Destiny

My cats live by this

The last two days I've come home from work and just gone straight to bed, I'm so exhausted it hurts to keep my eyes open. Most days I have work which is a regular 6 am shift, I'm not the best morning person and sometimes I just glare at people when they try to talk to me. Tuesdays and Thursdays are what I am now referring to as nightmares. I have school then work immediately after, meaning zero rest time. Luckily I enjoy most of my classes so being tired from school doesn't bother me that much. Philosophy and Psychology have made me think deeper thoughts and look into things more. Anthropology has mostly made me want to go to sleep but the seats are too uncomfortable in Forum for that.

It's actually really cool because in all my classes right now we are covering a lot of the same bases and my classes all relate to each other. I've gone over the scientific method and in every single class we've discussed Copernicus and Charles Darwin. I am also an expert on Socrates and his life span, it's 470-399 B.C. by the way. If you ever take a class with Joe White then go to class on the first day with that bit of information and you'll be golden. 

Now I'll refer to the title, because it hasn't been explained or acknowledged it all. Like I think my life is a little harder right now than it should be at 19 but I think that it's my destiny. I think that I needed a push to try harder than I was trying before. And now I have more motivation to keep myself on track because of the little person inside of me. She's kind of helping me grow up and keep myself up and running. I think that was actually a pretty sly way to announce the sex of my baby. Delilah Jai (pronounced "J") will be coming in to this world in June. 




Now that I've thrown that information at you, I'm going to head on out. My last blog post is available here and until next time!

XOXO

Ashley

Know Thyself

"I know that I know nothing" - Socrates

SBCC's sunrise is my favorite view

I'm hoping everyone is enjoying their time back at school and getting all of their homework done. I've surprisingly been able to keep up with my school work but that means I'm a bit behind on my sleep. At this moment I'm hoping my doctor doesn't read this and I want all of you to promise you're not going to tell him. This semester I'm taking some really interesting classes and even though I've only been at school for two days I'm really excited for the things I get to do this semester. I'm taking psychology, anthropology, and philosophy on campus Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Marketing and Library 101 online. If you see me on campus you can say hi to me and I'll probably ignore you or make you feel awkward and then walk away but feel free to try anyway. 

First day jitters and I stumbled upon this

I know it's only the first week of classes but I've managed to stay on top of things and even get 100% on a couple of my quizzes. Although my schedule between work and school is ridiculous right now, I think that I am going to do a good job keeping up and getting good grades. With new additions coming into my life I really want to kick it up a notch to show myself what I'm capable of . And to especially show those who told me that I couldn't do it that I can still go above the expectations I had originally set for myself. 

This is the first semester where I have had classes with 100+ people in it, it's actually comforting in a way because I am the worst with class participation and now there are like at least 80 people who will add to the discussion so I don't have to. I know that I keep saying that I'm going to try and make friends but honestly most of my friends are the people I met in kindergarten. 

They're in love with each other

I included a little quote from Socrates that we discussed in my Philosophy class today. This is the first teacher that I've ever had to teach me that I'm actually stupid and ignorant and I don't really know anything. It made me feel better, in a weird way, that this professor is kind of starting us off with the reassurance that we don't need to know it all and that just takes so much pressure off of your shoulders.  I'm sorry this post is such a jumbled mess, I wanted to include everything without an overwhelming amount of information. Once again I'm just really excited to be back at school and doing the things I enjoy even if it means I'm never going to sleep again. This is only my second post of the semester so hang tight for all the fun stuff to come! Catch up on last weeks post here and until next time!

XOXO

Ashley

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