tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8139571569285580882024-03-05T11:09:48.455-08:00My Big Kid LifeAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-28932166041887196482014-08-14T14:36:00.001-07:002014-08-14T14:36:53.028-07:00Minnesota, WI<center>So carry on my dear, what is clear up in the daylight is we're hung here<br />
Fall is coming soon, a new year for the moon and the Hmong here<br />
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Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-44972805084013342262014-08-08T00:25:00.002-07:002014-08-08T00:25:21.203-07:00To be loved. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQk3MMEPP-po0I7hxPYl8ofGfUmsIR0vFjm9wbZYRG9Vx7nBJoyzlVUHWk23zoSKqFTZ9vs7h62TNoSK9QlgNxTXUT66S03m_pki57m-cwh-0PqE-udQv95p29PWXRU0AzDUwPpinyHgX9/s1600/photo-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQk3MMEPP-po0I7hxPYl8ofGfUmsIR0vFjm9wbZYRG9Vx7nBJoyzlVUHWk23zoSKqFTZ9vs7h62TNoSK9QlgNxTXUT66S03m_pki57m-cwh-0PqE-udQv95p29PWXRU0AzDUwPpinyHgX9/s400/photo-7.jpg" /></a></div>Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-79366001990857873552014-08-06T15:31:00.001-07:002014-08-08T00:22:45.259-07:00An old find.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY0gYanjKhUzrDzc0CokQlXaz8CTj3QxAl7uvLJ8msGtbIm2pJAYZkJAu1PWjnhKp85O3cTMXnBRg2qIi0-OWVOOVjcjZJXYPObiugS0BVPYUkWU16j87VeuXTPUFST9idxgm4ZTunK_Jq/s1600/photo-6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY0gYanjKhUzrDzc0CokQlXaz8CTj3QxAl7uvLJ8msGtbIm2pJAYZkJAu1PWjnhKp85O3cTMXnBRg2qIi0-OWVOOVjcjZJXYPObiugS0BVPYUkWU16j87VeuXTPUFST9idxgm4ZTunK_Jq/s400/photo-6.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<center>My friend wrote this to me when we were leaving India. Weird to think that I am still the same person from 2010. </center>Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-20674804708396134552014-08-05T21:55:00.001-07:002014-08-05T21:55:39.853-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSoaC2zWgQgKSEATL3GCtSipjke5C4bVqaWmsVkBiBTAE8S1kXP5noxU4fZ6WC90sNwxmpvH-JasskIJ252g1C_FTdpXMNlDwSaxZZcQ9Rtfpz9sEEOW9Dxqe-8IMlx0cpVrd_uWfcxOWL/s1600/4b5df02f41ea7d479ee6a9988d178507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSoaC2zWgQgKSEATL3GCtSipjke5C4bVqaWmsVkBiBTAE8S1kXP5noxU4fZ6WC90sNwxmpvH-JasskIJ252g1C_FTdpXMNlDwSaxZZcQ9Rtfpz9sEEOW9Dxqe-8IMlx0cpVrd_uWfcxOWL/s400/4b5df02f41ea7d479ee6a9988d178507.jpg" /></a></div>Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-49194062219647724372014-08-04T21:53:00.000-07:002014-08-04T21:53:14.258-07:00Wanderlust<center>I started a new book, titled: <i>Wanderlust--A Love Affair with Five Continents</i> by Elizabeth Eaves. <br />
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| wan·der·lust<br />
ˈwändərˌləst/Submit<br />
noun<br />
noun: wanderlust<br />
a strong desire to travel. |</center><br />
What is it to be wanderlust and how I have been handling this strong urge to see more. I have lived back in Washington for a year and each day this urge to leave, grows stronger. <br />
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Eaves started her book with: <br />
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<center>Wanderlust is not a passion for travel exactly; it's something more animal and more fickle--something more like lust. We don't lust after very many things in life. We don't need words like workouts or homemakinglust. But travel? Anatole Broyard put it perfectly in his essay "Being There": "Travel is like adultery: one is always tempted to be unfaithful to one's own country. To have imagination is inevitably to be dissatisfied with where you live … in our wanderlust, we are lovers looking for consummation." </center><br />
My brain speaks and works in travel. I like to be able to see my passport, maps, my backpacks--all on display. Doesn't mean, I am planning on leaving anytime soon, it just calms this anxious heart. <br />
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Home to me, is where my bed is, the people I love are and familiarity. When I got off my plane one year ago, Seattle was not home. I had only spent 6 days here, previously, but it was where my family called home now. I ran out of steam in my traveling, I was craving a home cooked meal and a chance to regain my thoughts. I didn't realize this would continue to be an ongoing battle, 365 days later. There are a few things I missed when I was gone, things I wanted to experience again and was having a hard time finding. Dating, being one of them. It has been so nice to actually be able to do this. I have met some amazing girls, and am excited to see where things go. Second on that list: English speaking friends, no offense to my friends that speak other languages, but it is nice to not translate. Because I have been able to recharge and meet new people, Seattle is becoming home. <br />
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I'm not saying I am done traveling, that urge will never end. I have a list of countries to visit, that will never disappear. I have and continue to push this eager hearts energy, into living life here in Washington. I continue to meet amazing people and love the adventures I get to go on with them. The journey is what life is all about. What kind of journey would it be without love and support from family, friends and partners. These are the reasons I stay in Seattle, for now, but I am excited to see what is next. I'm excited to see who might be joining me on these future adventures and how I can share a wanderlust passion with them. <br />
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I'll continue to live in color and find the blues, greys, whites and blacks of Seattle gorgeous, no matter the temperature. I will be grateful for the days the skies turn pink, orange and red at dusk. Seattle is beautiful and I love being able to call it "home" -- for now.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYKqUMLQVtiUHdNqdk4le2UD52OEGvK5ZxHeW8TRPryaz5FoQ-wKvUvsbgSQ5Onc8-FRF48ANNaixug4EXtkHi48Qw4Nt8gNAs6I0QqaphFWGG22UKoluAPppIirdAoEsBsLla2peczFK/s1600/1016043_10200702082407724_1320863166_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYKqUMLQVtiUHdNqdk4le2UD52OEGvK5ZxHeW8TRPryaz5FoQ-wKvUvsbgSQ5Onc8-FRF48ANNaixug4EXtkHi48Qw4Nt8gNAs6I0QqaphFWGG22UKoluAPppIirdAoEsBsLla2peczFK/s320/1016043_10200702082407724_1320863166_n.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFvhoD5qBIsWA9uzXNtvBHbDqFFVCE57XTskYePAPtNc7Na2viVRzOdCiq7YOySpKi2o9vXnTtgB_-fcM34ZkKXZdK8CVb2GRCQ4n9vWDZeZva66j_z1Ah8k5LaGkKHs3Hdmo9sqjezzK/s1600/Seattle+water+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFvhoD5qBIsWA9uzXNtvBHbDqFFVCE57XTskYePAPtNc7Na2viVRzOdCiq7YOySpKi2o9vXnTtgB_-fcM34ZkKXZdK8CVb2GRCQ4n9vWDZeZva66j_z1Ah8k5LaGkKHs3Hdmo9sqjezzK/s320/Seattle+water+color.jpg" /></a></div><br />
With Love, <br />
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Ashley Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-53352174244028050212014-01-29T21:42:00.001-08:002014-01-29T21:42:56.558-08:00I love to blog, it reminds me of all my blessings. 2013/14 in review.It has been almost a year since I blogged. That is weird, I have many things that have happened since I moved back to the states. Let's do a quick view. <br />
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June 2013-I moved to Seattle, Washington (not home) from Shenzhen, China :) <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR70zsYsF_B3yVRLyGdjM9FnesQWkvKq274SrAZDsrz0hu83Kz-m5tITSt9d1W27-m1fTQG7cycBgX4pWFR6XIAjAHwcxvC6bX_aZUykg43Ne13thwwVexUKDNWcW1hNucMP-shWCLNVcJ/s1600/1016043_10200702082407724_1320863166_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR70zsYsF_B3yVRLyGdjM9FnesQWkvKq274SrAZDsrz0hu83Kz-m5tITSt9d1W27-m1fTQG7cycBgX4pWFR6XIAjAHwcxvC6bX_aZUykg43Ne13thwwVexUKDNWcW1hNucMP-shWCLNVcJ/s400/1016043_10200702082407724_1320863166_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
July 2013-I awoke from my slumbers of jet lag, to do some fun things, like hiking, baseball games (go Angels!) and got a job catering. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP_RPSVVaUDZJlGcgDUxzGyPCuTGs-wHXVMHHboN2lIyaFbX_efrt6stxxree578fiGRmmSxNZXBx51xFJ6EuhEhCT6_JjOEYSvlq-sXwRGQGmKXCBpSuVtzvm3YjawMcJbVaIRtaybks/s1600/64001_10151578745894143_49228135_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP_RPSVVaUDZJlGcgDUxzGyPCuTGs-wHXVMHHboN2lIyaFbX_efrt6stxxree578fiGRmmSxNZXBx51xFJ6EuhEhCT6_JjOEYSvlq-sXwRGQGmKXCBpSuVtzvm3YjawMcJbVaIRtaybks/s400/64001_10151578745894143_49228135_n.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLUdx8VBqNwrqN1BBZQC0ZFOpX2SZlt_9OTduHpe45H9mAQvRCHwAwfovYxan3crVAa8JP6bOv3Wo0A_FHWNi8N6phnPp-OGs6Yj98H6eWl0o-nMR9p0bJABAYOJ-cyVqBk2ANsmL3wiW/s1600/1040059_10200764674052476_508616621_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLUdx8VBqNwrqN1BBZQC0ZFOpX2SZlt_9OTduHpe45H9mAQvRCHwAwfovYxan3crVAa8JP6bOv3Wo0A_FHWNi8N6phnPp-OGs6Yj98H6eWl0o-nMR9p0bJABAYOJ-cyVqBk2ANsmL3wiW/s400/1040059_10200764674052476_508616621_o.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqWf7x0gVMiDRCE_hREREktHLB2QahCV4f4YmaWtgy_wn5_B4Z8Ay3FWCJIRQpG3qU_YBaeEpLKzTK0k-YF5WufIC3PrxLSYVb1vSFIWPKUSWF-I8WmrOjcDzLCtnoi-m7IOj_pnTRf5U9/s1600/999392_10100887905003323_5293472_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqWf7x0gVMiDRCE_hREREktHLB2QahCV4f4YmaWtgy_wn5_B4Z8Ay3FWCJIRQpG3qU_YBaeEpLKzTK0k-YF5WufIC3PrxLSYVb1vSFIWPKUSWF-I8WmrOjcDzLCtnoi-m7IOj_pnTRf5U9/s400/999392_10100887905003323_5293472_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
August 2013- I went on a once in a life time mission trip to Haiti, with my good friend Vicky. It was wonderful to be on the mission field and I met some amazing people. God is good. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRDPiNwUPKPOjNzRKIPYNrloQw_XO29eYv6ctpPDHdGZaeHIH2um2FhaRM3oCEUTiNnD-ML2T8CiJ9IT8oZ1plCgIciRBdKw_dOqm8uytWqsxLOSOVnli2zeiYo94RR4oY-t0sogYebi2/s1600/1094565_10200993725858628_2039432009_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRDPiNwUPKPOjNzRKIPYNrloQw_XO29eYv6ctpPDHdGZaeHIH2um2FhaRM3oCEUTiNnD-ML2T8CiJ9IT8oZ1plCgIciRBdKw_dOqm8uytWqsxLOSOVnli2zeiYo94RR4oY-t0sogYebi2/s400/1094565_10200993725858628_2039432009_o.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilU4WKQNlEZEOVgum3D9TuqZ5NVtMwutI9fEgf618V-P_Q6zrIRH3WdzGxKfA15u_tiN1rw_TsQPdl6E3HtUn-c1KNJkH9YUX8-rsLhpCmigN2iXGXXv_IIgNGf2b8AAlOim7NM6f4fdTg/s1600/1091141_10200963965034626_654452812_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilU4WKQNlEZEOVgum3D9TuqZ5NVtMwutI9fEgf618V-P_Q6zrIRH3WdzGxKfA15u_tiN1rw_TsQPdl6E3HtUn-c1KNJkH9YUX8-rsLhpCmigN2iXGXXv_IIgNGf2b8AAlOim7NM6f4fdTg/s400/1091141_10200963965034626_654452812_o.jpg" /></a></div><br />
September 2013- I got to go HOME!!! ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. I finally got to set foot on the soil I was born on and see people I hadn't seen in a very long time. I got to stay with my lovely Aunt Shirly in Huntington Beach and it was so nice to wake up and walk down to the beach. Many hours spent with my wonderful cousin Lauren and Wade and got to see a lot of family, that I hadn't seen in over a year! God was good and it was nice to attend the many churches my friends have now started to attend! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtv7ROLYwselLKopWE7MD9TNBPWmKgYyZDCukmJVp-6rt1Z0GrzWT0Hcrq85x5Q4CXJHJXsav4-2CztnF4KQbI6RGxXx3RGJLgKt7OGpoNXzcDX-S5YKWNnNFTlB6o8rcfkpXObXgyRN_/s1600/photo-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtv7ROLYwselLKopWE7MD9TNBPWmKgYyZDCukmJVp-6rt1Z0GrzWT0Hcrq85x5Q4CXJHJXsav4-2CztnF4KQbI6RGxXx3RGJLgKt7OGpoNXzcDX-S5YKWNnNFTlB6o8rcfkpXObXgyRN_/s400/photo-2.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwvsBUOV5VHWr7GwaLavc0Ox0UUm4TlDJvBKsNsbL1w3wBuLW0hPDQ_SffTZSS9Yzh7iX4Wvy2i7BedbFXQLyja1aXZd3nuaZxtWn_ZVYeRVtKPXbyXL72-2xKZDWeQTm97wag4pz2L3q/s1600/photo-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwvsBUOV5VHWr7GwaLavc0Ox0UUm4TlDJvBKsNsbL1w3wBuLW0hPDQ_SffTZSS9Yzh7iX4Wvy2i7BedbFXQLyja1aXZd3nuaZxtWn_ZVYeRVtKPXbyXL72-2xKZDWeQTm97wag4pz2L3q/s400/photo-3.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIY9eiUhBOmWG1FenWUnyGX_WWZMAwEzS8fM_Sd5sz2dP6WjloOPAKrd5c6zPUqONTXQurzANAV7XtsHO5yUfkq78oNmVxrI5qi90ebbVPvc1Vimkpp76s6YYvZD5cT6h0QwbtX-Yqi1X5/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIY9eiUhBOmWG1FenWUnyGX_WWZMAwEzS8fM_Sd5sz2dP6WjloOPAKrd5c6zPUqONTXQurzANAV7XtsHO5yUfkq78oNmVxrI5qi90ebbVPvc1Vimkpp76s6YYvZD5cT6h0QwbtX-Yqi1X5/s400/photo.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZJwbZDUxO03ie9ZuuXqNeY4FWkKoCXgNKlnLb4kFhrwHJl3PUO3fmQz2VDAngFRz-99LzSOIv1qTST492iUy2Uwrkw7CWWjIG11Zx847XpGH7GrWW99HPJLUvBOrBgCnjWt0q5SODEp1/s1600/photo-4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZJwbZDUxO03ie9ZuuXqNeY4FWkKoCXgNKlnLb4kFhrwHJl3PUO3fmQz2VDAngFRz-99LzSOIv1qTST492iUy2Uwrkw7CWWjIG11Zx847XpGH7GrWW99HPJLUvBOrBgCnjWt0q5SODEp1/s400/photo-4.JPG" /></a></div><br />
