I Guess This is Technically My Last Post.

Soooo I officially have a post for EVERY DAY for the last 365 days. I just blogged every day for a year.

If I was feeling more sentimental I'd go through some of my beginning blog posts and compare a year ago to where I am now, but I don't feel like I'm ready to do that yet. Almost, but not quite. Considering how I know NOW that Felix is a complete F*cktard, I don't really wanna go back and read about how IN LOVE I was. Blech.

Anways- So I guess that's it?!

I'll blog more, just not every day. It's too much work and I'm really glad it's over.

PEACE OUT!

Mental Health Day.

I called off work tonight so I could go home and see Morgan's first jazz band concert. She did an AWESOME job!! I'm really proud of her and glad I went home to see it. I definately could've made it to work on time, but decided to take the night off anyway. I'm so glad I did! I came home, relaxed, watched tv, read a book and slept for approximately 12 hours. It was glorious!

I also found out today that I'm going to have a NIECE!!! Yup, Zac and Jackie are 80% sure they're second baby is going to be a little girl. I'm so excited! I KNEW it was going to be a girl.

Some Housekeeping.

Alright, a few things:

It's April 28th. That means that after today, I only have to write two more blogs and this project is done. I feel like it's going to be very anticlimactic, but truthfully, I'm SICK of blogging every day. I've been stressed, and it's been such a chore to find something to write about every day. I don't think anyone even reads anymore.

Week three of Weight Watchers and I'm down four pounds from the beginning. I can't complain about that. I'm going to try and workout today, although I cut the shit out of my foot at work the other night, had to get a tetanus shot, file a Workman's Comp claim (Ridiculous, huh?), and almost get stitches. Not fun. So, that happened yesterday, I didn't work out. I'm going to try today and see how it goes.

What else? I can't really think of anything. Can't wait for the weekend...Get to see Morgan's solo in her band concert, actually hang out with my friend Sally who has had an effed up schedule lately, and Brandee is coming up Saturday for the day. It's gonna be busy, but that's how I like it.

Alright, that's it. Thank gosh Wednesday is almost over. Wednesday's suck.

Hmmm...

Ever hear the phrase "People are inherently good?

I've come to the conclusion that that's a load of crap.

That is all.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Music Monday!!!

I've recently rediscovered Creedence Clearwater Revival, and it reminds me of my mom because I remember her liking them when I was a kid. Anyway, I've been listening to them on my ipod a lot lately, and I've decided below is my favorite CCR song...at least for the moment.

OMG JILLIAN MICHAELS!

I just heard we have a satellite interview with Jillian Michaels on the morning show on Tuesday. I'm kind of sickly excited for it, even though I won't get to talk to her, and she won't technically be in the studio...BUT STILL.

I told Scott he had to tell her the following things: That his producer Ashley regularly does her DVD's, and she would love to have Jillian's arms.

Let's hope he remembers!

Also, my buddy Steve Braband who works at ESPN got a chance to be schooled by Jillian. He's got the best job in the world. Ch-ch-check check it out below:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sportscenter/post/_/id/47030/did-you-know-sam-bradford-loves-frosted-mini-wheats-what-you-missed-from-draft-week

Night at the Races.

Tonight I went to a breast cancer fundraiser. I wasn't really looking forward to going because, well...who wants to spend their Friday night at a breast cancer fundraiser? But- I told my friend Lyz I would go, so I went.

It was called "Night at the Races", and it ended up being a helluva good time! Dinner was provided, and it was BYOB.

The premise was horse racing. Tickets were $15 to get in, and it was $25 to buy a horse. I bought a horse and named it ""A-woww" (totally a play off of J-Woww from Jersey Shore...FIRST PUMP!).

All the horses were organized into "races". There were 9 horses for each race. Bets were two bucks each, and before each race you went up and placed your bets. Then, they had this giant projector with old horse races, and each of the horses on screen had a number, which corresponded with the horses people bought and named. It was actually really exciting and people jump up and cheer during the races...also, there were a bunch of different raffles.

Basically, I went and lost $50 bucks, as well as the $25 I paid for my ticket, but I won some and lost some during the night, and it was a great cause!

LogoTees

I know I'm probably getting too old to find these amusing, but I would wear a different one of these t-shirts with jeans every day and be happy.

Get Rid of Big Ben.

