fleas??!?

well...it's monday and i am not completely hating my life [wow, eh?] i quite fancy my new job. it’s been nice to have things changed up a bit and now that i feel i have the hang of things at ndc, i feel tons less stressed. not sure how long that is going to last though because i start school in a few weeks….matter and i both. lucky little merv, however, gets to carry on his regime at home.

matthew has a super big load this semester [18 credit hours] because he is trying to fit everything in to graduate next spring….EEEK….which i fully support! i am still working full time, so my classes are all at night and on saturdays….but even so, i am excited to finally be getting back to school!

we are going to really [REALLY] try to pick up at golds again…we signed up for the ragnar next year and it will take at least that long to get our seinfeld-watching butts in shape. on top of gym and school, harvest time is right around the corner. despite the long winter slash late spring, our little cants, watermelons, squash, and tomatoes have grown and we feel super blessed!

so…if matt and i seem a little anti-social this fall, it is because we are going to be a tad on the crazy-busy side but we still love and/or like you….most likely…

[change of subject]

matt has inadvertently inconvenienced merv and i over the last two weeks…it all started when matt began getting these red marks on his legs and each morning he would wake up with more….they looked like bug bites and so we assumed they were. we immediately changed our sheets because matt thought they were bedbugs [thus, i was inconvenienced because i lost sleep over the fact that there might be bugs in my bed!!] but after a few days, we changed our theory because i wasn’t getting bitten, we had clean sheets, and new red marks were still popping up on matt. so matt’s next theory was fleas from merv. i fully believed that matt was capable of having fleas, but i knew they didn’t come from my clean kitten. i have told matt numerous times i think merv is cleaner than him…plus merv wasn’t itching and matt wasn’t itching. but matt was insistent that we get some flea killing shampoo for merv [thus merv was inconvenienced because we had to submerge him in water and scrub him down…i don’t think i have to explain that he was not at all happy about this…] so we ruled out fleas…we are still not sure what is going on, but our newest theory is folliclitis which is basically an infection in the hair follicles. they are seeming to get better, but we may be heading to a dermatologist if they are not healing in a few days….i guess you could say matt has been slightly inconvenienced as well because he says they are quite painful.

well besides our upcoming busy-ness and matt’s disease…not a whole lot is new with the matt.ash.merv clan. until next time savy….

Oh…just life…

yes…we are among the living. no… nothing is super new. yes… i am a bunk of a blogger. now that we have that out of the way we can get to the good stuff: let's try short bursts of the goings-ons since april[or as much as i can remember.]

this morning, 4:30am merv was having the time of his life with an 8.5 x 11 piece of copy paper. this made me smile.

a few days ago [let’s be honest...like a month ago] autumn and i were on a joy ride out to get some candy for a baby shower and we happened to have frosted treats from burger bar in hand. autumns spoon naturally swooped down to my cup for a taste [common among good friends] and some sort of survival instinct was instantly switched to ON mode in my brain and without thinking [honest!] i pulled my cup away in great hast. almost just has quickly, i become appalled with my own selfishness and began to apologize and offer her my treat. we had a great laugh over the incident.

ps...i got a new job [north davis cabinet and design] i start tomorrow. no more tech support : this makes me smile....with my teeth.

matt is obsessed with tower defense and occupado with farming and showing homes, which is a very good thing...the farming and home-showing that is...

oh...and here are some pictures:

i didn't take a bite out of this paper...matt didn't take a bite out of this paper...

caught in the act!

innocent? i think not...

waterfall canyon

sometimes we are in love

matter made this...ok, moving on....

shari, me, and beth getting ready to free fall

meerkat - merv in his bunker

 

[i think that'll do for now]

exercise is a good thing...pft!

as usual i am a behind blogger...ok that doesn't sound quite right...how about a blogger that is behind? there we go. so what have we been up to for the last 29 days? glad you asked my friend...

