Day 5 - Best Friend

Day Five - My Best Friend

Today I get to talk about my best friend. Of course Craig is my best friend; but a different kind of best friend. I take friendship very seriously. I don't make friends easily, but the ones I do make are friends for life.

Caitlin -

Caitlin and I are hundreds and hundreds of miles apart... and have been for almost a year now; but our friendship has not faded. We talk pretty much daily. I miss her so much.

Caitlin and I met about two years ago (picture above is acutally from the night we met). For some reason, we just clicked, instantly. She understood me, and visa versa. We quickly became great friends.

I can tell Caitlin anything, and everything; and never getting a juding look, or word back. She accepts me for who I am, good and bad. She gives me advise, shares, laughs cries, and most of all listens. I can always count on Caitlin to be there when I am having a bad day.... or even on the most exciting days!

Cait and I always have a good time... even if it is doing nothing. We lived toegther for about a year, and it was a blast. We had some great times, and share some memories I will never forget. We can totally be ourselves around each other.

I can't wait for my Kit Cat (yes, I call my friend Caitlin Kit Cat) to come home. We have so much goofing off, and SHOPPING and crafting to do!

Day 4 - Siblings

Day Four - My Siblings

Okay, so I know I already did one today, but I am doing this one now since I will be too busy tomorrow.

Mathew Shayne Alan Reader; or as many of you call him Mat. You will very rarely hear me call him Mat; we will get into that later. Mathew was born June 9th, 1990 after almost 40 hours of labor from my mom... we knew forever after this at how stubborn he would be ;). My parents couldn't decide on Mathew or Shayne as his name; so Mathew ended up with two middle names, Shayne and Alan. Alan is my grandmothers twin brother, also our god-father. My mom spelled Mathew with only one "t" because she DID NOT want him being called Mat... it didn't work out as she had planned. :)

Ashley & Mathew Reader

Growing up it was just Mathew and I. We are about 3 years apart. For those of you that know me I am very protective of my brother... and the same goes for the other way around. Its the way its always been. My brother has a lot of the same traits as my dad. He is very hard working, and dedicated. Mathew and I had our sibling fights; but most of the time we were really close, and could talk about a lot of things. Mathew was an amazing football player. He started playing when he was 8 years old, and played through high school. He knew the game better than most people his age, and he was not afraid to take or give out a good hit. Mathew met his now wife Kasara in high school also. They married Septmber 5, 2009. I had the honor of being thei maid of honor for their wedding. I had a lot of fun putting it toegether and helping out, and it turned out beautiful. I am very happy and proud of the both of them. They made their home in Arizona, and are very happy together. Mathew is in the process of being accepted to be a Boarded Patrol Agent; again those that know him know that this is a perfect fit for Mathew. Although dangerous, Mathew will be a great agent.

I love my brother very much, and miss him all the time!

Day 3 - Parents

Day Three - My Parents

Family is very important to me. They mold who a person is. I am very close to my parents, and it makes it hard that they live in another state. Luckily I love where they live, and both myself, and my parents are in situations that make it easier for me to come visit.

Mom

My mom's name is Linda. She was born and rasied in North Carolina. My mom had a hard life growing up, so it taught her to be hard headed, strong, and financial smart. My mother never wanted my brother or I to have to struggle like she did. My mom had me at a young age; and my biological father did not stick around to take on his responsiblities. My mother moved to Idaho while she was pregnaunt to get away from her life; my gransmother went with her and together they raised me my first years of life. The struggled every day; one working a day shift the other working a night shift to be able to take care of themselves, but most importantly me. My mom worked my whole life, up until I was 12, and my family's situation became much better, and much more stable. She does taxes now, so she works full tiem for 4 months, and a few days a month for the rest of the year. I am grateful for both of them and they have both taught me a lot. My mom is a very artisic and creative; she is smart, and is a good listener. When I was a teenager my mother and I had a lot of hard times because we didn't see eye to eye. I see now, that mom often knew what she was talking about. One thing I love about my mom is she tells it how it is. My mom has never been one to sugar coat things; she wants you to realize that life isn't always fair, and that you are going to get hurt, but you can pick yourself back up and try again. Although I always said I would never become my mother; over the years I have noticed that is exactly who I am becoming.... and I wouldn't take it any other way.

