Thankful for Friends-Tribute Speech

This is a speech that I wrote for my Interpersonal Class final :)

After having one of the most amazing faith-filled experiences of my life for two weeks the summer before my junior year, this lead me to make life-long friendships with amazing people, no matter how far apart we all live. But throughout this experience one girl touched my heart. Her name is Kristi Taraba and she is from Rochester, Minnesota. Sadly this means that 130 miles are standing in our way, so we cannot see each other as much as we would like but yet we still maintain the relationship that we started at YTM/”God Camp”. The no matter how far apart we may be I know deep in my heart that she loves me, and I love her just the same. During our time together that summer at St. Johns University for this camp, an incredible friendship was formed instantly and I cannot even try to describe what happened during those two weeks but from what I can fathom, it was AMAZING. Kristi and I both really didn’t know what to expect at this camp, lovingly refered to as “God Camp”, but after a few days we found that we were always together, and it felt like we had known each other for many, many years.




We all go through hard times but it is really how we deal with them and who we surround ourselves with that really helps us through. I cannot begin to count the number of times Kristi has done that for me, even if we are going through the same thing and even with the things we have had to endure together. It has stretched from a simple “thinking of you” text message to inviting me to a MercyMe & Jeremy Camp concert at the State Fair and squealing when we see each other, as we run to give each other a huge hug. She is always there, a phone call or text message away, she lifts me up with words of encouragement, small gestures and continuous compliments. Some day’s I really wonder what I ever did to deserve to call an amazing young woman like her, one of my best friends.







High school can definitely be a rough time, but isn’t it truly interesting that the things that we have to deal with in life always seem so difficult, but after the fact we realize that God really gave us all the help we need, in the form of “angels”, and I call mine Kristi. It never ceases to amaze me how at the drop of a hat she is always there for me, no matter what time, day or night she is there, even if it is just to chat. She knows me so well and loves me for who I am. Kristi continuously strives to make me believe in myself and my abilities, and also to love myself for who I am, for that I truly thank her.



This angel has done so much for me, just by being a true friend. Someone I can rely on, and count on when the going gets tough and all the days in between. Kristi has made me grow and realize things that I never thought I could, she made me spread my wings and fly to places I never thought I would be able to be. Now I cannot wait to watch her spread her wings, more than she already has, and fly.

Man I need to UPDATE!!! :)

Hello Everyone! Life is CRAZY and I definately need to update you all since I did leave you at a little cliff hanger there!

Okay so Counseling...... started and I have had 2 appt since and I absolutely love my counselor! She is wonderful! There is a long road ahead with recent issues as well as my built up past, you if you could still pray for me that would be amazing!

Im on Christmas BREAK!! :) Woohooo!!! :) Off to Mass tomorrow, Grandma and Grandpa's and then home to open presents :) I am so excited to spend time with my family!! :) What's your favorite Christmas tradition?!

Sorry for the short post but I will leave you with some pictures as well as a youtube link to my new favorite song that is amazing!
God Bless,
Ashley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaO73cx4pn4

The Pain that Plagues Me..

Sorry i have been gone...life is insane.... between working 2 jobs, school, youth ministry internship, church events, family, friends, babysitting & senior year, im surprised i havent gone insane yet! :)

But tonight I feel that i need to release something to all of you, as a release for myself & my way of asking for help, making this post something that my readers can hold me accountable for-dont worry I will explain...

This blog is meant to coninside with the blog i had written a few months ago.... If you havent read it yet please read it first, it will help things make more sense. Click here to go to the page.

For a good month or so I thought I had defeated the battle within myself... like I was able to deal with the demons that followed me, and I could do it all by myself. No talking about it, No counseling, i just felt it was done and I would be fine. Time heals our wounds right? Now I look back and think...man im an idiot..
Lately I have been having dreams about "him", with him trying to contact me, and going after me. For a few nights I would wake up in tears and was/still am so afraid. Also when i was skyping with an AMAZING guy friend of mine who had no idea about the situation and saw that "he" was online and wanted to make it a 3 way chat & i flipped out at him.... Fighting tears I just repeated.."Alex no i cant, please dont, just dont, just dont." It all came flooding back and he had absolutely no idea what was going on with me and was super worried. Alex felt horrible and i ened up spilling my guts to him about the situation...he was completely taken back and felt horrible that it was something i had to deal with.

