Long time coming.....

Today is finally the day......

I haven't blogged in over a year now. It's crazy to think about how much has happened since I wrote my last post:

-Graduated from college finally

-Began (and now halfway through) my deployment to Afghanistan

Sure, it may not seem like much, but in all reality a lot has changed for me.

Right now, I'm sitting in my RLB listening to some music with headphones on cause my roommate is asleep. RLB is code for "really little bedroom" in my opinion. However, I've made my side my own. I have a wall filled with pictures of friends and family that remind me of why I'm here. I miss my family more everyday, but I try and remember how amazing it will be when I see them in the spring time. One main thing I've learned since being here is how important quality time is with those you love. I will not be taking that for granted when I get home, of this I'm sure.

One wall has my lovely calendar for a countdown that Renee made from the family before I left. I flipped it to December a couple days ago which brought a huge smile to my face. One more month down. My friend Jarrod sent a red stocking with an "A" on it thats hanging up. My parents are amazing and will be sending me a little tree too to decorate. 

Ok, I've probably said too much about my RLB :P  

The unfortunate thing is, I can't really explain or describe anything I'm doing here for security purposes. 

Either way, I decided to write because I know my mom will appreciate this. She has been amazing since I've been here. She sends packages, letters and I get to skype with her every now and then. I love you more and miss you so much mom. 

My whole family has been a great support system since I left. I will be overjoyed when I get to see them all again. It brings a smile to my face when I think about all the great conversations and family games that will happen when I get home. 

I'm going to wrap things up for now. Things are going well here. I will continue to try and better myself and I hope to come home a better person after experiencing this. 

Gorgeous Sunrise over the mountains

I took this in July when the flag was at half mass in honor of the marine that was killed.

All geeked out in my gear :)

my attempt to protest the new burn pit near by that I breathe in everyday :P 

Awesome blanket made and sent by the one and only, Katie Warden 

Everyone back home says my hair is super long......I still want it to be longer :P 

just chilling in my room

Snuggled up with my favorite stuffed german sheppard, Ranger

Merry Christmas! 

Long Overdue!

Well I was told by a certain sister in law of mine that I should probably blog......so here it goes:

A lot of new things have been happening in my life. I was blessed at the end of July to find out that I had received a last minute slot into the Skills program in Brooklyn Park. For those of you that don't know, Skills is all of the theory and hands on training that students have to go through to become a police officer in Minnesota. I started at the end of August and have been loving it thus far. Many of my classmates are awesome people, so it's been easy to spend four nights a week with them :)

I'm deploying in 7 months! Talk about time going fast! Over the next few months, my unit will be getting administrative work done for soldiers deploying and also get our qualifications up to date. We will probably start our validation training in January. I still feel like it's a ways off, but I must say my mom had a point when she said "it will be here before you know it". I'm looking forward to the experience and spending that time away with many friends.

Other than those two things, there isn't much happening. I'm running my first marathon in 2 weeks and don't feel ready even a little bit. :S However, I trust that I have the stamina to make it to the finish line! I'm still living with my lovely brother and sister in law, Adam and Renee, and enjoying it very much. They are so much fun to be around, along with Milo, the pup.

Well, I probably should get back to studying. Until next time....... :)

P.S. my hair is getting super long and I'm very happy about that. Just thought I would let you all know :)

My love for school has turned into hatred........Two exams next week, one of which has a 40 page study guide. Yes, 40 pages. Need I say more?

Ok so it's been a while........Life has been pretty insane with school, work and just life in general. I've been looking forward to some much needed time off school (aka, spring break baby!) and I made it! I'm off for spring break this whole next week! Unfortunately, I'm not going anywhere warm for this lovely break, but just having some down time will be nice.

I'm enjoying school for the most part. I'm learning a lot in a couple of my classes, and the stuff I'm learning is going to be very useful once I'm a cop. I'm still pretty excited to graduate in May though. Skills is going to be fun and I'm definitely ready to start on that journey.

Totally random, but I've been thinking about taking a language course this summer. Pashtu is the official language of Afghanistan. As you all know by now, I'm going to be spending a year there on a deployment. There is a part of me that really wants to get in touch with the language and culture before I go. I feel like it would help me acclimate when I get there and have a better understanding of the locals that I'll be working with.

