New Blog!

Since most of you know only parts of the story of Nathan and I, I thought I would start a blog to tell it from the beginning! Kind of a "Here's What You Missed" kind of recap. Oh and if anyone can tell me how to center my header/blog title and picture thing I would really appreciate it, it's bugging me!! Lol


http://nathanashley2010.blogspot.com/

Actual Video

 

Balloon Launch For Porter

Porter upon our arrival to the hospital...
Our launch (sorry about my finger being randomly in it lol)


End result... Sorry Mother Earth, but my nephew Porter is just so cute!

I love you Porter!!!!

Good luck Porter on your muscle biopsy! I love you very much and I hope everything goes well! You are my hero :)

I love you guys!

I just wanted to say a quick I LOVE YOU to my family.

I had a phone call with Ryan the other night and I'm super excited for him to come home, his humor and creativity make him a blast around the holidays and I can't wait to have random Christmas movie all nighters with him.

My sister in laws! I love you guys so much, you have always been there for me no matter what and I just want to let you guys know how much I appreciate it. You guys are the closest and most loyal friends I have ever had. I couldn't have been more lucky who my brothers decided to marry because you guys truly are the sisters I have never had. (Oh by the way thank you Derek, Brandon, and Dustin for having such good taste in women!)

My nieces and nephews, going to Landon's soccer games and hanging out with the family more I just want to let the little ones know how much I love them and admire their courage (Ya even you Porter!). It seems Porter and Payton have gotten the short end of the straw too often lately but I have never met such strong, brave, and courageous kids. Landon, you are the most witty 4 year old I know, you crack me up the things you say and I love how you are always the peacemaker. Jane and Lydia...even though neither of you guys like me much now I hope we will be really close when you guys get a little bit older, we Frandsen girls gotta stick together! Paxton, thank you for giving Nathan a chance and being his buddy, your cute smile and buddha-likeness is so adorable and I love the way you and Nathan interact with each other.

Mom and Dad, I know I have put you through a lot, but I'm working on making it better. As we have learned from What About Bob we have to take "Baby Steps!". So just try and be patient with me. I love you guys, always will, and I'm deeply sorry if any of my actions in the past have made you think otherwise.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

I'm in freakin Africa!