1. attending a musical experience by Mr. Jon Bon Jovi with our dear friends brittaney and kendell:

nothing like a night of shakin it to jovi

the boys couldn't keep up with us

rockin it at cali pizza before the show

hard-core jovi fans...singing their guts out!

my favorite part of the night was when we were in line to get into the show...this guy in front of us {a lone man in his late 40's, dressed oddly stylish} turns around, looks matt up and down twice...not subtly at all...then pauses while the four of us are thinking "uhhh....what's going on?" and then he proceeds to say to matt "it's nice to be among true fans" . i choke down a giggle and kendell just looks from the lone man then to matt. maybe it was one of those things where you had to be there, but i'm glad i was there because it was extremely comical. apparently the jeans and sports jacket that matt was rockin is jovi fan material...


2. visiting the Ogden Temple one last time before the renovation with our friends the Beans:

it was a lovely night indeed

3. game night...merv crashed in on our sequence game and we had more fun watching him bat the chips around than we did actually playing the game:

playful little fella

4. matt came down with a bit of a nasty bug, but the good ol' netty pot proved useful. he swears by this thing, but you couldn't catch me dead with that thing in my nose...guuueel!

 5. partying it up at the drive in with the Beans. we jammed to 'ghost busters' and 'you sexy thing' playing from the 15 passenger fan parked next to us. not to mention the yummie pizza runner and banana cream pie in a cup:

Hide your kids, hide your wife...



Ehi, mi piace molto il tuo mustash



oh dear...scary stashes

a buck fitie well spent...

6. i have been trying to expand my rapitore of exercises and tone up...so i cut these little denise austin numbers out of my women's day last week. i dabbled in experimenting with them throughout the week, but never really put my 'back into it' until friday. on friday i whipped the waist whittler, i crushed the crunch & relax, i scorched the spine stretch...ya, you get the idea, i put my all into these little toning workouts! and what did i get for all my hard work and healthy aspirations? a big, fat, very painful pulled back muscle! now... i am not quite sure how i score with pain tolerance, maybe i am a big baby...it's hard to tell...i just know it hurt...bad! so i went to the doc this morning {which is a big deal for me because i am pretty much freaked out by doctors...not quite as much as fish, but still...} so basically i had to stay cooped up all day, laying down with 800 mg of ibuprofen and heat and ice. the doc said after 24 hours i can stretch it out more, but to be more careful with my little toning exercises...apparently i am more out of shape than i thought!

anxious little farm boy...

matt has been itchin to get out in the fields, play in the irrigation water, and ride in the tractor. needless to say the warm weather has greatly increased his mood despite the "ashley watchers" diet he is said to be on. he finally got to get out and farm a tidge last saturday and he was delighted. he even had a little tractor buddy to keep him company:

jack the farm dog

in other peterson news: merv had his one year check-up appointment yesterday and he is a happy, healthy kitten! merv hates to travel, but he did exceptionally well on the drive out to farr west...especially compared to our last excursion for family pictures. anyway he was even being a nice little guy....right up until they pulled out the thermometer and took his temperature....through his tiny rear end! after that there was no more mr. nice kittie. he turned into a ninja of sorts. but it was a short lived fiasco and was well worth the peace of mind that my little mervie is healthy.

as for me...i have found a fun new interest in crafts and sewing. i have dragged matt to joannes far more than any man deserves to be dragged there, but i know if i go by myself i will get out of control! i really enjoy being creative and being able to make things. we went over to the widdisons last night and kari graciously showed me how to use my sewing machine that has been collecting dust in my basement. it surprises me to say so, but i think i really enjoy sewing.

i am also getting really excited to register for school summer semester...another thing i am surprised to say. but honestly, i miss going to school and learning things about this beautiful, crazy world we live in.

well...carry on.

a WiCKeD trip

matthew bought us wicked tickets for our first anniversary. we drove to ALBUQUERQUE new mexico, making a pit stop at the 4 corners, and arrived to see one of the most spectacular  theatrical events i have yet lived to see. we also visited the ABQ bio park slash zoo which was also lovely. i enjoyed shopping the Navajo stations and matt enjoyed driving....(he must have cause he wouldn't let me drive, except for one hour out of the 24 there and back...) i know driving to NM for a play sounds foolish, but we enjoy road trips....something about being locked in a car together for hours on end brings out the crazy, childish, fun inside us. we had a rather delightful time :

archie

monticello temple... tiniest temple i have ever seen! but still beautiful

this is as flexible as he gets

woohoo! 4 states at one! check one off my bucket list

NM lobo

a mighty hunter indeed

bow down!

