Miles and I woke up early and climbed the mountain. I feel the burn!
Mo rode her bike to Donnie’s so I drove down to Clarkston to pick her up.
I’m enjoying my last days of the holiday. I go back the 10th.
Love,
Ashley
Gift Swap with Anna
The kids are still out of school so Mo and I enjoyed hiking up Stone Mountain.
We picked Miles up for lunch at Madina. That Chop Chop chicken and Beas (peas) is soo tasty. It inspires me to cook more.
I studied my Bible and did some reading. Put my bed frame together…
I wrapped a ton of presents to give away to the Kensington kids this week.
Anna came over and we swapped gifts. She got some some yummy white citrus shea butter that I like and some shower gel. I do love to smell good.
Practiced my Nirvana song on guitar thanks to my wonderful teacher: Miles.
Had to take my car into the shop. Too bad. It needed a tune up really bad that costs around $700-800 and it needs new tires one of them has a nail in it. Booo!
Thank you so much for your support that takes care of missionaries like me. Without your help how could I drive down to teach my flock?
Love,
Ashley
Cuddly Gray and Pinks
I took a cue from the Black Swan and went for soft grays and pinks.
Ovo
This morning my parents and I listened to Pastor Phil preach about jumping on board with Jesus and not missing out on the tides of life. I liked it. I’m trying not to say no to new opporunities.
Later, My parents, Miles, Hannah and I drove to Atlantic Station to see the Cirque Du Soleil OVO show.. It was AMAZING. The way they twist and use their bodies is incredibly.
My favorite part was when they were jumping off a rock wall onto a trampoline.
Had a lot of fun.
Bedazzled shoes with Ash later.
Love,
Ashley
Happy New Year!
The new years here.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me this year. More traveling? New people? Leading friends to Jesus?
What are some of your resolutions?
Love,
Ashley
New Years Eve
Hannah, Rachel, Nina, Miles, Kevin, Russ and I rode down to East Atlanta to watch a New Years Punk show. It’s so inspiring to see girls rock out on stage.
I’ve been enjoying learning on my new JagMaster Miles bought me for Christmas.
See you next year!
Love,
Ashley
Christmas in Texas
The whole Cummins clan gathered around tamalles and cheese dip at Nana’s house for Christmas Eve. It’s our tradition to open presents the night before Christmas.
I got a cute scarf that can be worn 8 different ways. The crisp $50 can be worn a few differnect ways as well. ;)
It’s nice to be on holiday. 
Love,
Ashley
Santa Ashley
Ate El Torero’s with Mile’s mom and Roxy. Delicious and I always like to practice my Spanish.
Miles and I went to buy the Kensington Kids Christmas presents for tomorrow’s party. Thank you so much to Mr. Doug Allison and his Family who made this possible with their donation.
Went to see The Tourist with Hannah. I loved the scenery but we all knew Johnny Depp had to be the mysterious Mr. Pierce, right?
Love,
Ashley
Don’t Throw it, Grow it!
By Deborah Peterson and Millicent Selsam.
I’ve been really getting into gardening and growing plants.
This book, Don’t Throw it, Grow it, was easy to navigate with a lot of great ideas of how to take common kitchen scraps and turn them into new household plants. I’ve taken it’s advice and started growing an Avocado pit in a Shagnum moss bag. Fingers crossed.
Christmas Party at Azalea
We had a great turn out for the Christmas party today. Over 50 children and adults showed up.
We colored pictures. Even the moms and dads got to coloring.
Decorated cookies while Dad told the Christmas story.
Sang Christmas carols. The tradition of Silver Bells continues.
Each child got to pick out their own gift at The Santa Store.
Love,
Ashley
School Lunch
Mama and I ate with the Kensington Kids at their school, Glenhaven Elementary School. They were so excited to see us outside of Kensington. You could tell how much it meant to them by the big smiles and surprised faces when they saw us enter the cafeteria.
Helped Jossie, Jocelyn and Angel at Azalea.
Went to the board meeting after Azalea. It was great to see the whole team. What a great one we have!
Miles got a haircut!
Love,
Ashley
FBC Doraville Breakfast and Mini Turkeys
Dad spoke at FBC Doraville this morning. He’s getting people pumped up about missions.
Then Dad surprised us all and joined the choir to sing Christmas songs.
After FBC Doraville, we drove over to Open Table to support Ruthie and Ian North and Refugee Beads.
Aren’t these beautiful? Support the refugee women by purchasing their handcrafted jewelery at refugeebeads.com.
Rested at home for a few hours. Worked on Brookwoodranch.com’s new website.Here’s a sneak peek: http://www.brookwoodranch.wordpress.com
Wrote some Thank You notes.
Dad and I drove over to 12 Stone Church to pick up 36 mini Turkeys. We’re going to hand them out tomorrow to the immigrants and refugees in Chamblee. Check back tomorrow to see the pictures.
It’s snowing!
Love,
Ashley
Turkey Time!
Passed out the turkeys to the residents at Azalea.
Horseback Riding and Light Bulbs
I finished all my finals last week. History was the hardest. We had to write an essay and know exact dates. Mass Communications and Geology went over well. I’ll be able to find out my grades Monday afternoon.
To celebrate the end of my Sophomore year of college I went out to ride King at Brookwoodranch.com.
I learned that horses have the largest eyeballs out of all the land mammals.
Thank you to the Acteens at FBC Jonesboro who sent a dozen homemade holiday cards for the kids. I can’t wait to see the kids’ reactions when they see they have mail.
My light kit came in for my paper lamp.
Looking forward to speaking at First Baptist Doraville, the church my parents got married in over 25 years ago.
Love,
Ashley
The Last Regular Day
Today were my last regular scheduled classes before the holiday break. Presented my media dream job speech. 2 minutes on the nose. Perfect.
We got our group projects back. 100.
Only 2 finals to go.
Ate Spiced Right, serious BBQ with Miles, Mo and Dad.
Helped the Jocelyn at Azalea with her grammer homework, Jossie with her spelling words and one of the Bengali mothers create a mock cover letter.
Miles and I met Russ at Ashley’s house. It looks so festive with all her Christmas lights up. We had fun singing and playing guitars out on the front porch.
Hope to go horseback riding tomorrow.
Love,
Ashley
Cold hands
Whew! What a cold day here in Georgia. I’m a southern girl and don’t like it when it drops below 6o degrees.
Miles came over and helped me with a few home improvement projects. We built a bookshelf and added some dowels in my closet. Love that hands on work.
We ate some good ol’ country cooking at Matthew’s Cafeteria then I picked up Mo who biked 7 miles to Kensington in the freezing weather.
Worked on the tennis court with the kids in the sunshine.
Helped Jasemine figure out elapsed time.
Hope now to finish my Telemundo paper and write my two minute media dream job speech.
Love,
Ashley
Studying for Finals
Miles and I ate at Mah Jong’s Chinese. We really like the Hot and Sour soup on cold days like today.
I finished reading Automatic Wealth for Grads. The best piece of advice I got was to save at least 10-15% of your paycheck.
My fish are fun to watch.
Finished writing my article critique of Eric Foner’s article about the origins of the Civil War.
After about 2 days we finally finished the calendar project. We made extras! Send me an email if you’d like one.
Studying for my Geology Final tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Love,
Ashley
The Fashion Show
Last day of school for a week. Could hardly sit still through the Civil War lecture and Communications class.
The kids had fun going through my old clothes and putting on a fashion show.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Kensington Kids.
Love,
Ashley
Automatic Wealth for Grads
Automatic Wealth for Grads by Michael Masterson
It teaches you how to save and invest your money.
The main tip I got was to save at least 10-15% of each paycheck and put it into a savings account that you can’t access easily.
There’s also a lot about investing in the stock market and real estate to how to find the job that’s right for you.
If anything read the first 3 chapters and the last chapter.
Rachel Comes to Kensington
Studied Earthquakes in Geology lab today.
Mr. Alonzo from Kensington left me a voice mail. When I first got the call I thought, “Uh oh.. they’re going to kick us out.”
But it was great news! They want to partner more with us and do more events. I told them about the Christmas party we’re going to have on Saturday, December 18 from 12-2pm. Please be praying for a great turnout.
Rachel Greene, My friend from First Baptist Duluth, came to help out at Kensington. The kids took to her immediately.
Listen in on their conversation.
Hanezor had fun showing off his silly bands.
Love,
Ashley
Robert’s Rules in Plain English
Working with the newspaper and being involved in meetings it’s good to know what the rules are.
These are the same rules used in Congress.
Skim through this just to see what’s going on.
Thank You Notes
Spent time with Miles and His Dad. We ate at the Texas Roadhouse.
Miles is really interested in going to the International Luthiers Guitar Building school. He loves playing guitar and can really see himself working hands on with the instrument. The only catch is that the 3 month class costs $10,000. Today he weighed the pros and cons of attending the school with his dad.
James, Miles’ best friend is back in town from Knoxville, Tennessee for Thanksgiving.
Wrote some thank you cards. Do you want a card from your youngest missionary? Shoot me an email at ashleycummins@gmail.com with your home address and look forward to getting a homemade card.
Spent about an hour figuring out which classes I want to take.
I’ve taken 46 hours so far and only need 7 more classes to get my associated degree. I’m looking forward to transferring to Georgia State University in the Spring of 2012 and graduating with my Bachelors degree in Journalism by Fall 2014 if all goes according to plan.
Love,
Ashley
Tova Rinah in Decatur
Hannah and I started with lunch at Pizza Cafe. I got a slice of Peperoni, Pineapple, Jalepeno and she got BBQ Chicken without chicken. Pizza is so good. I like to fold my pieces. How do you eat yours?
Then we drove down to Little Five points to look at the Bass Lofts which used to be an old 1920’s High school.
We meet David, a local shop owner in Little Five, who gave us a tour.
He had an accent so I asked, “Where are you from?” and he replied,” Nigeria.”
So I said, ” Oh! Bayoni!” Which means hello in Nigerian.
His mouth dropped and he got all excited, “Ohhh whaaat?!”
Learn some greetings in another language and really make foreigners feel at home.
Later, Hannah and I meet up with her cousin, Taylor, and her two friends River and Roane.
They are travelling cross country from Oregon and have been couch surfing all the way.
Around 9 we left to watch Tova, Hannah’s sister play an acoustic set at Java Monkey.
Love,
Ashley
Chao Baby
Walter took Jesse and I to Chao Baby downtown near Georgia Tech.
J and I spent time working with the kids at Azalea. I called out spelling words and helped Ruiz learn how to tell time.They are getting really excited about the Thanksgiving break. Me, too!
Love,
Ashley
My other dad’s birthday…
Happy Birthday to Jimi Kendall, Mile’s dad. Today he turned 53.
Miles and I walked around Stone Mountain before meeting the family at Zaxby’s for lunch.
Worked on the Whirlwind Calendar for all of our supporters. Are you a supporter? Spoiler Alert: You’re getting a present soon!
When Mama and I got to Kensington all the kids had already gone home so we decided to prayer drive around the complex until we found some kids.
Please pray for the people who’s homes caught on fire.
Dinner with the Kendalls at Ruby Tuesday’s.
Then home to celebrate.
Love,
Ashley
Learning how to play guitar
Hello!
Today I went to study History leading up to the Civil War. We read an article by Eric Foner that I’m about to critique. I made an A on my last one and hope to keep up the great work.
In Mass Media my group FINALLY got to present after waiting 3 days. We were the most cohesive group and I thought we did really well.
Home now to study and play some guitar. I’m learning Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds.
Love,
Ashley
TAG Fair- Is your favorite school there?
Ashley Cummins
Editor in Chief
Nicole Moody is a recruiter for GPC, “Basically I’m the one who helps set this fair up.” This year the Clarkston TAG fair was held on Tuesday, October 12 from 9 a.m. -12pm. “There’s been a great turn out so far. Usually the students talk to the big universities like, Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech.”
Kangni- Soukpe Ayelevi, an Electrical Engineering and Actuarial major at GPC hopes to transfer to GA Tech or State but there’s one dilemma, “I want to do both. My dream is to be an engineer and go to GA Tech,” the problem is that Tech don’t offer both degrees. “Maybe I’ll just switch to economy,” she decides.
Walking around many of the top schools were represented, but there was one that wasn’t. “I really want to go to Kennesaw but I don’t see them here.” Says Diem Tran, a Business major. Either way Tran has a plan. “I’m going to contact a few other schools and ask them about their International program and waiver. I’ll also go to the open houses.”
For all you other Transfer Admission Guarantee students who didn’t make it to the Clarkston TAG Fair there are still other times to guarantee your admission into top four-year institutions.
Wednesday, October 19 from 9 a.m -12 p.m. at Newton,
Tuesday, October 19, from 9 a.m -12 p.m. at Dunwoody
Wednesday, October 20 from 9 a.m -12 p.m. at Decatur
Thursday, October 21 from 9 a.m -12 p.m. at Alpharetta Center, Room 114.
Visit www.gpc.edu/tag for a complete listing of institutions.
Pilates and Ping Pong
Ashley Cummins
Editor in Chief
Ping Pong champ talks about the game
Table tennis, Pilates and Self Defense
Pilates and Ping Pong
Robert Zellner travels across the country training police and teaching self defense. “He taught a Self Defense class here in the gym last year and now we have him back.” Robert Edwards, Health and Wellness Coordinator, jesters proudly. (FACT CHECK HIS TITLE) That’s right, Zellner is back and teaching a free, co-ed self defense class on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12-1 p.m. in the Clarkston Gym. Show up and learn how to fight back.
The gym also has a Women’s Weight training and Pilates class on Fridays from 6:15-7:15 p.m. Get your tone on quick because this class only lasts until Nov. 5. (FACT CHECK ON FLYER)
But the gym has more to offer than sweaty classes, it also hosts a ping pong game everyday in the open corridor. “Mondays and Wednesdays are the best days to come play, but the tables are always available.” Shivam Dubey says as he leans against the trophy wall. “Six years ago in India I was at the state level for competitive table tennis. I quit playing for a while and lost the touch. I’ve been playing here at GPC for two summers now.”
Anyone can come and play and it only takes two players to get a game together. The ping pong tables are then pulled out from behind the gym wall and are ready for action.
Rashad Harvy, one of the Recreation Attendants at the Clarkston gym comments that they also have board games for the mental athlete.
Walking into the Clarkston gym on any given day you’ll find new things to do — from weight lifting to ping pong and board games, the gym’s got it all.
I’m a REAL journalist now!
History Class. Nobodies been reading and Professor McGrath can tell. She lets up off the hook though. I should read tonight. Revolutionary war, baby!
Group projects today in the libray with Tasha and Stacey. Our topic is Disney, the Media Conclomerate. I’m begining research on all their products, Cruises to toys.
Attended the TAG (Transfer Admission Guarntee) Recruitment fair. This will be my senior year at Georgia Perimeter.
The most EXCITING part of the day. We got our new equipment! Six brand new Canon Rebels with zoom lens and FLiP video cameras. I had so much fun walking around campus meeting and gathering quotes for the rails in the newspaper.
Worked with the kids at Kensington. It’s so been cool out lately, really comfortable to sit outside on the picnic table and do homework together.
I helped Armondo do double digit math problems. 34×6. If you can help fifth graders do this, you should be a missionary.
Home now writing and editing articles. I really want this to be an impressive issue since we’re taking it to nationals! Woop Woop.
Love,
Ashley
Juice Box Kids
Willy in his Vamp teeth.
Hello!
Miles and I took his Jeep to get new tires. We studied at IHOP while we were waiting.
Went to Geology and did a Volcanic Ash lab.
Worked on homework with the kids.
Home now to study History and make sure all my editors turn in their articles.
Love,
Ash
Rapping Ronnie
Ronnie is my new project. He is an 11 year old fifth grader who saw his brother get shot and killed.
Over the years he’s been one of the hardest kids to work with. He cusses a lot, gets in fights and is ready to drop out of school.
I’ve been praying for him a lot lately and I can really see the difference.
Today he asked politely to use my phone and we worked on his homework together.
Ronnie likes to rap so I decided to reward him for his good behavior by helping him record his songs. Some of them are really sad. He talks about being born a mistake and being raised by gangsters.
I’m hoping this exercise will help him and I get along better and have him take a look at his life so we can decide what next move will be.
Please be praying for Ronnie.
Love,
Ashley
Ashley Ann Kendall 