Blood Draw and Foozeball and SOUTH CAROLINA YA'LL!

I have been very sick. Very, verrrrrrrryyyyyy sick.  Like coughing up things from my chest that you do NOT want to hear about. And having no voice really all week. etcetera, etcetera...

my nephew Brayden and I playing on the photobooth.  He preferred the comic book effect yelling "we are cartoons ashley!" which sounded more like "weare ar-oons ass!!!!!!!"

And then yesterday my husband and I drove 2 hours to meet a new doctor for my lupus since the one I saw in town was awful.  The drive was long, but once we were there at the University of Michigan hospital I knew it was worth it.  My doctor was fantastic, listened to me, answered my questions and discussed medicines....  (she took my off all of them except the plaquenil, which we increased my dosage of)...  she seemed very smart.  I was pleased.  

After meeting with her I headed across the hall to the lab and got lots and lots and lots of blood drawn.  They drew from my left arm about 15 vials and then my vain collapsed so they went into my right arm to get the remaining 15 vials (which also collapsed as she was drawing the last vial... they are going to have to draw blood from my legs or something now since they are destroying all my veins in my arms)!  

10 were for research which is one of the things I think is so neat at U of M medical centers... they are constantly doing research, clinical trials, etc. in the hopes of understanding diseases better which will ultimately (at some point) lead to cures.   So, of course when they asked for some extra blood I didn't even hesitate.  Sure I was light headed and nauseous after I left the lab, heading down to get a chest x-ray but whatever.    

After my x-ray (which was just one floor down...literally every doctor is accounted for in this one building, its great)... I went and got a pneumonia vaccine and a prescription for whatever is going on with my lungs (the doctor said it COULD be the lupus "pretending" to be a respiratory infection or it could in fact be a respiratory infection which is dangerous because being on the plaquenil lowers my immune system down and its just that much harder to ward off/fight off infection)...

blah blah blah, are you still with me?

Next week I go in for a high resolution CT Scan so they can determine if, and to what extent I have pulmonary fibrosis (which is basically just a little hardening of the lungs)....  so overall, on the right track and feeling pretty good minus this bronchitis/lung junk that I am dealing with!  UGH!  and it needs to clear up because Saturday husband and I are headed to the BIG HOUSE (no not jail)...  it is the university of Michigan football stadium!  I even got a new t-shirt to wear for the game! I hope my voice comes back so I can cheer on the wolverines and sing the songs and heckle the other team!  (I am pretty much a PRO HECKLER, FYI!)

and finally, an announcement....

our next 3 month rotation is in:

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA!

I already know a ton of you call the carolinas your home, and I am thinking HOW fun would it be to do a huge blogger get together???!!!!!!!!!  For all the girls close enough to drive in?  Of course we would want to find a pretty central location, and it might take a while to get together but still.  IF this interests you at all, let me know.  Me and my soon to be best friend BETH can plan it.  She is a party animal, didn't you know??!  I am certain this 3 months will include trips to Greenville to see other friends we have there as well as a much needed trip down to the dirty dirty (atlanta, DUH) to see my best friends and meet new ones, like, perhaps Chelsea! 

HAPPY WEEKEND GUYS!

OVER & OUT!

p.s.  you know that guy I told you about in my last post?  marc martel?  well he is going to be singing on the ELLEN show this Monday so you might want to watch that.  You're welcome :)

and p.p.s.  if you are wondering about the le tour de donut do not fret!  I am doing a special saturday post allllllll about it so check back tomorrow!  

now seriously, OVER & OUT!

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Marc Martel: You Are Going To Want To Remember That Name...

My friend... well, I have met him a few times and consider him as much of a "friend" as you can consider members of bands who you spend time with.  Anyways, the remaining members of Queen have put on a competition to allow someone to tour and possibly sing with their band sometime in early 2012.  Marc is the lead singer of a christian band called Downhere. They have amazing songs with an amazing message..  See one of my personal videos here.  

