wishes: summer shoes

i'm loving the shoes out this season. and it doesn't help that i need, no want every pair i come in contact with!

here are my fav four...

Source: zappos.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: zappos.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: toms.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: zappos.com via Ashley on Pinterest

if i can only get one pair, which ones should i choose?

weekend recap

short work day. road trip with bro. sonic. lake time. fam time. eating. grilling. tanning. swimming. napping. playing. singing. guitar time. fishing. gagging. relaxing. reading. shopping. long drive home. my own bed. dallas snuggles. unpacking. laundry. errands. reds game. cincy. late night. exhaustion.

happy memorial day

Source: marthastewart.com via Sarah on Pinterest

friday's fabulousness

1. yeah, and now we goin' to the ship!

2. i'll be here this weekend, if you need me. no, on second thought don't need me. i need to relax!

3. hanging with the fam this weekend.

4. seeing this today with my girls!

5. i feel awesome after this mornings spin class.

update: weight watchers and the biggest loser

i've never been into the biggest loser. i would catch a few glimpses every now and then when i lived with my sorority sister kallie. she loved that show! but i never really got into, that is until this last season.

trav and i started watching it together on netflix and i just couldn't get enough. i think i watched four episodes in a row one night! and they're like an hour and a half long :)

i feel in love with the trainers this season but my fav are bob and jillian for sure. their knowledge is extensive and their dedication is insane! although, i think i like bob a little better simply because he's a little nicer and i'm def not the tough love kind of person when it comes to weight loss.

my fav team this season was the purple team. the sister team was hilarious and worked so hard.

olivia on the right is an opera singer living in new york and hannah on the right is her younger sister. each of them started around 260 and ended around 130. 1/2 their size? you bet!

these two women were extremely inspirational all season long but on the second to last episode they both said something that struck me hard.

olivia said her weight was like a suit of armor she wore to protect herself against being hurt. and hannah said the hardest thing she ever did was ask for help. because asking for help with her weight was like admitting that she was failing at life, failing herself for not taking care of her body and living to the fullest every day.

i can def relate to that. it's hard to ask for help. it's hard to do the right thing and take care of yourself. it's hard when there are so many temptations out there. and it's hard to make a decision to change your life.

but it worked for them...

they are the two in the middle, whoa baby! don't they look great? i mean i wish i looked like that. (all in good time!) and they just beamed with joy and happiness. they overcame their physical and emotional issues and made a change to better their lives one day at a time.

i am so happy to say that i've made that same decision. no, i'm not going on the biggest loser. (i don't way nearly enough, which is a good thing!) but i am changing my life one day at a time.

my life changed 6 months ago when i decided to join ww. i've lost a total of 28.5 pounds and while i wish that number was bigger, i'm still on track to meet my goal weight by the end of the year. i've gotten my diet under control (which i knew would be the hardest part for me) and i've started doing the hard work; cardio and strength training.

travis and i recently joined the gym and while i hate spending money on that, i knew this time around i wasn't going to waste it!

today was our first day of getting back into it and i'm happy to report that we went to spin class at 5:30 am! yes, you read that correctly! i woke up at 4:55 am this morning to work out. i can't even believe those words myself but i feel GREAT! i knew i would. one of my fav healthy living bloggers always says, "i never regret a workout." and it's so true. getting there is the hard part but once i'm there, i never regret it.

our plan for now is to get to the 5:30 am class monday, tuesday, thursday and friday for a good cardio workout and then do strength training (kettle bells and jillian's dvd) two to three times a week after work. i'll also still be walking the dog but that's more for him now than me!

i'm finally settling into a routine that i love and know i can stick with and that excites me. if fact i was so excited about this "new" life that i smiled all through spinning class this morning, yeah, i'm a weirdo!

confession

i know, i'm all about confessing all my dirty little secrets lately. i don't know what's come over me!

do you ever feel like all you want is more, more, more?

i get in these moods where i just want more than i have. and it's usually over stuff but sometimes it's deeper than that.

today i took 30 seconds to think what i wanted and here's what i came up with.

a new cookbook

iPad

new phone

my kitchen cart

unlimited budget for sewing

more time in the day

gym membership

to get married

a house

go on vacation

done with school

date night

a decent breakfast

how to use twitter

(seriously, 30 seconds.)

i think all the time. sometimes i wish i could just shut my brain off and not think, even if only for an hour a day.

it's so easy to get caught up in all the things you don't have or seeing the people around you get things. sometimes i want something simply because someone else has it and when i step back and really think, i realize i don't want that at all.

today i'm really going to try to stop thinking about what i want and be super thankful for what i have! because, let's get real for a minute, i have a lot to be thankful for and i wouldn't change that for the world!

what do you want right now?

weekend recap

great strides. shopping. new workouts. dog walking. hulu. sewing. blogging. mommy phone date. making vacay plans. babysitting. multiple grocery trips. new recipe. scary movie.

friday's fabulousness

1. great strides walk for cystic fibrosis is tomorrow!!! yay, i can't wait to see all the people come out and walk and to hear the final tally of how much was raised this year!

