I Miss India

Wait, did I really just write that?

Yes. Yes I did. And I actually mean it too.
Lately, I've been watching a new show called "Outsourced", which was recommended to me by my sister, Heather. I had heard about the show before--it's about a call center from Kansas City that gets outsourced to Mumbai, India, and the new manager from Kansas City has to go over to India to manage the call center. I read some reviews on the it, and they all said that it was an "Office" wanna-be that had way too many racial slurs against Indians. Well, I decided to watch it anyway because: a) I love "The Office", and any show that comes close to "The Office" is probably funny and b) I trust my sister's judgment. If she says it's funny, then it's probably worth looking into. I watched the first couple of shows, and while I won't say I'm hooked, I do like the show a lot (and there aren't that many racial slurs. They do tend to overexaggerate Indian culture, but they're actually pretty close on what life in India for an American is like).

Anyways, the point is that I've been watching the show, and yesterday I watched an episode about Diwali. That's when it hit me--I really miss being in India, with all the crazy holidays, and the monsoons, and the insane taxi/tuk-tuk drivers. I miss being a part of all that. And I would kill for some real Indian food, not the Americanized, tame version that they sell at Bombay House. Also, I kind of miss the heat (I say this as I'm watching the snow fall outside of my window at work).

Guess What...

I'm a legal driver now! Yep, I can drive a car all by myself.

'Nough said.

First Snow

The first snow is finally here! It's so soft and beautiful, and I love it. Of course, that means that now I have to drive in the snow...great...

I'm still fascinated by the season's first snowfall, though. It brings a whole new aspect to the winter season--it brings the winter season to life. It says, "Here comes the holidays, everyone; you can go ahead and start celebrating now!" Anyways, I'm glad it has arrived. Yes, I know it will be cold, and driving in it will not be so fun, and yet my love affair with the snow will continue. It's one of those inexplicable facts of life.

Harry Potter Speaks American

Maddie and I found this hilarious clip while we were waiting to go see Harry Potter last night. I thought it was worthy enough to share.



Yes, I did see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yesterday (actually, it was this morning). Although I am still very angry that David Yates included partial nudity in the movie, I have to say that the overall movie experience won me over. I have to tell you all, though, that the news article I read (and then wrote a very angry post about) was rather misleading. The dance scene that David Yates referred to was not a nude scene. It was simply a fun dance between Harry and Hermione, and I agree with Yates that the scene was very sweet. The only nudity in the movie was during the scene when Ron destroys the locket horcrux, and the only thing the audience truly saw were Harry and Hermione's bare shoulders. Yes, there was definitely implied nudity--and I am still really, really upset that Yates felt that he needed to go that far with the scene.
The movie, however, was spectacular, and I really enjoyed it. I feel that they are really doing the book justice. Yes, that one make-out scene is disturbing, and I wish they had changed it to be more appropriate for what is essentially a kids movie, but I'm glad I went. I just hope the next one is as fantastic.

A Penny for My Thoughts? Psshh, I'm Upping the Price to $1.25

When I get tired, I can't think straight, and sometimes I can't even see or hear straight. Oddly enough, this is usually when my best and most creative pieces of writing come to life.

Boots and a little bit of make-up are all I need to feel sexy. That and shaved legs.

Sometimes I wish I could be strange and insightful and write things that make people just stop and say, "Whoa." I wish I could change the minds of people all over the world because of a book or poem I wrote. Then I feel insecure, and this tiny, annoying voice in the back of my head says that I will never be more than a Stephenie Meyer wanna-be, which really depresses me.

There are four things that truly bring me out of "the depths of despair": 1) reading one of my favorite books; 2) eating chocolate in any form; 3) having long talks with my mom; 4) playing with a dog.

I've discovered that I really like answering phones. Which means my job=awesome.

Aside from when I'm really tired, I also write my best stuff when I'm really emotional--either super happy, really depressed, or angry.

Many times I wish that I can travel back in time and live in either the 1950s or the late 1800s. I wish I could go back there and truly feel like a lady; I wish I could go back and find the love of my life, kind of like Kate and Leopold, but in reverse. Now, I realize that those time periods aren't all that books and shows like Bewitched make them out to be, but I still carry that secret wish with me at all times.

One day, I'm going to go to Decades (a vintage store in down town Salt Lake) and buy every piece of clothing in there.

Travel is amazing. I love it, and I can't get enough of it. This is why I'm going into the Foreign Services.

I'm afraid that my future fiance will have very little say in our wedding. I have it pretty much all planned out.

I am inordinately excited about the fact that I'm going to Harry Potter World with my family this year for Christmas--I also really, really, REALLY want to participate in a wand ceremony and receive a wand from Olivanders. That would be INCREDIBLE! And yes, I do realize that I am a gigantic nerd.

