Equity

Travis and I always joke (we're actually serious though) about the status of our "marital equity." You know, the times that you do something for your spouse that means a lot to them and it builds your "equity" and then at a later time, you are able to cash in that equity for something you want/need in return. It happens on a regular basis, but this week Travis has built up some MAJOR equity! Deposit #1- My car was having some issues on Tuesday (it decided it didn't want to warm up AT ALL the whole way to work, and then it overheated...how it managed to do that when it was 20 degrees outside is beyond me), so Travis being the wonderful husband he is, came and got my car at work, fixed it and had it ready for me when I got off. This was HUGE for me, because I absolutely hate having to deal with car problems. I was only without heat for 1/2 a day, but I have appreciated my heater SO much more since! Lots of equity for that one. Deposit #2- I had my RS Christmas Dinner that I was in charge of last night and one aspect of my stress was the fact that we had to move 8 big, round tables and about 70 chairs from the church to our clubhouse and then back again when the dinner was over. Big undertaking right?! Well, Travis stepped up and helped us load everything from the church, unload at the clubhouse, came back when it was over and loaded it all back up and put it away at the church while the girls stayed and cleaned up the clubhouse. Saved my life! Ok, maybe that was a little dramatic, but really, he made it so much easier on me! Needless to say, I've got to find some way to repay him! He's already wanted to cash in on some of that equity...want to know how?? He wants me to give him one of his Christmas presents early. Will I? Probably. How can I not after how great he's been this week??

What's one of the best parts of the Holidays??

***Update: if you click on the word "these" below, it will take you straight to the recipe! Enjoy!

The delicious goodies of course! I just finished making these, and let me just tell you that they are sooo yummy! A little time intensive, but relatively easy (I did it, so you know it can't be too complicated), and definitely worth the effort. I'm going to add in a little more peppermint extract next time, and I skipped the freezing step after you roll out the dough (I just froze them after I cut out the cookies) and they turned out just fine. Just FYI in case any of you want to make these, and trust me, you do!

A lot to be thankful for...

What a great holiday, I love Thanksgiving! I'm still trying to figure out how stuffing your face for hours on end became a tradition, but I do love being able to have a whole holiday to focus on being grateful! I really do have an abundance of blessings and I am very grateful to live such a wonderful life. Below are some pictures from Thanksgiving this year...BUT first I just had to post a picture from this morning's shopping excursion! That's right, my mom and I decided to join the crazies and take advantage of the black friday deals. I have to say that I was very hesitant at first (I've never been a black friday shopper), but I'm SO glad we did! We started at 4:30 am and ended at 10 am with a whole car full of presents! Seriously, my moms whole back seat AND trunk were full of bags. It was a blast...we will definitely be making this a tradition!
Here's proof that our shopping was productive...and this is just one side :)

Everyone in line filling their plates

Cooper and his friend Luke (my parents neighbor's dog) just chillin in my mom's kitchen. Luke took advantage of everyone leaving and waltzed right in when the door was open....my mom didn't have the heart to kick him out so he got to stay and play with Cooper for like an hour.

My (not so) little sis and me.

My siblings and I eating away

Stephen and Chelsea's Wedding

Travis' cousin Stephen got married on Friday! I love weddings...seriously, if I could, I would get married all over again (to Travis of course), because I loved everything about my wedding...all the planning, the dress, the temple, the reception, all of it! Despite me forgetting my recommend and not being able to go to the ceremony, the day was great! They had a yummy luncheon and had their reception at the Provo Library, which was beautiful! Congrats you guys...you are one beautiful couple!

Ashley and the adorable Easton

All the Turners

Happy Birthday Dadio!