September 2013- (continued) I made some new friends in Seattle and they make it feel like home! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiL3GmDuwyHw2B_tNLsoc-XuiCfb4DMvsfbNBvH8u-3eAyLsQpGWvXT4GsojM3S7xntXGVm5dllnEKer9Rvp6pin6JEPtHq5wwYSec4iJv2c8BuvjY-yvDe_gMbGhvWDTypFVMkpVn2dk/s1600/1538719_10152151217726303_1340907664_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiL3GmDuwyHw2B_tNLsoc-XuiCfb4DMvsfbNBvH8u-3eAyLsQpGWvXT4GsojM3S7xntXGVm5dllnEKer9Rvp6pin6JEPtHq5wwYSec4iJv2c8BuvjY-yvDe_gMbGhvWDTypFVMkpVn2dk/s400/1538719_10152151217726303_1340907664_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
October 2013- I had the opportunity to go to Kansas to visit the DeGarmo family!! They were an American family that lived in China and taught at the school I was at. I probably wouldn't of survived China, without our countless hours of conversations and the many bottles of wine consumed. They are my favorite and it is a huge honor to get to spoil their kids, just a little bit :) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwyj8SfvCK2SUY65t-yIqkUFM9PE2vP5zM11MJJbSdfDC3DNcZTHYS90AzkG1z15tKDoeVEdgToC_cZNgrCNpcaWfOmRacKVfQtuqcW4c-Q1UupEcMPLJtLROtjgdcHnHtAcCDSrUxRKIw/s1600/999984_10201421142303772_1414628974_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwyj8SfvCK2SUY65t-yIqkUFM9PE2vP5zM11MJJbSdfDC3DNcZTHYS90AzkG1z15tKDoeVEdgToC_cZNgrCNpcaWfOmRacKVfQtuqcW4c-Q1UupEcMPLJtLROtjgdcHnHtAcCDSrUxRKIw/s400/999984_10201421142303772_1414628974_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
October/November 2013- I got to visit my wonderful friend from Canada, Kelly!! we have known each other for a long time and it has been so great living so close to her!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQzgDFhY-9sm2yXl6vbkjzrlOJAq9Mu2GgMVE40Escx_hUd1LQTJY-8HYwW003R-AROQ5mINQF2jlCJqDCDyCSTquzjPegNTkMw_h7UpIViYNQH3Bpo9zebO5GdwucxytvPLbDxMfWBf7/s1600/1394266_10201501203865261_1389695499_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQzgDFhY-9sm2yXl6vbkjzrlOJAq9Mu2GgMVE40Escx_hUd1LQTJY-8HYwW003R-AROQ5mINQF2jlCJqDCDyCSTquzjPegNTkMw_h7UpIViYNQH3Bpo9zebO5GdwucxytvPLbDxMfWBf7/s400/1394266_10201501203865261_1389695499_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
December 2013- I was honored to be able to attend my roommate from China's, wedding!! Debbie got married! and I got to see Hannah and it was SO GOOD. I was also staying with my Uncle David and his family in Minnesota for two weeks, I hadn't seen them in 4 years! Such a refreshing trip and I loved it! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo765yLIbcC9Nh0QCelzV8hIlUA2smgq_Mk_JpYs7Akpu04OJRDR4-YQlUlCDx17GFDIVoHbOD83KGfUI5Ow3K3araQkY77_01E1uFQCuyfWYMYSOrCs96tZmpwdksdwQabY7JNY-ngETJ/s1600/996694_10201913762538970_161466471_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo765yLIbcC9Nh0QCelzV8hIlUA2smgq_Mk_JpYs7Akpu04OJRDR4-YQlUlCDx17GFDIVoHbOD83KGfUI5Ow3K3araQkY77_01E1uFQCuyfWYMYSOrCs96tZmpwdksdwQabY7JNY-ngETJ/s400/996694_10201913762538970_161466471_n.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipApb4LEcNPfY42XN9i3FcIa2z0hR5glN357CnD6KQ1JYYKAOQcRo3T3TkQku9M7bFNDs6_k_pk0SjC0rWO3UfOyGXyul8Zv_GT3Du8Y5fd1VM14KY1Bg9eKkz-7JydJChFv78kDB5iTK4/s1600/1496145_10201889651776216_1759269730_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipApb4LEcNPfY42XN9i3FcIa2z0hR5glN357CnD6KQ1JYYKAOQcRo3T3TkQku9M7bFNDs6_k_pk0SjC0rWO3UfOyGXyul8Zv_GT3Du8Y5fd1VM14KY1Bg9eKkz-7JydJChFv78kDB5iTK4/s400/1496145_10201889651776216_1759269730_o.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOSs1-1Uz-cetntSSv_zrYQPK2hOgRDFD-jsQWpLvqVFIH4wMVExqQSPvyk8I2LO6HtZkv1gv9kL-XzGfdZC_jWta6LQUvhCD0QsCTThHz02A5hODQux7CXxcZEj5Xm5QbClYcqMqh8ZX/s1600/906187_10201882694002276_2105956912_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOSs1-1Uz-cetntSSv_zrYQPK2hOgRDFD-jsQWpLvqVFIH4wMVExqQSPvyk8I2LO6HtZkv1gv9kL-XzGfdZC_jWta6LQUvhCD0QsCTThHz02A5hODQux7CXxcZEj5Xm5QbClYcqMqh8ZX/s400/906187_10201882694002276_2105956912_o.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Now, it is January 2014 and I am 4 short days away from turning 25. A quarter of century old. I'm stoked, still young and blessed to live a life that I do. I love every second of it, even if I am sick, sad, transitioning, making new friends, getting older. I started a new job this month at a city pool, going back to what I know and I am making lots of new friends and they are awesome. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiZ8zxhCPhAxmzS28B0P-Ms6zYuWEZVw2nU84ae2TRJBarXinQh33vbq16-XYYhxotY5b9SZFocVmHVpxEd0fiAbXfMEbsC4bXWDsFtbAWRPTmP7dof5ced_5fC1e518g96SBi9l9CRit6/s1600/1560632_10202102933668130_562702832_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiZ8zxhCPhAxmzS28B0P-Ms6zYuWEZVw2nU84ae2TRJBarXinQh33vbq16-XYYhxotY5b9SZFocVmHVpxEd0fiAbXfMEbsC4bXWDsFtbAWRPTmP7dof5ced_5fC1e518g96SBi9l9CRit6/s400/1560632_10202102933668130_562702832_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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I will promise to blog a lot more, I have been slacking for too long. Thank you for the constant support and love that you all pour out to me. I love you all and I hope that we can catch up, with a short text, an email or even a phone call! I hope that the new year has blessed you and that you have many adventures on your way--I know I do. <br />
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With love,<br />
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AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-14319814967157336362013-04-29T00:26:00.000-07:002013-04-29T00:26:59.390-07:00Last few weekends in Shenzhen My time in Shenzhen, China is slowly coming to an end. I am not contracted for next year, but that doesn't mean I am leaving Asia--at least I don't hope so. I will hopefully know more soon. <br />
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As the end of the year comes, we are realizing that none of us live in the same area of the states. We are doing the most that we can with the last few weeks! It is exciting and also very sad, but that is ok. I am learning to say see you later and follow through with it. <br />
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The most recent adventure was a day trip to Macau. Macau is a former Portuguese colony, Macau was administered by Portugal from the mid-16th century until 1999, when it was the last remaining European colony in China. It really is beautiful and full of color and different architect from the Portuguese. I felt a little bit like a nerd with loving all of it so much! <br />
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The year is coming to a close and new journeys are beginning for everyone. Please continue to pray for futures, trips and adjustments in new and old communities. <br />
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With love, <br />
Ashley<br />
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Oh and here are some pictures of Macau!<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQyr6RRP4KWpL16wJueqEwplnZ11VuuC3OOrQpt-Sml7TBRIwb3d5D8j0VluKsMUUcEiHe62VYI8ue_Ea8ImQ3z6HukdoKiD3vFWkREMRKZ2KNZLTOSUZsipFli-IIvgrgdXirtIPPje9/s1600/DSC_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQyr6RRP4KWpL16wJueqEwplnZ11VuuC3OOrQpt-Sml7TBRIwb3d5D8j0VluKsMUUcEiHe62VYI8ue_Ea8ImQ3z6HukdoKiD3vFWkREMRKZ2KNZLTOSUZsipFli-IIvgrgdXirtIPPje9/s320/DSC_0012.JPG" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixR35M7jSzwZasBuh52XdRnch5iMR-Ll3_yPkv4UKz6rBkffkkXavMxM8dpvZRZEOviAq-d_r69-msRJ47NoibjwTD4dv_3LIuZeQFqK5a0XrobgDQr_HJzp5ZTi1Pnz7QxVVVMgCeGLPx/s1600/DSC_0914.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixR35M7jSzwZasBuh52XdRnch5iMR-Ll3_yPkv4UKz6rBkffkkXavMxM8dpvZRZEOviAq-d_r69-msRJ47NoibjwTD4dv_3LIuZeQFqK5a0XrobgDQr_HJzp5ZTi1Pnz7QxVVVMgCeGLPx/s320/DSC_0914.JPG" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3FiuS71fsXO2a5st3z5_EKDcDICnje5w2urLNjoEBS7dS6pS_dqBA2sCkd27j3e6kbo7jD-a8WaYEZ1Ie1mz-VmvPKR9Z7oHAoY4jiMQHuRfNl5C4ATefvK_5BRY0tT6ff7jypQV2lSg/s1600/DSC_0919.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3FiuS71fsXO2a5st3z5_EKDcDICnje5w2urLNjoEBS7dS6pS_dqBA2sCkd27j3e6kbo7jD-a8WaYEZ1Ie1mz-VmvPKR9Z7oHAoY4jiMQHuRfNl5C4ATefvK_5BRY0tT6ff7jypQV2lSg/s320/DSC_0919.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqqtmZrlF8uBbi29WvlRZiqPZkZX8y2upsanGDFbdBfGA9Z60w72crhRqYgLb6XVyfxXkJLu9ZpVjdQrJwGqaLz27ca4HBPWrjhIb3Vh2b-yeDpmR8ogfcjnl9S9CiejzTL8CP-QMqGLE/s1600/DSC_0960.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqqtmZrlF8uBbi29WvlRZiqPZkZX8y2upsanGDFbdBfGA9Z60w72crhRqYgLb6XVyfxXkJLu9ZpVjdQrJwGqaLz27ca4HBPWrjhIb3Vh2b-yeDpmR8ogfcjnl9S9CiejzTL8CP-QMqGLE/s320/DSC_0960.JPG" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz6yYoQclKeKUbJru4x7m1716fMi3iRYjSbZByqzXyhPNKZq4PLSDmqrWAHMP_n07TEFHCBHNTCiSj24-ZaYXwPuTJTKE0z8grCLqCQ3MsNVZNPxNFxGbsQEp4UCqrL1oQFXKhhNQglAc/s1600/DSC_0962.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz6yYoQclKeKUbJru4x7m1716fMi3iRYjSbZByqzXyhPNKZq4PLSDmqrWAHMP_n07TEFHCBHNTCiSj24-ZaYXwPuTJTKE0z8grCLqCQ3MsNVZNPxNFxGbsQEp4UCqrL1oQFXKhhNQglAc/s320/DSC_0962.JPG" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO6T3OKNTlhjK_ZdlgZE-YwZkQTtbYXn-Teytl40r2OhZUwHuZWyWO5waiNhJ8V7VOFsoWn960B-AbCEfPEYrHf3Me7kTXSUSqBbYjp2fXNBK6UwYIZmnUK8TiUxYQ0_9gmTdFYPsWkhh/s1600/DSC_0983.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTO6T3OKNTlhjK_ZdlgZE-YwZkQTtbYXn-Teytl40r2OhZUwHuZWyWO5waiNhJ8V7VOFsoWn960B-AbCEfPEYrHf3Me7kTXSUSqBbYjp2fXNBK6UwYIZmnUK8TiUxYQ0_9gmTdFYPsWkhh/s320/DSC_0983.JPG" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyWmb7zxvdTqzEJrF7N6ez_NnoHazxfSoftHBlxS-cDHl12w-oJW3R9hb-4GKB5suI9k_MFXbMu7f526c8nN9yAGOLqDN3LoRdfIpCoQw6MtVHozZ2P0krLpVUA-1jJ1La1gUjSqE7eZW/s1600/DSC_0985.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyWmb7zxvdTqzEJrF7N6ez_NnoHazxfSoftHBlxS-cDHl12w-oJW3R9hb-4GKB5suI9k_MFXbMu7f526c8nN9yAGOLqDN3LoRdfIpCoQw6MtVHozZ2P0krLpVUA-1jJ1La1gUjSqE7eZW/s320/DSC_0985.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNT7mJ2iy0Qsl6cnZwM_eWPntjKlGerMc3QwRYOUq56lLfu0MDZ3w8vXBeeg3eIcYn4_TdDJT0dUahzRbGsgc3oqfQ_iD9Xy0P5cLXhAptuCdzrnotWnfiabI4QkD2rvF53McKddGCM0h-/s1600/DSC_0986.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNT7mJ2iy0Qsl6cnZwM_eWPntjKlGerMc3QwRYOUq56lLfu0MDZ3w8vXBeeg3eIcYn4_TdDJT0dUahzRbGsgc3oqfQ_iD9Xy0P5cLXhAptuCdzrnotWnfiabI4QkD2rvF53McKddGCM0h-/s320/DSC_0986.JPG" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDD24fb-2pwHEB5bXov3rJyDn6RhJ1xZ2HmoMMB_s48BnBtwFE75wVstzBc3-tim6edl45hjcPBfE1SptTqo1erPxShODTsflupH8XhRPSaX6Cx-Pcpz7qpJzjekxBCiw4hR60Q-h7NF4A/s1600/DSC_0987.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDD24fb-2pwHEB5bXov3rJyDn6RhJ1xZ2HmoMMB_s48BnBtwFE75wVstzBc3-tim6edl45hjcPBfE1SptTqo1erPxShODTsflupH8XhRPSaX6Cx-Pcpz7qpJzjekxBCiw4hR60Q-h7NF4A/s320/DSC_0987.JPG" /><br />
