Utterly Flutterly

She is moving!!! I never thought something could feel so amazingly cool! Just to recap- there is a child growing inside of me and now it is moving around and I can feel it!

Nothing beats it... I love knowing she is alive in there and I really love imagining that she can shake her groove thing. One minute she will move bottom left and then upper right and then give me a good thrust in the middle. It's like she has her own little dance combo- I just wonder what song she is grooving to? Should I stop listening to foul hip hop music? But I love that beat....

Anyways- here I am 2 weeks ago. Now I am even bigger and growing by the day. This is my friend, Cali doing a little comparison shot. I will post new preggo pics soon. 5 months along my friends... half way there! To quote my niece Haley, "Wow, Ash, you really are getting bigger but don't worry not like fat bigger, you're just pregnant." So funny...

PS- Be sure to scroll down as I did 4 or so posts today!!

To answer your question....

What is Goddess Getaway?

Pretty much the most glorious weekend for those attending and not too shabby for the hostess either!
Summary- we send them an itinerary of their plan and then make it all happen. Mostly groups of women who buy these weekends in the school auction and get a great time in Tahoe complete with gifts everyday in the mail and a plethera once they get there. There is always a prize table, full of amazing items- such as, cashmere sweaters, Tory Burch shoes, Marc Jacob's handbags, make-up, etc... So much fun for these ladies and they truly feel like Goddesses all weekend.

It usually starts with a boat cruise once they deplane, pictured above. Then, Grog, a wonderful chef, prepares them a delicious dinner on the deck overlooking the ski slopes (see my table all set above). The next day they have a "boot camp" workout (above) shop in town, complete with some complimentary purchases, head to the spa for massages and make-overs, get their headshot and head to a great dinner! Some other things we have pulled in, based on the group, are a Golf scramble, pictured- Note the bras on the heads, etc... it is like golf scramble meets strip poker meets drinking game. Also, on another weekend we had Belly Dancers come in and bring outfits and teach a class- so fun!

Anyways, just wanted to give you all a glimpse into my world. :)

What does one do when their husband abandons them?

Well I guess that isn't a fair statement. Technically, I abandoned him. I could have easily gone to China but we chose for me to stay back and work for the month so we could afford a little thing called a house. Zeta and I came out to San Francisco for the month and have been living at Dave's parent's house. It has been so great to be there with them- I can't imagine how lonely I would have been otherwise.

During the weeks I have been working a ton and then I have been in Tahoe pretty much every weekend hosting these events, Goddess Getaway. I have been staying at their cabin in Tahoe, pictured above, rough life. There are 4 total with 4 separate groups of people and pretty much I just entertain them all weekend and make sure the itinerary we previously set all goes according to plan! It has been a ton of fun and super busy at the same time. A glimpse of who I have been with is above. These are my partners in crime including Cali, Lynda's new assistant (short brown hair), Jen- the workout guru who leads boot camp for the Goddesses (other blondie) and Kelley (long dark hair)- the fashion expert who helps take the women shopping and gives them fashion tips. Such a fun group to work with!

Zeta clearly misses Dave and can do nothing but lay around and be depressed, as shown above. Not true- she is happy as a clam and even got to go on her first trip to Napa with Nana and Papa, not to mention she is happy to have her dog friends at the house and even got to have a playdate with Nelson King (Dave and Jenny's lab who she loves!)

Other than working, I have played with the few friends we have left in SF and then have gotten to Sacramento twice to play with Ash, Bob and Sam! So fun to get to see them- Sam says Ash now which brings me more joy than imaginable!

All in all, of course I would rather be with Dave and can NOT wait to get there in less than 2 weeks but SF has been great and I do just LOVE my job. I have lucked out with the best of both worlds where I get to work for myself doing only the portions of my job I loved. I even have a handful of new clients and am officially working with 6 different people now!! I think I have settled on Ashley David Designs, as my company name and gave out my first job offer to my brother. We figured this was a good strategy since the market sucks so I offered him $60k to come work for me, that way he has an offer for other employer's to be competitive with. :) Since $60 seems like a reasonable starting salary for a college grad in today's economy and since I am such an elite design firm with a ton of clout around my name, I am sure the offer will bring him a ton of competitive value. :)

Let's Go Back...

