It’s Resolution Time!

Well yesterday we saw how I did last year, today it’s time to see what I want to accomplish in 2011.

11 in 11

1. Reach my Goal weight

I did a good job of getting started in 2010, time to get the rest off this year!! (preferably by my 10 year (oh my god I cannot even believe I am that old!!) high school reunion)

2. Stay on track at school.

To reach the goals I’ve set for myself academically I need to complete 18 hours (if I can fit in a few more that’d be okay to!)

3. Attend the Oklahoma vs. fsu game!

We had so much fun when Natalie, Hunter, and my Mom came up for the game this year in Norman, I can only hope that Garrett and I leave as happy as we did this year!!

4. Read 12 non academic books

I love to read, but when I started back to school fun reading kind of took a backseat, I think I can do one a month though!

5. Once a week blog a recipe.

I love, love, love getting cooking ideas from other blogs, who doesn’t? I’m going to commit to blogging 52 things I make this year! Stick around for some yummy new ideas!

6. Cook 6 meals for the Ronald McDonald house.

The RMH is such an amazing organization, it’s something I’ve wanted to get involved in for a long time. This year I’m going to find the time to take a meal for the families staying there once every other month.

7. No Traffic Violations!

 

I got pulled over twice this year (that’s the amount of times I’ve been pulled over TOTAL before this year!!) Luckily I only had to pay one ticket, but I’ve got to get my road rage under control, and maybe slow down a little bit! No visits with the nice police folks in 2011!

8. Save, Save, Save!

 

I’m pretty good at saving, but you can always be better! I have a number in mind what I want my savings account to look like at the end of the 2011. I’ll have to budget and be a little more frugal to get there.

9. Establish a skin care routine.

It’s no secret I’m getting old. I have been blessed with pretty good skin, which as led to a pretty lax Ashlee when it comes to skin care. I love to buy face products but I never really follow through. Lately, I’ve noticed that the wrinkles on my face are starting to run rampart, I think it’s about time I get serious with taking care of my skin!

10. Exercise Three Times a week!

2010 wasn’t a bad year for exercising I really embraced running. BUT I need to get better at sticking to a routine, year round! Not just when the weather is best for running outside!

11. 365 Picture Challenge.

This is the resolution I feel is the most likely to fail, but the one that could potentially be the best! I want to take a picture every day of something that is going on in my life. My hope (but not my commitment) is to do a weekly blog update showing the pictures. So fun! I’ve seen lots of people start this but few (none?) finish it.

 

Alright those are my 11 for 2011!

I’m such a list person I have different goals listed different places but I like to have some public resolutions.

What about you? Do you make resolutions? 

2010 Resolutions

 

I did much, much better accomplishing my 2010 Goals, then I did my 2009 goals!

1. Have Christmas presents ready by the end of October. Haha not so much…BUT I was not buying or wrapping presents on Christmas Eve, so that’s a start!

2. Attend a SOONERS away game. We went to two! and lost them both! (so sad) if we had won, I think we’d have gone to a few more…but we’re headed out to Glendale to attend my first bowl game!!!

3. Try at least one new recipe a month. Yes! I didn’t do a very good job blogging about new recipes but I tried more than 12!

4. Go on a cruise This is one of the failures…sad. I decided maybe we would go this year but there are already so many trips planned, I don’t know if we’ll be able to fit one in…

5. Head to the Big D three times to see those Texas cousins. Yes! I headed down quite a few times, once I even stayed an entire week! I’m pretty sure I’m up for cousin of the year this year!

6. Attend an activity of each of the cousins. I made it to the 3 littles games, and to one of Jeffery’s concerts, I did not attend a soccer game for Jack, or a Cross Country meet for Blake (but I ran with Blake in several races, that has to count for something…)

7. Send/Give Birthday Cards to the kids. Yes! All kiddos got birthday cards and presents this year! I told you I was up for cousin of the year!

8. Track calories daily not so much…

9. Eat lunch out no more than once a month when at work. big fat fail…

10. Exercise 2 hours a week. I averaged out to 2 hours a week, some weeks I got a lot more, and some weeks I got quite a bit less!

 

Goals 8-10 while these could have been improved upon GREATLY I am ending 2010 25lbs lighter than I started it, so I did something right, even if I didn’t do it the way I had hoped!