Work is going ok, although I haven't been there much because of school. There is a possibility of me going on orders to work with the MN Honor Guard team. They do all military funerals in the state: the folding of the flag and the 21 gun salute. It's a job that would be an honor and a privilege in my opinion.

Well, thats the new buzz guys. Until next time :)

2011: The year of the Bus

Hahaha I know I know, I'm a dork with the title, but I can't help but be overjoyed that I now have FREEDOM!!!! Well, sort of at least. :P I bought a bus pass yesterday so I can make my way around without bugging my sis every ten seconds to use the car! It was one hundred bucks, but it will pay for itself in no time. It's a "college pass" so I now have unlimited rides on the bus until May 31st!! Isn't that rad?!?! I mean trust me, I would love to have the freedom of having my own car, but right now that just isn't possible. So instead, I'm going to ride the bus as much as I can, to where ever I need to go.

So I started my adventure today after I got done at work. I took the bus from my house to uptown. I walked a couple blocks to a local coffee shop on Hennepin (Spyhouse: if ya haven't been there, make it a priority coffee shop to go to!). I worked on my Psychology homework for a couple hours at the "coffee bar" they have. I started to get a little side tracked, so I asked the lady working if there was a library near by.

Of course there was! haha I walked about 6 blocks south on Hennepin to the Walker Hennepin Co library. I stopped in at a computer store on the way to find out about getting iWork for my laptop. I was excited to hear I can buy it on itunes for 50 bucks cheaper! BOOYAH.

I studied at the library for a while and then went across the street for a quick sub. Now, I'm sitting at the sbux close by my house (I took the bus back over to my digs). Needless to say, I'm dorking out about the bus now. It's super convenient, I just have to search for routes and stuff online until I get the hang of it. I'm also really excited to become a lot more knowledgable on the Minneapolis area.

I'm looking forward to "forced down time" as Lisa calls it :P The stupid picture above is of me with my awesome bus pass :P (oh yeah those are my new specs too! I got them in the mail yesterday!)

Anyway, I'm done ranting about my exciting news. Until next time peeps.

So, I made my super secret squirrel recipe yesterday. It was a dud unfortunately. I got the recipe out of my sisters cookbook "clean food". Needless to say, when some people say that whole foods are gross and bland, this is one of the recipes they were talking about.

Black beans are tasty. There tasty in my chipotle burrito bowl, in salsa and several other things. However, no one should EVER make them into patties. There were several other things in the patties, but they just didn't have any flavor. I made a pineapple guacamole with the patties, and THAT was good, but even putting that on the patty did not help.

You live and you learn right? I've really enjoyed cooking at home. I'm starting to get the hang of how much spice or oil you need for cooking. I picked up my friend Katie from the airport and made dinner at her house with her husband and little bundle of joy Addi. Lemon Chicken, grilled asparagus, and seasoned red potatoes. They said it was amazing! I was fairly proud of myself cause I didn't find it too difficult to accomplish!

Anyway, I'm sitting at school in the Veterans lounge right now, putting of reading my textbooks. I should probably get to the learning. Until next time friends!

Operation "Whole Foods" in full swing!

Last week I spent some time thinking about ways to quicken my weight loss........I only came up with on task; however, I knew it wasn't going to be an easy one at that. Eating healthier. Isn't that the answer to many things whether it's weight loss, happiness, or health issues? People say it, but I feel like most people don't explain it or don't want to go through the trouble of research. Not to mention the trips to the grocery store that are much more difficult (and a lot more expensive unfortunately).

I've decided I'm going to change the nasty cycle.

Well, for two weeks at least :P I'm going to eat ONLY whole foods for the next 12 days. (I already started yesterday so I'm closing up on day two right now! No, seriously, I'm sitting at the table eating a clementine and pumpkin seeds as I write this.) It's not going to be easy to resist my normal caramel high rise at work along with the occasional banana chocolate chip muffin (which I must say are A-mazing). However, I know that I will be working for the good of my body in the long run. (oh running, how I miss you)

My lovely sister, Lisa, is a health nut and is helping me with what I can and cannot eat. She lent me one of her cookbooks "clean food" and I'm going to be making a couple meals from the book that call for all whole foods.

