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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Ashley</title>
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	<link>http://www.wirlproject.com</link>
	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
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		<title>Let Kids Be Kids!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/let-kids-be-kids/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/let-kids-be-kids/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Style/Beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bruise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bullying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dirt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dirty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[explore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[get dirty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Girls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[let kids be kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Little Girl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Playing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Playing Outside]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sweat]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6256</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you can, think back to your younger years, maybe when you were grade school age, or even younger if you can. What were you like? Did you have fears and worries and doubts or anxiety?? Kids can be cruel. Let&#8217;s face it, adults can be cruel too. The world isn&#8217;t by any means a perfect place, it&#8217;s far from it. But as a parent, you want to try to instill good morals and selflessness and sensitivity. You want your child to be kind to others, to not make fun of another kid because of their clothes, toys, or choices even. Often times we hear about kids getting bullied in school or kids committing suicide because they had no friends, nobody who understood them or cared enough to try to get to know them. It&#8217;s sad! I have an almost 3 year old daughter and she loves princesses, but she also loves getting dirty, and sweaty and running around covered in filth and food. She almost always has stains on her clothes because she likes to get into things, she likes to &#8216;help&#8217; her daddy fix things (which usually ends up with her covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises). And you know what?! I&#8217;m fine with that. I&#8217;m okay with the way she is. She&#8217;s happy, outgoing, lovable, kind-hearted, sweet, selfless, hysterical, and most of all&#8230;she&#8217;s my daughter. &#8230;she likes to &#8216;help&#8217; her daddy fix things (which usually ends up with her covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises). And you know what?! I&#8217;m fine with that. I&#8217;m okay with the way she is. Normally when we take her places, within 5 minutes she is covered in sweat, her face is beat red, and her clothes are barely hanging onto her body. She&#8217;s amazing and adventurous! I love the life in her eyes and the gentleness of her soul. To me, she&#8217;s perfect. But there are still those people that make comments. I have had people refer to her as a &#8216;hobo&#8217; because of how she&#8217;s dressed. They&#8217;ve said she looks like she belongs &#8216;in a trailer park&#8217; because she was outside, in just a diaper, and someone told her she was a &#8216;hot mess&#8217; because she was sweaty and wearing raggedy, dirty play clothes from Wal-Mart that were covered in food of some sort! In what world do people think it&#8217;s alright to speak to a not even 3 year old like that, let alone a little girl?! Self esteem can be broken so easily. It really angers me and even breaks my heart to know that one day I&#8217;m going to have to answer some pretty tough questions from her and I pray to God that I can be strong enough to be honest with her and at the same time sensitive to the subject at hand. I pray that we will raise her right and she will be strong enough on her own to stand on her own two feet and know that people sometimes say hurtful things that aren&#8217;t true. They&#8217;ve said she looks like she belongs &#8216;in a trailer park&#8217; because she was outside, in just a diaper, and someone told her she was a &#8216;hot mess&#8217; because she was sweaty and wearing raggedy, dirty play clothes from Wal-Mart&#8230; I, of course, do not know what the future holds, but I pray for the future of ALL of our children. That they be kind and wise in their words and actions and that their parents teach them the difference between right and wrong. And parents, even though a child may not fit into your perfect mold that you have set, please also be kind with your words and actions and consider that child&#8217;s feelings before saying such hurtful things. Just let kids be kids!! It&#8217;s okay!!]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.wirlproject.com/let-kids-be-kids/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Most UNEXPECTED Reaction to Becoming a Mother</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/this-is-the-story-of-my-most-unexpected-reaction-to-becoming-a-mother/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/this-is-the-story-of-my-most-unexpected-reaction-to-becoming-a-mother/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2015 07:30:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3341</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is just a little story about me, it&#8217;s kind of personal and very honest. I hope that, maybe someone who is, or has felt the same is given some piece of mind knowing that there is someone else out there like them! So I&#8217;ll start off by saying something you probably aren&#8217;t used to hearing from a woman&#8230;I never dreamed of having children or being a wife. Shocking, right?!? Most little girls dream of their wedding day, and their children (how many they&#8217;ll have AND their names). I never did that. I was a very shy little girl who grew up with 3 brothers so I didn&#8217;t have a lot of &#8216;playing house&#8217; or &#8216;girl talk&#8217; involved in my daily activities. My brothers and I played a lot outside, climbing trees, playing baseball, swimming, and exploring the woods around our house.  