What's Been Going On?

Hello Everyone! 

First of all I would like to say that I am sorry for this late night post, but hey it is still Tuesday! 

This week has been mental and its only Tuesday. Since I have been overwhelmed, my mind won't let me be creative to think of a good blog post. Instead I decided to tell you all about what has been going on in my life. Maybe it will inspire you, or you may just enjoy reading it. Either way...here we go!

Lets see...how about we start with FCCLA. 
   This Friday (January 31, 2014) is my Districts STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition, or competition). I am the state officer who has been put in charge of putting it all together. This means collection competitor registration, what rooms they will present in, what category and subcategory, they time they will present, writing and running opening session, writing and running STAR event orientation, and so much more. So much is to be done by Friday...how I am going to do it...I am not quite sure. I just really hope it doesn't end up being a complete miserable fail. Especially since I have to be there by 7am and its about an hour drive out there...so yes, that means I will be getting up at 5am...yay.
    So, to help me prepare, I have been staying after school the past to days, having meeting, and so on to get items checked off the to-do list. Tomorrow (Wedesday the 29th) our entire FCCLA chapter is staying after school, ordering a pizza for dinner, and getting everything completed. Thank goodness that I have the best chapter in the history of chapters ever. 

Okay, the next thing I have been busy doing is Senior Project. 
   We have just recently officially started Senior Project. When I say recently, I mean yesterday. Our first big assignment is due firday...where I won't be at school because of Districts, so I will need to complete it, and email it in Thursday night. We are researching a bunch on Thursday in my government class for a different assignment. This is crazy.

Finally, I attended my first Idaho Media Proffesionals mixer today (Jan 28th).
   I am not 100% sure what career I want to go into but I have an idea. I am thinking about going into somehthing that has to do with marketing or media. Obviously, I very much love media. When I went to this meeting about 4 hours ago, I walked in and met with many media proffesionals, by myself, and it was the best descison of my life. I got to sit and talk to writers, producers, film makers, directors, and marketers. I even will soon get the oppertunity to help a few of them film some movies/commercials/short videos. 
  What I have to say to all of you here is this one thing...take chances and who knows what you will become. 
   I walked into that restarunt thinking I wanted to be a marketer. Now? Well, now I am not sure. They gave me so incredible tips on shooting video, editing, lighting, and so much more. I am telling you now, find organization, firms, companines, or whoever has something smilair to what you are interested in, and explore. If there is an organization that has a little somthing to do with what career you want to go into, but its not exactly it, then who cares, you may end up liking something else instead. so.. GO OUT and LEARN and EXPERIENCE and CONNECT with new people. I can tell you right now, you will not regret it. It may be scary at first to go out and be adventurous, but it will be worth it in the end. Good Luck! 


I hope you guys enjoyed my rant about my week. Comment some things you have been up too, or what career you are interested in. 

Love, Ashley Marie

The True Meaning of Friendship

By, Ashley Marie.

       Friendship. We all have a special friendship with at least one person in our lives. But what defines a true friendship? What is the true meaning of friendship. 

       Friendship isn't something you can look up the definition for, its something you experience. A friendship can be between one to a billion people. Its having someone to spend time with, who enjoys your company, and you enjoy theirs. Its when you can be yourself, and have the time of your life doing whatever you like. 

       Friendships can last a lifetime or then can end. If the friendship ends, then it wasn't true. I say that the true meaning of friendship, is being around someone that encourages you to be a better you, makes you laugh, you and them can be themselves, and you can help each other through any situation in any circumstances. Its the love, trust and support that makes a friendship true. 

       These are a few of my true friends. Not all of my truest friends are in these pictures as they were not there when I took them. I love everyone of these people to death and I wouldn't have survived life, or be who I am today if they were not apart of my life as they are now. Here is to true friendships. 

    

Introducing....

Maggie aka Maggs. ^

Aubrey aka Aubs. ^

Erica. ^

Leena. ^

Amber. ^

Here are some pictures of us being...well...us. We are a crazy, weird, random bunch who literally loves to go out and have a fun time. We don't care what people think of us, we all love each other and are always smiling, that's all that counts. 

With Love, Ashley Marie. 

Don't forget to follow me on my Tumblr, twitter and youtube channel.

~~Comment some stories you have about your friends~~

See you next Tuesday!! 

Colors Make A Difference

Colors Make A Difference

by, Ashley Marie

    Do colors truly make a difference? Can a color really make a somewhat boring environment fun and exciting? YES IT CAN! 

