ok, so i was wrong about...

The river's deep, the river's wide...

2011-11-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

Just so everyone knows...I am trying really hard to think about something to write here. I've been staring at a blank template for about 2 hours. I change the subject over and over again and start writing and then delete. Haha. I'm quite indecisive tonight I suppose.

So I will just write what comes to my little mind.
I think it's strange that it's November 16th and we don't have any snow yet. Yipes I'm going to jinx myself though and there will be 23" when I wake up. I am not going home for Thanksgiving. I know, sound the alarms. I just don't have money to go home twice within a month. So, I'm just going to take some extra time at Christmas and be at home.

I'm not exactly sure how this happened but I've watched a whole season of One Tree Hill in 3 days. All while working and being at people's houses and whatnot.

Something that's been on my mind/heart as of late...Happiness. What a word. Happiness, according to the dictionary, means: good fortune, pleasure, contentment, joy. I just have been relatively happy for awhile now. I mean, obviously...everyone has bad days. I do too. (Usually it's only because I am tired or haven't eaten yet though.) This happiness and contentment comes from the LORD.

Seriously. I am blessed with a few great friends that I can call my family and I know that if I needed ANYTHING they would have my back. I am blessed with a job and a wonderful working environment. I am blessed with a house to live in. It's so crazy. I was just looking back on the past four years how different my life was then and now.

Now, I'm not exactly the most rich, money wise, but MAN oh man I am so rich in many other things! It's really hard sometimes to give up your life and things YOU want to do in order to let God do what HE wants you to do in your life. You can never see it and it's all about trust and just giving it all to Him and once you can do that, He blesses your life. It's really been a struggle for me, because, like every human, I want to make my own decisions and do what I want and feel how I want to feel.

About a month ago, we talked about Psalm 37 in church. Psalm 37 is basically these commands to just give everything to God. Do not fret envy or wickedness because those people will be cut down! TRUST in the LORD and do good! And you will have land and food! DELIGHT yourself in the LORD and He will GIVE YOU YOUR DESIRES! How absolutely amazing! Give all your problems and issues to Him and He will help them to pass. Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him. He wants you to get sleep and rest and do not worry about things you can not change! He will take care of it. Cease from anger, be wise and don't give into evil, give all your problems to the LORD! Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forever more! Wow! Do not be evil and you will dwell FOREVERMORE! It's so much better to focus living a righteous life than to fret over those who are wicked. Wait on the LORD. Do it with a happy heart :) Mark the perfect man and behold the upright...Surround yourself with upright, outstanding people and you will be able to live a life free of fretting, evil, and wickedness! And you will be blessed! God is so good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_bxP86Utc <-Such a great song btw! Listen!

Okay, I feel as though that was a bit rambly but I just got excited :) Sometimes I just wish people could see how great their lives could be and how much potential they have if they would just let God in and start living for Him and you will be so blessed!

Well, I guess I found something to talk about ;) I need to go to sleep! I am so tired and now I'm all worked up. Hopefully next time it won't take me two hours to get started on something interesting. I guess I should just start by opening my Bible because there's a lot to talk about. :) Night!!!

Ash

P.S. I made this hat! Well...Courtney made the pom pom thing on the top. But we have matching ones, hers is yellow. I just like em so much! I'm liking crocheting. :)

This is what it looks like on my head :)

One last song...

2011-11-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

I am watching Walk The Line right now as we speak...or type I suppose :) This quote comes from pretty early on in the movie and it's a quote I constantly have on my mind if someone asks me what my favorite song is or why I like a certain band or artist. Here it is:

"All right. Let's bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you were lying out in that gutter dying and you had time to sing one song. Huh? One song people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know what you felt about your time here on earth, one song that would sum you up. You telling me that's the song you'd sing? That same Jimmie Davis tune we hear on the radio all day? About your peace within, and how it's real, and how you're gonna shout it? Or would you sing something different? Something real, something you felt? Because, I'm telling you right now that's the kind of thing people want to hear..."

To me, a good song is not just because it's a certain genre or a certain singer. To me, it is the WAY it is sung. Period. If someone is singing a song and they are just going through the motions and appears as if they have no emotional connection to the story that they're singing, it just doesn't do it for me. My favorite hymns are the ones that you can so easily connect with. My favorite songs in general are ones that I can relate with and that the artist can sing so passionately. I love love LOVE that line in the movie because it just says everything that I wish musical artists would know and do. A lot of artists are strictly in it for money and fame so they don't even care what they're singing and they do not sound good. I appreciate the artists who do it because they love it and because they feel like that song and story needs to be told.

That's why I LOVE country/folk music. Most of the singers of country music are telling a story and it's easy to connect with because it's true and it's something most people have gone through. And they care about what they're saying. There is no other type of music like it. I love it.

When I think about it, I have NO idea what my last song I'd sing would be. It's definitely something to ponder because it is intriguing to think about. What would YOUR last song be? :)

Ash

Harry Potter...and other fantasies...

2011-11-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, I started reading Harry Potter books in the 3rd grade. I have always loved them. I have read every one and I've seen every movie. I am just pretty much looking for thoughts on this. I don't want to hear "HARRY POTTER IS EVIL...STAY AWAY!" I more want to hear a reason for why Harry Potter is evil? If that makes sense. I agree witchcraft is evil, wizardry is evil. To me, personally, however, I like these books because of the fantasy and it's the genre of books I like. :/ Perhaps that is bad. I do not, however, read them because I am a fan of witchcraft and wizardry...I am not pursuing a career in that. I don't want to be a witch...I like discussions and I like to hear what other people think. I am not defending witches or wizards. It's a sin. Very clearly God is against it. (Deuteronomy is it?)I am just having a hard time...Is it okay to watch and read these things if I do not believe that it's real and I don't partake in anything witchy outside of the movies?

Moving on...I LOVE reading fantasy books and watching movies about them. I (obviously) am a huge fan of Harry Potter. I love Chronicles of Narnia. I have recently got the book The Hobbit and I'm going to read the Lord of The Rings books. Is it wrong to read these books and watch the movies and enjoy it?

Next...Chronicles of Narnia was written by a Christian author. C.S. Lewis. Correct? There IS magic in the books. There is an evil white witch. The way they can even GET to Narnia is simply by magic. So, basically I'm saying because of the author's backgrounds it's okay to read Narnia but not Harry Potter? Magic is magic right?

