Friday, September 10, 2010

This and That

1. Weeks that start with a day off seem much longer than a full 5 day week.

2. This week I only worked about 20 hours, and had one day of school but I am exhausted! I slept for 10 hours last night!

3. I just started watching a two year old chickadee and she is so. so. cute! I call her Mack or "little girl" and it always makes her laugh. She is super sweet and easy to get along with...hopefully that lasts!

4. Math is going to take some SERIOUS dedication this semester! My math class is broken up into two classes so I'll be doing the follow up in winter. I'm already overwhelmed and Thursday was Day 1. My mommy said she would tutor me and so did my Sunday school teacher.

5. I am loving fall! This week I purchased "golden apple orchard" room spray from Pier 1; and Kitchen Spice and Autumn candles from Bath and Body. I am tempted to buy more apple candles from Pier 1! I'm slowly breaking out the fall decor- I might put up some more tomorrow.

6. Does anybody use Clarins skin care? Yesterday I bought a skin care set at Macy's and so far I'm loving it! It included a day serum, day moisturizer, and night cream. I also use their cleanser with Alpine herbs and I love it!

7. I need recommendations for a new:
-foundation
-foundation primer
-blush (anybody use Nars O-Glow??)
-product to keep my hair NOT FRIZZY in the winter!
Help me out girlies, I need it!

I'm off to bed! Tomorrow I'm repainting my desk off white with the help of my Sunday School teacher's husband. My daddy painted my side table for me a couple weeks ago and I really want all my furniture to match...I'm a freak about everything being matchy matchy.

XO
Ashleigh

Thursday, September 2, 2010

SUMMER!






I spent a MAJORITY of my time at the pool this summer. Here are a few pictures from the end of the summer! The little girl I am with is Anna- she had another nanny this summer but I babysit her sometimes too. She's a sweetie; her favorite game is Go Fish!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Um, I'm Home.

I'm home from camping. I'll post pictures soon. I've been *SO* busy- working EVERY day, sometimes for two families, getting my house ready for a new roommate, and getting ready for school! I want it to be Sunday because even in the craziness of Sundays, I KNOW I get a break from 1-4...

Thursday, August 26, 2010

And We're Off!

At some point in each of our lives, we are all going to encounter storms. Some storms we make ourselves, and some the Lord puts in our way to see how much we trust him. In Matthew 14, we see Peter walking out to Jesus, only to encounter a storm of his own.



28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.



29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.



30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.



31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?



First I want to look at v. 29- Jesus called Peter. Jesus has called all of us to Himself and if we are saved, we are walking toward him, just as Peter did…



Next, I want to look at v. 30- the wind boisterous, Peter’s fear, and Peter sinking. We have all been in a place of our own “wind boisterous”. No doubt we have all been afraid, and sank. The reason Peter sank is because he took his eyes off Jesus.



Lastly, I want to look at v. 31- immediately, Jesus caught him. Peter put his eyes back on Jesus and Jesus rescued him from the storm. When Peter realized he needed Jesus, he was safe again.



In the past few years of my own life, there are a lot of “storms” that have come my way. Here are some verses to battle those storms with.



Storms of Discouragement…Deut. 31:6 “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”


*God is always with us, even when we feel like nothing is going right and everything is messed up. This verse says to be strong and have courage- if God says it, it is possible!



Storms of Hurt…Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee.


*There will always be times in our lives that are hurtful. The Lord knows your hurts before they happen, he knows why they happen, and he knows how to fix them. Instead of fixing them yourselves, give them to Jesus and let him handle them.



Storms of Worry…Matthew 6:25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?



26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?



27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?


*Jesus feeds the birds, and clothes the lilies, we are much more important to him than those. Jesus has our best interest, our needs, wants, concerns, at the front of his mind. Worry never promises any results, but prayer can change things.



Storms of Sin… Psalm 15:1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?



2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart



3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellow man,



4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts,



5 who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.


*God calls us to be righteous; Psalm 55 gives us some specific ways to be more like Christ. We all have improvements to make and areas to work on but our goal should be to honor the Lord in all that we do and live in a way that God gets the glory from our lives.