I know some of you might disagree with me, but I honestly don't know how I'm going to root for the Steelers this year after Benny Rapist Roethlisberger is back from his 6 game suspension.

I don't care if he raped this girl or not, he did SOMETHING, and he's done it more than once. It makes me sick. Trade his ass already.

I Hate Iceland.

There's something hysterical about a huge cloud of volcanic ash that is crippling air travel all around the world.

There's something even more hysterical about this drunk guy voicing his opinion on the country where the volcano is located.

Mom, this is for you!

Happy Music Monday!!!

Leah emailed me a couple of "rad songs" for me to listen to, and I liked this the best out of the two. I've never heard of The Morning Benders before, and I may have to look into them further! Thanks Leah!

Why Did it Take Me So Long to Realize This?!

I think with all breakups, there's that inevitable hurt when one person finds out the other person is dating someone new. And we all hope to be the person dating, not the one finding out your previous boyfriend/girlfriend has moved on. Am I right?

Well, this weekend I got a double whammy.

Not only did I find out Felix was dating someone new, but I also found out that she lives with him. And has lived with him for a couple months. He and I have only been living apart for four months.

Talk about a kick in the gut.

I'm not going to lie. I found out Friday night and I spent a good portion (mostly the whole thing) of it crying my eyes out at the utter injustice of it all.

I also went through an hour or two when I thought about all my past boyfriends, and how come they didn't like me? What was wrong with me? What could I have done to make them stay with me/like me? Why are they so much better than me?

Then it dawned on me like a palm smacked straight into my forehead.

I'M better than THEM.

Not trying to put myself on a pedestal or anything here, but think about it. I'm young, talented, have all the potential in the world to do whatever the heck I want, and let's face it...Felix really didn't/doesn't.

He's a good many years older than me, and hasn't done much in the last ten years to get farther ahead in life. Sometimes his total lack of ambition would boggle my mind. Why don't you want to ever get married? Why don't you want (more) kids? How could you possibly be content living in an apartment and never want to own a home?! HOW WHY WHAT HUH?


I'm not saying he's not a good person, I think he is. He just isn't the right person for me. If he wants to live with a total non-threatening, easily controlled, ding-batted Walgreen's cashier, that's his prerogative. It has nothing to do with me. And it's not a reflection on me or our relationship.

It's God's way of saying, "Silly girl, I have bigger and better things planned for you. Get over this guy".

And as Leah told me Sunday on the phone, "It's onward and upward, bitches."

Caturday.

30 Hours and Counting.

I've been awake for 30 hours and counting. I'm too tired to go into details, but one day soon I'll tell you why. It involves squirrels, scaffolding, sleeping in my bathroom, creepy maintenance men and Olive Garden.

Stay tuned.

My Name is Ashley and I Like Pink.

If I was showered (and had makeup on), I would totally take a picture of me right now. It's not often I laugh at myself (Ok, we all know that's a lie. I think I'm pretty dang hilarious), but I'm even impressed with me right now.

I'm sitting on my couch, in my PINK Snuggie (the A/C is on), with my PINK laptop on my lap, and my PINK BlackBerry beside me. I just looked at my glass of water and there is a PINK straw sticking out of it, and on my end table is a bouquet of mostly PINK daisies.

I pretty much love me right now.

Jennifer Hudson is Hawt.

Alright, soooo Jennifer Hudson is the new spokesperson for Weight Watchers, and rightfully so, because she looks AMAZING. She kind of inspired me. I've tried Weight Watchers two other times, but NEVER lost any weight because I would blow it on the weekends by not counting points, and probably having one too many beers. So I convinced myself it wouldn't work for me.

Well- me and two other people (I'm not gonna name them because I don't know if they want me to call them out on a blog) have decided to give it another go.

I followed the program to the T the entire last week...and today was my first "weigh-in".

I'm down 2.8 pounds!!!

I don't think I've EVER lost that much weight in a week (unless you count college when I took Xenedrine before ephedrine was illegal. That shit was awesome, but I didn't sleep for months...but I was the skinniest EVER!

Anyway- 2.8 pounds in one week is definately motivating. Ideally 16 more pounds would be awesome...BUT- that would put me at a weight I don't ever remember seeing...so I'd settle for 11 more pounds. We'll see.

God Has a Sense of Humor.