Who woulda thunk? Africa has been nothing like I thought it would be. Ok major differences, other than the obvious difference in pay from Americans to Kenyans, the driving is crazy! The only way to describe it is a combination of Grand Theft Auto, The Indiana Jones ride, and the Roger Rabbit ride. They have crazy buses called Matatus that drive all over the place filled way over capacity, even driving on the sidewalks to pass people. There are no traffic signals or stop signs except in the big city of Nairobi but everyone ignores them. We went to what is called the Nairobi trade fair or something like that, it's kinda like Folk Life, but Dad and I and Oprah and my mom rode......A CAMEL!!!! It actually was a lot smoother of a ride than you would think but I kept feeling like the seat that was strapped to the camel was going to slide off! The ATMs here only take out 20,000 shillings at a time, (80 shillings is 1 dollar so that would be like $150)and we only have one card with us to use, however we discovered that we could use the internet, transfer some money from my parents account to mine and we could use my card! WRONG!!! The atm ate my card!!! SOOOO mad! Anyways, the kids at the orphanage are adorable! There is a 2 year old named Dedan, he is SOOOO cute but according to Oprah never smiles and is always frowning and looking concerned, it probably doesn't help that he has had a sore on his two little toes for months now that have never been healed and only has flip flops to wear which don't help the healing process. My dad took it as his personal mission to get Dedan to smile, and after two days....HE DID! And what an adorable smile he had, and after smiling for about 2 minutes, the scowl returned (however not quite as serious). Our hosts are the Gitanga family and they are very gracious and kind. Another difference from the things you would imagine about Africa is that everyone has a mobile phone! Oprah's phone costs 3 shillings a minute to call the U.S! We found a movie store where they sell seasons of shows for......150 shillings each! We had to make sure that they worked and it ended up being that 2 of the 13 I bought didn't work but they let you take them back. (In case you were wondering I got Grey's Anatomy 1-6, Lost 1-4, and One Tree Hill 7) This sounds very selfish of me since we are here to help the orphanage but....really 150 shillings!!! I don't know who could pass up that kind of a deal! That is like $2 for a season! DO YOU BLAME ME!?!?! The kids at the orphanage are very loving, as soon as we get out of the car I have at least 6 kids holding my hands or giving me hugs, and they will stay like that as long as I'll let them. They like touching my white arms and making my hands caress their face, apparently white skin feels softer to them. They are very inquisitive and ask lots of questions. One boy asked me who ruled North America, another asked me if the guns in the terminator movies really can make guys fall from tall buildings, if Arnold Schwarzenegger (at first I thought they were asking me if I knew a "nigger" and was in complete shock and a state of awkwardness till I figured out what they really said) was President or a governor and if we have robots. They don't have TV's but they can watch them on the streets. They have little stands EVERYWHERE selling everything from clothes, fruit, rims, tires, "house women", they even have car washes (amusingly described as high pressure, but to my surprise it did look like they had a pressure wash machine). The cops in town are entertaining to see and stick out like sore thumbs to me because instead of a hat or a helmet they wear a baseball helmet with a huge star in the front. The salesman (called brokers) are VERY aggressive! Dragging you to see their stands, begging to ask how much money you have to make a deal with you. We went to a place called the Massai market (Massai being the tribal looking Africans that everyone probably imagines that everyone looks like here) and as soon as we walked through the gates we had at least 8 guys on each of us shoving their paintings or jewelry in our faces. It turns out that there is a lot more drama involved in Oprah's situation at the orphanage than any of us could have ever dreamed! Apparently us "Muzungu's" coming meant money was coming, and not even for the orphanage, but for the school that the kids go to (they gave us a tour of the school, showing how bad it was and at the end gave us envelopes with a list of projects they would like to do), the staff, the voluntary doctor who told Oprah he was doing everything for free gave Oprah a bill of all that he has done three days after we arrived. It is just horrible to see the corruption here, not only in Africa in general but even within the orphanage but Oprah has stood her ground and has been full of integrity and wisdom throughout the whole experience. Hopefully by the time we leave, the kids will have bunk beds (right now they have about 2 mattresses on the floor and 1 bed to room 8 kids), the Orphanage will be registered with the country, the rent on the orphanage will be caught up, the sewer will be fixed, the electricity will be turned on, the land for a new orphanage will be bought, the kids will have the clothes and food that they so desperately need, and the staff will be weeded out of the slimy scumbags who are trying to take advantage of Oprah! I'm sorry this has all been said so randomly but we are at an internet cafe where time is limited, the keyboard is sticking and the guy next to me wreaks of B.O. so you get what you get! We miss you all very much and I personally can't wait to come home and sleep in my own bed and eat good old American food!

Ashley's Christmas List

Here it is Mom and Dad and anyone else who feels generous this holiday season!

-Gift Cards (American Eagle, Hollister, Costco, Old Navy, Victoria Secret, Ross, Safeway, Target, Walmart, Sephora, Desert Sun Tanning)

-One Tree Hill Seasons

-Zelda N64 Game (Ocarina of Time and/or Majora's Mask)

-Whacked Xbox game

-Fuzion Frenzy Xbox Game

-Watch with thick leather strap (black or brown, maybe one that can interchange??)

-Car Seat Covers (Black, Grey to match my car)

-Star Light (ask Dad)

-Movies

-Converse size 8 1/2 womens (Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Red)

-Cami's from costco

-CD case to hold movies

-Ringtones for phone

-Escada Moon Sparkle perfume

-Plastic Drawers

-Towels

-Guitar Capo



Have any questions feel free to ask!!! Merry Christmas!