Announcing The Techless Ten

I've been brewing a plan for a while. Ever since I read Jen Hatmaker's book 7 and learned about the soon-to-be-released book from Daniel Ryan Day, 10 Days Without. The plan? To go without something for a set period of time to raise awareness and funds for a cause. Well, thanks to Daniel, this plan has been fully formed! Introducing...

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For ten days (Monday, December 16 through Wednesday, December 25) I will be going techless: No iPhone, no computer, and no TV (except with friends or family. It is Christmas season...Christmas movies and Doctor Who!) Ten days with no texting. No Facebook. No Instagram. No email. No Pinterest. No Candy Crush. No makeshift flashlight. No daily Doctor Who.

Yes, I am crazy. Or as my brother and his friends said when I told them my plan, "That's stupid!" But I'm not doing this to be crazy stupid. Or even just to see if I can do it. I'm going techless to see what it's like to be unconnected. To not be able to just pick up my phone if I'm bored or lost or need an answer. But more importantly, I'll be unconnected to help fund connection. What is that supposed to mean??

My friends, the Kealeys, are preparing to move to Thailand with ZOE to build connections with kids who are at risk for, or have been victims of, human trafficking. Kerri is one of the people I've looked up to throughout my life, a real-life role model! And now she's packing up with her husband and four adorable children to go love kids who have been through more in their short lives than you and I can imagine. I'm so proud....and a bit jealous.

So while I go techless for ten days, I'm asking you to sponsor me and donate to these awesome people doing awesome work. You can make a one time donation of your choosing, or donate a fee per day (say, $10/day? Keep the theme going?), or however you'd like to do it. Donations can go directly through their page on the ZOE website. When you make a donation, can you do me a favor and let me know? I'd just like to see how much we raise during this time! You can post below anonymously, if you'd like.

Please spread the word about this experiment. I will be hand-writing about the experience throughout the week for my family and friends to post here, and Kerri will be guest-posting one of the days for us! Share this and coming posts with the hashtags #10DaysWithout and #TechlessTen so we can follow along!

So, what do you think of this challenge? Think I'll make it? Would you be able to do it?

Questions? Encouragement? Leave them below! Want to know more about the Kealeys and Zoe? Check out these links:
ZOE missionaries
Kealey Family Blog

The Time I Got Rad

September's adventure was so great! 

We drove down to Seekonk, sat in traffic, and made it just in time for our corral to start at the Color Me Rad 2013 event! What a BLAST!

This is our Before Picture. Notice the very white shirts? Color Me Rad is a 5K run where along the course they throw colored powder (and occasionally liquid) at you, like this:

Now, I've mentioned before that my friend and I signed up for a half marathon. Because we're crazy. So this was a nice intro to organized racing (even though it wasn't a race. It wasn't even timed.) But, it was hotter than I usually run in. And I learned that eating breakfast at 6:30am, when you don't start running til 10am is a bad idea. At least for me. It was a very tough run in that sense since I was basically running on empty. But I made it! It was so exciting to see the finish line come into view:

We got a little separated from each other in the last color pit, so we didn't finish together, but we all finished!! And then we walked back to get a finish line shot. I love this picture. 

Once we finished (and doused each other with additional color), I don't think was there any white left on our shirts. My glasses were covered, there was color in my ears and nose, and I had nice little colorful sweat rainbows at my elbows...and I couldn't have been prouder! 

After the run, we rubbed off as much as we could and went to the mall in our finisher t-shirts. And somehow we must look like respectable grown-ups now, because even though we were sweaty and colorful, the man at Tiffany's still offered to let us try on the diamond rings! It's probably a good thing we didn't go in to the store like we did to the Color Me Rad Color Blast:

This was such an awesome event and I would highly reccommend it! It's designed to be a fun event, so anyone can do it! There were people in wheelchairs and moms with strollers. Definitely a really really fun time that you should do if you have the chance! This may be my favorite picture from the day, my first-ever completed organized run:

Sadly, Color Me Rad doesn't have medals, but they do send e-badges:

I am a finisher!! WOO HOOO!!!

Anyone ever do Color me Rad or something similar? How'd you like it?

Makin' Ketchup With My Body

August's adventure was a bit smelly, a lot messy, and really fun! We did The Tomato Bash! While I don't think I'll do it again (did I mention smelly?), it was a blast and I'm so glad we did it! 

So what is the Tomato Bash? Well, hundreds of people decided to spend a very warm summer day in a field. There is beer, if that's your thing. Also chocolate milk. And nearly two thousand pounds of non-edible tomatoes (read: too ripe, rotten, or otherwise unfit for consumption).

 It stinks. There's some time before the action starts, but there's music and costumes and a tomato foam machine to help make you red before the ketchup making begins. Also, the Nesquik Bunny.

