Kleenex, Vitamin C, and a pouty Ash

Blegh! Someone made me sick. I have to find someone to blame, but it's not going so well. Started with a sore throat, then suddenly the next day it spread into every possible part of my head. After a HORRIBLE night's sleep (if I can call it that) I am now sitting on the couch in my pjs, covered in my blanky, with kleenex shoved up my nose. I'm sexy like that.

So anyways, what's new with me you ask? Well the other day I OFFICIALLY enrolled for Reeves College's Graphic Design program for the fall. Gadzooks! I am "technically" a student? I know, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. The good thing is that since I enrolled, I have secured myself a spot for the fall semester and if something happens during the summer, I can pull out with no penalty before classes start. And the other good news, is that the class is filling up quick for fall, but they top their class size for this program at 12 students. 12! That sounds wonderful. So now I just have to work on finding a job that I would be able to work part time while in school. Wish me luck, I'll need it.

I have to take this opportunity to mention @MauStCha (twitter) for what a fantastic friend she is. She's like this ray of sunshine and support group, confidante, all rolled into one. She's been super in keeping my spirits up, giving me encouraging words and praise all while going through her own stuff! No matter what she's going through, she always manages to shoot me an email with a supportive spirit (even though lately I haven't been great at reciprocating these emails as quickly as I should!).


Also, I would like to mention my fab crit partner @CourtneyReese86 - what a lovely diamond in the ruff I have found! She's helped me find my renewed drive for my new WiP and has been grinding some plot details that I haven't been able to hash out with anyone. She's a great writer and fantastic friend, and the best crit partner I could have asked for! 


Well, I should go and get some more juice into me and find some soothing lotion for my poor nose. I shall leave you all with this question:


What is your best remedy for a cold? Without caving in to the multiple cold medicines of the drug world. I'd appreciate any answers you can give!


-A

In the Life of Ash - College? Really?

Yesterday I had a meeting with the student advisor at Reeves College. One of the first things I noticed with talking to a couple Reeves people over the phone and from my meeting yesterday, these people are all so nice. (1 point). They're also very helpful and considerate of individual situations (1 point). For those who didn't know from Twitter, I've been looking into their graphic design program and met with a lady yesterday to get more information and ask any questions I had to make a valid (and oh so serious and life changing) decision.

Something ironic - one of the girls I had worked with (who also got laid off with all of us), had enrolled at Reeves college (for a medical assistant, or something like that in the health field). She agreed with how wonderful all of the people seem there.

Anyways, their program seems really great. I'm kind of excited at the possibility of enrolling for this program (and school in general!) - I'm glad it's strictly graphic design and computer-related courses, because if it was like the Grant Mac program (which includes multiple hand-drawn projects, portfolios  I believe, I would be so screwed. With all my awesome quirks and personality traits and my ability to use words to write fantastic things, I was left out of the 'artistic', drawing, sketching gene of my family {my brother got that}). So in other words, phew! Dodged that bullet. (1 point)

I have lots to think about now. I'm pretty sure I really, really want to take this program. The opportunities from taking it are fairly wide open (1 point) and one of the main selling points for me is that it's something creative, different day to day - I need a career that would keep my creative juices flowing and keep me intrigued. I can't do the robot work thing anymore - punching in numbers, doing the SAME thing day to day, boring work. I think it's time I need to really jump the gun and do something I want to do. (1 point - for the creativeness).

So, summing up the goods - great program, great people, they help at the end of the program to soup up your resume and find work at a company you would really like (2 points).

The downsides include the tuition - it is about 12,000$ (I nearly dropped to the floor when she mentioned this - I'm such a financial wizard, careful with my spendings, not liking to lay down lots of cash on things... When I bought my car a few weeks ago, that was a strike in the heart enough!). I don't know if this tuition is normal or what the tuitions are like nowadays (it's been a while since I have seriously looked into post secondary full time.. like 5 years people), but the good thing is that this cost covers tuition AND the text books. (-1 for $, but +1 for including text books). I hear text books really kill students.

I would need to take out a student loan. One plus is that I at least have 3 years of the Rutherford scholarships from high school (I think it totals to 2,500$) and I could very well be applicable for other bursaries, scholarships or grants. Who knows! I think they help with that too, when you enroll, it automatically searches for what bursaries, grants, etc, apply to you. Really? When did that happen? From what I remember, students had to physically research and find scholarships that they could possibly be eligible for and write into them, hoping they would receive or win or whatever. Grueling process, trying to find anywhere that would give you the $ to help you pay off your skyrocketing tuition. But from what I gathered yesterday, they will look for you... How do they know if my grampa served in WWII? (I think there's probably some kind of scholarship for that, who knows). Any thoughts?