we didn't want to pay 5 bucks for a picture out of one of those booth things, so we just took a snap next to it

eeek! i was so so so excited!

albuqueque nm temple

1 year down and an eternity to look forward to!

can't believe a year has already come and gone since i married my love and best friend! some people say the first year is the hardest, but i would disagree. i know we had some battles, but i can't really remember a single one...granted i do have a super poor memory [wink] some of my favorite memories of year number one include laughing so hard at 2 in the morning i was sure i was going to pee, sitting on the Ogden Temple northside bench and talking, watching seinfeld and lost together, going to Javiers on thursday nights, traveling to san diego, nebraska, park city, and colorado, having tickle wars, getting in touch with our native side, riding with matt in the tractor, giving each other pedicures/massages, and of course playing with merv. i am still a horrible cook and housekeeper and matt still leaves the cabinets open and all the lights on, but we have years to get good at that. for now we are just going to continue to love the crap out of each other!

we had a splendid anniversary weekend...hope you enjoy the pictures half as much as we enjoyed making them:

playing at the craft store...arg!

oh behave!

finger painting...once upon a time there was a potential mess waiting to unfold

matter trying to connect with his inner artist...bless his heart he is trying!

ash focusing deeply on the finger print petals

merv the majestic by matthew

the petterons by ash....it may or may not take me more than a year to learn how to spell PETERSON!

little red house by matt, ash, and merv

war paint

post battle treaty

back to wear it all began! we really enjoyed doing sealings in the Bountiful Temple!

our favorite arches

fun while waiting for our light show to begin in slc

astro matt and ash at the planetarium

an alien from mars!

a local

on our way to deer valley..excited to hit the slopes

ahh! facials!

See you next year...

wowsers! times is a crazy thing my friends! i can't believe it is 2011. it's going to take me at least 3 months to stop writing 2010...and 2011 just sounds more spacie to me, like we're now living in the future or something.

anyway i have a lot of catching up to do...this may be the longest post ever, so grab some popcorn....older people always say the holidays are a busy, crazy time...i didn't agree till this year [which makes me older i guess] as a child i never realized how much work my parents went through to make my holidays a happy time. i got very behind on my blogging because there was just too much to do and not enough time to do it!

matter finished up his fall sememster and did super well. he was quite nervous about his econ class. he needed a B in that class in order to get accepted into the business college at weber. he work extremely hard all semester long and it paid off! he passed every single class and got the B he needed. merv and i are so so proud of him! he is all registered for spring and is on track to graduate in spring 2012...then who knows where the road will take us!

matt and i really enjoyed our first Christmas together! i loved coming home to a lit tree in my window [not nealy as much as merv enjoyed the tree though], making homemade stockings, and playing Christmas music 24/7. we also loved participating in the hunt pageant! i have been in the pageant as long as i can remember and this was matt's second year. he got promoted to a wise man! other Christmas activities included the eclipse Christmas concert, a Christmas eve breakfast with friends, the john schmidt Christmas concert, and of course a heart-healthy dose of family gatherings!

making stockings

merv's wasn't quite finished at this time of this photo...we ran out of hot-glue!

our first tree!

can you spot the tree gnome?

merv spent most of his free time perched in our tree

cutest decoration ever!

wise man matt and shepherd ash

needless to say merv took great pleasure in maiming the gifts

merv enjoys Christmas

Christmas morning

merv opening his stocking

matter is enjoying his new "chore" hat, comfy pants, and fresh mountain dew shirt, merv can't get enough of his special-formulated kittie milk and his new peacock-feather toy, and i am lovin all my andes mints, my new coat, and my new messenger bag.

peacock-feather toy

chore hat? and the old mountain dew shirt that was replaced

Christmas is my favorite season because it seems like it's easier for us to forget about the worldly differences and recognize that we are all family... all God's children. i love the spirit i feel during this season and the hope it gives me that there are still so many good things happening in this crazy world.

happy new year world....a day late.