Marc sounds JUST like Freddie Mercury. It is freaky how similar their voices are.  So of course, it was an obvious choice for him to enter Queen's competition.  His video has only been up a few days and now is closing it on 3 million views.  Check it out, and on November 14th when voting opens to the public please vote for him.  He really is an amazingly talented guy (as well as the rest of the band DownHere).  And yes he is cute, but ladies..he just was happily wed last year to a gorgeous lady named Crystal so back off! ;)  

P.S. After you click play video it will prompt you to click watch on youtube.  That is the only way to view it right now so click over!  DO IT DO IT DO ITTTTTT! And then tell your friends, because it is pretty awesome.

Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dREKkAk628I&feature=share

and the video below isn't the 3 million mark one...I still can't figure out how to work dumb blogger sometimes. grr.

oh, want more?  This is a pretty great video of marc singing opera too.

OVER & OUT HOMIES.

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Oh Halloweiner...

Halloween is right around the corner, and BOY do I LOVE dressing up.

This is husband and I two years ago...obviously we weren't engaged yet because no man wears tights if he isn't trying to win some serious points.  I am pretty sure now that we are married no amount of begging or pleading could get him into those again...

And this is us last year.  You are just so jealous of our nerd outfits aren't you? 

I am not sure if we will be dressing up this year...we are most likely moving to south carolina and I am not sure if we will even be around anyone we know so it might be pointless to dress up.  Bella has her outfit though, and she is going to look adorable.  You will have to wait to see it.  I originally wanted to dress husband, myself and Bella up as paper, rock, scissors because I thought that would be the easiest costume next to "homeless person" or "mummy" (both of which I was countless years in a row growing up due to lack of costume funds)....  

Are any of you dressing up?  Getting your significant others to dress up with you?

Let me know!  And all South Carolinians be on alert...we are coming to your state! 

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Calling All Awesome People....

Hellloooooo out thereeeeeee!!!!!!!!

It is about that time again....sponsor time.  Anyone interested can shoot me an e-mail at ashley@adventuresofnewlyweds.com  I am open...giveaways, button swaps, spotlights, etc.  The world   My blog is your oyster. I am limiting it to just a few spots however because last month I took on too much and completely failed.  I am talking button mishaps, not getting around to giveaways and not adequately highlighting my sponsors.  FAIL ME.  But I am resolved to do it right this time.

SEGWAY.  BAM!


Tomorrow husband and I will be riding in the Le Tour De Donut, a 30 mile bike race with various pit stops where we will try to cram as many cake donuts down our donut holes as possible to eliminate minutes off of our final time.  WISH ME LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I will need it (you can't puke up your donuts or you are disqualified!)

Happy Weekend Homies.

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I Got My Flu Shot Today...

and I have to say, it really, really hurts. 

Bella thinks she got one too, and is being pathetic.

Besides that I am finally, finally reading the Hunger Games. I am hooked.  Can't put it down!

In fact, that is why my blog posts as of late have been so lacking...I have so many good books to read, season premieres to watch and pins to pin on pinterest that I have been a slacker.

What can I say?  It is getting chilly outside and all I want to do is cuddle up and sleep.

It is T-MINUS 2 weeks until husband and I move again and we are thinking it could possibly be south carolina somewhere but again...  if you have read my blog long enough you know that things are never set in stone until a few days before we head out to our next location.  I am not even a little bit stressed about this one though.  Who cares, I just hope I am close to at least ONE of my blog friends.  That would be swell.  

OH!  And husband surprised me with tickets to the Michigan/Minnesota game on October 1st.

I have never been to "the big house" for a game so I am super excited!!!

Think face paint and lots of screaming! 

Hope everyone is having a pleasant hump day. 

I am back to reading and snuggling my little puppy. 

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I Think Summer Is Pretty Much Gone, huh?

Although today it is sunny, and the always inappropriate neighbor (who is also a male nurse) is sun bathing, I think it is safe to say that these are the last few days of summertime and we have truly entered fall.  I packed up all of my summer clothes yesterday, like I told you I would.  YES--I accomplished that task and it took me the better part of the day!  As a farewell to summer I wanted to share some pictures from a few weeks ago....probably what will be our last trip to the beautiful Lake Michigan until next summer when we do it all over again.  Until then...bring on the pumpkins, tall boots, scarves and chilly night cider and snuggles. 

husbands got skills

oh hi.

my honey

friends!

bella is like "this. is. too. windy."

lake baby

channel out to lake Michigan

nights like these...