Source: etsy.com via Megan on Pinterest

2. trav has to work saturday and sunday night (not fabulous) which means that i'll be sewing and crafting a ton (fabulous!).

3. this movie looks hilarious and i can't wait to see if with my gurlllls!

4. i'm going shopping for shorts and jeans because i dropped another pant size people! whoohoo!

5. planning our memorial day lake trip with the schwab. i can't wait to get on the boat and see the fam. so thankful that we can both go this year but we'll miss travis since he'll be making overtime at work.

need it. want it.

i want, no, i need to win this!

best crafting tool in the world, hands down.

check it out over at tatertots and jello.

sewing

i totally forgot to post these sewing projects...

table runners i made for easter

so easy and took about an hour for two!

confession

i live with a boy.

so sue me.

really, if you don't want to be friends with me it's ok, i'll understand.

but not really.

i'm 25 years old and the happiest i've ever been so really you'll just need to get over it because it's awesome.

but now that i think about it this post was supposed to be about all the weird things that happen when you live with a boy...maybe you already knew because you too live with a boy?

but i was shocked, SHOCKED, i tell you!

in the almost month that we've lived together i have observed all kinds of things. humor me for a second while i let you in...

boys are weird.

they smell. not really bad. not too good. just a certain smell. like woods and sweat and hunky cologne. i'm not 100% sure what it is. i'll keep smelling.

they eat. a. lot.

they don't know how to fold the chip bag over so the chips don't go stale.

if you give them their own bathroom mornings will be awesome.

the dog will love you less.

you will hangout with more boys than girls.

you will watch video games. yep, watch. you might get to play. might.

you will work out more.

you will read less. craft less. sew less. watch tv less.

you will go to the grocery every three days.

you will get your lunch made almost every day.

the dog will be fed and taken out before you even wake up.

you will get surprises.

you will get sweet notes on the chalk board in the kitchen.

you will snuggle more.

if he's your best friend in the whole wide world, you will love it so, so much and wonder why you didn't do it sooner!

tweet me

is that the right way to say it?

someone please tell me what the heck i'm supposed to do on twitter!

help a girl out?

@whimsybitsbyash

quilting

so i've been sewing for about 2 months now. and i'm starting to think i'm ready for quilting!

i can't wait to get started.

and here are a few i'm loving at the moment...

all from ucreate

facebook, shmacebook

ok, let me just go ahead and give it to you straight...i'm decluttering (is that even a word?) my facebook.

it's time. and i'll tell you why.

1. i'm so tired of looking at someone on my news feed and thinking, "do i know you?", "how did we become friends?", and my personal fav, "do i care what you have to say?".

2. i know all this stuff about people i went to high school and college with, have worked with, ever hung out with, might hangout with, friends of friends, and family. there are some things we just don't need to know.

3. people are nosy. they want to know everything and i just don't. period.

4. i'm so tired of hearing how great your life is. (i realize how that just sounded, but hear me out!) it's great that so many people i know are doing great, i am too, but do we need to parade it around the internet for all to hear/see? what about those who are going through a rough time? i mean, it's great that you just got an iPad or you're taking a european vacation or just got an amazing raise but we don't need to know every good thing that happens to you every day of your life. it's kinda insulting and makes you look like you're all about the stuff in your life.

5. this goes along with number 4...let's not put ALL the bad stuff either. i'm so sorry that so and so died and that you lost your job and you're just having a bad day. really i am and i would love to be there for you, just not over facebook. maybe it's just me, but i don't like having my dirty laundry out for all to see. i want my closest fam and friends to be there for me on a personal level, you know?

6. i hate when you put political crap all over my news feed. enough already.

7. i hate getting a million notifications for your games and polls. serioulsy, how do you have time to be on facebook that much?

8. photos of your wedding? cool. photos of your wedding night? not cool. photos of your kids? cool. photos of your labor? not cool. photos of you looking super cute in your new outfit, new car, with your new man? cool. photos of you flexing in the mirror or in your bikini? not cool.

