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!