The Study of A Trip to West Virgina, Part 1 of 7

JJ's dad invited JJ to go to the AMA Vintage days that are held in Ohio in July every year. So, me and JJ planned a trip to West Virgina, and I decided to bring April (my sister) along with me.
JJ's parents live in a town called, Parkersburg. It is right on the Ohio River. It is where I fell in love with JJ. Read about my first time there, here.

I will be posting all about the events that transpired while we were there, July 24th-30th, 2007.

Day One, July 24th:

Here we are on the plane at 6:15am, ready to conquer West Virgina.




Our flight left Salt Lake and landed in Denver, Colorado. Where we sat and waited for 3 hours for our other flight to Pittsburgh, PA.

So, this is what we did to pass the time:



And this:



BUT, never ENOUGH of this:



After our 4 hour flight, we landed in Pittsburgh, PA. We walked through the terminal, and the following shoes were on display in a case.

Can you guess who these shoes are?



Maybe you want to go visit the land of make believe? Wouldn't you want to be his neighbor?

That's right. It was Mr. Rogers. He's from Pittsburgh.



His red sweater was even in there!

JJ's dad, came to pick us up at the airport. On the way home we stopped in a town called, Stubenville. Not "stupid"ville as Ape kept thinking Mark was calling it.

Then, it was another 3 hour drive to Parkersburg, WV. We took the scenic route home, where I could look out the window and wish all the tree's that grace the east would come home with me.

We arrived safely, and decided to go for a walk to show April around Parkersburg.







Our destination was, The Pizza Place. JJ really loves their pizza. We also go there everytime we visit. So, we went there, and guess what we did, we ate pizza. I know! Isn't that amazing?

On the way back, we saw some bugs flying around. I don't think I've ever been so excited to see a bugs. Because, these insects were:

FIREFLIES!

Now, those of you that get to see these glowing bugs all the time, this might not be a big deal to you. However, to me and Ape it was a big deal.

So big in fact, we didn't take any photos.

But, April was successful in getting a good photo of me and JJ.



Day one complete.

The Study of My Engagement

I've spent the last week in West Virgina/Ohio with JJ and April(my sister). We have been visiting JJ's dad, and step-mom. I will be posting about that trip later, but for right now lets talk about the best part of the trip.

On Saturday, July 28th @ about 9:30pm eastern time JJ said,

"Ash, let's go for a bike ride to that place I almost drove off the road and killed us the first night we hung out."

I said, "Okay. Try not to kill me this time."

So,we both put on our helmets and road JJ's step-mom's purple bike (more on this later) to South Parkersburg on a road called, "Lost Pavement Road". I didn't die, or almost die this time. :-) Afterwards, we road to the highest point in Parkersburg called, Quincy Hill.

On this hill is where me and JJ spent the first hours of hanging out with each other. Where we go visit everytime I'm in Parkersburg. It's "our spot".


So, we sat on a bench on Quincy Hill on July 28th. After sitting on the bench for about an hour, at 11:30PM JJ handed me this:




How about another view:



How about a photo of me posing with it?



Isn't it pretty? It's just what I wanted too.

Then, he popped "the question".

"Will you marry me?"

After I was done crying, I said, "Yes, I'll marry you."




I am the luckiest girl on the planet. I'm going to marry the cutest, sweetest boy ever.

:-) :-)

The Study of My First 5K

After much pushing and shoving from JJ, (and staying up until 2am so I could get a copy of THIS) I ran my first 5K, Saturday July 21st at 7am, for Draper Days.

Here I am at the finish line, being Gene Simmons.

See any resemblance?

GO ME!

The course actually went in front of my parents house. My Mom, Dad, and sister were out in front of their house, cheering me on at 7:15am (it was about the 1.5 mark) and JJ was at the end taking photos.

It was the awesome. Here's to the first steps, soon it will be a marathon. SOON.

P.S.

You're probably wondering what happened to Monday Reviews? Well, it's been postponed. I wanted to talk about this, and I will be out of town this week. I'm on my way to West Virgina from Tuesday-Tuesday with JJ and Ape.