I also grew up LOVING animals, like they were my passion! I wanted to be a veterinarian and help sick animals. So with that little bit of background being said, being a mom wasn&#8217;t something that I felt the least bit ready or prepared for! My husband and I got married in July 2011, and we decided to go off of birth control and just let things happen however they were meant to happen. We were &#8216;trying&#8217; to conceive for 6 months and NOTHING was happening. I made an appointment with my dr and she assured me that everything was fine, that I was a healthy 27 year old girl, and that I hadn&#8217;t given it enough time, that it would happen. After what at the time seemed like years, 3 months later we found out I was pregnant, and we were ecstatic!! Don&#8217;t get me wrong, we were also terrified of what we had hoped and prayed for for all this time&#8230;&#8217;what if we weren&#8217;t ready?&#8217; My entire pregnancy was relatively uncomplicated and easy, so to speak. We were discussing name possibilities and getting a room in the house all prepared for HER, this little creature that is going to soon come into my quiet, ORGANIZED, controlled environment&#8230;and I would soon have zero control anymore.  If it hasn&#8217;t been established yet, I&#8217;ll throw it out there&#8230;I am an absolute control freak!  I have severe anxiety and had depression through out my college years. My life revolves around to-do lists, and time&#8230;ohhhh time! I must look at the clock a bazillion times a day, and if we are ever 5 minutes late for something&#8230;I can literally feel my heart ready to jump from my chest. It&#8217;s awful. So anyways, back to this little &#8216;thing&#8217; that is about to disrupt all of my lists and make me late for everything. Even as a pregnant woman&#8230;I never felt that instant connection or protectiveness that you read so much about. People would gush over the idea of there being a precious little baby girl inside my belly, and I felt nothing. Don&#8217;t take that literally, I felt all the kicks and stuff, just not the &#8216;instant motherly bond&#8217; you hear so much about. Now, fast forward through my 9 months of pregnancy towards the end. I felt like, &#8216;when this baby comes out I will gladly let anyone babysit who wants her!&#8217; &#8216;I just want my normal life back&#8217;. I was due on January 12, 2013, and my little bundle of joy decided to put on the brakes, she apparently was just as not ready as I was. I was scheduled to be induced on January 18,2013 and that is the day that Ailyn was born and my life was forever changed. That &#8216;instant connection&#8217; you hear women say they have when they find out they&#8217;re expecting, I didn&#8217;t get that, however&#8230;I DID instantly feel this huge bubble surrounding me, my husband, and my new little, not so disruptive all of a sudden, sweet little angel from God. I say it all the time, I may not have realized how much I would love her when I was pregnant with her&#8230;but the absolute second that I layed my eyes on her little face, I knew that she is the reason I&#8217;m here, in this particular point in my life, my heart was whole again&#8230;and I have never felt so perfect in my own skin. In the few months after Ailyn was born, people wanted to hold her, and feed her, and babysit her&#8230;and I could not, or would not give her up. I didn&#8217;t care about how tired I was, or how sore and achy I was, or that I hadn&#8217;t showered that day. I only wanted to hold my baby, and breathe in the smell of her skin. I felt like she is the reason I was put on this earth, and still to this day&#8230;over 2 years later, I can honestly say that I still feel exactly the same. She is my best little friend and we do everything together. So to wrap things up, it&#8217;s ok to be scared at first, orrrr throughout your entire pregnancy.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.wirlproject.com/this-is-the-story-of-my-most-unexpected-reaction-to-becoming-a-mother/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My skin won&#8217;t stop me!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/my-skin-wont-stop-me-8/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/my-skin-wont-stop-me-8/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2015 18:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acne]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Breakout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bruise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bruising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My Skin Won't Stop Me]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tinkerbell]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=5405</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; My skin won&#8217;t stop me!As a 30 year old wife and mother, dog lover, and part-time vet tech&#8230;one of my issues with my skin is that I bruise easily. I might be at home playing with my daughter and I run into the coffee table&#8230;yep, gonna