Here It Is Part 3

My name is Ashley and unlike my first semester here at Santa Barbara City College no one calls me princess anymore. I’ve shifted too far into adulthood to be spoiled by my parents and I pay my own bills now. Since last spring I am a whole new me, I got a promotion at work, I turned 19, I got a new cat, I took a semester off of school, I am becoming a mom (not quite done yet), and I live in a parentless household. If you’ve never read any of my blogs then you probably are confused on why these normal  things are a big deal to me. I am an adult by the law and I’m not quite sure why growing up is mandatory but it is, it’s also something I haven’t been too good at. I’ve been trying to focus on staying focused since I started college but obviously I haven’t been as focused as I’d like to be since there is an extra person living inside of me. I am open to taking on challenges and I know that I can get through some of the rougher things on my own. But don’t let this serious adult business make you think that I am no longer the fun loving awkward girl with cats, because I totally still am. And to end this long paragraph I’d to introduce you all to Lamborghini Mercy. She's a spunky little kitten who is overall well behaved but thinks its funny to steal things and give them new homes.

My main focus this semester is getting the rest of my general ed done so I can start focusing on what I'm doing with my life. I honestly have no idea what direction I'm heading in but I'm hoping that making myself finally grow up will help me make a decision in what I want to pursue. I'm really glad that I have my family to help me out and I think something everyone needs is a good support system, whether it's your family, your friends, your professors, or your colleagues. I wouldn't be anywhere without my mom's nagging or the minimum of ten phone calls I get from my sister daily, or my grandparents texting me every week to tell me they love me and making sure I'm okay. (Quick shoutout to Grandma Kim and Grandpa Monty for keeping it real). I'm really looking forward to being back in school and being an active person on campus and in the internet blogging community. A quick side note is that taking a semester off was probably the worst decision I've ever made. I got bored too quickly and I actually missed doing homework. Just in case you're considering it, I would highly suggest really evaluating all the pros and cons that go with it. School is something I thought I could live without but now I know that this is where I belong for the time being.

This semester is definitely going to be an adventure and I hope all of you will continue to read along with my exciting new journeys. This semester you'll get to hear all about my new classes, adaption into school life, juggling my responsibilities, and of course my new cat. If you want to get to know me a little better you can look back at my Fall 2014 semester or my Spring 2016 semester. I know that I've been blogging for quite a while and you would think that by now I would know how to end one of these things but here's another picture of my cat.

Mercy doesn't like when I do homework
instead of petting her

Until next time!

XOXO

Ashley

See Ya Spring 2016

Otto and I are happy to announce that we will be returning for the Spring semester! We will be back soon to catch you up on all of our adventures and how I've survived yet another year of adulthood and college!! You can read my post from Fall 2014 or Spring 2015, and until next semester!

XOXO

Ashley

Stay Inspired

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible;

and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

Ending the semester strong
(what a familiar title)

I think one of the hardest things in life is staying motivated and allowing yourself to move forward. Most of the time our minds hold us back before we can fully process an idea and try to make it happen. Most people look at things in a negative before they can think of the positive aspects. I know that I'm guilty of putting myself down before even trying something new or giving something a second chance.

College has been one of the best experiences of my life. I've tried to keep myself positive and uplifted but there have been days when I've looked in the mirror and thought "It would be so easy to quit, my life would be so easier right now if I just quit". Going to class and being present is hard, doing all of my homework and understanding all the material is hard. But if I don't do these hard things now, my life will so much harder later. Getting a really good job without a college degree is so hard these days, by the time I'm in the business world it's only going to be ten times harder. 

Confidence, determination, and acting are all important aspects of moving forward and conquering the world. You need confidence to keep spirits, with confidence you won't have much to build off of. Determination is just as importance because without determination you may never make your dreams come true. And you need to act like you have these things until they become a part of you. You aren't born confident and determined, you need to work hard to acquire these characteristics and my best advice is fake it till you make it. 

I think that this time of the school year is a perfect time for people to watch Legally Blonde because whether you want to believe it or not it is a really good movie. Maybe you think it's stupid but it's definitely something you watch and then think yeah Elle Woods graduated Harvard so I can pass my finals this next week. I can make my dreams come true because I can make anything happen in my life.

Otto and I taking a study break

Remember there are many distractions lurking around us in beautiful Santa Barbara so everyone needs to try hard to stay focused and determined and ready to slay all of their finals. If you want to read my super random post from yesterday you can do so by clicking here. And until next time!

XOXO

Ashley

Cool Fun Interesting Title

I get distracted so easily it’s ridiculous. I am horrible at studying and staying awake and alert during this time is hard but staying awake during studying is practically impossible. I don’t sleep much because I’m very busy and I literally survive off of naps. If someone asked me to name the weirdest places I’ve slept I would have like a four page MLA format essay just discussing a few of my weird napping spots. I went to the campus store looking for bandaids and left with two 8 packs of caffeine pills. Actual coffee is such a turn off to me, it freaks me out. So I figured that trying these wouldn't be so bad. Within an hour of taking them I already feel more awake and my eyes have stopped hurting from forcing them to be open. 

