2009? Oh my!

This is my first post of the new year, and it's almost March. Wow, that's pitiful. I used to LOVE to blog and write. Ah! The good days when all I had to do was listen to good music, blog, and hang out with my friends. That must have been before COLLEGE.

Life is pretty grand these days. I have been blessed and still every day I wake up I am amazed at how much the Lord loves me and what He does for me on an every day basis. It blows my mind. I am thankful for the places He's brought me from and for the places He is taking me. Praise Him that we are not who we were, but rather who we ARE.

Points of Interest:
* 16 days till Spring Break! Kalli, Amy, Cassey, and I are going to visit my family in Brunswick, GA. We are going to St. Simon Island, Savannah, and Jacksonville, FL. too. I am super stoked about visiting Paula Dean's restaurant and seeing the beautiful city of Savannah. I am even more excited to be spending time with 3 of my favorite ladies on the planet, as well as seeing my family... especially my brother!
* 15 days till Amy and I go see Dave Barnes at Workplay. *sighs*
* Speaking of great music, I have been to a ton of great concerts lately. My friend, Laura, and I went to see Brett Dennon a few weeks ago, and it was awesome.
* Alabama basketball game last night = much fun! 88-67... Roll Tide!
$$ I start back to work at the hospital in the Cancer Treatment Center (CTC) on Monday, March 9. Wahoo!
** My favorite point of interest, I now have a plus one. Figure it out. ;)

I will leave you guys with something I found while facebook stalking. Hey, that's what it's for! It made me ponder. I hope you chew on this as well.

"So many people live with unhappy circumstances and yet will not take initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endless changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life, you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty... I fear you will follow this same inclination in the future and thus fail to discover all the wonderful things that God has placed around us to discover. Don't settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon..."

-Chris McCandless in a letter to Ron Franz ( Into the Wild)

ONE for ONE

My SEXY Toms.
C'mon, you know you want some. All the cool kids are doing it.

I'll Blog If Yule Blog

I wish I could say that I came up with that stellar tag line, but I'll give credit where credit's due, as much as it pains me to do so... I borrowed it from Matt Thiessen's blog. 'Cause he's witty like that.

Hi there fans... I mean, pals.

Its me, Ashley! Remember me? I know, I know. I didn't post ANY in the month of October or November. *Slaps wrists* I promise I want to blog much more than I actually do. I will make more of an effort, and I might actually come through since today is the last day of classes for 2008. Wa-freakin'-hoo! I hate this end-of-the-semester-crunch. Professors can be ruthless, man. Its just... wrong.

I have about a million and one things I want to write, but I don't want to overwhelm you all at first. And by you all, I do mean, Victoria and Kurt. ;)

Since I've been gone, I took part in changing history by participating my first Presidential election. I was way more excited about that than I think I should have been. I took pictures and videos... yeah, I did say I was excited, right? I wanted to document it for my kids one day. That was probably the coolest and most productive thing I've done in the past two months. I mean, besides eat dinner with Kurt when he came home for Thanksgiving.

In other news, I had a great turkey day that was hosted at my house this year. This week I had strep throat and a fever. This may come as a shock to most of you, seeing that I do have the immune system of a superhero. I had to get a shot that I'm pretty sure I had an allergic reaction to. I would rather live at the North Pole and not brush my teeth all day than go to the doctor's office, so it truly is saying something when I tell you I went to the doctor not once, but twice this week. My throat was almost completely swollen shut and that hangy thing in the back of my mouth... okay, it was just gross... I literally thought I had somehow swallowed fire during the night. I am much better now though.

My grandma had surgery this morning, and we had to be there at 5am. I got up at 4:15. I could tell it was going to be a good day with positive results when I woke up to Kings of Leon followed by Jason Mraz. I am very happy and blessed to say that Nina's cancer was completely removed, and she should be back home tomorrow afternoon.

In case I don't post again in the next 20 days... Merry Christmas!

Family Guy Mario

Forever 21.

Summer '08 Highlights:
* Sex and the City: Last night out with the ladies of the Dill
* Cafe Venice Wednesday night dinners
* Making all A's in my summer classes
* BBBBBEACH!
* My brother, Ryan, visiting for 2 weeks
* "Leavin'" by Jesse McCartney-- Amy and my summer jam
* Ending one job and beginning 2 new ones
* Atlanta, Hotlanta + IKEA
* Cassey's 21st
* Visit with Victoria, Jefferey, and the soon-to-be Jack Ness all the way from Idaho
* Lots of NEW friends :)
* MY 21ST!! FINALLY!

Broken Hearts.

Albert Camus once wrote, “Blessed are the hearts that can bend, they shall never be broken. " But I wonder, if there’s no breaking, then there’s no healing. And if there’s no healing then there’s no learning. And if there is no learning, then there’s no struggle. But struggle is part of life. So must all hearts be broken?

Take Action.

We are all aware of the U.S’s troubling dependence on oil. We’re not alone.

As many of you already know, in Sudan, oil is literally a matter of life and death.

Ninety percent of Sudan's export income comes from the oil industry. Most of that money funds military spending that has fueled five long years of suffering in Darfur. You can help stop the Darfur crisis.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/lookup.asp?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=4325261

Young people are calling on large American corporations to think twice about the impacts of their investments, and some key investors with ties to Sudan have already begun to listen. Thanks to Amnesty International activists, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and a few other firms are waking up to the calls for corporate social responsibility in Sudan.. But some big businesses still need convincing. Tell top U.S. investment firms that socially responsible investment in Sudan is important to you.

The most powerful investors in the world can choose to tolerate widespread murder, torture, rape and forced displacement, or they help end the human rights catastrophe in Darfur.