All of these things, and many others, can be our “wind boisterous” and cause us to get our eyes to get off Jesus. I want to encourage you to keep focused on the Lord and whatever your storm may be, know that Jesus is waiting on the other side of it to rescue you. As we start a new school year, new jobs, new activities, don’t get weighed down with any sin or distraction. Keep your life balanced, keep Jesus as your priority and focus.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

New Jersey in 10

1. The number of hours the pilot said it would take us to get to said destination.

2. The number of hours my flight home was delayed.

3. The number of hotels I stayed in while on a 3 night stay in Jersey.

4. The number of places I showered in while in Jersey.

5. Hundred. The number of calories consumed at each meal. Vacation calories do not count.

6. Dollars. The price of the most amazing bbq chicken wrap ever.

7. Hours spent on the beach, relaxing, and getting sun.

8. Cups of coffee consumed over 4 days.

9. The hour at which I woke up every morning. I cannot sleep in.

10. The number of fingers which I got manicured (and toes I got pedicured) while in Jersey.

It's good to go away, but good to be home!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I've been listening to the song "When I Think About the Lord" by Shane and Shane for about a month now. It talks about how the Lord "saved me, raised me, filled me with the Holy Ghost, he healed me to the uttermost". I just can't get over it, it's so simple, and it sums up everything Jesus did for us. The song is so full of praise and worship- pure and simple. Love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdTT6rmkk9M

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Sunburnt and Overly Caffeinated


I can't figure out how to format this post the way I want...so these are out of order. This is my newest wall art, centered on my back kitchen wall. I'm going to try to put one picture and one non-picture item in every room of the house. I was doing too many pictures before and all my rooms were starting to look cluttered.

This is right above my stove...I'm not going to hang anything on it though. It's from Pier 1 and I just love the colors. I'm going to keep the blue/green/creme theme going in my living room and dining area as well.

My daddy repainted my cabinets and drawers for me, AND put new handles on. He also repainted the walls. My kitchen is ten times brighter and it looks so much bigger. Sorry about the mess. My kitchen can only stay clean for about 10 minutes...

This is the other side of my kitchen. I know I took these early in the morning because of the cereal bowl on the counter. I'm looking for somewhere else to put my microwave but there's no other space for it. It sure takes up a lot of space.

There are a couple things going through my head as of late...none of which are of particular importance; all of which I need to tell you right now.

1. As I am leaving in 36 hours to go to New Jersey, I still need to: pack, buy travel-sized everything, clean my house, do laundry, and figure out all this boarding pass stuff. Needless to say tomorrow evening will be a little hectic and I will probably be up late over-analyzing my packing method.

2. I think I need to be more of a kid. I'm a nanny, and I feel like I spend too much time telling the kids to "Stop...Don't touch...Don't hit...Fix your attitude...Come here...Do this...Sit Down..." Do I? Does anyone else feel like this? I never used to get in the pool with the kids, and lately I've been the one taking them off the diving board and playing games in the water with them. I like it, I like being the "fun nanny". I need to find some sort of balance.

3. I need to lay off the caffeine. Every morning I drink a travel mug of coffee on my way to work, and at promptly 10am, I crack open a Diet Coke, which gets brought everywhere with me and the kids until 1 pm. I am seriously addicted.

4. When I get home from New Jersey, I'm going to put myself to work on re-decorating my living room. I want to spray paint my chocolate furniture creamy white, get slip covers (light blue?), and get some wall art for my entry way. I recently made a trip to Salvation army to drop off all the crap I've accumulated over the past year. It felt good to take some things off my walls, get rid of my end tables, and re-organize some things.

For now,
A


Saturday, August 14, 2010

A Week To Blog About

Yesterday as I was talking to another nanny, I was telling her about my morning and I thought, "This is a morning to blog about." I don't know what exactly constitutes a morning to blog about, but, I also started reflecting on my entire week, and decided there was much telling to be done.

I tend to be a very high strung, stressed, panicky person. It is just my nature, and I do my absolute best to balance it with fun, happiness, and a touch of 'mellow'. This being said, allow me to tell you about my week.

On Monday, I walked out of my house without my keys in hand. My daddy came to my rescue, and I was only 6 minutes late to work. I am pretty sure my dad thought I was insane when the first thing I yelled in his ear was "You have to come to my house right now, right now, right now!!" Um, sometimes I over-react.

On Friday, I did the same thing. What kind of idiot am I that locks their keys in their car TWO days in a week? Sweet mercy. This time, I had to be rescued by my Sunday School teacher...there are many times I thank God she lives so close. I was still on time for work and my boss laughed at me. I apologized to him for being an idiot, and for the fact that I wouldn't have a car yesterday to take the kids anywhere.

