art. parks and subways

Today was a early start day sort of, got up was really tired did not sleep well. woke up to rain and made me not want to go out but i did. had to buy an umbrella and i headed for Central Park it was beautiful even if it was raining and I only got lost on the Subway once!

I decided no iPod today. just God and I and that was a good feeling, I had all day to myself and was able to really think things through and figure some stuff out and of course over analyze stuff but everyone does that :) buttttt it was a really good day and I can't wait till tomorrow!

I had a chance to go to the American Museum of Natural History where I saw so many things! fossils, human remains, country history, religion history, all kinds of history. my element for sure. i loved it! Definitely the best museum I have ever been in.

Later on I went into Central Park! huge! i only got half way and I had to leave! the lake was frozen over and there was snow along the pathways. I saw strawberry fields and where John Lennon was killed. pretty crazy to see in person. I also got to walk by the famous boathouse that is in so many films. It was nice to just walk around and take pictures. I left for a bit to go to lunch at Nicks Pizza! really good pizza :) 3rd time having pizza. haha and it was great then I went to a two story Apple store to charge my phone because it sucks but thats ok I had a lot of fun in there. West Central Park is super amazing.

Got to walk around a lot and then went back into the park watched the sunset and then met up with Lauren where we went to an Italian restaurant and then we went to Junior's which was NY Cheesecake which was delicious! and was in Times Square and did the typical tourist photos haha it was fun

Here are some pictures from today. Enjoy!

with much love,
Ashley

a little taste of NY

I have now been in New York for 2 full days and I LOVE it. I have been taking pictures and exploring the city and eating delicious food of course. The first night I got to walk to union square and walk around a bit and then saw a movie with my cousin, then on Saturday I went to George Washington square where NYU students preformed Julius Caeser, got to walk around some shops, bought some awesome gloves :) and then got to see Lauren's Studio and get to meet her friends and walk around a bit that was really cool to see all their art work and what they are doing! and then after that we went to a Bar that was just a fun environment and got to see that night life of NY and it was nice not being forced to drink. Today (sunday) I walked from Chelsea to the Brooklyn bridge and back which is about 7.5 miles in between I could see the statue of liberty, walked down wall street, saw the twin tower memorial, and many other things it was really cool. I just had a nice camera, and my headphones in the whole time it was nice to just be in this peaceful environment of my own songs and embracing the city on my own. I had a lot of time to pray and just think and really enjoy what I was doing it was great!

Tonight I was able to go to Hillsong NYC which is their newest church and it was either their 3rd or 4th night of worship and that was just an awesome experience. The pastor was talking about walking in the valley. He based it on Psalm 23 Psalm 23

A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

It was a really good sermon and I really liked it. He gave us some tips of how to use the Bible to get through these valley's of life. 1 to stay active. 2 to connect and 3 to stay focused. I feel like hear this all the time but it was something I needed to hear tonight and I really enjoyed it.

He also said "there is no longer a reason to hide your weakness because your limp could save a life." he wanted us to be open and to stop hiding our faults and what hurts us. I found it really encouraging and I am excited for this church and where it is going.

as for tomorrow: American museum of natural history, central park, broadway's lion king (hopefully) and some time square! stoked!!

Below are some of my pictures I have taken and some that Lauren has taken of me :) Enjoy!!

Library Motivation

I am currently sitting in the library at CUI. writing a paper on John Winthrop, why his crazy claims are wrong. :) got to love being a history major. I am currently stuck at almost 4 pages completed and I have no motivation.

so I have been wondering when my next big trip is going to be and I am going to be going to New York for a week! wooohooo. I was going to go and just sort of "rough" it and not have a plan and just kind of see where I end up, then I realized I can't really do that. I feel since I will be there for only a week I have to have some kind of plan! which I do. I bought the Lonely Planet New York and I have been going through it like crazy trying to find ideas to keep me busy the whole time I am there and I think I have succeeded! So I now have a plan but not down to the minute and I am ok with that. I figure I can open up my lonely planet book every morning and find a section of New York I want to explore and go from there :)

Made a new playlist. You should all check these cds out.

The Script: Science and Faith
City and Colour: Bring me your love
Tyler Barham EP
Neon Trees: Habits
Colbie Cailat: I Do

nothing of the same genre but definitely an awesome playlist.

I should stop procrastinating and get back to this paper. busy week! 2 tests. 2 papers. and plenty of chapters to read.

82 days till graduation...but whose counting? ;)

new year..new decisions..

I have not blogged since my trip in India and I realized that I miss this, so I want to try and blog regularly about what adventures are going on in my life now.

India was such an awesome experience, brought me closer to my friends and most importantly God. I really feel like I was able to find myself and let go of things I did not think were possible. I miss the people there more than I can ever express and can't wait till the day God brings me back to them even if its only for a week! I really did fall in love with that country.

The news of what is happening now!

CHINA! I have this chance through school again to spend 6 weeks in China! and I have definitely been praying about it and trying to figure it out and see if that is where God is calling me and I am feeling really good about it. I am still learning more on the trip and will keep you all posted but I am excited for this new trip and the ways God is going to use me there!

As of now I am on track to graduate in May! I will have my Bachelors in History and Political Science :) I am excited to finish up my college education, but this is not it, I will most likely start my masters in about a year, I can't stay out of school that long :P I am absolutely terrified of what will happen after May, I need to figure out my life and figure out what I am going to do. Time to be a grown up I guess.. ;)

OOOh! big news I no longer live on campus and I am a commuter with the best roommates in the entire world. I love them and don't know what I would do without them

I turned 22 on friday...yes 22 I am getting older oh no! but the roommates threw me a surprise birthday party and really surprised me with their kindness and love they have for me. I have never had something that nice happen to me and it was a nice change in my life. Realizing people care about you and its genuine. Something I will never forget. ever.

