Coming Home

I get to come home to Northern California this weekend :) I know I have only been away a short time however, it is Gracie's blessing. So if you would like to see me, you are invited to Grace's blessing this Sunday at 9am in San Bruno.
I am so excited!! I get to go outside again.

Post worthy

A few weeks ago Sam and I attended Michael Jackson's memorial service. It was a beautiful service. There were a lot of kind words said, Brooke Shields speech was definitely the highlight. Smokey Robinson spoke of Michael at a young age and how he sang with so much feeling, it was a great speech. Some congress woman spoke and if there was ever a time for a hook to come out of the curtains and yank someone off a stage, this would have been it. John Mayer's performance was weird. He didn't even sing. Maybe I just didn't get it. I thought Mariah's performance was really good, I have no idea why she made a public apology for it. I was disappointed Diana Ross wasn't there. His children were there, and his daughter Paris spoke briefly, and made me cry.
What I can tell you is this, Michael Jackson was an incredible entertainer, and I loved his music. When I was 6 years old me, Am, Han, Kenny, and Dennis (a friend of ours) would have cheese parties in the garage and dance around to the "Bad" album. I wish I had that on video.
Sam and I decided months ago if MJ did shows in Vegas, as was rumored, we'd attempt to get tickets. To be honest secretly I'd hoped that this was just a triumphant come back concert where he'd emerge from his casket, but no. The King of Pop is gone.
Here are a few photos from the event:

That's Hot

Why is it when I tell people that Sam and I are moving to Arizona in a week the very first thing they say is, “Oh it’s so hot! Especially now.”
This is not new information.
Arizona = HOT
Summer= HOTTEST
I guess they are just trying to be ‘helpful’. Or maybe they are like me and just say the first thing that pops into their head.
Despite the sweltering heat Sam and I are both really excited for our new life.
If you have something wonderful to say about Arizona, I am all ears. I mean it’s good enough for Stephanie Meyer right?

Too much of a good thing.

I think I will miss Bay Area radio a lot when we move. There are 5 bands played pretty constantly. At any given time you can find one playing on Live 105, Alice 97.3 or 104.9:
5. Pearl Jam (usually Daughter or Jeremy)
4. Incubus
3. Nirvana
2. Foo Fighters
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers (usually Californication)
All bands I love, all bands that get A LOT of Bay Area airtime.

Drum roll please

In case you were wondering what the future holds for the Ashby's here it is, big announcement: We are moving to Glendale, Arizona in 2 weeks.
Sam will be attending Mid Western University to become a doctor.
I got a job working for PetSmart Headquarters, furthering my career in distribution (I start 7/13).
We are looking to purchase a house in Glendale ASAP.
Soooo much to do, so little time.

Twins?

There is a woman at my work named Kelly. Her desk is near my desk, although we have almost no interaction. She works in the ECom part of our business, I work for Mainline stores. She and I have a similar hair color and we might be similar in height as well (I'm probably a bit taller, of course) but those are the only similarities in our appearances.
I was in the kitchen at work and this woman came up to me and started chatting with me about brisket and how she was looking for a good recipe. Although I didn't know the woman, I do love to share a good recipe so I offered to send her mine, since I have the best brisket recipe EVER (thank-you Grandma Ducks). I went back to my desk to email her but could not remember her last name. I went over to her desk and asked how to spell it and she started talking to me about some meeting conflict. I had no idea what she was talking about and then she called me Kelly. I was confused but understood she must have thought I was Kelly and I went and told Kelly what happened to let her know about the meeting conflict. Thinking the woman had recognized her error I assumed the mistaken identity had been resolved. I have now run into this same woman several times and each time she asks if I am Kelly, stating that she cannot tell us apart. It's kind of hilarious but also a bit annoying. I'll try to snap a photo of Kelly so you can see the "similarity".

In other updates my work best friend, Heather, quit last week and now time drags on so slow... I miss her.

And in case you wanted my brisket recipe here it is:

Ingredients-
Brisket
Brown Sugar
2 PK Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix
2 Bottles Heinz Chili Sauce
1 onion, sliced

First rub a little brown sugar on the brisket.
Cover the brisket with 1 packet of onion soup mix.
Cover it with one bottle of chili sauce.
Layer on about half of the sliced onion.
Sprinkle the 2nd packet of onion soup mix over top.
Cover it with the 2nd bottle of chili sauce.
Layer on the sliced onions.
(you have 2 layers of the same stuff happening here)

Cook in a crock pot on low for approximately 6 hours. I believe you can also cook it in the oven around 300' for 6 hours, make sure it is covered but I really like making it in the crock pot. It never dries out that way.

Note: The sauce makes for excellent gravy!

Baby Grill!

I would like to officially welcome the newest addition to the family, Gracie!!
Grace Josephine Nielsen was born June 1, 2009 at 10:55pm 8lbs 7ozs 21 inches.
Ambyr and Gracie are all doing well!! Not to mention Gracie already shows signs of curly hair, dark eyes, and mama's lips. Sorry the quality of this photo is not amazing, I took it on my cell phone. I'll post more photos as soon as my mom (Gram Gram) emails some to me!!

PS. Luke seems to be adjusting very well! He is already very protective of Gracie and did not want to leave her side. He'll be the best big brother in town.