I've come to the conclusion that God likes to play tricks on me. Without going into detail, I've been waiting for a call from one of the following cities: Charleston, Norfolk, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and maybe a couple more. They're all phone calls that could change my life. Hopefully for the better.
Anyway- I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday afternoon and when I hung up I saw I had a missed call. It was a number I didn't recognize, so I Googled it and it was a number from Charleston, South Carolina. My heart literally stopped momentarily. I'm sure of it. So, I waited for a voicemail....and one didn't come. I frantically texted my friend Sally and asked her what I should do. She said to call it back and say I didn't want to miss an important phone call. After a few deep breaths, I called back.

It rang several times before someone picked up the phone.

It was an older lady, who simply said, "Hello?"

At this point, I was kind of confused, but pretty certain it wasn't a missed call that was life-changing-worthy, and I didn't want to just hang up on the lady so I said, "Umm, I received a missed call from this number and I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something important."

The poor lady (bless her heart, isn't that what they say in the south? "Bless her heart?!") went on for probably five minutes about how she misdialed because she thought her father had heart failure and was shaking when she dialed the phone. She kept talking. I kept listening. Really? What was I supposed to do? So, after she spoke for awhile, our parting words were me reassuring her that her father would be in my prayers and how I hoped everything would be ok.

Really, God? REALLY?

What are the ODDS that out of all the missed calls in the vast universe, I'd get one from a city where I was HOPING would call me? God, you're funny. You're a funny, funny guy.

Happy Music Monday!!!

This song was stuck in my head ALL NIGHT at work, and I don't even know where or how it got there. All the people my age, ENJOY!!!!!

I'm Getting Super Sick of Blogging.

I know most of you can tell by my recent blog posts that I'm getting REALLY bored of this blogging project. I'm over it. I have like, two weeks left, and obviously I'm going to finish, but I'm just bored with it.
I have a gazillion other things running through my mind at any given moment, and it's turning into a pain in the ass for me to try and think of something creative to blog about. I'm sure there are tons of worthy topics, but I like to actually THINK about what I'm writing before I write it, and I just haven't had time. Not that I've been super busy, but by the time I remember I have to blog, I hae something else going on that I gotta do, so I post some half-assed blog (take today for example).
I hope my urge to blog comes back in these last two weeks or so, because I would love to end this blog on a high note.

***Note: I don't think I'm going to STOP blogging on here, but I'm not going to make myself do it every day. So, don't worry Carol, you will still be able to keep up with my life, it just won't be as often:)

Dadurday

Yup. That's dad. In a pink Snuggie. I think this is way better than a cat picture...don't you?

Body Goodies.

The other day on our morning show, our live reporter was at a local shop that sells all natural, organic, handmade soaps. From what I understand, her products are becoming pretty well-known.

Our morning reporter, knowing my battle I've been having with my skin, talked to this woman about some soaps, and she gave him two bars for me to try.

She gave him one bar called zapzit, and instructed me to use it once, maybe twice a week.

The second bar, made with rooibos tea (which I never heard of until now) is supposed to be used daily.

The lady did everything but GUARANTEE my skin would clear up within one week.

So, I brought the soap home today, and used the first one before I went to bed. The smell is really earthy, so I was a bit turned off at first. Also, I felt like it made my skin super slippery, and it was hard to get it all off my face. After I rinsed it off though, my skin felt SUPER SOFT immediately, and when I woke up, it was even softer.

Here's to bodygoodies! Let's hope they work! Check out the link and support a local business. It's about time someone local does something good around here and makes some cash.

All Signs Point to: Go See Your Mother.

Alright, I thought I had my ENTIRE weekend planned out. Friday, my friends Lyz and Weyman were going to come over and I was going to cook dinner for them (I owed them because when Felix and I broke up/were breaking up, they really took care of me and made me food ALL the time....maybe that contributed to a post-breakup-weight-gain...or maybe that was the binge drinking...hmmmm....).
Then SATURDAY, I thought Jody was going to come up and we were going to do a little shopping, maybe take a walk, go out to dinner...really low key.

Well, everyone canceled on me. Within like 5 minutes of each other. WTF!

So, I figured it was God's way of saying, "Go spend time with your family". I always go home when I have a reason, not just to go visit. I'm taking The Hurt Locker (my dad will love it), and going to spend some time with my parents, without having to rush off to meet someone or do something. Then I'm going to stay at mom's hotel, sleep in a big comfy bed in a nice dark room, wake up Saturday, come back to Ohio and get all the stuff done that I've been putting off.

