she's moving over to the other side

Her bachelorette weekend symbolized the end of one chapter in her life and the beginning of another. 8 days from now my best friend will take a step in a new direction and join another person in their life together, this time to be bonded by endless circles placed on one anothers left finger symbolizing eternal love and devotion.

She is my best friend, infact she is the first friend I made in this city, when I moved here nearly 14 years ago. I've witnessed the relationships she's maintained throughout the years, some good, some bad but most of all none worth her eternal love. And as time passes and friendships endure their ups and downs (and believe me, we've had ours) the true test is how we managed to get through those times and come out of the trial better than before. Even though I don't know her fiance' as well as I'd like to (hell, I don't know him nearly as well as I did all the others) I hope that he realizes that there is a lot of work ahead of him and that she is surely worth it.

The bachelorette party weekend was a bunch of fun, I planned it and consider it my tribute to all of our fun times together as single women - and while she will be single no more I'm sure the fun times will continue for years to come.

This is my toast to you M - may life with Bob be all you ever dreamed of and more, don't ever forget that our friendship remains the same and I will continue to be here for you through lifes ups and downs.

Love you.

music makes me happy.

I wasn't very busy at work today and so I managed to listen to a wide variety of music at my desk from my favorite online radio station, Pandora. Some of the tunes I listened to was old stuff that I just haven't caught onto yet and other music was from new aspiring artist who have a lot to offer in this world filled with notes of nonsense.

A few melodies that managed to ruffle my skirt:

Zee Avi "Bitter Heart" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0rafi5CG5M&feature=featured
She is refreshing, cute and surprising. Who would have ever thought that this early 40's voice would belong to an Asian bombshell...well take a listen and decide for yourself.

Citizen Cope "Sideways" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8cMy-Jmoso
A friend mentioned he was going to a Citizen Cope concert a couple weeks ago, never had I heard of him, so I figured I'd give it a listen. Much to my delight, I'm in love with everything this song does for me.

Matisyahu "Time of Your Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHJu_nCaNAw&feature=related
This is quite the interesting scenario, a Hasidic Jew beat-boxing in a reggaeish way that intrigues me profoundly. Who woulda thunk it? I dig this.

Me with Shiny Toy Guns - http://shinytoyguns.com/ (newer find)


I'm not sure if music is like our taste buds, ready for a change every 7 years but for me over the past couple of years I have started to connect with music in a way I never thought possible. While my appetite for music has changed a lot over the years and I've had an earful of everything from gangster rap to heavy metal and mountain jams, my current obsession is music that makes me feel like I can't be touched. I've always welcomed talent and I definitely enjoy everything music has to offer, but there is something about a song that can truly give me the feeling of something to hold onto - a feeling I can't quite explain, but let me try. This music has a hypnotic effect on me in times where I need it the most. It's as if I'm being detached from reality, just a little bit. Anytime I hear a song like this I get goosebumps, then of course write down the title or the artist so it's not forgotten. I feel good music has it's way of taking us out of a moment, putting us in one, or just making the moment we're currently in that much better. I'm embracing it, you should give it a try too. See what's out there.

Picture this.

I like taking pictures just as much as the average person. Just because I have camera and *know how to use it doesn't make me a photographer but I tend to believe what does make us one is the way in which we capture the moment. I have a Samsung Coolpix my dad purchased for me last year for my birthday and I still haven't figured out all the functions so I don't consider myself a pro by any means.

The types of pictures I deeply enjoy taking are not your average "smile" and click - it's done. Nope. Most of what I enjoy is taking pictures while driving and I think I've managed the art of being really still and knowing exactly what conditions are suitable for so. Also, it helps to have your window down or at least clean, yes I've learned this from experience.

I mostly enjoy taking pictures of bridges and sky's.

A few examples are found below.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this bridge picture...

it reminds me of California and this wicked re-occurring dream I had when I was younger.