Then, finally, the fun begins. The field that was simply a patch of earth a few minutes before becomes a battlefield, and everyone runs onto the tarp to start smashin' tomatoes! The rules say you must squash it before you throw it, which resulted in this epic shot:

(This photo made me love my new waterproof, life proof camera. It survived the bash, and look at that detail! Those drops of tomato juice! EPIC!!)

Kathryn and I were abandoned left on our own to fight this battle after a few minutes. It was both terrifying and amazing. (Please note the tomatoes flying in the background.)

Before too long, the ground was covered with the blood of angry tomatoes

And we sauntered off the battlefield, victorious. Here is the photo commemorating our epic bravery at the great Battle of Tomato 2013:

This is the stuff of legends, my friends.

June's Adventure: TAZA!

June's Adventure in the Year of Awesome is complete! Can't believe we're halfway through the year. Crazy! We've got some really awesome adventures planned for the second half of the year, which will make up for the past few months being a little lame (which is why they haven't been documented on the blog.) Although, March was pretty great. We tried yoga. April was an Indian restaurant, and May was a really lame museum.

So anyways. Today we went for a tour of the Taza Chocolate Factory. (Sorry for the picture quality. I forgot my camera so this was all from my phone.)

Now, you may know that I don't eat chocolate unless it's fair trade. Once I learned about the slave labor involved in much of the chocolate industry, I couldn't go near it with a clear conscience. Seriously, I had half a Snickers bar in my purse at that conference and it made me nauseous when I tried to finish it. 

But Taza is Direct Trade and publishes their full reports on their site. I also learned on the tour that they have recently incorporated a third-party to keep them accountable. So I can eat their chocolate in good conscience! YAY!!! Plus, they are better for you than regular chocolates. Most of Taza's chocolate has just two ingredients: Cocoa beans and cane sugar. 

And there are such delicious flavors! I left with the cinnamon one, but it was hard to choose between that, the coconut, vanilla, salt & pepper, and more. (I don't have a picture of the chocolate; I was too busy taste-testing. But enjoy us in hairnets!)

Our guide Allie was awesome. She was perky and super knowledgeable about the process and sourcing of Taza. And she dealt beautifully with the two older ladies who were driving everyone else nuts. They were asking the weirdest questions, and trying to seem like they knew everything, when in reality they knew nothing. And then they kept complaining about the chocolate! But Allie was polite, helpful, and just plain great. We learned a lot about the chocolate-making process, as well as differences between processes. Allie, keep it up! You were the perfect tour guide! We loved this adventure!

We had a lot of fun. And a lot of yummy chocolate. So head over to Taza chocolate sometime! We got a Groupon for it, but it would totally be worth the full price tour ticket.

What's your favorite chocolate flavor? Ever take an awesome factory tour? I'd love to know so I can check it out!

Living for the Lore

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I read Jon Acuff's e-book "The 3 Stages of Every Awesome Idea" this week, which was awesome, as all his stuff is. But one thing in particular stood out to me, as it's something I've been doing with my own life lately.

Acuff talks about how he and his wife have started to make decisions based on the lore of their children's childhood. As in, how will this decision (to buy a house, etc) be told later in their life? What will they remember? He blogged about it in the past here.

I love this because now I have a name for what I've been doing. Living for the Lore. Living in such a way that the story left behind is epic. It's almost like leaving a legacy, but I think of lore as something else, something alive in it's own right. I think of grand journeys and epic battles, unbelievable feats and silly mistakes.

The dictionary says this about Lore:

LORE [lawr, lohr] 1. the body of knowledge, especially of a traditional, anecdotal, or popular nature, on a particular subject. 3. Archaic: the process or act of teaching; instruction. 

I love that second one. The process of teaching. When you're Living for the Lore, you're stepping outside of the daily grind. You're doing something a little scary, a little new, and a lot exciting. And it's impossible to do any of that without learning something which is the basis for Lore.

In times gone by stories were the primary way of teaching life lessons. Why do you think Jesus told so many parables? Why did the father in The Croods tell the story of the little bear? Because people learn from stories. We learn from the experiences of others. Hearing about others' adventures is a way of safely exploring the world while inspiring us to our own greatness.

All of this combined is why I've been doing the One New Thing a Month for 2013. It's why I'm contemplating a Scare-a-Day June (just need more ideas! Only have a handful.) I want to be able to look back on my life and have plenty of Lore and Lessons to pass on. I want the grand journeys and epic battles. Do you?

What do you think about "Living for the Lore"? Share below!

A Scare A Day

So you know that quote:

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Well when I was wondering what to write today, I stumbled upon it again and started thinking. What does that really mean? If you really took this quote to heart, what would your life be like?

I mean, it's easy to do a scary-thing-a-day when you're traveling or have some adventurous job or if you're the Doctor's Companion, but what about when you have a normal job and a somewhat-normal, TARDIS-less life? How can you daily do something that scares you?

