Christmas Vacation!

Romney and I got to go back to Utah for Christmas. That was the first time that we had been home in a year! (Exactly a year! Uncanny!) We had such a fun time in Utah! We got to be there together for 2 weeks (and I got an extra 3 weeks!) and spend time with both of our families. It was seriously so much fun. Romney didn't want to go back to North Carolina.. I didn't blame him. We were having way too much fun here with all our cute nieces and nephews and lots and lots of yummy food. (We are over Goldsboro restaurants.. terrible choices out there) I think we went to Cafe Rio the most. Its just fast and easy. And it didn't hurt to have some delicious home cooked meals. (Those are the best) We got to stay and the Zackrison home and the Blackburn home. So much fun! We have definitely missed both families.

We have both seen our parents throughout the year but we hadn't seen our siblings in the past year, so seeing all of them was super fun. Cole and Jana Lyn (my sister and brother-in-law) finally made the trek out there from Denver after we had been there about a week. Romney had been SOOOOOOO excited to see one of their daughters Scarlett! (She is 2 years old) When we first saw them of course the girls were a little hesitant to see us. (Well they gave me a hug just fine, but were a little nervous around Romney) Scarlett did give Romney a high-five. Everybody went into the kitchen and it was just me, Romney and Scarlett in the living room. She finally just ran up to Romney and gave him the biggest hug out of nowhere! IT WAS SO CUTE! Romney said "Hurry, take a picture!" He was so excited she finally came around and hugged him. He had been waiting a whole year for that!

Romney and I have been married for 2 years now!! I honestly cannot believe how quickly these past 2 years have gone by! And how easy its been. Everybody always says the first two years are the hardest.. well ours have basically been a cake walk so I can't imagine how these next few years will be. I am the luckiest girl in the world. My husband is seriously THE BEST!! I definitely lucked out with that one! We got to go stay in Park City and celebrate. It was so much fun! We love going and staying up there. For sure one of our favorite places and we have missed it a lot in the past year! (And of course we didn't take any pictures)

The first week in Utah we stayed at the Zackrison's house. Even though it isn't my home or my parents house, I definitely felt at home. We got spoiled and got to hang out with all the Zackrison boys and do what they do best... watch sports and play computer games. The girls didn't really play computer games but we did get to go get our nails done and shop a little bit. I love my sister-in-laws! They are the best, and we all get along so great!

That Sunday we went to both my parents ward and Romney's parent's ward. Of course Romney and my Dad wore their New York suits.. and of course I took a picture. I mean.. they just look so good in those suits! It was fun to go to Romney's old ward and meet a lot of the people that he grew up with.

That week we spent the week at my parents house. We got to spend Christmas morning with them and 2 of my sisters and their cute families. I have been waiting for Christmas FOREVER it seemed like! I got Romney a Playstation 4 and that seriously has been one of the hardest secrets to keep! I could not wait for him to open that thing. He really had no idea I had bought him one. We kept joking about getting him a PS4 and little did he know that I had one for him! I cried when he opened it (I'm pregnant alright?!) But seriously... I was soooo excited to give it to him! We both got spoiled on Christmas morning, but it was so fun to be able to share it with family!

What is baby Z?!

As most of you probably know, we are having a baby girl. So thrilled about it! It will be way fun to have a little girl to dress up. I am already struggling not to buy her things. But there is just too many cute clothes out there! While I was in Utah, we had a couple showers. Huge thanks to my friend Sharlene and my sister-in-law Sharli for throwing me one! And a huge thanks to my mom and sisters and sister-in-law Chelsey for throwing me one and to to EVERYONE that came and supported us. We got lots of great stuff.. I am way anxious for this little girl to get here. But we still don't have everything ready, so good thing we still have a few months. 

Here are a few pictures from my showers. So much fun!! 

A HUGE THANKS again to everyone! I have the best family and friends anyone could ask for! Baby  Z and I are so so so so excited for everything! (Oh and Romney too!)

Snow in North Carolina!

So it snowed today in North Carolina and the snow stuck to the ground past noon. This NEVER happens. Both school and the base were on a 2-hour delay because of the snow. Look at all this snow:

Okay so there was a little bit more... but it melted. But good thing the whole state was delayed 2 hours. But I'm not complaining... just laughing. 

So now I think I'll stay under my blanket and try to catch up on some Netflix and blogging!

Baby Zackrison!

We are expecting a baby!! We still can't believe it, but we are both beyond excited!

I am about 14 weeks along and am due May 6th.

I have been sooooooooooooooooo sick. And I hate it. But the sickness is starting to go away.. Thankfully.

Romney has been such a patient and amazing husband. He gets me whatever I need.

Still doesn't seem real.

Sick of people asking dumb and personal questions.

When people ask what we're hoping for.. We are hoping for a baby, okay?!

My boss thought Mormons couldn't use birth control.. Super funny.

All of my close friends thought I was lying to them when I told them.

No I will not be posting pictures of my growing belly.

