When the Stars Align

Hey frans! I’m going on a storytelling adventure and I’m bringing you guys along with me. I was in bed one morning thinking about all these moments in my life that got me to where I am right now. 

The first story I’m going to tell is what led me to the school I taught at for 9 years. There was a whole bunch of crazy stuff that happened right before that. 

I was working at this awful daycare. It smelled like pee, it had carpet on all the floors, which I thought was super weird, and not many people there seemed qualified for the roles they were in. One thing I always knew was that I do not appreciate people who do a bad job with children. Like how can you choose this work and not strive to be your best? 

Anyway, I was at one of the lowest points in my newly adult life. I was very poor, making $10 an hour, I worked for a terrible person who gave me shit about calling off when I had a fever. Found out I had pneumonia when I couldn’t breathe and went to the emergency room. Obviously, I was not yet the Ashley most of you know today. She was in the oven, not quite done yet. 

As I was reaching my breaking point with life in general, my supervisor pulled me aside and told me that I was too good for where we were working and that I needed to get out of there. I immediately got on the Dayton consortium and applied to one school. 

Within the same week that I applied to that school, my friend had basically accepted two positions and put herself in charge of filling one of those positions. It would start in less than two weeks. It was only for 6 weeks. I was hesitant to quit my “permanent” job for a temporary one, but then I got a call from the Assistant Principal at the school. They wanted to interview me. Everything happened pretty quickly after that. 

I ended up quitting the daycare only able to give them a 6 day notice.

In a two week time period, I had secured two jobs. 

When I tell yall the stars aligned, the lease on the apartment Tej and I had was up and we weren't renewing. I got the job at Upward Bound that included housing and I moved into a dorm with all my stuff. I found an apartment that became available as soon as Upward Bound ended. I moved into that apartment just one week before I was to report for my first day of work at the school.


I applied to one school and worked there for 9 years. 

2015 is arguably one of my best years…

For shits and giggles:
Here - you can find the post I wrote about my Upward Bound experience
Here- you can find the story of how I lost my virginity...during Upward Bound 🤭

​Thanks for reading 😊
This picture is from one of my first nights in that apartment. I didn't have the furniture moved in yet. I ended up living here for 6 years. Also, it was Luke's first home ❤️