Motivtional Story

All during my 21 years of life, I have always been taught to love God, to pray to God, to worship God, make God and His perfect will be your life.
I literally grew up in church. I attended my first service when I was 3 days old, and as a child, I was in church whenever the doors were open.  I loved participating in anything my church had to offer. I sang on the children's choir, I danced during worship, I did sign language during worship, I even played piano and bass during worship.  It seems like worship may be something I love!

At the age of 12, I knew that I was supposed to work with children, specifically preschool age, for the rest of my life.  I worked with the kids at my church, I worked at daycares, I babysat.  It pained me to see children hurting in any way, shape, or form.

Summer of 2014, I came to NAOMI House as an intern.  I absolutely fell in love with the children, the culture, and the overall ministry that NAOMI House was and still is. Going back to my home in Kentucky was so hard to do.  Not even a month after being back in Kentucky, I knew I was called to move to Arizona.  Wait...WHAT! I was about to graduate college.  I have never lived on my own.  I have never spent more than 5 weeks without my parents. I doubted myself like crazy.  I doubted God, and what seemed to be His will for my life.  He must have been crazy.

For years, I had a sign on my closet door that read 'Trust and Obey, God will do the rest'. My mom constantly reminded me that all I have to do when I felt like I couldn't make this move, that I was going to fail at my calling, is to TRUST God.  He is capable of WAY more than I could ever imagine. He called me to this ministry, and He was going to equip me with what I need to be successful.  My mom also told me I needed to OBEY God. So I did just that...I moved 2000 miles away from my friends, family, and my comfort.  I am living in my most favorite place on Earth doing what I know God has called me to do. I get to teach these children about God, I get to love on these children, and my most favorite part: I get to impact their life for the better.
And guess what? I play piano on the praise team at my new church.  Not even a month after being here, we played the hymn 'Trust and Obey' (didn't even know it was a hymn).  God has a nice way of reassurance, even if it is by a song referencing something you made years ago.

"O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you."- Psalm 84:12

Until next time,
Ashley :)

Goodbyes and Hagoonee

Goodbyes, I have learned, are absolutely horrible.
I have often heard that we don't say goodbye, we say 'see you later'. But recently, I have gained an irrational fear that when I say goodbye, especially to those I associated with in Kentucky, are people that I very well might not see again.  Many of my friends that I went to high school or college with have moved away to a college that is not in our hometown, or they have moved away to start a new life(I am one to talk, huh?). It just saddens me that people I have developed a friendship with may have reached the end of that friendship.  And that is hard for me to admit because I am really bad at making new friends.
I have yet to make friends here in Arizona, but it shall happen! God will bring me a friend in His time.  For now, I will just love on my oh-so-adorable children whom I love dearly. 

As for the title of this post, hagoonee means goodbye in Navajo...however, there is several apostrophes that are over the letters and I'm not sure how to add those apostrophes in text ;)

See you later, friend!
Ashley :)

I'm Back, and Better Than Ever!

Hello, blog world!
Last summer, I blogged about my summer internship at NAOMI House.  For those who are unaware of what this is, NAOMI stands for Native American Outreach Ministries.  It is basically a foster home/emergency placement home for Navajo and other Native American tribes. 
I had the time of my life last summer.  I got back to Kentucky, and I felt so unsettled.  After praying and talking to some dear friends, I realized that my heart and my home was no longer in Kentucky, I was called to work at NAOMI House. Even though I wanted the move to be immediate, I decided to finish up my Associate's Degree, and to save up money (thankfully!).
Soooooo, on July 18, 2015, I left my home of 21 years and made my move to Arizona!

This move was the most scary thing I have ever had to do.  I was going to be living without my parents...I would not have the comfort and security of living at home.  I would not have the comfort of having all my friends near me.  I would not have the comfort of making more than double the income I make now.  I honestly struggled with all of these factors the entire time I was preparing to make my move here.  If I let myself think about it, I still worry about every single factor that was just mentioned.  But you know what, God has got me covered! He called me to be here! He will provide in every way that I truly need, even if it is not in the way I anticipate (funny how God knows best!:] )

While I am working here (which will be until I feel like God is calling me to be somewhere else), I am the preschool teacher for such lovely, adorable kiddos, and a childcare assistant,  This goes from basic childcare, to driving children to doctor appointments, random shopping trips, church, and anywhere else we decide to go. 

As mentioned above, I am the preschool teacher here.  I also struggled often with my ability to teach these children well.  I am barely out of college, with half of a degree at that.  I feel crazy unqualified! BUT...the week before I moved, my Pastor did a sermon on how God does not call the equipped, he equips the called,  He also said that if we feel like we can do something else or be somewhere else, we are not doing what we are called to do,  Well guess what, I feel like I am exactly where I am called to be,  There is no greater feeling to be where God wants me to be.  I have never been happier and more content with my life.

