Photo A Day May: Your Personality & Something Beautiful

5/31/2012 10:13:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

Well we have come to the end of Photo A Day May. It was fun and a good time killer. Though yesterday's was a hard one for me.

My personality.

A few years ago I would have said random and quirky. Not so much any more. That isn't to say that the random quirkiness isn't still there. In fact there is one photo that I have of myself that always makes me smile. It's me. Fully and totally happy.



Something beautiful...


I can't help it. I just love daisies. They are beautiful.

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Photo A Day May: A Number

5/29/2012 10:33:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments



14. An exciting number...a countdown if you will.

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Photo A Day May: The Weather Today

5/28/2012 09:14:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments


It was finally a clamer day after a few days of wind. The cloud cover was perfect as the sun set. 

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Photo A Day: Something Sweet

5/27/2012 01:13:00 PM Ashley 2 Comments


Cupcakes from a cupcake van that we just discovered.

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Photo A Day May: 12 o'clock

5/26/2012 01:49:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments



Grabbing a burger at a trusted and tasty place! That's what I was doing at 12 o'clock.

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Photo A Day May: Unusual

5/25/2012 10:48:00 AM Ashley 0 Comments


Say hello to a Buddha's Hand. It's a fruit in the citrus family. It almost always is just the pith all the way through. People use it for the rind and to make jams/drinks with it. It smells amazing. Like lemon times a million.

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Photo A Day May: Playing catch up

5/24/2012 10:21:00 AM Ashley 2 Comments

Well so much for keeping up with a daily photo post. Seeing as my last post for Photo A Day was for the 18th (Something You Made), that means that I have missed 5 photos (including todays). So lets get on this!

A favorite place


My craft room/area is always a favorite place of mine. I can always go there and just get lost in a project.

Something You Can't Live Without 



At first I was totally going to do a photo of Nate and Emmett, but that seems really obvious. Instead I give you this guy. His name is Puppy and he was a gift from my mom years and years ago. She give him to me when I was having a rough time in school with being harassed and made fun of. Ever since then he has always been with me and I can't even begin to imagine not having him around.

Where You Stand



I've been spending the last few days planting our herbs on our front porch. This is what I look out to.

Pink




I was actually excited to see pink as one of the pictures because I had the perfect thing for it...my newly tipped pink hair! All I can say is...LOVING IT!


Technology




5 years ago I got to watch Nate graduate and as they threw their hats up in the air the Thunderbirds flew over. 5 years later Nate is back to teach and we got to watch those same Thunderbirds fly over for the graduating 2012 class. Watching them fly is simply amazing and the technology that goes into making those birds fly is nothing short of astounding for me.


Something New



New shoes, full of the perfect amount of rhinestones!

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Photo A Day May: Something You Made

5/18/2012 06:52:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

Well this wasn't an easy choice. I like making things. It makes me happy. I decided to go with the most recent thing that I have made.


Seeing as I love nail polish, frankening was the next inevitable step. Frankening is pretty much taking pre-made polish and mixing them to create new "custom" colors. These are three of those creations.

I'm hoping to start creating more polish, from scratch, in the next few weeks. It's something I have been wanting to do for awhile. So hopefully things will go well and you'll be seeing some of my creations soon!

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Photo A Day May: Snack

5/17/2012 03:16:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments


Really do I have to say anything else? Except maybe to apologize to my waistline. 

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Photo A Day May: Grass, Love and What You're Reading

5/16/2012 10:43:00 AM Ashley 0 Comments


The grass is finally greening up here, which is so mind blowing to me. Here it is the middle of May and when we left Ohio in March Nate had already had to mow the lawn. This grass is right by the community mail box and every time I get our mail I just want to kick off my shoes and squish my toes in it. 


Love is something that Nate always makes sure that I feel. Sometimes it's as simple as stopping to hug me and say I love you. Other times it's a beautiful bouquet of some of my favorite flowers. These beauties were given to me yesterday. 


Domino is back! I picked up a copy last night and have been scouring it for decorating ideas. I already have at least 5 pages earmarked.

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Photo A Day May: Something that makes you happy and Mum

5/13/2012 05:33:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

Man apparently I have a hard time reading a list. Somehow I glazed over yesterday's challenge of something that makes me happy. Yesterday's challenge and today's kind of go hand in hand as something that makes me happy is daisies and something that reminds me of my mom is also daisies. So enjoy two days worth of daisy posts!


Every spring in Dayton the roadsides would go white with mass amounts of daisies. Every spring I would want to put over on the interstate to take pictures and lay in them. But I refrained. Luckily one day I was able to get close to a patch. It's hard not to be happy when you are surrounded by such a happy flower.



