ashley m.

http://ashleysamantha.com/blog/

2011-03-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

It is a big change, but I've decided that I'm going to change blogs. I love this one and am not going to delete it or anything. If I go on any cool trips and need somewhere to document them I may resurrect it but from now on what posting I do will be on my website blog.

I just thought I'd mention it, just in case anyone still wanted to follow my blog even though I am no longer in New Zealand.

Here is one last picture of my brother and I in front of the pawn shop from Pawn Stars. We were in Vegas for the Mountain West Conference Basketball Championship.

some catching up

2011-03-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

I guess I'll finally post some of our pictures from when we hiked Mordor. I will not be posting any pictures from when we saw Hobbiton because they have rebuilt it all for The Hobbit movie and they made us sign waivers. Feel bad though. The pictures are awesome. We even danced in front of the party tree. More fun than expected.

You know what is harder than expected? Backpacking for four days. We had the option to do a one day hike, but thought it would be fun to go for four days. It was fun, but hard. We did not train. We just rolled off the beach and thought it would be no big deal. 100 km winds were kind of a big deal. Now that I've been away from it for long enough, I remember it being fun. But I did decide backpacking was something I could only do maybe once every two years.

MT. DOOM!!!! (look how happy we are. This is before it got hard. So innocent):

Sunrise view from one of the cabins. That cabin in the top of the mountains was hard for us to hike to after having already hiked the mountain once that day:

Emerald Lakes:

change of circumstances

2011-02-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

My parents have been visiting for the week which has been fun (for me at least, maybe a little boring for Amalia). We toured around Raglan, Mount Maunganui, and the Coromandel for a few days. The semi-unexpected thing that happened is my Grandma died while they were here. She got really sick right before they came so they were going to cancel their trip but she was very adamant that they come. So I am flying back to the United States with them. I'm totally ok with that, I have had a really great holiday in New Zealand. Amalia is going to go see the South Island with this guy Keaton who is also visiting from Utah. So that is the new plan. I still need to do some posts about our Mordor hike but after that my posts will all be cold and snowy. We have talked about Amalia being a "guest blogger" so she can still post what she is doing on my blog but we haven't decided, so if you are just reading to check on Amalia, I'll let you know where to look next. Meanwhile, enjoy some pictures of my parents and I fishing on the ocean for snapper. We had the best fish fry ever last night.

I wish I had taken this picture

2011-02-04T19:39:00.001-08:00

Josh Kessie sent me the link to this photo. Thank you, thank you, thank you to him. My blog has been kitten free for way to long.

And to Sarah and others who think it has been too long since I've posted, I am not dead. We have been gone on a 4-day backpacking hike across Mordor braving 100km wind gusts, rain, sun, huts, and orcs, but sadly no sharks in the streets (thanks to Sarah for that link).

La Niña

2011-01-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

I read in the NZ Herald that the flooding in Australia was caused by La Niña. The same weather pattern has been sending us some tropical cyclones. New Zealand never gets really bad storms (according to the paper) but the past two weekends we at Waikawau Bay have been flooded in. Not bad flooded. Just bad enough that all the roads are closed and we can't leave. Last week we couldn't make it to church. This weekend Amalia and I had planned to drive back down to hike Mordor, but we are stuck again. The people in the campsite are stuck camping until the roads open. So at least we are stuck at a house with internet and television, and if worse came to worse, we have a freezer of ice cream novelties from the shop to eat.

speedy delivery

2011-01-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

My parents are coming to visit New Zealand during the first week of February for five days of summertime fun. This is the first draft of their itinerary:

I am excited to see them and have been buying a few necessities online and having them delivered to their house for them to bring to me. I just got back from my 3-hour shift at the shop to an email from my brother with the subject line "I found these and I think I'll keep them" and these 12 attachments. It seems my new sunglasses have arrived:

Ring Shells

2011-01-19T21:37:00.000-08:00

I've been collecting ring shells to make into necklaces to give away as souvenirs when I get home. I accidentally collected way more than I could possibly need (Waikawau is FULL of them!). Everyone says they will be hard to get through customs, so I just washed them in soap and bleach then strung them all together, but they look so cool all together like that maybe I should just keep them. Any advice on getting them through customs?

More pictures from Waikawau

2011-01-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

Me and Ama (yes, I put the shadow of the camera directly on her face):

Amalia and Charlie making lolli bags to sell at the shop (and eating the lollies aka candy):

Amalia holding a surf board:

Amalia laying on a surfboard:

Brooke and Mel riding horses on the beach:

In this photo I was trying to capture both my awesome tan line (we were inexplicably sunburned while at Shipwreck Bay before Christmas. My legs are still peeling) and the amount of bug bites on my legs. I am the only person with that many bug bites. Bugs love me.

My tan line is pretty good, but nothing in comparison to my bike short line of 2009 (photo by Ty Mecham. This picture is too funny not to drag out again):

Here is another view of the house where we are staying:

BIG NEWS!

2011-01-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

I, Ashley Mackay, graphic designer, FINALLY have my very own website. The address is NOT ashleymackay.com, although you should probably check it out, it is pretty amazing. MY website is ashleysamantha.com. A big big thanks to Cody Buell for programming it for me. Feel free to pass the link around to people who might want to give me a job. What do you think of it? I'm pretty happy with it.

Two redactions

2011-01-11T23:31:00.001-08:00

It has come to my attention that I have made two errors in my blogging about New Zealand (there are probably more I don't know about). I would like to clear them up.

1. A while ago I saw a large bird I was really hoping was a Kiwi bird. It was not (Becca Shim looked it up). Turns out they are nocturnal. Travis says they sometimes walk through the paddock our tent is pitched in. Sometimes at night I shine my headlamp around when I hear bird-like noises, but I have seen no birds. Only a bunny and a possum.

2. Kaitaia is spelled like that. I left out the last "a" on my blog post.

My apologies.

Leave for two months and everything falls apart

2011-01-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

We get the NZ Herald in the shop so I read about the horrible horrible shooting in Arizona. I am not happy about that. I'm sure no one is. But it is interesting to read it as news on page A 12 instead of on the front page. If I were at home I would be listening to NPR non-stop and would have all the info the media has to give (I always used to listen to NPR. Actually, I just logged onto their home page and started geeking out about everything. So many things I don't know about! But in New Zealand you pay for internet by the amount you use and I don't want to use it all up for the Tupaeas. Alas, I will have to save all the Wait Wait Don't Tell Me shows until I get home). Anyway, dear USA, please stop being crazy.

Some more Waikawau

2011-01-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

This is my new buddy Charlie:
The shop is open 9-6. I work 12-3. We used to surf during lunch breaks but now that we work opposite we just take turns. When we are not surfing or eating I don't have a ton to do (anyone have a freelance project they need me to do?). So I've started hanging out with 6 year old Charlie Tupaea. We play hide and seek or ride bikes down the hill. He likes to spy on Amalia when she is reading in the tent. They have a dog Jules (or Jewels, I don't know). She fetches anything, including rocks. Today she was picking up rocks out of the bottom of the estuary and swimming out with them. Crazy dog. I tried to take a picture but she kept moving. Charlie says she doesn't like cameras.

This is a picture of Brooke's special place. You have to hike through some serious bush to get there, but it is right behind their house.

And this is the view from there:

The Tupaeas live in a pretty awesome place.

January 9, 2011

2011-01-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

I have the best parents in the world and they are turning 50 this year! My mom's birthday is today (tomorrow for her...) and I feel sad I am missing it. So everyone should write something nice about my mom in the comments of this post. And may I be the first to say that she makes really great frosting. Happy Birthday Mom!

January 2011: Waikawau Bay

2011-01-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

We are spending the month of January in Waikawau Bay. We met the camp managers a month or so ago and they asked if one of us wanted to work in their shop, which we did. So Amalia works every day with their daughter, Brooke. I work if one of them doesn't want to. Other than that we just swim, surf, and eat.

