some reminiscing

well guys...I made the bad decision to look back at a ton of my photos on facebook from the middle of my senior year to the present and now I just feel like reminiscing. (so there will be a lot of pictures in this post, and it will be long, but stay with me here, I think I have a point) as my freshman year of college draws to a close, all I can think of is how crazy it has all been. I loved high school, and college is even better. but its scary to think that life is hurtling ahead without slowing down.

I mean it feels like not too long ago that this was all happening

But Senior year went by fast and soon enough summer was over too and it was time to leave for BYU, It was where I had always wanted to go and I was so excited but I was also terrified. but I packed up and left for this strange place filled with people I didnt know

And although it was scary and took me a little while to get comfortable, I met the most amazing people here and had the best experiences of my life. I ended up loving my room mate, making some best friends, and meeting two wards of people that I absolutely adore. I went to football games and sports events, stayed up all night talking to the other girls on the Taylor 1200 hall, went on dates, took hard classes and classes I loved, and just had some crazy times here.

The beginning of the year was so much fun because we were all getting to know each other. the girls would all hang out together in someones  room practically all night, the football games were fun, I met all the people in alex's ward.                                                                                                  

As the year went on I did so many fun things, going to dances with my girls, going up to temple square, dressing up for halloween, going on dates, celebrating my birthday. I made so many unbelievable memories with so many awesome people who I love so much.

I still cant believe how lucky I got with the girls in my hall. I love all of them so much. they made my stay in 1207 Taylor Hall memorable. and Im so excited that Im living with three of them next year. We are going to have an awesome time together

and these guys right here. oh gosh it feels like they are my family here at BYU ( well... one of them really is my family) and I love them all!

So now Ill get to more of a point. Im pretty sad that school is ending. Ill miss my girls this summer, and I think what really makes the end of this year sad is that almost every single guy I met this year is going to be leaving for a two year mission and wont be back next year. some of them I may never end up seeing again, others I may see but never really hang out with again because so much will happen in two years. But I really am so grateful for all of the awesome guys I met this year. It has been so amazing seeing you all prepare for your missions, get your mission calls and be so excited to leave. Im so proud of you guys.

well I guess thats it for me for now. Ill probably do another post around the time I am packing up and moving out because I wont be able to contain the sappy post that will inevitably occur but, for now, I'll just be studying, taking my finals, and having the best 2ish weeks I possibly can

loving college

hey!! so I know its been a while, but I guess Ive been busy. I love college, like I love it SO much. Somehow I was SO blessed and ended up with the greatest roommate, hall, and ward imaginable. coming back to my hall every day feels like coming home, and i feel like all the girls on my floor are my family here at BYU and I love them so much!

so there are a few exciting things that have been going on with me. the first is that I learned some really interesting information about the Disney College program which I really want to do at some point during my college career. for a whole semester you get to work in Disney World, live there, you get to hang out in the parks in your free time, and its a paid internship. depending on what I get assigned to do, it could be some really great work experience.

second, I'm going to be in a student film. a whole bunch of films students are making short movies as part of a class, and im going to be in a pretty funny one about a guy trying to get a date and getting rejected over and over. I'm just one of the girls who rejects him in the middle of the few minute film, which means ill probably be in 15 seconds of the finished product, but it was super fun to do, and we are going to film the whole thing over again for the final draft or something, not really sure why, but its going to be fun!

third, I just had an awesome day. I spent an hour and a half in the costume shop, helping out with the costumes for the musical coming up and I had a really awesome conversation with my theater teacher, Janet. shes a really cool person and we had a great conversation about theater, and what I want to do. She was so encouraging and kind, plus shes my faculty adviser so I'll be getting to know her better. It was just a really cool experience.

well, thats it for now, but Im loving college so much!

