día de acción de gracias

that ^^ is how you say thanksgiving in spanish.
literally translated, it basically means 'day of action of giving thanks.'
and it wasn't until i learned that phrase in spanish that i really thought about the word 'thanksgiving' in english...

thanksgiving.

it's not about eating turkey or simply being thankful...
it's about giving thanks.


telling God what He does that you're thankful for.
telling other people what they do that you're thankful for.
telling your parents, friends, and just EVERYONE what they do that you're thankful for.

give them the thanks they deserve.
and then show your gratitude through your actions.

it's SO much deeper than just turkey and pie.
although those are definitely added bonuses, and indeed something to be thankful for :)

so on this day of thanksgiving
(we're on vacation schedule and therefore did things on the wrong day this year)
i want to give thanks for:

the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
the atonement of Jesus Christ.
the book of mormon.
the temple.
the holy ghost.
my parents.
my siblings.
my siblings in-law.
my nieces and nephew.
my second family.
a fully functional body and mind.
this beautiful world and all the beautiful creations within it.
and
food.

just to name a few of the most important things :)

i am so blessed.
i am so grateful.

life is completely amazing when you learn to find the positive in everything :)

remember to always be thankful, even when it's not the 4th thursday of november.

peace&&love

*ashP*

a new leaf

change: to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc.,

[of something] different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone.

yup.
it's definitely time for some change in my life.

new habits.
new friendships.
new goals.
new-found happiness.

life is so getting so much better.
guess change isn't so bad after all :)

thanks for teaching me that...you know who you are :)

peace&&love
*ashP*

if only life were easy

when i was little, i used to wish that i had an off switch.
this was because i was always afraid to go to sleep,
so i wished that i could just turn myself off at night in order to avoid the scary 'falling asleep' process.

as i get older, i still find myself wishing i had on/off switches for various things...
i wish for an off switch for noise when i'm trying to study.
i wish for an on switch for music when something cool happens because life should come with background music ;)
but most of all, i wish there was an off switch for loving someone.

it's hard when you've cared for someone for so long
and yet, it truly is over.
so i really just wish that there was an off switch for my heart.
but instead my heart is just jacked up.
ugh.

peace&&love

*ashP*

lies

so i've decided romantic movies are total lies.
all this music and all these movies and just all this stuff shows everything working out "happily ever after!"

my frickin eye.
i mean, i believe in happily ever afters, don't get me wrong.
they just NEVER happen like they do in movies.

like seriously it just bugs me.

people do NOT fall madly in love in like 4 days.
nobody ends up with their first love.
and after a few decades apart, you are NOT still crazy about that person.

boo.
i'm becoming a cynic.
guess that's what happens when love dies.

*ashP*

it starts

what is starting?

...you may ask
well let me just tell you.
COLLEGE! :D

it started with FOL [[foundations of leadership]] this past week...
FOL was seriously amazing.

i had an awesome group and we bonded super fast...
there were great lessons and activities...
and i'm basically super pumped up for school to start!

and it starts TOMORROW!
i'm so excited to start taking classes and meeting people!

but i think this is the end of my facebook/blogging/tv watching life...
because i'll be super busy writing papers and socializing and yeahh...i'm super excited! :)

anyways...tonight i had an awesome conversation
with my best friend mauricio eduardo laguan.
i love that kid.
i love having deep conversations like we had tonight :)
he's awesome haha :)

OH!
and elder andrew paul dalley is gonna be a great missionary!
i went to his farewell today and bascially bawled my eyes out?
idk why....but i love that boy haha he's such a great friend and i wish him the best :)

annddddd....
that's all :)

peace&&loveee

*ashP*

update on life

fact: it's been a while.
therefore i am here to update on my life!

so have you ever heard of vacationing in your own home?
no hotel.
no change of scenery.
just staying home...
well that's one thing i've done lately.
who thinks of these things? honestly...
but, it was actually fun because my wholeeee family was here except for my missionary brother, so it was nice to get to spend time together and play together :)
not to mention my nieces and nephew are so dang cute!!
except that naomi hates me, i'm pretty dang sure.
although.
i'm unsure as to why?
oh well.
:)

then yesterday...
i had a grand adventure!
i went on a cousins date :)
me and my cousins, kalynn and aaron,
each invited someone to go on a triple date with us :)
we first made some pizza which was
DELICIOUS.
and then we went to a drive-in movie!!

i had never been to a drive-in movie, but let me just tell you.
they're legit!
haha it was so fun :)

except.

scott pilgrim vs. the world
=
dumbest movie ever.

seriously.
who even thought of that gay plot line??

but moving on.
literally.
moving on-- well actually more like moving out :)
i've been moving some stuff into my new appartment this week...
and the appartment is sooo cute!!
i'm quite excited to move out!
i'll post pictures soon :)

but more about moving on...
it's weird.

thinking about leaving high school behind...
leaving old friends behind...
making new friends...
and i'm scared to lose dear friends who have meant so much to me throughout high school, all because of a little distance...

life truly is so strange.
but makes so much sense.
high school was a chapter in my life, and now it's over.
it's time to move on, and start a new chapter.

it's just a little scary, sometimes.
not knowing how things will change, or when.
but all things work together for your good...
so i guess i just need to trust and hope.

life will work itself out.
even if it doesn't happen today.
or tomorrow.
it will happen.
so i can trust until then
:)

peace&&loveee

*ashP*

can i PLEASE pet your moustache?? :D

so today started out quite normally...

went to work, got ready, and then went to pick up rachel and ash.

it was the dance company mini showcase thingy today.

the one that they do at the end of dance camp.

so rach, ash, and i wanted to go watch our cute dancer girlies that we miss :)

well.

it didn't quite go how we planned.

we got lost.

backtracked, retracked, but definitely did NOT take the fast track.

we actually got there about 10 hours late...

ok i'm exaggerating.

it was only 9 hours late.

therefore we only got to see one of their dances :'(

which was quite sad...

but they did very well :)

so then we went shopping! :D

and had lots of success...especially rachel ;)

and after that we headed home.

or tried to, at least...

we were actually headed for wyoming somehow??

and then denver...

and then i'm pretty sure we just appeared in texas or new york or something.

it was seriously ridiculous.

so we pulled over and we were all on the phone with

our parents trying to figure out how to get home...

when this nice man pulled up :)

he asked us where we were headed.

when we told him, i'm pretty sure he laughed at us...

because we were NOT headed in the right direction :)

but he helped us out and got us headed in the right direction :)

and oh yeah.

he had a BOMB moustache.

haha.

we considered asking him if we could pet it...

but obviously used our better judgement on that one ;)

but anyways...

the moral of the story?

i'm pretty sure THIS is why my parents don't want me going on a road trip.

but hey.

at least i know how to get to wyoming and denver now ;)

peace&&loveee

*ashP*

ps

semis look tooootally weird without their tails.

hahaha

:)