How is it that I never went through the I-Hate-My-Mother-And-I'm-Going-To-Rebel-In-Any-Way-Possible phase? During my teenage years, my mom became my best friend.

I miss seeing Chelsey, Aaron, Katie, Paul, and Averi. I get to see Heather, Danny, and Brayden pretty much every other day, and that makes me incredibly happy. But I want to see the Jorgenson family too!

My life is awesome. I wouldn't trade it for any other in the entire world.

Must Go Travelling

Travel+Leisure just posted their 2010 "World's Best Hotels" list. I've been flipping through the pictures, and I want to go to all of them! Is anyone up for a trip? Or willing to donate to the "Ashley is poor but wants to see the world" fund?

Here's the link, for anyone interested in browsing through some truly gorgeous hotels.
www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-best-hotels-2010

Warning: Harry Potter is no longer fit for children to see

I just read the saddest news today: in the new Harry Potter movie, coming out next Thursday, there will be two nudity scenes. Neither of these scenes were the book, so the director, David Yates, just added these scenes because he felt like it.

I couldn't believe it when I read it in KSL News. It is so upsetting that David Yates has decided that a movie that is geared toward children should have nude scenes in it. Here's a statement from David Yates about one of the nude scenes: "It's where Hermione and Harry dance together and is not in the book. It's something that we create for the film..." I just don't understand where this is coming from. Later, Yates said that the scene is"tender." What? I'm still trying to figure out how a scene like that could be tender--it feels more like Yates is trying to see how far he can push the envelope in this scene. What messages are they trying to send our children? And what messages are we sending our children if we let them go see this new installment of Harry Potter?

I have been so excited to see this film, but now that I know there are nude scenes, it makes me step back from the movie a little. And I wanted to let everyone know, so that they don't go to the movie theaters as an unsuspecting audience.

Halloween

I promised Chelsey I would take lots of pictures of my adorable 1950s costume that my mom sewed for me for Halloween. I've always loved the clothes from the 1950s and the 1960s, and I've always wanted to own a piece of clothing from those eras. So I thought that Halloween would be the perfect time to get a dress from the 1950s. With Chelsey help, I picked out a pattern and some cute fabric. My mom found a vintage store down in downtown Salt Lake City, and she bought me a couple of really cute hats and a pair of gloves. Hopefully, I get to back to that store one day (Decades) and browse around for some other cute stuff! I thought the dress turned out really well, and the hat and the gloves just made the ensemble. So here it is:

Working Girl 2.0

I officially finished training today! I took my final test and everything, and now I am taking calls completely by myself. It's kind of nerve-wracking, actually. Then again, there's always people who are willing to help me, so it's not so bad.

This week was interesting. I made one girl so happy that she wanted to hug me, and then I made another girl cry. I requested finals and certified a proctor. I helped recruit at least two people to Independent Study, which was awesome. I also got a ton of homework done because the phones were so slow. I'm not a slacker, I promise!

Hopefully, things will continue to go up from here. I get paid today, so for me, this job is the best job ever!

Survey

I totally stole this from Chelsey. It seemed like a fun survey/questionnaire.

1. I have been looking for some simple but interesting Halloween crafts/decorations, what is your favourite one to do with your children? please include a link if you have one.
Sadly, I don't do Halloween decorations. And I don't have kids. But I love carving pumpkins! When I put up pictures of my Halloween costume, I will definitely post some pictures of my pumpkin this year as well.

2. What is your favorite way to spend a rainy day with your children?
Again, I don't have kids, but I do love watching movies with my family. Rainy days are always best spent curled up beneath a blanket--whether that be with a book or on the couch watching a movie.

3. What is your favourite fall food?
I do love soups, especially creamy soups. Clam chowder and cream of chicken are my favorites. Sometimes I'll even have cream of mushroom--but it HAS to be my dad's cream of mushroom; I refuse to eat canned cream of mushroom. I'm also a big pasta fan. Turkey also always reminds of fall because my dad always smokes a turkey injected with apple juice Thanksgiving. The apple juice makes the turkey extra moist and delicious.

4. What is your current favourite read aloud book?
I love reading pretty much anything out loud. Right now I'm reading The Goose Girl to my mom, and it's been so fun. That is honestly my favorite Shannon Hale book; it's just written so beautifully. I love reading out loud (especially to my mom) because I get to use different voices and accents for each character. While I'm reading The Goose Girl, I'm currently using English and Irish accents. It's pretty awesome.

5. What is your favourite novel?
Oh my goodness, there are so many to choose from! Pride & Prejudice has always been at the top of my favorites list, but I also always include The Wheel of Time series, by Robert Jordan, Anne of Green Gables (the whole series), by L.M. Montgomery, and The Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith. These are the books that I can read again and again and again and again, and I'll never get tired of the story. The Goose Girl may make it's way onto that list one day.