Sunday was my dad's 50th birthday!! Wow, he's getting up there. We celebrated by eating a delicious feast of steak (marinated to perfection by Travis aka Mr Cook Extraordinaire), baked potatoes, salad, and artisan bread...mmmm.mmm.mmm! My mom had the brilliant idea of having all of us kids write a little letter to my dad telling him why we love him. I loved writing this because I am not the best at expressing my feelings all the time (just ask my husband) and this gave me the perfect opportunity to let him know how much he means to me. When I was younger, I felt like I always took my dad for granted...he was a wonderful father and I didnt' know anything different. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that not everyone is blessed with an such an incredible dad! Here are just a few of the reasons why I love my dad so much:
*He has always loved me unconditionally
*He works so hard for our family and never complains about it (working many many late nights is not a rarity!)
*He is a man of integrity
*He taught us the gospel, not just by principle, but by example
*He honors his priesthood
*He would do anything for me (we always joke that I have him wrapped around my finger, which I do, but he also has me wrapped around his finger as well!!)
*He cried when he read my letter (not to rub it in to any of my other siblings or anything...but obviously I'm his favorite! Just kidding....well not really :)
Happy happy birthday Dad! I love you!

Don't ask what these boys are doing....who ever really knows!

My dad and Cooper...they have a special bond! My dad LOVES Cooper and my dad is always the first one that Cooper tries to find when we get to my parents house! Cooper will jump all over my dad no matter where he's sitting and no matter what papers (or computer) he's stepping on in the process. Its cute.

Because I've got nothing else...

I guess I'll do the "8 things" tag....its not that I'm against tags, I just have been putting off this one. But seeing as how I haven't posted for awhile, and yet I still can't come up with anything (I must be boring)...here goes the tag:



*8 things I am passionate about-

1. Travis

2. My family

3. The gospel

4. Working out

5. Eating healthy (doesn't necessarily mean I do all the time)

6. Kids

7. Reading (I LOVE to get completely engulfed in a good book)

8. My fabulous friends



*8 Words/Phrases I say often

1. "Nooo!" (used for dramatic effect)

2. "Love you baby"...started out as a joke, but now "baby" has kind of stuck

3. "Damn it" (I know, I'm not proud, I'm just being honest)

4. "Are you kidding me?"

5. "Cooper, get down!!" (my sweet puppy loves to get on the couch and my bed)

6. "Lovely" (in a very sarcastic tone)

7. "I hate Integra/IKON!" (our Phone/Copier companies for work, who make my life miserable)

8. "This is Karlee..." (when answering my phone at work)



*8 TV shows I watch

1. The Office

2. Ace of Cakes

3. Biggest Loser

4. Lost

5. House Hunters

6. Designed to Sell

7. Ok, pretty much anything on HGTV

8. Diners, Drive ins and Dives

(Is it bad that this one wasn't that hard to come up with 8??)



*8 Things I have learned from the past

1. In high school, I focused WAY too much on things that weren't important.

2. Everything happens for a reason.

3. Boys really are different than girls

4. Life is so much better when you focus on the positive (Kim-remember our "say 3 nice things for every negative one"...loved it!)

5. Heavenly Father's plan for me is much better than my own

6. When the time was right, finding, dating and marrying my husband was so easy...everything just worked out and fell perfectly into place.

7. The Power of Prayer

8. If you are always focusing on the future or the past, you will miss the joy of life right now!



*8 things I am looking forward to

1. This weekend...a wedding, Twilight movie with the girls, BYU/UTAH game...lots of time with family and I'm excited!

2. Christmas, the actual day and everything that leads up to it.

3. Having Friday off.

4. Having a baby. (Not an announcement, unfortunately)

5. Living in a bigger house one day.

6. Learning how to sew.

7. Many more years of being married to my best friend...learning and growing together.

8. Summer (I know, winter is only beginning and I'm already looking forward to its end)



Well there you have it, probably too much info, but next post will be more exciting after the events/pictures from this weekend!

Naughty Puppy!