This is the shop:

The Tupaeas have a huge grill/deep fryer under this tent in their yard. We have been eating great food:

The next couple pictures are views from the house. We have our tent set up in the horse paddock in the back yard. We share it with Patch.

This is Samone eating kina. The only part you can eat is that tiny yellow part inside the bristly skin. It was alive until she cut it open. Blegh. I tried a mussel the other day. Lots of seafoods here.

"No exposed nipples at the table"

2011-01-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we camped at a place called Forest Pools. I told Amalia that if Santa were real we would wake up to presents outside our tent. There were no presents, but apparently he left mine at my parent's house. He must have known that I can't fit anything else in my bag.

On our drive to Kaikohe we stopped at a fireman museum. Obviously we would do that.

And obviously there would be a miniature horse baby there.

We were invited to Christmas by Aryan McKay who said their Christmases are usually "the more the merrier". We loved everyone. It was great to have such a fun place to be for Christmas. It wasn't super hot but people were swimming in the pool. The no nipples rule was implemented when Ary's dad was trying to get his son to put a shirt on for dinner. A good Christmas tradition.

One of my favorite parts was when Ary's Grandnan said this cousin looked like an Afghanistan boy (I will also take this time to note that little mullets are all the rage on little boys in NZ. Seriously. All of them up to like age 18):

We played Badminton:

Amalia joined in with the nappers:

We played time challenge with the Quad Bike (4-wheeler...):

So yeah, that was Christmas for us. A big big thanks to everyone in Ary's family for letting us hang out for a couple days.

Digital Postcards: Northland

2011-01-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

On our way north, we stopped for church in Whangarei (pronounced faun-ga-rey). If you ever need anything, stop for church in Whangarei. Before Sacrament meeting ended we had an invite for Christmas and during Relief Society they passed a paper around and everyone wrote their names and numbers down in case we needed anything. They pretty much forced us to stay for their FHE the next day, found us a place to stay in Whangarei and further north in Kaitai. A big thank you to everyone in the Whangarei ward.

In Kaitai we stayed with a guy named Daniel who lived in his family's house and keeps it nice for when people come during holidays. He also worked at a radio station. One night we walked to get fish and chips and he introduced me to a DJ that was going on the radio soon. They told us to call in, but instead what went down was Daniel had been texting and suddenly we hear on the radio, "Stop calling in! Clear up the lines for Miss USA!" And Daniel hands me the phone and everyone listening to that station think Miss USA from last year and this year are there in the station. Or at least that is what the DJ said. Since we haven't been trained in answering panel questions like a real Miss USA would have been, our answers weren't that great, but it was really really really fun.

We took a bus tour to the very top of the island where you see the two oceans meet, then we drove back on 90-mile beach, which is actually on the highway system. It is only like 67 miles, but it is impressive. There are supposed to be wild horses but we didn't see any so I had to add some in on the postcard.

Digital Postcard: Hundertwasser Toilets

2010-12-22T10:45:00.000-08:00

Our Rough Guide says "The only reason to stop [in Kawakawa] is to visit its celebrated toilets on the main road...These works of art were created in 1997 by the reclusive Austrian emigre Friedrich Hundertwasser. Painter, architect, ecologist and philosopher, Hundertwasser made Kawakawa his home from 1975 until his death in 2000." The pamphlet I read said Hundertwasser had offered to design things like flags and stamps for the city but then they commissioned him to design these bathrooms. It was his last work of art. So there you go.

Here are some other pictures from our drive to Kaitaia:

We think these are Dr. Seuss trees:
We went to Shipwreck Bay. There is really a ship just sticking out of the sand.

Mackay Family Christmas Card

2010-12-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

My mom used a picture I drew for her on our family Christmas card this year (I put us all in red and green just for Christmas). Just thought I would share it.

Auckland Climbing Gym

2010-12-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

Our plans were to hike the Tongariro Crossing (aka Mordor) but it has been raining and everyone suggested we wait for good weather so we could see the view. We decided to head north to be at 90-mile beach for Christmas. Amalia needs to get something notarized so we stopped in Auckland at the U.S. Consolate. Turns out you need an appointment to get in there, and there are only 6 appointments available on Fridays. They were all gone for this upcoming Friday and there aren't any for the next Friday so turns out we won't be getting anything notarized for awhile. We didn't know what to do so we went to the Auckland Climbing Gym. It was pretty huge. It used to be an airplane hangar. They had some sweet as stuff for kids like a black light bouldering room and really cool painted wood things with automatic belay things. Of course we tried both.

We had heard about their arch when we were climbing with some people in Wharapapa South. Apparently they made a big swing off it one day. They were not doing that the day we were there. I tried to climb it, but realized I had no idea how to clip while I was upside down. I couldn't quite get my feet solid plus hang on with only one arm, plus communicate to Amalia when I wanted slack all at the same time so I didn't get across but it was awesome none the less. I'll get it next time.
Their top rope stuff was tied to the floor. You just attached a carabeaner to your harness and the grigri was already there. It was weird not to be able to move while belaying. We stopped at some hot pools one day because it was raining and just stayed all day and swam in the rain. There was no lightning, so it was safe I guess. There were like 5 different pools with different temps PLUS slides PLUS a movie pool where we sat and watched music videos and Leap Year. I liked that place.

Are these only in New Zealand?

Cadbury Snow Bites, the Christmas version of the Mini Egg! I know so many people who say Mini Eggs are their favorite candy. Are these in the states now too or have we stumbled upon something great?

Zorb....check. Bungee Jump....check.

2010-12-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

We've been doing the big expensive tourist things this week. First stop: Zorbs. Yep. You get inside a big beach ball with water in it and roll down a hill. It was actually pretty hilarious and fun. Amalia really wanted the pictures. So I have plenty to share:

It isn't actually a huge hill, but that is us in the ball:

Here is Amalia's graceful exit of the Zorb:

Then me:

Then had us jump for the picture but we didn't quite get it together. I could photoshop it but we are sitting in our car using free internet at a petrol station right now and I just don't have the gumption. Nor can I see my screen very well.

Today we did Bungee Jumping! We ended up buying the pictures for that too. They were too funny. We couldn't pass them up. And it came with a video! We were at Taupo Bungee. It looked really legit compared to the crane on the side of the road with a bungee that we saw earlier.

So here I am, ready to jump. It was scary as right on that ledge ("as" is NZ slang. Everything is sweet as, cool as, scary as, whatever). I went into the water about to my waist. As you can see, my hair is all nappy and sweaty because I had been on a run, but I counted the river dip as my shower. A very expensive shower.

Here is my video. Let it be noted that we were not aware that we were being filmed.

So fun right! Here is Amalia's game face:

Just got the top of her head got wet.

video!

It was really pretty great. Fast, but great. We actually HAD to buy the pictures because I don't remember a whole lot of the falling part.

Some stuff

2010-12-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

The bus stop in Rotorua has a foot pool where you can hang out until your bus comes.

We went to an outdoor Christmas Carol Concert on Sunday. It was a crazy mix of 4th of July carnival with hot dogs and games and songs about the birth of Christ. Not very reverent but fun.

I had a Christmas Pasty full of turkey and stuffing at an outdoor market:

We did the Tamaki Brothers Maori Village experience thing. It was really fun. Not unlike the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. They were all dressed up, we saw some cool houses, they taught us about their culture, they sang and danced, and we had a huge buffet of deliciousness, my favorite part being Pavlova. Pavlova! I want some right now. Best thing ever. Everyone was so nice and fun. On the drive home the bus driver had us singing songs and then she started singing about the wheels on the bus going 'round and 'round and she drove around and around the round about. A lot. It was hilarious. And fun.

Huka Falls. My new favorite waterfall. This picture does it no justice. The water is moving really fast in a tiny place so it gets churned up until it is icy blue. It looks like an Ice Breakers Gum commercial or something. My new favorite waterfall. It was crazy.

