Why do I always put Study in my Titles?

I realize that you are all anxious to see what the world I made with my sewing machine. Truth is, I wasn't really happy with the result, so I'm starting over on the project.

Which, made me procrastinate even posting about it.

I am now only working 4 days a week (10 hour days) and have fridays off.

That means, I'll be able to re-do my project and post about it.

Also, I have more things to update about, so come back soon (I'm hoping Friday) for one big update!

I really suck at blogging.

Study of Making Things

Exciting things are in the making...

Tune in tomorrow for the results!

Study of Kronk, again

I have no blog topics up my sleeve. So, how about we gaze in awe and wonder at how cute Kronk is?


Okay.

The Study of 2 years of Dating

Two years ago this happened . Oh the memories of way to short hairs, and falling in love in hot humid weather.

3 months later, JJ moved to Utah. That's right, we hung out in real life for 5 days and then he moved to Utah, and in with me.

It has been TWO YEARS. TWO YEARS! Take that you people who were sceptical of our short term dating in real life. We had many Internet chat dates, and phone call dates. There wasn't a "lets get physical", cause we couldn't. We were 1,800 miles apart! I think it's a good form of dating. What else are you going to do but TALK and get to know the person?

Read more about it, here.

Anyway, like true JJ and Ashley style, we forgot about the great 2 year mark. However, I remembered a week later. So, I purchased JJ some of these:

Which, disappeared from their box before I could snap a photo of the real ones.

It should be noted that the night before I gave JJ his favorite candies ever made (according to him), I had a bout of self induced sickness and he took care of me all night long. So much so that he slept next to me while I was on the floor, and he was on the couch.

I forgave JJ that he forgot cause he redeemed himself with a nice king size bar of this:

Mine are still in the freezer.

He also purchased the flowers which are featured above. Yes, I complain that I don't like flowers. BUT, these are actually planted in dirt. Big difference.

They don't die in a week.

A few things I've learned while dating/being engaged over the past 2 years:

1. The D.I. is probably the best place to go shopping in the Salt Lake Valley. Even though I complain about going there.

2. Never pass up a clearance rack. Espically the ones at Walmart and Target.

3. You can download anything for free that you want on the Internet. You just have to know how, and what to search for.

4. JJ is: Encyclopedia Dasher. I can ask him a question about anything, and he pretty much knows the answer to it. But, there are often times he doesn't, and pretends like he does. Which makes playing the game, "I win", alot more fun. Cause, well "I win!". So I try to prove him wrong. Like that one time JJ thought Albertsons was owned by Krogers. That was a fun one. Speaking of which, where's my $20?

5. Marmite. The great tasting, Marmite.

6. Patience. With JJ you have to have patience, times 10.

Here's to many many many more anniversaries to come.

I love ya, Mr. Dasher.

Lets Study Gollum and His Bling Bling

Ha ha ha?

The Study of My First Wedding Post

Here it is people, my first post about my wedding.

I bet you've been waiting since I got engaged to here all about the wedding plans.

Right?

"Ooohhh my gosh.. I'm so excitied. I have my dress, the flowers the.. gahhh a;sldki341!!!!wuirppz/x.c,m1!#rka;djf!!!!!"

Wait, that wasn't me. That's how I sort of WISH I was. SORT OF. A teeny tiny dose of that girlishness would be nice.

But.....

I was NOT born with the bride gene or the wedding gene. What? There is a specific gene for this sort of stuff? Well, according to people at my work, this sort of gene actually exists, and I was not born with it. It's like I'm allergic to anything wedding. I have never been a fan of the, white! cake! garter! flowers! scene. Anytime I read, look, or think about planning anything that has wedding attached to it, I want to break down and cry. I even have. Numerous times. It only takes a few minutes of exploring wedding sites , and BAM allergic reaction.

Maybe they have some sort of benadryl that helps with allergic reactions like this?

Now, don't get me wrong. I love JJ. I can't wait to be Ashley Dansie Dasher. I've been engaged for over a month, and I still haven't picked a date. I just DO NOT want the traditional wedding that goes with it. I just want to wake up one morning and be married to JJ.

Is that too much to ask?

Edits, The Study of

Sorry for all the color changes on the blog.

I just can't decide what I want.

So, get used to it?

Study of School Dreams

I keep having re-occurring dreams that I'm back at school.

These are not the type of dreams that consist of me walking around school missing certain clothing items (even though those dreams happen from time to time).