During that time and for the rest of the night I was quiet and really withdrawn... my mind just kept replaying all the events that took place over and over in my head. Thats when everything started to spin out of control, I felt like it was my fault & I didnt know what to do. Its like i was back to square one.

Now i have realized that no matter how much the pain hurts, how much failure i feel for not being able to handle this myself, no matter how embarrassed I am.... I need to make my first counseling appt...ASAP...

Please keep me in your prayers as I do this and I need to be held to it. Its hard for me to say all of this but hey, this is my outlet, and I want to thank all of my readers for their support & please keep it up.

God and I have been drifting off and on, but he is the rock i need to cling to and I know that. I just need the will and dicipline. Please keep me in your prayers about that too...

God Bless,
Ashley

Senior Year Update!

Hey all!

I know I have been semi-MIA lately and I apologize! I thought it was about time to update you all on my life, as crazy as it may seem!

So where do I start???

-Senior year has been going great, still coming to terms with my last year of high school! Crazy I know!
-I am doing pretty good in all of my classes, I do still come to a time where i dont want to do anything.... hello senioritis! haha :)
-I run and work out quite often lately-which is a big milestone for me! woohoo! :)
-I am loving my internship with my youth minister at church! Its fabulous! She has also been contracting and is officially having the baby soon, so i have been able to fill in for her as the "fill-in" youth minister! :)

-I have been accepted to Saint Mary's University in Winona :)



-I absolutely love St. Mary's and was able to stop back again to see it with students and it so peaceful! The staff, students and admissions people are sooo wonderful and nice! I can totally picture myself there, I am praying about it still but I feel it is the school for me :) :) I am so excited!
-Homecoming week was fantastic! I loved every min of it and had such a blast! :)

-I made Pop Group at school which is a group of singers who perform together :) I am so happy!
-Life has been good! A few stumbles along the way, but im getting through it, and should be starting counseling soon which is a good thing that i definately need.

Hope all is well with you all!
God Bless,
Ashley

Senior Year Photos :)

Hey all! :) Here are some senior year photos! :) Just a few for ya all!
God Bless,
Ashley

Prayer For A Friend

Hey All,
Just thought I would share a prayer I wrote for a friend who is struggling.


Dear Lord—




See there is this girl I know, and Lord she is struggling. She loves you so much and wants your will for her life, but life keeps on throwing her curveballs. You should see how amazing her faith is through all of this Lord, you would be super impressed! She continues to pray, and give it all to you, despite the situation and how rough it may get. Let me tell you about her.



She is one of those girls who you can talk to about anything and her response is never plain, never wrong and never selfish. It is the complete opposite, its giving, honest, vibrant, and selfless. You can see how much she cares, through and through. She is one of the strongest people I know, and puts others before herself. She is beautiful, caring, sweet, honest, faithful, and willing. She knows what to say or what to do when you need her. She is a listening ear, and a loving heart. You always know that you are going to be okay when you are with her, because she will help you carry through.



Lord, you see she has a few problems too, problems trusting and loving herself. Lord you can see her beauty completely shining through, please help her to see how beyond gorgeous she is, inside and out. Help her to notice the wonderful gift of beauty you have blessed her with. As for trusting, give her strength, and knowledge. The strength to persevere and the knowledge to know your path, and to trust fully in you that will lead her to trust others. Please watch over her future husband and prepare him for his wonderful bride who is this amazing young lady. Prepare him to knock down the walls that have been created, so he can move closer to you and to her. Showing her is unconditional love, just like yours that she longs and hopes for. Help them to patiently wait for your right timing to come when you will bring them together. Bless them with the ability to love and cherish one another as you love and cherish them.