Excited that my sister-in-law and I are due so close together!  (5 weeks)

Not looking forward to maternity clothes.

And that's that! Pretty exciting!

And no I'm not lying... This is for real.

Fall!

Its pretty safe to say that everyone loves Fall. Definitely my favorite time of year. And definitely my Dad's favorite time of year. He is pretty jealous we are living in North Carolina during this season. I wish he could come out and visit and how beautiful its going to be! Most of the leaves out here are still green! Its so weird. I guess cause its so much warmer in the South that the leaves change later in the year. I am trying to be patient! I have started wearing boots and long sleeve shirts but some days its still too hot to wear it. I am ready for cooler weather! Hopefully now that its November it will finally feel more like fall.

All Summer Romney and I were preparing for him to deploy this fall. He was an alternate and its pretty much unheard for an alternate not to deploy. We did have a couple scares. He text me one day while I was babysitting and said "lets go out to dinner tonight" (This was a Wednesday and we usually only go out on the weekends) So I was like okay, where? And he wanted to dress up and go somewhere nice. So basically Olive Garden was our only option. (We get fancy in Goldsboro!) I thought (knew) he was up to something... When I got home I asked him if he was getting deployed and if thats the reason he wanted to be "fancy" but lately Romney ALWAYS wants to dress up and go somewhere nice. (But since we are limited on nice restaurants he is basically over dressed all the time. Better to be overdressed than under dressed, right?) He is quite into fashion lately. (I love it!) He seriously cracks me up with it. (If he could wear a suit or a shirt and tie everyday, he would) Anyway, we go to dinner (at Olive Garden) and he is just being extra lovey dovey that night and I seriously asked him like 8 times if he was getting deployed and he just kept saying no. The next day he comes home from work and said "I took you to dinner last night because I thought I was getting deployed... but I'm not!" I knew it! I knew he was up to no good. He wasn't 100% sure that he was leaving so he didn't say anything until the next day. Rude, I know. But I'm pretty sure he thought he was leaving like 3 times and didn't say anything to me. So long story short.. he is not deployed! We are both pretty happy about it. But I did want to get some "deployment" pictures done just in case he did deploy. My friend Jessica did them and she did an amazing job! Here are some of them:

It was kinda rainy that day (hence the Umbrella and my non-straight hair) But I thought the pictures turned out really good! I love all the green out here. They will be fun to have! (Thanks Jess!)

Callings, callings, callings.

So Romney and I must be pretty good at whatever we get thrown at us because within the last 6 months.. between both of us we have had 6 different callings. Our latest callings are:

Ashly: Miamaid Advisor
Romney: 2nd counselor in the Bishopric

Hopefully these ones will stick. So basically we've aced: Scouts, primary, Young Women's Presidency and Young Men's Advisor. Apparently we did what we needed to do and moved on! Just kidding (not about all the callings but about acing them) We both absolutely love the callings that we are serving in now and feel INCREDIBLY blessed. I don't like the  fact that I have to sit by myself in Sacrament meeting now but I am so proud of him! So far I think he has done a great job (Its been a week and a half ha) but I know he will continue to do a good job. He is really excited to be serving in such a great ward. We really are so lucky. But he is the guy that asks you to speak on Sundays so basically he is the guy to avoid. He told me to have a backup talk ready in case he needs me. (Yeah right) We had to keep his calling a secret for 2 weeks. Hardest secret to keep ever. (Especially sorry to Elisa and Bridgette! Ha!)

Romney's parents got to come out the weekend that he was set apart as the Second Counselor. It was so much fun having them come out and stay with us for a few days. (We LOVE visitors... so come out here people) It was really special because Romney's dad got to Ordain him a High Priest. That was really neat. That Sunday was a very spiritual day. I'm glad some of his family was here to share it with us. (Thanks Paul and Becky for EVERYTHING! They really are the best in-laws ever!)

Other than that nothing really has been going on out here in Goldsboro.

I had to do my first "Military goodbye" a few weeks ago. It was my friend Anna... her husband is retiring. Her and I are so much alike its crazy! We met in the daycare of the base gym. Neither of us have kids and after babysitting those kids in there for a couple hours a week neither of us wanted to have kids. But now she is pregnant!

Lately I have been listening to the other waitresses at Ruby Tuesday "greet" their tables. Most of them say "Hi, welcome to Ruby Tuesday my name is ________ and I will be taking great care of you today." I don't make that promise. I'm smarter than that. Sometimes I can fulfill that promise. Other times I can't. I feel like that would come back to bite me in the butt if I said that to a table.

I have eaten chocolate chip cookies for breakfast the past 2 days. (Thanks Jessica! They are freaking delicious) But I haven't had a Monster in 3! Impressive. I know.

I'm newly obsessed with Grey's Anatomy.

On that note.. I think I will go eat a chocolate chip cookie and watch some more Grey's.

Peace.

Blackburns come to visit!