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</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2tJOT8uanWTBFCMES8bIf2bscjqA6EjzrGn2LbEX4Kxs-G_0myfmCOA5ZHbDOqK4zJJqJMWzbz7h90b0Yq90lfkXNpg7WX3QrcCe7kgccFkvZCocMXjhNPkTEHw417oayIvtI3ggmCwF/s1600/DSC_0996.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2tJOT8uanWTBFCMES8bIf2bscjqA6EjzrGn2LbEX4Kxs-G_0myfmCOA5ZHbDOqK4zJJqJMWzbz7h90b0Yq90lfkXNpg7WX3QrcCe7kgccFkvZCocMXjhNPkTEHw417oayIvtI3ggmCwF/s320/DSC_0996.JPG" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqu2qQKDzQDi_wAYcPga69tjnpEtqqcc1dp-OuxjB5p7XW5vkmb1ZD8qIoMj2qeO7ce7EuQ7oarrWhwlbwurCUZwBC_hxc-Hzfxq7nxbwsHJRnXFe8tA6EenqSHckxKCTCAdLT18GFnFA/s1600/DSC_1013.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqu2qQKDzQDi_wAYcPga69tjnpEtqqcc1dp-OuxjB5p7XW5vkmb1ZD8qIoMj2qeO7ce7EuQ7oarrWhwlbwurCUZwBC_hxc-Hzfxq7nxbwsHJRnXFe8tA6EenqSHckxKCTCAdLT18GFnFA/s320/DSC_1013.JPG" /></a> </center>Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-49437296937951565872013-04-24T18:35:00.001-07:002013-04-24T18:35:09.137-07:00Thirsty ThursdayTaking time today to be filled again. I found encouragement in these verses and in one of my favorite songs. Give it a listen :)<br />
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<center><a href="http://youtu.be/M9Yasgzjc0w">My Own Little World by Matthew West</a></center><br />
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me- Matthew 25:35<br />
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But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14<br />
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For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. Isaiah 44:3<br />
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With Love,<br />
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AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-45834050669071579102013-04-11T19:11:00.002-07:002013-04-11T19:12:57.202-07:00Peace in the Midst of ChaosWhatever the outcome, God's guidance for your life remains the same. He is never late or forgetful to keep His promises(2 Peter 3:9) he holds all things together (Colossians 1:17), including this season. His purpose for you will never be thwarted (Isaiah 14:24). He will not trick or deceive you( I Samuel 15:29) but will lead you toward a fuller knowledge of Himself. And He is refining you in the little things to prepare you for something more. (Luke 16:10) whatever the outcome, you can put your doubt and discontent to rest-as you gain confidence in where God has called you to be.Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-48488722640887130222013-04-11T19:02:00.001-07:002013-04-14T00:56:17.563-07:00Cherry Blossoms in the Spring <center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5hPwXa_aM1d1IYHisrvSC4FIUbX0IEFsu_7zDETMlgjokwOkHWX8FEvJ2OQ51mp78wkVBq6Wl3i13F3t1-I3Eqz7Bjm2rWkIYLOUcL4gIMAP0Eb6EMXnv0KdBvWC32AriWEjP00NOHHO/s1600/DSC_0464.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5hPwXa_aM1d1IYHisrvSC4FIUbX0IEFsu_7zDETMlgjokwOkHWX8FEvJ2OQ51mp78wkVBq6Wl3i13F3t1-I3Eqz7Bjm2rWkIYLOUcL4gIMAP0Eb6EMXnv0KdBvWC32AriWEjP00NOHHO/s320/DSC_0464.JPG" /></a></center>Are these not beautiful? I was in awe of these beautiful trees.<br />
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Where do you go for spring break--to get away from the fog and rain? To more rain--at least in Tokyo, Japan! There was no smog though. <br />
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I embarked on my last trip of the school year, let's be clear--SCHOOL year. I don't see myself not traveling the rest of 2013. I have this urge to go places, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It helps that everyone is extremely supportive and sends me so many encouraging messages and texts, it makes what I do, worth it. <br />
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I looked up when the Cherry Blossoms would come in Japan and realized it landed during my spring break. My friend Rebecca (you probably saw her in previous pictures, we went to Thailand/Malaysia/India this year) and I jumped on that opportunity. She has somehow decided to continue traveling with me, I'm proud of her for surviving :) It has been a joy to have someone just as enthusiastic about food and museums, as I am. We have had fun and I hope that we will have many more journeys in the future! <br />
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Where to start when it comes to Tokyo, I was surprised how quiet the streets were--it was eery. I live in China--it might be safe to say it is the loudest country in the world. If it is not, then I just haven't been to where it is louder. Every day I hear people yelling into their cell phones, at each other and just randomly at a wall--ok maybe not a wall. Everyone is just yelling. ALL. THE. TIME. Lets not forget cell phones being on loud while they play games, yes I do enjoy hearing you chop fake sushi, shooting at a robot or just listening to a movie. It can become stressful hearing all the sounds all the time. I am an extrovert and I love to be active, but the minute I am on the MTR (The subway) I am headphones in and canceling out all the sound around me, with something that calms me. Tokyo, you could hear a pin drop on their subway system, it is seen as rude to talk or to talk on your phone. I was impressed that everyone was following the rules and that it is enforced--I was a bit jealous. <br />
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The city is hustle and bustle, like any other city that I have been to. Men in their work suits, women in their pencil skirts and students in their uniforms--all very similar to what I have seen before. The only thing we couldn't seem to figure out was what time is dinner time, because restaurants were either not open, or we were the only ones eating when we did want to eat! <br />
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We did tons of museum and park hoping and got to see the blossoms--that can be checked off my bucket list. These trees bloom once a year and only last for a couple of weeks and then they are gone! There was one park we went to right when we got there and we visited on our last day--you would of thought it was a different park! <br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoPu83xO9EsXbZ8_A-Gpb1yAi1WUg5wZx9jVWZO6-rZ4SYGtBsQcwAom2TvHHIqfh5TUNC5eW13b2ESf-uy_QoR6EFo7z6X5HN94wIc2B8Pvw5oFIEF-iuFYc71-uTQ9JLCQBrMLEjsFv/s1600/DSC_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoPu83xO9EsXbZ8_A-Gpb1yAi1WUg5wZx9jVWZO6-rZ4SYGtBsQcwAom2TvHHIqfh5TUNC5eW13b2ESf-uy_QoR6EFo7z6X5HN94wIc2B8Pvw5oFIEF-iuFYc71-uTQ9JLCQBrMLEjsFv/s320/DSC_0262.JPG" /></a><br />
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I had a wonderful time in Tokyo and thought the culture was great! I don't know if I will ever go back, but it was a great week spent with a great friend!! I ate more sushi than I could of imagined. I saw a more diverse part of Asia that was fantastic. I learned more about Japan, my knowledge was horrible. Overall it was fantastic! <br />
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Here are some more pictures of the trip!!<br />
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Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-50111785698163780412013-03-05T17:52:00.000-08:002013-03-05T18:14:08.511-08:00Island Adventures--Chinese New Year 2013Chinese New Year happen to come in February this year, if you have heard loud fireworks, recently--it's the Chinese. My birthday was the day before a three week journey of island hoping and relaxing on the beach. It seemed that everything was perfect, and it was. My birthday started out with an adventured filled day to the Andy Warhol exhibit the weekend before. I loved every second of it and here is a picture (that I wasn't supposed to take) of my favorite piece in the museum.<br />
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We ended the night with dinner and drinks at some pretty awesome Italian place. Blessed by some amazing people here in Asia--I can't get enough of them! This is a picture from that night!! <br />
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On my actual birthday I was greeted with a room attacked with balloons and glow in the dark dinasour stickers from Tayt, Camden and Rebecca and then I got Becca burgers <a href="http://bohostove.blogspot.com/2012/05/baoan-burgers.html">The recipe for Becca Burgers--she's the best cook in the world.</a> After dinner a bunch of us all got together and we went bowling! I, the newly 24 year old decided it was best to bowl in my dinosaur outfit. I have to keep it young some way ;) <br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxBg-lC3C-DFqQ2bdxNyBCuG9o0S8_3V4Zwuth_dha-raBCXknbgbj5lY_77fTUukSJ3BMk5mKo3mphwdclKFAdAYlRoIAuruEbJ4Ft2DygraUgqcsqDhyphenhyphen7QAX66jaekB1-TfgWaPCm3d/s1600/487912_10151418996823966_189831271_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxBg-lC3C-DFqQ2bdxNyBCuG9o0S8_3V4Zwuth_dha-raBCXknbgbj5lY_77fTUukSJ3BMk5mKo3mphwdclKFAdAYlRoIAuruEbJ4Ft2DygraUgqcsqDhyphenhyphen7QAX66jaekB1-TfgWaPCm3d/s320/487912_10151418996823966_189831271_n.jpg" /></a></center><br />
The next day we had our in school Chinese New Year celebration and that night I was on a plane to Malaysia--I didn't waste any time. We arrived in Malaysia to warm weather, and it was wonderful. We went to a Muslim restaurant every day that we were there for dinner and that was probably one of my favorite things about Malaysia. I got to know the guys that were running the place and it always made me laugh when they would see us walk by (which happened multiple times) We went to an island for a few days to relax on the beach. The sunsets were beautiful, the water not so much--Jellyfish everywhere!<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93qxy9uWi015KLs5qmnELOtlSD4CRvA-oWH06boE2-yK1t4Er_SBUtHIRSFFKs2MnKhvWHtaN5eNaXAX1qX2GLiNr4D6jux_e4KvE_KzjNtg0NnhNA5XO86EDW84LQ6GnNcePtHhNIwiE/s1600/DSC_0051.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93qxy9uWi015KLs5qmnELOtlSD4CRvA-oWH06boE2-yK1t4Er_SBUtHIRSFFKs2MnKhvWHtaN5eNaXAX1qX2GLiNr4D6jux_e4KvE_KzjNtg0NnhNA5XO86EDW84LQ6GnNcePtHhNIwiE/s320/DSC_0051.JPG" /></a></center>They were about the size of my head!! Malaysia taught me three major things: 1. I love traveling with my friends. 2. I love city life. 3. Malaysia is REALLY expensive! <br />
<br />
After the adventures in Malaysia we were off to Bangkok for a couple days and I fell in love. Pad thai and BBQ chicken on one side of the road and then massages on the other side--living the life. I got to see the Kings Palace, temples and the Jim Thompson’s house. It was a rushed/exciting two days in Bangkok! I would definitely like to spend more time there and would love to spend more time getting to know the people. I am fascinated with Thailand at the moment! <br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutIPwn0qtD8LWHKbtcAVZ4uHwK-AKh2vUo3mfOSRY7UQGMVyT1z5agevdTiGFDngj9RNYBm7cqGsYyKK5_npi4YdQYv-WVJrYV5_9Zyt8yxsWIFHavinqGxiSPH_HSUtAF1WOVLbLCk40/s1600/856294_4986252927382_737994560_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutIPwn0qtD8LWHKbtcAVZ4uHwK-AKh2vUo3mfOSRY7UQGMVyT1z5agevdTiGFDngj9RNYBm7cqGsYyKK5_npi4YdQYv-WVJrYV5_9Zyt8yxsWIFHavinqGxiSPH_HSUtAF1WOVLbLCk40/s320/856294_4986252927382_737994560_o.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqssvDALaSbAHtk11TcHd_riJ6muByqMoBY6BHlaOLCXh6VnW3kodAnzHuHyIY1TlP3pdgwA_XMy6IK9Vapgy7TiRnKfBT9EdggwFDbF71cucZkVI7EEYBIzHYXyKAg3Ga18p8CV4NLUEm/s1600/524689_10151260821166717_1451537536_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqssvDALaSbAHtk11TcHd_riJ6muByqMoBY6BHlaOLCXh6VnW3kodAnzHuHyIY1TlP3pdgwA_XMy6IK9Vapgy7TiRnKfBT9EdggwFDbF71cucZkVI7EEYBIzHYXyKAg3Ga18p8CV4NLUEm/s320/524689_10151260821166717_1451537536_n.jpg" /></a></center><br />
We headed our way down to Krabi, Thailand and spent our time there for the first week and did some island hopping and checking out different beaches. The sunsets and the clear skies with stars at night were some of my favorite things that I did there. Memories that will be remembered forever and I have been blessed to share them with some great friends. I love the life of a beach bum and have always been obsessed with water--it has been hard to live away from it for 1.5 years.<br />