leave a nice big bruise! My 75 pound &#8216;lap dog&#8217;, who does NOT know that he is too big to sit on me, causes me to have huge &#8216;love bruises&#8217; all the time (he does it with the best of intentions). I might be at work and a big dog who is not happy about me holding him to get his nails cut&#8230;lots of big bruises! Sometimes I leave work just thinking to myself&#8230; I know I am gonna wake up tomorrow totally black and blue on my legs. With warmer weather coming I get embarrassed to wear shorts or bathing suits or anything that shows off my bruises. People have jokingly asked me if my husband beats me up&#8230;obviously not a very funny joke. I have other skin issues that have put me into a shell at some point in my life. I have had my fair share of bouts of hormonal acne, super dry skin that&#8217;s flaky, super oily skin that&#8217;s shiny. It seems as if it&#8217;s never just &#8216;normal&#8217;. Obviously as a teenager or an early twenties young girl, this stuff feels like it&#8217;s the end of the world&#8230;especially when you have a huge date with someone you&#8217;ve been dying to get together with. If my today self, could go back and talk to my early twenties self, she would have A LOT to say, but mostly she would say, be comfortable in your skin, and in who you are! It has taken me a long time to be comfortable enough as a person to show my face when I have a little breakout. When a topic like this gets brought up, a Dr. Seuss quote comes to mind, “Be who you are and say what you feel because people who mind don&#8217;t matter and people who matter don&#8217;t mind.”This may seem a slight bit off topic, but I promise it will tie in. My daughter has really gotten my husband and I into the Tinkerbell movies&#8230;ALL OF THEM! Secret of the Wings, The Legend of the Neverbeast, The Pirate Fairy&#8230;and the list goes on and on! Well anyways, as we are watching these movies&#8230;I&#8217;m thinking to myself (and anyone who knows these movies will know what I&#8217;m talking about) that all of these fairies are VERY VERY different. All fairies, but all have very different talents. There is a water fairy, a garden fairy, a light fairy, an animal fairy, a fast flying fairy, and of course the most well known is Tinkerbell, the tinker fairy. All of these fairies work together to make everything in the world work. The same way that there are so many different kinds of people in the world, to make it more diverse. Everyone is different and has/goes through different life struggles. Someone who may have absolutely perfect skin, may not be as blessed as I am in certain aspects of my life. I am beyond blessed and happy with who I am, and where I am, that I don&#8217;t let a little bruise or blemish deter me or get me down. It only took me 30 years, but I won&#8217;t let my skin stop me!!]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Let&#8217;s Make This Common Word A Little Less Common</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/lets-make-this-common-word-a-little-less-common/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/lets-make-this-common-word-a-little-less-common/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[be kind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brother]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fragile X]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fragile X Syndrome]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[love]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[respect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sibling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teach respect]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=4380</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I hate the R word, and I mean despise it. I know there is an actual definition to the word, but the way in which people use it is really offensive. The slang for it&#8230; the connotation is negative, and hurtful, and ignorant. The word retardreally pushes my buttons. People who use it in a negative, demeaning manner&#8230;really push my buttons. The word is not meant to put people down, and it&#8217;s not meant to define or categorize a person as less than intelligent. The definition of the words is this to delay or hold back in terms of progress, development, or accomplishment. To refer to someone as retarded, as I have heard many people do, stabs me in a place of my heart that I can&#8217;t quite begin to describe. It&#8217;s a tender place, that&#8217;s full of light and hope. (I know that sounds super corny, but it&#8217;s what I imagine this place looks like! ) This is a place where all people are accepted for who they are and not judged or picked on. My youngest brother, Josh, has Fragile X Syndrome. It is a genetic condition that runs in my family, I actually have multiple other family members (cousins and distant cousins) that either have it, or are carriers of the gene. Fragile X syndrome is a genetic condition that causes intellectual disability, behavioral and learning challenges and various physical characteristics. Though FXS occurs in both genders, males are more frequently affected than females, and generally with greater severity. Fragile X affects 1 in 4,000 males, and 1 in 8,000 females. It is just recently something that can be mentioned in conversation without people looking at you like you&#8217;re an alien with glowing purple horns. Growing up with a sibling that is &#8220;different&#8221; was hard, extremely hard!! As a child you want to think that people are nice and kind hearted, but unfortunately that isn&#8217;t always the case. Josh attended the same school as my other brothers and myself, but was in the special