A glimpse of my wedding!

I have really been looking forward to the link up that Absolute Mommy was hosting today. It is a what I wore wedding edition.

Unfortunately, I am old school and don't have the digital copies of my professional wedding photos. :(

So, I have a few candid shots to show you today.

This is where we got married....almost 5 years ago!

 

My wedding dress was actually my SECOND wedding dress. I had  previously bought one that really flattered me and felt "right" when I tried it on. However, I saw this one in a window and instantly fell in love with it. I just knew the second I put it on that it was meant for me. So, my hubby indulged me and we bought it. The first dress still hangs in my mom's closet with the tags still on it!

Being the dutiful groom and carrying my train.

It's funny because when I envisioned what I wanted my wedding dress to look like it was nothing like this. I had imagined cap sleeves and covered buttons with lace details. Instead, I ended up with sweetheart neckline, sleeveless and soft pickups. I still love this dress and wish I could wear it around the house! As if it would fit. :(

Girls being silly trying to calm my nerves before walking down the aisle.

Walking down the aisle

Two weeks before my wedding my wisdom teeth became infected and they wanted to pull them. I said heck no! I didn't want to be swollen and in pain so they loaded me up with antibiotics and pain pills. Luckily, the infection went down and the pain subsided. Side note... I still haven't gotten them removed.

But, because my teeth had hurt so bad I was hardly eating and lost more weight after my final fitting. my dress was loose and I ended up stepping on it and almost tripping while going down the aisle. haha

First kiss as husband and wife!

 My bridesmaids were all given a choice of three colors to choose from. I was pretty relaxed through the whole thing and said as long as they were somewhat matching. that color and style was up to them. I wanted them to be comfortable and I think it turned out great.

I wouldn't have changed anything at all about that day.

Friday's Letters

Dear Life,
Man, you have been rough on me lately and have really thrown me for a loop. Can you just settle down for a bit and give me a bit of a break?!

Dear dairy free diet,
You are so much harder than I imagined you to be! I love cheese and yogurt!! Almond cheese just doesn't cut it! If It weren't for health reasons than I wouldn't be doing this.

Dear Hunger Games,
Yes, I know I am a little bit late jumping on the band wagon here. I started you two days ago and I am hooked. I have been staying up way too late reading!!

Dear weekend,
For once we don't have any concrete plans and it feels good! I am hoping the weather clears up so we can spend it outdoors.

Dear blog friends,
You guys are amazing, seriously! I have "met" so many friends on here and received so much support, love and encouragement from you!! Thanks!

Jaxson's Monster Birthday Party

On Sunday, the day before his actual birthday, we celebrated with friends and family.

In the months leading up to Jaxson's birthday I had been searching through pinterest hoping to glean some inspiration.  Boy, did I ever. Jaxson loves Monsters Inc. so I figured a monster theme was fitting.

There were so many great ideas and I was eventually led to Etsy where I found a cool pdf file that could be purchased, downloaded, printed out and then assembled. Since I don't consider myself to be very crafty this was the perfect solution for me.

Jaxson's cake was made by a friend of the family and it turned out fantastic! It was so adorable and tasted delicious!

 We decided to go with just desserts and since we have two chocolate fountains we put them to use.

We have everything you could think of to dip into the chocolate; bananas, strawberries, rice krispie treats, marshmallows, graham crackers, oreos, pretzels and vanilla wafers. We had cones to fill with candy and our own personal "slime juice".

I thought the googly eyes were a fun touch on the clear cups!

We can't forget about the water bottles!

My step dad made these monster cut outs and my mom sewed bean bag monsters for a bean bag toss! The kids got a kick out sticking their heads inside and pretending to be monsters!

So did some of the adults!

Jaxson's very own monster zone!

Some fun things worth mentioning that weren't captured on camera:

I had an old spiderman pinata from last year that I thought I could recover and make into a monster. It didn't really work out so we stuck with spiderman. It was so adorable to watch the little 3 and 4 year olds (and Kendra) try to break the pinata. When they realized they couldn't do it, I was called upon.
I ended up breaking the broom handle in half and not even a dent in the pinata! That thing was strong. It took Brandon with a 2x4 to break it!

