tick...tock...tick...tock...

“Those who wait upon the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles.” With promises like this, why is it so hard to wait? God promised that all things will work together for good for those that love him, so why is it so hard to let him fulfill those promises? I’ll tell you why. It’s because we’re human. Humans, especially in the 21st century, a time of instant gratification, are horrible at waiting. Ever have to sit in line at a drive through and think “Good grief when is this going to move?” Yeah, I thought so. Have you ever actually timed that wretched wait? More often than not it’s 3-5 minutes. Seems like an eternity doesn’t it? When my grandparents were growing up, the only meal you got in 3-5 minutes was some uncooked potatoes and rare meat…maybe. I heard a study once say that in this day and age when someone has to wait 5 minutes or more at a fast food joint, then their overall satisfaction of the location is significantly lower than those who had to wait less than 5 minutes. With impatience like this, it’s no wonder we have such a hard time waiting on God. God has no time line. No 30 minutes or less or it’s free, no hot and ready pizzas (which, by the way, are I’m sure heaven sent) and no nuke-your-food-and-be-eating-dinner-in-two-minutes deals. God sees time in the matter of forever. Yeah, forever. Like, no beginning, no end, forever. Hard to wrap your  mind around isn’t it? God sees what is best for you 10, 20, 30, 80 years down the road, not what you want now. It’s really hard to think, “Now what could I do now that would really benefit me when I’m 92?” I don’t know about you, but I’ve got so much going on now that I can barely think about what I have to do tomorrow or this time next week, let alone in the year 2077. Maybe if we could see things the way that God sees them, with what will be best for your life and to help those around you, we’d be more patient and willing to wait on God’s promises. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you to begin living life that way. I’ve got all eternity.

My poor neglected blog...

First things first, did you miss me? :o)

Well, seeing as I haven't blogged in almost 2 months, I'll fill you in on what is going on in my life. I'm going to try to go in chronological order, but I'm not sure how well that's going to go. Here we go:

First, on March 13th, I had my last day at Ticketmaster. I hated to leave there, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity I was given. The following Monday, March 15th, I started training at CASCI. Things are going pretty well so far. Is it my plan to do customer service for insurance all my life? Definitely not. Is it a good job with good benefits that will make me a better and more rounded individual? Absolutely. 

Next on the list, on April 5th, Jared and I broke up. No animosity or anything, it just wasn't meant to be. I still think he's a great guy and I wish him nothing but the best for the future. 

Since we've broken up, I have made an honest effort to get closer to God. I always knew that I had a responsibility to be a good role model to the kids in children's church, but for some reason our breaking up was the catalyst to make me do something about it. I recently went to a Casting Crowns concert and the message that they were putting out there was just what I needed. I'm trying to rely on God for all of my needs and know that just because Jared and I didn't work out, doesn't mean that someone else won't come along who is exactly what I need. God is showing me things in my life and I really feel that they'll come true. 

Well, I'm off to write the papers for the finals I've been putting off. Goodnight all!

If I were...

So Jennifer did this on her blog and it seemed amusing, so I thought, hey, why not give it a whirl myself? Here it is, for your enjoying pleasure!

If I were a month, I would be... May. It's my birthday, and you can't deny that the weather is beautiful!
If I were a day of the week, I would be Saturday. It's a day off work, and during the fall, it's football day!