She trusts in you fully Lord, please help and guide her. Watch over her while I cannot be with her, and keep her safe. Comfort and be with her, for I cannot because of distance.



Oh and Lord… by the way… Her name is (for her privacy her name will not be used)

Thank you so much!

Ashley

God Blesses Us

Hey all! :)

So I need to share something with you all, and its amazing.

I have BEYOND amazing friends! :) They are always there for me and know what to say no matter what. Last night I woke up to a phone call at 2am, i looked and saw it was one of my guy friends from St. Johns. I saw his name come up on my phone and inside i thought "Oh no! Whats wrong?!?" I answer the phone and my guy friend is completely in awe of God's grace, that helped him through a situation. It was such an amazing conversation to hear God working through him, as well as God speaking to me through him. It was just a great God moment and I felt so blessed.

Thinking about all of these things I thought about how many AMAZING friends I have. God has blessed me so much with amazing people who want whats best for me and are always here to support me. I see God's love in all of them. I am so blessed and daily i will continue to thank God for the amazing friends he has blessed me with :)

God Bless, and Take Care,
Ashley

Is It Worth It?

Hello Readers!!! I'd like to present you with a situation and ask your opinion on it. This has been something that has been pulling/hurting my heart lately.

I am a firm believer that it takes 2 to make a good and wholesome relationship, and it cant be just one sided. Lately I have been hurt by a "friend" of mine. I try my best to make an effort to talk to him, ask him about his life and how he is doing. But then I feel like he doesnt seem to care about me anymore, he just babbles on about him, not even bothering to ask me how I am doing or anything... And it bothers me that I am the one anitiating all the conversaitions. Should I really have to do that? I dont know, this may sound selfish and I dont mean it to, I just dont know what to do?

Then I look at my other friendships with wonderful guys, guys from camp (YTM), youth group and some from school too, and they dont do that to me. We all have our problems but at the same time I wonder how much more I can take.... : /

I havent talked to this guy in probly over a week because I decided not to anitiate anything anymore. For some reason its really bothering me.

What do you think? Whats your definition of friendship? Do you agree or disagree?

Thanks and God Bless,
Ashley

What Happens At YTM?

You meet Amazing young women, who comfort you when you cry, give you advice, pray for you, and love you unconditionally.

You make a lasting friendship. She becomes one of your best friends, your roomate, your prayer buddy, text message-a-holic and so much more!

You goof off all the time!

You aspire to "Be The Church" of Jesus, and Sing it at the TOP OF YOUR LUNGS! :)

You meet people who make you think ;) haha

You hug....LOTS!

You Choose to make your Faith your own.

You pose for pictures even if your face is stained with tears.

You cant help but smile!

You find the courage to sing to your Savior, on stage by yourself.

You meet this young lady, who WILL touch and Change people's lives, for the better :)

You lead morning prayer the day after you get there, and you love it!

You have so many inside jokes, quotes and funny things that were done, too many to include all on this picture!

And this is only pieces of what happens :)

2 weeks+St. Johns University+Theology+Amazing People+Prayer+Service+Friendships=

Priceless :)

God Bless,

Ashley

Thankful Thursday

Hey all!! :)

So today is THANKFUL THURSDAY! :) Since I have many things to be thankful for I am just going to list all of them :)

• My family
• Friends
• My faith
• The Ability to get an education
• The gifts that the Lord has given me
• Forgiveness
• Sacraments
• The ability to make a difference
• The Bible
• and so many more that i cant even type out! :)

Thank you Lord for this day! :) Thank you all my readers, i am hoping to be able to gain more readers in my blog, God willing :)
Thanks and God Bless,
Ashley

2009 Milestones and Recaps

Well hello NEW YEAR! :)

Haha! Hey All! :)

Wow can you belive its 2010?!? I cant! In the spirit of the new year i think im going to so a review of 2009....(its gonna be all over the place! Be Ready!)

