FIVE DAYS UNTIL KENYA!!!

Wow, hard to believe. It's getting closer. The packing adventures continue! Today I also went to school. Voluntarily. That's kind of weird. I wanted to say hi to a couple of my favorite teachers, so it was nice to see them. I looked around to see if any other of my former teachers were around, but I didn't see them. Silly summer session and the limited office hours that teachers get during it. Is it weird that typically, I'm more comfortable around my teachers than I am around my classmates? Probably. But I actually don't care, because most of my teachers are cool (I've probably mentioned the ones who aren't.... Ew). And many of my classmates can be just... I don't know, immature, sometimes. But, I'm thankfully that I've met a few people that are reasonably mature and are decent "friends". I say "friends" only because I've never really seen them outside of school. But they're still nice. I saw one of those friends today, it was cool.

Well, I should probably go to bed soon (yes, this is early-depressing). I have a lot to do tomorrow.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

SIX DAYS UNTIL KENYA!!!

I can't believe it's coming up so soon! I managed to get pretty much everything I need for this trip today. Now I just need to pack it all. This will be interesting. Not much else today, except for Potbelly's and work. And more laziness.

6 MORE DAYS!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

ONE WEEK UNTIL KENYA!!!

WOW. This is so crazy!!! I can't believe it's coming up so soon. My room is still kind of a mess. Need to get cracking on packing. I am so tired right now, thanks to work and an almost three hour Kenya meeting. But it's all good and the weather is good and I'M LEAVING FOR KENYA IN ONE WEEK!!! 7 DAYS!!!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

One Very Long-But Fun-Sunday

Here is how my day went, in a "daily report" sort of fashion.

5:50am. I woke up. If you can call it that.

7:30am. I somehow managed to eat, shower and get dressed by this time, so I leave for church.

8am. Church, with the Kenya team getting commissioned. For those unfamiliar with that term, it's basically where we get onstage, the pastor tells the congregation about our trip, then prays for our trip. Good times.

9:30am. Had a prayer brunch. Very good time, and it was nice to pray for our trip.

10:45am After the brunch, some of us discussed subjects such as how to pack a baby lion into a suitcase, how to sneak a 19 year old onto an airplane and whether to pack a guitar or a ukulele. Trust me, very important stuff to discuss. ; )

11am. Church again. Got commissioned in the contemporary service, then went to get commissioned again in the traditional service. We got commissioned like crazy. Oh, and as we were walking, some of us considered sneaking up and coming out of the baptismal tub.... But that's another story.

11:50-ish. Grabbed some Go Roma.

12:25 Arrived at work. Worked a crazy shift.

5pm Drove home from work.

6-ish. Had dinner.

8-ish. Watched Lost with Dad.

Overall, a very busy day. I'm tired (and I have to get up early tomorrow! Ugh), but it was a fun day. 8 MORE DAYS!!!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

9 days, 9 days, 9 days!!!

9 DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE!!! Weird. So weird. So surreal. Am I really going to Kenya? Well, I've got something else to look forward to. My friend Carolyn sent me an ADORABLE video about Kenya that you can hopefully view here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbYtASAakAI&playnext_from=TL&videos=YqZWVpJCfY0

I didn't know tigers were in Kenya. ; ) And now I want a free snorkel.

For most of this week, I have slept until 9am at the earliest. Since I am not a morning person, this is a good thing. Tomorrow, though, I must get up at 5:45am.... Ugh. Not fun.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

One Year Car Anniversary!

So, today, it has been exactly ONE YEAR since I got my car! One year later, I still love it. Hard to believe that it's been a year. This means it's also the one year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death (as well as Farrah Fawcett's death).

Also.... I leave in 10 DAYS. Tomorrow we're going single digits. This is getting unreal.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

A Day With No Storms

Today was sunny, hot and humid. YAY!!! I was happy that we didn't have storms. I was getting sick of rain. Let's see.... Went on my epic shopping trip to try to find stuff for Kenya. Found most of the things I needed, but shopping is still NOT my favorite activity. Got a haircut as well. My hair is 5 inches shorter than it used to be. Very few people notice the difference so far, but I think it's a huge difference. It looks good, but feels weird! At least all the split ends are gone. I was lethargic all day, not fun. That's it. Also, my room as entered the disaster zone. Because I'm starting to pack!!! 11 DAYS!!! Yes, I'm getting too excited.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Moe's Story: The Tornado Warning

So, today started out nice, got some stuff done. I went to meet a friend for lunch, which was nice. The place we went to was called Moe's, it's a Mexican place, quite tasty. Has some good variety of salsas. Saw "Toy Story 3" with the fam. Very good, but very sad at parts. I actually cried at the end, and I NEVER cry during movies. I might get emotional, but cry-normally never. It was a very bittersweet ending. Later, there was a tornado warning, not fun. I thought I was going to miss my Kenya meeting tonight, but I didn't. It was good. And I'm hoping the storms will pass. I'm so sick of storms!!!