Also a painstaking thought is juggling school, work, $, etc, etc. *hyperventilate*. I think one of the worst processes would be trying to find a job that would let me work full time throughout the summer, knowing that I would have to switch to part time in the fall. The course runs 1-5pm Mon-Fri, so I would only be able to work mornings.

Oh - and apparently a lot of things in my life hurt my ability for a student loan (or how much I would be eligible for, rather). 1) I have a savings account. Yes. Of course I do. We grow up having EVERYONE tell us to save money, to squirrel it away, open a savings account, etc, etc. Now I'm going to get dinged because I HAVE one, and according to the gov't I should be using this while in school and watching it dwindle away to nothing. Um, excuse me gov't - this money could be saved for emergencies or for buying a house. It's there for a reason, I haven't used it for a reason. 2) My common law live in boyfriend makes money. So? How else to you expect him to live?? Of course he makes money, and yes I do live with him. So in other words, because he needs to LIVE, I get dinged because he makes money. Nevermind that he has a huge business loan to pay off now (that he just took out a couple weeks ago btw), because he made money last year, this means he should be able to support me while going to school. Apparently the gov't doesn't take into account the fact that we pay rent, bills, and, oh, I don't know, need food?

Anyways. So, lots to think about. The lady (her name is Janice, I guess I can stop calling her 'that girl'), gave me some things to take home and mull over (I mentioned how I need to talk it over with mumsy because she is the woman of all wisdom and helps me out with HUGE decisions like this.) She mentioned, hey, if you want to bring mumsy in next week or something, that's perfectly fine! Maybe she has questions that you haven't asked or forgot to. Ironically, mumsy will be in the city sometime next week and, as elementary as it sounds, I think I'll "bring her in" to discuss all of this more. Hey. My mama knows what's best! And also she's overly excited about the possibility of me going back to school and I mentioned her coming in to the college and she got all excited about that too. I guess it's a good thing because she would understand the things I didn't, ask things I forgot to ask, etc.

Well, I guess I babbled on enough for now. Gotta go shower and such, I have a day filled with bridesmaid dress fittings and shoe shopping. Friend's (@spencerjmarie) wedding is in just over a month, yikes!

Thank you for listening!

-A

Twitterview #3 - @RockstarJodie

Hello everyone - it's time for my next Twitterview, and my Victim #3 is a superb lady who I've come to adore. She's sweet, sexy, and LOVES Rockstars (the energy drink). Hence her name...

@RockstarJodie

 (Side note: Sorry I had to cut your cleavage-endowed boobs from the pic dear friend, but it wouldn't have fit on the laptop screen if I kept them!)

Q: Why did you start up on Twitter?
A: I started up on Twitter about 2 years ago as @PrincessJodie because my ex was on it. It was awesome, but there wasn’t very many people on it at all. 

Q: What is involved in an average work day for you?
A: My work day is never the same. That’s what I love about working in a bank. I get to meet many unique individuals and help them by providing them financial advice. Other than that, it’s the typical 8:30am to 5pm job except that I LOVE the people I work with. 

Q: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
A: In your pants! Ha. I am kidding (kind of). For real though, I would now have to choose San Diego. I felt so at home while I was there and I would LOVE to live there. It’s so beautiful and there is sun ALL THE TIME! 

Q: What is one of your most embarrassing moments?
A: Oh man, it’s so hard to pick just one. I have at least one embarrassing moment happen each day. But if I had to pick one, it would probably have to be when I was in San Diego. I was exploring the city when I was walking down University Ave. I had guys yelling out the window at me and lining up commenting to me as I walked by and I thought to myself, “Damn! Jodie, you are looking mighty fine today. Look at all these guys giving you attention.” I couldn’t understand what they were saying as it was in Spanish, but I only assumed it was something like, “You’re hot!” So I walked into this Mexican store when this guy came in and was speaking Spanish to me and I told him I only spoke English. He asked me if I wanted a ride and I was appalled. Like really? A ride with YOU?! Hell no. So feeling creeped out I went back to Edgar’s place. I was telling some of my friends from San Diego what happened when they told me the area I was walking around in was known for…..
….PROSTITUTES! Can you believe it? Sigh. I didn’t look super “hot,” I looked like I wanted “a ride,” like the guys asked. 

Q: If you were going out with the girls, what would you be wearing and where would you go?
A: A dress. I love wearing dresses when I go out. They make me feel so pretty. We always seem to hit up Hudsons. Mostly Hudsons downtown. 

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do on a first date?
A: Is this supposed to be a G-Rated interview? Haha. I kid….. A first date. I want it to be something different than the standard dinner and a movie. That’s BORING! Take me bowling. Take me mini-golfing, do something fun and where I can see you relax. 

Q: You have zero money to spend, but one of your friends’ birthday is coming up. What do you do?
A: I would pretend to be sick until I had money :) Nah. I wouldn’t worry about it. My friends are cool in the fact that they don’t need me to buy them presents to know that I love them. But I would still arrange to take them out when I finally had money. 