Lord of The Rings...written by J.R.R. Tolkien. C.S. Lewis' best friend? Also a Christian. A Catholic Christian...but a Christian. I haven't read the books but I've seen all three movies numerous times. Also fantasy. Gandalf, who is (I'm not saying he IS God), portrayed as God. He dies and returns as a glowing white wizard. There we have the wizard reference again. So, LOTR vs. Harry Potter. Again, magic is magic so why is it okay for Christian's to read books about magic and wizardry when they're written by a Christian author and not books about magic and wizardry when it's written by someone who has not expressed to be a Christian in any way?

Basically, I am just wondering everyone's views. I know many people who do not feel it's okay for Christian's to read Harry Potter. I know many people who've never even read them but are way against them. I want to know what makes it okay to read Narnia and LOTR but NOT Harry Potter. (P.S. I LOVE Narnia and LOTR so this is not me hating on those series.)

In every story there HAS to be a good guy and a bad guy. A protagonist and an antagonist. It's not an enjoyable story without one. In Harry Potter, it's Harry Potter and his friends against the Dark Lord Voldemort. In LOTR it's Gandalf and Frodo against Sauron and all of his evil things and people under him. In Narnia (Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) it's Aslan against the White Witch. I'm just saying.

I would enjoy hearing what some other people think, again, not just saying you hate the series' but WHY you have such distaste for them. :)

Ash

Why don't I sleep? I will never know.

2011-10-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I am trying hard to keep up with this thing. I am just so busy!!! Let's see. So, on Saturday I went and babysat for a lady I work with. She has 3 kids so it was busy and fun! On Sunday I went to church in the morning then went to church at night. Quite exciting. Monday I didn't really do much, Tuesday, Karla had a 31 party at her house and that was pretty fun. I like seeing people and eating yummy treats. :) Wednesday night I went to Courtney's house and watched Bye, Bye Birdie. I loved that movie! I'd never seen it before and I thought it was so funny! I definitely want to learn all the dance moves and the songs keep getting stuck in my head! Today I went to Michael's...the store...they had a yarn sale *sigh* I don't know if getting excited about a yarn sale makes me an old lady or something but it made my day pretty swell.

As I mentioned above, on Sunday I went to two church services. Since my home church Freshwater started having a 5:00 p.m. service I have recently started (not regularly) attending a Baptist church in Waconia on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. I like going to it and I really like singing hymns! There is just something about hymns that gets me. I LOVE Freshwater as my church and the music there but hymns are just so special. I really like all the people that go to that church also. They are all so friendly! :) So, I like to go there in the mornings and get my dose of "old school" music and then go to Freshwater at night and worship in a more modern style.

Music is kind of a touchy subject at a lot of churches for some reason. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not quite positive why? Some people are SO dead set against contemporary music and some people can't stand to sing hymns. And it's not just how they feel but every opportunity they get they like to express how "awful" today's music is. I don't agree. I am also pretty positive God enjoys hearing us worship Him however we feel most comfortable doing it. If I do recall I believe Zephaniah 3:17 says something about God rejoicing with us in singing. I personally love all sorts of music. I'm not about to pounce on someone for the way they like to worship our great and mighty God. I'm just sayin ;) Then again, maybe it's just me...

Anyway! After that little schpeel I am going to go to bed. It's 1 am and I have to go tye dye "Harvest" shirts with 17 four year olds tomorrow. Wish me luck!

love.love.love
Ash

I just can't make a right, with all of my wrongs...

2011-10-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Lately, I feel as though I can't do anything right! I feel like even if I try to do something good and right, it turns out being awful and wrong. I do not know why why why.

It has been a pretty stressful week, a lot of emotional things going on. I am trying to just be happy and joyful, but sometimes it's hard. How come it is so easy to have a bad, negative attitude, than to be happy? Happiness is hard work sometimes.

I'm going to go crochet my thoughts away....

Did you all know that I crochet? I actually love it. :) Anyway, that's what I'm going to go do.

lovelovelove
A

Friday

2011-10-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

I am SO happy it's Friday. Don't get me wrong. I love my job and I love the fact that I have a job BUT weekends are so nice. Tonight I am going to eat chips with some queso and tomorrow I'm going to babysit my favorite kids and Sunday is church. Ohhh how wonderful. :) Happy weekend yay yay yay.

Ways that I have been blessed...

2011-10-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

Psalm 34:8
"O taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him."

Ok, so I haven't really paid much attention to my blessings as of late. (Bad Ashleigh) I DO focus on daily blessings when I pray like, "God thank you for this beautiful day, thank you for this food...blah blah blah blah blah...." But, I haven't really been focusing on big blessings. I went back and was reading some of my past writings on here...things I was praying for and whatnot.

You know what? My relationship with my dad is great. I mean, it can always be better...that's usually the case. But, from where we were 5 years ago. MAN times have changed. Things are good! That is just a huge blessing.

I am blessed with a WONDERFUL job where I work with wonderful people. Absolutely wonderful people. There really isn't a day where I wake up and don't want to go to work. (Except for in August when I had strep throat but that doesn't count because I really felt like dying.) I enjoy my job and what I do and who I see everyday. I get to work with awesome kids. BTW can I just say that I love kids? They're so great, ya know, they just don't care at all where you come from or what you've done in the past and they still just love the guts out of you. (Weird analogy? Yes.)

I also have a wonderful house to live in at the moment and it's really great and the timing and everything involved in me moving in here was a blessing.

The thing I am the most thankful for, however, (which might not be good to be my favorite blessing?) are my FRIENDS! The people that God has put in my life are just ridiculous and I have no idea why I get to have the greatest people in the world as my friends. I love them to pieces and I do not have ANY clue why in the world I am so lucky to have them in my life. I have people that I can talk to about anything and who will pray for me and who will talk to me and be straight up with me about anything and they're not scared to do it. I feel SO unworthy of friends like that. I don't deserve it at all.

Anyway, I'm tired. Going to bed. I need to work tomorrow. I am so excited for the weekend. It's been a long tiresome week, but I enjoyed every minute of it. ;)

love-love-love
Ash

It's been awhile...again.

2011-10-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been about 4 lightyears since I lastupdated this. I'll try and update with a short version. In April, I moved out of Karla and Mike's house and I moved to Waconia where I now reside in a cute little townhome and I enjoy it quite a bit. Nothing really happened in May. June was my birthday. 22 WOO HOO...not :/ Kidding. Also, in June I went to a Taylor Swift concert. :) July...had 4th of July in Red Wing with Courtney's family. It was SO fun. I'm just sayin. August was really hot. September was cooler. Also, in September I went to Kansas to visit Kristen, Lauren, and Kaelin. That was also a wonderful time. Long drive though. :) Last weekend (October) I went to a women's retreat with our church and it was AWESOME. We had a fantastic speaker. Her name is Debbie Griffith and if anyone ever gets the chance to listen to her...do it. She is great.