With all this being said, I shall close this blog post.  Sorry for talking your ear off (I need friends...hahahaha), hope to see you back here soon! I will *hopefully* post at least once a week...we shall see how that goes.

Until next time,
Ashley :)

The Giant, Gaping Hole in the Ground

On July 7, my extended family and I went to the Grand Canyon! This is better known as 'the giant, gaping hole in the ground' by my cousin.

My aunt said that there are normally two opinions of the Grand Canyon:
                 1) This place is absolutely breathtaking......let's go take five million pictures in every location                              possible!
                 2) Oh, this is the Grand Canyon.  Pretty, now let's go.

I do admit, the Grand Canyon is one of the most prettiest places I have ever seen.  But after seeing one area, you have seen it all. The Canyon has tons of viewing sites, which provides different angles of the Canyon. We went to three.  Oh, did you know that the Colorado River is located in the bottom of the Canyon?  The River looks very calm from far away, but I wonder if it has a heavy flow.  Also, the Little Colorado River, which is a tributary of the main River, was near Naomi House. :) Sadly, the Little Colorado River was dried up, until Monsoon season hit.

The Fourth of July

Despite how awful the 4th of July was in 2013, it was quite spectacular this year!

It started out with a swim at the local pool.  Normally, the pool is quite crowded and it opens at 1 PM. Since it was a holiday, the pool opened at 10 AM, and our large crew was the majority of the pool occupants! It was a bit chilly since the sun hadn't fully made its appearance, but it was still very fun.

After we came home, my uncle had made lunch for us.  It was your typical hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, chips, juice, and this awesome cake that was red white and blue.  The cake took 5 cake boxes and 21 eggs. We overestimated how many people would be eating with us on that day because we had tons of food and cake leftover.  But since we have a large household, we didn't care! Leftovers just meant less food we had to prepare later on.

Later on in the day, we went to a local high school to watch the fireworks.  We arrived very early, but the kids had a blast running up and down the school bleachers.  The firework show was very pretty.

Elizabeth and I ended the night about an hour before the rest of our crew did.  Elizabeth and I took a couple kids to Walmart, and came home right before everyone else did.  It was difficult to find the right key to get in the door!

I am so glad I have gotten the opportunity to make amazing 4th of July memories and learn to love it once again! :)

Disney Movie, 'Cars'

Hello! I went to Arizona with the mindset of, 'I will update this blog all the time!'.... Yeah, didn't happen.  :p We did not have unlimited wi-fi, so I had to use my phone for all the blog posts.  It became very hard, especially since I want to include pictures.  So now that I am home, I will update with posts and pictures and all that awesome stuff! :)

The Disney movie, 'Cars', is one of my many favorite children's movies.  In this movie, there are tons of references to things that can be seen on Route 66. I mean, c'mon, they even have a song about Route 66!

The best part is, Naomi House was literally on (one of) the ends of Route 66!!!  Route 66 is broken up throughout the West now because of the interstate.

Remember how Lightning McQueen got lost on the interstate trying to find Mack, and ended up on Route 66, which landed him in Radiator Springs?  He got lost because there were no street lamps.  Well, in real life, this is very true.  There literally are no street lamps near Naomi House on the interstate.  It was so hard trying to find the exit! I would be at least a mile back from the exit, slowing down so I could find the curved line so I would know when to                                                                                       turn.

In the middle left of the above picture, you will see a tractor with the words 'HERE IT IS' next to it.  The sign that this derived from was RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM THE HOUSE!!!!! I absolutely love this fact.  :D

You may also remember the Cozy Cone Hotel.  This is also derived from something in Arizona.  The Wigwam Motel, which is located in Holbrook, looks like Native American Wigwams.  In the movie, the hotel rooms were just like traffic cones.  The Wigwam Motel has beds, a TV, and an interestingly-shaped bathroom.

So there is how cool Arizona really is. They have a famous movie fashioning animated versions of their landmarks! :)

Dippin' Dots

Almost everyone I have made aquitance with has heard of Dippin' Dots. Everyone at Naomi House has never heard of them!! 

The only way I know to describe the dots of amazing-ness is little balls of ice cream. 

 Elizabeth and I attempted to make our own Dippin' Dots creation from a recipe we found on Pinterest. 

(Please excuse the words in the picture. I couldn't get a single picture) 

These dots are made out of yogurt, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. We made them a little bigger than dots so they wouldn't melt as fast. Needless to say, it was a slight fail. All the teenage girls thought we had frozen our chewed gum so we could chew it again! 

Despite the slight ugliness of them, they taste pretty yummy! 

Until next time,

Ashley :)