Long Time No Hear.....

SOOOOOO...It has been awhile since I wrote anything.  We have been super busy here in the Hawkins' household!  I started back to school in August trying to get my 3 sciences completed that they said I was lacking good grades in (As if B's are not good but whatever).  So I have been a busy bee focusing on doing well in class.  I have Human Anatomy part 1 this semester.  Hoping to finish them up by next Summer and reapply.  We shall see how it goes I guess.  According to the nursing department I need A's in all of the classes...  So here's to hoping thats the case :)

I was looking around on Calhoun's website the other day and noticed that I have taken several of the classes necessary for the Paralegal program at Calhoun.  So while I am at it I am going to try and complete it.  Might as well.  May pay off in the end.

Well off to study Anatomy.  Just thought I would update you on the lives of the Hawkins' =)

--Ashley

Update on The Hawkins'

Well where do I begin?  Its been awhile since I wrote.  A lot has went on during that time also.  I applied and got denied to nursing school.  Which sucks big time!  I found out the reason I got denied was a few grades that the advisors had told me were okay.  So I sucked it up and I will be retaking science classes for the next 3 semesters.  I am determined I will eventually, someway, some how, be a nurse.  Who knows when, who knows how, who knows where from but it will happen in God's time.  I just have to keep that in mind.  Nothing goes faster than what he wants it too.  I just dare someone to tell me I dont want this haha =) Because I sure do.  It is something I have wanted since I was about 16 years old and I will continue trying to do it.

I am now addicted to the TV show Maury.  I wish it would come on at a different time, haha, because 1230-130 am is rough but its a must for me.  I think it helps me realize my life isnt so bad after all, haha because there is always someone else that is worse off.  I am definitely not as bad off as some of these folks on this show lol.  But it is truly hilarious to watch.  If you ever need a laugh of pick me up tune in to Fox 54 at the times above (CST) and watch lol.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

The Vampire Diaries ended and it definitely left me with a cliff hanger.  I absolutely cannot wait for it to come back on!  I know, I am pathetic.  lol.  But I love the show and the books are AMAZING!  If you have not read them, they are a must read!

  The Army Wives show ended with a big bang also!  Who would have ever thought that Fort Marshall would be closing!?!?!?  I am anxious to see how it works out next season since they announced it would be coming out.  I dont see how you can have Army Wives without Fort Marshall and all the girls + Roland!!!  I was definitely teary eyed when it went off!!

I have been reading the Sookie Stackhouse books and I am currently on book 9.  The new season 4 of True Blood started this week but Matt and I are having a "Marathon" of Seasons 1-3 before we start 4.  He has been introduced to an entire new world haha.  But I love that he will sit down and watch True Blood, TVD, and Army Wives with me!  =)

Well enough!  Time for bed and the rest of Maury!  Love to all!

-Ashley

Please Pray.....

I just wanted to take the time from busy schedules and ask my readers for prayers for Alabama residents that were effected by the horrible storms on April 27, 2011.  If anyone has anything to donate please get in touch with WAFF-48 News; WZYP 104.3; and Pets are Worth Saving.  Thanks guys!!

Weight Watchers....Here I come....

So today I started a new adventure.  Well not so new because I have done Weight Watchers in the past.  But mom was joining so I thought, why not?  I need to loose about 40 lbs to be happy with my size so here I go.  Its been a rough first day.  Starving?  Yep....VERY MUCH SO!  I have done well with my water intake.  I am on my 2nd 64-ounce cup full.  The Mt. Dews...Well I had to have 1 this morning and blew 5 pts but if I didnt by now my head would be pounding off my shoulders.  I know that usually after the first week things get better.  So I am hoping this is the case.  I would really like to look great when we went to PCB this summer.  If we get to go that is.  Plus I would just like to feel confident and better about myself.  Like I did when Matt and I first started dating.  So my goal is 40 lbs.  We will see how it goes and I will keep you updated each week.  Monday's are the weigh in days so it will be awhile before I know this weeks results.  WW has started adding points for activity if you use the Wii Fit so I told Matt we would be pulling it out to use lol.  At least our living room is bigger now and we can actually enjoy ourselves while doing it.

Well back to work...until next time...BYE!

Couponing....

I have lots to update on but for now I am just wondering if anyone out there who is reading this coupon?  I have been thinking about starting something on ebay where I go and pick up coupon inserts, clip coupons, and sell them.  I think people are that much into couponing that they would purchase them.  Give me your thoughts!?!?

As if this week couldnt get any worse.....

