28 Day Blog Challenge: Day 19

Day 19: A Hobby Of Yours

THIS I can do! But I've got hobbies coming out the wazoo, I don't even know where to start.

My biggest hobby has to definitely be writing. I write like a crazy person, whether it be stories, or blog posts, or statuses on facebook, I write SOMETHING a lot. Writing. Ahhh, I love writing. I've been writing since I was about ten years old, and finished my first book - if you can call it that - when I was about 12. That book should be burnt, or be thrown out the window, but I'm one of those people who doesn't want to ever throw away any of my past stories, because for 1, they're fun to look back at and see how I've matured at as a writer, and 2, because I may be able to use some of my plots - loosely - over again. :)

I also seriously enjoy playing my guitar. I actually JUST came downstairs from playing it. I haven't been playing much lately and now my fingers are sore from playing a lot this evening. I have been playing guitar for about 2 years. I have written - also cowrote - maybe songs and have done the music for them with my guitar. :)

This picture to the left was taken this fall at some railroad tracks near my house. I thought that it turned out pretty awesome. :)


I also thoroughly enjoy traveling places. This past year I've been to 6 different states, gone to Disney World, Williamsburg and had my FIRST ever plane ride! It was definitely a great year for traveling.
Disney World is my ALL-TIME favorite place to travel to. I love everything about it, I don't even mind the crowds because it's so amazing. When I go there, I feel like I've stepped back in time to my childhood and I can be a little kid. Everyone likes to be a kid again and whenever I go to Disney World, I feel that way. The first time I ever went to Disney World was when I was 5, then I was 11, then 15, then 16, just this past May. I love Florida! :D
Picture to the left is me and my friend, Ali, fro my most recent trip to Disney World, May of 2010.

Also past year (in November of 2010), I traveled to CO, as all of my blogger friends know, to visit my best friend, Sky. It was one of the best experiences I've had, because it was the first time that I've ever been on an airplane. It was so much fun to actually get onto the plane and travel to CO, but when I was actually there and had met Sky, the two of us had the best time! We laughed almost the whole time that I was there, until I left, then we cried. But the weeklong trip just brought us closer together and we talk even more since I got home!

A Couple Days Worth of Blog Challenge

Day 17: An Art Piece

Truth be told, I've never been too into art, if you want to know the truth. But I do really like landscape photos. Here's one I found.

Day 18: A Time You Felt Passionate and Alive

I didn't have to think about this one long! It didn't take much! Pretty much anytime I listen to, or play, music. Music is one of the most passionate things there is, and I always feel alive when I listen to it.

Day 19: A Talent of Yours

Wow, conceited much? You really want me to sit here and make a list of things that I think I'm good at? I would rather not. That's just rude and aren't we told that we shouldn't brag on ourselves much? Well, okay. Fine. I will say one thing.
I like to write. And I do it a lot. I write because I have to. My characters won't leave me alone. Writing is a big part of my life, and I must do it!
I loveeeee writing!
****Excuse the TFk Forward Motion Song on the iPod. IT was the only picture I truly had of my writing. :P ****

Blog Challenge Days 15 and 16

Day 15: Someone You Admire

This one is really simple for me - my mom. She homeschools us, works for the Old SchoolHouse Magazine and does so much around the house. I find any homeschool mother someone to admire, because they do so much for their children! Thanks to all the homeschool moms out there! You are amazing!

Day 16: A Song That Makes You Cry

There are a couple of songs that make me cry and most of them are for no reason at all - like the sound of the song, when it's slow and sad sounding - almost every song on the Comatose album by Skillet has that sound, as well as Like the Sun by Stellar Kart, which is not even a sad song in my opinion.
I don't know really of one particular song that makes me cry, but sometimes when I listen to certain songs, they get me teary! ;)

Upcoming CSN Stores Review

Spring is going to be coming into the air and my siblings and I are getting antsy to head outside. My siblings enjoy playing on our swing set, although, it is slowly deteriorating and breaking down. It was minefrom many years ago, and from much play-time from me and the two neighbor boys, it's definitely gotten worn down.

We've been thinking about getting a new outdoor playset for the last couple of years, ever since my little brother was born. The CSN stores have many choices for outdoor playsets and would be a great place to start looking for one.

After looking through the above website, it appears that they have a great selection of playsets, and that, with the right amount of money, my family could easily find one (or twenty), that we would thoroughly enjoy having in our backyard!