You guys seriously want to visit Michigan now, yes?

sunset jump into Lake Michigan....  BUTTS!

jump!

most likely the last Lake swim of the season!

good times.

beautiful sunset

making it to shore just as it gets dark....

Now, if you want to come visit me next summer I am taking sign-ups.

:)

Did anyone watch Dancing With The Stars last night? I did a little.

It was kind of boring.

I MAY watch Glee tonight..but that is pushing it.

You can be certain I will be tuned in for Teen Mom though. DUHHH.

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The Emmy's...

Did anyone else watch the Emmy's last night?  I turned them off after Modern Family had won like 6 of the awards and also AFTER Ian Somerhalder had presented.

I love Ian Somerhalder's character Damian on the Vampire Diaries.  I bet he is nothing like him in real life so I would never actually want to meet him, if only to preserve the character in my mind.

His girlfriend and co-star Nina Dobrev was also smashing and looked really great in her dress.

Mostly everyone else looked awful.  Including Zooey Daschanal.  Which is sad because I really like her too,  but she looked like she was going to prom in the 80's.  FAIL.


Anyways, I don't have much to say today because I am re-organzing our lives...we have about three ish weeks until we move (somewhere) again so I am trying to pack all of our summer clothes up and swap them out for the fall/winter ones.

It seriously is a huge pain in the butt. Fall came out of nowhere to me, I didn't even really have time to anticipate it or say "oh, I can't WAIT for fall!" ...it was just sort of all --BAM-- here! I am glad though, I have already eaten my weight in pumpkin pie and I picked up some apple cider today.  It is a rainy, dreary day here in Kalamazoo, Michigan and I can't wait to finish going through clothes, write my paper and then reward myself with a hot cup of it.... and heck, maybe another piece of that pie.  I am sure my husband will want to watch Monday Night Football, and I don't think anything good is premiering tonight (please correct me if I am wrong!) ...  so to go along with my cider I am going to put together a rough draft Christmas list.

Yes, you read correctly.... Christmas List....rough draft.  That is how I roll.

Happy Monday yo.

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Toronto, Terrific! (And Friday's Letters)

WOW!  I loved reading everyone's suggestions on vacation spots. Dreaming about far away places that I have never experienced is one of my favorite things.  There is something mysterious and romantic about it...like anything could happen.  Or an adventure is just waiting.  It is thrilling to think about.  So thanks for stirring up desires to go see even more places than I had yesterday morning!

Today is part two of my Canada trip...we visited the beautiful city of Toronto.  

Apparently some of you LIVE there and I missed out on a few blog dates. (ahem, Christina!)

I fail.  UGH.

*You should check out her blog.  She is pretty fab, and she posted DARLING running gear called Run Naked Sport.  They are cute fitted shirts with reflective words so cars will see ya at night...  Love it. 

Check out their facebook page now!

OKAY, PICTURES!

We were being silly, and when husband wrapped his jacket around his neck I said "STOP!" and snapped a picture.  Does this NOT look like a JCPenny ad to you or what?!?

 The gorgeous distillery district!

beautiful old buildings....

and everywhere we looked was another interesting thing...like this wall made of pieces of wood...

 oh hey.

 Can you find me? 

 that is my stud muffin.  I think he looks like Paul Bettany. What do you think??

 downtown Toronto

 I like the Canadian Flag.  I decided.

 choo choo!  all aboard... or not. because you aren't allowed to touch the old trains. BOO.

Old train station turned Brewery...very neat to see.

 A FABULOUS sushi dinner at Spring Roll. 

 LOVE EVERY BITE. 

nom nom nom.

 The CN Tower. Way overpriced, so we didn't go up because...we have been in tall buildings before.

And yes, I know it has a glass floor and all, but we imagined it and saved ourselves $65 bucks.

This statue waved goodbye to us as we left the city.

Now that is hospitality folks.

and now for some Friday's Letters...