6. What book from your childhood do you remember the most, and why?
I'll never forget reading Wateship Down, by Richard Adams. I think this story is amazing. It's like taking Aesop's Fables to the next level, and I love that about the story. It's written really well, and even though it's written as a book for younger children, adults can really enjoy it as well. Also, I once read that Adams didn't really mean for the book, or it's characters, to have special messages (other than the obvious ones in the book) or hidden meanings . It was just a story that he told his kids on long car rides. At the time I hated how my English dissected and broke apart every tiny word in the books we read in class, and it was really refreshing to have an author say that that wasn't warranted.

7. What type of music do you enjoy the most? Please include examples!
Really chill music is what I love best. My favorites right now are A Fine Frenzy and Priscilla Ahn. They're both softer music, but they have fun beats and the lyrics are kind of funky and awesome. They give off the vintage, offbeat vibe that I love.

8. What subject do you find most challenging (to teach or to learn)?
Math. I hate math. And Chemistry. And Physics. I cannot understand chemistry or physics for the life of me. Funny, I never really had a problem with Biology.

9. What is your favorite hot drink? Bonus points for including the recipe!
Stephen's Hot Chocolate by far. I love anything with that label on it. I guess my favorite, though, is the mint chocolate hot chocolate mix that they have. It's pretty much one of the highlights of the winter season.

Working Girl

I started my new job today! It was very exciting, and also very frightening because it was snowing when Mom and I started up to Provo, and we were late by the way, and as we were driving up to the Point of the Mountain, my gas gauge just dropped like a ten pound rock in water. I had just filled up the tank Saturday night, so it shouldn't have done that, but my gas gauge is all whacked out, so we weren't sure. Mom and I were scared we were going to be stuck in the middle of the freeway, in the cold, driving sleet, at 6:30 in the morning--and I had to be at work by 7. Yeah, not a pleasant situation. Luckily, we got to a gas station, filled up my car (it was basically full, by the way), and it to Provo. I was only three minutes late. Way to go, Mom!

So today was just training, but they packed in so much information, that I'm worried I won't be able to remember it all. There's still a whole week left of training, though, so hopefully I'll master the system by next week. They kept asking me if I had any questions. I HATE it when people ask me that because I can never think of any questions to ask. What do you do in that situation? I just kept saying, "I can't think of anything now, but I'll probably have questions later." I hope I didn't sound like an idiot or anything.

I'll probably have some interesting stories for later. At least I'll have something more to write about here!

Moving Forward Does Not Mean We Should Forget Our Past

I have to admit that I do not read the news very often. When I do, it's usually because there's a very intriguing headline on my Yahoo homepage. Every once in a while I'll visit CNN.com, but that's only if I want to stay really current.

Yesterday, when I got to my Yahoo homepage, the story that was displayed most prominently was a story entitled "Amazing New Designs For The Dollar Bill." Intrigued by both the picture and the headline, I clicked on the story (here's the link for those of you who would like to read it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/721294).

Now, I understand the want, or even the need, to give our dollar a make-over. We've given the $2o bill a couple of make-overs--why not give the rest of the bills upgrades as well? Everything deserves the chance to be modern and interesting, right? The thing that makes me irritated is that almost none of the new dollar designs feature our Founding Fathers or any of the men who created long-lasting legacies (I went and checked the actual online competition). I think the idea of putting historic icons on our money is wonderful, but what better icon can you get than George Washington or Abraham Lincoln? And when you start putting President Obama under the list of historic icons, as Gartland did in the article, I have to start to wonder about the validity of that list. Yes, I understand that President Obama is a novelty because he is the first African American President that this country has had, and I think that is wonderful. But there have been plenty of other very prominent and influential African American people in our country's history (Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., just to name a few). President Obama has been in office for two years, and in that two years, has he really done anything worthy of the title "historic icon"? Did he lead a small, rather untrained, army against the world's greatest force so that his country could have freedom of speech, religion, etc.? Did he make numerous scientific "breakthroughs" and contribute heavily to the construction of the government of this nation? Did he liberate a people and gather his nation together after four years of a bloody civil war? What has Obama done to merit his standing beside the great people, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, that are already featured on our currency?

Perhaps I am overreacting to this new dollar design. Perhaps President Obama really is a historic icon, and I just can't see it. I just don't think that "moving forward" necessarily implies that we forget the men who truly made this nation great.

Poems anyone?

Lately I can't sleep--probably because my bed is basically just the springs without the mattress and it's pretty much an oven in my room--so I've been writing poems. Nothing like sleep deprivation to get the creative juices flowing! This is my favorite, but if you like it than I can post the other one (but it needs to be worked on a little). So send in your comments, be they good or bad!

Romance

When he pulls your hair in the playground,
And tells all his friends that girls have cooties and that he would rather die than play with you,
But then he picks you first to be on his team for Red Rover.

