From the bottom of our hearts....

Here we are waiting to board the plane at DFW. Newlyweds for about 44 hours...

Apologies first...
To any and all that check this blog, let me first say that I am sorry I left you high and dry for all this time. Life got exceptionally busy and is only now starting to calm down. Also, since Austin and I are poor, broke seminary students living on love, we do not yet have the internet at our apartment. Actually, the biggest reason we do not have the internet yet is because we have not gotten around to it yet. This post is coming to you from the Comfort Inn in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We are here for Nathan and Stacy's wedding (Austin's younger brother). God Bless free wireless internet!

I am sure many of you have seen pictures of our wedding on other blogs. But if not, or if you want to see more, go to http://kellymoorephotography.weddingherald.com/ . From there, scroll down the list and look for "howard/perry wedding" and the password is "howard". Now, you can have countless hours of viewing pleasure.

The wedding went great and it was truly a wonderful day! We went to Ireland for the honeymoon and can we say AMAZING!
Since returning back to Ft. Worth, we have been keeping busy with work. Since getting married, the most exciting thing going on with us is the wedding we will be attending tonight.
I will say, however, that I have some amazing friends and family. If it would not have been for their help, I do not know what I would have done. There are too many people to thank. Everyone truly went above and beyond and I am grateful! Also, if you go over to the Bufkin's blog, you will have the chance to see a cinematic treat! My BFF-in-law, Justin, put together a video montage for Austin and I as a wedding gift. When that guy says he is going to do something, he does it and does it RIGHT!!! Let's just say that our mother's have watched it like everyday since the wedding and cry everytime! Also, Meg Sanks is a jewel and wedding coordinator extraordinaire! She worked her tail off for me!! And believe me, Meg, it did not go unnoticed! It was also nice to have my own personal assistant. Deanna came in for the wedding and was there for my every beck and call. I swear it was like that girl could read my mind and did things for me before I even had a chance to ask. And, obviously without my parents, and all my mother's creative ideas, I do not know what I would have done. I could go on and on about how each person contributed to make May 20 special for me, but this is not an acceptance speech for my Academy Award, so I will end here.

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. (Now, I hope this post will satisfy all those who have been saying nasty things about us for not posting.That includes you, Marisa!)

I will save honeymoon stories and pictures for another post.



Stacy, Nathan, Austin (before he got his hair chopped), and Ashley at Amanda's graduation in May.

Currently...

Currently I am on page 3 of a 15-20 page systematic theology research paper that is due Wednesday by 4pm.

I would currently rather.....

*pluck out every hair on my body with tweezers

*Be on my honeymoon in Ireland

*Be riding some of the fun rides at Six Flags

*Be studying for a final on Wednesday

* take a nap

*shop!!

*Finish packing up my house to move out on Thursday

*watch tv

*go to the movies

*take a shower

*DO ANYTHING BUT WRITE THIS PAPER!!!

Recent pictures

We thought since some of you haven't seen us in a while, we'd give you some recent pictures to help with your input on the previous post. Just keep these in mind when you reply to Ashley's post asking for wedding advice. Here is Austin and his current hair and Ashley's nose.

Ebay

So, I have a new addiction.

Ebay...

Over the years I have browsed through the millions of items for auction online but I have never seriously thought about buying anything....until about a month ago. A little bit ago I discovered that I needed a new computer cord for my laptop. Since my computer is three years old, it is considered obsolete by Dell standards and therefore they have quit making the cord for my computer. So what is a girl to do....that is right, Ebay to the rescue.
Well, I ordered the computer cord and it arrived at my home a few days later. I know that it is a used cord but it looks like it had been super-glued in one place because it is suspiciously shiny. So I sent an email to the seller informing them of my shiny cord and I never heard back from them. After a few weeks of no-answer I decided it was time to leave some feedback on the seller (For anyone who is new to ebay like I am, feedback is apparently something taken very seriously by the ebay community. It is their way of rating buyers and sellers and keeping track of sellers you can trust. And remember this was my first time to ever do this). So I give the transaction and seller a negative rating and listed that my reasoning for doing so was failure of the seller to answer my email.
The next afternoon I am sitting on my couch enjoying spring break and wasting time looking at blogs when my cell phone rings. It was a number I did not recognize and instead of screening it I decided to answer. When the voice on the other end started speaking I could almost hear the bottle-cap glasses and pocket protector. It was the seller of my computer cord. He was calling in response to the negative feedback I had left him the night before. He was telling me how he had sent me an email immediately after I had sent him one and blah, blah, blah. He even resent it to me while we were on the phone. Apparently the original one got lost in cyber-space. So after a painfully awkward phone call that lasted about ten minutes we decided to mutually withdraw the negative feedback....and now all is well. And I also learned that nerds love ebay.

So, back to the addiction. After finding my computer cord on there, I started looking up other items that I am in need of and am finding it difficult to find in stores (and finding them at a lower price!). Just yesterday I won something for the wedding from there that is at least $70 in stores. I was so happy that I found it on ebay and won it for half the retail price. And currently, I am keeping my eye on some pottery barn sheets that go with our new bedding that are being discontinued at pottery barn.
I think I like ebay because it combines two of my favorite things: shopping and sitting on the couch!!

Tag!! You're It!!!!!

Since no one took the hint from Austin's post, I take it upon myself to TAG people in hopes of geting some response in filling out the survey. Austin was so proud of the questions that he made up himself, and he was also excited to see what the other responses (your responses) would be.
So, I am tagging the following people to answer the questions in the previous post:

1. The Bufkin's
2. The Michael Sanks family ( I do not know what the proper plural for "Sanks" is)
3. Jason Herrington, aka Melissa's stalker
4. Melissa, the stalkee
5. Kristin and Bradley....or at least one of you!

Ok, I think that should suffice for now.....
And some names might be added to the list in the near furture....

(I am posting b/c I am procrastinating. My mom will be here in about 5 hours and I still do not have a clean room!!! I have until my class at 2pm to get it clean. Here I go......)

Useful Info about Austin and Ashley

I (Austin) still don't know how I feel about some of this blog stuff. For example, "blog" words like "tagged" just seem a little, um, let's say cheesy (not my first word choice). The idea is ok, that you ask your friend to fill out some kind of survey and pass it on and they're fun to do and (sometimes) fun to read, but they are what they are.
I was reading one of these "you've been tagged" posts recently and I thought Ashley and I could answer some similar questions. And maybe we'll ask some of you to answer the same ones. And maybe we won't. And if we do, feel free to not do it(as far as I am concerned, Ashley does not share this opinion). Whatever you want.
I won't tell you whose answers are in red and whose are in blue. You'll be able to figure it out pretty quickly. Where the answers happen to be the same, it is purely accidental, we answered these separately. Pay close attention, these facts may come in very handy one day if you are playing Trivial Pursuit:Austin and Ashley edition.
For anyone interested, some random likes and dislikes (in fours) of Austin and Ashley:

Four favorite television shows: Pardon the Interruption (PTI), Jeopardy, Allie McBeal (surprised you didn’t I?), and Spring of Trivia (a Japanese show), Alias, Rachael Ray – 30 minute meals, Friends, American Idol
Four recent books I have read (and finished!): Beowulf, Grendal, Under the Black Flag (about pirates!), and Trouble is my Business (Raymond Chandler); The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Peas and Thank You (Veggie Tales), The Five Love Languages, The latest Ashley Stockingdale book (Kristen Billerbeck)
Four cities I would like to return to (for vacation): Kobe, Japan; Assisi, Italy; New Braunsfel, Texas; Edisto Beach, South Carolina; New York; Istanbul; Washington, D.C.; Astoria, Oregon
Four cities I would like to visit for the first time (for vacation): Casablanca, Morocco; Seattle, Washington; Singapore; Lusaka, Zambia; Cape Town, South Africa; Paris, France; Las Vegas, Nevada; Sydney, Australia
Four dream jobs: Novelist, Pro Football Player, Music Critic, Travel guide writer; Superspy, Socialite, TV Talk Show Host, Rock Star
Four favorite Garth Brooks songs: You Move Me, What She’s Doing Now, Learning to Live Again, Much too Young . . .; Callin’ Baton Rouge, Two of a Kind, Wrapped up in You, Ain’t Going Down ‘Til the Sun Comes Up
Four favorite Beatles songs: Michelle, Here Comes the Sun, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Hey Bulldog!; Yellow Submarine, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Hey Jude, Can’t Buy Me Love
Four favorite sports teams: Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs and Techsters (all sports), St. Louis Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Georgia Tech Yellowjackets; Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Techsters, Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, William and Mary Swimming
Four scariest animals: Killer Whales, Foxes, Hyenas, Pelicans (but only the "fighting" ones); Snakes, Hippos, Lions, Putsi Flies
Four websites I view often: collegefootballnews.com, Louisiana Tech Bulldog Barks and Bytes, ESPN, yahoomail; google, gmail, friend’s blogs, theknot
Four foods I love: fried okra, sandwiches, okonomiaki, chicken and dumplings; fondue, chocolate, cheese, Thanksgiving dinner
Four of my favorite works of art: Ashley, The Old Guitarist, M.C. Esher’s Waterfall, Himeji Castle; Starry Night, The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Victoria Falls, Cafe at Night
Four dead people I’d like to have dinner with: Both Grandfathers, Marco Polo, the apostle John; My Grandma, the apostle John, Thomas Jefferson, David Livingston
Four favorite hymns: Amazing Grace, Come Thou Fount, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, Be Thou My Vision; It Is Well, Joyful, Joyful, How Great Thou Art, Holy, Holy, Holy
Four favorite flowers: Cherry Blossom, Climbing Rose, Dogwoods, Dandelions; Tulips, Stargazer Lily, Gerber Daises, Daffodils
Four movies I could watch all the time: The Princess Bride, The Seven Samurai, The Last of the Mohicans, License to Drive; Sweet Home Alabama, Just Married, The Last of the Mohicans, The Sandlot

Still on cloud nine!

Ok, if you read my last post completely then you know I promised pictures of the long awaited ring! Seriously, it was an ordeal to get a picture of it. For some reason, everytime I tried to take a picture of it, it would now show up...like it was invisible or it would just look like some bright spot in the picture. Well, here it is for your viewing pleasure and also, for the story of the engagement go to our wedding website listed under my links on the right.......



Austin designed this ring all by himself (which is a great story that you should get him to tell you someday)! All that I had ever really told him was I liked antique-looking.

So you might be wondering about the side stones.....they are tanzanite. Don't go to Google just yet, I will tell you about them.....Tanzanites are only found in Tanzania and are blue-ish/purple-ish in color. Also, apparently, they are a super soft stone and pretty fragile (I know, I can hear the gasps now as you think about my gracefulness). A long time ago I happened to mention to Austin in passing that when I was in Zambia, many of the missionary ladies I knew had Tanzanite jewelry and I thought it was a pretty stone. That boy pays attention!!!

I LOVE the band on this ring. The filigree that Dale the jeweler did is amazing!! I told Austin I wanted to bake him (Dale) some cookies to thank him because he did such a good job.

This is a picture of us soon after we got engaged on Christmas Eve. The picture is great and all but I mainly wanted to post it so I could show you what I cropped out of the bottom left corner of the picture............

I think all the excitement just wore him out!!!!

(This is Austin's dad!)

Me and Alexander

Have you ever read the children's book

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

If you have read Amber's blog lately, then you have read how she thinks bad days come in multiples. I must say that I agree with her. It seems that for the past two weeks things just don't go my way. It has truly been a series of unfortunate events. I will spare you all the details of my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days because I am not looking for a pity party. It got so bad there for a while that I told Austin I would not blame him if he wanted to rethink marrying me. But alas, he is so GREAT and DREAMY...he says that I can not get rid of him that easy.

So in other procrastinating news....

It seems as if I only update when I am putting off school work (hence this post). My, how my posts have changed over the last three years. I went from updating frequently and writing about how cool Africa is to seldom posting and writing about how school stinks. Wow.

And maybe I don't post as often these days because the whole blog thing is not that new to me. Yes, that is right, I have been a blogger for over 3 years now.....I was a blogspot user when you had to PAY a monthly fee to be a user....talk about incentive to post.

In any case, I am glad so many of you have finally seen the way of the blogger and decided to follow it. But before I end, let me give credit where credit is due. I would have never become a cool blogger user if it had not been for my friend Kari Masson (Borders). You should read her stuff, you will think she is cool too!

*Next post to come: THE RING!!!!!!!!!!!

(Can you tell that I learned how to link words to websites!!!)

It looks like maybe I have been living in Texas too long! Here is a picture of me (Austin) and Ashley plowing a field. As you can tell by the amount of rust on the tractor, it took us a long time. The tractor was new when we started. Big field.

Everyone should click on this link....

http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=3272287465734868

What is that noise in the distance??

Ok, so from reading the comments of my previous post, I am gathering that many of my fans out there have put two and two together and know I have some BIG news to share (and it seems that most already know the news). Well, for those of you left in the dark and sitting on the edge of your seat, here it is......I made all A's and a B+ this past semester!!!!!! Oh yeah, and I am engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!!

On Christmas Eve, Austin and I were in Heber Springs, Arkansas (where my parents live). We were spending the day with my family until that night when we would drive an hour south to Little Rock to spend the night with his parents. The day was normal (well, as normal as normal can be around the Howard house). Earlier that day my sis, my bro, and Austin and I made a last minute Wal-mart run to pick up a couple more gifts and some groceries for Paula Jean. While at Wal-Mart I mentioned to Austin that when we got back to the house that my dad wanted me to wrap some presents for him and Austin quickly asked me to do the same for him....and I lovingly granted him his request.

Turns out that sneaky Austin used the time that I was wrapping presents to ask my dad if he could marry me. That story is pretty humurous, especially if you know ol' Buddy at all. Let's just say that Austin caught my dad completely off guard!

So now it is about 5pm and we leave my parent's house. I am currently under the impression that we are headed to a cute part of Little Rock called the Rivermarket. It is pretty and runs along the river and it has some shops and restaurants. For weeks he had been saying that he wanted us to go there on Christmas Eve to have some time for ourselves (like a mini-date) and without our families (hey, that sounded great to me!). He had also been saying for a couple of days that he wanted to pick up his sister another present from there. So naive Ashley fell right into his plan!

Now it is 6pm on Christmas Eve and we are driving through the Rivermarket in pouring rain!!!! Of course all the shops are closed and neither one of us are about to get out of the car. So, Austin keeps on driving and finally comes to stop in a parking lot in a shopping center. In the center of the shopping center there is a large covered area that is like an amphitheater and it has some fountains around it. Austins informs me that due to the rain this is where we are going to have our mini-date. I am still clueless to what is about to go down.

We make it under the covered area and Austin begins his speech immediately. Unfortunately for him I had no idea how important what he was saying was and I kept interrupting him by saying, "Awww, thanks!" and "I love you, too!". I was also interrupting him by kissing him everytime he said something sweet. Even to this point I didn't realize what he was doing! Then he took my hands and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I was in complete shock!!! My first words to him were, "Are you kidding me!!!!!" After a couple seconds of uncontrolable laughter I said yes!

Can we say worn out! This whole break has been non-stop busy! We were gone from Ft. Worth for nearly two weeks and I do not think I spent more than two consecutive nights in one bed. Not to mention that I was sick the entire time! We traveled all over while we were gone. And this post would have made it out sooner if it weren't for the fact that Arkansas does not have internet! Well, at least our parents don't.