Apparently this is what Cooper thinks about my no-puppies-on-the-bed rule! We were getting ready for bed and I couldn't see Cooper (plus he was quiet...never a good combination), so I walked into the bedroom and found Cooper standing on our bed. I started yelling at him to get down and he just looked at me, walked right over to the most comfortable spot on our bed (on top of our pillows and our comforter) and plopped himself down. I wanted to get really mad and pull him off the bed, but he looked SO cute, so I grabbed my camera first... then I pulled him off. The funny thing is is that right before that, Travis and I were sitting on our bed talking and Cooper was trying so hard to get up on our bed with us. He was running back and forth around the bed, trying to jump up on the bed, and when I kept on pushing him off and telling him no, he just sat there and barked at me. Eventually he gave up and layed down on the floor, giving me his sad little puppy dog eyes, like I just broke his heart. I did feel really bad, but not bad enough to let his dirty dog self in my bed. I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to do it...call me cruel, but my bed is the one place I can't handle my cute, but stinky and dirty, dog inhabiting! Well, he sure showed me. Gotta love him though...he's too cute not to!

Halloween Weekend

I almost feel like I shouldn't even make a post about our weekend because I don't have any pictures to show for it :) But I'll give a recap of our weekend anyway...
We didn't do anything too crazy or exciting for Halloween. We went over to Nate and Kristin's for a delicious dinner of Navajo Tacos. The Browns and the Johnsons came over later after their kiddos were done trick or treating, and I must say that seeing those adorable children dressed up was definitely the highlight! We contemplated watching a scary movie, but that didn't work for a couple reasons, the biggest being that I HATE scary movies and I would have nightmares for weeks, so we settled for watching a little Ghost Hunters instead. I know, we go all out :)

Saturday we went to see the Body World exhibit downtown with my family and Trav's parents. It was AWESOME! I absolutely loved it...it was so interesting. My favorite part was the fetus exhibit, where they have real fetuses in the different stages of development, week by week. It was so cool. There was one that was at week 8, i think, that was so tiny, but you could see its eyes, all of its fingers, toes, etc. Crazy?! There is no way that a babies entrance into this world is not divine and nothing short of a miracle! I also loved seeing the special heart exhibits....our heart is so incredible! They had this one room where it was all red, had the sound of a heartbeat beating loudly, and then had all these big barrels just sitting in there and a sign that said that our heart pumps 1800 gallons of blood each day!!! Isn't that incredible?? It made me want to take care of my poor little heart even more!

Dal and Joss blessed their cute little baby Jaiden on Sunday. Dal did a great job and Jaiden of course looked adorable! They took tons of pics, but I didn't have my camera, so maybe I'll have to steal some of them later :)

And finally, I will mention one downside to the weekend....watching BYU barely scrape by a win over Colorado. Embarrassing. I don't know what's happening to them. This year's BYU/UTAH game could be scary....

Halloween Festivities

Our family dinner last night included some fun halloween festivities! My mother-in-law, Shirley, always makes holidays so fun for all of us, and this one was no different! Of course pumpkin carving is one of the traditions, so we did that, and as if that was not enough, she decided to take on cupcake decorating as well! She had all sorts of candy, an assortment of colors of frosting, and different kinds of cupcakes. We had a blast! Thanks Turners for the awesome night! Here's a few (ok, maybe more than a few) pictures...

Ash and Bry

Here's Dals scary face and Trav's batman

Ashlee's yoda and Bry's Buzz

All the adults (minus me...not a huge fan of the pumpkin carving mess) carving away

Even Cole got his hands in there

Here's our cupcake masterpieces! With a closeup of Joss' werewolf...do you think she's an artist?!

Trav and I

After we got done with all the cupcakes, we decided to decorate the children! Jace LOVED it!

Bry gave Cole a sweet goatee

Trav and his mummy cupcake

Dal and Joss concentrating on their works of art

Cute baby Jaiden as Chewbacca

Darth Vadar, Yoda and Chewbacca...My adorable nephews (minus Chance and Logan (niece)...tear...) Seriously, could they be any cuter??

