God Hates Nebraska?

So I haven't blogged in a while, well not that long I guess, but I realized I have nothing really new or exciting to report. I never really have all that much to report, but I guess it has been a pretty exciting two weeks for me.

I am just ending up my last 20 minutes of work for the week and of course am bored out of my mind. It really amazes me how much time they allow for us to do something very quick. I don't think they have the Internet figured out.

I was told today that summer is over b/c football starts next week. Then I was reminded about Nebraska Football (ewww). I heard this really funny thing on the radio on my way to work this morning and thought I would share it with you. It is on You Tube, just a warning that it is very obscene. I don't agree with this man and how he feels about homosexuals, but if you can take a joke and you hate Nebraska. You will like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7_Z8ZQb1oM

chillin

I am so happy that we were able to stay at home this weekend. We have already done so much with my day off yesterday and today. Yesterday Bob and I helped out our friends the Bensons, well just Ryan re-paint some walls in their old apartment. Yes even after my bad painting job on Macy and Merrick's room I attempted to do it again, both Bob and I realized painting is not our forte and if we need to ever paint we will just have to hire someone. In the afternoon we went to a back to school picnic for Bob where he was supposed to meet his M1 buddy, who did not show. We talked to some of his classmates and then headed home to change clothes. We went out to eat at a fine dinning restaurant in Omaha's Old Market area called Passport. We enjoyed shrimp cocktail, a bottle of wine, salad and Bob had a steak and I had rack of lamb. Everything was really good and we didn't even have room for dessert. My lamb was finished at the table so they started it on fire right in front of us. What a great way to celebrate. We finished the evening by meeting up with the M1s and M2s at the Upstream, but we came to find out it was more M1s than we thought so we left after one drink.
This morning was spent cleaning the house up as we will be having some friends over to grill and enjoy each others company before school starts on Monday. We also just got back from the mall. I had wanted to get Bob an engagement present as it isn't fair that a girl gets an engagement ring and the guy gets nothing. So we picked out a new watch for Bob. As we were walking in the mall his watch had completely stopped so it was time for something new. We found one we both really like, we are hoping it lasts a long time. I wanted to get on one knee with it, but Bob said no. That may still happen though.
Tomorrow will be a calm relaxed lazy day of watching tv. We are both looking forward to that.

Going to the chapel/reception hall/beach/courthouse...?

Well, yes Bob asked me to marry him. I'm still at a loss for words about it. And we still do not know how, when or where we want to get married. For the past 10 years I have gone over wedding plans in my head and now thinking about real wedding plans is very overwhelming. It has been fun to tell all of my friends and family about the recent engagement and to hear Bob refer to me as his fiance. It has also been strange because of my refusals. I refuse to tell the people I work with, I know how they will react, and I don't want to share my personal life with them. I also am not calling Bob my fiance, b/c it is a french word and it sounds silly to me. I refuse to gush over this, yes I am ecstatic about marrying the most amazing man in the world, I know I am so lucky that I have found the person I will spend the rest of my life with but the relationship Bob and I have cannot be judged by others and I certainly do not want to have it scrutinized by someone that does not know us.

Anyway back to planning... the one thing I have always thought about is the music at my wedding, I guess I am a little like my brother in that sense. But I would love all of these songs at the ceremony, reception and dance. So at least there is that to look forward to.

A little shout out to my best friend and man I will marry. I love you, thanks for proposing, thanks for completely surprising me, and thank you for wanting to spend the rest of your life with me.

I also promise that my blog will not turn into a Bridezilla Blog about wedding planning. If that happens, take me down. I'm serious.

Where did the summer go?

Not this weekend but next weekend will be my first full Saturday and Sunday spent in Omaha since the beginning of July. I feel like I have been on the go non stop. Working during the week and then off on one of my many adventures up to Minneapolis or down to Kansas City. Like I said there is one more weekend full of things ahead.

Tomorrow I will head up to Sibley for my cousin's wedding while Bob heads over to eastern Iowa to see the Field of Dreams. Sounds like him and his friends have a day packed of sightseeing and I know he is excited for one of his last trips of the summer.

Next week the M1s will start school and Bob and his M2 buds start on the 18th so he will have one last week of freedom. Bob is helping out with some of the M1 things this coming week so he will have an early start to a big year. After this year Bob will take the boards or as I call them "Doctor or no Doctor." It will be a very stressful time for them, and for me as I will have to keep reassuring him that he will do a good job. Wow these tests are almost a year away and if I am stressing about them now I do not even know what next spring will be like. Hopefully by then I will have a new job and will be able to spend some more time helping out around the house.

I know I have complained about my job so much, but there is one thing about my job that I love and that is it is so flexible. I can work 4, 10 hour days and take every other Friday off. The weeks I do not take off Fridays I can take a different day. This week I worked a few hours from home on Tuesday and then Bob and I headed over to the Henry Doorly Zoo.

This was my 3rd time at the zoo since I moved in October. The first time we went with friends and really did not prepare ourselves for the monstrosity of the zoo. It is so big and there is so much to see there, we actually ended up missing half of the exhibits due to an injury. The next time it was spring and the animals were not very active as it was pretty chilly and I still missed things, and Bob wasn't there. This time the two of us were able to go at our own pace and do what we wanted to do. Before we got there we had agreed to not go into the Kingdom of the Night exhibit, both of us hate particular parts of that place b/c of the animals that are in it. We both got brave and went through it though and made it out alive, without any screaming, fighting, or crying. We were standing in line and noticed we were the only adults there that did not have any kids when we got there, but once we entered we realized that we both turned into 4 year olds. We rode the steam engine train around the zoo and saw the elephants, I think the train was Bob's favorite part. I also got to pet a penguin, I was also the oldest one in line for that!

