Pink haired freak

In light of my new full basket I decided it was time for a change. Nothing too extreme, just something different. So, I put hot pink streaks in my hair. It isn't as obnoxious as it sounds. The color is on the underside of my hair and I love it! I expected someone to tell me that they didn't like it, but actually, everyone has liked it so far. Even my coach. And she doesn't like anything. I have always wanted hot pink in my hair, but the cheerleading career didn't exactly allow for it. At least not in high school. I think the color fits me. Makes me stand out a little bit in a small town. Go figure that I would want to stand out.... haha. Anyway, I got the hair done in Lawrence. I had to go to 8 different stores to find the color. That is insane. I litereally saw a man standing on the corner down town in a white prom dress with white gloves that came up to his elbows, yet I had to play hide and go seek with hair dye. You would think that pink hair dye and cross dressing would go hand in hand.What has happened to the balance of the world today?!?!

All roads lead to Nationals

I just got back from three days of cheer camp and for the first time in my entire life... I didn't hate it. Actually, I loved it. Aside from getting up every morning at 6, I had a great time. I roomed with a freshman girl on our squad named Jaye, she is ridiculous. It was really funny being in a room with her for 3 days. She definitely offered to take a shower with me every night. (Part of my wonders if it was really a joke). I can't blame her though. But alas, it never happened. Sorry for all of you out there who got excited about the idea. Anyway, our squad won every award at camp. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal to all of you non-cheerleaders, but it is! It was amazing! The entire squad was on a high for the rest of the day. Nothing brings a squad closer together like squashing the competition. haha. (yes, I am slightly competitive... and kinda evil). The most important thing that happened at camp??? I learned how to do a full basket!!!! I am so freakin excited! Let me fill you in if you don't know what this is... or my background with this particular trick. A basket is when 3-4 guys throw me as high as they can in the air, I do some kind of trick while I am up there, and then they catch me at the bottom (most of the time). I tried to learn how to do a full basket my freshman year and apparently was taught wrong. The guy that taught me made it impossible for me to help catch myself, so I was dropped from 25 feet up to my neck (twice). After that experience I never thought I would attempt a full basket again. I mean, this is how people kill themselves, or paralyze themselves. Baskets are the leading cause of intense injury/death in cheer leading. But anyway, I went to camp and found an instructor there by the name of Steve who really knew his stuff. I was terrified to try in again, but I knew I really had no choice. It only took about 3 tries with Steve's coaching to get it perfect. It was so much easier when he taught it to me. And the best part about it all is that I am the only person on the squad right now who can do a full basket. What does that mean??? That means that I have (most likely) secured my place on the national competition team for the third year in a row! Go me! I can't wait to do baskets again. I have bruises all over the place from them, but hey, that just makes me look like a badass!

Busy busy busy

Nothing like taking a College Algebra final a week early to stress someone out. Especially someone who is math retarded (read: me... math stupid). I have to take the final early so that I can go to cheer camp with the squad. I can't decide if I am looking forward to it or not. I really hate the extremes my body goes through for those couple of days, and of course it is incredibly stressful. For those couple of days I will be cheering (not like "yeah go team" but stunting, tumbling, competing) from 8am to 11pm every day. Yuck. You have no idea how sore your body can get until you decide to do something like this. After I get back from camp I usually just want to lay on the couch until the pain subsides... like three days later. I just found out that Dustin isn't going to camp. Lucky guy. On the up side I will most likely lose a couple of pounds by the constant exercise. I am rooming with 3 other girls at camp. That shouldn't be too bad, aside from the fact that one of the girls is the most hyper, retarded, cheerleader-Esq girl I have ever met in my entire life. She gets really annoying really quickly. I am going to have a real heart to heart with her. If she keeps me up all night long with her incredibly high-pitched laugh I will have to smother her with my pillow.

Spoiled, thy name is Ashley

It's true. I am. I am spoiled rotten. I am not really sure where all of this started, but it is so very obvious to me today. My mother spoils me rotten. She always has. I am her only daughter after all. Even to this day she still buys me things for no reason at all. I don't even live in the same town as her and I still get a phone call every day with her on the other line saying "I bought you a new movie/book/cooking pan/pair of shoes/all of the above. The funny thing is, not only does my family spoil me, so does my boyfriend. I think my family simply ruined me for any normal person. I have always had boyfriends who spoil me, but not like Dustin. The other day I found him standing on my porch with a huge bouquet of flowers. When I asked him what the occasion was he said "It is Tuesday". Are you serious?!?! Today we went to the Buckle (Dustin just got paid and the money was burning a hole in his pocket). I was helping him decide what clothes looked best on him, which truth be told pretty much everything looks good on him. After he had finished spending enough money to pay my rent for the month he looked at me and said "go get something". I insisted that he should spend his money on himself. I lost the argument. He ended up buying me a pair of jeans. I know... now you are thinking.... okay so he bought you a pair of jeans, big deal.... The jeans carried a $150 price tag. I just want to say right now that I have never, in my entire life bought one piece of clothing that cost $150!!! That is insane. The jeans look great on me though. They make my ass look amazing! I guess they were worth the money, but more importantly I am glad that I have a boyfriend who loves me enough to spoil me. Oh I am ruined for normal men everywhere.....

