Summer Time!

Summer time means Pool time!

I am happy to admit I have been spending hours at the pool, re-reading The Harry Potter Series.

No....the pool at our apartment complex does not look quite like that, but it is what I would like to imagine!

I am currently on book three and must read much quicker if I plan to finish before the last movie comes out!

We have been so busy since the beginning of March. It is beginning to wear on me. No joke or exaggeration: We have been out of town every single weekend that I have not been working. Only to rush back home Saturday night for church.

June/July/August is full of great stuff for the youth group. However, that means Jeremy and I have zero free nights together to take a break; between camps, VBS's, mission weeks, lock-ins, sleep overs and my work it's a high anxiety time for Ashley!

Jeremy does a lot better with the busy schedule than I do. I get this horrible suffocating feeling in my chest if I think about it too much!

I am looking forward to this summer, but I am going to need a lot of prayers to not completely freak out and lose it!

In the meantime, I am going to dream of the beach, and getting away from everything for a nice long break. Maybe dreaming will make it real!

Anniversary

Well it's been a year now! I cannot believe how fast it flew by. 

What a wonderful blessing to be married to my best friend. We could not have had a more blessed year together. God has given us so much.

Things I have learned about being married:

1. It is so comforting to come home to someone you love. 

No matter how bad the day was, they will make it better.

2. Just because you can eat only a grilled cheese for dinner doesn't

mean he can.

3. It is hard to agree on what time is a good bedtime, especially if he is a night owl.

4. There is such thing as life without cable and Internet, and it is survivable.

5. You don't have to do the same thing. You can read your book, while he watches sports.

6. There is someone there to finish the wet load of laundry that always gets left in the washer.

7. You can both do chores. Splitting them up makes cleaning faster!

8. Boys CAN cook. Despite what they try and tell you. My husband can make a mean omelet. 

9. You don't have to look pretty all the time. You can go to bed with your wet hair in an ugly bun and they will love you no matter what. 

10. Being married is the most wonderful time of your life. 

Please forgive me as I do a little reminiscing of the wedding. It was the most wonderful day! 

Royal Wedding Dress

I don't have much to say about it, and I just watched a few clips here and there.

But let me tell you I LOVED her dress.

It was beautiful. I guess I am a dress snob. When I go to a wedding, that is by far what I think is most important!

Obviously the actual marriage is the most important. But I am talking about the physical/unimportant but fabulous wedding "details".

I loved my wedding dress.

I thought I would never find "that" dress. I looked everywhere, and found stuff I liked, but I nothing that I loved. I guess I had been expecting the earth to move or something when I finally found it. That feeling never came, months of trying on dresses, store after store. I was beginning to wonder what was wrong with me.

Until I found my dress. Now, don't take me for a crier. I did not cry. In fact, I did not even get the dress right away. But I came back, a few times, and kept trying it on. Until I knew. This was it!

Now, don't get me wrong. I could not have been happier with my dress, with my wedding, or with my marriage.

But sometimes I am sad that I will never get to pick out another wedding dress again.

It is still fun to look!

Here are some of my new favorites:

After the Royal Wedding, what do you bet sleeves come back in on Wedding dresses??

Happy Wedding Dress looking!

Lately

So a lot has been going on at the Robertson household as of late.

Most impressively, Jeremy completed his first marathon!

And although he was not thrilled with his time, he did very well! He ended up with a pulled hamstring on mile 18 and some other severe leg injuries/leg bleeding that really slowed him down. He was going to break his goal time of 4 hours until the injuries. He still finished, but had to walk the last 8 miles due to the injuries.

BUT HE FINISHED.

Not to mention, he still finished faster than 1/2 of the other marathon runners!

(Allow me to brag a little)

My stubborn man is already looking for the next one to run because he was so upset with his last time.

We picked up motorcycle riding

Just kidding! We stopped at the Harley Davidson store in Dallas. He knows I would never allow him to get on a moving motorcycle. I would kill him faster than the motorcycle would.

This is as close as he will ever get. Sorry sweetie.

I have also been reading through a Christian book series call "The Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers. WOW. It is so fabulous. I am currently working my way through the last of the 3 books and I am in love with all of them!

It really gives you a peak inside what the world was like for Christians in the time right after the death of Christ, during the reign of the Roman Empire. Reading it makes me understand more about the persecution the New Testament talks about. They are fictional books, but they have given me a little bit more understanding related to what those in the New Testament faced daily for their faith.

I highly recommend them.

Work has been going....nothing really new with that. I highly anticipate my days off!

Spring Retreat with the youth group was awesome! We took a group of over 80 students and talked about what it is to have your life Remade by Christ. Jeremy and Kelly did a great job reaching out to our students. It is so encouraging to see the youth group finally starting to take a hold of the ideas that they have been teaching all year. God is allowing them to do great things at the EYG!

