Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas

Although it was a bit stressful, almost all of my (Ashley's) family has arrived to celebrate Christmas. My cousin was suppose to come in from California on Saturday, but after two canceled flights drove up and made it yesterday. Paul picked my aunt and uncle up at the airport yesterday (their flight wasn't canceled and on time!) and it took him about 10 hours to get up there and back. My older sister and nephew are scheduled to come down from Canby tonight, hopefully they will make it fine. We are celebrating tonight with games, food and movies at our place and then celebrating tomorrow at my parents house in Corvallis. On Friday we will drive up to celebrate with Paul's family. "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Snow Days

Duke and I are sitting here drinking some coffee and catching up on the daily news. The schools are closed for the second day and I am trying to keep myself busy. I would much rather be teaching then staying home by myself, especially since I had such cute holiday things to do this week! But I can't complain too much as I am sure there are many who would like a random day off. We tried to get some good pictures of Duke playing in the snow, but it is a bit too cold for him and his bone inside seemed like a better idea. I had my best girlfriends from college and sister (see picture) over for a Christmas party a couple weekends ago so our place has been decorated for Christmas for a while now, but the snow is such a beautiful addition!




(I can't get the pictures to change spots, but the last one is our attempt to play outside and then the second to last picture is what Duke really wanted to do)

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Early Christmas present...

Meet Duke, our beagle/yellow lab mix bundle of joy. He is one year old and we brought him home with us from Portland this weekend. We picked him up on Saturday and he rode around with us until we finally got home on Sunday evening. Duke is a very good boy although we have found him to have good jumping skills :)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Living the dream...

or that is what Paul tells me after a long day of work, "Baby, we are living the dream". He is at worship practice and so I am sitting at home trying to be productive. I brought home some papers to correct, but typing a blog sounded like a nice way to procrastinate. I just fixed some cheese sticks (you know you are out of food when the only thing to eat is unhealthy frozen food that has been in there for a year because you usually don't eat that stuff) and tried to put up some curtains. It is nice owning our own home, but you need so many more tools that you didn't need when renting (like a ladder and drill). I was all set to put the curtains up, but can't find the part to change out the drill bit so I gave up on that idea. We bought the movie Elf (my favorite Christmas movie!) so I think I will just retire to the couch grading papers and watching movies. Perhaps when Paul get home we can put up the curtains, but we are going to 5:15am spin class tomorrow, so getting to bed early would probably be a good thing (but I really want to get our curtains up!).

Oh and we are thinking of getting a dog! I have wanted one for a while now. My family has always had a dog and I think I have finally softened Paul's heart to the idea. We found a great one up in Portland (short hair, quiet yet active), but someone else got to her before we did... but we are continuing to look. Paul is very much on the go and doesn't like too much responsibility to tie us down, but I am hoping we will find a dog that can tag along on those adventures with us. Ever since Massaro, Yutaro and Nate left our house has been a bit too quiet for my liking and I think a dog is a great compromise!

God Bless.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Konichiwa

Wow...we have had tons going on. We celebrated Paul's birthday up in Portland, ran back to Corvallis to meet up with friends, Paul rode 100 miles on his bike to celebrate his birthday, back up to Gresham to welcome Kristi and Darrin's baby boy and to see Tiffany Maddox who was visiting from California, to Gaston to listen to Paul's dad preach at a small community church, back to Corvallis for a wedding, and then back to Gaston and Gresham again this weekend. We try to limit our trips, but we wouldn't want to miss all these good things. In between that we had two Japanese boys stay with us for a week. They came last Thursday and left today. Masaru and Yutaro are 11 and 12 and came with their school for a visit to the states. The school Ashley works for has an exchange program and we were blessed to host these two boys. We had so much fun together; it was really hard to see them leave today. Below are a few pictures from their visit.





Friday, October 10, 2008

25 big ones!

We are off to P-town to celebrate Paul's 25th birthday. His actual birthday is tomorrow, the 11th, but he and some friends are riding in a century to celebrate on Sunday and didn't want to be up too late the night before. With Ping Pong, Scrabble, Phase 10, friends and a pony (?) it is guaranteed to be a good time!

Well I am off to meet a friend in Salem, hopefully to get a warm cup of coffee (for the next nine months I will be nothing but cold...did I mention that I love summer?).

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Open House

My school Open House is this Thursday night (bummer to have a Beaver game on the same night...now we can't go!). School has been so amazingly wonderful. Some times, at the end of a hectic and tiring day, I sit and think about how blessed I am to have a career that I love every day coming to.

I went to a wonderful presentation tonight on children's books at Grassroots in Corvallis. I love children's literature and learning about what new books authors have coming out and what new authors there are. Below is just a sample of some of my favorite children literature pieces. Enjoy!



Monday, September 15, 2008

We've moved...

We moved into our new house this past weekend. We are so thrilled to be owners of our own home and to have the moving process done with. Thanks to everyone who so graciously volunteered to help, we couldn't have done it with out your help!