1. I became a Youth Board facilitator for our church youth group! :) Super cool!
2. I went to an AMAZING camp at St. Johns (The college) for 2 weeks in June. Met amazing people and just had a great time!
3. Worked on many church projects!
4. Attended muliple Lifeline masses! :)
5. NCYC! :) Kansas City! All im sayin!
6. Made great relationships with people that i would never trade for anything
7. Made God the center of my life.
8. Volunteered
9. GOT A JOB!
10. GOT MY LICENSE!
11. Had fun with my friends in the musical
12. Learned to help others.
13. Finished my Sophomore year lol :)
14. Started blogging more :) haha
15. Started researching and hearing from colleges.. :/
16. Got a debit card! haha these are big milestones for a 16 year old! :)
17. Got started in an Asthma study.
18. Hung out with friends lots!
19. Had my fair share of downs/bad things but ya know what can you do?
20. Started trying to gain back my self confidence.

Sooo there is 2009 in recap for you! :) Hoping 2010 is full of so much more!

God Bless,
Ashley

What to be Thankful For This Thanksgiving..

Hey all! :)
In the spirit of Thanksgiving (Being tomorrow!) I thought I would post what I am thankful for :)

(These are listed in NO particular order)

-My family, even through the rough times some how we all stick together and get through. They love me unconditionally and I am truly grateful to have them.
-My wonderful friends! :) Where would I be without you guys?!? You all have done wonders in my life and I continue to thank you so much for all of that! :) Through thick and thin, through laughter and tears...man you guys are amazing!
-God. Man what to say?!? God has blessed me so much in so many ways, and still to this day I continue to count the ways. The one who hears my cries, pleas, hopes and dreams. God you are amazing! :) And I am so glad that I turned back to you!
-My Future Husband- Who right now only God knows, but he is getting us ready to be together. I love you with all my heart. :)
-For St. Henry's Youth Group! :) Man, I love it there! :) Even though we are still promoting and in the early stages, i couldnt ask for anything better than what we have and what we will continue to have :)
-My Puppy! Lilly is my love! :) Dogs know how to pick you up when you are down, and make you laugh and have fun with them! :) She is my absolute love, hope, pride, joy and my little girl :) I love her so much!
-My Parents- For putting up with me through so much! :) Thanks for all you do for me and teach me! :) Please continue to do so even if Im not the nicest person about it... haha :)
-My Grandparents- Grandma and Grandpa Theisen are amazing! :) I love having Grandparents sooo close! :) Thanks for all you do for all of us! **I cant wait to come over for thanksgiving tomorrow!** Grandma Fran, you are such an intelegent woman. Full of wisdom and hope. Thank you so much for all that you have taught me!
-For being able to get an education. I know most of the time we all hate school, but to think about it... man we are really really lucky to be able to learn and make the world a better place!
-The Bible. Without God's word I would be lost!
-For all the people who go out and CHOOSE to make a difference!
-MY YTM FAMILY!
-My Job :)
AND SO MUCH MORE! :)
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?! :) Let me know!

My message to all of you....

Since tomorrow is a day of celebration, giving thanks, and together-ness, why not spread that on?? Do anything you can to spread those things on to others who may be less fortunate than you, or are just in need of a little happiness.

God gives us all PLENTY of things to be thankful for! :) So tomorrow when you wake up, or throughout the day tell him what your thankful for. Let him know how much he has changed your life, and made you thankful.


