Pictures from the 4th of July weekend

I hope that everyone has had a great 4th of July and everything! Since I've had more free time, I've been willing to indulge more time to my hobbies. More specifically, I've been carrying around my camera more and thought that I'd share some of my favorite pictures from the 4th. Hope you guys enjoy!

Grandpa and Katelyn on the swing

Ashton and Katelyn on the swing. Katelyn really liked the swing and kept wanting to swing more.

She also enjoyed picking flowers and giving them to Ashton.
(Sorry Grandma Gail!)

There's a public trail behind the garden and this is one of the views from it.

"I'm gonna getcha!" "No way!"
A little bit later, "Go away! Poor Ashton."

Katelyn won!

Under Pressure

With Ashton out of a job right now, there has been some push for me to get a job from well-meaning friends and family. It makes sense right? I'm done with school, besides needing to finish up my online class, and so I would be the perfect candidate to go out and get a job. Although it makes a certain kind of sense to my head, my stomach sinks whenever I hear someone telling me that I should get a job.

It's not that I'm lazy and don't want to work. I enjoying being busy and doing that kind of work. I mean growing up, I had the same summer job since I was 10 or 11 years old until last summer. There's no way I would have stuck with it if I didn't like what I did.

So, what's the problem? Well, it's the type of job that I'd have to do. The majority of the jobs that I could get nearby I would hate....seriously hate. I don't think I'd enjoy bagging groceries, flipping burgers, making pizza, or anything of that sort...and let's face it, all my hard work to get back into shape and lose the extra chub would be lost. If I did get a job bagging groceries, or anything like that, I'd probably count down the days until I could quit from day 1. What fun is that? If I have to get a job, I'd want it to be something that I at least like doing.

Yes, yes...the voices in my head are screaming all kinds of old sayings. Most particularly the saying about how we all have to do things that we don't want to keeps re-surfacing. I'd like to believe, and sincerely do, that if it came down to it, I'd take any job that came my way and would do my best to be happy about it.

So, what would be my ideal job? Who knows? I've never really made a plan B in case my plan A fell through. It'd be nice to be able to do something with landscaping or photography seeing as I love doing both. That would probably be a job that I could enjoy and look forward to going to. I could probably do multiple things all at the same time since I enjoy multitasking even though it's stressful sometimes.

Guess we'll just see what happens.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

So, this is going to be a different kind of post. I took some pictures of some roses that I got a while ago when we bought our car and I want to frame one of them. After looking through all of them and demanding that Ashton give me his input, we narrowed the selection down to 4. So now, I want your input because I'm lousy with making these kinds of decisions. So, here it goes.

#1

#2

#3

#4


So, let me know which is your favorite!

What defines me

Ashton and I were talking the other night. It was one of the only conversations that we've managed to have in bed without him falling asleep...you'd think I'd have learned by now not to start conversations in bed. Nope...I'm no quicky. Anyways, the conversation itself isn't important, but I've started to think about what my "thing" is. You know, people just have something that they do that defines them, like a hobby or whatever. Like I'd say that computer programming is Ashton's thing. Although, he'd probably define it as reading...depending on whether we're talking about something you do in leisure or just something you do in general. I've taken it in a more general sense.

Either way, I'm not quite sure what my thing is. There are plenty of things that I'd like to be doing and that I like doing. There's just so many of them that I don't know which I would classify as my thing if any of them.

I love just being active, hiking, playing soccer, running around with nieces and nephews, and things like that. Oh, and I love photography; if I had a picture frame for every picture I've taken, there wouldn't be any blank space of the wall. I have so many pictures that I would love to put up somewhere and many more that I love, but unsure about what to do with.

Sure, I love not doing things, too or the less physically active anyways. I like reading and when I can get a book in my hands that I can completely get into, you won't be seeing or hearing from me until I get it finished. Scrap booking is also a fun hobby and gives me something to do with some of the pictures I take. Music is also fun and I love just listening to good music or playing the piano. Such a great stress reliever, too.

Anyways, you start to see my problem. I like doing so many things and they're so combinable that it's hard to just pick one. The more I think about it, the more activities I come up with. Maybe I should just pick my favorite and call that my thing. I mean, it's not like I only have to do that one thing. So, why am I having such a hard time coming up with my thing? Well, it's hard to find one activity that defines you, or at least mostly defines you. Who knows?

What a weekend...

It's been one of those weekends. You know the kind I mean, the ones where it's like a roller coaster; up and down, so you just wait until the ride is over and try not to hurl over the side. Well, like I said, it's been one of those. I'm not quite sure where to start, so we'll start at the beginning on Thursday.

Thursday started out fantastic. I studied almost all day, memorizing a previous, 90 some odd question test. I did pretty good memorizing it because on the test I was able to whip out those answers. So, all and all I took the test and I think I did pretty good, but I don't really care how I did because that was my last final...EVER! It felt pretty darn good to turn that sucker in and walk out that door and leave the BYU campus. I almost did cartwheels.

