Crazy Mountain Ranch

 Let me start by saying, yes, I am a smoker.  Yes I know the health risk and yes, eventually I will quite when I am good and ready (or pregnant).  And smoking the biggest brand out there has gotten us (sister and I) a FREE trip!
 
12.8.2011:
My older sister calls me on my way home from work and the conversation went a little like this... 

Amber: I have a question... if say, I won a trip to Montana, would you want to go with?

Me: Where is Montana and what are you talking about... sure, ok.
Amber: In the mountains with all the snow and Marlboro sent me a package that I WON the trip to go. 

Me: (cha, right...)

So that was the initial phone call.. she went on to tell me some of the details and I was a little skeptical of course..  Either it was a scam or they we going to get all of us up there and something horrible would happen (I blame the movies for that last thought).  We hung up and by that time I was picking up the kiddo from the daycare.  I go ahead and give Danny a call, not sounding real excited because my thought process was that all of this was a sham, and let him know what my sister has told me and get his thoughts.  He immediately knew where Marlboro was stationed so that made me believe just a little bit more that this was actually going to happen.  He gave his blessing on the trip and said it would be crazy not to go.  

The kiddo and I had our own night planned and went on with that as scheduled with no interruptions.  We got home, made gifts and stockings and he got ready for bed.  My sister called right when he layed down and started telling me about this blog that she ran across about this guy that went and how fun his trip was and the gifts that were waiting on the bed (hats, boots, cigs of course, camera, calling cards, jackets and much more) and all of his activities along the way.  She goes on to say that she looked on Yahoo to see what others have said, if it were a scam, and not 1 person said it was!  I could have jumped out of my skin.  We hung up after talking about it for 45 minutes right as Danny got home.  He could tell just how excited I was getting about this!  

12.9.2011:

I have Googled the crap out of "Marlboro Ranch" today and OMG!  WE ARE GOING TO MONTANA!  I went to my sisters work to fill out the forms and it is getting overnighted with the FedEx folder that Marlboro provided her!  (HAS to be there by Monday!)

So now, we wait.  It could be 2 weeks or it could be a month.  At that time we will get the confirmation and the dates we will be going! 

Let me just say that I am so grateful that she has chosen me to go and that Marlboro has picked her!  This is something that we both, as moms and sisters, needed! Below is the 1st (of many) blogs that we have run across about this amazing trip!

http://tolgamarlboro.blogspot.com/

More to follow!

Only the BIGGEST shopping day of the year!

Oh how we look forward to “Black Friday” shopping every year!   Some might even call it “The Worst Shopping Day of the YEAR!”… those people will not even leave their house that day.  I am proud to say, I am one of the nutty people that wait in line for hours to start the night off.  The last 3 years my sister and I, along with a friend sometimes, have waited outside Toys-R-Us for 2-3 hours just to get some awesome deals for Christmas.  After there, we would venture on over to Wal-Mart and wait for those sales to start.  Let’s be honest though… if there is a hole in the wrapping on the pallet, we will be digging it out before the start time.  Then, we happily station at the next spot of interest.  We get there early to map out our plan of attack and station at different spots in the store.  I think at this point we just get a sick high of running around trying to get the next big deal.  After Wal-Mart we may venture to Grapevine Mills to see what they have to offer there.  Seeing as how Burlington Coat Factory was the only place I bought something last year, I think I will stay in Irving.  

This year, however, Wal-Mart has thrown us for a doozie!  They are opening at THE SAME TIME as Toys-R-US.  What’s a Mom to do?!?  This ruins our set schedule we have followed every year.  Not to worry though, we will figure it out!  I have started shopping here and there for Christmas, but black Friday usually is the end date for most Christmas shopping.  

This year Danny will finally be getting a new TV!  He has wanted a new one since we have moved in together.  The honest truth is that I am just way too cheap to go buy a TV, or anything for that matter, when the other isn’t broken.  But, I think it’s time.  We work hard for what we do have, so why not get us a little something this year?  This is Danny’s 1^st year of the madness.  I guess you could say that he is a Black Friday virgin.  Ha – should be interesting.  Maybe now he will understand why I don’t like getting the phone calls from 10pm-5am.  Stressful I tell ya!  

