Study of the Day I met Ben Folds

The day was April 23, 2008.

It was 7:30PM.

Me, JJ and April pulled into the Saltair parking lot. I was excited. Ben Folds was going to rock it out on his piano, in REAL LIFE! In true Ashley style, we were running late.

However, sometimes being late is a very, very, very, very, very, good thing.



We pull up into the parking lot of Saltair and there is a group of people coming toward our car and April says, "Hey Ash?......that's Ben Folds."

I looked, and said, "No, it isn't. That's just someone that looks like him."

April: "Yes, it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Me: "No, it isn't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

April, "uhhhh........ YESSSS IT IS!"

I did a double take. Maybe April was right.

She was.

She won.

"Holy crap."

I slide out of the car, forgot that I'm shy, and then this photo happened:



He shook my hand. I acted like a crazy fan. Starstruck perhaps? Yup. Embarrassing? Yes, that too. I told him, "I love you!" I don't love Ben. His music? Yes, that I looooooove. But, him? Nah.

I shook for the next hour or so.

Massive amounts of texting ensued after that moment. If you don't realize how exciting this was for me, imagine the person you've always wanted to meet in real life, and THAT is how it felt.

Other photos happened. Like this one:







Then, we listened to some music. Want photos of that?

They didn't turn out. BUT! I got to see Ben's infamous Baldwin close up.



Dear Baldwin, Why do you have to produce such pretty piano sounds, but have the price tag of a house? (not really, but for a the grand, it's close) Huh? Whhhhhhhy?

The universe defiantly delivered on April 23rd.

Maybe I should start asking for a Baldwin.

Study of The Weekend I Got Married, Part Two

Saturday, February 16th,2008:

Me and JJ planned on going to Vegas to get married for 2 weeks before we actually took the plunge. After much deliberation and a "blessing" (if that's what you want to call it) from my mother (the most important person to witness us getting married), who said, "Ash, just get it done. You love JJ, so it doesn't matter if anyone else is there, just do what you feel is right, and nothing else will matter".

Since it took me so long to finally decide to go (anyone who knows me knows I take after my father when it comes to actually deciding to do stuff) we left Riverton at 6:30PM (the plan was to leave at 230ish). We arrived in St. George around 12:30 that night. Our plan was to just stay there, and make our way towards Las Vegas in the morning.

Little did we know, that people like to go to St. George Valentines Day/President's Day weekend. We spent about an hour trying to find a place to stay. Everywhere was full! Do you know how many hotels there are in St. George? Not enough. Even though, there are probably 25-30ish. Always make reservations!

We were lucky, and found one with one last vacancy. It was a room with a kitchen and fishing wallpaper. Here is JJ, being JJ:



Sunday, February 17th,2008:

Here we are enjoying breakfast.

I asked JJ to take a photo of me in the palm trees. It was February in St. George, and I was outside without a sweater on. It was exciting?

We made our way to Vegas. We decided we would stay at Planet Hollywood. Here is a video for your watching pleasure:



How about another one? Okay. Here is a tour of our room at Planet Hollywood:



After settling in, we spent Sunday walking around and enjoying Vegas. Vegas doesn't excite me, at all. I would rather go look at something historic, rather than a bunch of flashing lights, and advertisements. Maybe if I drank like a fish and wanted to gamble, it might be a different story. I just don't fit in with that type of crowd.

Here we are in front of the Bellagio.



Sunday, February 18th, 2008

This was the day we got married. I took the traditional photographs.

One of JJ in bed:

One of me getting ready:

Here it is! the infamous Chapel!

Here we are, driving through "The Tunnel of Love".

Then, we got married.

I don't have many photos to show you of the actual ceremony. Actually, to be honest.. I don't have any. We could have paid $20 more dollars for photos, but who wants to pay that much?
Yes, I regret it. Oh well. :D Turns out, JJ was really sad about it:

Not really. We drove through the Tunnel prepared to get married, but didn't realize you need a license to get married. But, we got that taken care of and we got to drive through the tunnel.. twice! Then, we really got married.

In the car.

In Vegas.



It was a very very very good day. :D

When we got home, we were met with this:



My sis-in-law Cher, my neice Grace, and my sister April decorated my car and house. There were love notes all over the windows. My favorite was:



My niece wrote her name on the door. :D

A few weeks later....

My mom organized a "reception" for us. It was held at Carvers, and it was fun.

I got to wear a veil, AND smash cake into JJ's face. I think I got it worse though.



Here are a few photographs of the event, for you to enjoy:

Opening gifts:



Hot hot hot!