Well here I am from the homefront (Ash that is). Dave has been blogging so much that I thought I should get back into it. Before I update you on "the now" I wanted to go back in time for a minute. I was organizing pictures today and it made me realize that there were a ton of fun things happening right before we traveled that we never told you all about.

Pictured above were some of the highlights of our last month at the GSB. I bring these up now because I am in deep mourning that our time there is over and I am clinging to every last moment I can. Let's have a walk thru....

1. Who is the man with blonde spiky hair, you ask? Yes, that is Dave.
- Every year Stanford has a crazy event called "Vegas FOAM." Essentially a bunch of students head to Vegas for 24 hours dressed in 70s gear, don't get hotel rooms and just party all night long. Apparently my husband went as Rod Stewart. The best part is when I received the pics from the lovely lady in the middle- Katie (side note, she was our dog sitter and good friend), they were pretty much all her and her girlfriends... and Dave. So my point, is when Dave said it would be appropriate he would have a girl, he is right. He seems to always surround himself with the ladies and secretly I think he is looking forward to a life of corny chick flicks and girl talk. :)

2. Who has the best friends in the world? Me...
- This year our glorious friends threw me a small surprise dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and as you can see, to honor me, they all wore pink! Now, what was hilarious about this was that I had bought and worn a hot pink shirt specifically for the occasion (because obviously it is my signature color). When I arrived, it was pretty hilarious that I was wearing pink and so were all of them!

3 & 4. This might have been one of the best nights at Stanford...
- Shout out to my boss, Lynda. Such an amazing woman who happened to give a "party bus" for my birthday. Before graduation, we rented a 35 person limo bus, completely gutted out with wrap around seating, neon lights and full bar equipped with Frank, the world's greatest bar tender. We took a ride to the city, had a great dinner and danced the night away at my fave dance club. Such a great night- in the pics we have some friends enjoying the bus and Dave and Channy singing karaoke in their aviators, which strangely enough is pretty common for them!

5. My husband, the graduate.
- To sum it up, here are the boys at graduation and I just thought you might all need real proof that Dave actually did go to school and graduate.

Hope you enjoyed a little blast from the past....

Top Karaoke Songs

This guy looks like me, except when I sing I have "that look" in my eye...

Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing (not participating) Karaoke in China for the first time. Let me say a couple things...first of all, there were some typical American Karaoke stars who were absolutely horrible. This I am used to. However, later in the evening the Americans cleared out, and the locals came to play. These guys don't mess around. At one point, I thought the actual singer was singing the song, until I realized it was a girl with a wireless mic in the back of the room. This forced me to lock it up and figure out some go-to Karaoke songs in case I need to pull them out while I'm here. After staying up half the night worrying about this and researching all morning, here is what I've got:

Key Aspects of a great song:

Crowd must be compelled (and able b/c they know the words) to sing along

Beat must be fairly fast, singing well to a slow song is outrageous and desperate

Song must be easy to sing, because you don't sound as good as you think you do (I do, but you don't!)

Ideally, during the last chorus the song is so popular that you can actually pass the mic to the crowd and let some drunkards bring it home

So, after careful analysis based on these factors I have come up with a short list of songs that work for me. My goal is to discover a go-to song, memorize it, and come up with a routine to really nail it. But this is chapter 1 of a long tale...

Come on Eileen- Dexy's midnight runners
Classic. Easy to sing. Everything you'd want from a karaoke song.

Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
A little slow, but scores high on the crowd participation factor...also, I know every word which helps


Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
Saucy

I'm gonna be (500 miles)- The Proclaimers
Great chorus, plus I like to sing with a british accent

Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Blizzou.