<br />
The end of my trip was at MaiKhao beach--northern Phuket. It was pretty much deserted and we got to stay in little bungalows and it was so peaceful. The owner was the sweetest and I would definitely go back to this area again. We got visitors from Vicky, Anne, Ethan and Lauren on their last day and it was nice to hang out on the beach and relax! <br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6czLMHUzZ8boA4IivfETW-lhjSnmkdgmTIH1GNB5N44hk_ApnPMiszVdzgHkCbvp_1ET3HsgwLU3dBucq1RlD76Fv0E2r1fKGHeYV6sr32rY96ChJZeSO3M37Yxz-GL7PnfaDK2AYvY92/s1600/421829_549162887808_438039918_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6czLMHUzZ8boA4IivfETW-lhjSnmkdgmTIH1GNB5N44hk_ApnPMiszVdzgHkCbvp_1ET3HsgwLU3dBucq1RlD76Fv0E2r1fKGHeYV6sr32rY96ChJZeSO3M37Yxz-GL7PnfaDK2AYvY92/s320/421829_549162887808_438039918_n.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuj22pygOCGUsZPUd8Bdj3ntpo1w7iEFDPnss-9A0LRLjUgFm7NcY4eJfkUoHhwsdkK4XweCjRf9JN4D6VB7adXZkPTZar5Q7za362meZJlEoKXfLTw8SWuwYRFGj_29rNWINz128ON8CW/s1600/734971_4545038065275_661830544_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuj22pygOCGUsZPUd8Bdj3ntpo1w7iEFDPnss-9A0LRLjUgFm7NcY4eJfkUoHhwsdkK4XweCjRf9JN4D6VB7adXZkPTZar5Q7za362meZJlEoKXfLTw8SWuwYRFGj_29rNWINz128ON8CW/s320/734971_4545038065275_661830544_n.jpg" /></a></center><br />
That was the end of my journeys and the next one is coming up quickly--Japan! <br />
<br />
Prayer requests:<br />
That I am patient and listening to what God wants me to be doing.<br />
For my friends and their adventures they are on. <br />
That I can figure out a plan for next year. <br />
<br />
<br />
With love,<br />
<br />
Ashley Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-82070725922948623842013-01-29T16:40:00.001-08:002013-01-29T16:40:16.764-08:00Food for thought <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkm-EZzfhM1m2HGzf5aTZVreH-XZFZt3uqK2RXS0A0xCbUAy5K97EYWL2ej4q_iJsKvulcnuzc7PsUT2YgcRlkPD-yUoWAt2F779apvmQB5mgKRg67B9OG-uMWuOLvv2KV2llvUlUW2csm/s1600/ab1a1f90c99f09b68edb129a069190af.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkm-EZzfhM1m2HGzf5aTZVreH-XZFZt3uqK2RXS0A0xCbUAy5K97EYWL2ej4q_iJsKvulcnuzc7PsUT2YgcRlkPD-yUoWAt2F779apvmQB5mgKRg67B9OG-uMWuOLvv2KV2llvUlUW2csm/s400/ab1a1f90c99f09b68edb129a069190af.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-49135340683948000842013-01-29T00:02:00.001-08:002013-01-29T16:32:27.195-08:00A journey to the other side of the world. America is my home country, it is where family is, it is where friends are--it is where a huge part of my heart is. <br />
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I know this post comes almost a month after my visit, but never too late to talk about an epic trip! <br />
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I was able to FINALLY see my parents new house in Seattle, Washington! It was a great visit and I fell in love with a new city. I got to do a lot of touristy stuff while I was home, which was strange, but that was cool.<br />
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I saw family and that meant the world to me and it was amazing to see how much has changed in a year, and also what hasn't changed. <br />
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A short trip in Seattle and then I was off to LA...back to "home" for an even shorter trip. It was terrific to have In-n-out again--it should be against the law to not have that once a week. If there is one food that I miss, for some reason those animal style fries, are it. I saw friends that I love dearly and I got to see the beach, oh how I miss that place. <br />
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In a bittersweet goodbye with everyone, I was back to China to start the 4th semester of my life abroad. I have many adventures awaiting me and I can't wait. I turn 24 in a few short days and I leave for a three week long trip to Malaysia and Thailand :) <br />
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Here are some pictures from my trip back home!! <br />
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With love,<br />
<br />
Ashley <br />
<br />
Prayer requests: <br />
Guidance as I figure out this job hunt<br />
For my friends and fellow teachers--guidance, support, love, laughter, job hunting <br />
Safe travels for my friends and I as we depart soon<br />
<br />
Highs: <br />
Going home<br />
Seeing the family <br />
seeing friends<br />
american food<br />
traveling soon :)<br />
<br />
Lows:<br />
Job hunt<br />
discouraged about a lot of stuff<br />
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Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-81605631081512613112012-12-03T07:45:00.001-08:002012-12-03T21:20:19.342-08:00A good reminder. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vBHAYZLSev9uvg3ml9S_KvGiX8m8WddLO40gsnbWA1-e1rTLWOIWul7zmlYKi5i-kQCY_fD5O6XuslLy2VmKjq8WsF8gbreqdxKm-Xhe5oiVjRY10gbg32-_FG_P6DKva0-qJvcrqIJE/s1600/78320480989940622_1Z1YOuYt_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vBHAYZLSev9uvg3ml9S_KvGiX8m8WddLO40gsnbWA1-e1rTLWOIWul7zmlYKi5i-kQCY_fD5O6XuslLy2VmKjq8WsF8gbreqdxKm-Xhe5oiVjRY10gbg32-_FG_P6DKva0-qJvcrqIJE/s400/78320480989940622_1Z1YOuYt_c.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-75392734110711965252012-11-25T19:34:00.003-08:002012-11-25T19:34:47.082-08:00100 reasons to visit home Over the summer my friend Stephanie wrote up 100 reasons why we should give up living in China and move back to the homeland. <br />
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I carry this list in my pocket, every day. I have more than 100 reasons to go home--but this makes my heart happy. <br />
<br />
In 25 days I embark on my adventure home--17 whole days at home. Family, friends, love, comfort, food, English TV, shopping for things that will fit me, hugs, DRIVING!....so many things waiting for me. I can't help but think that there are things waiting for me back in Asia. I am torn on leaving, I know I will be returning, but I can't help but miss my friends when I do go home. China has become a home to me and I have a lot of amazing friends, here in Asia. <br />
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We recently took our Christmas photo's together, 16 fantastic human beings, that I get to see once a week. Shout has made China home. God has shown me what it is like to have only a few to depend on and now he has given us an abundance of support and love, to carry out what we need to do. Blessed doesn't even begin to cover it. <br />
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We were able to come together for Thanksgiving. All of us sat at a table and enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I could not see myself celebrating what to be thankful for in any other way, it was fantastic. Pray for us as we continue to work with students, friends, jobs and everything else that gets thrown at us here. Pray for guidance on future plans, what's next? Who knows, I am just glad I have amazing people to be here in the now as I figure out this big kid life and do God's work. <br />
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Prayer requests:<br />
Strength to get through the next few weeks<br />
Speaking at Shout tomorrow<br />
Guidance in figuring out where to go next in my life. <br />
That I can be a spiritual leader to my friends. <br />
<br />
With love,<br />
Ashley<br />
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The list as promised, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :) <br />
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<br />
1. The Constitution of the United States of America.<br />
2. George Washington.<br />
3. The proximity of Southern California to beaches, mountains, deserts, and other desirable locations.<br />
4. In 'n Out.<br />
5. Frank Capra.<br />
6. Smores.<br />
7. Thanksgiving.<br />
8. Long, hot summers and mild winters.<br />
9. Girl Scout cookies.<br />
10. Baseball.<br />
11. Peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches.<br />
12. James Madison.<br />
13. Cortina's.<br />
14. Cowboy Hats.<br />
15. Barbecue.<br />
16. The Grand Canyon.<br />
17. "The Sandlot."<br />
18. Jonas Salk.<br />
19. Dunkin' Donuts.<br />
20. Mike Tr..Tro...Trout. Mike Trout (agggghhh that was painful. You're welcome Dinkleman!)<br />
21. The U.S.' cumulative 2,549 Olympic Medals in the modern games- the MOST of any country (Russia is in second with 1,204!!!)<br />
22. The Beach Boys.<br />
23. Fireworks. Especially on the Fourth of July!<br />
24. Converse shoes.<br />
25. College football.<br />
26. John Wayne.<br />
27. Apple pie.<br />
28. The frontier.<br />
29. Vin Scully (duh).<br />
30. Watching "Die Hard" during the Christmas season with your Dad! (Ashley Turner)<br />
31. James Stewart (because China has nothing on George Bailey and Jefferson Smith) and while I'm at it:<br />
32. "It's a Wonderful Life."<br />
33. Frank Capra.<br />
34. Sun Records (for that American early rock 'n roll sound).<br />
35. The Empire State Building<br />
36. Vitamin C ("As we go on, we remember...all the times we [STUDIED] together....").<br />
37. The Los Angeles Dodgers (c'mon! I gave you Trout)<br />
38. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (The movie, not the outlaws. Eh- what the heck, the outlaws too!)<br />
39. Route 66 (Road trip!!!)<br />
40. Otis Redding.<br />
41. Tailgating (see #25).<br />
42. Hike to the Hollywood sign.<br />
43. 1966 Ford Mustang convertible (seriously bitchin' ride).<br />
44. Norman Rockwell.<br />
45. NASA<br />
46. Being able to say, "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?" and be understood.<br />
47. F. Scott Fitzgerald.<br />
48. Nathan's Hot Dogs.<br />
49. Las Vegas.<br />
50. The 1980's USA Men's Olympic Hockey Team (how many miracles on ice does China have?)<br />
51. The Velvet Underground.<br />
52. "Kissing the War Goodbye." (great WWII era photo)<br />
53. Atticus Finch. (greatest character written? possibly!)<br />
54. Homeruns.<br />
55. Superheroes! (What other country has Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc..)<br />
56. "The Brady Bunch."<br />
57. Walt Disney.<br />
58. "Cool Hand Luke."<br />
59. Oversized food portions. <br />
60. James Earl Jones' monologue from "Field of Dreams" ["People will come Ray..." classic. ](see #10).<br />
61. Monument valley and the American Western.<br />
62. Bourbon St.<br />
63. Scott Joplin.<br />
64. "The Jazz Singer." (You know, the first "talkie" film... No big deal.)<br />
65. "Gone With the Wind." (An epic film. And how about films from Hollywood in 1939 while we're at it! Can China match that?!?! No sir-ree-Bob it cannot. Nor can it rebuttal with such an epically awesome phrase like "No-sir-ree-Bob." Ha!)<br />
66. The Beatles American debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. Legendary.<br />
67. Matt Marrujo's Mazda.<br />
68. Disneyland.<br />
69. "Casablanca."<br />
70. "Friends."<br />
71. Herman Melville.<br />
72. Kerri Strug and the 1996 USA Women's Olympic Gold team (becoming the first American Olympic team to place so high in a non-boycotted came after Strug nailed her vault landing on a sprained ankle and was carried to the podium. AMERICA!!!)<br />
73. The Wright Brothers.<br />
74. The Interstate Highway System. (Genius. See #39 and #67).<br />
75. Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, etc.<br />
76. Fireside Chats.<br />
77. Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech. (This list could really begin and end with this, but I've never been one for brevity, so onward...)<br />
78. "I Love Lucy."<br />
79. "Saturday Night Live."<br />
80. Jesse Owens at the Berlin Olympics.<br />
81. Ben & Jerry's.<br />
82. Otter pops.<br />
83. Bobby Fischer.<br />
