BRING IT ON 2011!!

One of the things I hate about the ending of one year and the beginning of the next is all of the reflecting that undoubtedly takes place. Personally I prefer not to reflect; this is because it forces me to accept reality, which takes me away from the dream world we all know I like to live inJ. But nonetheless I have found myself in the past couple of weeks reflecting back.

Needless to say 2010 has been one heck of a year filled with significant ups and downs that has brought along with it a lot of self-discovery. I have learned many things this year and I just wanted to take a second to share what I have learned about myself, life and other random stuff in 2010:

1. I am STRONGER, BRAVER and SMARTER than I think
2. Sometimes the real world BLOWS!!
3. I like to RUN and WORKOUT (I know! Crazy right!)
4. Making RANDOM DANCE FLOORS with FRIENDS can make for a pretty INCREDIBLE NIGHT
5. Dancing at weddings is MARVELOUS
6. That it is OK to not know exactly WHO YOU ARE or WHAT YOU WANT as long as you are CONTINUALLY searching
7. Playing cards at STARBUCKS…is SPLENDID
8. That I was kinda a SNOB in high school and MISSED out knowing some pretty    UNBELIEVEABLE people! Fortunately I got a SECOND chance!
9. FINDING friends who NOT ONLY ACCEPT you for who you are, but LOVE you BECAUSE of it is the most EXTRAORDINARY thing the WORLD has to OFFER.
10. I NEED to have BETTER taste in MEN
11. THE BOW MUST GO!!
12. I am AMAZING
13. When all else FAILS, call up MOMMA
14. PELANCHOS and CHAMPANGE CUPCAKES…ROCK MY WORLD
15. That I am FUNNY
16. Boys are WAY CONFUSING
17. I NEED to THANK GOD FOR UNANSWERED PRAYERS
18. That you can buy makeup that makes you look like you just had an orgasm! (Oh wait I just found this out, still blows my mind though)
19. That when you LEARN to take the GOOD with the BAD…LIFE CAN BE BEAUTIFUL
20. Sometimes REJECTION is a GOOD thing
21. Putting YOURSELF out there can reap GREAT things…or it can SUCK
22. Traveling to Kentucky for a Carrie Underwood concert with your Best Friends is AMAZING!
23. Wine is DELICIOUS and Confidence is SEXY
24. People aren’t always what they seem…which can be good or bad
25. Sometimes it is OK to REGRET decisions you have made
26. That I am a MEDICAL MIRACLE!!!
27. My BEAUTIFUL sister is becoming just like me…world BRACE YOURSELF
28. Sometimes you have to ADAPT your FAIRYTALE ending
29. When someone says the word HOE…DO NOT ask “Did you say my name?”
30. I have a serious STARBUCKS ADDICTION…help me!!
31. That I have the BEST friends a girl could ask for and I’m not just saying that...it’s TRUE, BE JEALOUS
32. Playing SURVIVOR with your friends can be a BLAST
33. Cute boys live in Mexico J
34. Mono SUCKS
35. My roomies are AWESOME
36. UT is STUPID
37. That being the bigger person is great and all, but getting revenge is sometimes very SWEET
38. I officially hate SNOW
39. Being SINGLE can be FUN
40. That I have A LOT to OFFER and ONE DAY someone will REALIZE that and I WILL ROCK THEIR WORLD!!

There is so much more I learned in 2010 but this is all I can think of right now, but as other things come to me I will update and if you want to add to this list feel free.

Even though 2010 started off a little bumpy it has had a REMARKABLE ending.

BRING IT ON 2011!!!

Broken Glass Slipper...When you stop believing in fairy tales, accept reality and start making your own happily ever after

**Disclaimer: I promise I'm not a cynic**

Have you ever thought to yourself; what if Cinderella's glass slipper broke or Snow Whites prince showed up five minutes later or the last rose petal fell to the ground before Belle kissed the Beast? Do you think they would have had their happily ever after anyway?

Lately I keep thinking to myself what if my glass slipper is broken and my Prince has no way of finding me and I  will never have my happily ever after? That's when it hits me..there is something wrong with that statement!!

As little girls we grow up watching fairy tales, believing our Prince Charming is going to come riding up on his white horse and whisk us away to this magical place filled with love, laughter and happiness.... but why do we need a Prince to take us there?

This is a somewhat funny statement for me to make because I am the girl who believes whole heartedly in fairy tales and Prince Charming and happy endings, but I am starting to think that isn't such a good thing...maybe I am relying on that a little too much??