education classes, or intermediate unit, he was not main streamed. Most people didn&#8217;t even know that Josh was our brother, they knew my two other brothers but Josh was &#8220;different&#8221;. I very specifically remember school bus rides. Josh would get upset over something, anything, and he reached over, ripped off my other brothers glasses and threw them out the school bus window!! And this happened on more than one occasion! After we moved into another house, kids that were much younger in age than Josh, but pretty close to the same mentality, would stop and ask if Josh could come out to play. At first we were excited, thinking that he was finally being accepted and that he was getting outside to play with other kids, until we realized that these kids were telling him they were playing hide-n-seek, telling him to hide in the woods, and THEY LEFT HIM THERE!!! FOR HOURS!!! My parents called the police because we couldn&#8217;t find him! Josh used to get picked on a lot, but luckily he had three older siblings who ALWAYS stood up for him, and who always will stand up for him. I know that kids can be cruel, but parents PLEASE teach your kids respect, and kindness, and to stick up for people that are being bullied. Unfortunately people use the &#8220;R&#8221; word too often. They use it without thinking who it may be hurting. People with Down&#8217;s Syndrome are so genuinely sweet and positive, and would never even think to utter words that may be hurtful to someone else. Before just jokingly saying &#8216;it&#8217;, think to yourself if it&#8217;s really something that needs to be said. If there is ever any questions, do some research on Fragile X, and even get to know someone with it! I promise you that it will change how you look at things, and it will show you a piece of the world that you didn&#8217;t even know existed, that&#8217;s what it&#8217;s done for me. Let&#8217;s try to make this world a little better place for EVERYONE, not just some.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bedtime is the best time</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/bedtime-is-the-best-time/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/bedtime-is-the-best-time/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2015 20:00:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bedtime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blessings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nightly routine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prayers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toddlers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=4334</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bed time is the best time&#8230;and get your mind out of the gutters people!! I&#8217;m not referring to what I&#8217;m SURE a lot of you are thinking about. I&#8217;m talking about that quiet time with your family, in my case&#8230;my husband and our 2 year old daughter. Every single evening is pretty simple and some may say &#8216;boring&#8217; at our house. We eat dinner, hang out, play with toys or puzzles, dance, play soccer (yes, in our living room ), play dress up, play &#8216;kitchen&#8217;, watch movies, and numerous other really fun activities. When I say that bed time is the best time, you&#8217;re probably thinking &#8220;because it&#8217;s when the kids go to bed&#8230;DUH!!&#8221; And don&#8217;t get me wrong, there are definitely some nights where that IS the case, but not most nights. Most nights we have our usual routine (which I think young kids desperately need); we head upstairs, brush our teeth, change into pajamas, and this&#8230;is what is my favorite part, we spend quality time. Now, I do work part time, but I&#8217;m mostly a stay-at-home-mom, so we have all day together right?!? Right. But most of our days are spent running errands, grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning, doing laundry, and anyone with a toddler knows&#8230; it&#8217;s BUSY!! With that being said, the nights come and it&#8217;s time to relax. Once we are all settled we go into her bedroom and say our prayers. She is actually getting to the point where she mimics exactly what I do!! We say an easy little prayer, we pray for those who are sick, or sad, or who are lost and confused. We thank God for all of our blessings. Ailyn will climb into bed and then we do the usual pointing out of all of mommy&#8217;s facial features and saying what each one is. We sing a song and she &#8220;talks&#8221; to me. (She is only 2 years old but that girl has got A LOT to say!) She only says so many words right now, but I listen. I want her to know that no matter what, or no matter how busy we can be, that this is her time with me. I tell her how much her dad and I love her and even though she has a lot to say, she does a pretty good job listening too!This is a time where I leave the &#8216;busyness&#8217; of life downstairs, where I&#8217;m not checking Facebook or Instagram, or paying bills, or making a grocery list. I&#8217;m being with my kid, which sadly I think people don&#8217;t do enough of. Life and work can and do make people busy, but kids are only little once, so take time to stop and smell the flowers, enjoy them while they&#8217;re young!]