Day 8 of honest blogging

Day 8: name the song that you know all the words too
I have two songs that come immediately to mind

#1
ok...this is quite sad...but the first song that popped into my head was "BABY GOT BACK" ..nice huh? Ill attribute it to all the days of cheerleading practice and riding a few times with the competititon cheerleaders where we would blare this over the bus speakers and dance downt he aisle:)

#2

 This one just makes me laugh..."SHOOP" by salt and peppa circa 1993! Now in '93 I was only 8 years old..no I didnt not sing this song at 8 years old! lol 

 Picture this: 16 year old, driving around in her tiny home town in her white Honda civic, on top of the world with her besties who would have consisted of Catalina Tudela, Holly Padgett, or Brooke Pate...yup that was me the crazy teenage girl doing my own "seat dance" to Shoop  ( and dont ever let Holly Padgett tell you she didnt join in on this seat dancing!)

Day 7 of honest blogging

Day 7: If I went to a psychic I would ask 3 questions:

Im changing this question because A) I would never go to a psychic and B) Life is a mystery and I think you take the fun out of it if you find out what it holds for you

so my revised question will be:

If you stumbled upon a old lamp, rubbed it and Genie (frim Aladdin of course) popped out, what would be your 3 wishes?

A) Two million Dollars: I know...what a common answer. Here is what I would do with that  2 Million Dollars. 1 million to my church to go towards missions work. With the other Million Id buy a nice house on a decent amount of land. Buy myself a new SUV. Pay off Jakes truck and buy him an old beat up Jeep (he has been wanting one) Buy us a boat because I love boating!!! and put the rest in savings

B) I wish for my family to be free from any burdens they have. For my mom a new house, all her bills paid off, and a nice vacation. For my Dad Id  do the same, and maybe hope he can get some steady work coming in. Erin, Id help her get a great internship for school, pay for her masters degree and help her so she doesnt have to work while doing either. For Dena, Id help pay for her during school, help her decide what she wants to do in school for that matter. And help her with some emotional/mental things shes dealing with! (see what I did there? like 12 wishes all rolled into one!sneaky sneaky!;)

C) Id wish for all of the orphan children in the world to get homes and mommies and daddies! Just watch this heart breaking story
12-year-old William holding out hope he'll find a family - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com



Thanks for reading!
xoxo,
Soon to be Mrs.

Day 6 of Honest Blogging

Day 06 — My worst cooking disaster involved _____________ and this person/these people…

OK just to give you some back ground. I grew up in a house where my mom at one point loved to cook! My dad however was a very critical foodie. Not only did he like it perfect, but he was a meat and potatoes guy...and by this I mean he did NOT want to try new foods! He had about 6-7 meals that he REALLY liked and if you went past that...he was not a fan. Therefore my mom quickly got burned out on trying new things and simply went for what pleased dad. Because of this Ive noticed now that I'm cooking for my future husband that when something does go wrong...I FREAK OUT! At first I would be so embarrassed and afraid Jake would be mad because I burned the so and so (its happened so many times I can put a specific thing!) or that if it wasn't very good. But Jake has always assured me that he likes it when I try new things and if they don't turn out right..oh well! He also is great when criticizing food...he will say something along the lines of "this is good , but i think next time if we added so -and-so it would be even better" So I'm saying all of this to say that I haven't had any really horrible cooking experiences that I can think of.  I did one time make pork chops, a few sides and rolls, we sat down, bit into our pork chop...and they were OLD! YUCK! I'm talking sour in your mouth pork chops...not so yummo! I amazingly managed to not get mad and we simply had to go grab fast food! eeehhh..what are you gonna do right?

Lesson? Don't let something like a bad meal ruin your day..sometimes (especially) if you're making a meal with your SO and it turns out bad..it actually ends up being a very funny moment and you can just add it to the memory bank" I love sitting with Jake and talking about "hey remember when this happened or that happened?" and laughing...this is real life people sometimes sour pork chops happen!

XOXO,
soon to be Mrs. (in 94 days to be exact!) ::SCREAM::

30 days of Honest Blogging:Day 3,4, & 5

If you don't already know, I work night shift at a local hospital on Labor and Delivery. Well this past weekend I worked Friday Saturday and Sunday night, which means my days were spent sleeping...and I wasn't able to get my honest blog posts done. So I'm going to try to catch up and answer for the days I missed. Bless your heart if you actually read all of this!:)

Day 3- Question:
 Regardless of your current situation do you think that one should save themselves for marriage?

