Fortune Cookies & She & Him

Look at my delightful fortune cookie I got from China Town at lunch today! Well, actually, I guess I should technically say look at the fortune. The cookie's gone. I ate it before I thought to take a picture. Food has a tendency to vanish if it is within a 3 foot radius of me. Unless it's carrots. I hate carrots. I hate them; I do! Okay, maybe hate's a strong word. I dislike them...greatly. I can eat them if I have to for the sake of being polite to the host, but more often than not, I discover at the end of the meal that the only thing left on my plate is...orange...and carrot-y. I made that word up just for you. Anyway, fortune cookies are lovely...most of the time. I went through a spell when all of my fortune cookies kept telling me to work hard. Bleck! The one I got yesterday is much better.Pleasant, don't you think? I thought so. It made me smile.

Also, yesterday I was thinking about how I was really sick of all the songs on my iTouch. I came to this realization because I listened to it on the nine hour drive to Houston and on the nine hour drive back from Houston. That's a lot of hours. My music selection on my iTouch is kind of pathetic by most people's standards. You see, I'm kinda thrifty when it comes to buying music. I always think, "Oh, I like that band! I'll buy their album!" Then, I look on iTunes, and I think to myself:

$12!!! I don't want to pay $12! I only like one or two of the songs...I'll just buy those two.

As I'm about to click "Buy" my silly math side gets the best of me and I start calculating. It's never a good thing when I start calculating. It leads to overanalyzing.

I can't buy just one or two! That's a waste of money. It's a much better buy if I just buy the whole thing.

But I don't want to spend $12! What if I don't like the songs?

I hope you see how this leads to a vicious cycle which continues until I get so fed up with myself that I do one of two things.

1. I buy the whole album.

2. I buy nothing.

This terrible mental process of mine has led to very little variety on my iPod since I actually buy songs very rarely, and hundreds of songs I don't even know or like because I bought whole albums of songs I didn't know or like because I was too cheap to just buy the two songs I liked for the sake of getting a better buy!

FAIL!

So yesterday, I went through this whole process with the intention of buying a song or two because I never do.

I should've known better.

I bought a whole album. I love Zooey Deschanel's voice, and I really just wanted the She & Him rendition of "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," but it was a much better buy to get the whole album, but I didn't want to spend $12, but I was going to quit being cheap and buy a song dadgummit!!! And then...I gave up and bought the whole thing. But seriously, don't you think "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" was worth it? She's got such a great voice. See? Or I guess I should say hear? Nah, that sounds weird. Here's the one song I intended to buy.

I'm glad I bought that song. I actually like the whole album. Occassionally my indecisive brain makes a good decision. I like all of the songs.

Unfortunately, I just found "I Put a Spell on You." It's $1.98 . . . or I could buy the whole album.

To buy or not to buy; that is the question.

I'm hopeless. I'll just wait a day to buy the whole album.

School's Out For Summer!!! (Sing the Song to Yourself for Dramatic Effect)

It's summer!!!

I have been spastically happy, verging on giddy since I finished my finals. I'm speechless, well not really; that never happens. I can't believe how wonderful summer is. I have my life back!!!

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the picnics are beginning, and the weddings are starting. So many weddings! I've been going to multiple bridal showers a week, shopping at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and Target during my lunch breaks, planning showers, baking thumbprint cookies, finding bridesmaid dresses, staying skinny so I fit in said dresses, filling my calendar with rehearsals, rehearsal dinners, spa brunches, and of course, the weddings themselves.

I'm not going to lie. I love it.

You know why?

Because I haven't memorized a single math proof or set foot on school campus for the past two weeks. It's been bliss.

Life is a beautiful, beautiful thing. My summer 9-5 job is a gift! I enjoy sitting in my cubicle and doing nothing of consequence. I have time to bake things and cook things and have people over and plan weekend trips to Houston for my little cousin's preschool graduation and help make cookies for the little kids' activities at church and make cute invitations for bridal showers and make to-do lists filled with fun things and clean my apartment. Who knew I'd ever think cleaning was fun? But I'm here to tell you something. Cleaning is a privilege!!! I didn't have time to clean for the past two months because I locked myself in a solitary place to study and study and study and memorize and memorize and memorize and I would sadly look around my apartment and remember how lovely it looked once upon a time.

But now! Now it looks lovely again! I've read four books in the past week because I have time to read again! I love reading. It's just the best. I can finally read something besides a textbook! Oh, the bliss! I spent $28 in Hasting's the other night picking enough books to last me a week.

I went to the movies! I ate popcorn glazed in butter!

