Friday's Letters (On The Road Again Edition)

unedited picture from our camera a few weeks back....

Dear Life,  Here you go being all crazy again. Friends, as you read this, we will be driving or WILL have been driving all night already.  We are going to try and make it to Michigan by Saturday night and only stop one time at a hotel.  Call us crazy, but we are doing it.  #yolo   For that very reason, Friday's Letters are very short on my end.  Wish us a safe drive and that we can stay awake, alert (and in good spirits!)  We will be on vacation all of next week so I will most likely not be back around this blog until August 6th or so.  Everyone have an amazing end of July and can't WAIT to come back and recap another epically long drive and tell you all about where we are at in Michigan!

Over & Out,

A

p.s. yes I know it s thursday but we are literally packing our car and riding out of here as.we.speak.

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VLOG

this is the youtube chosen thumbnail and I think it accurately sums this video up...

See? Sometimes I can keep my promises.  So here is our first husband and wife vlog and I have to admit something....  it may be a little boring.  I mean, I am just keepin' it real.  We had just done a long workout and were on our way out to dinner so we were hungry and tired and well... a little lackluster.

But whatever, we DID do it, which is sayin' a lot for me.

Other things to note:

+I am not a video editing pro so I apologize for the weird echoing transitions.
+Bella is a licking freak
+Please ignore how gross I look.
+We did address Megan's question about our sex lives. You're welcome Megan :)
+at the 8:19 mark Jonathan is definitely pointed at JUST me. Thanks Jonathan.
+we did a dance for you Erica.  It wasn't that exciting, but it is what it is.

Finally, I think we need a second shot at this vlog thing.  So if you have any questions for us, we would love to answer them and try and be a little more entertaining next time!  So please, fire away, we are up for ANYTHING (...obviously...I mean, we mentioned sex on a public blog so nothing is too off limits!)

Over & Out,

A

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Take That Bike Thief

Unless you follow my facebook page you wouldn't know that last week (Wednesday to be exact) I geared up and went out to the porch to grab my bike for a quick ride.  Well, it wasn't there.  After confirming that the husband hadn't taken it for any weird reason, I called the police and filed a police report.  I am not even that surprised that it happened-- the police said there was a surge of bike thefts in the area.  We live in a gated community with patrolling security and it seems pretty safe here so we had a false sense of security and left the bikes on our porch area.  We live on the ground level but our porch is a huge cement wall, and in order to steal the bike the thief had to hoist him or herself up and muscle-man lift te bike up and over the barrier.  Most likely while we slept a mere 10 feet away behind a glass slider.  I mean, what are the odds?  Although I was pretty bummed out about it, I have sort of started to expect things like this to happen.  My iphone was stolen in LA and here we are one week before moving away from California forever and this happens.  You just have to shrug and laugh it off.

sidenote: a friend of mine posted this picture on my facebook wall whenever I posted about having my bike stolen.  It made me laugh so hard and feel a liiiiitle better!

Luckily, we have renter's insurance and although we are losing our deductible I think they are at least going to cover a portion of the loss.  Since I have been riding a lot lately we decided to go try and find a replacement before leaving California. No one had my model, so I got to upgrade to a Trek 7.3 FX.  It's black and looks really clean and pretty.  I went for my first ride on it last night and the gear shift and rear de-railer make the ride smoother than I had no the 7.2FX.  Basically, I love it.   So take THAT Mr. Bike Thief.  Here are some pictures of my new beauty.

picking up my bike | completing my first ride.  I don't know why I am making a weird face. Don't ask.

In other news, this is the week we are leaving for Michigan.  We are excited to go on a little vacation before husband starts his next rotation.  Traverse City is the best, and the area that we stay on Lake Leelanau is the greatest.  Husband's family is up there camping already and unfortunately yesterday a 4 year old boy was struck by a car on the main road and passed away.  I think it is going to be weird going there next week knowing that just happened, but more than that I would ask that whoever reads this to say a little prayer for that little boy's family.  His grandmother was watching him when it happened and his parents were going to be joining the family for vacation later.  I can't imagine being the parents of this child, or more than that being the grand mother who will probably feel guilty for the rest of her life.  This is the point where faith really has to kick in, because as I was discussing with my husband last night-- I just don't  understand the purpose for something like that.  The only comfort is knowing that we aren't meant to understand and that we are not in control.  It is still extremely sad and hard to understand however.

Speaking of our drive back to Michigan we are toying around with a crazy idea--  basically we are thinking husband may work Friday and then I would go pick him up and we would leave from here and drive through the night and next day.  Not sure how well that would go, but it sounds possible.  We would of course stop that second night and then hopefully cut a three day drive down to just two.  One of us will sleep while the other drives---   but it still sounds a little crazy.  So, not sure how this weekend is going to go down but no matter what I am sure it will be another lifelong memory.

I  hope everyone had a great weekend, (and clapped and cheered as Emily & Jef got engaged last night!  )

Over &  Out,

A

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Friday's Letters

This is Shannon...she is style crushin' on me over at her blog today, check it out!
p.s. why do i look like i have alien eyes? woof!

