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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Farewell Appleoke

It's the last day of Nablowrimo and the last night of Appleoke. So sad. I've been going to karaoke at Applebee's (Appleoke) for almost two years, but Applebee's isn't renewing their entertainment licence so they're
getting rid of karaoke!

Wednesday night karaoke has been my therapy, my release, my reward each week. I go, rock out and have a blast! People cheer for me and compliment me when I sing. Drunk people try to sing or dance with me (once, a big black man tried to sing Taylor Swift with me...he didn't know the words). Appetizers are half price, so my friend and I can each get one, some waters, and the bill comes to $6! We splurged tonight and got fancy lemonades.
The bill was a shocking $13.

I have so many great memories of karaoke and can't believe it's going away forever. Tonight a man named Batman did a little striptease to "I'm too sexy". The cowboy sings rock, the biker sings country. In the past, the self titled "Wednesday Night Delight" sang Iron Man while wearing a C3PO mask. I've seen slutty Strawberry Shortcake, White Trash, and the New Years Eve Baby. A leprechaun and a German tried to take me home. Like, REALLY tried. Even after the found out the we "love Jesus and stuff like that", the leprechaun was still trying! He pulled out every line in the book.

What am I going to do without my weekly fix of stardom? Without the entertainment of everyone performing? Without drunk people thinking I sing amazingly? Or hitting on me? What will I do for fun?

So, we ended with one of our favorite karaoke songs:
Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood.
And we rocked it.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Sleepy Ashley Goes to Bed

Second to last post of Nablowrimo 2011 and I almost forgot to write one! Sadly, nothing exciting happened today. I'm still fighting this cold/virus thing so I didn't go visit the new baby :( I worked this morning, but nothing noteworthy happened. And the rest of the day was just hanging out, watching TV, had dinner with my dad's boss.

So let's see....inventing something to write about....super tired but trying to think......I won a book today! From the LT ER program! I forget what the title is right now, but something about a boot camp for your money. Good timing, since I'm trying to really make and follow a budget!

Hmm....what else....did I mention I'm tired? I was about to go to bed when I remembered I didn't post today. I need to start making my Christmas presents. And finding gifts for the few people I have left on my list.

Alright, I'm going to stop trying to be creative and just go to bed. My nice, warm, comfy bed....Good night world!

Monday, November 28, 2011

If I Ruled the (Free) World!

Today a patient said I look like the president. She has dementia, so I'm not sure what she was thinking. But she proceeded to explain something about my glasses and smile.

Personally, I don't see it.

(Please allow me to interrupt this post to say YAY!!! Just got word that my friends just had their first baby!! They haven't announced what it is yet, so I'm not sharing :) So happy for them!)

Anyways, back to being the president. I don't think I look ANYTHING like Obama. Kind of the exact opposite in just about every way. He's a man, I'm a woman. He's black, I'm glow-in-the-dark white. He's middle aged, I'm not. He's got short greying hair, I've got long blonde. Even going back a ways, I don't look like any of the presidents. At all. But, whatever makes my little old ladies happy, I'll go alone with it. It's better than being spit on!

So, if I were president....
~I would spend my first night in office reading "The President's Secret Book"...if it exists! (sorry, I got sucked in by the History channel the other day.)
~I would wear fuzzy socks and slide through all the halls of the White House.
~First Cabinet meeting? Three words: Hide and Seek!
~There would be "Surprise, today's a holiday" days,
where everyone gets the day off.
~All of my official pens would be pink.
~The limo and Air Force one would have to be redecorated. Pink.
~I will only be addressed as Her Highness, the Big Boss Ashley (hey, president is as close to royalty as I can get...
unless I marry a prince...which hasn't been ruled out.)
~Candy cigarettes would be stockpiled in the Oval Office.
~Every overseas trip would be extended by at least one day for sightseeing.
~Related, there would be a new show on the Travel Channel: Packing with the President. (It's like Samantha Brown meets Andrew Zimmern,
but cooler, cuz it's me!)

Needless to say, it would be fun to be president! You know, without all that responsibility of running the country and stuff.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Alizarin Crimson Sunday

It's the last day of Color week! I don't know if I'm happy or sad. Because I like color week. I'm a little disappointed that most of the photos for this week came from my house because of my cold thing. But, whatever. Today, I have TWO pictures for you. Because I like both of them. And neither of them are from my house!! Yahoo!