When you glance across the classroom,
And he's just staring at you, without even realizing it.
When he talks with you at your locker until the warning bell rings,
Then walks you to your next class even though his is on the other side of school.
When he holds your hand for the first time and your whole arm tingles.

When he picks you up from work after a long day,
And he just happens to have your favorite smoothie with him.
When he signs up for classes that he actually hates
Just because he knows you will be there.
When he stays up all night to help you study for the one exam that doesn't make any sense.
When he sees you without makeup for the first time and tells you that you're beautiful.
When he pulls out that little black box and all you can say is "Yes!"

When the wailing of that beautiful baby wakes you, but he gets out of bed before you can.
When he feeds the kids and then cleans up the mess.
When he buys you little presents because he saw them and thought of you.
When you come home to find the kids in bed,
And the formal dining room table is set with candles, paper plates, and pizza.

When you're sitting on the porch,
And he sits next to you, taking your soft, weathered hand in his,
And together you watch the sunlight fade away.

Miracle of Miracles

I'm very excited because today I went horse-back riding and almost nothing happened! For those of you who are confused, I'm allergic to most animal hair, and it's the animals that sleep in hay and stuff that give me the most trouble. When I ride horses, I usually get hives all over the place, my nose is constantly running, my eyes get all red and puffy, and I can't breathe. I love riding horses so much, and I do it as often as I can, so sometimes my allergies can affect me terribly. But none of that happened today. It was awesome! It made me really happy.

Dear Heather

Dear Heather,
Mom, Dad, and Kiera are coming down to Guadalajara tomorrow, and I'm really excited for them to come. But I'm also pretty sad too. Want to know why? Well, you and Danny and Brayden won't be there with us! I think you guys would have so much fun down here--and not just because you would be with me. It just makes me sad that you won't get to experience Guadalajara with us.
We've had some rough times, Heather my dear. I know this, you know this, pretty much everyone knows this. Even though we have had some rough times, we're getting better every day. For one thing, we don't fight nearly as much as we used to, and those rare moments that we do fight never come to blows now, ha ha. Not everything is peaches and cream, but we're working at being the best sisters we can be. That's why I love you so much!
I love hanging out with you and Danny. We have a lot of fun together, and I love our discussions that we always end up having. Not to mention, I LOVE playing with Brayden. He's just adorable! So, even though we are having fun here in Mexico, just know that it's not quite the same without you.
I love you lots!
Ashley

Dear Kiera

*It feels like a good month to write letters to my family. This next letter is for Kiera because I stupidly forgot to write a shout-out to her on her birthday, which was August 3rd.

Dear Kiera,
Baby girl! You are growing up so fast. I can't believe you're already nine years old. Sometimes it seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago that you were crawling around our house in Australia, looking for the candy cupboard. Even back then you stood out from the crowd. We Barnes girls have always been something special--not your average cookie-cutter girl--and you were no different. Not only were you twice as big, physically, as the only other baby in our ward (poor McKenzie Jones was just a tiny little thing), but you also had a huge heart. You were so happy and loving, and everyone noticed that. You were always willing to let other people hold you and love you, and you would love them right back. Not much as changed, Bubba. Now, there are times when you are terrible spoiled and naughty and you don't do as you're told, and you can throw terrible tantrums, but inside we all know that bubbly, happy baby has just grown up and she's still in there.
Kiera my dear, you are a beautiful, smart, and talented little girl. You've got a wonderful life ahead of you. Don't ever be afraid to do whatever you want to do--and don't be afraid to change your mind about what it is you want to do. I love you more than all the stars in the sky.
Love,
Ashley

Dear Chelsey

Dear Chelsey,
I thought about you and Aaron last night. The hotel that I'm staying at in Nuevo Vallarta (which I have to say is way cooler than Bear Lake--sorry) had a karaoke night last night. It was pretty awesome to hear drunk Mexicans singing karaoke. I kept thinking, "Chelsey and Aaron would love this. I should get up and sing in honor of them." And I really was going to get up and sing, I promise! I actually wanted to sing. I even told everyone that I would. But then I looked at the song list, and I honestly didn't know any of the songs on the karaoke list--even the English ones. So I watched a couple of my friends sing karaoke and then went out to the beach. Oh Chels, you would love it here. It's definitely got the summer vibe going on. It's perfect weather for swimming every single day and there are kayaks and boogie boards and bikes to rent out every day at the hotel front desk. It's pretty awesome.
I just wish you and Aaron could be here to enjoy everything with me!
Love,
Ashley

Two More Days...

In two days--actually it's only a day and a half!--I get to go to an all-inclusive resort in Nuevo Vallarta. We get buffets and virgin margaritas/strawberry daiquiris/piña coladas all day every day. There are two gorgeous pools and a volleyball court. And the best part: the resort OWNS A PRIVATE BEACH! Heck yeah, this next week is going to be awesome.

