Merry Christmas

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

Everytime I look at Christmas lights, I get giddy inside. There's something very peaceful about lights glowing with a soft snow fall. I always love to remember who gives us the light of life, and the opportunity to shine unto others. I hope during this special season we remember the light of the world, our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Tall Glass of Water

Do you know what I love about water. . .

Well besides the fact that it's delicious and we would cease to exist without it?

You ready?

Water is so smooth and fluid. It never stops and creates such beautiful movement.

So have I ever mentioned that I have a small obsession with dance?

Okay, sometime it's larger than small. But either way, movement fascinates me!

For me, movement is the beginning that moves to a new beginning, to a new beginning, and never ends.

Movement is the water that continually flows and is smooth and lucid.

Movement is the wings that lifts and sours into new levels of being.

Movement is the breath that takes breaths away and propels the movement forward.

Okay, okay, I know. The artsy nerd in me is peeking through.

But really, this video shows it all.

I can't understand how anyone could not live to breathe, move, and flow through life!

Next time you take a breath, remember to let that breath move you down the stream of life.

When You Believe!

What a magical, wonderful night!

Great Company


Awesome Music,

Dancing,

and of course. . .


DISNEY MAGIC

On Ice of course!


So I have a confession to make.
I have wanted to see Disney on Ice for years but never had the opportunity to go.
This was the last time of feeling left out.
There was only one person to call.
The one and only. . .
Lindsay Oldroyd!
Yes, she embraces the little girl inside like I do.


Not gonna lie, we both felt as though we should have a little child with us.
We were one of the few who wanted to see the show and feel the magic of Disney!

On our way we saw the originals including:


Sebastian


Stitch


Peter Pan

Flounder & Ariel





Some Villains including:


Ursula



Captain Hook



My personal favorite



And what would Disney be without a little love?



Impressive huh!

All and all, Disney on Ice was everything I wanted and more. Thank you Linds for embracing the inner child with me and always believing!

David Crowder Band - SMS [Shine]

I'm so glad I saw this. What a beautiful artistic interpretation of life and what each person can bring! I will never look at a lite-bright the same way!

Color me up!

So this isn't a true Ashlei blog since my cute friend first posted about her color. I got so excited about it and thus, had to try it for myself. (Thanks Alyssa)!

I was pleasantly surprised.

And my color is. . .


LETTUCE GREEN






I always knew green was my favorite color!

Here's what it says

"You have strong emotions but don't always express what you are feeling. You have a way with words and are mentally agile. Partnerships are important to you and a lot of transformation occurs due to your close personal relationships. Writing is one of the ways for you to process your feelings and channel your energy. Your personal color helps increase your stamina. Wearing, meditating or surrounding yourself with lettuce green lets you know when to rest and when to act."

Okay, maybe I don't agree with some. . .most of this, but I do like the color so I'll take it!

http://www.colorstrology.com/

NO WONDER

Ever wonder why the sky is blue and grass is green. . .












Ever wonder how many grains of sand are under your feet. . .









Every wonder why it's so easy to be afraid of little spiders when they are tiny in comparison to us. . .






Ever wonder how the week goes by so slowly but the weekend so fast. . .








Ever wonder how there's millions of car accidents in the U.S., but you never see an accident in a foreign country where the drivers are beyond crazy. . .





Ever wonder how it's so easy to waste hours of time doing nothing but so difficult to focus and study for just one hour. . .



















Ever wonder why sand scratches off toenail polish. . .









Ever wonder why sugar and fat taste so good yet fiber and antioxidants are an acquired taste. . .








Ever wonder why girls are always searching for the perfect fairytale love story. . .



Answer. . .






WALT DISNEY


Some friends and I were watching Beauty and the Beast a few days ago. Of course, I fell in love, again, with the idea of an enchanted castle. Walt Disney is full of the happily ever afters containing magic carpets, spindles, glass slippers, and of course the handsome Prince! Not to say it is bad, but it of course gives ladies the false pretense that prince charming will ride in on his horse and you will fall in love.






Falling in love is great, but what happened to staying in love? I give props to those who stay in love for years and years.








I think that people like my grandparents are who I should be gaining love stories from. They've been married 67 years (give or take a year) and are still crazy for each other. The cutest couple you'll ever meet!






This of course won't discourage me from watching Disney or encouraging girl-like qualities with princess parties and dress-up with little girls I meet.




Shh, don't tell anyone. I may even join in on the dress-up.

Medium or Well-Done

My mother and I have an old, bad habit of being sucked into celebrity award shows. This vain obsession is usually not because we care who wins which award, but more to see the fashion do's and dont's. I know, I know what you are all wanting to say: "Ashlei, why are you filling such fluff-tuck, (yes, I'm sure you used that exact word) into your mind? It's an incredibly wasteful, vain, unproductive use of your time." I tend to agree, but then every year some celebrity shows up in some beyond crazy outfit.