As if this week could not get any more worse, I go yesterday and get what I thought was a normal trim.  Heck the girl has cut my hair before, did it perfect, so I go back and come out looking like a man my hair is so short.  I have cried all night, washed my hair until my scap is so dry I cannot stand it, and tried to style it ever way known to man and it looks like crap every time I am finished.  So its official...I HATE IT!!!  I would say who cut it so you could be warned not to go if you want to keep your hair but I am not that type of person.  But I swear I dont know how hard it is to cut my hair?  She is like the 5th person in a year to screw up my hair.  However, this has to be the WORSE time ever.  I dont ask for much, just a tiny trim with a few layers.  Not a dang man trim.  What makes matters worse is no one understands me being so upset.  I will say my best friend did.  She said she understood because no one ever understands when she gets a pissy "do".  But I do think I have decided that I will just no longer cut my hair.  Forget it.  It looks like crap when it is long but hey!  At least I have hair for it to look crappy!!  My bangs are so short right now they are sticking straight up and I can not do anything with them.  Overall I would say my hair is 2" to short in the bangs and 3-4" to short everywhere else.  So my week has been sucky!!!  UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Night Out on the Town Proves to be Interesting for the Hawkins'

So tonight when I got home from work Matt and I decided to go to Florence to goof off a little while and to use some coupons on items we needed.  I went to Best Buy and bought a Kindle light!  I am really excited about that.  Anything to do with my Kindle I love.  Then we went to Target and walked around and went to a couple of Pet Stores.  I FINALLY found Louis a bed.  For those of you who follow me on Facebook you know I have been looking for one FOREVER!!  It was a hit because when I came home and put it in the floor he hopped up on it and has been stretched out ever since...See....

He is loving it!!!  Totally loving it.

This was his first impression of it when we put it down.  Of course he has to have his blankets still.  I think he loves it lol  And the bed's picture from Petco's website is below...

After we finally found the bed, got a Kindle light, and went to several pet stores after treats for them next week at work, we went and ate at Legends, again.  Its got to be our favorite place to eat.  Matt had Chicken Parm and I had Jambalya Pasta.  Yummo once again!  I dont know what was going on in Downtown Florence but it was PACKED!  The Shoals Theater was lit up and people were all around.  We sat outside on the screened porch that Legends has.  Very nice and just enjoyable.  I snapped a picture with my cell phone of the Shoals Theater.  I thought it was BEAUTIFUL!!  Enjoy the picture!

It is cell phone quality but you can tell it was just beautiful!

After we ate Matt wanted to go back to Ray Miller's car lot to see a Mach 1 Mustang he has saw from Pet Depot earlier in the evening.  We go in and see it and while in there we get LOCKED IN the car lot!!  It was so embarrassing!  We had to run down the security man and get him to let us out.  We thought we were going to have to find a way to get out other than that.  I just happened to see someone driving around and it was him!  Thank God!  We are always getting into something seems like.  But I did take a picture of Matt looking at his Mach 1.  He even crawled (yes embarrassing!) around on the ground looking under it lol.  I guess it is his dream car... Enjoy this picture...

Notice...He is crawling around on the ground lol



On the way home we went to Walmart and got batteries for my light and Louis some vitamin treats for next week.  Then we came home!  What a night for the Hawkins!!

Have a great evening!  Im going to bed lol

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Well yesterday marked my 26th birthday =).  4 years til the big 3-0.  Cant complain, however.  I feel blessed beyond belief.  I have a wonderful husband, family, and friends.  On Wednesday night Matt's parents took me out to eat at Legends.  And last  night for my birthday my parents, Matt, and Jonathan grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and watched American Idol results.  Which, by the way, those results were AWESOME!!!  I loved the fact that Pia is g-o-n-e.  Now for Scotty and Hayley to be gone!!  Wont that be wonderful?  =) But all and all it was a great day!  Going out to eat at Rosie's tomorrow evening for my birthday with my parents and Jonathan.  Cant wait for some enchiladas with sour cream sauce!  Yummo!!  Well off to get ready!  Going to town for Louis a new bed.  Washed his and it didnt turn out so well =)  Have a great night!!

What a day...

Wow...what a day!  Matt and I got up this morning and decided we would head on out to Calhoun since it wasnt raining and turn in the nursing application.  Matt wanted to be there to witness the event =) haha.  I think he was just going to make sure I actually did it.  When we got there and got all the paperwork we needed from the admissions office we trucked on up to the health sciences building.  When we get there the secretary broke the very sad news that I couldnt turn it it because I am currently enrolled in classes.  Made me so mad I could literally have sat down and just cried.  I just dont get why I have such a hard time with things going right for a change.  Hopefully, in May when classes are over with, I can THEN FINALLY turn in the application.  To only have to wait a couple of months to find out if I got in.  Just getting frustrated I guess.  For those of you who know what happened at UNA, yall folks understand.

