The night before Halloween

Justin and I carved our 2012 pumpkins last night. It was kind of last minute, but something I'm glad that we did. It was our first "free" night in what seems like forever. This year's pumpkins weren't quite as elaborate as some of our past creations, but it's a fun little tradition to keep going. I did our new monogram and Justin did a traditional jack-o-lantern.

I toasted the pumpkin seeds and used a different technique this year. It was quite simple and super tasty. I modified it from something I saw online and the results were fab. Justin called them "savory".

Pumpkin seed recipe:

1.5 - 2 cups clean and dry pumpkin seeds
3 tbs brown sugar
olive oil cooking spray
dash of kosher salt
dash of pumpkin spice
dash of cinnamon

Toast the pumpkin seeds in a frying pan on medium heat for 7-10 minutes. Spray with olive oil cooking spray and stir in brown sugar until it caramelizes. Add in spices and stir. Cool completely before eating.

I also made s'more cookies for Justin to take to his coworkers for Halloween. They may be my new favorite cookie. Recipe found here.

And last, but certainly not least, here's our little fur baby showing off his Halloween costume to Grandma. He hates it. In fact, Halloween is Avery's least favorite day of the year. It doesn't help that he's dressed as a squirrel this year. He is in the middle of a six year war with the squirrels that live in our backyard. Justin sides with Avery. He said it would be like him forcing me to dress as *insert coworker I can't stand* for Halloween. Point well taken. Avery will still be wearing this tonight. The trick or treaters get the biggest kick out of seeing our cute little guy all decked out. He'll get over it. Happy Halloween blog friends!

The big one

I celebrated a very big birthday on Tuesday. You can guess how old I am now. I'm not telling. Just know it was one of those milestone birthdays. I had sincerely hoped that it would float by with not much attention. Truly. I'm not a big fan of my birthday. I think it stems from starting school a year early and always being a year younger than everyone in my class. It took me a long time to realize that being younger is a good thing, but I'm still not fond of my birthday.

This year was actually quite nice. Go figure, people spoiling you and making you feel loved all day isn't so bad after all.

My sweet dad texted me this Monday night. My parents are no strangers to my birthday blues.

My cute husband got up extra early and brought me Chick Fil A for breakfast, which I ate in bed, in my pjs. Bliss.

I came to work to find my office decorated rather loudly. Decorations courtesy of my male bosses I might add.

 

My in laws sent me beautiful flowers that are still blooming in my office.

 

 

All of this and I was completely spoiled by my friends. Stacey and Kelly surprised me at our last sprinkles night with 30 gifts for turning the big 3-0. (So much for not telling my age). My family drove all the way to downtown Fort Worth to eat at one of my favorite spots for dinner, not to mention spoiled me again with a million wonderful gifts. (Notice the trend? Spoiled). So, maybe I'm learning that getting older isn't such a bad thing after all. Maybe.

A letter to my mom

Dear Mom,

Thank you for helping me plan the wedding of my dreams. Thank you for finding a way to make my day special (and keep dad happy too ;). Thank you for painting 150 chargers. For helping hand-sew our burlap and lace table runners. For "babysitting" our wood chips as you call them. For allowing me to make my own choices even if you weren't the biggest fan. (Ahem, baby's breath, burlap, "catholic" candles, s'mores bar, chalkboards, etc.) Thank you for bearing the burdens and stress of the day when things didn't go according to plan. Thank you for taking me all over creation to find my perfect wedding shoes. Thank you for cutting a layer out of your veil so I could wear it on my special day. I love that I wore your veil for the ceremony.

More importantly, thank you for being such a strong example of what it looks like to be a Christian wife. Like I said at our rehearsal dinner, I am so, so thankful to have such a legacy of love and Christian marriage in our family. I know how rare that is these days. So thank you. For everything.

Love,

Ashleigh

Girlfriends

We got our wedding photos in over the weekend and oh my. It's so overwhelming (and emotional) to go through them frame by frame. I could not be happier with them. That sweet day truly feels like a dream and I am so thankful that our photographer seemed to capture every precious moment and every little detail. I am so pleased with them. And I can't say enough about Melissa; She was soooo much more than our photographer. We love you and are SO grateful for all that you did that day.