Who remembers this one?




There are just too many horrible outfits these days. I sometimes wonder if celebrities are purposefully trying to be nominated for the "worst dressed" award. Well, I found one that will become my new #1 worst celebrity outfit. It was cited at the VMA Awards, and although I didn't actually watch it, I had to see it with my own eyes. A picture says a thousand words, so I will let you construct the sentences. . .or at least the flabbergation.







Yes! In cases of extreme beauty I would always hope to hear the sound of crickets streaming gently in the background because every eye gazes to wonder what their eyes have seen. Crickets just isn't the right insect for this scenario though. I would change it to maggots or flies; it seems more fitting. Really Missy-Raw meat?

Point being, as much as I love Lady Gaga and her beyond strange, weirdness: I THINK SHE'S GONE TOO FAR! A vivid image comes to mind of a rabid dog chasing her onstage. As well as audience members throwing up from an infestation of Trichinellosis. I know it's a little absurd, but so is her outfit! I can only imagine how the owners of the theater must feel. I'm sure they will have to replace her chair cushion and most of the carpet for fear of larvae-hatching maggots! GROSS!

All this craziness has influenced one decision: you just have to embrace the weird, craziness. And with that being said, I need to see Lady Gaga in concert now. She's coming to SLC in March and I may just have to be there with a couple of ladies ready for an adventure. Takers?

Here, There, and Everywhere!

I feel that I can now be titled a "Pro-Packer." Besides the fact that I have moved at least a dozen times the last few years, here is a look at my packing skills used for the past few months.

April: Unpacked in good ol' Provo!
May (Week 1) Lived out of a suitcase/car for a week in SLC while taking a quick class at West Minster.
May (Week 2): Moved home to IF town for the summer while looking for a job.
July(Week 3): Moved back to Provo (same apt) when I got a job offer in Orem.
August (Week 1): Decided that I didn't agree with the management/ethics of the facility and decided the best thing to do was quit the job. (Sad day I know). I wouldn't have anything to do for a few weeks, so I decided to pack up, and move back to Idaho.
August (Week 3): Helped pack and move my grandparents into a smaller apartment in a retirement home. (I'm just grateful that I have man muscles and that I don't have 90 years worth of stuff yet).
August (Week 4): Packed up my stuff one last time to drive the 250 miles down to Provo, Ut for school. No worries, I plan to be located here for at least the next 8 months.

What does all this mean?




I feel as though I should open up my own moving company. Obviously, nursing isn't working for me right now, but I'm starting to consider myself quite a pro at packing and moving. It could be called "Ashlei's All Move!" Haha-Thoughts, opinions?

True Beauty

I was glancing in the fridge this morning, deciding what I should eat while working on the morning sudoku puzzle. Excitement peaked when I noticed a blue tupperware containing the most beautiful site-perfect red raspberries. They stared at me while, I'm sure, I salivated over their perfect pristine structure and imagined their smooth, tart explosion of flavor inside my mouth. My morning became so much better after viewing this piece of heaven in the fridge. I did what any normal individual would do: I dumped some into a bowl, sprinkled a small bit of sugar and poured a small amount of milk on top. The end of the story occurred when I took a bite and realized that it was basically a piece of heaven in my mouth!



Really, summer is basically the best season and raspberries are living proof of how great it is. It's truly difficult to mess up a perfect, beautiful raspberry. They can be added to anything and it makes the dish taste and smell that much better-salads, smoothies, jams, pies, ice cream, muffins, soaps, shampoos. You name it, they only benefit the product. I'm sure you could even mash them up and add them to a soup and it would taste better.


I used to be super picky when I picked raspberries and would only choose the ones that were the most beautiful shade of red and had no sun damage; between only picking the perfect ones and eating half of what I picked, my raspberries were few in number when I brought them inside. Over many years of picking, I was eventually taught that all the raspberries were good, even the ones with sun damage and those that weren't the perfect shade.




When I went to the bushes picking a few days ago, I looked at my big bowl of berries: it was full of many shades of red, pink, maroon, purple and even a few spots on some with white. I couldn't help but notice how beautiful they all were, and of course, how delicious they tasted.



I'm glad to know that true beauty and character can be seen and known, even through a few faults, which actually increases the beauty! Let's hear a big "woot, woot" for the simple beauty of the raspberry (and hopefully embrace the last of summer and find some to eat too)!

Embracing the Oldness

I had an epitome today. I felt a little old after I realized how naive I have been about the realization. There have been a couple of incidents that occurred this weekend that I am sure initialized this thought. So here is how I made this assumption.

1. Ran into an old roommate my age who has three children!
2. Went to a wedding reception of an old friend. He got back from his mission about a year ago.
3. Was in my parent's ward and found that a girl was actually a couple years younger than me, when I thought she was a couple of years older.