So as some of you may know, my 2 awesome parents came to visit Romney and I. They drove my car all the way from Utah! I know how long of a drive that is! It is FAR! But they were lucky... They stopped in Nauvoo, Nashville, Ashville and lots more places and saw some really cool things... and almost got hit by a Tornado in Oklahoma (One hit down 4 miles from them when they were at Wal-Mart, so everyone in Wal-Mart had to go to the corner and crouch down together for safety. Can you imagine doing that with the people that go to Wal-Mart?? Gross! I'd probably chance the Tornado)  I am super jealous... of the site seeing part. Not Wal-Mart part. (just to be clear) They even got to see my cousin on her mission (is that even allowed?!)

When my parents were in Tennessee I warned them about the drivers in North Carolina and to be careful. I really don't think they took me seriously when I said that. It was no more than an hour that they had been in North Carolina when my mom text me and asked "Dad wants to know if it's against the law to signal in North Carolina?" I replied "Yep!" She then asked "Is it opposite here? The slow drivers drive in the left lane." I told her "I'm telling ya, North Carolina has the worst drivers EVER!" Let me vent... just for a minute... I can probably count the number of blinkers I've seen on 2 hands since we moved here... 7 months ago. No one EVER uses their blinker. EVER! It is by far one of the most frustrating things ever. I have never been more terrified driving anywhere in my life than to Raleigh. They freaking change lanes every 8 seconds and cut off people left and right.. the weird thing is they NEVER honk! WTFreak! Why would you not honk at someone who just cut you off and ran you off the road?!? (I'm not lying! Romney and I witnessed that. No horns were involved.) And when somebody wants to take an exit they are always in the left lane and have to cross 3 lanes to get off on their exit. Every. Single. Time. I lived in New York for crying out loud! I felt a million times safer driving there, than I ever have out here. Except for this one time. I'll tell you the story: So my parents came out here and we explored North Carolina. Beautiful State! We love it out here. After a few days out here, Romney, I and my parents flew up to New York for a long weekend. We got a cab from the airport to Manhattan. I literally thought the driver was falling asleep on our way there only to discover that he might be having mini heart attacks. I was ready to slap him at any moment.. just to make sure he was alive. He kept going the wrong way and we got lost like 4 times. (super annoying) My Dad looked back at me like Ashly this is your fault and we are all going to die. (I made him take that cab too! ha oops) I couldn't even laugh I was so terrified. (I can laugh now, because we all made it there safely) My Dad said he didn't stop praying the entire time. Somehow we made it to our hotel alive. (Somehow) And we got honked at.... I don't even know how many times. It felt good to be in New York city with all the hustle and bustle and all the angry New Yorkers honk at each other. They know how to use those horns! Romney and I miss the city. Goldsboro just doesn't quite cut it. Anyway to my point... North Carolina has the worst drivers ever.

ever.
ever.
EVER. Hopefully Romney and I make it out of here alive.

You guys should have seen my dad when he was out here. He took pictures of EVERYTHING! He was in heaven. It was so funny. My mom and I kept laughing at him. I bet he had somewhere around 5,000 pictures on his camera. I sure wish I had some of those to post.. cause I took like 12 pictures. And I figured out how to finally upload them!! (HUGE shout out to one of my best friends Nicole Norman for helping me with my blog today for like an hour. She's the BEST!!!)

Here are a couple from Myrtle Beach.

My Dad and I said we can respect Duke now after going and visiting their campus. Neither of us were fans before.. but its actually a really neat school. 

We went to a little town called New Bern. Its where Nicholas Sparks lives and where they filmed some of the Notebook. I wish I lived there.It's also where Pepsi started? Was invented? Anyway I made them take this cute picture.

New York City! My Dad shopping on Canal Street. He was loving it!! (But not as much as shopping on 5th Ave--see pictures at bottom) He did not purchase that hat.

I got to see my favorite family from New York! They are all so big! Love those Capio's! 

We got to go see Newsies on Broadway. My parents were a couple rows behind us.

 

We ran into the Boardman's at church. We were hoping we would see them there. Not knowing Blake and Allyse moved. And we really did! It was perfect! It was so great to see them!

 I mean... we had to.

Soooo my Dad and Romney got matching suits. We were shopping on 5th avenue and you would think it would be me and my mom buying stuff.. but NO it was the boys. They were in HEAVEN my mom and I could not stop laughing at them! It was so funny! Romney is beyond obsessed with this suit. But he looks prettttttty dang good in it if I do say so myself! My Dad looks pretty dapper himself! 

The window display was my Dad's favorite part. (He probably took a picture of it) I think that is the suit they bought too.

Aren't my parents just the cutest?! We seriously had a blast with my parents! Hopefully they will come out and see us again. I know for sure they will go to New York again! Maybe in the Fall?? Mom? Dad? Romney?


Finally you can look at my blog without wanting to rip your eyes out because it was so ugly. I'll have to make it look better when I have more time! But unfortunately I have to be a slave at Ruby Tuesday. Dude.. the life of a waitress is depressing. I feel bad for them! (Myself included)

Byeeeeeeeeeeeee!

~Ashly