Mantel Make Over

   One of the compromises I had to make when deciding on our house was to not have a fireplace. I love fireplaces; the sound of cracking wood, the soft light on a cold night, the wonderful smell that fills the house. As much as I love all of it, I loved our house so I had to give up my dream of that beautiful fireplace.

  However, our home did come with a lovely faux fireplace in the downstairs living room which gives me a mantle to play around with and decorate. I have had it the same since we moved in, candles, glasses, antiques and some books.

                          Here is a picture of the living room and you can kinda see the set up.

    I was redoing some of the other areas of the house and decided I wanted to switch up the mantel. I wanted something simple for summertime. I had just gotten some family pictures printed and wanted to use them but wanted to do something different that picture frames. I went hunting through y craft closet and came across some mason jars and decided to use those instead. I also added a picture frame that I tied some burlap bunting I made that spell out family across it. Sorry the pictures aren't the best, the lighting was not cooperating with me.

xoxo
Ashlea

UPDATES!!

*WARNING* this post is long.......very long

It has been forever since I have updated but that is because I have been busy with the end of the school year, a trip to Thailand and Singapore, getting a new addition to the family, and some medical stuff.

First, the trip! I could write on and on about where we went, what we ate, what we saw and how amazing it all was but I think the pictures can do a better a job!

outdoor food market

my authentic bubble tea...yum!

view of the river from our hotel in Bangkok

one of the many beautiful temples we saw

beautiful :)

my attempt at an artistic photo

dont mind the hair, it was 100+ degrees and HUMID!

dried shrimp, fish and various sea creatures, the smell was, um, intense

another temple, the details are amazing!

super precious monk in the making

our welcome fruit at the wedding hotel in Chaing Mai

view from our hotel room

my encounter with the baby tigers!

no matter where you go......barf

gorgeous paper lanterns

temple

how they do "fast food" in Singapore

coolest building in Singapore

very excited about our boutique chocolate experience 

 The trip was amazing and reminds me of why I LOVE to travel, its seeing and experiencing foods, cultures, people that are so different and beautiful and at the same so much the same. I already have an itch to plan the next trip, Paris? Brazil? Austria?

Also here is a video preview of the wedding we went to in Thailand. The Indians sure know how to throw a party!
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6UTDdEU9MM&feature=share&fb_source=message



On to the next big news, we got a PUPPY!!!

Her name is Penelope
She is Border Collie/Lab mix
She is 8 weeks old
She has energy, energy, energy
and she is precious <3

LOVE <3

Lastly, I had to have surgery on Friday. It was nothing major- very routine. We have started trying to have a baby and it has been more difficult than we thought it was going to be. Maybe in another post I will bore you with the details of my fertility struggles but for now, the surgery went great and all is well. Though it did cement my hatred of hospitals, even with the super sweet nurses and staff I had, I felt so uncomfortable the whole time. I was very happy to come rest and recuperate in my own bed with the best husband waiting on me hand and foot, nursing back to health.

So that is the lastest update of the past month or so, I have started my summer schedule of working part time and have a list of projects that I am ready to tackle so stay tuned for some DIY fun!

xoxo
Ashlea

Things My Dog Ate

Here is our latest installment of things my dog ate:

The back story

 I had my reusable coffee tumbler in my bag, some of the coffee leaked out

apparently onto a bag of feather I was using for a craft with my class

here is the carnage

(please excuse the dirty laundry on the floor, I must have been in a terrible rush that morning because I never leave dirty clothes on the bathroom floor)

xoxo
Ashlea

Why I Love My Family

     I just recently got the digital copy of my wedding pictures, they turned out so great. As I was looking through the pictures of the reception, specifically the dance floor I noticed something........my family makes the most ridiculous faces while dancing. Some look like they are in pain, some look like they think they are rock stars, others there are no words to describe. I took the liberty of collecting all these amazing faces and putting them into one beautiful collage. Wait for it...............................................................

I really love my family <3

xoxo
Ashlea

The Most Important Meal of the Day

I love to eat seasonal, stews and soups in Fall and Winter, grilled veggies and salads in Spring and Summer. So I have been working on my Summer breakfasts, something light and fresh, and I have come across some very easy and more importantly very delicious options.

Smoothies:
Now I give myself just enough time in the morning down to the minute to shower, get dressed, grab breakfast and give the husband a kiss before running out the door. Since time is of the essence I love that these are make ahead!
    Ingredients:
         - plain greek yogurt
         - various fruits (chopped)
         - coconut milk
   Directions:
        - Take a muffin pan and spoon, 2 large spoonfuls of yogurt into each section, put in freezer. Once frozen place in quart sized ziplock bag. (I had to warm up the bottom of the pan with my hands to get the yogurt blocks free)
        - Freeze chopped fruits and add to bag. ( I did a bunch of different of combinations, strawberry banana, strawberry kiwi, mango)
        - When you are ready to make them, set the bag out for 5-10 minutes to thaw a bit (I pull it out before I hop in the shower) then dump into a blender, add milk until you are pleased with the consistency and enjoy!

Breakfast Cookies:
These are a pinterest find and are my new favorite thing, the are literally grab and go plus they are filling and stick with me until lunch.
    Ingredients:
         -3 mashed bananas (ripe)
         - 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
         - 2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
         -1/4 cup skim milk (I used vanilla coconut milk)
         - 1/2 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit you want to add)
         -1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon
         - 1 tbsp honey
    Directions:
        -Preheat oven to 350 degrees
        - Mix all ingredients in a bowl really well. Let this mixture stand for at least 5 minutes to let the oats become good and hydrated.
        -Heap the dough by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool.

Yogurt:
Super simple and super yummy
    Ingredients:
        - plain greek yogurt ( you want to make sure and get the plain, the flavored ones have artifical sweeteners and preservatives in them.)
        - honey
        - granola ( make sure and read the label to check for whole and natural ingrediants or better yet make your own!!!)
    Directions:
        - mix and enjoy!

xoxo
Ashlea
   

Things my dog ate...

  Overall Bailey is a great dog and never been much of a chewer, we never had to worry about the furniture or ours shoes but if she gets even the slightest smell of food she will tear something to bits just trying to get a little taste of what she is smelling.

Exhibit A

I had this bag of Easter grass in a bag with some Easter candy, she must of smelled the candy and went searching for it and in the process shredded the bag and had Easter grass from one end of the living room to the other.

Good thing I love her so much.

xoxo
Ashlea

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone!

We had a low key day just Tony and I, we both woke up to run and see what was in our Easter baskets (because we are still 5 years old) and ate peanut butter eggs and jelly beans for breakfast.

After our breakfast of champoins we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day here in Alabama so we went for a walk around our neighborhood and the neighborhood next to ours, Old Town.

Which is, as Im sure you guessed the oldest part of town.

a long lost relative????

It was a lovely walk and Easter was certainly all around....

We spent the rest of the day grocery shopping, cooking and hanging out on the couch together watching DVRed episodes of Chopped!

Tomorrow is back to the grind but I certainly have things to look forward to that help the week go by......

12 days until we leave for Thailand
26 days until we have dear friends come visit
57 days until the last day of school
68 days until my wonderful parents come visit
and
81 days until our 1st anniversery

life isnt so bad :)

xoxo
Ashlea

PS: my sweet girl turned 6 years old this past week, to honor the day she got her favorite - a peanut butter sandwich, enjoy the out of tune singing and sandwich scarfing below