So, that is a start. I would challenge each and every one of you to think hard and long about this issue of YOUR go-to karaoke song. There will come a day where each one of us will stand upon the stage of life and sing one song that will define you forever...it would be a shame to reach that day and be unprepared.

What's your song?

Shout out to the comments

Death by slim fast, a really crappy work of art that describes my life

I just wanted to thank Brian and Will for manly food suggestions in the comments section. I would like to personally invite each of you to come over any time and fix me food. I, however, will not be making food any time soon. I will bitch about not having food until someone feels so sorry for me that they fly across the world to make me food. That is more my style...

What a difference a day makes...

A gym like the one in my hotel

Asian kids are cute. But they don't add much value in the weight room.

As I was walking home from work this evening, I was thinking about how I didn't have a single funny or horrible thing happen to me today...and wondering when I would have something worth blogging about again. I decided to go work out to deal with the man problems I have mentioned in previous posts, and was delighted to have another hilarious experience.

So I walk into the gym at my hotel, which is small, crappy, and lined with a glass wall. There is an old asian woman playing with a small asian girl like the one pictured above. As I walk in, the lady tells the girl to say "hello", which was very cute. When I was loading up weight on the bench, I noticed they were walking right over toward the bench (to the point where I had to wait for them to move to put weights on the bar). A little weirded out, I decided to move on. As I started into my set with 225 lbs on the bar, I hear these noises coming from the lady who is now sitting about 3 feet behind me:

"Yi
Er
San
Tsu
Wu
Leo..."

At this point I nearly drop the bar on my own chest, because I started laughing out loud. She was counting my reps...saying 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 in chinese. I then moved on to another machine, where they set up beside me and did the same thing. At this point, a man comes in from the front desk and tells the lady she cannot follow me around while I'm working out...she leaves, and they close the glass doors.

I was lamenting the uneventful ending of this story, but fortunately it was not over. After a couple more sets, I see the woman and the child walking down the hallway outside the gym (remember the gym is enclosed by glass walls). I am now doing an ab exercise on a bench about 1 foot from the glass wall. The lady points at me, and her and the child run up to the glass, with the child pressing her face to the glass between her hands, and they excitedly watched me like an animal in the zoo! Again, I was laughing very hard and had to cut my set short. They watched the rest of my work out, and then rode the elevator up with me as I went back to my room.

I wish someone had been with me to experience this, because it was the funniest thing that has happened to me in China thus far. Although I had a miserable work out (you try lifting weights with an old woman and a child standing or sitting within 2 feet of you, with those small hands just waiting to touch ya), it was worthy of yet another blog entry.


*Note: To keep this blog truthful, I must divulge that I may or may not have had 225 on the bar. I will admit that I was benching between 45 and 275 pounds, but the story is more exciting with a big # on the bar. Lying is manly. Get over it.

*Additional note: for those of you who are wondering, normally I would ask to use the child for additional resistance during my excercises. Baby tossing is great excercise. However, I did not know how to ask this lady how to throw her baby in Chinese. I will find out tonight in case I have another opportunity.

*Final note: looking good is hard work. Don't think I take it lightly, or just lucked into the chiseled machine I am today. I put my time in...

Life as an independent man

Clint Eastwood was a real man...


Here's a list of things I have in my apartment. Keep in mind I would have none of these things if Ash's mom did not buy them for me...

Unopened items--
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Bread


Opened items--
Pasta, sauce (key meal, only thing I've cooked in China)
Slim Fast, milk (85% of my meals)
Granola Bars
OJ

I swear, I have been here for two weeks and that sums up all non-restaurant options for me. I've lost 7 pounds already, luckily I had plenty of extra LBs from Europe this summer.

If I were not married, I would certainly be malnurished and up for adoption.

Perhaps we can get some crowd participation here...what should a man do when he realizes he is totally incapable of living without someone else? If something ever happened to Ashley, she tells me I'd have to get remarried within two weeks or move back in with my parents. How true this is.