Want to see a picture of the resort? Of course you do!
This is just one of the beautiful pools.

This is their private beach! How lucky am I?!

Watching the Rain

This is the rainy season in Mexico, and when they say rainy season, they really mean it. It rains pretty much every day now, and usually it rains pretty hard. Today was the worst I've seen in a long time. It just poured for hours and hours.
We went to FHE, and the plan was that everyone was going to play soccer, but clearly that plan failed. So instead we just decided to play games in the pavilion down by the pool in Señora Stallings apartment complex (Señora Stallings is the trip director). We played The Human Knot (our group unraveled two knots while the other group was figuring out their first knot--clearly, we smoked 'em), and after that I got really hot. They were just too many people all crammed together. I went to stand by one of the open windows and thought how the rain was making everything outside much cooler. Then I thought, "What the heck, might as well just go stand in the rain." So I did.
I actually really enjoyed just standing out there, getting soaked, and watching the rain wash Mexico. I didn't do anything. I just stood there, letting the rain soak me. Then people from our group saw me standing out there in the rain and came and told me to come inside because I was getting soaked (which was the reason I was out there in the first place), and then they told me I was crazy because I didn't want to go inside. But I didn't want to go inside becauseI liked being in the rain. They didn't get it.
I'm just an odd duck. Sometimes I just like to be by myself, to think and read and listen to what everyone else has to say. Sometimes I just like to stand outside and watch the rain.

Guachimontones

We visited our first set of ruins this weekend! Yay! I was really excited to go because I love the ruins in Mexico. First we went to a town called Teuchitlán, where they have a museum about the ruins. The ruins are in a place called Guachimontones, which is about 25 minutes away from Teuchitlán, and these ruins are special. These ruins are circular instead of the normal pyramids that you usually think of when you think of Aztec ruins. Also, there are twelve (I'm pretty sure it's twelve, but it could be less) platforms that used to hold little houses that surround that ceremonial "mounds" (those are the circular pyramids). These ruins were only used in times of ceremony--the rest of the town actually lived in Teuchitlán. There was a whole bunch of facts that we "learned" when we watched a video about Guachimontones in the museum, but I was really tired and the movie was really boring...yeah, you can guess what happened about two minutes after they started the movie. But I loved Guachimontones--it was gorgeous! And the ruins were really cool too.
After Guachimontones, we went to another little town--I can't remember the name of the town, sorry--to go to another museum, but the museum was closed. So we just wandered around. They had a cathedral (of course) and in front of the cathedral was a really pretty garden with lots of rose bushes. It was great for taking pictures. Oh, funny story! So we all went to eat ice cream while we were in no-name town, and after, we all meandered toward the garden. As I was walking over to the garden, I saw two adorable street dogs. So, of course, I went over to pet both of them. After that, they followed me all over the place! Why is it that I can make friends with dogs in like five minutes, but it takes me FOREVER to make friends with real people?
Ha ha, anyway, enjoy some of the pictures of the beautiful Guachimontones countryside!I thought I would show a picture of myself, so that you all knew I really was in Mexico.

I love the trees here!

This is one of the platforms that sits in front of the ceremonial "mound."
This is the bigger of the two ruins--they haven't restored it yet because it would just be too expensive.

Ok, so I really do have friends here in Mexico. From left to right: Melissa Stephens, me, Erynn Scott, and Romney Olsen. I love everyone in our group, but I like hanging out with these guys especially.

This is the ball court in between the two mounds. Two parties who were disputing something would come to the ball court and play ball all day long--literally. The only place they could touch the ball was their hips. At the end of the day, the one who won was killed. Yeah, I said the person who won the game gets killed. Apparently it's an honor to win the game. It's a good thing I live in 2010.

One last view of the ceremonial mound.

My adorable new street puppy!

How about this new background?

I'm trying a new background for my blog. What do you guys think? Does anyone have any strong feelings against it?