But, 12 MORE DAYS!!!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Glass Half Empty

Ever have one of those days where no matter what, you just see the glass as half empty and not half full? Where nothing major happens, you just feel down? When it feels like the world is out to get you? Where little things bug you and you can't seem to shake your funk? I had one of those days. I don't know what triggered this. After all, I slept in, so it's not sleep deprivation. I just don't know. All I know is that, for some reason, my mind isn't thinking, "I'll be in Kenya in 14 days!!!". It's thinking, "I won't be independent for 14 months." Kind of ridiculous. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

TWO WEEKS

Two weeks until I leave. WOW. Um.... WOW. Hard to believe.

The system at work is up again! Hallelujah!!! Of course, work was so crazy busy, but at least the system is working!!! I was happy.

Watched "The Blind Side" with my fam. It was good.

That's all for now, I need to stop writing when I'm so dang tired.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Father's Day 2010

Happy Father's Day, all! I had a pretty nice day with my dad. I got him a book called "I'll Mature When I'm Dead" by Dave Barry. I've already read most of it, it's hysterical. After dinner, we watched a few episodes of Lost. So, I think he had a good day.

Tomorrow is work. Dreading it. Dreading it. Maybe I should call in sick. No, I won't. I'm incapable of doing that.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Worst Work Day Ever

I thought today would be terrible, obnoxious and a nightmare, but I hoped that we'd get somewhat close to being back to normal by the end of the day. I was so wrong. The system STILL wasn't up, and it was down ALL DAY. We got sick of saying "I'm sorry, we can't do that, our system is down"; it was so pointless for us to be open! We couldn't do anything but a few tasks! And apparently, the system will be down until the middle of the week. Once it gets back up, we have a lot of catching up to do-checking in at least 8 carts of items, trying to process holds from several days ago, attempting to keep up with our current load-this will definitely, without of a doubt, be a NIGHTMARE. I remember the days when I'd rather be at work than school. Not anymore. Taking a math test would be more pleasant than this. Heck, I'd rather sit through an ASTRONOMY lecture than work when the system is down. Let me tell you: That's bad. When the system is down, everything is ruined until it is up. AUGH!!!

Well, enough, griping, I have some stuff to do.... Presents to wrap....

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Chick-fil-A and Storms

Due to the fact that I was super tired, I didn't write yesterday. So yesterday, we went to Chick-fil-A in Wisconsin, very good. Helped out with a garage sale to help with the missions trip. Helped out again today. Worked a nightmare shift at work (system was down) and a massive storm hit. Then it let off but all traffic lights were out. Now it's back again, and I'm praying that a tree doesn't fall on my car! Watching "Shutter Island", it's good so far.

I cannot express enough words about how much I am NOT looking forward to work tomorrow.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

CPK x 2!

Today, the Kenya team at California Pizza Kitchen! Anyone who handed in a flyer on that day had 20% of sales go toward the trip. I went once with my family (and saw the entire church staff pile in-it was pretty funny) and then another time with the young adults group. It was excellent both times. For lunch I had the California Club Pizza and for dinner I had the Italian Deli sandwich (on garlic cheese focaccia bread) with a caesar salad. So wonderfully good. I love restaurant fundraisers, a percentage goes to a good cause, the restaurant gets a lot of business, it's a good excuse to go out to eat-everyone wins. :)

19 days until I leave. Craziness.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

20 days....

I saw two of my best friends at Panera today. It was very nice. I worked today. That wasn't great. That's all. 20 days until Kenya. WOW.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

I See That You Have Made Three Spelling Mistakes

Those were apparently the last words of Thomas de Mahay, Marquis de Favras, as he was handed his official death sentence on his way to the guillotine during the French Revolution. I found it from a book called "Famous Last Words". Some are inspirational, some are funny, some are just plain weird. But it's a good book to check out.

Anyway, my apologies that the last few posts have been so boring. I've just been tired and had a lot on my mind (why am I still tired?! It's SUMMER!). On a different note, I leave for Kenya in EXACTLY THREE WEEKS!!! So cool.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Getting Closer....

I'm getting closer to when I leave for Kenya. Still so surreal. Today was good. I'm not sure what else to say. Tribe was good, we're going through the book "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. It should be good, I know I have a tendency to forget about the Holy Spirit and how it works in my life. That's it.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

8 hours of work + Bad ankle = BAD

I must say, I have really mastered the fine art of hopping on one foot or limping in the past few days. The good news: My ankle is not really painful right now. The bad news: It's still not healed, it still feels a little swollen and weird. Now my left ankle is hurting from putting so much weight on it. And my neck hurts from stretching funny. I'm falling apart and I'm only in my twenties!!! At least my throat doesn't hurt, thank God. I don't know what I'd do if I got sick now.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Mild Improvement? Perhaps.

