Small Town Girls

This post is probably going to be the most random posting I've done thus far. So, just a warning.

Today, I didn't have to go to class until 11:15 because my instructor had an appointment of some sort. So I got to sleep in just a bit. However, I always feel like I'm "wasting the day" by sleeping in, so I still got up by 8:30.

It's almost August! And that means back to school shopping, hot weather (yuck!), and moving day! Only 19 more days for me... but who's counting? If you want the hour, minute, and second breakdown, let me know.

My mom and I rented Premonition last night. It was really good except it leaves a lot to the imagination. I guess that can be a good thing, but if you're like me, you want every question in your mind answered by the time the credits roll. But that's ok. I've been seeing a lot of movies like that this summer. I mean, seeing into the future-type movies. I know Deja Vu was one of them, and I'm totally blanking on the other. Oh wait! I just remembered. The Lake House. Another Sandra Bullock movie that I thought was awesome. She's one of my favorite actors.

I'm leaving Thursday right after I get out of my exam to go to Louisiana/Mississippi. My mom and I are driving and my dad's going to fly into Baton Rouge on Friday. Actually, we're driving straight through to Mississippi on Thursday to McComb to visit my great-aunt Elouise. I love her to death. She was my grandmother's ("Mama") twin sister. Well, I guess she still is, but Mama passed away 10 years ago (still can't believe that it's been that long already. I can remember the funeral like it was yesterday). But anyways, Aunt Elouise is hilarious. She's very outgoing and flighty; completely opposite of Mama, who was very reserved and smart as a whip.

So we're going to spend the night in McComb, and then, hopefully, on Friday we're going to drive up to Canton, MS, which is where my mom grew up and Mama and Papa lived. I haven't been there in probably six years. It's such a typical Mississippi small town complete with a town square as big as the Wal-Mart parking lot in College Station. I love it. Hopefully we do get to drive up there because I'd love to take some pictures and have them framed for my mom. If you've seen the movies A Time to Kill, O Brother Where Art Thou, and My Dog Skip, then you've seen Canton because they were all filmed there! For such a small town that no one's heard of, it sure has left it's mark.

That's the Canton courthouse that sits in the center of the downtown square. It's the easiest thing the recognize in the movies. A Time to Kill was filmed inside on some parts.

Then, we're going to drive to Baton Rouge to visit my family and friends there. I usually spend most of my time with my cousins. Tabitha is 20 and goes to LSU, Corey is 19 and is in the Navy, and Travis is 15 or 16 and is the funniest kid in the world! Corey and Travis are brothers. Tabitha has an older sister, Tiffinie, and older brother, Randy (a.k.a. Little Randy because he's the "jr.") and they're both married. I love hanging out with them because we always end up doing something spontaneous. The last time we were all together, Tabitha and I decided to dye our hair. She did her's this really pretty auburn/brown color, and I did mine a shade or two darker than it is now. Well, Corey and Travis show up in the midst of all the action. Corey's got blond-ish hair, so we decide to dye it the color we dyed mine! It was hystarical! My Aunt Deb (Corey's mom) couldn't stop laughing. If we put black eyeliner on him, he would've totally pulled off the goth look.

I think we're coming back Sunday. I haven't been there in over a year. We usually go every summer and every Thanksgiving. But this past Thanksgiving we decided to stay here, so it's so weird how long it's been.

Okay, well my stomach is really starting to growl. Mom and I are going to go to this sandwich place called Newk's. It's kind of like McAlister's (actually McAlister's is on the other side of the parking lot. Nothing like a little competition), but a little better actually. Yum-o!

Adios!

Christmas in July?

So, I just got finished with my second biology II exam. I think it went pretty well. But now I have an hour and 20 minutes to kill before I can get into the lab room.

I hate that I'm a procrastinator. We've had all week to look at the specimens that I need to look at for the lab exam on Monday, and I just kept telling myself that I would do it the next day. I should've just gone yesterday when I would have only had a half an hour to kill!

I'm off from work today, so I think Mom and I are going to go to the mall and then to workout. I haven't been to the gym in a long time. I should go like every day since my membership is about to end. But, it's paid off because I've lost 10 pounds. Most of that has probably been because of work. When I work it's always during the time that I would have eaten lunch/dinner. So, therefore, I skip a meal. Plus, I walk around the restaurant so much that it's probably the equivalent to a mile of normal walking. But, that's good I suppose.

