Hello there....it's been a bit, I suppose. I get really good at this blogging thing...until I don't any more.
I am going to attempt to track a few of my crafting projects, as well as my Grandiose Garden Experiment of 2012. About which I am fairly excited.
So here's the deal. We bought a little townhouse last year with a postage stamp sized yard in the front and our entire backyard is pretty much deck. And a cherry tree, which the birds love. The deck would be awesome, except that we're fairly certain that it was constructed out of "reclaimed" (i.e. one man's trash is another man's treasure) scrap wood. So, it needs some work. But that's not at the top end of our continuously growing homeowner's list.
But the reason I am telling you this is not to whine about my house. I realize it sounds that way. I actually really, really love my house. It's perfect for our little, two-person family and will continue to be perfect if and when our family hopefully grows someday. The reason I'm telling you this is to explain what I'm doing in this gardening experiment.
So we don't really have much backyard to work with, which is not a problem because our house is south-facing, which means that our front yard is way better for gardening than the backyard. So, I want a vegetable garden, but I also want it to look decent. So a container garden it is.
Last year, I planted a zucchini, which did pretty well. Well until Mr. Gardener tried to help and started watering the zucchini twice a day, which caused the fruit to start rotting... but he was genuinely trying to help. :) It did eventually recover. And I learned some lessons last year, which I'll attempt to apply this year.
I started planting this weekend and I'll track my progress here.
I am getting tired because I am an old lady, so I'm going to wrap up. Except to say this:
This evening, I came home from the church core team meeting (it's kind of like an advisory council, which I sit on) and I was admiring my peppers (because they were one of the few survivors of a couple of my important lessons that I've already learned this year). And there were slugs everywhere!
First of all, slugs completely disgust me. Yuck. Nasty, spineless ickiness. So I salted the earth. Well, actually, I ran inside, yelling at my husband, "I need the salt shaker. Those damn bitches are in my plants!"
Then I salted the earth.
Then I googled ways to stop slugs and have two ways that I am going to implement. One is drunk slugs. I put the lids to little glass jars in the pepper plants and filled them with beer. The slugs will crawl in to drink the beer and then get drunk and drown.
They also hate coffee grounds. And plants like them. So tomorrow morning, guess where my grounds are going?
Dear Slugs,
Give up now. I will win.
Ask my husband.
Love, Ashleigh
Monday, May 14, 2012
Saturday, September 10, 2011
New Craft Space
All right, I am admittedly a terrible blogger. I just can't keep up. This is one of the many, many things that I say, well if I just set aside time and...and it just doesn't happen.
I think I ought to bring back my planner from college. I had this awesome/obsessive planner that planned my day in 15 minute increments. Because truly, I am horrific at time management. For example, it is 11:27am and by this time I was supposed to have gone to Wegmans (can I just tell you how much I love Wegmans? I get the whole classy supermarket experience, but pay way less than I would at Safeway or Giant or certainly Harris Teeter. Win:Win), Target, Ulta and gassed up my car at Costco (because the cheap gas prices pay for the membership). But what have I done? Let's see. I decided to make blueberry pancakes (although I really did cheat and just used "just add water" mix and just added a cup of frozen blueberries) and I finalized my meal plan for the week and created my shopping list on Wegmans.com (because it prints out the locations of all my products, saving me time and temptation from buying things I just don't need). Saturdays just underscore my need for an ADHD intervention. Oh, and I listened to music on YouTube. Although, most of that had a purpose, which I will get to later. In my defense, I've been battling a headache traveling along the side of my head and down into my eye and the side of my face that no amount of quiet or caffeine has seemed to alleviate. Anyway...
What was I planning on writing about?
Right. My new crafty space.
So I have a fabulous husband. I mean really, I do. Sorry to brag, ladies, but I only speak the truth.