Rotorua is the Yellowstone Park of New Zealand. We hiked and saw steam stuff and a geyser. Someone told us about these free to see mudpots and they were way cooler than expected. Boiling mud. Awesome.

Redwood forest. Of course New Zealand has one of those too.

The museum in Rotorua is in the old bath house where people with arthritis or whatever would come to soak and be healed in the sulfuric water. It looks kinda creepy now.

All the locals told us to check out Kerosene Creek. It is free to go to and has hot water. We got directions and followed them to this lake that smelled of sulfur and was very very warm. It was really beautiful. We had a ton of fun swimming and wondered why it was more of a lake and less of a creek. I didn't want to get out so we ate our dinner floating on our cooler lid. Then a local stopped by and told us we were swimming in the gross lake and that Kerosene Creek was further down. Apparently the mozzies lay their eggs on that lake (we think that means mosquitoes). So yeah, that was REALLY nice of her to go out of her way to help us. We jumped out fast and went to the proper Kerosene Creek which was a real creek with a waterfall into a swimming hole that was full of hot hot sulfur water. Amazing. But we couldn't get any good pictures because there was too much steam. We might also have ingested some mozzie eggs. I don't regret it.

This is my new favorite picture of Amalia. New Zealand has a TON of birds, and all of them seem to know that tourists have food. Amalia had to defend our cereal from an entire family of ducks.

Glow worms!

2010-12-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

There are some famous touristy glow worm caves called Waitomo. We really wanted to see the glow worms but didn't totally want to pay $150 each. THEN we camped in the back yard of the Connelly's and Brother Connelly was taking some people on a tour of a glow worm cave close to his house and he let us come! We went with him with another guide to scout out the cave (he hadn't been there before) and it was very cool. Afterward, the other guy he was with asked if we could help them with the tour, like bring up the rear and carry their gear. Of course we said yes and we became cave guides. People were asking us questions like "how many times a day do you do this?" and I would answer things like, "uhhhh twice today....." It was super fun. And we saw glow worms! I was grossed out by the idea of them hanging on a little string web and glowing until I remembered that I learned everything there was to know about glow worms in James and the Giant Peach. Glow worms make silk like spiders. That is how the Glow Worm helped the Spider make enough string to catch the seagulls and make the peach float. Right. They look like little green stars on the cave roof. Pretty awesome. I love them. And I like how I look like an Oompa Loompa in those blue coveralls.

Connelly home part deux

2010-12-07T23:56:00.000-08:00

Here are just two more pictures of this cool house, including the wooden sink:

For Christmas Amalia and I bought ourselves the internet! Or maybe just a mobile phone internet stick we can use wherever you get mobile service. It is amazing. And we like to joke about how we bought the internet and keep it in our glove box. I am very happy to have it. It also came with a usb splitter cable so we can use it at the same time. Genius!

Connelly home

2010-12-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

We are currently camping in the back yard of the most awesome house of all time:

I still need to get pictures of the wooden bathroom sink. They are in a rural area that only has dial up internet and since they are in a drought they run out of water in the summers. They really take baths in the swimming hole down the hill, although they did let us use the showers today since it is still cold.

Wharepapa South: Bryce's Rockclimbing Cafe & Lodge

2010-12-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

We stayed in a hostel run "by climbers for climbers." And yes, it WAS that cool. He even had his own bouldering cave where we played Add-On with some other campers. It was really fun. And cool. If someone could please figure out the logistics and funding for Amalia and I to open one in Moab, we'd jump right on that when we get back. We went climbing at a place called Froggart Edge. The rock was Pocketed Ignimbrite, for those who might care.

The tall peak in the middle of the picture above is the longest climb we did. It was graded an 18 (supposedly a 5.10). I lead it. Well, the first day we tried to climb it I didn't take up enough draws but then the SECOND day I totally lead it. Here is a dark picture of me on the top. I am glad I've been carrying that super long rope around:
It was a fun day. And then we saw the old Windows background:

Digital Postcard: Coromandel Peninsula

2010-12-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

We met some church members in Tauranga that told us the Coromandel Peninsula was a must-see. So we saw it. And they were right. The Hot Water Beach is this crazy place where hot water comes up through the beach so during low tide everyone digs big holes and you sit in home-made hot tubs. The water in one place was actually boiling. Crazy. While we were sitting there a bus guide came up and told his group the story about how a group of Maori killed a bunch of other Maori then buried and cooked them in Hot Water Beach. We decided next time to bring a tin foil dinner to cook.

We walked to Cathedral Cove where they filmed a scene of Narnia and there were signs all over saying you couldn't even go to the Cathedral part. Everyone else did. But whenever I break rules fate is never on my side. We didn't risk the rock fall.

Amalia as the Little Mermaid:

Near Coromandel Town a potter wanted to be able to get clay from the top of a mountain so he built this little train ride you can take. It was funny.

We camped in the Waikawau Bay DOC campsite. It was not busy with people, but was full of sheep. The different areas are correctly named "paddocks". We did find a place with no poop to put our tent.
Actually we loved this place so much we are going back for the month of January and Amalia is going to work in their general store. I am going to work on my website and hopefully some freelance. And surf every day on this beach:

yay.

When I think about myself, I get bored...

2010-12-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

In the months before I came to New Zealand, whenever something came up that I didn't totally love I would think, that is ok, I'm going to New Zealand soon. I assumed all of my problems would be solved when my place was different. Then we came here and for the first week I was wondering why I felt exactly the same as I had in the States and I realized that I was the thing that was annoying. I was bored of myself. Yesterday I was reading in my journal from October and I couldn't believe how whiny and lame I was. So I am just writing to apologize to anyone who had to deal with me the months before I came here. I'm sorry I was so lame. I'll be better in the future. And a big thank you to everyone who helped me get ready to come here, Archie, Brett, Bryan, Casey, etc.

Digital Postcard: Mount Maunganui

2010-11-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

Before I came to NZ, quite a few people recommended we visit Mount Maunganui. Then we were sitting in the library in Hamilton and mentioned to a patron sitting by us that we had liked Raglan. Her response was "Disgusting. If you want to see real beaches go to Mount Maunganui." We had other plans but decided on a whim to go to there and we were not disappointed.

We slept in our car for the first couple of days. Check out the amazing tarp work we did to keep our sleeping quarters private:

Our plan is to keep everything looking pretty ghetto to deter anyone from thinking we have anything of value in our car. The tarp is effective for this.

When we went to church we had three dinner invites and two places to stay. Everyone here is amazingly nice. The first couple we stayed with were really funny PLUS he is building a helicopter in his garage. Yep. Like the ones in MASH. He has the glass bubble and everything. Then we stayed with the stake president and his house full of family and everyone else. He was from the US and we had Thanksgiving dinner with them. I wanted to get a Turkey Bowl game together and though we had enough people, no one was into it. We played some catching game involving two rugby balls and a funny game called Chicken Goggles which I won. Or at least I made it so I was one of the winners because during the game when someone got out everyone chanted "out! out! out!" so when there was some confusion about who messed up I just chanted the other girl out. That is how you win games.

Archie emailed me about some climbs he had seen on the Mount. We were excited about doing them but it took us climbing it like three times before we finally found them. It was really cool and everything, climbing right above the ocean, and then WE SAW ORCA WHALES!!! For real! It was pretty exciting. We were really high up so they weren't very big, but some guys walking by confirmed that they were whales. And then we saw a picture of them on the front page of their newspaper. It was too far away for me to get a picture, but that really made my whole visit. I still often say, "and then we saw ORCA WHALES!!!!" Love it.

Mount Maunganui = beautiful.

car update

2010-11-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

The day after we bought our car the battery light came on. My dad told me to check the alternator belt and see if it was tight or if we needed a new one. Surprisingly, I have no idea what an alternator looks like but I thought I would be able to see something with a belt on it. No. So we took it to my uncle's neighbor's old mission companion's car lot and his coworker took a look and said the reason the light was on was that we had NO alternator belt. He recommended the mechanic they use and they fixed the car right up. They had to replace 3 belts. I didn't feel as dumb not being able to find the alternator belt after I found out it didn't exist.

