I have written so much in my life… journals. WHEN do I ever have time to read my journals?! Those memories often feel like a past life, and sometimes I just don’t want to look back.. forward focus is key to growing.. but still I have them, So many things are changing this year. I look at my New Years Resolutions and over half of them are done or in process of completion… I am beyond where I expected to be. DO NOT GET THIS WRONG: These things are not of simply “my own doing”. !!  These are things that I have been blessed with by God, things that have happened because of positive attitude, kind spirit, and really, from staying out of drama as much as possible. These are CHOICES people. I am NOT perfect. But not being perfect is no excuse to be a dramatic whiny negative nancy.  It is all about your outlook on life and what you believe you can acheive! I doutb myself sometimes, but really you have to constantly remind yourself that YOU are good enough, YOU can acheive your life goals, YOU will be who you set out to be. God has a PLAN for you, but it is your job to walk through it. It is my job to walk through it. Although I miss my steps sometimes, trip, fall, walk the wrong direction, somehow God is always there to “GPS” my steps and bring me back on the right track. I want His will - I want to serve Him and love others and do everything with integrity. I love my jobs, my life, my career choices, my schedule. I am THANKFUL. But ultimately above all of the things I love, I love God first and Most and I want Him and His will.  Feeling inspirational can you tell? I hope you were somehow somewhere somewhat inspired like I am right now :) 468. my new apt. with Gina G 469. our comfy couch 470. CBCC church fam 471. Housewarming Party before the house on friday 472. IKEA trip with G Saturday 473. My last minute guest cancellation tonight at the salon - I was SO tired, it was a blessing. 474. Rotary Club of Carroll Creek - how cool is it that there are big time biz folks that come together to GIVE BACK?! Amazing, inspiring, lovely. I love my school owners/bosses - they are so committed to making a difference in the community and abroad, I am proud to be Temple Fam.  475. Baby Brandon :) 476. my car that somehow still runs 477. cabernet 478. my macbook 479. early bedtimes 480. journals 481. big closets 482. my bed 483. colors 484. good friends 485. positivity 486. beautiful smiles 487. love 488. sweatpants after a long day of dresses and pantyhose 489. Nikki Chernow - What a great friend… seriously. 490. Snow Days(can we please have some soon?)
457. to-go coffee cups 458. God’s protection 459. A strong, solid community of family and friends who I can count on, vice-versa. 460. movie marathons 461. chipotle(this has prob shown up in a couple of the past 460 things I am thankful for ;) 462. Late night chats with Jill Lacey that reassure and calm my soul about the upcoming Paul Mitchell trip to Cambodia in May of 2012 that I have the privilege of coordinating. (Thank you JILL) 463. a new year, with new beginnings. out with the old, in with the new 464. chips&salsa 465 Gabe Bondoc music 466. supportive friends&fam 467. Beauty of the Lord 468. pink post-its
443. time to do whatever I want 444. 5-day VACA! 445. deep conversations 446. love 447. kindness of a stranger 448. plush anything.. sheets socks blankets hoodies :) 449. couch time 450. laziness 451. warmth 452. forgiveness 453. grace 454. a faithful God 455. The promise of hope 456. a W for the Redskins… finally!!!! <3 
I want to go to the Cayman Islands. I want to be on this beach righhhhhttt nowwwwwww… sunshine, warm sand, clear water…. It is the day before Thanksgiving, it only feels appropriate to continue my list towards 1,000 things that I am thankful for. 421. My jobs 422. The amazing leadership within both of my jobs 423. the beautiful ring that my Godson gave me :) He was out shopping with his Mom(keep in mind that he is 2 and a half), and he saw the jewelry section. He(on his own) found a ring and said “Mom, can we get this for Ash?” in his cute Little Boy voice. She bought it and I wear it every day… I.Love.It. Mostly because it is not just another piece of jewelry, it was from his beautiful thoughtful self. He gave it to me and said “Do you Love it Ash?” Yes, baby, but I love you more.  424. my iPhone 4s 425. Starbucks 426. Coffee dates 427. Pink Roses from Amy Sakadales - she is such a blessing to my heart - she and I started CORE together here at The Temple, and we have both graduated, passed our boards, and are working in salons. She graduated on the DEANS LIST(which is HUGe - hard work and effort!!) I am just amazed by her - she has grown her life into this beautiful path - I am so proud of her. What a great example! 428. Christmas Pandora(I started listening a few days before Thanksgiving and apparently I am still behind - lots of people have been listening to Christmas music since Halloween.. maybe bec it snowed here right before Halloween?) 429. Taylor Rosario & his beautiful smiles 430. Thanksgiving Day spent with 3 families that I adore - mine, Pattons, Jacksons.<3 431. Turkey Bowl: Old friends, new memories 432. sunshine 433. Paul Mitchell smoothing iron 434. my car 435. OPI Glitter nail polish 436. Jeans day at work 437. Family haircut day at the salon tonight(the boys all need haircuts - so sorry!!) 438. Supernatural patience 439. cuddletime/talks with Cam and Cath on my bed, brosis bonding time. 440. pearls  441. Christmas shopping 442. MY 5 DAY WEEKEND THAT STARTS IN A FEW HOURS!!!! <3  Happy Thanksgiving <3
it is Fall… October… Scarf season(&boot season, yes!)  today, October 29, it SNOWED…… “it’s not even Halloween yet!” is the phrase of the day..  so cray crrayyy today was a beautiful restful day despite the snow and cold :)
bucket list
things im thankful for continued(working my way to 1000) 413. hair 414. red bull 415. bath and body works menthashine lipgloss 416. hairspray 417. lunch with Ell :) 418. markers 419. jewels 420. my car have a beautiful day 
I woke up before my alarm, and was happy about it. I had enough time to eat cereal, and take my time getting ready.  I poured myself a bowl of lucky charms, and you would not believe how many marshmallows there were in my bowl, it was AWESOME! AND there was a perfect amount of cereal left for my bowl, and the perfect amount of milk. Ask me if I was feeling LUCKY. YES. Lucky/blessed/beautiful things about today: It was my late day @ work.. aka in at 11am instead of 8:30. Sweeeet. Had a super productive day at work Morgan kinda surprised me and came in to work to hang out/brought coffee/helped make packets/went to dinner with me :) Beautiful bro-love time My bosses are incredible… they bought me flowers and gave me 6.0 Paul Mitchell Professional shears… for passing my State Boards. SERIOUSLY?!?! They are so great. Talking about them makes me wonder if they read this…  The Career Fair at New Oxford HS was great… the girl I brought with me, I had never had the chance to really get to know, and we got some great talks in during the car ride.. she is amazing and our conversation was so uplifting.. encouragin…motivating! Funny how God puts people in your lives at the most random times and uses you in each others lives in such a powerful way! So fun. These HS visits for The Temple are so fun - I am really getting to know some amazing ladies … so fun.  Charity’s blog http://charityd.tumblr.com/ had me LOLing… she is seriously one of the coolest people I know.. I am listening to the rain pour down hard while I am falling asleep. <3 Life is good. Tmrw is Botanical gardens in my new red kicks on my day off. Chhhyeaaaa
Today I passed my State Board test :) Within ten days: I will have my certificate.  Dream come true?  Definitely. Check that one off the list of things to do in life :) PTL <3

