The Moon and Me

This blog was originally started because of my interest in poetry. I wanted it to be posted somewhere rather than just sitting on my computer. So here is a poem I wrote last night about relationships and the moon.

The Moon and Me
8/24/11

As I lay here in the grass
And stare at the moon
Thoughts of you come creeping back
Frustrated, I look away
But everywhere I look
My eyes fall on something
That reminds me of you

I wish you were here
I wish I was there
Either way, I want to be near you

The what-if's come tumbling in
Each one a stark reminder
Of things that will never be
A thousand miles seems pretty far
Double that
And you may as well be on the moon
There it is again...the moon.

-Ashley

GSA Chapter 3: RAs and Meetings

Being allowed into the inner sanctum of teacher-dom was not as exciting as I had hoped. The inner sanctum includes numerous meetings that are long and boring. Since you have to go through rigorous training to be allowed into the sanctum of teacher-dom, I can't disclose any of that information (haha not really, its just super boring) so I shall move onto something far more interesting. Something like...RAs!

Our RA team consists of four wonderful young people; two girls and two guys. To protect their privacy all of their names have been changed for the purposes of this blog.  So our girls are Violet and Taylor. They are really cool. Taylor is super outgoing and very spunky. Violet is a bit more reserved but she's a hard worker. Mo and Tom are the boys and they are equally as awesome. Mo is very hilarious and just as outgoing as Taylor. He is quick to take initiative which is really awesome. Tom is silent most of the time but he's funny in his own way. The whole team seems to really mesh well together and I'm really excited to work with them this year.

Today while the head dean, Matt, was in meetings the dean/RA team set to the task of cleaning every single dorm room in the dorm. Matt figured it would take us a solid three or four hours and we finished in around 2 hours. Like I said, great team of hard workers. Later on, we were told to move a pool table out of a room that is getting some renovations. If any of you have ever moved a pool table, you know what kind of daunting deed that is.  We had to take the bumpers off and then balance this huge, three-slate table on a tiny furniture dolly and try to wheel this thing out of the room and into the chapel. (Ironic, I know.) After about 15 minutes of maneuvering this table toward the door we finally made it through the door that turned out to be just the right size and managed to move the table into the chapel around the corner. It took seven of us to move it. After we got it into the other room we had to remove the felt because we are re-felting the table too! We worked really hard and it was a great day. Matt was really impressed with the team's ability to do stuff so fast and so well; very efficient. :) 

Tonight, Amanda and I played Apples to Apples with Tom and Mo while we were waiting for the girls to get back from volleyball practice. That was a great way to be able to sort of get to know their sense of humor, which is always great to know. After that we had a dean meeting. Now let me tell you, dean meetings are WAY more interesting than teacher meetings...mostly because dean meetings are actually helpful. We talked about being observant and noticing things that may not be quite as obvious. Also, testing our ability to notice specific things during chaos. It was interesting to see who could do it and who couldn't. Then we watched this clip from America's Got Talent about this phenomenal singer who sang some Frank Sinatra. It was astounding. After the clip was over we talked about how sometimes we pass over people who probably have amazing talents but they don't look the part. He read us the verse in 1 Samuel 16 that says "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"  That's verse 7. I love that verse. As a dean that is something that I really have to be careful to look for. I can't "judge a book by its cover" so to speak because the ugliest book often contains the most beautiful story. I can't wait to see what God has in store for this year. I can already sense that its going to be a year I will never forget.

Another passage that Matt read was 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. This section is Paul telling the Thessalonians how to live and what they should do to maintain their exemplary relationship with Christ. It goes like this. "And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." Its a long passage but the more I think about it the more it perfectly describes how we, as deans and RAs, need to live our lives. One thing in particular that jumped out at me was the part that says "...warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all." That little section basically describes a dean's duties. That is my job description, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 15. My ability to be able to do those things depends on how I carry out the next few verses. In order to do all the things that I need to as a dean I must also "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. That's it. That's the dean's commission. Interestingly, I was reading that passage last night and I ended up going back and reading 1 and 2 Thessalonians and 1 and 2 Timothy. It was a great encouragement. I'm so excited for what God has in store for this awesome team of people this year.

This is a really long post. If you've read all of this I commend you.  If you stopped after the first paragraph and skipped to the bottom, I urge you to read the section right before this. Now I'm tired of writing and kinda sleepy so I think I'll sleep. 7:20am comes fast. Until next time, may the peace of God be with you.