I'll pop in with a post, if something exciting happens. *wink

:-)

The Study of Things You Shouldn't Say

I got a speeding ticket back in the cold month of December 2006.

I fought it in court yesterday.

I lost. But, I almost won.

I'm not going into the details of the case. However, I did learn something.

Whenever you get pulled over by a police officer, NEVER, EVER, EVER admit that you were speeding, or tell the officer how fast you were going. Just a simple "I don't know". Plead not guilty from the beginning. This was the deciding factor in my case yesterday. So, listen.

Also, I am glad I fought the case and didn't just give in and give them the total cost of my fine. I made them WORK to get my money. If I ever get a ticket again, I will always fight it.

One day, I just might win.

By the way, the snake came back. :-)

Further Studies of My Cat

Just when I thought Yzma (my cat) had brought in all the creatures she could, I have something new to add to the list of creatures.

Here is the list:
-Dragonfly
-Numerous Katydids
-Earthworms
-A Mouse
-Baby Bird

JJ was home yesterday, and while I was at work he IMed me to tell me of her latest catch.

THIS:


JJ was so excitied!

A New Pet!

So, he stole it from Yzma before she could kill it. If he didn't, she would have killed it, and left it on the kitchen floor for me to see. Good thing he did. That is the last thing I would want to see hanging out on the kitchen floor, thank-you-very-much.

I told JJ to either kill it, or set it free. He said, "Nope, too late!". He was going to put it in the empty fish tank, and let it hang out in the computer room.

He must have been joking.

He gave it a name too, "Amzy" (that's Yzma backwards).

Oh great, now he's given it a name, now he's attached to it. A SNAKE!

So, JJ started reading online what to feed it. "Hey Ash, are you watering the lawn tonight?" I said, "Probably, why?". He said, "Well, if you see any worms that crawl out of the lawn, will you pick them up for my snake?"

"WHAT! Have you gone mad?!?! I'm not picking up food for your snake! I'll go buy you some worms at the store and never touch them, if you want me to do that instead."

So, after listening to JJ talk about the snake (and he was acting like an excited little kid) I decided it wouldn't be so bad, if it stayed in it's cage and I never had anything to do with it.

Now, wouldn't it be awesome if I had a photograph of this snake in it's new home? (Which, I'm not excited about... at all)

It's already loose in the house.

Time for the cat to go hunting again.

The Study of Eating with a Large Group of People

It seems my blog has turned into negative rants. I'm sorry. I'm really not that negative.

But, I do complain and try to figure out the ways of people alot.

Here is what happened last night:

I went out with a group of 17 people, for my friend Lindsey's birthday. 17, 25-30 year old people. Yes, ADULTS. Anyway, we went to Buca di Beppo. If you've never been there, they serve large dishes, and everyone shares their food. Kind of like a Chinese restaurant with Italian food. Me, Carrie and Jake decided we would share our bill. So, the table ordered, the food came, and we all SHARED it. I mean, when you have a lazy susan on a huge round table with food rotating on it, and the pope staring back at you who wouldn't want to share?

Yes, there was a statue of the Pope trapped in a glass container staring back at our group in the center of the lazy susan.

Anyway....

The bill came and the total was $304.00. Everyone was trying to figure out how much they owed. What a mess. So, I'm sitting back watching everyone. Now, I hardly knew anyone at the table but Lindsey, her boyfriend and Carrie. I've have been to a few bbq's with these people, but don't really "know" them. So, anyone that knows me, knows I hate being the center of attention and I don't really take charge. So, as I was watching (we already figured out how much we owed) I said "Hey, why don't we split it for the whole table?"

So, instead of dividing it by the 17 people that had a plate of food, we did it by 14 (Cause, there were a few that only had dessert.... etc) So, the total for each person was $21.72.

We started to get complaints.

"I'm not paying $21.72 for my pizza!" then me saying "Yes, but you ate the appetizer and some of the pasta I ordered". "We cant afford that much!"

Me, Lindsey, Carrie and Jake were trying to convince people this was the better (and less stressful way to go).

4 against 13. Yeah.... you do the math on that one and see who won.

