Power Rangers

Growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, we played outside a lot. My mom would make us play outside a lot of days, which I sometimes hated, but I'm grateful for it now. In my family there are 7 kids and we often joke that the 4 of us who are older had a totally different childhood than the 3 younger ones. And it's true. The biggest gap in ages is between Brittany (number 4, born in December 1989) and Micah (number 5, born in May 1992), so for about 2.5 years it was just the 4 of us and then it was a while before the youngest 3 were old enough to play with us. When we played outside we used our imaginations A LOT.

One of the games we played was Power Rangers. We were a little obsessed with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (the original, we never watched any others after that) and we all had our favorites. Brandon always played Jason, the red ranger and the leader of the group. Kaley always played Billy, the blue ranger and the brains of the group...and yes, Kaley played a boy - she was very much a tomboy. I always played Kimberly, the pink ranger and obviously the most awesome of the group. And poor Brittany - she always wanted to be Kimberly, but we never let her and often issued an ultimatum: she could play Trini, the yellow ranger and the only other girl, or she could be "the monster" that we all had to fight and conquer. Most of the time she'd acquiesce to being Trini, but I remember her being mad and saying she wouldn't play at all, then she'd run off to play by herself and we'd pretend she was the monster and attack her anyway. Yeah, we were awesome.

How to pretend to be Power Rangers:

1. Know your rangers. Don't forget that Tommy (green ranger) and Kimberly are bf/gf so the only boy who can be Tommy is the boy you like who lives down the street.

2. A good fight mostly involves attempts at roundhouse kicks, karate chops complete with shouting "hi-yah!", and if you get knocked down you must roll a good 5 feet before getting back up.

3. You're mostly going to be fighting putties and you know you have to punch or kick them in the Z on their fronts.

4. Know your dinosaurs. At some point you're going to have to call on your Dinozord and you'd better know it. For example, Kimberly's was the pterodactyl and when it's time I had to stand with my legs apart, put my hands out as though I'm holding something resembling a belt buckle, and shout "Pterodactyl!"

5. It's ok to use the slide on your swingset to do a jump attack on someone, but if you land sloppily you have to roll a good 5 feet again.

6. You must create the Megazord before you can win a fight.

A is for Ashlee

Let's start this alphabet challenge off with a conceited post, shall we? I know I talk about me a lot...after all, it's my blog. But I thought I'd answer some basic and not-so-basic questions about myself so you can get to know me (Ashlee) better!

1. Nicknames?
Ash, Osh Kosh, Ash-hole, LeeLee

2. Age and sign?
27 and I'm a Libra.

Shawna Herring Photography

3. Marital status?
Happily married!






4. Favorite band or singer?
Michael Buble...no, Harry Connick, Jr....no Michael Buble. We'll go with Michael since I own every single one of his albums. That's not the case with anyone else.

5. Favorite movie?
The Holiday. It was no big blockbuster, but man that movie makes me feel good. I think it's the awesome mix of Kate Winslet, little girls speaking with a British accent and saying adorable things, and the musical stylings of my favorite composer Hans Zimmer. It can make any day better for me.

6. Favorite color?
PINK




7. How many siblings?
Six - 3 brothers and 3 sisters. We're all super close and I couldn't imagine a life without them. And our group text messages make my day great.





8. What kind of phone do you have?
I have an iPhone 4s. I bought an iPhone pretty early in the game when it was ahead of all the other phone companies. I admit that everyone else has caught up and that there are now phones just as good as or better than the iPhone, but I can't seem to make the switch. For one thing, I wouldn't be able to live without my group texts.

9. Pepsi or Coke?
Coke all the way. Pepsi is too syrupy to me.

10. Did you ever fake being sick?
Ugh yes. I only did it once. Honestly, I think the only reason I did it was because I wanted to see if I could get away with it. I was in lower elementary school - maybe 2nd or 3rd grade? - and I told my teacher I was sick so my dad came and got me. We got home and he told me to go lay in my room to rest. At some point I got up to use the bathroom and when I came out my dad came back to check on me and to see if I'd thrown up and that's when the guilt hit me. I felt so bad for making Dad worry about me! I never did it again.

Rockin' Band Pic

11. Do you play any instruments?
I took piano lessons when I was young, so I know the notes and can pick out some songs, but that's about it. I played the clarinet throughout middle school and high school.