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>This is me</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/this-is-me-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/this-is-me-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2015 14:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[be you]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Faith]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the circle of life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the lion king]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trust in God]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uncertainty]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is me. This is who I am. I am honest, sometimes to a fault. I am a realist, and I try very very hard (on a daily basis) to understand that there are just some things that I cannot control. From a very early age, I learned that life isn&#8217;t fair, you don&#8217;t always get what you want, and that people die too soon. Unfortunately, tragedies came to my family all too often and it was difficult for me to not notice what was going on around me.  At an age where I was too young to remember OR understand the exact feeling or emotion that people around me were experiencing, my 17 year old, junior fireman uncle was killed in a fire lit by a confessed arsonist. From what I understand, he was not even supposed to be there. Shortly after, my grandfather (his father) suffered several heart attacks and ended up passing away not long after, partly due I&#8217;m sure, to a broken heart.  When I was in middle school, my maternal grandfather was diagnosed with cancer and passed away within a year or two. I remember during my freshmen year of high school, my dad lost his job. I wanted so badly to go to a big dance for my class, and my parents just sitting me down and explaining to me (God Bless them), that we didn&#8217;t have the money to be spending on a new dress, or getting my hair done, or new shoes and tickets. I was lucky enough to have some friends in school who let me borrow a dress and shoes, did my hair, AND bought my ticket to the dance. At that point in my life, at a pretty young age, I had to make myself understand that things aren&#8217;t always going to go my way, that some circumstances are out of my control, and I just had to roll with the punches.  A few years later, my mom and my aunt (her sister) were both diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  I remember thinking firstly, &#8216;what is Multiple Sclerosis???&#8217;, and secondly, &#8216;why can&#8217;t we catch a break?!&#8217; Most kids my age were worried about going to the football game or party that weekend, and my Friday nights quickly ended up consisting of administering my moms injections for her MS.  I was okay with this, because I knew that if there was anything I could do to help, that&#8217;s what I should be doing. Going into my senior year of high school, I thought to myself&#8230;&#8217;this year is going to be calm and successful for me!!&#8217; I just thought, we had endured enough!!  Two months in, my brother and I were up in the morning getting ready for school and the house phone rang.  It was my cousin Garek, telling us that his brother Brandon was in a car accident and he was being life flighted to a hospital in Pittsburgh.  My mom gave us the option to stay home, and I very specifically remember thinking to myself, &#8216;Brandon is always getting hurt, he will be fine!&#8217; (Brandon liked to ride fast things, and then jump from really high places off of those fast things!) So we went to school and got a call only a few short hours later that he had passed away and we were getting picked up to go home.  Brandon was only 20 years old, and a HUGE inspiration to everyone that knew him! He followed the motto, &#8216;drive it like you stole it&#8217; and lived every minute to its fullest and fastest. I think about him every day, and imagine what he&#8217;d be like today.  When I thought I understood and accepted the uncertainty that is life, I realized that again, it was taking me a verryyyyy long time to come to the understanding of how this was possible, how can someone so amazing, die so young?? I believe that because of my past, and the obstacles that I&#8217;ve been faced with is why I am, the way I am today.  Some may call it &#8216;cold&#8217;, or being a pessimist or a cynic, but this is life, and this is me. As I sit here watching The Lion King with my 2 year old, the lyrics to a song are ringing especially true right now, It&#8217;s the Circle of Life And it moves us all Through despair and hope Through faith and love Till we find our place On the path unwinding In the Circle The Circle of Life &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>Caring For Animals Isn&#8217;t What I Do, It&#8217;s Who I Am</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/caring-for-animals-isnt-what-i-do-its-who-i-am-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/caring-for-animals-isnt-what-i-do-its-who-i-am-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2015 20:19:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[job]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[love]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[passion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vet tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3818</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So as I&#8217;ve mentioned before in previous posts, I work part time as a vet tech, that&#8217;s a veterinary technician! (Just in case someone wasn&#8217;t sure) I, believe it or not, LOVE my job!! How many people do you know that can honestly say the same?! I have worked within this particular profession for almost 7 years now, at the same animal hospital. Currently I only work 1-2 days a week, depending on how busy the schedule is. Throughout any given day, at any given time, there can be, and usually is, multiple different things all going on at once. As a vet tech, my job is pretty much to do whatever I can in order to help the Dr. Sometimes that means filling prescription medications, helping with surgery, restraining