*New Beginnings and Adventures*

I have been going thru a lot.

Since November 2010, life has thrown some extreme hardships at me. One of the biggest ones is my divorce from my husband of four years. Things were becoming complacent and I began to grow depressed. The divorce will be final on the 23rd of May ( which is only a few weeks away). I plan on going back to accomplishing these items on my list once again. I truly have a new outlook on life and am in a much happier and better place. I have someone who 110% behind me and believes I can accomplish anything. I have aspirations but do lack a bit of faith in myself. Coty has been there to help me any way he can and gives me daily affirmations that have greatly improved my new lust for life. He has been nothing but good to me and life is slowly turning around in a good direction....FINALLY! Jobie ( my cat ) is also a staple in my life. I don't know what I would do with out him. If I were you, I would keep a close eye on this blog and see all the new things I have accomplished.

26.

Finally finished reading a very good book. It is called "Monster", is by A. Lee Martinez and I would definitely recommend to people who enjoy cryptobiology and the similar. I have always been interested in cryptids and the study of them so the book highly appealed to me. I decided the best way to finish a good book would to be in a warm bubble bath and a glass of ice cold pink lemonade. I do not want to give away much about the book in case you want to read it yourself, but it is full of cryptozoology, good story telling to the point where you can vividly picture the scene in your mind, and questionable quotes.

At the end of the book itself there is an "extras" section where someone interviews the author. For the most part it is good but I was saddened when he said he doesn't believe there are cryptids out there in the world and that is why he wrote a book where they do exist. Really? I, for one, do believe some exist. They do not have to be unicorns or such, but everyday new animals/cryptids are found that the world did not know existed. There is another quote in the extra section that I thought was quote worthy: "For a while, I used to think it would be cool to take a tour of haunted America, but all those ghost hunting reality shows burned me out on that dream. You can only watch so many people bumble and stumble their way through darkened rooms, jumping at shadows, before you start thinking this would be a pretty silly hobby." I agree with this; not the point about silly hobby but the part it all being a reality show burning people out on it and then not wanting to do it. People should go out and experience it for themselves.

The book was not expensive and kept me and my mind entertained. So if what you have read so far has intrigued you enough, go out and buy it then let me know what you think of the book.

4.

Ciao!

I did it, and even though it was a bit difficult towards the end...I finished Italian 1. I had the best teacher I could ask for, her name was Maria Lidia. She was a very petite lady but you could tell she loved her language. She grew up in Italy and moved to the United States once she was older. The classes were two hours ( give or take) every Monday for about 9 weeks. I am one of those people who take a lot of notes and I wrote down everything I thought my brain could absorb. So needless to say, I have a note book half way full of notes and pages the teacher handed out. The first few classes were mostly learning some words for greetings and goodbyes and whether a word is masculine or feminine. Then the classes started to get a bit more tough, but I wanted to stick with it and learn as much as I could. It seemed other people didn't have the same mind set. The class started out with 13 people and by the last class it ended with 5.

I have been in love with Italy, mostly Rome, for as long I can remember. I lived for a short bit in Sigonella, Italy but I was young and didn't comprehend too much of the language when I was there. Also, I have taken some years learning Latin and I thought learning Italian would help me when I make the trip to Rome in the coming years.

So on the last class, the teacher brought in some tiramisu she made herself. I didn't eat any, but I could smell the strong aroma of the caffe' filling the room. After completing the class, I learned so much and here are a few things:

- When speaking in Italian, you have to open your mouth more and actually form the words. A lot of people I run into and interact with mumble and barely open their mouths while speaking English.

- How to speak about trains, bus ways, hotels, air planes, restaurants, numbers, time, conversations and a bit more

- About the culture there and more

I will be taking Italian 2 once I am a bit closer to my Rome trip, and if you ever had a thought about taking a language course, do it and you will not regret it.

Arrivederci

50.

I have been a long time fan of Brian Posehn, whether it be his jokes or acting. I think it was about a week ago, I was surfing the internet (which is the usual) and stumbled across a blurb from Brian Posehn. I read it just to see what it was and saw tour dates; I didn't get too excited since he doesn't really come my way often. Scrolling down I saw a show in Virginia...Arlington that is. I googled how far away the venue was and it equaled out to a little over 3 hours. That seems ok, not too far of a drive and I have never been there before. So I bought tickets and awaited the date of the show. Time seemed to fly by ( it has seemed that way a lot lately) and before I knew it, we were driving to the Arlington Draft House. Brandon and I didn't really hit much traffic, but once we got to the venue was when I started to get frustrated. I had looked up the draft house online before we got there to see where parking was. The map said it had over flow parking so I was relieved and we went around the back of the building towards it. I have one question : How do you call your lot an "over flow parking lot" if it only holds about 15 cars! We drove around some more looking for somewhere that wasn't a mile from the venue. We finally found some meters near the building, parked and proceeded to get change out. What also kind of shocked me ( but not really since I live in Virginia Beach) was that I had to put about $4 in change for 3 hours of parking.