Sunny St. George

Oh, how I love this place. I would move there in a heartbeat. We took a girls trip down there last weekend and let me tell you, it was fabulous! We spent our time getting massages, laying out at the pool, shopping, eating, staying up late, sleeping in and best of all, talking and laughing! We have the best group of friends and I just love these girls!
Some highlights:
*Sleeping in til at least 10
*Not getting ready til the afternoon
*Hours and hours of talking...you'd think we'd run out of things to talk about..Nope.
*Tonii's "sleep talking"..need I say more! :)
*Mary Ann and I trying to go to sleep, but laughing uncontrollably instead! Are we 10?? It was 2:30 in the morning...we'll blame it on that?
*"I think you're hot"
*Having the waiter at Texas Roadhouse try and flirt with us...Hello, one-we're all married, and two-we're all like 10 years older than you!
*Tonii's inspiration to us all :) you all know what I'm talking about!
*Us devouring a WHOLE bag of Mint oreos in ONE night!! And then finding out that Tonii only ate one! We thought she for sure had helped more than that!
*Secrets, Secrets, Secrets...

Kristin, Tonii, Me, Mary Ann and Sue
Us watching a movie...our nightly ritual.
We went to Bear Paw for breakfast on our way out and it was SOO good! This is MaryAnn's french toast monstrosity.
Us waiting at Texas Roadhouse...eating yet again.

Perfect, perfect weekend! Thanks again Sue for getting us there!
(Oh and if you're feeling bad for our husbands...don't! They all hung out together pretty much all weekend and had almost as much fun as us!)

Journal Entry

We had the most wonderful lesson (yes, good enough to blog about :)) in Relief Society on Sunday. The lesson was on Trials: why they come, how we can best get through them, and what to learn from them. Now I, just like everyone else have had at least 18 other lessons like this throughout my church days, but none of them have hit me like this one did. Maybe its the fact that you are more humble when in the midst of a trial (hmmm, aren't we taught this all the time?), but I was a bawling mess during the whole lesson! Luckily I heard a few other sniffles around me, so I didn't feel completely crazy...or maybe everyone had a cold...who knows. Anyway, I kept on thinking "I need to go home and write all these thoughts and feelings down in my journal"...oh wait...I dont' have a journal. So my blog is the next best thing. This will probably just be all mumbled, but I really wanted to write down some of my thoughts so that I can look back and remember them later and refer to them for comfort now.

We all have trials...that much is obvious. Some are small, some are not so much. We have trials to help us grow, I truly believe that. However, sometimes in the middle of it, its hard to have that outlook...its much easier to start to questioning things. So here are some of my thoughts on how to get through trials gracefully.
-My Heavenly Father loves me and is mindful of me. This is the thought/impression that I got over and over during our lesson and the cause of the majority of the tears. Its not like I have been doubting that, or have ever doubted His love for me, but I really needed to know and feel that love on Sunday and I am grateful for His tender mercy in allowing those reassurances to come to me. I need to always remember that no matter what I have to go through, He will always be there to love me and give me comfort.
-Our trials are very much individually, hand crafted just for us. Everyone's trials are different. I hope that I never have to know what it feels like to bury a child or deal with infidelity, but those that have had those trials would look at someone else and think the same thing.."I hope I never have to go through that." Which leads me to my next thought....
-We are strong enough to handle the trials that come to us. Heavenly Father has promised us that He won't give us anything that we can't handle. Sometimes we may question that, but I know that He has the faith in us to be able to endure, its up to us to have that same faith in ourselves. He believes in us and will give us helps along the way (for me...extremely spiritual experience during a RS lesson). Not only are we strong enough from the beginning to face our trials, but we will be stronger for getting through them.
-Trials=learning and growing opportunities. This one I struggle with at times. It is difficult to change your perspective from "Why?" to "What can I learn from this?" After Sunday, I knew that I really needed to focus on being humble enough to learn and grow from this instead of getting frustrated and even angry. We can't change our situations, only our perspective and attitude. I feel so strongly that even though trials are hard and can be extremely trying on our faith and patience, we can use this opportunity to develop Christlike qualities and strengthen our relationship with Him.
So now after re-reading through those things...logically, it seems like trials are a positive thing. Which they are, right?! If only I can permenantly impress this on my brain.