So now my life consists of fielding wedding questions from our mothers and looking through my Martha Stewart magazine and wedding planner! For anyone wondering, the wedding will be May 20, 2006 at First Baptist Sherwood, Arkansas at 4pm. So, mark your calendars and save the date!!!! Also, beware....I will soon be tracking you down for your address!

And pictures will be coming soon, too!!! We have tried to take pictures of the ring, but they do not turn out well because it is so sparkly!!! What a terrible problem!

School is........

Wait, what's that....Two posts two days in a row?? Yes, then it must be true....finals are upon us and Ashley will do anything to keep from studying.

(And if you are Austin, Michael, Kim, or Jason and are reading this before Wednesday afternoon, then I caught you not studying as well!)

Ok, back to basic skills in Christian counseling...

And feel free to fill in the blank about your opinion of school.

School is..........

What was I thinking when I decided to go back to school??? Only two days, two papers, and three final exams to go......No sleep for me until Wednesday afternoon....

This was taken on Thanksgiving at his aunt's ranch in Clifton, Texas. After lunch we decided to go for a little ride and explore his aunt and uncle's land. This picture was taken by his sis. It was nice spending Thanksgiving with Austin's family. There is only one part of the trip that I would like to forget about but I just can't. I wanted to punch Austin in the face Thursday night concerning a poor judgment he made. Let's just say that the game of RISK was involved and anyone who has ever played with me knows that I do not take that game seriously at all! Ok, I am over it now....nope, not bitter one bit! Although, I cannot argue with his logic for his decision, but stil..

.

Amanda, Austin's sister, and I decided to take a picture break during our day-after-Thanksgiving shopping spree. Unfortunately, neither one of us made any purchases.

Favorite Things in '05

Well, I decided that if Oprah can do it, then so can I. Every year she compiles a list of her favorite things and shares it with her viewing audience. Ususally she will give away her favorite things to her studio audience, however, I am not quite as capable as Oprah to provide my favorite things to my reading audience. I am sure that as the days go by I will think of additions to this list, but here is my list so far (as compiled during my 8:00 class this morning)....and feel free to add something that you think I might have left off or feel free to list some of your favorite things in the comments section. So, without further ado, I present to you

ASHLEY'S FAVORITE THINGS IN '05!!

• Courrier New 12 pt. font.......seriously, try it in a word document and see how much longer it makes your papers! Students, it will revolutionize the way you do your research papers!
• Entire Seasons of a television show on dvd.....Is there a better way to spend a lazy day on the couch?
• Fondue....I owe this favorite thing to Deanna, Miss Paris herself! Cheese, chocolate, you name it. I do not discriminate when it comes to fondue.
• Icee's...and more specifically "polar bear icee's" according to Jason. What is the deal with Texas and their boycott on polar bear icee's. I mean even if you do find one you have to pay $2.50 for it!!!
• Side-swept bangs...This hairstyle has been a God-send to girls like me who have eternal baby hairs and wispies around their face that sometimes curl up and look like wings. Thank you side-swept bangs for providing camoflauge!
• DOTS Fashions (clothing store)....This is a recent find. I discovered DOTS last week as I was making a Wal-Mart run. Think cheap prices like at It's Fashion in Ruston but super-cute clothes! Looks like I will get detoured frequently seeing how both stores practically share a parking lot.
• Goose Down Comforters....I can't think of much else that is cozier on a cold morning than snuggling up in a big, fluffy down comforter.
• Blogspot...This service was once one of my major forms of communication when I was in Zambia. If you are reading this now, then most likely you yourself are a fan of blogspot or some other website host.
• Ginger Essence Perfume by Origins....My sister wore this once a few years back and I always liked it. So, a couple of months ago I bought some of this aromatic goodness. It is a perfect scent for fall and winter in my opinion.
• White Tea and Ginger Body Lotion by Bath and Body Works....This is the perfect accompaniment to the aforementioned Ginger Essence.
• Sweatshirts With a Kangaroo Pouch....To me, comfort is a well-worn sweatshirt and the crowning jewel of a sweatshirt is not a hood, but rather a place to put your hands. I think the kangaroo pouch should be a standard feature in sweatshirts. Even if you do not want to put your hands in it, it is great for keys and cell phones.
• AUSTIN!!!!!....I think everyone should have one, but, sorry, I do not share.
• My Grandma's Pecan Pie....I could share the recipe, but then I would have to kill you. I am under strict orders to be extremely picky in giving out the "secret recipe." Also, in recent months, this recipe has become even more dear to me.
• Rachel Ray on the Food Network....I love her cooking show "30-minute Meals"!!! I was randomly flipping through the channels one day and decided to stop on the Food Network for the first time ever and her show was on. I do not know why I like her so much but I do!!
• RISK!!....This game brings out the ultra-competitive and manipulative Ashley.....what a great game!!!
• For Every Body Candles....These candles can really fill a room! I am a believer in this brand (and they can be bought from Kohl's or at www.foreverybody.com).
• Arbonne Swiss Skin Care and Cosmetics...Yes, I too, use Arbonne (for any female who knows what Arbonne is). My sister is a consultant for it and she "baptized" me into it this summer. I really like their make-up and it makes me feel grown up to use it.
• Cotton Candy....What is not to like about pink or blue spun sugar that melts on your tounge???
• Six Flags Season Pass....Austin and I took advantage of ours this weekend. How great to be able to spend 2 hours at the park, ride two rides (three is you count the carousel), eat some cotton candy, walk around holding hands, and decide it is time to leave! The best $40 I spent this summer.

For now, this is my official Favorite Things '05 list.

Again, feel free to leave some comments.

They say it's your birthday.....

Well, life for me has been a bit emotionally draining these past few weeks. I am curently behind in school and will be playing catch-up over Thanksgiving vacation.....so it will not be much of a vacation for me.
But in other EXCITING news....we here in Ft. Worth are gearing up to celebrate that wonderful INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY on NOVEMBER 18. My 26th birthday. To kick off the festivities, Meredith and Justin and Austin and I are going out to eat at Simply Fondue. I discovered the joy and goodness of fondue when I lived in Virginia with Deanna. Miss Paris herself introduced it to me and I have been in love ever since. I am looking forward to celebrating with three of my favorite folks on Thursday. Then, on Friday (the actual birthday), Austin is taking me to a place that is every 26 year old girl's dream (per my wishes)....the circus! I don't know why, but I have always gotten excited about the circus. Could it be the lions, the clowns, the cotton candy, or how about the flying trapeze family?!?! And to cap off my birthday weekend, on Saturday we will be hanging out at the house, eating lunch and playing games....we being Kim, Kim's beau, Meg, Michael, Austin, Jason, and maybe a few others. I am hoping to get a good game of Risk going. I have not played Risk since I left Zambia, so I hope my mad skills as a world dominator are not lost!! I might need to call my pals Mal and Chris for a little pep talk before the game begins. Ok, I must now go so I can get back to pretending to work on a paper.
Love to you all........

introducing....

I think everyone would benefit by going to www.thebufs.blogspot.com

Since my hoss of a paper is due in one week from now and I have yet to put the first word down on paper, I think it is the perfect time for an update! Life is not the funnest right now. School is about to get the best of me and I am lacking the motivation to work harder. At least one thing remains true, Austin is a great boyfriend. Last night we had a take-home test to finish in one hour and fifteen minutes. I will not go into detail about how I did, but I wil tell you that I spent nearly the next two hours sobbing. Austin knew I was pretty upset about it so he came to my house just to give me a hug!!! Awwww!!!! I will say that I felt much better when he left as opposed to how I felt before he got here. But I can do it, only about six more weeks of school left for this semester. And by the way, Louisiana Tech has a GREAT thing going on with the quarter system!!!!! Maybe I am just feeling overwhelmed since it is mid-term.
If anyone has any great theological insights on sin and suffering, let me know.