Recently, in my household, my family decided it would be a good idea to paint our laundry room. You see, before we painted it, it was a dark brown and had cream colored cupboards. Just imagine what that looked like with all of the clutter, darkness, and limited space. 

Here is some pictures of just how easy adding a simple bright color did. 

Before we painted, the shelf above the washer and dryer had two cabinets that were hugging the top of the washer and dryer. there were also three of them...talk about cramped. To make it a big more fun we added a shelf and some cute accessories to make the laundry room a fun environment. 

Now for the other side of the laundry room. We moved the cabinets to be put above a dresser and added more accessories. check it out! 

 

Now for a few more extra things to male the room a bit more interesting and unique! 

I hope this encourages you guys to be creative, make life more exciting, and add more colors to your life! Weather the color is teal, or just a favorite color then be adventurous and go for it!

PS:; I will now be posting a new blog on anything and everything EVERY SINGLE TUESDAY! That is a promise. 

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  See you next Tuesday(:

(January 21, 2014)

-Ashley Marie

Making The Best of Your "Not so Fun" Day!

Making the Best of Your "Not so Fun" Day! 

By, Ashley Marie 

    Have you ever had a day that was so boring, complicated, or just not exciting? Don't you just wish that days like that could be turned around? Well, I am telling you now, it can happen. All you need is a little ambition, and to pull your adventurous side out of your old dusty hat. 

        I am going to tell you a little story... 

   Yesterday wasn't the best day. It was the first day back to school after a 2-week break for the holidays. All of my classes for that day was boring, and nothing super exciting happened. After school, one of my best friends were driving me home and we were talking about how we wish the day could have been better. When I got home, I just sat around doing nothing attempting to do my procrastinated homework. Then I thought "coffee sounds good right now." (Yeah...total white girls thing right here). I messaged a friend and we went off to Starbucks. Keep in mind this was 7:00pm. We hung out at the coffee shop for an hour and decided to go back to her house to watch some old videos we made around 4 years ago (for 8th grade). After hours of laughing our heads off, I went home. 

   That night was one of the best I have had in a long time, and It never would have happened if I didn't go have coffee with my best friend. 

You see what I am saying here? Just because your day hasn't been the best, does NOT mean that it has to stay that way. By just one text, a phone call, a skype party, or whatever you enjoy doing, it can turn you day around. Now when I look back on yesterday, I don't see it as the boring school day with few emotions, but as a day that I looked back at my past and had a good laugh with one of my oldest friends. 

    So...if you are bored right now, reading this, procrastinating homework, or even thinking about how much of a drag this day has been, then get off your but, log off of the internet, and go have fun! Whatever it is, be adventurous and have a day to remember.

 

       But before you go...here is a tip I have on what to do during and after you decided to turn your day around. 

1. Take Videos of what you did. (here is an example: from yesterday)

    2. Take pictures! (this picture wasn't from yesterday...but a few weeks ago.) 

   

    3. When you get home, write down (in as much detail as you want) the memory. 

For example, for yesterdays memory I wrote what we talked about at the coffee shop, what we ordered, and what we watched back at her house!  

Now whenever I look back at that video and my written down memory, I will remember an evening that I may have completely forgotten about otherwise. 

I hope this post inspiring you to make the best of any type of day! 

Love you all!

Goals vs. The Bucket list

Goals Vs. The Bucket List 

by, Ashley Marie

     Recently, as the new year began and I started to make resolutions, it made me think of the famous Bucket List. If you don't know what a bucket list is, then you must be living under a rock. A bucket list is essentially a list of experiences, or achievements you wish to accomplish before you die. The items on the list can vary among many different categories such as skydiving or my personal favorite, riding an elephant. 

     After reading up on tips for making my personal bucket list, I read something that caught my attention: Instead of a bucket list, make a list of your goals. When I say goals, I mean something that you would regret not doing before you die. 

      How are these to lists different? well, your bucket list will most likely consist of things you think would be cool or be interesting to do or try out. While looking through the top items on people's bucket lists, I found that I would love to do all of them, but they aren't something I need to accomplish to feel satisfied. 

     A list that has only things you would regret doing before you die, is more personal and also more likely to happen. How many of you truly think you will go skydiving, ride an elephant, travel to every single continent, and so on? I mean many people may actually get to accomplish everything that they put on their bucket list, but its not, as I said, personal. 