I went to a cake tasting party and ate cake!

I remembered about the bridesmaid dresses I need to fit into, and I started finding time in my schedule to work out. I was excited at the thought of being able to work out!

You know why?

I'll let you guess this time.

Oh you're right!!!

Because I have time to work out because it's summer, and I don't have to worry about grad school!!!!!!!!

There are not enough exclamation points in the world to convey my excitement.

Last night, after I tried five kinds of cake, I drove across town to take my friend Meredith some cake because she was still working, helping middle school kids with their musical rehearsal. I was able to do nice things for her, and it was a spectacular feeling!

And on Saturday, I'm going to the musical she helped direct!

You know why???

BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TO FEEL GUILTY FOR HAVING FUN WHEN I SHOULD BE STUDYING BECAUSE IT'S SUMMER AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME STUDY!!!

Summer's my favorite.

Summer = Bliss.

Summer may be one of my very best friends.

Whatever shall I do today? The possibilities are endless!!!

Did I mention I've crammed all of this fun into a little over a week?!

LIFE IS A BLAST!!!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

"Your life is an occasion. Rise to it!"

Carpe Diem, people! The sun is bursting through the clouds! Everyday, mundane life is spectacular!!!

Go!!! LIVE!!!

I told you I was spastically happy.

Finals Week Blues

I don't know if you've taken any philosophy classes or upper level math classes where you use logic to prove things, but I'm starting to talk like this penguin due to the amount of proofs I've been memorizing for finals this week. Suppose _______ is true/false. Therefore, _______. Therefore, _______. Therefore, we use a trick to show _________. Therefore, a miracle happens. Therefore, we have a contradiction. Therefore, the problem statement is false/true. And therefore, penguin cartoons are black and white and red all over...oh wait, that's newspaper. I'm losing my mind. The studying must end soon. It'll be over on Friday. It'll be over on Friday. It'll be over on Friday. I'm telling you. I'm losing it. This doesn't even make sense. My brain sounds like one of those Bing! search engine commercials. I told you. This is how math proofs go. Gibberish, gibberish, gibberish, symbols, letters turned every which way so that my homework looks like Alphabet Soup with some Greek letters thrown in, too. Frequently, my professors skip steps, but if I skip them, then they act like this guy: "Be more explicit in step two."
Why do I have to be more explicit in step two? I believe in miracles. Have a little faith, people! I mean, really! The buildings are still standing up, so I think the math must be pretty accurate. Do I really need to prove it again?

I don't like finals week. I spend A LOT of time studying for them, and much too frequently in math graduate school, I feel like the girl in the following cartoon. By the way, I found these cartoons a few minutes ago when I couldn't study a minute longer and found myself googling "Studying for Finals Cartoon." Not even kidding. I relate to all of these for various reasons. If you don't get a couple of them, consider yourself lucky. If you do, well...then we'd probably get along in a "misery loves company" sort of way.


I'm done whining now. When Friday afternoon gets here, it will be summer. I will be ecstatic. There will be happy posts galore! Until then, I will spare you. My blog will be silent as I study so that you do not have to listen to me rant and whine. You're very welcome.

Happy Easter!

I saw this performance by Carrie Underwood the other night, and by the time she reached the last stanza, I was almost in tears. I love all of the old hymns, but this particular song is one of my favorites.



"How Great Thou Art"

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Keeping My Head in the Clouds and My Feet on the Ground

I meant to post these pictures a week ago, but grad school simply didn't grant me enough time. However, I did take the time to stop for a moment and smell the roses, or look at the sky, in this case. I had just finished helping my friend teach Bible class on Wednesday night, and as I was walking out to my car, I looked up. That's when I saw them.

Clouds. I've always loved clouds. I look at clouds like that, and I can't help but picture God with his divine paintbrush, sweeping the clouds to the side with one smooth stroke so that the sunset will reflect it's amber colors upward in the most beautiful way imaginable. Every time I look to the sky, I am mesmerized. I remember that when I was little, I used to imagine that when I went to Heaven someday, I would get to stand on a cloud. Clouds just always seem so mystical, so out of reach, so incredibly immense, always present, but always elusive. I think it was for that very reason that I was also amazed by fog. I remember asking Mom what the fog was, and she told me, "Fog is what happens when the clouds come down to the ground." Wow. I couldn't figure out why people thought it was such a pain to drive in the fog. I thought it was incredible. Clouds are always in the sky, but when there's fog, you can touch a cloud. You can walk through it. You can reach the unreachable.