If you are one of the brave souls that are going to venture out for these sales… I have just a few pointers for you…

1.       BUY the newspaper Thanksgiving morning.  No matter how many times you have looked at the ads online, there is always something you will miss.  These ads will come handy at go time… some stores have them there, but it is never a guarantee. 

2.        NEVER, under any circumstances, cut in line.  This could cause a riot and people are already on their last leg.

3.       CHARGE your phones before leaving.  If you plan to go with another person or a group, your cell phones will be the most used items that night.  (Mine has died the last 2 years)

4.       Set a budget for this day.  Look at the ads over and over and try to stay within that set amount and only get the things you KNOW will be needed.

5.       Plan on spending about $20 over your pre-set amount.  Have you seen the DVD prices?  Not to mention their will be something you see that a cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent, nephew, niece or whoever… would LOVE! 

6.       If you plan on waiting outside of a store (which is pretty much all of them except Wal-Mart), take a chair and blanket.  Once you get out of line… you’re not getting back in.

7.       YES, another line one… IF you get to your first store early and you want to save a spot for ONE other person, ok NBD… just let the people behind you know, out of courtesy.  If you are saving for a group of people… just expect the dirtiest looks for the remainder of the line time.  (Hey, I don’t make up the rules, I just follow them!)

8.       This one goes mainly for Wal-Mart… Presale, make friends… because as I said before if there is a hole in the wrapping, you will need a lookout person while you are digging in it & return the favor when you are finished.  At go time, all bets are off though.

9.       I know there are single parents out there and I know it is rough… BUT, Black Friday (Thursday now too) is NOT the time to take your kids shopping… especially the infants. 

10.   Last but certainly not least… keep the comments to yourself.  I am completely aware that I have a fat ass… there is no reason to point that out just because I got something you wanted.  Chances are you will be told “You snooze you lose” which will piss you off even more.  I’m not looking to get into any crazy black Friday brawls. 

It sounds crazy saying this, well… typing this, but I am not a crowd person by all means.  So, if everyone would just follow those simple pointers… we could all get along.  

Below are a few pictures that kind of set’s the mood… lol.  Enjoy! 

Looks like Wal-Mart here! 

See... CrAzY people!

Just about what the line looks like.

Happy Shopping!!! 

(Correction: Toys R Us has decided to open their doors at 9pm on Thursday!  Woot.)

Sports Sports Sports!

Here goes nothing. 

We are in baseball playoffs and the Cowboys football season is ¼ in.  The Dallas Stars have started back up in hopes of providing a great season.  The Mavericks… well, who knows where the NBA stands on starting on time this season?  

As we near the end of the baseball season, our Texas Rangers have provided us with yet another great season of Americas favorite past time, the game of baseball.  We have had ups and downs and we are doing ok in the playoffs, round 1.  All in all, the Rangers are bringing out all the stops.  We had a bumpy 1^st game with CJ pitching and the “blister” he may have had on his hand.  No doubt pitching with a blister is horrible, but I would assume that would have been looked at beforehand (no pun intended).  Game 2 was an exciting one, to say the least!  Game 3, well, I didn’t get to watch, but a 4-3 win sounds like a good “W” to me.  We are now about 2 hours away from game 4… the game we need to win to go on.  We got this.  

No matter what you say about the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, Jason Garrett or Tony Romo… I truly think we are looking at a new and better Cowboys team.  Yes, we had the “biggest meltdown in Cowboys history” just this past Sunday and yes, Romo had a bad game.  BUT, look at what they did in the first half.  Look at how good our defense is.  I think this is just the beginning of a new and improved Cowboys football team.  