These dreams consist of me going to school, and then skipping school. Then I miss certain assignments, then I have to talk to the teacher about raising my grade. Or, I'm late to class, and I'm embarrassed. Or, I see a certain boy I like, and then having really ugly clothes on (see, the clothes are ON).

Sometimes, I'm even back in high school, and I don't graduate.

I have to wake up an convince myself that I am in fact, not in school.

Why am I dreaming stuff like this?

I have an Associates, is that not enough? Maybe it's time I went back. I've always wanted to be a school teacher. Maybe the fears of school are re-surfacing and that's why I conveniently forget to register each semester.

Or maybe, I'm just a huge procrastinator and my sub-conscious is telling me to knock it off.

Yup, that's it.



I need to purchase a shirt like this.

More Studies of Kronk

I must say, I'm glad Kronk climbed into our window.

Who couldn't love a kitten this cute?

(Photo by: JJ Dasher)

Study of The Tip Jar

Am I supposed to tip the Barista that makes my delicious coffee each morning?

Cause, I don't. Ever.

I consider myself a good tipper, if it's someone that makes $2.13 an hour like a waitress.

But, come on. Barista?

Their tip jar beckons me every morning, but I never put money in it.

Does this make me a jerk?

The Study Of Kronk

I have been trying to post for the past 2 weeks. For some odd reason blogger wasn't saving what I was writing.

Or, so I thought.

Turns out, I'm just weird one. The problem is solved. Anyway, enough of the rambling. I've figured out the mysteries of blogger. I promise to post the last 2 days of the trip. So, I shall be back to regular posting.

Regular posting? Huh.

Anyway, time for a story.

Last Monday night at about 5:30AM, JJ and I heard a "meeeeeeew, meeeeew" outside. Half asleep me thinks it's just Yzma being her weird normal self. However, JJ wakes up and says, "That isn't Yzma".

He was right.

There was cute kitten at our window begging to come inside. BEGGING. Not only did he beg, he actually stuck his head inside the house! So, JJ let him in (while he is mewwwwwing) feeds him, and after about an hour of the kitty talking to us, he finally falls asleep on our bed.



He's been living here ever since. I mean, it's not every day a kitty climbs in your window.

He sure has made himself at home, Yzma is already teaching him her tricks.



Now, we have Yzma and Kronk.



See any resemblance?

The Study of A Trip to West Virgina, Day 5 of 7

Saturday July 27, 2007

April was SO excited to go to The Andy Warhol Museum. It was the only thing she talked about when she told everyone she was coming to West Virgina with me. April likes Andy Warhol. I'm not all that excited about his art. But, April is. So, when she found out Andy's museum was in Pittsburgh, we decided to go there.

On Monday. Monday was the day we were leaving. Our original plan was to wake up early, leave Parkersburg early(like 6am) and make the trek up to Pittsburgh, and tour the museum before we left. Monday.

But, I'm talking about Saturday right?

Well, out of chance (and weird coincidence) I looked at the website to check the times when they would be open. I found out it was closed, on Monday.

CLOSED!

April was so upset. Actually it was more like, "disappointed". I thought we were doomed. Doomed to never see Andy Warhol's artwork in real life. I didn't really think of any other options, cause I didn't really think there were any.

Until JJ stepped in.

Again, I didn't think anything could be done.

He convinced Kim to let us borrow her truck and drive ourselves up to Pittsburgh, so April could go to her coveted museum. Thank you so much Kim!

See why I love JJ?

So, that is exactly what we did.

April decided it would funny to stalk film me with her camera. Here is a video of her doing just that:



Ape just took self portraits:


It was a good fun safe drive.

We arrived in Pittsburgh, and drove through:



I'm perfectly fine with Tunnels. No big deal that we are driving through a Mountain.



Not this tunnel though. This tunnel I do not like. Because, when you drive out of this tunnel you are on one of these:



BRIDGE! I know, weird fear. Fear of bridges. I just don't like them when they are over water. Especially when I don't know there coming. It's like "BOO!!". Boo from a bridge.

Turns out Pittsburgh is full of them. Could be why they are called, "The City Of Bridges". Great. I'm putting this city on the bottom of my list of favorite cities. They were EVERYWHERE!





Somehow April got me to walk out on one of them. I guess it's not THAT big of deal. Even though I'm not that far out on it. :-)



After we made our way across a couple of them, we arrived at our destination.



Here are those famous soup cans. Whoopie!



Ape is in these photos, cause that makes Warhol's art a bit more interesting. Gotta have something else going on.





