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Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Sometimes you have to remind yourself: you're still a bad bitch.



I sit here and angrily eat my big mac salad because....

Yesterday while I was trying to be virtuous by working out at the gym with my two mama friends



My car window was smashed into and my PURSE/WALLET WAS STOLEN.

You don't realize how much of your world can be in one place, until you don't have it.

Drivers license, Gone.
Military ID, Gone.
Nurse badge, Gone.
Social Security card (just got a new position and should have taken it out of my wallet), Gone.

What I'm missing most of all is that my sense of security was stripped from me.

Hindsight told me, "Ashley just stop being a lazy ass and take in your bag". Of course I didn't listen to that wise thought in my head and here we are. Hindsight can be a real bitch sometime.

At this point, I think to myself, what do I do now? My kids are at child care on base, I don't have an ID to access them. My husband is TDY (on a work trip on the other side of the US). I don't even have a debit card, good thing I went grocery shopping at the end of the week last week.

The first thing I did was cancel my debit card and credit card to my major financial institution.

Then I went and filed a report with the gym. THANK GOODNESS my friends were still there and they were there to support me in the initial shock. The gym staff was nice enough to send someone to help me vacuum all the broken glass out of my car.

If you ever need to file a burglary with Albuquerque Police department, you will have to do it online. Or you can wait 3 hours for someone to get there to assist you. So I quickly went home in my SUV with a busted window to stew on the phone with my dad and file out the damn thing.

He was able to rationally tell me what to put on the police report and report anything of value in the bag and wallet. I reported all my ID's gone, so its on the record, so if someone tries to steal your identity it on a criminal report.

Next after my case was approved, I called my insurance to report what happened. I was able to give them the case number and they were able to help me get an appointment to fix my car and refund anything they could that was missing from my bag.

THEN I was on the phone all the live long day with credit card companies reporting them stolen. Never again will I put everything all in one place.

ALSO if someone steals your social security card, you have the right to FREEZE your credit, so no one can open a loan or line of credit in your name. You have to manually go to TransUnion, Experian and Equifax to unfreeze the credit if you need something.

NEXT issue at hand: my window is broken and I have to get on the highway. SO I took plastic bags out there and tried to finagle them on the window opening.... that wasn't going to work. So i fetched some clear masking tape and taped the outside to make it a little less obvious and keep moisture out of the car as well as my child's fingers out of the open window, until I get it it repaired.

AFTER I was done with that debacle I realized I had to retrieve my children. SO I called the director of the child care and she was able to escort me in on-base. WHAT A RELIEF.  I was so thankful to have so many wonderful people in my life that day.

Meanwhile, all this has taken place my husband still has no idea what is going on, because he is working in a place where I cannot reach him.

Our lovely financial institution let us know at the end of the day that these thieves already spent $1090 at Target. Well thieves I hope it was on a groceries and things your family needed. I hope that you sleep well at night knowing you're a piece of crap and last but not least, I hope fire ants bite your toes while your shoes are on and you can't get your shoes off fast enough.

That last bit was a little harsh, but i'm pretty mad.

Things I've learned from this situation: 

NEVER leave anything in your vehicle ever. NOTHING is EVER SAFE out in the open.

Leave most of your credit cards at home and only take what you need.

Stay vigilant. The gym is a prime place for theft due to the amount of time thieves know you will be gone.

Bad things happen to good people all the time, don't let the world darken your spirit.

I have the best friends. My friend, Catherine, came over at 7pm to give me whole 30 compliant treats to help ease my mind. I can't tell you how much it helps to have a mama tribe.

If things are going to happen to you, it will be when your spouse is thousands of miles away.

Never forget you're still a bad bitch that can rock being a military spouse, mama, and do it all on your own when you have to. I can do hard things. That's probably one of the biggest takeaways.


I had to put this cat on here twice because this is my vibe today. 



Until next time.





Monday, January 6, 2020

How do you eat an elephant?

This is a question that a respiratory therapist asked me, when I was working at a hospital in Cali. He asked me this right in the midst of the worst shift ever. 

I looked at him, extremely annoyed and said, "uh I don't know". 

He said very simply, "one bite at a time". I walked away from him like I didn't have time for the clever BS. 

But this really stuck with me. 

This year is 2020. I can't believe we're already here, but somehow that how time works it catches you by surprise and you don't even know it. 

Years past I made the same resolutions most people do... Lose weight, go to the gym, blah blah blah. 

This year i'm focusing on different aspects of my life, because my worth is so much more than the numbers on a scale. 

Quality of life is something that can't be measured. This is something that you see a lot in healthcare. People want to count the days they have left, but don't focus on the day itself. 

I've made a crazy commitment this year that scares me a little. I've joined Run the Year with a six friends, on two teams of three. We will run 2020 miles in the year 2020. 




My portion is 675 miles. What have I signed myself up for? Well Ive got a few things checked... 

I've put myself outside my comfort zone. Check. 

Made a commitment that I'm not even sure I'll be able to reach. Check. 

Could I possibly be letting my teammates down? Maybe. So I'll just check this. 

But when I think about eating an elephant. How do you do it? One bite at a time. 

One mile at a time. One foot in front of the other. 

Then I think to myself why i'm doing this??

The answer is... because I have the time. Because I can. Because i'm capable. Because one day I won't be able to accomplish this. I can't put this off. My health is not an expense. This is my journey and I have to make it count. 

This year I will put myself first, so I can pour good things from my personal cup for my family. I will put my mental health above everything. 

I will raise really, great little humans. I will continue to pour good thoughts into their heads and help them understand how wonderful they are. 




I will be my best self for my husband. I will be understanding and continue to navigate all the winds and rough waves the military creates for us, but the best part is I don't have to do it alone. 



I will love myself a little more because I deserve that. I will continue to work on things that matter, ignoring the things that don't and being more gentle with myself. I will rest when I need to, push myself when I can and ask for help when I need help. <<< Thats a big one. I will need a constant reminder that a 6 minute mile is just as far as a 12 minute mile. 

First 3.3 miler of the year. Wizarding Run complete!

I will continue to be a great friend and run with people that share this love. 









I will be a great nurse/mentor for my patients and new nurses. There's something about putting on some red lipstick and knowing that you can handle whatever comes at you! 



Here's to you. Here's to me. Here's to all the miles and memories that 2020 will bring. Like any of my journeys I'll be blogging and griping about all the little things along the way. 

Here's to the next 675 miles!!