I wonder what cowboys ate back in the good old days when they rode around on horses, shot people, and took women when they pleased? I'm thinking beef jerky, beer, and cashews (sometimes you feel like a nut).

I thought this would be a great chance for me to live alone and learn how to survive...turns out it only shows me how pathetic my life-skills are.

It's a good thing that looking good and saying funny things can get you pretty far in life.

Oh what a day...

This is the line at the government office, well not exactly...



Typical traffic in Shanghai, a mix of crazy bikers, horrible drivers, and me!




A reference to a great song, and a sarcastic ode to an awesome day. I think this day is worth blogging about because it portrays many of the things that describe life in China for me right now. Where to start?

Walked outside this morning, blinded by a bright light...it took me a few seconds to realize that I had not seen blue skies and my old yellow friend for a couple weeks! Many of you know I like to keep the leathery tan of a golf pro, so you can imagine how hard this is for me.

Came to work, dodging bicycles all the way...had an uneventful morning until I left at lunch to go renew my visa at the government entry/exit building. My company had hired a person to go reserve an appointment for me, and I was scheduled to meet her at 1:30. Of course, traffic was horrible and I couldn't get there until 1:40, so I was sweating in the back of the taxi the whole way across the river (25 minute drive, 2 hrs in heavy traffic), thinking about how the chinese government would react to a handsome American stiffing them on an appointment. Luckily, the girl who we hired literally just gets a number like we would in the BMV/DMV in the US. I had hired help to get a number in line (she came 2.5 hrs early)...only in China.

Upon arriving, I had no idea who this girl would be, so I walked around asking people if they were waiting to meet someone. This is my worst nightmare, being a closet-shy person. Finally, I found her, and had an awesome awkward conversation for 45 minutes while we waited for my number to be called. We chatted with some govt people, and I got a visa that is good until the end of the year! Score, now I don't have to find a job in Indy for a few weeks longer.

On the cab ride home, the driver took me all over the damn place (2 X the cost of the ride out there). I think he had no idea how to find my hotel, and was just driving around. There is ZERO chance of being able to communicate, and ZERO chance of me navigating the city alone if I get out, so I just sat in the back watching a Chinese cartoon on the TV in the car. I was distracted by a bus that kept honking at us and nearly hitting us as we weaved into his lane, and suddenly we smashed into the back of another car! We didn't do much damage but certainly I was on edge for the rest of the ride. The driver gets out, argues with the other driver (probably saying, "I was trying to help you save gas by pushing you across the bridge! You should be paying me for the reduced petrol expenses!"). Anyways, we get the matter settled and he rode me around aimlessly for another 20 minutes before finally dropping me off.

At this point, it is pouring rain. It does this every day here (I can confirm only 1 day it has NOT rained since I arrived like 15 days ago). I had left my umbrella at the aptmt because of the sunshine, so I'm getting soaked. I'm back at work by 4, waiting for a 7pm conference call which will prevent me from getting dinner with the Taylor's...looks like another night of slim fast and Boston Legal!!! This is the 3rd night this week I've been at the office until 8:30, which blows. Actually, I wouldn't mind working hard except that from 9-5 I just email, blog, and read news sites because I have nothing to do!!!

Anyways, some days are so bad that they are good, you know? You get to a certain point that you just have to laugh about the things you cannot control, and be happy that most days are not this day...

This is my life.

People My Daughter Can't Associate With

I thought this would be a fun list...

Brett K.-sexual deviant
Tim Murphy-becuase of his freaky baby voice
Chris Harris-too tall
Shaun Paterson-obviously
Jonathan Bolden-southern
Keith Schneider-due to a certain "helmet" issue that hasn't been cleared up

People who can associate with my daughter...

Dave King-moral guidance
Stephen Houghton-protection
Michael Agnich-more protection
Luke Baxter-great accent
Andrew Murphy-the favorite son
Mr. Zazueta-leadership lessons
Any women she wants...

If you would like to be considered for either list, please feel free to contact me!

Get in my belly!