Today

I passed my State Board test :)

Within ten days:

I will have my certificate. 

Dream come true? 

Definitely.

Check that one off the list of things to do in life :)

PTL <3

Tomorrow I take my cosmetology state board test.

Tomorrow

I take my cosmetology state board test.

Hot.
I&#8217;m totally on this island in my mind right now. totally saw this on someones fb status and I completely concur: &#8220;Dear diet, lets just forget this whole weekend ever happened, kthx&#8221; Gym time 2xtmrw! maxxxtime.  I had a good talk with Dad&amp;Mark today.. finances. So overwhelming and frustrating to me. I think its like a diet. I am intimidated by the opportunity to fail at something I put my mind to. ridiculous right? get it together Chin. I really just need to get with it. a budget. a PLAN. I have things to do, people to see, places to move out to, cars to drive, ETC. working on it. I feel motivated.  Beached it up yesterday with Ell, Mo, Ben, Cha. Such a relaxing fun rejuvenation time. I love these people. Good talks, good walks, good sand, pretty waves. &lt;3 Thanks God.  Cam&#8217;s surprise bday party was today, planned and executed by the one and only Sally Stephens! She did such a great job, Cam was totally surprised, so many of his people showed up :) Fun times. I love my Cam, can&#8217;t believe he will be 18 on Wednesday. Whewww&#8230;Happy Birthday Cameron John! A friendly reminder: A healthy amount of swagger is completely appropriate.  No matter what you look like(age, weight, height, skin color, hair color, etc), rock what you&#8217;ve got. Do things that make you feel good. Take 5 extra mins on your hair or makeup, Buy a new top, SOMETHING that makes you feel awesome. Be comfortable in your own skin. Work on what you need to, but for good reason. Tragedy is not being able to radiate big personality and kindness and swagger. Confidence and boldness is attractive, so is healthy humility and the kindness of a stranger.  Be lovely. 
i learned so much about myself in the last hour. just thinking… checking my mind, motivations, actions, choices, desires, realities. I was powerfully reminded of God’s grace, sovreinty(sp), Perfect Love and POWER. I remember in this minute who I am in Him and who He is through me. My relationship with Him in the past few weeks has been stale, and effortless on my part to be honest. Have I been in my Bible? no. Have I been worshipping? Not fully. Have I been praying? Very little, or not much at all. Hardly material for a relationship. And not only that but I have been UNFAITHFUL to Him. Giving my attention, time, and affection to things of this world.  I tell you these things… and it humbles me because it shows weakness and unfaithfulness. But I also tell you these things because maybe this is where you have been too. And maybe this will encourage you. Maybe this will help you on your way to getting out of your rut, and back into the arms of our Savior. I am just writing what I wish I could have read during these past few weeks to break it down for me.. I “know” God is the only true source of pure joy and happiness. Not just because I have heard about it, but I have experienced His love and relationship, SO intimately, so life-changing.  But sometimes I not only forget, but I DOUBT that He is real. Good. Perfect. Loving. All knowing. Gracious. Kind. I doubt His ability to love my through the thickness of my SIN.  I cant fathom His death on the cross and I can’t understand the power of His resurrection in this moment. For me? I can’t grasp it. I have grasped it at times, I think, because my world was shaken, my life changed, my heart fulfilled with His overwhelming Love. But in this moment, I can barely understand the idea that He died for me.  Because my sin is so potent. How could He? Why WOULD He? When did I deserve His death? I didn’t. I don’t. But He loves me. He gave it for me. He desires my relationship, my love, my life.  Matthew 10:39 “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” This verse is REAL. I have lived it, experienced it, understood it. Because life with Him, is SO rich, SO full, beyond anything I could ever imagine or get myself into. He is worthy. I am not. But His love makes me worthy of His kingdom, He gives me purpose, He gives me hope. And in that I am available to be used for good in others’ lives, which is not only enriching for others, but also myself, and also my relationship with the Lord, all at once.  Ephesians 3:16-21 “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”  I choose Him. I love Him. I want to live for Him, because I know what intense joy and fulfillment it is to live for Him. In relationship with Him. By His grace, I am saved. By His grace, you are too. Don’t be where I’ve been these past few weeks. Don’t give in to the fade, the doubt, the sin, the feeling of unworthiness. Don’t let sin seperate you from God… that’s why Jesus died.. don’t cheapen that. Come right back to Him, He’s waiting for you with open and loving arms…. crazy intense right!! ahhhh….so overwhelmed right now!  Praying for you, whoever you are, wherever you may be. Feel free to reach out to me if you need some extra love and support… it helps to have someone. :)

