miscellany monday...it's the last monday in january?!?!

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1. How is January almost over?! I feel like just yesterday it was New Year's Eve, and now the month is about to be over! January FLEW by!


2. I made this the other night:

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SO, SO, SO good. Seriously the best tacos I have ever had. They were beyond delicious. And it was so easy to make. Chicken, a can of salsa, and a package of taco mix all in the crock pot for about 5 hours. SO easy. SO good. 

3. I signed up for The Color Run last night! Chelsea, Mary Beth, Addison, Cole, and I are going to run it in March. Now, I'm not a runner at ALL. Like, I hate to run. But, I wanted to run a 5k before I turn 21, and doesn't this look like SO much fun?! 

You wear white, and at each kilometer, they blast you with a different color. It's an easy, "fun" run, not one based off of speed, so it's PERFECT for me. I'm SO excited. 

4. I'm heading to Florida in a few weeks with my mom to see our family down there. I'm really excited! It's been a year since we've seen them, and I can't wait to do some shopping at IKEA! 

5. I want to do this so bad and make some and put them in my living room! 

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6. I spent a lot of time this weekend with these two cuties: 

At one point, I was telling Casie about Australia, and she said to Jack, "Jack, Ash Ash is going to Australia this summer." Jack looks at me and says, "Ash Ash, don't leave us!!!" Seriously the sweetest thing in the entire world! 

Hope your last Monday of January is fabulous! 

Fill-in-the-Blank-Friday!

1.   My favorite place i've ever traveled to is     probably San Diego. It was such a pretty city, there was tons to do, and the weather was fabulous! Although, I really loved D.C. as well   .

2.    Prince Edward Island     is somewhere I'd love to go someday.

3.  I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by     reading, listening to music, and talking with whoever I'm traveling with   .

4.  My three must-haves when I travel are     a map/GPS    ,    a bottle of water   and     my glasses. 

5.  My favorite travel companion is    probably my friend Chelsea. We've traveled together many a time that we know how each other travels best  .

6.  The craziest thing that ever happened to me while traveling is    when I was in San Diego, my friend, Drew, almost got arrested for jaywalking .

7.  The most exotic food I've ever tried while traveling is    nothing. When I went to Panama, we ate McDonald's more than anything else  .

8.  If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in    Hilton Head Island, South Carolina  .

9.  I have been to    thirteen  

states in the U.S.

life through the blackberry...

...is not near as fun as life through the iPhone.

Exhibit A:

taken with Chelsea's iPhone

My favorite junior girls!

taken with my BlackBerry

Happy Birthday, Jamie!

oh well, life is still happening through my BlackBerry, so here are a few picture updates of the past few weeks!

one night at Passion

see all those lights? yeah, that's cell phones. 

Passion 2012

downtown ATL

view out of our hotel room 

rise up! 

sign your name for freedom here

birthday lunch with Jack + Joe + Casie was the BEST!

p.s. Jack called me on my actual birthday to say happy birthday. made my day. 

p.p.s. i miss seeing him, Joe, and Casie every Monday/Wednesday like i did last semester. 

p.p.p.s. i can't wait to see all three of them this coming Friday! 

for like two weeks, this gas station showed that gas was nine-tenths of a penny for unleaded. 

i really wish that was true. 

(side note: i took this while at a stop light, not while driving). 

my dad got this for me the other day! YAY!

p.s. it's official, i'll be headed "down unda" in MAY!!!!! so grateful for the Lord's provision!

drumroll please...

there aren't too many things more exciting than getting this on a Thursday night...

Know what this means? That I'm more than likely going to be in AUSTRALIA this summer!!!! Only by the power and grace of God will this happen. ALL glory to HIM (no matter what ends up happening)! There are still a LOT more details to be worked out over the next few weeks, so PLEASE be in prayer for me and this whole situation!

miscellany monday.

today i'm linking up with lowercase letters for a miscellany monday post! here goes...

1. Our college group, Unite, just started up a new discipleship program. All of the students are paired with twenty-somethings/thirty-somethings that are a part of home groups within the church. I absolutely LOVE my mentor/discipler/older-woman-in-my-life-to-give-me-wisdom, Charity. She's great. We had coffee together on Friday, and I had so much fun getting to know her! I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me this semester. 

2. On Friday, I headed to Columbia with Chelsea to watch her sister play a basketball game. It felt like old times when we used to road-trip for ACS games! I enjoyed getting to cheer on ACS, spend some time with one of my favorite families, and get out of Augusta for an afternoon/evening!

3. I met Chelsea and Mary Beth for lunch on Saturday at Panera. We do that quite frequently when everyone is in town, and I love my time with them. I'm so glad that they can still be my best friends even though we don't see each other as often as we'd like! I'm grateful for them!

