family night...

So tonight being Monday was Family Night in the Barnett house.  We went walking on this nature trail near the mountains with the three dogs.  I posted a few pictures on facebook (well will be here soon...) most of which are nature pics but there are few with people in them.  It was amazing and I believe they decided they were going again next Monday...but earlier and longer.  Afterwards, we got slurpees at the 711 and came home for scriptures and prayers. 

In other news I have been up here since last Thursday and it has been fun.  Thursday I left Orem at about 11 am or so...and got back to Pleasant Grove at around 12:30/1:00.  I unpacked my books and movies that night and just kind of hung out.  I also started watching a show called The Tribe via YouTube.  I used to watch it all the time on StarZ and I am finding that I have never seen the first season.  I must have come in on the second or third season.  The crazy thing is there are five seasons and each season has almost 60 episodes and i'm only about halfway through the first season.

Friday...hmmm...what did I do???  Friday we just kind of hung out.  Friday night we went down to the church parking lot and set off fireworks.  I love watching them so that was fun...Amanda, Eric and Lucas all joined us.  Oh and Amanda spent some time with us that day before the fireworks.  Ummm...after fireworks Tammy, Andrea, Miriam and I all went off to Wal-Mart.  I bought green hangers...I mean when you can buy 18 hangers for $2.00 why not...oh and it didn't hurt that well they are almost the exact shade of my room here.  We came home and I started unpacking my clothes since I finally had hangers...I seem to have lost my brown dress though and I don't remember wearing it or packing it in the last two months but who knows.

Saturday...um...also another nothing day...at least nothing I can remember.  Sunday of course was church...I love my new ward but I will miss Kimberly's lessons when she teaches.  Oh well I will get over it this teacher is awesome as well.  That has been my experience over the last few days.

Something I almost forgot...

Last week was the week for running into random people that I haven't seen in YEARS.  First, last either Wednesday or Thursday I ran into Carson Walker.  She and Dave and a friend were walking to the Movies 8...yes I was quite surprised that there was one here too...and I was waiting for the bus to go home after spending hours walking in the heat going from fabric store to fabric store.  It was kinda funny since the last time I saw her was the end of summer term 2003 at BYU-Idaho...sure we randomly chat on facebook but weird to see her in person again.

On Saturday I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House a second time.  As we were leaving the Temple we ran into Christie Sue Hendrickson.  We used to be really close friends mainly through my cousins but also due to church activities and all that.  I hadn't actually seen her since Seth's Missionary farewell party which was in 2002 or 2003 I can't remember.  It was so crazy.

So Sunday I came home between Sacrament and Sunday School to grab my scriptures because I had forgotten them.  In my heels I have difficulty on the stairs here so I went over to the elevator and lo and behold who do I run into but Elizabeth Neeley with her laundry waiting to go up to the second floor.  Apparently she is supposed to be in our ward at church but I haven't seen her there ever.  Needless to say I got up to my room on the third floor and posted a comment on facebook and left without grabbing my scriptures anyways. 

I find it quite ironic that the week before I move out of Orem and back up to Ogden I run into all these people.  But there is a purpose behind everything...what that purpose is I don't know but eventually it will all come together.

It's a crazy life I lead...

So Ogden here I come.  I am leaving the awful town of Orem...I love the people not so much the area.  I am going to a place full of life and energy and leaving behind the drab and boring.  When am I doing this you may be asking yourselves...why on Friday morning.  Yes, I will be back in Ogden at least until the end of this year beginning of next year when I will be moving back east...NOT to Pennsylvania Never to Pennsylvania...but Tim will have to go back to AIT training which will be in Maryland so I will be moving there for 3 months while he completes that.  Where we go after that is still a mystery.

In light of the fact that I am indeed moving back up to Ogden I am very excited to meet the one and only Simon Heiner Cope at last.  I am also hoping to get my job at Old Navy back...although if you have any leads for an office position available ANYWHERE...or a runner position that is willing to maybe provide a car...just saying...lol...let me know.  I have been looking into some jobs but I have to re-update my resume...oh wait no I have to make a brand new resume because when I got my new hard drive I thought I had it saved in an e-mail...totally just checked and I don't.  Oh well...I can handle this...I mean it is just a piece of paper that represents who I am and what I have done in my life.  Yeah, I can do it.