SO...Those are the details by month. Other things that I don't remember when I started...I learned how to play the BANJO. Well, I'm still learning. It's a very tough instrument to learn. But, so far, I love it. Also, Courtney and I rented a lot at a community garden and that was HARD! Very fun though. We learned a lot and got a few veggies out of it. Somewhere along the line I stopped being a Swifty. (Taylor Swift fanatic.) I'm still a fan...just not a fanatic. I have become quite a big fan of Loretta Lynn however. Anyway. I'm so tired and I think I'm getting sick. So, sorry so short. I'll try and keep up this time. I just don't think I'm interesting enough for people to care about my posts. Apparently people do read this though.

My favorite boy :)

My favorite people :)

Love my grammy and my Kathy

My dearest friend :)

Two in one week...I know...shocking ;)

2011-02-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

So, when I updated my blog the other day I decided to go back and read all of the other blogs I've posted since I started. WOW I used to be, maybe, one of the most unhappy people ever! I was not in a good place in life. Even after I started going to Crown last year I was not the most joyous. It's just kind of funny how much you can change. I've sort of always thought I've been the same person as always...I guess I was wrong. I am so thankful that God put me at the places I'm at right now. I live with the most awesome cousins, I have an awesome job where I get to play with kids all day, and I have an awesome boss, and a few awesome friends around too. So, for the first time since I've started my blog, I am happy. :)

my happy self ;)

love-love-love

One year later....

2011-02-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I haven't updated since Valentine's Day of LAST YEAR. So, I will update a little on my life since then...Let's see.

On April 7th of last year I started working at Freshwater Learning Center. (A daycare at the church I go to) I didn't want to work there really but I got persuaded to go for an interview and the rest is history...a couple weeks later Jen and Josh showed up on our doorstep. They came back from Vermont for awhile. Yay!

In May, school got done and I moved in with Karla and Mike and Caleb. :) We are one happy little family.

In June, the Anderson's (the owners of the house we all live in) came back from Indonesia for 6 weeks so we had to move out...for 6 weeks. I moved in with Jenny and I mowed A LOT of lawn, weeded lots of garden, learned lots about life and had a great time. :) In July I went to Vermont for two weeks with Jen and had the BEST time! We went to New York quite a bit and stayed at her parent's lake cabin on the most beautiful lake I've ever seen. (Lake George) We also went to New Hampshire for a weekend where Josh (her husband) was building a roller coaster and I had such an awesome time! I made great friends while I was there too and it was the highlight of my summer. When I got back from Vermont, I moved back in with Karla and Mike and I still live here with them. I'm very thankful they have given me such a great place to live and I love living with them and getting to see Caleb grow up into such a BOY! :) I love him.

In August I still couldn't decide what I wanted to do about school. I have always hated school and have never been good at it so I didn't really want to go back. Every time I had even begun to think about school I always felt so unsettled and nervous and just uneasy about it. I met with Courtney, my boss, and we talked a lot and for a long time about school and work and whatnot and I decided that I would just take a little while off school and just work for now. It was the first time pretty much since school had ended in May that I had finally felt at peace about everything. So, now I am an assistant in the Toddler room. I never knew I could love twelve 2-year-olds so so much all at the same time. :) They are all very energetic and fun and crazy and wild and sometimes they drive me so CRAZY but I love them all to death. :) I love all the people I work with and it's really been a great time working there.

In September...Caleb turned 1. Woo hoo!!! That was a fun party :) Also, friend Scotty got married. :) Man, do I miss her but I'm happy she's happy :)

In November we decided to drive to Kansas to say goodbye to Kevin before he left for Iraq. So, Karla, Mike, Caleb, Kathy, Kyle, and I drove 8 hours to see Kevin, Kristen, Lauren, and Kaelin. :) I got the flu the first day we were there so that was no bueno (good) but besides that the trip was so much FUN!!! I miss living next door to Kevin and Kristen and I can't wait to see them again when Kevin gets home!!!

Later in November we home for Thanksgiving and drove home in the WORST snowstorm of all time! It took us 6 hours to get home when it is normally only about 3.5 hours. That's pretty much all I can remember from that trip. :)

In December I took a week off of work and went home for Christmas break. It was a fun time and I got to hang out with my sibs, but it's just not easy to be at home after being on my own for so long. I guess "they're" right when "they" say 'You can't go home again.'

In January...let's see....started off by going to the New Year's Party at the Rodriguez house. Which was a BLAST. So much fun ;) Other than that...January was just really cold. Oh, and grandma turned 80! :)

February...it's been nice so far. It's been suuuper warm out and I love it! Today it was almost 50 degrees out. :)

I'll try to update more but don't hold me to it...my computer is broken. :\ Love you all.

Ash.

P.S. I still love Taylor Swift...so if anyone knows her....thanks.

A few pics from the past year...pictures can't even say 1000 words...

I love my little Sharkbait, Scavenger, Scaleb, Monkey, Little Man...so many nicknames...love him to pieces :)

I have the coolest boss and the coolest friend.

Elena, my "sister"

In disguise ;)

The people who have been SO great to me in the past year.

My great cousin and FRIEND :)

I love him.

~L-o-V-e~

2010-02-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

Ok. It's Valentines Day. WOO HOO. Except not...I used to think Valentines Day was ALL about having a boyfriend/husband/significant other....whatever. That's what most people have built it up to be anyway. So obviously...I hate this day. Haha. I'm single! Today in church, Karla pointed something out to me. The meaning of Valentines Day isn't about being IN love. It's about being loved. Period. I realized how loved I am. Sometimes it's hard to feel that way. If your friends forget about you, or you don't hear from your parents in awhile, things like that. It's not that way at all, and actually, it's the exact opposite. I am so loved by God, my friends, my parents, and my family! How lucky am I? Some people don't know about God's love for us and they don't have any parents or family. With all that said, I am thankful to be so loved by so many people and to have people for me to love back!