Zacatecas

This weekend, we went to Zacatecas, and we got to stay for two days (no school on Friday--YES)! It was really fun, except for the part where I got stung by a wasp. Right on the nose. Not so fun. But I just keep telling myself that I must smell like a beautiful flower, which is way better than smelling terrible, right?
Anyway, Zacatecas is a really pretty town (the locals all call it "pintoresco") that's full of narrow, windy roads, old-fashioned buildings, and lovely little cathedrals and churches. The first place that we went to was a museum, but we had to walk through ruins to get to the exhibits. I immediately fell in love with this place. It was absolutely gorgeous! I took so many pictures, both of the ruins and of the exhibits. The museum has a huge collection of masks from all over Mexico, and while some of them were a little weird, they were all pretty cool. After the museum, we went searching for the various churches in Zacatecas. Apparently, each town has one main cathedral and all the rest are just churches that kind of look like cathedrals. Who would have thought? The cathedral in Zacatecas is beautiful. It's famous for the carvings around the outside of the building--and it should be. The carvings are so detailed; it's really quite incredible. That was pretty much it for day one.
On day two, we went to the silver mine (Mina: El Edén), which is where Zacatecas gets most of its income. The silver mine itself wasn't all that cool, but they did have a "museum" that displayed all the different kinds of gems, minerals, and rocks that can be found in the mine. That was cool. After the mine, we went to the teleférico, which is the cable car that runs across the whole city. It was really cool to see the city that way. Then we did some shopping, ate lunch, did some more shopping, and went home. If it didn't take about 6 hours to get to Zacatecas from Guadalajara, I would definitely go there again.There are little craft stands like this all over the place.

This is the cathedral in Zacatecas. Aren't the carvings beautiful? Well, I like them.

This is the museum that I am in love with.
I absolutely love the colored houses here in Mexico. This is my friend Lauralee, a girl from our group.Part of the ruins inside the museum.
A couple of masks...pucker up, girls!

BIG News

On the 4th of July, after lunch and a whole lot of card games, I went back up to my room to relax for the rest of the day (which is not unusual). Getting bored, I decided to check my email (which I tend to do at least three times a day here in Mexico). I had an email in my inbox saying that Milanne Clark (my awesome roommate who has become one of my best friends) had sent me a message on Facebook. Figuring that the message would about my English portfolio (which she had kindly agreed to pick up for me, since I'm in Mexico right now and I can't get it), I trekked on over to Facebook to see what she had written. Imagine my surprise when I opened the email and read that Milanne had just become engaged! I was so exciting that I shouted for joy, right as my new roommate walked into our room. I'm pretty sure I scared her half to death, ha ha.

So ever since then I've been thinking of things to do for a bridal shower. It has to be completely AWESOME because I won't be able to go to her actual wedding, which is December 22, in case you were wondering. If you have any ideas, send them my way. I would much appreciate it!

Tonolá y Tlaquepaque

So, every weekend our group goes on a "field trip." We travel around to different parts of the city--next week we're even traveling to a completely different city and staying there for two days, which is very exciting--so we can get a lot of "cultural activities." These trips have all been so much fun, but today's trip was especially awesome. Hand-blown glass "factory" that's behind the store. It's literally BEHIND the store.

I can't decide if ceramic toilets are cheap junk or incredibly awesome

The best ceramic warehouse in the world!
We went to Tonolá first this morning (the pictures above are from there). Tonolá is a market town and they sell a ton of crafts there. You can find everything from ceramics to paintings to furniture, and everything is pretty cheap. For example, I bought a full set of ceramic dishware (six cups, six plates, and six bowls) for a little under $15, and there were large (and I'm talking LARGE) triptych paintings for about the same amount! It was really fun to go walking through all of the little shops they had there. A lot of the shops were full of cheap junk stuff, but every once in a while we found some awesome stuff.
After Tonolá, we drove to Tlaquepaque. Tlaquepaque is another crafty town, but the stuff there is of much higher quality. They had a lot of clothing stores and a lot of jewelry stores. Mexico is famous for their silver and so I saw some really pretty silver jewelery that I was very tempted to buy...Tlaquepaque was such a gorgeous little town. All the buildings had that picturesque old-Mexico feeling that we always think of when we think of Mexico. There were mariachi bands strolling through the street and vendors selling through wares in between store-fronts and people just wandering around. Ah! I loved it.
This was the best restaurant in Tlaquepaque. The food was absolutely delicious.
This is possibly my favorite photo of the entire trip. I'm really proud of it!

P.S. The mariachi band that I have a picture of up there is the first and only all female mariachi band that I've seen here in Mexico. I thought it was awesome.

Catch Up

I thought that it was about time that I update those of you who wish to know on what I am up to now.

Well, I'm here in Guadalajara, Mexico! I was already in love with Mexico--ever since we went to Cancun the first time--but now I think Mexico is even more awesome. Guadalajara is big city, and it's gorgeous! There are trees absolutely everywhere, and it is so green. It rains, hard, almost every day here. Most of the people in our group don't really like the thunderstorms, but I love them. It makes me really happy when it rains.
The people here are absolutely wonderful, too. They are so sweet and they make you feel so welcome. The family that I'm staying with is super nice. Our new mom, Guille, cooks all the time. She cooks us breakfast, a big lunch, and a dinner (but the dinner is more like a snack). She always says when need to eat more. Finally I told her that I love her food, but I'm going to gain a lot of weight if I just keep eating. She doesn't mind anymore when I don't want anymore food. The people at church are really nice, too, especially the YSA group. They've done a lot of activities with us since we got here, and all of them are really eager to make us comfortable in our new surroundings. Everyone, our families and those at church, is very patient with us as we try and improve our Spanish. They correct--nicely--us when we get our phrases tangled, and they use what English they know to help us understand.
Our group is just really fun. Everyone is really nice to each other. All of the girls are really happy and friendly, and the guys are just funny. They make us girls laugh a lot. We do almost everything together, and we do a lot of activities. We've been to El Centro (the center of Guadalajara), dancing, a couple of cathedrals, lots of museums, and the movies. Tomorrow there is a stake dance for the YSA, and on Saturday we are going to a city called Tlaquepaque. Our mom says that it is a really pretty city. I'm excited.
I have a lot of pictures, and I'll put some up soon, I promise.