84. Alexander Graham Bell. <br />
85. Victory at Yorktown.<br />
86. "12 Angry Men."<br />
87. Henry David Thoreau (With whom I feel personally acquainted).<br />
88. De Tocqueville was so intrigued by America he wrote some little book about it...<br />
89. Vince Lombardi.<br />
90. Steve Jobs and Apple.<br />
91. "Rocky."<br />
92. Trick-or-treating.<br />
93. The Marlboro Man.<br />
94. In God We Trust.<br />
95. Arthur Miller.<br />
96. Bruce Springtsteen.<br />
97. The American Dream.<br />
98. Louis Armstrong. <br />
99. Matt Marrujo and me.<br />
100. Family. Home.<br />
<br />
This list is most certainly not exhaustive-- just a few thoughts. Not at all intended to entice you home...(or is it?!)Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-70072973221658048922012-10-29T01:44:00.001-07:002012-11-01T19:40:20.808-07:00Falling in love again--IndiaI have been pretty bad at blogging lately, and figure I should bring it back to life. With a new remodel and a positive attitude, I think it will survive this time around. <br />
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I recently was on another adventure, I know not again...but my heart was aching for something exciting--familiarity. I ventured back to the "homeland," the place I left my heart. I was back in Calcutta, India. I have not felt that kind of peace since I got on that plane, two years ago. As many of you know, I spent two months traveling through India, back in 2010. I was the crazy kid who wanted to stay and ended back in the states with a heart on fire for travel. I have constantly been battling with these inner demons, where does God want me. I have always felt like something was missing, and have missed the people, the smells, the colors, the life that are, simply put--India. I got a second chance to fall in love. I don't think He gives us these all that often and I definitely took this opportunity to start where I ended--with the people. <br />
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This trip started with two of my friends, here in China asking if I would take them to India. How can anyone say no to that? exactly. So I went and I brought along two wonderful ladies, that I am blessed to call friends. They have made my China experience absolutely fantastic and I knew they would do the same with a trip to India. Needless to say it was a great experience, even though there were illnesses, exhaustion and lack of air conditioners, we survived. We survived enough that we have signed up for another trip together in February...yes the next adventure, but more on that later ;) <br />
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My first stop was to the local restaurant, Blue Sky Cafe, to see Sam and the other guys that work there. It was so good to be sitting at the same booth, ordering the same food and seeing people that I call friends. Everything was the same, the guys were just as funny and they took care of us while we were there. <br />
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I was also able to go back to Varanasi, the holy city to the Hindu's. I had been there before and dreamt of going back. Like before the smells, the people, the ceremonies, the every day life consumed me the minute we got off the train. Two years ago I had jumped into the Ganga, this time I decided upon a sit and watch tactic. We took the 5am boat ride and we took a night ride as well. I had an opportunity during the Puja's ceremony to journal and pray, something I really never thought I would do again. <br />
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I got to go back to the Wallaby School to see some wonderful friends! Oh how the kids had grown and were still as sweet as ever. I got to take my friends into homes, the homes of people I spent two wonderful weeks with. It was an experience of its own to sit there and see how they are and what they have been doing these past few years. Here are some pictures of the kiddos :) <br />
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India was an exciting reminder of what I feel called to do in life--serve. I was able to open my heart up to friends, I met two years ago, to my new friends I have made in China. It is refreshing to know that there are people all over the world that I have met. I guess the talkative gene my mom gave me, has come in handy ;)<br />
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It has been a month since I have returned from India and I am still humbled by that experience. What did I learn? I have a group here to serve, a group of fellow CUI grads and other recent college grads. A group that I love with all of my heart, they make the days not seem as long. They give me that laugh I need, the encouragement, the talking to when I need it. They bring me God, in so many ways. I am 100% Blessed. We are going to be taking a group photo in about a week, so don't worry you will get to see some faces soon! <br />
<br />
Highs:<br />
Travel plans.<br />
Bex and Krae coming along on the Feb trip!<br />
Fantastic friends here.<br />
<br />
Lows:<br />
Not knowing what I am doing.<br />
Feeling called to other things.<br />
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<br />
Prayer Requests:<br />
The strength to get through the rest of the semester<br />
Constant encouragement to future changes.<br />
Discerning God's plan for my life. Taking time to listen. To pray. <br />
Being strong.<br />
<br />
<br />
With love,<br />
<br />
Ashley<br />
<br />
Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-21971990333501238212012-09-09T17:36:00.001-07:002012-09-09T17:39:33.267-07:00China round 2I have finally reached my one year mark in China. Obsessed is only a small fragment of what I have to say, for this place. I moved to China, I hated every part of it and wanted to go home. I went home with the hope of a better situation for when I got back to China and it definitely was. <br />
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This year has been fantastic and has had its ups and downs--but when do things not?<br />
<br />
Here are a few of my highlights and not so favorite memories of my year abroad.<br />
<br />
1. Christine arriving at my old job and giving me a hug, I was SO homesick. Definitely made my year better. <br />
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2. Going home to visit one of my Chinese friends parents and traveling with Christine and Jessica and the group last October. <br />
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3. Figuring out this city with Jessica and Christine and not being afraid to get lost. <br />
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4. Trips back home, Hong Kong, Beijing, The Philippines and random cities in China. <br />
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5. Community at BCIS <br />
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6. The kids. The joy they bring and the laughs they give me. <br />
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7. The many nights of wine <br />
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8. Hosting a summer camp and getting to see many CUI grads<br />
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9. Getting sick often, was not in my plan...but it happens--all the time.<br />
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10. being a witness. <br />
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There are many days where I don't understand why I am here and try to constantly figure them out, but that is ok. I really do enjoy it here and the children I work with and the people I work with are a huge blessing. <br />
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Here is this years school photo! <br />
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This year has started off nicely, I live with wonderful girls and have some great students...even with all their talking! <br />
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I recently got to fly up to Beijing for a total of 36 hours and got a nice 7 hours of sleep for the whole weekend. I got to see one of my best friends, Dana! and I got to see Adam, Karen, Ben and Josh and the ATW II semester students. It was SO refreshing and a huge blessing to get to witness what they are doing. They wowed me and reminded me of what I am doing in this world. Here is a picture of me and some of my favorite people in this world! <br />
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as for life in China, this is China and I enjoy it. I have a lot of exciting adventures ahead of me and I am looking forward to them! <br />
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until we meet again!<br />
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with love,<br />
<br />
Ashley<br />
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Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-40993069438334428892012-07-18T22:55:00.001-07:002012-07-18T23:05:38.492-07:00Summer in ChinaFirst, I apologize for my lack in blogging, it has been one hectic/busy summer! <br />
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Second, it is strange to think this is my third summer abroad, I am starting to forget what a California native summer is like. I would have it no other way though :D <br />
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I am here to blog for you all and I am excited to share with you what has been happening this summer! I have posted a few times that the school let me be in charge of a summer camp, here at the school...it is in full force and it has been more successful then I even thought it would be! We have almost 100 kids enrolled and the CUI group has been fantastic! <br />
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The CUI group has been such a nice taste of home and I feel spoiled having them here, it will be a bummer to say goodbye to them next weekend! <br />
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My summer started off with a friend visiting from Vietnam! My good friend Mary lives there and we decided to go on a vacation together. We originally planned on going to Mongolia, but when one misses a train, that becomes impossible. So we ended up staying in Beijing for 8/9 days? I forget how long and it was a ton of fun! I loved getting to see Mary and having time to talk about our times abroad, we both made a leap to move to different countries and she has been a blessing since day one. It is nice knowing one of your closest friends is near by...the next trip is me going to visit her! Hopefully for spring break :) This was country number 5 (I think) for us to travel to together! <br />
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Here are some pictures from our travels!<br />
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Summer has been mostly uneventful, but exciting! The camp is going well, I love them all and I love the students even more! I am just preparing for next year and the school year that will begin in August and anxiously awaiting everyones arrival back to SZ! <br />
Here is a group pic from the summer camp!!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyy1myI2fvoQLTZnLq8yUIuUIb0yqREOy-G7w3Fek0ven7pbUK_s-i352lNpcyX_13wAsdC5NDf9vPs9yyDwkH8OxyZWG1Jw3fDg1AizAiwRsQQMbWN3pNSHJMQukq03RwcKHkHj7osYp8/s1600/DSC_0700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyy1myI2fvoQLTZnLq8yUIuUIb0yqREOy-G7w3Fek0ven7pbUK_s-i352lNpcyX_13wAsdC5NDf9vPs9yyDwkH8OxyZWG1Jw3fDg1AizAiwRsQQMbWN3pNSHJMQukq03RwcKHkHj7osYp8/s400/DSC_0700.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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oh and how could I forget!! my friends Christine and Sandro and a few others were in the Dragon Boat festival a couple of weeks ago in Hong Kong! It was so much fun to watch and I hope next summer I can be apart of it! here are some pics from that!! <br />