I'm really excited about this. Today I totally geeked out at the grocery store. I was almost on a first name basis with the lady stocking in the organic section as I asked her question after question about different products. :P Anyway, as I know you all love photos, I continued my geekyness when I got home and took some photos of my groceries:

All my lovely groceries for the next two weeks. And yes, I displayed my reusable bags proudly!

Beautiful!

veggies for my recipes I'm excited to try out!

THIS WEEKS FEATURED PRODUCTS

(ok, thats code for my favorite buys)

Steel cut oats! I have NEVER made actual oatmeal. I've always made instant!

And the only bread available in the store that was made from whole food.

Well, that the exciting new stuff in life right now.....I'm sure I'll be updating when I make my lovely whole food meal (it's super secret squirrel stuff right now) on Thursday! Until then!

Update Time!

Blogging may be few and far in between for this busy girl.....need I say more than this photo? :P

Just a quick update for now: Life RAWKS needless to say. I'm loving school, work, P90x, and what I'm learning in the Word.

School is great. My professors are awesome, and most of my classes are pretty interesting. The thing I'm looking forward to the most this semester is service learning. One of my professors requires 10 hours of volunteering for his course. I'm thinking about going to children's hospital in Minneapolis for my volunteering. The biggest reason I'm excited about this is I haven't really volunteered (outside of the PD and Church) since I was in high school. I'm looking forward to seeing what opportunities arise throughout it.

Work is good, although I'm glad to be working less now. It's nice to have the variety of school, work, and other activities in life.

I'm just finishing up my third week of P90X! I don't feel like I've been seeing a huge difference, but a lot of that has to do with my eating habits. I'm considering changing my diet around so that I can lose some more weight and continue on to my goal of becoming a brick house. :P Running is still on hold unfortunately until my physical therapy starts up. I'm hoping to start hitting the trails again within a month or two.

Last, but definitely not least, I just started to study the book of Ruth with my mom (if you know her, which all of you do, cause all of my followers are her children :P), so of course we're doing an in depth thirty day study. Because of school, were only doing the study three days a week and then meeting when we can. I've already been learning so much and trying to apply the book to my life. Ruth was very selfless (if you don't know this, go read Ruth it's only four chapters). With her model, I've been coming to notice that it something I need to work on big time. Everything isn't about me, and I need to be more aware of that sometimes. It's wonderful to see how the Lord worked in her favor because she submitted to His will for her life by being selfless. Awesome stuff.

Well, no promises on the next blog post. Until then, peace!

Sick + School = probably not good (GRAPHIC POST)

So today is my first day back at school, and last night I was awake throwing up amongst other things. (that was the graphic part.) Now, I'm sitting outside of my first classroom, just waiting for the magic to begin at noon. I have faith that the Lord is going to get me through three 75 minute classes. Anyway, I don't have much else to tell you all right now, cause I'm ill, tired, and have a headache.

Until next time everyone.

Christmas time is here!

ok ok, so Christmas time has been here for a while, but seriously people, can you believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve?!?!?! Seriously, this holiday season has gone by much faster than any other year for me. I have no idea why, maybe it's cause I'm getting older. Anyway.....

I'm super excited that I get to have brunch with the majority of my immediate family tomorrow (sadly the Davis' will not be able to attend)! I was suppose to be working an opening shift, but one of my coworkers switched shifts with me! I'm still working 12 to 4 tomorrow, but I'm fine with seeing my lovely afternoon regulars on Christmas Eve.

I loved the 2 Part sermon Pastor Bryan preached the last two weeks in preparation for Christmas time. It was called "O come, O come Emmanuel". It got back to the main point of Christmas: Christ's birth. It's so easy to get caught up in the gifts, family time, and decorations for me. I'm so glad that this year, I'm taking a lot more time to remember the amazing gift that God gave us. I want to make this Christmas more Christ-centered (the way it should always be) so I've decided to be intentional with conversations at work with my regulars and coworkers. I'm hoping and praying for deeper conversations with them.