The oh-so-sweet boyfriend!!

Procrastination....Who, me??!!?!

Well, I think now is the perfect time for me to update. I say that because I am looking for any excuse to keep myself from writing a 15 page paper on suffering for one of my classes (who cares that it is only 35% of my grade and the grader for the class is an ex-marine who is so strict and not overly-friendly that my friend named him the "mean marine.")
I had wonderful intentions to spend my whole day in the library...Unfortunately, my follow-through was not as wonderful. The good news is I got to spend some quality time with Austin this afternoon. We went to Starbucks and used up the rest of our gift cards we had received.
Last night I visited the Bufkins (Mer and Justin). We did not do anything really except talk and eat at Chick-fil-la. It was so nice to sit back and be with good friends.
Last weekend was an eventful one. Austin's parents came into town. Saturday night we all went to the last Ranger's game of the season. But the exciting part of the weekend happened that afternoon. I went to get in my car at about 4:30 that afternoon and noticed that things were not right...it was obvious someone had been through my car. I took a quick survey of my car and everything was accounted for....except about 75 cents in change that was in the change holder. I made a quick decision not to file a police report since the windows were not broken and nothing was stolen. I was on my way to meet Austin and his parents for the baseball game and thought I would just deal with it at his house. I went to put my key in the ignition to start it and it would not go in. I looked at the key hole and saw that something had been done to it, preventing me from starting my car. So, now I call Austin and he comes over with his dad. I also call my parents and the police. His dad was able to fix the ignition problem by removing a piece of a metal file that was used to try to crank my car. Can you believe it?? Someone tried to steal Dave (the name of my car). Too bad for them that they did not know how tough he is and that he fights back!! Apparently when the file broke off, they cut their hand. When they realized they were not getting my car they decided to swipe my spare change. When they went to grab it they left their blood beside the change holder. When the policeman came, I showed him the blood and he called the CSI people!!!! Yes, I had CSI at my car. Actually, it was quite anti-climatic.
After the drama of the attempted Dave theft, Austin's mom and I made our way to the ballpark to meet up with the Perry men. After the ballgame there was a spectacular fireworks display to Beetles music. It was about 20 minutes long and I loved every minute of it! It really made me want to go see the Christmas lights in Natchitoches this year.
Well, I have succeeded in putting off my paper for the last 30 minutes. I suppose now I can resume with my studies.......

A year ago....

Well it has been one year since I left Zambia and arrived back in the States. It is frightening to think about how time can quickly pass you by. However, it has only been in the last few weeks that I have come to miss Zambia and the friends and life I had there.
Since being back in America:
*I have lived in Richmond, Va.
*I have only been with my parents for about 2 of the past 12 months.
*Been reunited with many friends.
*Yet to see many friends.
*Moved to Fort Worth.
*Started seminary for a masters in family and marriage counseling.
*I have learned what it means to be broke.
*Been able to experience the joy, blessing, love, generousity, and selflessness of parents to their children!
*Three months ago started dating a really cute, really tall, and really sweet boy(whom I miss right now b/c he went home for a visit).
*The President of Zambia came to know Jesus Christ as his savior.
*Got to live near Stephanie and Tommy.
*I have been able to spend some great quality time with Austin.
*Got to see many dear friends that I worked with in Zambia.
*I spent 6 weeks with Paige! I love that lambchop.
*Worked at MLC and confirmed that I was not made for an office job and my spirtual gift is not service.
*I met Deanna and she has become a close friend. For some reason she put up with me for 8 months and would even feed me!
*I have been blessed enough to move to a place where I am surrounded by close friends, including my bff Meredith.
*I get to live with a great friend that I have known since jr. high, Kim (www.kimbolina.blogspot.com). I am not sure if she finds my slacker ways as endearing as Deanna did, but we have fun nonetheless.
*I have discovered the joy of a cell phone and text messaging.
*Recently been overwhelmed by school and the amount of reading, work, and studying I will be doing for the next 4 months.


To be continued....

Is he the best or what??!!?!?!

So yesterday (Tuesday) turned out to be a great day even though it started out pretty rough. This has been my second week at my new job as a nanny. I like it so far but now the kids are starting to test me and their boundaries (too bad for them I have little toleration for disrespect). Yesterday I worked from 8-6 and had trouble the entire day with one of the kids. When I got home I was tired and just wanted to relax. Fortunately for me I have a sweet boyfriend. Austin had planned a little date for us and when I got to his house he met me at the door with a dozen pink roses! Then he took me to a place that overlooked the river and we ate strawberries and he read to me. It was really nice and a great way to end my day from all the craziness I had endured earlier. As if that was not enough, he placed little surprises for me to find throughout the house. The surprises were things he knew were my favorites (like Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream). Why can't more days end like that!

August 1...really?? How does time go so fast? At the end of this month I will have been back from Zambia for one year? Hard to believe.
So Kim and I are all moved into our apartment and I have already registered for my fall classes. The only thing left is to find a job, and asap! I already have one but it does not start for a couple more weeks.
It has been a truly great couple of days for me. Last night I hung out with my usual group of friends but there was a new addition...a long lost friend from the college days, Jay Whittington. That boy is funny and it is always fun when he is around. I especially like to watch when he, Michael, and Austin are all together...nothing but laughs.
Today I got to talk to Mal and Chris (pals I worked with and lived beside in Zambia). They are in New Orleans at seminary. I miss those guys! They were great friends to me the last two years. They are each married now and all grown up. But I wonder if their wives know that they like to get manicures and do facials?!?!?! Good times and great memories!
I love my friends....


Me and Kimmie

So after spending time in Arkansas and Louisiana, I am now living in Fort Worth, Texas. I have been here a little over 2 weeks and I am enjoying it tremendously so far. Since being here I have been to the Japanese Botanical Gardns, eaten sushi, attended a Texas Rangers game, had a crawfish boil, and went to the museum. It really has been a great time! Although, I will say, that I had some great company for all of those outings.
Being in Fort Worth is almost like being back in college. So many people I knew from Louisiana Tech are in the DFW area.
In case anyone is curious, I am putting a picture on here of me and my date at the botanical gardens last week.


Austin and Ashley (dating for one month now...)

I left Va last Wednesday at 4:40am. I drove for 14 hours and I finally arrived in Little rock sometime around 6:30pm. I was dang tired, especially since I was unable to sleep the night before I left. Maybe I was too excited to sleep. All I know is I practically had to have a caffeine IV hooked up to me that morning.
It was bittersweet to leave Richmond. I miss the girls of quad 32 and Deanna taking care of me like she is my mother. The Tuesday night before I left the girls had planned something for me. We did a progressive supper of some of our favorite restaurants. It was really sweet of them. And for dessert, the multi-talented Deanna, made chocolate fondue for me....the first time I had ever had it and she even gave me my very own chocolate fondue pot...how sweet is she!
I have had a great time in Arkansas. You should email me and ask me about it. I have seen family, friends, BB King, and the Black Crowes. I even left little rock with a great souvenir!
Right now I am at my grandparents house in Heber Springs, Ar. I will be here for several days before going to my parents house in Louisiana. I will be at my parents house until I move to Fort Worth, Tx. in a few weeks.
That's all for now because my eyelids are starting to get heavy. Oh, Steph, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I have not forgotten that I need to write about the great adventure we had in Gether!

Your Inner European is Spanish!

Energetic and lively. You bring the party with you!

Who's" Your Inner European?