This first one is a chair from Jordan's furniture. Love the colors!
The second is from the mall. Make a wish!
Happy color week everyone! Until next year :)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Butterscotch Saturday!

As it turns out, I have absolutely nothing that is butterscotch.
This is the closest I've got:
It's my cable box.
Happy Butterscotch Saturday!
(And please, let's not do butterscotch again!)

Friday, November 25, 2011

Mega Mind's Head Blue Friday!

Color week is almost finished and today's color is a mouthful! "Mega Mind's Head Blue" (Thank you, Sam for that ridiculously long color name!)
Here's my photo:
And as a bonus for checking out my blog, here's a shot (or two) of the apple turkeys I made for youth group tonight:
How fun are they?! If I had actually thought it out, and had more time to plan and execute, they probably would've been better,
but I still think they're pretty cool!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Puce Thursday!

Puce Thursday led to a....discussion between my mom and I about what color puce actually is. Keep in mind, she is the one who suggest puce in the first place. After Thanksgiving dinner, I asked if blueberry pie juice counted as puce. She vehemently disagreed, saying that puce was more orange, like the lighter orange in this leaf:

I tried to convince her that puce is a purpley-gray. She would not listen until several Google searches proved me right :) So, while we both searched the house for something that was puce, nothing acceptable was found. Until, I took a drink of my Coke, and realized....Straw+Coke=Puce! Challenge accepted! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!
(Thank you, Google, for this cute picture!)


Right now, I'm thankful for a job....that I'm heading to in a few minutes...

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Orange Wednesday

Today's picture comes from somewhere other than my house!! Hooray!! It's from my office at the church:
I got these little guys as a free sample in one of my orders from Oriental Trading Company. The big one's head pops off and has some of that noise putty inside. The only problem I have with the goop is that it smells, and after sitting on my desk for a month it smells worse and has hard chunks in it. But he's cute! So he sits on my desk and makes me smile :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Chartreuse Tuesday!

Well, on the bright side, I now know how to spell chartreuse!

Once again, I went looking for a color in my house. Sorry. I'll actually go out the rest of the week, I promise. But today all I did was work and lay on my couch, so there weren't a whole lot of chartreuse options! But I found two nearby. I couldn't decide which one to put, so I'm giving you two!
Is that cheating?

First up: My fishytank! (sorry for all the glare.)
By the way, his name is Midnight.
Second, my elephant pillow. I love these. I got two of them for a few dollars at a thrift store a while back. They always make me smile :)
There you have it! Chartreuse Tuesday!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Royal Purple Monday!

Color Week is here!! Hooray! Today, I barely left the house. Seriously. I called out of work, and only left to get lunch from Wendy's. So the closest thing to royal purple I saw all day was my glue dot runner:
I used it to make this super cute box:
Now, this is super cute on it's own, but it holds a secret....
There's four boxes inside! How awesome is that?? I found this on Pinterest. You can find the directions here. I'm planning to make more of these for Christmas presents for my friends. I'll fill each box with cute little homemade gifts. How cute is this gonna be?!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Life Binder

Sickness Update: I am feeling a lot better (not perfect, but better), but I have no voice. Like, none. Unless I consciously deepen my voice, the only thing that comes out is air. It's kinda funny.

So, in my surfing of organization blogs, I kept seeing different versions of a Home Management Binder coming up. They were all so pretty, and appealed to my slight OCD side, plus would be easy to make on my couch.
So I decided to make one.

With some changes. Because, well, I have no husband or kids to to keep track of. Just little old me. I don't need to track recipes or soccer practice. Just the bajillion little details of my own life. But since my current organization system is my coffee table, which looks like this:
I need something better. And prettier. Something that isn't a swirling vortex of messiness where papers go in but never come out. So I made my own
Life Binder!
It's a work in progress, but I hope to have it all figured out and in action by the new year.
I'm making my own printables as I go along (because I'm too cheap to pay for forms I can make myself...and because the ones I've found aren't really my style). Here's a peek at what I have so far:
(That "Ashley's Day" one? It's in a page protector so I can just check things off with dry erase marker, and start new each day! Brilliance!)

