It's all coming to an end...

So I thought Jarboe would post another episode before I blogged, but I guess the video isn’t finished being edited, so I thought I would fill you in on the past couple of weeks.

We had a blast for the rest of vacation, however, the current was too strong the rest of the week to actually get in and the jellyfish were coming up everywhere. We couldn’t even walk along the water for fear of being stung. We all got stung a couple of times. My sister and one of my mom’s friends came up on Wednesday. The GPS wasn’t programmed to avoid ferries, so they ended up going a completely different way than we had ever gone. It ended up knocking 2 hours off of their trip. This is a tip that we will remember next time. Especially if gas prices keep rising.

My sister isn’t a big fan of the beach. She only spent one day actually on the sand. She, Jason, and I left the wonderful place on Friday to head back home. On the way home, we stopped at Lambert’s Café and ate. I LOVE that place. If you have never been, I encourage you to stop by if you are ever in Foley. I almost finished all of my food this time. Maybe I will next time.

On Saturday morning, I woke up early and took my PRAXIS exam. I actually took two different 2-hour tests. I find out those scores in a couple of weeks. AHH! This determines if I get to student teach in January. I really need to get a good score. I felt like I did all right on them, but you never know.

The next two weeks were spent working in the Student Life Office, babysitting, and just chilling with the family. I moved back into Rotary Hall. It feels like home in here. There have been a few ideas that we have been discussing in the Student Life Office. You will have to look at the pictures to see how we spent Friday at work. We have tested...well...you will find out soon enough. I don’t want to spoil the surprise! I also took some pictures of the new renovations of campus. They are pretty nice...check those pictures out.

On Saturday I went to one of my friend’s wedding. She looked beautiful! I can’t believe that people that I graduated high school with are already getting married! It’s crazy. I’m definitely nowhere close to that point. We had fun at the reception and danced the night away.

RA training started today. We played a special bonding game and ate dinner. We then had a couple of meetings to discuss what we will be doing for the next two weeks. I’ll be sure to fill you in on what Res Life has planned for the new year. Summer is officially over for me. It’s been a blast. I was going all summer and it just flew right by. In a year, I will be teaching little kiddies. That is so scary! Until next time...

Peace Out.
Ashley

Greetings from the Gulf!

I’m at the beach! Yes, for the second time this summer, I on the gulf with the family. This time we came to Gulf Shores with some family friends. There are 3 families here in this rented house this week for a total of 13 people. We arrived on Saturday and have had a blast so far. The other parents that are here have been friends with my parents since they were my age. This got me thinking about all of the friends I’ve made, and who I would go on a family vacation with in 30 years. It’s crazy to think about.

I have had an awesome 2 weeks since I last posted. Church camp was so awesome. The theme was “Upside Down” and focused on Daniel. The lessons were about turning our lives upside down for Christ and how Daniel did that his whole life. We got to see the band 33 Miles and the comedian Tim Hawkins. I got to play a lot of volleyball, but we lost in the tournament. I also got to eat camp food all week. I love me some camp food.

I got back on Friday and spent the rest of the weekend finishing up my classroom for Vacation Bible School. It was an Olympic theme, and I had the country China. My sport was volleyball because my lesson was about teaming up with other Christians and focused on Paul’s life right after he became a Christian. The next week was spent working in the Student Life office by day and VBS by night. I had a different age group each night. The first night I had the oldest group at the beginning and the youngest group at the end. It was quite a difference. I let each group play volleyball when they came in there to show them the value of teamwork. I let the preschoolers play with balloons. We had a fun time.

Saturday I loaded up in the truck with my mom, my dad, and my friend Jason Kay to head to Gulf Shores. So far we have chilled at the beach, played some Rock Band, swam at the pool, got stung by jellyfish, gone shopping, and most importantly, have eaten A LOT. Each night the parents cook. We’ve had hot wings, brisket, spaghetti, and boiled shrimp. The dads have played and the girls have gotten a lot of sun. Yesterday the waves were crazy high and we couldn’t get in the water, but I sat in a beach chair on the edge of the water for 3 hours as the sun was going down. It was perfect.

I’m driving back on Friday because I have to take my Praxis on Saturday morning. That should be a lot of fun. I have to pass this one in order to student teach. I’ve been studying the whole time I’ve been at the beach. That has not been the most fun part of the trip. Hopefully it will pay off though. I hope everyone is having a good summer. Live it up, it’s almost over.