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The new school year seems to be coming so quickly! The summer has gone by way too fast! I am preparing to move all my stuff into my new apartment and I am prepping it for the two new teachers, that I will be living with! I am excited about this opportunity to live with two girls that seem wonderful and I am excited for it!! <br />
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I also found out that my friend Christine will be staying in Shenzhen a bit longer, so I am glad that she will be around. I was starting to feel a bit lost at the thought of the girl who networks not being here! Still count 3 CUI grads being here teaching and loving life and doing His work. <br />
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Highs: <br />
All the CUI folk here in China, it has been a huge blessing! <br />
Getting to see Mary for a week!<br />
planning my next set of trips<br />
preparing for next year<br />
Camp being so successful!<br />
buying tickets to go see Maroon 5<br />
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Lows: <br />
saying bye to friends at the beginning of summer<br />
missing home <br />
trying to get caught up on sleep<br />
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Prayer requests:<br />
That I can go into the new school year fully rested and ready. I don't want to get burnt out! <br />
For my visa to India, I have been having issues getting it. <br />
My friends arrive back safely! <br />
My new apartment and the new roommates! <br />
2 people from the summer trip wanting to get jobs here, I may of found them something! <br />
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with love,<br />
<br />
Ashley <br />
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<br />Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-54624953637821193542012-05-18T00:29:00.001-07:002012-05-18T00:31:23.546-07:001 month away from a yearI realized the other day that I will be hitting the 1 year mark in China--give or take. The first time I came to China was on June 9th, so I will count it as a year of being in this country. WEIRD. I forget how fast time flies, but didn't even notice it happening. I have been truly content and happy this semester and love everything I am doing. <br />
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I am in the process of finding a new apartment for the next year! A place to call home, I am tired of all this moving around! I am preparing like crazy for summer camps and figuring out what everyone is doing! It is tough work, yet so rewarding. I am counting down the days until they all arrive! It is going to be so exciting seeing them all at the airport! (if I cry, be warned! I just get so excited to see people from the states!) <br />
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I have found a community here, something I searched so much for last semester. It puts a smile to my face and I really enjoy this group of people. They are fantastic. It is nice having people that feel like family, when family is 9,000 miles away. <br />
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Here are some pictures from our field day we had a couple weeks ago that I talked about during our schools spirit week :P It was a lot of fun and I think the kids really enjoyed it. They really liked tug-of-war! <br />
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Rachel, Krista-Rae and I after our field day. <br />
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Big things are happening. My trip to Mongolia with Mary is coming up and I could not be anymore excited than I am to see her. It feels like I just saw her in Hong Kong in October but that has been months! Counting down the days till I pick her up from the airport and we start are really unplanned, adventurous trip up north. I still laugh at the though of about a year ago we were laying on the couches at our apartment watching a documentary on Mongolia. We made a promise to each other that day, we would not go there without the other. Weird that it is happening so soon!!! <br />
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I am really excited for the opportunity I have been given with these summer camps. I hope they are successful. My worst fear is that they will fail miserably, but I am being hopeful and enthusiastic about all of it. It is weird to think that me, the 23 year old, is in charge of a whole summer program. I guess this big kid life is actually happening. :)<br />
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I got to go to Huaiji, China. It is a small village a few hours away. We are teaming up with the school to help them and working with CWEF in the process. It was a lot of fun to go out there and meet everyone. I forgot how pretty China can be--the city life is rough in that way. I miss seeing the green countryside...those rice fields are gorgeous! Here are some pics from my recent trip up there!! <br />
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<br />
So what have I learned in this year? I am determined in so many ways and learning to accept failure. I am stronger when I actually pray and listen and put God first. I appreciate the simple/easy things we have back in America--so much more. I love service--any type of service. I love saying good morning to great friends everyday at work. I love teaching. I am starting to enjoy math (don't tell my old math teachers that). I think I am supposed to be abroad, for how long? who knows. Just taking it day by day and couldn't be more excited about another year here. The adventures continue and I will keep on smiling during it all--even when it sucks. <br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
<br />
With love,<br />
<br />
Ashley<br />
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<br />
<br />
Highs: <br />
Good friends in SZ and HK<br />
relationships <br />
family<br />
service trips<br />
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Lows: <br />
end of the year slump<br />
unmotivated <br />
finding a new apt<br />
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prayer requests: <br />
That I can go out with a bang these last three weeks. <br />
Summer camp stuff gets done, the program goes smoothly<br />
That the Huaiji trip next week is amazing! <br />
That communication with people here and back home continue to be strong. <br />
That I am doing His will. <br />
<br />Ashwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-85541583639228616672012-04-24T00:17:00.000-07:002012-04-24T00:22:39.147-07:00When it rains, it poursI have been blessed here at BCIS. There is no other way to put it, no other explanation makes sense. I am someone that should probably not be working here, it is not by chance that I am here. I can't even give you a number to how many blessings I am greeted with daily. We have hard days, we have easy days--it is well worth it though. I am excited to continue to work here next year and to watch the kids grow, I am connecting really well with quite a lot of them!<br />
<br />
We have been hit by Spring time in Shenzhen, which means epic thunderstorms. I love thunderstorms and lightning and heavy rain, one of my favorite things on this Earth. It has been great but I am seriously shocked that it can rain non-stop for 6 hours+ it is crazy! My favorite has been teaching in it, the kids freak out and then stare out the windows. I enjoyed my impromptu lesson on lightning and thunder and sharing why we have these things in the world. It has been fun :) But man when it rains, it is seriously pouring!<br />
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A lot has been happening, staying busy with teaching and summer camps. I am planning two different camps, yes two. I don't know how people do this for a living--seriously you rock. I am stressed, confused, discouraged and so many other things but I am so excited for these graduates to come and visit Shenzhen and to do His work here. I have been putting in "long" hours, getting up early and going to bed late--gotta love time differences. I have been making calendars, I have been making packing lists, budgets, so much! All you trip planners out there got so much more respect from me, SO much. I can not wait to see everyone at the airport, this summer. I am counting down the days to see some amazing groups!<br />
<br />
This week is our Spirit Week. Monday-Crazy dress day. Tuesday-Crazy hair day. Wednesday-Character day. Thursday- Pajama day. Friday-Sports day/hat day<br />
The kids are getting a kick out of it--which makes it fun. We had a rough start on Monday with not as many doing it, but they stepped it up today. We had all different kind of wigs, hair colors, hair clips--all cute. I look forward to field day and getting to play some sports with the kids--sports are the best kind of medicine. Plus I really just want some friendly competition with them :P<br />
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Other news is that I bought a ticket back to Calcutta, India. I feel like I am going home, it is such a weird feeling! I can not wait to walk those streets again. I am going with my friends Rebecca and Krista-Rae and it will be their first times to India. I hope I give it enough justice and can show them what I fell in love with, two years ago. I really do have a heart on fire for India and can't wait to see what I can do while I am there. I have missed it for way too long now! <br />
<br />
I also have a study that I go to once a week. We decided to pick up the book Radical, I am excited to read it with a group of amazing ladies. Please pray for us as we dive into the book and into His work! I love this group :D <br />
<br />
I love it here. I look forward to the last few weeks of school and to the summer. I am excited for the adventures with my friends and with the students coming to visit. It will be well worth it--I hope. :) <br />
<br />
<br />
Highs: <br />
Thunderstorms<br />
Visa stuff went smoothly<br />
future trips<br />
Friendships<br />
<br />
Lows: <br />
a little discouraged with summer stuff<br />
<br />
Prayer Requests: <br />
That summer stuff goes smoothly.<br />
For our future Head of School--that they pray hard about the offer and that it is His will<br />
That I can find a new apartment soon, want to move before the summer rush.<br />
Friends with different colds/allergies/sickness <br />
For friendships<br />
<br />
with love,<br />
<br />
AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-69720061235584565632012-04-13T00:02:00.000-07:002012-04-13T00:02:57.304-07:00The Philippines for Spring Break!Hello everyone!<br />
<br />
I apologize for being MIA from the blog world, it has been a hectic last few weeks to say the least. I have been traveling and teaching non stop...or at least it seems that way! <br />
<br />
Where to begin...so I was offered a spot to join a service team that would be going to the Philippines for a week. It happened to land on my Spring Break and I had been praying that something would just fall in my lap--it did. I am now a heart on fire for the Philippines and absolutely loved my time there. I went with 7 other people and we got to work with an orphanage while we were there. We got to play with babies in the morning, lead a VBS type camp for street children in the afternoon and paint a room in our spare time. It was a fantastic adventure and it was so nice to get to know the people I interact with in Hong Kong more. I fell in love with one of the little girls there and if I could, I would adopt her. She was the cutest and had such a touching testimony at the age of 14 months old. I couldn't believe how happy and excited she was to see me every morning. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ogyNnU8pbG19cVvmYNtJB5cWxZFJjJCZlz2heFZYDV1mn2yjrLwkHiH0lDw17VBVDb-Xp5gTVt752ETpZBVTOYxSz5txB7nmxUOlcUYGIZwO_MevyHiwBNEMFn1wqYbmJ4QSRnSzyJFo/s1600/DSC_0423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ogyNnU8pbG19cVvmYNtJB5cWxZFJjJCZlz2heFZYDV1mn2yjrLwkHiH0lDw17VBVDb-Xp5gTVt752ETpZBVTOYxSz5txB7nmxUOlcUYGIZwO_MevyHiwBNEMFn1wqYbmJ4QSRnSzyJFo/s400/DSC_0423.JPG" /></a></div><br />