In other news...this past week I have had a ton of time to just sit and think and guess what...I don't like to have time to think.  I tend to get a lot of wacky ideas when I have time to think.  This time is no different but I am still going to try it out.  First of all...I am going to look into selling both Avon and Mary Kay.  That way when I am moving from base to base and if it takes me a while to find a job I will still be ok because I will have a back-up income until I do...also if I do that WHEN I have kids I will be able to be a stay at home mom and still be able to work...if that makes sense.

The second idea I came up with is...well everybody knows about the blankets I make for all the kids...well I have decided I am going to try and sell them.  If they are a hit I may try to sell the chocolates I make for Christmas and Easter and all those chocolate holiday's.  I have been told by several people that they would totally buy them if I sold them.  Of course that was a few years ago when I was working at Graebel...but I am sure they have simply gotten better.  As of right now I am going to try to sell one tester blanket and leave it at that.  I am smart enough to know when to leave well enough alone...if it doesn't sell for a profit or at all I am over the idea.  Of course it would be nice if it took off...lol.

What else did I want to mention on here???  Oh yeah, I am so mad at the Pittsburgh Pirate's.  I was reading the news letter I get in my email today.  They totally traded LaRoche the 1st baseman for two players.  When you can get two players for one I think that should be a hint that you are making a HUGE mistake.  I mean sure the Pirate's still have Doumit (catcher) and Batista (outfielder) but you lose one good player eventually you lose them all.  It was very depressing news for me.  These three players were not only the best but also my favorites and now we lost one.  I know I am nuts about baseball but it is me we are talking about.

Hmmm...I think that is all the randomness I have for you today.

Poetry...and other random thoughts...

For those of you interested in reading some of the poems I wrote check out this link...

http://www.poetry.com/Publications/search.asp?First=ashley&Last=Mattocks

I don't know who the first person listed is but under the last two Ashley Nicole Mattocks are all the poems I have posted online.  In other words they are my best poems.  My friend Kjirsten Marie Barker from BYU-I hooked me up with this site.  She has some on here too...somewhere.  In case your interested that is.

In other news...I finished all my errands today and I have supplies to make three blankets.  I am behind by four so I need to get stuff for just one more and I'm good.  The three I am going to be making this week are for, Simon Cope, Matthew Chugg and Aubrey Miller.  The fourth one is for Lucas Chugg who is almost 2 so I think he will get his for his birthday...that way I don't have to rush to find the perfect fabric.  They are going to be so freaking cute.  I love picking out fabric to make blankets.  It is really relaxing and fun.  Sure making them is just as relaxing and fun but it is also hot and painful.  So for the one to three days it takes to make the blankets I am miserable but relaxed...make sense...I know it doesn't but I'm ok with that.  I am concerned about getting one finished this week and that is the one for Matthew Chugg.  The others aren't quite as pressing since I don't even have an address to send Aubrey Miller's too yet.  Simon has waited 4 months as well so he can wait just a little longer.

Umm...literally everything but my books and bathroom are packed and that is only because I have nowhere to put them.  Of course I left enough clothes for the next two weeks unpacked and I still have a lot in the kitchen as well.  I am an active packer...once I start I do it all the way.  Unless I am trying to be discreet and not let anybody know I'm leaving until necessary...like I did with the move to Virginia.  I love packing and moving because it gives me a chance to go through and get rid of things I haven't looked at, worn or used since I moved into that place.  Mainly worn of course.

Well I am off to work on Lucas's blanket.  Update again soon I promise.

So it has been a boring couple of weeks to say the least so there isn't really anything to say here.  Last week I went through a little bit of depression I got so bored.  I lost my phone for like three days...maybe it was four I don't remember.  Then the internet in the building went down for a few days.  The ATM machine at the gas station on the corner was out of order so I couldn't get cash to do anything or catch the bus anywhere.  It was kind of depressing sitting here alone in my apartment unable to go anywhere and sometimes even talk to anybody.  So I spent the week starting to go through my things again and packing again.  All my winter clothes fit in one suitcase and I have enough to fill about half of my other suitcase.  Where does all my stuff go...lol.  I started packing for two reasons...one being I was bored and two being I wanted to be completely packed in case Amanda went into labor and then I could just catch a bus and the trains up to see her and all my stuff would be packed for when I have to move out at the end of the month.