Me and Ape.



Matt, JJ's brother, and JJ.



Erik and Cher.



My dad and I.



The mother and father.



My nieces being future brides:





JJ invited his family to be there, but only his brother was able to make it. Both of my grandparents were there. However, the photographs I have of them, are not so good. Austin my youngest brother was there, and for some odd reason I have no proof? But, I do have proof that he's a dork. See?

It was fun getting married, exactly how I wanted too.

No dress! Just jeans, chuck taylors and my JJ.

Studies of Ben Folds....but not really.

I came home excited to post on my blog. However, JJ says "You can NOT blog about your Ben Folds adventure, until you blog about the wedding."

So, I shall be a good wife, and do as my husband says.

Cause I MUST BLOG ABOUT BEN!

But, it's late.

Posts will come later. See that? Plural. Which means, they are coming.

Promise.

This isn't Part 2, but it's the study of something

I've been married for 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day, and I still haven't posted the story about how it all transpired yet.

I have the post written, it's just waiting for me to stop being lazy and add the photos to it. Can I promise I will finish it tonight? Yes, I can.

Patience my dear readers, patience. :D

Study of The Weekend I Got Married, Part One

Stay tuned.....

Study of Feburary 14, 2008

Official Valentines Day Re-Cap.

I woke up this morning to find gifts on the kitchen counter.

www.dashfest.com/love

With a little note inside this box:



www.dashfest.com/more

My Valentines didn't end there...

Cher, Grace & Kadence dropped me off this:



And, these:

To cap off all the excitement, my secret admirer left me these:



He's been doing this little trick for the past three years. I think my grandma helped me figure out who it was? Maybe it was my mom? I don't know.

I'm not telling you who it is. It's a secret!

HAPPY VALENTINES! <3>

Study of Voting

I just called the Salt Lake County Clerk.

Turns out, I'm registered un-affliated.

Do you know what this means???

I can vote on Super Tuesday!!!!!!! However, I'll probably just go over to Draper City and vote early.

Time to measure the pro's and con's with Obama/Clinton.

WAH HOO! Ashley is happy.

Studies of Videos

This is another post I wrote a about 2 weeks ago, that I never posted. It should be noted: I do not own the LG Shine anymore. I traded it in for a Blackberry Pearl. More details of that, to come.

Here we go:

Because I have had the same phone for almost 3 years, we decided it was time to for an upgrade.

So, I got a new phone for Christmas. The LG Shine. It does videos. Not the best quality of videos, but it does something. These videos I can put on the internet to embarrass people.

Today, I shall embarrass JJ.

P.S. Wondernig what he's doing? He has a computer on his lap, and is looking inside of it. Pondering.

The Study of Arty Assholes

Blogger says I have 98 posts. However, I have only posted, 78 of them. So, I currently have 20 posts that I have written, but have never got around to posting.

Here is one I wrote back in the summer time (with my edits):

I don't know how many of you out there know how much I love Radiohead. It's almost as much as Ben Folds. But, not quite.

I do like them enough to put this



in the form of a sticker, on the back on my car. My brother has a vinyl cutter, so he made it for me. I stole. We stole. Arrest me.

The sticker is the Radiohead bear. Do I know what it "means"? No, not really. I kind of do, but I don't want to write anything that I'm not sure about, so we will just leave it at that.

I was at the gym on Monday, and I get out of my car. There was a guy standing by his car next to me, and this is what transpired:

Mysterious Man: "What is that? Some sort of crazy monkey?"

Me: "Uhhh.. Oh. No. It's a bear. Have you heard of Radiohead?"

Mysterious Granola Man: "Yes, I have."

Me: "I love them. Well, it's artwork that was on the Kid-A album. You know, the album Kid-A right?"

Mysterious Granola Man with Curly Hairs: "I'm not really familiar with that one."

Me: "Basically it's just a symbol that Radiohead has, and people who are big Radiohead fans knows what it is."

Mysterious Granola Man with Curly Hairs and Jesus Shoes on: "Well, I guess I'm not big enough" (He then rolls his eyes)

Me: "Guess Not."

When did I turn into an arty asshole?

Have I always been one, and never noticed?

I hope not.

(This was written before I made THIS POST, which is okay. I still love me some Radiohead)

Studies of Accomplishments

Ready for this??

3 miles in.... 29:47!

GO ME!

Study of Field of Dreams

I just watched this movie for the 55th time today. That is right, 55!

Just kidding. I have no idea how many times I watched it. However, that estimate is probably pretty close. I have a few movies that I can watch, over and over and over again. This is one of them.

