It's been a while....

A lot has gone on since November. Life has been busy but great.

I want to reflect on the tornadoes from Good Friday. That Friday started out as a great beautiful Friday morning. It was my friend Kelsey's Birthday. We went and got a pedicure and then I headed home. I got home around 11:30am. We had family coming in town that day. It was cloudy but nothing alarming. We turned the weather on and watched and hung out. I watched the weather rather closely because I despise storms. I cleaned out our hall closet and put pillows in it, not thinking we would actually need to take cover. I was terribly wrong. About 10-15min. after I cleaned out the closet, my dad and my mom's cousin Jeff we watching the clouds from our sun room. We heard on the tv that the storm was headed to the Avenue and I-24. My dad said, We have a few min til it reaches us. About a min. later he looked out the window and said, "look, look, there it is." I paused, I was thinking what? what? what is he talking about???? 

Yes My dad said tornado! I started yelling at my sisters to get downstairs. I jumped in the closet with my two sisters, my mom, my dad, my mom's cousin jeff and his wife and their 2 kids. yes you counted right, 9 people in our hall closet. it was pretty amazing. as soon as we all got in the closet. I said very panicked "can someone please pray????" Jeff said yes. so he prayed. i heard the most horrible sound i have ever heard. i could hear a rumble on the ground. so many things were going through my head. oh my goodness what if this storm actually hits. it wont it. yes it will. Lord I love you. it wont actually hit. I was trying to trust the Lord will keep us safe but it was a bit challenging as i heard a tornado coming straight for my house. 

He did keep us safe. Not a single shingle came off of our home. We were blessed. I am learning to have more faith in my Powerful God! I had no idea the extent of the damage until later that afternoon. I walked about some neighborhoods near tyler's house. it was devastating.my heart was broken. i drove by these homes everyday and now they were a pile of rubble. some still are. there are homes that are split in half still standing. it is a constant reminder. selfishly i do not want to look at it anymore. i am tired of being sad every time i drive by. i am so thankful to my Lord for protecting everyone that i love. God is good. Please continue to be in prayer for Murfreesboro. I got to go out and help with tornado relief with my college ministry last Saturday. I saw more devastation than i ever wanted to but i am so thankful that i got to help several families clean up their homes. i hope that the love of the Jesus Christ was shown through our words and our actions. 

I didnt want to forget that horrible day. I have never been so thankful and blessed. as storm season continues i will learn to trust my Jesus more. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

-Ashly

I had a wonderful Birthday!! The day started out by me working for a couple of hours. then my mom took me to lunch! :) my mom and I are so busy we do not get to spend as much time together as we would like. we got to spend about 3 or 4 hours together shopping with some of the gift cards i got for my bday! then i went to tyler's house! his mom got me a gift card to forever 21. i am ready to spend it.lol and tyler bought me a back messager! i love it because my back hurts alot so he always has to rub my back for me....now i can do it myself! haha then i went to my house and spend some time just hanging out! my parents bought me some chacos! i have been wanting them for a while..it was such a blessing! my lil sis drew a picture of me and her and it was so cute!!! :) the little things are the best! :) after i opened my presents tyler all of the sudden was like i forgot something for your present, i need to go. i was wondering where he was going because i thought i already had my gift. lol well he was gone for about 30 min. and he came back and asked me to come outside. he bought me chocolate(my favorite) and he bought me the most beautiful flowers ever! they were gorgeous!!! he also went home and shaved and put some nicer clothes on.(because he was meeting my aunt and uncle for the first time and he knows i like it when he shaves! lol) he is so amazing. the Lord has blessed me beyond what i deserve. i am so thankful for tyler and his love for me. :) i am very excited about what the future holds for us.

It was a great day! it was relaxing and i did not do any homework! it was awesome! ha

today on the other hand i am doing tons of homework! it stinks but i am trying to finish as much as i can before my family,tyler and i leave for atlanta on wednesday! he is also meeting this side of my family for the first time....i am so excited because they will love him..i just know it! :)

i hope everyone is having a great weekend! :) i hope the titans win tomorrow!!!

Birthday girl!

Today is my birthday! wow. I am 20 years old. life is just flying by! Today I have to work for a little while and then my mom is taking me to lunch! :) I am having a Birthday dinner with my family, tyler, and my aunt and uncle tonight. I am really excited! I think I am going to do some shopping today as well.I am refusing to do any homework today even though there is so much I need to do..haa

Well I hope everyone has a great day! :)

I love the Holidays!