This is Rachel my new little best friend in the Philippines and she has stolen my heart. Of course that is me and my weirdo self :)<br />
<br />
The street kids were a great opportunity to open up to them about vulnerability and what it is like to live where they do. Most of them live in squatters, another name for slum, and have a family with more than 5 kids in it. A lot of them told me they had at least 11 other siblings, I couldn't even imagine that! We did a lot of games of interacting and talking about our favorite things and what they like to learn about. My favorite was getting to pray with them at the end of the day. These are some special kids with big dreams, I loved it. Continue to pray for them as I am! They were sweethearts and I miss them a lot and hope I can go back in the future to interact with them again! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlk02OilgyHS1_kr6tl6Tt94pj4b_ANq4ma4Xoq6fTS6LvolrrUzv4msE_F2qOnHp_s8oCClP2Yct7GPg4KYaiDeHEzXxIGc6oKgQyZmB7fAO8GMe9TSYapIgDo57lmzFX0Ap9g2a-CbA/s1600/DSC_0100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlk02OilgyHS1_kr6tl6Tt94pj4b_ANq4ma4Xoq6fTS6LvolrrUzv4msE_F2qOnHp_s8oCClP2Yct7GPg4KYaiDeHEzXxIGc6oKgQyZmB7fAO8GMe9TSYapIgDo57lmzFX0Ap9g2a-CbA/s400/DSC_0100.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Here is a group funny shot of us all. <br />
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We also got to be tourists for awhile and go see different things that the Philippines had to offer. We went to the only WW2 memorial in all of Asia and it was absolutely beautiful. I love going to cemeteries and this is definitely in my top 5. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseA8UVKaDCTqA9n4h37_z2IZvKcZVvdRfeiWD6zw2A2ZM9_ijqvvVa_4h8AUpIiOs_ZwHM9AQZSKQQi-nsTGNwgHbEPSclDDYDkJJpKnU996P8jhkJadj1cj0PEQImnq9XWFjK82ogm6V/s1600/DSC_0300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseA8UVKaDCTqA9n4h37_z2IZvKcZVvdRfeiWD6zw2A2ZM9_ijqvvVa_4h8AUpIiOs_ZwHM9AQZSKQQi-nsTGNwgHbEPSclDDYDkJJpKnU996P8jhkJadj1cj0PEQImnq9XWFjK82ogm6V/s400/DSC_0300.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ygZeqv51ucP8J8zxel-BPeRusBYwrR-TMaryAGV7969cmYaqNeSiJpkEexiXwEhbSYVkzDiMUZXhJPh7azJqU2VlnAHPuLX4RozY8awMD3VgsVpqDbkvkKLlyzp9BycBptte3xTnThke/s1600/DSC_0277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ygZeqv51ucP8J8zxel-BPeRusBYwrR-TMaryAGV7969cmYaqNeSiJpkEexiXwEhbSYVkzDiMUZXhJPh7azJqU2VlnAHPuLX4RozY8awMD3VgsVpqDbkvkKLlyzp9BycBptte3xTnThke/s400/DSC_0277.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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Don't even get me started on the food. This is the first country I have been to where I have loved every single piece of food I ate. I was raving about the food and I am slightly obsessed. It might be because the food was pretty much just seafood :) I can't get enough seafood so this was the perfect place for me to visit! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOXI26odZz-L7QNgSr_vyu8og0lpRXfx-q4Tv1fO7eh6lE4vC9rJrjUMO0aBYCsmTtuG6hHZlC3qHAZUNLOQ7Zo5pe-5bTC4xUTRGTlxBw7mzex4hnhDr_ZSmgrvzp7m_ewnt-CIHMoa9/s1600/DSC_0110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOXI26odZz-L7QNgSr_vyu8og0lpRXfx-q4Tv1fO7eh6lE4vC9rJrjUMO0aBYCsmTtuG6hHZlC3qHAZUNLOQ7Zo5pe-5bTC4xUTRGTlxBw7mzex4hnhDr_ZSmgrvzp7m_ewnt-CIHMoa9/s400/DSC_0110.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bKcVTphCrg57PBbRAjLor_vEUQUgZjvYyoPj1z1N_xxX1EofBalHY5gCKl6rhC8T_8tsnaG2fM-zueyxRAc4O7tHDQRY2AO3N0kZwZrzdvZ02fUzh770_XKyixdGhH1B_sSGs6zDlUCk/s1600/DSC_0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bKcVTphCrg57PBbRAjLor_vEUQUgZjvYyoPj1z1N_xxX1EofBalHY5gCKl6rhC8T_8tsnaG2fM-zueyxRAc4O7tHDQRY2AO3N0kZwZrzdvZ02fUzh770_XKyixdGhH1B_sSGs6zDlUCk/s400/DSC_0011.JPG" /></a></div><br />
One of the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUY3ONBe6u5JqvRzk3GTTnxsL3YrMcH4HKY9Ojy8YQndlz0qJPiyXgDcIzHYo5c6EI62Twfw48YavhkhjBGgrsrAehRP7Ij92Nerp37Qy5Kzp4FEABR4dlFIuQDgwUp99rr-9c3rfdIrC/s1600/DSC_0680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUY3ONBe6u5JqvRzk3GTTnxsL3YrMcH4HKY9Ojy8YQndlz0qJPiyXgDcIzHYo5c6EI62Twfw48YavhkhjBGgrsrAehRP7Ij92Nerp37Qy5Kzp4FEABR4dlFIuQDgwUp99rr-9c3rfdIrC/s400/DSC_0680.JPG" /></a></div><br />
after the rest of the group left I got to fly to another island and spend a couple days on the beach. A nice little break before coming back to teach, the water was beautiful. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhcrgWt3fPFjx3Ic8DrcI0kf2chrYu4P3WblWGYVKqpGCDeLl5LKPRf2lLY_n-yrXkzgzTn3UCMupLdoi2C5tjSwdff_vWt0GkeJWxcPrUuWiaeY2JD7BhDNF_lqO0YuKwncVLHdj6TWl/s1600/DSC_0835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhcrgWt3fPFjx3Ic8DrcI0kf2chrYu4P3WblWGYVKqpGCDeLl5LKPRf2lLY_n-yrXkzgzTn3UCMupLdoi2C5tjSwdff_vWt0GkeJWxcPrUuWiaeY2JD7BhDNF_lqO0YuKwncVLHdj6TWl/s400/DSC_0835.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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<br />
just a little taste of paradise....now to plan the next time I will visit there :)<br />
<br />
<br />
Highs: <br />
Meeting some amazing people that are changing my life<br />
God. <br />
Traveling<br />
<br />
Lows: <br />
A tad homesick<br />
<br />
Prayer Requests:<br />
I have a nasty sunburn and just pray that it heals nicely and that the peeling is not too bad. <br />
Get through these next few weeks, just getting a little tired. <br />
We are hiring a new head of school so pray that He guides everyones decisions and that the process goes smoothly. <br />
<br />
With love,<br />
<br />
AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-46512776590538612412012-03-19T18:35:00.000-07:002012-03-19T18:35:58.518-07:00Spring time means heat timeOn Sunday I did the normal activities of getting up, and preparing to go to church. I was amazed to find that the heat was back! It feels like it has been cold for months, I don't do cold--at all. I got to wear a skirt and a short sleeve shirt, my excitement was through the roof! After church the normal crowd went to lunch after, one of my favorite activities here. It was so nice we could sit outside and have that company. I got to take every form of transportation on Sunday...which is rare, but exciting. Metro, Taxi, Walking, Motorbikes and an auto rickshaw. <br />
<br />
My friend Rebecca and I had a genius idea to go up to the country club and go swimming, best decision ever. Needless to say I got sunburnt, but it was totally worth it. I will call it my base coat for the Philippines and summer.<br />
<br />
<br />
My life here is going normal and is exciting and He is working in so many ways. I was asked to return back to the school next year, so the decisions are being made...I have till Friday to sign or not sign my contract and so that is overwhelming in it's own. So please continue to pray this week as I figure out what is best for me, this time around. <br />
<br />
I have been taking Chinese lessons more seriously this semester as well and my new teacher wants me to take the proficiency exam, I call her crazy...but it might be something I end up doing in a month or two! I enjoy the language and I am slowly actually remembering how to read the characters in chinese and not in english--which is so hard for my brain! <br />
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I decided also that I needed to be more healthy in life decisions, mostly in exercise. I have started going to the pool to swim laps and plan on 2-3 times a week, so far I am doing a great job with it! It is weird how much better you feel after working out, the endorphins are amazing! I have fallen in love with the pool that I get to use at the club...it's gorgeous and no one is ever there! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDmqDtsAn1adsoRiCwZqPukRETG2bUv2MvhYN5bCRk293TWc-Bk-5OhT2eGU79OMKoD5iPm3Sstg19n8mafeze11wxVAQsd5ZxqHOzNAh6JJYuZj_bJs51SSnFRUpOeIm0d7dO0lXpW4T/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDmqDtsAn1adsoRiCwZqPukRETG2bUv2MvhYN5bCRk293TWc-Bk-5OhT2eGU79OMKoD5iPm3Sstg19n8mafeze11wxVAQsd5ZxqHOzNAh6JJYuZj_bJs51SSnFRUpOeIm0d7dO0lXpW4T/s400/photo.JPG" /></a></div><br />
new favorites place. ever. <br />
<br />
Everything is going well...planning a trip to HK to go see the Hunger Games...my excitement is (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and everyone is probably annoyed of my excitement, but I can't wait! And I get to be a full-time sub next week to grades 5, 6 and 7...so I get to be in charge, weird concept! but I am excited to do it, the kid's are great and the support here is very helpful when I need it.<br />
<br />
Also some CUI folk will be here this weekend and I get to go to dinner with them. I am excited to see them and get to talk to them about summer and just what is happening back home! <br />
<br />
<br />
Highs: <br />
The weather being perfect! <br />
Being asked to come back next year<br />
Getting closer to the women here at work<br />
Getting to travel soon<br />
<br />
Lows: <br />
Figuring out my decision about next year.<br />
<br />
Prayer requests: <br />
That I power through these next few weeks before Spring Break! <br />
For my decision this week. <br />
Strength in my friendships back home, feeling really discouraged right now.<br />
<br />
With love,<br />
<br />
AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-35767926557340804962012-03-09T02:48:00.000-08:002012-03-09T02:48:19.699-08:00Traveling is in the airSince moving to China, I have really wanted to be able to travel. Traveling was something that got shut down pretty quickly, when I got kidney stones and decided to go back to America-- until they were gone. I am now healthy and the trips are back on track and I am excited! <br />
<br />
First up, volunteering in the Philippines and then a little bit of a beach break right at the end, soon. I am excited for this opportunity and so excited to do some service work! I will get to work with an orphanage and with street children. SUPER excited!! I am really looking forward to a break, away and in another country. <br />
<br />
Second up, a trip with my friend Mary who lives in Vietnam! She will be coming to China to see me :) and then we will take a train up to Beijing and do the typical Beijing things, The Great Wall and hopefully zip lining it, as we have heard they do that. After Beijing we will be going up to Mongolia! We were watching a documentary about a year ago, on Mongolia and we both made a promise that we would not go without the other, so we are going this summer!!! Crazy how dreams become reality. I miss her and I am excited to see her and get to show her mainland China, since she has never been here. <br />
<br />
More trips will be planned and more trips will change my life, I can't get enough of this traveling. I love seeing the Light in people's faces, showing them the light and just being friendly with everyone I encounter. My heart has been overtaken with traveling-- I can't complain.<br />
<br />
It seems like India will be in my semi-near future as well and I am stoked :D <br />
<br />
Things at school are going well, busy as usual! We have been having fun and the students like me, or at least I think they do, but that doesn't really matter. After school EFL is a lot of fun with the kids, on Monday's I have 6 pre-graders, whoa are they a handful! but super cute and you can't help but love on them! <br />
<br />