Tomorrow will start my 3rd annual Color Week! Can't wait!
This year's color round up is:
Monday: Royal Purple
Tuesday: Chartreuse
Wednesday: Orange
Thursday: Puce
Friday: Mega Mind's Head Blue
Saturday: Butterscotch
Sunday: Alizarin Crimson

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Organization

Being sick on the couch and searching the internet has led me to the decision that I must clean and organize my house. I had started back in August, and did pretty well, but I need to finish it up! In my surfing, I've discovered these two blogs that have a TON of awesome ideas...plus, they make it all so pretty!
They have soooo many great ideas, with links to other great organizing ideas and products! With all these ideas, I can't wait to get started! Except....I'm still sick and barely getting off the couch. For now, scribbling ideas on a notepad for next week when I'm not sick anymore.

What's your best organizing strategy?

Friday, November 18, 2011

Cheap Way Out of a Post

I'm siiiiicckkkkkk :(
The NP says its just a virus that will start getting better by Sunday. (Although I did wring an antibiotic from her, with a promise to try ibuprofen and water for a day before starting it...) When I went to buy the prescription and ibuprofen, I added some "Make Ashley Feel Better" items to the basket.

When I'm sick, I like to have Doritos. Blue if it's a cold-type thing, Red if it's a nausea-inducing bug. And of course, you have to have Coke. Then there's the medicines. With today's illness: ibuprofen, Alka Seltzer Plus Sinus Congestion, Saline Spray. Then there's the little things: tissues, water or juice, a blankie and fluffy pillow, mindless TV, Christian romance story. All the things you need to make you comfy while you feel like crap.

So what do you have nearby on a sick day?

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Uncreative

I don't really have anything creative or witty to write about tonight. I'm going to see Breaking Dawn at midnight, so I'll blog that when I get home. But for now, I'll tell you the only interesting thing from the past 24 hours.

So I slept really bad last night. Like, tossing and turning and unable to breathe all night. And by all night, I mean the 5 hours I had allotted for sleeping. Around 1am I was still trying to really get to sleep. Suddenly, I don't know if it was a dream or what, I thought there was an animal in my bed so I jolted straight up and turned on the light. The only animal in my bed was my little stuffed doggy. And me. When I finally got back to sleep, I dreamt of ROUSes (Rodents of Unusual Size), among other things.

So, there you go. My interesting story of the day. Now, to catch up on my DVR shows with Chrissy before going to see Breaking Dawn!!! YAY!!!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Time Wasting

I feel like crap.
I just wanna climb into my bed and sleep for like 3 days.
But I'm going to karaoke.
It's my best friend's 25th birthday.
She hates birthdays.
Therefore, it's my job as bff to make it a great birthday.
I just used the term "bff".
I don't even think I could sing.
Unless she's right, and it's like Phoebe's "sexy voice".
I can only "breathe" when I'm sitting straight up.
I can mostly breathe, anyways.
This should make for a fun experience when I try to sleep later.
Hoping and praying this clears quickly.
I have to work at 7am tomorrow.
I most likely won't be home until 12 or 1am.
Tomorrow night is the Breaking Dawn premiere.
So I won't get much sleep tomorrow either.
I'm very excited for Breaking Dawn!!
I need to come up with a speech for Friday night.
Friday night is a fundraising dinner thing for my old high school.
I'm the alumni speaker.
I wonder if we have any sudafed upstairs?
'Cuz Tylenol cold isn't cutting it.
And the vitamin C isn't doing much either.
I should find tissues before I go out.
And get my scrubs ready for the morning.
I hope I feel better tomorrow.
I wanna go to the gym.
I've missed 3 days because of this cold.
What am I going to do for lunch at work tomorrow?
I forgot to go to the grocery store.
That's not totally true.
I had no money.
Time to wrap the birthday present.
And go be joyous.
I <3 my friends!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Destiny in Waiting

I want to do big things. Like, huge. Things beyond my power to do.
But, I can't.

It's not my time. My destiny is in waiting right now....if that makes any sense. I know that God has great things for me, but as much as I would like to hop on a plane and start housing girls that I rescue from brothels, God says no. Not yet.

