We have a new blog!

When we first got a blog, every single combination of our names/nicknames together was already taken. So I settled for ashleylovesmatt, and then felt silly--like a love-struck 3rd grader--every time I had to tell someone the URL. (Although, I guess that's not entirely inappropriate, considering that I did, in fact, have a crush on Matt when I was in 3rd grade...)

I've since learned that you can use hyphens in a blogspot URL and figure there's no better time to switch the blog over than when we've had so many big changes and I'm a few months behind in the blog anyway.

So, without further adieu, please update your links and check out our new blog :-)

www.ash-and-matt.blogspot.com

And we're off!

We're married!!!

Our wedding day was everything we could have hoped for and we're still in the clouds,

just happy to finally be together every day--forever.

(Snapshot from my Liz. Pro pictures coming next month.)

I'd love to get caught up with a few things on here but we're taking off for Europe tomorrow, so the blog will have to wait! We're spending a few weeks touring Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and France. Plenty of pictures sure to come :-)

In the meantime, check out our first family picture! For a little date this week, we played with the talented Jessica Kettle and her camera at Wheeler Farm. Jess posted a lttle sneak peek on her blog here.

See you next month!

Busy Getting Married

So, we've been really busy with a lot of great things lately! Everything from finishing my last two weeks of work to wedding planning to Matt's MWC track meet (came home with a medal) to going through the Temple to throwing April a baby shower to Matt's commissioning and graduation from the Air Force Academy to moving Matt home to Utah.

I plan on playing show & tell about all of that later, but for now I get to spend some quality time with my Matt.

After 2 1/2 years together, I still can't get enough of him. I sure love that man.

We're getting married on Tuesday, you know.

(Dancing the night away at USAFA's Graduation Ball last Tuesday)

Back in a couple weeks as Mrs. Davis!

Did I mention he's fast?

A couple weekends ago... We were in sunny California, watching Matt race against collegiate and elite (Olympic development) athletes at the Beach Invitational. It was definitely more fun to watch the races with a parter in crime than all alone.

Because, seriously, who can get away with signs like this all by themselves?

One of the elite athletes said he'd kill his girlfriend if she ever showed up with a sign like that. Good thing Matt loves me. Besides, I think it helped! Matt had a few solid races, including a PR in the 100-meter dash. He ran a 10.7 against the wind! They'd just had a false start called back after 4 seconds with little recovery time, so Matt started a bit slower than he would've liked. But watch him catch up to take second in his heat! (He took 8th overall out of 80-something elites, D1's, etc.) The guy in the yellow who wins it is an Olympian who ran for Great Britain in Beijing.

Doesn't it seem like that video is in fast forward?? Yeah, it's not.

After about an hour, Matt ran the 200M, followed by the 4x400M relay an hour after that. He ran the third leg this time around and Air Force was behind when he got the baton... but they didn't stay behind for long :-)

Such a beautiful day for a track meet.

Two weeks later and 50 degrees colder, Matt was at it again at Colorado University in Boulder.

This time, when everyone was running slower because of the pouring rain, Matt managed to PR in the 200-meter dash.

I swear that boy still has more speed in him.

Then, after successfully completing our 6+ hour transformation into wet dogs, we cleaned up and celebrated
with buffalo burgers at our beloved Ted's Montana Grill at Briargate.

We're headed to Laramie this week for the MWC Track Championships. Go Falcons!

My Life is Like an Episode of The Office, Part 2

Customer service always has big potluck parties.

The marketing and accounting staffs are never invited.

So, my boss decided that we would have our own Cinco de Mayo potluck and that it would be better than theirs.

Boy 1: But how can ours be better?
Boy 2: A pinata!
Girl: And sombreros.
Boy 3: But how will they know that ours is better?
Boy 1: We'll break the pinata outside of their windows so they can watch us having more fun than them.
All: Brilliant.

But, our building is new and therefore has no trees from which to hang a pinata. We toyed with the idea of having someone hold it for awhile before coming up with the ingenious idea to just pitch the chile pinata with the batter's eyes closed.
All in front of the customer service windows, of course. Observe (push play):

I'm sure they were very jealous.

*If you missed Part 1 last summer, click here. **Wish you were here, Lace!

We could get used to this

We had a lovely time in Southern California. Again.
It was especially nice knowing that we'll get to call this place home in just a few short months. A few highlights from our weekend (which was actually a couple weekends ago):

Barefoot walk on the beach at sunset...

A 7,000-calorie Nutella Banana crepe from our beloved Cafe Crepe in Santa Monica...

A visit to Downtown Disney...

Grabbing dessert at ESPNZone in Anaheim...

And - of course - seeing the sun, visiting the Hunts, driving by our future home, staying at the Hotel Kerr, chowing down at In-N-Out, sitting in horrendous traffic for two hours and therefore missing Sprinkles Cupcakes by five minutes, getting free dinner at Olive Garden, eating Susie's bacon waffles, and spending time with some of our favorite people.

Yeah, we could definitely get used to this.

Minus the traffic, that is.

I still date other boys

And they're pretty cute, too! The only downside is that I have to pay for these ones :-) Before Matt and I get married, I'm taking each of my five brothers on a "date" with just the two of us. I've been having fun spoiling them and (hopefully) giving them some fun memories with their big sis. Three down, two to go!

First, Kaleb (6) and I went mini-golfing and grabbed some dessert afterward. It was his very first date and he was such a little gentleman! He opened every single one of my doors and even "paid" for our activities (handed over my debit card).

I took Matthew (12) to see the Harlem Globe Trotters when they came to Salt Lake a couple months ago. They were so much fun to watch! Matthew's an incredible athlete so he especially appreciated their dunking skills. After the game, Matthew even got to meet the star, Big Easy, who autographed his brand new Globe Trotters jersey.



Most recently, Christian (15) lucked out and got to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain with me. Matt had a track meet in LA on the 18th, so I took Christian out early to get some serious roller coaster riding in. We soon discovered that the only problem with taking your 6-foot-tall little brother on a "date" is that other people end up thinking you're actually dating (e.g. the photographer who told us to kiss for a picture?!). I really hope I don't look young enough to be dating a fifteen-year-old.

Any ideas of what I could do with Josh (4) and Gabe (2)? Matt and I have already taken them to the zoo, but I was thinking of Jump on It or Kangaroo Zoo... or maybe the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point?

Engagements {Great Salt Lake}

We ended our day at the Great Salt Lake, where the storms had brought with them an incredible backdrop.

I love him, you know?

A HUGE thanks to McKenzie Deakins for being such an amazing photographer.

And that, friends, marks the end of our engagement pictures recap. Hope you enjoyed!

Engagements {Capitol Hill}

Next, we changed in our little portable closet (suburbans with the back seat taken out and deeply-tinted windows, anyone?) and headed up to Utah's own Capitol Hill for some classic shots with my soldier.

Next: Last but not least, casual pictures at the Great Salt Lake.

Engagements {City Hall}

It was important to us to take traditional Sunday-dress pictures to send out with our invitations.

So, Matt brought out his favorite suit, my mom sewed me a pretty dress (they just don't make modest dresses for tall girls), and we started our engagement session at Salt Lake's City Hall and The Exchange Place. Here's a little sampling of all the great pictures McKenzie took at those locations (I'll post the others separately). You'll have to be watching your mailbox to see our favorite picture from this series, though :-)

Next up: My man in uniform.