Our old place...
Our new place...Moving...


Monday, September 8, 2008

Happy Two Years!

Tomorrow we will celebrate our two year anniversary; time flies!




Sunday, September 7, 2008

Weddings!

One of my best friends got married this Saturday! A lot of our weekends are filled with weddings in the summer months and we love it, especially when you know that the Lord has brought two amazing people together to fulfill his purpose as a team. Dru Davis and Janessa Nash were married at a beautiful piece of property just as the sun was setting Saturday night. They could not have asked for better weather. It was so special to be a part of their day and a part of their life together (we are even more excited that they have decided to stay local and are living in Salem; only 20 minutes away!)

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Sunny Times...

Heading home tomorrow...too soon!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

More fun...

Did we mention that we love summer? These last few weeks have been very busy (perhaps too busy as I don't think we will be able to attend church in Corvallis until the middle of September), but we wouldn't want to miss a thing. This last Friday we went to the beautiful wedding of our friends and Paul's second family Bethany and Danny Nedelisky up in Portland. The time was wonderful, but went by too fast as we then headed back to Silver Falls for some camping with Ashley's family.

Here are a few pictures of our camping trip. Despite some rain on Saturday morning we had a great time hiking, biking, playing games, cooking and playing with our nephews.

Paul and Jacob after a mountain bike ride:

My older sister and her son around the camp fire; he is so much fun!Andrea and Jaden at the falls; he is such a good little boy!

As we entered into August I, Ashley, had to shift gears and started thinking about heading back to the classroom. This summer I was fortunate to be able to sub for my sister at Home Life, Inc. as their Staff Development Coordinator. I have worked for Home Life, Inc. all through college and am sad to have to leave my positions there, but know it is time.

We still have many trips and events to come including the Jeld-Wen Tradition at Sun River, a trip to Tri-Cities for some wakeboarding, a trip to the Running Y and a few more weddings. We have also put an offer in for a house here in Albany and will hopefully be moving in the middle of September. Why Albany? Well, the Albany School District is actually one of the best districts in the state, it means that only one of us has to communte to our jobs, it is close to I-5 making trips to Salem and Portland a bit easier and we have come to find that there are many beautiful parts of Albany that you don't see by just passing through.

We love all our friends and family and appreciate all the time we get to spend with everyone.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Camping with the Hynes fam!

Paul and I had so much fun this last weekend camping with his dad and youngest sisters, Rachel and Elizabeth. We camped at Detroit Lake and had an awesome time canoing, fishing, hiking, playing games, laughing, making smores, and resting. Here are a few pictures of our amazing time:




Sunday, July 20, 2008

More Pictures~

Here are a few pictures of my family. My aunt came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago and these pictures are from her visit.

Our family:














My nephews; so adorable! Garrett is two and a half and Jaden is two months.













Garrett watering the garden (we were hanging outside together and when we started to water I asked Garrett if he should water Aunt Ashley and very matter of fact he said "yes!").




















My mom and her sister, Judy, at the coast.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008

We LOVE summer!

Summer is our favorite time of the year. There are so many fun things we like to do outside in the summer that there is hardly time to accomplish it all. Golfing, swimming, camping, hiking, biking, running, tennis, boating, water skiing, and the list goes on and on! Paul and I went on our 2nd annual road trip down HWY 101. Last year we went through central Oregon and this year we started in Newport and went south into California and the Red Woods. We were gone for six days over the long 4th of July weekend. Below are a few pictures. We loaded our Jetta up (with the help of the Ameele's) and took all our "toys" to enjoy the beautiful coast.

I, Ashley, got to go with my older sister, Crystal, and nephew, Garrett, to visit some family in Santa Rosa, CA. They were so generous to us while we were down there and we got to enjoy some wine tasting, the beach, a hot air balloon ride and much more. Spending time with family is one of my favorite things to do and definite a highlight of the summer.

While I was gone in Cali, Paul had to keep himself busy and did so by backpacking with our friend Justin. They went to the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness and although they ran into some snow and slept on a rocky piece of land, Paul had a great time. He always tells me that one day in the outdoors adds years to his life; it is one of his favorite things to do.

We are house hunting! Now that I have a full time job we are looking to buy our first place. We have an excellent Realtor and a friend of ours is a mortgage broker, so now we just have to wait for the perfect house. We have looked at several homes, but the "perfect" one hasn't been found yet. We are trying to be patient, but since our fridge and air conditioner broke this week we are really feeling the need to get into something else (luckily the fridge isn't ours so we don't have to pay to get it fixed), plus I am so excited to get new furniture and decorate my very own place!

Here are a few pictures of the events over the last month:













Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Good news!

