well now...

Good evening, dear blog of mine...it's been quite some time since I've paid any attention to you. My apologies. Just be thankful no one's terminated you. The past couple of months (has it really has been that long? ...goodness) have found me...among other things...finishing up a semester with PHC, completing the 19th Thanksgiving during my life here on this earth, attending a Sing-Along Messiah up north in Chicago, almost spending Christmas with the McDonald's because of the weather, and realizing that the semester with PHC was turning out to be my last. Concerning the last point; from a note I wrote on facebook:

"I've put this off for a little bit, wanting to write the note and not wanting to at the same time. So...I'm switching higher educational routes after this semester, from PHC to collegeplus. This has been on my heart and in my prayers for a bit, looking ahead and seeing where God's leading me with my education + future plans. My major will be economics [edit]turns out they don't have a degree in econ with cp, so it's looking like possibly accounting with an emphasis in econ?[/edit], either business economics or a dedicated economics degree, and it's much cheaper. I'll probably save around 40 grand or so compared to PHC...kinda adds an incentive to the whole picture. ;)

Now don't get me wrong...I absolutely love PHC and shall seriously miss everything surrounding it. All the experience in academics gained, friends made, situations providentially overcome in order to be where I am today...I've looked forward to attending there for about 5 years or so...but things change, and I believe this is the next step in the life God's given me...

And you never know, I may pop up for a visit sometime on the east coast. ;)

To Him be the glory and honor,

~ Ashton"

Thus, here I am. Completing my enrollment with collegeplus and excited to see where God's leading will take me in this area. Let's roll... ;)

But moving on to some pictures, which have been rather lacking as of late...so we'll try to catch up from events over the past few months...

the first '08 deer season...

the Riggenbach's graciously offered to help us process the meat





thanksgiving '08...


a holiday works perfectly to celebrate multiple birthdays at one time

original Wisconsin cheese...don't it make you jealous? and don't forget the original store-boughten grapes and apples!

when the photographer's away, other people will play

and continue playing


christmas preparation...



(other Christmas pictures on a different camera...mayhap this post to be updated at a later point with more Christmas pics)

a surprise birthday party for Jessica...



the crumbs tell all



a very looong Virginia reel set..."play it again, Jeremy!!"

the sing-along messiah...

Sing-Along Messiah

the last Sabbath of 2008...


experimentation

the calm before the storm with apples to apples...you should have seen what happened after an unnamed person put down st. augustine as "hot"



an evening with the Evans'...



gearing up for a blurry game of Junglespeed

checking out Emil's new netbook

that coffee was good...'course, we won't discuss exactly how much sugar was put in mine

an evening with the Hamilton's...


more apples to apples!

a mysterious look to accompany some mysterious (i.e., weird) cards


new year's eve...



why so serious...

the last few days...


oh the things done when I'm not present

yes indeed

my poor photo library...see what has been added?!

prior watching a movie

further experimentation

kinda blurry, but too cute to pass up

...and there y'all have it! Caught up to date and ready for 2008. I know, I know...it's 2009, but it had to rhyme.



Ok, that was lame. Moving on...

Blessings to all and to all a good night!

dancing and partying

Amidst a mess of papers (well, only writing one, actually...although there is quite a few papers on my floor), homework, housework, cleaning work, me dear Mother gone for the week on a vacation of sorts (panic and mayhem hasn't ensued yet...no worries, Mom), pictures are finally here! Despite being two months late with the former album...you must forgive me...I offer no excuses...

A Bloomington Dance

Schock Partying

So yes. Aaron Schock won! All the months of hard work and dedicated assistance from countless people finally culminated in the victory of our candidate. We were rather happy about that. ;) Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay later into the evening and watch the official festivities since it was getting late, yet we were able to see a partial live interview...that counts for something, at least. *grin* Things are now settling down post election...signs are being taken down...life moves on. [cue depressing violin solo]

And so you won't go off sorrowful after leaving the blog, I present unto you this picture...

AHA!

Yes yes...I realize I need to post about Reformation Day this past weekend, but since this post is able to be shorter and less time-consuming, I thought it wise to do instead. Speaking of which, those dancing pictures still lie dormant in my photo library. I suppose they'll be uploaded to some place then shared for the masses to enjoy...

Anyway!

Read this and have a good chuckle...

Source: um...google reader?

oops

My apologies for not posting much as of late...I think this pictures sums it up pretty nicely concerning what I've been up to...



Yep, you are correct in your observation: homework and sleeping. Not both at the same time, though! ;)

I'll try to get something more substantial up after midterms...

sign delivery, take two

So...I told myself I would post this after completing my economics quiz...I think that course and euclidean geometry are my favorite courses this semester.

...

Don't look at me like that.

