About

Me
I’m Ashley. I’m 28. I’m a grad student living in Southern California. I’m originally from Washington state, and maybe I’ll make it back there some day, but I like the idea of spending a few years living in every major city first.

Writing is my thing and always has been, but in college I took one required course on theology, and then that became my thing instead. I ended up on the academic track, which I will look back and tell you was inevitable, but I was the last to figure it out. I’m currently working on a PhD in theology.  I want to teach undergrads and disrupt their lives in the same amazing way that theology disrupted my life.

Starting this blog was like saying, “No, but I still really love writing too.” Blogging is about a lot more than writing, though, and I think that those of us who stick with it realize this early on. Over the last few years, blogging has changed my life. I’ve made some of my best friends, gone on amazing trips, and shared more of myself with more people than ever before.

I dream of being a novelist and personal essayist. I finished my first novel in the Summer of 2008 and I am currently writing a second. I’m working on making writing a career instead of something I do for free all over the internet, but I could never give up blogging. More about this on the Writing page

I have done some fun things on the internet with some great people. You can read about all that on the Projects page.

If you are just meeting me, let me catch you up on what the rest of the internet already knows:  I love nail polish, Blue Moon, and David Gray. I hate ellipses and owls. I am sometimes referred to as Captain and other times as Doctor. As of yet, I am neither.

The Blog
This blog was started in May 2008 under a different name. It became Writing to Reach You in September 2008. To make up for a lack of originality, I name most things after songs. “Writing to Reach You” is one of my favorite songs by the Scottish band Travis. For the first three years, I blogged semi-anonymously, which means that most people who read this blog didn’t know my last name and most people who knew my last name didn’t know about this blog.  All that changed in June 2011.

Hey, here’s another 100 things about me:

100 THINGS

1. I think I have decent taste in music, okay taste in books, and terrible taste in movies.
2. I make weird faces when I’m thinking, and I always have. Once in a while someone will tell me so. It’s embarrassing.
3. I study theology. I think that most people don’t quite know what that means, and I’m not very good at explaining it, but always willing to try.
4. I have two adorable nieces who, for no good reason, look up to me as a fashion icon. It’s funny, because they have more style in their pinkies than I have in my whole body. I’m pretty sure we have only them to blame for the return of leggings.
5. I have a Brady Bunch-like family. We’re just missing Bobby. I’m Cindy, if you’re wondering. Yay for blended families!
6. I love living alone.
7. I have really long, skinny, alien-like fingers and toes.
8. I was in the marching band in high school. I played the clarinet. Marching is harder than it looks.
9. I can’t watch Top Gun without wanting to drop everything to become a fighter pilot. I know I’m not alone here.
10. In high school, I was inseparable from my friend Lisa. We had every class together. We haven’t had a class together in 6 years, but we still talk through facebook messages every day.
11. I hate sweaters. Lisa knows this, and wears sweaters just to spite me.
12. I have a BA in English and Religion. Going to grad school shut up all the people asking me, “What are you going to do with that?” Now, I’m the only one asking that question.
13. I love music by Coldplay and David Gray so much that I can’t imagine my life without either.
14. I have the worst eating habits ever, and it takes all my concentration to try to eat healthy on a regular basis.
15. I love to run in the rain. First you’re miserable, then you’re all into it, then you’re miserable again because your legs sting with every drop that hits them, and then you finish off feeling like Rocky
16. My favorite color right now is black.
17. I fear coming off as pretentious.
18. I have three piercings in each ear, and I’m completely anal about how my earrings coordinate. Getting it right would probably take me an extra 15 minutes every morning, so instead I end up wearing the same studs every day for weeks on end.
19. I live in a studio apartment the size of a small box.
20. It’s almost impossible to make me really mad, but really easy to annoy me. Annoyance is a much stronger emotion for me than anger.
21. Pizza is my favorite food. On that fact, I never waver.
22. My favorite candy bar is Mr. Goodbar.
23. I like to organize things (like, physical/material things–not events), and I’m good at it.
24. Throughout most of high school, I was obsessed with *NYSNC. It’s an embarrassing fact, but I’d never give up the good times I had being a fan.
25. If there’s such a thing as number dyslexia, then I’m sure I have it.
26. Once, I randomly spotted Bill Nye the Science Guy in a Seattle mall.
27. I’m shocked to be so mentally healthy.
28. I haven’t played a video game since we had a working regular Nintendo, but I love board games.
29. I have brown eyes that sometimes turn green.
30. Bobby Hill from King of the Hill is one of my favorite TV characters.
31. Cal from East of Eden is one of my favorite characters in a novel.
32. Feeling Strangely Fine is one of my favorite ever CDs. It was all I listened to in 8th grade. Semisonic is so much more than “Closing Time.”
33. I’ve worn the same two rings on my fingers for 10 years now. I hate them both, but they’ve been with me (literally, on my fingers) through almost every major event in my life. (Edited 9/19/10: Don’t wear them anymore.)
34. I rarely own fewer than 10 pairs of jeans at a time. (Edited 9/19/10: This is no longer true.)
35. I don’t like the sound of my voice. I sound 10.
36. I like grammar, and I like to talk about grammar, but I am not a grammar Nazi.
37. I hated the book Tuesdays with Morrie, and I was kind of turned off when this guy I liked named it as a favorite.
38. At Starbucks, I get either regular coffee or a caramel frapuccino.
39. I feel really self-conscious talking to kids when other adults are around. That makes me sound like a crazy person.
40. I’m not sure whether I want to have kids or not.
41. I’m pretty terrified of marriage, but I still think I want to get married some day.
42. I’d love to live in Seattle, but it’s unlikely that I ever will, because there aren’t a lot of job opportunities there for theology professors.
43. My favorite kind of people are nice people.
44. I’ve seen Coldplay in concert 7 times. Every single time was awesome.
45. I love to blog.
46. I realize more and more all the time that I’m a total west coaster.
47. I used to want an accent, and was disappointed that I speak exactly like they do on TV. Except, I say “pop!”
48. I’d like to publish a novel someday very soon.
49. I had blond hair as a kid, and some people who have known me forever still refer to me as a blond even though my hair has been brown for at least the last 10 years. Of course, I did mess with them by dying it blond for a while.
50. In 2007, I donated 11 inches of my hair.
51. I hate repeating myself, especially stories. It makes me feel phony somehow.
52. I’m pretty sure Boston Baked Beans were sent straight from heaven. The only place I ever find them is Walgreens, so that cashier practically knows me by name now.
53. I can tell you how the Baby-sitter’s Club is organized.
54. I hold writing utensils really awkwardly–like, death-grip style.
55. I get self-conscious when people stare at me while I’m talking.
56. I’m bothered on some very deep level by small water bottles. I especially can’t stand when someone drinks 3/4 of one and then throw it away.
57. Buying a professional straightener changed my life.
58. When it comes to reading people, I am almost arrogant in my abilities. I always think I’m right.
59. I have a major impostor complex, and even though I know it’s irrational, I cannot stop it from affecting the way I think. I’m always waiting for people to figure out that I’m not as smart/talented/genuine as they think I am.
60. I’m either the calmest anxious person ever or the most anxious calm person ever.
61. I think I will one day develop an interest in cooking. Yeah, still waiting on that.
62. Once I make a decision, I have no patience at all. It’s all I can think about.
63. I always seem to think I’m more misunderstood than I really am. I’m often surprised when people say spot-on things about me.
64. My liberal politics are not separate from my Christian faith; they are motivated by my Christian faith.
65. I feel sorry for everyone. I watch crime shows and feel sorry for the criminals when they are caught.
66. I hate the idea of martyrdom.
67. Nothing is meant to be. How can it if we have free will?
68. I like to drive.
69. I’m competitive about really strange things. For instance, if I’m leaving a place at the same time as someone else, and we have the same destination, I want to get there first because I picked the best route and made the best driving decisions. Does anyone else even think about that?
70. I’m not a perfectionist. I don’t need for things to be perfect. But, I do need for people to think I’m perfect.
71. I was once accused of being a bleeding heart liberal. I didn’t know how to respond, because I don’t hear that as an insult.
72. I sometimes appear cool and removed, but under a very thin skin I’m a vulnerable wimp. I cry very easily, I take everything personally. I hate it.
73. I’m fascinated by the student movement of the 1960s. I’m embarrassed that I’m not .3% as active as those students.
74. I love my MacBook Pro like the child I don’t have.
75. I never wear dresses. When I do, people say “Ooooh, why are you so dressed up?”
76. My family and friends all seem to think I have a secret boyfriend.
77. I always have a hair band on my wrist. Always.
78. I get panicked if I ever realize I’m without water and/or chapstick.
79. Cleaning is my favorite form of procrastination. It makes me feel productive.
80. I have a really low tolerance for sugar, but it very rarely slows me down.
81. I love watching the Olympics, especially swimming.
82. When my work shoes make that clickity-clack sound as I walk, I think of my mom who always wore heels when I was a kid.
83. In some ways, I have a lot of confidence, and in others I am constantly shocked at my success.
84. I find it almost impossible to picture myself 10 or 20 years from now. I seem to be moving in the right direction, but I cannot believe things will really work out like I’ve planned.
85. Sometimes I look to material objects to fill temporary holes in my life.
86. At night, I transform from nerd to super nerd when I don my glasses and retainer. (Edited 9/19/10: Actually, I wear glasses full time now and have for a couple years.)
87. I love the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings movies. I’ve watched them too many times to count.
88. Like the Washingtonian I am, I am a total fair weather sports fan. I love the Seahawks, but I usually only pay attention when they’re making news. It’s especially hard now that I don’t even live in the state.
89. I’ve only ever owned cars with manual transmissions–both of them Civics.
90. My uniform: jeans, t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt, Converse. I’m like a walking GAP ad. So original. (Edited 9/19/10: Current uniform is v-neck shirt, jeans, and flats–still a walking GAP ad.)
91. Every time I go to Applebee’s, I order an Oriental Chicken Rollup. It’s kind of my thang. People make fun of me for it.
92. Speaking of, I eat the same things almost every single day for months and sometimes years on end. A bagel for lunch has been standard since middle school.
93. I’m a coffee snob. It’s not my fault. I grew up drinking Starbucks, and it’s ruined me for Foldgers.
94. I watch makeup tutorials on YouTube all the time, but I can still barely apply eyeliner.
95. Target steals my money on the regular.
96. I have a big scar on my foot from surgery I had when I was 17.
97. I often look at my watch without registering what time it says. Then I have to look again, because I don’t know what time it is!
98. I am a super picky eater. Name most interesting things, and I will crinkle my nose.
99. I carry a big green purse, and it makes me feel like a sophisticated adult. (Edited 9/19/10: Have ditched the green purse. It was ugly.)
100. I do drink, but I know nothing about alcohol. I usually have to ask someone for a recommendation so as not to embarrass myself. (Edited 9/19/10: This is still true, but I’ve gotten better.)