I have been waiting for about a month to write this post because I wanted to make sure all the kinks were worked out before announcing to everyone that I was hired at Liberty Elementary School in Albany, Oregon teaching a third grade class. This is such an answer to prayer, for the person leaving the position and for me who gets to hop right in. This is a permanent position, which means I will stay there as long as I want and the lord wills. Third grade is a good age group for me to be teaching and I already know the staff there so it should be an easy transition.

Our nephew is now two weeks old and is the sweetest little boy. We had the Fifhause family over for dinner tonight and can't wait to see him grow.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Welcome Jaden Fifhause!

Ashley's twin sister and brother-in-law gave birth to their first son on Monday, May 19, 2008 (two and a half weeks early; what a great surprise!). He was born a healthy 6lbs 1oz gem! The delivery was a bit stressful, but all three of them are doing well now and returned home Thursday afternoon. We couldn't be more happy for them and truly feel blessed to be able to share in this special time with them.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Job Hunting

Ashley is actively searching, applying and interviewing for full time teaching jobs for next year. Please pray for confidence and direction as she tries to decide what the best place for her would be.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

My thoughts...


So, tomorrow is my birthday and I was thinking about what that means to me. Most of you know my strong love for Jesus and all that his resurrection has promised for us all to enjoy. At church we have been on the topic of death and as morbid as that sounds it actually is a positive thing. We are all going to die and there is no getting around it, so we might as well talk about it. Celebrating my birthday, with my sister Andrea also, reminds me of how blessed I am to have reached 24 years of age. There is great joy everyday knowing there is a promise of a better place and that trials we face on earth won’t be in existence in heaven and that there will be greater joy than we can imagine. As exciting as celebrating a birthday is it is nothing compared to what the celebration will be like in Heaven and if anyone has questions about my certainty in that I would love to talk! Here is to me, Andrea and all others celebrating birthdays tomorrow and here is to the promise of a better eternity!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Happy Easter!

We wish you a very Happy Easter and all the blessings that come with the promise of the resurrection. Paul and I are headed to Gresham tomorrow evening and are looking forward for the opportunity for Paul to sing at the Good Shepherd Easter services. We hope to meet up with some friends and especially looking forward to seeing Paul's family that we haven't seen since Christmas. On Sunday we will head back to Corvallis to celebrate with my family in Corvallis.

We love having so many important, inspiring, inspirational, loving, caring, strengthening, encouraging, and gracious individuals in our lives. Tonight we had dinner with Duane and Melinda Ameele and always feel so encouraged and revived after spending time with them. Yesterday we visited Kari and Conrad Venti and got to meet their six week old twins Nolan and Mila for the first time. What a beautiful gift from God! Our time together was very precious. A few weeks ago we spent some good time with friends from college, both OSU and WOU, and with friends from Paul's work that all play a crucial role in who we are in the Lord. We are looking forward to visiting with more of my friends from college next weekend and the joys that they continue to bring to my life. Jacob and Andrea Fifhause are always so giving to us and we appreciate your flexibility to let us spend the night/borrow cars/borrow clothes/ borrow house things/ borrow yard things/ etc.

You are all continuously in our prayers and we feel so blessed to be able to share our lives with you all!


Much love and Happy Easter!



Sunday, March 9, 2008

In Loving Memory

Ashley's grandfather passed away on February 20, 2008. He was a hardworking, loving, and honest man. He will truely be missed!




Louis Edward Spence
Oct. 6, 1922 — Feb. 20, 2008



Louis Edward Spence of Corvallis died at the age of 85 at West Hills Assisted Living Community.He was born in Elmwood, Ill., to Alva Lee and Wilda Tyler Spence. He had two brothers, Willis and Harry. The family moved to South Pasadena, Calif., in 1923, and he graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1940.

He joined the Army in November of 1942 and was stationed at Camp White and Camp Adair before going overseas with the 91st Division in March of 1944, where he served as a medic in Africa and Italy. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, three Battle Stars and the Medical Combat Badge while serving overseas. He was discharged in November 1945.He married Julia Bradbury of Klamath Falls on Feb. 26, 1944, in Corvallis. They moved in April 1946 to Klamath Falls, where he worked for the Miller Brothers Oldsmobile-Cadillac auto dealership for 43 years. He moved to Corvallis in July 2004. He was a life member of the VFW Post 1383, Elks Lodge 1247 and the American Legion.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Julia; mother; father; and two brothers.He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Clayton and Janet Spence of Corvallis; granddaughters, Crystal Becker of Canby, Ashley Hynes of Albany, and Andrea Fifhause of Corvallis; and great-grandson, Garrett Becker.

He thoroughly enjoyed many hunting trips with his son, family gatherings with his granddaughters, and dancing with his wife.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Monday, March 10, at West Hills Assisted Living Community, 5595 S.W. West Hills Road, followed by a graveside committal with military honors at Oak Lawn Memorial Park.Memorial contributions can be made to a veterans’ organization or Elks Lodge of your choice, c/o McHenry Funeral Home.