I'm Here!!

Hello family and friends from Australia!
I've been in Sydney since 6:15 this (Monday) morning (that's about 4:15 in the afternoon on Sunday Augusta time). It was quite the journey getting here. Let's just say a stomach bug + a 102 fever the night before my flight was NO FUN. But, Satan didn't win this game and this gal got to Australia!
I'm killing some time before dinner...I'm so desperately wanting to go to bed but I've made it this far that I can't ruin it now!
We're staying at this Christian camp about an hour outside of Sydney while we do our orientation. It's so beautiful...we just saw some kangaroos!
I LOVE my team and our leaders. Everyone is SO fun, but not just that, they are FULL of the Holy Spirit and are each actively seeking the Lord. They have been SUCH a blessing so far.
Well, that's about all for now! Please keep praying for me, especially during the time difference thing. This girl NEEDS her 8 hours of sleep every night!

Photo Dump of the Past Few Weeks!

I'm leaving for AUSTRALIA in less than 48 hours! AHHHH.

Here's life via the iPhone over the past few weeks: 

High School Summer Kick-off Pool Party.

So happy Millie Kate smiled in this picture! 

One of mine and Hannah's last nights as roommates!

Sweet Joe...seriously, one beautiful baby boy!

My friend Sarah got a new puppy!!

CUTEST boy in the WORLD :)

The many faces of Jack! 

Part of the "Outback before I head to the Outback" crew!

I love Harris and Mills. :)

Senior Exchange at the Lake. 

One of my last nights in the AUG...could not have asked for a better night! 

This makes me smile so much :)

Spent Mother's Day with the best momma in the WORLD!

Happy Friday, friends!! 

TWENTY!

Today is my BEST FRIEND'S 20th birthday! Being the blogger that she is, I couldn't help but think that this would be the perfect present for her. So, here's a post dedicated to my best friend, Chelsea!

Happy Birthday...

...to the girl who listens well...

...to the girl who desires to know Jesus like nothing else...

...to the girl who is always just a phone call away...

...to the girl who knows me better than I know myself...

...to the girl who accepts me for all my quirky habits...

...to the girl who loves hard...

...and to the girl who tells me what I need to hear!

Happy Birthday Chelsea! I'm SO grateful that you are one of my best friends! 

I love you SO much! Have a fabulous day!!! 

A Comfortable Being

I've been putting off writing this post for a while now. I think I knew that if I wrote it, then the reality of me leaving would smack me in the face. But, I need to write this. Even if no one else reads this, I need to write it for my own good. To close this chapter of my life. 

I'm a "comfortable being". I like order, I like knowing what's going to happen, and I like plans. I like to be IN control of the situation. I like to know that my parents are just down the road, that I have a paycheck every two weeks, and ultimately what is expected of me at work. I like knowing what's going on. I really don't know what my days will look like this summer. Which is why going to Australia scares me to death. 

I have enjoyed every single moment of my internship with the high school ministry. I have enjoyed watching students grow, getting to serve them, and ultimately just do life with them. I have gotten comfortable with them. I can hang out with them, be myself, and know that they'll still love me at the end of the day. They are a HUGE part of my comfort zone. Which is exactly why I need to go to Australia. 

The past few weeks, I've been in an awkward in between phase, a holding place between two seasons of my life. I'm excited for Australia, yet I'm sad to leave some sweet students (and friends and family). So, I've been spending a lot of my free time with them, and I'm already looking forward to hear all the great things God does in their lives and hearts this summer!

Meredith and Julia left these on my phone one night :)

And then Jamie and I left these on someone's phone :)

Chickfila after the last Wednesday night of the semester!

Senior Sunday...my last Sunday at WBC for a while!!! :(

My last day of work//Summer Kickoff Pool Party

Our sweet staff got a cookie cake for me!!!

Fill-In-The-Blank-Friday

1.  Something that is very near and dear to my heart is,   student ministry. I love, love, love doing life with students, and even though my job as intern is over, I'm so glad that I have valuable relationships with students that will continue    .

2.      The fact that I'm going to AUSTRALIA next Saturday   is good cause to celebrate .

3.  The most fun I ever had was     probably the beach trip a group of us went on the summer after we graduated  .

4.  True friends are   the ones that stand up for you no matter what, always have your back, encourage and lift you up, know your truest and deepest desires, and can make you laugh no matter what   .