I do realize that it's a silly movie. But, watching it today reminded me of what Draper, Utah (my hometown) used to be like, before everyone decided it would be cool to move there. When it was just a small town full of middle class families, with fields and farms EVERYWHERE. Now, those fields are gone and it's just a sea of rich people. I'm not saying it's necessary bad thing that Draper grew to what it is now. It is nice that my mom doesn't have to drive 15 miles to Sandy to get her groceries. Wait. I said that wrong. April and Austin don't have to drive as far. It's just weird to think how Draper was, and how it is now, with it's million dollar homes on the mountain.

I really shouldn't complain about development. I work in an Civil Engineering office. If development didn't happen, I wouldn't have the greatest job on the planet. :D

Anyway, I don't even LIKE baseball, but I enjoy this movie.

A little too much?

Nah. I've probably watched GHOST more.

Studies of Positive Image

I found this photo here, while browsing around on Flickr this morning.

Now, I do agree that society does have the perfect woman skewed with what the actual average woman actually looks like. Woman do put down themselves when it comes to their bodies. No matter if they are a size 4 or a size 16. If it's not their hair, it's their butts. If it's not their butts, it's their thighs. If it's not their thighs they hate their eyebrows. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Why can't we just love ourselves? Find the positive stuff perhaps?

I'm kind of being a hypocrite, cause I put myself down all-the-time. But you know what? I am in shape. I can run 5 miles without stopping. I WILL run a half-marathon in April. My immune system rocks the house, so much so that I never get sick. I plan on staying this way until the day I die. So what I'm not a size 6. I'll get there someday.

But, honestly?

This photo just makes me laugh. Wouldn't it be nice if I could just whip out the iron, and BAH BAM smaller boobs?

I would like that.

Study of Bloglines

A while ago, I bookmarked this site: www.bloglines.com.

I didn't realize how fantastic it was, until today.

Cause, it is... pretty fantastic.

Studies of Almost Quitting

I almost quit training for the half marathon, cause I got bored.

Then, I got some new tunes to listen too.

I'm not quiting anymore.

If I tell you that I'm quitting cause I'm "bored", please just don't listen to me.

I WILL run it. I WILL. I WILL. I WILL.

Oh, and Ms. Ape D!. Please still train to run the 5K (even though running it with you would be excellent). That way the people at the finish line can cheer on 2 people instead of just one. :D

The Study of How to Pick Your Nose

Moments of Immaturity shall commence in, 5-4-3-2-1...

If JJ taught you how to pick your nose, this is how he would do it.

First Step: Do what everyone does, pick like no one is watching.



Step Two: Notice someone is watching, and make it known that you were in fact, picking your nose.



Step Three: To further exaggerate the point, wipe finger on butt. Like so:



The End.

Study of The Loss of The Manhood

Looks like I haven't posted for a while. This obvious fact, should not surprise you.

Alot of things have happened since December 11th (my last post). Things like: Christmas, Christmas Parties, Christmas gifts, a surprise on the weight scale, knitting projects, New Years, Lets Become Actors , shows, hang outs with my sister, etc. You know, important blog worthy stuff.

But, what makes it on The Study of Narcissism as far as topics go?

This:

Kronk (my other cat), has lost his mojo. He will no longer have intense feelings for the ladies.



He lost his precious kitty balls on Friday. You think he would be pissed, and not talking to me. Oh no. It hasn't even phased him. Only took him a full day of lying on the couch, and he was back to his old ways.

It must be the Spinach Puffs. ZING!

Study of Books I'm Reading

My little blog readers, this is what I'm currently reading:



Hey Ape, have you read this book? What about you Mom?

I'm into it 130 pages, and so far so good.

I haven't read a book in a while. I've been watching way to much of TV, and waisting time. So, I've decided to utilize my time, and read a book instead. Even though, I'm not really producing anything, at least my mind is being exercised right? When I'm done, I'll tell you all about it.

Now, while I'm on the subject of books, I really enjoy this author's writing. Granted, all of her books seem to have the same story-line theme, I still really enjoy them. I feel like she puts facts into what she's writing. Instead of just reading a story, you get gain some knowledge as well.

Especially this one:



What I really enjoyed was the different point of views you get throughout. It's written in 1st person, but it's 1st person between 5 people. So, every chapter you change who's point of view you are getting.

It's too bad I didn't hate this book. That way, I could have actually have something to say about it. But, I don't. I really enjoyed it. So, you should read it.

The people who post on amazon.com, write reviews. Check both books out here and here.