So, us 3 figured out how much we owed, and put it in the stack. I know for a fact that we our group probably overpaid. I should have counted the cash before it went to the waiter. Because, when the waiter came back he didn't have the change, nor did he even count how much money was there. But, that's another story.

Lessons learned:

If you go out with a large group of people, decide BEFORE you order your food how the group will pay the bill. Especially, if the restaurant you are going to eat at, does not do separate checks for large parties.

Make it easy. Just split the bill all evenly so you don't have to waste time figuring out what the total of your meal is. Again, figure out what you are going to do BEFORE any of the food comes. Set a price limit!

You will save about an hour arguing and trying to figure out what everyone owes.

So, after all the headache I've come to the conclusion to just have a dinner party if you want to eat with a large group. Bring your side, meat and drinks. I'll even host it!

No one complains about prices when there is a collar full of beer, and alcohol in the fridge waiting to be drank.

The Study of Hunting

You know what hobby I do not understand?

Hunting.

Waking up at 4am in the freezing cold to track down a deer? Hanging out all day in a tree hoping an Elk passes by? Trekking through swamps just to shoot some ducks?

And, then IF by chance these things actually happen:

WHY do hunters feel its necessary to pose with the dead animals?

Like this:



"I know! Lets all gather around and show off the DEAD animals, that we KILLED! We are so awesome!!!"

Maybe I'm just being a jerk about it cause I REALLY don't like killing things. I'm also glad my dad isn't a hunter like his brothers are. He has guns, but they just hang out in the closet. From time to time he goes and shoots clay pigeons and raccoons that come in the yard (and then I cry about a rodent being killed...haha) But you know, I guess what ever makes them happy, but still. Why not just knit a sweater or read a book?

The Study of Weekly Reviews

So, since I'm having the hardest time keeping this thing updated, I have decided something. Monday's here on, The Study of Narcissism will be devoted to reviews.

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm going to attempt writing reviews.

Books, Movies, TV shows, makeup products, you name it. Now, I'll warn you I'm probably not the best reviewer on the planet. But, I do try to have opinions about the things I see/read/participate in and I try to have some sort of reasons to back them up. So, take my advice if you want it. Otherwise, just skip my Monday posts!

So, without further ado, a book review.

I warn you that it might contain spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Thanks to my sister April and our recent trip to Barnes and Noble, I picked up the following book:



I actually heard about this book at a family reunion a month ago. My aunt and cousin were raving about how fantastic it was. Then, my sister said, "OH! I've heard such good things about it". Then, at Barnes and Noble while me and April were standing reading the entire new, Post Secret Book (which, sorry to get totally off subject, I suggest you read this Post Secret Blog every Sunday), the guy that was helping us reserve the new Harry Potter and The Dealthy Hallows said, "OH. Twilight. That book, is so excellent!" Even my friend Lindsey said she was reading the book, and was enjoying it.

So, I had very high hopes for this book being, well, excellent.

It was a disappointment. My review 2/5.

This book is filed in the Young Adult section. I enjoy Harry Potter so I didn't factor that in if I would enjoy this book or not. I'll admit that I like a little teen drama from time to time(in movie form), for some odd reason. So, I had high hopes that I was going to enjoy the book. But, basically it was just 300 pages about how this girl falls in love in two days with a hot Vampire guy. 300 Pages of her trying to figure out what he was (turns out he is a Vampire..which is not a spoiler, it tells you that on the back of the book). 300 pages of her blabbing on and on about how hot he was, and him telling her how good she smelt and how much he wanted her (duh, Vampire?). Him always trying to save her life in the most melodramatic ways. Sometimes I wanted to gag with the stuff I was reading. Like, him being so in love with her, but he can't have her because well, he's a Vampire! He might kill her! Who knew? The other thing that I did not like, was the author tried to make Vampires "good", and not the mythical creatures they are. For example, we all know that Vampires can't go out in the sun or they will burn and die. Well, in this book if they go out into the sun, their skin glows and they become god like (glowing, and magical). Yeah, right. ICK! If I did not get such a good reviews from everyone around me, I would have stopped reading this book by the third chapter. But, I kept hoping that it would get better, so I just kept reading.