Real Men Don't Hit

I am part of an organization at Pitt called SAVE (Students Against Violence through Education). In this group I hold a position on the executive board known as Special Events Coordinator. What does this mean? This means whenever we have huge things to plan, like Sexual Assault Awareness Week, I am in charge. This sounds all good and great (it is always nice to have a little authority) but there is a ridiculous amount of work to be done. I just found out today that I have to organize Domestic Violence Awareness month. That means that I have to organize a major project once a week to induce awareness in those who pass by. As it happens, Crawford County (the County I now inhabit) has the highest rate of domestic violence in Kansas. It is really important to raise awareness in hope of lowering the rate. Basically I am going to be crazy stressed out in October! Hopefully I don't have too many things like this put on my plate at once. At least all of my energy will be going to something that helps other people. Maybe it will save someones life...

Feel the Burn

Well, it seems the diet thing is actually working for me. I can't believe it. I have always been horrible at dieting.... mostly because I am a chocolate fend, but this time I am sticking to it. It has been a couple of weeks now and I have lost 6 pounds! Six pounds.... can you believe it? That is like 5% of my entire body weight! So, I started this whole venture at 118 pounds, now I am down to 112. I have 16.1% body fat... I still need to reduce that by at least a percent. I am supposed to be at 15% or less. My weight goal is 110 I think. That is my healthy weight. I have to admit that taking Hydroxicut has been helping me a lot. I got the stuff from some of the guys on the cheer squad. Apparently they take it to cut fat when they are working out, so I figured I would give it a shot. It is a hunger suppressant, which is the main reason it is helping me I think. I have a bad habit of snacking, even when I am not hungry. But this pill makes me feel relatively full most of the time, so snacking doesn't happen as much. I have been counting my calories the past couple of days and I have managed to stay well under 900 per day. That is pretty good. Hydroxicut also raises my body temperature when I work out so that I can burn fat quicker. I can tell it is working, because every time I work out now I sweat A LOT more than I used to. Between dieting, working out, and eating less I am seeing results which is awesome! I feel a lot better walking around in a sports bra now, but I am not done yet. I want to be ripped when I go to camp. That would be bad ass! Maybe I can get my 6-pack back by then. Right now I am kind of stuck at 5... damn stubborn belly fat!!! Melt away why don't you?!?!? Anyway, it is back to the gym tomorrow for running and lifting. There is just nothing as exciting as a treadmill.

Top 10 Biggest Turn Offs

That's right... here is the list in no particular order.

10) Smothering me. Example: "Do you miss me? I missed you way more than you missed me!" (Yes, one of my ex boyfriends was like this). I can't even breath just thinking about it.

9) Not being treated as an equal. I don't need a big protector/provider. I need a man that I can build a life with. Together.

8) LIARS

7) Bad Breath. I am really into good smells for some reason. If I guy smells good I can't help but to bury my head in his chest and breath in. Bad breath has the opposite effect. Yuck.

6) Lack of drive. I need a guy that is driven. I don't care what they are driven to do, as long as it is productive.

5) Lack of intelligence. This is a HUGE one. I once dated a guy strictly based on his intelligence. Intelligence is sexy. Needless to say, by itself it does not hold relationships together.

4) Talking too much. I can't stand guys who feel the need to detail their every little sexual escapade to their buddies over a game of drunken poker. If you are going to do that you might as well invite them to join in. Who cares about your girlfriends feelings?

3) Lack of spontaneity. I am really predictable, so I need a man who isn't. It keeps things interesting.

2) Someone who is so traditional they refuse to experiment AT ALL. Sex is supposed to be fun.

1) Lack of Responsibility.... This is by far the biggest one. I don't want to be with someone who isn't responsible. What kind of a father would that person make if...heaven forbid... an accident happened?!?

So there ya go. My list of CRAZY important turn offs. I am sure there are more...but I don't want to put much more thought into this.

