I am entering a photo contest, because, well, I like to take pictures and I took some cool ones today whilst outdoors with my sister.

Becoming Bekah

Becoming Bekah is a story that my friend, Sky, and I are writing together. Well, actually, we're finished with it. It came in at 82,000 words, which is the most in any story I've ever written before. The one coming in second is Love Anyway coming in at 73,000, which was also a big accomplishment for me.

Anyways, here are a couple of facts about Becoming Bekah.

• We started the story on January 8th, 2011.
• We finished on April 15th, 2011
• We wrote super fast! :)
• The story kind-of took a hold of itself and wasn't truly written by us.
• It's the first story where the characters were truly in-tune with the Lord.
• It was one of the easiest stories to ever write!
• There is a sequel in the works
  
• You can read all about our stories and writing projects at Ashen Sky Books.

And last but not least, here is the trailer for our story. Sky made this and I thought that it was completely amazing! Be sure to check it out! :)

Spring needs to come now...without rain

It's about time for it to start getting warm here in Pennsylvania, but guess what? It really hasn't been. And when it decides to get warm - it also decides to rain.

I'm ready for a warm day without rain! I wanna wear my shorts and t-shirts without having to put on a sweatshirt. Today, it's somewhat warm, but it also looks like it's going to rain. Rain, rain, go away, come again in a couple of weeks! - when I'm in Georgia.

I just found out that my mom and I are going to the Atlanta Homeschool Convention - GHEA - from May 5th-8th. I'm actually quite excited to be going down there. We get to go on a plane,
which makes the trip less than two hours.

The trip to ATL is going to make our May even more crazy with trips. But as you faithful readers of my blog know - I love to travel. Anywhere! You also should know that my all-time favorite place to go is Disney World! I can't wait for our short trip to Disney in the end of May! I'll get to see Ali again, which will be nice!And get to work at the Homeschool Convention down there too. And I love helping sell things for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. (I am going to be going back down to GA for Ali's wedding in December! :P)

Last summer, I took a trip to see my friend Natalie up in NY. I also got to see some other friends in the same trip - Sam, Jen, and Mandy. It was a great visit and I had an awesome time, but I don't think that we'll be able to do it again this summer, thanks to the job I'm going to be having and the one that Natalie has, too. So we're going to try to get together at some point in the fall! :) I'm hoping that works out because I miss them!




I also want to go back to see Kylie sometime next spring, if possible, for her 16th birthday. With airline flight prices going up, it's really hard for me to be able to spend money on a plane ticket at this point. But because of the awesome times we had together when I was there in the fall, I really want to go back! :)

Anyway, I don't even remember the point of this post, actually. Oh, to say that it's been rainy and I'm ready for Spring and Summer to come!

~Ashley

Beautiful People - April

I believe that I focused on my character, Elle Farris in the last post I did for Beautiful People. So I guess that I'll focus on her again! That will make things much easier!



1. How old is he/she?

Elle is 18.

2. What does he/she do with his/her spare time?

I would have to say that Elle does a little bit of everything. She enjoys hanging out with her best friend Will, writing, reading, Facebook, anything computer/internet.

3. Does he/she see the big picture or live in the moment?

Possibly a little bit of both. She definitely sees the big picture, including what she wants out of life, that kind-of thing. But she also lives in the moment, cherishing everything that she has, and remembering that it would be around forever. She looks to the future and enjoys what's going on in the present, too.

4. Is he/she a perfectionist?

Definitely not! Well, in some ways. It depends on what we're talking about. Elle has a messy room, but her desk is clean. Why, you ask? Well, her computer and writing stuff is on her desk, it must be kept clean so she can get to that stuff, right? Yeah. Right.

5. What does her handwriting look like? (round, slanted, curly, skinny, sloppy, neat, decorative, etc.)

Elle's handwriting is slanted and rather large. She almost always prints, never uses cursive, and she writes in big letters, back-slanted.

6. Favorite animal?

Giraffe! (Sky should get a kick out of this one.)

7. Does he/she have any pets?

Nope, no pets. At least not at the moment. That isn't saying that she won't in the future, but right now, there are no pets.

8. Does he/she have any siblings? How many? Where does he/she fit in?

Elle has an older sister, Sharon, and two younger sisters, Lily and Tammin. She's the second oldest.

9. Does he/she have a 'life verse' and if so what is it?

Her favorite verse is Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

10. Favorite writing utensil?

She likes gel-pens. Either in the color pink or purple, I'd have to say. 'Cause Elle is somewhat girlie, she must use girlish writing utensil, don't you think?

Every Tear by Molly Evangeline

As soon as I finished reading The Pirate's Daughter's Promise, I emailed Molly Evangeline to ask if it would be possible for me to get the next three books in the series to review as well. I've had them for a while, but they've been sitting on my Kindle, waiting to be read.

About the Author:

Molly Evangeline is a home school graduate who lives in Wisconsin. She loves to journal and express herself through writing, creating characters and plots you will come to love. Her passion for writing began when she was eight years old.