I just realized if we transition this to a life blog, I should share my thoughts on the little girl we are having in February (2/22)...

First, it is hard for me to believe we are going to be parents. I can't wait, but also will miss the life we've had in the past few years. I can't tell you how good life is right now, in our marriage and with our families, the adventures we've been on, and the laughs we share. I know these things are not coming to an end but I also know that these will never be quite the same. I do worry about my wife loving someone else more than me:) and having less time to the two of us. But this is pretty exciting in spite of these worries...

What do I look forward to? Most of all, the fun we'll have watching our little girl discover the world, and herself. I am excited to expand our family unit to include another little midget, and I'm excited to have some small hands in the family to get things from tough-to-reach spots. I am excited to fall back into the routine of life after two years of running around like crazies. I'm excited to get to the point where my daughter is more fun to play with than a dog (my estimate: 15 months).

Also, this is a great experience because it's so humbling. I can barely function right now when I get dinner 30 minutes late, or only get 6 hours of sleep! I am completely unprepared to be a father...but that's why it will be so fun. I just hope we break all the rules as parents, and treat our child like a gift and don't hold on too tight and lose our perspective.

It is stangely just that I would have a daughter first, since I have been surrounded by women all my life...I just hope she loves her dad so much there is no room in her heart for any other men (especially men like some of my friends, good lord!). If she finds this room, I hope they make tasers that are even more painful than todays so that I can make them sorry if they ever hurt her.

Smells like....work.

Shanghai, which is Chinese for really #@$#ing big city with tons and tons of small people driving like psychopaths


The Lupu Bridge, which I climbed with Ash's dad last weekend


Hong Kong plaza where I live...I'm on the 22nd floor (see me?)


OK, it is time to get back on the blogging train, because work has begun but the adventures have not ended. I am working in Shanghai, China for anyone who doesn't already know this. It is a natural extension of the summer abroad, even stranger at times, and I'll be here for 3 months.

While I'm chillin' in Shanghai, Ash is at home stuffing her face and gaining weight. She claims she is pregnant, but I'm a skeptic and will believe it when I see it. Until then I'll believe this is just an excuse to eat crap and buy new clothes, two things any girl loves!

Well, I do want to share some of our experiences with everyone out there, since I am unavailable by phone all the time (buy you can still email me). This has been an awesome experience...but a funny one. I'll try not to talk too much about work since it bores me and you. The funniest part of our lives right now is that while I work in a city of 25M where my only friends are Ashley's parents, she is working in CA and living with my parents!!!!! Talk about the twilight zone, we are both spending more time with one anothers' parents than we do with eachother. Fortunately all is going well (except with my parents' dogs, but I'll let Ash blog about that)...

Now, on to the fun stuff. China is a crazy place, and this has been quite a learning experience. First of all, I have learned that in offices here people leave their cell ringers on VERY loud, and run back to their desk when they get a call. This may not seem like a big deal, but in an office of 200 people this is a hilarious sight to see! Also, it is not rude (either this or they don't care, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt) to answer a cell in the middle of a meeting. Picture this from a couple days ago: meeting with 50 people including the head of China himself, and someone answers a call in the middle of the meeting! In their defense (it is a weak defense) they were talking quietly but the call went for a couple minutes!

Also, conducting business in a foreign language makes for hilarious moments as well. Simple questions become very complicated and the communication process is exhausting. On a side note, I have to remember that I'd be even worse if we did this in Mandarin or any other language...I'm not saying these people aren't bright but the language barrier makes for hilarity!!!

Additionally, I am frequently approached by women of the trade, and Pimps. Yes, I said pimps, and I am not joking on this one. I thought how strange it is that the sex trade is out in the open here, only to remember prostitution is legal in NV as well...I guess I'm shocked how common this is all over the world.

Ash comes next month, and we should have some fun adventures and better pics. Until then we'll try to be better about blogging regularly...

Sorry for the lack of pics of me, but there is no one else to snap them! As for the random thoughts shared above...I'm just getting back into this blogging thing.