Frankly, I don't know exactly what He has in store for me, exactly. Its not time for me to know that. It's time for me to trust. To trust that He knows exactly what He's doing. Exactly what I'm going to do, and what tools and skills I'll need to get it done.

And so, I wait. I wait knowing that this time is a sort of training ground. It's boot camp. He's growing and molding and shaping me to be the person He needs to accomplish something big that will show His love. Every person, every challenge, every task is adding to the person I'm becoming.

But that's super hard to remember sometimes. Like when I've got a cold and just wanna stay in bed. Or when I'm introduced to Pinterest. Or when Twilight is on TV and I have a big bag of Quakes. Times like that, I just want to lay around and stop thinking. Stop trying. Stop caring. Stop working to conquer the flesh.

Sometimes I think the waiting is harder than the doing. I take that back. The waiting is harder! This time of knowing God has something for me to do, but not knowing exactly what it is or when to do it is hard. There are so many other little, time-wasting things to do, when I know I could be doing things that will grow and challenge me. But because I don't see the full picture of what God has in store, I don't always have the motivation to work towards it.

It's my struggle. To keep learning and growing, instead of being complacent in the lap of luxury. It's becoming a little easier, in some ways. I find myself getting fed up with the waste and pointlessness of so much that is American culture. But then....

Please don't misunderstand this post. As much as I would love to see the big picture, to be doing, I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be right now. I love my kiddos and my work at the church. Yet there's always that pull in my heart. That tug that says "there's more".

So in the meantime, I serve with my whole heart. I soak up what knowledge and skills that I can. And I continue to wait for His timing.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Blow Up!

The power went out at work today. The reason? A telephone pole outside blew up. I'm sure there was a more elaborate reason, but that's all we heard. We saw all the smoke coming from the pole and the firemen hosing the base of the pole.

Also, I'm sick. I tried to pretend I wasn't, but after drinking more than 2 liters of water and taking a bunch of vitamin C, my sore throat and sneezing/runny nose are worse than they were this morning. Hoping to clear it up really quickly!

Also, I was supposed to start my color week today, but I forgot. So should I start tomorrow, or wait til next week? Next week might be fun, what with Thanksgiving and Black Friday and what not....Thoughts?

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today I pulled off a surprise party for the hardest-to-surprise person in the entire world: my Mom! Seriously. First, she's a mom. So that makes it hard to surprise her. And then, she does all the scheduling and room booking at the church, the only place we would think of to have a party. But we did it! And she was COMPLETELY shocked! I'm so happy we pulled it off! She loved it, despite her protests that she didn't want a party. It was awesome how many people wanted to come and celebrate her big day, too. Such a good day!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

White Saturday Festivities

Today was one of the days I most look forward to every year:
White Saturday.

White Saturday happens two, rarely three, times a year. It's like Black Friday, but happens on a Saturday and is just for Christians, so we've dubbed it White Saturday! It's awesome. I think I've mentioned it before. But the christianbook.com people open their warehouse up a few times a year with bunches of stuff for super cheap. For example, I bought a Message Bible for one of my girls today for only $4.99. It retails for $37.99....on a good day! We go all out for White Saturday. We get up around 5am (it used to be earlier, but they started opening at 8 instead of 7), stop at Dunks, and head up to Peabody. We get there more than an hour early, but there's ALWAYS at least 50 people in line ahead of us. No matter, because we're still early and find the best deals! The rest of my group laughs at me because I bring a big wheelie suitcase and take a long time to go through everything. I don't want to miss any good deals on the things I want! And I'm a pro at CBD! I've got it down to a science ;)

After the CBD Sale, we head over to Sonic, where we had some serious
Tot Love!
We had a blast and some yummy food. After a short rest at home, we went out and did a little Ding Dong Ditch, youth group style! We chose members of the church who are always serving and doing things to build the Kingdom of God, and we left little plates of goodies with thank you notes. So much fun AND we're blessing people. What could be better? (Even if we did get super lost and have a little run in with the police....no worries!)

All in all, this was a really fun day and now I am super duper TIRED since this was all done on less than 5 hours of sleep! Happy White Saturday everyone! Sadly, we now have to wait til March for the next one :(

Friday, November 11, 2011

Vain

Tonight at youth group we watched and discussed this video.

(Sorry, it wouldn't let me embed it!)