12. Morning or night person?
Morning all the way. I don't love waking up early, but once I'm awake I'm WIDE awake - there's no transition period of waking up. And usually at night, once it hits 10:00, my body starts to shut down, no matter if I'm at home or out on the town. Ten o'clock is bedtime!

13. Favorite book?
This is so hard to say because I have so many. Gone with the Wind may be my all time favorite and I read it at least 6 times during middle school and high school alone. Then I love any book by Francine Rivers, but I especially love Redeeming Love and her Mark of the Lion trilogy. I've read all 4 multiple times. Her book And the Shofar Blew is also a good one, especially since I can relate to it after experiencing similar church issues. After Francine is, of course, Harry Potter. I've also read them all multiple times. Oh and who can forget Chain of Command by Colby Marshall? Like I've said before...I love to read.

14. Do you have a collection of anything?
Yes - COFFEE MUGS! It is such an addiction and I hope to one day build appropriate shelving for them. I've tried to stop just buying random pretty mugs at the dollar store and only buy mugs that mean something - mostly souvenir mugs from various Broadway plays or from trips I take. But of course I'll except any and every mug given as a gift!




15. Are you a different person now than you were 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I graduated from high school and the answer is god yes. Some things haven't changed. For example, I've always been slow to anger and quick to laugh. I tend to be a happy person the majority of the time and have always loved being around people. But I've become more outgoing and more extroverted. In addition, my beliefs have changed a little and become a more open-minded person. My language has also become a little more...um...colorful. I like who I am today a lot more than the me from 10 years ago.

Anything can happen if you use your imagination...

I am horrible at time management. Really horrible. I've known that I'm leaving tomorrow morning (Thursday) and not coming back until Monday (Labor Day) and what did I do? I put off packing until 11:00 tonight. Ugh. It's done though. And now I should go to bed. But instead I will tell you about the make believe games I played as a child.

I have 6 brothers and sisters who made for great playmates. However the games that stick out most in my mind involved the four oldest of us. Brandon, Kaley, Brittany and me. Brittany and I are 5 years apart so the four of us are very close in age. I realized today that all of our games were based on either a TV show or a movie. Isn't that nice.

1. The Independence Day Game. When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade we went through a stage where every day we'd pull out the couch bed in the living room and watch a movie. It was usually Independence Day, though I don't know why. Then we made up a game where one person sat in the middle of the bed and the other people (the aliens) would get under the bed and beat on the bottom of the bed with our feet (which was probably not good for the bed now that I think about it). The beating would hopefully make the person bounce around on top and therefore put them within range for one of the aliens to grab them from underneath.

2. Power Rangers. This was around the same time as the first game. I was always Kimberly, the pink ranger. Brandon was always Jason, the red ranger and the leader. Kaley was always Billy, the blue ranger (who, incidentally, was a boy...). Brittany always wanted to be Kimberly, but we'd tell her she either had to be Trini, the yellow ranger (who, coincidentally, was Asian), or she could be the monster that we had to fight. Most of the time she'd give in and be Trini, but sometimes she'd just get mad and say she wasn't playing. She'd go to another corner of the yard to play by herself and we'd just pretend she was the monster anyway and attack her. We jumped around, kicked at each other, and leaped off the swingset. Every time we'd hit the ground we knew to roll about 10 feet because that's what they did on the show.

3. Street Kids. This came from us watching Free Willy every day. And this was when I was probably in 5th grade. Maybe 6th. There wasn't much to this game. We'd just get empty backpacks and put crackers and stuff in them, sling them over one shoulder, and ride our bikes around. We'd always pretend we stole a cake, then we'd put pretend ketchup on it, then the cops would come and we'd have to scram. And someone always pretended to step in the cake as we ran away.

4. Orphanage. My favorite. This came from watching Annie. The land we lived on at the time was surrounded by 5 or six rows of pine trees. We'd get in there and rake the pine straw in such a way that we created pathways and rooms with it.That was our orphanage. We each had our own room. Every time we played, we'd have a new kid (usually Kaley), the cop that brings the new kid (who would double as another orphan - Brittany), the seen-it-all-knows-it-all kid who's been there forever (Brandon), the lady who runs the orphanage (me), and the drunken cook (also me). Oh yes, I would make their food and accidentally spill alcohol into it. I don't know where I got that from.

Sounds like fun, huh?