That is all that is going on right now!


with love,

Ashley

here are some of my senior pictures!

finding myself

So I don't consider myself to be the most spiritual person and find myself not going to God when I should be going there first. So I have made it a mission during this trip to understand the bible and to fully embrace God and accept his love. I have been struggling to grasp the information I am taking in and applying it to my life. So I have been using my journal to write things out and to really remember what I am learning here in Nepal and making sure I can apply these new things in my life now as well as when I am back in Orange County again. I have been trying very hard to understand the Nepali language and grasping the way they love God and how they apply it to their lifestyles. it seems so simple when you watch how they embrace it and just love what they are learning and are so eager to learn more about it. I have been trying very hard to just understand the basics again, almost like starting over in my faith and relationship to really understand everything I need to know.

The things we have been doing have been just adding to the awesomeness that I am building up in my life again, I am slowly figuring out what I want to do with my life and deciding the type of lifestyle I want to live at home.

The people on this trip with me are such a blessing, they have been there every step of the way not just for me but for everyone else, watching us hike for more than a couple hours and if someone is not making it up the mountain us all taking their stuff for that person and helping them make it. I have never seen this kind of support and love in a group and its just been amazing. The family we have built on this trip grows stronger everyday and I love that God is apart of it and he is the one guiding us and not letting us down.

Whenever we are lost and dont know what will be happening, he always steps in and finds us a way, he shows us the light.

I am only at the beginning stages of understanding what I need to understand but this last month has brought me to a whole new light, of understanding myself better and understanding people more.

I love that I have the ability to see what is happening in the world and the effects other countries have on each other.

Spiritual growth has hit me and has and is the best thing to happen right now, it has made this trip much more enjoyable and has given me that love in my heart that I need to give to the people of Nepal and India.

Till next time...

with love,
Ashley

India is beautiful

we spent two weeks at the Darjeeling Hills Bible College and it was a wonderful trip. We flew into Calcutta the first night and all I can say I was thinking was why am i here! it was such a culture shock and where we stayed really was not the greatest but then we flew and got to Mirik and that all changed. we were so high in this little village that some moments it felt we were above the clouds. it was the perfect temperature and thunderstorms at night. we got to read Pilgrims Progress with the college students and then we broke off into groups where i worked with the children. my class was the kindergartners they were so cute i will post picture when i can! i had 6 students that were very smart! they all knew how to cursive write which was amazing to me because i didnt learn to do that till I was at least in 2nd grade, they were all just so eager to learn that it was amazing that the teachers let us take over and teach their students. We were able to walk around the town and get to meet the locals who were all very nice. Suzn was a man who owned the internet cafe we would go to and he was just the sweetest guy and really enjoyed all our company. He even rocked out on guitar with us and we sang songs with him it was just fun to see everyone so happy to see us and what we are doing. The Rai's are who are in charge at the school and they are the nicest family I have ever met it was very hard to leave after spending two weeks with them. they even took us to Kolampong where they grew up and we got to go to their church they went to and went on top of the 2nd largest bell tower in India and that was beautiful and such a rush the mountains were gorgeous!
We have been doing a lot of driving but the taxi drivers have all been very nice and quick about getting us where we need to go. we just got off our 18 hour bus ride to Kathmandu which was interesting. I was glad i could sleep through most of it and really not have to deal with too much! we are in Kathmandu now looking for local places to go volunteer at i hope we find some cool places! we also have a mount everast flight prepared and we are going to the monkey temple soon too!
all of us our getting along well no drama yet and we are just one big happy family! i dont know how this trip would be if it was anyone different! The trip so far has been such a huge blessing and has been so life changing!

I will write more and post some pictures in a couple days but for now that is what has been going on!

with love,
Ashley

No Chanting this morning...or i slept through it..

Its 7 am here and i feel fine waking up this time its really strange, because if you know me i really like to sleep... i didnt here the chanter this morning so i dont know if it happened or not, but im glad it didnt wake me up it always scares me! yesterday we went hunting for the art festival..which we couldnt find no matter how hard we tried and so we ended up just walking around the mall and calling home for the parentals. We took the singapore subway! that was really cool its super fast and they have escalators that are slow but the minute you step on they speed up really fast, its pretty scary because you barely have enough time to even get on it! i also went exploring through little india we went into a store that was like their walmart or target that was fun to see the things they sale, and the imported chocolate which is our chocolate. makes me happy!

we went to a vegeterian indian food place, learned a lot of cool things that have to do with their religions and faiths and who they follow, and what they are allowed to eat and what they are not allowed to eat, its really interesting.

today we are going to the Botanical Gardens where there are orchid farms and other really pretty flowers, and then tonight we start our trip towards India! we will be most likely very exhausted but that is ok!

the team is getting along so well! people keep asking if we are one big happy family and we of course say yes! its exciting that we are getting along so well! we had family time last night and just talked about the funny stuff that happened during the day and sang some worship songs, it felt like home because it was a thursday night and thats when we have Shout back at home, it was a good couple of hours of talking!

i must go get ready now for the day!

i miss you all and i will update the minute i can in india!

oh and i just found out from Dana that i definitely slept through the Chanting.. oops lol

with love,

Ashley