Sharing some secrets...

  I usually sweep the house once or twice a week, however we were gone for Christmas and I let my vacation continue once we got back home. This is the result of my inaction.....

Terrifying. I really didn't think it would be that bad. I mean it had only been a hair over 2 weeks. (get it haha) But it was big and gross, really gross. Here is a comparison shot next to a large navel orange so you can see what I was dealing with.

It took 2 trips with a full dustpan to get it all.

  

 

Even though my dust bunny pile had grown to mammoth proportions, it was worth every second of my no cleaning, family filled, relaxing Christmas holiday. Do I love a clean house? yes. Do I love focusing on what is really important and letting little things go? yes. Ah family, I miss you so much already.

On to less disturbing news, we found out a few days before Christmas the sex of our baby. Since our getting pregnant was the furthest thing from a surprise because our families knew all about our IVF and what was going on, I was so exciting to have a "secret" to reveal. We took a picture of the ultrasound and added a little touch to let our families know if it was a boy or girl. We framed it and let each soon-to-be Grandma open it. Tony did not save a copy of it so I cant show it but trust me, it was precious. Here is my belly picture from the day we found out.

 (please excuse the lack of make up, it was early and we were rushing out the door)

Of course we would have been thrilled either way, so we are so excited to be having a little girl! We have been discussing names and planning the nursery. I have been feeling her move for a little while now but just in the last week she has started kicking hard enough for Tony to feel her, his face was priceless the first time. We go in a week and a half for another ultrasound and will hopefully have some more great news (healthy baby) and something to share ( a video of the ultrasound)!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that 2013 has started off fantastic!

xoxo
Ashlea
 

Baby!!

Most of you know but I wanted to put up an official post and show off some pictures to announce.....

We are having a baby! Very long story short we in In Vitro at the end of the summer and a few days before my 26th birthday I found out I was pregnant. There are no words to describe seeing those 2 pink lines. Confession, I still havent been able to throw away the test.

So far the pregnancy has been pretty great, I had some usual first trimester stuff - super tired, food grossed me out so I didn't eat much and had some mild aches and pains but that's all pretty much passed now and I am just getting to enjoy watching my tummy grow and research all things baby.

 

waving "hi"!

beautiful healthy baby!

 

 

 

 

could that little face be more precious?!

xoxo

Ashlea 

 

Its Fall Yall!!

I love decorating for the seasons and Fall is by far my favorite. Here is a peak around the house of the new Fall decorations Ive put up.....

 

xoxo
Ashlea

Saving Summers Bounty

We have a fantasic famers market here that I go to every week, mostly I just pick up our fruits and veggies for the weeks meals but this week I went to get something to can.

So far this summer I have canned peaches and frozen green beans but I still have some cans to use and summer is quickly slipping away, so I went on the hunt.

canned peaches...........yummmmmm

As I was picking up some sweet potatoes for a really delicious sounding side dish I am making tonight I saw a large basket of okra hanging out in the back. The man said I could have it for $3, sold!

So I spent my Saturday afternoon pickling okra, this was my first pickling experience and its was so much easier than I thought it would be!

Instructions per my wonderful Ball Blue Book guide to preserving book that I have

- prepare canner, jars and lids
- trim steams of okra
- combine 1/3 c salt, 2 t dill seed, 3 c water and 3 c vinegar in saucepan and bring to a boil
- pack okra into hot jars, leave 1/2 inch headspace
- add one clove garlic and one hot red pepper to each jar (I did this to half of them and left the other half without just in case its too spicy for me)
-ladle in hot liquid leaving 1/2 inch headspace
- remove air bubbles
- add lids and process 15 mintues

And there you have perfectly pickled okra

xoxo
Ashlea

Bathroom makeover and a summer wreath

     First I want to share our bathroom makeover!

It started with wanting to just change the vanity counter top. It was too big, dark and stained sooooo easy....

Here is one of the only "before" shots of the bathroom. You can see part of the counter top, gross.

Well it ended up being cheaper to get a whole new vanity, sink mirror combo, so that led to new paint on the walls, sconces, hardware and artwork. Now with out further a do, our new bathroom!

The artwork was so easy and fun to make.

