Hey you, wanna catch up?

I know I've been ignoring this little place. I've been putting 1000% in to getting my other blog up and running. I also started school again 5 weeks ago, which has a been taking up a bit of my time. I'm also a nanny for this little girl, which I really love. But I want to breathe some life back into this space. I want it to go back to what it was originally for, keeping friends and family in the loop on what's going on in this life. So here it is:

The Wedding~ Things are starting to fall into place. We're planning it for January of 2012, so we still have loads of time. Eliot and I are both feeling ahead of the curve for the moment. (I'm going to kick myself later for saying that). I'm really excited about it all, but part of me just wants to be married to him already. I know it will be worth it to have an awesome party though...a week long one.

Eliot~ He's gone at the moment to the wonderful land of South Africa. He's been gone for 2 weeks and will be gone another 3. I miss him, but I'm excited for him. While he's there they're going to launch a brand new boat. This will be the first project he's been completely involved in from start to finish, so it will be so awesome for him to be there for the launch. Then he's going to meet me in California to celebrate Thanksgiving with my grandparents.

Florida~ The weather is so nice right now. It's cold in the mornings and you need a sweatshirt. But it's comfortable during the day. I don't want it to get any cooler, it just needs to stay like this. The end of summer here was amazing. We were out on our friends boat Tinky the Reef Seeker, diving almost every weekend, and afterward we would go post up on a sandbar, go swimming and enjoy some beverages. Now the gulf has gotten shockingly cold in just the span of a couple of weeks. But the wind is picking up, so it might be time to get the kite gear out and try and get better at that. One of my best friends Holly is coming to visit in just a couple of weeks. So the weather better stay in place for a little while longer.

Sailing~ Recently I've started racing every Thursday night. I got in at the tail end of the season, but it's been fun to look forward to every week. Looking forward to being more competitive next season for sure.

Just a few photos


building castles on the beach




Diving

Home Is Wherever I'm With You

I'm back from China! Actually I've been back almost a week now, but I've been occupied trying to get over jet lag and things. My first day back was filled with diving and beaching with good friends. Kind of perfect really.

But it's really nice to be home and to be inhaling clean air again. I know everyone talks about how polluted China is, but summertime is not a good time to be breathing in China. I'm feeling some lasting effect from it.

Lots going on as I get ready to go back to school. I've gotten a couple new toys which I'll share here later. Right now though, I'm just looking forward to enjoying this last sliver of summer here in Florida.

Baby Zoë and Her Baby Blues

A water baby, there's no doubt about it. It's in her genes actually. Both mom and dad are water babies, so there's no keeping this little lady away from the ocean. She's also bilingual and has both her parents wrapped around her chubby little fingers. But who can blame them?








~Daddy Time~






~And Mom~

Jamila!

She's a fashion major, but really she loves makeup and is a makeup arteest. I love her name and I feel like it always deserves an exclamation point at the end of it. Like you're always excited to see her happy face AND she always has a smile on. Jamila! Anyways, we met in Computer Concepts and yesterday (thankfully!) was our last day there. So at the end of class we decided to go out and take some photos for fun, to celebrate (kind of). I love her smile, I love her skin, I love her makeup. But really, I'm going to miss seeing this face every Thursday at 1pm.










Upside down Jamila!

Guess What!

So following my previous post, when the most exciting news I could come up with was our new salt and pepper mills, I'm happy to be able to share that Eliot and I got engaged this weekend! He popped the big question on Saturday and of course, it never even crossed my mind to say "no." I am the happiest girl in the world right now. We haven't planned anything yet, and probably won't until I get back from China. But I'm excited to share the great news!

Here's Eliot's reaction after I said yes.


~Look how excited he is to be getting married!~


~After I tell him how much a wedding normally costs.~


~Reconsidering~


~"It's okay sweetheart, we don't have to spend that much."~

Sequential Imagery

Self Portrait : About Me

My first assignment in my new photography class (Black and White II) was to do a self portrait. I definitely had struggles with this assignment, because I don't particularly like looking at photos of myself. But the purpose was to reveal something about yourself within these portraits.