Life definitely wouldn't be the same if we were allowed great moments without some kind of trial following. Ours just happened to follow a few hours later. Ashton got laid off from his job. The company that he worked for hasn't been doing so well lately and there have been many waves of lay-offs. Thankfully, Ashton managed to keep his job for a few weeks because they really liked the work that he does. Unfortunately, they were told to make more cuts and Ashton was on the list.

We're still getting used to the idea that Ashton doesn't have a job and it's been hard on both of us. We've spent a good portion, if not all, of the weekend trying to figure out what we're going to do as far as....well...everything, but most importantly, Ashton's classes. He still has 3 more classes to take and we're trying to figure out when he can take them.

Thankfully though, Ashton's dad knows a lot of people and has been able to give out Ashton's name to them and give some more names to Ashton to check out. Also, Ashton has some friends who also work with computers and has been able to enlist their help as well. So, we're very hopeful that he'll be able to get a job soon. In fact, Ashton has a job interview today.

Onto happier news, Melissa, my sister-in-law, got married on Friday in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day and everything ran pretty smoothly. We're really happy for them and look forward to being able to spend time with them when they get back from the honeymoon and get settled in. We took lots of pictures, so I'll post some of them when I get them onto my computer.

The End is Here!

I am about to have a lot more free time on my hands as today is the last day of classes for me...forever! Sure, I still have to take my two finals and then finish up my online class, but that hardly counts. The online class is pretty easy and won't take too much time to finish up and I'm just not worried about the finals...although maybe I should be.

The end of the semester couldn't have come at a better time either as it the Euro Cup is going on right now. It's hard to care about school work when you have futbol (soccer) playing on your TV. Even if I could convince myself to turn off the TV, I'd be distracted because I'd be wondering who was winning and what was going on. Besides, it keeps me less stressed out about school.

It's also entertaining for Ashton to watch or listen to me watch the games. If there's one game that I'll always get worked up about while watching on TV, it'll be soccer every time. That means that there's going to be yelling, fist shaking, jumping up and down...the whole works. I'm sure it's just as entertaining for Ashton to watch me as it is the game.

I'm not one to be able to sit around and do nothing though for long periods of time. I get bored and then have to do something...drives Ashton nuts. So, I'll have to find different stuff to keep myself busy. For the first few weeks, at least, I'll have a lot of different projects to get done. I'll finally have time to clean up that second bedroom and empty out the rest of the boxes, or at least put them out of sight. I'll also have time to maybe catch up on my scrapbooking and some other fun picture projects.

We'll see how long I last.

Husband Tag

So, Stacy and Lance (my sister and brother-in-law) tagged Ashton to do a husband post. Ashton's doing homework and I'm bored so I decided to make up all kinds of lies about him and post them...just kidding, I'll tell the truth.


What is my name?
Ashton Stokes Halladay

How long have you been together?
We have been married for one year and 6 days, but it's been one year and nine months since we've started dating.

How long did you date?
We dated for 2 months before getting "unofficially" engaged. Then we dated for 2 more months before we became officially engaged and told everyone. Then it was another 4 months before we got married. So all in all...8 months.

How old is he?
27 years old. He turns 28 next month. Yeah, he's quite a bit older than me.

Who eats more?
That's a tough call...I probably do...I was born a Stinson after all.

Who said I love you first?
He actually did. It took me a few days to reply in turn even though I knew I loved him.

Who is taller?
Ashton is...thank goodness!

Who can sing better?
Ashton has declared that I do. (He doesn't think that he can sing...I think he's wrong).

Who is smarter?
Well, given that Ashton can do all kind of black magic on computers and I can't...I'd say he is. He, of course, has chosen the more diplomatic answer of "that's a toss-up"

Who does the laundry?
When we had to drag the laundry down the hill, he did. Now that we have a washer and dryer at home, I do. He helps fold sometimes.

Who pays the bills?
Ashton does.

Who sleeps on the right side?
Well, that depends on which way you're looking at the bed. If it's while you're on it, then Ashton does (unless I take it over); if it's while you're staring at it, then it's me! Unless, of course, I've taken over his side, then he gets up and changes sides.

Who mows the lawn?
The nice maintenance crew...

Who cooks dinner?
Da wifey most of the time...occasionally it's da hubby.

Who drives?
It used to be Ashton hands down...now it's more of a toss-up. Depends on which car we want to take.

Who is more stubborn?
It depends on what it is and how badly we want to win that fight. In which case, I am.

Who kissed who first?
Ashton kissed me first...he says I was giving him "the look" (whatever that is).

Who asked who out first?
I am proud to say that I asked Ashton out first...and then on our second date.

Who proposed?
Ashton proposed to me...technically twice I guess...on January 13, 2007 at Thanksgiving Point.

Who has more friends?
According to Facebook...which is the best way to judge anything, says that I do. Although, I'm sure that Ashton does if we were to really count friends.

Who is more sensitive?
That would be the wife.

Who has more siblings?
Also, the wife...really no contest in this one.

Who wears the pants?
Well....I think we take turns. Ashton brings home "the bacon" and pays bills and all that jazz...but I definitely keep him in line (someone's got to).

I tag
Andrew...or really it'd be tagging Mandy since she's probably the one who would do it.