Gratitude

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  Love the food, love spending time with my family, playing games etc.  But it is also a time to be grateful.  President Monson gave a talk a few conferences ago about having an attitude of gratitude.

I am grateful for:

The gospel
Jesus Christ my Savior
My family
My jobs
Wonderful roommates
Amazing friends
A healthy body
Dance
The Temple
A loving Father in Heaven
and this year I am especially grateful for Richard, the amazing guy in my life.  He is truly the best :)

I hope that we all can remember what this Season is all about and always have an Attitude of Gratitude.

xoxo
Ashley

This Thanksgiving....

This year's Thanksgiving will not be the same without this lady...

My dear, sweet, beautiful Grandma.  She was always the life of the party.  She will be greatly missed this year.  This time last year I was making apple pies with her.  Just me and Grandma.  That is a memory I will never forget.  We love you so much Grandma and we'll be thinking of you.

xoxo
Ashley

What's been going on...

Well, I feel like it has been awhile since an update.  I feel however like I have nothing insightful, funny or interesting to say...but I feel like just updating for whoever reads this :)

Things in my life are grand.  Just peachy.  The Lord is truly blessing me which I am incredibly grateful for.  As I ponder upon the fact that we are in NOVEMBER (how the heck did that happen?)...I realize that 2011 has been a really tough year.  But after facing some hard trials, I came out a better person in the end.  So as I put the past behind me I can finally start to look toward the future with hope and optimism.  And let me tell you, it's looking pretty good! ;)  So in the end, I am grateful for my trials, challenges and struggles.  The Lord DOES keep his promises and I believe he truly does comfort us during our time of need.  I have definitely felt his strength and comfort during my time.  I am still struggling with the passing of my Grandma.  I don't know why, but lately it has been really hard.  I find myself thinking about her and then crying out of no where.  I hate it because I don't want to be this hot mess anymore.  I am happy with my life and I know she is in a better place.  But I just have these moments where I miss her.  I'm tired of the tears.  Thankfully I have people in my life that allow me to reach out to them when I need to (even though that is hard for me to do).  It is comforting to know that they are there.  I hope one day I can truly find peace and not be sad anymore.  I know I'll see her again.  I know she is looking down on me and I hope to make her proud.  She was one special lady and meant so much to me.  I love her with all my heart.  The holiday's won't be the same with out her.  But I know she will be watching over us :)

So after all my fun adventures this summer, I've pretty much been working. A LOT.  Work is great.  Teaching is going well and I love my students.  Disney is awesome.  So I'm pretty much a busy busy busy bee.  Which is the story of my life!  I'm trying to figure out what the next step is in my life...So that has been on my mind a lot.  

Lastly, what has been making my life sweeter these days is I have a fella :).  He truly makes me want to be a better person and my life is better because he is in it!  

I am feeling so blessed :)

More exciting things to come!

xoxo

Ashley

Dancing in the rain

There is a saying that goes something like this:  Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

As I was driving this morning on this rainy day, that thought came to my mind.  We all have "storms" in our lives, but we have to know and realize that the storm WILL eventually pass and the sun will shine again.  A rainbow might even come out of the storm.  I have faced so many storms lately and I know will continue to do so.  But if I can learn to dance in the rain I think I will be better equipped to handle whatever life will throw at me.  

I went and took a dance class this morning.  I can't even tell you how good I feel when I do.  I am trying to get back into shape...and its hard when time is so limited.  But when I dance, I feel free.  I feel at home.  I am trying to get a new attitude about my dancing.  A far less judgemental attitude.  Which is incredibly hard for me because I am my worst critic.  I started being tough on myself today and comparing myself to others.  I had to take a step back and tell myself "I am good enough".  I know I am not a perfect dancer.  But I just want to be happy and content with being ME.  :)

So today...was a good day.  Rain + Dancing = learning to dance in the rain :)

The sun will shine again :)

xoxo
Ashley

Forget Me Not

I read a talk tonight by Elder Uchtdorf and it really touched my heart.  It was given to the women at the Relief Society broadcast this past Saturday.  It was just what I needed to hear :)

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/forget-me-not?lang=eng&cid=facebook-shared 

 The flower "Forget me not"

I have just been thinking and pondering lately.  I feel truly blessed.  I look back at the year and the trials it brought and all I feel is gratitude.  Though they were not easy trials, I feel blessed that the Lord did not forget me and gave me the strength to pass through them.  I sometimes do feel that I am waiting for certain things to happen in my life before I can truly be happy.  Well I no longer want to think like that.  I am very happy with my life the way it is and I want to find that joy in the journey.  Of course there are things that I want to happen for my future, but so many wonderful things are happening right here in the present.  I want to enjoy what is right now and stop worrying about the future.  I have finally thrown my hands up and put my faith and trust in the Lord.  I know he'll take care of me and fulfill the things he has promised to me.  I feel immensely blessed that words cannot even express :)

much love to all
ashley

The Adventures of Ashley and Greg: NYC!