They raise a few good points. The one I want to talk about today is the issue of (to sum it up) hypocricy. If we claim to be Christians and follow what He commands, then why do we go to movies that use the Lord's name in vain? Why do we participate in aspects of society that totally go against what we believe, and not even say anything? If Christ has changed our hearts, shouldn't our lives reflect that change?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Disturbed

Ever pray big prayers? The kind that you're almost afraid to pray because maybe, just maybe, God would actually answer it? I do that on occasion. I can think of several times when I've paused in the middle of a prayer or worship song thinking "What in the world and I saying?! Do I really mean this?!" And then, usually, I take a deep breath and continue with it. Because, in the words of Francis Chan,

"If we never pray audacious, courageous prayers, how can He answer them? If we never follow Him to positions where we need Him, how can He show up and make His presence known?"

If we really want to see God show up in our lives with power, we have to dare to ask him! I know, I just wrinkled your brain. But seriously. If I want a friend to come over, I (usually) have to ask them to come over. If I want them to come and bring something, I have to ask. It's been said that God is a gentleman. He won't push in where He's not wanted. We wonder why we don't see more of the power and presence of God, but are we asking?

Today I found just such a prayer from Sir Francis Drake, and it's a real doozy!

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord."

You can read the whole thing here. This is amazingly powerful. Can you imagine if we all prayed like this? If we all lived like this? Because this isn't just asking God to show up. This is asking Him to show us when we're not taking enough risks. But not just show us, disturb us. That's powerful language! He could have said "Lord, show us" or "Lord, gently guide us". But he says "Disturb us". Wow. There's no good thing about being disturbed. You never hear it being used as a compliment. Yet that's what this prayer is asking God to make us! And then the things he lists! Basically, it breaks down to this:

Lord, when I think I'm awesome, make me uncomfortable.
Lord, when my dreams come true, make me unsatisfied and anxious.
Dreams come true just means I didn't dream big enough.
Lord, when life is smooth sailing, unnerve me so I leave my comfort zone.

Wow. This prayer is amazingly powerful and, if taken seriously, stands to create an amazing life for the prayee. It's the kind of prayer that you want to pray, but at the same time, want to hold back because....what if God takes it seriously?! Then you're either going to be disturbed all the time, or living a crazy, blessed life that is outside of your own strength! I think sometimes we're just scared of the unknown. And this prayer is trying to get us outside of that, to take us out of our comfort zone.

It's a crazy prayer, but I wanna pray it! I want to be more than me. In some weird way, I want to be disturbed. But then, of course, there are days when I don't wanna pray it. I just wanna lay on my couch with the TV and laptop and pretend there's nothing more important than what's on DVR or Facebook. I want to just go for easy and comfortable. But that's not what we're called to. That's not what I'm called to. I think of all the BIG challenges Jesus gave, and I know that I want that life that He offers. But it can be sooo hard when the rest of the world, including others in the church, are just living for comfortable. But that's the call. That's the life I've (we've?) chosen. It's not always easy (ha! Try never!), but what of value ever is?

I could probably ramble quite a bit more about this, but what do you think of all this?

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Cousin Leah

I was stumped on what to blog about today, so I asked Facebook. My cousin Leah said I should write about my beautiful family, so I'm going to write all about her today!

In case you haven't noticed, I don't post pictures of other people on my blog, and don't tell a whole lot of stories about others. It's not that I'm super self-centered or anything like that. When I started the blog, it was kinda secret and more of a journal than anything else. And I don't like when people post my picture and things without my permission, so I extend the same courtesy.

But, since she told me to write about my family (complete with a winky emoticon), I'm taking that as permission to put her in my blog! This is us in Venice, eating what Rick Steeves called "The best gelato in Venice"
My travel buddy <3 We love to take trips, everything from day trips to two-week trips across the pond. We always have a blast rocking out in the car, to everything from Hannah Montana to Ke$ha and most everything in between. Half of the time when she sleeps over, we end up talking til 2am. Because for some reason the deepest conversations start around 11pm when we start to say goodnight! Leah loves the stars and all things space, so we stargaze when we get the chance. New England weather doesn't always cooperate with those plans. We don't agree when it comes to pets, as she's a cat person and I'm more of a dog person. And don't even get me started on the Evil Black Fish she had when I was little! I recently discovered that I've got a bit of PTSD related to them! But that's a different post....

