1. Please tell us about you!
Hello! My name is Ashley Womble. I was born on December 6th, 1988, which would make me 21 years old. At the moment I work full time at a clothing distribution in a very small town in Tennessee. I also attend college part time. I've changed my majors about 4 or 5 times already and at the moment it is elementary education. I never can make up my mind because it's a scary thing... Here I am paying 100% of my college fund... and I have no clue as to what I'd like to really do! All I want is to be happy and comfortable in my career.
It's me with my collection of colorful bottles.Jason, my boyfriend, and I have been dating since March 31st 2007. We met on myspace through friends. We lived in the same town, about 5 minutes away from one another and never had met before. In August 2008, we purchased our first house. What was crazy about it, was that my best friend had lived in this house when I met her in the 6th grade. I practically grew up in this house on the weekends with her! I knew I had to buy this house when I saw it up for sale. We absolutely love it here.
This is Jason and I.
The day I got Koda, my love.You can always reach me either at my email (sympathetic_kitty@yahoo.com) or personal myspace.
I also just reactivated my interpals page. So you can visit that here.
2. Describe your personality in 10 words!
This is hard, but it makes you think!
Creative: My co-workers are always telling me that I'm a creative person and that I would be good at becoming a teacher for children. I am always making up crazy stories just to make people laugh. Most of the time they are "on the spot, please stop and talk" stories... so no telling on how the story ends up! I just tell everyone that it's too dull at our work, so I am trying to liven it up.
Just me.Sensitive: I may not ever show it, but my feelings get hurt easy. I wish that it wouldn't affect me in such a way, but I've always been like this.
Spontaneous: I am one to wake up at 2am and go grocery shopping. I don't like to plan everything out. Especially a normal everyday thing that people have to do.
Caring: I hold a lot of compassion for animals and children. Any type of abuse is not tolerant in my book, so when I hear of someone being abused, it breaks my heart. I try to help people out as much as I can if possible.
Random: This may count in with spontaneous, but I am a very random person. I'm the one that will feel the need to "bark" in the middle of a silent meeting. Or... I am the person that feels the need to say something completely off the wall just to get a reaction from someone. I love to see someone laugh... And sometimes that means making myself look like an idiot at times. My favorite thing to do at the moment is to ask people who walk pass me at work if they like corn. Yes, the puzzled look on their face is worth it.
Jason and I in 2007, this was probably the month that we met.Jealous: This may not be a good thing to be... but I'm honest. I can become a little jealous at times. I am working on this however. It's nothing serious.
Open-Minded: I try not to judge others. I understand everyone has their own opinions.
Indecisive: As you can tell from changing majors in college so many times, I have a tendency to change my mind... a lot. My feelings also create a dilemma in my head sometimes... I have mixed feelings from time to time and I like when someone can understand how I'm feeling and can soothe my mind by their advice and convos.
Addictive: I become addicted to video games, books, tv shows... lots of things really! One of the most thing people notice I'm addicted to is hair dye. I love to change the way I look with just dying my hair. It's been every color under the moon!
Me when I dyed my hair red, my addiction of hair dye.Procrastinator: It seems that I start projects and then get interested with another project... I have a circle of things I should be doing to try and finish up, but sometimes I need a little motivation. I love the feeling of finishing something though!
3. How long have you been penpalling? How did you first start? Tell us about your first penpal!
I first started penpalling around the age of 14. I don't remember my first penpal's name, but I do remember he was from Japan and he sent me many pictures of him and his pug. I still have all my letters to every penpal, so one day I will look for his letters and try and find him. Maybe he will still remember me. We just lost touch.
This was taken in town behind a local store.I thought it was just a normal rainbow,
but when I edited my pictures later on that night,
I discovered that it was a double rainbow.
4. How many penpals do you have now and where are they from?
I have about 6 penpals that write frequently. Rose and Jennifer are the ones that I've wrote to the longest. I have several more that have written to me for years as well. Rose is from MD and Jennifer is from MS. I also have a few that are from Japan.
5. What are your favorite topics to discuss in letters?
We talk about life in general. I like to be asked questions and I try to do the same in my letters. I don't like when someone types out a letter and sends the same copy to everyone of their penpal. It doesn't seem personal. I like getting deep into topics and finding out who this person really is and how they think. It's a nice feeling - a connection of friendship through paper.