I haven't written in awhile....it's not because I don't want to it's because I don't know WHAT to write. So I was just thinking about ALL of the awesome stuff I've done in just 6 months. Everything I've done is such a blessing from God and I know He sent all of these people and things in my direction on purpose. It was no accident they're in my lives today...Here's what has gone on:

-I went to a new school-I played volleyball for the first time in 3 years
I made so many new friends
-Lost a lot of friends
-Missed a lot of friends
-Became best friends with a 2 year old
-Made Caleb giggle more times than I can count and I love it every time (:
-Taken a TON of pictures
-Loved both my new baby cousins so so so much
-Kept a secret
-Ran out of money
-Found $20 (:
-Gone bowling
-Gotten closer to God
-Sinned-Been forgiven
-Passed every world on Mario
-Played so many basketball games after 9 pm I don't know what do to about it
-Made cupcakes (:
-Said Goodbye
-Babysat-Surprised someone
-Let someone down
-Had pink hair-Seen more episodes of Dora the Explorer than I ever thought possible
-Watched a lot of One Tree Hill
-Read every book in the New Testament
-Started drinking milk (:...every day ha
-Ate a carrot!
-Colored a lot of princess pictures with Ella
-Played a lot of Play-doh too
-Eaten a TON of good meals at Jenny's and Karla's
-Had a crush
-Lost the crush quickly
-Made people laugh
-Had people make me laugh
-Ate cheesecake
-Got my wisdom teeth pulled (ouch)
-Watched a lot of Care Bears
-Got my car stuck....got it un-stuck....had the power steering go out...Josh fixed the power steering
-Passed all of my first semester classes
-Did a lottttt of laundry (:

Anyway, that's a glimpse into my life. And the love that's in it. So many blessings. Karla, Mike, Caleb, Kevin, Kristen, Lauren, Gram, Gramp, Mom, Dad, Kathy, Jenny, Josh, Ella, Avery, Christina, Emily, Naomi, Katie, Ashley W., Ashley F...................there's SO many more! That's all I have for now. Hopefully it wasn't boring (: LOVELOVELOVE

xoxo
ash

thankful......

2010-01-14T21:13:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been thinking about how a lot of people take things for granted....In Old Testament History today we talked about if people really valued their lives and the lives of others. Some people made super good points like a lot of people value their own lives but not the lives of others. And they really would do anything to save their own life but would they really step in front of a car or a bullet for someone else? It really made me think about a lot of stuff and what I am thankful for. I think, me personally, I take a lot of things for granted like friendships and just relationships I have with people. Like, I am so thankful that here at school I have the friends that I have. They have really taught me SO much about everything. I have grown so much as a person because of them. Also, living here, has made me so thankful for Karla and Mike, and Jenny and Josh. They live so close! I love being able to go visit them and spend time with them. They are so so so good to me and I don't think I really deserve it but they take SUCH good care of me. I'm also sooo thankful for Ella! She is only two so I don't really think about what a great blessing she is to my life...but she can make me smile ANYTIME. Seriously. One afternoon with her and it can make my week. She brightens everything up for me and makes it so much fun for me to clear my head of my stressful college life and just color or play tag with my little 2 year old BFF. :) I am going to try to be more thankful for these things...well I guess I know personally that I am thankful for these things....but, I am going to try to let these people know how thankful I am for them and how much they've blessed my life. I hope someday I can impact some people like these people have impacted me!

xoxo:)

i have no blog title...

2010-01-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

I've had the BEST weekend! So, Thursday night a bunch of us went out to eat for Jenny's birthday, it was soo fun! Then Friday, I dyed Christina's hair dark brown (it looks SO good btw) and after I did that I went over to Jenny and Josh's house and she made a delicious dinner and we played the wii. It was just so nice and relaxing to hang out with good friends and not be stressed. Saturday I went bowling with them and went over to some other friends house for dinner (enchiladas...soo good :) ). It was just so fun and I loved hanging out. Today (Sunday) I went over to Grandy's for some roast beef dinner. It was so yummy. Then we went sledding! It was such a good day. After I got back I took a nap and then went and hung out with Teens and Em. I love those two. They are seriously some of the best friends I've ever had. :)

Moving on. I have been struggling a lot with worth, and just feeling worthy of my friends and feeling like I have had a good impact on people. I have been feeling like if I never would have met people it wouldn't be any different without me in their lives. I had an amazing talk with Christina tonight and she told me to read Psalm 8. I really got focused on verses 3-5. I didn't know why but i read the study help things on the bottom of the page and it says that we must compare ourselves to his greatness. We have to remember that God considers us extremely valuable and great because He MADE us. If we feel unworthy or like we are so flawed and don't deserve anything, it's pretty much disrespecting God. If you made something for someone and they never used it or wore it and just kept it hidden in a closet for no one to see you would feel pretty bad and feel a little disrespected right? Well, I think that by focusing on the things that are wrong with us and feeling ugly, or unworthy, we are saying that God is unworthy of our praises to Him and that is not right. He is great. And He is worthy and amazing.

I'm so thankful and amazed by God and the things that he does for us. He created us and gives us everything we need and He takes care of us. Instead of feeling unworthy and not beautiful, I think that I need to focus on the person He has made me and the gifts I have been given by Him and feel good about it. Because He is truly good.

Psalm 8:
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

some bowling pictures :)

I'm On A Roll :)

2010-01-07T22:23:00.001-08:00

Ok. Being back at school is AMAZING. Home was getting a little boring and testy. Anyway, it's already been so good to be back and it's only been 26 hours. :) So, let's see...what's on my mind?? Well, my friend Christina introduced such a great song to me called your love remains. (or something like that.) Anyway, it's such an awesome song. We just talked about this last night how cool God is. Like, as humans we get upset with one another and often our love falters for one another and it's kind of an up and down road. I personally think it's natural. You can love all people, but sometimes you just don't like them, and that's hard. We get mad for just maybe a minute at a person in our lives and the love level might drop...even if it's just for a split second. But God's love NEVER falters and it always always always remains! It's so crazy to me that He can keep such a high, intense level of love the same forever. No matter how much we sin or make Him sad, his love is ALWAYS there. He will never leave us. How awesome is that. Never, ever in our lives will we ever find someone who consistently loves us the same. And no matter how alone and sad we feel He is always there. How COOL! :)

Anyway, I got back from Christmas break yesterday. It was ok. Not going to lie it was really great to catch up on sleep and see family and stuff but I was SO ready to come back. It's hard to not fight with my sisters and my dad and to remember to always love them no matter what they say or do. Which brings me to a goal I've made. Or perhaps not really a "goal" but something in my life that I want to work on to improve? I'm going to TRY to love always. For instance, with my dad no matter how angry he makes me or what he does or says that I don't agree with to just love love love and always forgive.

I learn SO much from my friends at Crown. Christina taught me something yesterday. Something to think about. Forgive people before they hurt you. And love them and keep forgiving them. Before Jesus was crucified He asked God to forgive these people because they knew not what they were doing. How awesome is that? It just made me think a LOT about how people hurt us and forsake us and it's so hard to forgive. But Jesus forgave these men who were killing Him. So noble.

ANYWAYYYYY---
Today was the first day of classes. I only had one. Old Testament History. I think it's going to be very interesting. Other than that I'm pretty sure I just have teaching classes to take.

