San Diego Ashley

My friends, fellow bloggers/adoptive parents, Peyton and Andrea just brought home their second daughter, Eden. She's all kinds of precious and beautiful and John John and I finally made it down to Carlsbad to meet her yesterday. 

I'm not gonna lie...I was excited to see my friends and meet Eden but I was even more excited for the drive back down to my home. 

No, I did not grow up in San Diego and I don't have any family out there...but it is where a piece of my heart is. Backstory: I randomly moved out there when a friend asked me to join her in renting an apartment.  I couldn't think of any reason why not, so I packed my bags and left home. My friend and I didn't make ideal roomies and It didn't work out and I eventually moved out. But I did fall in love out there. No, not to Matthew but to good ole' what's his name. After some more moves and life events, good ole' what's his name and I broke up and I was devastated. Miserable. Alone. Dramatic. I remember calling a friend post-breakup and telling him I wanted to move back to San Diego. I was so happy there despite any troubling circumstances. He encouraged me to move. And again, I packed my bags and moved back down to North County San Diego. And I was happy. I loved the small town feel of the city. I loved my community college. I loved the smell of the ocean, my independence, the scenery and  the cheap and easy living. There was and is nothing I dislike about that place. 

All these memories, good and bad, came flooding back to me as I drove my son and I down the familiar path to my "home."  It was a time of reflection and sweet fellowship with Lord.  But, I wish the young San Diego Ashley could read this:

Dear San Diego Ashley,

It's me. Ashley. Happily Married with a Baby Ashley. I'm glad you are in San Diego. It will teach you so much. You will grow up and mature in San Diego. But you should know that you need to be a better roommate and always ask before you borrow things. It's rude not to. Seriously. Always ask. You should keep up the good work in college and take more classes. Stop being lazy. Take more classes. DO NOT get that Nordstrom credit card. Stop spending your money having a good time on the weekend and get a new car. Your car sucks.  Realize good ole what's his name IS NOT your everything and stop being so dramatic. You'll soon come to realize he wasn't as great as you made him

out to be. Also, same advice for the other guys you'll meet. They'll all seem petty to you when you finally meet your future hubby. Come to terms with your battle with depression. Don't fight it and deny it. Do something about it and get healthy. Stop seeking acceptance from guys who are seeking other things and girls who are shallow and vain. Enjoy your youth and freedom.  Go to the beach more and lay out by the pool more. Enjoy that you don't have to bring a million toys with you when you do.  And try to eat more than Top Ramen and Doritos. When a new guy comes along and invites you to church and you say YES, know that you have made the right choice!  So, good job!  And when you quit the parties and bad decisions and your Bible sits amongst your roommates post-party trash do not be ashamed. Being lonely in that house is not the worst thing...and don't be afraid to invite your roommates to church, too. That's something I wish you would have done. And when the economy forces you to move back home and in with your parents, don't be sad. Pack up your bags with joy.  The Lord has some awesome plans for you, San Diego Ashley. Spoiler Alert: You will meet your future husband when you move back home and he is HOT!

Sincerely, the wiser, prettier, older, funnier, more stable, less dramatic and healthier, happily married to an awesome man and mama to coolest kid ever,

Ashley

A Day Like This Was Needed

I needed this day.  It was a day filled with joy.  With fun. A bit of pride and relieve and forgiveness.  It gives me hope that valleys aren't always as deep as I make them seem.

Lately, my sweet little world has been a mix of frustration and worry.  It was just about to turn from frusturating into overwhelming but then this day happened.  It started out a bit rough.  And didn't seem to be on the track to get better...but it did!  And I'm grateful!  John and I met up with my sister and spent the day at Disneyland.  Yesterday was by-far the best day I've ever had at Disneyland!  I was sad that Matthew couldn't be there to see John enjoy DLand in a way he never had before, but he was busy killing it at work!  I am so proud of him (more on that in a minute)!

We did so much.  Enjoyed all the musical shows in Disney California and met lots of characters.  All of which John seemed to love...especially Mickey. We also got to enjoy Disney's Halloween Carnival where John got to spend some special one on one time with Mickey.  Seriously.  Mickey walked right up to John and they hugged, kissed and John spent a lot of time honking Mickeys nose.  It was precious and I have no pictures to show...but that moment is one I won't soon forget!