ASHLEYBROOKESHOWARD
A	is for	Active
S	is for	Sweet
H	is for	Honest
L	is for	Likeable
E	is for	Energetic
Y	is for	Yummy
B	is for	Brainy
R	is for	Responsible
O	is for	Overwhelming
O	is for	Outrageous
K	is for	Keen
E	is for	Enthusiastic
S	is for	Serious
H	is for	Happy
O	is for	Orderly
W	is for	Worldly
A	is for	Alluring
R	is for	Radiant
D	is for	Dreamy

What Does Your Name Mean?

Your #1 Match: INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world.Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close.But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

Your #2 Match: ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends.You are also unconventional, irreverant, and unimpressed by authority and rules.Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives.You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're qutie the storyteller! You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist.

What's" Your Personality Type?

American Cities That Best Fit You:

75% Austin

60% Atlanta

60% Denver

50% Honolulu

50% Miami

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

Your Linguistic Profile:

45% Dixie

45% General American English

5% Midwestern

5% Yankee

0% Upper Midwestern

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/amenglishdialecttest/">What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

An important event took place not long ago and I would like to share it with you....


By Shawn HendricksLUSAKA, Zambia (BP)--

The president of Zambia recently acknowledged his faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized in a public service, Southern Baptist missionaries report.A crowd clapped and cheered as President Levy Mwanawasa (mwah-nah-WAH-sah) rose from the water in an outdoor baptistery behind a Baptist seminary chapel building in Lusaka, Zambia's capital. The event drew hundreds of people, including public officials, leaders and pastors from the area and neighboring countries."This baptism was an incredible occasion for the Baptist witness to many people who we have not had in church before," said Troy Lewis, a Southern Baptist missionary in the southern African nation of more than 10 million people. "They heard the gospel of Jesus Christ." On the day of his baptism, Mwanawasa shared his spiritual journey before a packed chapel service. He told listeners he had been "struck" by Jesus -- similar to the Apostle Paul's experience on the road to Damascus. Mwanawasa, a successful lawyer and former vice president, took office in 2002. Respected for his reputation for honesty, he was known as "Mr. Integrity" even by his political opponents before his election. Now in his mid-50s, he survived a near-fatal car accident in 1992 but insists he is in excellent health. Mwanawasa remembers attending a Baptist school as a boy, but his relationship with Christ began to transform when he started attending Twin Palm Baptist Church in Lusaka in 2003. The small church meets at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Zambia in Lusaka.As he came week after week with his "entourage," the church tried to maintain business as usual -- but it wasn't easy. "All of us here were immensely excited about this," Lewis said. "Our excitement and prayers increased when he returned to church again and kept coming whenever he was in the country."The president began asking questions about the Christian faith and how he could join the church. Church members answered his questions and ministered to him during difficult times. After Mwanawasa began attending the church, his mother died from injuries caused by a fire. He also lost his two brothers. One died unexpectedly of illness; the other was murdered. Mwanawasa soon shared how Christ had moved in his life -- and that he wanted to be baptized. Franklin Kilpatrick, missionary in Zambia for 35 years, helped disciple Mwanawasa during this process. Kilpatrick and his wife, Paula, are members of Twin Palm Baptist Church."The impact is not just in Zambia; this could have an impact on an international level," said Kilpatrick, who is temporarily on U.S. assignment. "He could impact a lot of leaders. He is in a position of influence, and people need encouragement."The Kilpatricks were originally concerned about drawing too much attention to the event. Local missionaries tried to remain low-key about Mwanawasa's decision. But the news quickly spread all over Zambia -- and to other parts of the world. Others have commented on how the president's life has changed. He already has invited friends and leaders from around the world to attend church with him.Paula Kilpatrick is excited about what God has planned for the future. "We feel like the story is not over," she said.The president is just one of many spiritual success stories in Zambia. Last year, 116 Baptist churches were started, bringing the total number of churches to 985 -- plus 124 mission congregations. Some missionaries believe Mwanawasa's baptism is an exclamation point on what God is beginning to do in the country. Lewis encouraged Mwanawasa during a celebration lunch at the statehouse after his baptism. "I shared with him that we had been praying for him after he came into office, that Zambia would have a leader who had Jesus as his Lord," Lewis said. "And in him coming to Christ and being baptized, God had answered our prayers. "I told him that we praise God -- and will pray for him to continue to be a president who sees leadership as serving the people rather than lording it over them."

For more details and pictures search www.imb.org.

I finally had a weekend that consisted of more than MLC and lounging on the couch. Friday night I spent nearly 4 hours at Chile's with 3 other friends talking and laughing. We were killing time until our movie that started at 10:15. Deanna and I watched "A lot like love." We thorougly enjoyed it and talked about it the whole way home that night.

On Saturday I met up with Tommy and Stephanie and we drove to Williamsburg, Va.

We ate lunch with her brother and then walked around the free part of colonial Williamsburg. We visited a super-old church that George Washinton, Thomas Jefferson, and many others attended. They had assigned seating back then so we got to see their pews. Not surprising that Washington had the front pew. There was even a fancy throne-type seat in the church that was saved for whichever British high-up that was in visiting. But now that seat is strictly reserved for the Govenor of Virginia only. Too bad I did not take my camera with me to Williamsburg!

Also while in Williamsburg we stopped by the William and Mary Barnes and Noble bookstore. Me, Tommy, and Stephanie all bought W&M hats. Tommy and I only slightly felt like traitors to LA Tech.

After the bookstore Steph took us on a mini-tour of W&M campus and showed us where she spent most of her college days....what a nerd, she spent most of her time in the chemistry lab (when she wasn't in the pool for swim team, of course). What a concept...studying in college....or studying at all!

When we got back to Richmond we hung out at Tommy and Steph's for a while before we went to the movies later that night to watch "Sahara." It was actually pretty good, a lot better than I was expecting.

It was a good weekend! I will miss the Knighten's when I leave Va (insert really sad face here).

Speaking of leaving Virginia...I do that in one month from today on May 25.........

I had a friend email me asking me to write an update....the problem with writing an update is there is little to update on, unless you are interested in how many times a week I go to Wal-mart or what tv show currently has me hooked. Regardless of how uninteresting I am, here goes an update....

Another week down and less than six weeks until I leave Richmond. I am very eager to get to Texas!
So it is yet another Saturday with nothing to do. Or maybe it is another Saturday with no motivation to do anything.
I went to DC this week with Paige and Deanna. Deanna was flying out of Dulles for a trip home and so Paige and I "volunteered" to take her to the airport. But we did not so much mind taking her because we got to go shopping all day before dropping her off at the airport.
As I am typing this I am listening to Jimmy Buffett and James Taylor. The result--it makes me wish I were on the beach.
Well, that is all I can stand to type for now...this music is making me get cabin fever and I am gonna head outside for a while. Stay tuned........

Paige and I at Deanna's birthday party. Paige and I met in Zambia.

So I took a personality test online, here is a "trait snapshot" of me...

messy, disorganized, not rule conscious, rebellious, rash, weird, ambivalent about chaos, likes bizarre things, anti-authority, not good at saving money, not a perfectionist, leaves many things unfinished, low self control, strange, desires more attention, romantic daydreamer, abstract, impractical, unproductive, leisurely, likes the unknown

I have to say that not all of those are exactly positive but for the most part it is accurate. I do not really sound like the kind of employee an employer would hire...or the type of student that a seminary would accept. Thank goodness "diversity" and "uniqueness" are good things.

World Water Day

Go here and click
http://www.aquaplastics.org/

my roomie, Deanna


AT LEAST once a day people ask if we are sisters, some even go so far as to ask if we are twins. I mean, we even get stopped in Wal-Mart and the mall!! We don't really see it. We are guessing it is the Irish blood in us. I have gotten to the point that I say yes when people ask b/c it is easier.


me and Karen getting ready to clean...and all decked out in green

This weekend was pretty uneventful. So much so that we volunteered our services to help our friend Jonathan clean his house. Yeah, cleaning!?!??! Obviously that was not my idea. And we went to help him out because he bought this house in November and bless his heart it is like the movie "The Money Pit." I swept up dustpan's full of sawdust and nails...in the kitchen alone!
But it was a nice trade off, he cooked supper for us in return.

