Ashley's Birthday

it's a day to celebrate, folks ...

today is

my sister's birthday!

you know, it's quite fitting that this celebration falls only five days after Thanksgiving because

 i am B E Y O N D  thankful for my big sister ...

 my confidant ... my best of friends ... the one who's not afraid to challenge my character ... the one who is encourager & role model to dozens of women ... the one who is cherished, literally, around the world by her friends ... the one who raises three beautiful babes, aces biology exams, gets into nursing school with ease but not without hard work, runs a bible study, makes perfect chocolate chip cookies, reads a dozen books a month or so it seems, writes, shops, cooks, cleans, and thrives in life ... yes, all at the same time. 

she dreams big, and is committed to her calling ... no matter what or how long it takes ... she believes in our God's truth and holds tight to His promises. she's enthralled with her children. she's smart and wise. she is good and funny. her blue eyes, blonde hair and sparkling smile have dazzled many a' heart over the years ... and i, alexandria turner, have been immensely proud to be labeled her little sister for as long as i can remember. i claim her with pride and excitement ... i love to tell people that we come from the same places, that i know her with an intimacy that so many never will ...

  SISTERS 

we cannot be broken or separated. we will never lose touch or forget to call each other on Christmas or birthdays. her & i will always share our childhood and our grandmas and our little brother and our icky, dumb dogs and our barbie ahem escapades and our long car rides to vacation in arkansas and our blue eyes and our little, tiny, petite noses joke and our sweet mommy and our powerful dad and our longing to love broken children and our christian heritage ... we are blood. i will never lose her. 

happy birthday, sissy ...

i am lucky to be yours.

love, love, love you.

2005                                                                          2006 

2008                                                                     2009

2010

The Morning After.

after all of the 

*sugar - pies, chocolates, fondues, cookies, sprinkles, oreos, etc.

*restless nights of sleep

*early mornings

*late nights

*dinners out

*dinners in

*lunches

*breakfasts

*snacks - morning, noon & night

i am shot ...

i have a holiday hang-over.

 this morning i skipped my shower that's a big deal, i needed a shower so that i could sleep for fifteen more minutes. fifteen minutes ... what does that even do? nada. 

i have a stuffy nose, heavy eyes & a serious case of wrong-side-of-the-bed grumps.

so, off to church i'll go, greasy-headed & groggy from the weekend past.

happy holidays. 

Yesterday's Best Photo Award

my gramps is the best grandpa there ever could be ... yes, better than yours, i'm sure of it  *wink

he is the single most loving, hard-working, hard-headed, genuine man that i have ever known.
he loves his kids, grandkids and great-grandchildren with an everlasting, protective, truth-filled love that we feel through and through. we are part of his family ... we are his ... and he lets us know it. whether through his big bear claw hugs, his vice-grip 'massages', or his affirming words of how proud he is of me ... i am confident in my grandfathers affection for me. i think, through his life of ministry and hardship, that he has learned well how to really love someone. through mess and trial and pain and goodness ... no matter what, he loves on.

i am proud and blessed to be under his protection, prayer & love ...
not to mention, to be one of the few that are able to claim his name.
i love my name ... i am not sure that i'll part with it well
TURNER
yup, it's a good one now!   :)

this Thanksgiving was warm and cozy in every sense.

i'll tell about it later, when this crazy fun weekend is over.

Happy Thanksgiving #2

today i am thankful for:

- snow flurries

- my family: great parents, rasta brother, best friend sister, perfect babies, steady, wise grandparents, fun cousins, silly aunts, chill uncles & the ugly family pups!

- my church family ... the way they follow and assist my father, and the way we all learn together

- my best girls ... spread across the country they may be, they are the most cherished of friends

- my opportunity to volunteer with amazing women & people

- self-awareness ... and the awareness that i need more awareness

- my moms hospitality

- my home

- my camera

- my cute, rattly car

- my sparkly gold tights

- the truth

- my wild spirit & dreams

- my hair

- my job

- my redemption

- my education

most of all ... 

- this year i have learned to be truly thankful for the Lord's provision and wisdom as to where one needs to be in life ... He knows for how long one needs to stay in a situation, what they need to struggle with, what they need to be saved from, when they need to suffer the consequences of stupidity & when they ought to forgive. 

... essentially, i am grateful, grateful, grateful 

for God's wisdom & how stubborn He is with me. 

happy thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving.

hope the beginning of your 2010 holiday season brings inspiration, 

warm and fuzzy spirits, comfort, peace & thankfulness. 

TGIF.

there has never been a more fit cliche, my friends. 

THANK GOD, IT'S FRIDAY!!!

 tomorrow, at twelve o'clock noon, i am a free woman. 

i have no school for 10 days. 

i have no work for 5 days.

a free woman ... that is i ...

and i cannot wait. 

so, with my days of freedom and bliss i plan to ...

