Die Familie, La Familie, 가족, семья, le famille, グルー

The Jones kids and parents

Aunt Ash playing with Makenna

Kels and I at the fire

Fam again

Fedding

fed-ding [FED ing]

noun

1. the fake act or ceremony of marrying
2. the fake anniversary of a marriage, or its celebration
3. the fake act or an instance of blending or joining, esp. opposite or contrasting elements

Last night, I was one of five brides at a fedding... fake wedding, if you didn't catch the drift. Photographer, ridiculously beautiful ring, white dress, dinner, garter, bouquet, dancing, cake feeding, toasts and a lot of laughs with amazing friends. And, a great fake groom. I don't think I have ever done something so enjoyable with friends. It is amazing what friends do for a person. I am incredibly grateful for mine.

Pictures to come...

BON APPETIT

"NOBODY HERE BUT US SERVANTLESS AMERICAN COOKS..."


One big tribute to Julia Child is in order. I saw Julie and Julia this week... enough said. It has been a very long time since I have walked out of a movie theatre SO inspired, happy and giddy about life. Ashley's next goals in life: move to New York, become a writer and cook something delicious every day. Meryl Streep was phenominal in the movie and I loved the couple that they used for Julie and her husband. Just all around... a fantastic movie. But seriously, it only fed my desire to write and move to New York! I'm so excited!

New blog

I'm starting another blog. Something a little more formal where I can write about things that matter to me. I will still write on here... the funny happenings of my life, but I don't feel like I can go back and forth between talking about my thoughts on the current economic situtation and the latest creeper who asked for my phone number. A little different. So, enjoy.

Ashley's second blog

Grammar article... editorial with a little sarcasim

I like being sarcastic. After the errors in the grammar article ran, there were a few comments from some people who thought they were smart. "Ha ha, you made grammar errors in your article abour grammar." You're a sharp one Sparkie. So, to clear my record, I wrote a little editorial column in response to the smart remarks.

Editorial column

I really enjoy this type of writing a lot more than reporting. I like giving a little attitude and voice to my stories. I'm writing for The Bridal Guide, The Housing Guide and New Student Orientation guide this fall/winter which will require a little more "voice" than just reporting. My attitude and I are excited.

Grammar article...

So, I wrote an article for TDU (The Daily Universe) on article. Long story short... there were two words spelled incorrectly in the article (mistakes my editor made.) Slightly embarassing. Fortunately, they corrected it for the on-line version which is linked below.

Grammar article

Waving down motorcycles

I was walking two friends to their cars last night and asked where they parked. One of them pointed but I didn't see where they pointed so I raised my arm up and pointed in the general direction where I thought she had pointed. Just as I raised my arm, a guy on a motorcycle drives by. He waves back, which I thought was odd because it didn't hit me what I had just done. He turns his bike around and pulls up in front of me on the street. "Good evening ladies! I saw you wave and turned around to see if you would like to go for a ride! I'm in that kind of mood tonight!" I started laughing and apologized and told him I had just been pointing to my friends car. A small part of me wanted to hop on his nice bike and go with him but I thought twice about it. I got a good laugh out of it. Ironic thing is, I was with the same two girls when this happened as I was when the guy at IHOP asked me for my number. Creepster guys.

My Papa

Dad's interview on TV

What the... Windex?

So, I mentioned the date... and how I got eaten alive. Best date I've had in a while, despite the fact that I have been carrying anti-itch cream (for the bites, mind you) with me all day today. How embarassing. I got into work today and pulled up my right pant leg to flash my leg at my co-worker. She freaked out and thought I had some disease. I told her they were mosquito bites so she immediately hopped on Google to find a remedy. Want to know a couple remedies for those types of bites: scotch tape and Windex. The dude on My Big Fat Greek Wedding was right. It works. I may or may not have snuck into the office bathroom and doused my leg in cool, blue Windex. I may or may not have cut strips of scotch tape and covered my pathetic leg with it. I may or may not agree with Google that those definitely, 100 percent are remedies for relieving itch. You may or may not think I'm retarded after reading this post.

Cheesecake Factory

Okay, so last night I went on a date with said friend in my last post. Awesome. Cheesecake Factory really does have something for everyone. While waiting for our buzzer to buzz, we visited a bookstore and meandered through the mall and took a detour to one of my favorite shops... Aveda. Mmm, just the smell of the store makes me melt. Favorite hair products in the world. We got a cheesecake to go and found a deserted road down by Utah Lake. We sat in the middle of the road and ate the cheesecake... meanwhile, I was getting eaten alive by blood sucking mosquitos. I woke up this morning and counted 12 mosquito bites. The tally is up to 15 on one leg. Sheesh. Besides the however many blood-sucking visitors, we did have two interesting visitors. I think I saw two badgers last night. We heard some rustling in the bushes around us and Zack stood up and grabbed a couple rocks (probably not the best idea) and started chucking them in the general vicinity of the noise. (Again, probably not the best idea.) He threw a couple and we heard a low, creepy gnarl and we freaked out. Ha ha ha. It was classic. They went on their way and we continued on with the cheesecake. Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake. Mmmm.

Silent Heroes

So, my post from a couple days ago about Spencer and Breckan Humiston? Not sure if you read it, if you didn't, go read it. I spent an hour and a half with them last night interviewing them for a story. They are the most AWESOME couple ever! I want to be them. I want my husband and I to be as well matched as they are and to have the desire to just go do crazy things together! I will post the story here once it is written so you can understand what I mean. Heroes indeed.

Event follow-up

So... it went well. Really well. I'm still tired though. It was an extremely long day. I got done there around 7:30 and then headed straight for the office to write a follow-up press release and got that sent out to the media. The highlight of the day had yet to happen... I drove home blasting Imogen Heap to chill out a little and left my windows rolled down cause I didn't care what my hair looked like anymore. I opened my apartment door and looked up to see Carlos, the friendly painter who is making our apartment look pretty, as well as one of my best friends whom I have not seen in almost three months. I saw him and almost started crying. I put my head down, closed my eyes and smiled; I put my bag and papers down and then gave him the biggest hug... as big as I could give him because he just had shoulder surgery. Three months may not seem that long, but he has been back in New York doing an internship and our communication has been slight, to say the least. Texts and a few priceless phone conversations were about it. I knew he was coming back to Provo for the month of August, but was under the impression he still had a week or two before he was coming out. Nope! Here he was, standing in front of me. An awesome surprise to end the day. It was SO good to see him. I'm sure you all understand not getting to see a really close friend for awhile and the feelings that come when you are finally reunited with them. Awesome.To say the least.