I did find out a little bit ago that I will be getting more than I though back with my deposit because they kept failing to tell me I was paying too much rent each month.  I could have sworn they told me it was $190 a month but really it was only $180 per month.  So I think I will be getting $270 back.  Maybe it was only $220 I can't remember.  But still that is a good amount to save up and put aside for oh I don't know a trip to somewhere fun...lol...or better yet to paying off debt.  Which I know is what Debbie wants to hear.

Today...I am off to try the ATM machine at the corner gas station again so that she can go out and run her errands...like returning her overdue library books which are overdue because the dang ATM machine was  broken to begin with.  Then she needs to hit up DI, DT, and Ross for a couple things. 

Tonight is FHE at the Bishop's house.  It's a Temple lesson because on Saturday my ward is going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House.  Yes I am going again and I am way excited about it too.  I went with my soon to be Sister in Laws the first time and now I get to go with Kimberly and Christy (my cousins).  I am also very excited to see Harry Potter on what Wednesday...crazy.  I'll go alone if nobody else can go with me...that how I went and saw the last 3 alone.  I enjoy going to the movies by myself...I know lame.  I am kind of tempted to take the bus up to Ogden and go see it with Tammy and Andrea and all them when they go see it but I think I will wait on that.

Other than that there isn't much else to say.  Oh that's right I also have to make a trip to a fabric store.  I wonder if JoAnn's is having any kind of sale right now.  I have to make three blankets before I go back to Ogden...well at least one has to be finished by then.  Two can wait a bit longer and one I kind of don't even care if I start anytime soon because I don't have an address to mail it too...lol.

Now that is all I have to say.  I am off to actually start my day.  I will try to update more often.

Books I Have Read So Far This Year 1 - 41...go me...go me...go me...

So as I have posted before I have a goal to read 75 new books this year.  I don't mean just bought books but books that I have never read before.  As it is only the beginning of July and I am over halfway through my goal I thought I would post and let you all know what I have been reading.  It may get a little boring but don't worry I won't hold it against you if you don't want to read on.  So here we go...

January through March:
1.)  Lady Susan by Jane Austen
2.)  Love and Friendship by Jane Austen
3.)  The Tempest by William Shakespeare
4.)  Wideacre by Philippa Gregory
5.)  Circle of Magic #1:  Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce
6.)  Circle of Magic #2:  Tris's Book by Tamora Pierce
7.)  The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett
8.)  An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
9.)  The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
10.)  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

April:
11.)  Mrs. Darcy's Dilemma by Diana Birchall
12.)  Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange
13.)  Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange
14.)  The Independence of Mary Bennett by Colleen McCoullough
15.)  The Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
16.)  Untamed by PC and Kristen Cast

May:
17.)  Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz
18.)  Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange
19.)  My Antonia by Willa Cather
20.)  Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
21.)  Circle of Magic #3:  Tris's Book by Tamora Pierce
22.)  Circle of Magic #4:  Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce
23.)  The Circle Opens #1:  Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce
24.)  The Circle Opens #2:  Street Magic by Tamora Pierce
25.)  Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys by Kate Brian
26.)  Sweet 16 by Kate Brian
27.)  The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
28.)  The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
29.)  Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
30.)  The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
31.)  Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer

June:
32.)  The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
33.)  O Pioneer by Willa Cather
34.)  Bella At Midnight by Diane Stanley
35.)  Smart Dog by Vivian Vande Velde
36.)  The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman
37.)  Catherine Called Birdie by Karen Cushman
38.)  Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman
39.)  The Alchemyst:  The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
40.)  Saturday by Ian McEwan
41.)  The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman

So these are the books I have read so far this year and I have a lot of new books that I am going to be starting this month.   

Crazy 3 weeks...

• So I am home in Orem. I have paid my rent and now I have to go shopping and to the library to return all these books. I think I'm going to have to do that tomorrow though because guess what it is about ready to rain. Imagine that...I get home a couple hours before it rains...what luck.

• Anyways I had a great three weeks in Pleasantview/Ogden...we went swimming, had a couple fires where we roasted marchmallows/made s'mores. We had a party to celebrate Matthew. I got to go to another Temple Open house. I was there for Heritage Day so I got to see Fireworks and a Parade. All in all it was a very fun filled three weeks and I'm glad I went.

• I actually didn't want to come home but I knew I had to. Things are all crazy and up in the air right now in multiple different areas of my life but I am working through it all.

• If you want to see pictures and video's you will have to visit either my facebook or myspace accounts. I will keep you updated more often. Miss you all.