Tonight I went with Karla out to eat for Jenny's birthday. It was so fun! I'm so thankful for Karla and the people she has brought to my life. Her friends are so cool to me and I really look up to all of them as great role models. It was a real fun night :)

I'm so so so thankful for the things and people I've gained from this past couple of months. Hopefully things will work out financially so I can come back next year. I don't know what else I would do. :\\ I suppose if I am meant to be here God will find a way to provide for me.

OK, this is a long one because I get excited when I learn new things about Jesus and how cool He is :)

LOVE-LOVE-LOVE
xoxo
ash:)

P.S. Shoutout to Sam HAHA.

because teens did it :)

2009-12-29T22:59:00.001-08:00

Ok. So my last post was in May....it's been awhile and ALOT has happened...let me tell you.

I decided to stop playing basketball....I don't really like to say I "quit" because I don't feel like I really quit on it. I stopped loving basketball and it wasn't something that was fun anymore. Who wants to do something that's not fun?? So, I was done with that. I didn't want to go back to Mayville if I wasn't going to be playing basketball because I knew that it would just get me in trouble and I'd end up hanging out with the wrong people...and that's never good. I decided to go to school at Bemidji for this year so I could hang out with my BFF Brady and watch him play basketball. Well, that didn't happen...I didn't get the application in on time so I decided I was just going to live at home, work at Teal's, and take a semester off of school. (Living the dream right???...NOT) The whole summer Jenny and Karla were telling me that I should give Crown College a try...just for a semester. And if I didn't like it I could leave. No big deal....right? So about a week before classes were scheduled to start everywhere I mailed in an application to Crown College. Not expecting to get into any school at all at that time in the summer. It was just kind of something I was doing just so I could say "I tried". I kind of was hoping I wouldn't get into school. I think I was scared? I didn't know anyone at Crown. No friends. Nothing. TOTALLY out of my comfort zone. Well, my worst fear came true...haha...I got accepted the DAY BEFORE school started. Nice timing huh? I'm never one who is on time so I guess I should have expected it. Well, I got to school and HATED it. Of course. I wasn't making any friends and I was trying to do as many things as I could off campus so I wouldn't have to be there. Well, I ran into my friend (well not really friend at the time) Naomi. She's from Pine River. I have played sports against her for my whole life and I've never liked her. Then I found out we went to the same school. Haha. Ironic. Anyway, she asked me why I wasn't playing volleyball....I had no answer so she got me to talk to the coach and come to practice. To make this ridiculously long story short....I ended up being able to play on the volleyball team at Crown and I actually didn't do awful for not playing for three years. It surprised me. Well, playing on the volleyball team made me not hate being there and I met a TON of great people through it. Going to Crown is such a God thing I think...well actually I KNOW. I didn't ever think I'd end up going here and now it's the greatest decision that I've made. There are friends at Crown that I've met that I don't know how I would have made it through life without. It's only Christmas break right now and I can't even deal with being apart from those people for 3 weeks. Haha.

Anyway. What else has happened?? Gramp had heart surgery. I moved to college. OOOHHHH Karla and Kristen had babies!!!! Oh they are just the sweetest babies ever. I love both of them SSSSOOOOO much. Caleb and Lauren. :) I just love little kids. They make everything ok. Like seriously, everything. Any time I have a bad day I just go to Karla's and hang out there for awhile and I feel like 400X better!

Speaking of hanging out....I also love Crown because it's so so so close to my Karla baby and so close to Jenny. So, I get to see them so much now and I get to see Baby Ella a TON more and I love it. (even though she's not really a baby anymore:)) But, she is one of my favorite people of all time. :)

So....with all of this I don't know what else to say....I'm still working on my deep, spiritual self. I guess that's something I can pray for. I've been praying a lot for wisdom and patience lately....I don't know what for really but I just have this feeling it's something I need to develop. I think my mom would definitely agree haha. I also need to pray for my relationship with my dad....it's hard to pray for something like that. Something that's hurt you so much...but I guess it's the only way you can ever get over something is with God's help and also the only way a person can change. There's always HOPE (teens;)) in God....never lose that. Definitely something I've learned.

Anyway....I'm not much of a ranter....but hopefully I will remember to keep updating this thing. It's nice to write things down. It's easy to get these feelings out when you can't always talk to people about them. I like it....I should keep up with it. Not making any promises :)
LOVELOVELOVE
ash
xoxo <-:)

p.s. I'm still the same person....just really different. :) I still love One Tree Hill and Taylor Swift. And I'm still pretty silly....haha.

see :) still silly

saddest day

2009-05-21T18:21:00.001-07:00

my mom just pushed me off of her lap onto the floor i may have a slight crack in my femur bone. i should be fine though. i'm going to continue to pursue my dancing career.

sdfghjk

2009-05-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

ugh. i am so so so sick of school. it's like i have tons to do but no time. :S and i need to make some money asap. ahhh. anyway. that's pretty much it. i'm just sick of school. later....

UGH

2009-04-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

ok well i'm SOOO sick of school. hah. i was home last weekend....i got to hang out with susie :) i haven't seen her in awhile so that was fun. i am also broke so i worked on sunday. fun. then i went to a concert with brady at northern lights. it was so sweet! im so so so stressed out with homework and finals and money and everything coming to an end. i just do not know what to do. ahhhh anyway....just thought i'd update. TTYL!

me and brady at the concert

well hello

2009-04-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hi. Well, happy Easter! I'm back in Mayville now :S My Easter was pretty good. I can't wait for summer though. I'm sick of the murky weather. I don't know what I'm going to do next year though. I can't decide whether to try and make it at Crown or to maybe just go to BSU or something. :S IDK. I might want to take the first semester off just to make some money..I have none right now haha. I got to hang out with Brady on Sunday night. He is just my best friend. I don't know what i would do without him. It's so fun hanging out with my old friends from high school. I hope I can finish off the rest of the school year pretty well so I can get some good grades going out. If any of you didn't know I won't be going back to Mayville State next year. I'm also not going to play basketball anywhere. I just felt like it was time to be done with it. I pretty much have no idea what I want to do with the next couple years. Ha ha. Also, last week someone I didn't know well, but I knew, passed away. Brodie Camp from Bagley. He got in a car accident just outside of Bemidji. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt and his car flipped over. I will always put my seatbelt on from now on. I feel so bad for his family. They were all real close. Also, his girlfriend Katie is doing ok from what I've heard but it's just so so sad! Ok well....just thought I'd update. :) Talk to you all later!