After opening each one of his presents he had to show it to all of his friends. This made for a very long process of opening gifts.

He received a little acoustic guitar and upon opening it he jumped on top of his chair and proceeded to sing and dance for everyone. :)


It really was so much fun and I can not thank our families enough for all of their hard work to help pull off this party! I think I was more excited about the decorations than Jaxson was! I am already brainstorming ideas for Kendra's party in August!

Dear Jaxson,

 Yesterday was your third birthday! I can not believe how fast the time is flying. I feel like in the blink of an eye you have grown from my newborn baby boy into such a little man. I could not be more proud or have more love for you than I do right now.

Everyday you amaze me. I know everyone tells you that there is no way to describe the love you feel for your child until you look into their eyes for the first time. I understood the second I set eyes on you. Yes, you gave us many scares during my pregnancy, but you have flourished and become such a strong, healthy, active little boy. Yes, emphasis on the boy because you love all things car, monsters, trucks, muddy, dirty, and sports related!

You are also a sensitive little guy and are very much a little care taker. You generally think of others and worry how they feel. You are also very receptive of my feelings and moods and you are a very good snuggler. Some of my favorite times are when you crawl into bed with me in the mornings and we have some cuddle time.

Yesterday, per your request, you had heart shaped pancakes, chocolate milk and "comfy" blankets for breakfast.

After breakfast we loaded into the car and set off for the zoo. It was the perfect day for it. The first time we had temps over 70 degrees in almost 7 months!

Here you are in front of the python exhibit!

All day you kept saying how excited you were to see all the "amazing" animals. You were full of so many questions and such wonder at all the things to see and do.

You were such a good big brother making sure sissy got to see all the animals. :)

We finished the night off by finally getting our fire pit going and roasting some marshmallows for smores!


All in all it was the perfect way to celebrate you!


Stay tuned- pictures from Jaxson's Monster Bash tomorrow. :)

I haven't disappeared!

I just want to say a big thank you to all of my readers (yes, that's you!) for always giving me so much support and encouragement.  I can not tell you how much it means to me that you care. Your thoughtful words give me strength when I need it.

Things have been pretty chaotic around here the last week; concerts, girl's nights, Jaxson's third birthday, a trip to the zoo and colds for the whole family! Phew! Needless to say, the housework has gotten neglected and I have a lot of catching up to do!

I can not wait to share all the photos from Jaxson's fun monster party!

Just give me a few days to catch up on everything else around here. :)

Last Thing Thursday

ATE:Grapes and bananas.... nothing too fancy around here.


Bought myself: an iced soy mocha.... but that seems to be an almost everyday indulgence (oops). I bought a cute tank from Old Navy the other day without trying it on and  it was too big, so now I need to go exchange it. At least it wasn't too small like every pair of pants I have right now!!



Bought for the babies:Summer clothes and flip flops. The weather fooled me into thinking it was going to be warm so I stocked up on some essentials because the kids had nothing!

Watched on TV: GCB. It is a little over the top at times but still pretty funny! Plus, I have always liked Kristin Chenoweth.

source

Movie watched at the theater: This Means War, with Reese Witherspoon. I think this got really bad reviews, but I liked it. I have always adored Reese and I thought it was a good mix of romance, comedy and action thrown in for the hubby. Perfect date night movie. :)

Got really excited about: This weekend! Saturday is the street fair, Dierks Bentley concert with my friends and then Jaxson's birthday party Sunday!

Can you believe this little guy is going to be three?!

 

 Linking up over here with Gentri Lee for 7 Questions.


7 Questions:
1. What is your favorite App? (even if you don't have a smart phone I'm sure you've played around with someone else's)
Hmm... just one? Well, right now it is Instagram since I just got it!! (my username is ashdiane1224). I really love playing drawsomething and words with friends too.

2. You have to come up with a book title on the spot- what is it? (don't think- just say!)
For some reason parachute was the first word that popped into my mind?! Not sure.....
 
3. You are given the choice between laughing at everything- always, or never being able to laugh again. Which would you choose?
Laughing at everything.... I would rather be able to see the joy in everything and be able to express it. Plus, sometimes I giggle when I am in uncomfortable situations. I  don't mean to, but it just happens!

