Hello Life.

I have offically been off of work from HOJ for 4 days now (with the exception of face painting on Saturday and working from there all day on my laptop on Sunday, lol). I'm feeling more and more like myself again. I'm don't feel like the crazy emotional wreck of a person that had been creeping out at any given time of day. I think I couldn't have picked a better week than this one. It is spring break which means no soccer, no gymnastics, no church class...no obligations. It's an amazing feeling to wake up in the morning and know that after working from home I am free to CHOOSE what I'd like to fill my time with.

I've been working on Easter because the Friday and Saturday before it Matt and I are going to Key West. I'm in a state of extreme anticipation, lol. It's our first vacation just the two of us. I always look forward to a different pace of life when I'm down there...even if it is only 2 days! Anyway, I always do Easter at my house so I am trying to get things in order. Sooo I made an egg garland yesterday. :)

Step 1 complete. :)

Matt repainted my master bath before work yesterday too. Now, instead of brown it's pumpkin. We still have to put on a second coat but I really like it. It ties into the whole "fall" color palette of the house.

And in other news, I woke up the other morning to find blood all over my bed. Gross. Turns out our precious Cupcake is in heat and how has to wear a diaper for a couple weeks. Poor baby.

That's all for now. Hope you guys have a beautiful week!

Bittersweet Life Changes

My mind feels like it's been stuck in a tornado the past couple of weeks. Now that I have finally made some concrete decisions (along with my right hand man) I feel stable enough to write about them. My first big life change is that after a year and a half Matt and I have decided to no longer live together. In fact, he is moving out today. Bitter...but sweet. The few people we have confided in have asked us if we're fighting or what's going on, lol. For the record our relationship is great. We are so in love and still on the path we feel that God has laid out for us. However, through conviction and lots of prayer we have decided that we are going to wait until we are married to have a home together. I'm sure that sounds crazy to a lot of people. I feel it is the ultimate testament to our love of one another and our love for God. We are to be obedient in all areas of life, not just the ones that come easy and slowly we are making progress toward this. We are happy with our decision and think our marriage will be extremely exciting because of it. I think it will be like dating all over again...picking eachother up to go out, making dinner at the other person's house, etc. I'm so thankful to have fallen in love with such a wonderdful man who has the same outlook and values in life as me. :)

The second super big decision I've made is to leave House of Joe...my place of employment for almost 7 years. I have been wrestling with this decision for almost 3 years (ever since Angelyn was born) but was never in a position to leave completely. I have always felt my calling is in the home, taking care of my family, and focusing on raising my family as the main priority. I kept waiting for peace about whatever decision I made and today after a little emotional breakdown I knew what I had to do. My boss is wonderful person. She made me feel so good about it that I sat and cried for like an hour, lol. I'm a sap. It will be a sad day to know that I will have ended a beautiful 7 year run, but I'm so excited for what lies ahead. More time with my family, more time in general = less stress = happy Ashley! ;)

In other news- some of our customers are wack and I'm cracking up watching Paul and Dennis deal with them. :) haha

Happy Life Changes Day!

Sunflowers and Thunderstorms

Last night (date night), Matt and I went to watch the full moon rise on the beach. He has never seen it before and the last time I went it was beyond beautiful. We were greeted instead by a wonderful thunderstorm. Lightning was bolting all over the sky over the water which to me was even more amazing than the moon itself (which we only caught a glimpse of).

I love how the moon looks the sun when it rises.

Getting rained on, lol.

Today was quite eventful as always. During soccer this morning Angelyn and Landon were so cute. They were hugging eachother on the field and Hannah had to keep them in line, lol. I had to leave early so we could attend a homeschool 101 class at Knowledge Exchange (awesome store for those of you who haven't been). I LOVED it. It was so informative and I think I've chosen the curriculum I want to use with her. That is a miracle in itself because I've been researching and researching all the different ones trying to figure out which one would work best for the family I want and the values I want to instill.

Then, me and Ang spent the afternoon planting plants and learning more about spring time.

       

We planted 13 giant Sunflower plants.  

   

      Angelyn loves taking pictures of me :)

 Don't mind her PJs, lol. She wanted to wear them.

Sunny days.

My little helper watering the jasmine we planted out back.

..and we started training this beast on another trellis, lol.

I just love, love, love this time of year. It makes me so happy! :)

Spring Sensory Bin

Yesterday  I made Angelyn a sensory bin for spring. We're working on learning the different seasons and what happens in each one.

 Flowers, dirt, seeds, grass, carrots, cutouts. :)

I used black beans for the dirt. 

She spent the evening and this morning making the flowers grow over and over again.

Watering her seeds. :)

Today, we're going to plant the seeds outside and wait for them to really grow. My goal for spring this year is to start a small veggie garden. My green thumb is not too great so this will be an experiment for sure :)

Weekend fun

This weekend as with every weekend at our house was filled with lots going on and lots of memories in the making. I went to the two day women's conference at Calvary. It was one of the most moving seminars I have ever been to. There were about 600 women and God's presence in the building was remarkable. I went to church today with a renewed sense of joy and purpose. So very thankful for that. After the conference we went to the Grant Seafood Festival. I try to go every year but Matt hadn't been since he was very young. We had a couple of hours before he had to go to work so we ventured into the thousands of shoulder to shoulder people.

 Escaping at the playground, lol.

 

Angelyn's first ever cotton candy. She was pretty impressed....and a mess, lol.

 Uncle Ry Ry- her favorite playmate.

I tried clams for the first time. Never thought I'd say that because they've always grossed me out, but they were fried and actually pretty darn good.

After Matt had to work, and before meeting up with my wonderful friend Abby who lives in St. Augustine, me and Ang decided to make marshmallow people.

Marshmallows + toothpicks = an evening of fun. She wanted to make all of her friends, Daddy, and of course herself.

Then I was off for a couple hours to see Abby before she had to head home.

 And my beautiful wifey.

 Doesn't she look so happy? That makes my heart happy! This girl deserves everything in the world.

Life is good. :)

Home Project #534 New Floors!

When I was first looking to buy a house I wanted three things...a fireplace, wood floors, and a garden tub. I wound up falling in love with the one I purchased and settled for just the tub. :) Over the past 2 and a half years of living here I have done tons of projects most that involved decor (my first love), but also painting all the rooms different colors...some three times, lol...putting up a fence, laying pavers and landscaping, etc. This year though I was able to get one of my three wishes (floors) and settled for a faux wall fireplace and a dvd of fire, haha... :) Well today they got completed!

Here are some before pics.

 Yucky carpet. :(

We lived this way for about a week. I have to say it was pretty fun for all of us to live and sleep in one tiny room. :)

Our "couch bed."

And here are the wonderful after pics. :):):):)

I love the way they turned out and how clean they are. Today I'm one super excited girl!