Was it just a Howard thing??

Yesterday I went with my roomie, Deanna, to Norfolk, Va. She had a job interview and I had the day off.
So to get to Norfolk you must drive through a 2 to 3 mile long tunnel. I got very excited when Deanna informed me of our imminent adventure...I was all smiles and giggles (imagine that). When we entered the tunnel I immediately rolled down my window, stuck my head out, and screamed at the top of my lungs. When I came back inside the automobile Deanna had a perplexing look on her face and asked me what in the world did I just do. "Are you serious?" was my reply. I thought everyone knew the tunnel rule...which is when passing through a tunnel one must yell, honk the horn, or make as much noise as possible.
She had truly never heard of such nor had she ever taken part. I was shocked! I proceeded to tell her how when we were growing up and traveling with our parents and we encountered a tunnel, my dad would always roll our windows down and we would cram our heads out the window and shout at the top of our lungs....and all the while, my dad would be honking the horn and yelling out his window while my mom would cover her ears and watch nervously from the front seat making sure that we did not fall out the window. Ahhh, good times road tripping with the Howard's in our Pontiac station wagon!
The more I think about the tunnel rule I am realizing that it did not only apply to driving. I remember growing up on Lake Providence and going fishing with my family. There was one tunnel inparticular that you could go through in your boat that went under a road. This tunnel was always a highlight in our fishing experience because everytime we went through it we got to yell and holler and scare away all the fish.
So really, was this just a weirdo Howard thing or did anyone else abide by the tunnel rule when they were growing up? Either way it doesn't matter because I plan to carry on the tradition.

Better than the playground at McDonald's...

Since it is my weekend to work, I am unable to leave campus. I can do anything I want, but I just can't leave . And what does this "campus" look like you ask....well, it is actually quite nice and out in the middle of nowhere on 260 acres of Virginia countryside. It is a conference center so it has a fully equiped kitchen/cafeteria, a library, computer lab, an auditorium to hold over 500 people, numerous classrooms, quads (like a house, but is divided into 4 separate apartments that can hold 4 people in each apartment), dorms, a soccer field, sand volleyball court, a river, a gym (the basketball court kind, not work out) several playgrounds, a barn and silo, a lake, a gazebo by the lake, and a globe shaped water fountain.....and I have access to the golf cart.
So, as you can see I have a lot of room to roam and this weekend has been quite nice. Saturday there were people still on campus but now today (Sunday) they are all gone and I am the only soul on campus...my roomate, Deanna, is on vacation and Jeremy is out with friends from church. It has been a wonderful day! Today I slept in, swang on the swingset, went for a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive in the golf cart, raided the kitchen for some cashews and a Pepsi, made some salsa, listened to just about every Jack Johnson song ever recorded, washed some clothes, walked down to the river, and am seriously contemplating doing pilates via the movie screen in the huge meeting room.
Speaking of Jack Johnson....man, do I like him a lot! Did anyone catch him on SNL last night? He was quite fabulous and on one of his songs G. Love performed with him...it put me in a good mood at 12:45AM! And G. Love......I have a little crush on him......along with Jack, John Mayer, Steven Tyler, and the Maroon 5 guy....actually that list could go on and on. But I think G. Love is the front runner as of last night b/c he was on the harmonica and I am a sucker for that musical instrument for some reason.....except I will say that John Popper from Blues Traveler does NOT do it for me.

Hmmm, I wonder which one of these would make the best match for Ashley???

Let's take a vote....

G. Love

Jack Johnson

John Mayer

Steven Tyler

Adam Levine (Maroon 5)

John Popper....Sorry, nothing personal

Now that I have revamped the website, there is a comments section. So leave a comment or two...you know you want to!

So today is Friday. Normally I would be excited about the weekend but this weekend is an exception because I have to work on Saturday and Sunday from 7am-11pm....yuck. But the plus side is I get Monday and Tuesday off...yippee!
I hate to admit it but I have become hooked on several tv shows. Some of my favorites are Alias (I think every girl secretly desires to be Sidney Bristow), American Idol, Survivor, and The Amazing race. Is it strange that all but one of those shows is a reality show? What is it with reality tv? Why is it so addicting? I mean, the shows themselves are not that outstanding so how come they can suck me in so easily and captivate my interest?
Oh, another show I catch myself scheduling around is Oprah. Seventeen years strong and she still has an ever-growing, faithful following. Now I certainly don't buy into her new-age, many roads to God, remember your spirit theology but the woman really does do and has done some amazing things. Granted, she has the money to do amazing things, but so does Donald Trump and yet I do not hear of him fully supporting orphans in South Africa or building a Boys and Girls Club in Mississippi, or throwing a baby shower for over 600 expectant mothers whose husbands are fighting in Iraq. And besides, her show is the only one on when I get home from work.

So, I changed the color scheme a bit. We will see how long it lasts.

I think it is time to update the look. Expect changes coming soon...not that anyone still reads this or that I even write often......

So what in the world is the deal with the weather in Virginia??? Yestersday it was in the 70's and the sun felt so good on your skin....I even thought to myself that if I were the kind of person who liked to lay out then yesterday would have been a great opportunity. So this moring I woke up to a dark, rainy day. I thought the rain and chilly temperature was enough of a contrast....and then came the SNOW! Yes, that is right, snow. I was sitting at work and looked out the window and saw nothing but white snowflakes being furiously blown about by the wind.

Unfortunately (or maybe luckily), drastic weather changes is about the most excitement I am seeing these days. I think people should come visit me here. I promise to make it worth your while. Oh, my dad had a birthday last week, so that is note-worthy news.

Happy Birthday, daddy!

Not a lot to report from Richmond. Although yesterday was exciting because it started snowing! It snowed hard enough that the ground was blanketed in about 45 minutes. The only bad part is it was too powdery and a lot of it blew off the ground by 5pm....so we did not get to sled down the hills. But the good news is it is supposed to snow some more this weekend. MLC is a great place to be snowed in...you are snowed in with other people to play with, there are many hills to sled down, an endless food supply, and a roommate who has a chick-flick friendly video/dvd library.

On Tuesday I flew back home to La. I was met at the airport by my mom, cousin, and two friends, Kristin and Kim....good times!
The weather here has been pretty yuck since being home...sleet, ice, rain. Today we braved the treacherous conditions and joined all the other hard-headed holiday travelers on the road. We were bound and determined to make it to my grandparents house in Heber Springs, Arkansas. In some areas the roads were completely iced over and many cars were in the ditches. I was so nervous sitting in the back behind the drivers seat. It took us 8 hours for a trip that is usually only 5. I spent most of those 8 hours playing with the gum that I was chewing by wrapping it around my finger and biting it....yeah so my finger is nothing but a bone now. At one point my brother looked at me and said if I was trying to get rid of my finger, he had a pocketknife that would make it go a lot faster. Well, we are here and we made it safely.
So right now I am sitting in my grandparents den typing away while my grandpa (he and I are the only ones still awake...it is not even 8:30pm!) is sitting in his recliner watching "Pet Star" hosted by Mario Lopez (yes, AC Slater himself!) on Animal Planet. A pony just did some trick and the judges gave him a ten.
I always like being here at my grandparents house.
UPDATE: a cute, toothless, little redheaded boy is on "Pet Star" with his bird and they are about to sing some MoTown....should be interesting.........oh shame, the bird totally sold the little boy out and did not perform. I am embarrassed for him. Good thing the judges threw out the mercy score and gave him a high score for his effort.
Well, I guess I am gonna join my grandpa in front of the tv and watch the conclusion of "Pet Star."

