Adventures of Greg and Ashley

So my good friend Greg and I took a fun road trip up to Northern California.  What an adventure we had!  

Places we hit:

Hearst Castle

Lunch in Monterey Bay

One night in San Francisco

A few nights in Sonoma County

Plus we saw a few other places like the city known for its garlic and another city where artichokes are grown.  ("We love your dip!")

Day One:

Hearst Castle was AMAZING.  Wedding reception there anyone?!  Seriously.

Also I wouldn't mind taking dip in one of the pools!

Day Two:

Drove up the coast of California on the 1...listening to "Love Never Dies", the Phantom of the Opera sequel!  We stopped in Monterey Bay and had lunch on the Fisherman's Wharf before continuing on our journey.

and...we saw the seals :)  They were spooning on the beach!!  We then finished our drive up to Sonoma County to stay in this GORGEOUS house.

Day Three :

I followed Greg around as he went wine tasting (as I don't drink).  I also served as his chauffer :)  It was actually very interesting learning about how wine is made!

We always ended every day with amazing dinners at very cool restaurants!  Good thing Greg is a foodie like me! ;)  This night we came home from dinner, got some hot cocoa and sat in the spa and looked at the stars.  It was amazing!  Now I love Greg to death, but he doesn't play for my team, so we were both like this is so romantic...but....LOL.

Day Four :

We went apple tasting, ate apple pie for lunch...tried to find pumpkin patches...went exploring...relaxed.  This was my kind of day.

Day Five :

We got up early and drove to San Francisco!!  We stayed at the Hotel Nikko...let me tell you..AMAZING.  I highly recommend!  We went shopping (I bought the cutest peacoat in my signature color-pink of course!), had dinner in Chinatown, and went out on the town!  Now I love San Fran, but its not quite NYC.  I has that city feel which I LOVE.  I just love the city.  I am a city girl, that is for sure!!!

Oh and I love me some Tiffany's :)

Day Six :

Driving back home...the entire way.  It was a LONG drive!  But we stopped in Santa Barbara for dinner and ate some yummy Italian food!  Memories came flooding back of EFY.  Oh how I miss EFY.  

We listened to Glee and Musicals, I mean does it get better than that?

Quotes:

"We love your dip!"

"We love your bread!"

"We love your rings!"

"Bathing beauty, on the beach, say HELLO!"

"STARBUCKS!!"

Greg after a bit of wine tasting-"Ashley!  Stop here I have to get a picture!" (Said several times...)

All in all, I had a great time.  Got to see more of this beautiful state I like to call California, my home!  I also got to know Greg better and am so glad that he is my friend!  I so appreciate his organization!  He has lots of great qualities about him that made him a fun vacation partner! :)

Now...back to reality.  But hopefully lots of exciting things to come as 2010 closes up and 2011 comes!  I really look forward to what the future brings!

I Shouldn't be allowed to date

Seriously.  They should up the dating age.  I'm trying to move forward with a sense of faith and optimism.  It is difficult I tell you.  But life is a process right?  You live and you learn.  Boy have I learned a lot so far.  I first want to apologize to all the hearts I have broken.  I am sincerely sorry.  I mean it.  It's really me, not you.  My own mother told me I need therapy.  I'm thinking, I have a bachelors degree in Psychology.  I can fix my own issues thank you very much!  I'm still reading THE BOOK.  (If you don't know which book I'm talking about, scroll down a bit).  Now I agree with its truthfulness.  However, if the connection isn't there and the timing isn't right then why waste any more time.  Thankfully I am young (somewhere in the mid 20s), not quite as old as the author of the book...So I feel maybe I still have some time to find Mr. Right.  Heck even Mr. Good Enough.  I know he is out there.  I promise you I'm not THAT picky.  

I'm just a Jill looking for her Jack.

Yes I over analyze.

In the mean time, maybe I'll take a break from dating.  AND stop listening to Taio Cruz's Heartbreaker song.  It is just adding to my skills.