He is way into his hobbies. And he does have quite a list. Not that he does all of them all the time, but he sort of flits around between beer making, photography, music (well that one is all of the time and while I am biased, Josh plays kick-ass guitar), etc. Those are probably the big three, but he's always telling me what else he'd like to get involved in. So he really does value hobbies, which is sweet. And I appreciate that he doesn't think that my love of all things crafty is silly or a waste of time. So for our anniversary, he built me this gorgeous set of shelving/cabinets in our basement followed by a HUGE counter/table.
I think I ought to bring back my planner from college. I had this awesome/obsessive planner that planned my day in 15 minute increments. Because truly, I am horrific at time management. For example, it is 11:27am and by this time I was supposed to have gone to Wegmans (can I just tell you how much I love Wegmans? I get the whole classy supermarket experience, but pay way less than I would at Safeway or Giant or certainly Harris Teeter. Win:Win), Target, Ulta and gassed up my car at Costco (because the cheap gas prices pay for the membership). But what have I done? Let's see. I decided to make blueberry pancakes (although I really did cheat and just used "just add water" mix and just added a cup of frozen blueberries) and I finalized my meal plan for the week and created my shopping list on Wegmans.com (because it prints out the locations of all my products, saving me time and temptation from buying things I just don't need). Saturdays just underscore my need for an ADHD intervention. Oh, and I listened to music on YouTube. Although, most of that had a purpose, which I will get to later. In my defense, I've been battling a headache traveling along the side of my head and down into my eye and the side of my face that no amount of quiet or caffeine has seemed to alleviate. Anyway...
What was I planning on writing about?
Right. My new crafty space.
So I have a fabulous husband. I mean really, I do. Sorry to brag, ladies, but I only speak the truth.
He is way into his hobbies. And he does have quite a list. Not that he does all of them all the time, but he sort of flits around between beer making, photography, music (well that one is all of the time and while I am biased, Josh plays kick-ass guitar), etc. Those are probably the big three, but he's always telling me what else he'd like to get involved in. So he really does value hobbies, which is sweet. And I appreciate that he doesn't think that my love of all things crafty is silly or a waste of time. So for our anniversary, he built me this gorgeous set of shelving/cabinets in our basement followed by a HUGE counter/table.
Almost finished cabinets...
Desk in progress...can you believe he designed all of this himself?
Finished desk (minus lighting and electrical elements)
HUGE workspace!! I have never had this much space for my crafts.
I am so excited to use this space. I just have to finish unpacking/cleaning the basement so I don't feel guilty about my time.
By the way, how do people get everything done? I feel like I'm just running in circles all the time. Commute, work, commute, make dinner, clean the house, go to bed. Do it all again. And I don't even have kids. 15 minute planner. ;) j/k I just have to prioritize things better and waste less time.
Easier said than done. Oh well.
Oh! And listening to the music. So the hubby is in a band (classic and southern rock mostly); it's actually one of the outreach elements for our church and they're going to let me sing a song or two with them in the upcoming months, so I was listening to/learning some of the contenders. So it wasn't a complete waste of time.
Anyway, I think I will go and attempt to accomplish some of those things I was planning on and clean the basement a bit so I can actually craft some again. :)
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
End the R-Word PSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T549VoLca_Q
This made me cry seeing it on TV. This is something that is so close to my heart. I don't mind this word when used correctly, as a medical term or in its sense as a verb, but never as a derogatory word. But people don't understand how hurtful it is as an everyday slang term and that it is, in fact, a slur. Glad to see more public acknowledgement of that fact.
This made me cry seeing it on TV. This is something that is so close to my heart. I don't mind this word when used correctly, as a medical term or in its sense as a verb, but never as a derogatory word. But people don't understand how hurtful it is as an everyday slang term and that it is, in fact, a slur. Glad to see more public acknowledgement of that fact.
I'm Back!!! My Year Thus Far in Short Form
Okay, so it has been brought to my attention that it has been some time since I have posted. This is not untrue and I highly appreciate that someone noticed that it's been awhile.
