Fast Fact Friday #3

What was the last movie you saw in the theater?
I think it was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I love the Chronicles of Narnia movies.  I think this one was my favorite.  I love how it shows how important it is that we have a relationship with God.
What was the last movie you watched at home?
North and South.  It's based on the novel North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.  It's about a young woman who grew up in southern England and had to move to northern England with her family.  It was a very different place and she had trouble fitting in.  She eventually came to love it there because of the people she met and the friends she made.  It shows that it is possible to "bloom where you're planted."
Who is your favorite movie star?
Richard Armitage (He's in North and South and Robin Hood (the TV series)), Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon,   Kenneth Branagh (He has done a lot of Shakespeare movies.  I love him in Henry V.  He was also in one of the Harry Potter movies.)  Also, Christian Bale (he's been a favorite since I was a teenager.)
What movie can you watch over and over again and not get sick of it?
Any Jane Austen movie, North and South, Our Mutual Friend, Wives and Daughters, Jane Eyre, Strictly Ballroom, Daniel Deronda
What movie will you never watch again?
Nothing comes to mind right now.  If I'm not enjoying a movie I usually just turn it off.

Fast Fact Friday #2

I know it's not Friday, but I wasn't able to post then so I'm doing it now.  :)

Here are the questions for this week:
1. Where is your favorite vacation place?
If I could live in the mountains I would.  Trees and streams and birds just give rest to my soul.  There's a beautiful campground just 12 miles from my house and I love to go there.

My niece, KayLee, at Malad Summit Campground.

2. How long do you like to go on vacation?
I think a week or two is the perfect amount of time.  It's long enough to really get away from it all and it makes coming home so nice.
3. Where did you go on your favorite vacation?
When I graduated from college I went on a trip to Europe with my two best friends, Shalyce and Liesl.  It was such a fun trip and I learned tons!  We went to Ireland first, then Wales, had a short stop in Shrewsbury, and then we had a two week stop in London.  Next we went to Paris and our final stop was Sweden.  I loved how friendly the people were in Ireland and how green everything was.  In Wales the scenery was just breathtaking.  Shrewsbury had a great small town atmosphere and we got to tour a castle there.  I also discovered Cadfael, a crime solving priest.  I have since come to love the movies based in this town.  In London I got to see the Tower of London and lots of musicals.  In Paris we went to the Paris Opera House to see the ballet, Giselle.  We completely dressed up in formals and everything.  We were a little disappointed to find that we were the only ones dressed up, but it was still an amazing experience.  In Sweden we stayed with Liesl's sister's mother-in-law.  She was so hospitable and it was a neat experience to interact with people who live there.  We discovered a small meadow behind her house and had so much fun there.  I am so grateful for all that she did for us, including taking us to Kungelf (I think that's how you spell it) Castle.

Liesl, Shalyce, and I in Sweden.

Shalyce and I at Shrewsbury Abbey.

Shalyce and I at Kungelf Castle.

Me in Paris.

Me at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Ireland.

Westminster Abbey in London.  Some of my ancestors are buried here!

4. Where was your most recent vacation?
My last vacation was to Malad Summit campground, one of my very favorite places.  I was there with my nieces, nephews, and my brother, which made it even better!  We had tons of fun having a tea party up there.  Read more about it here.
5. If money were no object, where would you like to go?
I still have lots of places I would like to go.  I have always wanted to go to Israel so that would be my first choice.  I would also love to go visit friends I have in South Africa.  They said they would take me to a park there to see the wild animals.  I would sure love to see a giraffe!  I also want to go to Scotland and see where my Miller ancestors came from.  I also think it would be really fun to take a tour of the United States and visit some of the places my family is from like Missouri (where my grandpa Aldridge grew up), Pond Creek, Oklahoma (Isn't that a fun name?  It makes me think of Little House on the Prairie.  That's where my grandma Barnes was born.), Kansas (my mom was born there), Star Valley, Wyoming (where my great-grandpa Harrison grew up), Kirtland, Ohio (where my ancestor, Rosel Hyde was converted to the LDS Church), and Nauvoo, Illinois (where several of my ancestors lived).  I better get busy!! :)

Fast Fact Friday

One of my favorite blogs has a list of questions to answer every Friday.  I'm going to try doing at least this every week.  We'll see how it goes.

This is Ashley with one of my cats, Yzma, as a kitten.

1. Do you have any pets?  I have four cats.  My sister and I picked up a stray one night and she stuck around.  She even figured out how to open our door.  We would come home every day to our door being wide open.  She had some kittens.  We gave away as many as we could, but ended up keeping some of them.  We also made sure there won't be any more. :)  I really love having them around.  There's always one in need of a cuddle!
2. What's your favorite animal?  My favorite animal is the giraffe.  I don't know why.  I just like them.  :)
3. What animal scares you the most?  Definitely spiders.  In my first apartment on my mission (in Paraguay) there were constantly spiders about the size of the palm of my hand.  I really wondered if I could make it.  My companion was scared of the lizard that kept appearing in the kitchen so we made a deal.  She took care of the spiders and I took care of the lizard!
4. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?  I'd probably be a dog or cat.  I think I would enjoy hanging around people and being their friends.
5. What's the most exotic animal you have ever seen before?  While on my mission I got to visit Iguazu Falls.  There were some animals there called Coatis.  They kind of remind me of raccoons.  We put our bags down and they started going through them looking for food.  They showed absolutely no fear of people.  I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

You Matter to Him!

