twentythree. twentyfour. twentyfive. twentysix. twentyseven. twentyeight. twentynine. 30! thirtyone. thirtytwo. thirtythree. thirtyfour. thirtyfive.

twentythree. unseenbeauty:gardening

twentyfour. unseenbeauty:lastminuterememberings

twentyfive. Preparation for Mosaic talk. Lots of tears. unseenbeauty:LaChureca

twentysix. unseenbeauty:craftingjoyes

twentyseven. unseenbeauty:simplicity

twentyeight. unseenbeauty:HPClue/OtterFamily

twentynine. unseenbeauty: comfystudysetup

twentynine2. unseenbeauty: thefunofnerfguns

thirty. unseenbeauty: sunnyandrainyweather

thirtyone. Chad got a Facebook!

thirtytwo. unseenbeauty: icephotographyprojects

thirtythree. Beautiful Katie leading Bible Study.

thirtyfour. unseenbeauty: perfecttimingphonecalls

thirtyfour2. unseenbeauty: snowinTexas

thirtyfive. Gabby and I watching Enchanted.

A Thousand Words Isn't Enough.

No matter how many times I look at the images on my computer taken by my hands (and from a few friends) I can't fathom them. Images of dirt, blazing sun, wire topped buildings, trash piles larger than cars, children bathing in the midst of the trash - these are what I've been looking at tonight.

I'm speaking at Mosaic, my church's college ministry, on Thursday night. It's not something I normally would do. I don't speak. I don't even speak up in class when my grade is dependent upon it. The whole idea just freaks me out. For some reason, along with being slightly distracted, I agreed to speak about my international mission experiences this Thursday night. I believe I will be focusing on Mexico and Nicaragua.

I've been trying to get some pictures together to show. Pictures that can show what it is like, but all my pictures pale in comparison to the real heartache and situations that I have seen in these countries.

I'm good at having my mind on several different topics at once. I'm great at compartmentalizing and becoming numb to things. These pictures though, I can't become numb to. To become numb to them is to deny the reality that these situations are truly going on in other places and in a way right here at home too.

Now I can't get the pictures out of my head. Although my tears are gone, I can feel them lurking, waiting for an opportunity to escape.

I don't know what else to say. These pictures kind of cause a loss of words...

If you want to see my Nicaragua pictures from Summer 2009, click here.
If you want to see how God reminded me of La Chureca in the fall, click here.

La Chureca Is Holy Ground

Tonight at Disciple, we spoke about the part in Exodus where God speaks to Moses in the burning bush. Moses takes off his sandals because he is on holy ground and hides his face in reverence. Laurinda, our pastor and leader of the study, asked us if there has ever been a time we were on holy ground. Tongue-tied is the only way I can describe that moment as I saw the faces of those that I passed by in La Chureca, the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua, the faces of those that I spoke with, tarped houses for and generally enjoyed. Our team claimed La Chureca in the name of the Lord as his holy ground. Tonight, as Laurinda spoke about holy ground and us being on it, I began to read part of Exodus as if the Lord was speaking directly about La Chureca in the passage.

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in [La Chureca, the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua]. I have heard them crying out because of [the situation they are in], and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the [oppressors] and to bring them up out of that land [known as La Chureca] into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey ... And now the cry of the [Churecans] has reached me, and I have seen the way the [government] are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you ... to bring my people the [ones I adore] out of [that filth and grime]." - Exodus 3:7-10 NIV

God said, "I've taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in [La Chureca, the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua]. I've heard their cries for deliverance from [the situation they are in]; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of [those who oppress them], get them out of that [dump] and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey ... "The [Churecan] cry for help has come to me, and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the [government]. It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you ... to bring my people, the [ones that I adore], out of [the dump]."- Exodus 3:7-10 Message

The Lord is crying out for his beloved people who are living in this filth, grime and oppression as the world turns, having the knowledge of this and yet living life as if it is not a reality but just a fact of life.Wake up, for it is real and Jesus Christ desires to redeem his beloved people of La Chureca.

I Really Should be Asleep...Why Am I Awake?