    I decided to start writing a Goal list. My goal list consists of things such as, visiting France and England (which has been a dream of mine for quite sometime), graduating high school, get married, give more hugs, and living a life that makes me happy not someone else happy. Those kind of things are what would lead me to being dissatisfied with my self when I die. 

   So, what I am trying to say here, is if you are going to make a list of things to accomplish before you die, make it truthful, meaningful, realistic, and personal. And when you make that list, be dedicated to accomplish every last one. 

Comment some items on your list! 

If you have accomplished anything that was or would have been on your list then, I want to hear what it was, and your story! 

Social Media

    Social Media - By, Ashley Marie.

      Social Media is a phrase we hear daily throughout our modern societies. First of all, What can we categorize as social media? 

     When we think of social media the first things that pop up in people's heads are usually Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube, and so on. Actually, almost everything on the interent is a from of social media. The definition of social media is "Websites and Applications used for social networking". Based off of that definiton, then that means that blogs (like this one), Skype, Flickr, Pintrist, and well, hundreds and hundreds more. 

That number shouldn't surprise you, considering that millions of people are contanstanly tweeting, instagraming, snapchatting etc. 

Here are a few interesting statistics I found : 

1. The top 11 Countries involved in social networking sites include: Israel, Argentina, Russia, Turkey, Chile, The Philippines, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Canada, and the United States. 
2. on average, there are about 190 million tweets per day
3. 2.9 billion hours are spent on youtube per month 

If you want to see more amazing statistics click here. 

Now that you are somewhat educated on social media things, which you probably already knew, here are a few of my opinions, or thoughts about a few sites. 

Twitter - It will probably become the new facebook. I also noticed that twitter is many used for daily activities (hanging out with a friend, eating lunch, etc.) and for thoughts (I'm a weird person, I like this football team). Its like a place to put your opinions, and less people hate on you for it...only cus less people seem to comment. 

Facebook - Its on its way out. everyone is spending less and less time on it, and most are annoyed on what people put on. It is now one of those things that less people post on, and just stalk everyone. Soon, facebook will be like myspace is now. 

Instagram - A place to show off. I don't know why, but I feel like instagram is where people post pictures of cool things, and activities they are doing and it can come off as showing off. Keep in mind, I do use instagram and post photos everyone in a while, and when I do, its usually when I'm doing something awesome..so...point proven. Oh, and whats this selfie thing? why  does everyone have the need to be like "here is a picture of me looking nice, be jelly." like...why? whats the point of sharing a selfie every day? 

Youtube -  Okay, I can't complain much about youtube. I love it. Although, it is quite addicting. I spend countless and countless hours on it, and get distracted. I think I have over 100 subscriptions. that's a lot. Oh, and you should check out my Youtube, because I'm one of those crazy youtuber freaks - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvd6925CdE6Eoy_gsgk-tNg

Tumblr - Tumblr is one of those places that you either post, or reblog things that look stunning, or interesting to you. Its like a place to share instagram photos all on one blog. whoa, tumblr is a sharing version of instagram....that's strange. 

       Obviously, I could go on, and on, and on, and on, but I won't. Comment some things that you think about social media sites. Whats on its way in, and whats on its way out. Follow me on my Youtube, and This Blog for more posts!  

PS: speaking of social media....follow me on these following places people of the Internet!

Twitter

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Book Review - The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell - A Review By, Ashley Marie.


      The Tipping Point started out as something I was supposed to read for my English class. As I began reading, it started to captivate me. The many stories, that Malcolm creatively ties together allows every reader to see the world differently. 

       There is no question to why this book is a #1 National Bestseller! The author has obviously done extensive research to get the information in order to create this fascinating novel. I mentioned how he uses many stories. The stories ranged from TV show like Blues Clues and Sesame Street, history points like the famous ride from Paul Revere, and so much more. 

        The tipping point is a incredibly written book about the world. Malcolm proves what type of people are needed to make things trend, to keep people connected, to allow a business to be successful, and to even save lives. The simplest things truly to make a huge difference. Who knew that a smile can change who could be president of the United States. If you are curious, and want to read this amazing book, then I highly suggest it. There may be One or Two parts in the entire book that I got a little bored in, but just one or two...that it. 


     I will, with full confidence, give this book a 10/10 rating. 


     This book is with out a doubt interesting and it even captivated me. Someone who never, like ever reads. I am not a big fan of history or information type of books, but this, this was different. Who knew that all these things existed in the world we live in
. 

So, now, I say, get off the computer (or stay on and read it off of audible.com), go get the book, and READ it.