My Last Couple of Weeks in One Post

Erg, I haven't been posting enough lately. I guess it's because of facebook and the people that I'm friends with there know what's going on in my life, without having to read my blog. But there are some followers who are not friends with me on facebook, so I guess that I should be considerate to you guys, too, right?

My family has been developing the winter blues in the last couple of weeks. It's been cold and snowy, and we're just ready for spring to come, so we can get out of the house, and not have to worry about wearing coats and being cold. I want warm! Is that so much to ask?! ;) It was warm a couple of days last week, and that was SO nice.

Last week, I got the flu and was sick for a little over a day. I was glad that it didn't last longer than that, because I hate being sick. I guess everyone hates it, but I don't get sick very often, so it is just yucky. Very yucky.

I was super excited to get Jenny B. Jones' new book in the mail two weeks ago. Yesterday, I wrote a review of it for Mom's blog, here's the link:
http://heidi-strawser.blogspot.com/2011/02/save-date-by-jenny-b-jones.html

Jenny B. Jones also posted a picture that I posted of the book on her website! I feel so loved! :) I posted this picture on facebook and twitter and she decided to post it on her website! I didn't know about it until someone commented on my mom's review and said about the picture on Jenny's website. I was THRILLED to see it there.
Here's the link to that as well:
http://www.jennybjones.com/2011/02/18/oh-those-crazy-kids/#comments

I've been writing a lot lately. I started a story about a week ago and have been writing it a lot lately. I'm rewriting one that I've previously written, but changed it from 1st person to 3rd, and am changing a lot of the plot for many reasons. I'm really enjoying writing in third person and I NEVER thought that I would say that. I almost always used to write in first person so this was a stretch for me at first, but now I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

My friend, Sky and I started a writing blog a couple of weeks ago to keep track of our most current writing projects so we don't forget when we did what. I love writing with Sky and I love our most current story. To check out our blog go here:
http://ashenskybooks.blogspot.com

Lately, my family and I have gone from watching Psych - which we finished all the seasons that we could watch through Netflix - and moved over to watching Monk. We're on Season 4 of the 8 that are out, and we're really enjoying the show. I didn't like it at first but lately I've been loving it. I was still really attached to Psych when we started watching this show and I was comparing everything to it. But now I love them both!

The online magazine that I'm writing for is looking for homecshoolers ages 14-25 to write for their E-zine. If you are at all interested - email orliinfo (at) aol (dot) com. It's been great so far and I'm super excited for the first issue to come out soon! :D

Okay. Okay. Enough for now. I'm getting off the computer to watch Monk. :)

~Ashley

Blog Challenge, 3 Days Worth

Wow, okay, here goes nothing. Three days worth of this Blog Challenge that I'm having a hard time keeping up with.

Day 12: A Song You Want Played At Your Wedding

Any girl knows that they dream of their future wedding, so of course, I have a song that I absolutely love. There are a lot of good love songs out there, but one of my all time favorites is:
It's Your Love By Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
*married, by the way, which just makes it better!*

Day 13: A Guilty Pleasure

I'm sure that most people - well, some people, would say chocolate. But I don't like chocolate. So I won't say that.
My Guilty Pleasure is MUSIC! I love to listen to it, buy it, play it, write it, sing it. I just love music. Everything about it. Especially if the person whose singing can make me happy! :D
:)

Day 14: A Vacation You Would Like To Take

Well, my all-time favorite vacation is Disney World, but since I've been there 4 times, I'm going to choose a place that I have never been before.
Which is England. I've wanted to go there for a long time. I think it would be so cool to our all the castles and cool buildings over there, take a lot of pictures and just say that I've actually been somewhere out of the USA. 'Cause I haven't yet! :P
Although, when I'm older, I do hope to visit the country that my younger siblings were adopted from - Vietnam. I also hope that I can visit a country with my future husband - don't know what country yet - and adopt a child. I guess that adoption is just in my blood, and like my parents and grandparents, adoption is just 'there'. My two uncles were adopted, and my two siblings.

Oh! Speaking of ADOPTION! My Uncle Jon and Aunt Amy announced about a month ago that they were planning to adopt their first child from Korea within the next year! I am so, so, so excited to have a new baby cousin! :D (This is one of my uncles that was adopted). I can't wait to meet him or her! I am excited, to say the least! Be praying for the whole situation and that it all goes well! <3>
.