  

Oh the Dallas Stars.  I remember going to these games as a kid.  We went to many Dallas Stars games, and let’s not forget the Dallas Freeze games as well.  Madono just returned for 1 game to retire as a Dallas Star.  Kudos to him.  He was a great hockey player and was quickly turned into the face of hockey here in Dallas.  There are many diehard fans of the sport… I personally do not follow it.  I will get into a good game, but that’s about all.  I love going to the games because the excitement level is so much more entertaining to be there in person.  Best of luck to the Stars in their upcoming season!  

The Dallas Mavericks, World Champs!  Dirk brought his team to the championship, and they won!  Another team that I attended many games of.  I remember in 5^th grade, I think, I had a whole Jason Kidd school set… spiral, notebook, pencil pouch, pens/pencils... you name it!  This is another sport that I would love to go see in person, but just can’t get into all that much.  I just don’t follow it much is all.  

I am also a huge TX Longhorns fan!  I was raised as one, what do you want me to say?  It would be easier to say that I was only a Longhorn Fan because I live in TX… but then you have TCU, A&M, Texas Tech, SMU and whoever else I am forgetting.  No, I didn’t attend the school or have a family member attend there either (that I know of).  I am just a fan, period.  My husband however is a huge TCU fan… before TCU was good even.  Then I have a lot of my family and my sons’ family who are the dreaded OU fans.  It’s a shame really!  This weekend is also the TX/OU weekend... May be the last also?  This game provides bragging rights for the whole year… and maybe even forever!  

All in all, I am a SPORTS fan (Maybe not as nutty as those two guys ^.. and yes, that is Don in the boa!).  No, I don’t know the stats of every single player or team.  I don’t know all the coaches names on a first name basis (except Ron Ron).  I do know that I have been and will always be a fan of the Rangers, Cowboys, Stars and Mavericks.  I get most of my information from sports radio and baffle my husband with my knowledge of sports.  Doesn’t happen too often, but when it does I can tell he is a proud husband (ha).  We, in Dallas, have a lot of bandwagon fans… mostly of the Dallas Cowboys.  We hate them when they loose and love them when they win.  People speculate the band-wagoners of the Rangers, also.  I however say, bring em’ on because the more support our home teams can get, the better.  Just don’t plan to go to a playoff game or World Series game and sit.  I better see you on your feet and cheering whether we are winning or losing!  Cowboys games as well!  You can even hear the difference of the Cowboy Stadium to others with their fans cheering vs. ours. 

All for now!  Hope that you enjoyed it!  

Crafty Ashley..

    I have recently found a new hobby and I am so excited about this!!  I have always been a little crafty so I needed something along those lines.  I have started off small just making a few bows over the weekend and I hope to start making a lot more.  I would also like to make those Bow Holders that hang one the wall, hat racks for boys and so much more... the ideas just keep coming! 

    I don't however have a little girl and a little something for me to do on the side would be awesome!  Kind of a stress reliever for me... so a plus all the way around. 

    Chances are that you ended up on my blog through my FB, so if you ever see a bow you like on there and you want to do different colors or whatever... just let me know!!  I am still playing with all the bows, so soon there will be more of a variety to choose from!   

Here are a few of the ones I have done so far....

Have a great day!

Those Pesky Chores!

  When you first move away from home, I think there is this little “NO MORE CHORES… YESSS” attitude!  Now that I am older and have a family of my own it’s more like “Pick up your crap!” attitude.  I can’t deal with little things like peanut butter on the counter… you could have reached like 5 feet and set it in its place.  The kitchen has GOT to be clean at all times… as well as the living room, most times.  I would rather be the only one cleaning as long as I know it will get done right. 

  We had a list of things to do during the summer… let me just give you a good example:

“*Monday – White clothes washed, dried and put away.  Both rooms cleaned: This means picking and PUTTING AWAY everything, make beds and vacuum.

Ash – Bathroom and Kitchen.  Bathroom: clean counter top, toilet, under toilet, behind toilet,    behind sink, bathtub, sweep and mop.  Kitchen: Unload dishwasher, load it, clean countertops,            sweep, and mop.

