posted by Ashalah on destinations, Life, travel, united states

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Over the past week I have been called Ho, Hieney, Booby, and Hammy. I also got really used to hearing the word no.

You see, I was up in Wyoming for the week staying with my bestest, her husband and her rambunctious two year old. Last time I saw them she was just eighteen months old and wasn’t talking. Now, she’s a bundle of words, some of which are inappropriate. Like how she screams out booby in the middle of the grocery store, says shit instead of sit and smacks people on their bums. She also calls horses hoes and was calling ponies po pos (by the end of the week she had mastered ponies. But hearing her talk about the hoes and the po-pos was HILARIOUS). So when it came down to finding something about my name that she could pronounce, we had a bit of difficulty. See, most toddlers cannot say my name. The one that could, gave me my nickname that I use on this blog.

She wanted to call me the words she already used, like ho or her favorite, hammy. And while adorable coming from a two year old, it doesn’t sound good to be called a ho. By anyone.

After trying to get her to say Ash (Shh? Sheebee? (what?) ), we finally got her settled on just the letter A. This allowed her to not only say my name but say it in rapid succession. A A A A A A A A A A A A.

It was a really nice to spend the week with my friend and her family, who is practically my second family. As we sat around the dining room table of her parents house eating birthday cake for JR that I completely butchered and tried mending with two cans of frosting, we brought up past memories. I have known Kira and her family for nine years. (That may not seem like much considering I’m almost 28 years old and some people have known their friends since the time they were two but I don’t have long term friends. Moving around does that.) There is a lot to cover, many inside jokes. Like the time we went to the bronx zoo and we speed-walked so we could see all the monkey exhibits, the New Years Eve Kira’s sister and I had to lean out her cars window and steer her through the fog, the birthday dinner that had us in giggle fits when I was renamed Lorna Doone (said with a deep southern accent, for full effect).

This wasn’t a vacation to see things; we didn’t go to any parks, we didn’t sight see in any towns. I spent the majority of my time just having friend time, playing with her baby and running simple errands with her. I took a long walk in the country taking pictures and on my extended day there we took a drive up towards Yellowstone to try to see some buffalo and rocky mountain sheep. Kira and Skye were sick for most of my trip there so it was a lot of relaxation and letting them rest and recover. On my last night there Kira was finally over her cold and so it was decided I would stay another day. I love that I still have the freedom to do this, to make random decisions like that and not be tied down.

Then I look at my bank account and realize I need a job otherwise I will not have the money to do these kinds of trips.

It was just what I needed, just like last year’s trip was exactly what I needed. A break from stressing about finding a job, a break from feeling lonely, a break from real life. There’s something about the wide open spaces that soothes my heart and helps me feel more centered. While my friend slept off her cold, I took a long walk through the country side where it was just me, the wind and some very pretty scenery. My head was clear and I was balanced for the first time in a couple weeks. I will save all that unbalanced stuff for another post but at that moment, I was at peace with the world. I just wish I lived a tad bit closer because eight hours spent in a car doesn’t do wonders for my mental health. I start thinking I’m a tad crazy from all the talking to myself I do. (which is tied for first place with my talking to a baby cow.)

As some of you may know, there has been a little bit of drama (ok or a lot. I may have spent the entire day Saturday moping and telling twitter all about it.) which I’m not going to talk about on the blog but things are hopefully getting resolved (for hopefully the better) tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who has shown me their support. <3

Tags: Friends Make My World Go \'Round, Life in Photographs, The Good Times