Yes.  After my crazy EFY summer and traveling everywhere, I went to New York City.  I have become a jet setter and it feels amazing!  My very good friend Greg and I wanted to take a trip to the Big Apple to get in some good shopping and see some B'way shows.  We had such a blast together.  With the treat of Hurricane Irene, we were worried about our flight/what might happen to the city.  But we were thinking, well, we have our tickets and hotel reservation, WE'RE GOING!  And as it turned out...nothing happened to the city.  So hyped up.  But good for us :)  Our week went as follows:

Monday:

Flew out of LAX in the morning (celeb sighting on our flight!)  Got into JFK around 4pm, took a crazy taxi ride to our Hotel (The Roosevelt Hotel-kinda meh but oh well!).  Then we went to dinner at Blue Fin and had the best Filet Mignon I've ever had!  Then we did some shopping around Times Square and enjoyed the bright lights.  Then went back to our hotel to watch the new cast of DWTS be announced.  Yes we are fans :)

Tuesday:
We got up ready to SHOP!  We took a stroll down 5th Ave for some great shopping!  We may have even stepped into Tiffany's...I showed Greg all the rings I liked and then Greg tried ON rings!  It. was. awesome.  We also hit up Ann Taylor Loft and Greg walked in and said-OMG Ashley this is totally YOUR store!  Haha.  So he helped me pick out some CUTE stuff and was even telling the sales lady about my work fashions.  So funny.  I can't even express to you how much I LOVE shopping.  After hitting up shopping all day, we of course made an outfit change then went to dinner at Patsy's (this YUMMY Italian restaurant).  Then we went to see "Anything Goes" starring Sutton Foster.  Such a great show.  A very classic broadway show.  That girl not only can sing and act but...she can DANCE!!  GET IT SUTTON!  Purely amazing.  After the show we went back to Blue Fin for dessert....yummy creme brulee, my favorite dessert!  A good day indeed!

Wednesday:
Another day of shopping of course.  Highlights include going downtown for some shopping, trying to do a flash mob in Grand Central Station, Greg went to see a matinee of a show while I hung by myself and then waited in line at tkts for tickets for our show that night.  We saw "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" that night.  I have never seen a gayer show in my life, but it was so  much fun!  Funny cause the guy from The Singles Ward starred in the show.  I have also never seen so many sequins and neon colors in one show.  What a blast it was though!

Thursday:
Up early again to go downtown to Ground Zero.  A very sobering experience as always.  After that visit what else would we do but go shopping?  We hit up a store called Century 21...designer discounts!  I kinda went to town in that store.  What a great find it was!  Then we were walking through Little Italy and discovered a little restaurant called Bread and thought that looks good...ended up being AMAZING!  I mean can't go wrong with a name like that....you bet the bread was yummy!  After that we took a stroll through Central Park, a little nap too ;)  and just enjoyed New York!  We went to see "Sister Act"  that night.  Favorite show by far!  Plus our friend and Greg's old roomie Danny Stiles was in it!  I also ran into my old friend Mikey LaMasa at the show!  Afterwards Danny gave us a backstage tour and then we all went out for pizza.  So fun!

Friday:
This day we decided to get away from the city for a few hours, so we took the Subway all the way to Coney Island!  We ate Nathan's famous hot dogs, got some yummy ice cream, took a stroll down the pier and looked at all the crazy rides!  When we got back to the city we met up with my good friend Kavin and had drinks and chips/salsa.  So fun.  Then that night we saw "Spiderman the musical".  We were sitting a few rows behind the Prime Minister of Canada and about 10 secret service agents...Lol.  The show was good!  Amazing stunts and sets.  It was definitely awesome in those ways.  So glad we saw it.

Saturday:

Greg took an earlier flight out to Georgia to go spend some time with his man ;), So I had a few hours to just cruise around NYC!  Of course I went shopping...but didn't really buy much.  I went down to Lincoln Center to visit the Temple, then treated myself to lunch at Columbus Circle...where I ran into some ballerina!  Weird...then of course walked about 20 blocks back to my hotel!  I really do LOVE NYC.  I would love to live there one day, even if it was just for a period of time.  I just love everything about the city!  I then had to leave :(...so instead of getting a taxi (cause they seriously make me sick) I got car service...when the guy was dropping me off at the airport he gave  me his card and said next time I come to NYC to call him and he'll come pick me up!  I HAVE A DRIVER IN NYC! Lol :)  I am SO doing that next time too...My flight home was nice and I was greeted by my bestie

Greg, thanks for the fun times!  Always a great travel companion :) 