I'm so proud of her! She just got a new job and I pray that she does awesome at it! I'm also praying for her health to not interfere, and for her to be able to conquer any sickness that might pop up (you can tell we're related with all the health issues going on in our family!).

Leah, I love you soooooooooooooooooooooooooo so so much! Through all the ups and downs and everything in between, I love you and I'm always here for you! Rock on beautiful!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Back At It Again!

I realized yesterday that if I really tried, I could lose 15 pounds by the end of the year. So I'm back at it again. I need to get healthy. And I really need a haircut! (I won't let myself get one until I reach my next goal of 25 total pounds) So I started back with my website today to track my food and exercise, and I went to the gym. I've got another session with my trainer in the morning, and I plan to really kick butt! I'm sick of being fat. I'm done (again). I just finished putting my work schedule for the month into my calendar, so I took the chance to schedule gym time, too, so I really make time for it.

Also, over the weekend I finally broke down and bought new jeans (my old ones were falling off!). The ones I got are a size smaller than my last! However, they're used, so they might be stretched out a little...in fact, I'm pretty sure, because my mom gave me two pairs of the same size, but they're too small....

Anyways, I'm back on track and plan to get rid of this extra weight, and quick! Well, as quick as is healthy. I've got a lot of weight to lose, but a lot to look forward too when it's gone!

Jane Eyre

Whoops! Everytime I came to blog yesterday, something distracted me! And then I way laying in bed, almost asleep, when I remembered. But since I had to be up early for work today, I didn't want to risk actually getting up and blogging. So here's what I would have posted last night:


I love books. I love reading. I think books>ebooks. There's just something about the feel of a book in your hand, the way it folds over, the feel of the pages...I just started Jane Eyre. I've somehow never read it (or many other classics that I should've read!). And I love the copy I have. Its this really soft, smooth, leather cover with the corners cracking a little. And when you open it, it lays perfectly flat. I can lay it on the couch and it will stay open to where I put it! And did I mention it's so soft? Plus, its really old. Like, so old, it doesn't have the year listed anywhere in the book. And it has that old book smell....not the musty smell, but the used-and-loved-book smell. Yeah, I'm a little bit of a bibliophile....

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Kids Ministry High!

Wow. My feet are KILLING me, but what a great day!
(Is it bad that in 13 hours, I only sat for a total of 30 minutes??)

The day started with our first ever Kids Sunday! We had our kids serving as ushers, greeters, and making the announcements. Then the first part of the service was done as a KIDS Church...and it was so much fun! The adults were really into it, and it led to the salvation of a woman! After that part, Pastor and I tag-teamed it to cast the vision for where the kids ministry is heading and why KM is important. It ended with handing out more than 50 applications for people to join the ministry! Praise God!!

After talking with some people about the service and ministry, I bought lunch from a ministry who is planning a missions trip. Know what I got?? Pastelellos!!!!! (Not sure of the spelling, but YUM!)

Then began set up for Harvest Night. *side story at end* I'm not sure what it was, but even though I was busy the whole time, the process of set up, event, and clean up was really smooth! I even left the church 30 minutes earlier than I expected!!! I think this was probably the best Harvest Night we've had ever...or at least in a very long time. As best I can estimate before seeing the registrations, we had around 400 people come through our doors during the fest! The prayer stations were just as hopping as the games, and at our little closing service, about 15 people got saved!

And the second best part? My helpers rock and we cleaned up in 15 minutes :) Huge "thank you, thank you, thank you!" to everyone who helped with this crazy awesome day! Seriously guys, I couldn't have done it without you!

*Side story* So, last week I went to the high school that is a part of our church, and just walked through the hall at the end of the day asking people to help with Harvest Night. One of the girls was really excited to help, someone I had never met. She came early today so it was just us for almost an hour, and we got to talk and stuff. Before coming to the school, she was way into the world: drinking, drugs, Satan worship. But, to use her words, she can't believe how much she's changed over the past two months and how everyone just accepts and cares about her. It was really cool to get to know her and hear her story. She has such a fun personality and I hope I get to see her more!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Ashley's Thoughts

I guess I said that today would be Ashley's Thoughts day, and so it shall be! But be warned...I have a headache....and a sore finger....and I'm sleepy. Let the adventure commence! (edit: Blogger won't let me change the colors to make this cool looking, so you're gonna have to settle for boring spaces. Sorry.)