Again, MANY apologies.  But to be fair.  I understand.  My heart has been broken many times too.  It sucks, but life goes on.  I care about everyone who has been a part of my life.  Know that you have changed me and helped shape me into who I am today.

Much Love

Elle

P.S.  The bend and snap is currently going on hiatus for the time being :)

Dancing with the Stars

Right this moment I am wishing that I had taken up ballroom.  Seriously.  How FIERCE is the Tango?  How fun is the Jive?  How cool is the cha-cha?  Seriously...Derek Hough will you PLEASE teach me how to do ballroom?  I'm sure I could pick it up fast after training as a ballerina for all these years!  If any pro male ballroom dancer wants to take me on...let me know!  I am SO down.  Also my bestie would like Mark Ballas as a partner... :)

Ok but lets get down to it.  Jennifer Grey is AMAZING.  Definite front runner this year.  I am SO voting for her!

Rick Fox : You are a fox.  Get it.

Kurt : Pretty darn good for a football player!

Audrina : Not too shabby.  Pointe your feet girlfriend! 

Bristol : Don't look so awkward.  You are dancing with Mark Ballas after all...

Florence :  Work it sista. 

Brandy :  Your with Maks...'nuff said.

Kyle :  You are adorable. 


P.S.  SO glad "The Situation" got voted off.  He was a hot mess.

Friends

How blessed am I to have such amazing friends?  You know those people who just GET you.  Those people who can pretty much read your mind with a look.  I love my girlfriends.  I consider them sisters!  I am so appreciative of their support and love that they have shown me.  They listen to me as I do to them and they give me their sound, honest advice.  They laugh with me, cry with me and just sit with me.  They give the best hugs and bring out the best in me.  They help me with my life decisions without telling me what to do.  They let me be me.  And they love me for me.  How grateful I am to have friends like that. 

My soul sisters!  I wish we lived closer.  

P.S. They are the reason I started this blog :)

P.P.S. One day we will all be living in NYC and performing on Broadway

Love you girls with all my heart!

Friends since 1995.  

My Bestie.  Love her.

There are PLENTY of more friends...I have LOADS of pictures, but that would take all day to post.  Thanks to everyone who is a friend to me.  It means the world to have a friend in you!  

Love you all.

xoxo

Ash

P.S.  I love sweets:  Here is the pic to prove it :)

This cute bakery called Chocolate in Orem, Utah.  AMAZING.

Musical Mayhem

OK first off...I love theater people.  I love show tunes.  I love to sing.  So this party I went to last night was amazing.  It was the second one I've been to and I'm a fan.  Sitting around the piano singing show tunes is MY kind of party! :)  I made some new friends and got to know others better.  There was mostly theater guys there and something I have discovered is every girl needs a gay man in her life.  I feel blessed to have MANY!  They build me up and love me unconditionally!  I always walk out more confident every time I spend time with them.

 

So thanks boys for being a part of my life!  Thank you for helping me believe in myself and in my dreams.  I love you!  Broadway here I come!

Marry Him

I am currently reading this book called Marry Him-The Case for settling for Mr. Good Enough :

I am not at all ashamed to say that I am reading this.  A girlfriend of mine let me borrow it and let me tell you....it is GENIUS!  Everyone, man OR woman should read this.  I could think of a handful of guys from church who NEED this book.  Perhaps I should anonymously send it to them?  I have come to realize that I have issues.  But I am not alone in this.  Everyone has issues!  One thing this book has taught me is NO ONE is perfect.  This is a concept I was already aware of, but sometimes when it comes to picking a husband/wife we expect perfection even when we ourselves are not perfect.  Well hate to break it you all of you, but that perfect person does not exist.  I think that there are people that are perfect FOR us, but they in no way are perfect.  Make sense?  I was crushed by this reality, but it is true.  I have this crazy list of qualities I would like in a future spouse but I'm coming to see that I will not get the whole package.  This book discusses deal breakers.  What are deal breakers?  Well I know of a few and I've come across them in guys...hence why I am still single.  But I can look back and see that maybe I could have given a chance to more guys...end of that story.  I need to give guys a chance and only stop dating them when a serious deal breaker arises.  I do have a Mister right now and let me tell you, he is a sweetheart.  Seen any deal breakers?  Not yet.  So I will continue to date. :)