;)

Five days after the previous sign delivery in the northern regions, I took another route, this time going to the south-western parts of the congressional district. Mileage for that day: 460, give or take. Now moving on to the interesting part of the post...



this was my first stop of the day...Rushville...I think by the end of the day I knew more about route 24 that I should have


Mt. Sterling was my second stop


too much coffee that morning, I think


now this road was fun. I thought I would be on highways all day, but it proved to be otherwise. then about half an hour along the way since leaving my second stop, I randomly looked at my list to make sure of everything, then realized to my horror that I forgot to drop off some stuff back in Mt. Sterling...but hey, at least I received a phone call during that time from Mom saying the new MacBook arrived...made me quite happy :D


around lunch-time a stop landed me in Quincy, which is right by the Mississippi. so I drove my monster truck down near the river, parked on some random street, and walked down to the riverfront for a nice, quiet lunch






my temporary food-partaking...place. can't forget the venti white chocolate mocha, and yep...I bought a second starbucks at the end of the day


the iPhone. there to help you find your way, encourage, and reassure. it's like motivational tapes on steroids


I've found it's more than a little difficult to take pictures of signs while doing delivery


the same principle can be applied to taking a picture of floodwaters to the left




my last stop of the day...

And there you have it. A full day of driving, which in due course repeated itself this past Thursday with deliveries once again up north...found out Tanner's Orchard is a nice place, albeit really...really expensive, lol.

(e.g., I found a half-bushel of apples for 38 DOLLARS!!!)

next up...dancing stuff...

a birthday

Yesterday was someone's special day...a special young lady by the name of Ruth...





Happy Birthday, Ruth Esther...your big brother loves you...

Then this pic originally was to go up yesterday in honor of her birthday and...um...our inherent silliness. *grin*

sign delivery, take one

Back awhile and some time before that...September 11, to be exact...Schock headquarters asked me to deliver signs. I was given a list of destinations for the day, directions on how to get from here to there, and the total mileage was around 260 miles...that included driving from home, driving about delivering signs, then driving back home. I knew it'd be quite the day, so I decided to bring along my camera...hehe...


an attempt at organization while driving...a total failure


crossing over...some river...lol


trying to figure out where on earth I was


no comment :P


looking into the past while seeing the future at the same time of being in the present


the load for the day...one sign at a time


directioneering


first stop...or second one...erm...completed!




EUREKA!!! [rather obvious]


lunchtime on the road...oh yes


the Lord decided to send some rain...good times


so...imagine Ashton...driving...eating lunch...taking a picture...trying to make sure he's on the road...while the rain comes down in droves *grin*


hey now, I had to get a coffee at some point or another...it's practically required


I thought that another drink from Starbucks wouldn't hurt anything

So once all the 4x8' signs were delivered, I picked up Emil where he works on the way home, but not without taking some residential signs down south...we had some interesting conversations on the way involving this video...never a boring moment with the Bandy's, lemme tell ya...



...then there was that one day I delivered around 30,000 snicker bars...

out with the old...

...and in with the new

he does what?!

Traditionally, our family reads Scripture on the way to church every Sunday, so amidst the pouring rain I drove yesterday while Dad, in the front passenger seat, read from the Psalms...

Dad: [from Psalm 127] "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sheep."

I glance sideways at Dad: "Sheep?"

Dad: "Yes, he gives his beloved sheep..."

Me: "He gives her sheep??"

Mom, laughing: "I think it's sleep, dear!"

Dad: "What? [he looks at the passage] Oh...he gives his beloved sleep...SLEEP!! It looked like an "h" there...sheep...goodness..."



And totally unrelated to the above narrative...here's some pictures from the President's visit.

Well now...

Only a little over two weeks since my last post! I guess that's an improvement over what accumulated the time before that...

Busy are the times and times are busy. Yeeess indeedy. Between full-time college with Patrick Henry, a part-time job with Aaron Schock who's running here in IL for US congress, and the general liveliness of life, it's fun right about now. I had this completely boring post written up of what I'd done during my temporary internet demise, but I decided against it for the its inherent nature of, um...being boring. Not that what I'd done was boring, but reading about someone's life and that someone relying on his picture gallery to remember further specifics...here's a portion:

Think of it as extrapolating the whole "only real men wear pink" ordeal. ...and my first time going to a Pekin Manor [mini] Hymnsing (the lone Bandy). July 4th came and went...I'm looking through my picture library to remember all these events. Followed by putting in a new kitchen floor. The old one turned sour on us after the dishwasher broke and soaked various pieces of our cork flooring. We replaced that dishwasher who knows when. But! I have a specific date on the floor replacement, so that's a good thing.

...

Yesterday was spent delivering 4'x8' signs for Schock...around 300 miles of driving that began around 9:15 AM or so. Pictures were taken during that time, so once I get my new compy (MacBook on the way), I'll post pictures from that. As well, Tuesday was sign set-up day in Peoria, though I don't have many pictures from that day except for one or two I took with my phone at "the busiest intersection of the tri-county area."

I guess that's it for now...I'll leave y'all with a few shots...


July 4th...let freedom ring


remember those puppies? ...they're bigger now


the result of a recent head injury


Ashton gone + the rest of the family home = Grace-pictures! (my little sister's cuter than yours...whoever you are)


Sunsets by Sam Evans, Inc.

y'all have a blessed day...

hello there

Update coming soon...

/

forgive the redesign, the author needs a better sense of colors