Hello Again

So obviously I've been a tad on the MIA side...well no worries, I'm still here.  After some drama my room/computer is back in business!!  I've had some really neat stuff happen lately, but haven't found the right words to say about them.   One being that I stole the lovely girls of Good Air In; we had a fun girls night at my house {away from the parentals and little brother}.    Another happened by accident on a recent "wasting time" trip to Books A Million last week.  I sat down to read Kris Jenner's book "...and All Things Kardashian" and ended up chatting for a couple of hours with the 3 sweetest older gentlemen I've ever met.  {One even offered to take me to Rome!!}

But until such a time that I can tell you of such wonderful adventures, I'll just bore you with the unteaserlike teaser.  ;)

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures, and MORE Pictures

I wanted to share a couple of my favorite shots that I've taken!  I fell in love with photography in early high school or so.  My hs business teacher had a very snazzy Canon that I was fortunate enough to use when needed (it pays to be close to teachers ;) )  and I discovered that it doesn't take a lot of talent to take a good picture, you just have to have the creativity to do something out of the ordinary.

Several years later, I own my very own Canon.  Nothing too fancy, just a Rebel XS, but it's one of my most prized possessions.  My dear sweet boyfriend surprised me with it for my 21st birthday.  Long story short: he picked me up from school and teased me that I was getting a present.  45 minutes later we pull into Best Buy.  I'm thinking I'm getting a video game......he leads me into the dslr isle and says "pick one!"  Needless to say I cried.  Best. Present. Ever!!


These are a few of my favorites.

I took this one on a walk one day in January.  I noticed the cool looking branches first, then  realized there was a hummingbird.  :)  I love how that works.

This one is obviously taken at Arkansas Girls State.  I caught her at the perfect moment: dancing and having a blast. 

As much as I love candid shots, I had SO much fun taking some of this lovely lady's bridal portraits.  This was at the end of the very long, hot day.  This over-sized chair was the perfect spot to "plop" down and take a load off.

A gorgeous flower my best friend's grandmother grew in her backyard this summer.  I'm planning on framing it and another one to give to her for Christmas.

This is probably one of my favorite half-candid, half-posed shots!!!  From the Arizona Renaissance Festival

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

Who Do I Follow?

As I mentioned before, I follow several blogs FAITHFULLY and I wanted to share who they are :)

The one I've followed for the longest is Sunshine & Carousels.  This is actually a dear friend's daughter-in-law.  I've been reading her posts since Summer '10.  She's without a doubt one of the most creative people I "know" (I feel like I actually know her, even though I've never actually met her!).  She's a full-time crafter based in Tulsa, OK.  Her adorable Etsy shop has the cutest stuff, go check it out!!

Being a HUGE fan of the tv show One Tree Hill, I've followed Bethany Joy Galeotti (aka Haley James Scott) for about the same amount of time.  She's an incredible actress and an even better woman.  Her posts are real-life topics.  She doesn't flaunt the fact that she's so successful or has the best clothes or knows who she knows.  Her down-to-Earth style is what I love most about her!!  Get your reading on!

The only other celebrity I follow is Kate Voegele, also from OTH.  She's one of my top 3 favorite musicians, so it's only natural that I follow her :)  She posts fun pictures from her tour and random things she likes.

The only person I follow that I actually KNOW is my "adopted" big sister, Melanie.  I adore her more than she could ever know...and her 3 small brat children...aaand her geeky husband.  She also posts about real-life problems, thoughts, and happenings in her crazy-hectic life.  I'm also mentioned a time or two! :)

My latest discovery (as in the past 2 days!) is Kate Bryan's The Small Things Blog.  I'm beyond addicted to Pinterest.  I found one of her posts yesterday on a hairstyle I really liked....so I started reading....and didn't stop til about an hour later.  We have pretty much the same haircut, so seeing tutorials that are straightforward and leave nothing to my awful imagination are PERFECT!!  She's a hairstylist/jewelry designer out of North Carolina, which makes me love her even more!

I follow a couple more on a just-when-I-think-about-it basis, but you get the picture.  I just wanted to share the blogs I'm interested in.  What blogs do you follow?

A Little About Me

So I'm Ashley :)  I'm a 21 year old Arkansan currently living at home (I know, you're jealous) with my mom, step-dad, and 4 furry puppy siblings.

I have 1 human sibling, a sister.  We're technically half-sisters, having the same dad, but we were never raised to think about it like that....we're sisters.  She's 2 months shy of being 4 years older than me, but she skipped a grade (smartypants!) so we were 5 grades apart in school.  She's currently 8 months pregnant with my soon to be gorgeous niece and I couldn't be more ecstatic!!

I graduated high school in 2008, went to a private college for a year that was an hour away from home.  Thankfully I met my bestest guy friend there...if I hadn't I'd be lost.  I thought I wanted to be a business teacher, boy was I wrong.  Teaching....not for me, too much headache!!   I moved to Phoenix at the start of what should have been my sophomore year.  It pretty much saved me.  I took a year off from school, mainly because of out-of-state tuition costs and not knowing what I wanted to do.  I found my perfect major and school during that time.  I know with almost 100% certainty that I want to be an athletic trainer.  It combines my obsession of sports, with my need to "mom" people, with my love of anatomy & kinesiology.  Currently, I'm not going to school.  I have some medical problems that I need to get under control before I devote more time and money into an education.  I'm sure I'll go into detail later.

Some favorites:
Music:  Kate Voegele, Michael Buble, Jimmy Buffett, & Lady Antebellum

Food: Pasta, Chicken (of ANY varity), & Mexican

Movies: Anything with Tom Hanks or Nicolas Cage.  Current Favorites: Life As We Know It, Something Borrowed, Just Go With It.  Always Favorites: The Swan Princess, The Harry Potter Octology,  The Holiday, Finding Neverland.

Sports Teams: Arkansas Razorbacks (naturally) & North Carolina Tar Heels....both for basketball :)

Animals: turtles, cats, dolphins, small children

At the moment I'm drawing a blank on anything else to include in this "all about me" post, I'm sure I'll have a couple of selfish moments during the course of time, so I'll make sure to post them occasionally ;)

You Gotta Start Somewhere

So obviously this is my very first post.  I decided I was going to start a blog when I realized I have ideas and thoughts randomly throughout the day that I could write about.  I follow 5 blogs faithfully; checking them numerous times a day to see if they've posted anything new. So why not start one myself?

I've never been one to keep a journal (unless you count the Winnie-the-Pooh diary I had in the 4th grade that basically chronicles my slight obsession with a crush, which I don't!).  I'm not really sure why either.   I'm interesting...right?  I'm worth reading about...right?  Regardless, I'm starting.

You may be asking, "Why did she name it 'Ramblings of a Wannabe Grown-Up?"   That, my friends is a good question.  I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks.  Since I'm an amateur photographer I wanted to have a place to post a "portfolio."  Finding a name for your "photography company" is seriously hard!!!  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I actually wanted to blog as well.  So having a "portfolio" can wait.  In the meantime I'll post a few of my favorite pieces and write about what they mean to me...sound good? Good.

Back to why it's called what it's called.  I'm 21, which is technically an adult, I know, but I feel like it should be considered pre-adult or something more clever.  It's worse than being 13!!  You're not out on your own, but you're not a member of the household either.  If you know me at all, you know that I go off on tangents all the time...hence the ramblings.  I can't tell a story to save my life :(  So be prepared for the random topics, soapbox chats, and complaints of a 21 year old!!