Amber – Living room and Hallway.  Living room: ALL trash, dust, clean glass tops (MOVE the rose bowls and angels to do so!), vacuum.   Hallway: Vacuum.  ((As you can see, these were the good days to have!))

*Tuesday – Towels washed, dried and put away.  Rooms.

Ash – Living room and Hallway.

Ber – Bathroom and Kitchen.

*Wednesday – colored clothes washed, dried and put away.  Rooms.

(Again, chores reversed)

*Thursday – Light colored clothes washed, dried and put away.  Rooms.

(Chores reversed again)

*Friday – Rooms.

(Chores reversed again)”

   The weekends pretty much just consisted of cleaning here and there and if laundry is needing to be done, it gets done. 

  Thinking about it now, I just have to laugh.  My mom was smart about this… you see, she listed EVERYTHING she wanted done to her standards because she was sick of coming home and saying “why is that coke can there?” or “look behind the sink there”.  This way we couldn’t give that blank “huh?” stare when she asked… It was right there in black and white, and some bold and underlined.  She wasn’t a hard ass of a mom in a lot of ways… but she had her little things she wanted done certain ways.

  The city pool by our house opened at 1pm.  What this meant for me was I had to wake up early and get my crap done so I can go swimming all day!  You know as well as I do that just laundry is a time consuming thing.  Load in, clean, load out/in, clean, load out/put away clothes and GET READY FOR THE POOL!  There was another small issue… since the older sister felt she had to sleep till noon-30, she thought I always did less than my half in the laundry department.  Soon after, my mom threatened that if we ever called her at work for that again, and were not bleeding, we were going to be in BIG trouble.  Oh the days.   

  Looking back, I am amused but so thankful she did this.  I know I learned a lot just from chores.  Hell, some people don’t even know how to work a washer or dryer… now that is a shame.  When Kasen is old enough to stay home after school and during summer, in sports or not, he WILL have a nifty little list of his own to complete.  I still had a BLAST during the summer time… I just managed to help out a little around the house is all!     

Man, were those summers fun though!  

Self Image

Self image is how we see ourselves; inside and out.  I have struggled to see myself as a beautiful person the past, oh geez, forever?  I don’t know if I have a new found respect for myself or if it’s the times that Danny has called me beautiful that has lately turned that around.  

Outer appearance is something that has been a personal demon for me since Jr. High.  Those are the years that girls start coming into their own and have a lot of things racing through their heads.  6^th grade I was the “Jesus Freak”, 7^th grade I dressed like a plain “freak” and 8^th grad, haha, Spice Girls all the way!  Going into High School I was just a plain mess.  I have very THICK hair and had no straighter at the time… almost enough said.  Once I hit my sophomore year I think was the turning point for trying to “fit in”.  All I could do was be myself.  I didn’t belong to any particular “click”… just trying to get by the rest of my HS career without getting beat up really.  I talked to just about everyone that I could and that didn’t judge me for whatever reason.  I kind of steered clear of those HS DB’s though… yeah you know the ones I’m talking about.  And that should go without saying that there were a few DB-ette’s as well.  You have a few everywhere… 

After being in college for about 3 semesters, I got pregnant with Kasen and ate like I was pregnant!  When he was born it took a while for my body to get back to somewhat normal again.  On a side note real quick, those of you that have a baby and look like nothing ever happened two days later, I want to kick you… in the nicest way possible.  Here we are 5 years later and I feel better than ever.  I may not be as healthy as I would like to be but I think all of that is about to change.  I have learned to appreciate myself for who I have become inside and out.  

