I love you like Sunday Morning.

What a day! It's only 10:35 and we're moving right along.

I woke up to a love note on my pillow! Suddenly, I no longer need my coffee to start the day.

Look at my baby! This was taken shortly after he was devoured by kisses. <3

Look at what I won! THANK YOU LENA!!!! Check her out: Mom2MemphisandRuby 

Check her out:

Such Ado About Everything

Look forward to this:

I'm joining them.
I've been there too. 
I'm a child survivor of physical and sexual abuse.
I'm an adult survivor of mental, emotional, physical and psychological abuse.
This week I will be 'coming out with it' for the first time online.
I'm not ashamed.
I'm not damaged.
I'm living despite it all.

I'll finally share the details of my wedding!

I made up my mind.
I made my flowers. DIY Post!
I married Brett!

I will be sharing with you what I use while caring for Declan!

Get to know what I love, what he loves, and what we both can't live without!

I have a VLOG confession.
I battle daily with a serious problem.
I'm looking for support, love, and advice.








However, I'm taking today off. I am going to get out of this house and make new friends... and all over a common interest: seeing a bunch of sweaty men take their clothes off. Although seriously ladies, I have YET to see what the fuss about Channing Tatum is. I'll let you know if I figure it out... ha!

Holy Frackin Cracken!

I took a break, eh!? I have SO missed this! I can't even grasp where to begin... again.

We all know I had a baby... well, he's freakin awesome! I have a chubby little red headed, curly haired, deep ocean blue eyed boy! His little baby rolls are irresistible! Get this, he sings! Coo's constantly, for reals. See? 

You Are My Sunshine from Ashley Marie on Vimeo.

Then there's my boys! O'Ryan turned 9 a couple of months after Aiden Gray's 5th birthday. We've been able to do so many awesome things already this summer and we can hardly wait to do more! Our family is growing closer and we're making memories every day.

They were lucky enough to be on the same soccer team!

Ok, something you should know about me: I tend to NOT get excited about things I should and vice versa. I think I just go overboard on trying to control my excitement and overcompensate. ANYWAY, so I never told y'all I tied the knot! (See what I mean? I GOT MARRIED!) That's one hell of a big deal but I was so overwhelmed by the whole thing and couldn't even face the tremendous load of editing that's to be done and then all the details there are to share! I did the whole thing by hand, by myself, and under $100! I promise deets are soon to follow!

Ha! I never thought I'd stand prego in a wedding dress. Better yet,

I never thought I'd stand prego in a wedding dress

on a wonderful day in my life

and with a heart full of the purest happiness!

Oh yes, we moved! We moved into my dream house on dream property. This is my view of the mountains, across the valley, from my desk in my new living room:

We're renovating this place one room at a time. With over 2500 sq ft of ceilings, walls, and floors (not to mention the 40 acres of hillside) we have our work cut out for us! I'll be sharing all of my 'get it done' techniques from now on too. My favorite part so far about this place (besides the view) is the creek that runs alongside the property:

It's great to be back and I can't wait to spend the rest of the summer with you!


xo
Ashley Marie

Wedding Woes

all right.
that's it.
my overly detail oriented self is going on strike... or rather being fired by my laid back rebellious self that just wants to get what I want without the fuss & exhaustion & stress & &&&&&&AND!

I liked the idea of 'my big day' a lot better when it was more like this:

Our original plan was to elope... during a 3 day excursion to Boston to see Motion City Soundtrack perform. We were going to frolic around the city on bicycles wearing our wedding gear and new matching red kicks and ask people to hold the camera for special moments and that was that. No more 'ands'. Just a 'but'. "But I bet I can plan a wedding for the same cost and have an extravagant yet laid back affair, I'll just do it all myself. No problemo." Looking back, I can hear the roaring laughter of thousands of DIY Brides that just gave up too. I'm blaming it on hormones (I can't even focus on keeping dinner on time without crying), lack of time (9 weeks? Really, Ashley Marie? What are you, a party planning superhero?), my mother & bff disagreeing on everything, and my extreme guilt for not being able to include every idea, person, and something in Brett & MY wedding.

Whew.

So, 5 weeks and counting and we're back to square one. We're eloping. With our boys and 25 of our closest of closest. We're having a dinner reception at an already exquisitely decorated restaurant in the gorgeous Highland, North Carolina. The snowy backdrop will be gorgeous, our family will enjoy the one day get a way, and the expenses will be cut in half as a bonus! Those are 'ands' I can deal with. AND, I've already started sleeping better.

Next plan of action: drop the lace samples, forget the caterer's, trash the seating arrangements charts, and look for pairs of red Van's for a 4 and 8 year old. Ahhhh, SO much easier.