This isn't Andy Warhol's. Some guest artist that was on display. April wasn't supposed to take photos of their art. But, she did anyway. She broke the rules!

Then, some dude yelled at her.





After touring the museum, April's opinion of Andy Warhol changed a bit. Turns out, he's an arty asshole just like all the other artists in the world (go figure). However, her opinion about his art didn't change, so that's a good thing. And, even though I'm not a fan of Andy Warhol, it was still fun to spend the day with April. Where we could giggle and be weird to our hearts content!



The rest of the day was us driving home, and THIS happening.

Day Five Complete.

The Study of a Trip to West Virgina, Day 4 of 7

Friday July 27, 2007

This day was the day JJ and Mark planned on going to AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. I woke up to see JJ off on his 2 day adventure. I will post the photos that JJ took of his adventure, on another post.





Remember that purple bike I was telling you about a few posts back? Well, here she is:



It's Kims bike. JJ's bike couldn't really fit on the plane ride, so this was the bike he rode. See how excited he is to ride it?





So, with the boys gone, me and April went on a free tour of, Fenton Glass. They have free tours where you can go walk around their factory. Yes, that means you get to see them blowing glass and hand painting the glass as well. However, the photos that me and Ape took didn't turn out. :-(

After our tour, we met up with Kim and we drove 2 hours to:

AMISH COUNTRY

This was the best part of the trip(other than JJ's question). The best part, and I hardly got any photos of it. Most likely it was because I was in so much awe that Amish people actually exist. I've never seen them in real life, so they've always just been sort of fictional to me. It felt like I was meeting a celebrity. You just think, "Whoah, they are real!" In the words of April Dansie:

"This is surreal"

Supposedly where we visited, (Holmes County, OH) is where the most populated area in the country where Amish/Mennonite communities are. So, we of coarse saw ALOT of these:



Kim took us to The Yoder Amish Home. Please, click the links for more info!!



I really enjoyed touring this home. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to see first hand, what the Amish life is like. You got to tour 2 homes, and a barn with animals.



Did someone say PUPPY? You bet!



(This beagle was for sale, for only $60!!!)

This is a baby bunny. CUTE!!!



There were ducklings walking around the yard. April somehow caught this one. Just like April to catch the ducks.



After our tour of the farm, we stopped at Lehman's . We browsed around the store for a while (it's huge). Kim picked us up, The Budget Newspaper which is the weekly newspaper by and for the Amish.

On our way to find a restaurant we just happened to drive by the Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center. They have a 265' mural-in-the-round depicting Amish/Mennonite history. I would recommend this too. This gives you a history of how the Amish/Mennonites came about. It was also very good artwork as well.

We stopped and ate in (I will insert the location here... later), OH. We were served home cooking food (it was excellent) and enjoyed some Apple Pie.

What a good day this was.

Day Five Complete.

The Study of A Trip to West Virgina, Part 3 of 7

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

Seeing as JJ had to figure out a way to keep me busy on Thursday as well, Kim decided to take me and April to The Middleton Doll Factory in Belpre, OH right across The Ohio River from Parkersburg.

Our plan was to tour the factory. However, they moved the factory to China. So, we browsed around the gift shop and the museum for a while instead.

This was the doll factory featured in the movie, Bubble. No, I do NOT recommend this movie. It's really bad. However, if you are interested in seeing a bit of the area we visited on the big screen, then you can watch it. Its a terrible movie though.

Since our doll factory visit was cut short, Kim decided to take us to Blennerhasset Island as well.

To get to Blennerhasset you have to travel by The Sternwheeler boat down the Ohio.




Haha. This photo is awesome:

After arriving on the island, we took a horse drawn wagon ride around the island. It is really beautiful there.

After our tour of the island, we got to tour the Blennerhasset Mansion.

(Kim, I hope you don't mind I stole this photo from you. I didn't get a good one on my camera)



I would show you photos of inside house, but they didn't really turn out. Besides, that makes you want to go inside the house. Right?

We left, and decided to go shopping to the outlet center of Coldwater Creek. They are located in Parkersburg, so they have a clearance/overstock/return center. They do have good deals on their clothing. However, I wasn't able to find anything my style.

I guess April thought I should.


(No, she didn't buy this outfit)

We finally met back up with JJ and Mark. JJ took us to the mall, and me and April did some more shopping.

Then, Mark BBQ ed and we hung out the rest of night and watched for Fireflies.

Day Three Complete.