Everyone Needs a Good Laugh

Like all of you, I enjoy Youtube videos from time to time. I'm taking 3 art history classes this semester - all of which are taught by the same guy- and he usually shows a short Youtube video at the beginning of each class. A pretty cool teacher if you ask me :) I've seen some good ones lately so I thought I'd share.

Enjoy!






For this last one, I highly recommend clicking on the HQ button. Jared is the one who originally showed this video to me a couple years ago. He had a super good version on his website, but I couldn't find it. So, you unfortunately have to settle for the not-so-great version. But.... it is still awesome! This was NOT done digitally. What you see is real. Sony bought hundreds of thousands of super bouncy balls and dumped them down the streets of San Fransisco. You should also check out the other Sony Bravia commercials. They are also not done digitally. Enjoy!

Putting a Face with the Name

My dear friends,
By popular request/demand, it is time to introduce you all to David.

Enjoy :)

David likes to do triathlons. David likes to wear tight suits while doing triathlons.

He's the woman in this relationship. I'm happy to say he's the man in ours.

This is David's model airplane.

This is David with his model airplane.

He gets excited about planes :) And that's not his room in case you were wondering. He's not really into the girly flowery decor.

Red is David's color... Ok, I should probably explain this one. David and his friends did a 5k Red Dress Run. Proceeds went to cancer research. And according to him, polyester chafes like crazy :)

David plays hockey. Hot? Why yes, yes it is.

So there you have it. That's David in a nutshell. (Sorry Hil, I had to use that term :) Ok, so there's definitely more to him than airplanes and hockey. You all just have to get to know him for yourselves, because I'll sound all corny if I go off about how great he is. And none of us want that :) But what it comes down to is, David is a great guy and tons of fun. Get to know him, and you won't regret it.

Up Up and Away

On Friday David took me for a ride in a hot air balloon in Park City. Are you jealous??? I thought so :) I got up at 4 (not easy for someone who's not a morning person) because we needed to be in Park City around 6. Dave was telling me for about a week and half that he had a surprise lined up. I must admit, I wasn't disappointed :) I had never been in a balloon before, so I was pretty excited.

Blowing up the balloon.

There were some other hot air balloons in the sky, but they were pretty lame. They didn't go nearly as high as we did. I'm glad I wasn't in one of those :)

If you look in the upper right hand corner, you can see our van. That's also where we took off.

There was a lot of haze in the air due to all the forest fires in the area.

The Uintas clouded in smoke.

So this is what it comes down to. David is awesome, and so is hot air ballooning. And I want one...

Not related to hot air ballooning: Michelle, Hailee, and I had to move out of our apartment because our contracts were up. While we were packing, Michelle came across all of her fun stuff from her three month stay in New Zealand. She misses NZ tons, so it made her a little sad when she had to go through it all. We decided that in order to cheer her up, we should play dress up :) It worked great I might add.

Mish and me in our NZ garb. The NZ islands are on our shirts in case you were wondering. We're also eating Tim Tam's ( the best cookies ever!). If anyone offers you a Tim Tam slam, do yourself a favor, do not object!

The Uintas

I went camping this weekend in the Uintas with Hailee, Michelle, and David and his friends. We went up Thursday and set up camp and then walked around Trial Lake. The clouds were rolling in so we didn't stay out very long. I wish I would have had my camera with me while we were down there. On the North side of the lake there were these huge, dead trees that were standing in the water. The storm clouds were coming in, so the scary sky matched the dead trees. It looked really cool. I hate when I forget my camera at times like those! It would have been an awesome shot. It rained on and off, but nothing too bad. We made dinner and then played some songs on the guitar. We went to bed but it was freezing! As a result, I didn't get much sleep. On an interesting side note, I discovered that memory foam pillows turn into a block of concrete when it's cold :) I was a little worried I'd be too tired to function the next day, but I actually felt pretty good.

This is a sign to a nudist colony that we passed on our way up the canyon. The smaller sign says "Closed Due to Shrinkage" :)

We got up and went for a hike around the area the next morning. I think we passed six or seven lakes. It was so pretty! Everything was green and flowers were everywhere. It was pretty windy at the top, but we found some rocks to block the wind and stopped to eat lunch. I was surprised at how many people were up there. I guess they were trying to get one more camping trip in before school starts back up.

This is a shot of a little pond we passed on our hike. I had some better pictures, but I deleted them somehow.