Peace out,
Ashley

Upstage Much?!

I would just like to say that I hate you, Michael Jarboe, for upstaging me. I tried really hard to be cool and show you guys China, but here comes Jarboe with his episodes and his own logo...that's ok though. Hopefully I still have some fans who want to read my blog. (I really don't hate you. I actually love you and think you are the only one who could possibly pull off the Caught on Tape)

So a lot has happened in a month. I apologize for not posting until now, but I literally have not had enough time at all. Here is the slideshow that I have prepared. This is from my vacation to Destin, Springboard training, and the actual Springboard sessions, including a sneak peak of Staff bonding time, and my 4th of July. If you don't want to read the whole blog, the slideshow is the abridged version of my month.

The trip to Destin was a ton of fun. I'm pretty obsessed with the beach. This is the third year that I have gotten to spend my birthday at the beach. My dad's company has a conference every year at the same time. This year for the big 2-1, I got to go deep sea fishing. This was the first time that I had ever done anything like that, and I won the tournament, receiving a gift card to the Bass Pro Shop. The rest of the week consisted of me almost losing my sunglasses in the ocean, my sister finding them, birthday cake at The Crab Shack, my sister reading, a new pet hermit crab (Armstrong), tanning, mingling with my dad's company members, swimming, running in to one of my sorority sisters, and having to get out of the water because of sharks.

The day after I returned to the booming metropolis of Shreveport, the Springboard staff worked with other staff members of campus to clean up. We weeded flower beds and other outside yard jobs in order to make everything look spectacular for the incoming students. The next day we headed south for training weekend. At the Woodworth Methodist Center we bonded as a staff and got information needed before the sessions started. The weekend was filled with warm fuzzies, partner bonding time, teambuilders, creative candy mazes, emergency procedures, small group session outlines, breaking ice, 2 birthday celebrations (Rob and Talia), and some clothes pins. We were so excited to get to meet all of the new students.

We returned and got everything ready for the first Springboard session. The staff couldn't wait to meet everyone. The sessions were 2 days and were on the Tuesday/Wednesday, Friday/Saturday of the last two weeks in June. The first session came and went. We discussed the pros and cons of how we had the schedule and changed some things around. We did this after every session to make things work better. In between the first and second session, I went to Monroe, Louisiana, to my great-uncle's funeral. He was one of the most selfless, giving people you will ever meet. One of my cousins actually wrote a bill into the Louisiana Legislature to commemorate his life and accomplishments. They do this for family members of people who work for the state government. The bill was read while the legislature was in session. I thought that was pretty neat. In between the third and fourth sessions, we were getting a little stressed, so we went to Cross Lake to chill out, but the weather thought we needed to get out of the water. While we were out there, Jared, Wesley, and William got in, each doing showing off their mad skills. William really wanted to go tubing, and we found a random tube floating on the lake, so he jump on it as we attached it to the boat. He had fun. After the two weeks were over, we met all of the incoming first year students and had a blast doing it. We learned how to work like geese and that you can do a lot with clothes pins and a noodle.

After the Springboard sessions were over, it was rest time. Oh wait, I don't rest. I worked in the Student Life office all last week, traveling to Monroe to get my hair cut on Wednesday. On Friday, there was a fish fry out at a church friend's house. My family went out there (with my "adopted brother," Jason Kay who is living at my house for the summer while he works in Shreveport). After eating a lot of fish and some homemade ice cream, my friends Rachel, Erin, and I went to the CenturyTel Center to catch the last few minutes of the Battlewings game (Bossier/Shreveport's arena football team) before the JEREMY CAMP CONCERT! We met up with some other friends while we were there. The end of the game was intense, and we ended up losing in the last second, literally. The concert was pretty much amazing. After, I went to go get his new CD, and he came out to sign autographs. He signed my new CD and then took a picture with us. I also talked to him about the first time I saw him in concert and he remembered. That was pretty cool. The rest of the weekend was filled with preparing for Vacation Bible School. I will be gone all of this week because I'm taking the youth to church camp. The next week is bible school and I am one of the teachers, so I had to work on my room before I left for camp.

Well, I hope my actual text blog hasn't been too boring for you since I'm not cool like Jarboe. If you haven't watched his blogs, please do so. They are hilarious. Until next time...

Peace Out
Ashley