mitchell reed nelson

i've never been more proud of my brother than i am right now. my brother, at age 19, decided to put his life on the line and serve our wonderful country so that we can enjoy the lives that we love.

at age 20 (one month shy of 21) mitchell boarded an airplane and headed off to camp shelby, mississippi, where he will train for two months. then, the day after thanksgiving, mitchell will ship out to iraq. he'll be there for 8 months, and then he's headed back to the US and he'll be home 2 months later.

for the duration of the time that he is gone, i am making it a priority to have a prayer in my heart, not only for mitchell, but for all of the men and women who are selflessly serving our country.

it was heartbreaking to watch all of the families with little children have to say goodbye to their moms and dads. there was one family where the mother was being deployed, and she had 4 small children, one of whom was only about 6 months old. it was terrible.

it made me think, though, about how scary, and incredible the experiences of these service men and women are going to be. some families may never see their loved ones again. how grateful i am for the plan of salvation that my savior has given to me. i am grateful for the holy ghost and for the comforting peace that was over my and my family as we said our "see you later's" to mitchell. i know that i'll see him again.

the blessings that are associated with the knowledge of the plan of salvation are great. i know, that no matter what happens (knock on wood), that i will be with my family FOREVER. it brings such joy to my heart to know that i am sealed to my family for eternity. i am eternally grateful to be sealed to my wonderful husband carl - for eternity. it is an incredible feeling to look at carl each day, and to think "i am married to that man - and i love him."

this year while mitchell is gone, and every day until i am not on this earth anymore, i will be keeping the military in my heart, thoughts and prayers. i encourage everyone to do the same. whether or not you agree with all of the politics that are going on in the world, it does not mean that the service men and women agree or disagree with them - they are doing their duty.

we love you brother!! this year will go by so fast!

can't wait to see you!!!

:) ashley

excited!!

okay...i'm officially excited!!! i just saw a trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

Can it be November yet?!?!? i am so stoked to go and see this movie!! carl? not so much. he's not really into harry potter...he hasn't read the books ("i'm not much of a reader"), he hasn't watched all of the movies ("what just happened, again?") and he is asleep on the couch right now as i'm watching harry potter again. :)

you bet your boots that i'm dragging carl to the midnight premiere of the newest harry potter flick. ohh yeah baby. :) but he's such a good sport that he'll do it with a big smile on his face. he'll fall in love with the movie, and become a bigger fan than i am.

or maybe not.

Can't wait to see you at the midnight premiere!! who's sneaking in the red vines??

:) ashley

i heart sundays

i love sundays.

right now dinner's in the oven, husband is sleeping on the couch, and i'm watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and updating my blog.

life is good. i am truly blessed.

:) ashley

My Tooth is Dead!!!

So, it finally happened...I needed to get my first Root Canal. After 20 or so years of having my permanent molars, one of them decided to finally kick the bucket.

   Before Carl and I got married, my tooth really started bugging me, cold drinks and ice cream sent my through the roof, I couldn't chew on that side, and hot things really started to bother me. I asked one of the dentist's that I work for about it, and he said he didn't want to do anything until I got back from my honeymoon. I agreed because I didn't want to be in even worse pain from any treatment. So, I just ate a lot of ibuprofen...and it helped ease the pain a bit.

  Well, when we got back from our honeymoon, I had the same doctor look at my tooth. It had a fractured cusp (the pointy parts of your tooth), so he wanted to crown it. Since there was no sign of infection on the x-ray, it didn't seem to need a root canal. So, we did one of those cool same-day crowns. And it felt better - but only for a minute. Then the real fun started. The tooth was hurting and throbbing afterwards, and I was having to take ibuprofen the minute I woke up in the morning, and all throughout the day. So, yesterday, I asked him to look at it again.

    My tooth was showing signs of dying - it had an acute abscess, and it was in the process of dying. That's why it was so painful. The doctor said, "That's it - we are doing a root canal." And then he got to work. The root canal itself wasn't very painful, but the after effects have been MISERABLE!!! I woke up last night and the tooth was throbbing, and at 1:30 in the morning, I didn't dare take another Lortab without anything in my stomach, so I took more ibuprofen. Ugh..

  It is still really hurting, but within a few days, my husband will have his wife back. I'll be back to normal and I'll be the fun wife again! :) I can't wait. He's been incredible throughout all of this. Even though he can't take the pain away, he's definately eased it by being there to do whatever he can. I'm so lucky to have him. I love you sweetheart. :)

   Okay, enough tooth drama for now...The End. :)

3 Weeks!!!

This is the number of weeks that I've been married to the most aMaZiNg man in the world.

This is also the number of weeks that I've woken up with my best friend right beside me :)

This is also the number of weeks it's taken us to get our house all put together...