We will see what else Omaha has to offer us in the next 3 years. Here is my list of hopes for it.
1. A job within the city limits of Omaha for Ashley
2. A calm relaxing environment with few distractions for Bob to study
3. Cheaper flights between OMA and MSP.
4. A chance to meet Warren Buffet
5. A quality medical education with lots of opportunities and a chance for a good match

Jen & Tony's wedding

This past weekend Bob and I made yet another trip up to Minneapolis for a wedding. Bob stood up for his old roommate Tony or (T-nag). On Friday evening we had the rehearsal dinner then Bob spent the evening in the hotel as Tony's last night as a single man. I spent the night at Mesa's. The next morning while the guys were golfing, swimming and getting nervous for the wedding. Mesa and I went to breakfast, relaxed and enjoyed a walk with her cats-yes Mesa has a stroller for the cats!

The wedding was great Jen is so creative (she is a graphic artist) and she was so organized. Everything was perfect. The coolest thing about the wedding was that all of the tables at the reception were themed with different things that were important to the couple. We had a great dinner and Bob made a really nice speech. The dessert was awesome and then Jen and Tony had their first dance-they had a choreographed dance like on Rock the Reception. It was really good but I didn't get to all of it so I hope it gets put on You Tube soon.

We had a nice weekend and I am so glad we were able to be a part of their wedding. They are such a cute little couple, Congratulations Jen and Tony Nagorski!

Macy, Merrick, & Cole

I went to Kansas City on Friday afternoon to meet my new niece Macy Ella Jane. She is such a sweetheart and is so small. Her foot is not even as long as my index finger. She is absolutely perfect and my sister is lucky to have such a wonderful little baby.

Bravo to my sister and brother-in-law as they make some dang cute kids. Most of my day on Saturday was spent playing with Merrick. Wow that girl has energy. From what I am told she is just like me when I was her age. Merrick knows that we are good friends because we have things just her and I can do, like play "Club." We also played many games and after a while I convinced her to play house, my favorite thing to do when I was little. Heck it is still my favorite thing to do. We even took turns holding her sister. Merrick is a great big sister and is very calm and cautious with the baby.

On Sunday I headed to Cole's World Series. His dad is the coach and they were playing in a pretty intense set of games. I got to see Cole make some good plays at third and get some good hits. The lost their first game in extra innings but they all played really well. They had to switch fields and then play again right away. It was so hot out, I can't believe those kids played in that, Cole caught in both games as well and I salute him for putting on the catcher gear. As most of you know I have a little problem with the heat so I would have never made it. The 2nd team they played was not quite at the same level as the Missouri Bandits (Tom & Cole's team). In the 2nd inning Cole and his teammates scored 14 runs. The game only lasted 3 innings with a final score of 23-3. I am glad I got to see him play. I hope they did well with the rest of the World Series.

It was nice to see the family and I can't wait to see the baby again soon. Hang in there Becky- she will stay a baby for a while, just don't forget to enjoy it.

So far this week.

It has been an exciting week with lots of things going on, and there is still more to come.

On Monday evening Chris & Angela, Ryan & Jamie, and Bob & I went to Council Bluffs to the Imax theater to see A Dark Night. The new Batman movie. I had not seen Batman Begins so Bob and I watched that last week so I would be all caught up. The movie was great. It was probably the most intense movie I have ever seen. There were no slow parts and lots of action, with a great story line. I kept making fun of Bob b/c he has seen all the Batman movies so he knew what was going to happen but he loved it too. Heath Ledger did do an amazing job, and his character was very scary. He was so scary that I couldn't sleep on Monday night b/c I was freaking out-that hasn't happened for a long time.

Of course on Tuesday the birth of my sister's baby came. I am going to see Macy and the family today so I am very excited and will return with some pictures I am sure.

Wednesday evening my brother's band was playing at the Waiting Room in Omaha with the Apples in Stereo. Bob and I went to the show and it was fun to see the guys play. The Poison Control Center is always fun but you have to be a little careful so you do not get caught singing in a mic or getting thrown in a pig pile. Bob stayed back as far as possible so I enjoyed their part by myself. We stayed to see a few songs by the Apples. It is great to see my brother getting to play with guys he pretty much idolized when he was in high school. I'm so proud of him. The band stayed at our place but I was asleep when they got there and they were sleeping when I left.

Last night Bob and I grilled some corn and he had steak and I had chicken. It was one of our relaxing nights. We ended up watching the movie The Bucket List. My mom had borrowed it to us and we hadn't had a chance to see it. After the movie on Monday I am afraid this movie was a little slow, but it was good. A good story line and very sad. Of course I cried and Bob made fun of me. He liked the movie as well. Probably more of an older crowd film but it worked.

Other than the big fun stuff. I have also been back to looking for new jobs so hopefully something will come up soon again. I took a little break as it has been nice to just hang with Bob his last summer break. I have to say I am jealous of him that he has been just hanging out since he got home from India. I know I get mad sometimes but I am glad that he has this time as I know it will be many many years before he will have a chance to relax.

I also wanted to wish my best to Chris and Angela who are moving from Council Bluffs to Omaha this weekend. I know how much moving sucks, I'm sorry I am not sticking around to help. I'm also sorry to Jami and Ryan as they are moving next weekend and Bob and I will not be around to help b/c we will be gone at a wedding. Good luck guys. STAY COOL.