06 October 2008

ashley in the middle

brittany looking perfect as usual, natalie giving in to the hilarity of the situation, me- the cry baby, and ashley throwing her head back... loving it.

i have one last sister whom i havent highlighted yet (if you have been keeping track that is four girls in our family and no brothers... it was really fun and sometimes really emotional). her name is ashley mango jones. no joke. well, actually it isnt a joke that her middle name is mango, it's just a lie. i started calling her that a long time ago and we dont remember why... but why not? i really like this windy haired picture taken in Prague. she's such a beauty.

ashley is the direct one. she doesnt hold back and she knows and gets what she wants. she is never wrong (and the scary thing is that most of the time this is actually true!) and has read more books than you, your high school english teacher, and avid reader grandmother combined. she is one tough lady and sometimes i wonder, is she really so tough? does she need someone to get all up in her business and hug her a bunch and let her know that she is great and special and sweet?

so, i do it and she ends up bristling, but secretly loving it. i used to say, "I LOOOOVE YOOOOOU MANGO!!!!" and she wouldnt even look up from her book or magazine as she replied in monotone; "right back at ya."

hahahahhaha! this may sound sad to some that dont know ash and i that well, but to those who know... oh you just know. :)

one time at girls camp (i was 13, she was 17) we had to pass around these "feel-good papers". there was one for every girl at camp with their name on the top of the page and everyone had to write something nice about each girl. the idea was that when you got it back you would have a page full of things that people loved or admired about you and you would skip off into your tent for the night and sigh as you hugged it to your chest and collapsed into your sleeping bag...

anyway, i got my feel-good page back and beamed at this and that, written by all the girls in my ward... then my eyes raced over the page... "where was ashleys? where was ashleys? what does she love about me??"

there it was in her all caps handwriting: OVERLY HAPPY AND HUGGY.

ahahahaha! so what did i do?? i went over and sat on her lap in front of all of her friends and squeezed her tight and told her i loved her until we were both laughing and she shoved me off: what are little and big sisters for after all??

ashley is closest to me in age
ashley knows too much about me
ashley is my friend
ashley is my close friend
ashley is the only person who has slept in a small studio apartment with me and thomas- us on our huge california king bed and her on a little mattress on the floor-during two different vacations
ashley sat close with nervous-new-mom-me on my bed, late at night, as i tried to soothe newborn colicky ambrose and reassured me with her presence
ashley was my partner in crime on too many occasions (olive the dog... there i said it)
ashley is the favorite aunt and keeps all the nieces and nephews well dressed and entertained... she may also have a favorite but we wont say who:
ashley is a new wife and impresses me with her new self in this role
ashley is competent
ashley would be one of my life-lines if i went on "millionaire"
ashley is a personal pet favorite of a lot of random people
ashley is there to fill in the space in all our lives
ashley is the survivor of a deadly car wreck
ashley is still mad that i came home from the hospital during her birthday party when she was four
ashley has the lightest ivory skin and the darkest, richest black hair
ashley needs to stop drinking diet soda because aspartame will kill you in so many ways
ashley is a former biology, forensic science, AVID teacher and wrestling assistant coach (she thinks that is just as random as you do and became the team mom essentially)
ashley is a close friend to my husband, which is important to me
ashley is up for anything
ashley is hilarious
ashley is someone to be loyal to


ashley is my sister.

if i could dedicate a song to ashley right now, it would be this (whoever uploaded this song to the website spelled the bands name wrong when it gets to the actual track... not me... i assure you, i'm cooler than that):

MixwitMixwit make a mixtapeMixwit mixtapes

it was on repeat at her wedding and i cant hear it without thinking of the happy couple and i love my sister ashley for sure!

19 comments:

Emily said...

Oh, i miss Ashley! you are right about the hilariousness. she won't hold back to make fun of someone. she used to tease me about kissing jason ashurst in the halls of stockdale... and i've been ashamed ever since. i deserved it.

