I can't wait

Too bad coding in G is really hard

Seriously, I had to run over 20 simulations before I trusted my first CNC program.

Dr. Browning?

So it turns out that if I applied to a PhD program, I would get infinitely more funding for graduate school. Now of course I'm a smart girl and I knew this fact as I applied, but my whole moral conscience got the best of me. I have a serious problem with people who apply to PhD programs with no intention whatsoever of following through with the whole thing. However, not only does applying as a PhD instead of a MS candidate drastically improve your chances of being admitted to top-tier universities and receiving substantial fellowships and funding, it also could secure a spot in the research lab of my dreams. And since I'm all about the research lab, that part is a little tempting. But it's wrong. Which is why I didn't do it. But then a certain graduate school just emailed me today telling me "did you know that if you switch to a PhD we'd give you a full ride?!" Honestly, it's like they're taunting me. I don't want to be like all the other dummies and just quit halfway through. The only reason I'd do a PhD is to become a professor and enrich and encourage the minds of tomorrow. But if my dream company gets back to me this week and tells me I got the job, then that changes everything. 

PS -- Dream company, please get back to me. Love, Ashley

Hello

I wonder if anyone besides Stephen reads this. Probably not.

I want a bunny really badly still, that feeling hasn't gone away yet. And my parents still won't let me get one. Here's me and a cute bunny that Anthony donated to my parents:

Except that I really don't like lops. I was even having lengthy discussions with local breeders. Oh well.

Cocktail Party

So I had a cocktail party in an attempt to get rid of my booze supply. It was lovely! People all dressed up and I made the most exquisite h'ordeurves.

No whining this time

I will only update on the positives:

• I got into Georgia Tech. Full ride. Plus funded GRA.

• I got into Texas. Still waiting to get the official acceptance letter to hear about funding.

• I got a call back interview from Apple product design. 
  
• I had an interview with UT Athletics Department for a tutoring and mentoring part-time position.
  
• I am staying involved with Tau Beta Pi after graduation and I'm on the K-12 Initiative committee. I'm going to be building a couple of robots from scratch to demo to the kids. I'll be playing with circuits and motors and soldering stuff. 
  
• Mike said I could borrow his puppy and take him for walks because he knows I need attention, even if it's from a dog.
  
• I am going to the gym almost every day (not today) and I'm at the thinnest I've been in 6 years!
  
• I submitted my fellowship application.
• I have two diplomas.

Nerdiest couple ever

Yesterday marked one year since our official first date. The official kind, where you go out to a movie and there's awkward silence and you can't stop grinning. The kind where you know you're past the point of being just friends. The kind where you know it's going to change everything.

For Christmas James got me a pair of digital calipers and for our anniversary I got him a heat gun. That's got to say something, something awesome. I'm so happy. 

And the sabbatical begins

So I graduated. Now what? I'm going to spend an extended period of time doing what normal people call "relaxing" and "having fun." Just adding those words to my vocabulary will be an accomplishment. I've started to come up with a set of goals and tasks to fill the void. My fear is that I'll have too much free time and will explode.

First and foremost are things like cleaning my room and applying for the TBP fellowship. I need to do these things as soon as possible. I also really need to finish one last lingering project from work, which I should be able to build and assemble early next week. This hinges on finding some decent scrap aluminum, which might be harder than I expected. 

The family and James and Jaclyn went to Vail. It was totally badass. As it turns out, it's really hard to build a snowman out of powder. 

I graduated

Bachelor of Science

with High Honors

Mechanical Engineering

December 2008

The University of Texas at Austin

Plans after graduation: Obtain my MSME in product development and advanced manufacturing, and hopefully get a job at an innovative, forward-thinking company like National Instruments or Apple. Or maybe go for the PhD and become a teacher and continue to inspire women in engineering just as Dr. Seepersad inspired me.

I've applied to MIT, Berkeley, Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, and Texas. I have no idea what's going to happen. I'm trying to get a job at Southwest Research Institute or Dell for the summer. I'm taking the spring off to do some organizing, designing, and soul searching on my own time. 

And I'd like to mention that I totally pwned senior design. I wish I could post the video of the prototype which combined my sweet machining skillz, insane deflection calculations, awesome instrumentation amplifier and bridge circuit, and sexy LabVIEW programming, but I think it violates our NDA.

Scratch that about the Hotot

Instead I want a dwarf Netherland rabbit. Here are some pictures to illustrate the EXTREME CUTENESS. 

I said, "James, bunnies are cute, but is there a way to have a rabbit that never grows out of the tiny adorable bunny phase?" The answer is yes. Except my parents are extremely opposed to the idea, and since I'm in limbo between undergrad and grad school and mom and dad are paying the rent, I might have to listen to them. And I'm past that whole angsty stage, so I'm mature enough to realize they're probably right. They just poop a lot. Maybe I can keep it at James' house.

Hotot

I want one. 

Confession

I really like discrete time Markov chains.

Suckage

The average GRE scores for current students at Caltech are 651 Verbal, 763 Quantitative.

Balls.

First day of my life

I stole this from some bitch's blog, but I love this song regardless.

So if you want to be with me
With these things there’s no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I’d rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery
Besides maybe this time is different
I mean I really think you like me

Here's to graduation, Vail, and making it work.

I'm proud to be an American

Lockbox

• I am no longer applying to Stanford. I'm vastly underqualified for their product design program.
  
• My backup school is my alma mater, and that is very scary for me. 
  
• Senior design sucks.
• I love my new apple red Converse.
• James went as the guy from No Country for Old Men. We had a little drama finding a jean jacket. 

Halloween

First of all, let's bring to everyone's attention this FACT. In terms of the ranking system I'm looking at right now, Texas Tech isn't even ranked. (But to be honest, Texas is my backup school, so UT isn't exactly #1.) Regardless, Saturday night was devastating. 

I'm sick

And I have a 20+ hour controls assignment due tomorrow, but since I made that class pass/fail, I'm updating my blag instead.

So I'm redonkulously sick. I think I have food poisoning. Yesterday I was just absolutely miserable, and that's as far as I'm going with details. I hardly got out of bed the entire day. My muscles were just so sore I could barely move. James made me soup and brought me Pepto and John got me Gatorade. I love my boys. Except when James doesn't know how to react when girls puke. Yes, I have a really week immune system. No, don't just stand there and stare at me like I'm a freak of nature. I need love and attention!!

Oh, and I ordered $36 of Chinese food tonight but only ate half a bowl of hot and sour soup. Hopefully that'll stay down. That'll be the first food I've actually absorbed in 48 hours!! Although, between the ab workout of puking and all the starvation / accidental bulimia, I've totally lost a lot of weight. I'm pretty much sexy to the max. 

Oh, and IT CAME IN.

James is a man's man

me: wanna go fabric shopping tomorrow?

James: no, i'll be busy eating red meat and having sex with women

I hate this weather

It's too damn cold. I have that stupid/incredibly sexy cold sore coming on again. And I have to wear pants and even a jacket. I miss summer. Note to self: move to California.