A little something from my trip to Ireland... This is me with Conor and Dave, the teenager and youth pastor I went to Ireland with. We had a fantastic weekend taking part in a teen event there called Beyond48 - 375 Irish teens plus youth leaders! A BIG Deal for Ireland! Although the trip was short, I learned a lot and am so glad I had the opportunity to go across and help out with an event like this!

Straight after Ireland I spent a few days in New Jersey, and got to go to New York City one of those days. It was my first time there, so we did the touristy thing and I took lots of photos! Here's one of me and Conor in Times Square, and another one of me at Rockefeller Center:

By the way...

In case you were wondering, I'm still alive. The bronchitis didn't kill me, but it did take a bit of time to get over it completely. Anyway, now I'm back in action and staying busy! My parents came through town for the weekend recently (yay!) and I had a great time introducing them to all the Atlanta peeps and showing them around here. That was fun... Also, I'm in some weddings this year, and one of them takes place in just 2 weeks! So I've been doing things like trying on and buying dresses, booking flights, etc.

My "boss" at OM, Denise, also came back into town this past week - she travels more than anyone I know (and I know a lot of people that travel!) so when she's in town it's great to actually spend time working with her, chatting about our ministry at OM, and just getting things done while we're in the same city for awhile! This time she should be home for a few months and I'm looking forward to it. The two of us are the High School Ministries Team at OM USA and Denise is an especially fantastic person to work with, so I definitely enjoy that side of my work here!

Anyway, better go to bed now - just wanted to post quickly. Oh yeah, by the way I've also joined Facebook (gave into peer pressure!) so if you have it you could always look me up on there! :-) Ok, bye for now!

Ups and Downs

Today I saw the doctor - after being back in Atlanta for only 2 days, I started coughing and that turned into some unfortunate throat thing. Today I gave in and went to the doctor, who said I have some form of bronchitis. Not great. Anyway he put me on an antibiotic so I'm just waiting for it to do its magic.

While I'm waiting, I've borrowed season 1 of Friends from Sarah. That should keep me occupied for at least a day :-) And then there's always The Office reruns too!

I guess being sick has its ups and downs. Oh yeah, plus the weather here has been AMAZING this week - so at least I'm not stuck in an office all day :-)

Ok off to see what the Friends are up to...

Breakfast in Dublin, Lunch in Paris, Dinner in New York = Welcome to Missionary Life

Well kids, I've finally made it back to the States after a whirlwind weekend in Ireland! The youth event was awesome (I hope to post a better update and pictures once I get back to Atlanta), and I'm really privileged to have gone there to check things out. Ireland is GREAT! We had a good time and it's always amazing to watch God work in the lives of teenagers...

Yesterday I made the journey back to the USA - I started out in Dublin at 6am, flew to Paris and hung out in Charles de Gaulle airport for 4 hours (even got in a nap!), then took an 8 1/2 hour flight to New York and landed around 6pm. Ahhh, the joys of traveling. However, God blessed me with 12 hours of sleep last night which was glorious. Hopefully with a few more nights like that I should be good to go.

Tomorrow I'm going to New York City for the day - it's my first time and I'm super excited! No idea which sights we're going to see but I think it's great that I can at least go for the day. :-) I head back to Atlanta on Friday afternoon, where I'll probably sleep the weekend away and then start preparing for the next adventure - Italy in April! Yikes.

Thanks so much for your prayers - I am always so blessed by them.
Bye for now!

Posting from Ireland...

Hey everyone! I'm in a hotel room near the Dublin airport tonight, just enjoying sitting down and chillin after a busy weekend at a youth conference. Hundreds of Irish teens + a packed schedule + jet lag = one tired Ashley. I'm with 2 guys (Conor and Dave) who have decided to make it their personal mission on this trip to make fun of me mercilessly. They pretend I like it. But really...

Anyway we're going to play cards now. I'll catch up on the other side of the pond!

Love,
Ash

FrasierThis is our tree. His name is Frasier, and he has a wee house made of wire to protect him from the woodland creatures that roam these parts. He was given to use when we bought our Christmas tree, but he lived in our sink until one week ago when we gave him a new home outside. FYI, he is not actually a frasier fir - he's a leland cyprus. We just like the name Frasier. It suits him nicely, we think.

So this is my tribute to Frasier:

Oh Frasier, you are so wee
But I hope you grow
To be quite tall and stately.
And I hope the deers don't eat you.

The end.

Back to College

Here I am once again in a dorm room - thankfully, this time I can escape the madness of college life after only a few days! I'm here at Toccoa Falls College in North Georgia, representing OM with Edgar from our College Ministries Team. Today is our third and final day here at Toccoa's missions conference. It has been great to connect with the students and share about missions & life with them. I've been reminded once again of the passion for ministry that God has given me, and He has definitely used this week to encourage and excite me once again about missions! I've talked to some amazing people. It's so awesome to see young people who are so open and willing to serve God wherever He calls them.

In other news, did you hear who won the SuperBowl?
Yes yes, if you were watching then you can attest to the spectacularness of the Colts, my beloved home team. And the best part of all? When Coach Dungy accepted the trophy, he gave the glory to God for the Colts' success this season. It doesn't get much better than that, kids.

And now I'm going to continue living the college life on my last day in Toccoa and do what any good college student would do in the afternoon: take a nap. Bye for now!

Holler Back!

Sooo.... the Colts are going to the Superbowl for the first time since... well, let's just say it's been awhile. Beauty.

A shout-out to my homies in Indianapolis! When I watched the replays of the game on TV tonight I was hollering like a good Colts fan should, which surprised both me and my roommate Jill. I always laugh at her because she screams when the Georgia Bulldogs play; now I guess it's her turn to laugh at me. But I don't care - I mean, what else are you going to do when Payton Manning is scoring points like it's his job?! (incidentally, it is his job)

So yeah, GO COLTS! I think I need to have a Superbowl party to show these Georgia people what it's all about. Holler!

Bedtime - all this excitement makes a girl tired. Later!