So after all the parking dilemma, we walked to the draft house to
get inside and hope for good seats since it is first come first serve. To my surprise, we showed up at the right time and got in the front section of the line to get inside! This show was completely sold out so I was even more glad to be in the front of the pack. The employees let us in and we rushed to the front. Yes, we got front row center, no one sitting in front of me, only the stage. The lights dimmed and we watched as the opening comedians did their bits. Then it was time...freaking Brian Posehn was announced and came out on the stage. We were so close I could see up his nostril and his shirt. We were a bit below stage level and his shirt was a bit small. So when ever he would get excited about a joke and wave his hands in the a
ir, I got a peek at the stoner belly. He told a lot of new jokes as well as some classics, and I was laughing so hard I got a bit teary. One of my favorite parts was when people would try to heckle or were just being RUDE and talking loudly. There was a group of people in the front corner of the room by the stage who obviously forgot their "grow the F up pills" at home. They talked loudly and Brian would try to just leave it be, talk some more then keep looking at them. One time though, he just stopped and said " Can you shut the F up, I'm a stoner and get distracted easy, geez" ( in his nice but demon filled voice). Then he went back to his bits and I had a great time; I only wish he would have come out at the end to meet some of the audience..like me! If it wasn't such a far drive I would go to the show again the following day. If you have never heard of him ( live under a rock) look up his name and let the metal beard draw you in and his witty jokes keep you enthralled.

18.

Ahh. . It was a relaxing trip for the most part and I needed it. We started off going toward Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and made a detour to Philadelphia to go to the Mutter Museum. It is a medical museum of knowledge and human oddities. I forgot to get batteries before we got there, and luckily there were XXX shops all over the place. I thought for sure they would have batteries, since they sell..well...you know. So we went in, asked for batteries, and the guy working the counter said "Well, we don't sell batteries, we give them away with novelties." So we paid him five bucks for a pack of batteries and left to the Mutter Museum around the corner. I was so excited to go see all the interesting items, I got my camera out and was ready. Then...then..the guy who sold the tickets..let me down. He told me you couldn't take pictures or video in the display area, only in the lobby. I was so sad because there was so much to see and take pictures off. They had so many mutated babies in jars, severed and shrunken heads, bottled brains, all different skeleton types and mis-formations. There was so much to see and read about; we were probably in the museum for over 2 hours. I really suggest going if you get the chance, and it isn't a very far drive (about 4 or so hours). And then



we continued our drive to our resort at The Woodlands in Wilkes-barre. When we got to the room, the sequence from The Hangover when they walked into their $4200 hotel room played through my mind. Obviously the room we got didn't cost nearly that much, but it was still very nice and the view from the room was gorgeous. The night we got there, we just made a huge bubble bath and relaxed in the room since it was a bit late. Then the next day was spa day for us and boy did I enjoy it. Alexander's in the Woods is what it was called and it's located right in the resort, and only about 5 minutes from our room! I decided to get the mud massage rub down kinda thing, and my masseuse was named Roberto. He had long flowing brown hair, and as he would walk it would follow behind him like the tail of a majestic horse. Ok, not really, his name was Mike and he had buzzed hair, but it was still relaxing. So I got down to bra and panties and I laid down on this warm blanketed bed. Then Mike started to rub a seaweed/eucalyptus mud all over( don't get perverted on my now..like I said...I was still wearing panties and bra and he didnt go there) and it was warm and felt so nice. Then he had me lay down, and wrapped warm blankets over me and I laid there for 15 minutes. When Mike came back, he used warm towels to massage and remove most of the mud. By the end of it all, I was so relaxed that I kind of swayed back to the room. The next day

was when we went to Scranton ( a town next to where we were) to see some sites and go to some vegan cafe we heard about. It only took about 15 minutes to get there from Wilkes-Barre and parking was alot easier than in Philly. The walk from the car was so cold that we basically ran to the cafe. The cafe is called Eden Cafe' and is COMPLETELY VEGAN. It is a amazing place and the people there were so friendly and helpful to us. I decided to have the (philly) cheese steak sub since I had never had one before and Brandon had the meatball sub. It was delicious and I am jealous we do not have anywhere in Virginia Beach like it. If you ever happen to be near Scranton, PA or happen to pass through it, go there. It is a must for good food lovers and vegans or vegetarians who want to be enlightened by the deliciousness. Next door is a tattoo shop called Marc's Tattoo, also with very nice people, and next to them is a vinyl store called Embassy Vinyl. There was so much to look at, from the box of records labeled "Happy Birthday Jesus Christ" to the painting of a gremlin riding a rainbow unicorn. Brandon found something he was envious of, a signed picture of Andy Kaufman, which the owner was not willing to part with. Another employee at the store reminded me of Bret from Flight of the Conchords; he was wearing plain black pants, had dark hair, and a awesome holiday sweater with dressed up cats on it. We bought some items then proceeded to the casino.