How on earth did I injure my finger?? I was just working,
minding my own business, and now it hurts and is swollen....

How I Met Your Mother has a lot of funny repeating jokes!
"Haaaave ya met Ted?"

Tomorrow is going to be a looooong day of fun church stuff!

I just got a sudden craving for ice cream....
a big soft serve vanilla ice cream cone...

CBD is next week and I am reeeeaaaalllllyyyyyyy excited!!!!!!

Okay, My brain is shutting off now. Night Blogger.
Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Bulletproof

I'm going off "Schedule" here, because it's just about time to leave for youth group and I don't have time to write about the Global Forum right now. Instead, I shall share a story! It's pretty short, in fact this description is probably longer, but that's okay.



Isn't it funny how the senses work? How they can remind you of a moment in time? No matter where I am (today I was in the mall food court), when I hear the song Bulletproof, I am immediately transported to a Munich hostel, to the "club" in the basement, and dancing with a tall, blonde, South African man. Every. Time.



Thursday, November 3, 2011

I Slammed Into The Golden Gate Bridge

According to the list I made myself yesterday said that I would write about California. Since I don't think you want to read a long travel guide to San Francisco, let me write about the funniest story of the trip.

So we rented bikes one day to ride around the city and over the bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge, of course. Now, I haven't ridden a bike in about 15 years, but told my friend it had only been a few years (she loves riding). I figured there's a reason for the cliche "it's like riding a bike". After reacquainting myself to pedaling and braking, I was pretty good. Toughest part was always getting started.

So we rode along the piers and across the city, getting ever closer to the bridge. We stopped when we were close to take pictures. As my cousin said, it looks like we're posing in front of a postcard!
The bridge has a special sidewalk just for bikes, so we rode over the bridge. One thing I didn't expect was that the bridge is kinda like a hill. The first half goes uphill, the second goes down. You can't really see much of a change, but you sure can FEEL it in your legs! We rode all the way over then turned around to find a place to eat. We were about three-quarters of the way back, going downhill, when things went....not as planned.

As best as I can figure, since it happened so quickly, when I reached up to push my helmet back, I started veering to the left (where there was a railing and traffic), so I tried to correct myself. Apparently, I overcompensated and was heading straight for a big beam. I managed to turn enough so I didn't hit straight on, but I put my hand up and took the whole force of the impact with my hand and knee, followed quickly by my forearm and shin. To give you an idea of how hard I hit, some of the paint from the bridge rubbed off onto my jeans...and is still stained there! The bruising and pain was intense and immediate! I lost my shoe in the process and my best friend....kept going! I was in pain and could only manage to yell out the first part of her name, but STILL she kept going! Some strangers stopped to see if I was okay, by which time my friend caught up, and I was pretty sure nothing was broken, but I certainly was shaken up!

The aftermath was a very bruised knee, hand, and forearm, bruises to both shins, and the insides of my knees, and pain when I moved my wrist or fingers. I was pretty convinced that I didn't break anything, just severely bruised it, so I just bought an ace wrap. In the words of my best friend "I don't want to go to the doctor on my vacation. But if you're really hurt, I guess I'll take you." True friendship, right there!

Thank God, nothing serious was injured, although I am still sore, and it provides for a fabulous story! I mean, how many other people can say they slammed into the Golden Gate Bridge? Or that they got an ace wrap as a souvenir?!

{Minor follow up here}

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Whoa! It's NaBloWriMo!

Whoops! Missed the start of this yesterday! Guess I'll have to do two posts in one of theses days. Well, don't know what to write about today. I'm not feeling all that great today. So, let's plan the next few days!

Thursday: California <3
Friday: Global Forum and Train the Trainer
Saturday: Ashley's Thinking....
Sunday: Harvest Night Recap

So, let's let today to be "Happy NaBloWriMo Day" and I'll see you every day this month!
(P.S. I'm on Twitter now! @AspiringAshley7. Only added the 7 because someone used Aspiring Ashley as the handle for a fan page of some model D= )

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