 My simple reply is YES! I'm not going to share my status on this on here because well..honestly? that's very personal. But I will say that I believe that sex was meant for marriage. It is a wonderful thing and it was made BY God to Glorify God. It only glorifies him when it is done the right way and the bible says the right way is 1 man, 1 woman in the context of marriage. So if someone were to ask me this question the answer would be a resounding Yes! ;)

Day 4- Question:
  A blogger friend I've known for over 5 years told me she has been blogging anonymously all this time and most of what I know about her is just fantasy. My reaction to this is....

OK I read this question over and over and was like what? that's the question for day 4? So basically I'm going to tweak it a little. To me this question is asking how you feel when someone has lied to you...however this person who lied to you is simple a virtual friend so is there any real harm done?
Ill address this is two ways:  1: Don't lie to me.  Tell the truth plain and simple. If you are going to lie about something you obviously are a bit ashamed of something you've said or done. If so, you need to re-evaluate yourself. Maybe you need to look deeper and see why what you are doing or saying is causing you to lie about them? Maybe its time to change your ways. 2: If this person is not someone I have a really close one-on-one, face-to-face relationship with I'd probably say "wow. you should write a book!" I mean if you're reading a blog and it turns out to not be truthful, how is that any different from reading a fiction novel? That being said..this will not be one of those blogs that will be untruthful! I may choose to not share everything here but what I do put down will be 100% true!

Day 5- Question
  This is embarrassing but on average I cause the toilet to overflow about this many times a year....

 EWWWWW! what a gross question! I swear I'm not making these question up! I'm simply following the list! lol & this is a pretty easy question to me....this rarely happens to me! Thank ya Jesus! But seriously come on...who hasn't this happened too? If you raise your hand and say "me" I have 2 words for you........................YOU...LIE!...... :)

alright...that wasn't the best blog post I know..oh well..Ill try to keep up with it better so I don't have to answer 3 questions in one sitting! :)

30 days of Honest Blogging: day 2

Question: What is your guilty pleasure?

Hmmm...a bubble bath with a glass of wine (or dessert) and a good book! if you know me you know I'm a sucker for a nice hot bubble bath! For some reason if I take a bath I always want something refreshing to drink (maybe its because i usually take a 108 degree bath (exaggerating..sort of) so my body is screaming for something to cool it down :) & dessert? HELLO? is there ever a situation in life that doesn't call for something sweet? I think not.

Another one is shopping! I. LOVE. TO .SHOP. even when i have absolutely nothing I need and my wallet is dry. Ive actually perfected no money shopping it goes something like this:

-walk into target
-meander around & grab several cute things off the shelf I love but know I shouldn't buy
-walk around a bit more
-try to figure out a good reason to buy all the things in my buggy
-slowly decided I have NO need for any of the items and 1 by 1 put them back (in their proper place of course!)
-End result?: i get my shoppers high, walk out satisfied and still have money for gas the next week (and maybe a pit stop by Starbucks for a Venti Iced Chai latte:)

-you should totally try it for yourself...unless you have money trees in your back yard..in which case...wanna be friends?:)

XOXO
soon-to-be Mrs. H

30 days of honest blogging: Day 1

I'm all over this blogging stuff huh? have I ever mentioned before that I'm a bit obsessive? yyyeeeaaa. well two blog posts in 1 day probably relays that info pretty well.

anyway..

Ive decided that I'm going to do a 30 days of honest blogging series: Each day there will be a different question and I will try my darn-est to answer truthfully! Link up if you'd like to do the same!:)

Question Day 1:
The one thing that it seems like everyone else on the planet is into but I just cannot stand is…
 ankle boots with dresses...i simply DO NOT GET IT!  I don't even know how to even expand upon this...I simply think it looks ridiculous....

<--see...even on the ever so posh...Posh Spice...it looks like high heels and black socks from a distance...nnoooooot my thing!...don't judge:)

x0x0,
Soon to be Mrs. H

The best wedding planning tool(s)

When I first started planning my wedding over a year ago the first thing I did was to try to figure out how I was going to get organized. If you know me personally you know that I LOVE the idea of organizing..executing it?...not so much! So I went on the hunt for the best wedding organizer and the best wedding checklist. Here is the wedding binder I bought:
 I purchased it from  www.booksamillion.com
Here is what I loved about the binder.