I had never been to a casino before and was pretty excited. It was called the Mohegan Sun I believe and was laid out like a big circle. We got some money out and proceeded to gamble. I wasn't really sure how to do it and I had lost Brandon. So I sat down and tried to figure out what some of the buttons meant. I lost $5 in 1 minute and was still confused on how to play. I wandered around until I found a machine that looked simple. It had diamonds on it and was a 1 cent machine that you had to bet atleast 25 cents at once. Right away I liked it, it was easy and I won $48! I lost some but walked out with $20 and the fact that I figured out how to play. After that we went back to the resort for a bit to charge the GPS then went out for dinner. I let Brandon pick where we went, so guess where...Eden. This time I had the grilled cheese and bacon with vegetables and Brandon had the sampler tray ( I have no idea how they made some of the items look so real and taste so delicious) and pork bbq sandwich. Since he got to pick dinner, I wanted to go back to the casino (I don't have a problem, I can quit when ever I want to ). We played for a bit, I got some more money and we headed back to resort for the last night.

Took one more giant bubble bath and relaxed for the ride home the next day. We heard about a vegan bakery that is pretty famous, only about a hour away and on our way home. It is called Vegan Treats( http://www.vegantreats.com/ ) and believe me, so good that we had to get one for Jessica for watching the furry kids and some for family on Christmas. So to sum it all up in some words ; relaxed, yum, win money, yum, sleep. If you need to known more information so you can go to any of these places, just contact me and I would be more that happy to tell you.

Update on 9. - Found Bottle

I wondered how long it would be and how far my bottle would travel. Well, I got my answer tonight from a fellow named john and his friends when I was reading my emails. This is the email i received:

Hi Ashley’

I was considering putting it up on ebay in its original condition. . Just kidding! I was hoping to fulfill my own fantasy of finding a treasure map but instead we found a treasure of a fantasy in the making.

We sat around the table trying to guess what mystery was on that paper. We, Jody, Linda and me john lingered for while before cracking it open. We had fun guessing.

I don’t know were in Va Beach it departed from. It was found in Va Beach at 7:37 AM at Cape Henry - Fist Landing - Fort Story.

I’m going to send a photo with this email and other to follow with their own emails.

Cheers!

john

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I was even lucky enough that they sent pictures ( They actually have a camera besides a phone so their pictures are much better!). So i threw the bottle on Thursday Oct 8,2009 from the 22nd street pier and the bottle was found Tuesday October 13, 2009 at Cape Henry-First landing, totaling about 10.7 miles from one point to another. This has been a fun adventure and I am very glad i did it, and it also brightened someones day.

9.

I finally figured out what I wanted to write. I searched out my ink and quill like pen and got to writing. I wrote a little about why I was doing it, how they could contact me, and how I hope someone will find it. Just so it wasn't a boring looking letter, I decided to have fun with it. I got a lighter and burned the edges and some parts of it, but ended up having too much fun with fire and set off the smoke alarm. That sound always puts Boris into freak mode. He starts to whine, run around and look at me like the world is ending. At least I know if the house was ever on fire and the alarm wasn't enough to wake me up...Boris would let me know.

Then I tore off the paper from an old wine bottle and cleaned it out. After it was dry enough I rolled up the paper and stuffed it inside. I sealed the bottle verrrry tight then used super glue on the edges. After that was dry, I used my wax set and sealed it up and engraved an "A" on the top with my wax stamper. I always enjoy using my wax stamper, it just makes everything look more official. Also, I always end up burning one of the tips of my fingers from the dripping wax.

So the longest and hardest part of this was finding somewhere to throw it. I asked a few people if they knew anyone with a boat; I looked into ferry's; but ultimately I ended up going to a long pier at the ocean front. So I gathered my bottle and headed down to the pier. It was beginning to get dark so i hurried to the end of the pier, but to my surprise there was people everywhere! By the looks at it, it was official go fishing day and stand all around the pier edges so Ashley has no where to throw her bottle. I decided to wait a bit and just relax on the bench and watch some waves and gulls. That turned into over an hour of me just sitting there, watching waves and thinking different thoughts ( I had a good time just sitting and thinking). I looked around and saw a open spot and headed towards it. It was freezing at this point, so I went over, took a firm hold of the bottle and threw it as far as I could. Everyone that was around me instantly stopped what they were doing and looked at me and what I had thrown. There was a ominous talk of "what was that", "what did she throw", and "weird", but I just turned around and started to walk off the pier. I had a sense of " I did it" and just glad I was heading to my warm car! I hope someone does find it, and not a day from now but in a while. Also, if any of you actually find it, humor me and contact me.