Things have been a bit busy lately. Thankfully, though, it's been the good kind of busy. When I think about this time last year, well, I quickly change the subject in my head... (finishing up your last year of teaching, getting ready to get married and preparing to move halfway across the country two weeks after your wedding, well...you get the idea).
So here is a short synopsis of my year thus far...(plus a bit of the end of last year). I will give you details about these later, but here's a good starting point, since I should probably be sleeping right now. :)
November:
Make the commitment to become a home owner. Get a real estate agent, pre-approved loan and a realistic picture of what you can actually afford. Visit lots and lots of houses.
December:
Visit a lot more houses. Get discouraged (because, you know, that's what I do) and wonder if I will ever find something I love in my price range that doesn't require tons of fixing up (because our budget just doesn't cover that). Visit a house that looks extremely promising on the internet and leave said house wondering if a dead body is buried in the backyard. Or the walls. Or conceivably both. Still kind of awaiting that call from our agent stating that, in fact, a mass murderer lived there. Needless to say, that wasn't the house for us. More on that later.
Find a house that is perfect. Put in an offer and realize that it's a short sale. (Tip: short sales are the devil. Avoid these at all costs.) Try to not get my hopes up about the house and fail miserably. Await the bank's counteroffer anxiously.
January:
Still waiting for the bank's response to our offer. Oh wait, it's $25,000 more than our offer and completely out of our range (plus, in my opinion, way more than it's worth in this market). Counteroffer the counteroffer.
Bank comes down $5,000. Still not affordable. After much deliberation, decide that the bank is stupid and leave their offer. (House is still on the market, btw.)
Decide not to look at any more short sales and do regular sales or foreclosures only.
Apply for "promotion" at work. Get "promotion" and become part of the full-time working populace again. (Details to follow later.)
February:
Find a new house and fall in love. This is not a short sale. :) Put in an offer.
Offer accepted. Yay!!! Get home inspection.
Home inspection fairly normal. Negotiate based on home inspection. Offer is acceptable to all parties. Schedule date to sign all the papers.
Have car accident. My fault. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Fortunately, no one was injured and the other person's car was hardly damaged. My car is all better now.
Pack, pack, pack. ::Ugh::
March:
Become first-time home owners!!! Move in with the help of amazing friends. Unpack, unpack, unpack.
April:
Unpack some more. Attempting real organization for the first time in my life (will write some posts with tips that have been working for me) and am unpacking slowly to try to actually find a place for everything.
I think something else happened in April...see where my mind has gone?
Oh yeah, I chopped off ten inches of hair and donated it to Pantene Great Lengths. I am now sporting a pixie hairstyle. It's taken some getting used to, but I do think I like it.
May:
Decide to apply for new jobs. Can handle this job (it's so easy, it's not even funny), but continually realize that this is not a permanent solution. Update resume. ::HATE:: Revise resume. Revise again. Start drafting cover letter. Decide that writing cover letters might be a good form of torture. Pull job requisitions. Get extremely frustrated with the entire process and the fact that a lot of people seem to think that I should just go back to teaching because it would be "so different in a 'normal' school." Um, thanks to the lack of respect for teachers and the brain sucking thing called No Child Left Behind and the fact that wealthier parents are also crazy, just differently crazy, I'm going to say that this is probably not the case. But I digress...soapboxes, I know.
Random neighbor hits car and runs. Not major damage, but my bumper is cracked. Still need to schedule an inspection for it so insurance company will fix it. Neighbor kids, however, are awesome and wrote down license plate. Called police and filed report. Still awaiting next steps...
Whew... It's been busy. But good busy. We're really happy and healthy and we're getting ready to celebrate one year of marriage!
Josh has proven that he is extremely handy since moving into the house. Maybe he could teach handy husband lessons. :)
Also, because I'm nerdy, I've decided that I'm going to start my Etsy business, learn to quilt and write some blog articles about organizing and crafting. I like to use this to update my friends and really just write about everything that's going on (isn't blogging so therapeutic?), but I LOVE tutorial blogs and I would love it if I could eventually be the writer of one of those, too. Yes, I am boring, but I'd like to think I'm a fun and funky kind of nerdy boring. Yes, I know that this is definitionally impossible, but, quite frankly, I don't much care. :)
And now, I am going to attempt to go to bed, even though I have had entirely too much caffeine today and am not sure that this is going to be a manageable task.