I did correctly check and add oil. I can do that one thing in cars.

HP7 part 1.... check

2010-11-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

One of our big concerns about coming to New Zealand when we did was if we would be able to see the new Harry Potter movie. Don't worry about us any more! We saw it last night, a day before we would have been able to in the USA! I won't give any spoilers but I will say there were enough Hogwarts students in the theater to make it legit.

Digital Postcard: Raglan

2010-11-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

I promised Tif that I would send some digital postcards. Here is the first one:

Hey! Yesterday we went to some AWESOME black sand beaches! The sand sparkles. It is very cool. But it makes you and everything you have 100 times more filthy than if you were at a regular beach. At one point Amalia had a Hitler mustache and I had a full beard of sand. We loved Raglan the second we stepped out of our car and decided we want to live there. Later we were reading in the Rough Guide that Raglan is one of the best surfing places in NZ. Awesome. Hopefully that doesn't make it hard to find a place to live. We applied for a few jobs around town, but one guy laughed when he saw my only qualification is Graphic Design. I think I will focus on getting freelance jobs from the States and get my website going (so if you know anyone needing a freelancer, I am totally available!).

Wish you were here! Stay cool!

Ashley

cows

2010-11-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

I wanted to walk around the corner from our house to take pictures of some cows hanging out on the hilly farmland:

Then the cows noticed us and for some reason they lined up in formation:
I do not know what that means. Maybe they thought we had a treat for them? Posing for the pictures?

Not to get all churchy on you but...

2010-11-14T21:07:00.001-08:00

Saturday night I was saying my prayers and thinking about how I really felt like something awesome was going to happen on Sunday. I didn't exactly know how to incorporate that into my prayers, so I really said, "please help something awesome to happen tomorrow if it be Thy will." The day was great. We went to a nice ward. We hung out at the lake in Hamilton which was really beautiful and had a bunch of birds we had never seen, plus their babies (It was like a baby animal calendar. So great. I would post pictures, but I'm not on my own computer right now). We met a lady in the park that said we could park our car in her driveway and use her shower. It seemed like an ok option. Then we went to a stake relief society meeting. Afterward we did not know what to do. We decided to try to call the lady we met in the park. But the number she gave us didn't have enough numbers. I went in the church to see if someone could tell me the area code for this place. There was one lady left in the church whose name was Anne (I found out today that she is the stake Relief Society president) and the first thing she said was, "Where are you staying?" I was kind of embarrassed about admitting we were going to sleep in the car so I kind of brushed it off while I asked about the phone number. Luckily she asked again and when I said I didn't know she said, "you can stay in my Grandma's house across the street. I take care of it and no one lives there." So now we are staying in the cutest little house with a stove and fridge and washer and dryer and shower and toilet and our own bedrooms (big step up from the car). We are going to stay until Wednesday so we can go to the temple and watch Harry Potter (two unrelated tasks, but both can be done in Hamilton). Anne lives right next door and lets us use her phone for free calls to the States and the internet as long as we want. Too nice. So unbelievable. And really really awesome. Today I was reading in Helaman 3:25 (in the Book of Mormon) where the people are so blessed that even the High Priests are surprised. Lately I feel like I am blessed way more than I should be. I mean, I'm already hanging out in New Zealand, having a great time. Some people live in war zones. Maybe those blessings should go to them. I don't get it, but I'm really really thankful for it.

In which we buy a car.

2010-11-12T00:33:00.000-08:00

This morning I bought an internet card for our new hostel, dropped it in our food bag, and couldn't find it all day. I looked through my stuff over and over and it was lost. I don't loose things super often so I was really annoyed, but it was only $5, so I tried to get over it. Later this evening I said out loud, "The only place we haven't looked is the fridge. Maybe I'll open the door and it will be stuck to the soymilk." And it really was. What?!

When we were walking around town I put my little moleskin notebook that I've been keeping our budget and phone numbers in my back pocket. We came back to Auckland specifically to buy a car so we were down by the University of Auckland looking at one we had seen in an ad. When we were almost to the car, I realized my notebook had somehow come out of my pocket. Although Amalia had said she didn't want to buy the first car we looked at, we did. We walked back to our hostel first to see if we could find my notebook. We did not find it. After a scramble at atms trying to get enough cash out at once, we walked back to get our car and turns out Chris (the guy we got the car from) had already found my notebook! After talking to us the first time he had gone into the office at his dorm and there was a black notebook with my name sitting on the administrator's desk. Someone had turned it in and he had just happened to see it. What?!

To make a great day even better, yes, we did buy the car.

It is pretty awesome. The seat folds down so we can sleep in the back if we need to. It has a cord so we can plug our ipods in. That pretty much covers all I know about cars. I drove it to a parking garage with Amalia giving directions like, "ok we are going to turn right here, a WIDE right, right over into the LEFT lane..." It is a bit tricky getting used to the left lane. Hopefully it comes quick.

So yeah, it has been a great day of miracles, answered prayers, and a car.

Ferry to Russell

2010-11-12T00:22:00.000-08:00

According to the plaques around Paihia (and our Rough Guide) the Maori asked the Britain to come help them maintain peace in New Zealand. The treaty was signed in Paihia. Russell is just across the water and has other historical sights. And really nice beaches. We did the beach walk. We had an ice cream burger. We saw a PIRATE SHIP!!!

I hiked to Flagstaff Hill where there is a flagstaff that the British built to symbolize peace, but there was a time when the Maori were disgruntled and they cut it down like 5 different times. They later built it back. It was on top of Flagstaff that I saw my first Kiwi bird. Or at least I think it was one. See for yourself:

I tried to take a video of the Kiwi but could not figure out how to make the camera work before some people scared him away. Later I tried to take a panoramic video of the top of the hill, but I moved a little too fast. I would post it but now I don't know how to make it small enough to put on the blog. It is taking forever to load. Maybe later.

Haruru Falls

2010-11-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

The guy at our hostel told us about a little tramp (that is what hiking is called in NZ) to Haruru Falls. He made it sound like it was a lame waterfall, but I think they just have really high waterfall standards here. It was about 3 hours total. We took bikes to the start of the tramp. The guy in the picture is Adrian, the new German friend that Amalia met while brushing her teeth. It was a pretty fun hike. Orchids grow wild here all over. We went through some mangrove trees. It was great.

Amalia and I both feel really awkward about posing for photos. We might just start posing really ridiculously to compensate.

Backpack Backpack

2010-11-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a fairly unattractive picture of me and my bag.

Amalia and I didn't communicate very well before our trip. She was super busy with the Fork Fest so I kind of gave up asking her questions about what and how much she was bringing. Not like either of us knew what to bring, having never been on a trip like this. Multiple people recommended I get the size 75 bag. I really like the bag itself. But I can fit a lot in it. I have all my rock climbing gear, plus I have attached my rope bag to the back which adds a lot of weight (you can kind of see it in the picture). I brought enough conditioner and gel for 6 months, which I guess is kind of heavy, but as I use it it will get lighter. I didn't bring THAT many clothes. I do have more than Amalia (her bag is a 65), which messes up the laundry schedule a little. But I've used everything I have. I do have the biggest bag of all the backpackers around here. The bus driver from this morning made fun of me. Should I be embarrassed? At REI the guy helping me size my bag gave me the impression that if I have the straps set all right I would be able to stand up straight no matter how heavy the bag is. I haven't quite figured that out yet. Any advice is appreciated (but not if the advice is to throw out my conditioner).

