March Madness has Infected the Gould Home...

Well, it's that time of year. March Madness is in full swing and it has infected our home in a big way. I have always known that Dan is an incurable sports fanatics, but spending our first March Madness season as a married couple has actually opened my eyes a bit more. In a nut shell....he's crazier than I thought. See below and you will know what I mean.

Dan went all "MacGyver" on me and built this lovely blockade you see. The purpose of this blockade? To cover up the scrolling scores at the bottom of the tv. There were two games on at the same time. He was watching one and recording the other and didn't want to have the other game spoiled. Notice my sewing box even got brought in on the action.

So during halftime, they do the halftime show where they talk about the status of the games currently being played. Naturally, this is the position I find Dan in during this time. I'm telling you, he's got it bad.

On another note, for some reason I have decided that on Fridays we need to have fun dinner. So this friday, since basketball was on our tv all night, what better to have than pizza! I wanted to make our own, so I found this super yummy recipe for the dough. You should try it. Its a thicker dough and delicious. It takes a bit of time to make but it is totally worth it. I made two little pizzas so we got to pick our own toppings. I went for a margarita pizza and dan went for meat lovers. Total success!

The Creek, a wedding, family time, and Babies "R" Us

This weekend Dan and I drove home to South Carolina to go to my friends Ryan and Katie's wedding. I am going to preface this entire entry my admitting I am incredibly lame and forgot my camera here in MIA so there are absolutely no pics of our weekend. However, we had an amazing time. We got to spend quality time with friends and family. On Friday, Dan and I took advantage of having the day off work and went to a movie. We saw The Adjustment Bureau and thought it was pretty good! Then I crashed my bestie Kelly's hair appointment with my mom and got mine done as well. It was so fun to catch up with kel and get beautified at the same time. On friday night we hung out with my extended family and had a blast as usual. Then Saturday was Ryan and Katie's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception and I was so happy to be able to be there on their special day! Congrats Ryan and Katie! Then Dan and I made the lovely 9.5 hour trip back down to MIA. It was a great weekend and we were so glad to see our family and friends.

On Monday I had the crazy experience of going with my bestie Stephanie to register for her baby shower! Holy craziness! It seems like just yesterday that Steph and I, being bored in Goose Creek with new drivers licenses and nowhere to go, would just go to walmart for the heck of it and take pictures with random things. Yesterday we found ourselves sitting in the middle of the aisle of target staring at a bazillion different brands of bottles. Whether being crazy 16 year olds at walmart, or confused 24 year olds at Target, one things remains the same....people still look at us like we are crazy. We managed to survive registering at Target and Babies "R" Us, and may have even managed to register for most of what she needs. However, those of you who will be purchasing off of that registry, WARNING...it may seem a bit random at times. I wish i would have had my camera with me on this experience, but of course I failed again. But it was such a fun experience to help steph prepare for her first child, Wyatt Layne Waltrip. I can honestly say I already love that little boy, and am truly concerned that he get the best bottles that will reduce colic (and even ear infections, although I don't understand that one). I love his momma as well and am so happy that we get to live so close to each other, even if its temporary.

Slightly old school pic of Steph and I from the summer of '06...Love ya Steph!

Cupcakes and Paradise

Recently Dan and I committed to only eating sweets once a week. Now for some of you, this doesn't seem like anything to write home about, but for us, it's kind of a big deal. So since our treats have become a rare occasion, I get a bit ridiculous and plan days ahead what I am going to make. Today I made cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie dough inside, um....yum. A definite success. I'll even provide some pics. Notice my fancy frosting...haha kind of, I used a zip lock bag. You can take the girl out of the creek.....

Classic Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

These look a little funky b/c I cut the hole too big in the zip lock bag, haha, but they are chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting...yummy!

 Other than obsessively planning our dessert menu, nothing too exciting has been going on with us. We did go to another Heat game on Friday night which is always a blast. Saturday we made our first journey to the beach and it was BEAUTIFUL! White sand with blue water equals paradise, seriously, plant me on the beach with a chair, ice water, and a good book....you wouldn't have to come back for me for days.  And the fact that we got to go and lay in the sun in February, even better. I could get used to that for sure.

We did have an interesting experience at church today. Our wards were recently changed up here in Miami, and Dan and I have found ourselves in a spanish speaking one. It makes for an interesting challenge, but everything happens for a reason so we will make it work! For now we sit in the back with headphones on for translation, haha it's pretty funny. I wanted to take our picture today, but that may have been inappropriate.