What the heck, Utah?!

IT IS THE END OF MAY! WHY IS IT SNOWING?!

For the past few weeks we have had some beautiful weather here in Utah. The days were nice and sunny--not hot and cool, but not overly cold. Sure, Utah threw in a couple of rainstorms, just to catch us off our guard, but we pulled through. Then Utah threw a hissy-fit. I don't know why Utah was upset--maybe Colorado was calling Utah names again. In any case, Utah decided to take it out on us. Now we have to wade through this cold, sloshy, STUPID snow! This is just not fair. It's almost June, and we are still suffering from winter temperatures. I want SUMMER!

Please, Utah, have compassion on your poor residents. Be kind. Send us some warm weather for longer than two weeks, if that wouldn't inconvenience you terribly. We promise we'll be kind to you.

Danny was right!

So, my brother-in-law, Danny, told us about an urban legend he had heard of from a nice waitress in California. When you have the hiccups, all you have to do is pour a packet of sugar underneath your tongue. I just laughed at him--I thought, why would sugar help stop the hiccups? It didn't make any sense. Well, today I kept getting the hiccups off and on. They usually stopped after one or two hiccups, but later in the afternoon they just wouldn't go away. I decided to put Danny's myth to the test. I took a packet of sugar (I used Truvia, which is the new sugar substitute) and poured all of it under my tongue. I felt really weird, but as soon as the sugar had dissolved, my hiccups were gone!

Danny, your waitress friend seems to be right. Thanks for passing that on!

English 218

I was so excited for this semester for two reasons: 1) there are far less people on campus during Spring/Summer than there are in Fall/Winter and 2) this was the first semester that I could take the first Creative Writing class. I love writing, and I really wanted to take this class because I felt that I needed a little help to make my writing the best it can be.
We do writing exercises almost every class period. We have begun studying poetry, and for one of our writing exercises we had to write a poem entitled "Happiness". This is what I came up with.

Snuggled deep under the duvet,
I hear the noisy whispers of my
nieces and their brother.
I peek out and see them
coming in. They crawl to
the very edge, peering and giggling--
sometimes they dare to poke the
sleeping bear that is their aunt.
As stealthy as giant tractors,
they climb onto the bed frame,
test the ocean on top of me, and finally
they leap.

My nephew stares at me,
the stare of a little wise-man.
I have tried everything--he
blinked at peek-a-boos,
yawned at tickles, and
turned away from silly faces.
The boy still stares, boring holes
into my soul until
I am ready to tell him my sins
and weep on his shoulder.
I smack my lips together,
and there it is--the soft smile
that turns him back into a babe
of six months.

There they sit,
the oldest sisters,
crowned by their families,
the glow of motherhood surrounding them
like dust shaken from angel's wings.
As they chatter about diaper brands,
potty training, and baby food,
I ache to belong to that secret circle,
while my younger sister begs me to play.
They turn and smile,
inviting me, and even the youngest, in.
We all four laugh together,
recounting memories from
far away places and
long ago times.

Our giant, our protector--
the man who could crush a hopeful
young man merely with his presence
even as he lovingly carries little ones
on his shoulder--bellows a lion's roar
from outside. Suddenly we are
ants scurrying from here to there,
patiently waiting for
the picnic to be set.
The sweet smell of smoked meat
is tantalizingly strong, and
our father stands amid his
smoldering kingdom.

With a the grace of a swan on a lake,
Mother glides around the house.
Upstairs and downstairs she goes,
gliding from kitchen to living room,
living room to back porch and
back again.
The glow of motherhood does not
simply surround her. She is
steeped in it; it comes from her very pores.
She is benefactress, counselor, wise woman,
comforter.

I am curled up in the armchair,
a blanket tucked around my legs,
an open book in my lap.
Everyone is gone, and
I am encased in silence.

So that's it--that's my poem entitled "Happiness". I've decided that it could also be called "Fourth of July". Tell me what you think!

What a Week!