I am so excited that its almost thanksgiving, christmas, and before you know it the new year will be here!!! this year has gone by so fast for me! I have done a lot this year. I have made so many great friends that i believe will last a lifetime! :)

School is almost out for this semester! i only have 3 weeks of classes and then exams! crazy! i am so excited that this semester is almost over! It has been a really quick semester i must say. i still have so much school work to do before this semester is over but i have made a schedule for the rest of this semester of what homework i need to do each day! i think its going to help. i am quite the organizer...sometimes that is! ha

well next friday, Nov.21st is my birthday! i am excited! i will be 20. :) no longer a teenager! my family and of course tyler are going to celebrate friday night! then saturday night a bunch of girls and i are going to nashville to eat dinner and maybe go play lazer tag! eeekkk! i am so thrilled about next saturday! but this saturday is the Amazing Race! I am helping to work it and its going to be amazing! i will hopefully get some pics of the teams doing some tasks and i will post them for your enjoyment! :)

well i hope everyone has a good rainy wednesday! :)
oh and i will post some pics soon!

Great Times...

A lot is going on in my world right now. ( i should be studying right now for a test tomorrow but i decided to blog first ha) School is really picking up lately! I havent had too much school work so far but we only have 6 weeks of school left!!! It's crazy! This semester is flying by! I am so glad! lol

Tyler and I had the privilege of going camping with his family a couple weekends ago! It was quite an experience. I had not been camping since I was little! Overall I really enjoyed it. we did some hiking and cooking. It was great to get away for 24 hours with Tyler. We don't get to spend a whole of time together because of our schedules! It was also great to spend time with his parents. I enjoy getting to know them more and more!tyler's parents!

Also since I last blogged our college ministry went on a fall retreat! We went to Alabama! It was great fun! I got to know some people that I did not know. It was awesome! It was fun but too short! here are just a few pictures!
kelsey and i on the way to the retreat!sweet kaeden!
kaeden sat by me about half of the way home on the retreat! He loved that sword! and i just thought this was a precious picture! i didnt take many pics on this retreat! sorry!

And last but not least. My parents got to go on a date this past week and i got to watch my sisters! As they get older they get more and more fun! we decided to jump on the trampoline and bake cookies! it was a blast! enjoy!
my sisters! :)
maddie-girl the gymnast!
hannah doing a frontflip!
i still have my cheerleading skills! he he
tuck
backhandspring
cookies!!! yummy!

Blessed....

Life is good. The semester is going. I do not love school but I tolerate it! ha This year has been a great year so far. I have met and become friends with a lot of great people. I have been praying that I would meet good christian girls and the Lord has answered my prayers. :) God is good!

Over the past few months I have really become great friends with lauren. Most of you know that she has been undergoing chemotherapy. I have had the privilege of staying with her at her townhouse and recently at Vanderbilt Children's hospital! It has been a blessing for me to go and stay with her and take care of her! I truly enjoy it. I am going to stay with her again this friday along with my friend kelsey! :) Lauren is an absolutely amazing person! I look at life a little differently now. I just know from her experience that you never know what the Lord has in store for your life. Life can change so fast! She is a trooper and I love her. I have a few pics from my most recent visit! :)

Please continue to pray for lauren. she has finished 8 rounds of chemo and goes back tomorrow for round 9! only 5 more treatments after this one! Praise the Lord!

I hope everyone is having a great week! :)

Quick update!

hello everyone...

I started school today! It was my first day of my sophomore year in college! It's crazy! I can't believe I am 19 almost 20 years old!(in November :]) I had two classes today-english(boo) lol and human development 1. I am so excited about my human dev. class! I already met a great Christian girl that I am excited to get to know better! Tomorrow I have three classes! I have one class with tyler! It's crazy how that worked out but I am excited that we can study together! :)

This week and weekend is going to be busy! Class all week of course along with work. Thursday morning I hope I get to drop by sweet Laura Rose's 3rd birthday party before class!:) Then Thursday night is our first MT football game of the season! Friday night my family and I are going out to celebrate my mom's bday even though her bday is actually Saturday! ha Saturday is Abby and Justin's wedding!!!! YAY! And sometime in there I have to factor in some homework...ha

Even though sometimes I complain about being busy...I love it! I really hope that this semester that the Lord will use me to witness to people in my classes or on campus. Today during my first class the professor asked us to interview the person next to us so that we could introduce them to the class. We were supposed to ask general questions but one question was what is our favorite type of music. I said country and christian. The guy i was interviewing said i like all music except metal and christian! I am excited to see if the Lord is going to use me in this young mans life! Be praying about that please! Thanks! I hope everyone has a Blessed week! :)