4. What natural disaster scares you the most? (tornado, hurricane, earthquake, flood, etc)
They all scare me but where I come from we don't have to worry about tornadoes or hurricanes, but I do live along a fault line and "the ring of fire". We are supposed to have "the big one".

5. What time do you wake up each day? What time do you go to sleep?
My little alarm clocks (my kids) wake me up between 7 and 8 everyday. I try to get in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11 but it is usually closer to midnight when I fall asleep. I need some time to read or catch up on my shows. :)

6. (question courtesy of Katie) Who's your daddy, and what does he do?
 My dad is such an inspiration to me. Seriously... he was the one who has taught me to be myself and make no apologies for it! Right now, he is between jobs (he has worked retail since he was 16 and finally needed a change) and just trying to find a good fit.


7. What's the craziest dream you've ever had? (like an actual dream- while you were sleeping)
Well, I have crazy dreams all the time! The other night, though, I had a dream that I was considering divorcing Brandon and I had a line of about ten guys to choose from (only in my dreams!). Adam Levene was one. I blame this on the fact that I was watching The Voice before I went to bed. hehe

MIA

I know I have been a little bit absent lately. I have had so much on my mind and no words to really define it. There have been recent events in my life that have unsettled me (to say the least) and made me question some things. I wish I had all the answers to things, but, sadly, I do not.

Writing is always a little like therapy, but for now I need to hold it all in. It's as if I write it down or even speak it, then it becomes real. Do you ever feel that way? The longer you say nothing than the longer you can be in denial and not have to face that reality. I honestly don't mean to be secretive but only want you to understand that I am going through some personal things and that is why I may not seem myself.

For now, I just ask for patience from you while I take a step back. I will still be around, just not as much right now.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Getting Organized - my medicine cabinet/linen closet

My medicine cabinet has been anything but organized. I recently gave it an overhaul but it was quite ridiculous how quickly it became chaotic again. So, I set out to fix that. I picked up some bins at the dollar store and Fred Meyer and divided things up into categories. After that it was just a matter of tossing things into the bins. I labeled each bin and the labels will do for now (I have atrocious hand writing) until I can find a cheap label maker.

Here is a lovely before shot

A closer view of my very messy shelf

This is the shelf I started to organize......

                             

So much better!

 

This is what took most of the time...figuring what was going to go where.  I did end up "purging" a lot of things that I didn't need or use.

I love how clean this shelf looks!

Wordless Wednesday (sort of)

Somebody enjoyed her Easter candy!

Our Weekend

Well, we finally hit temps of over 65 this weekend! I know to some of you that is considered cold, but to us, it was bliss! The sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky! This weekend was filled with all of my favorite things; warm weather, time spent with family and friends, good food, smiles on my kids' faces, yard work, and a night out of drinks and dancing with the hubby and friends! Phew.... it was exhausting but wonderful.

Hubby surprised me with some tulips Thursday night!

Friday Brandon and I met up with a friend at our favorite local Thai restaurant and caught up over drinks and dinner. We then headed to a nearby town where a big group of friends, some of whom we hadn't seen for over 8 years, were all going to be together. The band that was playing was also another friend's of Brandon's too. I had a few drinks and we did some dancing. Something we rarely do, but it was so fun! I think we made it home around 1:00 (that is a pretty late night for us). My mom had the kids all night (thanks Mom and Eric!) so we were able to actually sleep in on Saturday.

The rest of our day was spent outside soaking in all the sun before it disappears again (which is supposed to be tomorrow). I took Jaxson to a local Easter egg hunt and wow! Were we ever overwhelmed. They had each age group sectioned off so the younger kids didn't get trampled by the older ones but still! I swear they gave the go and 30 seconds later all the eggs were gone! Jax didn't quite know what to make of it but he ended up with about 4 eggs and some candy. He was pretty pleased with that. :)

When we got home Brandon had set up Jaxson's firetruck sandbox. Jaxson's face instantly lit up and he spent the rest of the day in there.

Kendra was still napping and Jax desperately wanted her to wake up and play. He kept asking over and over if we could wake her. He even said that there were two seats and one was for her and that he would "drive" her around.