In the spirit of self portraits, I thought I might also add some things about me. This thing was floating around on facebook a few months ago, it's called "25 Random Things About Me." I thought it would be fun to add in addition to my portraits.



1. I'm a student, living in Florida and studying photography.

2. I'm from the Pacific Northwest which I believe is one of the most beautiful places in the world and I really feel it has shaped me into the person I am now.

3. My first love and greatest passion is sailing, my first memories are on boats and I started racing competitively when I was eight. Some of my closest friends are the people I've raced with over the years and they are the happiest people I know.

4. I love anything and everything to do with the ocean including diving, sailing, snorkeling, wakeboarding and learning to kite board. I get really sad and sometimes sick when I've been away from salt water for too long. This was a bit of a problem when living in China.

5. I have a big fear/fascination with sharks. Actually it's not just sharks, it's any animal that could possibly eat me that I'm scared of, i.e. lions, cougars, bears, tigers (oh my!). But sharks really take the cake for me.

6. One time in Arizona, before my family moved to Bellingham, I was almost kidnapped when I was walking home from a friend's house.

7. I got my 200 ton captain's license when I was 20.



8. I don't wear makeup and haven't done for a few years now. It's very liberating.

9. I have the most beautiful niece who is 3 years old.

10. I miss my girlfriends so much now that we don't all live in the same town.

11. I love all animals (even the ones that can eat me) and can't wait to be in a place where I can have my own.

12. My favorite all time snack is Pirate Booty. It's the most delicious stuff on earth.

13. I love reading, especially books that I can relate to and learn from. But I also love blogs and learning different perspectives on life.

14. I AM the most insecure person I know. That being said, I realize it and am learning to let go of what other people think.



15. I've lived in Arizona, Washington, SE Asia, Maine, South Africa, China and Florida.

16. I've been to 6 countries in Asia, and if I were to be religious in any way I would become Buddhist. I've been inside way more Buddhist temples than churches.

17. I like doing all things outside.

18. Sometimes I have weird dreams that I know are dreams but I can't wake my self up and I'm paralyzed.

19. I'm afraid of the dark. And I'm just realizing this when Eliot is away and I wake up in the middle of the night by myself.

20. I've had stitches above both my eyes from 2 completely different incidents, one of which was just a few years ago.

21. Ariel is my favorite Disney Princess and when I was little I used to make everyone call me Ariel. (My grandma still does sometimes)



22. I HATE being cold, but am very rarely too hot. I can get uncomfortable in the heat, but it's way better than being miserable in the cold.

23. I'm learning to be creative. I've never thought of myself as a particularly creative person before. I'm attending an art school, and in a lot of ways feel like I'm going back to my roots. I think everyone is creative in some form, but a lot of us have learned how not to be.

24. I think good friends are so important and I feel so lucky to have them. Even if they are all over the world and I rarely get to see them.

25. I love my life and most importantly the person I get to spend it with.



Whoa! Ashley overload for serious. I'm so happy to be moving on past the self portraits.

Senior Photos: Anthony

Remember your senior year of high school? I was so ready for mine to be over. So ready for...I don't even know what, but I just wasn't loving school anymore (not that I ever did), all up until the very end. Then I was sad it was over. I really was going to miss the dances and the carefree feeling (although it didn't seem like that at the time) of being young, before you had any real responsibilities. I can't say now, "I wish I was back in high school" cause I don't, but so much has changed since then, and I definitely look back on my high school years fondly.

I wasn't huge into having senior portraits done. But my best friend had a good camera and was in photography class so she did mine for me. It was so much fun. We took out my dad's sailboat onto the bay (although there was no wind), and put up the sails. I wish I had that photo here right now to show you, because it's a good reflection of my high school experience and how much fun we had during that time.

So here is a spunky senior who I recently did portraits for. His name is Anthony and he has tons of ambitions and ideas going on for him. He's ready to take on the world and the many punches it has to throw his way.