Goodnight!
Things have been a bit busy lately. Thankfully, though, it's been the good kind of busy. When I think about this time last year, well, I quickly change the subject in my head... (finishing up your last year of teaching, getting ready to get married and preparing to move halfway across the country two weeks after your wedding, well...you get the idea).
So here is a short synopsis of my year thus far...(plus a bit of the end of last year). I will give you details about these later, but here's a good starting point, since I should probably be sleeping right now. :)
November:
Make the commitment to become a home owner. Get a real estate agent, pre-approved loan and a realistic picture of what you can actually afford. Visit lots and lots of houses.
December:
Visit a lot more houses. Get discouraged (because, you know, that's what I do) and wonder if I will ever find something I love in my price range that doesn't require tons of fixing up (because our budget just doesn't cover that). Visit a house that looks extremely promising on the internet and leave said house wondering if a dead body is buried in the backyard. Or the walls. Or conceivably both. Still kind of awaiting that call from our agent stating that, in fact, a mass murderer lived there. Needless to say, that wasn't the house for us. More on that later.
Find a house that is perfect. Put in an offer and realize that it's a short sale. (Tip: short sales are the devil. Avoid these at all costs.) Try to not get my hopes up about the house and fail miserably. Await the bank's counteroffer anxiously.
January:
Still waiting for the bank's response to our offer. Oh wait, it's $25,000 more than our offer and completely out of our range (plus, in my opinion, way more than it's worth in this market). Counteroffer the counteroffer.
Bank comes down $5,000. Still not affordable. After much deliberation, decide that the bank is stupid and leave their offer. (House is still on the market, btw.)
Decide not to look at any more short sales and do regular sales or foreclosures only.
Apply for "promotion" at work. Get "promotion" and become part of the full-time working populace again. (Details to follow later.)
February:
Find a new house and fall in love. This is not a short sale. :) Put in an offer.
Offer accepted. Yay!!! Get home inspection.
Home inspection fairly normal. Negotiate based on home inspection. Offer is acceptable to all parties. Schedule date to sign all the papers.
Have car accident. My fault. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Fortunately, no one was injured and the other person's car was hardly damaged. My car is all better now.
Pack, pack, pack. ::Ugh::
March:
Become first-time home owners!!! Move in with the help of amazing friends. Unpack, unpack, unpack.
April:
Unpack some more. Attempting real organization for the first time in my life (will write some posts with tips that have been working for me) and am unpacking slowly to try to actually find a place for everything.
I think something else happened in April...see where my mind has gone?
Oh yeah, I chopped off ten inches of hair and donated it to Pantene Great Lengths. I am now sporting a pixie hairstyle. It's taken some getting used to, but I do think I like it.
May:
Decide to apply for new jobs. Can handle this job (it's so easy, it's not even funny), but continually realize that this is not a permanent solution. Update resume. ::HATE:: Revise resume. Revise again. Start drafting cover letter. Decide that writing cover letters might be a good form of torture. Pull job requisitions. Get extremely frustrated with the entire process and the fact that a lot of people seem to think that I should just go back to teaching because it would be "so different in a 'normal' school." Um, thanks to the lack of respect for teachers and the brain sucking thing called No Child Left Behind and the fact that wealthier parents are also crazy, just differently crazy, I'm going to say that this is probably not the case. But I digress...soapboxes, I know.
Random neighbor hits car and runs. Not major damage, but my bumper is cracked. Still need to schedule an inspection for it so insurance company will fix it. Neighbor kids, however, are awesome and wrote down license plate. Called police and filed report. Still awaiting next steps...