Unknown said...

one of my favorite people!

melissa said...

ashley took us to a stinking good bbq place in provo.

Alli said...

Wait, I didn't know Emily kissed Jason Ashurst in the halls! Hehehe. Oh Ashley could always make me laugh!

Kate said...

um, hello. loving her. and thanks for all the extra ash details I could ever need. really, you guys are all the best!!

Melissa said...

haha!! I remember that picture from a different post, but I forget the story behind. is there one?
It's just cracks me up!

Stephanie said...

i think the story is mostly that my mom took us to get professional pictures taken and it was naptime or i had just woken up from naptime and i was not happy and my mom was trying everything to make me smile and she pulled down the underwear on a baby doll and my sisters thought it was more funny than i did apparently... is that right sisters? did i just make that up?

laura said...

I love this post. What a great idea. I didn't know you were doing this and just had to scroll through your whole blog to find your other sisters. I laughed reading them all.
I will now have to email all of my sisters so they can share in these memories.

Ashley said...

Thanks for the post Stephanie! That really made my day. I guess I hadn't noticed that you had done one on Brittany, but then I remembered her birthday post. And Emily you deserved to be made fun of. Where did you get that picture of me in Prague?

Lisah said...

Oh my Ashley. I will never forget talks of grape jolly ranchers and our bedtime stories. I of course named my first daughter after Ashley... she shares Ashley's made up middle name... Elizabeth. I love Ashley and miss her all the time!

Stephanie said...

ash- i got most of the pictures off your old blog... you know the hawk one.

laura skinner! you are private now and i miss reading your blog! do you still have my email address? would love to be added, but no pressure. :)

lisa- i should have listed that fun summer we had when it seemed as though you, me and ashley had nothing to do all day. or the memorable fourth of july at least!

Lisah said...

That 4th of July was the BEST ever... and yes it did seem as though we never had anything to do. But what better person to have nothing to do with than Ashley? And let's not forget about how I supposedly made out with Josh Parker.... YUCK!

Ashley said...

Oh Lisa don't fight it, we all know you made out with him. Why would he lie?

Stephanie said...

perhaps i should have added that to the list of ashley things: the only one smart enough to not get attacked by josh parker! (yes, my 18 year old self did have the unfortunate expereince) haha :) (maybe ashley did too and shes just not saying... that would be like her.)

what if he reads this? that would be equally hilarious.

. said...

I love that picture of all you girls. Love that you are a crybaby, love that Ashley is throwing her head back with glee, love old family pictures. Are we really old enough to have yellowing family pictures? I did not think we were that old. I also really like your family tributes. And I love that you answer your readers questions. You are such a good blogger Stephanie.

Lisah said...

I am beginning to wonder myself if AShley and Josh did have a secret love affair the rest of us may not know about... AND I do hope Josh READS this and will once and for all come clean and tell the truth. I DID NOT seduce you in my sister's apartment!!!

And Stephanie... poor you!!!

liko said...

i love reading your writing, steph.

shira said...

hi stephanie, can you email me your address? i need to drop off an invitation for jonna's baby shower for you. it is next friday october 17th at 6:30 at the MPC. she's having a girl! if you are too busy to email me, this comment i am leaving you can be the substitute. thanks!

Alicia said...

So there I was, browsing on Google Reader and saw my "top recommended" blogs to read. So I clicked on it, not knowing what I was getting into. Then I see this really cute blog...and I'm wondering to myself, "Why does this person look so familiar to me?" And the name Ambrose...I've met this person...but where...? And then I saw that picture of you and your sisters. I'm Ben's Sister! How funny is that? Love your blog! Will I see you at Thanksgiving? Ben and Ashley invited us to your folks for the day. Hope it's okay that I left a (really long) post on your blog. :)
Oh, and thanks for posting that picture of me looking like an idiot behind Ben and Ashley at the temple. Glorious.