The answer is both simple and complex: I don't know. I tried to get more of a backstory to this quote, to find what Eleanor was talking about when she made the quote, but Google wouldn't tell me anything beyond the quote itself.

I do know that this thought has piqued my interested and got me thinking. What kind of scary things could I do in one normal month? It's certainly a fitting challenge for my year of Try New Things. I'm thinking June may be my month of Do Scary Things Daily. But I need to think about it a bit...should I go for it?

What kind of daily-scary things come to mind when you think of this quote? If you were to live this way, what would be on your list? Help me with some ideas!

February's BFF Adventure

(Sidenote: Chrissy, we really need a name for this adventure program...BBF Adventure is the best I've got right now, since it's 9pm. Let's work on this.)

You may remember I mentioned last month that my best friend and I have decided to do one new thing every month for the year of 2013. This month, we found a new restaurant in Cambridge!

We went to Veggie Galaxy, a vegetarian/vegan diner and bakery. It's got that great diner-car vibe, but with a modern twist. One of favorite aspects of the decor was the barstool-height mini booths down the middle of the restaurant. (Sorry, no photo. Enjoy this menu instead!)

Now, you may know, I am definitely not a vegetarian. Definitely. Almost the exact opposite. But even I have to admit, the food was good. Not what I would like to eat every day, but not bad.

Here you see (clockwise from upper left): The Club, Onion Rings (YUM!), and a Bean Burger with ricotta, tempeh bacon (doesn't taste anything like bacon), and onions. That white-and-purple lump is potato salad. I would definitely take a real bacon burger any day, but this wasn't bad! Though the burger was super messy to eat! Seriously, half of it ended up on the plate. My biggest regret was that we didn't have room for dessert! It all looked amazing.

Aren't we cute? You can't even tell that pink is my favorite color. Like, at all.

So there we go, February's new thing: DONE! Go check out Veggie Galaxy if you're in the mood for some good vegetarian food (they also do vegan and gluten free).

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Got a suggestion for our year of living awesomely? Leave it in the comments and we might give it a try!

The Great 2013 Adventure Has Begun!

My best friend and I decided that we were going to do one new (slightly scary) thing per month. Groupon has come in very handy for this, so our first adventure we chose Rock Climbing! We got a super deal for a 3-hour Intro to Climbing class at the Boston Rock Gym, which includes gear and a two week membership.

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So let's discuss how two people who are terrified of heights managed to climb 35 feet in the air, then have to blindly fall back and allow strangers (and later a machine) to safely lower them to the ground, shall we? There were nine of us in the class, and for the first climb, I was the 7th person to go. Every person that went up made my stomach tighten a little more. I finally volunteered because I think if one more person had gone before me, I would have been sick and chickened out. Everyone went up and down with no issue, stoic and silent, so there was no real reason to be nervous. But I HATE heights. This is the girl who was this close to needing to be pushed off the ledge when we went zip lining. So I get strapped in, and start climbing, just thinking about getting it done and having bragging rights (and maybe praying just a bit "God please don't let me die"). I was just past half way when I almost chickened out and stopped climbing, but then my pride and competitiveness got in the way. I didn't want to be the first one to chicken out! So I pushed myself all the way up and touched the top! I DID IT!! Once at the top, I made the mistake of looking down, which immediately prompted a "holy crap this is high!" from me, and giggles from my classmates.

(Sorry for the poor quality. It's in a gym, on my phone. Also, I need to teach my friend how to use an iPhone camera...)

Then the really scary part, leaning back, letting go of the wall, and trusting the little girl of an instructor to safely lower me to the ground. Took me a minute, but I did that too! By the time I unhooked, I was shaking and my heart was racing, but I climbed a 35 foot wall!!!

After we all made it up and back down, we learned knots and belaying basics. We were divided into groups to practice. I suddenly had to trust newbie climbers, not just strangers, with my life. So not what I expected! I'm not little. My partners were. At one point we had to "surprise fall", so our partners could learn to catch a falling climber. I did it (not from high...and they probably knew I was about to fall, since I sort of just stopped moving). At the wall nearby I watched my friend stop and say "okay, I'm gonna fall now...are you ready? Are you really ready?" After my "fall", I climbed back to the top, then they lowered me down. For some reason, the rope had moved slightly, so I couldn't reach the wall while I was being lowered, I was just dangling in mid air. In the midst of this, I hear the guy belaying me say, "oh! I came off the ground a little there!". In case you were wondering, that does not instill confidence in someone already pretty terrified of what she's doing! Once I was safely on the ground, the instructor then told us what to do if that happens.

After the class, we had free-climbing-time. Chrissy and I played with the auto-belays a bit. (We also attempted one of the difficult walls with like a 120 degree angle, but let's not talk about that one...or how I landed on my back...twice....) We did the wall below twice. You can't tell in the picture, but I really did go all the way to the top!

