More Info On the Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY CLOSED 7/2/2011

Hey guys! Ashley D's World Facebook Fan Page has officially hit 50 fans!!! These first 50 will get their name put in twice for the giveaway. BUT, the giveaway won't happen until we reach 250 fans!!! So tell everyone to like the page. I just put the link in this blog. Here it is again:

Ashley D's World Facebook Fan Page And it's also located just below the banner of this blog :)

Here's the 3 pieces of jewelry you'll get to choose from for the giveaway! They're all handmade by me and they all have a value of $35!







GOOD LUCK!!! And thank you all!!! :D

Works in Progress and a Giveaway!

Hey guys! So I can finally do at least one work in progress post. I have another one coming soon :). This one is that dagon blanket for the boy that I have been working on for over 2 years now!!!! I started it when I first started learning how to knit and kept taking breaks in-between. It's completely, entirely, hand knit and hand sewn by me. And I made the pattern. If you don't know what the VMI spider is (which is what the pattern is supposed to be), you can check out www.vmi.edu and there'll be a picture of it there :).



These aren't very good pictures, because I took them with my cell phone camera, but, there it is.



Oh so close, yet, so very, very far...*sigh*. I still have about 5 more rows to go. And to save myself from weaving in all those ends, I'm just going to knit a back haha. I have almost one fourth of the back taken care of. Definitely won't take as long as the front! (hopefully)

Anyways, on to the fun stuff! A GIVEAWAY!!!!!! I just started a facebook fan page for my blog and etsy page. In celebration I want to do a give away, however, there's a catch! I won't do the give away until I have 250 fans. The first 250 fans will be entered in the give away and the first 50 fans will get their names put in the pot TWICE!.

With that said, here's the link for my fan page:

Ashley D's World Facebook Fan Page

Get to recommending or there won't be a giveaway!!!! You can also find the link at the top of my blog just below the banner. Thanks in advance guys :).

Treasury Tuesday: Happy 4th of July!!!!

I got a little excited about this treasury, so I wanted to do it a few hours early. We're technically only 2 and a half hours away from Tuesday anyways!!! This one's for the Fourth :). GO AMERICA!!!!!



I mean, how awesome are we that we have that many ways of showing our patriotism and then some! Have a safe and happy fourth everyone :).

Cute Animal Monday! An Intro to Sheba

It returns!!!!! Cute Animal Monday is back!!!!

I'll start out with this video that actually made me cry :'(.

See more funny videos and Cute Animals at Todays Big Thing.

Now, I'm going to introduce you to one of our many animals. In our house we have 4 cats, 2 dogs, 1 hamster and 1 fish. It's pretty much a zoo. But we love them all and wouldn't trade it for anything :).

This, is Sheba:



Some may describe her as "scary". Others describe her as "the most awesome cat ever". She's definitely bipolar. One friend calls her "Menopause Kitty". But she's always by my side. Literally, at all times.





Sheba just kind of showed up at our house one day. She was already fully grown, definitely not a kitten, but, judging by her saggy belly the flops back and forth every time she runs we think she had already had kittens haha. Anyways she's been with us for about 13 or 15 years now. Still healthy as ever. She's definitely one of those cats that has more personality than anyone can ask for. And last little fact about Sheba, her favorite place to sleep is on my head...She may be secretly trying to kill me...

Either way, she's pretty awesome :).

New Sewing Machine!!!

Another craft post!!!!! EEP!!! So, I have been wanting a sewing machine for a very, very, very long time and I FINALLY broke down and bought one. It was on sale at Jo-Ann's with free shipping :).



This is the one that I bought. I checked out the reviews and it seems like it's a pretty good machine. Especially for a beginner sewer like me. I got it setup and running within an hour (there was a break for dinner in-between that, so it really didn't that THAT long)

So, I was all excited about making a tote bag, because I had heard it's a pretty simple project. I took my lunch break from work to go to Wal-Mart and get some cute fabric (Wal-Mart's the only place you can go where I live unless you want to travel an hour out of town). I bought some fabric that was about $7/yd. I told my mom and Nana about this and they immediately flipped out. "YOU CAN'T PRACTICE SEWING WITH $7/yd FABRIC!!!!!" Annnnnd, my Nana went and got an old sheet of hers for me to "play" with. She helped me out with as much as she could remember, but, she really didn't like sewing when she was younger, so she couldn't remember much. Anyways, between her help and my pattern visualizing skills we came up with this.