a feral cat for the Dr to examine, doing toe nail trims and &#8230;eeeek! anal glands , drawing blood, taking X-Rays, answering telephone calls, drawing up and administering medications, taking care of hospitalized pets and much more. Unfortunately, we also are faced with the tough, &#8216;this is life&#8217; duty of putting people&#8217;s pets to sleep. I LOVE working with animals, but this is the real story, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yes, of course we get to see adorable puppies and kittens come in for their check ups and vaccinations (who doesn&#8217;t LOVE puppy kisses??) But we also get to see the old Labrador Retriever come in for his routine bloodwork because he has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The poor dog seems to come for an appointment every few weeks with a new lump. It&#8217;s sad!! But you know what??He&#8217;s happy!!I always try to imagine what this particular dog would be doing if he had HIS choice, he wouldn&#8217;t be sitting around sulking and feeling bad for himself! He&#8217;d be out running, playing fetch, and exploring. Thinking this way for me, turns a not-so-positive situation into a bearable idea. As long as they&#8217;re happy, sometimes&#8230;that&#8217;s all that matters! When pet&#8217;s get old, or are extremely ill, owners will bring them in to be put down. Not that I have to explain&#8230;but this is the worst part of my job. This is where I, as a vet tech take on the responsibility of not only making sure the pet is comfortable and taken care of, but that the owner is treated with just as much care and empathy. When owners are crying and apologizing to me for being so emotional, I tell them, &#8216;it&#8217;s ok to be upset! I would be just the same way with my own. I&#8217;m sorry for your loss&#8217;. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that pets don&#8217;t live forever, as a matter of fact, they don&#8217;t live that long at all. We are here to help&#8230;you, and your pet. When we ask if it&#8217;s ok to &#8216;take them into the back&#8217; for certain procedures such as a blood draw or a toe nail trim, it&#8217;s because most pets, believe it or not are less stressed, and less protective when they are away from their owners. Most owners don&#8217;t want to see their baby being poked with a needle! (Yes, we use needles to draw blood- TRUST ME, we would use osmosis if we could! ) But it&#8217;s ok to trust us, we love your pet! That&#8217;s why we work with animals Sometimes it even takes us a little longer to bring the pet back to the owner because we are busy giving it lots of love&#8230; and treats!Even with all of the bad that I see, I wouldn&#8217;t trade my job for anything. It is so nice, and comforting to be surrounded by people who share the same passion in wanting to help animals. Caring for animals isn&#8217;t what we do, it&#8217;s who we are!]]></description>
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		<title>PLEASE! Do your research!</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/please-do-your-research/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/please-do-your-research/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Feb 2015 23:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ashley]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[breed research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family pet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3514</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So, I have a confession to make, and it&#8217;s kind of a silly/nerdy confession. For anyone who read my first post, knows that I am an animal lover and I&#8217;m also a vet tech, so this is where my confession stems from. (And I just came from work so it&#8217;s weighing on my mind).  Probably my biggest pet peeve is when people buy a dog, and then decide a few months later that they don&#8217;t want it anymore because it, A. Got too big B. Sheds too much C. Drools too much D. Is too energetic I could actually go on with my list, but I think you get my idea. PEOPLE! Please do your research!! Most people buy a dog because of it&#8217;s looks but don&#8217;t bother researching the breed to see if they are high maintenance, or if they drool and shed a lot. People that have realllllly nice houses, you know, the kind with a living room with all white furniture and white carpet that nobody ever reallllly sits in, they will be the people to buy a Newfoundland, or a French Mastiff!! Hello!!!!  Am I the only person who thinks that kind of dog does NOT fit in with that persons lifestyle??? I, for example, have a Siberian Husky.  I cannot tell you the number of people that have commented on how beautiful she is and how they would love to have one, but they live in an apartment with no yard.  Read about the breed you are interested in acquiring, most sites online will pretty descriptively explain their temperament, their maintenance level, energy level and so on.  Husky&#8217;s like to run, and dig, and prey on smaller animals.  They shed&#8230;.A LOT.  They need a very strong pack leader, someone who can train them and teach them.  They like to learn and take commands.  A Husky is not for the first time dog owner. Some people want a dog that looks scary, that will protect their family, like a German Shepherd or a Mastiff, but then they don&#8217;t socialize the dog and it doesn&#8217;t get along with ANYONE or ANYTHING else.  Dogs like this NEED to be socialized, taken to puppy classes, or doggy day care. Imagine having a very difficult to handle, aggressive dog that weighs more than you do! Not my idea of a fun time.]]></description>
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