Left my heart in El Salvador...a long overdue blog post

A few months back I caught a flight to El Salvador, a long overdue trip that was initially derailed by a volcano.  Thankfully, I got to see this trip through and it's just one I won't ever forget...or take for granted.

El Sal isn't a vacation destination and so it makes sense that many of you may never think of it as a place you wish to visit, but if the opportunity to serve ever presents itself please take it.

It's hard to sum the experience up, but between the loving, beautiful culture and community, to the people I served, it left me speechless.  Never in my life had I felt that at ease, that content, that faithful.  I left family behind in El Sal, there's a little girl there named Kimberly that I left my heart with, I pray every Sunday for the country...I could go on.

I learned that it's important to be present and open in life.  It felt great to unplug and leave day to day distractions behind.  I soaked in the culture, the people, the faith.  I soaked in their love until it filled me up and I couldn't take it anymore.

I honest didn't think I was going to leave and it absolutely broke my heart when I did.  But I'll be back someday.  In the meantime, I read my travel journal often, look at my photos almost daily, and keep all of it so close to my heart.

I did my best to not take pictures of the people I served at the soup kitchen because that didn't seem right, but below please find some pictures of my teammates, a few people we met along the way that matter a lot to me, and just the gorgeous country <3

 The back of the truck is a common mode of transportation in El Sal.  One of the days we were there the women who we served with at the soup kitchen took us for a ride and one of the best days of my life ensued.  We hiked to the top of a mountain, had fresh coconuts opened with a machete, had the best meals of our lives and just spent it in good company.  

 These pictures are a bit out of order, but this was our last day overlooking the unbelievable view from our camp.

 I'm hysterically crying in this photo and very glad that you can't tell!

 Stations of the Cross in sand!

 Represents no violence against women

What does Christmas mean to you?

It's hard to sum up what Christmas means to me.  It's of course about Jesus and faith but it's also about family and love.  There is so much magic this time of year and I can hardly contain my excitement!  Here are a few of my favorite quotes about Christmas:

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." - Charles Dickens

"My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others.  Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?" - Bob Hope

"Christmas, children, is not a date.  It is a state of mind." - Mary Ellen Chase

 "Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." - Norman Vincent Peale

"And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forest and mountains and oceans--and all that live and move upon them.  He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused--and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself." - Sigrid Undset

How gorgeous is this little Nativity set up?  We have a beautiful Nativity set that my mother had saved and bought my great grandmother when she was 18.  I'd like to save and do the same for my momma next year!

What does Christmas mean to you?  

Just a note: I'll be back after Christmas!  I hope you all have a blessed holiday and I look forward to continuing this lovely relationship with all of you in the New Year!  Thank you all so so much for reading From Scratch.  It means the world to me :)

Just stopping by!

Just wanted to pop in and share this picture today!  In April I converted and received full communion in the Catholic Church and I owe it all to the curly-haired guy in the picture.  Watching  him and seeing how important his faith is to him throughout the course of our relationship was so inspirational.  It taught me a lot about myself and I never realized how beautiful it was to have God as a part of a relationship until he came along.  I'm so grateful to have him in my life and I love him like crazy.  

Happy Monday everyone!  

Confessions of a college student

Quite frankly, I am freaking tired.  I'm a junior now, which means I have been working my butt off for the last three years patiently (okay impatiently) waiting for graduation.  As I approach my senior year I am growing wearier of what is to come.  I'm actually scared to death.

Given some time, college wears you thin.  There are too many expectations from too many people and I am seriously at my wits end.  Why are we never allowed to decided what we want for ourselves at this age?  Instead, we let a million other people tell us what we should be doing and criticize us for what we aren't doing and then we obsess over it a million times!  It's not fair and to be frank, it's a vicious cycle.  I sat down tonight with Tim's sister and brother-in-law (who should honestly travel the world as motivational speakers for weary college kids) and they talked some sense into me.

"You'll be fine," they told me. 

If you had asked me if I would be fine this morning when I rolled out of bed for church, I would have laughed till I was blue in the face.  Lately I have been feeling a lot of pressure from those in my field of work including students, professors, advisors and my internship.  I feel like I haven't sat down to really think about what I want from my life and my career, instead, I hyper-focus on what others tell me I need to do.  That concept is ridiculous and I'm not afraid to feel that way anymore.  Especially not after today's pep-talk.  No way, right now I feel empowered.

I feel empowered to do what I want with my career.  I feel empowered to be my own person and to listen to my intuitions not those around me clouding my judgment.  I once had a professor tell me that If I wanted to be successful as a woman in my field of work, I should plan to never marry and never have children.  I left class upset that night (who am I kidding, I called Tim crying).  The point is, that's not true and I wont let that affect me anymore.

I guess what I want to stress to everyone is that you need to do what makes you happy and to do it on your own accord otherwise you wont be happy.  The truth is, I don't want to do what those people tell me I should do.  I just want to be happy.  I'm glad his sister and brother-in-law provided some clarity because I needed it.  Sometimes things just wear you thin and if all else fails just trust the person that tells you that you'll be fine.  They are probably right.

A few of my favorite moments from the past week

 

 So as much as I'd love to explain all these photos right under the pictures themselves, Blogger is giving me a hard time today and won't let me.  So I'll start from the top!

See those fancy dressed up photos?  Don't we clean up well? Tim and I went with friends to an anniversary dinner for where we work and it was really nice.  I'm obsessed with the necklace I am wearing because I got it on super sale from the Gap that morning and it just happened to match my shoes perfectly.  It's so exciting when that happens.

The blue striped shoes are new as well and they were also a lucky find at the Gap.  I got them 50% off and any time that happens, you better know it was a good day.  Tim and I had gone shopping that day and because I am a child and we both love Disney, he bought me a George Sanderson from Monsters Inc. and I couldn't be more excited.  Pooh bear and the peas were the first things Tim ever bought me (for Valentine's Day.)

After those pictures was last Sunday right after Church.  It was beautiful out and it was just one of those days where you hardly wear makeup, wear a maxi dress, and hang outside with your man.  Tim has been wanting to play catch lately (only boy in the family syndrome) and so because I love him, I suck it up, put a glove on and throw my hardest.

That Sunday we also headed to Walmart so I could buy that awesome mason jar tumblr and obviously pause to take a picture with Mario (Tim's best guy friend is named Mario so we thought we were being funny).

Lastly, I had an awful day on Tuesday.  On top of putting up with crap from my University I had awful anxiety.  Tim surprised me and took me out to a great little Italian place for food and out for ice cream afterwards.  He is so amazing to me and I'm not too sure how I lucked out.

So sorry that was so much at once.  Life is busy over on my end and I can hardly keep up with myself, let alone the blog!  But I'm trying because I adore you all so much.

In other news, I am at work today and I am finding it hard to believe that it's only 11:30ish and that I haven't been here longer than an hour and a half.  I'm eager to go home even though I have an event tonight.  Womp.

I'm hoping to get the pictures up from my confirmation soon and talk a little about all of that and in the coming weeks I will be reviewing Daphne Oz's new book Relish and Joy Cho's book Blog, Inc.

Stay tuned and as always, thanks for reading :) 

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone has a very blessed Easter!  Tim and I are with our respective families today but yesterday we cooked brunch for my family (recipe's to follow) and we went to Easter Vigil and had dessert with his!  During mass I got so excited watching the people receive full communion. I can't wait for next Sunday!

Enjoy your day's :)

-Ashley&Tim

iPhone update!

A bunch of pictures in one place from one iPhone!