Hiiii! I'm Ashley Parker. I have a billion nicknames (one of my best friends likes to come up with a new one everytime we see each other) but the most common ones are Ash, Ashie, and Parks. I live inSanborn, NY, which is a very small town about 25 minutes from Buffalo/Niagara Falls. I'm currently a student at Niagara County Community College, finishing up my last semester for an Associates degree in Liberal Arts. In the fall, I plan on continuing at a 4-year college, majoring in Spanish. I work part time for Yahoo! (yes, like yahoo.com!!). I absolutely love it there. We are like a little family. I'm pretty independent. I do still live with my mom, but I support myself for the most part.

I'm extremely outgoing and I love to laugh! Music is huge to me. I'm always listening to music and I LOVE to sing. I don't really know if I'm that great at it or not, but I love it! I like to play ultimate frisbee and tennis, and I really like to run. I am a small group leader for the Middle School ministry at my home church. I lead a group of anywhere between 5-15 6th grade girls. They are amazing! God has really used that position to bless my life and help me grow in my walk with Him. I'm also a leader at a friend's church for their Junior High youth group. I really have a heart for the youth! I greatly enjoy sunrises, sunsets, stars, etc. To me, they're beautiful reminders from God that He's really here! I absolutely adore the Spanish language and all the different hispanic/latin cultures. I don't like coconut (which is okay, because I'm allergic to it anyway!). I HATE seafood. I just can't handle it. It might be the textures of it, but it makes me sick. There really isn't much I truly dislike though.

I've never been on a missions trip before. I have participated in volunteer work at the City Mission and local churches, though. I am so excited about this trip to Nicaragua!! I have been wanting to go on a missions trip for quite some time, but I always felt like I had something holding me back. A few months back God was just like, "IT'S TIME. You're going!" So, here I am! I pray constantly about this trip, and I really feel called to it, but I know that if anything changes, it's just a part of His plan for me!

I'm really excited to be able to put the Spanish skills I have in use. It's pretty easy for me to understand what people are saying in Spanish, but I have a harder time formulating my response back to them, so this is going to be a great experience to improve those skills! The only thing I'm really nervous about is the fact that I have never been on an airplane! I've actually never even set foot in an airport!  I know that God is going to do amazingly incredible things in and through each one of us, and I'm so ecstatic to watch it all unfold! Oh, and I can't wait to get to know all of you! :)