i learned so much about myself in the last hour. just thinking… checking my mind, motivations, actions, choices, desires, realities.

I was powerfully reminded of God’s grace, sovreinty(sp), Perfect Love and POWER. I remember in this minute who I am in Him and who He is through me. My relationship with Him in the past few weeks has been stale, and effortless on my part to be honest. Have I been in my Bible? no. Have I been worshipping? Not fully. Have I been praying? Very little, or not much at all. Hardly material for a relationship. And not only that but I have been UNFAITHFUL to Him. Giving my attention, time, and affection to things of this world. 

I tell you these things… and it humbles me because it shows weakness and unfaithfulness.

But I also tell you these things because maybe this is where you have been too. And maybe this will encourage you. Maybe this will help you on your way to getting out of your rut, and back into the arms of our Savior. I am just writing what I wish I could have read during these past few weeks to break it down for me..

I “know” God is the only true source of pure joy and happiness. Not just because I have heard about it, but I have experienced His love and relationship, SO intimately, so life-changing. 

But sometimes I not only forget, but I DOUBT that He is real. Good. Perfect. Loving. All knowing. Gracious. Kind. I doubt His ability to love my through the thickness of my SIN. 

I cant fathom His death on the cross and I can’t understand the power of His resurrection in this moment. For me? I can’t grasp it. I have grasped it at times, I think, because my world was shaken, my life changed, my heart fulfilled with His overwhelming Love. But in this moment, I can barely understand the idea that He died for me. 

Because my sin is so potent.

How could He? Why WOULD He? When did I deserve His death? I didn’t. I don’t. But He loves me. He gave it for me. He desires my relationship, my love, my life. 

Matthew 10:39 “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

This verse is REAL. I have lived it, experienced it, understood it. Because life with Him, is SO rich, SO full, beyond anything I could ever imagine or get myself into. He is worthy. I am not. But His love makes me worthy of His kingdom, He gives me purpose, He gives me hope. And in that I am available to be used for good in others’ lives, which is not only enriching for others, but also myself, and also my relationship with the Lord, all at once. 

Ephesians 3:16-21
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” 

I choose Him. I love Him. I want to live for Him, because I know what intense joy and fulfillment it is to live for Him. In relationship with Him. By His grace, I am saved. By His grace, you are too. Don’t be where I’ve been these past few weeks. Don’t give in to the fade, the doubt, the sin, the feeling of unworthiness. Don’t let sin seperate you from God… that’s why Jesus died.. don’t cheapen that. Come right back to Him, He’s waiting for you with open and loving arms…. crazy intense right!! ahhhh….so overwhelmed right now! 

Praying for you, whoever you are, wherever you may be. Feel free to reach out to me if you need some extra love and support… it helps to have someone. :)

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