My tote bag made from an old sheet! We didn't have a pattern, I haven't sewn anything since my 8th grade home ec. class (10 or 11 years ago). We didn't measure anything and I didn't even lay the fabric out flat to cut it haha. I was just cutting away! With all that considering, I don't think I did too bad of a job! :) I'm going to attempt a quilted tote this weekend, maybe. I got a jelly roll at Wal-Mart! We'll see how it turns out...

In the meantime, it's FRIDAY!!!!! And I have absolutely no where to do go and no responsibilities (except cleaning and laundry). This is the first time this has happened in about a month and a half. With that thought, I will leave you with this little gem:



Unfortunately the song has grown on me :X. Please don't hate me for saying that! We we we so excited!!!

The story of the MIA Blogger: Part 8 Charleston, SC

Visiting the Boyfriend
The Final Chapter of the MIA Blogger

This past weekend, I packed up my new car and made the 450+ mile drive to Charleston to see the boyfriend. It was such a nice visit. Just me and the boy. It was like a little mini vacation. And it was over all too soon. We tried out some restaurants, all of which were awesome. Pretty much everything we ate was homemade. Even the bread for my french toast from Bear-E-Patch. I love it in Charleston. Even if they can't drive. Seriously, they were going 80 in a 55 mph zone and then when you'd get the 70 mph zone no one would go the speed limit. Made absolutely no sense to me. We went to Magnolia Plantation (which is swampy)and we went to downtown Charleston and got to visit the open air market that's packed full of vendors. And a lot of people who hand weave baskets. I bought some of the flowers :). I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of downtown (maybe next time) but I got lots of pictures of Magnolia Plantation. Enjoy!


The peacock was pretty much the first thing we saw when we got there. And boy are they loud!


Some of the handwoven baskets I was talking about.


SWAMP!!!!!!


Swamp with the Magnolia tree.


One of the gators that lives in the swamp. This one was just a baby.


The peacock with his feathers out, trying to impress the female. She wouldn't have anything to with him haha. It was pretty funny. He didn't give up though!


The albino peacock. The boyfriend saw him with his feathers out. I couldn't see it because I'm blind as a bat anyways and I had my contacts in. He had to point out pretty much every single animal to me.


This is the cat the boyfriend and I found. We started petting him and then he started following us around. We later found out he sticks around because the old women in the gift shop started feeding him and he never left. They named him Sylvester.


I started taking a picture of the bird without even realizing the turtle was hanging out with him.




The boyfriend and I attempting to take a picture with the timer on the camera. As you can see, the strap made it in the picture as well.


One of the many pretty flowers. The boyfriend took this one.


Will someone please tell me if this is a gecko or a lizard? I honestly don't know.


And how about this guy?


More swamp!


For some reason, this one's my favorite<3
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd more swamp! P.S. those are statues and not actual birds.


And I really like this gazebo because it looks like lace. Apparently this is where they have a lot of the weddings.

Okay, I think that may be enough pictures! I definitely did not want to leave Charleston and my boyfriend to come home to Virginia and work...Major dislike. Oh well. I'll be going back at the end of July! I think, for the most part, my blog life is officially caught up with my real life!!! Except for the next blog which is about my sewing machine that I finally got yesterday!!!! YAY!!!!!!!

The story of the MIA Blogger: Part 7 New Car

Ashley D's Lessons in Car Ownership

So, the weekend of June 11, I bought a new car. Let me take you first, through a history of my cars.

My first car, my parents bought for me at age 15. At the time, all of the cars in our family were straights and they already weren't looking forward to teaching me to drive much less on a stick. SO, the deal was, they would buy my first car and it had to be under $10,000. Still a pretty sweet deal to me! Keep in mind, I am an only child. I am very lucky :). Granted, our family had a lawn mowing business, so I worked every summer from about 10AM until the sun went down from age 12 to 17 for $2 an hour. So, my parents felt like I deserved it. Anyways, my first car was a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero. It was black, had 2 doors and only had 8,000 miles on it when we bought it with only 1 previous owner. OH! And it had a remote start! Which we didn't even know about until my 3 year old cousin was playing with my keys at a cook out and we heard a car start :P. I mean, how lucky do you have to be to find a deal like that for your first car!? Anyways, here's a picture of it:


Along with 17 year old me. *sigh*

Then, when I finished college at 19 and got my job at VMI, I thought I was making the big bucks and decided, I should get a new car! At this time, the Alero was only 5 years old and only had about 64,000 miles on it. So, this hunka chunka machine was my next vehicle:



A 2006 Honda Ridgeline. Honestly, this is the vehicle I wish I would've kept. It was pretty sweet. It had a trunk!!!!