Orlando for the weekend!

This weekend Dan and I decided to get out of Miami for a bit and head to Orlando for a mini getaway. Dan's friend Todd from BYU is interning in Fort Lauderdale and is originally from Orlando, so him and his wife Katy were nice enough to let us tag along with them and stay at their parent's house. We love love Miami, but it was nice to get out of town for a little while. We relaxed, watched some NBA all-star weekend, went to the Orlando Temple, and ate some famous orlando BBQ. Overall, it was exactly what we needed.

Dan and I in front of the temple, please excuse our squinting, the sun was very bright

Our gracious hosts, Todd and Katy

On a completely unrelated note, Dan and I decided to stay home on Valentines and cook ourselves a nice meal. We decided to grill some steaks so I headed to publix to pick them up. The following, my friends, is why I love Publix:

Happy Valentines Day from Dan and Ash, courtesy of Publix

The simple things...

I just wanted to drop a quick note to express the gratitude I am feeling tonight. Dan and I had such a simple weekend, but it was full of things I love. We drove out of the downtown area of Miami to a smaller suburb. We roamed around some outdoor shopping, but the highlight of our trip to the suburbs had to be our grocery shopping experience. Instead of weaving through a parking garage, then trying to squeeze your buggy through the two feet aisles that are in downtown grocery stores, we got to park outside, walk outside to the front door, enjoy the wide aisles and significantly lower number of people...this may sound strange to some, but anyone who has lived in a downtown area of a large city is definitely understanding where I'm coming from. It was fabulous. Like I said, its the simple things. Then we went to a Japanese restaurant, one of my faves, and enjoyed our meal  being cooked in front of us. I have no idea why, but few things entertain me more. Then we had a wonderful Sunday. After church I baked cookies, made Dan's favorite dinner of roast with twice baked potatoes, worked on a little top secret sewing project, and just spent time with my husband. I am just feeling so grateful for the simple things in life that make us happy. I must say I feel so content.

I promise I won't do these boring run downs of everything I do often, I just felt the need to express my gratitude for the simple things in life, tender mercies.

My Evening with Lebron James....

Anyone who knows me well, knows I have an inexplicable love of Lebron James. Sadly, I had never had the opportunity to see him play in person, UNTIL Tuesdsay, February 8th 2011. Dan found us two tickets for 7 bucks each on stub hub and we were SO THERE! I was beyond excited and got all dressed up in my Miami Heat Lebron James t-shirt. The moment I saw him do his chalk thing in person, I went nuts. NBA games are so much fun and we had an absolute blast!

Getting Pumped for the game!

The problem with it only ever being Dan and I, is our pictures of us are lacking, so all we have are these funky shots I take myself.

My LEBRON souvenir cup...well worth the heinous 7 bucks. As I keep reminding Dan, Happy Wife, Happy Life.

LEBRON JAMES

So fun!

Christmas and New Years 2011 (I'm catching up...)

Ok so I know that I am a bit late on this, but we had such a great break It all started with us having to pack up our apartment in Provo, fill up a uhaul trailor, and pull it in my Saturn Vue across the country from Utah to South Carolina. It took us four days driving because of some bad weather...talk about a lot of togetherness. I am quite proud to announce that we are, in fact, still married. The highlight of our journey across the good ole U S of A in my opinion was our lunch break in Atlanta at one of the country's most famous hot dog stands, The Varsity. We saw it on the food channel and were so stoked to go. Here's a nice pic of our nutritional meal from The Varsity.

This year we spent Christmas in South Carolina with my family. We had such a great time and it was so fun to spend our first Christmas together as a married couple. Some highlights of our break included:

Testing out my dad's new gun at the shooting range...

Going to the James Island County Park Festival of Lights with good friends and making yummy smores...

Hitting up the Charleston Aquarium with Dad and Caroline...

Ringing in the New Year with great friends at Kristin and Justin's...

Spending time with family at our New Year's Day tradition...

So I know there are no actual pictures of Christmas....what can I say? I failed. I didn't get my camera until Christmas morning and I was too lazy to dig it out of the box until later. So I have no record of Dan and I's first Christmas together...oops. But pictures or no pictures it was an amazing holiday. We really enjoyed our time with family and friends in SC, while missing our family in AZ. We sure wish we weren't from two totally opposite sides of the country! This year has already been and will be a very exciting year full of adventure and fun and we are so grateful for all of the amazing opportunities we have been given!