On Tuesday I went to dinner with Hailey and Lauren. (Shout out to Hailey since I know she's reading this! :) ) It was a grand ole time. I hadn't seen them the entire summer. Well, Lauren I saw at the very beginning. But, we're making up for lost time so that's good. I think we're having a High School Musical party on Sunday since I haven't seen that entire movie yet. Sad, I know. But I can sing all the songs because I have the soundtrack! Look out Vanessa Hudgens!

I need a manicure really badly. I've been letting my nails grow out so that I can get used to them before I get... MY AGGIE RING!! I want to have pretty, pretty nails for all the thousands of pictures I for see my parents taking of my hand. Hmm, maybe I'll add a manicure to my list of things to do today. But, don't worry. I'm saving the pedicure for my other whole! :)

Well, I've killed 30 minutes. But I don't know what else to write about.

I'm getting into the Christmas spirit already. It usually doesn't come this early, but this year I guess it has. I just love everything about Christmas time. Celebrating the birth of Christ, spending time with family and friends, the cold weather, the atmosphere... just everything! I wish I had thought to do a Christmas in July type thing. That would've been fun.

Alright, I've resorted to talking about wanting Christmas to be here, so that must mean I have nothing else to write.

Ashley

Strengthen Me

I just got finished with my first lab exam, so I have like an hour break before lecture starts. I'm sitting here in the library. It's kind of like A&M's SCC, but not as cool.

Looking in different microscopes for a long time gives me a headache and makes me dizzy. Ick!

Well, I put in my "2 weeks notice" last night at work. Technically, it's my "2 and a half weeks notice" because my last day's going to be August 10th. I've really enjoyed this job and it's been amazing experience, but I'm just exhausted. I came home the other day after work, and I was talking to my mom. I couldn't help but just sob because I didn't have the strength to do anything else. She actually wants me to quit earlier, but I always tend to push myself just a little more.

"What's three more days?"

I seem to be saying that to myself a lot. I'm (slowly) discovering how much of the strength that's inside of me is my own will power and how most of it is God power. That's the only thing that gets me through a lecture, a shift, a day.

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11 & Psalm 105:4
"Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him?" Job 39:11
"The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace." Psalm 29:11
"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 40:29

I think that's my theme from my summer of 2007: STRENGTH. That has definitely been the main thing that I've had to call upon God to give me this summer (among other things, of course). His strength is boundless. That makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside. :)

[Random paragraph] The library that I'm at is also a public library. They have movies that you can check out for free! Guess what I'm about to do?? :)

I guess it's time that I headed back to my class.

Hasta pasta.

Ashley

You Can't Stop the Beat!

My mom and I went to see Hairspray yesterday morning. I had never seen the musical on Broadway or any of the other movie versions before. IT WAS REALLY GOOD! I love musicals anyway, but this one takes the cake for me. Even my mom loved it, and she's strictly a romantic comedy connoisseur. So, I highly recommend it.

I also can't wait until the soundtrack comes out. Or is it already available? Hmm, let's check. Pause.

YAYYY! It's already here!! I'm totally going to buy it. :)

Alright, this was a short one, but it's time to get ready for work!

Adios!

`A`

Under my Umbrella

As I was driving to school today from my house, I could see in the distance massive dark clouds. I just kind of thought to myself, "Hmm, I sure hope that's not the direction I'm going." Is there any question as to what happened next? I kept driving and driving and every mile I drove it got darker and darker. Soon enough, it felt like 12 hours had past and it was time for bed. That's how dark it was. Then I really couldn't see anything because it was raining so hard. By the time I parked my car and started walked to my class, I was having A&M flashbacks. No matter how big your umbrella (-ella, -ella, eh, eh, eh! hahaha) it does no good. I, of course, decided to where jeans today because it's always cold in my class. Well, I was even colder today (on test day, nonetheless) because they were drenched from mid-thigh down. So that was my adventure for the day!

Tonight, my mom is hosting her bunko group at our house. I think it's really funny how meticulous she gets about the cleaning when her friends are coming over. Our house is already pretty immaculate, but my mom always finds something else to clean. I'm her little work horse today, and I'm pooped! All I've done is pick things up... no real cleaning! I don't know how she does it. It almost makes me sad that she gets stressed about how the house looks because she knows people will "talk." It's kind of like Desperate Housewives. Ahhh!!! :)

I know I say it a lot, but I can't believe how fast the summer is going and I'm so happy that it is! Summer was fun in high school when you didn't have to take class and all your friends were around to do stuff. Now, summer just prolongs the fun! All the fun goes down during school! Haha.