(My next post won't be so serious...I'm off to a St.George weekend getaway with some great girls!!)

Birthday Pics

Me and Kimmy at dinner...yes I am eating chicken fingers AND fries...I splurged, and they were so good...its been way too long!
Our good friend Mary Ann and her son Carter
Me, Jace and baby Jaiden...Jace was so excited to hold him and demanded we take a picture! So cute.
Me blowing out my candles...look at all that smoke!
Kim, Kristen, Me, Nate, Mary Ann, Carter and Max....my awesome friends (minus Matt, who made his appearance later). We missed the Johnsons...our couple foursome just wasn't complete :)

Birthday Fun!

Wow..I am officially a quarter of a century old! Kind of crazy...ok not really, it doesn't feel any different :) This weekend I continued in my birthday celebration festivities starting with Friday (my actual birthday)...Travis had a game that night so I went out to dinner with Kim, one of my best friend's from middle school. Thanks again for coming up Kimmy, it was so good to see you and talk with you! We then went to my parents for round 2 of cake and ice cream and invited some of our friends from our neighborhood over. Unfotunately, the entertainment for the night (and best picture) cannot be mentioned due to some legal formality :) Sorry.

Saturday, we bundled up for the BYU game, which is always a good time, and was surprisingly not as cold as I thought it would be...thank you long johns and under armour. We then met Joss and baby Jaiden at Zupas for some post game grub. Always delicious!

Sunday we had my birthday dinner at the Turners. Yummy food, great family, and homemade ice cream! The highlight of my night: Cole (Yes, I'll admit it...my favorite nephew) FINALLY said my name!! I've only been trying to get him to say it for months! (Jace farting on Joss came in at a close second as far as highlights :) Never a dull moment during Sunday family dinners!!)

Thanks for all my wonderful family and friends for the calls, texts, emails, and of course presents! I am so lucky to be surrounded and loved by so many awesome people!

Weekend Fun

Who doesn't LOVE the weekends?! They are the best! Here are some highlights of ours:

CONFERENCE
I thoroughly enjoyed conference this weekend. And not only because you don't have to go to church (although that is a nice benefit :). I'm not sure why, but this conference I especially loved. I had a greater desire/motivation to listen and to apply the messages; I felt the spirit so stongly on numerous occasions; I felt, more than I have before, that the talks were geared especially for me; and I didn't fall asleep AS MUCH as I have in the past (those afternoon sessions are killer sometimes). What an inspired meeting conference is! What better way to bring members together while teaching and sharing revelations...its awesome.
Anyway, Saturday was a little rough on our puppy. It was raining all day long and we were all cooped up inside, so he had a lot of energy to release on us. He was driving me CRAZY! All he wanted to do was go out and play in the rain (he LOVES water), and by the 10th round of him scratching at the door to be let out and us letting him out, just to bring him back in all wet and dirty, I had had it. So Travis decided to brave the rain and take him on a walk..mind you it is down pouring! Travis put on his rain gear and they left. I was getting ready for the day (yes, this was at 4 pm!) and heard the door bell ring. I opened the door to find Travis and Cooper on the doorstep, both completely drenched and dripping all over the porch! I ran to grab a towel, and on the way grabbed my camera. It was quite the sight. Cooper, of course loved it, so I guess it was worth it (as long as it was Travis out in the rain and not me!)
On Sunday we watched conference with our friends and enjoyed a DELICIOUS fruit crepe breakfast. Then in the afternoon we went to my parents to watch the 2nd session and to do a little early birthday celebration! Lucky me I get to have a birthday week! Here's some pictures...