This is one of my best friends. Her name is Autumn.We like to go to Target's and rearrange furniture displays :)
She taught me a lot about being random and goofy.
6. What are you looking for in a penpal?
I'm looking for long lettered penpals that write neat and interesting letters. I love "fat mail"! Common interests between my penpal and I does not have to exist because no 2 people are alike... Plus I like to read letters about new ideas and feelings. It opens up conversation and creates a friendship.
I want a penpal who will write to me regularly.
A painting I did. Something pretty simple, I know.But I was pretty proud of it.
7. What do you like the most about penpalling?
I like getting to know someone that lives miles away. From time to time, I try to include small surprises. It's nice to receive stickers and extra stationery and small trinkets.
Sometimes at work my mind trails off to wonder about my mailbox... "Did I get any good mail today?" By the time I get home I'm so excited to see if I got anything! My favorite sound is hearing the mailman pull up to my mailbox. I wait till he pulls away and then I dart out the door to see what awaits me!
To me, penpalling is almost like a replying journal... If you have a bad day and you don't want to talk to anyone out loud about it... you can always just vent on paper and let someone know how you feel. Chances are they have advice for you in their next letter to you. I love seeing a unfamiliar address on a colorful envelope in my mailbox... It's usually the first thing I open up. Having a new penpal to get to know is great!
This is my latest letter box.I keep all my letters in boxes for easy storing.
8. In what language(s) do you correspond?
English as of right now. I took a Spanish class in high school but I wouldn't feel comfortable writing in it. I hope to study more in Spanish in college however.
9. What are some of your habits in regards to letter writing?
I like to write my letters in a comfortable place alone. It doesn't matter if it's quiet or not as long as no one bothers me. I use to write my letters in classes. If I knew the teacher wouldn't bother me, I could get away with a couple of pages to my penpal.
This may sound strange but if I love the pen I'm using I can finish up a letter pretty quickly. I love pens and cute paper.
My handwriting. It changes daily.That's why I wrote in print and cursive.
10. Has anything strange/funny ever happened to you since you've been penpalling?
I've been thinking about this as I read over others' answers to this question. The only thing I can think of is when I was writing to this one woman and she would say pretty strange things (I couldn't remember exactly, but I remember feeling puzzled). I always felt like something was up... Like she wasn't who she said she was... Then she sent me a CD of her band. It was just a guy on the cover and then I played it and it was only a guy singing. I think she was a "he" trying to fool me. It wasn't the fact that I thought this person was a male... It was the fact that something didn't feel right. I have no problem with writing males if their heart is in the right place and are just wanting true friendship.
A bush that grows in the back of my yard. When I moved in, it wasn't in bloomand I considered chopping it down because I thought it was just a dead bush...
But when it finally bloomed, it was breath taking gorgeous.
I don't know what it is, but it reminds me of grapes. :)
11. Have you met any of your penpals?
I haven't met any of my penpals yet. Jennifer, the one in MS, will be having a baby shower soon, so I plan on driving 3 hours to attend. We were supposed to meet up in Tunica MS to meet at the casinos... But plans changed and now it will be next year. I am very excited and I cannot wait to meet her!
I had to stop and take this picture while I was traveling to an auction one night.12. Are you currently looking for more penpals?
Yes! I am always looking for snail mail penpals. I want to get to know as many people as I can. It's fun getting new penpal letters in the mail.
Thank you for your time, Ashley, and for sharing all these beautiful pictures with us!
Julie xox
There are pretty interesting issues in this interview, I face many things I am and I do too, sometimes I thought I was strange enough for doing that, but now I see it is some healthy manic thing *laugh*
ReplyDeleteWhen I like the pen I am writing with I can finish a letter quickly, sometimes when I don't like, I can write some pages and decide to rip them and start again with a better pen.
When I was in school I also used to answer letters during classes, it was better to do it than to fall asleep...
To end, I also love to hear the mailman coming, I already recognize the sound of his motorcycle when he is still in the beginning of the street, I love when he rang the bell, it means fat mail to me ^^
I really liked this interview with Ashley. Congrats
Joana