Food!

I love to cook. I wish I had more time in which to do it. I found my mom's copy of the Cooking Light cookbook, so I've been sitting and reading through it for the past... hour? Who knew reading recipes could be so intriguing. Of course, the recipes that I get excited about are all sweet things. There's a recipe for Coffee Cupcakes, Molasses Cookies, and Cream Cheese Brownies. Yum!

There's also some really delicious-looking salad recipes. Today, I was craving a salad for lunch. I think it must be because it's so HOT outside. Salads are so refreshing... like swimming!

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The funniest thing happened today with my parents' dog, Abbey. Abbey is a very... girly dog. If she were human, she would be the girl that says, "I don't like to sweat. I'd rather stay inside." So, all during the summer she stands at the back door, begging to come inside. My mom usually lets her and Amber inside during the hottest parts of the day so they can cool off on the tile floor.

This morning, Abbey was doing her usual begging, but my mom didn't want to let her in because we were going to be getting the carpets cleaned, so blah blah blah. At this point, my dad's in the garage getting some stuff ready to bottle his beer. So she told Abbey (yes, we talk to our dogs like their human), "You can't come inside right now. Tim (my dad) doesn't want you to come in right now." Abbey still stands at the door, her entire body wagging (because it's physically impossible for her to only wag her tail), so Mom says, "Go ask Tim if you can come inside." She was only joking, but Abbey new exactly what she was saying because she did an "about face" and RAN to the garage, as if screaming, "TIM! CAN I PLEASE GO INSIDE?!?! IT'S DREADFULLY HOT OUT HERE!" It was so cute. It's hilarious how big of personalities dogs have.

Look how cute!

Time to continue my Lazy Saturday! Later!

-Ashley

Yeah Yeah!

I got an email from the mortgage company that I've been pre-approved to buy a house! He said I have outstanding credit, and he'll be setting me up with a realtor soon so that I can start shopping! It's very exciting. I'll hopefully find a house in Katy around the Memorial Parkway area (which is south of I-10 around Mason).

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So, on my drive home from school today (because right now, I have the "pleasure" of sitting in 290 rush hour traffic Monday-Thursday), I was listening to one of John Mayer's albums. And I thought to myself: "Self, if 'they' tried to make a Best Hits John Mayer album, it probably wouldn't be possible. Because every one of his songs is a best hit!" I remember last August I went to his concert in The Woodlands, and it was literally THE BEST concert I've ever been to, and that's because he's a TRUE musician... in my opinion. But who can disagree with that? If they made a Best Hits album, they would just have to put all of his albums in one case. Now, I don't think that's very efficient. So, maybe John Mayer should just continue writing new stuff and forget about a Best Hits album. He doesn't have one already, does he? (And I call myself a "big fan." Hmm...)

Ok, time to go help my mom clean out some of my old... schtuff. Yeah, I know you're jealous.

-Ashley

W-O-W

I should be smacked on the wrist for my inconsistency in writing on my blog. Shame on me.

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My mom and I are planning a vacation to New York City! I am so excited, yet overwhelmed at the same time. There are so many things in NYC that I want to do that I don't know how to pick my "Top 5"!

I definitely want to go to Magnolia Bakery and get a delicious cupcake. I also want to visit Serendipity3 and try some of their famous frrrrozen hot chocolate. Plus, this is the site of scenes from several different movies, including one of my favorites: Serendipity (go figure!). Sounds like I'm going to be ALL SUGARED UP! But I think that's ok...

Then of course I would like to visit Times Square at night to witness the magnamity of all the lights. I think it would be wrong if I didn't visit Ground Zero to really feel what happened there on that fateful day (although, I don't think anyone will ever be able to feel the same way it felt in the moment).

Well, I think that's all for now... I don't want to get TOO crazy as I re-train myself to the blogging world. ;) Actually, I have homework that I need to be doing before The Bachelorette comes on tonight. (Yes, I said homework. Come to find out, the workshop I'm taking through Rice University... yeah, I get a GRADE for it. We have homework, projects, presentations, and tests! So much for a relaxing first-half of the summer!)