Turmoil in Texas {Ashlyn the Austonaut Update}

Greetings from Austin, everybody! The past two weeks sure haven't been all rainbows, butterflies, and sunshine down here. (Well, actually there has been plennnnntyyy of sunshine. With temperatures most days exceeding 105 degrees, but that's beside the point.) A few days after signing off on my last post my boyfriend and I found ourselves in...

Ashlyn Becoming an Austonaut

I can't wait to get out of Kansas! If you have known me for any length of time then you have heard those words come out of my mouth on almost a daily occasion. So often, in fact, that I was even beginning to make myself irritated by how repetitive I was sounding. It was...

Sometimes It’s NOT All About The Benjamins.

As a waitress my income relies on people tipping appropriately. Across the United States a standard tip for a "job well done" is 15% of the total of your bill. Typically people are pretty generous tippers where I work and I always strive to excel at my serving job in hopes that it'll reflect on...

Defending the Dreads

I've seen countless stories on Facebook regarding the discrimination that people who have dreads face. As much as it has angered, confused, or saddened me in the past NOTHING (absolutely nothing) gets my feelings all jumbled up the way they do when I witness my boyfriend experience discrimination firsthand. Most people, whether they want to...

It’s Not About You, It’s About Love

T-minus eight hours (give or take) until our timelines across social media platforms will be flooded with Valentine's Day posts. Every year, without fail, I could bet money on seeing handfuls of statuses, snap stories, tweets... etc. filled with posts that condemn the holiday followed with whiny, self-pity parties thrown by single people across the...

Is It Too Late To Say “Me Too?”

Like most sixteen year olds all I cared about when it came to my job was whether or not I got scheduled to work at the same time as my best friend, that I got Friday nights off to go to football games, and that I had fun whenever I was on the clock. I...

Shut Your Mouth. Open Your Heart.

Today while at work I was helping a customer who knew very little English. I was helping him to the best of my abilities and my limited Spanish speaking skills came out to play. During our interaction we were both laughing; him at my broken Spanish and me at myself because I knew I sounded...

We Aren’t Properly Loving Ourselves Through Depression.

I've seen countless blogs about how others should love us through depression. I've sure you all have seen them too with titles such as: "Things to Remember When Loving Someone With Depression" or "How to Love Me and My Depression."  Although most of the blogs with these and similar titles are good reading material and...

Past Eight: Rediscovering Ashlyn / Part Two

"MAYBE THE JOURNEY ISN'T SO MUCH ABOUT BECOMING ANYTHING. MAYBE IT IS ABOUT UNBECOMING EVERYTHING THAT ISN'T REALLY YOU SO YOU CAN BE WHO YOU WERE MEANT TO BE IN THE FIRST PLACE." I have a really frustrating capability to love others more than I love my own self. This capability can be overwhelming and...

Past Eight: Rediscovering Ashlyn / Part One

I've had a lot of people reach out to me over the past eight months asking when my next blog update would be, if I would blog about the break up, my new life, or the challenges I faced over the past few months.  I decided to wait until I found the right words to...