Dad -

This is dad. His name is Joel. He grew up in Southern California. He moved to Idaho the end of high school with his mom when his parents divorced. My dad is the hardest working person I have ever met. This is my hero. He isn't my father by blood, but he is more of a dad then I could have ever asked for. Most of my life my add worked two, sometimes three jobs to support my family. My dad has everything he has in life because he worked HARD for it; everyday. My dad is the coodinator of tax collections for the Arizona state tax commison. Yes... I did follow in dad's footsteps. My dad is a very dedicated person, if he sets his mind to do something, he will do it. My dad is also a firm believer in "street smarts". He believes that the smartest people, and the people who do best in life don't know a book from cover to cover... they know life, and the reality of it. If I ever need advise, this is the person I go too. I love my dad, and am so glad that he found us.

Day Two - First Love

Day Two - My First Love

I think we go through many stages of love in our lives. I am a true believer that this is important in our growing, understanding, and crucial to the development and learning of ourselves. You have to get your heart broken at least once. You have to experience love of all kinds before you can experience the love of a lifetime.

I, myself have had my share of love and heartbreaks. I am who I am today because of these. There are many names I could list on here of people I have loved in some way over my lifetime. So we will just go with the one that has had the biggest impact on my life…

Craig. It is so cheesy, but he is my other half; my best friend. I am a better person when I am with him.

Craig and I started dating when I was 16, November 2003. We had math class together, and were assigned to sit right next to each other. We became friends, and started hanging out and one thing led to another. Never did either of us think that we would fall in love, stay together though high school and after, buy a home together and get married. But things just worked out that way. Life wouldn’t be the same without him.

Craigs family is great also. His parents are very accepting of both of us and I get along very well with his mother, and his siblings. They have all always welcomed me into the family, weather I was to be there for a few months, or stand the test of time.

Craig and I share a lot of the same interests, and we also have many of our own interests; which I believe to be important in a strong relationship. We both love dogs, we have a dog named Johnny Cash; he is our child and we love him so much! We are both die-hard baseball fans… we are not always agreeable on the teams, but it adds a little competition to the mix. Craig and I share the same values, financial habits, goals, and many shared dreams.

We have had our share of ups and downs; but failing was never apart of either one of our plans. Neither of us are quitters, and we both fight for the things we love.

We have a close group of friends; their considered our family too. We both take friendship very seriously, and have the same understanding on what friendship is.

Craig makes me happy; and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

30 Days of Blogging

So I am going to be trendy and try this out. I guess more or less it gives me a good excuse to remember to update my blog more then once a quarter! For the next 30 days I will blog about the list below!

Day
1 - Introduction Day
2 - Your First Love Day
3 - Your Parents Day
4 - Your Siblings Day
5 -Your Best Friend Day
6 - Your Husband/Boyfriend Day
7 -Your definition on Love Day
8 - A moment Day
9 - Your Beliefs Day
10 - What you Wore Today Day
11 -What you Ate Today Day
12 - What's in Your Bag? Day
13 - This Week Day
14 -An Embarrassing Moment Day
15 - Your Dreams Day
16 - Your First Kiss Day
17 - Your Favorite Memory Day
18 - Your Favorite Birthday Day
19 - Something you Regret Day
20 - This Month Day
21 - Something that upsets you Day
22 - Something that makes you feel better Day
23 - Something that makes you cry Day
24- Something that makes you angry Day
25 - A First Day
26 - Your Fears Day
27 - Your Favorite Place Day
28 - Something that you Miss Day
29 - Your Aspirations Day
30 - One Last Moment

Day 1 – Introduction

Well, I am Ashley Nichole Reader. I am 23 years old; I was born September 24^th, 1987 in McCall Idaho. I was my mothers first child, and she had me at a young age. For the first few years of my life it was just me, my mom, and grandmother. When I was 3 my mom met my dad, and shortly after they were married and I had a baby brother on the way. 

I now own a home in Tooele, UT. This is where I have lived since 1999. I live with my fiancé, Craig, and our dog Johnny Cash. My life is good… not perfect, but I am happy and content, and wouldn’t have it any other way. My family moved a few years ago to Arizona. I miss them all the time. Someday Craig and I will move to Arizona; we both love it, we are just waiting for the right time in life to do this.

Craig and I have been together for 7 years; since I was 16 years old. We are in the process of planning our wedding, which will be on July 7^th, 2011. We are both very excited.

I have a great job working for a local company called Wireless Beehive. I take care of their collections needs. I have worked here for almost 2 years, and am content with where I am.

I am a very simple girl for those that know me. It doesn’t take much to keep me content. I love doing crafts, watching baseball, hanging out with friends, going to concerts, and playing with my dog. Craig and I are both HUGE dog lovers, and dedicated baseball fans. My friends are family are very important in my life; and we are all very close.