But, alas, the real world hit. Gas prices started rising. I started getting more monthly bills and at the time I was still part-time. So, I decided, it was time to move on to a smaller vehicle. When I had bought the truck, I was actually in the market for a MINI Cooper. Then, my dad and I test drove a couple automatic transmission MINIs and the transmission felt like it was about to fall out. Trust me people, automatic MINIs sooooo not worth it!!! So, I decided to get back in the market for a MINI and low and behold, the same dealership I had bought my truck from had this little beauty:



It was even orange on the inside



Then I started getting older. And realized, "Wow, this is not a practical car at all." So, I decided I wanted a more practical car. I'm just switching out cars all willy nilly thinking there's no consequence to this. It's just 10s of thousands of dollars. I'm only 21 years old. I've got the rest of my life, what do I care? Then I got my first lesson in a thing called NEGATIVE EQUITY DUN, DUN, DUNNNNN!!!!! This was the first time that I realized what credit actually is. What credit is good, what credit is bad. It was a good lesson to learn. And I'm really glad that I learned it early. So, for the past two years I've been working my butt off on my credit. Making extra payments, getting stuff paid off, etc, etc. and I finally, FINALLY had hardly any negative equity on my car (partly, thanks to the used car market being the way it is right now) and got my credit score up so high I was able to buy my car on my own without a co-signer. Being able to do that after all the hard work I put into it felt AMAZING! It also felt even more amazing walking into a car dealership and actually understanding what they're saying when they were talking about the bottom line price. Which I learned is more of a big deal than your monthly payment. Another hard lesson learned. I am thankful to have learned this lesson early in life instead of years down the road when I get in too deep. And, with all that being said, here is my new car!!!!



A brand spanking new 2012 Hyundai Elantra. Yup, that's right, 2012. Not 2011, 2012. I have never in my life had a brand new car. It has tan interior. Gets over 30 mpg city and close to 40 on the highway and it has built in XM radio!!! I'm so excited. I absolutely love this car and never intend to ever trade it in until it dies (which will hopefully not be for another 20 years!!!). It's everything I've been wanting and more<3. One last picture:
Bubby cruising around with me in the new car in his car seat haha.

The story of the MIA Blogger: Part 6 Comfort Dolls

FINALLY a blog post about a craft that I've done!!!! Well, it's sort of done. 11 comfort dolls made their way to kids in Africa! I had about 30 knit, but, wasn't able to get them all sewn up and stuffed before my friend left. However, good news, she's going back at the end of October so I get to send the rest of them with her (hopefully, fingers crossed)!!!

Check out my doll army:





Go ahead, bow down to them. You know you want to!

The goal was 170. I have about 30 knit. And 11 complete and in Africa. Hopefully my friend will send some pictures of the kids with the dolls soon :). I can't wait!!!

The story of the MIA Blogger: Part 5

The last week with the boyfriend :(

May 30 - June 5. Our last week together. We would never ever be 15 minutes from each other or less again...*sigh*... I have been lucky these past 3 years that he has always been that close to me. All the other girlfriends were always an hour or more away, for the most part. But, still, it's upsetting for me just the same. The week came and went. He left around 5:00AM. I cried for a good hour, then had to get up and get ready for work. It was sad, but, it's not like it was the end of our relationship. Just a new chapter. We'd get through this just like everything else. Thankfully, I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd get to see him again and I've been working so much overtime, I haven't had too much time to think about it. I constantly do of course, but, it helps to constantly stay busy. Thank you crafting!!!!!

Here's a picture from when we first started dating haha. He had just gotten back from training and we got caught in the rain. Awwwwwww.



