Ashley's Rules for Flying

The following are Ashley's Rules for Flying, compiled after many trips with various people (and many years haunting travel blogs)

Rule #1: Always Look Nice. I'm not saying dress up like a wedding, but wear clean and nice clothes. Nice jeans (ie no holes) and a top works fine, unless you want to go business-style. Either way, be clean, well put together, no strong deodorants or perfumes, a touch of makeup, and easy-off closed-toe shoes and you're good to go! 

There are two reasons for this. The first, because people (including airport staff) will automatically respect you a bit more if you're put together. This opens the door to possible upgrades and quickly resolving any problems that may arise. Second, because of something I heard and adopted into life, "Always look your best when you travel because you never know when you'll meet a handsome stranger or an old enemy."

Rule #2: Be nice. Everyone at the airport is either also trying to get somewhere, or trying to do their jobs. Don't be a bad moment in their day. Show respect to everyone you come in contact with, as much as possible. Don't be a jerk, don't yell to get your way. Be nice.

Rule #3: It's okay to be a little silly when on a long flight. Just don't disturb others. See how much fun I'm having in these two photos? A little cheap entertainment, and no one was disturbed.

Rule #4: Carryon Only! Seriously, this saves so much time and energy. Plus, how much stuff do you really need for a trip? This trip is the only one in three years that I've checked luggage for...and that wasn't even my stuff! It was things like scissors, paint, food for the ministry we'll be doing with the kids. All of my stuff is safe and snug in my little purple carryon. 

Rule #5: Peanut Butter is not allowed carryon, no matter what the Jet Blue guy says at check-in. 

I may have just learned this lesson this trip. Our checked bag was a few pounds too heavy, so we were shifting things to our carryon. I didn't think peanut butter was allowed, since it's the same consistency as other non-carryon-approved items,  but the man at the counter assured us, "you can definitely bring it carry on". Cue TSA agents searching our bags and swiping hands with that bomb-detecting machine thingy. We begged. We played the hungry kids card (which was the  truth; we were bringing peanut butter to feed the kids in school who get no snack/lunch). The boss dude made the executive decision after testing it that "If I get fired, I'd rather get fired for feeding hungry kids than something else". Thank you Rota!! But, just the same, don't try to take jars of peanut butter in your carryon. 

What are your top flying rules?

Dominican Republic: The Country

For this post, I'm mostly just going to share the beautiful pictures I took on this trip of the country and some of the places. Let's start with the hotel! It was way more than I expected! We each had an apartment-like suite! 

The view just outside our hotel

The courtyard, as seen from my front door. Yes, front door. As in, I had more than one :)

This is from the night I stayed in sick. I laid there, under the fan, watching Big Bang Theory while alternately freezing/sweating and feeling nauseated/dizzy. Not how I thought I'd spend my time here! 

Our first day out, we saw this beautiful rainbow right over the neighborhood we were working in!

 The following are some of my favorites shots from Los Frailles Este, the area we were in.

 We met the woman living in this next building at her mother's home next door, where she lives with 5 other children. She (the mother) is battling cancer, while one of her sons is sick and they don't know why. She came to Christ recently and is so on fire it's ridiculous :) Wonderful family. While at their home, we prayed with them, and were able to spend time with them at some of the services.

 I feel like this photo sums up the area. A mix of poverty, modern technology, and unfinished work.

This next photo was taken on the way to Nagua. This whole road was full of palm trees. At first, they were alive. Then there was this. A forest of dead palm trees. Kinda creepy, huh?

And can I just say, Nagua is stinkin' GORGEOUS!! These photos aren't even enough. It's just endless sky and water. Really, the whole time I saw more water than ever in my life. It was amazing and beautiful, all over. This is where we ate lunch, just to the right of these buildings.

 Then we went to the beach! I found this giant palm branch, and since it was a Sunday...

Palm Sunday!

 See us out there?

Such a perfect beach day, and the water was so warm. Nothing like back home!  

 Some of the places we did ministry. This is a church, similar to most of the churches we went to

 Some private schools

  Finally this last photo is a building we are praying about and looking into for a ministry we want to set up that would "serve the servants" working tirelessly in the Dominican. Pray with us that God will continue to open doors and soften the heart of the Mayor (whom we met with on the trip) to help us best serve His people! 

  Those are my photos for the day! Hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into the country of Republica Dominicana!

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}