So it is Christmas time again. Truly, where does the time go.
So it has been 3 and a half months since I returned to the states. I wonder if a day will ever come that I do not measure time according to when I was overseas.

Today is Friday and I am thankful for that, although I do not have a big weekend planned. I am guessing that I will be spending most of my weekend preparing to go home for the holidays. This will entail washing clothes, taking out trash, and cleaning the bathroom. Actually, all that won't take but a good 30 minutes so I guess I should look for some social outlets to fill my time. Last weekend I went on the mother of all road trips. I went to New York City and back in 24 hours!!! Crystal (a new friend that I will discuss later, and a former jman), Deanna (my quadmate and other jman here doing the same job as me), Jeremy (another jman doing my same job, yes it takes 3 of us!), and myself left Richmond at 1:42 am Saturday morning and drove 6 hours to New York. At about 8am Saturday morning we were driving past Times Square! It was so amazing. We all pretty much decided to go on a whim. It all started b/c Deanna watched a movie set in NYC at Christmas time and threw out the idea that we should go. At first we decided it was a great idea but was just not possible. So Friday morning at work we all talked it over once more and decided to go for it. We definitely did not lolly-gag in our 24 hour experience. In our trip we managed to see Lower Manhattan...Times square..5th avenue...St. Patrick's cathedral...Rockefeller center...Radio city music hall...Staten island...Brooklyn bridge...Statue of liberty...Empire state building...WTC site...and an accidental train ride to Brooklyn, which was ok b/c we got to see the Brooklyn Bridge!! It was truly a great day and I spent many minutes on the phone with my sister telling her, "Oh my goodness, Brandi, you won't believe this, there is the............."
This trip to NY was more for the tourist aspect. Next time will be more for culture...Broadway musicals, museums, partying with celebrities, etc!!
I love living 6 hours from NYC, 2 hours from DC, 2 hours from the beach, and 2 hours from the mountains!! Now if we can just get some proper sweet tea, gumbo (and all the other fabulous Cajun dishes(crawfish included)), and Louisiana friends and family up here life will be perfect!

Well, after a two day ordeal I finally flew into Richmond, Virginia today. It was harder to get from Louisiana to Virginia than it was to get to Zambia! It was frustrating, but I rather enjoyed my stay in Atlanta courtesy of Delta Airways. I saw Stephanie and Tommy (both journeymen in Zambia) first thing and ate lunch with them. We had a good time talking and laughing about our time together in Zambia.
There are two other journeymen here at MLC doing my same job so today I went around with them and got acquainted. They seem to stay pretty busy. Tomorrow is when I will begin doing whatever it is that I will be doing. I think it is going to be weird living and working at MLC. Now I have power and responsibilities, I am not here just going through orientation. I even get to drive the golf cart around campus!
Tomorrow my friend from college arrives here for orientation andI am so excited to see her! That is definitely one perk of this job, I get to see some of my friends when they come through here.
Maybe one day when my life here settles down I can start posting pictures again. I just have not had a lot of time to take pictures since being back. Well, that's all for now....

This post is coming at you from the Franklin Parish library in Winnsboro, Louisiana! Yes, that is right, Winnsboro and not Ruston. Since being gone my parents moved to Winnsboro so now that is where yours truly will be residing for the next couple of weeks. I have been home almost a month now and it already feels like a lifetime ago that I was calling Zambia home. Since being back I have done some traveling in the Little Rock and Dallas area visiting family. I have also gotten to see a few friends along the way. I have been so busy I have not had a lot of time to even think. In fact, I have not even unpacked my 4 pieces of luggage that I brought home with me from Africa.
So the other big news besides me being back in the states is that I am moving to Virginia in 2 weeks. I will be extending my term as a journeyman and will be working at the place I went to for 6 weeks for orientation before I left the states. I am pretty excited about it. I will be there for at least 6 months and possibly up to a year. So if you are ever in the Richmond area, give me a call!

Ode to Kelley Grace and Jackson....

At the beginning of August I took a road trip to Malawi to visit the Boersma's, friends from home who are missionaries in Lilongwe. I have known them for several years and I was even Kelley Grace's first babysitter. I visited with them for 3 days and they showed me all the hot spots in Lilongwe. It was nice to see them again and talk about not only African living but life in Ruston as well. So, without further ado(Brandi and Amy), here are my pictures of Kelley Grace and Jackson.


They just love one another


Silly Kelley Grace



Jackson in the sandbox



Our supper of hamburgers and strawberries



Kelley Grace looking sweet



Jackson, with mustard on his face, showing me how long his tounge is




Their scary faces...in the words of their father, "They ain't right."



Jackson at riding lessons



Kelley Grace cantering


And this concludes my ode to the Boersma children.

I just recently got back from Zimbabwe. We went down there for our annual mission meeting. I wish I could say I had a blast but it was actually quite boring. All we did was sit in the most uncomfortable chairs imaginable for 8 hours a day listening to some really long-winded people talk about issues that did not or will not affect me. But no worries, I did pretend to be very interested in the issues at hand and even asked a question or two during one of our meetings.
This was my last time to see Victoria Falls (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world)...probably the last time in my life. I have seen Vic Falls about 4 or 5 times, I can't remember. And every time I see it, it is still an awesome sight. Too bad no one took advantage of my being here for these last two years...I could have driven you down to Livingstone to see it (and not to mention game drives and other fun african adventures!).
Tomorrow I am traveling to Malawi for the week. This is going to be a great time for sure! I am going to vistit some great friends from Ruston, La, who are missionaries there. Most people reading this will probably know who I am talking about...the Boersma's! I have known the Boersma's for 6 years. I started babysitting for them the summer after I graduated from high school. Kelley Grace, their oldest, was only 6 months old. The Boersma's have been back in Lilongwe since December. I have been trying for months to work out a trip to see them and it is finally happening, yippee!! I should return back to Lusaka on Saturday, August 7.
When I get back from Malawi, I will only have 17 more days till I fly home! WOW!
I will be spending that time packing up and moving out of my house and into the guesthouse at the mission. There is much to be done before leaving here on the 24th. I have a list a mile long of loose ends to take care of. How can it be that it is all almost over?? The time now is coming like a freight train!

And once again my gift of procrastination rears it's ugly head. I currently have about 6 must-do items on my to-do list for the day. Instead of getting busy and completing those tasks, here I am posting unimportant information for people to read. I got this email forward from Melissa Knobloch (known as "snobs" from here on out). It is about "knowing your friends." Why do I always feel compelled to fill these things out? I think I do one once a year. Instead of forwarding this on to others like the instructions say, I am just going to post it here for your reading pleasure. Love ya, Snobs!

 

1. What time do you get up? 
8:00am

2. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who wouldit be?  
Julia Roberts, I think she and I could be really good friends. But if she is busy I'd opt for Nelson Mandela.
 
3. Gold or silver?
Silver

4. What was the last film you saw at the movies? 

SpiderMan 2

5. What is your favorite TV show? 
Alias...we get the show taped in the US and imported to us

6. What did you have for breakfast?  
toast and eggs

7. Who would you hate to be stuck in a room with?
I cannot say for fear that they could be reading this. 

 
8. What/who inspires you? 
Not to sound all super holy, but I'd say the book of Romans. 
 
9. What is your middle name? 
Brookes

10. Beach, City or Country?
 this fair skinned, red headed girl is gonna have to say the country, preferably the mountains
 
11. Favorite ice cream?
 new york stawberry cheesecake by the dreamery or ben and jerry's cherry garcia.....mmmmmm, i can have that again in 42 days!