I won't lie, though. I was pretty disappointed to discover that clouds were water vapor. After all, how was I going to sit on a cloud in Heaven if it was just water vapor? What a let-down! Then I remembered that God can do anything, and consoled myself by saying that maybe when I get to Heaven, where everything is perfect, God will let me sit on a cloud after all.

By the way, I think God is always trying to get our attention. I took this picture at the same time as the others, and later I discovered the cloud on the right. It's shaped like an arrow pointing down to the horizon. Do you see it?

It's as if God brushed the clouds to the side, so He could direct our attention to the sunset. By the way, I tried to take some pictures of the sky while I was in the church parking lot, but there was too much city stuff in the way. So I decided to give up on taking pictures. On the way to my parents' house, though, I had to stop at the gas station, and I just couldn't help myself. I ran to the field and started taking pictures.


That's another thing I love about clouds. Pictures of clouds are beautiful, but photographs never do them justice. You just have to see them for yourself, and they never stay the same for more than a moment. They're always slowly moving across the sky, changing colors as the sun rises and sets. My absolute favorite is when there's a hole in the clouds, and the sun comes shining through. I've always imagined that's what the sky looked like when Jesus ascended into the heavens, and I've always imagined that's what it will look like when He comes again.

I just love clouds. I guess it's because they remind me of the One who made them.

Things That Are Spectacular Like Harry Potter

Sometimes, I have very ordinary days. Okay, most of the time I have very ordinary days. The past few days have pretty dadgum ordinary. Which is good! I mean exciting days can be extremely terrible days, so ordinary is okay. Predictability is one of my favorite things in life, primarily because it's rare. Life is uncontrollable, spontaneous and throws things at you when you least expect.

All I've got to write about today is ordinary, though. Don't get your hopes up.

Actually, while I'm talking about the ordinary extraordinaire, I'll mention one of my favorite songs, corny though it may be. However, expect the corny warnings to virtually disappear from my blog soon because if you've read much of this business at all, you should have figured out that I like corny things by now.

That being said, the song is "Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah McLaughlin. Lovely. It makes me smile and feel good about life. Go listen to it.

I'm not posting the song on here because once again, I am completely off-topic (by the way, it's from the Charlotte's Web soundtrack), and this ordinary business is all leading to the point where I tell you that I did nothing interesting today.

I watched Dancing with the Stars the other night, and I felt extremely unaccomplished. Also, on Dancing with the Stars, it was classical music night. I loved all of the music. Just when I was thinking that they couldn't pick a song I could possibly like more than the previous song (which I always think after every song), I heard the following music and then watched the following dance, and thought it was the coolest Viennese Waltz I'd ever seen. Granted, Viennese Waltzes, according to Judge Lyn are not supposed to be cool and hip because the Viennese Waltz is 200 years old...blah, blah, blah. I don't care. My love for Harry Potter beats my love of the Viennese Waltz. Hit play, please. I apologize for the weather advisory warning in the corner; it's the only clip I could find on YouTube. Also, click on the link to watch it on YouTube. I can't get it to not cut off the right side when I try to watch it on here. Sorry for being technologically challenged.


If you don't have a ridiculous love of all things Harry Potter:

1. You should.


2. I feel sorry for you.


3. We may not be able to be friends because sooner or later, I will tell you about how my friends and I dressed up to go to midnight showings and book releases for Harry Potter, and you will look at me like I'm crazy. Oops, too late.


4. You will not understand why I have a frame that says Number 4 Privet Drive in my apartment under the stairs despite the fact that I live on a street called Frankford. Frankford. It's Frank and Ford stuck together. Yuck. Wouldn't you pick Privet Drive if you could? Wait. I guess not because if you don't have a ridiculous love of all things Harry Potter, you don't even know why Privet Drive is amazing. Fail.


5. You won't appreciate that Dancing with the Stars clip nearly as much as I did.


6. You wouldn't have understood what on earth Judge Bruno was talking about when Judge Lyn started criticizing the lack of authenticity, and Judge Bruno stood up, acted like he was pointing a wand at Judge Lyn, and yelled, "Expelliarmus!!! Expelliarmus!!!"


7. I dressed up like Hermione several times. You don't know what that means, and you're trying to figure out how to pronounce Hermione.


8. You missed out on googling Latin phrases to see what the spells in the book mean.


9. When you clicked play to watch the dance above, you didn't yell, "It's Hedwig's Theme! It's Hedwig's Theme!" less than three seconds into the song.