What if my happily ever after isn't what I thought it would be?? What if the castle isn't really a castle? And what if my Prince Charming isn't a prince or charming but instead a good guy who has been overlooked?

Why do I cling to my expectations of what love should be? What if the unexpected is whats going to change my life?

As I ask myself these questions I realize there are no true answers to any of them. Instead I resign myself to stop believing in fairy tales and to start believing in myself and how wonderful I am, accepting the reality I am in and remembering that I am blessed and have people who love me and start creating my own happily ever after.

Fall is in the air!!

When I woke up this morning I decided to bake some yummy gf/df pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. (the recipe is on my Polka Dot Therapy page up at the top) After they had finished I set outside with my muffins, coffee and Holy Word, aka the Bible.

Sitting there breathing in the crisp Fall air I began to think about what is just so magical about this season. So I began to think of what comes to my mind when I think about Fall...

But what is Fall?

By definition it is the transition period from summer to winter, when the leaves change and fall from their trees. I feel like the words we need to get out of that definition is transition and change. Over the past few weeks, days to be more specific, I have had to make changes, ones that were expected and ones that were not. As a senior in college, I am about to experience a major transition and change in my life. At least for me, I am having to go from a life that I am comfortable in to one of uncertianity. And as I thought of the transition and change that lies ahead of me I began to think of Ecclesiates 3:1-8,

1 For everything there is a season,     

              a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.  

          A time to plant and a time to harvest

3 A time to kill and a time to heal.       

                    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.     

        A time to grieve and time to dance.

                       5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

                     A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

            6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.

               A time to keep and a time to throw away
 7 A time to tear and a time to mend.     

             A time to be quite and a time to speak.

  8 A time to love and a time to hate.       

        A time for war and a time for peace.

But it was really verse 11 that stuck in my head..

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannont see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."

The season of fall is meant to be one of transition. Moving from one season to another. Preparing the Earth and the people on it to go from the crazy hot summers to the blistering cold winters. It is the time to prepare for what is to come. So I make that my prayer that God will take this "fall" in my life and use it to prepare me for what He has planned next. Every action, decision, thought, person and place has, I believe, been placed in your life to help shape you. And even though that season in your life has changed, a new one is just around the corner.  But in entering that new season we have to remember to look back on the previous one and see the beauty in it and take from it the things that will help us grow and then move on.

The funny thing about seasons is that they only last for a short while and then a new one comes along. And even though each year we have a spring, summer, fall and winter; they are never like the past ones. And if we get lucky, the next season will be even better then the last, but if its not remember its only a short time until the seasons change once again.







A girl can't read that sort of thing without her lipstick.

Don't you ever wish that you could be standing on Fifth Avenue at 5am in seamless black dress, holding your coffee and staring into the window of Tiffany's & Co.....No, well I certainly do.

For those of you who don't me, Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my all time FAVORITE movies and I absolutely ADORE Audrey Hepburn. To me she is the epitome of Style, Grace and Class; the three qualities I believe all women should possess.

There is a famous saying from Audrey that says;

"For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry, For Beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day, For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others."

I just love this!!! To me this is why the woman was the embodiment of class. She lets the whole world know that what's on the outside isn't what makes you beautiful, it's how you view the world and the people in it. If you can look past others flaws to find what makes them special and unique and beautiful, If you are able to encourage someone with your words of kindness that is what makes a person beautiful, not what they look like. This is what I want to strive for...

My 2nd favorite quote from Audrey is this; (and if you know me you will understand why)

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."

I really don't feel like I need to explain why I like this one, just know that when life gets tough stay strong and know that God is in control, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today" (Matt 6:34) and that even though everything is going wrong, "The sun will come out tomorrow" and that is because the God who created the universe told it to. Stop fretting and take time to think about what you have already in you life and realize that God has provided thus far and he will continue, even if you believe it is impossible...because last time I checked He is still in the miracle business. So have FAITH and smile and laugh and know that God is in Control.

Well that's all I know about that...

Somebody call the little men in white coats...

I just might have gone a little blog crazy!!!

I do realize that this is my third post today but the circumstances have been a little unusual. I some how contracted a stupid virus that has left me stuck in bed today, so I have had time on my hands since I finished up my homework at like 12 today, so I promise this will not become the norm. I mean hello I do actually have a life!!