The first time around, I got to the top no problem, and then had a little panic attack. See, with a person belaying you, when you lean back, there's tension so you don't start falling immediately. With the auto belay, it acts like a seatbelt. With slow/normal movements, it moves with you. When you jump off the wall, it catches you. So rather than just leaning back, you kinda have to jump off the wall. It's absolutely and utterly terrifying. The whole time I'm trying to do it, my best friend is yelling at me, "Come on! You can do it! Just, leap of faith! Leap of faith! Just do it! I'm gonna have to tell our friends tomorrow that you didn't do it". Finally I did it (and I may have screamed a little...). Most terrifying thing I've ever done. Seriously. Then it was her turn. Hehe. She freaked out even more than I did! So, of course, I teased her back. Once she came back down, we took a water break to calm our nerves and gave it one more go. And both fell off the wall.

I don't know why I thought the jumping off the wall would be easier the second time. It wasn't. I got up there, and panicked again. I was about to let go (I was pretending I was Amy Pond trying to get back to Rory. Except, instead of blinking in front of a Weeping Angel, I had to jump off a cliff "All I have to do is jump, right? Just jump and I'll be with Rory?") when my foot slipped and I just fell off the wall. That was definitely enough for me for the day!

All in all, this was a terrifying, yet really fun, experience! We're already planning to go back! I'm so proud of us! We did something new, something scary, and didn't get injured! SUCESS!

Now, a bonus for my fellow geeks. My brother works at a Geek-Mecca type store, so he has a nice collection of stuff in his room. I particularly enjoy his Doctor Who collection. The other day, I went in and couldn't resist rearranging some of the figures to this:

He noticed the next day, and has left it that way. Today I went in and did this:

He already had them in this position, but I added the marks (and don't worry, they are washable. I tested first!) Now I wait for him to notice. Muahahaha! Of course, if he actually reads my blog, that may ruin it, but oh well! I think I have a new game :)

What kind of adventures do you have planned for this year? Any ideas that we should add to our list?

January 2013 Snippets

My past few posts have been book reviews, so I thought I'd share some snippets of what's going on in Ashley Land lately!

Speaking of books, I'm making great progress on my 50-book challenge, so far I've finished 7 books! Yessss. I think having a Kindle has helped a lot with this. Love my Kindle even more than I thought I would (thanks mom and dad)! But don't worry, I still like having real books. I've bought some of those, too. I just joined the Launch Team for Ken Wytsma's new book Pursuing Justice and I'm so excited to get started with it! Look for that review mid-February.

I had another traumatizing incident with a fish this week. On Sunday, I was with my friends in my living room watching TV when I noticed there were fish in my tank! My dad had cleaned my tank (that only had a lobster [crayfish]) and gave me two pretty fish! As soon as I noticed them, I also noticed that one was dead :( We continued our television watching but after a little while, I looked over and saw the remaining fish (a pretty little pink one) GET ATTACKED BY THE LOBSTER. I watched it happen! With tears in my eyes, my friends and I tried to cheer on this little pink fish as it would escape, then tip upside down and float to the bottom...only to be attacked again. It went on for a few minutes before the pink fish finally passed away and was sucked towards the filter. It was so sad! I'm getting teary just thinking about it. I may have a phobia of those evil little black fish, but pink ones are pretty and kind and loving. (Yeah, I know, I'm like, six. It makes life fun.)

Enough sad talk. Let's talk about fun stuff! Our VBS Kit came in today! It's so much fun! This year is going to EPIC, guys! Seriously, they even use the phrase "Epic Adventure" in their marketing, and it's not exaggerating! I can't wait for VBS!

The other day I had a weird dream that we moved into the church and my bedroom was the sound booth in the sanctuary. But it still had to be a sound booth, too, so I basically just had a bed and lamp and we shuffled things around so it all fit. In my dream I walked in to go to bed and the men's group was there for prayer, and I was upset because I needed to sleep for work in the morning! Guess that's what happens when you read about constructing the tabernacle before going to bed!

My best friend and I decided to make this year EPIC (so the VBS theme is a perfect fit!). One of the things we've planned is to do one awesome, new, possibly scary, thing each month. Some of the things we've talked about are rock climbing (in the works!), zip lining, see the Northern Lights, and other top-secret ideas. Groupon is a very handy tool to help us accomplish this :) Of course, I will document our adventures here when they happen!

So far, I am very much enjoying this year and greatly looking forward to the rest of it! The only goal I'm really lagging on so far is my very-quickly-approaching need for health insurance. Things keep coming up to keep me from sitting down and getting it done! So tomorrow, that is the main activity before I go to work. Get myself health insurance. Everything else I've set as goals are in the works and going well, so I am very happy with life right now.

How about you, how's your 2013 going? Any big plans/goals in the works?