Auckland Grammar School

2010-11-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

Today we felt super productive. This morning we got our IRD numbers so we can work, we have a NZ bank account, and we have a prepaid cell phone. Our one goal for the afternoon was to go climbing. There is only one place really to climb in the city, but it has two sides, a long side and a short side. It is hard to get between them because there is a prison in the middle. The guy in the outdoor store told us the long wall was really close but it took us an hour to get to there. You go to the Auckland Grammar School and there is randomly this really cool looking rock wall next to their playing fields. We were super excited to find it. Then we saw the sign:

Closed! We were very sad. And we didn't try to climb them because Amalia can't do anything illegal while we are here or she can't get her old job back. So we walked for like 30 min more to the short side and it was a really weird wall. Not very tall and there were no bolts. We had to walk up to the top, put the rope in the chains and repel down. I got the rope up there but we couldn't tell where our route was and I think we went between three separate climbs. It wasn't pretty. But we did it.

This is written really poorly, but the gist of it is we had church with the Governor General

2010-11-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

We found a ward to go to this morning and got there at 8:45. The doors were locked. One other girl showed up that had never been before that was from Colorado and then two New Zealanders showed up but no one came that could unlock the doors. They must have been having stake conference, but no one knew where the stake center was. So we were walking around and asked a lady if she knew where a church was and she told us the Anglican church was just around the corner. It was in a really cool old huge cathedral. Apparently it was a holiday today, Remembrance day. The service at 10 was short, then there was a tiny parade of half a block where a military band walked with some of the political leaders. Then there was another service and a light luncheon. One of the people there was the Governor General of New Zealand. We didn't totally know what that meant until I asked later. Turns out he is the acting head of state when the Queen isn't around. And we had church with him. We've only been here one week. Just meeting all of the important people. And somehow we forgot our cameras.

November 6

2010-11-06T00:48:00.001-07:00

While we were walking to the ferry today, Amalia saw on the side of a bus that there was a Rose Festival and that the bus would take us there for free. So we jumped on and went. The roses were cool but the coolest thing was this orange juicer that we are considering purchasing to use for our next job when we get home. Fun Juice! Coming to a festival near you.

After the festival we went to Devonport (pronounced dee-von prt). It is an island close to Auckland. We stood on top of a volcano cone. The volcano was used during war and was supposedly full of tunnels. There was one giant lowering gun and an old bunker where the folk music club meets now.

More trees. Trees that needed to be propped up with poles.

We made it to Auckland!

2010-11-05T02:59:00.000-07:00

We got on a plane November 3 and when we landed it was November 5. Somehow we lost November 4 (sorry Julie, happy birthday anyway!), but we did manage to arrive here on a holiday. Guy Fawkes Night. Apparently it is the only day of the year when people in New Zealand can light off fireworks. And there were a ton of them out there. We had no idea what was going on. The guy we asked about it said he thought New Zealand was trying to phase the holiday out so we may have managed to be here on the last celebration of Guy Fawkes Night. Long live the failed Gunpowder plot.

Over night flight:
First hotel/hostel thing:
There are crazy awesome trees all over:
Delicious Korean pancake shop thing:

We've only been here one day. The pictures are just going to get better.

I didn't dress up for Halloween so I am posting some pictures of MGMT dressed up as Scooby Doo.

2010-11-02T19:35:00.001-07:00

Almost ready.

2010-11-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

I've been in Rexburg for the last 10 days hanging out with the family before I go to New Zealand (tomorrow!!!!! Tomorrow is the day!!!!). Now I'm going to post pictures of everything I've been doing, because that is what blogs are for, right?

Constructed a family picture (Drew is in LA. For some reason I always think photoshopping him into pictures is funny. My parents wanted him in there. It was the best I could do:

Took pictures of the sunset:

and the cat (of course):

Made some cinnamon rolls with my mom:

My brother helped me make a bike rack in the garage (surprisingly my dad wouldn't let me leave my bike in my bedroom):

Kyle shot a deer:

I got my motorcycle endorsement! Now I'm ready for any adventure. I practiced all week on a real motorcycle but ended up taking the test on the scoot. I got 100% because the guy let me redo the tests I messed up on and he thought I was 16 year old so he went easy on me. I'm really glad Drew bought this scoot. It has come in so handy:

Sewed this swimsuit:

and this bag:

That's about it.

I read on Swissmiss about freelensing and tried it out. It did not turn out like the pictures on her blog. Maybe if I knew how to adjust my camera settings I could make it less white. Or maybe I had the lense too far away. Maybe not. Any advice? Casey showed me some lenses that are made to bend without you having to detach it from the camera. Maybe I just need one of those.

Where do I buy this?

2010-10-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

We haven't really planned anything for New Zealand, but I do sometimes think about where we are going to stay and how we are going to get around. We've been considering camper cars, all public transportation, hostels, bikes, tents, etc. But then I saw this:
Bike camper?! What?! A combination of everything fun. Can you imagine if there were two bikes yoked onto that thing with Amalia and I coasting (or huffing and puffing) around New Zealand?! It looks like there is only space for one person to sleep inside of it, but I still think this is a great idea. found here.

I called my Grandpa last week and the first thing he said to me was "Don't you know people DIE rock climbing?!"

2010-10-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

I'm sure the six of you that read my blog already know, but November 3, Amalia Smith and I are packing up and taking off to New Zealand. Our plans so far are that we are going to hike and climb and surf and whatever else we want for greater than 6 but less than 12 months. In preparation for the trip, I had one month to learn to climb. Turns out I LOVE CLIMBING! And that I work with the best people in the world to learn how to climb. Casey. Seriously. Thanks.

The sun melted the film from my Grandpa's funeral, but this roll turned out ok.

2010-09-24T16:00:00.001-07:00

Phoenix just kept getting better and better.

2010-09-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

I'm glad he had a nap during the instrumental songs so that he had the energy to let everyone in the crowd touch him during the encore.

(thanks to Erica for recording this. thanks to neon indian for having a guitar player that looked just like Harris and a light up guitar. thanks to Phoenix for the lights, music, the thumbs ups, and for being adorable)

"Youngershoot"

2010-09-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Can my kid please be like this someday?

from here

If you are directing a music video anytime soon, make sure it has a creepy dying alien pet

2010-08-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

It's Chrome-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

2010-08-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

1. If you were in the Salt Lake area last weekend and missed Chromeo (Twilight Concert Series AND at the W Lounge), I'm sorry, but you missed the best night of your life.
2. I seem to be going through a "getting autographs" phase.

One Fun Show

2010-08-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Gina and I saw The Temper Trap when we were at Sasquatch and we went to see them again in Salt Lake last week. They were one of my favorites at the festival but I thought I should probably save my money and not go. But then the show was only $5 and totally worth every penny. I would have paid $6 (I actually paid $7 because of fees but whatever).

We were very close to the front.

Somehow I forgot about how Dougy pours water on his drum and how cool it is. How did I forget about this? I'm sure it helped that we were standing right in front of him this time (I stole this picture from the web, I did not take it. Actually, I did not take ANY of these pictures).

The opening band was called Butterfly Bones and they were actually really fun. We bought their cd and since the band was all standing right there we had them sign it. Why not? I told Lisa I would only take a picture with the lead singer if he didn't put his sweaty bare armpit over my shoulder. He didn't hear me say it apparently. I smelled for a while after. She says I smelled like a rock star. His name was Reese. He signed his name with a heart at the end. I thought he said his name was Grease and didn't even question it. Oh that tank top...

The lead singer from Temper Trap came out later and obviously we had him sign our ticket. Everyone at the show was so nice. The crowd was well-behaved. The security was so friendly and recommended we stay by the merch desk until Dougy came. No one smoked pot or spilled beer on me. The bands didn't swear and when one guy in the crowd did some BYU students edited his comment for him. I love The Depot.

Just some presents.

2010-08-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a few nifty gifties I've made recently.

1. Embroidered kitchen towel for my grandma. One of my coworkers made one with her and her grandson's hand and I thought it was such a good idea. I didn't think my big hand would be as cute so I traced my little cousin Berkley's hand but my grandma said she would have liked it with my hand too. Thanks Grandma.

2. My brother bought a Victory Hammer motorcycle so for his birthday I tried to make him a t-shirt to wear with his Hammer pants (yes, he has some). I intended for the writing on the shirt to just be the bleached out color but it turns out that bleach pen does bleed. So I traced over it again with a marker. It turned out ok. Some guy at a motorcycle dealership told my brother that it was cool, so take that for what it is worth.

