Archives: April 2009

30 Apr 2009, Comments (3)

Nothingness

Author: ashley

Hey, don’t really have much to blog about but figured I should blog anyway. Brandon and I have just been looking for places to live and a job for me in Virginia. We have looked at a couple places that seem nice so when we go out there at the end of May we will see how the neighborhoods are and what not. We have decided not to take a car so we will probably sell ours before we go.

Jobs have been really hard to find for me. I am either overqualified or under qualified. There are lots of government jobs but nothing promising. The physical therapist that I worked for said he knows a therapist out there who was looking for a personal trainer to work in her office. So that might work out for me.

I am a little scared and nervous because so many things have not been decided yet. I like to have things planned out and right now they are not. So hopefully after our trip out there we will be able to set some things in stone.

This weekend I will be laying out by the pool because I need color. I am so white! Not like cool-vampire-white, like the “are-you-sick ?” kind of white. Yeah, it sucks. So hopefully my girlfriends will join me and we will have a fun and relaxing Saturday. Oh and on Friday I am babysitting for Heather.

Sorry my life isn’t too eventful right now. I will soon be though…I hope :)

16 Apr 2009, Comments (2)

Thumbs up to United Airlines

Author: ashley

There have been a lot of news articles lately about United Airlines and their choice to make obese people pay for an extra seat while flying on their airline. I think that United Airlines, and all the other airlines that are currently doing this, deserve a big thumbs up. I think it is horrible how everyone has to keep accommodating to obese people, so that they feel “normal” or like they fit it. Truth is…they don’t. They don’t fit into tiny airplane seats, movie theaters or theme park rides. Does this mean we should make all seats bigger so they can enjoy all of these? No, because then we are telling them it is ok to weigh a lot, and we will keep expanding with their waist line.

I am sure there have been times where you have sat on an airplane next to someone overweight and it was the worst experience ever. I know that the seats on airplanes aren’t that big, but they are cozy enough for 3 adults to sit next to each other. An argument for the obese people saying that it is unfair to make them pay for an extra seat because obesity is a disability, or disease, something they can’t change. The problem with that argument is that obesity is a lifestyle and can be changed. If they still want to fight and say that it can’t be changed, then tall people need to have more leg room. It isn’t their fault they are tall, so why should they have to pay extra?

A quick story to show my frustration on this topic: One day I was at work (I work at a physical therapy office and see a lot of overweight people with many joint and back problems) this grumpy obese lady comes in. I greet her and walk her back to her room. On the way to her room, pushing her walker she says “Can’t they make these halls bigger for G—sakes!” I could not believe my ears. Does she really think it’s easier to tear down our walls to make a bigger hallway than to lose weight?! That’s when I realized how much we do accommodate for obese people and now they are starting to complain when they don’t get their way.

There have been so many accommodations already for obese people, such as larger blood pressure cuffs, larger hospital beds and gowns, larger coffins and hearses (its true, Google it) and furniture. If we keep making things bigger to appease the obese, then we are telling them it is ok, and that we can keep making things bigger for them.

I don’t hate fat people. If people are healthy and still overweight, I have no problem with that. But when people have become so fat that they are a health hazard, and then I do not sympathize for them. Obese people will frequently get handicap stickers for their cars…why? So they don’t have to walk as far? They are the ones that need to park miles away to walk off some of their weight!! And they are taking up spots for people who truly need them, like paraplegics and quadriplegics.

Also, obese people seem to complain about discrimination at work. Well, if I were hiring someone and my choices were a young healthy 25 year old, or an obese 25 year old, I would choose the healthy one. There are so many health issues that go along with being obese, and as an employer, I wouldn’t want to have to deal with that.

So, moral of this blog is that I am glad Americans are starting to realize that we can’t just keep accommodating to obese people. For far too long, we have been willing to change for them, and it has given them the signal that it is ok, and we accept it. If obese people don’t want to pay extra on an airline, then lose weight. If obese people want to feel comfortable in a movie theater chair, then lose weight. If obese people want to go to theme parks, they need to lose weight. This may be blunt, but it is true. Obesity is life threatening and needs to be taken seriously, more specifically by those who are obese. With all the bariatric surgery these days, it has become more and more simple. There should be no more excuses.

15 Apr 2009, Comments (3)

My new obsession

Author: ashley

Clothes. Since I am too poor to buy a bunch of clothes, I have become addicted to looking at them online and drooling over them in stores. I have decided that I needed to figure out what my “style” is. I have come up with a few celebrity icons which fit my style well. Now, before you go and find these celebrities in hideous clothes, take in to account that there are a few outfit choices that I would NOT wear. But for the most part, I adore their style: Nicole Richie, Lauren Conrad and Miley Cyrus.