I think that last weekend was a little bit of a test for me.  We went to swim at a friend’s pool in the apartment community he lives in and his place is crazy!  I mean, it looks like Spring Break there at the pool.  Kids were there, as was Kasen, and there were tons of people.  Just having a good time drinking a few beers and swimming.  Kasen had a blast.  Immediately I noticed that I would be the only one in a one piece… not only a one piece but a momma one piece!  At first I didn’t want to take off the cover up… that lasted until it got too hot to stand anymore, about 5 minutes later!  After a while I just got really comfortable… I noticed that nobody was staring (as I thought they would) at me or anything like that and just had a good ole time!  It was nice.  For about a year I became very aware of the weight gain that occurred and hated my arms.  As most girls do.  That is another thing that I am proud to say I am over more and more each day.  I may not be two piece material or anything like that but I have accepted my body as it is and would like to improve it.

I truly don’t think you will ever appreciate the change you make on the outside until a change has been made on the inside as well.  Love yourself for you first then work on the areas you would like to improve on your outer appearance.  I have been working on my inner self the last 4 years or so, hard, and now I think it is time to start working on the outer… for me as well as my family. 

That’s all I got on that. Love you for YOU!  

BFF... Forever?

    One thing I have come to realize is the meaning of friendship.  There are so many different categories in having a "Friend"...

   First, you have the "Social Network Friend".  Meaning you may have gone to HS with them and haven't really talked that much since then, or just acquaintances.  You "Poke" them every once in a while, comment on cute family pictures and like a few statuses.  Your most likely not going to go hang out with them most weekends... They are really only there so you can stalk their photos or what may be happening in their personal life like a new kid or whatever else.

  

   The second is the "Party Friend".  Somewhat the same as the last, but not really.  Confused?  Let me explain.  They basically only get called on when the other is going out... like their sidekick or something.  They are the ones that you know you will have a good time with!!  Maybe not the one to bring home to mom and dad, but non the less, a friend. 

  The third is the "Coworker Friend".  You spend a lot of time with the people you work with, so you start to form little friendships with them.  Whether or not you go out and party with them or go shopping, you still consider them as a friend.  You talk to them about family and maybe even some of your other friends and give advise as well as take it.  May not hang out with them outside of work, but you know they will be thinking of you if anything were to ever happen... that to me is a friend.    

   Fourth is the "Every So Often Friend".  They will call you EVERY so often when they are bored or something exciting is going on in their life.  Now I can speak personally when I say that I love to hear when friends have great things going on for them.  But, when I call to tell you something, good or bad, and you don't answer or return a phone call... that will slowly fade that I even care what is going on with you... good or bad.  Out of all the groups, I think this one will annoy me the most. 

   Fifth is the "Grade School Friend".  No matter how old you get or where your living, working or doing, you can always call up a friend or two from the school years to hang out and pick up like no time has ever passed.  I know maybe 2 girls that I could do that with.  We may not run in the same exact circles now, but if I were to call them up to come over for a few girly drinks... they would say "What time?"  We would listen to music we used to and some we didn't... but all the same... have a GREAT time doing it!! 

  

   Sixth would be the "Two-Faced Friend".  Yes, we have all had them a time or two in our lives, and some of us still do.  They will love you when around you and talk about you as soon as you are gone.  I honestly don't have the energy for that much these days.  Were girls, so we LOVE gossip from time to time... I am just over that kind.  Remember: If your friend is talking bad about another one of her friends to you, then chances are... she is talking bad about you to them.  Guilty, I am NO saint.  Something I think I have worked on well.  I try not to say anything about anyone that I wouldn't let them know myself.  So if you ask, be prepared for for the answer.  

   And last but not least, the "Best Friends".  I have just a couple that I have stayed in great contact with since we graduated HS.  No matter the new friends they may have made or the new adventures they are on... We have always been there for each other.  Weddings, Kids, Heartache and Celebration!  You are prepared to drop everything at their most needed times.  You get an occasional card from time to time from them just letting you know it was "Friends Day" (I wish I did that more often).  The BFF should have a little of the 1st, 2nd and 5th in them all rolled into one.  Of course, we have had our "So Often" and "Two Faced" days... BUT we are past that now and are still the strongest of friends!!  I love these girls and consider them family.  I just hope they know that! 

   That's it really.  

~Ash