Lord---
Thank you so much for this day. Please bless all of us tomorrow, with our travels and family time. May our time together be memorable. Let tomorrow be a day for us to give thanks for all the blessings you have given us.
In your name we pray,
Amen


God Bless,
LOVE love love,
Ashley :)

Friday The 13th....wasnt bad at all! :)

Hey All~! :)

Just wanted to post an update!
Today was an overall good day! Things are looking up for lots of people in my life, including me! :)
Im so glad that school is done for the week and i only have 3 days of school for me next week! :) I leave for NCYC (National Catholic Youth Conference) on Thursday morning! I am so excited! We leave at 4:45AM from our church (roughly) and have to be to Eagan to get on the nice coach bus with our whole delegation to ride 6 hours and 45 mins to Kansas City, Missouri! :) I am sooo excited! For more information check out http://ncyc.nfcym.org/ 21,000 Catholic Youth! :) Please pray for my delegation, and me too please! I want to be open to God and his plans for me :) I cant wait!! :)

Today after school Judith and I rode up to St. Cloud with Jeff and Ryan Michaelis to pick up dad, and then Judith and i took dads car to Noodles for dinner. A quick stop at Barnes and Noble, then to movie gallery to rent movies :) We had a great time! :) Now we are relaxing and watching What Happens In Vegas, its pretty hillarious! :)

Tomorrow morning my mom is having a bunch of friends over for a Bagolita's and Norweks party, i am excited to get to see my mom's friends and family :) i love them! :)

Then working on homework i bet in the afternoon...not soo fun. We are starting Frankenstein in AP English..not looking forward to that at all! :(

Then.......IM GOING TO DINNER WITH MY BESTEST FRIEND! :) I am so excited! We are going to Applebee's (One of our signatures! haha) I cant wait to spend time with her and chat. We are both so busy and i am so happy to get to talk to her :) yay!!! :)

She is my best friend :)

I love her :)

This is what love looks like :)

Haha :)

Love you DeDe! :)

"Trust In the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And lean not on your own understanding"

"Friendship is one of the ways that God shows us how much he loves us"

LOVE!

God is MY LIFE!

I dont know what it has been but these past few days i have really been CRAZY about God. Its been crazy but i have never felt so good in my life :) This is just so amazing that i felt i needed to share.

Everyone talks about how great there relationship with God is and i thought "wow i wish i had that, my relationship is decent" and now for some reason God has pulled me closer and wrapped me in his loving arms and its just wonderful :) Its really difficult to describe but that seems to be a good thing :)

As for my life right now, everything is going great :) I am having a hard time with some decisions that people that i know are making and its tough to see that, and i dont want to look at them differently, but its so hard, but im praying about it and i am glad that God will help me though, because i dont think i could do it without him.

Here is my list of things that are super eventful that God has done for me: (i know this isnt all but these are a few things that i am really thankful for)

1. Saving my brothers life
2. Helping my mom
3. Helping my dad and I
4. Saving Leah
5. Giving me amazing friends.
6. Giving me the gift of helping others
7. Giving me the gift of being a leader and a role model
8. Putting interesting situations right in front of me and teaching me how to deal with them
9. Fixing our house
10. Surrounding me with love
11. Leading me to him
12. Giving my courage in myself
13. Giving me the best sister in the world ever who i love :)
14. AND SOOOOOOO MANY MORE the list could continue to go on and on and on

Dear Lord-

Thank you so much for everything you have done for me. You are amazing and i love you so much! You are the lord almighty :)


Sorry this blog was just about my recent happiness lol its all about Him :)

Lots of Love

Excited for a wonderful weekend!

Well this weekend is going to be TONS of fun!!! :)

Today its friday and who doesnt love fridays?!? Went to caribou with Maddie and hung out with the family :)

Tomorrow going to grand march with DeDe to see everyone :) Then babysitting, and after that POST PROM LOCK-IN at church!!!! :) Mass in the morning :) Then sleep for a few hours and then DeDe and Leah are coming over so we can get ready for our RED CARPET CAST PARTY for the musical :) I cannot wait! :) Im doing Leahs hair and make up as well!! ! :)
As you can tell i am super happy hence the smiley faces haha :)

But sad at the same time... i havent heard from Judith in a few days and thats un like her.... i hope everything is ok with her :) I will pray!

Well got to go film dad doing his sign language stories and then post them on youtube for his instructor to watch and grade :) they are pretty funny
He is getting antsy waiting for the end of this class lol

much love!
Ashley