Dear California, This time next week we will either be pulling out of here or already gone.  It's bitter and sweet.  I have made some great friends here, love the weather and being a part of this beautiful state.  I am ready to get home though and see what the next chapter of our lives brings!  Dear Husband, Ready for the 45 hour drive?  Are you?  Dear Bike Thief, I can't believe you had the audacity to come onto our porch and hoist my bike out of the concrete barricade.  I hope you get hit by a car while riding MY bike. You are a jerk. Dear California, Remember when I said how I was said to go? Turns out I will be back in September to photograph a lovely couples wedding!  Yay for being reunited! Dear Shannon, I loved meeting you last week and I am so sad that I am moving and we won't get to hang out more!  Boo!  Thanks for style crushin' me this week, although--LOL--I don't really have a fashion sense!  You can check out her post on me here! Dear Traverse City Michigan, I am SO ready to eat cherries, play in the lake and relax around a campfire at night.  I cannot wait! Dear Family, see you very, very soon! Dear Husband (who always gets two letters), I love you so much, and I have had so much fun on this exciting journey of traveling the country.  If it is over, I feel like we have seen and done so much, and if its not, I am ready for that to.  I would pretty much be up for anything as long as I get to do it with you. Love you to Kalamazoo and back ;)

Over & Out,

A

Did everyone comment on at least five other linkers letters last week?  I check the stats and it looks like everyone got at least 8 click-throughs, the top few linkers always get about 50 or 60 and I know everyone loves to be up top but please refrain from linking until your letters are posted!  It just saves lots of confusion and me getting several e-mails about it!  I will be visiting the very LAST posters blogs this week!  But everyone make sure to try and comment at least five and show some love!  Don't forget link back HERE or grab the button on your post!  xo, ashley

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Lake Tahoe & 4th of July

I know I am only a few weeks behind, but better late than never right?  Right.

Over the fourth of July weekend we headed to the Lake Tahoe area and spent the weekend with Michaela's family....we ate lots of food, hung out on the sunny patio with a lovely view, road the ATV and had a few mini photo shoots.  Fireworks, even more food, hiking and a trip to see beautiful Lake Tahoe made the weekend one of the best ever. We loved getting to see another gorgeous area of the country.  I think Lake Tahoe might be one of the prettiest places in the U.S. and that is saying a lot because over the last two years I have been to a lot of places! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the drive over where we stopped to dip our feet (and in Bella's case, her whole body) in a little creek, the weekend in Graegle and our drive through Tahoe!

Bella crawling onto m y neck to avoid getting anywhere near the water

I like to tease her...and watch her do her cute "paddling" when she sees water.  She has done this since she was a baby!

someone slipped and fell IN the water! uh-oh!

husband, lounging and playing in his IPAD

michaela was a crazy driver :) HAHA

the house from the back

Bella: "mom do i really have to sit next to his big dog?!?"   

Lake Tahoe

teasing little bella again...paddling already!!

Over & Out,

A

p.s. are your letters ready for tomorrow's link-up?!?

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Styled Shoot Success

We had a blast yesterday, and I can't wait to share the photos with you!  I posted a few via my instagram (@ashleyjps).  I can't say thank you enough to miss Michaela for styling our gorgeous reception area (wait until you see it, you will die)  and Adrian  for doing the fabulous work that she always does with hair and make-up.  Our models were fabulous too--- its nice to have great looking friends who will pose for you!  Full vendor list will be on the post about the shoot, look for it sometime in August!  I should finally be back later today with our weekend in Tahoe!  

Over & Out,

A

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You're Welcome...

A friend shared this with me on facebook and it was just too awesome not to share with y'all as well.I don't know how old most of you are, but I am 26 and N*Sync was THE BAND back in my middle school days.  Fast forward to now and I am obsessed with Justin Beiber's new album (nope, not even a tiny bit ashamed of that).  So this mash-up is kind of awesome.  
It is the day of the styled bridal shoot, and I couldn't be more excited!  I can't wait to share with you guys, and tomorrow tell you what crazy things have been going on!  I owe this little blog of mine lots of updates....soon!  soon!!!!!!!!!!!!! Until then, enjoy the above video and revel in the memories of  middle school-- braces, bad hairstyles and trapper keepers. 
Over & Out,A

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The Color Run San Francisco

"dorks 4 life" 

Saturday the husband and I drove into San Francisco to participate in the color run....we had a blast and got covered in color.  If you have no idea what I am talking about then let me explain--- the Color Run is a 5k (that is 3.1 miles) "fun run"... meaning people don't race this, they just go to do it for fun.  Every 1k of the course the participants are blasting with colored cornstarch powder and in the end, the white clothes that everyone starts out in is blasted with rainbow colors.  At the end, everyone throws a personal packet of cornstarch in the air making for some pretty cool pictures (and some serious lung problems... I would know, I breathed some in and...no bueno!) Here are some pictures from the day!

husband post-run

me, after the finish line! 

husband getting blasted with pink color 

we finished in the first 50 runners out of thousands! wooop!  

crowd waiting to start the run...

heading home, permanently stained with color! 

I was stained everywhere my shirt didn't cover! 

OW OW.  That is my honey.  His hair was stained pink for the rest of the day, even after swimming and showering.  

And, a few videos.... the first one was when we were waiting at the start line to begin the run, and the second one is husband throwing his package of cornstarch on me.  We were some of the first few the finish line and didn't want to wait for the "finish" party where everyone throws their packet of color into the air.  For one, I didn't want to breathe that stuff in, and two we knew the traffic trying to leave would be crazy so we had our own little color party and then took off before the swarm descended on the parking lot!

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