On the other hand...we had a good day of going to Calhoun, talking, and eating at Chik-Fil-A  .  Of course, as Matt's idea.  The man is going to turn into a chicken!  He loves the place!  Then we talked all the way home.  I love small days like this.  Dont get them much but it is nice when we do =)

Later on we had to go and chase mom's dog yet again.  I tell you that little monster is a mess.  He opened the gate, on his own, and ran off again.  We ran him all over Elgin Forrest to only find him back home after he let himself back into the gate!  Ugh!  lol

I cooked spaghetti bake then we watched The Last Song  .  Great movie and a wonderful cry!  I loved it!  Matt...not so much...haha but it was fun to watch a movie with him.  Bless him.  He has had a life full of chick flicks lately but I am finally getting to catch up on movies I have wanted to see for awhile since I bought me a wifi blu ray player for the office.  Netflix instant stream is amazing!  Definitely recommend it!

Now we are finishing up business online with eBay, etc and about to head on to bed.  I also edited some of Louis' Easter Pictures tonight.  Enjoy looking at them below!  Nite all =)

~~Ashley

The Picture:

Nursing School....

So I was going on requirements for nursing school tonight and obviously I had the wrong application.  Sometimes I just get so frustrated.  So I sat down and filled out the application to only find out there are new requirements.  So off to Calhoun I head tomorrow.  Looks like it will be at least 2 more weeks before I can apply because I have to get my transcripts approved.  I just wonder sometimes why I put myself through all of this but I know its to better our lives, better ourselves, and to better myself.  Oh and to prove some major people wrong.  I feel like Dori the fish on Nemo at times.  Keep swimming swimming swimming! =) Good night all!



Stupid Dog

Well we just had an interesting time.  Buddy got out, moms dog, and we had to run him around Elgin Forrest in the pouring down rain and thunderstorm.  That dog will be the death of me!  I swear!  Hmm..wonder what the rest of the night holds for us?  Hope its not as exciting lol.

We also want to say thank you to Tommy and Jennifer for running Buddy down.  If it hadnt of been for Tommy running him we would have never caught him.  He knew we were taking him home so that  made him run faster.  Thanks so much!  We owe you one!



This is Buddy...Little poot!

And this is what we had to run the little poot down in...a muddy butt mess along with several bolts of lightening and claps of thunder!  Ugh!

Swagbucks.com, InboxDollars.com, & Ebates.com

I usually dont promote much online as far as gimmicks to get freebies, money, etc.  But I want to promote 3 websites today. 

The first one iswith the referral link of  http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/AshleyDHawkins.  If you click through that you will get earnings off of my winnings and same goes for me!  This is an AWESOME program!  So far since like March I have gotten 6 free Amazon gift cards for just doing my google searching pretty much thought their website.  If you have a kindle or just like to buy off amazon it is definitely worth checking into.

The second one is  with the referral link of http://www.inboxdollars.com/?r=ref8935427 and that will take you to my site.  Same incentive as the swagbucks above.  If you click through my link we both earn!  So far since February I have received an $8.21 credit that will be transferred to a check soon that will be mailed to me!  Free money for just clicking emails to say I received them.  I have filled out maybe 2 surveys but nothing major at all.  They are now giving you a $5 sign on credit!!  Cant beat free money!

The third and final one is  with the referral code

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=BrLIQ4aM0JySRR%2FJ6U7bOQ%3D%3D.  You get $5 credit if you sign up through someone else and so do I!  Wow!  Cannot beat that!  Since December (after Christmas is when I found out about this so it was around December 28th or so) I have received $21.30 ($10 Home Depot Card won) and the rest in a check that was mailed to me!  Just by clicking through eBates to check out purchases.  eBay is on here so I earn a lot through there!

If you sign up for these be sure to  click through my referral links!  I really appreciate it!  Thanks so much and have a blessed day!!

Just Cleaning out the Closets

Well today was a busy day. Woke up late which was really nice, however was busy all day cleaning out closets.  Not only was it really busy it was REALLY depressing!!  Ugh!  So many clothes that my fat tail cannot fit into!!  I decided yesterday. while I was cleaning out my shirts that if I couldnt wear it...it was gone.  Well now my 2 closets could technically become 1 if I wanted to squeeze the clothes in there.  Depressing.  Oh well.  Life goes on I guess.  I will have a busy account coming up soon!  Look up HawkinsAuctions2008 on there if you want to see the stuff.  Just have to squeeze out a few more days of school before summer and I can get busy!