I’ll be posting 2011 shortly, hopefully I’ll do even better :)

2010 in Review

January

January I saw Food Inc and decided it was time to cut fast food meat out of my diet. I have visited a few fast food restaurants since January but not nearly as much as I had before. For the most part I still do not order meat when I decide to visit a drive thru.

 February

February Garrett passed the CPA exam!!! Finally all of the studying was over! I could not have been more proud! and a little bit excited that another would never be devoted to studying for that silly test (at least by him!!)

March

In March we headed to lots of OU baseball games.

April

I ran my first 5k!! I was slow as anything but it led to lots and lots more running in 2010!

May

To Florida to see my family, and it went MUCH better than expected! I <3 Bradenton!

June

We headed to Nebraska for the College World Series. What a fun trip! We also visited the University of Nebraska.

July

We headed to Colorado for the Fourth of July and to see Garrett’s parents new house! We also visited the University of Colorado, which means we visited the campuses of both Big XII traitors in 2010.

August

I headed back to college, with a plan! It was kind of scary at first and more work with a full time job this time around. But, I’m so excited for the future and I don’t think I could say that when I finished the first time around!!

September

Football starts! finally! Natalie, Hunter, and my Mom come for a visit and to watch the OU v. fsu game! What a great weekend!!

October

Road tripped to Missouri for a football game (a sad, sad football game)

November

Road tripped to College Station for another disappointing football game. (and by this point I was so sad that we kept losing this was the only picture I took of the entire trip!)

December

As always was a wonderful month packed full of celebrating birthdays and Christmas.

2010 was a great year! I cannot wait to see what 2011 will bring!!

and just like that it’s over…

 

Doesn’t this picture just sum up going back to work today?

364 days of anticipation and then it’s over so fast kind of sad,

We have so much to cram into December around here sometimes it gets overwhelming trying to get everything in, I feel like I don’t have enough time for everyone and to do everything I need/want to do. This year I was a little bit more organized than I usually am and that made everything easier. 

Overall I’d say this year was a success!

There is no rest for the weary though, Saturday we fly to Arizona for 18 hours to watch my beloved Sooners play, then Sunday morning we head to Denver for a week of skiing (I’m a little bit terrified) and fun in the snow!

I hope you had an awesome Christmas!

Is it really almost 2011??

When I have a million things I want to blog about and can’t find the time or motivation to blog I just stop blogging. sad. I know! In order to avoid a blogging absence that last well into the new year we’re going to do a bullet post that lacks in pictures and creativity.

• We have one more birthday to celebrate around here before Christmas can be in full swing.
• My bedroom is a MESS, seriously I could use an elf to come clean it up for me.
• I’ve lost my driver's license and I’m terrified I won’t be able to get one, and then I won’t get to fly, and then my best trip ever will be ruined.
• I only lack one Christmas present, but I’m just drawing a blank.
• and unlike every other person on the face of the earth, I do not give gift cards. I think they are super impersonal.
• I usually hate online shopping, but coming home to a present every day for the last weekish has been fun!
• if you have a .edu email address you can get free 2 day shipping from Amazon for a year! It’s my new favorite!!
• If I had to pick a favorite “thing” about Christmas, it would be stockings! My mom always made the best stockings!
• I got all As for the first semester since like 5th grade, I am so proud of myself for being dedicated to school this time around. I think I’ll be buying myself a present.
• I’ve still never figured out if we are supposed to say Twenty-eleven or Two Thousand and Eleven.
• I say the latter, so I guess that works.
• I’m in charge of planning the Christmas eve menu, which is fine I just wish I had someone else to cook it for me.
• I can’t decide if I should make Garrett a birthday cake or buy him one…I’m kind of leaning toward the buying, but I know he’d rather have one I made…
• Maybe I’ll make him a small one and then use the rest of the batter for a Christmas cake?
• I just can’t find a yellow cake recipe that’s moist, and I don’t have very many minutes to try a bunch of different ones before Thursday.
• I’m at such a loss on what I need to take to go skiing, and I’m secretly terrified of even going.
• Today I read that the only bone that has never been broken in a skiing accident is the inner ear bone….great…
• plus I hate being cold.
• On a positive note I’m super excited for a vacation!!