Snuffles

This is a picture of my boyfriend Dustin and I. We just passed our one year anniversary not too long ago. I got really lucky with this one. He is the best boyfriend I have ever had. I met him through cheer leading actually. He is a phenomenal tumbler and that is what first attracted me to him. Weird, I know. He has so many of the qualities that I look for in men. He is kind and funny. We rarely fight, but if we do, it doesn't last more than an hour or so. He is also involved in the community service work I do. It is really important to me that my partner shares my strong beliefs when dealing with sexual assault and rape. He makes me feel like I am the most beautiful woman in the world. A man who can do that is priceless. He also does his best to take care of me. I don't really need to be taken care of, but it is nice to know that he wants to anyway. So, one year after getting together with this amazing man I am happier than ever.

Not exactly left high and dry

So, apparently the higher powers that be decided it would be really fun to flood the planet. I missed the memo when I went to work this Saturday that I would need an Ark to leave. After getting out of work I had to get a motel room because the streets of Pittsburg were all flooded and the cops were stopping people from driving on them. It was a complete rip off. I had to pay $70 to sleep in a motel for like 6 hours. If other things had occurred in the room, it may have been more worth it... but dreaming doesn't count. I feel cheated. Apparently, that feeling is going around. Maybe if I had a stripper with a spectacular booty entertaining me last night. Oh well. I ended up traveling well enough in the morning to make it to practice, so it worked out. Thank you rain God for letting up long enough for me to arrive in cheer leading hell. I appreciate it. Much better alternative to letting me sleep in my own bed. Anyway, I am hoping the rain slows down, Pittsburg wasn't exactly engineered to support flooding. Hey, maybe I will get evacuated to some place cool like Texas... or Florida....whatever.

Are you feeling Randi, baby?!?

Everyone meet Randi. This is my friend who is on the squad with me. I am pretty sure that we were separated at birth (that would explain why I look nothing like my family). Randi is moving in today, so I spent the majority of the day deep cleaning the house, didn't want her parents to think I lived in filth. Let's see... about Randi. I think that Randi is God's cruel little joke on the rest of the women in the world. He was really feeling vindictive the day she was born. I mean, Look at her for heaven sake!!! It just isn't fair I tell you! We pretty much have the exact same personality, except she is much more laid back than me. She also has a southern draw that comes out really bad when she is drunk ("What are Y'all doing?"). She has arthritis in her neck and is currently going to rehab for her back. She also has to get surgery on her hand every 2 years. Through all of her chronic injuries, she never complains. Now that's Army Tough. And above all, she has a huge heart. Glad I found her down here. I don't think I would have survived without her. Here's to a new roomie!!!

God, I want a brownie

Today marks day 2 of my diet. Yes, diet. Horrible word isn't it? Yuck. I am currently dieting in the effort to lose 5-8 pounds. I have cut myself down to only low calorie/low fat foods. Yesterday I had Kix cereal for breakfast (no milk), a plain turkey sandwich for lunch, and a grilled chicken breast for dinner. Today has gone relatively the same way. I skipped breakfast on accident (forgot my cereal), and I just finished a turkey sandwich. I have also been drinking nothing but water for the past two days. I really don't like water. I normally drink pop and juice. The water is probably the hardest part for me. After I rest for a little I plan on taking the dog for a walk. I have heard that you burn more calories walking for an hour than you do running for 20 minutes. So, that is the plan. Unfortunately for me, I am not a vegetable lover, so this whole eating healthy thing is going to be a challenge. But it will be worth it.Hopefully I can get my body fat percentage down too. I am going to look damn good at 110 pounds.

Cinderella's Castle

So.. Here are some of the items that WERE on my list of things to do before I die... but I have accomplished these.

1) See Cinderella's Castle in Disney World

2) Get my palm read by a psychic

3) Ride a mechanical Bull

4) Visit Alcatraz Island

5) Skydive

6) Fall in Love at least twice

7) Buy a House

8) Get a 4.0 in college (currently in progress)

As you can see that is a far cry from finishing the list... but it is a start. I still need to visit Europe, Save someone's life, and learn how to play chess. Those will come later. I will tell you about more of these goals later! Here's to an extrodinary Life!