Blog Challenge

Day 11: A Photo of You Taken Recently

Blog Challenge Day 9 & 10

Day 9: A Picture You Took

Dad bought Mom, Gracie and I roses for Valentine's Day. Here's a picture:

Day 10: A Picture Of You Taken Over 10 Years Ago

(That was me when I was 2, I believe.)

Blog Challenge

Day 7: Five Things You Couldn't Possibly Live Without

1. My Bible. :)
   
2. My iPod Touch
   
3. My Guitar
   
4. Coffeeeeeeeeeeee!
   
5. My Family
   
   

Blog Challenge

Day 6: A Moment You Wish That You Could Relive

There's so many moments that I wish that I could relive, so I don't know how to pick just one. :P I don't know exactly what to choose.

I think one thing that I would like to relive is my childhood. Back when life was easy and we didn't have to about ANYTHING! :P I was a pretty cute little bugger too! ;)

Blog Challenge

Day 6: A Favorite Quote

There is no doubt about this one! I actually DO have a favorite quote!

"If you can dream it, you can do it. It's kind-of fun to do the impossible." -Walt Disney

Blog Challenge

Day 4: Favorite TV Show

Favorite NEW - recent - TV Show:


PSYCH!
PSYCH!
PSYCH!
I absolutely love this show. It has a mix of mystery, humor and romance. It is fit for children to watch- unlike a lot of tv shows that are on now days - and my siblings, parents and I all love it!

Favorite Old - 80s - TV show:

It's hard for me to pick just one from then, but I think that my favorite is probably:


Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries
These are amazing too! They star Shawn Cassidy, Parker Stevenson & Pamela Sue Martin.

Blog Challenge Day 3

Day 3: A Favorite Book

It appears that whoever came up with this blog challenge didn't necessarily like music, movies or books that greatly. I can tell because obviously they can pick one of their favorites, without having much trouble.
I like SO many books, making myself pick one, is again, going to be hard. So here goes, some of my favorites.

1. The Hollywood Nobody Series by Lisa Samson
I love, love, love, love, love, love, love these books! They are those books that I can read over and over without them getting out. They have a good mix of everything a person wants to read about - my mom even enjoys them and they're teen fiction!
2. Anything, I mean, anything by Jenny B. Jones!
Her books are real and I feel like I can learn a great writing style from her! She is an amazing author! I love her!
3. Like Dandelion Dust & Even Now both by Karen Kingsbury
I've only ever read these two books by her, but I found them intriguing and amazingly written. I can't wait to read more by her!

Blog Challenge Day 2:

Day 2: A Favorite Movie

This is almost as hard as picking a favorite song. I have so many movies that I absolutely love. But there a couple of movies that I can watch over and over, and they'll never get old.

1. Some Kind of Wonderful

My mom gets the blame for this movie. This movie was made in the 1989, and my mom had loved it ever since. I watched it for the first time a couple of years ago and loved it. Now, I consider it one of my favorite movies. Ever. It's cute love story that can be watched over and over!

2. Sweet Home Alabama

I am a sucker for any good romance movie. This is one of the cutest love stories ever. Yet another movie that gets watched around our house quite often.

3. A Walk to Remember

Aw. A Walk To Remember. Can you tell that I' a sucker for a love story? A tale of unexpected love. *sigh* Where was I again?

4. National Treasure 1&2

These movies are so easy to love. A mix of action, romance, and comedy. What more could people ask for? I hope they're making more!

Blog Challenge

My good friend Kylie sent me an email today, mentioning that she was going to participate in the February Challenge - posting on your blog every day of February. Well, she is starting nine days late, so guess what? I am too!
I can't promise that I'll be able to do it every day, I find it very hard to sign in every day and actually post but I will definitely try my best! :D

Day 1: A Favorite Song

A favorite song? One? Only one? Are you crazy? How does a girl who listens to music galore all the time, pick only one favorite song? That's just not possible.
I don't even know if I could pick my TEN favorite songs. But I'll list a couple that I just can't live without on my iPod.

1. Gone by Switchfoot
2. Introducing Me by Nick Jonas
3. Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble
4. Take Me as I am by FM Static
5. The Right One by Stellar Kart
6. What Faith Can Do by Kutless
7. SOS by Jonas Brothers
8. You and Me by Lifehouse
9. Absolutely (Story of a Girl) by Nine Days
10. Must Have Done Something Right by Relient K
11. Rawkfist by Thousand Foot Krutch
12. Ring of Fire by Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon (from Walk the Line)
13. Me and Jesus by Stellar Kart