Dear Husband, I love that I can always count on to do the right thing, you are so strong and brave and wonderful. Dear Canada, I have been singing "Ontari-ari-ari-OH, a place to SEE! a place to GO!"  allll week. and I didn't even see a real live moose.  Thanks a lot. Dear Bella, You have finally discovered that balls are fun and can be chased and really aren't as scary as you originally thought. Thank goodness you have a toy that you can play with my yourself for once!  Dear Online School, I just wanted to re-establish how much I hate you.  Because I hate you so hard.  Got that?  Good. Dear Twice Baked Pumpkin Pie, Last night, I baked you once and realized I left the eggs out.  We poured and re-added the eggs and baked you for another 40 minutes and you know what?  You taste pretty. darn. delicious.  #IamAchefwhodiscoversnewrecipes  Dear Vampire Diaries Season Premiere, You were everything I thought you would be and more.  LOVE IT.  More Damian please. Dear Husband, You are still way sexier than Damian on Vampire Diaries. FYI. And also, I can't wait to cheer on the crimson tide with you this sunday. ROLL TIDE ROLL! 

Happy Weekend Friends!

xo,

ashley

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Ohhhh Canada!!!!!!

Hi friends.  I have missed you all so much and have been so busy.  Have you ever been so busy but can't really put your finger on what is keeping you occupied all the time?  I am still trying to gather ideas and nail some solid ideas down for my etsy shop and honestly, I have been running into some snags along the way.  Add to that schoolwork which is always looming over my shoulder (online school, I HATE you), the fact that husband and I may be moving to a new state for his next travel job in a few weeks AND the fact that I haven't been feeling the best this past week with my lupus acting up and MAN...I just have been feeling overwhelmed.  Of course, there are a few other things going on that has my stress level through the roof so I just have to ask that you send good vibes my way.  And maybe a little motivation.  And just for the record, I am behind on reading many of your blogs so I apologize.  I really do miss each and every one of you.  Seriously.   Oh, and while I am thinking about it I have to tell you about this awesome group on facebook called Wives of Fantasy Football. It is a place for wives and girlfriends to vent, laugh and share stories about their man's obsession with football and the fantasy leagues!  And actually, the creator is sharing lots of football info so that you can really impress your husband.  It is really fun.....and they giveaway a victoria secret nfl shirt every friday!  Anyone with a football obsessed husband should check it out!

Anyhow, I want to share some tidbits from husband and I's one year anniversary trip!  We visited Canada because we are only two hours from the border, and only 5 hours from Niagara Falls.  Take a look at the view we had from our hotel room...

Actually, our trip started out pretty bad.  We got to Niagara and there were two Marriott's right across the street from each other.  We pulled up to the one we thought we were supposed to be in and the valet informs us that parking is $25 per night.  That is $25 that we were not expecting to pay.  We get out, gather all of our things and get inside only to find out that we are at the wrong hotel.  Fast forward to the CORRECT Marriott.  We check in, upgrade to a better room and go up to find an UNCLEAN room.  It was gross and I was freaked out.  I called down to the desk twice and was hung up on twice.  So we gathered all our things and went back down.  After re-imbursing our parking (because oh yeah, this hotel charged for parking too....) we were sent to another room a few doors down from the original one.  After a little relaxing we headed out for dinner and that is when we realized that Niagara Falls is a tourist trap and every.single.restaurant within two miles charged at least $25-$30 per person for an entree.  And we hadn't even brought any snacks for breakfast.  UGH.  Despite the unexpected expenses, we headed out the first day to experience the falls, take a ride on the maid of the mist and explore the area....

 These were pretty scary to look at!  The water is moving so fast and after hearing about all the lives that the falls have claimed I was almost afraid to look over the railing! 

 Rainbows were everywhere and they were beautiful.

I love that they are reminder of God's promises...

 especially in an area that is so powerful and dangerous.

 American Falls...

Hey Megan...I got a blazer because I loved yours! 

The view from our hotel room at night.  We loved that the window was floor to ceiling.  We especially enjoyed sitting, drinking champagne and eating dessert as we watched the falls at night. 

The next day we visited Toronto, which was amazing... I will share some pictures with you tomorrow.

I was also going to ask you guys what/where the most AMAZING vacation you have ever taken has been.  It could be because of the hotel, the weather, the history or the food.  Let me know... husband and I are contemplating doing a cruise for our next vacation or going somewhere that you guys think is a MUST see.  Let me know your thoughts!

xo,

ashley

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