1. I LOVED the calendar! it has nice large boxes perfect for jotting down all of my appointments.
2. I LOVED the budget breakdown. It tells you what % of your budget should go where
3. I LOVED the zipper pouches to hold bridal consultants cards, swatches etc

& here is what I ended up not being so crazy about

1. this thing is HUGE! I'm talking 3 1/2 in. trapper keeper from the 90's full of homework  cutesy folded notes passed during math class HUGE!. after carrying it a few months I found myself leaving it in my car/home more often than not.
2. It comes with several labeled folders (which leads back to my #1 dislike) which I'm sure to some would be great but at 99 days til my wedding I hardly have anything in them...waste of space

-If I could redesign this planner I'd nix the folders, add a few more zipper pouches, maybe a note pad on one side & of course I would 100% keep the Calendar. Id also try to add something where you can recorded spending. I know I know you can use excel (i like hands on & for me thats writing things out in good old pencil and ink) or I could just jot them on notebook paper ( i currently have 4 MEAD notebooks full of jots and number) I just wish it maybe had an excel-esque formatted notepad for keeping all my  number down. If I was at all honest (which Ill try to be) I have NO idea what this wedding has cost us so far. I obviously know all my major vendor prices and I can give you a really good guestimate of what my extras have cost but if someone wanted cold hard numbers?...id be in trouble!

In hindsight I should have simply bought a 3 ring binder (a simple 2 incher) added a calendar, notepad, and a few zipper pouches & called it a day. I still probably would be stuck on the whole record of spending deal..but maybe I should have sucked it up and done an excel spreadsheet? yup, probably so.

The other thing I wanted was an awesome checklist! Ive NEVER planned a wedding..DUH! and I needed someone to hold my hand and tell me what to do next! Enter PROJECT WEDDING! This site is absolutely amazing! Not only is a forum where you can chat with other Brides about wedding planning, post pictures, get their opinion (because lets face it, your wedding is a much bigger deal to you than to those around you. They probably don't want to hear what shade of peach looks better with your dress 5 bazillion times, or give you there opinion on your umpteenth DIY project) but it also has a FREE wedding website where your guests can RSVP (I'm going the paperless rsvp route) I love that it has a vendor review, where other brides can give you their review on Caters, videographers, florist etc.( nothing is worse than working with a horrible vendor only to hear later from other Brides that "oh yea I totally could have told you that"...awesome) & of course an AWESOME wedding checklist! It gives you month by month what you should be doing and when you check them off...they DISAPPEAR! which for me is great! Out of sight, out of mind! I can check it off and its done done done! <-love that! OK so now that you know what PW is, head on over and friend me! ashle1738! Let me know if you join and ill make sure you get a big PW welcome!

Hope your wedding planning is going Maaahhvalously!
xoxo- soon to be Mrs.

30 in 30 :part 2

OK since last night Ive thought of a few more,and I want to go ahead and get them down before I forget! Here goes:

11- Learn to make Jam & Can (hopefully one day from the before mentioned garden!)
12- Send a message in a bottle- Always wanted to do this!
13- Visit Vegas ( this sounds like a great 30th bday idea!)
14- at least attempt to learn Spanish
15- refinish an awesome piece of furniture
16-Be a vendor at a craft fair (always wanted to do this..no idea what I will sell though!LOL)


alright more to come in the next few days!:)
What is on your bucket list?

30 before 30

 OK..its INCREDIBLY hard to believe I'm going to be 27 next month..which means Ill be 30 in just a smidge over 3 years! HOLY BATMAN!!! I still feel like the red head freckle faced 16 years, driving my little white Honda up and down the streets of my tiny home town listening to Kilo (don't judge my horrible taste in music then!) But as I start to look around it seems everyday someone is getting married and someone is getting pregnant or having a baby and I momentarily think to myself :GASP!: are we old enough to be doing such adult things? And then I see my engagement ring on my left hand and I'm reminded that yes...yes we are! My mom always use to tell me that she felt so young even though she was 40-45 etc. And now I know exactly what she means! The past few years have gone by so incredibly fast and on the inside I still feel the same ( well except maybe my taste for music and boys has changed lol)
 Anyway since I'm approaching my 30's (omg) in a few short years Ive decided to start a bucket list challenge. 30 things I would like to do before I am 30.  I'm not going to pressure myself to do things that lets be honest I know can not be done. I simply can NOT afford to go to Greece in the next three years (which Id LOVE to do BTW!) so ill keep my goals realistic and maybe one day Ill be able to afford the more extravagant things.