If I were a time of day, I would be dinner time, whenever that may be. I love either going to dinner or making dinner at home, but I love the whole thing!
If I were a planet, I would be Pluto. I agree with Jennifer, it's always a planet in my heart.
If I were a sea animal, I would be a killer whale. Then I'd kill something and watch the world would think it was crazy and absurd for a killer whale to kill something!
If I were a direction, I would be "take a quick right turn at the corner". Seriously? Am I going that quick or can I slow down while taking said right turn.
If I were a piece of furniture, I would be a bed. Oh so cozy!
If I were a liquid, I would be sweet tea. However, if I were sweet tea, I'd constantly want to drink myself, probably not a great idea.
If I were a gemstone, I would be a diamond! They are girls best friends ya know.
If I were a tree, I would be a mighty sequoia. I don't know, how often do you really get to say the phrase "mighty sequoia"?
If I were a tool, I would be one of those freaking awesome tools that has every tool Craftsman has ever made all rolled into one.
If I were a flower, I would be a gerber daisy. They're just so cute!
If I were a kind of weather, I would be 75 degrees, sunny, with just a hint of a breeze.
If I were a musical instrument, I would be a flute. I used to be kickin' at the flute. Yeah, be jealous.
If I were a color, I would be green, but not that baby poop green, something pretty.
If I were an emotion, I would be in love. There's nothing better than being in love!
If I were a fruit, I would be a kiwi, those things are amazing!
If I were a sound, I would be the sounds of kids playing on the playground. There's something about that sound that puts glee in my soul.
If I were an element, I would be water, that way I could make the rain and snow go away at my command.
If I were a car, I would be awesome. I don't know of a particular car I'd be, just something awesome.
If I were a food, I would be a big pan of lasagna.
If I were a place, I would be NYC. That place is great!
If I were a material, I would be something soft. I'm a very tactile person and soft fabrics make me happy
If I were a taste, I would be chocolate.
If I were a scent, I would be the smell of  a freshly bathed baby.
If I were an object, I would be a lamp. I don't know, it's the first thing I saw
If I were a body part, I would be an ear.
If I were a facial expression, I would be a smile. I like to smile, smiling's my favorite.
If I were a song, I would be anything sappy and romantic.
If I were a pair of shoes, I would be comfy, but not like earth shoes comfy, the kind of comfy where I'm still cute. :o)

Just the thought of you can drive me wild, oh you make me smile.

So am I the only person who loves the song "Smile" by Uncle Kracker? It gets in my head and I just want to dance around and be happy. Maybe I'm weird. Who knows? :o)

In case you've been wondering what's been going on in my life, I'll fill ya in. First off, I spent last weekend in Florida with my grandparents. It was amazing and warm and stress-free, which was my entire reason for going. Literally, I slept in, ate and sat in the sun all weekend. It was wonderful. Plus, it was nice seeing my grandparents. I don't get to see them that often, so the weekend was much needed. I also got to spend some time with my aunt and uncle who I see once a year, if that. It was absolutely wonderful! Of course, the second I got down there, everyone was asking me why on earth I didn't bring Jared along with me! They were excited to see me, but would have been more excited to see him. Haha

Speaking of Jared, everything between us is great! I can't speak for him, but I know that I haven't been happier in a LONG time! I literally get butterflies and get all goofy when I just talk about him, let alone see him. When we're together, it's just like I just want to stop time so we can spend as long as we want together without having to deal with the outside world. Ya know, people have told me for a long time that one day, out of the blue, someone would come along and sweep me off my feet, and I've always told them that they were crazy. Well, enjoy this moment people, I am now admitting that I was wrong. He came along at a time when I had pretty much just given up, and thought that I might as well start buying cats so that way I could get a head start on the whole "crazy cat lady" thing. I never saw him coming, and now he has completely swept me off my feet. I'm in deep people!

So...how are you?

"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth living for, being brave for, risking everything for and the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more." ~Erica Jong

Without love, life is rock and roll without a drummer.

So, you all may be wondering, "How was Ashley's Valentine's Day?" and that is a good thing to wonder. (And if you didn't wonder before, I bet you are now) I'll fill ya in because it was amazing!

First off, I have the most amazing boyfriend in the world. Hands down. Just sayin'.

OK, so here's how things went down. All week I was bouncy and giddy waiting for Sunday, so when Sunday morning got here, I was flipping ecstatic to say the least. I go to church, all the while counting down the hours/minutes/seconds, etc. until I got to see Jared. Cheesy, I know. Anywho, so he gets to the apartment and we hang out for a few minutes, but we leave because we were going to see a movie with Eric and Ashley.

OK, before I go any further, let me just say this. Not only am I wearing a dress for V-day, I'm also wearing pantyhose and heels. If that's not a sign of love, nothing is. Anyhoo...