Edit: It's 4:08AM and I can't sleep. This just can't be good.


I'm working two Princess Parties (Girly Lock-Ins) back to back. Exciting. Will I survive? We'll find out Friday morning at 6AM.

If you haven't been to a Borders lately, go. I've got some great book suggestions if you need a good read. Also, try their Cold-Brewed S'mores Mocha. I'm not always a fan of iced coffee because like most beverages with ice, the amount of ice versus the amount of beverage is wildly unequal. I enjoy a good Cold-Brewed S'mores Mocha though. It's currently my favorite coffee beverage.

I'm slowly succumbing to the idea of getting Twitter. To tweet or not to tweet? Thoughts?

Also, I finally added all my Nicaragua photographs to facebook. You might want to check them out. I miss it there.

La Chureca is Holy Ground

Nicaragua is going to be told through a series of posts I believe. It's hard to just sit down and know where to begin. I looked through all my photographs of the trip yesterday and have selected a few that I just feel are captivating in a certain way. (The picture of the tire was taken from Leah Wakefield though.)

Driving into the dump was best explained by Patrick Brown as heading into a warzone. I couldn't find a picture of that, although this is just after before heading into the bulk of the dump. In the background, a dump truck is on its way out. This is a world that is just unimaginable to our minds as people line up in the trash waiting for the dump trucks to dump their goods for the people to go through and get out anything they might be able to salvage and sell. This is how they make their living. Think about that.

This is probably alongisde the "road" of the dump. The dump is called La Chureca and was difficult for us to get through because of the stench. It's difficult for me to think that our brothers and sisters live here. I met one lady, who introduced herself as a lady of God instead of her name, whom didn't have any family members and was just so happy to see us although we weren't working on our house. She just loved the fact we were there. She was really sweet.

The people collect all the trash into bags to sell. I believe that's what's going on in this picture. The water in the back is most likely contaminated beyond all reason. I'm not certain whether it's Lake Nicaragua or Lake Managua, but one is contaminated with mercury. This lake with its' location of being in the dump, I fear is far worse off. People drink and bathe in it.

This is just the land or garbage. I'm not sure if you can really separate those words. They've become one. We were looking at photographs on different cameras and in some, they looked beautiful because when they are small, it just looks like a landscape.

Thse are two of three children who were bathing in the yard next to one of the houses we worked in. These kids were precious. The children are standing in the midst of houses.

This is kind of a rooftop view of a group of the houses. During our time out in La Chureca, we put five tarps up on houses. This will enable the families to be able to stay dry at night. The primary reasons children who go to school often miss days are because they are helping their parents wade through trash to get money for food or because they are wet from the last nights' rain and dont' have a change of clothes to attend school in.

This is the front yard of the last site we worked at and these are some of our workers. I believe they are sorting through the two types of nails we had. Meanwhile, I am holding a very unsturdy ladder for two Nicaraguan boys who were helping us lay the tarp on the roof of their house. Aren't those flowers beautiful?

One of the girls at worship one night reminded us of the hope of La Chureca that she'd seen throughout the day by seeing butterflies everywhere. This picture took awhile to get, but hope is there just as this butterfly is.

This little girl is adorable. This was taken at the school in La Chureca during one of our puppet show/coloring times. I'm not really sure what she's gazing at. During this time we also performed a few songs for the kids.

This is the group of children and teachers that were at the school. There is about 350 of them I believe. Unlike most schools, they don't have to have uniforms or supplies to attend school. Oftentimes, costs such as these prevent many students from attending school altogether. They also get a lunch at the school, sometimes the only meal the child will get that day.

Bubbles. Burbujas. I believe this is almost as international as the smile. Someone started this at the school and the kids went wild over it. They loved it. I just love how the joy on their faces was captured in this photograph. They've got a tough life, but they can still find joy.

I had to put this in. Shower time. "Sweet shower time. Scrub! Scrub! Scrub!" These were fun times. You'd be surprised at the deep conversations that take place in the girls' bathroom. Haha.