9. random people asking me to be friends with them because we have the same last name, or first name, or because we live in the same city, or because we look alike, or because i'm human. it's creepy if we don't know each other on some level.

10. facebook changes everyday and i'm just tired of trying to keep up. do you feel me there?

ok, so really i'm just hating on facebook today but i really do think most of those things. call me judgmental or call me mean. it's ok. it's just how i feel.

and don't think i'm not calling myself out here. i'm totally one of those people that could spend all day on fb stalking people and hating on what i find out! i mean who doesn't love a little juice to get them through the day?

also, if you're family or my real friend (not just a fb friend) then just assume this doesn't apply to you. which basically means if you're reading this it probably doesn't :)

except, i want to see no ones labor pictures. seriously. i don't care how close we are!

thanks in advance.

happy birthday shelby!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELBY!!!!

wish i could be there to help you celebrate. i hope you had an amazing party yesterday and got every wish you made. you're the best, girl and i love you so much!

weekend recap

rain. rain. more rain. ted's montana grill. bison burger. best strawberry shortcake ever. lilly updates. errands. lunch date. late night babysitting. wii. yelling boys. mario cart. dancing fools. cutest dog ever (besides dal!). sunday funday. lunch with connie, madison, kaylee, josh and trav! showed off our cute apartment. grocery. salsa making. dinner making. biggest loser watching. blogging. reading. bed time.

the day of my little pony

olivia's birthday was april 30th but she had her birthday party this past saturday. she invited lots of family and friends to the little gym here in lexington to play and have cake and help celebrate.

it was such a great party and the kids had so much fun playing around in the gym and climbing and flipping on all the stuff!

lilly and i before cake

liv and her friends enjoying some cake

opening presents. this was mine and she LOVED the my little pony set we got her. she's totally obsessed with my little pony and had a my little pony themed party. all week she kept telling me we were going to play pin the pony on the tail...too cute!

trav was overwhelmed with excitement for a four year old birthday party! actually, he said he had a great time and i was so happy he agreed to come. plus, liv loves him and was excited to see him there as well.

yummo!

here's a cute little vid from the present opening...liv's fav part of the party for sure!

what the hell...

yesterday i saw a young couple with a baby (like itty bitty baby) in their car. they were both smoking...with the windows up.

trav and i have really gotten into watching the biggest loser. we watch it on hulu (since we don't have cable, what?) and i've really gotten into it. BUT, why do i cry every episode? it's getting a little embarrassing, even if it's just us and the dog watching.

i gained two pounds last week. (oh wait, i totally know why that happened but still...)

we spent $200 on groceries. they're almost gone. boys eat a lot.

i got thrown up on. like projectile vomit. seriously. all over. bologna chunks in my hair. thanks lilly!

my bedroom closet smells like smoke. it's as if my next door neighbor is literally blowing all their smoke on that wall that we share.

i hate not having an ice maker. who wants to make their own ice?

why does 86 degrees suddenly feel like 100?

i need a vacation.

update: dalpal

i always worry about dallas when there are big life changes in the works. will he adjust? will he like the new place? what about his schedule?

but he never has any problems and my worrying is pointless. i mean, he's not a human so his emotions are far less complex than i make them out to be! he's a dog for crying out loud, right?

right.

so here's what dalpal's been up to recently...

sleeping on me at the new house

taking over the couch on movie night

i made dallas a bow tie!

a real bow tie for fancy time!

doesn't he look so regal? he would've totally fit in at the royal wedding :)

sneak peak

graduation

i'm so terrible about keeping up with things lately. ever since the move i've been scattered and slacking!

so here's a few pics from trav's graduation. i could not be more proud of him for getting his MBA. he's worked so hard for so long and i just can't wait to see what he does next!

weekend recap

grocery shopping. SAMS club. stocked up. zaxby's. sewing class. errands. birthday fiesta. lots of kiddies. the little gym. cake. presents. late night pizza. phone date with brookie. upset tummy. sleeping in. ikea. rearranging. putting furniture together. fun new kitchen appliances. clean house. brothers and sisters finale. blog catch up.

happy momma's day!

happy mother's day to all the wonderful mommas out there but especially to these amazing women who have all been the best mothers!

you are all inspiring women and i hope to be half the mom (one day not anytime soon!) you all are. thanks for being so wonderful and i hope you have the happiest of mother's days today!

aunt connie

aunt rebecca

aunt myra

aunt lynn

grandmommy

grandma glenda

grandma pfau

grandma cheryl

jillian

and the most important one of all...

my amazing, beautiful, awesome, loving, supportive, fun, talented, cream of the crop, best mom in the whole world momma!

i love you mom!