GSA Chapter 2: Teacher's Retreat

After being at GSA for a grand total of approximately 15 hours, I met the other girl's assistant dean. Her name is Amanda and she comes from the Portland, OR area. We are getting along quite swimmingly, I think. An hour or so after she arrived we packed up and drove to Camp Ida-Haven, which is near McCall, ID for teacher's retreat. As soon as we arrived I noticed their fleet...FLEET of boats. There were four in the water and I noticed another two or three that were trailered. Three of the boats in the water were Master Crafts. It was beautiful. Another beautiful thing about Ida-Haven is that it's up in the mountains which makes it a lot prettier and greener than what I first experienced in the valley where Caldwell is. I like northern Idaho much better than the southern part.
I mentioned "teacher's retreat" earlier. What exactly is a teacher's retreat? Well, don't feel bad, I didn't know what it was either. Now I know and its one of those things where I didn't really mind not knowing.  Basically, this retreat involved lots of meetings that were all fairly irrelevant to me and because of that, dreadfully boring. I felt like a 15-year-old who walked into the wrong meeting. However, at the same time, I felt as though I was allowed to view the inner sanctum of teacher-dom. It was rather enlightening at times.
I got the opportunity to meet most of the teachers that will be working here at GSA this year. They are all a riot and I look forward to working with them this coming school year. I am very appreciative to Denise, the cook, who gave me some wise advice about chocolate and coffee.
In my down time (there was a surprisingly large amount of it) I laid on the beach and soaked up the sun. I may have soaked up a little too much sun however because I am now suffering from a pretty hardcore sunburn on my back. I also got to go wakeboarding a couple more times. I had a lot of fun and it just made me more anxious to get back to GSA and start the real work.
Today we got back with plenty of day to spare and so Amanda and I went shopping for various necessities to make our rooms more homey feeling. I purchased a very exciting pink floor lamp and an equally exciting but significantly smaller green table lamp. I also got the most epic little pink table ever! I can't wait to finish moving in and unpacking so that I can put the finishing touches on the room such as buying a chair (I already have a lovely green chair picked out that matches the green lamp) and putting things on the walls.
It has been a good few days. I'm excited to see what the next few days have to bring. For those of you who are curious about my life here in Idaho, I've only been in the state for a grand total of 6 days and most of those days weren't even spent at GSA. When the real work begins and the RA's and students start arriving (RA's arrive a week before the students) then I'll let you know how being a dean is going. For now, I have no clue because I haven't had to do any actual deaning. It has just been teacher's retreat and now unpacking and what not.  I can't wait to experience the next chapter of my adventure so that I can share it with whomever happens to read this. Comment if you made it this far. Love to all of my friends from GSA.
-Ashley

GSA Chapter 1: The Arrival

After what seemed like forever, I have finally arrived at Gem State Academy in Idaho. I am here to be one of several assistant deans. What does an assistant dean do, you may ask. My answer, I have no clue. Am I excited? Absolutely.

I got here after 17 hours of driving, a lonely stay in a hotel, and many miles of brown. Idaho must have been where God drifted off with his finger stuck on the "brown" key of the color keyboard. But the area around the school is green and it will be covered with snow for most of the year anyway so I really shouldn't complain. I got a tour of the dorm from the head dean. As we walked through the empty halls he shared his vision for the year and I'm ecstatic to work toward that goal with him. There are so many possibilities but first we must get down and dirty...literally. There is lots of cleaning and maybe even some painting to be done before this dorm is suitable for anyone. Tomorrow we are loading up and heading up to Camp Ida-Haven for a few days of planning, excitement, and networking. I can't wait to meet the rest of the faculty and staff.

Something I'm particularly excited about is having my own room. I play alright with others but not when it comes to closet space. Although I think I may have brought less stuff here...maybe. I can't wait to go lamp shopping. Ok, its late. More later in the week. 

I just want to know

When you read a book, have you ever sneaked a peek at the ending; just opened the back cover and flipped to the last page and read the last paragraph or sentence? I do it all the time. I'm too impatient I want to know what happens at the end. If the last sentence doesn't sum up the whole book then I'll read the sentence before that and before that until I get a basic summary of what is going to happen. Sometimes I wish I could do that with my life. For example, if I'm about to embark on some new adventure, such as a new job or a new boy or a new class I'd like to know how its going to end. Will I get fired or promoted? Will my heart be broken or will I find true love? Will I pass or fail? Sometimes, I'd just like to know. That's all.
-Ashley

Make a Wish

Blow out the candles
Make a wish
First star of the night
Make a wish
Look at the time
Make a wish

Each and every time
I look into your eyes
I make a wish

I wish for you to be mine
I wish for endless sunshine
I wish for days of laughter

Now, I wish away the tears
I wish away the ache
I wish away the thought
The thought of you not being there anymore
-Ashley

My Summer. The Abridged Version

Well, I am not very good a blogging apparently since I haven't been on here in almost eight months. Here is a brief over view of my life. In February I decided to be a student missionary next school year. In March I went to the countries of South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho. In April I finished my second year in college and made the decision to be an assistant dean at an academy in Idaho. In May I went to San Diego, California and Mexico with my dad and watched my brother graduate from high school -tear-. In June we rented a convertible camero and grabbed the motorcycles for a road trip of epic proportions down the Pacific Coast Highway. Then camp meeting and camp down at Flag Mountain Camp in South Dakota. I also found out that I was headed to Idaho for sure and went to my family reunion. July brought intense heat and more camp but this time up at Northern Lights camp. It also brought my great grandma's 100th birthday party! The secret to longevity is beans, in case you didn't know. Now it is August and its already been busy. The first week of August took me to Berrien Springs to visit some friends I hadn't seen in a year. It was a week that was very epic in many ways. I will never forget that week. Now I'm back home and I'm packing for Idaho between going to weddings, birthday parties, and musicals. I leave for my 1,000 mile trek on Friday sometime. I'm very excited about my new job in Idaho but very sad about leaving all of my friends in BS. It was a very difficult decision but one that I look back on with no regrets. I will attempt to keep my blog updated for those of you who read it occasionally.
-Ashley