4. I love this picture. A lot :)

5. I think this picture is cute. It's supposed to be the bride, groom, and the maid of honor. Such an adorable idea!

6. I really hope this is where I am this summer :)

7. I recently read these two books. They were SO good, and I highly recommend both of them. After reading Michele Bachmann's book, I was totally going to vote for her! And then she dropped out of the campaign. Still, she has great things to say that one really needs to read if they want to know about politics! 

8. Last night, two of the sweetest freshman girls spent the night with me! I had a BLAST with them. I had brunch with two junior girls this morning, and I enjoyed their company so much. I love that about my job---that I can do crazy things with freshmen and have serious talk with juniors! 

Have a happy Monday, friends! 

Do Something NOW!

Do Something Now is the part of Passion that brings what we've learned during the conference to action. With Do Something Now, college students are able to give to different causes and organizations to help further the Gospel. This year at Passion, the "theme" was to raise awareness of human trafficking. We were able to give to organizations like A21 Campaign, IJM, Wellspring Living, and many other cool causes/organizations.

But Do Something Now is more than just giving. It's about doing. The last day of Passion, Louie Giglio gave a very inspiring and convicting message. He talked about how we have been set up in this system of achieving certain goals before we can really start to live our lives. So many of us have this mindset that we've got to get through college, get in the real world, get a job, etc, before we can start to live our lives for the Lord.

Just a day before, I'd been talking with my college pastor about my plans after college. I know I've mentioned it before that I want to teach in a foreign country after I graduate. I told my college pastor about those plans. He said, "Ashton, that's great. But, you never know what God's going to do in your life in the next two and a half years." Solid advice, but I didn't think much of what he said. Why should I?

Fast forward a day or so to Louie's message about Doing Something Now on the last day. I was sitting there in the Georgia Dome, so beyond ready to go home, and I was getting so convicted. I kept thinking to myself, "I need to change how I act at school. I have such a huge mission field, and I don't do anything about it. I don't proclaim the name of Jesus enough." I'd been convicted about that for the past few weeks; that wasn't a "new" conviction by any means. However, I got convicted about how I was planning to spend my summer.

My plans for this summer were to take classes all summer (and I may still do that). If I do take classes this summer, then I can graduate on time. But, whoever said that I HAD to graduate on time? What's one more semester if I can use my summer for something significant for the Lord? So, I came home from Passion, and I began searching some things on the IMB. There are a ton of mission projects, and after lots of searching I came across one in Australia that I just couldn't stop looking at the description. I had a huge peace about the whole thing.

So, I applied. I don't know what's going to happen, but I knew that I had to step out in faith and apply. I don't know if I'll get it, but it's all in the Lord's hands now. Join me in prayer that the Lord will get the most glory out of my summer--whether it's in Australia or Augusta (although I really hope it's Australia!).

Pursue your passion and your calling. Do what you're wired to do. All in the name of Jesus. - Louie Giglio

God Knows.

Last week at Passion, Christine Caine spoke to us two times. She is a huge advocate for freeing slaves who have been trafficked, and she really taught us a lot about sex trafficking, human trafficking, etc. While she was speaking one day, she told us how she was adopted.

Of course I immediately felt a strong connection with her. Our stories are quite different though, and she said some things that struck me quite strongly. She said how she didn't know of her conception or any of the details surrounding her birth and adoption. I know these things, and I just kept listening to her story. But then she said, "God knows. Even though I don't know these details, God knows. He says that He knew you before you were even formed, and that's something I put my trust in."

A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from my BM. Now isn't the time to go into details, but let's just say I've been struggling with the whole thing, and I haven't really decided how I "feel" about it. But, when Christine Caine said that God knows, I really related with that. I may never have the opportunity to know my BM or the cousin that I found on facebook. I may never know them. But, God knows me and that's all that really matters.

grateful.

Before I post about Passion 2012 (which was BEYOND awesome), I wanna post about a few things that I'm grateful for. This week, I've been reminded about some of these things, and I just need to write them down so that I can be reminded of them during other times in my life.

I'm grateful for...this girl. If you had asked me during my junior year of high school if I thought that Chelsea would be one of my best friends in college, despite the fact that we went to different colleges, I would have told you that you were crazy. Chelsea and I were best friends during our freshman and sophomore years of high school. Junior year, yeah, not so much. We had this huge argument (about what, I can't really remember anymore), and our friendship went sour. Anyway, thanks be to the Lord, we became best friends again during our senior year of high school, and we've only gotten closer since then.

This week, Chelsea has been what she always is to me----an incredible source of encouragement and great sister in the Lord. I'm so thankful and grateful for her. That even while I'm going through some TOUGH stuff, she still gets me. She listens, she gives godly advice, and most of all, she prays for me. I really don't know where I'd be (especially in the past few days) without her. 

I'm also grateful for the fact that my carpet is getting cleaned tomorrow (thanks Mom and Dad)! Upon moving furniture in the living and dining room, I decided to declare this week "Spring Winter Cleaning Week". It's like 70 degrees outside, so it feels like it's spring cleaning. I really want to start this semester off with a clean house! 