We go to the movie theater and it is PACKED. Seriously, it was as bad as the midnight premiere of New Moon. So, since we had dinner reservations at the dog track, we just decided to go hang out there until dinner time. We have a blast and dinner was great, but I still would have been happy with going to Taco Bell in our sweats. After dinner, we part ways from Eric and Ashley, then come back to the apartment when my sister, Josh (her bf), Mom and Dad show up and ask us if we want to go to Dairy Queen. We go and had an absolute blast. FYI: tiny booths are not made for not tiny people.

Moving on...

We come back to the apartment and hang out for about an hour or so, then he went home. I hated to watch him go! I wished at that moment in time that I had that whole Zack Morris "time out" ability so I could freeze time.

And that was my Valentine's day. It was amazing and I couldn't have imagined anything better. Anyone wondering what he got me? Yeah, I thought so. He got me a dozen roses, lots of amazing chocolate and he made me a CD of him singing, which literally made me cry.

See what I mean? He's amazing right? I'm in trouble here...I'm falling and falling hard! I've never been that kind of girl who goes head over heels for some guy, but with him it just feels so right! It's really hard to be cynical when you have someone like him! What's a girl to do?! :o)

Well, I believe that I've said my peace, so I'll continue working and I'll see ya in the funny papers!!

My poor blog, I've neglected it! Oh well, I had reasons for my actions.

So for those of you who may have noticed that this hasn't been updated in a few may have been wondering what happened to me. Well you can sleep easy knowing that I haven't been abducted by aliens, I've just been in the process of moving. Yes, you heard me right, moving. My sister and I have moved into a townhouse in Nitro and we're finally almost settled in...oh except for the part where we have no furniture, well not living room furniture anyway. Both of us have beds and our bedrooms and bathrooms are good, but right now in the living room is 2 folding chairs, a computer chair and an entertainment center. It's a little bare bones right now, but I'm loving every minute of it. I thoroughly enjoy being on my own. It's kinda nice. 

Well, today marks 5 months of dating for me and Jared. I'm incredibly happy and I think he is too, so that's all that matters. All I know is that whenever I think of him, I get butterflies in my stomach and I can't help but smile. If any of you know me well, you know I'm not that kind of girl, so this is big deal!

So, faithful readers, please explain something to me if you can. I'm listening to a Pandora radio station on my iPhone and I'm listening to songs by Paramore, Linkin Park, 3 Doors Down, Kelly Clarkson, and other artists such as that, when all of the sudden a Demi Lavato song comes on. I'm sorry Pandora, since when does a Disney Channel girl singing her uppety music fit in the same category as Paramore? If any of you can answer that, I'd greatly appreciate it!

OK, well I must leave you now. Until next time, savor the small moments, laugh at the cheesy things and love with your whole heart.

The ups and downs make life worthwhile

So for those of you who may have been concerned about me following my previous post, no need to worry. I'm an optimist by heart, but that day was my pessimist day and there was a part of me that only comes out once in a blue moon that tries to ruin things. It's like my internal pessimist just pops up and goes, "Hey! Regardless of what you may think, your life will always suck, so deal with it!" Yeah, I hate that little guy.

As of now, I'm happy and content with my life. My friends are amazing and I couldn't be happier when it comes to Jared. He really does make me happy and I'm so glad that he's a part of my life. I feel like I'm on the right path in my life and it feels good. Really good. There are only a couple things I would change about my life, and compared to the past, that's awesome. So many people have tons of things they would change, but not me. I'm incredibly blessed!!

Now that I'm through rambling, I'm going to answer some phones, seeing as I'm at work, and find something to leave you with.

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." --James 1:2-4

Stew on that and sleep well.

Wouldn't it be nice if life made sense?

So here I am, my life is going great, and then on the drive home from class tonight, my brain starts going in a million different directions. My heart is telling me something different than my head and it's already driving me crazy. Hopefully it works out soon because if not, I'm going to go crazy. My heart is telling me that I should hold on with all my might because I deserve a happy life, but my head is saying that I can only be happy for so long before something goes wrong and things are going back to the way they were. It's like I'm fighting an internal tug of war and I'm not strong enough to keep fighting much longer. Eventually the rope is going to break and I'm afraid that I'm going to be unhappy all around. Why is it that when something good comes along, life has to come right behind it and ruin the moment? I'd love to catch a break sometime.