Anyway, my day at Disney in photos:

So, obviously, my day was amazing.  But it gets better!  We came home and John officially started saying "mama" and even though he's been walking for awhile he has finally learned to stand up without any help from me or the furniture!  So proud of my boy!  I put the baby down to bed, ordered a pizza for dinner, it arrived before Matthew did from work so I dug in and ate while I watched Parks and Rec.  Aaahhh, sweet relaxation.  Matthew finally comes homes (with surprise! A slurpee for me!) and tells me he is killing it in his recent promotion to lead and is the only lead being trained for supervisor.  I love that man and how awesome he is at his job.  So proud of my main squeeze.

Yep.  A day like this was so needed.

Just Love Giveaway!

Ya'll...I've been slacking on this post for awhile.  Everytime I sit down to write to you I blank.  I almost never find myself at a loss for words, rambling is what I'm good at.  But I've written and deleted this post a few times and I never feel like I have explained just how awesome Lisa and her family truly are and I'm afraid I won't do them justice.  So I've finally sat down...and just wrote!!!


This is my friend Lisa and her beautiful family.

 Yep, they're pretty much the cutest.  You can read about her at her blog Just Love:127.  But in a nutshell...that's her husband and those are their two beautiful children.  Both of them are adopted, just in case you're wondering.  But, their is one member of their family who is not pictured here.  His name is Myles and he is currently living in Ethiopia while he waits for his forever family to come and bring him home forever.  Yep!  Myles has already met his new mommy and daddy and the Maxfield family is waiting only to travel to Ethiopia and bring home their newest addition!  So, with all that said, they are busy waiting and busy raising the last of the funds needed to bring Myles home & I am asking you to be a part of their story!!!  You can do that a number of ways.  Obviously, PRAY.  God can move mountains, do the impossible & plant money trees in their backyard to help pay for this adoption.  If God does in fact, plant a money tree, I will make sure to not let you know since I will be busy flying myself to Lisa's house to steal said money tree.  Secondly, you can do some shopping at her Etsy shop!  There is nothing more fun than buying yourself (or a friend!) a little something special all the while knowing you are changing the world!  Not to mention, she is having a sale!  So, shop, save money, change the world.  Amazing, right?  If you use the code GETHOME at checkout you will save 25%!!! 

And lastly, you can donate!  Lisa and I have teamed up and are giving you the chance to win two awesome items!  You can win this necklace straight from Lisa's shop

and you can win this breezy Ikat scarf from the Noonday collection!

 

Enter below!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer Bucketlist!

I guess it's been awhile, ya?  I pretty much got way too busy to blog.  I all of a sudden got "end of summer guilt" and spent most of my time trying to keep John and I outdoors, in pools and enjoying all that Southern California has to offer.  It was amazing.  Up until this stupid heat wave hit and our home became more like a torture chamber and we all fought over fans (since we don't have air conditioning) and who got to sit next to the living room windows.  Now, I say, I hate you summer.  Go away.

Anywho, with all that said, I thought with fall just around the corner it would be a good time to check over my Summer Bucketlist and see what I accomplished!  You can check out the original post here, but a quick review:

The Rules

-95% of the items on my Bucketlist must be extremely inexpensive or free 

-everything we do must be located in Orange County, California.

 

...and here is my list

 

The More Adventurous To-Do

-Go to the Orange County Fair  (done!)

-See a concert in a park

-Visit the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center( done!)

-Make a traditional Ugandan dinner

-Sea Saturdays at the Ocean Institute 

-Go to an Angels game

-Visit the Balboa Fun Zone

-Play at the Santa Ana Zoo (done!)

-Splash around at the Splash Pad @ Irvine Spectrum

-Have a tasty treat at Farrell's ice cream

-Play at Atlantis Park

-Watch "World of Color" at Disneyland's CA Adventure

-Do some grocery shopping at the Farmer's Market

Personal To-Do

-Make grown up Popsicles (must be 21+ to enjoy!)

-Re-read Love and Respect

-Plan a date night (done!)

-Spend an entire day by myself at the beach/pool

 

 Basically...I totally failed at my summer bucketlist.  A lot of these I didn't even try to do...well, basically, I didn't try to do any of these after awhile, but I made some other awesome memories instead so I can't say that I'm too upset (or surprised) by myself at all.  Anyway, I am ready for fall & all the things that come along with it so maybe I'll just change the summer bucketlist to the "fall bucketlist" subtract the splash pad and add in a pumpkin patch and I'll just keep on goin!!!