Now, if you can survive the melodramatic, cliche drama this book beholds, then the last few chapters (and i mean, few) have some quite intense parts. Which, makes this book actually a good read. For a while. Even that whole drama is little bit too cliche for me.

Until the last chapter were it goes back to cliche love drama.

Would I recommend this to anyone else? Probably. If you like cliche romantic novels, with very basic characters. Which, I personally, do not. I like when the author lets me get to know who I'm reading about. Maybe Young Adult books do not do this. This one didn't, and it took me 3 chapters to get a clear image in my head what the main character even looked like.

So, if you like Vampires falling in love with people they can't, well read this book. At your own risk!

The next book I am going to start reading is this: My Sisters Keeper. April likes this author alot, so I'm going to give this novel a chance. I hope I enjoy it.

The Study of Nothing

HI. I'm still alive!!

I'm just slacking with my blog (what's new?)

Just keep your patience, awesome things are coming.

Promise.

The Study of My Bike, II

The bike is finished!

Remember when I made this post? I knew you would. Anyway, JJ has put on the finishing touches on my bike, and now it is ready to be driven on the road.

I took it for a spin around the parking lot to practice riding it because lets be honest, I'm a bit scared to drive it on the road. But, in the parking lot I just like to make a fool out of myself and pose cheesy for photographs.

The Dash is such a nice boy to get this for me. One day I might upgrade to a bike that is bigger, and faster. But, for right now.... I'm content with this one.

The Study of 3.1 Miles

Holy crap people.

Guess what!

I just ran 3.1 miles in 31:23.

:O

How awesome is that?

The Study of Me and Some Flowers

This weekend was The Annual Dansie Reunion.

I will be making a big long post about that event, sooner or later.

Right now, how about you take a peak at a photo Mr. Dasher took of me.

Me, Ape and The Dash went for a hike, and Ape and JJ picked the flowers and I held them. JJ thought it would be a grand idea to take a photo of me holding the wild flowers.

So, that is was he did.



Can we say, "haha?"

The Study of Old Friends & Acquaintances

I participated in X-96 4-Play Concert Series at the Gallivan Center last night. I went to see, take a guess, can you? The Brobecks.

Old friends just seemed to keep popping up everywhere.

The first was, Austin Snow.



Me and Austin Snow, go way back. So far back we used to play b-ball in gym class and walk with each other to seminary... in 10th grade(which was, 9 years ago)! I used to hang out with him all-the-time. However, we just stopped hanging out. Maybe it's because I got a boyfriend? Probably.



The next person to show up was, Mike.



Mike is from the days of Derek Julio. Those days were, 3 years ago. I'm surprised he recognized me. I barely recognized him, in my beer induced state. :-)

Then, the most important part of the night. The Brobecks original keyboardist Bryan Szymanski played a couple songs with them. I was hoping that maybe for a second I could re-live what The Brobecks used to be like. It didn't work out very well.

But, at least I saw Mr. Szymanski, and said a friendly hello. Then, like true Bryan style he left 10 mins after he played the show.

I miss them oldbecks. :-(



Then, as I was walking around, bouncing around, acting like an idiot my cousin Michelle and her husband found me! Her and her husband never go to shows! Oh the coincidences!

I'm glad I saw all my old friends. It was such a good fun night. Summer shows are the bomb. The bomb dot com.

The Study of Zen vs. iPod

I am attached to an electronic device.

That's right. I'm attached to a little electronic device that goes by the name of the iPod.



How did I realize I'm going to have a hard time parting with such a fantastic device?

I realized I was doomed with this attachment when a Creative Zen was offered to me. Here's how the story goes.

Matt Glass had this Zen, and the dial broke. So, he sold it to JJ for $50. Then, JJ bought the parts for it off eBay, and fixed it for another, $50. It is now in perfect working order. Perfect. JJ offered it to me, and said he would just sale my iPod. That's right, my 2 year old, 4th generation, 30GB iPod. It doesn't do much but play music. Well, you can put photos on it, but I've never done it. So, that was the plan, JJ would sale the iPod.

