Today is a Very Good Day

I awoke to the song of rain this morning. It was beautiful.

I rolled over and learned I became Aunt Ashley at 1:51 a.m. to Noah Atticus.

He is beautiful!

As I fell back to sleep I was reminded of a song that has to do with rain and Noah.
My mom used to sing it to me and my brothers to wake us up in the morning.
It goes a something like this...

The Lord said to Noah there's going to be a floody, floody.
The Lord said to Noah there's going to be a floody, floody.
Get those animals out of the muddy, muddy.
Children of the Lord.
So...
Rise and Shout and sing out your glory, glory.
Rise and Shout and sing out your glory, glory.
RISE AND SHOUT and sing out your glory, glory.
Children of the Lord.
(do you know this song Rachel?...we can teach it to you to sing to Noah)
I can tell you right now our family is singing glory for this little one!

We have been praying for his little one for a long time.

The wait has finally come to an end and Noah is perfect!


Rachel looks like a natural mother already...
and Ryan a natural father!

I cannot wait to meet you Noah!

I love you already!

Becoming A Housewife!

My good friend Jeminee Pahl is getting married in about 10 days. I could not be more excited for her! I threw her a "50's Housewife" bridal shower the other week. I have never given a bridal shower before but I think it turned out well (thanks to my mom and friend Rachel).

For the shower the girls were supposed to wear red lipstick and high-heels
--going with the housewife theme.

When the girls arrived they picked out an apron to wear for the party. My mom and I made the aprons. We found fabric that was somewhat vintage and then mixed and matched them for the skirt and waistband. I think they turned out cute!

We then made pizza on the grill!
--had to use our housewife skills to make dinner and so our aprons could go to good use!


Once all the fun of eating, playing games and opening presents was over we went outside to get some pictures with my grandpa's 1963 Ford Galaxy Convertible.
--it's kind of a 50's thing right?

Thanks for getting married Jem so our friends could get together and have
some fun trying to be "good housewives"!

KaUAi

Two weeks ago we headed to the beautiful island of Kauai!

It was such a fun trip.
We loved the nice warm weather...with the small warm rain showers.
We loved relaxing on the warm, sandy beaches.
We didn't really love getting carsick but we loved when the road came to an end.
We loved swimming with the fish and turtles.
We loved the gratitude devotionals we had each day!
We loved laughing...mostly at Derek.
We loved we didn't die when we got caught in a huge wave.
We (or Nate) loved his sun tan oil and getting a nice brown tan.
We loved being in nature and seeing the "Garden Island."
We loved the beautiful, green scenery.
We loved kayaking and hiking.
Most of all we loved being with family and creating memories!
We pretty much loved everything!!

(Family photos)

(hike to the waterfall)

(Ta-Da)

(Where the road came to an end... Beautiful!)

(The couples...yes Tanner and Cole were a couple on the trip)

(One big happy family)

(getting sick of family photos)

(We are pretty cool)

(Beach+Water=Love)

(Love my parents! This trip could not have happened with out them.)

(Tennis--the courts were wet but we were determined to play)

(My 1st coconut. Pretty tasty but not as sweet as I would have thought)

(Love the beaches)

(Love him!!)

(The boys showing off their nice bodies)

(Snorkeling)

(loving the sun)

(Getting ready to kayak...Love this picture)

(Goodbye Kauai)

Friends, Family, Graduation

After I finished student teaching I went to Pocatello to finish up and submit my Teacher Works Sample and to graduate! I was also able to play tennis a couple of times and watch Tanner play a few baseball games. He had an amazing diving catch and some great hits! I was wishing for some warmer weather down south but as we all know Pocatello likes to be cold, windy and rainy.

When I went to Provo to hand in my TWS I met up with two of my old roommates for lunch.

It was so fun catching up and to see what fun, new adventures they are looking forward too! Hopefully next time all 7 of us will be able to have lunch!

The following week, on April 21st and 22nd, Ashley Marie Nielson Cuoio Graduated from BYU!

I graduated from the School of Family Life with a degree in Family and Consumer Science Education (a fancy name for Home Economics). It was fun to see friends from my major and professors who have changed my life.

Brother Cole also graduated with a degree in Exercise Science!

Thanks mom and dad for supporting me through college. I don't know if
I would have been able to do it without you.