College = awesome

So not a ton has happened lately, but I thought I would just say that Im still loving college. the girls on my hall are all so amazing, and provo 111th ward cant be beat! Ive met so many amazing people and done so many fun things. my classes are all going well. I had my first experience with the testing center, and It wasnt too bad at all. my sewing class is really really fun, probably one of my favorites, Im loving my dance class and my singing class, and my theater class is fun too!
this weekend I will get to see my parents and all of the youth from my ward back home, and I absolutely cant wait! for some reason this week has been amazing. there hasnt even been a specific reason. but it has just turned out great!

This is where I'm supposed to be

can I please just say one more time that I love it here at BYU... it is one of the most amazing places on earth, and there really is nothing like it anywhere else on the planet. I really cant explain it, but I'll try.

Where else in the world can you go to a dance class where you are expected to dress modestly, where you start class off with a prayer, and where your teacher sees dance as a form of worship?

Where else in the world does a science textbook mention God, and where your professor talks about the connection between religion and science and how they really do go hand in hand?

Where else can you go to a writing class, and read examples of writing written by prophets and use your religious beliefs as valid reasoning in a persuasive essay

where else do hundreds of college kids decide that a fun night is to go sing hymns in a tunnel, and listen to where people are being sent on missions?

the list goes on and on but I'll just stop here. I don't really think my writing is doing my thoughts justice, but every day I am just so amazed by this place. and of course to someone not familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this all might sound a little weird. and it IS weird, college isn't like this most places, but I love it here and I know that this is where I am supposed to be.

First College Auditions Ever

well guys, I did it. I seriously almost chickened out and didn't go, but I ended up auditioning for two shows today. the first was some Halloween show put on by a theater club on campus. I had to memorize a dramatic monologue for this. The memorizing wasn't too hard, and neither was actually doing it, but I just got so nervous. I  totally started shaking haha, which now that I think about it is SO embarrassing. but hey, I did it at least! The second audition was for "the Christmas Miracle of Johnathan Toomy" which is going to be a musical based off a book with lots of original music. I guess people in the theater department have been working on this show for the  past two years, totally crazy. we did some "movement" auditions, which wasn't dancing...I'm not exactly sure what it was, but they had us walk around different ways and speeds and do weird poses and stuff, it will be interesting to see how that translates into the end product. we also did some singing auditions where they called us all in one by one. This was pretty terrifying we also had to sing folk music, so not exactly my comfort zone there. but i did it, my voice was pretty wavery but they were all really nice and said I did a good job. So, I didn't do super great today, but not horrible. like I'm not thinking I got a part, and wasn't expecting to, but I had fun and it was a great experience. So, I came home, drowned the little bit of sorrows I had in a Twix bar, and now I'm sharing my stressful day with you. But I am definitely feeling great and cant wait to audition for something else!

College!

So I did it! I survived my first few days of college, and so far I am absolutely loving it. there are awesome people everywhere, my classes are great and I'm just so excited about everything. so here is a final rundown of my classes:
Intro to Jazz: its an 8am class, but I think it will be worth it, we did a ton of stretching on wed, and all I've got to say about that is OUCH! I sure hope it works and I'm a little more flexible by the end of all of this. but I'm really really excited about it
Writing: I'm not exactly a big fan of writing, and as you can probably tell from reading my blog, I don't happen to be very good at it either, but my teacher for this is awesome. shes one of the girls from divine comedy and I got SO excited when I recognized her. she seems really nice, so I'm hoping the class will be good for me
Physical Science: the first three chapters of this haven't been to hard at all, most of it I already knew (thanks Mr Chan) and I just came home from my lab where I met the TA. she seems really nice and said this is a pretty easy class, so I'm not too stressed about this.
Theater Production 1: SOOOOO excited!!! the teacher is hilarious, it sounds like we are going to do some awesome things.
Book of Mormon:  there is going to be a lot of reading for this class, but im excited for it, I haven't been able to tell yet if it will be hard or not.
Sewing: haven't taken it yet, because the lab was canceled this week, but it should be good.
Singing: This one starts next week, but I am SO excited for it.

and thats about it. I've done quite a bit of homework and doing my best to keep on top of things