I do have so much to look forward to in my life right now, so I am very excited to see what is to come.  I got to go to Phoenix last weekend and I just had a blast.  (Though got a speeding ticket on the way...).  But it was all for a good cause ;)  I of course didn't want to leave Phoenix either...so now I'm double sad.  But I think AZ will definitely be seeing some more of me! :)

I hope all is well with everyone.

xoxo
Ashley 

Faith

Faith....at times it is a hard concept to fully understand.  This blog is called "The future is as bright as your faith" a quote by President Monson.  I have been trying diligently to live by that quote.  I most definitely have faith in the gospel.  100%.  I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and of the plan for us here on this earth.  This last year has been tough for me.  I have been trying to live each day with faith.  Knowing that God DOES have a plan for me and the things he has promised to bless me with WILL come to pass.  My patience is most definitely being tried.  I am reading a book right now by Gene R. Cook called "Living by the Power of Faith".  I am doing my best each day to apply these principles I am learning.  I know the Lord has given me trials in my life to better me and that there is a sure purpose in everything.  I was in New York last week and when I was on the plane going out there I was reading a talk by President Eyring from the last conference titled "A Living Testimony".  He quoted the story from Alma 32, where he compares faith to a seed.  Every time I have heard this story quoted I've always thought about it in the context of a testimony and how we gain one and then keep it strong.  But this time I had a different feeling.  Last year at EFY one of our session directors Brother Peterson told me I needed to have more faith.  I told him I had faith.  But then he asked if I had faith in dating.  I hesitated because to be honest I didn't.  He said to come talk to him by the end of the week and tell him what it means to have faith in dating.  I thought I knew what it meant, and I think at the time I had an idea of what it meant.  But that was just the start.  After reading President Eyring's talk....it totally hit me.  I now know what he meant by having faith in dating.  The story from Alma 32 says it all.  Read that section again with this perspective.  When it comes to having faith in dating, we need to apply the principles from this analogy!  But not only in dating, but this analogy can help us to figure out how to LIVE by faith and continue on in this life having that strong faith and hope.  This was one of those aha moments that I have every now and then :).  I can't believe a year later I finally figured out what Brother Peterson was trying to tell me.  I get it now.  Our Father in Heaven is all knowing.  He DOES have a plan for us.  But we have to do our part and show him our faith and be willing to take action when needed.  Like the story says, we have to be diligent and patient and look forward...and one day we WILL reap the benefits.  

Like the primary song says...Faith is like a little seed, if planted it will grow.

Much love

Ashley

EFY Week Eight: Sacramento!

Alright... EFY is over!  And I am a sad panda.  It is very bittersweet actually.  We had our last week in Sacramento...California's capital!  I have never been there before, so it was kind of exciting.  We took the 8 hour drive from Redlands to Sacramento and actually had a fun time driving.  I re-enacted Wicked while driving and sang Popular while Justin was Elphaba.  Then Maurie and I watched a movie.  It was a very fun road trip!  We got there Saturday night and were staying at Sac State.  The campus was very nice, but all of our activities were far away!  Thankfully we had vans, so we drove :).  The food was kinda terrible.  I got sick Tuesday night and then I hardly ate the rest of the week!  So that was a downer, but I pushed through!  We had great Session Directors, The Townsends from Texas.  I loved loved talking with them and getting to know them.  They gave me so much great advice and I am so grateful for that!  The youth were amazing as always, and it always impresses me how they change by the end of the week.  As a team, we knew this was our last week, but we wanted to go out with a bang!  We talked about our love languages so that we could better serve one another.  Let me tell you, I think it made a difference!  I just love and adore my team.  I miss them terribly.  ALSO, it may or may not have been my BIRTHDAY on 7/31.  It was such a fun day.  My team did SO much for me to make it special!  I think it was one of the best birthdays ever!  They surprised me by decorating my room, getting me a cake, tiara, and stuffed bruiser woods!  It was so fun.  This birthday was harder than others because of the age I was turning (which we will not discuss). ;)  BUT, like they say, you are as young as you feel.  And I still feel young :).  So, the week was awesome.  I was on Slideshow again, so that was fun to be a stalkerazzi all week!  As the week went on, I started to get sad.  I knew this was my last week, and probably my last week ever.  Doing the PB and J dance for the last time was sad!  But I know I will always have great memories of this whole summer.  I have learned so many things summer, about myself and others.  I know I have a lot to work on.  This summer has helped me become a better Ashley, a better future mother and wife, and a better Daughter of God.  I am so thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  How happy and blessed are those that keep the commandments of God!  I don't know what I would do without it.  I truly cannot wait for what the Lord has in store for me this next year :).

Here are some of the highlights from the week!

What a fun summer.  Love each and every one of you.  You all have helped make me a better person and left an imprint on my heart.  I have been changed because of you, and I thank you for that!  I will miss you all everyday.  We had some GOOD TIMES together.  LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

xoxo
Ashley