OH!

Guess who was right about my car starter being broken??

That's right. ME!

Take THAT Mr. rude car man!

He should have done it for free after all that!

Just so you know, I was very nice when we picked it up.

Retreat and Car Problems

Spring Retreat is this weekend!

I am so excited to actually get to go to a youth event with Jeremy!

Sadly it is a rare occasion.

I don't get to stay the whole weekend, I still have to come back for work Sunday, but at least I get to go for a bit!

We had to take my car in yesterday for "periodically not starting"

Stupid Honda dealer didn't believe me the last time I brought it in for this....and this time we took it in, the VERY SAME RUDE MAN was the man we had to deal with again!

Used to, if it didn't start, it would eventually start in about 2-3 tries. This time, if it doesn't start it is taking a few hours to days between. That's really not working with the whole me having a job thing!

So Mr. Rude man, he says "Well we can't run any tests unless it actually doesn't start while it is here"

Well Mr. Rude man, the problem is "periodic not starting! It is probably going to start for you!"

So what good are you to me?

Then he tried to argue with me that they had not already seen it for this problem.

Yes Mr. Rude man, you HAVE seen it for this problem and I am back because it is happening again. Therefore, you did NOT do your job well!

Jeremy and I tried to explain to him that it is my starter. We know this because as soon as you tap on the starter with a hammer, guess what? IT STARTS!

Mr. Rude man says "Well, that is probably just a coincidence"

UGH!

I realize that I am not the best "customer," I tend to get irritated easily.

• If you don't let me use my coupons.
• If you don't know what you are talking about.
• If you treat me like I don't know what I am talking about.
• If you are a telemarketer for the Daily Oklahoman and you call me 3-4 times a day.

I might shout at you.

Just to clarify though, I will not pay for this unless they actually fix it this time. I am serious.

I try to be nice. I know I should be nice. I am working on that.

Redeeming Love

I just finished re-reading Redeeming Love.

I loved it as much this time as last time! I would highly recommend it if you have never read it.

I couldn't help but wonder if maybe the people that lived in the 1800's had it a little better than we do now. Sure, there were no modern conveniences, no blow driers, hot showers, medications, or coke zero. But they seemed more content.

I realize it was only a fictional book, and there were many hardships that people faced in the old world, but the idea of the "simple" life sounds so appealing when we live in a fast paced world. It is impossible to get away from the stress of the business of life. It is expected of us here. If you are not working 2 jobs, taking care of a house, kids, pets, and running to four million activities then you are not living the "American Dream."

Since when did the "American Dream" become the "Stressed-out Life?"

Laugh all you want about me living on a farm (I am laughing at the thought) but seriously. I love the idea of living out in the middle of nowhere and having no one to rely on except God, your family, and if you are lucky, maybe a neighbor family.

I realize that they worked from daylight to dark, but they got to work together. They didn't all go their separate ways and only reunite for an hour for dinner time and then split up again to go do their separate evening activities.

They did not spend their evenings in front of the TV, at back to back sports activities, or at weekly events. They read the bible as a family, they danced with their neighbors, sang songs, and ate dinner together.

You have to wonder, did they have it better than we do now? I love the simplicity of it, even if there is no way I would ever survive like that now. I would have been just fine if it was all I ever knew.

The modern conveniences we have now are wonderful. Trust me, I am very thankful for doctors, nurses, and the new medications we have discovered to increased the life span. I am thankful for hot showers, and that I can just turn on a faucet and hot water comes out. I am in love with zero coke and my hair dryer.

But, we could all survive without these things. (Modern Medicine, maybe not as much, but you  can't have everything!)

Anyway, on that note, I am very thankful for where I am today and the wonderful blessings that we have in this world. Instead of day-dreaming myself back into a simpler time, I need to try and make my life less stressful now!

I realize that stress is a choice. So apparently I just need to choose to not worry, and choose to allow my life to slow down a bit.

Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

Great Songs

Best Going to Bed Song:

When the Rain Comes: Third Day

Best Christian Song:

Audience of One: Big Daddy Weave

Best Revenge Song:

Better than Revenge: Taylor Swift
Before he Cheats: Carrie Underwood

Song Stuck in my Head Right Now:

Airplanes: B.O.B featuring Hayley Williams

Best Love Song:

Love Story: Taylor Swift

Best Dance Song:

Get Low: Lil John

Best Couple Song:

Better Together: Jack Johnson

Best Boy Band Song:

Tearin' Up My Heart: N'SYNC

Best Twilight Series Soundtrack Song:

Flightless Bird, American Mouth: Iron and Wine

Best Soundstrack Song:

At the Beginning: Anastasia Soundtrack

Happy Listening :)