It's Mother's Day and I don't have the option to share it with my mother. It's a holiday that I will never again celebrate, not for myself and not with my mom. But every year I take the time to remember her and how amazing she was. Having daisies around is one of my simple ways to help me remember. Be it having fresh daisies, a picture, a necklace or art. At my wedding a bouquet of daisies sat on the closest chair to me as a memorial for my mom. 

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Photo A Day May: A favorite word and Kitchen

5/12/2012 05:40:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

I missed yesterday as I just couldn't come up with a favorite word. I have a few favorite words but it came down to me having to choose between frolic and kerfuffle.


Kerfuffle won.

Today's picture is kitchen. A handful of years ago you could have asked me how important a kitchen was to me and I'd probably world have shrugged and said somewhat. Now-a-days I would tell you that we will someday build our dream house around the kitchen (and closet). But until that day comes to fruition I think this kitchen will do just fine...


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Photo A Day May: Something you do every day

5/09/2012 01:56:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments


Every day I sit and cuddle with Emmett. Just sitting and petting him can brighten any day or mood, no matter how good or bad it is.

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Photo A Day May: Someone that inspires you

5/07/2012 12:50:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

Someone that inspires me...that would have to be my husband Nate. He's smart...like hurts my head to even try to think the way he does, smart. I proudly watched, harassed and supported him over the past 18 months as he got his masters degree in physics. No small feat. Not only did he get his degree, but he earned a 4.0 GPA. An even smaller, more amazing feat.

Every day I get to watch him grow not only academically, but as someone who is willing to try new things, someone who wants to learning anything and everything, someone who remains goofy and a child a heart and someone who is calmer then I could ever pretend to be. He inspires me every day. And laugh...man does he make me laugh!




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Photo A Day May: You

5/06/2012 06:35:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

Today's photo is of me. Recently, as our things were being packed up, I came across an old photo of myself. A photo that I could easily date to spring/summer of 2004. Things were simpler then. I was happy, had a good job and was just enjoying life and being young. When I saw that photo I noticed more than just how skinny I was. I saw into the eyes of a past me that was full of life. It's hard to believe that I was just barely into my 20's...that almost 10 years have passed. Life is harder now, but I am so glad that 20 year old me didn't know what was to come. Because if she did, I wouldn't have these wonderful pictures and memories to look back on.


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Photo A Day May: Bird

5/05/2012 05:22:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

Not knowing quite what I was going to do for today's "bird" photo...this little guy popped up on our weekend jaunt downtown while we were shopping.


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Photo A Day May: Fun

5/04/2012 01:32:00 PM Ashley 0 Comments

Today's photo is "fun". Apparently meaning something that I find fun or do for fun. My current "fun" hobby is collecting nail polish and painting my nails.


It's something that I have been doing for about a year. I enjoy hunting for hard to find and unusual colors. Plus painting my nails is a great way to add to pop of color to my outfits!

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Photo A Day May: Peace, Skyline and Something You Wore Today

5/03/2012 11:58:00 AM Ashley 0 Comments

Seeing as I missed two days of photos, I'll just post them here. 


May 1st had a photo about peace. This one stumped me. Seeing as peace isn't something that is currently easy to come by for me. Then I thought of this photo I just recently snapped. Currently peace to me is a place where I can live with peace of mind. 






May 2nd was skyline and I went straight to when we were doing Bourbon tours in Kentucky. We went to The Buffalo Trace Distillery and we were surrounded by beautiful old building. Buildings that were around during and before the Prohibition era. The air smelled of Bourbon and blooming trees. 






May 3rd (today) is something I wore today. That would be my bright neon yellow purse. Really I don't think any picture I took of it would show just how neon it is. I joke that I wear it because it's like a beacon for Nate to find me in a crowd.  






All caught up! See you tomorrow!

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Photo A Day May: Joining in

5/03/2012 11:34:00 AM Ashley 2 Comments

I know this challenge has been making its rounds and I am in fact two days late to it. But really that's me in a nut shell...late. I saw some bloggers doing the Photo A Day May Challenge and decided I wanted to partake. Fat Mum Slim is the blogger who came up with the idea and honestly it seemed like fun, but also seemed like something I could do to help make this month move a little faster for me. So here's the list:



And the list explained a bit more:

1. peace {something peaceful, a peace sign etc}
2. skyline {where the sky meets land, can be buildings, the beach, forest, whatever!}
3. something you wore today {while you're wearing it or not}
4. fun! {something you do for fun - big or small}
5. bird {a bird in the sky, an ornament, a picture, a pet etc}
6. you {a self-portrait, a picture of a picture of you, your reflection in the mirror}
7. someone that inspires you {could be someone in real life, someone well-known}
8. a smell you adore {perfume, a food, flowers, anything!}
9. something you do everyday {share something from your daily routine}
10. a favourite word {a word that you love to say, write or read}
11. kitchen {can be a picture of your kitchen, something from a kitchen or a cafe kitchen etc}
12. something that makes you happy {a person, a thing, etc}
13. mum {a picture of your mum, the word mum, a mum, mother's day celebrations etc}
14. grass {the green stuff that grows on the ground etc}
15. love {something that represents love, something or someone you love}
16. what you're reading {a book, a newspaper, a blog, a sign, a note etc}
17. snack {something you're eating as a snack}
18. something you made {food, craft, a child, anything!}
19. a favourite place {a place you love being in}
20. something you can't live without {something you'd rather not go without in your life}
21. where you stand {take a photo of where you're standing}
22. pink {something pink}
23. technology {something that uses technology}
24. something new {what's something new in your life?}
25. unusual {share something a little odd or weird}
26. 12 o'clock {take a photo at noon or midnight, whatever you're doing}
27. something sweet {a candy/lolly, a cake, a person, something cute ... anything!}
28. the weather today {is it sunny, rainy, cloudy today? Shoot it!}
29. a number 
30. your personality {show us your personality in a photo, a word etc}
31. something beautiful {share something beautiful in your life}



Feel free to jump in with me and do this. I'll be posting today's photo and my two make up photos in another post today. 

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Life: A little more in depth

5/01/2012 12:29:00 PM Ashley 2 Comments

Last week I left you with a vague blog, a rambling if you will. A blog that still holds true to my feelings and thoughts, but also a blog that probably left many of you scratching your heads. I'm an odd breed of person who shares things about myself while also not fully sharing at the same time. As hard as it may be for some to believe, I don't go into great detail about my life. I share enough.

So this last blog probably confused both friends and casual readers alike. And I guess this is where I take the time to share...but not share too much mind you.

At the very end of March we moved away from a place that we really liked. A place that actually felt like home. Something which I haven't been able to say for quite a few years. In fact the last time I felt like I was home was when my mom was alive. So we left this home to move back to the state that was once my home. To say I was apprehensive is the understatement of the year.

We were moving back to a place that I had clung onto for years, thinking it was the only place I would every be happy. It wasn't so much the place but the feeling I had while growing up here. The logical side of me that said I should let go and move on was drowned out by my heart and the need to hold onto something even though it was gone.

The two years before I moved away from my home town was hard and fraught with money, family and illness issues. The year before the move that I didn't know I'd be taking (with my now husband) was the worst year of my life. I lost my mom to cancer and I finally realized that toxic people aren't just acquaintances or friends, but also family. And toxic people aren't good people to be around.

It was a hard year. A year that I would wish upon no one. But somehow that year had a shining light in the form of Nate. Somehow through it all I got him. And then he asked me to move with him. Not only would I get to be with the person I loved, but I also got what I thought was a fresh start.

It didn't matter. For some reason I was still drawn to my original home. We talked about moving back there to live out the rest of our days. While I totally ignored the fact that going back was never an option. That my time there had come to an end. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to realize that there was too much hurt and fear for me to be able to go back. But I held on.

Then we moved to Ohio, where we found friends and places we enjoyed. It was a totally different feeling. Something I hadn't really felt in awhile. That homey feeling set in and we were happy. At this point we knew we were going back to my home state. But instead of happiness, the fear finally set in. The fear of the fact that I understood that going back wasn't going to be easy. In fact it was going to be hard. The biggest fear though was the fact that I would be back in the state with the toxic people that I had walked away from. They know where I live. I don't want them to know that. I don't want to live in the crippling fear of them just randomly showing up. Because it will happen. And I just can't be put back in that place.

It's an awful place to be, happy that Nate got his dream job. The goal that he had even while at the Academy. While utterly terrified of ghosts past. It's left me crippled with a feeling that I don't like but just can't shake.

It hasn't helped that April has been filled with car troubles, from Otto's engine dying to our other car being broken into the first week here. Really there's a whole list of things that were sprung on us this past month from bank to housing issues. Couple that with the constant looking over my shoulder and there's our month in a nut shell.

We realized that something needs to change and we are currently working on that and if that change happens we'll hopefully be able to share it with you all. We both need peace of mind. And hopefully that will come soon. It would also be nice to have a good month. May...I'm looking at you.

So there, there is my story. It's not phenomenal or exceptional, but it's mine. It's what I am feeling. Now it's time for me to take those feelings and do something with them. Make things better. I've had my month of wallowing. Now it's time for doing. So have no fear, I'm on the rebound. As messed up as some probably think this is, this is how I work. Hopefully things will get back to normal around here...you know as normal as things normally are.

Oh and thank you for the well wishes and kind thoughts, it's always warming to the heart.

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