Free Fallin'

I just want to live. Not a normal life with few exciting experiences, but an extraordinary one. On Saturday, I went skydiving. It was one of the 50 or so items on my list of things to do before I die. (I know...at this point some of you are thinking...you could have died. But hey, what a way to go right?) Anyway, I was strapped to a trained professional, by the name of Justice, so that made my chances of death slightly less. (The funny thing is, before I ever got in the plane there were two different guys fighting over who was going to be falling with me... I get the feeling it had something to do with the bondage aspect. ha ha.) Back to the story...I jumped out of a plane from 10,000 feet. It was freaking awesome!!! I was so psyched to do it that I don't think it every REALLY crossed my mind that I was jumping out of an airplane (kinda freaky when I think about it in hindsight). Anyway, the rush was well worth it! I was falling so fast it didn't even feel like I was actually falling, it felt like I was flying. (Why in the world would Superman EVER take the bus)? There was a camera man that jumped out after me and Justice, so I have about 70 pictures of the whole experience. I have to admit that my face in several of the pictures isn't exactly cute, but hey, what do you expect? The view was amazing and Justice even let me control the parachute while we were gliding. I don't think he was supposed to let me do that, but it just made the experience that much better. I would recommend jumping out of a plane to anyone. I think everyone should do it at least once in there life! There is nothing like it. Miles above Ordinary!

Nothing Else to Say

I feel like writing, but I don't really have anything important to say. I noticed that a friend of mine had eight interesting things listed about himself on his blog, so I thought I would give it a try. Although I am sure my eight will be slightly less exciting.

1) I hate being touched while I am sleeping. This means NO cuddling. Wait until I am concious if you really need to hold me. Otherwise, I get cranky.

2) I am violently oppose to mint flavoring, both artificial and real.

3) I love the idea of being a vampire. It is romantic in a forbidden kind of way.

4) My mom has always played more of the best friend role in my life than the mother. I think she depends on me more than I do her for emotional support. It doesn't seem weird to me. It is all I know.

5) I am secretly very introverted. I am good with people, but they wear me out.

6) If I could be 4'11, I would. I think short people are cute.

7) I often tell people that I am a horrible liar, but this really isn't true. It is just easier to let them think that.

8) I have a list of things I want to accomplish before I die. It is about 50 items long.

Well, That is the best I could do. Hope it was entertaining. Welcome to my world.

Playboy Bunny

I own every Playboy magizine from the past year. My roomate is actually who they are mailed to, but truth be told I think I read/look at them more often than he does (I know... he probably gets more "use" out of them... but I was trying not to go there). Anyway, I have been thinking and I have come to a conclusion. I want to be a Playboy bunny. If nothing else, it would just be awesome to think "Hey, I was hot enough to be in Playboy!" For those of you who don't know me... I am not a hugely sexual person. I just think that I have a slight chance (read: I am probably too short and need breast implants) to be in the magizine. I also heard that they pay really well for the pictures. If that isn't a draw for a poor college student, I don't know what is. Of course there are considerations to be made... one being.. what would my parents think? Honestly, I think my mom wouldn't care all that much. She might be a little shocked at first, but she always used to tell me "if you've got it, flaunt it". Obviously there are certain times when flaunting is inappropriate, but I think Playboy could be an exception. I think my Father would have a heart attack. Other considerations...cheerleading. There is no way in hell they would permit me to stay on the squad is I had naked pictures published in a magizine. So of course, I would have to decide what is more important. I like cheering, but it is PLAYBOY. Then of course there is the stigma attached to the idea. I am sure there will be people I know who think less of me because of my escapade. But, If it makes me happy why should I care what other people think? If I want to be a fucking playmate, why not go for it?

My roomate thinks I am Bitter

I am a cheerleader at my University. I hate telling people that. Mostly because as soon as I do they think one of several things:
1)I have the IQ of an eggplant.
2)I must be really happy ALL the time.
3)I must be really stuck up.
4)I must be a slut (or hopefully I am)
Truth be told none of these things are the case. Go figure. My roomate, who is a 25 year old woman named Ashley as well is in the masters program at Pitt and well, not the cheering type. When she told her family that she was living with a cheerleader their immediate reaction was "Oh, she must be really happy." My roomate in telling me this story then kind of laughed to herself and said "actually no, she is kind of hostile." I had to laugh at that. Being that we have nothing in common on the surface (name excluded) we share a similar view on life and sense of humor. During this same conversation she also informed me that one of the student teachers I had for a class last year, by the name of Tyler,asks about me every day. Awkward. Apparently he finds me to be "sassy"... (yes, that is a direct quote). Sassy huh? Go me.

Blogging? Are you Serious?

I have always been somewhat skeptical about blogging. I guess there is something odd about posting things about me that anyone could read. But I started thinking... maybe it will be entertaining for someone. So here we go... I should be cleaning my kitchen right now, thanks to living with roomates my house never seems to be clean enough. I am avoiding the mound of dishes that I can barely see over in the sink. Who needs cups? So over-rated. I am also kind of watching E-True hollywood story about Anna Nicole at the momment... I know I am probably losing brain cells. Hopefully I have some to spare. Well, I think that is it for now. I will write when I have something kind of important to say.