Brady's goofy hair haha

Me and Brady back in 11th Grade

...4 months later :)

2009-03-25T00:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry I have not updated in AGES. Anyway. I've been up to quite a bit lately. North Dakota is pretty much under water on this side of it. I went sandbagging in Fargo on Monday then yesterday I went down to the pizza place at the bottom of the hill in Mayville and the water is up to the windows on that building. :*( I was out sandbagging for 5 and a half hours yesterday. (Tuesday) Then I fell asleep at 6 pm and woke up at 2 am. My sleep schedule is messed up now :S Now it is snowing out and everything is freezing. I can't believe this is happening. It's so devastating to everyone who are losing their houses and such. :( Ok, I'm going to go. I'll try to keep up to date. :) Pray for the flood!!! It's supposed to be much worse than '97. :( Goodnight!!!

Taylor Swift is So Smart! (-:

2008-11-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

To me, fearless is not the absence of fear, it’s not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. Fearless is falling madly in love again, even though you’ve been hurt before. Fearless is walking into your freshman year of high school at fifteen. Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again…even though every time you’ve tried before, you’ve lost. It’s fearless to have faith that someday things will change. Fearless is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can’t breathe without them. I think it’s fearless to fall for your best friend, even though he’s in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for things they’ll never stop doing, I think it’s fearless to stop believing them. It’s fearless to say ‘you’re NOT sorry’, and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is fearless. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is fearless. Letting go is fearless. Then, moving on and being alright…that’s fearless too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince charmings and happily ever after. I think love is fearless.

Taylor Swift wrote this in the booklet to her new album. She is incredible. She is 6 months YOUNGER than I am and she has won so many awards and has 2 CDs out...all of which she wrote herself. She's written every single song on both CDs. Crazy how someone can be SO young but so talented. To me though, it's not all these awards and stuff that make her cool to me. I am impressed with what a humble person she is and how cool she is to her fans. I don't know...I just am a super duper big fan (-:

Anyways.....besides my addiction to Taylor Swift....things are pretty good...school is going good. I need to get more sleep though. I'm constantly tired and taking naps during the day. Homework isn't TOO bad. But it's still homework (-: Oh and I was really sad yesterday to hear that Vennard College is closing )-: I have met so many great friends from there and I hope they are all doing ok. Ok well I must go. Have a good day! (-:

me and misti

2008-10-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

waiting waiting waiting

2008-10-12T20:25:00.001-07:00

hello0 all. i'm just sitting here now in my friend misti's apartment here in mayville. she's taking a shower so i'm waiting for her to finish up. her and i went to grand forks today to go grocery shopping. it was so fun. we swapped stories about how fun our grandma's were and how we both agreed that grandma's are the best at everything. i had a good time. misti is also one of my best friends. i've met alot of great people at mayville and i'm so thankful that misti came back this year so i could get to know her. she's an amazing friend. she played bball at mayville her freshman year (2 years ago) and she ended up quitting and going to cosmetology instead and now she ended up back here playing basketball again. everything happens for a reason i suppose. i'm glad she came back!!!

we had practice today....our coach is soo soo intense. sometimes practices are fun because of it and sometimes they're stressful because of it. he's a good coach though.

oh yes! i forgot. yesterday i spent ALL DAY at my new friend cassie braaten's house...cassie is misti's brother's girlfriend...andddd anyways...she dyed my hair BLONDE. its crazy. i haven't had light hair in such a long time! i like it alot though so i think i will keep it this way for awhile.

ok well it sounds like she's done now so i hope everyone is good. love you all!

i'm tired

2008-10-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

well...let's see here. we started basketball last week. it's actually pretty exciting although i am deathly tired all the time from it. i try to get at least one nap a day in. haha. i'm still awful awful awful with accounting. :( i hope the tutor emails me back to help me. umm our first game is on the 24th at home so i'm super excited for that. oh we play at BSU on november 25th so everyone should come watch!!!!! ok well i'm going to get going just wanted to update you. byeee.

accounting is awful

2008-09-16T08:05:00.001-07:00

ok hello everyoneeee. i'm in my accounting class right now and i don't understand how to do this AT ALL so i figured i'd update this. probably not a good substitution but oh well. i hate this class i'm so awful with it. and the tutor is NEVER available. i need to figure out a solution ASAP.

in other news....school is still...well...school. so awful i hate homework. more than anything. ugh i'm really frustrated with it. basketball is good actually. i did throw up from conditioning the other day but i'll make it.

i am hoping i'll be able to make it home this weekend...it's been awhile since i've been back. :( then hopefully hopefully i'll be able to try and go to the cities to visit my karla. i miss her lots and lots....i do miss all of you too though :)

ok well i am going to try to attempt to understand what in the world is going on in this class...if you have any ways to help me let me know :) thanks alotttt!

♥ash

hiiii

2008-09-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

hello everyone. i am ok i'm not dead...i just haven't updated in awhile. haha. well just updating....just telling everyone hello...:) have a fantastic day

=))

2008-08-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

hello. i'm at home. i actually love it. later tonight i'm hanging out with brady. :) and tomorrow is his birthday and birthday dinner and his mom invited me...haha...i'm excited. double :) :) i am not looking forward to friday. i have to go back to mayville and go to the cities tow ork at the rennisance festival and pick up garbage for a fundraiser for bball. UGH. i hate it. i'm not looking forward to school either. i'm already stressing. grr. ok well anyways im going to get back to my good night :) later everyone

ugh

2008-08-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

ive been back in mayville for like 15 min and i'm already just frustrated. i'm not looking forward to school starting or bball starting. i just want it to be summer break forever. i hope the year goes by fast. i am trying to get back to cass lake as often as i can because once basketball starts i'll never make it home. i'm just in a grumpy mood right now. ok well i have to go to work now. later.

FAM RE!

2008-07-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

hey all. well sorry so so sorry about the like 3 month stretch where i didn't write anything. oh well. haha. i am here now! we just got done with the family reunion. i love those so much! my family could quite possibly be thee coolest family...ever. they're awesome. well i don't have much to write. i have to go back to mayville today...suck. oh well. i'll put up some pics. :) later.

me and my friend isaac! :) <3

me and annika!
all grandma's girls :)
auntie cindy and elizabeth and cara
grandma and isaac :)

disappointment

2008-05-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

so...it's 3:49 am right now. i was hungry and couldn't sleep. so i thought i would try and make my first batch of cream of wheat by myself. it tastes nothing like grandma's and i'm severely disappointed in myself....i will let you know if things turn out better in the next batch. i will not give up.

this is blog #2 for the day. scroll down!!!