Happy Happy!

 

Guess who turned 5 today!!

(are you serious?)

My brother thought she was the perfect graduation gift because her birthday was so close to mine!

(I better get a good present out of this)

I think she’s perfect because she will let me put frilly birthday hats on her!

(I am not amused)

Until she gets fed up with it, takes it off and turns her back to me. ha!

(she does not like my game, but she’s too small to do anything about it!)

The offer of a treat seems to make it all okay! :)

(look at that hat hair!)

Happy FIFTH birthday to my favorite little monkey dog!!

If she lived closer we’d be besties…

Emily and I got paired up as swap partners for both Laura’s Ornament Swap* and Meg’s Mitten Mixer* (were you a tiny bit disappointed at first Emily? because you thought you were getting two and then you got one? I was. sorry. I think you’re great though!)  I decided that it was obviously fate that matched us up and we were pretty much destined to be awesome blog swapping friends….

When I got my package I went straight for the ornament…

Could this ornament be any more me? I think not. An A, Pink, fur, polka dots. It’s so me!

I loved it!

I am going to find somewhere to keep it all year!

My package had all of this fun stuff in it. cute!

These mittens, which made me laugh out loud because I almost got her the exact same ones! (great minds)

It was a fabulous package that totally made my day!

Okay if all that wasn’t enough…today when I got home I had another package, I saw Emily’s name on it and I was a little confused but super excited…

She sent me a birthday card (because she left a card out of the first one) and two of these quick color nail polishes (which I’ve always wanted to try)

So that’s amazing right…

Then when I read the card and she said to practice with and the light one and to wear the Black Cherry (which we will call Crimson from now on) on Game Day (be still my heart), it was like she was the most amazing swap partner ever!! :)

Now I know everyone is going to be jealous that I got Emily twice, and they didn’t get a chance to swap with her! :)

Thank you Emily for the first package which was awesome by itself,

and then a second package which was way too sweet!!

*both Big XII grads! 

Happy Birthday...

to me!

I really had grand plans for my birthday post this year (I was gonna show you my baby pictures), but life has gotten in the way.You can read last year's birthday post for a good story of a present gone wrong.

In keeping with undergrad tradition I have a final tonight (what are the chances? I have one final this semester and it is on my birthday!) I am planning on taking cupcakes to class (and I don't even care if that's dorky)

We had my birthday dinner Friday (and I took pictures! that aren't uploaded) it was perfect!

I hope you have a wonderful my birthday!

Mark this one on your Calendars!

{via}

I love, love, love Mean Girls! It’s one of my top 5 favorite movies for sure.

When I heard about Mean Girls 2 I was super excited!

When I found out none of the original cast would be in it I was a lot less excited.

Second movies are never as good as the first, I know this.

BUT…

Now that it’s coming out I’m excited again!

While I doubt it’s going to be added to my Top 5 list,

I’m just hoping for funny!

ABC Family is premiering Mean Girls 2 on January 23rd (at 8pm EST)

I’m having a watch party!

No ponytails, must wear pink, we might even bring out the burn book!!

Dear Santa,

Let me start this out by saying a few things:

1. This is the first time I have ever made a Christmas/Birthday list ever. (I have only ever asked for two things in my life a Boy Cabbage Patch when I was in 2nd grade, and Squiggles the cat for my 16th birthday (I got both) with the cat my mom said, I don’t remember you ever asking for anything I have to say yes) My love language is gifts, this does NOT mean that I’m greedy and expect things, it means the effort put into the gift means so much to me, I rather people try and find me the perfect gift, telling them what I want is not fun for me….I buy myself the things I want…I rather be surprised with something awesome, that you just knew I'd love because it’s “so me”.

2. My birthday is 11 days before Christmas, so while I feel like this list has a lot on it I get all my gifts for the year in less than a two week span, I won’t have two gift posts so I feel that justifies mine being longer.

3. While I realize that I do not have to do the standard “Christmas list ideas post” I’ve excepted the idea that not everyone’s love language is gift giving, and certain people (especially of the boy variety) would rather me just tell them what to buy me. It is my hope (ARE YOU LISTENING SANTA??) that this list will be just a general idea and will help those that purchase gifts for me come up with their own ideas.