we had our great pals over new years eve and it's official...we are all old fogies since we got married! we made it to about 12:30 and party was over and bedtime was initiated. our priorities have just shifted a little and sleep has moved up the list...call me crazy but i thoroughly enjoy sleeping!  it was still a slammin party though haha we partyed it up with food, despicible me, scribblish, cuponk, food, scrabble slam, nintendo, and food.

it was really nice having some time off for new years to spend with matt and mervie. we had a snow day new year's eve day. it was quite frigid and the snow wasn't as packable as i would have hoped, but we still enjoyed ourselves and it gave merv a chance to wear his new coat. we tried making a snow man, but it was pretty much a powder pile...we even tried to add some package by pouring water on it, but in the end it was still just a pile of powder. we did accomplish snow angels and our names though. i am not sure what merv thought of all the snow...he loves being outside but i am sure that love was battling the fact that his toes were freezing. every time i went to put him down his toes would fan out and recoil...i think he warmed up to it though. he loved trying to catch the powdery snow as i tossed it around. he was quite tolerant of his new coat....outside....once he was inside it was a different story:

me and merv playing in the snow

majestic snow merv

matter and mervie shoveling the walk

merv watching matt shovel the walk once his toes got too cold

merv's true feelings about his new coat

when we put the hood on merv pretty much became incapacitated...

the petersons have spent the last week thinking of the things we would like to work on this year. matter and i are very different in the way we set goals. matt is far more realistic than me and likes to set precise goals that he knows are perfectly attainable. i live in a bit more of a dream world...i like to aim high [most often unrealistic] and i figure that if i fall short of my high goals, i will still be sitting pretty good because they were high to begin with. neither of us can stand the way the other sets goals, but we laugh about our differences and i can truly say i find joy in our differences...most the time. here are a few of our res-o-new-tions [i figure putting them on the blog will allow you to harass us when we are slacking] :

matter:                                                                                  

1. get all A's and B's [nothing lower than a B]                 

2. go to the gym 3 times a week                                   

3. no pop at all...with the exception of 1 pepsi throwback on sundays

ash:

1. cook one made-from-scratch meal twice a month

 2. go to the gym 5 days a week

3. go to the temple each week 

merv:

1. kick biting

matt and i are competing in biggest loser....schneider edition. we weighed in tonight and will go till april 2nd. there are 9 competitors and at the end we will weigh in again and the loser with the highest percentage lost will take home the pot.  shortly after the weigh-in matt and i came home and trashed the temptations...which unfortunately contained wonderfully tasty delights:

garbaged treats...who know why i can't get this picture to flip the right way!

so matt and i got gym memberships for Christmas so i decided i wanted to store our treadmill downstairs. i told matt we could wait until he had another buff guy here to help him, but he, for some unknown reason, felt that i would be adequate enough for this task. so i joined in his confidence and we began to hull this masssive piece of equipment towards our stairs of death. for those of you who have not been to my house, i will explain as well as i can. leading down to our basement our somewhat spiraled stairs that grow thinner on the left side as they descend...observe object A:

spiraling stairs of death

 so we measure the treadmill at its widest point and then measure the space we have to cram it through...both equal 29 inches....matt assures me this is a feasible task...i have my doubts. so we somehow manage to struggle it through the first set of stairs...this taking about 20 minutes...we then get it lodged over the second set of stairs...that's right folks...stuck between the foundation wall and the little white wall. 

lodged treadmill

this all started out quite pleasant, but at this point matt and i are both highly frustrated, sweating our guts out, and about to rip each others faces off.  matt was losing his temper and i was yelling and laughing at the same time because i had crossed the line of sanity and was practically delirious. matt suggested we leave it, lodged in our stairway until he could disassemble it. i didn't love this idea because we couldn't get down to our laundry with it there. we decided the best thing to do was to take a breather and cool off. when we came back we gave it the biggest push we could and..... long story short...we somehow shoved it through that terrible place and now it's living in the basement! even though we just about reached our frustration limits, we are laughing about it now....good times.

well hopefully you made it through that forever-long post awake. i hope to keep more on track with the blog this year....cross your fingers!