This is me in a nut shell. I could do on for hours… but that wouldn’t be very exciting! See you tomorrow for Day 2.

Summer Time

Wanted to do a quick update of the summer so far. Summer finally came, although for awhile I was pretty sure Utah was going to skip out on it this year. But, it's here! I love summer, everything about it. Hot days, warm summer nights. Hanging out with friends, BBQ's, tank tops, flip flops, I could go on forever. Summer has been eventful, mostly just all the "life moment" that happen at this age, but it's been fantastic!

A bunch of friends got toegther and went to Vegas in May. We went to a music festival called "Punk Rock Bowling". It was a blast, and we all had a great time. It was mine and Craig's first time in Vegas since I was 21, so it was a great time. We are acutally going back for my Birthday this year, to see a concert, so that should be great times also!

Craig's sister, Emily, was married in May to Nate. It was a beautiful wedding, and as always the bride was as pretty as can be. It rained all day, which was kinda a bummer since she wanted the wedding to be outdoors.... but they say rain on your wedding day is good luck, so we will take it.

My brothers birthday was June 9th. I didn't get to spend it with him, but of course he was in my thoughts. He has a great day with Kasara and my parents! Big 20 for him, can't wait until he is 21 and we can go have some fun!

I enetered into a city contest called "Name That Theme" for the 4th of Juoly parade this year. And I WON! Yay. The theme was "Star Spangled Celebration". My theme was posted on everything, and all over floats and shirts, etc. It was awesome. I was also in the parade with my work. We had an awesome float, with a giant beehive we made out of styrofoam. It was a lot of fun, the little kids have a great time with it.

My good friend Kansas had her baby yesterday. He is adorable! Boston Lee is his name, and he is just perfect. I am so very happy for her, and she is going to be a great momma. Her and baby Boston share a birthday also! So she was gifted quite well this year! Congrats Kansas and Brandon.

As always our summer has been filled with several BBQ's, concerts galore, and good times. We have several Birthdays still coming up, including Craig's in August. Our good friend Matty will be getting married the end of August as well, and we are excited for him. Neil and Jaki, and Mathew and Kasara will all celebrate their 1st year wedding anniversary very soon!

That's my mid summer update. Pictures to come soon of the house and all we have done to it!

Don't blink - My 10 things

Okay so I have been seriously so bad about updating this thing. I will get better, I promise. Life gets the best o f us sometimes... hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, and before you know it months have passed. I'm trying no to blink afraid that if I do, I will miss summer completely! Summer is my favorite time of the year, as it is for most. Camping, cookouts, warm nights, tank tops, FLIP FLOPS! Always an adventure.

So I decided to do this, along with everyone else.... List 10 things that make you happy, one of them needs to be something that has happened to you/for you today and then pick 5 fellow blogger that make you smile. And then they hopefully pass it along to keep the smiles going 'round.

#1 Craig
Of course. After 7 years he still gives me butterflies. I couldn't imagine life without him, the life we have built together. He has helped shaped me over the years, as I have him. We have grow up together, and been through hell and back, and still want to stand by one another side. I wouldn't change a minute of our lives together, and can not wait to spend the rest of our adventure together.

#2 Johnny Cash - The Dog in Black and White

I love my Johnny Cash. He is apart of the family as much as anyone else, and he makes me smile on a daily basis. He has so much personality, and is so loving. Yes, he is very protective, and his bark is much loader then his bite. You can't help but smiling when he greats you, and tries to "hug" you. Its just the greatest thing ever.

#3 Family
My family is so important to me, and I love them dearly. Family is spread out near and far.... but always very close to my heart. All my family, I love you and am so thankful to have you in my life.

#4 Friends - My Second Family

I take friendship very seriously. My friends are my world, and I would say I have a great group of them. There more then people I ask to help move a couch, there family members, people I am always there for, and they are there for me. I can tell these people anything, and they listen, they care, and they love me for me.

#5 My Job

I am very grateful for my job, and the company I work for. They are an amazing group of people, and I love it 98% of the time. I think this is important.

#6 My Home

Craig and I were fortunate enough to be able to buy a home... our very own piece of the world. I love it. We are making it our own more and more each day. It was a great investment, and I feel very proud to be a home owner, and have the ability to do this at a young age. Craig and I felt this was more important then anything else we could do in life.

#7 A Good Book

I love reading.... its the nerd in me.

#8 Cooking

I would love to open my own pub or diner someday... and I will. I love cooking, and feeding people. Its the southern in me :)

#9 Music

Music cures everything. If you hate music you have no soul.

#10 Life

Love life. Everyday of it. Period.