Useful Info about Austin and Ashley

I (Austin) still don't know how I feel about some of this blog stuff. For example, "blog" words like "tagged" just seem a little, um, let's say cheesy (not my first word choice). The idea is ok, that you ask your friend to fill out some kind of survey and pass it on and they're fun to do and (sometimes) fun to read, but they are what they are.
I was reading one of these "you've been tagged" posts recently and I thought Ashley and I could answer some similar questions. And maybe we'll ask some of you to answer the same ones. And maybe we won't. And if we do, feel free to not do it(as far as I am concerned, Ashley does not share this opinion). Whatever you want.
I won't tell you whose answers are in red and whose are in blue. You'll be able to figure it out pretty quickly. Where the answers happen to be the same, it is purely accidental, we answered these separately. Pay close attention, these facts may come in very handy one day if you are playing Trivial Pursuit:Austin and Ashley edition.
For anyone interested, some random likes and dislikes (in fours) of Austin and Ashley:

Four favorite television shows: Pardon the Interruption (PTI), Jeopardy, Allie McBeal (surprised you didn’t I?), and Spring of Trivia (a Japanese show), Alias, Rachael Ray – 30 minute meals, Friends, American Idol
Four recent books I have read (and finished!): Beowulf, Grendal, Under the Black Flag (about pirates!), and Trouble is my Business (Raymond Chandler); The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Peas and Thank You (Veggie Tales), The Five Love Languages, The latest Ashley Stockingdale book (Kristen Billerbeck)
Four cities I would like to return to (for vacation): Kobe, Japan; Assisi, Italy; New Braunsfel, Texas; Edisto Beach, South Carolina; New York; Istanbul; Washington, D.C.; Astoria, Oregon
Four cities I would like to visit for the first time (for vacation): Casablanca, Morocco; Seattle, Washington; Singapore; Lusaka, Zambia; Cape Town, South Africa; Paris, France; Las Vegas, Nevada; Sydney, Australia
Four dream jobs: Novelist, Pro Football Player, Music Critic, Travel guide writer; Superspy, Socialite, TV Talk Show Host, Rock Star
Four favorite Garth Brooks songs: You Move Me, What She’s Doing Now, Learning to Live Again, Much too Young . . .; Callin’ Baton Rouge, Two of a Kind, Wrapped up in You, Ain’t Going Down ‘Til the Sun Comes Up
Four favorite Beatles songs: Michelle, Here Comes the Sun, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Hey Bulldog!; Yellow Submarine, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Hey Jude, Can’t Buy Me Love
Four favorite sports teams: Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs and Techsters (all sports), St. Louis Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Georgia Tech Yellowjackets; Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Techsters, Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, William and Mary Swimming
Four scariest animals: Killer Whales, Foxes, Hyenas, Pelicans (but only the "fighting" ones); Snakes, Hippos, Lions, Putsi Flies
Four websites I view often: collegefootballnews.com, Louisiana Tech Bulldog Barks and Bytes, ESPN, yahoomail; google, gmail, friend’s blogs, theknot
Four foods I love: fried okra, sandwiches, okonomiaki, chicken and dumplings; fondue, chocolate, cheese, Thanksgiving dinner
Four of my favorite works of art: Ashley, The Old Guitarist, M.C. Esher’s Waterfall, Himeji Castle; Starry Night, The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Victoria Falls, Cafe at Night
Four dead people I’d like to have dinner with: Both Grandfathers, Marco Polo, the apostle John; My Grandma, the apostle John, Thomas Jefferson, David Livingston
Four favorite hymns: Amazing Grace, Come Thou Fount, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, Be Thou My Vision; It Is Well, Joyful, Joyful, How Great Thou Art, Holy, Holy, Holy
Four favorite flowers: Cherry Blossom, Climbing Rose, Dogwoods, Dandelions; Tulips, Stargazer Lily, Gerber Daises, Daffodils
Four movies I could watch all the time: The Princess Bride, The Seven Samurai, The Last of the Mohicans, License to Drive; Sweet Home Alabama, Just Married, The Last of the Mohicans, The Sandlot

Still on cloud nine!

Ok, if you read my last post completely then you know I promised pictures of the long awaited ring! Seriously, it was an ordeal to get a picture of it. For some reason, everytime I tried to take a picture of it, it would now show up...like it was invisible or it would just look like some bright spot in the picture. Well, here it is for your viewing pleasure and also, for the story of the engagement go to our wedding website listed under my links on the right.......



Austin designed this ring all by himself (which is a great story that you should get him to tell you someday)! All that I had ever really told him was I liked antique-looking.

So you might be wondering about the side stones.....they are tanzanite. Don't go to Google just yet, I will tell you about them.....Tanzanites are only found in Tanzania and are blue-ish/purple-ish in color. Also, apparently, they are a super soft stone and pretty fragile (I know, I can hear the gasps now as you think about my gracefulness). A long time ago I happened to mention to Austin in passing that when I was in Zambia, many of the missionary ladies I knew had Tanzanite jewelry and I thought it was a pretty stone. That boy pays attention!!!

I LOVE the band on this ring. The filigree that Dale the jeweler did is amazing!! I told Austin I wanted to bake him (Dale) some cookies to thank him because he did such a good job.

This is a picture of us soon after we got engaged on Christmas Eve. The picture is great and all but I mainly wanted to post it so I could show you what I cropped out of the bottom left corner of the picture............

I think all the excitement just wore him out!!!!

(This is Austin's dad!)

Me and Alexander

Have you ever read the children's book

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

If you have read Amber's blog lately, then you have read how she thinks bad days come in multiples. I must say that I agree with her. It seems that for the past two weeks things just don't go my way. It has truly been a series of unfortunate events. I will spare you all the details of my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days because I am not looking for a pity party. It got so bad there for a while that I told Austin I would not blame him if he wanted to rethink marrying me. But alas, he is so GREAT and DREAMY...he says that I can not get rid of him that easy.

So in other procrastinating news....

It seems as if I only update when I am putting off school work (hence this post). My, how my posts have changed over the last three years. I went from updating frequently and writing about how cool Africa is to seldom posting and writing about how school stinks. Wow.

And maybe I don't post as often these days because the whole blog thing is not that new to me. Yes, that is right, I have been a blogger for over 3 years now.....I was a blogspot user when you had to PAY a monthly fee to be a user....talk about incentive to post.

In any case, I am glad so many of you have finally seen the way of the blogger and decided to follow it. But before I end, let me give credit where credit is due. I would have never become a cool blogger user if it had not been for my friend Kari Masson (Borders). You should read her stuff, you will think she is cool too!

*Next post to come: THE RING!!!!!!!!!!!

(Can you tell that I learned how to link words to websites!!!)