If you are designing an album cover anytime soon, make sure to put a cat on it

2010-06-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

My parents got new kitties.

2010-06-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is real.

2010-06-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

At work Julie had a pile of patterns I was helping her transfer into Illustrator. Somehow I shuffled through the patterns quite a few times without seeing this:

Yes, a real fingernail in one of the bags. We think it is acrylic. Who looses an acrylic nail without noticing, then puts it into a bag and gives it to a coworker? We do not know. Nor have we asked. But we have thought of a lot of good things to do with the fingernail (none of which involves any of us actually touching it with our hands).

Turns out I hate marathons.

2010-06-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

I finished, but it wasn't pretty. I expected some sort of race day adrenaline. There wasn't any. I quit caring at mile 10. My family was really nice come support me though. Thanks!

The weather got hot

2010-06-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

I set up studio outside in the shade. It turned out very pleasant. Don't mind the lawn clippings in the picture. I mowed today but didn't clean it up. At least I mowed.

flash delirium

2010-06-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

Just returned from MGMT located In The Venue. It was crazy fun and crazy ridiculous. We were pretty close to the front so we were right in the thick of things. Some girl passed out before the show even started, even though the bouncers were pouring water into people's mouths. I haven't been in a good mash-y type pit in a while. Drew and I made a list of things you have to concentrate on in this venue:
1. Not dying
2. Holding your position by the stage
3. Dancing
4. Remembering among all the other things that there is a live band on the stage.

I love MGMT!

I kind of like when you get to the point in between the opening band and the main band where you and the established people around you are trying to hold off intruders elbowing up from the back and form a wall of arms stuck together with sweat. The people in front of us were super nice and the big tall guy even moved over so I could see better. Thanks guy! I think Drew was blocking most of the pushing which was nice. Thanks Drew! I decided to compile a list of concert etiquette tips for some of the folks I observed at the show tonight:

1. Best hair style for long hair: low bun. Seriously. I don't like your hair sticking to my arms (it was really really hot). Or when you flip it into my face. Or when you have a big ratty ponytail high up on your head with feathers sticking out (see photo above. It was taken from Drew's height. That is why you can see over them). I don't really care if you dressed up like the music video.
2. When you are doing the spin move I learned in flag football as you try to elbow your way to the front, don't say that you aren't the one pushing. You are. Don't try to fake it.
3. Keep your arms down when we are all sweating that much. Just do it.
4. Please wear clothes that will stay on your body when you are squeezing past lots of people with your ambiguous sibling.
5. I probably should not have worn my biggest metal watch to the show. Sorry girl who was in front of me when we were getting shoved.

Hold it Steady

2010-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

Haha! I was just looking on Youtube for videos of Deadma5 from Sasquatch because that show was really really crazy. My mouth was hanging open the whole time. I did find one. But, more importantly, I saw that someone else had filmed the same crazy rocking out guy that Becca was filming when we were watching The Hold Steady. We were right behind him and yes, I am the girl in the yellow jacket in the video above (standing right behind him in the preview part and around the 1 minute mark). I look just as crazy as the big guy dancing. Whenever I see myself on camera I try to vow never to try dancing in public again, but it never sticks. I just like hopping around at shows. And I totally agree with the comment from the guy who made the video:
" I filmed this guy rocking out to the band The Hold Steady (by the way they rocked it) at the Sasquatch Music Festival 2010. The man was not drunk. He was just waaaaay into the band. I don't disagree with his reaction....they were very good."

And props to that big guy for dancing. Everyone else was just standing around.

That Electric Feel

2010-06-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

I went to the Sasquatch Music Festival this weekend and it was so amazing that I couldn't remember where I lived when I wasn't at the Gorge (it came back pretty fast). It has caused me to ask some pretty hard questions like: if I just saw MGMT on Monday, should I really see them again in Salt Lake this Friday? The answer will probably be yes. Andrew VanWyngarden is just so dreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeamy.

I stole this picture from Getty. I hate that watermark, but I didn't take my digital camera. I will get some pictures from Gina and Becca for future posts.

VENTING!

2010-05-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

As many people know I've been training for a marathon. It has been going alright. But I could tell I needed new shoes. I was debating about what to do but after watching the above commercial (coolness level of 9000), of course I bought the Nike Free Run (as seen in previous post). I was debating between that shoe and the Vibram Five Fingers. The only place in Salt Lake to get these shoes is the Salt Lake Running Company. I was happy to shop there, I like that it is a local company, but I have had such bad service every time that I am not going back. The first time some guy was helping me try on the Nike Free shoe. Truth be told, they didn't have the color I wanted to I bought them on Zappos so maybe I don't deserve good service, but it was in that store that he helped me decide on what size to wear. I didn't get a lot of help while I was there. I don't buy running shoes that often. I don't know what I'm doing! The second time I went in and was trying on the Vibram 5 Fingers and NO ONE would help me. One girl finally got me the shoe and once she did ask me how they felt and I said that I had no idea how those shoes were supposed to feel and she never really answered me so some other guy who didn't even work there had to come and tell me how the shoes were supposed to fit and give me some advice. My third visit there was today. I decided to take back the Five Fingers and was telling the guy that my new Nike shoes were really hurting my big toes, did that mean I got too small of a size? And then he smirked at me and said yes. SMIRKED! Gave me no advice about what to do next. It was in his stinking store that they told me what size to try! And now my big toes hurt so bad I can hardly walk. So what do I do now? Just buy another new pair of shoes? Why do they hate me in the Salt Lake Running Company? Do I not look like a runner? You know where both me and my bike DO get great service? Guthrie Bicycles. Just saying. It is possible. (one disclaimer is I don't like the bike shoes one of the guys there recommended I get but that is totally personal preference, not really something he could gage). I'm just mad about it right now so I'm throwing it down on my blog.

I'm going through a purple shoe phase

2010-05-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

nike free

bensimon

Janelle Monáe

2010-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Can't stop watching this video. And will someone please buy me those shoes?

One CLASSY Birthday.

2010-05-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was my birthday. It turned out pretty classy thanks to all of my friends:

Cubicle at work decorated with laser cats (and not shown, the creepiest cat card of all time...thanks Steve and Jordan!):

Leslie Hall cupcakes (thanks Julie and Julie!)

Fake turd on the doorstep thanks to Sarah and Robbie:

Rainbow Saffy Birthday cake (thanks Michelle!):

Saffy did NOT think it was funny.

a psa about sealants

2010-05-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

I am pretty obsessive compulsive about my dental hygiene. I brush a million times a day. I floss every day. I don't eat candy. I cried in the dentist's office when I was 16 and found out I had my first cavity in an adult tooth. When I was a kid my dentist put sealants on my molars. The idea was that if you covered up those deep cracks then you would not get cavities. I recently went to a new dentist who used some sort of laser that checks the density of your teeth to identify cavities. Six of my molars were full of cavities. Why? Apparently, if you have genetically deep groves in your teeth sealants trap bacteria in there, hiding cavities which are allowed to grow at their leisure--the very OPPOSITE of what they were supposed to be doing. My new dentist also took pictures during the two days I spent in his office. And since I have them, I will be sharing some on my blog. I tried to choose the grossest ones. And, if you have sealants, I would recommend getting those teeth checked. The dental hygienist that was helping me had 14 cavities under her sealants. It could happen to anyone.

This is how my teeth looked when he was starting. Pretty normal, right? He had already popped out a part of the sealant on the bottom tooth:

Midway through drilling (he started taking even more pictures after I asked if I could keep them):

All drilled out (he also said he wished you could tell how deep the holes were by these photos. He showed me that he was like a quarter inch down into my head):

All nice and filled:

One of my poor top teeth:

Drill step 1:

Big drilling step 2:

Better than new:

Thanks Dr. Blackwood!

nope

2010-04-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Conversation from Friday night:

friend's friend new roommate: What line of work are you in?
me: graphic design
friend's friend new roommate: Oh, I'm in a similar line of work!
me: what is it?
friend's friend new roommate: I.T.

yeah....no.

