in this crazy life and in these crazy times, it's you.

Sorry I haven't posted in quite some tim. It has been a crazy couple of weeks recently so I haven't had  whole lot of free time to blog. 

Last week was Zach's last hooray before he had to start his job yesterday. We celebrated by getting lunch together at Tacopocolypse, walking to the Capital, going to the High Trestle Bridge (where we were the only ones there!) and watching movies with one another. I'm sad that he has to work during the day when I have free time but I'm excited that he has taken this job. He will do a remarkable job and get so many great opportunities.

The last two pictures were taken at the Iowa State game this weekend We went down for the morning to tailgate and planned on going to the game, but then decided to just go home and watch it. It was a good choice because we were exhausted. I can't wait to do more fall things with Zach!

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful fall weather. I know I am!

xoxo- Ashley

My family > yours.

About two weeks ago, my sisters and Ethan came back to visit. While they were back, we got to go wedding dress shopping, regular shopping, eat at Belluci's, and have everyone come back for the engagement party. As some of you may know, I am a definite party planner and love doing things for people so throwing an engagement party was right up my alley. I got everyone to come to town, bring something for the pot luck and almost all of our family wore their favorite team shirts! (Zach had an ISU shirt on under his nice red shirt.) 

I am so thankful for such a wonderful family. It was so nice for us to get together & spend some time celebrating the engagement of my baby sister. We have quite an adventure ahead with this wedding and I can't wait to help her plan it. As her maid of honor, I have to plan her bachelorette party and bridal shower with my sister Emily and we are going to have so much fun planning & decorating. And as far as my maid of honor speech goes, I may or may not already have it pretty much finished. Crazy OCD kicking in. 

Anyways, I can't wait for Ethan to become my brother and my sister to marry the man of her dreams. oh...and have a Schultz dance party :) 

happy almost Friday! xoxo

2014 : the year of engagements

I don't know what I never posted about this earlier (probably because I have been so busy) but MY BABY SISTER IS ENGAGED!! Ethan proposed about a month ago to Maddie and she obviously said yes. I couldn't be happier for them. But it also got me thinking about when we were kids & we would talk about our wedding days....

Growing up, we had just our Mom. Our parents were divorced when we were little and we never spent time with our Dad. We never really talked about marriage with Mom because we didn't want to bring up the memories or make her feel bad. So everything the Schultz girls learned about marriage, was from the movies. Boy meets girl, boy courts & romances girl, boy falls head over heels in love with girl (and vice versa), boy proposes to girl in a very romantic way, girl obviously screams yes!!!, girl plans big beautiful wedding, boy and girl get married & live happily ever after. (then they have a big house with lots of kids and a golden retriever. - at least that's my fairytale.) But as it seems, life has different plans for us. I know that Ethan and Maddie were made for one another. It took them some time to find one another, but when they did, boy was it perfect. Ethan was just what Maddie needed in her life and the same can be said for Ethan. Ever since the first day they started dating, they have been together. I've known from the very beginning that Ethan would some day be my brother & it's been such a joy spending time with him and getting to know him better. I can't wait to have him officially be apart of the family and to watch him be a loving husband to my beautiful, thoughtful, amazing little sister Madison. I never thought that my 19 year old sister would get married before me, (especially at 25) but God has a funny way of doing things. I know soulmates are unrealistic but ever since I was a little girl, movies have showed me that they are real. If they are real, then Ethan and Maddie are most definitely soulmates.

They are coming home this weekend to see family/attend their engagement party on Sunday. I can't wait to see them & celebrate their next stage in life!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather outside & taking full advantage of it!

-xoxo

a few steps behind.

Sorry I haven't been on top of my blog game recently.. This whole moving and starting a new job thing has been kind of overwhelming. Getting used to three new kids, two new parents, two cats, and one dog is crazy. but it's all been worth it so far. The good news is I have finally found an apartment!! I live about 5 minutes away from where I nanny and 5 minutes away from Zach. Perfect location. Penny gets to live with me and I have an awesome new roommate. Life is going along pretty swell right now. 

Here is a picture of my nanny children. We have David, Julia and Aj.

A few weeks ago, Zach and I got to go bowling with his brothers, sisters, parents, niece and nephews, and his grandpa. What a fun day it was!

Penny :)

Last night we got to attend Ashley Thorpe and Josh McDonald's wedding. It was the most fun I've had in a long time. It was so great to be able to see all of my high school friends & dance the night away.

Lastly, here are some pictures of my new apartment! I have been frantically searching for a dresser and Zach's mom called me one day and said they have an old dresser up in their attic. IT IS PERFECT. Also, I have been looking for a new desk because my other one was just an old plain writing table. My aunt found this one for me and it is perfect as well!! The other pictures are of our kitchen and living room. (Sorry it's not decorated yet, we just got all moved in yesterday!)

I promise I won't wait so long to write again! I hope everyone has a great week!

xoxo

everythings not lost

as some of you may know, I am officially a Des Moines resident. Clive to be precise. I got everything moved down and settled in on Sunday. It took a few car loads but I was thankful I didn't have to use a truck! Friday of last week was a little rough for me because it was my last day with the Wakefield girls, Emily's last day with the Kaptur's and I had to say goodbye to Emily before she moved to Kansas. The Wakefield farewell went better than I thought because I tried as hard as I could not to cry, I only cried a little bit. But things didn't work out so well with my sister. I thought I would be able to physically say goodbye to her/hug her before she left, but time just wasn't in our favor. At least she's coming back home in September so I will get to see her. (thank goodness!) I already miss her like crazy.

I started my new job yesterday and things went pretty well. The boys don't start school until tomorrow so that will be a fun thing for them.

Other than that, I don't have much to report on. I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for checking in! xoxo!

clocks

Sometimes coming back from vacation can be rough and this week was just that. So here's my week in review: On Monday, Zach and I went to Ankeny to babysit for his niece Imogene and nephew Jude. We got to take them to El Azteca, Target, we got to play outside, and give them baths. They are such great kids and I love spending time with them. I especially love watching Zach interact with them and imagine what he may be like when we have children together. 

On Tuesday, Zach and I had a date night at The Spice which was much needed. I am going to miss being able to go there whenever we want.

The rest of the week was pretty routine and nothing too special happened.

On Friday, I put together a mustache bash for the Wakefield girls and the Kaptur family. We had so much fun & it was a good end of the week party. Friday evening, I went down to Des Moines to get dinner with Zach, Alex and Barb at Trostel's Dish. Afterwards we went back to Alex and Barb's to play Scattegories and then watch Bridesmaids. Phew, it was nice to relax after a long day of mustache fun.

On Saturday, I got to take my adorable cousin Claire to Adventureland. It was PACKED. We waited in line for an hour and 20 minutes to ride the Space Shot.. After that, we rode the bumper cars and the Underground. That's it. We spent the next few hours at the water park, which was packed as well, and it was a lot of fun. We ate some lunch, swam in the wave pool, and the lazy river. After I left, I had the pleasure of going to dinner at Brick City Grill with some of my best friends from high school. Missy, the soon to be bride, her fiancé Nate, Aleesha, one of the bridesmaids, her friend Kyle, Kelsie, another one of the bridesmaids, her husband Adam, and Zach. It was a lot of fun to get everyone together for dinner and drinks. Afterwards, we got to go to Kelsie & Adam's for a bonfire, Head's Up, and a few good laughs. I'm so glad we are all able to get everyone together every once in a while! Can't wait to do it again soon! :) 

Anyways, this is my last week with the Wakefield girls and we are going to have the best week EVER!! :) I am going to miss them like crazy. I hope you have a great week! Thanks for reading, xoxo.