1. eat at my fav indian restaurant at least once

2. start a new project ... create something

3. go to a lingerie shop and buy, buy, buy ...
my dear friends merry christmas/happy
 engagement package is in need of some
special topping off

4. send off my four best buddies' gift boxes

5. clean up my room & make it
charming and cute again

6. drink wine ...
maybe a glass every day

7. stand in as sous chef
for our big, festive
Thanksgiving feast

8. go see LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS and
get theater nachos. yes, i need them. 

9. get the products that i ordered in the
mail and have a little
Dread TLC session

10. start doing yoga ... finally

p.s.

yes, i do realize that thanksgiving is in 

6 days ... and i will make mention of 

such as soon as todays academic ventures 

are behind me ... but, here are a few
 very fall-ish pictures (of my sister's family) 
that melt, warm & cheer the heart ...
 just like the Holidays 
are supposed to.

 

Late Night Messaging.

the last message in an email thread between me & a friend of mine (in a far away city)
who, due to his search for a roommate, i jokingly offered to move in with:

wow ... that's SO cheap for a place in the city. i must warn you though,
 i don't think i am the easiest of people to live with ... a bit messy, and irritable at times :) 
hah .. wouldn't that be so fun? yes.

sometimes i am seriously tempted to drop out of school, quit my job and just drive 
from city to city to visit all of my friends and be a complete humanitarian bum. 
just meet people, see how they live, and find Jesus in all different kinds of people and places. 
it would be amazing, i'm sure ... and then i think, what good would that do for others? nothing.
 it'd make for me an interesting life, but why?
... life's weird. and pretty fun. and totally inspiring. and a little overwhelming 
if one's priorities and mind are at all screwed up :)


well, that was a loaded message that i didn't expect to come out, but there you have it, mister ...
i hope you're well. when you have the time you should write me and tell me all about your life, where you're headed and what you think about certain things ... like God, your life, family, girls, cities ... 
anything you'd like, i'd enjoy listening, promise.

Happy Birthday, Little Guys.

today i am completely in love with my hair.
today my dudes are exactly 3 months old. 

My Anthem.

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, for love covers a multitude of sins. 

Creeeeeepy Mouse.

it's fall ... did you know!?

and this past weekend it really started to feel like it around here.

10 tell-tale signs of autumn: 

in no particular order

1. wearing wool socks & sweatshirts to bed

2. chilly toilet seats in the early morn

3. double tall soy pumpkin spice lattes

4. the switching of bed sheets from white cotton to cozy flannel

5. study sessions with steamy pots of tea and mounds of leftover halloween candy

6. complete zone-out periods during class ... it's al. most. break.

7. finding orange, crunchy leaves in the drivers seat of my car after leaving the windows down

8. soar throats & wheezy lungs after a run from the bitter cold morning air

9. tobacco scented candles burning strong & bold in the living room

and the charmingly inevitable ... 

10. bonfires

halloween 2010 goes down in the books as my most favorite halloween so far. 

it was full of pirates and skeletons and cute fairies and eyeliner and family and really, really good boxes of DOTS candies (numerous boxes of all pink, red & orange ... yum!) and bowls of chili and dear friends and late night fires to warm the chilled bones of daddies, mommies, aunties & babes alike!

autumn

emily dickinson

the mourns are meeker than they were,

the nuts are getting brown;

the berry's cheek is plumper, 

the rose is out of town.

the maple wears a gayer scarf, 

the field a scarlet gown.

lest i should be old-fashioned, 

i'll put a trinket on.

happy fall,

the end.

Beautiful Person #3:

she is tall and thin ... her wavy blonde hair falls flawlessly over her tan shoulders (every moment of every day) and sunset-golden eyes gleam charmingly from under her long lashes. she drives a white escalade and drinks LOTS of starbucks. she takes too many cigarette brakes, and, when so inclined, releases booming boughts of laughter from her tiny, muscle-rippled tummy.

the day i met her for real, the day i met who she really was - as opposed to the stereotypes that were plastered secretly across her back and the jealous words whispered from behind - the day i was introduced to her heart and spirit and wild compassion, she was sporting a grey FORD t-shirt that fittingly read, "Made Stronger to Last Longer." she is the executive director of a shelter for women and children, victims of domestic violence. she spends her days, heart, and money on people who don't have the guts, ability, or luxury of escaping abuse. she is funny and loving. she's one of those that lights up a room when she walks in. she gives and gives ... but she is also quite powerful and never afraid of big, bad, corporate men who want to steal all of the grants and government funding. no, no, no, she is not afraid of those goons. never. she is intimidating when she needs to be. and that lion of a heart hidden inside of her uterly stunning (seriously) physique is a match that not many can handle in battle ... especially those greedy, cologne-drenched fella's. her empathy and boldness win every time.

this woman is the kind that i want to be.

and this is part of the lesson that He taught me through her:

For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. 
Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

james 2:13