The Good Stuff!

What a fun THREE-DAY weekend I had! You have no idea how luxurious it felt to lounge by the pool for three days, spend time with my sweet husband, and just relax. I probably spent too much time in the lovely sun considering how I burned my butt off…it seriously feels like my butt is going to fall off which just might be a good thing considering my most recent post. But anyway, today I am back at work and nothing has changed. The office is still way too cold, I have 1000 emails to read, and the fax machine still has a paper jam. I have decided to ignore all of this however and focus on the good stuff…like how thankful I am to have a job (even if this particular job is the bain of my existence), Drew P, my family, my friends and my upcoming river floating trip!!! This weekend I will have to test my confidence…I, Ashley Porter, will be putting on my bathing suit in the presence of strangers and will be ok with it. I figure if I keep telling myself this, it will happen. It will…it has too!! But who cares, I am going to have a blast. I am anxious to reunite the “original beeshes” as we call ourselves and have fun like we used to. This brings to mind a year of college that cannot go unmentioned…

As I was lying by the pool this weekend I had flashbacks to my junior year at Texas A&M. I like to refer to this year as the time I went on a year-long tropical vacation which happened to be free of any expense other than the demise of my grades. I can’t even call this place a dorm…it was literally a resort where there were multiple pools, your meals were cooked for you, your room was cleaned…all you had to do was go to class and I didn’t even do that (I cannot tell a lie). My roommate and eventual best friend Jen and I lived the life of luxury, thanks to our parents, and barely made it through the year alive for reasons I am too embarrassed to mention…nothing horrible of course, just the usual college antics. The day we moved out and peeled out of the parking lot for the last time, I thought I would miss it more than words can describe. But you know what…I don’t. Not even for a second. The things I miss from those days I still have…my best friends, Drew Porter, memories. I was a different person back then that I can honestly say I do not wish to be. It feels good to have responsibilities and a family to take care of, even if it only consists of me, Drew and Grenade (el gato) for now. While I love to look back on those days, I love even more to look forward at this point.

So back to reality and back to work. Only three days until the ultimate river floating trip of a lifetime and only three days to try on my ten bathing suits to see which one is acceptable. I’m still thinking about wearing the circa 1985 leopard print thong though…

More reminiscing to come…

Let it all hang out!

I have a problem...my butt got fat. It got fat a long time ago but I have only recently decided to do something about it. I have doing pretty well with it all, I have done the whole nine yards...squats, lunges and even these things I call butt crunches...but to my horror, nothing works. I knew this day would come. I knew it when I was a kid and my legs were so skinny they could barely hold me up, but even still I had a butt. It never really got out of control until two years ago (college once again is to blame). I must confess that I have not worn shorts in public for TWO YEARS and a bathing suit only on my honeymoon! Imagine the pain that comes along with braving the Houston heat and humidity with a pair of jeans on...a hideous thought. I have missed out on tons of pool parties, beach trips and the like all because of my dislike toward my own rump. So this is what I have decided to do about it....NOTHING! I will no longer care what my butt looks like in shorts or otherwise. In fact, I have a river floating trip coming up in two weeks and I might just wear my "circa 1985 leopard print thong bathing suit" as my friend Jen has so hilariously coined it. Maybe I'll just let it all hang out, I don't care...I will never again miss out on summer festivities due to my butt. It can no longer hang over my head (if that is possible).

;) On another note...Drew and I might try a new church this weekend. My prayer is that we can find some young married couples that we can hang out with. Keep us in your thoughts!

Church and butts in the same entry...I have no shame.

The Adventure

So...I went to Babies R Us. Not for me but for my sister-in-law (Ellie, if you read this you have a package coming in the mail). It was an interesting experience to say the least. I felt ambushed by baby items...clothes, bedding, toys, books, animals, bath stuff, booties, socks, bottles, car seats....and a few things that I still haven't identified...but I pushed on. I was in search for the perfect little outfit for the little one that is one the way but then I realized there are 4783 perfect little outfits. I don't think there was one outfit that wouldn't look cute on a baby, except for maybe the one I call the "glowworm". I am sure it had some use but I just thought it looked plain scary. Anyway, I ended up buying a few outfits and a stuffed puppy...it made me happy. I love seeing families grow and new babies come along...someday it will be Drew and I and that makes me extra happy. I honestly believe that Drew will be the BEST dad ever; maybe he even knows what those unidentifiable items were.

Timeline of "us"

As I write this, I am still not exactly sure what has inspired me to create a blog. I am certainly not exciting nor cool enough to document my daily life…but once in a while, every now and then, something happens that I think is worthy of writing down. Maybe I’m at a point in my life where I am ready to strip down to the basics. I’m not sure how but somewhere along the way I lost track of what is important to me…I think I blame college, but I haven’t decided on that yet. I recently figured out how important the difference is between wants and needs. I want a nice house, nice car, nice clothes…but I NEED God, my husband, my family and my friends. I experience a love everyday that I don’t give enough credit to….it keeps me alive, it makes me happy, it inspires me. It is a need…something that I prayed for my whole life…my husband. Now that I think of it, I think Drew P inspired me to keep track of our daily life (even if we aren’t cool enoughJ). I want a place that I can visit someday in the future that is kind of like a timeline of “us” – the good, the bad and the ugly – and also have a place that our friends and family can keep up with what we do and who we are becoming. In addition, I think I am nearing the age where you get “kicked out” by Facebook.