So happy

I have a very busy weekend schedule for work since it’s mothers day, so I need something to keep me semi-alive before my finals on Monday. This past week has been especially busy for me because last Thursday my sister had another baby. Yes ladies and gentlemen I am an auntie again. But I’ve spent way too much time looking at cute pictures instead of studying. 

I’ve been doing so many fun and cool things that are totally worth blogging about, and I know I started out the semester pretty well and it sucks that I haven’t been too dedicated and I’m sorry for that. SOOOOO I might as well put everything right now into and let you know what I’ve been up to.

I went rollerskating and it was SO fun besides the fact that I was horrible but I thankfully didn’t fall. I probably spent most of the night screaming so shoutout to the DJ for playing the music loud enough to drown out my screaming. I imagine I made noises similar to those of a dying llama, so it wasn’t very cute. I liked the skates because they made me taller and I was really feeling those extra two inches, taking them off definitely made me feel small again. But going to the bathroom in those things is the scariest thing ever.

Study buddies

I got to hang out with my fellow bloggers once last time before the end of the semester and it was a little sad. They were all really cool and fun and it’s sad that my time with them will soon be over. All of them are completely different and we had such a big group of different individuals. We definitely came together and gave each other advice on the struggles of college and it’s crazy how many similar situations we had despite the fact that all of our majors are different. You can read all of their blogs by clicking here.

I'm swear I'm going to
marry this guy

I accidentally ran into so many of my friends and got to hang out with them and it was like a high school reunion without actually having to be back in high school. My friend Sean and I do this thing where we only hang out if we just happen to be in the same place at the same time and then we mostly forget about each other until the next time it happens. And my other friend Valerie and I just always flake on each other even though we're usually at school at the same time and we could hang out with each other. 

I acted like an actual independent adult for like two weeks. My mom had to house sit and then she was staying with my sister after she had the baby. I had the house to myself which meant I had to take care of the cats and feed myself. I mostly survived off of cereal, no I only ate cereal. This time around I've been eating cereal and peanut butter sandwiches. I'm slowly getting more independent. My fish may be dead because writing this made me realize I forgot to feed it this morning (sorry Mom). 

Yesterday Morning

Yesterday Night

This is probably the most random and unorganized blog I've written so far so if you want to read my last post it was all about getting ready for finals. You can read that one here, and until next time!!

XOXO

Ashley

Time Crunch

100% Me

Each day is getting us closer and closer to the end of the school year. That's probably the most obvious statement ever, but it's just so crazy that this time last year I was still in high worrying about prom and Mattley. It's that busy time when we're all figuring out our schedules for next year and turning in our final projects, and stressing about our final grades. As per tradition I did something completely unnecessary to end the semester rather than studying my butt off I went to Dodger game to cheer on my favorite boys. Considering the amount of homework I have it probably wasn't the best idea, but baseball booty is always worth it. 

College is the experience of a lifetime and even though it's really hard and I don't have a ton of friends I'm still really excited to be here and learning at a higher level. I'm not going to be taking summer classes so I'm ready for a nice long summer filled with sunshine and happy times. I'm always the worst person to get study advice from but this is sort of my job so let's go!

My gals and I 

1. Keep your energy up. Sleep well, as horrible as it sounds don't stay up all night trying to finish everything at once. Instead calculate your time so you can get enough sleep and have plenty of energy for the following day. You'll find that more successful studying comes from this and you'll have so much more free time for fun things. You'll be happier and healthier too!

2. I do this little thing when I do my homework, basically I'll study for 20 minutes and then spend 20 minutes doing something non educational (like cleaning my room or watching tv), then I'll do another 20 minutes of homework but of a different subject. I find that I get so much more done and I'm more motivated to get things finished. It's a really good way to do housework and school work at once. You'd be really surprised by how much you can get done in 20 minutes.

3. Exercise. This isn't exactly studying but it does help clear your mind and helps you feel less stressed. Running in the evening is my favorite time for stress relief, it makes everything feel so much smaller and not so scary. Then when you get home your homework doesn't seem so hard to face.

4. Go to a baseball game. Like maybe not literally but find a way to relax after a day or weekend of studying. If you remember last semester I went and got a tattoo right before finals. It's nice to just go out and do something silly and freeing right before something like this.

5.Take a practice quiz, see if your teacher has some handy or can give your class practice problems to try out on your own at home. If not then maybe you can make your own based off of your notes and handouts from throughout the semester. Your books can be very resourceful and hey we paid them a lot of money for these things so we might as well use them to our benefit.