Alright here we go!

With our epic Road Trip coming up and knowing that Garrett is going to make me try skiing (I’m a little bit scared). I need a new coat. The truth is this Florida girl is just not prepared for winter (even after all these years!) and I get cold, so after some searching I think down is the way to go! I like how this Columbia one is cut (so hopefully I don’t look like a marshmallow!)

I’ve seen these gloves on quite a few bloggers wish list and I love them! First of all I’m a sucker for ruffles! and I know how hard it is to make a touch screen phone work with gloves on, with these gloves I can actually reply to the messages I get while sitting in a freezing cold stadium!

I went back and forth between this tripod and a camera extender and the only conclusion I’ve come up with is I need both of them! I hate asking people to take pictures for me (even though I offer to do it a lot) This is pretty much a must have before we head out on any more trips…but which one to choose? Are both over kill?

 

I don’t need two new cameras but I want them both and I can’t decide which one to want more. I want this small Nikon for a few reasons, sometimes I don’t want to take a bigger camera places and this one is small enough to fit in my pocket. love that. It takes good pictures (while I won’t be blowing them up to poster size) I won’t miss things because I’m not lugging my camera along. And the most important reason, it takes regular AA batteries so I never have to worry about it not being charged up! I want the other Nikon to replace my current camera, I’ve gone back and forth about wanting to get a DSLR and the truth is while I’d love the idea of getting it and learning it, I don’t have the time right now and I will not invest in a DSLR to shoot with it in Automatic, that is a waste! So, I think this is a good upgrade at this point, and it takes AA batteries and has 15x zoom! :)

 

This lunch box makes the type A in my personality so happy! The organization, the healthy foods that can be put in those individual containers, the BPA freeness of it all, it makes me giddy with excitedness. I just haven’t managed to convince myself that it’s okay to spend $45 on a lunch box…

I saw this journal make it’s rounds on last years Christmas Wish lists and this year I want it too!! It’s the perfect amount of space each day for writing down what has happened in your life. I think it’s perfect and I don’t think I would get overwhelmed trying to write in it every day, plus the next 5 years of my life are sure to be filled with things I want to remember, what a fun way to document it!

I wear a lot of dresses in the winter layered with long-sleeved shirts and tights, it makes my wardrobe last for more seasons because I can wear the same dresses when it’s warmer without the shirt and tights! It’s perfect. Except when it’s 20 degrees outside and the good ol’ Oklahoma wind is blowing 40mph, that wind will whip right through some measly tights, but not these they are fleece lined for extra warmth!

I have really small wrists and I don’t want a big bulky watch, so while I love the 3,650 OU watches I own I don’t wear them. They are too big and they aren’t ideal for everyday wear. This one is perfect!

I love elephants, a lot. And I love this baby elephant ring from Etsy, it is just too cute for words, with or without the diamond eyes, I want it on my finger!

I need this mini food processor I have so many new pesto recipes I want to try! Like almond spinach pesto, and sundried tomato pesto. This thing will make many tummies very happy!

 

Alright what’s on your Christmas list? I’d love more ideas for what to buy other people, and maybe a few ideas on how to spend my extra Christmas money!!

We’re Big XII Champs again….

 

Last night My favorite OU Sooners did it again!

We won our 7th Big XII Championship game!

The final Big XII Championship game (at least for now)

It was one of those crazy exciting games.

A lot like the one last week.

The kind of game that I’m pretty sure takes years off my life.

We could not have done it with out this guy…

After an injury plagued season last year.

It’s so nice to see the Sooners hold that trophy.

The best part had to be beating the “CornTraitors”

Sending them off to the Big Ten with a bang!

A reminder that they couldn’t hold their own in our conference.

But, the dominance of the Championship game over the last 10 years is pretty great too!

Big XII Champs again, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010!

All of that has led to this…

It has been decided that in 3 short weeks,

the day after Christmas,

Garrett and I will be packing up the car

and heading out on our best road trip ever!

2,500 miles, 8 days, 7 states, a little bit of skiing, hopefully a lot of winning, a ton of pictures

And the most fun ever! (:

Sooner images via

Map via