Lets Catch Up

I cant even remember the last time I sat down to write a blog post. And as I sit here writing this, I'm saddened that its taken me months to write a post.  These last few months have gone so quickly and been filled with SO much crazy! Baby has officially come and I'm hoping now I'll have more time to blog.   So let me share a little of our crazy journey over the past few months. Back in January we decided it was the right time to sell our house.  Read about our first home HERE.  

    What kind of crazy couple sells their house while they are getting ready to have their FIRST baby. Not to mention, closing weeks before my due date. Being pregnant and selling your first home was probably the craziest thing I've done in a long time. There was a lot of emotions, lots of tears, confusion, happiness, excitement, and a long list of other emotions. This was the first time we've ever sold and the experience was definitely not what I had imagined. I wont go into too much detail but the buyers and their agent were not only rude and inconsiderate, but very unprofessional and definitely not they type of people you want buying your beautiful home. But in the end it was the best decision for our family. We officially sold our home and now In the process of building our second home. Needless to say, I was not able to finish the nursery which was a bummer but will post pictures once its completed in the new house.
Lots of dirt right now, but it should become a house in a few months ;)

So we packed up everything and moved in with my in-laws until the house is finished. 

I said my goodbyes and cried A LOT. :( but we are moving on and I'm excited to share my birth story and for you to meet my little. 

Hope you've all been doing well!

Unexpected Moments & Growing As A Couple {Link Up}

Today I'm linking up with Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals for her series "From One Year and Beyond". You can see my post from last week here.

Here's this weeks topic: "Unexpected Moments & Growing As A Couple "

We have definitely learned and grown as a couple a lot in our first year, especially from the unexpected life stuff. Here are some of the things we dealt with that year.

Car Issues / Unexpected Money

I know I know, everyone has car issues, but boy did we have some serious ones. We both had some seriously crappy cars. We not only had car issues, but we had no money to fix the car problems. Looking back, I realized we needed to have a better savings plan in place for all those "little" unexpected problems. We should have taken a class on finances or something to better prepare us for the unexpected. Premarital can only cover so much. Actually, I would have loved reading all of these bloggers advice. It would have been really helpful. Another great tool for married couples is Dave Ramsey. He is a financial genius!! Unfortunately, we didn't do the Dave Ramsey study until last year (three years into marriage), but it has definitely changed our way of thinking about money and helped us get ourselves on track for the future. I recommend reading his books or taking one of his classes. 

Holidays 

No matter what this is a difficult task especially because each person comes in with their own family and holiday traditions.  Dan and I both had spent time with each others families when we were dating, but once you are married you want to make your own traditions. We were really lucky because both of our families were willing to compromise. We have even made our own traditions over the 4 years. One of my favorites of our traditions, each year we go see Christmas lights a day or two before Christmas Eve. We make hot chocolate and just drive around looking. Such sweet times. And I'm sure once we have kids we will make more traditions and may need to revisit the holiday schedule again. 

Love & Respect

Have you ever heard of the book called Love & Respect? Its a great book for newly married couples, well darn any type of couple. And you read the book as a couple. Which is a great way to strengthen a marriage. It is something Dan and I do try to do as often as we can.  This particular book really focuses on learning that men need respect to feel loved and women need love to feel respected. Might sound confusing, but its one of those books that made me realize what I needed to do in my marriage to be a better wife. I kept fighting it. Not fully understanding at first that if he showed me love that it was him showing me respect. I kept thinking well I too am a human and I deserve respect! dang it! I was really stubborn... just don't tell Dan I actually admitted that. in public. willingly. Well once I allowed myself to open up and realize the book wasn't saying I'm a woman and don't need respect, it was merely saying we (women) see respect in a different way. I wasn't intentionally trying to go on and on about this, but I feel this was an important thing for me to learn for my marriage. You can see the information here.

Time

Another great thing we've learned is to make time for each other. Go out to dinner, take vacations, go to the movies, etc. Just take extra time to spend with each other outside of the normal day-to day things.

As a couple we've have grown more financially responsible with our money. We are nowhere near perfect, I mean I LOVE stopping at Starbucks and sometimes you just NEED another pair of gorgeous shoes. Right? You can't always be perfect with money. And you CAN'T always be prepared for what life hands you, but we are trying to be more secure in the areas we can control. We have also grown in our marriage. I can't tell 4 years later you won't still be arguing, because that be a lie, but you do build a stronger bond through all those unexpected moments.  :)

Hard Moments From Our First Year Of Marriage {Link Up}

I'm sure you are all aware that I'm definitely not a newlywed. I'm actually considered an "old married couple". That's right 4 whole years of marriage. :) Well even though we've been married for over 4 years, I've decided to link up with Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals for her series "From One Year and Beyond". I'm definitely no Dr. Phil, but I thought it would be a fun link up and I get to reminisce. 

Here's this weeks topic: "Hardest Moments From The First Year"

Well I think we had a pretty good first year and I think what we went through what I would say was the "normal" first year of marriage stuff.