About the Book:

Aside from the nagging and sometimes troubling memories and questions of his past, life for Will over the last year has been truly blessed. His relationship with Skye grows daily as he plans and prepares a future life for them. However, all he envisioned is endangered by an unexpected stranger with a shocking identity. Suddenly, Will learns more about his past than he thought he'd ever know, but it comes at a steep price when he and everyone closest to him are thrown into the middle of a dangerous plot that threatens all their lives. Every Tear, the moving sequel to The Pirate Daughter's Promise, is an example of how God never leaves our side, even in our most troubling and sorrowful moments, taking every tear into account.

My Thoughts:

I'm not exactly sure how to write a fitting review for this book. Again, I must say, this kind-of story has never drawn me in. I have never read books like this before, because I didn't enjoy them.
But when I read Molly's books, I am completely drawn into the story. I think it's partly to the fact that she knows how to establish believable characters and make them real to the people reading the book. (Which is something that I truly admire, because I only hope that I make my characters as believable as she does hers!)
The story line for Every Tear was action-packed and definitely a page-turner. Once I got into the book, I was curious where it was going to go next, what was going to happen, when it was going to happen, etc.
This story, a sequel to The Pirate's Daughter's Promise, started soon after the first one ended and I was able to jump right back into the story, not wondering what happened to the characters in the period that was missed.
Another thing I really like about Molly's books are that they have a little bit of everything mixed into one book. They have action, fun, some romance, the love of a family. It makes the story seem more real when all of this is put into one story.
This story is definitely a page-turner and for those of you who love action, and fun, you'll love this story.

You can visit Molly's website here. And buy her books here.

Starting a long week...and month

It seems about time to write about my week. My long, long week.

Today we're doing a lot of school. School galore, really. We're trying to get as much done as possible so that we'll be done before we leave for FL in the middle of May.

Also today, we're taking Gracie to her violin lessons.

Tomorrow, I work. I don't think that I've mentioned that I got a job. I work at the same place that my grandpa works. I do a lot of different things - from filing paperwork & invoices, to putting data onto the computer. I really like what I do. I've been working for about a month now. I only work one day a week - Thursdays - until summer comes along. During the summer, I'll be working more. :)

Friday, Mom and I are leaving the house for the weekend. The Revolve Tour is coming here. Mom and I signed up to go to it, so I'm super excited for that. I can't wait to see Hawk Nelson, Britt Nicole and Chad Eastham! I remember a couple of months ago, Hawk Nelson was here for a concert and I SO wanted to go to it, but wasn't able to. Now I am going to see them, with some other bands and speakers! I'm really excited.

We're staying with my uncle and aunt who we don't see very often and live right near where the Revolve Tour is at. It'll be nice to visit with them!

We're there until Sunday. I am super excited to see Revolve. I love doing things like this - concerts especially! I am excited!

The next couple of weeks after that are pretty much open, but we'll be doing lots of school so that we can finish up early.

May is when everything gets busy and we start really doing a lot of different things.

On May 13th and 14th, Mom and I are helping out in the Old Schoolhouse Magazine booth at the CHAP convention. I love helping with conventions to help sell magazine subscriptions and other things. I can't wait for CHAP. I also love to look around at all the other products that people have and start buying school books for next year! I am going to be a senior and mom and I are starting to try to figure out what I am going to do for school next year.

I know that I'm going to be taking anatomy for science. I could have actually been done with my science courses in 10th grade, but I wanted to do both Marine Biology and Anatomy to finish out my last two years of school. I am already finished with my Marine Biology for the year (finished really early) and I really enjoyed the course and am glad that I took it. I hope that I enjoy anatomy as much!

May 15th, we're going to see Tim Hawkins! We love him and he's definitely our favorite comedian! If you haven't heard of him, here's one of my favorite videos that he does.

On May 17th, we're going to a Harrisburg Senators baseball game. I've only ever been to one of their games before and I was 13, I believe. I don't really enjoy seeing baseball games, but I think that it will be fun! :)

On May 18th, we're leaving for our trip to Florida. I am so excited for this trip! On May 19th, we'll get down there. For the first time ever, we're staying in a Disney Resort. We are going to be staying at Port Orleans Riverside. I'm so excited! We'll only be, probably, going to Disney World two or three days on this trip, since we're staying at a resort and will want to hang out there since we've never done it before.

We'll be doing Disney only a couple of days, like I said. Then at the end of our trip we'll be helping in the Old Schoolhouse Magazine booth at the FPEA homeschool convention. I loved this convention last year (it had carpeted floors!), so I'm excited to do it again.

We get home from this trip on the 30th of May.

So that's our April and May schedule. It's crazy-busy after the 13th of May. That's why we want to get school done before we leave.

~Ashley

PS~ I'll be posting a couple more reviews in a couple of days. I have a couple of books to review and I'm trying to read through them before I leave so that I can get the reviews up. :)