Ashley Mashley

I’m not in the mood to write, like I was yesterday, but I’m going to write anyway. As promised, I posted up my life list on a new page. It started out with about 100 items and it’s grown a bit over time. I’ve added things I want to do that seem small, but it’s the little things in life that matter. Each item has importance to it. I’m posting the list as-is now, since I’m sure it will continue to change.

1. Graduate from college. – May 14, 2010 from University of Houston with a BS in Psychology.
2. Go on a cruise. – November/December 2010
3. Get back to a size 8. – May 2011 (Started at a size 14!)
4. Get into a size 6!
5. Take a boot camp for a month.
6. Find a job I love.
7. Bike to work on a regular basis, at least twice a week if weather permits.
8. Bike to another city, over 100 miles.
9. Run, don’t walk a 5K.
10. Compete in a triathlon.
11. Take a fitness class twice a week. – February-June 2011
12. Fall in love.
13. Find life partner.
14. Kiss in the rain.
15. Start using recyclable bags for groceries.
16. Start & keep writing in a journal—or blog. – Started June 1st
17. Experience a solar eclipse.
18. See snow.
19. Go skiing or snowboarding.
20. Build a snowman & make a snow angel.
21. Go skydiving.
22. Fly in a hot-air balloon.
23. Sing karaoke—sober.
24. Move out from mom’s house. – January 2011 with Melissa
25. Own a house.
26. Have a family holiday at my place.
27. Own other properties and rent them out.
28. Renovate an old house.
29. Be in a best friend’s wedding.
30. Reconnect with an old friend.
31. Become a big sister/mentor, again. – Started December 2010 with Cynthia
32. Learn wine appreciation.
33. Learn to bartend.
34. Take a pole dancing class.
35. Give blood.
36. Go on a blind date.
37. Go on a road trip. - Atlanta, GA, April 2011
38. Plant a tree.
39. Take one picture every day for a year.
40. Take a trip to another continent.
41. Go swimming with dolphins.
42. Go snorkeling. – November/December 2010
43. Go camping.
44. Learn to ice skate without holding on to the rail.
45. Do a zip-line adventure. – November/December 2010, still want to do this again since it was not what I expected.
46. Go skinny-dipping.
47. Drive a speedboat.
48. Shower in a waterfall.
49. Jump from a cliff into deep water.
50. Go kayaking or water rafting.
51. Go jet-skiing.
52. Go see a Houston team in another city.
53. Take an old-timey picture. – March 2011 with Nicolette
54. Volunteer at a hospice. – in process, May, June 2011
55. Volunteer to work with kids.
56. Fly in a helicopter.
57. Get a passport. – November 2010
58. Visit New York. – Saw Times Square, Statue of Liberty, went to top of Empire State Building. October 2008 with Victor.
59. Visit Las Vegas & go to a show.
60. Visit Miami.
61. Visit Alaska.
62. See Mayan ruins. – Cruise November/December 2010.
63. See the Grand Canyon.
64. Kiss the Blarney stone.
65. See the Eiffel Tower.
66. See Stonehenge.
67. See the pyramids of Egypt.
68. See the White House. – 2008
69. Walk on the Great Wall of China.
70. Go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
71. Go to the Four Corners to be in 4 states at once.
72. Visit all 50 states.
73. Learn to sew.
74. Learn how to drive a manual car.
75. Learn excel more efficiently.
76. Take a cooking class.
77. Meditate daily. – I meditate off and on, but not as much as I’d like.
78. Get CPR/first aid certified.
79. Learn to shoot a gun.
80. Make a scrapbook.
81. Spend a night on the beach.
82. Attend a presidential inauguration.
83. Drive on route 66.
84. Drive down highway 101. – June 2010 – San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz
85. Drive in a convertible with the top down. – March 2011 in a Corvette
86. Ride in an exotic car.
87. Ride on a motorcycle.
88. Drive a go-cart.
89. Go paintballing.
90. Go river rafting.
91. Get married.
92. Give birth.
93. Have a better relationship with my dad.
94. Take my mom on an all-paid trip.
95. Have my teeth whitened.
96. Rescue an animal from a shelter.
97. Get a tattoo. – Lucky 13 tattoo
98. Have 3 tattoos. – count: 1
99. Have 13 piercings. – count: 6
100. Go to a fortuneteller.  – December 2010
101. Have my portrait drawn or painted.
102. Win the lottery or win gambling.
103. Ride a mechanical bull. – March 2011, want to do this again
104. Learn to play guitar.
105. Hypnosis.
106. Acupuncture.
107. Take a pin-up photo.
108. Go rock climbing
109. Race a car in a powder puff.
110. Ride in a race car.
111. Go sailing.
112. Sit in a field of bluebonnets.

Most of them have been done recently in the past year or so. Around this time last year, I realized I wasn’t living my life how I wanted. There were so many things I wanted to do and I wasn’t motivated to do anything. I had just graduated from college in May and I felt lost. Even though I wasn’t in any organizations and wasn’t a social butterfly in college, school was my main focus. What was I supposed to do with my time? Voila! After some thought, I came up with the life list! Of course, at the top of the list, is to graduate college, since it had already been completed. I was the second person in my family to graduate!

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without
accepting it.  ~Aristotle

I majored in psychology since I planned on being an adolescent counselor or a school counselor. I love having deep talks with people and often wonder why someone will think a certain way. I’m not sure if I’m not passionate enough about the subject or just not ready to enter in the field of psychology. I did love most of my course load though and wouldn’t change my major for anything.