Whew... It's been busy. But good busy. We're really happy and healthy and we're getting ready to celebrate one year of marriage!
Josh has proven that he is extremely handy since moving into the house. Maybe he could teach handy husband lessons. :)
Also, because I'm nerdy, I've decided that I'm going to start my Etsy business, learn to quilt and write some blog articles about organizing and crafting. I like to use this to update my friends and really just write about everything that's going on (isn't blogging so therapeutic?), but I LOVE tutorial blogs and I would love it if I could eventually be the writer of one of those, too. Yes, I am boring, but I'd like to think I'm a fun and funky kind of nerdy boring. Yes, I know that this is definitionally impossible, but, quite frankly, I don't much care. :)
And now, I am going to attempt to go to bed, even though I have had entirely too much caffeine today and am not sure that this is going to be a manageable task.
Goodnight!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Child Life
It's been awhile since I've posted. I have a few things I should probably start posting about...a response to an article that I've wanted to put up for awhile and I'm getting ready to start my own Etsy shop, so I've been thinking about posting about that. Oh yeah, and we're trying to buy a house.
So for those of you who read my blog, thanks again and sorry that it's been so long. :) I will update on my oh-so-exciting (not really, but I'm enjoying that) life soon.
But tonight, I am tired and I have to work tomorrow, so it will be a quick post. Or at least I'm going to try.
Tomorrow, I am meeting with a Child Life Specialist to discuss the job position and the requirements for certification. I am very excited and would greatly appreciate any prayers, kind thoughts that you would send my way.
Right now, I'm just trying to figure out my next calling in life. Clearly, it isn't teaching. And while I am enjoying being a hearing screener for now, it's definitely not a forever position for me. I am grateful for the opportunity in this economy, but it's only part time, it doesn't pay very well and it just isn't what I envision doing for the rest of my life. Which is fine. It's certainly better than nothing and it's nice to have something significantly less taxing than my last job. Plus I get to hang out with babies and meet new people every day.
I found out about Child Life from my friend, Ellen, who is a Med/Peds resident in Houston. Basically that means that she's studying medicine to be able to practice on both adults and children. The best part is that she can really provide that gap for people like my brother who have adult problems, but need the bedside manner and skills of a pediatrician. (For those of you who may not know, my brother has Down Syndrome and Autism, if that provides any clarity.) Ellen and I were talking about what I should do next and she suggested Child Life, so this is something that's sort of been rolling around in my head for about a year now. Ellen also introduced me to my husband, so if I do decide to pursue this as a career, she will have had a pretty distinct impact on my life. :)
I mean, she will have had a pretty awesome impact either way, but it will be even more dramatic. (Not trying to downplay you, Josh.)
So what is Child Life? I'm going to try to link a video that gives a great explanation, but I'll also put the Child Life Council website. www.childlife.org Child life specialists help kids who are receiving medical treatment, often in the hospital. They teach kids about the procedures they'll undergo, provide therapeutic and educational play, sibling support and distraction during medical procedures. I love kids and I feel like this might be a way where I can actually feel like I can have an impact. I can't make their ailments go away, but I might be able to provide some understanding and emotional support along the way.
It's not something that I'll be starting right away. I have a lot to do to even be eligible to sit the certification exam. I have to pick up about ten classes that relate to Child Life (basically psychology, child development, that sort of thing), since I didn't take anything remotely related in college. I also have to complete an internship/fellowship and then sit the exam. So, it's a ways off, but I feel like I might finally have some direction.
We'll see. Maybe this is only a stop in the journey.
So for those of you who read my blog, thanks again and sorry that it's been so long. :) I will update on my oh-so-exciting (not really, but I'm enjoying that) life soon.
But tonight, I am tired and I have to work tomorrow, so it will be a quick post. Or at least I'm going to try.
Tomorrow, I am meeting with a Child Life Specialist to discuss the job position and the requirements for certification. I am very excited and would greatly appreciate any prayers, kind thoughts that you would send my way.