Presh<3

The story of the MIA Blogger: Part 4 Last half of May

Graduation is done. Move forward. Boyfriend has moved into the house for the next 3 weeks. I enjoyed this part. He was at my house every day. Unfortunately, it also meant it was almost time for him to leave :(. And that 3 weeks went by faster than I had intended it to :/. The following weekend (May 20th - 22nd) was spent in Charleston, SC. I wish I had pictures to share, but, it was a strictly business kind of deal. The boyfriend only had about 2 weeks to find a place to live, so, we didn't do much sight seeing. Apartment hunting was fun though. He eventually found something. And then, the following morning, we made the 7 to 8 hour car ride back home.

Fast Forward to the next weekend. May 27 - 29. We traveled up north this time for a wedding :). The boyfriend was a groomsman in his college roommates wedding. He was getting married to his MIDDLE SCHOOL sweet heart. Get that right people, not high school sweet heart, middle school sweet heart. It was everything you expect a wedding to be. Picture perfect. The boyfriend and I enjoyed every minute of it! Especially the lasagna at the rehearsal dinner. OMG. I have never had lasagna so delicious before. Please, no one tell my grandma I said that!

Here's a couple pictures of the happy couple:





I mean, honestly, how cute are they!?!

And that was how we spent the rest of the month of May :). More updates next!!!

The story of the MIA Blogger: Part 3 Commissioning and Graduation

May 15, 2011
My boyfriend is officially commissioned as an officer into the United States Navy. I am so proud of my boyfriend. He has worked so very hard to get where he is today.



Taking the oath with his fellow classmates



Taking the oath invidually



His parents putting on his officer shoulder boards



His first salute with his Oma



I'm no longer dating a cadet. I am now dating a US Naval Officer. I think I traded up, what do you guys think?

May 16, 2011
Graduation Day

I didn't get very good pictures of graduation, unfortunately, but here's what I got.



Waiting in line to get his diploma

Annnnnd this one's from commissioning, but, I liked it, so, I thought I'd throw it in there :)



Isn't he just handsome in his whites :).

The story of the MIA Blogger: Part 2 We Miss You Keaton

She had called me to tell me the news that one of my best friends from high school, Keaton, had passed away that morning. Keaton had been diagnosed with epilepsy after we graduated from high school and had apparently had a very bad seizure that morning.


Keaton and I about a year after graduation

I had known Keaton since age 12. I remember inviting him to my 13th birthday party when he was still the new kid in our class. He had gotten me a pink pen with a bunch of pink feathers on top. We didn't know each other very well, yet, so he didn't know what else to get me. I loved that pen. I used it until the ink ran dry. One of the few pens I never lost. Then, in 10th grade we were assigned to sit beside each other in Biology. We were the only two at the table, yet we got in trouble every day for talking. And we had block schedule, so we were in class for almost 2 hours. I'd like to say, this is when our friendship started taking off. I can't remember if we had any classes together our junior year of high school, but, we had a lot of classes together our senior year of high school. The most fun was Mr. Loy's class, by far haha. I think it was government. I remember Keaton missed class one day so that he could be an extra in War of the World's with Tom Cruise. Part of it was filmed here in Lexington. I also remember his dedication to his teammates. When we were seniors our football team had made it to the second round of regions for the first time in a lonnnnnng time. Keaton had been scheduled to take a trip to Ireland. He gave up seeing Ireland just to make sure he was there for the team, his school and his teammates. I don't think he ever had a chance to go back... Keaton was also my senior prom date. Probably the most fun I've ever had at a school dance. Once we graduated, we spent the entire summer at Keaton's house in his basement. We'd watch the boys play video games while the girls had girl talk. We all went to the beach together, go the drive-in together. It was a fun summer. Keaton was also my Harry Potter buddy haha. He'd never read the books, but, he always wanted to go see the movies, so, I would go with him. And, since I had read the books, I would have to fill in the holes for him that the movie would leave out.



One of the nights we were visiting Keaton at work

I had fallen out of touch with Keaton in the past couple of years and I completely regret that. Keaton was honestly one of the most genuine people I have ever had in my life. You will never meet a person who was more loving and willing to do for his friends and fellow man than Keaton was. I can guarantee that. I hate that I can't write more or write very well for Keaton's memory. These are my memories of and with him. He was a truly amazing person that left this world far too soon. Rest in peace Keaton. We all love you and miss you dearly.