Here is my list SO FAR (this will probably be a multi post series:)

1. Get married (might as well start with something I KNOW ill be able to check off:)
2. Go on a missions trip with my church
3. Host a dinner party for ALL of our friends at OUR home!
4. To go along with #3 Ill add own a home to my list :)
5. Get healthier..this means start and stick to a work out regimen... thinking lifestyle change.
6. find a job that would allow me to work from home one day (maybe selling Thirty-one?)
7. Have a baby..no pressure God but I REALLY REALLY want to start a family before 30 mmk?
8. Go on a girls trip (one with my girlfriends and one with just my mom and two sisters)
9.attempt to try out vegetarian-ism (is that a word?)...at least for a week
10. plant a garden (hopefully we have a home with a nice backyard

That's all I have for now! Thanks to Kelly's Korner for giving me this idea. If you get a chance head on over and check out her ADORABLE little girls Harper and Hollis!

XOXO
from the soon to be MRS.

The Momentary Marriage

My Fiance and I just started Marriage counseling this past Monday. "The Momentary Marriage" by John Piper is the first book he gave us to read. Along with the book he sent us this video to watch. It is truly inspiring and shows what a truly God centered marriage should look like. If you have a moment please take a moment to watch it! ( I also plan on doing a few posts as I go through the book!) Ive heard some great things about it! Has anyone else read this book? what are your thoughts?


http://vimeo.com/38033654 (wish I could figure out how to post the actual video...)

<3 Ashley

WW: Kroger Instant Win game

Do you shop at the best grocery store ever? I'm talking about Kroger (yes I LOVE Kroger!) anyway..have you heard of the Instant win game they are doing for June? Every time you play (which can be once a day) you win between .25 and $1 off your total at the register! Its automatically loaded onto your Kroger card! CLICK HERE to play! Be sure to come back and let me know what you won!

I won .25...for now!:)

Last E-pic post

Ok I promise this will be the last post about our engagements pictures..but...THEY'RE HERE! I'm so excited! Once again I will say our photographer @ www.katieriversphoto.com did an amazing job! Here are a few  who am I kidding..I cant post only a few!:)

wedding LESS wednesday

 Alot of bloggers have  WEDDING WEDNESDAY'S  but since i mostly blog about our very quickly..insanely fast approaching wedding I decided that I will do a wedding LESS Wednesday(thats a lot to type in every wednesay post). Ill refer to it as WW from here on out! Now..what I will blog about...?? who knows!:) Today I am going to blog a delish recipe that we tried tonight!

  I am VERY thankful that Mr. Wonderful loves it when I decided to try a new recipe!...even when those recipes turn out to be a recipe FAIL! :) I'm happy to announce that this wasn't one of those times and Mr. Wonderful really enjoyed the recipe I made tonight!

I found the recipe on pinterst (where i find most of my recipes these days!)  via www.realmomkitchen.com


 OVEN CHICKEN FAJITAS!

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp salt

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 medium onion, sliced

1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I use half a green and half a red)

12 flour tortillas

Toppings such as cheese, sour cream, and guacamole – if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.
2. In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt
3. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
4. Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.
5. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Serve on tortillas with desired toppings.

Tweeking

 The next time I make this meal I will tweek it just a tad. The biggest thing is we like SPICE and this meal really isn't spicy! Next time I will either dice up a few jalapenos into the mix before baking or I will sprinkle a half packet of HOT taco seasoning over it!:)

If you try this meal let me know what you think and leave a comment below!

 

Here is a picture of the fajita mixture right out of the oven! It smelled SOO yummy!:)

Engagement pictures

 OK Ya'll! I finally got the preview of my engagement pictures form my photographer! & I FREAKIN love 'em!! I do NOT consider myself a photogenic person but I actually kinda like the way I look in these pictures! & of course Mr.Fantastic looks as cute as ever! I'm a sucker for that sweet face! Because I'm at work and am not suppose to be on the computer..OOPS! (thankfully we have no laboring patients:) I'm just posting the link to my wonderful photographers blog! If you live in GA & are looking for a fantastic photographer Katie is your girl..heck..even if you don't live in GA you should fly her out to photograph your event! Shes THAT good! She was even featured in this months KNOT Georgia Magazine!

Here is her site: www.katieriversphoto.com

& here is the direct link to my E-pics: http://blog.katieriversphoto.com/2012/06/01/engaged-ashley-jake-cornelia-engagement-wedding-photography/

Let me know whatcha think!

Hugs & Kisses from the soon to be Mrs (I'm a sucker for a rhyme)