10. I guess you don't own the motion picture soundtrack...*cough*or the sheet music*cough*...not that I do.


11. You've never watched "A Very Potter Musical" on YouTube.


12. I can keep going.


13. But I won't.


14. In summary, you missed out on loads of fun and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.


15. Oh, and you'll never receive a Hogwarts acceptance letter on your birthday.


16. You should also know that it's "Wingaaaardiam Leviosa!" not "Wingardiam Leviosaaaaa."

Done.

At the Office Episode 2: Deadline (But Not of the Typical Boring Work Variety)

I’m sure you’re thinking, “Good grief! It’s about time Ashley actually had to work at the engineering firm instead of twiddle her thumbs and play Solitaire and Hearts.”

Sheesh! Why the hostility?

Just kidding.

So two days ago, I was actually working at work. Crazy, I know. I was sitting in my cubicle editing some notes about circuitry, blah blah blah (I say blah blah blah because I didn’t understand what I was typing. I just follow instructions), when all of the sudden, one of the mechanical engineers walked toward my cubicle and then stopped.

I kept working, keeping up my busy as a bee persona.

“Ashley-girl! What’s new?”

I never know how to answer that question. It’s really hard to make my life sound interesting. I go to evil grad school, I attempt horrendous homework, I barely pass my classes, I grab takeout on the way to the engineering firm where I typically work on homework and the occasional position of a light switch for some building, I pick up my paycheck, I go home, I go to sleep, I wake up, and wait for it…I repeat.

So I finally said, “Same old, same old; work and school.”

“Nothing else? Nothing fun?”

Gee, rub it in. Thanks a lot.

This particular engineer is always nice to me, though, so I just said: “Nope, not really. I may have flunked a test today.”

“So you’re still mathematizing?”

I laughed, “Yes, I’m still trying to mathematize.”

“Mathematize sounds kinda bad. Like cancer. Cancer metastasizes. Not good.”

“Well now that you mention it, that doesn’t sound good at all.”

What else was I supposed to say? I mean, really. How would you have responded to that metastasizing business? I was trying to think about where I should edit text on the screen when I completely froze.

“Why did you freeze?” you ask.

I’ll tell you.

As I resumed my work, immediately following the metastasization business, “So, you getting married yet?”

I laughed.

So he started laughing.

I said, “No!”

“Why not?”

“Well, if the guy would show up, I probably would marry him. I don’t see him anywhere,” I said motioning my arms toward the surrounding cubicles.

“Six months.”

He lost me.

“What?”

“I give it six months.”

…

“Six months ‘til what?”

“You’ll be married in six months.”

I laughed, “What?!”

“Six months.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little fast considering the fact that I’m not even dating anyone right now?”

“Well, you’ll be engaged.”

I looked at him skeptically.

“You’ll know him. You’ll be dating him.”

I stared at him.

“You’ve got until Christmas.”

“Well, I would hate to be your biggest disappointment, but I really don’t date much.”

“Well that’s because you’ve raised a high bar.”

I gave up on working on the electrical plans at this point.

“I have high standards, yes.”

“Well, just lower your standards.”

I must’ve been giving him a look, because he quickly said, “Well, don’t lower your marrying standards, just your dating standards.”

“HAHAHAHA!” Apparently the computer IT guy down the hall had overheard the conversation. “Duuuude, your advice is hilarious! Just lower your dating standards! HA!”

The computer guy’s a character. He’s funny. Good guy. Plus, he laughs at my jokes and makes my laptop connect to the internet, which makes him like a modern-day hero.

I decided this conversation had gone a little too far. I didn’t want seven guys standing around my cubicle giving me advice on romance. It’s happened. Did I mention we have a lot of free time?

Back to the conversation: “Why would I lower my dating standards? I don’t want to date someone that I have no desire to end up with. That’s just a waste of time.”

“Six months.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Six Months.”

“Dang, Ashley. He’s giving you a deadline.” That was computer guy again.

“I have a deadline?”

“Yes. Christmas.” That was the engineer talking again.

“Oh dear.”

“It’ll happen. College is conducive to marriage.”

“Huh?”

“College. It’s massive crowds of people at a pivotal age combined with lots of hormones. It’s a highly probable place to meet a significant other.”

I may be paraphrasing that part. It was very scientific and engineering-sounding.

“I’m already done with college. I’m in grad school. The college dating pool didn’t work out for me.”

“Six months.”

“Alright. Six months.”

“Talk to you later, Ashley-girl.”

And then he walked away.

Oh right, I thought, I should probably finish my work for the day.

He didn’t give me a deadline for the electrical plans.

About thirty minutes later, I clocked out. As I walked toward the door, caddy-corner cubicle guy said: “Bye Ashley! Go find your husband tonight!”

Very funny.