In other news, there are posters for auditions for stuff everywhere! I think I'm going to audition for 4 things in the next two weeks, so I guess we'll see how this goes. with the people I'll be up against I'm not expecting any call back at this point but I'm going to do my best and see what happens. It will be a good experience for me either way.

end of orientation

The best way to describe my first few days here at BYU would be totally crazy. I've actually learned a lot about myself and I am so excited about the future, as well as completely terrified. the two days after move in we pretty much just hung out with our orientation group all day, there were some really nice people but I didnt make any automatic friends. I got to learn a little more about my major and the possibilities surrounding that. this was a great experience but also completely scary. but after some more self reflection and time to process everything, im still happy with what Im doing and looking forward to it. My roomate and I met a lot of the girls on our floor, all of whom seem really nice. i cant wait to get to know them better. today I got to see two of my best friends from home who just got here, and i got to talk to a few who are still back in california

So I am feeling a little overwhelmed about my future and what not, but I am having an amazing time and am feeling very optimistic!

one more week!

So I leave for BYU in a week and I couldn't be more excited. I'm excited to meet people,start my classes and to just go live my life and figure out what I am going to do. but before I leave I have an interesting week ahead of me in which I will be packing and spending my last few days with my friends. This is going to be tough because honestly, until just know when I turned my phone off, got off of facebook and just focused, I havent had a lot of time recently to be excited, happy or even scared about leaving. All of my focus has been on my last week here and spending time with everyone and figuring out how Im going to fit all of my shoes in the car when we leave and saying good bye to everyone and making everyone else happy. now these are all important things to think about but it was all so stressful too. but know Im feeling better. I know that this week will still be tough and stressful, but I have to remember that I am in an amazing point in my life. I am about to embark on the craziest ride ever. This is the time in my life when I get to take the classes I want, figure out what I love, go places and grow up a lot. I've never been a great writer so I really don't have any words to describe how im feeling right now. I guess I feel optimistic, happy, and so excited.

oh and I have a quote to share with you all, from Nikki Bohne who graduated from BYU and went on to play  Elle Woods in the traveling tour of Legally Blonde. She is the one who emailed me a few months ago when I emailed her some questions. She also happens to be one of my heros.

“Go for it 100 percent and never look back,You can’t have any doubts and you have to believe in yourself.”


so thats my cheesy but oh-so optimist quote for today. haha I LOVE IT!

the week I "Did The Hussle!", said goodbye, and had a "Practically Perfect" evening

Hello readers! I cant believe I havn't posted anything for a little while. Its been a pretty insane week or two, so there are going to be three parts to the following blog post.

1: Tri Stake Dance Festival
 The youth is the Lodi, Stockton, and Mantecca stakes have been practicing for this dance festival almost all school year and on June 11th in Stockton Arena it finally came together and ended up being one of the best days ever. we did a tech through, a dress rehearsal, then practiced a few of the numbers again. there were about 600 kids performing which was totally insane! the show consisted of almost 100% dancing, I was in about 6 dances I think with costume changes between all of them. it was a day full of running, dancing, flipping, costume changes, laughs and makeup. and I will never forget it. before I went on for my first dance I had that familiar puking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had every night before Aida, because of all of the stress of waiting. but as soon as we ran on to the arena floor i felt fine and had an awesome time. after it was all over I was actually pretty sad, and SORE! but it was a great day

2: saying goodbye (for now)
two good friends of mine left for the BYU summer term so like all good byes its sad. summer term is five weeks long, and two weeks after it ends, the fall semester starts! so I guess it wont be too long before I see them, but sad none the less, because SO MUCH can happen in two months, but either way Im excited for them, excited for the rest of my summer, and excited to go to BYU in the fall

3. Mary Poppins in Sac

 My brother and I and two of our friends went to go see the Mary Poppins traveling tour in sacramento, and it ended up being an amazing show, the set was crazy amazing, the actors were amazing of course, and they had some great special effect type things, like people flying, walking up walls, and Mary Poppins bag! oh wow it was awesome. Ive had the music stuck in my head ever since I saw it and I am considering buying the album. oh! and I got a Mary Poppins tee shirt because I guess I'm officially collecting Broadway show tee shirts now! So theater + music + a few best friends + almost gettting lost in Sac = a "practically perfect" night!