I wish I could explain this but I can't

Happy last week of classes before finals week, good luck to everyone and I hope you all do well! Life Update: My life is like my hair, surprisingly organized. I've managed to get my life mostly in order and I'm happier than ever. You can read my last blog post here and until next time!!

XOXO

Ashley

Seeing The World

The princess arriving at her castle

If you've never watched the movie Stuck In Love then you're missing out on everything. This movie is pure genius and I seriously had to stop and reanalyze my life. One of the most important of many good quotes is this one, "A writer is a sum of his experiences. Go get some." Although I don't really see myself as a writer, this quote really hit me. Because looking back at the last year of my life I did a lot. I graduated, started college, got a job, got a blog, made new friends, went to disneyland,  got four tattoos, fell in love, fell out of love, then fell back in, cuddled with my cats, lost weight, reconnected with my dad, and became and aunt again. Those are just a few, but I want to keep the experiences coming. Because even though I'm not a writer I do come back here every week to tell you guys about my life and my shenanigans and that is technically writing. 

I started my weekend focused on the notion of going out and experiencing life and all that is has to offer. I went to go see SBCC's newest play "Dead Man's Cell Phone", I went to golf n stuff with my friends, spent time with my nephew and unfortunately went to work.

Dead Man's Cell Phone

The Stage

This play was amazing and I laughed through the entire thing, it was held in the Jurkowitz Theatre. I don't know if any of you have been down there but it's tiny and not at all what I was expecting. But it was a 6 person cast and the set design was very minimal. We sat in the second row because sitting in the first row would have made us literally be on stage. The main character Jean, played by Jenna Scanlon was hilarious and seriously one of the funniest actresses I have ever seen. I could relate to her so well because she was so awkward and timid. 

Golf N Stuff

Our cool tattoos 

I don't really want to discuss the fact that I lost, and I now hate mini golf because that course was hard and the par was always three and I feel like the par should have been at least four or five on some of them. Golf n Stuff was a spir on the moment last minute decision my friends and I made and it was so much fun. It's nice to get away from work and school and go do something fun and childlike. I killed it at pinball and got a score of 3,450,000 and overall we got 115 tickets. My friend Janin and I both have birthdays in July so we got a ring to share and then we all got cool little stick on tattoos that people kept thinking were real. 

I kind of want to spend every weekend like this because it full of fun and I had so many cool experiences and I hope that with each day I will have something to tell you guys about what I've learned or what I've come to realize. My best advice is to go out into this world and experience everything. You can read my last blog post here and until next time!

Me and Otto this morning when I woke up

XOXO

Ashley

From Rabbits to Spanglish

Melanie and I

My day was rather eventful, I had planned on waking up and going to school early for some studying and going to class. Today was supposed to be average day full of average things. Instead of waking up early to do my usual morning exercise I woke up late but I had an invite to lunch and that seemed like a good sign. 

Since I was up and out early I decided that a day like today can't go wasted so I went to school early to get some work done. If you've ever been in the SBCC Luria Library then you know it's like the best study place in the world. The windows make it bright and open and there are so many seating options to choose from. Today I opted for a comfy chair and a foot rest and I spent a good hour catching up on my Spanish homework. Once I did a good amount of that I went downstairs to grab a few books on earthquakes for my math essay and went outside for some sunshine. 

My friend Valerie texted me when I was checking out of the library, she had just gotten out of class and wanted to hang out. Valerie and I have been friends since kindergarten, so it's really cool that we're going to school together still. Since we both have jobs and busy lives this was a great time to spend together and catch up. Valerie had to go to class and I still had an hour and a half left to myself.

Being a loser in the bathroom

I had planned on reading one of my books and laying out on the hill, but on my way over I ran into one of my fellow bloggers Mark and we started chatting. I forgot where I was going and ended up walking with him all the way to BC Building. Since I was there I thought I would drop in to say hi to one of my blogging bosses Melanie. She's a super cool person and if it wasn't for her and Karen I don't think I would have been so confident and ready for college and all of its twists

and turns. Melanie and I ended up heading over to Garvin Theatre and listening to my Spanish teacher lecture about language and it's distinction. Every year a faculty member is chosen to address something of their general interest of a scholarly subject. It was really cool that it just so happened to be my Spanish teacher and she did a really good job and I learned so many new things. 

He's growing on me

The lecture ended a few minutes before my class started and I made it just in time to spend a good two hours learning about asymptotes and all that cool stuff. Dr. Monika Laskowaski-Cajoulle once said, "Now let's learn how to find these damn zeros", and I have used that to broaden my knowledge of math and at the end of the day it's all about finding the zeros. 

There's no need for a life update because this basically a giant life update. You can read my last blog post here and until next time!

XOXO

Ashley