I started reading Left Behind again. I don't think I really ever finished it the first time I read it. I really love that book. I know that no one can really say exactly how the rapture is going to happen, but this book really puts things into perspective. The rapture could happen... right now. Every moment on this earth is truly a gift from God.

Well, I must go find something else to clean. I'm just glad these women aren't going to see my room!

-Ashley Elizabeth

1st Day, Take 2.

Biology II started today. That means I'm halfway through the summer. In a way it's gone by quite fast, but in other ways it's been dragging on like none other.

Hopefully my class will be much more interesting than first session's. Although, my teacher's outfits did keep us entertained.

The one difference with this class is that we actually have lab everyday. That's going to be rough. I'm not a big "laboratory" fan. I'd rather be lectured. Actually, I'd rather be dissecting something in lab if I'm going to have a lab at all. But, hence, we do not do such things in this lab. Today's lab consisted of measuring the height in meters at everyone at your table, recording their shoe size, eye color, hair color, and sex. Then we had to come up with a classification key via a "word web" type thing. It was kind of busy work in a sense, so my table sped through it as fast as we could and got out of lab an hour and a half early. Whoop!

On Tuesday I had to go to the dentist and get a filling replaced because part of it had chipped off. I, personally, don't enjoy going to the dentist (and this is probably because of the countless appliances, oral surgeries, and jaw problems I've had) so I do my utmost best to keep my teeth healthy so that I don't have to endure the pain of cavities and the like.

So, this was the first time since I got my wisdom teeth out that I had to get injections in my mouth. To me, that is the most horrible feeling and the most awkward feeling to have. I got so anxious when I knew the shot was about to happen that I started breathing uncontrollably hard. My dentist said, "Well, at least I know she's breathing because I can feel it all the way up my arm." (He said this, I think, because when I got my wisdom teeth out, the laughing gas made me so relaxed that my heart rate dropped to 32, and I actually stopped breathing for a bit. Oops!)

Now, my mouth's just sore from the shots. Blah.

Why do bangs seem to grow much faster than the rest of your hair? I just got a hair cut at the beginning of the summer, and my bangs are already down to my chin again.

I think reality TV is getting out of hand. I think there is now a show for every career out there. America's Next Top Model. Top Chef. Top Design. Project Runway. Food Network Star. America's Next Producer. Shear Genius. Did I miss any? Probably.

Well, I think I might go try for a nap!

Hasta.

-Ashley

I Need to Get Better at This.

[I feel so neglectful! (Is that a word?) I haven't a single post for the month of July... and it's already the 9th!]

I've been taking a lot of naps lately, but I guess that's because I've only been getting about 6 hours of sleep a night. And when I'm awake during the day, I'm always on-the-go. But naps are good. They're sort of becoming my best friend while I'm at home.

I worked a double-shift yesterday, and on Saturday I worked the dinner shift and didn't leave until 12:30. I'm surprised I'm not more tired than I am. But I'm off today, so I think I'm going to take advantage of that and the fact that my parents are out-of-town (once again) and just relax and do some reading (and studying, if I must). I always seem to turn to watching TV if I'm bored and just want to relax. That's getting old and not very fun at all. Plus, one of my summer goals was to read at least one book, so I need to get a move-on!

I made $100 on Saturday. Whoop!

I think I might also go get my tires rotated today. And maybe I'll take a little detour to Famous Footwear since I have a coupon, and shoes are always fun to shop for. :)

I've been counting down the days on my Aggie ring calendar, and I can't believe how quickly the summer is going. But I'm also using the calendar to count down the days until I'm back in College Station. I miss it SO much! But part of me doesn't want the fall to come because that means it's my last semester there. I've just loved my time at Aggieland, and I hate to see it come to an end. I'm so glad God gave me the opportunity to go to such an AMAZING school and meet so many AMAZING people! I wouldn't trade my time or my experiences for anything!

I wish Cypress had some sort of a coffee shop besides the Starbucks in the grocery store. Something like... Coffee Station! :) I would totally go there to read. But, oh well.

I have my lab practical tomorrow. I'm glad this class is almost over, but that means next summer session is about to begin. Hmm.

Reading. Now.

-A. E. W.