#1 dollar store frame
#2 scrapbook paper
#3 petals cut from paint chip samples

The bathroom feels so much brighter and put together now, well worth it!




    The other latest home craft is a summer wreath. My friend's little girl turned 1 this past weekend, I helped her DIY a bunch of the decorations and one of them was a large number 1 made with coffee filters inspired by this Pinterest find. I decided to adapt it for a wreath.

I used water and food coloring to dye the coffee filters then crumbled and twisted them into a flower shape and hot glued them onto the branch wreath form that I wrapped in burlap.

    We just had an great visit with out wonderful Aunt and cousins all weekend, we went to an animal safari, swimming at the lake, ate a lot of food ( of course!) and just hung out and caught up. This is all part of my plan to get my whole family to come join me in beautiful Alabama :)

                                                            We miss you already!!!

xoxo
Ashlea

Real Food Friday

   So I had this post all ready to go and be posted Friday and then I forgot, oopss! So here is Real Food Friday on Saturday. I will do my best to get one of these up every Friday. I love seeing what other people make to eat, their favorite recipes and new foods to try so hopefully this will inspire you to fix these at your home. All of the recipes I will post will be 100% unprocessed food, all fruits and veggies I use are organic and as local as possible.

   Today's Real Food is a Banh Mi Burger

   This was an adaption of a Pinterest find, it was so tasty and easy to make. I buy my meat from a farmer in Tennessee and they make the best sausage. We aren't huge breakfast people, if we do eat a true pancakes, sausage and eggs breakfast its usually breakfast for dinner, so this was a great way to put some of that delicious sausage to use. For those of you that have never had a Banh Mi sandwich it is a Vietnamese sandwich that can be filled with pork belly, sausage or grilled pork and then topped with pickled carrots and diakon, cucumbers, cilantro, sliced chilies and a spicy sauce. We have an excellent food truck here that serves them for lunch. When I made this burger I served it with hummus and black bean and red quinoa chips and they were the perfect pair.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of sausage
whole wheat hamburger buns
sliced cucumbers
chopped cilantro
chopped mint
sliced matchstick carrots
jalapenos (opitional)
rice wine vinegar
mayonnaise
fish sauce
lime juice
Sriracha
powdered garlic
toasted sesame oil  

• first pickle your carrots, cucumbers and jalapenos if you are using them. Place them in a dish and cover with rice wine vinegar and let sit. Easy as that!
• now make your sauce, mix mayo, fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and Sriracha together, I didn't give specific amounts because it is really to taste. As a guideline, go lighter on the fish sauce and Sriracha then the other ingredients. I mixed, tasted, added more, mix, tasted and so on until I liked what I had. Don't be scared of the Sriracha, I have a fairly low spicy threshold and was able to eat this no problem, it really mixes well with the other flavors and what you get is more flavor then heat.
  
  
  
• let's cook some burgers! make sausage into patties and either grill or cook in a pan until cooked through all the way.
  
  
  
• mix chopped cilantro and mint
• lightly brush inside of buns with toasted sesame oil and toast
• assemble: bottom bun, sauce, patty, herbs, pickled veggies and top bun.

I also want to leave you with a sneak peak of our latest house project.....

 I cant wait to reveal the final project this week!

xoxo
Ashlea

Pinterest Favorites

 As with most other women, I LOVE Pinterest. Need a new recipe for dinner? Pinterest! Want a new easy up-do for your hair? Pinterest! Confused on how to make a DIY household cleaner? Pinterest!

So in honor of this fabulous website, here are my 5 favorite pins right now:
 

 How to clean wax out of a candle jar

I tried this one the other weekend and it worked perfectly! I now have 3 clean glass jars to use for storage or decoration and it didn't cost me a penny.

Pork chops with pineapple fried rice

So so so easy and yummy!!

 cheap frame and fabric

I haven't made this one yet but its on the list! It will be perfect at our computer desk and is so much prettier than a regular pencil cup and paper tray.

Naturally clean and remove blackheads

I am always looking for a great natural cleaner for my face and body. This one has tons of favorable reviews and seems very simple. I can't wait to try and report back!

 I am very much NOT a morning person so I think this quote is genius - and I love Zooey.

 follow me on Pinterest!

xoxo

Ashlea