Keep Calm Gallery

2010-04-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Keep Calm Gallery. I just linked to it from swissmiss. Awesome. I love the russian doll print so much.

here, here, here, and here.

Dream Dress of my LIFE

2010-03-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

I just saw this dress at Anthropologie. Blue shirt dress with bikes on it. WHAT?! I need it. And like Julie said, it is a steal at approx. $1/bike! I've been reading the reviews and the only con about this dress is the sleeve cuffs are small. I already have issues with button up shirt sleeves being too small. Sometimes I might have to put my shoes on before my shirt or else I can't move my arms enough to reach my feet. I don't know if it is super broad shoulders or gigantic guns but sadly, this dress probably won't work for me. I'll still go try it on though.

The Language of the Universe

2010-03-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

I love this line from the CES Fireside Elder Uchdorf gave in November 2009. It came after he told the story of the Ugly Duckling:

"We are not ordinary, rejected or ugly. We are divine."

Thank you Elder Uchdorf!

I've also been working on having a "healthy sense of worth" like the lyrics of this song (which I loved before, but just noticed that they also reference the type face Futura. Just when I thought I couldn't be any more in love with Vampire Weekend they have to bring type into the equation...).

While I was visiting teaching this month we were talking about one of the girl's roommates who had decided she was sick of working at any old office and was going to pursue her dreams so she was gone interviewing at fashion schools. The girl we were talking to was saying how she wished she could do that but she didn't know what to go back to school for. So then I was thinking about what I would go back to school for to fulfill my dreams and realized I had already done it. I really love Graphic Design. There are other things I still want to learn, but I'm pretty happy where I started. I'm not saying I've fulfilled my Personal Legend yet (I just finished reading The Alchemist), I feel like I'm just working in the crystal shop on the hill, but I think I'm on my way and learning what I need to know, and I really thankful for everyone who helped me to get where I am.

St. P

2010-03-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

I made some St. Patrick's Day-grams for (you guessed it!) St. Patrick's Day! I didn't make Valentines this year. This was to make up for it.

I wish I could listen to music, audio books, and npr all at the same time.

2010-03-23T15:02:00.001-07:00

How do I manage simultaneous listening addictions?! I only have so much time in a day!

Needs/wants

2010-03-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

I saw this book on the FPO blog. It is a planner. OneMethod Digital+Design (click there for images of the inside) made them for their clients. They are selling some. I've been waiting all week to buy it so I could use it to have an organized awesome life (any life being planned with this book must be awesome) but with tax and shipping it is $30.99. I know it is letterpressed. I know it is amazing. It comes with a pencil AND ribbon bookmark! But do I love it $30? Is it worth $30 to have an awesomely planned life? Hmmmmmmmmmmm...

From the Urban Outfitters blog

2010-03-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Apparently I missed the "International Day of Awesomeness."

I was the second.

2010-03-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

Adventures in Book Club

2010-03-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

I had my first Book Club meeting tonight. We discussed Alice in Wonderland. I made these themed cakes. But I FORGOT get it in the ward email. It was announced in Relief Society, but alas, only me, my roommate Cassie, and the Enrichment counselor Lauren were there. We had a good time. But I have a bunch of cake left if anyone wants to come have one.

We will be reading The Alchemist next. Feel free to read along.

Traveling

2010-03-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

Bardhi told me today that he was planning to go to Berlin for a vacation in May. I realized I was also traveling in May, except I am going to Washington state. I did some research and realized it is almost the same distance. Crazy.

I wish I was this guy...minus the mustashe

2010-03-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

I seriously love mail

2010-03-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my Grandpa Murdoch's funeral. It was really, really nice. This whole experience taught me a lot, one thing being that I have no concept of proper funeral etiquette as relating to how to treat other people going through a sad time. Other people do know what to do. We got tons of food, flowers, and fruit baskets at my house in Rexburg. Then when I walked into my house in Salt Lake I found these awesome things on my table:

A really really nice green card from Holly (the nice part is what it says inside):

A non-bill from Comcast. Quit sending me that stuff Comcast! I don't have an account with you anymore! (This is a rough breakup for Comcast)

A really really nice award I won endorsing positive and strong relationships between grandparents and grandkids (Becca, I didn't realize your fake job was Director of Grooviest Grandkid in the known Universe Award!) I'm going to frame that thing. I like anything from Outer Space:

Then, a dress I purchased for myself from Lea's Vintage on Etsy. I saw the package and thought, oh, cute she went the extra mile and put a heart sticker on it:

THEN I opened it up and instead of a plain old dress I got this:

and thought, I am sorry to anyone who purchased anything from me on Etsy. I tried to doll it up a little, but it wasn't ever this cute.

I was worried when I opened it and it said size 10 but it fits me fine. Not as good as the model, but it is still cute. This is the model (not me. I tried, but it is hard to take full body shot pictures of yourself):

Belt not included. Now I need to do my laundry so I can wear it.

I would post pictures from the funeral but I took them on my Holga so you can expect to see those in like 6 months. It was really cool to be with my whole family. There are 143 of us. That is a lot of funeral potatoes.

I am doing it.

2010-03-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

Today I bought this:

as my commitment that I am really going to run the Teton Dam Marathon in Rexburg on June 12, 2010. My ipod is too old to support the Nike+ that goes with the ipod so I got this band. I'm pretty excited about it. And I'm excited for the marathon. I've never wanted to run one before, but I think that because this one is in my hometown I feel like I need to do it. I didn't realized until tonight that the run is supposed to be a symbol of overcoming personal challenges such as when the Teton Dam broke:

"On June 5, 1976, the collapse of the Teton River Dam unleashed a savage flood which caused $500 million in damage, took eleven lives, and made thousands homeless in Wilford, Sugar City, Rexburg, Salem, Hibbard, Firth, Blackfoot, and Roberts.

This tragedy was turned into triumph by the victims’ own faith and courage and by an outpouring of aid by many volunteers from Idaho and nearby states. For this reason over a thousand runners flood the streets to take on their own personal challenge of running a race. "

My family does have a few interesting stories about when the dam broke.

If anyone else is running it and wants to sit by me at the Potato Bake, I accept!

Feb 28: First Robin of Spring.

2010-03-01T22:19:00.000-08:00

I saw the first Springtime Robin on Sunday. He hopped onto that fence, posed for my picture, then flew away.

It doesn't necessarily mean Spring is here, please, the Groundhog said 6 more weeks of Winter, but it seems he meant just the East Coast. We have been having some pretty fine weather lately. I guess you have to choose which animal meteorologist you believe.

Grandpa Murdoch

2010-03-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

My Grandpa Murdoch is amazing. My mom and her siblings have been staying at his house because the home health people keep saying he is on the brink of death. I have been waiting for the call announcing the funeral but instead I got a video of him playing a harmonica duet with my uncle Bryan. What a scrappy guy. I love him.

Yee Haw

2010-02-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

During a meeting I was sketching different words that I heard and ended up with "Giddy Up Spectacular!" What?! I do not know exactly what a Giddy Up Spectacular is, but it sounds amazing and I need to have one. What do you think a Giddy Up Spectacular would consist of? Help me plan.

Olympics!

2010-02-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Last night I was watching the Olympics by myself before my roommates got home and actually teared up a little watching Julia Mancuso celebrate her slalom win (see 3:30). I loved the awkward way she was jumping and pumping her skis. Joy was shooting out of her ski tips.

I do think they should have scheduled the women's half pipe snowboarding before the men's because really, after Shaun White, what was left to watch? Also they all fell down.

I was of course rooting for American Evan Lysacek. In the short program he looked just like Snape. It was like watching Harry Potter on ice.