Q: We all know you’re fairly tall. What’s the best thing about being so tall?
A: That people notice me. No matter where I go, I never get lost in the crowd. 

Q: ..and the worst?
A: People always ask me to grab things off of the shelf when I am out shopping. So now I listen to my iPod so I won’t be disturbed. Ha. Also, short guys always want to date me. No, sorry, I won’t date you. I don’t want people to think I am out with my little brother!!

Q: If you suddenly had the day off tomorrow, what would you spend it doing?
A: I would probably sleep in. Then get caught up on my chores. Boring, I know. But I need to do laundry, organize my clothes and shoes. My shoes are all over the house. I need to stop buying so many….but they are so pretty. I love shoes (just in case you didn’t catch that). 

Q: What is one of the most important qualities in a friendship for you?
A: Trust. I give everyone my trust until they do something to make me question it. I expect the same thing in return. I have a great circle of friends that I never have to worry about jealousy or any of that meaningless bullshit. I am very lucky.

Q: What is your favorite thing about ME (@AshleyTenille)?
A: That you are real. A lot of girls are so caddy and uptight. You are funny, smart, and you are friends with me. What more could a girl want from life?

Q: Tell us one thing about yourself that no one would expect:
A: I have a twin….

….HAHA! Gotcha. Suckers. Something about me that no one would expect. Hmmm…that is a tough question. I would probably have to say that I absolutely hate feet. I think they are so disgusting and ugly. Most people find this weird as I love shoes. I just find shoes make feet look pretty by covering them up.

Q: Lastly, who was the last person you replied to on Twitter and why should we follow them?
A: Haha. Unsurprisingly it was YOU! Why anyone should follow you is because you have a damn sexy photo. RAWR!

 

In the Life of Ash... (update)

So I've been bad.. real bad.. in not updated my blog. (perverts)

What's going on in the life of Ash? Well, it's been 3 weeks I believe, 3 weeks since being laid off and being sent into a whirlwind of chaos. First week (more like first 2 weeks) was spent dealing with Sunlife benefits, RRSPs, the company I was working for (argh.argh.argh). Dentist appointment, buying out all my prescriptions, boyfriend's birthday... Baby showers, meetings, bank stuff, talking with colleges, and the agency the company set up to help us with our resume.

I've hardly looked at my resume...

Oy, what a couple weeks this has been. I'm wondering now how I got anything done when I was working full time! It's amazing how much stuff you can get done when you have a WEEKDAY to do it. In all honesty, I think most of it has been trying to keep myself busy because every time I thought about everything, I would get stressed, get a tummy ache and pout. So I've been running around like mad (well, maybe not MAD..) getting stuff done, cooking, cleaning (I think that first week I cleaned EVERYTHING spotless. When I'm stressed, I tend to clean.), taking bottles in.. I'm surprised (and proud! Go me!) of everything I'm actually getting done. The lay offs thing has sunk in now and is more of a thing of the past (waves hand in disregard) and now I think I'm stuck in that "in between" place, where I keep putting off my resume because I'm thinking about going to school and if I DO enroll, then the resume build would be different because I'd only work part time, yada yada yada.

What am I looking into you ask? Well in a perfect world, I would be pursuing writing with a vengeance, living up in Paris or somewhere exotic, writing novels and becoming a crazy hermit person. But, in real life sadly, that won't pay the bills and after speaking with a lady from the agency our company provided after being laid off (she helped me figure out what I want to do, etc), I decided writing is something that is MINE and I can always do it in my spare time, as a hobby, and if I get published from that, then great! But being realistic, I doubt I could make a career out of it (almost all writers have at least 2 jobs...)

Anyways, so basically I NEED (must have) something creative in a career. I wasn't happy with what I was doing at Thomas Cook (I loved what I used to do there, but then for the past 10 months or so I've been doing statistics and payroll - boring, robot work, punching numbers in, math, etc), and that isn't for me. I need something creative to scratch my  itch, keep my interest up in whatever career I pursue. So I started looking into graphic design. I have a meeting with a lady on FRIDAY (this Friday, goodness, can't forget!) with a girl at Reeves College regarding their graphic design program. Between talking with a few people from there this last week or two, they are VERY nice and extremely helpful and understanding, so that makes this transition a whole lot easier. It's actually getting me kind of excited for it. Keep your fingers crossed for me on FRIDAY!!

Something else that is new, is that I also have a crit partner now! (critique each others writing) (@CourtneyReese86 on Twitter). I'm going to do a whole blog post on this, but just had to mention. :)

Anyways, I've spend ALL morning painting my bathroom and now my arms are terribly sore, hands horribly callused and Ash incredibly loopy from all the fumes. So I'm going to cut this post here and wish you all a very fantastical hump day!

<3 -A