2008-05-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhvaDJTUmrU

GO to this site and watch. oh man its so good i haven't stopped watching!!!

i'm wide awake and it's morning

2008-05-26T07:27:00.001-07:00

hello all. i'm so bored. just sitting at ali's all by myself. bored. haha i really don't know what to do today. just looking for enough determination to get up and work out because i know i need to. it's just a matter of whether or not i do it. i went home this weekend. pretty fun to see all my high school friends again. i haven't seen them in basically a year. so that was fun. sorry for such a short post but i guess nothing new has happened!!!! havea great memorial day! ~ash

Dear Jessica:

2008-05-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

OOOK! so the reason i titled this "dear jessica" is because she always gets on me for not updating this! haha. sooo here it is! i'm back in mayville! after a much needed time away. last week i stayed with KARLA...oh how i love her soo much! i will tell you about my week.

monday: i just pretty much hung out at karla's and watched one tree hill all day. then that night we had people over which i wrote about in my previous blog! it was so fun! i love karla's friends! then after they left we walked to jubilee and got ice cream and made strawberry milkshakes! so fun.
tuesday: i went and hung out with jenny and ella. SO fun! i love both of them. we went and ate at perkins, then went grocery shopping, then she made dinner and we watched a movie! jenny is so easy to talk to and i had a GREAT day with her.
wednesday: i drove down to columbia heights where 2 of my volleyball coaches, jen and lisa, live. this day was also a blast! we went downtown minneapolis in jen's sweet convertible spyder! and we ate at a restraunt called "noodles and company" i had the mac and cheese. it was AMAZING mmm. :) then we went to ben and jerry's and got some ice cream and just walked around. then we got back to their house and walked to the park and played some frisbee and football. and that is how i got my sunburn. :) but it was totally worth it! then we just went back and hung out for awhile and then i drove back to karla's house and hung out. it's always fun to just hang out with my karla baby!
thursday: this was my last day at karla's. :( tear! this day i woke up and hung out for awhile. by myself :) then i decided to drive to st. boni and find a park so i played basketbal for about an hour there. then i drove to chanhassen to karla's school and played basketball with all the 1st grade boys and showed em how to really play ball! =P that was fun. THENNN i drove all the way to watertown to help jenny with ella and after we got back from the rummage sale we waited for karla and then the 4 of us went out to eat. perfect way to end the week.
friday: i woke up and got on the road! back to cass lake i went!

that was a great week for me just hanging out with karla. i had so much fun...then i finally got home and we had a suprise birthday party on friday for grandpa at dave's pizza...and guess who didn't show up??? GRANDPA! haha! he is so silly. we just decided to go see him after we got done eating. then the next day we had a huge bash at our house for him. he had NO idea most of his brothers and sisters would be there! it was a sucessful suprise! so much fun! i love seeing all my relatives! well most of them. i wish alot more of them could have come! but it was fun. then yesterday i arrived back in mayville and things went back to normal. but sometimes i like normal.

i hope everyone's week was as fun as mine was!!! things are getting better with me i think...
i love you all!!!!! ~ash

i love to be at karla's!

2008-05-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

so i'm just here....chillen with my cousin karla. she is amazing. i love hangin out with her and mike. so much fun. yesterday i got here and we just kind of hung out and we ate some yummy pizza! garlic bread pepperoni. soo good. anyways...that was fun. then today while her and mike were at work i just sat around and watched my season 3 of one tree hill...and ok day. then tonight jenny and ella and scotty and tracee and tami and chloe and eli came over and we all had spaghetti! it was so fun! tomorrow after i wake up and drink my yummy coffee that karla makes and leaves for me...i am going to drive over to jenny's house and hang out with her and ella for the day. they are so much fun! ella is sooooo cute. i will try and take a picture and get it up. you need to meet her. then i'm totally pumped for wednesday as well...i'm going to drive to columbia heights over by minneapolis and visit my friends lisa and jen. they were my volleyball coaches/friends from my club team last year in brainerd. i love them alot they're so much fun...anyways...that's it for tonight. maybe i'll write more tomorrow and update you on my whole life....maybe. =]] ok well love you all. peace.

UGH

2008-04-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

today is a day full of ugh. i'm sick of school. it's rainy outside. ugh. just ugh. we have weights today and i'm NOT excited. but whatever. and this dumb girl is making me so mad. i don't want to be her friend and i've told her that yet she INSISTS on bugging me and picking fights. and then getting other people on her side. WHATEVER. stupid stupid high school girls. ok well hope everyone's day is well. i'm going home next weekend. yay. i get to leave this drama filled school. =]] i love it here. have a good day.

hello there.

2008-04-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

hey what's up everyone. ok well I haven't written on here in pretty much ages. nothing new has happened. I'm still just a boring kid in Mayville. =]] A week or so ago Ashton, Ali, Matt (Ali's husband), and I went to look at a house we might rent next year. It's pretty nice. I like it. So it's exciting because we might get it and finally have a house to live in with roommates!! Yay! Haha. Um besides that nothing really new has happened. I got really sick last week...I had a temperature of 103 degrees. Then I got a fever blister from it which really made me mad because it looks DISGUSTING. It's kind of falling off and peeling off now...sounds gross...but it feels good. Oh! A couple weeks ago I broke my nose a lil bit. We were scrimmaging each other and Kelli's arm came across my face and we both heard my nose crunch. :S It was yucky. Anyways....I dont' know if much else is going on right now....The weather outside is sooo beautiful I just want to go play catch!!!! Oh here's something else...last week on saturday we had our basketball banquet...It was kind of bittersweet. We had to finally let all of our seniors go and understand we wouldn't play with them anymore but then again it's kind of exciting to know that next season is right around the corner! We're gonna be really really good so everyone should come watch! =]] Yes but that is all for now! Love you all...~Ash

Cassandra and I =]

Jamie and I =]

Kelli and I =]

my pretty team =]]

Well...

2008-03-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW...UGH

Ok I am sooo bored right now at work in the library. Absolutely NOTHING has happened since last time I wrote. My life is so boring. Except for the occasional time I miss class and have to think of a very creative way of making an excuse :). Right now my best friends SUCK. We're best friends for like 12 hours then we fight about something dumb again. Guess that's how it is with girls huh? I'm pretty much dating this guy named Bryce. :S Kind of something fun. I did PRAC's over Easter weekend. It's a study that they have you take a dose of a new pill they're trying out and they just test your blood over the weekend to see how it's absorbing into your blood line. Pretty interesting and I get paid $1100.00 for doing it. Anyways. I must return to this boring world i call normal. Hope everyone is doing good....~Ash

some random pictures from the past month

2008-03-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Granny and Kevin (among many) came to my playoff game!!!

me outside at the dorms :) My stud of a brother Tyler...their team is sooo good!!!