     Let me just say, MARRIED LIFE ROCKS!!! It's been an adjustment, that's for sure. But it's an adjustment that I am more than happy to make. Carl and I just seem to fit together. It's been so great!! We definately have different ways of doing things, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we do them wrong. It's just different. We talked about this at church last week, and it was perfect timing. We had just gotten home from our trip to Ohio and Park City, and we were just settling into our new home. We were making grilled cheese sandwiches, and I put the butter on the bread, and put it on the grill. And Carl exclaims, "Is that how you do it?!?!" I said, "Yeah. How else would you do it?" And he showed me how it is properly done. And I have to say, his way of making grilled cheese is pretty tasty. :) Different from how I do it, but just as good.

    We finally got everything all set up and put away today! We decided last night to go camping, since it probably will be the last weekend we will have to go before it gets too cold. We went up to Spencer, ID to the Stoddard Creek Campgrounds. We got there, started a fire, and set up our new tent that my brother and his fiancee gave us for our wedding. It was so nice to just be outside, me and my love, just the two of us, and all the other campers. Haha..but really, it was so nice to be away from reality for a little bit. We ate our dinner, and we quickly realized that we were missing a few key items...we needed a hatchet and a flashlight most importantly. On the way home, we decided that our camping "adventure" was good practice for next time. It was such a beautiful night too. We had finished eating dinner (a tin-foil dinner, of course!) and we were looking up at the stars. It was SO beautiful! It really made me appreciate this beautiful earth that we live on, and how each and every star was placed there by a loving Father in Heaven. I often find myself marvelling at the small things, and appreciating the time and effort made by our Heavenly Father to make this Earth so beautiful and perfect for us.

   Of course, brought my camera camping with us, but we OF COURSE forgot to take pictures!!! Goober!! On the plus side, I've added some photos of our wedding day! Yay!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Vermillion -This is when we very first came out of the temple on that AMAZING day!

This is one of my most FAVORITE pictures!

All of our family!!! They are all SO GREAT!!!

 Me and My Love
Sorry it's crooked...I can't figure out how to switch it. :)



The Blushing Bride...that's me!!!



Carl and Ashley = LoVe

I Love This Man!!!

...I am in LoVe...



Carl and I with all of our CUTE nieces and nephews!!!



A Quick Update...

SO much has happened since I last posted....but the best and most important of them all is that....I GOT MARRIED!!!

Carl and I got married last Saturday, August 14, 2010, in the Idaho Falls Idaho temple, where we were sealed together for time and all eternity. It was the most amazing day. I don't even have words to describe the feelings I felt that day, except for love. :) It was such a beatiful ceremony, and having all of my family and Carl's family there was just the most incredible and amazing experience ever.

I don't have any pictures yet - my dad has them, but as soon as I get them, I will be posting them for all the world to see :) There will also be construction on this blog page to reflect all of the changes in my life :)

Let me tell you a little bit about Carl...my HUSBAND!!! ;) He is from Ohio...no, we don't plan on moving there (it's too humid for me!). He came to Idaho to go to school at BYU-I, and we met in the single's branch in Idaho Falls while he was living with his sister. :) So there is actually a purpose to those singles wards and branches...lol. Carl is going to school for Civil Engineering. Yep, he's really smart!! BYU-I doesn't offer his full degree there, so he'll have to transfer schools, and we'll have to relocate, but that won't be for a while. :) It will be a fun and exciting adventure when that does happen though!!

Carl and I have TONS of fun together, and we both love to laugh - ALOT. Which, if you know both of us, is highly unlike either of us... ;) We had so much fun being engaged and dating, but being married is what it's all about. I love waking up in the morning and seeing the face of my best friend.

Life is so great. I am so blessed to have Carl in my life. :)

I love you sweetheart!!

a LoNg TiMe!!!!!

Wow, so I think it's been a little while since I've blogged. I don't know that anyone actually reads this, so I'll tell you a little bit about what's been going on since, I don' t konw, November!?!? Yikes!

Well, first thing's first: I went to the temple! It was so GREAT! It was wonderful to be in the house of the Lord, and it has really changed me. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve in His house.

Second: On Christmas Eve, I got a phone call from my boss, Jared. He said that there was going to be a position opening up at our new office, RiverWest Dental. He asked if I would want it. Of course I totally said YES!! I am now the Front Office Supervisor for this dental office, and it is a great job! I really love what I do, and I work with the BEST people! Why was there a position opening up? you might ask...well, I will tell you. It's a great story. There was once an employee who decided that she would disrespect the doctors of the practice and she allegedly stole some money. Allegedly, it was a LOT of money. Why must I use the word "allegedly"? Because it hasn't been proven in a court of law yet. Allegedly, her day will come. She has really caused a lot of problems in this office, and she really didn't care (it seems like) what she did or didn't do. But, it worked out great for me in the end, because I got a great job! And a raise! Hooray for raises!!

I got to go to Arizona for a week in February...let me tell ya, it was SO nice! I will post pictures sometime this week.

Mitch no longer lives with me, he decided to move in with my other sister Brittany. So, that means I have the house to myself! It's a little quiet sometimes, but it's clean, and it smells like a girl. :)

That's pretty much a good summary of what has been happening in my world...I am starting to learn how to NOT work so much. It's a good lesson, totally good!