Right now, I'm just trying to figure out my next calling in life. Clearly, it isn't teaching. And while I am enjoying being a hearing screener for now, it's definitely not a forever position for me. I am grateful for the opportunity in this economy, but it's only part time, it doesn't pay very well and it just isn't what I envision doing for the rest of my life. Which is fine. It's certainly better than nothing and it's nice to have something significantly less taxing than my last job. Plus I get to hang out with babies and meet new people every day.
I found out about Child Life from my friend, Ellen, who is a Med/Peds resident in Houston. Basically that means that she's studying medicine to be able to practice on both adults and children. The best part is that she can really provide that gap for people like my brother who have adult problems, but need the bedside manner and skills of a pediatrician. (For those of you who may not know, my brother has Down Syndrome and Autism, if that provides any clarity.) Ellen and I were talking about what I should do next and she suggested Child Life, so this is something that's sort of been rolling around in my head for about a year now. Ellen also introduced me to my husband, so if I do decide to pursue this as a career, she will have had a pretty distinct impact on my life. :)
I mean, she will have had a pretty awesome impact either way, but it will be even more dramatic. (Not trying to downplay you, Josh.)
So what is Child Life? I'm going to try to link a video that gives a great explanation, but I'll also put the Child Life Council website. www.childlife.org Child life specialists help kids who are receiving medical treatment, often in the hospital. They teach kids about the procedures they'll undergo, provide therapeutic and educational play, sibling support and distraction during medical procedures. I love kids and I feel like this might be a way where I can actually feel like I can have an impact. I can't make their ailments go away, but I might be able to provide some understanding and emotional support along the way.
It's not something that I'll be starting right away. I have a lot to do to even be eligible to sit the certification exam. I have to pick up about ten classes that relate to Child Life (basically psychology, child development, that sort of thing), since I didn't take anything remotely related in college. I also have to complete an internship/fellowship and then sit the exam. So, it's a ways off, but I feel like I might finally have some direction.
We'll see. Maybe this is only a stop in the journey.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Our New Church has a lot of Messed-up People :)
God has really blessed Josh and I to be part of a church plant in Woodbridge/Dumfries, Virginia. It's called Spirit and Life Church and its mission is to be a place where all people feel welcome, whether they're growing in their walk with the Lord, not sure what they believe, unbelievers or have previously been estranged from the church. It wants to be the alternative to what many people commonly associate with the church (as in the institution, not the beliefs) today----more on that later. This will *hopefully* be a truly quick post.
But I wanted to share this video that the church played last week...I think it shows what the church at large is and should be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUJpJyth3J4
You may have heard the criticism that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites and that's probably true. And that you might feel like you've screwed up too much to come to church or you won't be welcome or that God can't possibly love you.
You know what Christianity is? It's the following of a loving God by a bunch of screwed-up, flawed and really not-so-great people. God loves everyone and forgives all those who come to Him. And there's not one thing we can do to earn His love....or lose it. We're all messed up. (I mean if you've met me, you know I can be kind of a jerk.) We all like to save face and pretend that we're not, but we are. I guess that's where we're a bunch of hypocrites. So if you want to go to church with a bunch of people who are just as messed up as you are, but also just as forgiven, we'd love to have you.
But I wanted to share this video that the church played last week...I think it shows what the church at large is and should be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUJpJyth3J4
You may have heard the criticism that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites and that's probably true. And that you might feel like you've screwed up too much to come to church or you won't be welcome or that God can't possibly love you.
You know what Christianity is? It's the following of a loving God by a bunch of screwed-up, flawed and really not-so-great people. God loves everyone and forgives all those who come to Him. And there's not one thing we can do to earn His love....or lose it. We're all messed up. (I mean if you've met me, you know I can be kind of a jerk.) We all like to save face and pretend that we're not, but we are. I guess that's where we're a bunch of hypocrites. So if you want to go to church with a bunch of people who are just as messed up as you are, but also just as forgiven, we'd love to have you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)