay, is this really a good thing? Does this really make everything easier?" I also want to hear your opinions about it also.

The Good and Convenient

1. You can wear it on your wrist
2. You don't have to constantly pull your ticket out of your pocket/wallet every time you want to get a fast past or switch parks
3. Your 'ticket' isn't a piece of paper that could rip (do they even use those tickets any more? I haven't bought my ticket at the park in a few years...)

I'm sure that there are probably a lot more Pros to the wristband, but I can't think of any more at the moment.. 

The Bad and Less Convenient

1. How far away from the park can you be without your wristband 'deactivating'? 
2. What happens if it gets wet?
3. How can you or cast members tell if you have a park hopper? 

Wow, okay so I guess I didn't get as many ideas going as I thought ._.
But anyway, what are you're thoughts about it?

The article can be found here.

Turned to the Dark Side, I have...

um, Hi..
My name is Ashley
and I've been blond my whole life
well, not anymore

Aca-brownhair
January 4th, 2012

excuse the horrid resolution that is a webcam and lighting of a bedroom with only two working spotlights

Here's to Hoping...

Happy 2k13 Everyone!

Well, 2012 has come and gone

It's too bad the world didn't end.. because that would have been so much easier
but oh well

2012 had a lot of crazy things happen..
We started the new year in our first apartment in Salt Lake City
We got into a car accident in the snow
bought a new (used) car, all on our own
started our own business that ended up being nothing like we had wanted it to be..
went up to Vegas for a weekend with friends
plans to stay in Utah to finish school got turned upside down because of work
decided we didn't have a reason to stay because of the way work was going

somehow thought that Uhaul telling us we could tow a trailer on the back of our Malibu was a smart idea...
drove from Salt Lake City back home to California
(dumbest idea ever...)
Jayson threw me my first ever surprise birthday

spent yet another birthday at Disneyland
(not that anyone is surprised by that)
tried going back to school...that didn't work
we were supposed to move into our apartment in September
but that didn't work either..
finally found Jayson and reliable job
I lost one of my jobs and then had to quit my second...
and now it's 2013

I'm going back to school this semester
Hoping to graduate with my Associates in Child Development/Early Childhood Education
and our number one goal this year...
Is to be able to celebrate Christmas in our own home

But whether that's in California or back up in Utah...
well, I just hope we find out soon


At least we were able to finish off the year by taking some family photos :]