I thought this was a great idea! No more lame iTunes (even though I use Anapod Explorer now), and the Zen plays videos! The screen is pretty! I could change the skins! I can make my own playlists without hooking it up to a computer! I'm also certain the Zen doesn't rename files, and put them in weird places like the iPod does. Blah. I have so many quirks with the iPod. How in the world am I addicted to it? Go Zen!

Then, something happened.

I went running with it.

Of coarse it plays music exactly the same as an iPod does. So, what's the big deal? With the Zen, I'm not used to using the dials, and running with a device you are not familer with, is annoying. I don't use playlists because I have no idea what I'm going to want to listen to, until the day of my run. So, having the Zen that does it without a computer, sounds fantastic. So, with the iPod I'm used to changing albums/songs while I'm running. I guess I could have set up a playlist before I went running with the Zen, but I didn't think of it.

So, after running around the park for 45 mins, I came home and thought, "I'm keeping my iPod!"

Then, JJ came home, and we starting talking about it. Then, I started crying. Crying yes, over an electronic device! I did not want to give up my iPod. I still dont. I think it's because I've spent hour after hour, mile after mile with it, and I'm just having a hard time parting with it. It's like if I had to give away all my stuffed animals. That's how attached I am.

TO AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE!

So, the question I pose to you blog reader is:

Get over my attachment, cry again when it leaves my house, and update and go with the Zen?



Or be old school, and keep my iPod?



Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

The Study of Something Ironic

As I was driving home from the gym today, I saw the following sticker:



Now, we all know how the gas prices suck. That's nothing ironic.

It's ironic that this sticker, was on a FORD EXPLORER. A vehicle that gets 14 mpg.

That's like putting this:

On a HUMMER.

The Study of My Absence

Wondering where I've been? I've been sick. I guess being sick, makes me really lazy. However, the sickness has subsided and I'm back in blogging action.

So, lets discuss my cat. Again.

For those of you that I instant message, and get messages like this "tt12200gjskdjfhghkjl" it's just the cat, trying to stay warm on the laptop.

Which, I caught her doing when I came home today from work.




That is all. Bye Bye.

The Study of My 25th Birthday

Here I give you, the fantastic 25 candle birthday cake (a very sick) JJ made for me for my birthday.



I blew out candles a day late because, JJ and I have been under the weather. Sick for the past 4 days doesn't mix well with a birthday.

It was still good. Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes.

Also, thanks to those that helped me make my apartment a bit more brighter with the magical textiles/things from IKEA. It threw up IKEA in my apartment, and I love it. A post about it will come later.



Here's to another year!

The Study of an Image

Ever think to yourself, "I wonder what Ashley looks like when she blogs?"

Well, here is your answer.


Candid photo taken by JJ while he was outside putting a new chain on, my bike.

Today is my birthday.

Happy Birthday to me!

The Study of Memorial Day Traditions

Every year, the Sunday before Memorial Day my family, my Grandma and Grandpa Dansie, and my Uncle Trent and his family, take trips around to various cemeteries and place flowers on the graves of relatives. We visit the following cemeteries: Draper, Riverton, Herriman and Sandy. The following video is a montage of photos regarding the event that my mother made. She has made quite a few of these type videos, which I will be uploading more of at a later date.


The following photos were shot this year. Some people that came are not in the photographs. I'm sorry Cher, Erik, Taylor, Trent, Kris & Grandpa. :-)

Grace:

The Mother:

The Father:

Ape & Austin:

Grandma, Ape & Max:

Josh:

Allie:

Allie & Grace:

Sorry to get a bit off the subject, but everyone wanted a photo with my aviator glasses (well, almost everyone).

Kadence:

Austin:

Austin & Me!

Me and JJ:

Me & Grace:

Anyway, lets get back to the subject.

The following photo is me making fun of Grace, because everyone wanted her to smile for a photo and she didn't want too. So, I pretended like I didn't want to either.

Grace & Max:

My Uncle Danny's Grave (my mom's youngest brother):

My Great Grandpa Poor has a flag flying in his honor at the Herriman Cemetery:


That concludes the study of one of the many Dansie Family Traditions.