I can't wait to share all of the photos. In the meantime, here are a couple of photos of my dearest girlfriends. Each of these women has impacted my life in such a powerful way. Each of them. I am so thankful for that and for them. Thank you for laughing with me, praying for me, encouraging me and supporting me. You all mean the world to me.

Just what the doctor ordered

And by doctor I mean myself. I wasn't sick enough to actually go see a doctor. I just caught a little cold bug last week that lingered through the weekend. Nothing major. More of an inconvenience than anything. I managed to play softball (as the cold front blew in, smart move, I know) on Friday night. (We play on Justin's co-ed work team). We also painted an accent wall in our bedroom Saturday morning, so I was pretty worn out by noon. My self-prescribed remedy?An afternoon off, which is exactly what I got. Justin and I spent most of the afternoon on the couch watching football. I had a couple cups of coffee thanks to my very own Keurig, one of my very favorite wedding gifts I might add :) I'm happy to report I'm feeling much better, thank you. I think my little home remedy did the trick.

Luck be an old married lady

I'm not sure if it's because I'm a newlywed or because I'm rapidly approaching an unmentionable milestone birthday; Whatever the reason for it, I'm not fond of the phrase "old married woman." Where did that come from?! I'm tired of hearing it. I'm sensitive to my birthday in general, particularly this year, so "old" anything doesn't sit well with me. Sigh. Maybe that's what I am.

Anyhow, this old married lady has been on a winning streak lately and I just had to share. Last spring, before I was old or married, I won a giveaway on Courtney Ead's fab blog. She's a fellow Baylor bear and a very talented interior designer. In my dream world she styles my entire house. Maybe in real life we can hire her when we buy a new house ;) Like I said, Courtney hosted a contest last spring and I won! My prize was  this chevron pillow and it fit so perfectly in my sun room! I'm mildly obsessesed. At that point I had never won any blog contest, so I was thrilled to win and win such a fun thing!

 

Fast forward a few months and I am now married and apparently old. And lucky. Within one week I won two blog contests! One from my sweet friend and fellow PR gal Bethe Wright. If you haven't seen her blog or etsy shop you should. I want one of everything in her store and her blog is one of my very favorites. I won this fall scripture print and it's even prettier in person. It's about to be framed tonight and will stay on the mantle through Thanksgiving. I.love.it. I also loved this adorable, hand-sewn note it came with. Those are for sale in her shop too.

 

And last, but not least, I won this beautiful scarf from Plumtique! They have a shop inside of Spice for all of you Baylor/Waco lovers. I adore everything they have to offer and have been stalking them all summer in search of an industrial letter J. I'm a woman on a mission. Anyway, I can't wait to wear this pretty soon. I'm thinking that alleged cold front coming this weekend will provide the perfect opportunity.

 

via

I still get the biggest kick out of seeing my new name in print :)

So, perhaps being an "old" married lady isn't all that bad. I do love that married part anyway ;)

*Disclaimer: I don't necessarily believe in luck. Just thought it made for a catchy blog post title.

 

One Month

rogue wedding photo courtesy of a nameless senior who broke my no camera rule. at least they sent me the photos.

It's been one month since we said I do. Thirty days. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I wish time would stand still. I wish we could go back and relive the day again. I hate getting further and further away from it. Justin thinks I'm crazy. I'm not, I'm just suffering from a little post-wedding blues. I blame my sentimental self.

Don't misread me though. Married life is wonderful. Better than I imagined. (And harder too, for that matter ;). The best thing I've ever done, as if it was a difficult decision in the first place. We're currently working on making my home our home. We're getting there and we love it.

Last night before bed we were talking about the first few weeks of marriage and all of the surprises, funny little stories, awkward moments, etc. As we reminisced over the last 30 days I couldn't help but feel lucky to be having that conversation at all. So thankful that we have found each other and are married. God is good. Life is good. Amen.