Yes, that is a squirrel in a cage. Squirrels aren't native to Nicaragua so they are exotic pets and in the zoo. We worked in the afternoons doing VBS and painting at Casa Havilah, a girls' home. The girls' in this home were taken out of their living situations for a variety of reasons. These girls are all from the dump and I can't even begin to explain the horror of what they've lived from. The girls' ages range technically from 3-16, although the 3 year old (Anacelli) was getting lost in the shuffle, so they moved her to Casa Robles, the boys' home that was just started a year and a half ago. While we were there, Maria Elena, got the chance to celebrate her 8th birthday. It was her first birthday to actually celebrate though. It was a really sweet moment and Brian Coats has a video that you should check out by clicking this.

This is Lily. She's from Casa Havilah. The last night wee worked, the girls and boys came over to the Buzbee's complex and we had a puppet show and concert followed by a pool party for them. It was a really sweet time. Lily was exhausted but she loved her pizza.

The last day of the trip, we went to the beach to kind of process the last few days and get ready to come back to the USA. The bus ride was amazing with the scenery that flew by of towns and Ometepe, the volcano island the '06 team went to. At the beach, Don Macune, Shelley Harwell, Jessica Sarpu and I explored the town of San Juan del Sur and investigated what these men caught in their boat that day.

This is Guillermo and Kristen Jones. They are two of our fearless leaders. Guillermo or Sr. G is our fearless bus driver who is so much more than a bus driver. He was amazing.

This is Cathlyn Leonard and Leah saying goodbye to the girls and boys from Casa Havilah and Robles. One of my favorite memories happened a few minutes later as much of our team ran after the bus trying to catch it, just as children always do for us. I can't explain it.

Amidst all the garbage, one of the families planted these flowers. There is hope. There is hope in La Chureca. It is Holy Ground. La Churecha is Holy Ground.

Photography is a magnificent treasure from God.

The events, faces, smiles and more of Nicaragua are marinating in my mind. I haven't exactly narrowed down what I want to share of that experience yet.

As my mind has been marinating, I've finalized a layout for this site. I went back to a past facebook note which I thought was fun. I'm posting the Rules just in case you want to do it too or you just want to see the results you would get:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/).
b. Using ONLY the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker. Change rows to 3 and columns to 3 (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php).
d. Save the image and post it on this note!

The Questions:
1. What is your name? Ashley
2. What is your favorite food? empanadas
3. What is your favorite color? tie dye
4. Favorite drink? Green Tea
5. Dream vacation? Around the world
6. Favorite hobby? travelling
7. What you want to be when you grow up? a helping hand
8. What's one thing you call valuable on this earth? friendship
9. One word to describe you? creative

& That's how the photography collage at the top came into existence.

"God doesn't wreck our plans, he just has no regard for them." - anonymous

I woke up today believing it was simply another lazy day of summer, which I've been perfecting this last week by pretending to study and watching an extreme amount of Disney channel peppered with selected shows from TLC. In order to actually study math I am in need of my graphing calculator that I let Cathlyn Leonard borrow. I headed to Westchase to meet her and get it today. I arrived in the Big Room to see her, but she was not there. I sent her a text and proceeded to search the building which is when I stumbled upon Brian Coats.

I stopped to talk to him, which is when he found out my lazy day schedule. Mr. Brown had to drop out of the Nicaragua trip and BC was offering me the spot on the trip. After making some phone calls to my parents and the travel agent, I'm all set to go minus paperwork which will be taken care of in the morning, way before my normal wake up time.

Driving home while I was cancelling plans, I realized just how crazy God is, especially with his perfect planning. I talked to Mr. Brown about this trip back in February before I finalized my summer "plans" of taking CLEP tests and going to Alaska. I definitely prayed about the trip, but didn't know how it was going to work out and just let it slide out of my mind.

Ever since I've been back from Alaska though, Nica has been on my mind a bit. I've been thinking about gallo pinto, the Nicaraguans I know and love, the mission team I travelled there with and those I've travelled to other places. And now, I'm going back to Nicaragua.

I haven't stopped smiling since I left the church with my paperwork in my passenger seat. Sam Shrauner could hear my smile in the voicemail I left her. I'm excited to say the least. Nicaragua, here I come!