5. Something that makes me terribly happy is        this weekend: today, I got to hang out with some of my favorites; tomorrow, I get to hang out with my best friends AND Jack +Joe.

6. A good way to spend a sunny day is     by the pool, with good friends, getting some sun, and being able to get cooled off whenever it gets too hot  .

7.  My favorite celebratory food is   ice cream. Always ice cream. Happy or sad times, especially during exciting times, I'll pick ice cream, preferably Mayfield's chocolate  .

Dear Hannah,

For the past ten months or so, we've been roommates. Well, not really roommates, but "housemates". We've had a pretty good set up--our own rooms and bathrooms, something that I'm sure we wouldn't have survived this time together if we hadn't had those.

I couldn't have picked a better first roommate. We know each other so well that living together wasn't a struggle. I thought about it the other day...we've known each other since kindergarten. We've been friends for FIFTEEN years. Is that really possible?! 

We've been through a LOT together. I'll always remember those talks we had in my car during our sophomore and junior years of high school. You've always been one to give me solid, godly advice, and I'm oh so thankful for that. I couldn't imagine walking through some of the things I did without you. 

Questions like: "What time is it?" and "What's my next class?" were frequent questions you asked allllll through middle and high school, but I wouldn't have it any other way :) Having so many of the same classes during middle and high school was so fun; no one else will ever understand my odd habit of writing my name over and over again in class like you do. 

We share some of the best friends we could ever ask for, and I'm grateful that the two of us have such a great group of friends. However, no one will have the bond that you and I have from the time we lived together. Our friendship has grown and been stretched in these past ten months, and I'm glad the Lord gave us this time together. 

I'll probably never have another gluten-free, marathon-runner, coffee lover, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups binge eater roommate. You'll probably never have another OCD, dish-washing hater, lemon lover, and not so nice in the morning roommate either. I am glad that we share a love of Rice Krispies, although it was probably a good thing I didn't make those as often as I could have!

Hannah, I'm so grateful for your friendship! I've so enjoyed living with you this past year, and I'm going to miss you a lot. I'm so excited for you and what the Lord's going to do through you this next year. Know without a doubt I'll plan your wedding when that day comes! 

Love,

Ashton

end of the semester!

I had ALL intention of posting this post last Monday, but I never finished it...so, two weekends + one week all in one random end of the semester recap!

Classes ended this past Wednesday, finals for me are next week, and the end is in sight! Also, three weeks from today I'll be hopping on a plane, headed to Australia! I cannot believe that it's almost here.

Last weekend, Maggie was in Beauty and the Beast at ACS. I went to the play with Maggie's sweet momma, Mrs. Leslie, and had so fun watching Maggie do her thing! It was one of the best shows ACS has put on in a loooong time!

Current favorite song. 

Check out The Lumineers.

For my education class, I have to observe in an elementary class for 20 hours over the course of the semester. The class I was assigned to was a K5 class, and I really enjoyed observing them! They made me this precious "goodbye" book, and it made me smile so much!

Hung out with these girls last night...sleepovers at my house are always a BLAST...especially with these three :)

Caroline and I both LOVE lemons, just one of the many reasons why we're going to be great roommates :)

I bought a bag of them last night, and to quote Jamie: "We all got our lemon swag on!"

Love this...we are the APPLE of HIS eye!!

Wednesday was Senior night...unfortunately one of my last Wednesday nights with the high schoolers! 

Spent some time the other day writing notes to my favorite co-workers. Boy, am I going to miss them!!

Filled my backseat with pizza last weekend for dinner for our mission trip training...and yes, my car STILL smells like pizza :(

Micah brought Harris and Millie Kate to watch the drama (shown below) last weekend at their practice. Harris kept this face the entire time; Mills just wanted to join in! 

Loved watching them practice...this is the same drama that I took place in two years ago when I went to Panama. It was cool to see how God has grown the group and multiplied it! When I went, we had just a little over 20 people; now they have close to 40 people going and can split into two groups, which makes for more ministry to be done!

Hope you're having a great Saturday, friends!