I think my style is a mix of all these ladies. Here are some pictures to prove my point.

Nichole Ritchie:

nicolerichie1nicolestyle2

I especially LOVE how she can make a plain white shirt so absolutely adorable!

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Lauren Conrad (gotta love the moccasin boots!)

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Miley Cyrus

miley1

The shoes below are too much, but maybe flats in that color would do….

miley2SPL75951_046

There are also some items that I totally need to have. Here is my list:

Gladiator Sandals (Miley wearing them in first picture)

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Peacock Feathers

peacock-feather-earrings1peacock1

FLANNELS!!!!!

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See how Lauren rocks it….

flannel21

I heart these looks:

yellowpantssummer

And I need this jacket:

yellowjacket

My favorite website to look at clothes right now is modcloth.com and Forever 21. I love clothes.

5 Apr 2009, Comments (0)

Serverus Snape

Author: ashley

*ATTENTION: THIS BLOG CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT HARRY POTTER 1-7. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.*

SEVERUS SNAPE:THE GREATEST CHARACTER IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

This blog post is dedicated to Severus Snape, who, in my opinion, is the greatest character in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.  There are few books that can actually suck you in and bring out emotions using only words. In my younger years, I would read Dean Koontz and I would feel fear and have dreams about some of the villains from the story coming to get me. As I grew older, I read less and less for pleasure. It was only school books and church books (not to say that wasn’t a pleasure reading them, but they were learning books, not ones that would take me out of the real world). After the Twilight phenomenon, I FINALLY got sucked into the craze. While reading them I laughed, cried, got nervous and had dreams about the characters. I soon realized what I had been missing all those years of not reading for pleasure.

After I finished the Twilight series, Brandon was reading Harry Potter and he wanted to watch the first 5 movies when he was finished. After watching the Harry Potter movies again in order, I wanted to read 6 and 7. From the very first movie, I had a special love for Severus. I wasn’t sure why but I just new that I liked him.

The books immediately sucked me into the the wizarding world. I remember one night being so sad that I could never experience Hogwarts or that I could never pull out my wand on anyone. A book that brings out those emotions in you shows the talent of the author and will go down as one of the best books I have ever read.

After finishing the 6th book, I was so distraught that I pretended to not believe that the valiant man I loved actually killed the magnificent Dumbledore. I tried everything not to believe it happened, then came to the conclusion that it was for a purpose, and it was not because Snape was evil.

Imagine my surprise when I finally found out that I was right. How could I have doubted my feelings! Of course Severus was good all along…I knew it from the moment I was first interested in his character. Anything bad that Snape was involved in didn’t matter to me. I brushed it aside because I knew in my heart that he was not evil.

I know everyone thought I was crazy because of my love of Snape, and especially after reading book six, I thought that everyone was against me for liking the man who killed Dumbledore. Come to find out they were probably glad that I never doubted him and couldn’t wait for me to read on and have my dream scenario come to play.

Severus Snape was the greatest character in this book because, besides Harry’s parents, I feel that he truly loved Harry and knew how important he was. No one else in the books were courageous enough to play both sides yet remain loyal to the “good side.” Snape had the bravery to actually stand at Voldemort’s side and give him whatever he needed of him.

One of my FAVORITE lines from Snape is when he said to Dumbledore “…you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter-” It truly showed how much Snape cared for Harry and how he wasn’t approving of the fact that he had to die and that Dumbledore knew it. No I don’t think Snape really loved all of Harry, since he was like his father who Snape despised, but his love for Lily was so immense and I think that some of that trickled down to Harry.

Even up until Snape’s dying breath, he was doing Dumbledore’s bidding and protecting the person he had been for the past 17 + years.  No one showed as much courage as Severus Snape. I wouldn’t have enjoyed the book as much as I did had it not have been this line from Harry (in the Epilogue)

“Albus Severus, you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew”.

I am glad that Harry came to realize the importance of Severus and his fearlessness. Now, I am a little perturbed that Severus wasn’t his first name, but I will have to live with that.

So Severus was the greatest character in the series, followed by Sirus and Luna. I know you are probably thinking what about Harry, Ron and Hermione? Well, they made the book what it was, but without the help of the previous three people mentioned, their journey would have not been successful.

I heart The Half-Blood Prince. End of story.