Knowing there was not enough time to even turn my body around in the back seat of the car to get this shot I held my camera up to the side of my head and without looking took what I believe to be an awesome picture.



Mountains in Virginia and an old rusted, faded green iron bridge.

I was at a stop light and couldn't help but capture this

storm a brewing with bits of sun light peeking through.

OK so this one doesn't quite fit the mold but I did take it from my car and it does have a sky in it and a railing that could be considered a bridge, right? Maybe not... but in any case I like the picture for some reason and so included it must be.

Moral of this story.

Even if you don't know the right way to do something,

don't worry, don't hesitate

it doesn't mean you're not doing it right.

All Cops are NOT created equal

Every girl dreams of finding the “one” but nobody really knows how it’s going to happen. Well guess what it's your lucky day! Ya know what I'm gonna do for you? I'm gonna tell you how it’s NOT going to happen, well for me at least but hopefully I'm not alone here, some of these are pretty ridunkulous. By the way, not all of these are speaking from experience, actually let me take that back, most of them are - but not all.

OH and if you’re a guy reading this please, please, please take this shit to the bank, it will only do you good.

Now if you don't mind I'll begin.

ahem.

You will not find yourself being the “one” or even remotely close to being the “one” if……

1)you aks me fo’ my numba

2)you do certain things in public on a regular basis that should be reserved for private – like scratching or picking something

3)you can’t handle the fact that I am a strong independent woman who doesn’t NEED someone in my life rather I WOULD LIKE someone to share life with.

4)you order a drink for yourself and not me, even though I’m standing beside of you and you know what I want to drink

5)you think that just because I got my own house and my own car – you are entitled to live with your mother until you move in with me

6)you call me everyday and want to hang out with me all the time but you just want to be friends for now

7)you completely bomb meeting the parents (I’m not talking just fudging up a sentence or completely blanking when they ask you of your intentions with me, I’m talking like getting completely blitzed and cussing out my little brother type of bomb)

8)you constantly change your mind about everything. I mean Jesus! There should be some things in your life you can hold on to for more than a day.

9)you bail out on me more than once, more than twice, more than three times for something that means a whole bunch to me.

10)you think out loud waaaaay tooooo much – yep, you know where I’m going with this one

11)you hit on any of my friends in a creepy way – friends, you know what I’m talking about, there’s playing around and then there is taking it a little too far and if you can’t tell the difference well that’s just too damn bad…next.

12)(due to recent events) you leave me at a bar in a city I’m unfamiliar with and you’re my ride

OH NO! I almost forgot. For anyone reading that doesn't know the story it wouldn't hurt to have a little background info. So I recently became friends with a cop. We started hanging out a bunch, then something, I still don't know what - changed. All of the even numbered no no’s starting with #4 (#’s 4,6,8,10 & 12 - for those on the slow boat today) are some of the reasons 'All Cops are NOT created equal'. I'll let you formulate the missing parts. It's not rocket science.

Man, I needed that. Thanks for letting me vent here.

I do! Butterflies and all.

Originally I had a side-kick who was coming along for the wedding weekend bliss but since that didn’t work out so well, I was left with two choices - Go by myself or not go at all - well actually I didn’t have a choice and I’m damn glad - Never would I ever have imagined my responsibility in my friend Kelly’s wedding to be – are you ready for this? – The Butterfly Handler. Yep that’s right; of all people she could have picked I was the one she chose to be responsible for these precious little four-winged creatures. I was honored in a way but I also felt slightly hesitant in the beginning to take on such a unfamiliar assignment because I had so many questions and the bride-to-be was so busy with all the wedding planning it was hard to get butterfly details from her (I think part of it was that Kelly didn’t really know much about the little beings either) BUT as you all should gather, I, being the newly carefree broad that I am was ready for the challenge and so I awaited the details, which never really came and so onward I went. With little to go on, and being the only one ready, willing and able to take care of the butterflies I headed to the farm (which by the way I was slightly skeptical even about where this place was considering when I MapQuested it there was no “exact” match) but in any case unknowingly I set out.