Grandpa Nielson also came for the festivities.

My parents have 2 graduates down and 2 to go! Next week Ryan graduates from Dental School and in June Tanner graduates from high school! Way to go Nielson Family!

After bring apart for a little more than 2 weeks the best part of the week was seeing this guy! I thought Nate would have no problem with me being away since he was so independent before we got married but he missed me after only being gone a few days! It is always nice to be missed, especially by your husband.

We are now back in Moscow! Nate has taken 1 final and has 4 more to go. Next Friday we will head to Pocatello for the summer! Things I am looking forward to this summer:

*Warm weather (hopefully it comes soon, I need a tan before...)
*Hawaii with the family!
*Tennis
*Reading Books
*Sewing (clothes and bags and maybe a quilt)
*Running and working out (I have been doing really good this spring
so lets just hope I stay motivated)
*My best friends wedding! Ya Jem!
*My 1st Nephew!
*Friends and
*Family

Life is busy

Life has been busy around the Cuoio household the past couple of weeks. And when I say busy I mean school busy and only a little bit of fun for Nate mixed in.
So here is a run down of what has been going on.

*First off, today we celebrate 10 months of marital bliss!

*In February, Nate went to Washington D.C. and University of Virginia for a Federalist Society Conference. It was Nate's 1st time to the Nations Capital. Nate met Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and got his autograph. Nate really enjoyed seeing all the sites in Washington D.C. and listening to Clarence Thomas speak about his childhood and being raised by his grandfather.

University of Idaho students with Clarence Thomas

*For the past month, Nate has been very busy working on a law paper that is worth 50% of his grade. He spent all of his spring break working on it and this week he has spent his days and evenings working on it. Last night he was up until 2:30 working on it. I am so glad it is due tomorrow because I am sick of him working on it and his brain is fried so he needs a break.

*For the past 3 months, I have spent pretty much every moment of every day in Lewiston High School. I am happy to report that this past Friday was my last day of teaching! I will return to the high school for 3 days after spring break this week and then I will be DoNE with student teaching!
Student teaching has been a great experience and I have learned a lot but it has been exhausting and frustrating at times. After this experience I am not sure if I am cutout to be a teacher. I think I might be better off teaching mini sewing and cooking classes out of my home. Then I wont have to make lesson plans and I can teach people who actually want to learn what I am teaching. Doesn't that sound like a good plan?

Here is a picture of Lewiston High School. It was built in 1927 and is very run down.
Photo via.

*As I write this list of what we have been busy with it seems dinky and pathetic. But I tell you we have been busy. I feel like I do not stop from when I rise at 5:30 in the morning to when I crawl into bed at night. School has swamped me. I never thought student teaching would be so time consuming. I thought writing lesson plans would be a breeze...I was wrong. I am so excited for this week. It is my first spring break in 3 years! I am excited to sleep in (if my body will allow it), exercise, relax, and make some descent meals for my husband.

* I cannot end without announcing some great news! I am happy to report that a baby Nielson will be added to the family! My brother, Ryan and his wife Rachel will be adopting a baby boy in August. Our family could not be more excited for them. They are so deserving of this little one and I know they are going to be wonderful parents!

My Husband is Crafty!

Last Tuesday I began student teaching at Lewiston High School. Since Nate's school did not start until yesterday I put him in charge of painting a cupboard we got from some friends that moved.
I let him do whatever he wanted.

Here is the cupboard before:

After:

I think he did a great job!
I think he did a better job than what I would have done.
Since he did such a good job he now has a new project...to fix and paint a bookshelf.
I will post pictures when he has completed it.

A few weeks late...

Christmas break was wonderful as we spent time with family and friends in Poky and Sun Valley. It is so nice having both our families in Pocatello. We were able to spend Christmas Day with both our families. We received some wonderful gifts (games, picture of Christ, shadow box of things from our wedding, cooking utensils, church books, clothes, and a coffee table with some money we got)! These gifts have helped make our apartment more "homey" as we are still trying to put it together.

The day after Christmas we spent a few days in Sun Valley at Grandpa "Nip's" cabin. We had a great time reading, skiing, sitting by the fire, playing games, and walking around Sun Valley.

The only pictures I took over Christmas were on Baldy Mountain. It sure was a BeaUtiFuL DaY in Sun Valley!!