Until We Meet Again

Ah sweet summertime, you are quickly approaching. 

I cannot wait until the day we meet and I am engrossed in your eternal sunshine; and birds, grasshoppers, children laughing, and the ice cream truck are the only sounds I know. I long to feel the rays of sun beating down upon me while I eat my lunch in my chair next to the pool. My lunch of course consisting of pomegranate seeds and fresh lemonade. The day where I wake up and my biggest decision is deciding which I should complete first: dive into the pool for a refreshing splash of cool water or attending the city fair and indulging in an elephant ear that is the size of my head. The day is approaching soon where the wind will be blowing through my short locks of hair as I ride my vintage bicycle with the wicker basket through the streets of downtown Royal Oak. I will stop to admire the art work, families walking together, and the happiness that is permitting through every single soul that is enjoying the crisp summer day. I cannot contain my excitement as I think about all of the lovely artistry that I will encounter in my 2012 summer days: Red Hot Chili Peppers, DMB, LMFAO, Florence + the Machine, 311, all of the musicians at Lollapalooza, etc. What excites me the most is being surrounded by other folks, young and old, who share the same characteristic as I: the characteristic of music lover who get nothing more than satisfaction simply by hearing the beats, rhythms, and lyrics of musical geniuses who clearly love their job of providing heaven to our ears.

Crossing items off of my bucket list (parachuting through the blue sky and altostratus clouds), making memories with my best of friends, losing myself day in and day out whilst reading a countless number of books, walking barefoot to truly feel the Earth, having a summer romance just like I have always dreamed of (hopefully, but this is the year, I feel it), late night swims, running a colorful 5K where I look like a rainbow by the finish line, && being surrounded by ADPi culture. These sweet preceding items are constantly on my mind. They are what sculpts my summer. They are the essence of summertime. They are the essence of my happiness. Summer, until we meet again, I'll be anxiously awaiting your arrival. 

Christmas Morning?

With all of the exciting announcements of the upcoming Leadership Consultants--congratulations to the 9 new Consultants and the 3 Senior Consultants!!-- I still cannot believe that these past months as a LC have flown by so fast. With knowing that my position is coming to an end (so bittersweet), I began thinking about everything I am going to miss and everything I can't wait to start doing again that I have missed in the past year.

First: The things I am going to miss about being a Leadership Consultant

• Meeting new sisters every single day/week
• Making a difference every single day in ADPi
• Anxiously awaiting my work schedule every month
• My Leadership Consultant sisters
• Being in new places every week
• The airport
• The ocean
• The mountains
• The Tennessee River
• Hearing southern accents
• Meeting true Southern gentlemen
• Waffle House
• Chick Fil A
• Warm winters
• Tory Birch
• Emma Graham
• Carrying my life around in less than 150 pounds
• Being surrounded by Lilly Pulitzer every single day of my life

Second: The things I can't wait to start doing again that I have missed in the past year

• Seeing my friends and family every day
• Sleeping in (and sleeping in my oh so comfortable bed)
• Concerts
• Shopping for things I know will not be ruined while traveling (e.g. shoes)
• Working at Maple Lane
• Going out and dancing
• Royal Oak
• What Crepe
• Reading
• Cooking
• Baking
• Working out 5-6 days a week
• Having my very own room
• Dating
• Staying in one place longer than one week
• Going on vacations
• Reading
• Being tan
• Wearing new clothes, ones that have not been worn over and over and over again for the past year 
• The Red Wings
• The Detroit Tigers
• Getting ready for weddings/going to weddings
• Watching The Ellen Degeneres Show
• Actually watching Glee, Biggest Loser, and New Girl on time and not on Hulu
• Wearing a feather in my hair
• Getting a tattoo
• Getting my monroe re pierced
• Not spending Friday and Saturday night alone

A Person's a Person, no Matter How Small

So to my large group of followers, coughcough sarcasm coughcough/#sarcasm (for all of you Tweeters), I have thrown my blog on the back burner. A)I never ever know what to write about; B)my life consists of Alpha Delta Pi, and Alpha Delta Pi only; C)hearing about all of my sorority adventures gets old reeeeal quick; and D)the time I have allotted for blog writing is very minimal--I mean, I'm not even caught up on New Girl, Glee, or The Biggest Loser, my top three favorite shows.

Buuut my life managed to slow down a teency bit/.2 miles per hour, so now I get to write! I have considered deleting my blog, but for some reason I can't seem to move my mouse to where it says "delete blog."  

Lately, I have done a lot of reflecting back on my life for this past year that I've been traveling around the country as a Leadership Consultant. It's funny because when I first began this job, so many people told me that this job is going to change me and I will not be the same Ashley when this job is over than I was when I started out in July. Not gonna lie, I was pretty pumped to see who I was going to be. But I was also secretly terrified because I loved who I was and was pretty much in love with my life as I was living it. The thought of being away from my friends and family and leaving as one person but coming back as another is scary.

Also thinking that when I am done with this job, the new me is coming back to live the old me's lifestyle is bittersweet. Now now now, the thought of being back with my friends and family literally makes me jump with excitement, an excitement that can not be put into words because without them, I would not be where I am today. But the fact that I won't be changing (or trying to change) someone's life every day is what freaks me out. I am making a promise to myself to volunteer 10-20 hours each week when I am home in the mitten. I also promise that I WILL volunteer abroad for at least two weeks. There is no way I can go to impacting lives every day to impacting lives once in a while.

Dr. Seuss said it best.

Never ever did I think that would be the reason I would be sad to leave this job. I look back at the new LC Ashley and realize I was doing this job for all of the selfish reasons/I hadn't figured out why I really wanted to be a LC, besides for the reason that it sounded like something interesting.

Only 2.5ish months left of traveling to collegiate members all over the country, I better make every moment count.