After pulling into the wrong driveway I was quickly redirected by the guy at the storage place to take an immediate right out of his driveway onto the dirt road. I can see how I missed it, the dirt road was fully lined with tall magnificent Leyland Cyprus and there was a small white sign that said “farm” with a red arrow on it – yep that’s it, and you wonder there was no match on MapQuest?


As I’m driving along the approximate 2 mile stretch of dirt road and dirt dips at oooh about 5 miles an hour in my 2-door sports coupe I couldn’t help but wonder what I was about to pull up to and what my duties would entail once I had the butterflies in hand. While the road was pretty rugged the view was beautiful and the weather was healing up nicely after a short hard rain and I was starting to get excited about this butterfly handling gig. So I pull into a large field that reads “Parking here” and I park and at this point I’m starting to gather that details and butterflies obviously don’t go together. So I stood in the field for a little bit then headed towards what looked like a greenhouse, took some pictures, waited for someone to appear, walked a little further over a wooden plank to a nice-sized house (didn’t look like a butterfly pick-up spot to me) and well, I knocked on the door. Much to my dismay I was at the right place indeed and was greeted by a young woman whom without even questioning who I was or what I was there for she proceeded to give me butterfly handling directions. The butterflies were packed in a cooler on ice, could stay there for 48 hours and were to be taken out and hour and fifteen minutes before the wedding to sit at room temperature and wake up, as she put it. Then they would be let off, the Monarchs individually and the Painted Lady’s as a mass. So she handed me the tightly sealed cooler along with an instruction sheet and sent me on my way. So as things became clearer to me...or not really any clearer at all...I sloshed back across the field and over to my car.


I set off for Asheville and I made sure I guarded the butterflies with my life; after all they were a pretty important part of the wedding. I kept them in a cool dark place over night and just like the lady instructed and hour before the wedding I took all of the butterflies out of the cooler and set them out at room temperature. Two nieces of the groom were to help let off the butterflies and I managed to snag them beforehand to let them see the butterflies and hold the little packages in their tiny hands. I told the little girls – Staley Rose & Isabelle, the little bit I knew about the butterflies and I wanted to make sure they were comfortable with what they were doing and continued by letting them know if they opened up one of the envelopes and the butterfly did not fly off, not to worry, it wasn’t ready to fly just yet, but that eventually it would…and the girls looked at me with depth and took my words. I even managed to get a basket to place the butterflies in then took the butterflies and placed them by the small table and awning where the “I do’s” would take place. Who knew there was so much that goes into this???

The mountain top wedding was absolutely beautiful. We sat there in awe overtop the landscape that Asheville offers in the springtime after an afternoon rain while Kelly & Scott exchanged vows. The butterflies were amazing and went off without a hitch.


The day after the wedding we all gathered at neighbors of the bride & groom to watch a slideshow/video of the wedding and drink margaritas. While watching the video Kelly noticed that after the wedding was over and the camera was still rolling that I went over to the table, gathered up the butterfly garb and made sure the remaining few butterflies who hadn’t yet taken off did. She looked over at me slightly teary eyed and said “Wow Ashley, when I asked you to be the butterfly handler you really took that to heart, you handled those things from the very beginning to the very end, thank you.” – And those words made the experience worth every bit.

It’s nice to be noticed. I’ve always tried to be the type of person that if I say I’m going to do something, I do it and when I do it I try my hardest to do my best at it.Even though the details were lacking I think it made the experience all the better. I took something that was just a task and turned it into something that ended up meaning a lot to me and hopefully meaning the same to many others.

Every bit of this wedding was truly sensational, but in the end it was the butterflies that carried me along. They made me realize I am a good person and not because of what I do or how I do it but just because with each day I live I strive to be a better person and that's all that really matters.


So thank you Kelly for letting me be a part of your dream come true and thank you butterflies for just being you.