We had lots of company stop by on Saturday and by the time the kids came in for dinner they were covered head to toe in sand and dirt.


Sunday morning we woke bright and early to see what the Easter bunny had brought.

Between us and all the grandparents I think the kids had three egg hunts and four Easter baskets! A little much.

Kendra got the concept down pretty quickly

Jaxson even shared his eggs with sissy

After breakfast and an egg hunt at home we headed down to my aunt's house which is about 45 minutes away. We were hoping the kids would nap but they were too wired.

We spent the afternoon outside playing crouquet and chasing the kids. I just have to add that I beat Brandon at crouquet! ;)

I told Jaxson to smile... so he scowled instead!

It was such a wonderful weekend and just reaffirmed how blessed and full our life actually is!

How was your Easter??

Friday's Letters

Dear Yesterday,
You were a great day. The sun was actually shining (for three hours) and we are able to play outside at playgroup. We went to the park with Meme and the girls and the kids had so much fun. I treated them to a special lunch at Hal's and we painted Easter eggs.

Dear Today,
You should be a great day, too! Although the sun is not shining, we are jam packed with activities. Tonight, the hubby and I get to catch up with some old friends, some of whom we haven't seen since high school! We are kidless for the night and plan on sleeping in tomorrow. :)

Dear Instagram,
I am so excited that you are finally available for androids! You better believe I downloaded it right away. I am still trying to figure it all out but you can follow me under ashdiane1224. Leave me your name, I would love to follow you too!

Dear lady at David's Bridal,
I am so glad I didn't take your word for it and order the size you thought I had needed. I could hardly breathe.... so I had to get an even bigger size! Ugh!

Dear metabolism,
Stop being so crazy, already! I am eating better, being more active and still.... not even a pound! My hubby, on the other hand, ten pounds in three weeks! Really?!

Sometimes and Always...........

Sometimes....... I tell myself that I really need to start working out regularly

Always..... I seem to find some excuse or another


Sometimes......I feel a little isolated staying at home so much with my kiddos

Always..... I am thankful for being given the chance to be a mommy and raise my kids

Sometimes......I get frustrated with the night shifts my hubby has to work

Always... I am thankful that he has a job that he loves and that he comes home safe to me in the mornings.


Sometimes.... the jealousy bug hits me and I envy those that have bigger house and nicer things.

Always... I remember that I have so much more than lots and that I need to be thankful for that.

Things Jaxson Says

Kids can be such a hilarious form of entertainment. I love Jaxson at this age because the things he says and does just crack me up! I know he is constantly watching everything we do and emulating our behavior (yikes!) . I still catch my self slipping up and saying things I shouldn't say. I am only human. :)


While we were at Sears a few weeks ago looking for a new refrigerator Jaxson saw a man and his young son standing by an entertainment system. Jaxson looks at me and says, " I think they need help...I need to go show them how to use that t.v." He then proceeds to go over to them and introduce himself and start telling them how to use it. He was basically just making stuff up. We all got a good laugh out of it.

The next evening we were in Home Depot ordering our new fridge and he decides to take it upon himself again to be a little salesman. He walked right over to a man and his teenage daughter (who were looking at fridges also) and proceeded to tell them all the details of the fridge. He said , " this is how it opens, the freezer is on the bottom and there are four shelves inside" . These were all the details from our new fridge. Obviously, he had been listening really well. He then proceeded to tell them that it cost $64.00, but that it was broken and they probably didn't want to buy it! 

A few nights ago Jaxson and I went with my parents to dinner and my step-dad was driving. Jaxson was quite the little backseat driver ( I know he gets this from me). Here are some of the things he said:

" Two hands papa. You always keep two hands on the wheel!"
"Stop! Stop! Stop! There are cars stopped!"
" You need lights on...it's dark"
"Turn left here...no, I said turn left"
" You are going to fast, slow down."

Pretty sure those are all things I have said to Brandon at one point and time.

Speaking of things kids say, Kendra has been talking up a storm in the last few weeks. Some of her new words are sunshine, makeup, kitty, okay, wake up (she bust in my room this morning and yelled it at me), stop, cart, Tangled, Diego, purse, boots, eat and yes. She knows her ABC now and can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old Mcdonald Had a Farm .