Showing up with snakes around his neck for the long program solidified the nickname for me:

until he won the gold medal and his countenance totally changed. It was crazy. The announcers kept saying how much younger he looked and it was true. He transformed from Snape into the little kid that couldn't beat his sister in anything so he started figure skating and finally won his dream of the gold medal.

I hadn't heard of Evan Lysacek before but he seems to have a following. When I was searching for images Google recommended another popular search which was "Evan Lysacek shirtless." Another image had the caption "Email me Evan!" Girls love Snape.

I didn't realize I loved the Olympics so much.

True Compass

2010-02-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading/listening to True Compass: A Memoir, by Ted Kennedy (I read the first half but didn't finish it before I had to give it to the library and then had to get the audio book). I listen to a lot of NPR and when Kennedy died they talked a LOT about him and I felt like he was a pretty big deal and wanted to know more about him. I really enjoyed the book. I liked how important family was to the Kennedys, but didn't realize how many horrible things had happened to them. I was so surprised when Bobby got shot because for some reason I thought he had died in the airplane, but turns out that was JFK Jr. I didn't realize the book might be biased at all until after I listened to the Chappaquiddick incident and my reaction was "Oh, poor guy" (not that my reaction should have been different. He pretty much said he couldn't function because he was still in such shock from Bobby being shot, but most people make it a little more complicated than that. He did mention they had some cocktails). Then when he started talking about Reagan... let's just say his opinion was opposite of the people still sporting Reagan bumper stickers and getting Reagan calendars (yes Holly, that's you) that wish we were still in the Reagan years. So, really, I came out of it knowing less about politics, concerned that the Senate and House only vote so the other party can't succeed, much more educated about the Kennedys and with a hankering to go to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Boston. He really did do a lot in the Senate. Has anyone else read the book? Just wondering what you thought.

Swank Dollar

2010-02-17T11:46:00.000-08:00

I read this blog who had a link to this blog and now I'm obsessed with machine knitting (I've only really known it existed for like 10 minutes). I want one of those things! Or, really, maybe I just want some Swank Dollar knits. She isn't selling them right now, but I love the colors and patterns all mixed together. It is pretty amazing. Does anyone out there have a knitting machine they want me to try?

I drew this today.

2010-02-16T17:53:00.001-08:00

Cold but not snowy

2010-02-11T21:19:00.001-08:00

I made these little ice cream novelties for a Relief Society meeting on Wednesday. I had seen them in a magazine and thought they were sooooooo cute, but as I was driving to the meeting and shivering in my car (because I didn't want to turn on the heat and melt them) I thought, "why on earth did I make a frozen treat for a winter activity?" Then I remembered: my boss (yes, I did get a job. I work at Stampin' Up! now) brought the Donna Hay magazine back from Australia and it is SUMMER there.

They were good anyway.

literacy

2010-02-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

My new calling at church is Relief Society Literacy ________ (I don't know what word goes here. Chair? Coordinator? Person?). I am in charge of starting a book club. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations. What books would be good for a church-sponsored book club?

inspiration

2010-02-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

I have a folder on my computer called "inspiration" (I know, so creative). My desktop cycles through pictures from that folder every three minutes so as I work on my computer I'm always pausing to see what is on my desktop. Some of them are pretty awesome. I decided I wanted to post them on my blog in themes. I'm sure everyone wants to see them, plus I like a review of my inspiration. Everyone has a "images I found on the internet that I love" folder right? I want to see! Post it on your blog!

Today's theme is Bears, Birds, Battlestar Sheep. Well, just regular sheep I guess.

I really can't say how happy it makes me to see this little lamb jumping on my desktop:

This is a screenshot of a trailer of a movie Carrie Brownstein (from NPR music) is in. I'm obsessed with that bear painting behind her:

This is one of my very favorite pictures from the Sartorialist. If there is anything I love as much as mutton busting, I don't know what it is:

BORED!

2010-02-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while because I am bored. Bored bored bored. I am ready for something to change and I think that something is I need a real job. I have been applying and waiting and waiting so I could do a post about how awesome it is that I am employed but it just hasn't happened yet. Here are some things that HAVE happened recently:

played Triominoes with Amy in real life and Becca via video chat:

Tried to help our roommate who locked herself out of her bedroom. We spent three hours on it. Our home teacher came and got the door off in like 2 minutes. He also brought us a pizza. He is pretty much the best home teacher ever.

I seriously clean my room every day and it always looks trashed.

Does anyone know anyone that works at the Utah Symphony and Opera? I applied for a job there and I really want it. I think some sort of connection would be helpful. Thanks.

jogging some poles

2010-01-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday I donned my snow gear from Junior High and went ice fishing with my brother. We caught no fish but it was fun to go.

Here he is with his friends:

If you want to see someone looking supremely dorky, here is the picture:

yeah, I know. No wonder we didn't catch any fish.

I'm really not obsessed with cats.

2009-12-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

from here.

Beehive Bazaar

2009-12-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

The Beehive Bazaar starts tonight! I guess I have everything ready that I will have ready. If you are in the area you should come check out my booth!

Life's big questions.

2009-11-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

If someone just spent two days painting kitten ornaments on jar lids is their life really awesome or really lame?

Chrismas Cards

2009-11-09T17:56:00.000-08:00

I just updated my etsy store! I've been making stuff like crazy for the Beehive Bazaar (or trying to at least). Here is the first wave. Check out my shop: AshleySamantha.etsy.com.

12 vs 16

2009-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

I read something that made me think I had wound my Holga film incorrectly with my first roll of film. But I was right the first time and it just messed up my next two rolls. I was mad at first but they are growing on me.

some turned out ok

boo!

2009-11-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of my Halloween costume:

I took this picture to send to my grandma:

This is Lauren and I at our stake halloween party:

Paper Bag Princess. It is a children's book. I made that dress out of paper bags, staples and masking tape.

Wednesday I found a link to Carol Hannah's blog (you know, from Project Runway ) and she had a giveaway where you sent pictures of your costume and she chose a winner. The prize was a scarf she made with pockets. I don't even wear scarfs, but I was going to start wearing that one every day after I won it. She announced the winner today and sadly it wasn't me. It was a couple that made Where the Wild Things are outfits (check out her post here). Sure their costumes are cool, I just feel like they beat me out because that movie is "in" right now and they took pictures in the grocery store. Carol Hannah seemed to like that. I did get a shout out when she was naming other cool costumes:

"Also notable, a pair of very convincing Ewoks from Star Wars, a dead on Frida Khalo, a Paperbag Princess made entirely and impressively of paper, and a legitimately scary zombie."

I'm a little disappointed. Maybe so much so that I will stop rooting for her on P.R. Well, not really. I don't want to start rooting for Meana Irena, so I guess I'll let this one go.

Yee-Haw Industries

2009-10-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Yee-Haw Industries is always making cool things. What I love most about this poster is that it is 17x23. I liked it small like this, but when I realized it was so big I loved it. The type for the word Zombies is like 8 inches high. They don't mess around when they are talking about robot zombies.

2009-10-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

I just want to do a shout out for the Mormon Channel. My favorite show is Conversations, "a one-hour radio program featuring people of interest to the LDS community—General Authorities, Auxiliary leaders, and faithful Latter-day Saints." Sheri Dew interviews the members of the 12 and it is really cool to hear stories about choices they made in their younger years and advice they have to people now. I listen to them over and over. I highly recommend checking it out.

Choose my Own Adventure.

2009-10-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

So I tried out and made it onto the Salt City Derby Girls Roller Derby League. Dream come true, right? I'm really glad I made it but for some reason am not feeling excited about it anymore. It is 2-3 practices a week and a $300+ investment for skates and gear. I love team sports. I want to get in shape. I learned how to skate (thanks to the help of Nyda the Dead and Alevia Suffering). I want to do it because it is cool. But I feel like I shouldn't. I don't know. What do you think? I don't usually ask for comments, I'm just terrible at making decisions. Will I face an eternity of not being cool if I don't do Roller Derby?