So as I spend time with my family and coworkers over the next few days, I'm looking forward to meditation and conversation about the central point of this holiday: Christ!

Thats all for now! I'm sure I'll post some pictures within the next couple days from the lovely fam time! Peace out!

The Swing of Things.....

So I'm extremely happy to announce that next month, I will be starting my LAST semester of school! The exciting thing about it is I'm ACTUALLY going to FINISH!!!!! This past year has been somewhat of a rollercoaster for me in regards to school. God had other plans, but he has now blessed me with the ability to go back and finish what I started ummmm.........5 years ago :P

I'm taking 4 law enforcement classes, and then at the end of the semester I will be applying to skills (the hands on "catch the bad guys" type stuff) to start in August. Skills is very difficult to get into, so I'm praying that the Lord will bless me in a huge way by getting accepted the first time around.

I'm starting January 10th, and I will actually be taking a couple city buses to school because right now I don't have a car. I still have mixed feelings about that, but we'll see haha Anyway thats all for now. PEACE OUT!

A section from chapter one of "The cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer writing about cheap grace:

"...The Christian life comes to mean nothing more than living in the world and as the world, in being no different from the world, in fact, in being prohibited from being different from the world for the sake of grace. The upshot of it all is that my only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on a Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that my sins are all forgiven. I need no longer try to follow Christ, for cheap grace, the bitterest foe of discipleship, which true discipleship must loath and detest, has freed me from that....."

I know, it's a long quote, but WOAH. Super blunt, but soooooo true at times. Can't wait to see what else this book has to offer.

I really can't follow that up with anything brilliant. So that is all. :P

Oh the joys of organizing your army gear and forgetting about one of the million things they give you......I forgot about the ninja mask!!! hahaha

Thats all for today folks!

So once again it's been awhile. I've decided to not say that I'm going to try blogging more often, simple because I never live up to it. Life has been interesting to say the least. I've been trying to find the positive thing in every situation lately as I've been struggling with finances and vehicle issues.

Well, last night I had worship practice for Sunday morning. Pastor Jeff does a little devotional at the end of practice for all of the band members. I was very tired (I had been up at 4:30 for an opening shift at work) and wasn't very focused. I can't tell you were he was reading in the OT, but his ending statement was, "So really, with the Lord it's all or nothing. We can either choose to completely live for Him, or not. There is no middle life. We need to be aware of the things in life that are pulling us away from the Lord, and pray that He would rid all of those things."

Needless to say, It didn't hit me until today. I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating lunch and listening to the worship set for Sunday morning. I had an AH HA moment! I realized how many things in my life I've been allowing to swallow up my time with the Lord. This causes a domino effect.......Not spending time in the Word and prayer, causes me to go through my days as busy as can be worrying about myself. Worrying about MYSELF, and what I want to do or need to do. Wait. Isn't my life the Lords? Isn't He in complete control? YES! HE IS! And I've been living blind to that. What works for the Lord have I missed? What situations have a passed up where I could have shared His love to someone that didn't have a clue about it? This was a VERY sobering moment for me today. So I quickly ran downstairs and grabbed my journal and wrote:

"Take it all. Take everything. I don't want to live this life coasting anymore. I need you to be the only focus of my life Lord God. I need to stop being so absorbed in myself and I need to just live for You. It's that simple. I've been so half hearted with You Lord. I've been loving and following You only when it's convenient for me. Well, I'm sick of being like that. I'm done. Here You go, I'm giving everything to do. Everything that is already Yours Lord."

My day hasn't been great, but this moment was wonderful. I'm so overjoyed that I'm figuring out that this life is not my own. Thats all for now. :)

(The photo is from my trip to Azerbaijan last fall. Capturing the great book of James)

"People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone."
- Audrey Hepburn

This short sentence speaks volumes to me right now.

New Year. New Life.