P.S. In case you haven't noticed, I am very analytical so bear with me :)

Now the question is...how do you know when it's right?  I have this picture in my head of my future husband.  I always compare guys against that.  No one seems to measure up.  Am I being too picky?  YES.  But at the same time I feel like the things I'm looking for in a guy are reasonable expectations!  I know what I want and when I see it, I go after it.  However I'm starting to notice that I keep going after the same type of guy and keep getting rejected.  Maybe I should change my type?  Then I have the guys who come after me, but I feel like they are not the type I'm looking for, but maybe they are right for me?  Who's to say?  Gosh this is so darn confusing.  

Sometimes I wish that guys would give ME a chance just as much as I give THEM a chance.  (Note-Thanks to all the guys who have given me a chance...much love).  So that is why I say READ THIS BOOK.  And I think I might just have to send this book out to a few guys at church.  Hopefully they won't be offended :).  

Mr. Good Enough is out there.  I know he is.  Maybe I've already met him, maybe I haven't.  Only time will tell.  But I will continue to have faith and to keep living my life!

Much Love

Ashley

What is Beauty?

What exactly is beauty? 

This is something I struggle with.  There are days where I feel really good about myself and other days where I constantly criticize myself to the point of tears.  Being a dancer, you constantly have to look at yourself in the mirror in only leotard and tights.  If that doesn't make someone self conscious, I don't know what does.  I think of myself as someone who is in shape, but I still struggle with the fact of being happy with my body the way it is. 

This has been my life.  I will probably always struggle with this.

Lately, I have been so caught up working and such that I haven't had time for a dance class, which keeps me in shape!  I feel that I've been getting a little "fluffy".  I love to eat too, so that doesn't help my cause.  Sad as it is, I use food as a coping mechanism!  I live to eat, rather than eat to live. 

I miss dance.  No only because it kept me in shape, but because it is my passion.  MY way of expression that nothing else can compare too.  I want to be an 80 year old Grandma and STILL be dancing. 

I just want to get to the point where I can accept, love and embrace the body that I was given.  I know it seems crazy, but I never considered myself beautiful, even though people tell me that I am. 

SO...what does REAL beauty look like? 

 I think beauty comes from within.  It comes from the person who has the confidence to love and accept themselves and embrace every single imperfection.  I strive to be that person.  I went through some trying times in my teenage years and I don't want to see any girl have to go through what I did.  So girls, ladies...LOVE YOURSELVES!  Life is too short...eat that muffin if you want it!  Beauty isn't something that can be measured by the media or anyone else.  Who you CHOOSE to become is how you can become beautiful. 

This is my trial in life...but I will continue to work on it!

Watch the video from below:

No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.

True Beauty

Be happy with what you've got

If there is one thing that I have learned it is to be grateful for what you have.  I have been doing a lot of introspection lately and what I've come to realize is that you need to be happy with what you've got.  Sometimes I think we get caught up in what we don't have, which doesn't allow us to see what we DO have.  At the moment I'm going through a period of time in my life where I could go many different directions.  Sometimes I feel lost, yet at the same time I know EXACTLY where I'm going.  I know what I want from my life, and yet sometimes I'm scared to actually have the faith to move forward.  The last 6 months or so was filled with a bit of frustration with a few things that I felt I was lacking.  But lately (and especially after General Conference this weekend) I can see that my life is amazing JUST the way it is.  

I have:

2 wonderful jobs

A Loving family

Great friends

A college degree

Talent in the Arts

Solid Testimony

And much much more....

What more could I want?  Well besides a husband? ;)  But we'll get into that later.  I feel incredibly blessed and so grateful for all the wonderful things in my life.  There have been times of doubt and discouragement...but how grateful I am for those times because they have truly turned me into the person I am today.  So THANKS!!  My life pretty much rocks. 

"The Future is as Bright as Your Faith."  

  -President Monson

Anything is Possible!!!