In spirit of my internal tug of war, I'll leave you with a snippet of sorts from Tuesdays With Morrie. Yes I know, I used that last time, so sue me.

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.

"A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle."

Sounds like a wrestling match, I say.

"A wrestling match." He laughs. "Yes, you could describe life that way."

So which side wins, I ask?

"Which side wins?"

He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth.

Love wins. Love always wins.




Stew on that and sleep well.

Stop the insanity!

So, I'm sitting at work and I realize something. Fridays suck. Now, I know most of you who are reading this love Fridays, but I'm here to tell you that unless it's the end of your work week, it sucks. Massively. Earlier today was amazing, but this evening has more than made up for the suckiness. This morning Jared and I went to an early lunch and went and saw "Book of Eli" (which, by the way, is awesome) and then he dropped me off at the house and I took a nap. So far so good, right? Right. Well, I get to work and until about 9:30 it's non-stop stupidity! Seriously, someone called me looking for something, I helped them find it and 30 minutes later they call because they were proud they found it again. Really? I'm sorry, I have better things to do than to give you a cookie every time you do something good. Friday also sucks in this place because everyone I usually sit with is off on Friday, so I'm stuck sitting here alone. Yeah, not cool.

Anywho, I'm going to try and find something somewhat inspirational to leave you with. Kind of like ending on a good note. Hopefully I can do this so that way I can get into somewhat of a pattern. All good blogs are more than just a list of what you did that day and who made your hit list for that day. Hopefully you can find something reading mine that will make you laugh, make you cry or anything else on the whole spectrum of emotion. Sometimes I'll have something in my life that will be like God hitting me over the head with some big realization, but days like today will get something that someone else came up with. Hopefully this works out well!

So today I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books, Tuesdays With Morrie.

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." --Morrie Schwartz

2 down, 1 to go.

Well, I've got 2 classes down. So far my classes seem that they're going to actually be easier than many of my undergrad classes. Here's hopin huh? :o) I'm pretty excited and I really can't wait for the next 3 semesters to be over and done with  so that I can have a degree that I can do something with!

So my big excitement is that in 36 days I'm going down to Florida. It's just going to be me going down to spend the weekend with my grandparents. I'm excited to go down there and spend some time with them and enjoy just being there. I'm really excited!

OK, I have nothing insightful tonight, so goodnight!

First day jitters...wasn't that supposed to end at Kindergarten?

So I'm sitting here trying to go to sleep, but I don't think that's going to happen right now. For one, Jacey is completely restless, but the main reason is that for some reason I'm nervous about starting school again tomorrow. I've spent so much time in school that you'd think that the whole jitters thing would have gone away by now, but definitely not this semester. I don't know if it's because it's my first semester in grad school, because I've taken a semester off and feel out of practice or if I'm just a dork. It's possible that it's all three!

Complete 180...

When I was creating my blog, I was apparently oblivious to the fact that you have to name the blog and come up with a URL. Silly me! When it came time for me to choose the URL, I was looking around the room trying to come up with some inspiration, but with no luck. Suddenly, out of the air Operation Ashley comes to mind, so I give it a whirl and it's available. I didn't really think anything of it, all I thought was that it sounds kinda spiffy. (Yes, I just said spiffy) Well, to make a long story short, it hit me tonight. My life is like Operation Ashley. God has an ongoing plan for me and I imagine that if my life's plan was in a folder in some heavenly file cabinet, it would be titled Operation Ashley.

Stew on that and sleep well!

My first post...quick grab the camera!

Well, I'm attempting to start a blog, I'm not sure how it's going to go, but I'm going to give it an honest effort. I don't really know that my life is interesting enough to blog about, but in my past experience, this has proven to be a very therapeutic experience. I don't really have a whole lot to say right now, but I wanted to get this thing set up.