The hubs and I never lived together before we were married, so that transition was a little difficult and our new closet hardly fit all my clothes and shoes. :) Luckily, other then that we made the transition fairly easy because Dan and I were both on the same page about a lot of the house stuff. 

We also decided to get a dog in the second month of being married. And by WE I really mean me forcing Dan so get a pup. Talk about HARD. Potty training a puppy is literally the most stressful thing. I'm sure it has to be worst then potty training a kid. Glad we made it through that one! and 4 years later we STILL don't have a second dog.

For me one of the HARDEST things in that first year was combining finances. I know a lot of people have a difference of opinion on this topic, but for Dan and I we decided to combine all of our finances and that was the best decision for us. But let me tell you, it was anything but easy. We fought a lot about money. Who should be "in charge", who can buy what, limits, debt, bills. You name it and we fought about it. 

I was raised to be in control my own finances, but when you enter a marriage you have to learn to let your guard down. And oh boy did God have some serious work to do on my heart. I was probably more stubborn about being "in charge" of the money then Dan. After a few months I learned to let go of control. Not because Dan wanted to be in control, but because I needed to learn to trust in him and realistically I couldn't do everything. We were partners. Dan took over running the finances and I took over doing other things.  No one person is "in charge", we are both aware of everything that is going on with our money. We even have occasional sit downs about OUR budget. Almost like a family meeting. It keeps us both accountable and aware. 

I believe everyone has their own hard moments in the first year of marriage because every marriage is different. I think the first year is really all about learning. For me, my biggest take away that year was that marriage is about sharing responsibilities and learning to let go and trust each other. 

Its crazy to sit here writing all of this and realize how far we've come. :)

Dash ♥ Page & Bloglovin

Happy Tuesday! I just thought I'd share that after having my blog for almost TWO years, I just finished the "About Us" section. 

I'm really trying to forget that it took me that long to complete it... because its not like I don't know who we are. Just a tad of a slacker.


Ok so I'm sure you are all trying to contain your excitement, so if you are dying to read it you can click on the tab at the very top of the page OR go check it out... HERE 

Oh and lastly, you can now officially follow my blog on Bloglovin !! So feel free to click that link at anytime. ;)

Lots going on today! Enjoy!

♥ Ashley

Rocking Friday Nights

This past weekend wasn't too exciting... it was actually kind of a bust. I really didn't do much of anything. EXCEPT pull weeds in my yard, which is actually the opposite of fun and I'm really starting to rethink this whole homeowner stuff. These things seem to grow faster then I can pull them. Its likes someone is giving them miracle grow or something. goodness weeds die already. 

I literally just discussed my whole lawn weed issue... I need some serious fun in my life, like now. ;)

On a FUN note the Hubbster and I did have a date night... to good ol Joe's Crab Shack. And don't worry, there were no bibs worn just lots of greasy goodness and drinkin' out of mason jars. That's how we rock a Friday night!

♥ Ashley

Valentine's Day Surprises

Well guys yesterday was Valentine's Day, and normally the hubbster and I don't celebrate it because our anniversary is 2 weeks after it. BUT yesterday I came home to this B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. setup he did all by himself.  

Well played hubbster... well played. ;) 

♥ Ashley

Clever Collecting

So... last night I was cleaning under the hubbsters sink (preparing to move) and I found a HUGE collection of empty medicine bottles, that he has collected over the last 3 years. I'm actually starting to think he may be a pill bottle hoarder. You may ask yourself, why would anyone need to keep a collection of medicine bottles? I am starting to wonder this question myself...

I decided he needed an intervention, so I tossed them. Hopefully he wont notice. :)

Dan + Ash = DASH

Growing up I always dreamed I would find my soul mate in high school and we would run off and get married… and life would be just peachy as we grew old together. And when that didn't happen, I decided to blame all those 80’s movies I watched. 

I’m not sure what I was thinking because my high school boyfriend didn’t have the same dream. SHOCKING Right? He obviously didn’t watch the same movies as I did, soooo our “romantic” story was short lived. 

While life has had its challenges I do appreciate where my path has lead me. I can honestly say that I would repeat every single heart break if I knew then, what I know now. Cliche, but  it's definitely the truth.

The Dash Story… 

Dan and I have been married since 2009, but we've been together since 2007. Let me share our story, here goes the reminiscing:

July 2007

February 2009

It was a cold February night (I think, then again it is Arizona) in 2007 when we first met. I don’t recall meeting him that night (even though he SWEARS we did). We eventually met up again a few months later. When we met again in May, we had both just come out of relationships that were actually not-so-pretty break ups, so neither one of us was looking for love, just a fun filled summer.

 

That fun filled summer and our friendship quickly grew into a relationship filled with love.

Everything about him was amazing, exciting, and gracious. I decided to deem him worthy of my AWESOMENESS in 2008 when he proposed on an early morning picnic. 

 

Since we have said our I do’s life has only become more exciting, comical, and it is filled with so much love for one another. I truly am blessed.

February 2011