As I sit at a Kitchen table this morning, I'm reminded of the new year and the excitement of seeing what God has in store for me. to the left of my laptop I have several books that I'm reading right now (crazy love, all things for good, living the cross centered life, and unveil) and on the right side I have Bible Doctrine (the book were in currently for Expo). all of these books have been wonderful so far and I know that God has been teaching me many things from the people that have written them. However, right in front of me is the most important book of all: The Bible. I have it opened up to Colossians right now for my Expo Bible reading. Something that my mom just introduced me to has made my Bible reading great for three days now. I had NO idea that you can listen to the Bible online! It has made the Word come to life as I follow the narrator through the Word of God. I love this. Other than my resolutions that I posted a couple weeks ago, I think I have added one more to the list: being more serious about Scripture memorization. I would really like to memorize more passages through this year. The Bible is such an important piece of my Faith. I listen to new music all the time and memorize the words to songs instantly. Memorizing the Words of God is WAAAY more important than what men and women have written to a simple melody. So here is goes..... these are the first two verses I'm starting out with this year:

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, the Christ died for no purpose."

Galatians 2:20,21

I read this on January 2nd. It just really struck me and I find it to be extremely powerful. I'm going to get back to my reading so until next time!

If your interested in listen to the ESV online, it's as simple as going to: http://www.esv.org/ !

Ash

Wonderful Saturday :D

I just sat with my mom for 3 hours at Caribou reading the first 10 pages of our next book in Expo. It RAWKED. Let me list 5 reasons why:

1) My mother (if you don't know her) is Wise beyond her years. She knows how to direct conversations to make you really look inside yourself and figure out how you can use a book actively in your own life.

2) It's always great to study with someone else when your reading the same book. That way, you can talk about it and understand it better. There were certain things in this first chapter that I may have not noticed without her being there.

3) Mother/Daughter time rules. enough said.

4) It's a great way to know how to be praying for eachother.

5) I love my mom and I love spending time with her. It's as simple as that.

I love that my mom and I are in the same discipleship at the Church. I can't believe that we didn't start studying together sooner than now.

Ok mom. this blog is for you. :D Lets study again soon. I loved it!!!

Until next time,

Ash

So yes I know.....It's been a while...... 9 months to be exact. :P

Everytime I blog (I've come to realize), I always say "oh yeah I'm totally gonna start doing this once a week for sure!". That seems to NEVER happen so here it goes...... I've decided I'm not going to make this a chore, so I've decided to blog whenever I feel like I have something to say :). As I look back on this past year, many amazing things have happened within my life and also the lives of my family and friends. I love that God has given me such a wonderful family that supports me in all I do. I'm also honored to have such amazing friends. As I look into the new year, I'm looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in my life. I'm looking forward to graduating in May of 2010 and then starting skills in the fall. It's also hard to believe that I'm pretty much halfway through my discipleship at NHC! I love what God has been teaching me and also the relationships I've been building with the women that are on this journey with me. I had the privilege of being a part of my brothers celebration last weekend as he married the love of his life, and stunning bride, Renee. I loved spending tons of time with Carrie, Jake, Annika, and Eden as they spend a week in MN for the wedding festivities. I'm overjoyed that I get to spend spring break in TX with them next year :D Many amazing things have happened this year, but I plan on doing my best to make 2010 an even better year:

-Grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord.
-Invest time in my unbelieving friends and share the gospel with them.
-Succeed in school and exponential. At the same time.
-Run my first marathon. and then run another one before the year comes to an end.
-Become more of a helper to my family and also to my church.
-Go on at least one road trip.
-Read at least 4 books written by dead guys.
-Spend my summer helping out my close friend Chels, with her two little bundles of joy that are due to come into the world at the end of May.
-Spend more time having deep meaningful conversations.
-Head to Azerbaijan in the fall for a short term missions trip, if the Lord is calling me to that once again.

I know, I know it's quite a bit to tackle in a year. I have faith in my Heavenly Father, that He will teach me and give me more than enough over this next year. For now so long everyone!

With Love,
Ash

Sundays :)

I love Sundays.......

I love that......

God always does something amazing to keep me going through the week.
My time in His house is always renewing and rejuvinating.
He always has something new for me to take in and learn.
I get to spend time with my mom at the front desk before fusion :)
I have the privlege of worshipping such an amazing God.
I get to celebrate His power in fellowship with other believers.

I don't think Sundays will ever stop being my favorite day of the week. :)