Well back to the point of this post...
In creating my posts for today I began to think about the year I am about to face. It will be one of excitement, fear, growing up, happiness, uncertainty, stress, love, fun, madness and change. I realized that this year is kind of like life "limbo". I'm not fully an adult yet but I'm no longer a kid. I have one foot in the real world and one foot not, so therefore I'm in limbo. So while I am there I am going to make the absolute best of it.

I have decide to create a list of "goals" "to-do" "wishes", whatever you want to call it, for this year. This list is complied of stuff that I have always wanted to do, and I figure why not now. Why not make my year in "limbo" one to remember.

So below is my list, in no particular order might I say, of the things I want to accomplish this year. As I complete something off the list I will blog about it and let you know. I have 50 things on my list and roughly 285 days until I graduate...so let the fun begin and wish me luck!!

My Goals for this Year

1 Make straight A’s

2 Go horseback riding

3 Go barefoot for a day

4 Eat at 7 new restaurants

5 Kiss in the rain

6 Surprise someone I love

7 Make a difference

8 Go sailing

9 Take a ballroom dance class

10 Get a massage

11 Learn to sew

12 Carve my name on a tree

13 Tie a note to a balloon and let it go

14 Spend a day without TV

15 Eat 5 new foods

16 Complete a marathon

17 Start a holiday tradition

18 Go a whole month without purchasing panties

19 Have dinner by candlelight

20 Take a random road trip

21 Learn to play tennis

22 Wear a sexy Halloween costume

23 Complete a 500+ piece jigsaw puzzle

24 Learn something new

25 Make a scrapbook

26 Cook a live lobster

27 Make an apron all on my own

28 Go to a shooting range

29 Graduate

30 Do something kind for a stranger

31 Go to a winery

32 Put away $5 for every goal I complete

33 Go to or have a girls slumber party

34 Have a board game night

35 Take a "Girls" vacation

36 Go to a pumpkin patch

37 Make a pumpkin pie with the pumpkin from the patch

38 Pay it Forward

39 Go zip lining

40 Learn to drive a manual

41 Be in 2 states at once

42 Create a cookbook of my favorite recipes

43 Go to a murder mystery dinner

44 Visit 5 places I have never seen

45 Conquer a fear

46 Get in shape

47 Clean out closet and donate clothes

48 Spend a whole day volunteering

49 Take/do a photo-shoot in the rain

50 Go snowboarding

Let's Catch Up, Shall We?!?!

I'm back......

So my life has been CRAZY over the last couple of weeks/months, I'm not even sure where to begin...

Well lets start with the MAJOR thing... I moved out!!!! Yes,I flew the coupe, left the nest, grew up and am now on my own... well not completely on my own, I do live with 2 other fabulous girls, but I am no longer living with the parentals. For those of you who know me, this is a huge deal because I love my family MUCHO and am very close to them, so this is going to be a challenge, but one I feel I am up for : /, I guess we shall see. Well we shall come back to the apartment later.....

The other HUGE thing going on is I started my senior year of college!! Heck yea I am almost finished..do happy dance now...!!! Even though I can taste the finish line and can see myself running the victory lap, it is scary!! I mean hello, now I actually have to enter the REAL WORLD, which from what I hear is kinda a scary place. To top that off I'm not really sure what I am going to do once I graduate. Growing up they lead you to believe that if you graduate high school and go to college and get a degree once you graduate your dream job is just dropped out of thin air into you lap by the little dream fairies....LIARS!!! But oh well, thats a problem for another day, right now I am going to focus on actually getting the diploma and walking across the stage and then we shall go from there.

So back to the apartment..my mother dearest has been asking me to post pictures of my apartment so all can see....well you ready mother....drum roll please.....TA-DAH!! (Psss you must scroll down to actually see the pictures)

 

So there you have it, my beautiful apartment, well my room at least ;).

Well thats about it for this post...talk to you soon

~Lots of Love

And so it begins...

Hello all!!

Yes I, Ashlee Marie, have joined the growing world of bloggers. Why you ask? Well I am taking a technology class this semester and we are required to keep a blog tracking our growth in the class....BORING! So I figured as long as I am having to create one blog I might as well create another that has a much more exciting topic...MY LIFE!! Yes that's right, I am allowing you to enter in to my crazy, exciting, fun, strange, beautiful, blessed life. Well, I believe that is enough of introduction for now. I shall return soon.

And so begins my adventures in blogging....