I'm grateful for...some time I got to spend with Pops' family today. I brought dinner to them, and while I expected to bless them, they blessed me so much more! I shouldn't be surprised, they are related to Pops, so it's no wonder they act the way they do! They were beyond sweet to me, and I was so blessed! 

I'm really grateful for the things the Lord taught me at Passion! I can't wait to see what He does in and through me! Happy second week of 2012! 

2011 Recap Part 3 [Final One]

2011 was a good year. Not great, but God is still faithful, and it was still good. Lots of changes were thrown at me, and honestly, if I told you how I thought 2011 was going to be it would be a lot different than it turned out.

A few of my favorite highlights of the year...

Cruise in February!

DNOW in March!

First Boot Pic....A Whole NEW Summer!

Spent many days/nights with him and his brother. 

I love being Ash Ash!

Caroline comes home from kamp in Missouri!

Couldn't have gotten through the summer without her letters!

Last summer event before Drew headed off to Statesboro for school. 

Joe is born in March! 

KENTUCKY in September!

Catching up during the middle of the semester!!

My first event as a high school intern---corn maze in Louisville, GA!

Grateful for these friends!

Auburn in November!

Thanksgiving Break brings everyone home!

Third Annual Christmas Party!

Happy 2012 friends! 

2011 Recap Part 2

The next part of my 2011 post...

I try to go out of town at least once every month each year. I succeeded in that this year.

January: Atlanta for Passion 2011 (So excited that I'll be there tomorrow for Passion 2012!)

February: Miami, Key West, and Nassau for a cruise with Leah and our families! My family also got to see my mom's side of the family which was also great! 

Atlantis, the famous resort in Nassau, the Bahamas

with my cousin Renee who lives in Key West

with my mom's best friend and sister, Aunt Lisa, in Miami

March: Hillsong United Concert in Atlanta! One of the best nights of worship I've ever experienced!

April: At the beginning of the month, I headed to Athens for breakfast with my friend Mollie Kate, and I went up to Commerce to do some shopping. It was great to see her and get out of Augusta for a day. At the end of the month, I went to Asheville for CPR training for camp. Another great day out of Augusta! I so love Asheville! 

May: So I didn't get too far out of Augusta for the month of May, but I'm counting it as out of Augusta because I was in South Carolina and I was in a different zip code than I normally am. My great group of friends from ACS headed to the lake for the day! It was a perfect summer day with some of the best friends ever! 

June: I headed to camp in Asheville! We all know how that ended, but I did go to Asheville for three days, so I did get out of town that month!

July: I went to Atlanta with the high school to go rock climbing and to watch a Braves' game. It was SO much fun, and surprisingly it wasn't too hot!

August: Hilton Head with the family! Oh, it was SO good to get away for a few days and spend some time with my parents. I do love HHI, and I really enjoyed bike riding that week. On my way back, I made a pit stop in Statesboro to see Chelsea and it was great!

September: KENTUCKY! I headed up with Chelsea to see my BD get married. A little crazy, but a great weekend. 

my crazy Uncle Johnny

October: My last middle school event for a while. I headed to Crowders Mountain State Park in North Carolina with the eighth graders for a retreat. It was fun but LONG! The pictures from that weekend don't need to be shown again :)

November: I headed to the great state of Alabama with my dad to watch Auburn play! I got to spend some time with Caroline, and it was a GREAT weekend! 

one of the most beautiful places in the world

(oh, and war eagle! they won the Chickfila Bowl last night!)

December: West Virginia for ski trip with the high school! 

i love snow :) 

2011 Recap Part 1

I liked my friend Chelsea's post about her word, song, quote, and verse of 2011. I decided to incorporate that with my idea to post about 2011. So, here goes the first "recap" post....

Word of the Year: TRUST

Trust was a HUGE thing that I really learned and relearned and relearned again during 2011. A lot of that came from this summer when plans that I had made six months before changed completely. Again this fall when I fell into this new job situation and it was sort of hard at first. I learned that if I just turned it all over to the Lord and trusted Him, I could get through it. And I did. 

Song of the Year: With Everything by Hillsong United

Quote of the Year: Only one life twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. - C.T. Studd

This was our "motto", I guess you could say, for the church this year. We made it our focus to make our lives count for Christ. I just love this quote, and it was (and is) something that I remember when the day to day stuff bogs me down. Also, I love how our church really took this to heart this year. Today, we found out that we exceeded our proposed budget for 2011 by a LOT. A huge blessing, and I know that WBC took this quote and challenge to heart in 2011. 

Verse of the Year: And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. - Philippians 1:6

This verse was the verse the Lord gave to me back in June when I broke my ankle. It's such a good promise, and I'm so grateful that the Lord used this verse in my life this year.