The picture really doesn't capture how soaked they were.
Here's Coop, our little drowned rat :)

Me and my bros with my birthday cake. Buttermilk pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream! Delicious!!
Travis and the two little boys...not sure why they decided to duck and give peace signs...

These are Cooper's friends that live next door to my parents, JJ and Luke. They are the cutest little puppies and the three of them love to play! JJ and Luke came up on my parents back porch probably 5 different times during the afternoon/night to scratch on the door for us to let Cooper out to play. It was so cute!
....and another drowned rat pic of Coop, I apparently put in on twice. Oops.

Our Newest Little Nephew!

JAIDEN RANDALL TURNER

Dal and Joss had their first little boy on Friday! He was 6 lbs 14 oz and 19" long...he's so small! Joss luckily had a fairly easy labor with no complications and is doing fabulous! She really is so awesome and looks like she could do it all again tomorrow (not that she would want to!). Both parents are beaming and it is so fun to see them so excited. Jaiden is adorable and we already love him like crazy! Congrats again guys!

Here he is!
He wasn't a big fan of us unwrapping him, but we had to see his little body and BIG feet!
Aunt Ashlee
Me and the little nino...he has the cutest blonde hair!

Favorite Dances

Allison and Ivan...from Season 2

Travis and Heidi...From Season 2

Twitch and Kherington...this season

Twitch and Katie...this season

So You Think You Can Dance..Dance..Dance..

Last night we went to the So You Think You Can Dance tour! I have been looking forward to this ever since they announced that it was coming to Utah! Blake and Bryndie came with us and Blake wanted to surprise Bryn with the tickets and didn't tell her til last weekend that they were going...it took everything I had to not ruin the surprise (trust me I tried a couple of times on accident, but luckily she didn't catch on)! It was a blast! There is just something about dancing that always gets me so excited and giddy...seriously as soon as I hear the music come on I get goose bumps and immediate smile. I even cried during one of the dances...the Vienese Waltz with Twitch and Kerrington....absolutely amazing! I always leave missing it and wishing I was still dancing. The only downside was the noise level...the music was WAY too loud, coupled with 18 million screaming girls was a bit too much. But I still thought it was fabulous. I heart this show and I heart dancing and I'm so glad I got to go see it! And just a little shout out to my AWESOME husband who came with me. Even though he came on his own accord and wanted to go (I asked him specifically if he wanted to go or wanted me to go with the girls), he wouldn't even like dance if I didn't love it so much and that shows me just how much he loves me and wants to support me! I love him. I posted a few of my all time favorite dances from this show...ones that I could watch over and over and would still get to me.



Travis doing "4-real"
Bryn and I
Blake and Bryn

One year down...a million to go!

Yesterday was our first anniversary! Everyone always says that the first year is the hardest, but if that's the case then we are good to go for the rest of our lives, because this past year has been the best! I'm not going to lie, there has been adjustments, arguments and frustrations but all of that has been so minor compared to how great it has been being married to Travis! Neither one of us is perfect, but I really feel like Travis is perfect for me. He always knows how to get me to smile (even when I dont' want to), he's always making me laugh, he looks out for my well being sometimes when even I don't, from the beginnning he has known just how to love me, he knows what I need and is always there for me, he's patient, funny, and did I mention extremely attractive?! I could go on and on, but I will just say that I love him so so much!
We kind of already celebrated our anniversary a couple weeks ago, so last night we went out to dinner at Biaggi's (so delicious!), ate until we literally couldn't fit anymore in our stomachs, and then walked and shopped around the Gateway. It was a perfect evening and it was nice to go on a date just us (not that we don't love our friends, cause we do and you know we always love hanging out with you guys!). I loved having a day to focus completely on us and how much we love each other...nothing else mattered...it was awesome! Happy Anniversary and I love you baby! Here's to many more years of loving and growing together!