I am working on finding a motorbike, yes a motorbike. I am ready to brave these streets, everyone thinks its a great idea :) I have decided that it would be a great thing to have this summer, since I will be here doing summer camps the whole summer. Makes sense to get around on my own, and to avoid taxi's, because they can't seem to find my school to save their lives, even with directions written in 3 different forms and someone speaking Chinese to them. So I am resorting to my own modes of transportation. yes!<br />
<br />
I am enjoying it here a lot right now. <br />
<br />
Highs: <br />
Trip with Mary getting planned <br />
Philippines coming up <br />
Students being amazing <br />
growing closer to my new chinese friends at the school<br />
growing closer to other expats<br />
<br />
<br />
Lows: <br />
Caught a little bug last week. <br />
Not being organized enough.<br />
<br />
Prayer requests: <br />
For some of my friends here, mostly for their families back home. <br />
Stay healthy! <br />
Power through an awesome semester<br />
That I can become more organized and give my all to everything I have committed myself too. <br />
Thoughts about next year, what am I being called to do...<br />
<br />
with love,<br />
<br />
AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-87677816598055255692012-02-26T17:24:00.000-08:002012-02-26T17:24:39.457-08:00whirlwind of a weekMy new home- <br />
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It is hard to believe that last week, was only my first week in the classroom. It felt like the longest week, but also the shortest week. I am co-teaching a mixed class, 2 grade 5's, 1 grade 6 and 5 grade 7's. In total we have a lovely number of 8 students in our class, all at different math levels and at extremely different English levels. It's great! The school is small right now and I know all the students in all the classes names, its refreshing. I am learning that teaching is hard work, I knew that but now being in one classroom full time, is so rewarding. I even got MY OWN classroom!! It's official EFL and when the class splits during certain subjects they go into Miss Turner's room. It is not decorated or set up nicely, but it is my new home and I love it! <br />
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I have found a little community at my school. There has been one family the DeGarmo's that are here, they have been the biggest blessing. Rachel is one of the other 5, 6 and 7 grade teacher and we get along well and she has been helping me with so much. Her kids are adorable as well and I love hanging out with them :) Oh and can't forget about Rebecca! she is their nanny/art teacher at our school and she is my age. We met last semester before through friends who are also abroad and now I teach at the school. It is nice to see her at work and to have someone my age there as well. It is always fun getting to know new people and this job has great people to get to know. I have been going to dinner with different teachers and talking to them in breaks and just getting to know their stories. They are great! and my roommate is hilarious. Today was her birthday and I bought her some flowers :) she is a sweetheart and I am enjoying her company and getting to know her as well! I definitely miss seeing Christine every day but we have been trying to make the best out of all of this and I have seen her and Jessica quite frequently. Last night they even through me a belated surprise birthday party that was wonderful :D I really enjoy the community that is being established here in Shenzhen and I love them all dearly. <br />
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I have done a lot this week, catching up with old friends here in Shenzhen. I went and saw Mission Impossible "Ghost Protocol" with one of my old co-workers and that was fun! I have found a fellowship near by where there are a lot of expats that come together to worship. It is refreshing to have english music/sermon. I am enjoying that a lot these last two weeks. I am slowly figuring out the new part of the city that I am in. I get lost often, but the motorbike guys help me out and cost me about 75 cents. I also have hunted down most of those Academy nominated films and have been watching them. I have enjoyed them all so much! <br />
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It feels like this semester is going to go by quickly and that is exciting but nerve racking. Friday's have become a little blessing. The kids get to go golfing on Fridays up at the country club and I am a chaperone for it. I get to hit at the driving range for an hour, so relaxing!! It is fun getting to know the kids outside the classroom as well :D <br />
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Some of the kids waiting to go up to the country club! They are a lot of fun and super cute. They had the driver put in one of their cds. The driver and 8 students were rocking out to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" I started to cry because I was laughing so hard. They are all hilarious. <br />
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Everything is busy, teaching EFL, remembering my math skills, helping them in everything! It is fun being in the classroom with these kiddos. So much so that I have been seriously thinking about next year again. I feel very called to be here next year. So please pray with me as I decide what to do next. I am also busy with the summer camp's, I was approved for a 3rd group from CUI. I have 2 different summer groups to work with now and that is so rewarding, but exhausting as well. <br />
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Highs: <br />
Surprise birthday party<br />
Getting to know the teachers<br />
having someone my age at work<br />
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Lows: <br />
relearning all this math. If you know me, math is just so foreign to me. <br />
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Prayer requests: <br />
For my friends brother who will be going into surgery this week to remove a brain tumor, here in China. The more prayers the better. <br />
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Continual growth with the teachers and new friends here. <br />
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For my students as they improve their English. <br />
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for fellowship<br />
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If coming next year is what is best for me. <br />
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Summer camps! <br />
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with love,<br />
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AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813957156928558088.post-44330126745523753742012-02-15T17:27:00.000-08:002012-02-15T17:28:07.452-08:00New Job, New District and New FriendsI conquered those evil kidney stones a few weeks ago, I can not be grateful enough that it was not as painful as everyone said it would be! With the conquering of these evil stones that meant one thing, head back to China--to start the new job. <br />
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I had a really hard time with grasping that I would be returning to China. I was scared, I didn't want to come back at all--but because of the commitments I had, I came back. Best decision yet, it has been a great first couple weeks. I love where I am working and what is happening here, what will happen in the future and just hoping I can leave an impact here. The staff is all American teachers and we get along really well and I enjoy their company. <br />
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The past few weeks of being here in a nutshell: <br />
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I turned 23! yes yes I celebrated my birthday in Hong Kong with my friend Jessica. We went to lunch at a great little bar and grill and then continued to walk in a cemetery (I know, weird.) It is a cemetery that I have seen a million times while walking around in Hong Kong and finally I walked right by the entrance! It is huge and beautiful. It dates all the way back to the first people that colonized Hong Kong from Britain. It is an interesting cemetery to say the least. It is Catholic, Parsee and Muslim in different areas. We walked around and met a homeless lady there, we talked to her for a few minutes and it was just a really interesting day that I enjoyed a lot. After we headed for some frozen yogurt and then the jet lag got the best of me and I fell asleep pretty early. An eventful 23rd birthday, if I do say so :) <br />
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My friend Krystal came to visit that following Monday for 6 days! I have pictures, they will be posted later. I have been too busy to even upload them yet, so I will get that done soon! We visited all of Shenzhen. Walked miles and miles and miles, it was exhausting but a whole lot of fun! It was really cool to show her different parts of the city and show her what the team this summer got to see and just enjoy it together. I hope that I did a good job showing the city without overwhelming a first time abroader :P I had fun taking her to Lo Hu which is the shopping district where you get to barter and watching her stop and becoming friends with everyone as I tell her to keep walking...it was good ol' fun. I really enjoyed her coming! Art district, shopping, hot pots, moving. <br />
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I got to move to a new district of the city of Shenzhen for my new job. I am about 45 minutes west of where I was before. I now live with a roommate, who is fantastic. I am really enjoying getting to know her and what she has done in her life, she is an older lady. I hope I can be her age and still be living abroad! The new apartment is still not set up, when it is...I will attempt some pictures! Her stuff has made it quite cute and comfortable...my stuff is still everywhere...naturally. <br />
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The new job is great. I will be teaching language arts, math, science and social studies to grades 5, 6 and 7. I am essentially a real life teacher. weird. Not something I thought I would be doing 5 years ago. I am also the head of the ESL/EFL department, that runs the after school programs. So I make sure everything is running smoothly and that we are actually making progress in our EFL development with the kids. I will be teaching EFL every day after school with 2 or so other teachers helping to all the grades we have. I am excited to be busy and to also enjoy getting to know such a small group of kids. I have 9 students in my class and I am excited to get to know them. I am Miss Turner, weird. :) I also am in charge of bringing a group of 10 students to China this coming summer from Concordia, Irvine! I am turning into a busy bee, I am so excited though! <br />
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That is all I can update for now :) I will update again next week as I get into the teaching mode and update you along the way. <br />
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Prayer requests: <br />
Continual growth as I figure out this whole teaching thing, especially with no specific training. <br />
That I can show the Light to these kids and my coworkers in many ways. <br />
I continue to stay healthy<br />
That I can still be in the people I met last semesters lives, even with being far away now.<br />
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Highs:<br />
Krystal coming<br />
New school<br />
New friends<br />
Possible Chinese lessons!<br />
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Lows: <br />
not seeing friends/family on my birthday <br />
missing everyone back home.<br />
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with love,<br />
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AshleyAshwee :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07576919142632133584noreply@blogger.com0