Lastly, I have been blessed with a new vehicle!!! Please understand that I am not bragging or trying to show off, but I AM really excited! It's a 2005 Ford Escape, and I'm so thankful for a bigger car! I feel a lot safer driving the kids around, driving in the snow, driving long distances. It still has that "new (to me) car smell"- I love it!

I'm trying to motivate myself to get around and do something today. I have school to do, dishes, laundry, errands- and none of it really sounds fun! Have a good weekend!


Monday, August 9, 2010

Case of the Mondays?

It is Monday. The day that ruins a perfectly good, relaxing weekend. On this Monday I have no actual thoughts for you, just a few random ones that have been in my head for a while. In no particular order:

*Why am I so excited to start school? I think it may be because I can buy SCHOOL SUPPLIES. I am a school supply freak. A part of me is bummed that I can only buy boring supplies now that I'm in college...pens, notebooks, binders- done. Where is the fun in that?

*My kitchen cabinets and walls are FINALLY painted and I could not be more excited. Thanks to my daddy, my walls are off white, my cabinets are white, and they have knobs/drawer pulls. It is a beautiful thing. Pictures coming soon, after the dishes are done...

*The shopping ban is going well. I am on day 9 and still going strong. I did stumble and get a polish change Sunday but in my defense, it had been a long week (is that a good excuse?). I'm really proud of myself for making it 1/3 of the way through August without buying any clothes, shoes, or handbags.

*I really want to be able to sleep at night, sometime soon. Every night I lay down...close my eyes...and then a million and one thoughts creep into my head- keeping me AWAKE. Does this happen to anyone else? I honestly have to "go to bed" an hour early every night so I can be asleep at a reasonable hour. Seriously.

That's all I have for today. I'll be back soon :) hopefully with pictures of my kitchen!!!

Monday, August 2, 2010

August Shopping Ban

Hi, my name is Ashleigh, and I'm a shopaholic.....

It's time for a long overdue shopping ban! Last year I did a 3 month shopping ban, which ended up being easy by the third month, and pretty "normal". I think I did "allow" myself to buy like, two things, but I can't really remember. I did my last shopping ban so that I could channel more of my time and money into things that matter...God, school, friends, family, my home, etc. This time around I'm doing it because my bank account is crying. I have a couple big things coming up that I really could use the money for...and I'd rather do these couple big things than go out shopping every weekend.

*There are a couple items I have to buy anyways. The first is a pair of capris for a church camping trip. They're the only thing I am missing for the trip, and I'm not wearing a skirt all weekend, so, one pair of capris it is.

*I've had my eye on a shirt at Macy's for quite some time. If it goes on super sale, I am going to buy it. It was originally $40, so I think I can get it for around $15 on super sale. We'll see.

*I'm going to also try to limit my trips to the salon...I find it way too easy to stop in for a polish change. However, since I'm banning retail shopping, no promises on giving up pedicures too. :)

I'm hoping August ends up being a good month to do this because I still have summer clothes in full rotation and the weather won't change at all this month (except to maybe get hotter). At the end of the month, I'm hoping (knowing) I'll have enough saved for a trip to ATL/J Crew outlets for some back to school clothes.

Happy Monday!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Finally Friday

It is Friday!! I am beyond excited because I LOVE my weekends and on this particular weekend, I have no obligations. :) I'm thinking some serious pool time is in order!

My last post didn't go through (technology and I have never really been friends)...but here is my week in recap:

*I am housesitting this week, and I was overjoyed to find out I am allergic to the cat I am watching. The cat who also wakes me up at 4, 5, and 6 am chewing my on ear, walking on my stomach, and running laps around the bed. this is by far the most annoying cat I've seen in a while.

*I've had no less than 80 ounces of Diet Coke this week. It really just makes the mornings so much better. But, yes, I'm fully aware that it's super unhealthy and I need to cut back...I know...

*The kids I watch are done with swim, band, and golf. What am I supposed to do with them now? Any ideas?

*I haven't actually cooked a meal all week. I ate watermelon for dinner one night, and stopped at a local place to get a burger the other THREE. Clearly my eating habits need to be reviewed...soon.

That's all I have for now, but I will have some pictures up soon!


Saturday, July 24, 2010

Giddy With Excitement

This may or may not be the most boring blog post eeeever....but I promise to try to be more interesting next time! I'm beyond excited that I now have my very own piece of the internet, and I'm happy to share it with you!

I started a blog because I read SO many (I'll be following you all soon!), I figured I should dive in myself. I don't really know what all I'm going to put on here, probably a bit of everything.

Either way, I'm quite excited and pictures, more info and and posts are on their way!