What does this all mean?




I'M STINKIN' OLD!

Yes, yes I realize that I had my 25th birthday over a month ago and I should have had the epitome then; granted, my mother did celebrate it with the Disney Princess theme.



I think the feeling came most from the event of visiting some old friends. It seemed that their lives had changed and progressed so much, while mine seemed to remain in the progressive state of normal and same. School, school and more school. I know I shouldn't feel that way when I know I have actually accomplished a few things.

1. I've accumulated a few diplomas
2. I can actually write RN behind my name- A. Bluth RN (yeah, I think it looks cool too)
3. I've been to 7 countries
4. I'm working toward the whole career thing. . .(hoping that comes sooner than later)
5. I've made many great friends to last a lifetime


So why this strange feeling of non-accomplishment and general lameness?

Maybe it's because I did what all my teachers suggested when I was younger and made my list of ambitions and goals. Sad enough, a lot of those ambitions will never come true. Somehow what was important when your 18, changes over a period of 7 years. For instance, I doubt I will ever meet the Queen of England and I'm not feeling too sad about it. Although, I admit it would be pretty awesome; she is stellar lady!




Maybe I'm the type who has always had the desire to be able to tell my future grandchildren of all the crazy things I did growing up. . .but I've never quite lived up to the potential to impress those future grandchildren. I guess I should more hope that I will be a fun-loving, good grandmother when I get there. I would be proud to be this lady here.




Maybe it's the fact that I made a general bet in high school that I wouldn't get married until I was 28, but never thought that I could actually make it. Not that I am anxiously awaiting for that day, but it does make it difficult to be a LDS single when the subject of most conversations begin with, "so are you dating anyone?" Part of me likes to be stubborn and prove to everyone that you don't have to follow the typical Mormon customs and instead go a little faux pas. The other part starts to wonder if there is something wrong with me; for instance, I have friends my age who have now been married twice and I haven't managed to do it once.




Maybe it's the fact that the grass always seems to be greener on the other side. I do enjoy my (for the most part) care free life. When I see a friend who appears exhausted and holding her dear little one, I always seem to appreciate the fact that at least when I'm tired, it is because of my own stupidity.




I don't have a real answer to why I have felt so lame this past weekend, but in reality I have nothing to complain about. I wake up most mornings with a smile and a general zest to see, learn, and grow. The majority of the time it is with a smile, and even when there is a tear or two, I always have someone around willing to listen and help me through a problem. Really, my life is pretty awesome.




I love towing with the idea that within the next year I could be living in a complete obscure location. . .(I always pray that it will be warm). :) The point of this long story is that I am not sure what life holds for me, but the point is that it is my life, and it shouldn't be compared to anyone else. Some good friends and I are constantly making predictions on what everyone will end up doing with their life. (Where they will end up, what they will do, who they will marry etc). We started doing it 4 years ago and all of us have, on and off, lived with each other over the past few years without any of those predictions occurring. So, I've decided to create a new prediction:

Drum Roll Please. . .



My new prediction is that all of us will end up being red hat ladies who still live with one another and carry candy in our purses to church so little kids will like us. :)




Girls you know who you are. I hope you are looking forward to living with me again in 50 years. haha Love you girls and happy aging!

I Bit the Bullet

I never thought that I would actually conform to our techno-society and become a blogger. To me, I always felt that blogs were for married moms who wanted to brag about their children's festivities. (I know, that is very judgmental and stereotypical. My attitude has been altered over the past few months). My attitude towards blogs changed when I had a single friend explain that she uses hers as a way to journal. That kind of turned my head when I thought of how horrible I was at journaling. Maybe journaling would be easier online, due to the fact that I am online a vast majority of my life. Needless to say, after a few months of internal debate. . . I have made it on here for a trial run at least. :)



I chose the title "Joy in the Journey" based upon President Monson's talk, "Finding Joy in the Journey." I've always tried to be the type of person that embraces each new day with a smile and positive attitude. I'm not always successful, but I figure that trying is better than nothing. Right? Well, the difficult part of staying positive and embracing each new day is that with new days come new changes. Most are slow, progressive changes but some come with a rip-roar bang and knock you on your bum with a loud splat. Eventually, you know you will look back and laugh, but at that particular moment, all you want to do is sit there and wait until the pain subsides. The problem with waiting is that so much happens all around you. You miss out on life because you were stuck sitting and waiting for pain to ease and a new, better day to begin. Who wants to miss out on adventure? I sure don't. So in the words of President Monson, "let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."

So hear I begin my Friday morning, with a smile and hope for a beautiful frolic through the woods with few slips, dips and splats along the way. But if those do occur, I choose to embrace them and look back at the beautiful dance I created!