     I have been taking an Institute Class the last few weeks.  It is especially for the mid-single adults in the Pocatello region.  We have been studying The Pearl of Great Price and we started on the first chapter of Moses this last week.  One of the things our teacher said that really hit me is that if we really know that we are children of God, we can resist the temptations Satan sends our way.  I've been pondering that a lot since then so you can imagine my ears perked up when President Uchtdorf started talking about that same chapter in General Conference yesterday morning.  I loved his talk.  It was exactly what I needed to hear.  If you would like to hear it go here.
     When I was talking to my friend, Shalyce, about Conference we discussed that moment when Moses came to realize how we are nothing in comparison to God's creations.  I suddenly realized I have been there.  When I was in the eighth grade I learned in science class that the universe is so vast that we could never get to the end of it and even if we could, it is constantly expanding so that when we got to the end there would be more.  At the time I lived too far from a church building to be able to attend church and I had forgotten that Heavenly Father is right there.  Ever since I was a little girl I have looked up to the sky at the moon and the stars and they somehow comforted me and helped me remember that I am not alone.  I remember, that year in eighth grade,  I would sit outside with a quilt my grandmother gave me and I would just look at the sky and feel so tiny and insignificant and lost.  A few months later I was able to return to where I could go to church again.  That first time I walked in the building I felt like I had come home.  I remembered my Heavenly Father and that He is there.  Now when I look at the sky I feel that connection again.  I know that He is somewhere out there and that I matter to Him.  And the beauty of it all is that if you ask, He'll let you know the same thing.

The ABC's of Me

Here's another idea I got from This Is Me Challenge.

If you click on the image it will show up large enough to read.

A Day to Remember

This morning as I was getting ready for church I was listening to a radio broadcast talking about the events of September 11, 2001.  It brought back a lot of memories from this day ten years ago.  I lived in Riverside, California at the time.  I was teaching school there (2nd grade) and I was getting ready for work.  We didn't have a TV so I was listening to the news on the radio.  I turned it on at a point when everyone knew something terrible was happening, but we didn't yet know the extent of it.  Even after I got to school we didn't have a completely clear picture of what was going on.  We were told that we were not to bring up what was going on unless the children mentioned it, and then we were to reassure the children and try to keep things as normal as possible.  That was one of the hardest days I can ever remember.  Riverside is near Los Angeles and I remember that all of the planes were grounded and the silence was disconcerting.  Ever since I was a little girl I have looked up to the sky when I was in need of comfort.  I guess it's because I know Heavenly Father is out there and it's my connection to Him.  I felt a deep sense of sorrow for those who had lost their lives and a sense of vulnerability because my source of comfort, looking at the sky, now brought visions of terror to me.  I felt a little lost.
But I wasn't lost.  Heavenly Father was still there.  He spoke words of comfort through his prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley (which you can read here), and I felt peace. 
As I was pondering this during sacrament meeting today I was reminded of the time that Elder Merril J. Bateman visited my mission.  He spoke to us about the Atonement.  He told us that in the Garden of Gethsemane the Savior didn't suffer for us all at once, but one by one.  During that difficult night he went through all of our sorrows and pains, not just for our own sins we committed, but every pain, sickness, sorrow, every bad thing that has ever happened to us.  Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we don't have to be lost and we are never alone.  There is always One who can perfectly understand what we are going through.  I guess what I am trying to say is that He can take our sorrow for this day and turn it into hope and forgiveness and peace through His Atonement.  Here is a message that explains it from the perspective of someone who lived through this tragedy.
A few days ago the Washington Post published the statements of religious leaders from around the world about their thoughts for this tenth anniversary of September 11.  Here is what President Thomas S. Monson said.

Choices

Challenge #2 on This Is Me Challenge is the question: What are some choices in your life that affected where you are now?

There are several choices I have made that have had a huge impact on my life:

• Studying Spanish.  I have always had a strong desire to study other languages.  When I was in 4th grade a girl moved into my class who didn't speak any English.  One day at recess we started playing together and we just seemed to be able to communicate even though we didn't speak the same language.  My teacher picked up on that and assigned me to help her with her English.  She was to teach me Spanish in return.  This sparked my interest in other languages.  I wanted to learn French, but when I started ninth grade in the Junior High the only language offered was Spanish.  From then on I grew to really love the language.  I ended up taking Spanish all four years in high school and I took every undergraduate class available in college.  I even ended up serving a Spanish speaking mission.  It's interesting to me that ever since I graduated from college, every job I have been offered has been because I speak Spanish.
• Going to Ricks College.  This was a wonderful time for me.  I loved all of my classes and I loved the atmosphere.  I also got to know a great group of friends whose influence is still with me today.  
• Serving a mission.  I think this has been the decision that has had the most profound impact on my life.  I learned that the world is much bigger than what I knew in my little hometown.  I met amazing people who taught me a lot through their humble examples.  I learned the gospel in a way that I had never known and I grew to love the scriptures.  I think one of the reasons I was sent to Paraguay was because of my mission president.  From him I learned about hard work.  I also learned about grace and the part it plays in my relationship with Jesus Christ.  He also taught me that the gospel teaches repentance and forgiveness and to never give up on people.
• Attending BYU.  When I started at BYU I went to the employment center and was given a job as a custodian in the Smith Family Living Center.  I had an amazing boss who expected our best work and did her best to make it fun.  Through this job I met my two best friends, Shalyce and Liesl.  These two women have always been there for me and helped me through many a hard day.  We have also traveled the world together and done lots of other fun things.  I'm so glad to have them in my life!
• Becoming a teacher.  My little students are the light of my life.  I love seeing them every day and watching the wheels turn in their heads.  They make me laugh and they teach me things, too.  I love that have been able to live among them here.  My first group of students that I ever taught are adults now, but I don't really know what has happened in their lives.  It's fun to watch the students here as they grow up and develop talents.