It's a brand new day.

2008-03-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well. I'm sitting here in class right now and I haven't written on here in quite sometime so I thought I would update for all of you that like to read about my extremely boring life. haha. We lost in the DAC Championship game last Sunday. It was really sad. We played so hard and it was sad to see the seniors careers end. They're all just such great people. I love them. So since then I've just pretty much been hanging out not really doing much. Being lazy which I love to do. Today I got my glasses! Yay! I've been waiting so long to see again! They're perfect! Ok, well not too much is going on in my life at this point in time so I will let you all go. I'll leave you with some pictures of whatever I can find that associates with my life. Ok talk to you all later! ~Ash

ok well this just in...it's not letting me upload pictures...i'll do it later...:)

'Nother Day 'Nother Dollar!

2008-02-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

Well hello everyone...once again...I'm bored! I think someone really bored created blogs. :) I'm sitting here in my dorm room right now watching One Tree Hill. It is by FAR my FAVORITE TV show in the whole world. I love it to death. Basically...I'm addicted.

My friends on One Tree Hill!!: Haley, Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, Nathan :)

In other news...we had a playoff game yesterday afternoon here in Mayville. The 1st home playoff game in a very, very long time so we are doing good so far. Then...the game started and we were making 3 pointer after 3 pointer. We were 9-13 in the 1st half from behind the 3 point line! It was awesome...I didn't play very many minutes in the 1st half but it's so exciting to be sitting on the bench being able to watch the game. I love it. Almost as much as playing...I love it. We were up by 10 points I think at half time. We came out in the 2nd half pretty slow. We didn't score for awhile or play good defense and before you know it we're down by 1. That's where it started. I had to sub in for Laura because she was in foul trouble. Then Cassie Leraas hit a 3...we were up by 1 and that was the last time we were that close. We were on FIRE! we ended up winning 83-52!!! It was so awesome! I got to play a lot of minutes and it felt like something was lifted off my shoulders and I remembered how to play my kind of basketball again...I wasn't scared. It was AWESOME. I had 8 points and 5 offensive rebounds...6 all together. I felt so amazing...it's almost like the first time you learn how to ride a bike, or you FINALLY learn how to play that one song on that instrument you've been working so hard at. That's what it feels like...amazing because I've worked so hard at everything and last night it finally paid off. I loved it. Our seniors were amazing. Cassie Leraas (my hero by the way) was 8-9 behind the 3 point line and she ended up with 32 points!!!!! Also, Jamie Wheeler ended up with 19 points...they played so good and they really stepped it up at the right time. It's been such a privledge getting to play with these girls. They are awesome leaders. It was a blast. Now, tomorrow night (Tuesday) we're going to Madison, South Dakota for our game we have on Wednesday. We have to play the #1 seed Dakota State...they were the team we got killed by last week. I know deep down we can pull it off though. If we win on Wednesday we only have to win 1 more game and then we get to go to NATIONALS in Sioux City, Iowa. It would be awesome if we made it that far. It hasn't happened in Mayville in awhile.

Kelli and I...we're both Freshman :)

In other news...school is going better. I got a good grade on my English paper on Friday and I think I turned in a pretty good paper for that class today. Also, I took a test today in Global Issues...it's such a hard, confusing class...and I got a B on the test!!!!! I was so pumped when i saw it on the computer that I had gotten that grade. I'm not very good at school and I get excited when I get grades like that.

Oh yeah, TONS of people came to my game yesterday to watch just ME! Chuck, Corky, Josh, Jordan, Kathy, Rodney, Kevin, Grandma T., Grandpa T., Ma, Dad, Tyler, Amanda, Whitney...ohh goodness...it was so exciting to hear them screaming when I came out of the game. My parents brought along this machine my dad got at work. It's super cool. It's like a pop machine that keeps pop cool and I can just push a button and the pop comes out the bottom. It's awesome. After the game my family and I went to Paradiso in Grand Forks. I got a Burrito Con Queso. Not going to lie, it was pretty tasty. :P hehe.

Ok, well I have a feeling this blog is gonna be pretty huge. There's just been so much going on and of course I had to fill all of you in!!!!! I hope everyone has a super week or day or whatever however long until I update again! Love Love Love, Ashleigh Ruth

P.S. BECKY AND BLAKE!!! I got your announcement today for your sweet, sweet baby Carolyn Sue! Congratulations and I am so happy for your Valentine! :) Love you!...I stole this picture. Sorry! I just wanted to show everyone how cute and adorable my new little cousin is!!!

My friend Brady Fairbanks being an AWESOME freshman at BSU...He's GREAT.

My friend Wally Szczerbiak got traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers! He's finally playing for a good team!! Here's some of his new teammates (from left): Wally, Joe Smith, Delonte West, and Ben Wallace.

UGH

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Well. We just got back last night from our last regular season game at Dakota State. We lost...actually we got killed. And to make it worse we didn't get back until 2:30 am. I got about 5 hours of sleep. I'm SO tired right now. It kind of sucks because it's our last games and I'm really getting sad because I'm gonna miss our seniors a lot next year. Especially Cassie Leraas....she's SOO good. You people have no idea. I look up to her so much. Good thing though! She's coming back to help coach next year. I'm pretty excited about that. She is an awesome person...you all should really meet her. Here's some pics of Cassie and me:

Anyways...due to basketball I have missed a lot of class lately. It really sucks. I missed a test last week in History class and I made it up this morning and I'm pretty sure I bombed it. I have missed so much of that class because we leave on Thursdays a lot and it's a Tuesday Thursday class. Hopefully when the season is over though I'll do better because I'll be in class more.

Ok, I'll put up some pictures from this road trip if I can find some. Or, I'll just put up some random ones...you never know with me. :) K hope you are all having a good day! C ya!

Ali, Nikki, Bre, and ME!

Ashton and me!

Hehe...Ali and I took this sneaky picture of Tori sleeping. :)

Here's Ali and me!!

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Right to left: Top Row: Ashton, Laura, Danielle, Ali, Nikki, Ashleigh (me :)), Lindsay, Melissa...Bottom Row: Jamie, Cassie, Tori, Erika, Bre, and Kelli. I love most of em. :)
Here's Erika, Bre, Cassie, Kelli, and Me
Erika, Cassie, Me, Kelli, Bre

I'm new at this. I have no idea how to do this. But, considering most of all my cousins have it, I thought I'd give it a try. I put some pics on of some we took with a couple girls from our team. So anyways. I hope everybody's havin an awesome day!