Ashley Gets Lost

I know I’m not the only one out there who has spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s simply rotting around the house dramatically, right? Pajamas all day, pajamas all night. The weather was nice enough until Christmas, and then it was just days of non stop rain. Sometimes with no water in the pipes, but water everywhere else. I’d like to say I spent that week reflecting, but I did not. I didn’t do shit and I’m not mad about it.

Quick warning, I’m about to talk about my dog dying. It was a part of last year, and we waited for it to happen before starting to prep for our move. Feel free to skip the words and look at my adorable old man if that’s what your heart needs! Start back up at the picture of a group of babes. Speaking of babes, another warning is that my butt is in this post a few times because of course it is.

Anyway, 2024 was one of the hardest and most rewarding years of my life so far. It started off quietly, but we knew our time with our best dog ever, Chunk, was coming to an end. We were constantly on watch to determine when he started to have more bad days than good ones, knowing the last big gift of love we could give him was the end of his suffering.

His dementia was getting worse, and a big old house full of wooden stairs was hard on his old bones. He had prostate cancer.

He was the softest, sweetest big baby I ever knew. He was a champion snuggler and made us laugh every day. Saying goodbye to him was the beginning of saying goodbye to life as we know it. We weren’t about to start packing up the house and having workers/other strangers in and out while he was losing his cognitive abilities. We didn’t want him to be even more confused or scared.

We said goodbye to him on a sunny Saturday morning in January. We went on a nice walk, and the vet and one of his assistants who Chunk loved came over and helped him move on to his next journey.

After that, shit got real. I started packing treasures and donating or selling things. February happened. Is February even real? Does anything happen that month? Haha!

In March my sisters and some friends drove down from South Dakota to go what ended up being my last burlesque show before we moved. We went out and had a wild time the night before.

I have never felt so well prepared for a show in my life. It was a packed house, and having my girls there to yell at me felt so special!

We also absolutely nailed our group act. We practiced once a week on top of our regular weekly class, and it really paid off! I’m so proud of everything about that show and so grateful for everyone who came out to show their support.

Felix turned 18!

And I turned 38! I even snagged a deal on the Ritz Carlton with my Marriott employee discount and had a lovely night in Denver with Joshua.

I also threw myself a big old birthday party because I hadn’t had one in years, and it was my last chance to do it with all of the Colorado people I love. I was scared that like five people would show up (which would be fine, but I did rent out a whole speakeasy!) and was pleasantly surprised when a real rager occurred. I felt so loved and appreciated.

In April I went to go visit my best friend since 7th grade, Laura, at her home in upstate Washington. I absolutely love getting to see her and spend time in her mossy rain forrest home.

Packing started to get serious.

In May we started winding down our time in America. I went to support my friends at a burlesque show and invited friends as a low pressure going away party situation.

The shenanigans were epic!

We made a quick trip to South Dakota to say goodbye to family. This is a very official Goon Squad meeting. The rules of Goon Squad are that we definitely talk about it and you have to like crab rangoons to get in. And maybe also pass my tests of not being a shitty person. No shitty people allowed at meetings!

I also delivered this long overdue garbage truck quilt to my little garbage man nephew, Holden, who loved it! I wasn’t sure I was ever going to finish this quilt, but I did, and it’s doing its job keeping this little cutie warm this winter.

I ate my last Sonic corn dog.

And finished off the wine in my fridge after a quick desperate trip to Costco for another plastic tub to bring on the airplane after running out of room/surpassing weight limits.

Spent some quality high time with my cat at the airport hotel the night before we left.

And said goodbye to everything familiar.

I’m not sharing a bunch of photos from after we arrived as you’ve seen most of the good ones, but life has been a dream ever since. There have definitely been ups and downs. Our house buyers falling through multiple times. An unfortunate mold situation. A dead tree. It taking forever to actually be able to purchase this house and get started on the visa process. Seven months of rental cars. (We have our own car now as of last week!!)

On Christmas Eve I went to pick up a couple loaves of sour dough from a guy in the village, and he gifted me this gorgeous rosemary with a recipe for compound butter. I was walking through the village with warm bread under my arm and fresh herbs in my face, and I was so incredibly happy.

I saw some meme about living your best life versus living your favorite life, and I have taken the favorite life fork in the road and am not turning back. Could I be making a better use of my time some days? Sure. But am I happy taking an afternoon nap and choosing the long way on a scooter ride to the village so I can see the sweeping views of the sea? Yes!

In the last year I have made so many wonderful friendships, my favorite one being with myself. I have learned that the only person I really need to please is myself, and I am so much better for it. My relationships are rich and honest. Every day is an adventure. I am befriending cats and village dogs. I have decreased my mental health medication. If I forget about karaoke night, the karaoke DJ will send me a message asking if I need a ride down.

I am looking forward to nothing huge happening in 2025. I’m looking forward to traveling around Europe and not having it be a huge expensive deal. I can’t wait for beach season to start back up. We have some visitors scheduled later in the year. My heart is so full it could burst.

Happy New Year! I hope your cocktails come with the world’s tiniest clothespin and that you’re healthy and happy and being true to yourself always. I hope you have peace in your heart and delicious food in your belly. I hope that you’re staying cozy and warm. I hope you find a new favorite song and read the best book ever this year.