and I just remembered a 4th very important thing that happened this week...I picked all of my classes for fall semester!! so unless I end up switching classes somewhere along the line, heres what I'm taking

• Writing (not too exciting, but I have to take it)
• Book of Mormon (should be good :)
• Physical Science (science is gross but its required)
• sewing (hopefully wont stress me out)
• Intro to Music (totally excited for this one)
• singing (singing lessons = a very excited ashley!)

so yes, I think that should be everything, this week my family is going to the beach so ill be posting pictures of that.

...Well That Was Dissapointing

With most of the anxiety of choosing a major out of the way for me (for now anyway), my biggest fear about college is having to live with a stranger. I only know one girl who is going to be a freshman at BYU in the fall, so I'm just rooming with whoever chooses the same room I do. Or at least that was the original plan, but all of that changed yesterday when I was on the facebook page for incoming BYU freshmen.
As I was scanning the page I saw a post from a girl asking if anyone needed a roommate. I looked at her profile and she seemed like not just a normal human being, but actually really nice (at this point all I was hoping for was that I wouldn't have to room with someone weird/mean/psycho) so I sent her a message and we spent two days messaging back and forth getting to know each other a little. I was actually feeling pretty good, because she seemed really nice.
And now the tragic end to this story comes along....to make a long story short she ended up sending me a message that she had a friend who wasn't going to go to BYU but just decided to go to BYU and wanted to room with her so that is what she is going to do.


...so now I'm back to square one. I'm a little disappointed because she seems really nice and now I have to be all scared and worried about who my roommate is going to be again. But I'm alright. Im hoping there is going to be some reason for me rooming with whoever I end up with. who knows, maybe I'll end up rooming with someone who will introduce me to my future husband or something someday.haha... but whatever happens, it will sure be interesting.

Dont really know how to say all of this....

Its been a confusing couple of weeks because I have been trying to figure out what to do with my life and what to major in. If I am going to be 100% honest with my one viewer and the whole rest of the internet, then I'll just say it... I love acting and if I could have any job in the whole world then I would get a part on Broadway (no Hollywood for me). Now if  I'm going to be 100% honest with myself as well as my one viewer and the rest of the internet, I know that there is a tiny chance that this will ever actually happen. There are so many talented people in this world that love theater too.
To be honest its really hard to come to grips with the fact that what you want to do isn't exactly practical. And then the even tougher decisions start...Do I still go for it knowing that it may never happen? that would be a hard road to choose. Or do I just forget it and go with something more practical? this may be easier, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself. So here is the plan:
I am going to go to BYU as a theater major. This major isn't really acting too much, it seems to be more about theater production. I will be able to learn about things like lighting, costumes, and sets. These are skills that are a little bit more marketable and are things that I am still really interested in. As part of this major you get to choose your elective type casses from a whole array of theater classes, so according to my BYU  counselor, I should still be able to take acting classes and improve those skills
so I'm feeling pretty good about that plan because I can still have the opportunity to become a better actor and singer, but I have the back up skills to get other jobs in the theater business...other jobs that I really wouldn't mind having at all.


So there it is, all my worries and confusion about the rest of my life. For all I know I may get to college and decide this is not what I want to do at all, or maybe I'll want it even more than I do know. But no matter what happens, I'm feeling pretty good about my decision and excited to see where it takes me

1207 Taylor Hall ( I got the bed by the window!)

Yes! starting August 24 at 12:00 am, this will be my dorm room at BYU! Needless to say I am pretty freaking excited about this. I immediately started making lists in my head of all of the things I would need to pack, and all of the things I would probably forget. So yes, dorm life should be fun, except that I don't have a roommate and at any moment some girl from anywhere in the world might choose the same room as me! I don't know about you but I find that pretty scary. but anyway, thats about it for now...I'll talk more about majors and classes and the rest of my life in the near future because I am talking to a counselor today and hopefully that will help me straighten everything out.