My ankle has now reached the "inconsistent" stage. Sometimes it'll be fine (a little tender, but fine), other times it'll hurt. Especially when I'm at work. How am I going to survive 8 hours tomorrow??? But, I saw my friend Mallory today, that made me happy. We went to Noodles, I love that place. I also watched "Akeelah and the Bee". It's very good. See it if you haven't already.

I should try to go to bed earlier today. I kind of have a "warning sore throat". I don't want to end up with a full blown sore throat, or worse, a cold!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

My Extremely Exciting Day (Yeah Right)

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SARCASM

Today was so epic and exciting! Here's what I did:

-I did laundry!!!

-I hopped around on one foot to get where I needed to go around the house!!!

-I played Farmville until my brains rotted!!!

-I mindlessly surfed the Internet!!!

-I sat on my butt in my bed, putting enough ice on my ankle to make it snow in Phoenix and elevated my ankle so high that the rest of my body is stiff and sore!!!

All right, I'll stop with the sarcasm and crankiness for now. I am just so aggravated right now because of my ankle. I am also sad because I took my violin back. :'( It's so sad, but since I don't take lessons anymore, there's no point in renting it and wasting money. But since I'm too broke to buy my own violin, I am now violinless. :( It's so depressing.

I know, I'm being very whiny. If I lose a leg or become permanently crippled later in life, I am NOT going to be happy. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

On a more positive note: 25 DAYS UNTIL KENYA!!!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

The Diary of a Cripple

Okay, so "cripple" is a little strong of a word. But I am so bored, impatient and frustrated right now. I know it's only been two days since I hurt my ankle, but it feels like two years. Good news: It doesn't hurt when I rest. Bad news: It hurts when I put weight on it. Since I don't have crutches or a cane or anything, this means that when I get up, I ALWAYS have to put weight on it or else hop on one foot. So annoying. I RICE my ankle, but it doesn't seem to do a dang bit of good. I'm so lazy. I want to run right now. Really far. Maybe I could run to California. Oh wait-I CAN'T. I'm unbelievably bored. I decided I'd make a TERRIBLE hospital patient.

I know I shouldn't be complaining about a stupid little twist, but oh well.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Dear Right Ankle, Please Stop Hurting. Sincerely, Ashley

My right ankle is still bugging me. When I woke up, I thought that it was feeling better.... I was wrong. Unfortunately, I had to work for 4 hours. I was on my feet all the time. And now my left knee hurts. I want to limp with both legs! Argh. So frustrating.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Back Home Again

Well, sorry I didn't update yesterday, Blogger was having issues. We made it home safely, and had Panera for dinner. That made me happy, because I was craving it all week (I don't know why). Crashed for most of the day.

Today: I worked 8:45-1pm. Bleeeech. At least I got paid-YAY! Then I walked with a friend at a nearby forest preserve. It was fun, especially since she's moving to Mexico in a week, so it was so nice to see her. However, my ankles hated me and my right ankle HURTS. I'm doing the whole RICE deal right now. Kenya meeting tonight went well, tiring as usual, though.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Door County: Day 4

Watched some Lost episodes with Dad. Went to a state park, which was kind of fun. Some parts were really pretty! I'm a coward for not being able to go up a tower, though. I have some nice pictures, though. Afterwards, we went mini-golfing, which was pretty fun. Dad made pizza, that was good. Not much else, just packing up and looking for my camera battery recharger. Can't believe I'm going home tomorrow, though. It was a nice vacation. But I'll be glad to be home. I hadn't realized how much of a hermit-I mean, introvert-I can be sometimes.

Well, better make sure that I didn't forget everything.

Also, here's a cute video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjKk5Kt3rs&feature=channel

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Door County: Day 3

Went to Washington Island today. Can't say it's my favorite part of Door County. Half of the island was closed. And there was only one family friendly restaurant that was open. And it was raining. At least parts of it were pretty. Um.... Again, that's about it. Nice day, again, a little too relaxing.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Door County: Day 2

Today, we did a lot of walking. But the weather was nice. The gnats were terrible in Ephraim (at least they didn't bite!). Had pizza and gelato for lunch, so good. I got a T-shirt at one of the souvenir places and one of my brothers got a stuffed animal and another brother got two. Saw a seagull that had one leg, that was interesting. Found some really good cherry pie. That's all I can think of right now.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Door County: Day 1

I'm here in Door County, Wisconsin. So far, it's very nice. Pretty scenery. A little too relaxing right now (I am indeed an workaholic). I have discovered something, though: After 4 hours of driving to Wisconsin, I'm already tired. I'll probably die once I travel to Kenya. But it'll be good.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Holy Crap, it's JUNE?!

Yeah, it always feels so WEIRD when it's a new month. Time is flying so fast! It's so strange.

Anyway, most of today was spent cleaning, packing and working at night. How exciting (okay, not really). But tomorrow, I will be in Door County, Wisconsin! Should be pretty nice. Also, if I remember correctly, I will be leaving for Kenya in 34 days. SO COOL!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley