Ashley wants to make YOU part of what's happening in Atlanta!
What a fun time I had spending with the refugee babies. Some of the older toddlers just LOVE posing for the camera.
Click here to see them blowing you kisses!
Hannah and I went to catch up and eat lunch at Pizza Cafe. Yum! Then we shopped at TJ Maxx. I got some great new cobalt blue heels and a gift for Ashley’s birthday party tomorrow!
Later Lynsie and I hung out with Ashley at her house. It was SO hard to keep all the details of her birthday party tomorrow a secret.
Love,
Ash
Successful day at school. in Feature Writing we discussed the articles we’d printed out. Mine was about the U.S. helping Mexico crack down on crime by allowing Mexican agents to cross the border.
In Statistics it was almost TOO easy. All we did was histograms, Mean, Medium and Mode.
At lunch at Donnie’s and ran into Lee, Ashley’s boyfriend. He bought my lunch. Thanks Ashley and Lee! :)
I helped Luz, Micky, Fabiola and Angel today with geography homework.
Tonight is Eid, the Muslims holiday after Ramadan is ended. We had a lot of fun dressing up with the Bengali ladies and eating the food. Wow! They spice it up the right way. Yumbo!
Watch the video here of the ladies dressing up Amy.
The ladies loved dressing Amy up like their doll.
This baby is SO cute!
Niche dressed me up with her ulna or scarf.
Oh! The curry, coconut rice, beef and lemon zested sauces.
Even Miles and Jesse got into Punjabs.
Studied for my Human Communication Quiz tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Love,
Ashley
Today in Human Communications I learned that “twelve” is a slang word for police.
Interesting discussion on Native American culture and their narratives in American Lit.
Home for lunch and then to the mission. Today was Rosybell’s birthday! (She’s the one in the middle.)
Eid, a Muslim holiday similar to Christmas, is tomorrow. They kids are excited to be finished with the fasting and eager to celebrate. Look forward to those pictures tomorrow!
Got home and UPS had delivered the mini netbook I ordered for Milo’s birthday. I was so excited I couldn’t wait a whole month so I gave it to him on the spot. He loves it!
Read a lot for Features Writing tomorrow.
Love,
Ashley
Lynsie and I had fun this weekend. On Friday night we went to Flip Flops downtown. I liked the beachy vibe, live music and dance floor.
Then on Saturday we had a Pilates and Dance demo on Main Street in Old Town Lilburn.
After the demo, Lynsie took me to Center Stage to get some ballet shoes, tap shoes and a leotard. I’m official now!
That night we watched Just Go With It. Hilarious! Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are really funny together.
Dad got me some new weights and mat to work out with. Thanks!
Home now to work on American Lit homework.
Love,
Ashley
Ran 2.25 miles with Shuggie this morning. She helps me get up the hills.
We finished the labels and got the Azalea kids to help us put on the stamps and put the CD in.
Watch the Tim and Ashley Movie here…
We always treat them to donuts afterwards.
Jefry he’s so cute!
Came home and worked on Stat homework.
Looking forward to going to Flip Flops with Lynsie in a minute here.
Love,
Ashley
Features Writing with Westfall went well. I’m looking forward to building my portfolio and writing some travel pieces.
I had an hour before Statistics so I went over to see Mo and the international babies at the ESL program where she works.
Then Mo and I ate lunch and I headed back to class. Stat seems like it will be a pretty good class. I like how the teacher teaches with her hands.
Home to work on some homework before heading out to Azalea to see the kids.
Wrote my Newsletter…
Ashley’s Dispatch SEPTEMBER 2011
Love,
Ashley
Communication class this morning. We watched Foghorn Leghorn. I can only take so much of that accent and antidotes.
American Lit was canceled. Dang! After all that reading. It was nice to get out early though.
Tutoring with the kids. Today we worked on numbers raised to different powers.
Little Momo and I went to Mohosana’s house to try Jack Fruit. Interesting. A LOT better than Durian, also known as Poo Poo fruit. Can you guess why? It smells like sewer but some people swear by it.
Pilates with Lynsie Pfannkuch. Whew! Our teacher, Dottie, whipped us tonight.
Home to do some Features Writing homework from the AP Stylebook.
Love,
Ash
Today I had Features writing at 10. Parking was horrible. I had to walk all the way from the soccer field. At least I got some exercise.
Got to my second class of the day and realized I’d already passed the class. Mah bad. I came home and immediately dropped the class and registered to Statistics.
Jesse, Dad and I went to eat burgers then Barnes and Noble’s so I could get a planner for school.
Worked with the kids at the mission. I felt like I teacher. I had five fourth graders with the same grammar homework. I would go around the circle asking them each to read the sentence and tell me what punctuation it needed.
Home now to do my own homework, 60 pages of reading about Native American literature. At least it sounds interesting.
Love,
Ashley
Yay! My years in college are almost over and I’m SO happy! Only 2 more semesters and I’ll be graduating in May. Can I get a woop woop?
Ate lunch with Mo at home when she got home from working at the ESL Mommy and Me program. Then went to Azalea to work with the kids. It was PACKED!
Fahim studying so hard he can’t keep his tongue in.
Marium brought her little brother,Asfar, in. Dad had fun bouncing him around.
Love,
Ashley
Oh! It’s so fun when Lynsie, Ashley and I can all get together. We’ve been friends since High School so it’s always a good time.
Us way back in the day.
Back to the Present…
Tomorrow is the first day back to class. (What to wear? What to wear? Good thing I have sowelldressed.com to help me.) I have mixed feelings. I’m ready to graduate but I’m not looking forward to early mornings and late study nights. Pray for me to be able to keep all the plates spinning.
Love,
Ashley
Hello!
What a great Saturday I had today. Foothills Community Church came out and grilled out at Azalea.
We had fun playing together…
….painting with face paint…
(We got a little out of control. But it was too fun to stop!)
…and making crafts.
Thank you to Foothills for coming out and serving at Azalea!
Click here to see ALL the photos.
Love,
Ashley
Oh, Daily Candy how I love you! And you don’t even make my teeth fall out.
DailyCandy.com has the best collections of what’s out there on the web. I like that you can get the weekend guide specifically for your city.
Check it out. Now.
Oh yeah, baby! I found another great fashion website.
sowelldressed.com handpicks celebrity outfits and then finds similar items to fit your budget so you can make it yours. You just have to see it to understand it. But I know you ladies will love it!
Fun day at the mission.
Mo helped us carry in the grills we got from Perimeter.
Sweet ol Shuggie and Miles.
Lynsie and I went for our girls night to Three Blind Mice. She got the catfish which was delisious and I had the toasted Cuban. YUM!
Later we went to Dillon’s to celebrate Brett’s 26th birthday.
Looking forward to the Block Party at Azalea tomorrow!
Love,
Ashley
Yum! Mongolian food for lunch.
Dad got a cool new jacket as a joke today. Doesn’t he look suave?
Worked with the kids at Azalea. Joe and Amy came for their first time. They were a BIG help.
Jesse helped me build my hammock for our camping trip this weekend to Vogel Park in North Georgia.
I could sleep like a baby in that thing. It’s so peaceful outside under the moon with the sound of the crickets as a lullaby.
Jessica came over tonight. We had fun like old time hanging out drinking tea and soda in the kitchen.
Love,
Ashley
Hello!
Jesse and I ate lunch together at Krystals before heading over to Fabric World. We both got some fabric to create out hammocks that we’ll use when we go camping this weekend. I love how hammocks make you feel like a baby rocking in a swing.
We also picked up the groceries. I’m looking forward to cooking (and eating) the pork chops.
Had a great time with the kids at Azalea today. Tutoring them refreshes my own brain.
I had one of these when I was little.
Good ol’ Pablo.
Cleaned my fish tank.See my little fish hinding behind the filter? He’s shy.
Love,
Ash
Worked on homework with the girls today. They were SO jealous that I hadn’t started school yet. This is my last week though. Tear.
Ate at Pollo Norteno with the family. They have the best frioles EVER! At least in my book. I love beans that drip off your plate into your mouth. They have a wonderful garden outside, too.
Love,
Ashley
If you’re interested in a different kind of art make sure to check out society6.com.
It’s well priced and categorized nicely.
There’s something here for everyone and a lot of the prints can be done as iPhone and computer covers, T-shirts and Hoodies..
Love,
Ash
Nothing like a good block party to make for a great Saturday. The Atlanta Community Ministy came out to host three block parties in Roswell.
Shuggie came as the mission dog. She was pooped afterwards.
Lynsie and I had fun at Three Blind Mice. Watch our video.
Love,
Ash
I worked on labeling our gifts to the teams. Wish you were getting one? Send me a date your church can come do missions ashleycummins@gmail.com.
Worked with the boys today. ( I had to sneak and take this of Mikey, he’s always hiding.)
Each one came in right after each other with the same fourth grade math worksheet. I’m good at adding 10,870 + 8546 and drawing trapezoids.
Played Brain Quest with the girls.
Tonight I meet Lynsie at the dance studio or Pilates and Dance. Her Mom and Sister which was fun. I can really feel a difference in my flexibility and balance.
Love,
Ashley
Jesse and I had fun with the kids at Azalea today. Only three kids had homework and even that was easy.
The rest of the time we played Scrabble, Brain Quest and made foam crosses. Jocelyn, Darlene, Mellisa and Barabra were excited to get picked up by the purple bus to go to church.
Milo helped us clean the carpets. Looks a lot better!
I did a deep condititioning treatment on my hair. It feels SO silky.
Got my English Lit and Reporting text books.
Jesse picked me up a new book at the library tonight. A prayer for Owen Meanie by John Irving.
Love,
Ashley
Jessica did my hair today. It looks beautiful. She is a master at color.
Kylie is getting SO big!
I worked on printing out team pictures today.
I looked forward to pilates ALL day today.
Ate a delisious dinner of asparagua, white rice and chicken salad with onion and dried cranberries.
What a fun weekend! Lynsie and I went to eat at Three Blind Mice.
Then on Saturday I hung out with the girls at the pool.
At night we celebrated Lauren’s 22 birthday at Bella’s Dance Club. She LOVED the golden high heels I got her.
They were too cute not to get my own pair.
And today Jesse and I passed out the binders we got from NAMB along with the other school supplies.
Love,
Ashley
After lunch with the family Dad, J and I went into Chamblee to see the kids. They helped us label the envelopes for our mail out.
Then we met the team at Fiesta Plaza. I got Corn in a Cup with mayo, chili powder and lime juice. It may look groody, but it’s so tasty.
Then Jesse dropped me back off at home so I could make it in time for Pilates/Dance with Lynsie. Later in the night, Anna and I went to Desiree’s house with Lauren and Arielka for mud mask facials from Israel. Kinda Scary!
Love,
Ashley
Well, Dad did his last briefing for the summer with the Mobilizing Students team from Oklahoma.
They had a great time at the Farmer’s Market.
But the best part is always the Missions with the kids.
It’s funny because last week Lynsie invited me to a Pilates. I loved everything and could follow along until we did some dance moves. Then I was just flailing around the floor.
Dottie, the teacher laughed and said, “Just keep moving, Ashley.”
So this week when I got to the studio I laughed when Lynsie told me we were doing Modern Dance instead. Hah! A whole 2 hours of dancing. I had a lot of fun trying something new that I’d never done before in my life, and even picked up some of the routine.
Check out the trailer I made of our girls night in last week.
Also, I’m really diggin’ Anjulie right now…
Love,
Ashley
What a great time we had at Huntington Terraces with Foothills community church this Saturday. The pastor even came out to pray with the families.
They cooked hotdogs, painted faces, made hats and gave the community school supplies.
Last team for the summer is in tomorrow!
Love,
Ash
Samosas are a beautiful thing.
And even better with Chutney. The team ate it up! At least three members bought their own jars to take back home.
Madina, the North African market, is so cool. I’m constantly looking for new and interesting things.
After Madina, Dad and I took the team to Global Mall.Watch the video here.
Dad printed out a picture of one of the teams for the priest. He was SO happy he put it up in the front shrine area.
Dad taught me more about Electronic News Gathering (ENG) today and let me practice with the camera. I captured wideshots, up close subject shots and focused on letting my video tell the story.
After we got home we reviewed the tapes together and I learned more about filling the frame and how to better break the scene down into components.
Swam at the pool with Milo and then cooked burgers and burritos at his house.
Got my truck back. Rick, the mechanic, told us the radiator “blew up” and it will cost $950 to get the Expedition running again. Bad news. But Dad says not to worry but to trust in God to provide.
Love,
Ash
Quesadilla day! Dad and I took the team over to CD tower the equivalent of Walmart for all your idol needs.
Then on to see the Chinese Pharmacy. The team bought some Tiger Balm and some kind of ear wax removal thing.
Martin served up some delicious quesadillas today. His lean steak and goat cheese is so good. A lot of the older members on the team enjoyed the real Coke with white lightning sugar not fructose corn syrup.
They really enjoyed the goats milk lollipops.
The kids had a great time at the missions doing crafts, games, sports and a Bible story. Even the Bengali mothers were listening on the sidelines.
This kid’s friend was speaking in Bengali and he turned and said, “Speak English…we’re finally in America.”
Dad picked me up and we visited the other locations. Today he taught me how to shoot news style video of the teams in action.
Later, the kids helped us label the newsletters.
Doughnuts are the best parts. It’s always funny when Dad comes in with the doughnuts, opens the boxes and the kids swarm and yell and fight to get them. Then five seconds later it’s silent…just the sound of chewing can be heard.
Signed up for classes! I’m taking Communications, English Lit, Features Writing and Journalism. LOTS of writing.
I met Lynsie at the Dance Studio for Pilates. I had a lot of fun looking at her old pictures.
It was nice to meet Dottie the teacher. I’m looking forward to going back next week!
Hindu temple tomorrow. Start praying for the people we will meet.
Love,
Ashley
Today started out like all the other days. Briefing with the teams. This week they’re from Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. They look like a great bunch!
Off to the Farmer’s Market to pick out the weirdest stuff we could find. Ghost Chile Peppers. The hottest peppers in the world!
Or the Durian, also known as PooPoo fruit. The Durian Chewing gum was banned on Asian buses because it smelled so bad.
Miles met us at Picadilly with Dad’s video camera.
After lunch was the fun part…MISSIONS! Even though it rained super hard the kids still came out and played.
Jesse and the boys acting silly.
At Highland Gardens I got to pray with a Hindu woman. That’s what I wrote my newsletter about tonight. Send me an email to ashleycummins@gmail.com to get on the mailing list!
Miles and I built his mom a tall, white bookshelf from Ikea today before our swim. We did 20 laps together! It’s a weird feeling to be sweaty and hot in a cool pool.
My car overheated tonight on the way home. Please be praying for that all to work out.
Love,
Ash
Ashley Ann Kendall 