Well off to read some on the Kindle and prepare for work tomorrow.  Have a blessed night!!

 

Day Out with the Hubby =)

Today was so much fun!  I definitely enjoy days out with the hubby =) We slept in (felt so good because this week I have been up so late getting homework done!UGH!) and then got ready and went into Florence.  Thursday is my birthday so Matt wanted to take me out to eat for it this weekend and spend the day together.  So I chose Red Lobster   !  I love that place!  Matt had steak and shrimp and I had, of course, Shrimp Linguinie Alfredo!  Yummy!  After a trip to Best Buy and Target....oh and of course Game Stop and Kirklands.  We headed on home.  A short but very eventful trip considering my car got hit while in Best Buy...not much damage but just enough to really make ya mad lol.  But other than that we had a blast.  Doesnt take much to entertain us =)

When we got back into Elgin...the events just kept on coming.  We stopped by to get Louis from my parents and was sitting inside talking to mom and all of a sudden the neighborhood dogs cut loose to barking.  I got up and looked out the back door and low and behold a dang coyote...in the middle of their subdivision.  I guess wild animals are everywhere lol.  But if you live in their subdivision, best watch out because he/she is coming up close to homes.  He was literally on the other side of the fence.

When I got home I cleaned out one of my closets...yes I have 2 lol.  One for shirts and one for pants.  I tackled the one for shirts tonight...I hope to get to the pants one tomorrow.  We shall see.  I will be ebaying for sure now because I have a tub full of shirts and I know I will have an equal amount of pants after tomorrow!

Well I think I will join Matthew in the living room to do a little Kindle reading before heading to bed.  Goodnight all and God Bless!

*-Ashley

Just a Yard Sellin'

Soooo...today was a good day because it is FRIDAY!!  Woohoo!  Off for two days! =) Tonight right after work Matt and I went to my cousin's house in Killen and hung out for a little while.  April was getting ready for her yardsale tomorrow so Todd & Heather were over there also.  Matt and I really enjoyed eating with them and talking for awhile.  Sometimes it is good to just enjoy the company of your family.  We are truly blessed with a wonderful family.  I am honestly not sure what we would do without them. 

This week has also proven to be a great week for deals for me =) Earlier in the week I went to a friends' house and bought tons of clothes from her!  And tonight I got a few things from April's yardsale.  I love bargains!  Nothing wrong with some good used clothes!  What I paid for everything this week wouldnt have bought 1 pair of pants in town! I am all about bargain shopping!  Yipee!!

We got home around 9:30 and I have been packing eBay items ever since.  Obviously I am not the only one that loves a bargain!  Ebay sales are really doing well for us.  I love selling on ebay and it sure does help us out!  If you ever need a little extra money, give ebay a shot!  Its a great way to get that extra cash coming into your house.

Well on to watching a little TV with Matt before bed.  Hope everyone had a great night!!

And if anyone wants some more deals tomorrow, go see April and Heather at the yardsale!!  380 Woodfern Drive, Killen!

And our movie for the night thanks to instant streaming netflix!

New Project for the Hawkins'

As you saw on the last post Matt and I have started a new adventure...101 Photography was born in November and we are hoping to make it a great success!  Check it out!!

Welcome to the blogging life.....

So all this time of blogs being popular I have never fell into the habit of having one.  I have gotten really into reading them and enjoying catching up with friends who have them.  So here I am...starting a blog about us...Me, Matt, Louis and well our entire family.  I am really not sure how these work exactly.  So while researching this I believe I will just tell you about our night.  Tonight was idol vote off night!  We love watching idol.  Cant believe Paul almost got voted off!  Wow!  Hope he can pull it out a few more weeks.  We splurged for the golden arches and ate while we watched it.  haha probably not good for the waist line but thats okay =).  Now we are watching Dear John.  I read the books a year or so ago.  Loved it but just now getting around to watching it.  Thankful for Netflix Instant Streaming =)  I believe so far the movie is really good but I think the book is MUCH better!  So feel free to read it if you havent yet!  Really recommended.  Its amazing to me how much armed force families and members of the armed forces go through.  Watching movies like this really makes me think about it.  I think it would make anyone with a heart think.

Well off to finish movie.  Hopefully this "blogging" thing will be figured out soon =) I love the fact that you can post pictures to them!  I am sharing a picture of the movie we are watching tonight!!

Oh yes!  Everyone check out 101 Photography at www.facebook.com/101photography.  My new project!!