Plus, (and I'm getting a little personal here...just a warning in case you want to stop reading) I am back on THE PILL, after being off of it for almost a year. My dermatologist and wonderful lady doctor thinks my skin problems are being caused because of out of control hormones from not being on the pill. ANYWAY- so I started taking that again last week, and my emotions are CRAZY. I cry at the drop of a friggin' hat, so I think me spending an entire weekend at home would be miserable for me. So, yup. Thanks friends for bailing on me, but it's probably for the best. I'm pretty excited to see my family! Who knows how long that will last, though...

KIDDING MOM.

Hurray for Birthdays!!!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was pretty awesome! At least for turning 27. I mean, after a certain point, I feel like you're old enough that birthdays aren't really that important, and they're just a normal day.

I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I drove down to Cranberry to meet Jody for dinner, and didn't take off work, so basically nothing crazy.

Except- yesterday made me realize how lucky I am to have so many wonderful people in my life...From my coworker making me homemade macaroni and cheese, to Becky sending me flowers, so Sally buying me ice cream cupcakes, I was just continually surprised at how much people care. My mom, dad, and Morgan called and sang to me...and it was just a nice day. Reminded me that I'm loved. And who doesn't enjoy being reminded they're loved?!

So, yeah. Awesome day. Thank you everyone!

Time Flies.

Today is my 27th birthday, and MAN do I feel old! Birthdays have always been bittersweet for me. When I was younger, they always sucked (like- getting-kidney-stones-kind-of-suck). The last few years have been ok, and this year is probably most aptly labled as "meh".

If you would've sat me down on my birthday last year, and told me where I would be one year later, I wouldn't have believed you. Things have changed DRASTICALLY in the last 12 months. But I can't say they've changed for the worse....and I can't really say they've changed for the better.

Right now, I kind of feel like I'm in limbo. I'm waiting for my Next Big Thing. Really, if you think about it, isn't life always about the Next Big Thing?

For the majority of the last three years, Felix was my Next Big Thing. I thought I was starting the next logical chapter in my life, and guess what? I was wrong. And yeah, that sucks.

But now, I have a gazillion opportunities open for me that I wasn't even considering a year ago. Hell, I wasn't even considering them six months ago. And guess what? I'm EXCITED about those possibilities.

I guess what I wonder is this: Does life really change for the better? Or does it just change, and you make the best of it?

And honestly, I'm not trying to get all mopey on my birthday, because I don't even remember what I did last year. I really don't. I think I got a new pair of workout shoes, and we called it a day. And I do know that I'm meeting Jody in Cranberry for dinner tonight, and what really could be better than having dinner with one of your best friends on your birthday?

Happy Music Monday!!!

I picked this song because tomorrow is my birthday, and it's MY blog and I'll do what I want!

I'm Addicted...

I've been laying on my couch most of the day watching A&E. They've had a "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels" marathon on...and I can't take my eyes off it. Why do I get addicted to all of these mindless reality shows?

By the way...I only have 25 posts left until I'm done with this blog. Crazy, huh?

Caturday.

GREAT Friday!

For the third year in a row, my birthday celebration happens to fall on Good Friday. One of the guys at work dubbed it "Great Friday" and the name has stuck. It's pretty much an excuse to get everyone from work out together (no one misses birthday celebrations here) to have a good time. It's always an eclectic mix, from that weird producer no one really likes, to the super fun guy who never gets to go out because he's married with kids (I'm not hating, just sayin').

Anway- had to get the blog in, my ride is on its way! I'm sure I'll have some pictures and good stories to come!

Bird Sex!

Northeast Ohio broke records today with high temps...it reached 83 degrees!! I slept through most of it, I'm sure. I went for my walk and it was GORGEOUS! So then, I came home and had my balcony door open, enjoying the fresh air. I heard a weird noise, and I looked outside to see one sparrow perched on my railing, with another bird perched on the back of the first (clearly "doing it")! I laughed, and then immediately jumped up to get my phone because I wanted to take a picture and post it for you. I missed it though, because when I jumped up, the birds freaked out and flew away.

I don't know which is worse, the fact I wanted to take a picture of birds mating, or the fact that I thought of my blog IMMEDIATELY.