12. Butter, plain or salted popcorn?
 butter
 
13. Favorite color? 
blue
 
14. What kind of car do you drive? 
thanks to Lottie Moon, I am currently driving a really nice dark green toyota corolla
 
15. Favorite sandwich? 
grilled cheese made with velveeta chesse
 
16. Favorite Sunday or daily comic strip? 
i like that blondie & of course the peanuts
 
17. What is in your CD player?
a mixed cd that a great friend gave me! she even titled the cd "bush boogie"

 18. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation,where would you go? 
New Zealand, but can i bring a friend?
 
19. What color is your bathroom?
  grey stone tile, both floor and walls

 
20. Favorite brand of clothing?
for the past two years it has been anything that volunteers leave here when they go back to the states.
 
 21. Where would you retire to?
somewhere in the south. I want to be the lady who sits in a rocking chair on a big wrap around porch, wearing big funny hats, who has lots of cats and gives cookies out to all the neighborhood children who plays in my yard.
 
 23. What did you do for last birthday? 
I taught a class, hung out with Paige, and the ladies here took me out to tea.
 
24. Where were you born? 
Vicksburg, Mississippi

25. Favorite sport to watch? 
american football, but i have come to find out that the other sport known as football has lots of very attractive players
 
26. What fabric detergent do you use?
Omo....doubt anyone has heard of it

27. Coke or Pepsi?
coke

28.  Are you a morning person or a night owl? 
night owl

29. What is your shoe size? 
anything from an 8 to a 9

30. Do you have any pets?
why yes I do and in 5 weeks they could be yours!! any takers?

Last night I had the mother of all sleepovers. Three lovely young ladies spent the night with me.  Me, Meredith Davis (8 yrs), Peyton Davis (5 yrs), and Rebekah Neely (8 yrs) played dress up and did all kinds of girly things to our hearts content. When the girls left my house today, their faces were stained pink from all the blush and lipstick they kept applying over the past 24 hours. During our girl fest we were also able to squeeze in a couple of movies, The Cat in the Hat, and The Lion King 1½.  Sorry I don’t have pictures for this. I was busy popping popcorn, applying eye shadow, and telling the girls to not squeal so loudly. This whole experience made me admire my parents even more!
 
On Monday we are headed down to Zimbabwe for our annual mission meeting. It is crazy how fast the time is flying! July is already more than half over. How in the world did that happen? While in Zimbabwe I will be attending meetings and struggling to stay awake during them. I will also try to muster up the courage to bungee jump. I never even gave it a second thought last year; there was no way I was going to do it. Although I think this year if someone twisted my arm hard enough I could be easily swayed.
 
I am currently working on a power point presentation about my two years in Zambia. I have yet to choose a song to play in the background, there are too many to choose from. Anyone have any suggestions? If so, please send all suggestions to ahoward@zamnet.zm.  My next dilemma with the power point is God has done more work IN me these past years than through me. How do you present that in a nice and tidy 4 minute presentation? Recently I have been looking through old pictures of mine. As I look at these pictures all I can think about is how different I am now….but praise God for the difference! What a shame it would be if I went home the same way I came. But just to ease your minds, I am indeed still as silly and laughy (is that a word?) and klutzy as ever. 

 *A side note-  My wonderful friends Tommy and Stephanie Knighten sent me a package, yippee!! And in the package was a huge plastic bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans. I mean, wow, how great! I really do enjoy Jelly Belly jelly beans. But let’s get serious for a minute….is there really anything more disgusting than the buttered popcorn flavored Jelly Belly?? In the immortal words of my dear friend Amy Wilson, “C’mon, get real!”

For several weeks now I have been pretty busy helping out with volunteer teams that come from the states for a couple of weeks for a mission trip. Many teams have already come and gone. Not only are we in winter here in Zambia but we are also in what the missionaries call "volunteer season". Yes, it has been tiring at times but I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
This past week I have been helping out the Neely's with a team that came from their home church in the states, First Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina. They held a medical clinic in two villages. Besides rashes and other fungal ailments I'd say the most common problem they saw was women who were experiencing back pain. It really isn't much of a wonder considering that the women here are the ones who do all the hard labor. A typical village scene is a woman who has a baby on her back while carrying water with one arm, using her free hand to hold the hand of another child who is able to walk, all while balancing firewood on her head. I mean these women are seriously strong (and have super buff arms!). The sad thing is these people don't have the access to medicines such as Tylenol. And even if they did, there is no way they could afford it. For 16 tablets of panadol (Tylenol here) it costs $9! And $9 is about 4 days of work for the people out there. See where I am going with this?? So think about how privileged you are the next time you pop a couple of pain relievers for a head ache.
Tomorrow (Monday) we are gonna be going to House of Moses with the nurses on the team. That should be a lot of fun, hopefully I will have a lot of pictures of that.
Today we took the team out to a bush church. I think that was my last Zambian bush church experience. I was looking at the calendar and every other Sunday is going to be busy doing other things. The bright side is that the church we went to was a good one to end on. I had a great time there and was actually able to worship and not feel like I was on display for all to stare at.

After church we took the team to a really good Indian restaurant in town. As I was sitting there eating I could not help but think of some of my friends from Tech, Regin, Benjamin, and Suv. They are from India and were kind enough to invite me over to their house a couple of times to eat. Man, those are good memories! I wonder if they ever read this website? In case they do, thanks guys for your hospitality!
Actually today I strolled down memory lane for quite a while. I could not help but think about many of my friends from college. Just this week I have heard from many friends out of the blue. Every letter, email, package, picture, or even instant message I received from these folks made me giddy! It made me excited to see them again and to catch up on what is happening in their lives. Speaking of friends....am I going to have any in Ruston? I believe most people have moved from the promised land and gone to seek adventures elsewhere. That is a bummer for me. Everyone else is off being a grown up. Actually, now that I think about it, I will have one friend in town. She will be returning back to Ruston from a distant land about the same time I will.

Well this is starting to turn into a ramble.
And just so you know, I have been sitting here writing this while listening to Billy Joel...good times for sure!

*I hope to have some pictures of the Neely team up soon.

And then there were…….


And then there were four. Alan left last week for the States leaving me, Jill, David, and Mallory in Zambia.




Then a few days later Jill and David left leaving me and Mal……And then there were two.

Well, today Chris came back to Zambia!!!!!!! Yes, that is right, the new poster boy for journeymen at the IMB, who would most likely grace the cover of The Commission magazine if it were still in print, is back in Zambia!!!!
And then there were three!!!

Chris is back….and it is great! It was never even a thought in anyone’s head that he would come back to Zambia. The guy got sent home in February to have stinking heart surgery. Everyone is pretty amazed at all the circumstances that GOD has orchestrated. It has been very surreal to see him again, but very awesome nonetheless.

Funny story (but maybe also a “you had to be there” story.)……

Tonight we (me, Mal, and Chris) went to the movies to see Spider Man 2 (which I liked very much). So as we are walking into our row of seats we encounter something slippery on the floor and tell each other to be careful not to slip. So our three seats (you are assigned seats at the movies here) are the ones that the slippery stuff is in front of. We sit down and Chris immediately says, “Man, something stinks. It smells like throw up.” So we all start taking in big sniffs to see if we concur with him. Well, we definitely concurred. Then Mal says, “ Oh my gosh, I think it is that slippery stuff.” (I am dying out laughing hysterically at this point and am unable to get a word out.) So Chris goes in for a closer look at the unknown substance and was able to verify that the mystery stuff was indeed puke. By this time we are all in unbelief and laughing uncontrollably. Now the theater was VERY warm b/c they did not have any a/c or air circulating and also the whole cinema was packed out…..which only made the stench stronger b/c of the heat . At this point the trigger to my gag reflex was getting very sensitive and I was afraid I was gonna spew myself, but luckily I did not. Chris did wind up telling an usher and eventually he came to clean it up. Unfortunately there is no Lysol in Zambia.
So the moral of the story: Even vomit can be funny.