This week has been pretty crazy. It's midterm time, so that means lots of tests to stress out about and a few papers to procrastinate. Also, we don't get a spring break here at BYU so that's doubly hard. Our last holiday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so all the students are either going crazy in the classrooms, or just plain skipping classes (you can guess which group I'm in).
The weather this week (and most of last week) was gorgeous! I was wearing T-shirts all week, and the one day that I did try to wear a light jacket, I had to tie it around my waist because I was getting hot. And then...last weekend it snowed Friday night and all Saturday. Today it tried to snow--but it failed miserable. Now it's just INCREDIBLY windy.

Weather aside...it's been a pretty normal week. Until Wednesday night that is. On Wednesday night, right before I went to bed, the bottom lid of my right eye started to hurt. I didn't think too much of it because I was really tired and I thought my eye was hurting because of that. By Thursday afternoon there was a lot of pressure on the tear duct area and it had become red and slightly swollen, so I started to freak out a little. Today, I went to the doctor and found out that I have a sty in my right eye! That was pretty crazy. So now I'm "nursing" my eye back to health.

There is some other exciting news. My sister, Chelsey, called me today and told me that she is getting a greyhound on April 9! I'm so excited for her. Now both Heather and Chelsey get adorable dogs, and I get to play with both of them. Good times are up ahead, my friend, good times.

Summer Plans

Guess what Ashley's doing this summer.








No, I'm serious. Guess.








Go ahead. I REALLY want you to guess.








Ok, I can't take it anymore. You guys are too slow at the whole guessing game.








ASHLEY'S GOING TO GUADALAJARA THIS SUMMER!








(Excitement prevails, and everyone is happy)

Masquerade

Last night was the best night I've had since my Thai birthday dinner. Seriously. Want to know why? Of course you do! Last night I attended a MASQUERADE BALL!

My amazing mask!

Let me tell you why I was so freakin' excited about this ball. My family and I first went to Italy when I was seven or eight years old (I'm pretty sure I was seven, but I don't really remember...Chelsey and Heather would remeber). The last part of our trip was spent in Venice. Venice was definitely not my favorite part of Italy (my favorite part was definitely Il Burro in Tuscany), but the one thing that really caught my attention in Venice was the venetian mask.

Cassandra and her date, Sterling.

For those of you who know me really well know that I am a hopeless romantic and I love everything from the 1800s and early 1900s. I attribute this part of my personality to my two older sisters who love all things Jane Austen. I've been reading Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Lucy Montgomery, etc. since I was about ten, I have watched movies like Pride & Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables more times than I can count, and I love everything about the 1800s and the early 1900s. So a masquerade ball was perfect for me. I got to dress up in a beautiful fairytale dress, take vintage dance lessons, and--best of all--wear a real mask! I loved every second of it.

This was my date, Geoff.

Cassandra in her beautiful dress and mask.

Take my breath away

Apart from my birthday (which was fantabulous!), these past two weeks have been a pretty low point, for reasons I will not disclose here. Anyways, I went to see a friend in a play tonight (the play was really good, by the way). When I left my apartment at about 7:00, it was snowing REALLY hard. I was completely covered in snow by the time I get on campus, where the play was. I didn't leave the play until about 10:00, and I figured that the snow had stopped. Boy, was I wrong! It had snowed for the entire three hours I was inside, and it was STILL snowing when I left the theater.

As soon as I stepped outside of the theater, my breath was literally taken away. The campus was GORGEOUS! I'm being completely serious when I say that the sight of a completely snow-covered campus was absolutely incredible.

It sounds ridiculous, I know, but the snow made my heart light. It thrilled me that something so ordinary as stone buildings and dead trees could be transformed into a literal wonderland. The blanket of snow made the night peaceful, and I basically floated home.

19

It's birthday time! This year is proving out to be a really good one, yet again, and my birthday has been really fun too. It's been a whole birthday-tastic weekend. On Friday, I went home to play games with Heather and Danny, which was really fun, and I stayed over at the house for the night. Saturday was amazing, since we had a gourmet Thai dinner. Dad, Maddie, Hannah, and I cooked our little tails off last night, and created a fantastic seven (yes, I said SEVEN!) course meal. It was absolutely PERFECT! Thanks so much, Dad.

I got back to my apartment at about 12:30 a.m., only to discover that my amazing roommates had completely covered the apartment with streamers and balloons and had written "Happy Birthday, Ashley" all over the apartment. It was awesome. They were so cute about everything. My actual birth-DAY has been great too. We're going to make quiche tonight and then have Devil's Food cake with cream cheese frosting (my favorite!), and play games, and just have fun together. Tomorrow, we have a FULL schedule, and it will be epic.

I love being able to spend time with my family--cooking with my dad, having long talks with my mom, playing games with my sisters and brother-in-law (and wishing Chelsey and Aaron, who live so far away, were with us!), and spending time with all my friends. This weekend has been an amazing one, and I think I will always remember what a wonderful 19th birthday I've had.