After we got back to camp, Dave and I decided to go fishing at Trial Lake. I didn't have a fishing license, so we drove down to Kamas, and I bought a day pass. I wanted to get a year long pass but it was $80 for a non-resident :( Bummer... Kamas was about 35 minutes away from our campsite, but the drive was so pretty that I didn't mind at all. We fished at the lake for a couple of hours, but we didn't have much luck. We caught a few minnows, and I caught a trout, but just as I was pulling it out of the water, it got off the hook. Booo! I was looking forward to a fish dinner, but no such luck :( There were some albino fish in the lake, and I really wanted to catch one so I could show everyone how weird they looked. They were everywhere too. I guess they weren't that hungry though, because they just kept swimming around my line, but they wouldn't bite. I guess they were just too smart to fall for the old worm-on-the-hook trick.

My Country Tis of Thee

The 4th of July is by far my favorite holiday. I think it's because I'm kind of a pyromaniac. I love to watch stuff explode! What's better than parades, BBQs, and good company? Nothing! This year we (when I say we, I mean my roommates and I) went to the parade, and then later in the day played softball with some friends from our old ward. We happened to be the only girls there. It was pretty funny because most of the guys were hardcore competitors. It was a lot of fun though. Matt and Andrea had us over for a BBQ later that evening. We played some football with the kids and then lit some sparklers and ground flowers. Jonas had a fun time throwing pop-its at me. We left around 10 and got home just in time to watch the end of the Stadium of Fire.

Here are some pictures from the day's activities.

We went to Smith's to get some Creamies and decided to take some pictures while we were at it. I'm on the lookout for a Smith's employee who could kick us out for taking pictures in their store. Michelle is just trying to be sneaky and not get caught :)

Dear Comic Sans,
I hate you. And I hate the fact that people use you on their store fronts. You give designers nightmares. Please do us a favor and give up the ghost.

Sincerely,
Ashlee

We decided that Zoie needed to learn how to throw a Frisbee. With a last name like ours, it's a must.

Jonas is blowing me a kiss in this one, and Zoie is just being plain cute.

Jonas wanted to show off his sweet three wheeler.

Matt talked Jonas into throwing Pop-its at me.

My roommates decided it looked like fun, so they had a go at it too. Thanks girls ;)

Zoie loved the Pop-its. Almost as much as Michelle.

Zoie with a sparkler.

Ok. This picture wasn't taken on the 4th, but it was taken the day after if that counts :) We went up to Bridal Veil Falls with some friends, and Hailee told me to do a model pose. Here you go. Tyra isn't going to know what hit her next season.

Snake Anyone?

Here are some pictures I've taken over the past month or so. Sorry this post isn't that exciting, but at least you get some pictures out of it :)

Here are some pictures I took today while up at the Menan Buttes. Someone killed this Diamond back and put it on a fence. How sweet of them.

I had to sprint down the butte because this little beauty was approaching. It ended up causing tons of flash-flooding south of Rexburg.

You don't want to sit on one of these.

Hole in the rock.

This was a pretty cool rainbow outside my apartment a few days ago. It was actually a double rainbow, but it was gone by the time I grabbed my camera.

Here are some pictures from my trip to California a few weeks ago.

I think Grizz was embarrassed that we were all laughing at him for digging holes in the beach.

A.J. wasn't happy that I wouldn't hold Hilary's purse while she went to the restroom. I thought he looked cute holding it.

On the boat to Alcatraz.

This little guy caught a ride next to our boat on the way to Alcatraz. I didn't see him flap his wings once. It was pretty cool.

Coming Up Short

Do you ever have those times that you know you need to update your blog, but you just don't know what to say? Well, that's me. That has always been me with this stupid blog. I get annoyed when my friends and family don't update their blogs. You guys must be super annoyed with me. I talk to people who say that during the day they have moments when they think "This would be perfect for my blog," or "I've got to blog about this!" Well my dear friends, those thoughts just don't cross my mind. I wish they did. Oh, how I wish they did. It would make things more interesting for all of us. I think back to those days when I was on the yearbook staff and I could write for hours on end... Literally. Jared knows what I'm talking about. Deadline nights. You're there until 10p.m. and all you do is write, crop pictures, and then write some more. Where did my creativity go? I've come up with an explanation. I need inspiration... But, I don't know where to find that. Any ideas?

I envy those people who update their blog regularly, and it's always fun and creative. I'm an "artist." At least that's what they tell me I am. Shouldn't I be creative too? Sometimes I wonder if I can really call myself an artist at all. Most of the time I just feel like a poser. I often wonder if my teachers think I'm in the wrong field. I would if I were them ;) Or maybe I'm just being my overcritical self. Do you want to know what drives me crazy? When someone asks me in a cheeky tone, "Photography, what in the world can you do with that? You're not going to make any money!" That's when I get fired up. That's when things get ugly. That's when I want to play punch face. Can't someone do something just because they like it? If I wanted to be a millionaire I'd be going into medicine, but I don't like blood. I could be a lawyer, but then people think you're a liar. I could be an accountant, but I'd probably want to gouge my eyes out with a pencil every second of every minute of every hour of every day of my life.