Sew Awesome!


I've had my sewing machine for about two years now but have yet to do a lot with it. I'm scared to just venture out on my own and attempt something since I haven't done anything on a sewing machine since that one time in high school when I made a skirt. My mom has helped me a few times and I did make a dress for Amelia, mostly by myself, in February for Valentine's Day... but this was my first 100% solo project.

I have fabric and patterns galore. I guess you could say I have an addiction to the idea of sewing and know I will love it once I master it, so I pick up things all the time when they are on sale. I really wanted to make Amelia something festive for Halloween. She has a jumper that my mom made her for Thanksgiving last year and it still fits, but I wanted something Halloweenish. I found the fabric and set out to pick a pattern. I decided on an easy skirt. I had cut out the actual pattern about two weeks ago but had hoped my mom would be in town to help me. Since Halloween is just around the corner I decided last night that I better get going on it. I'm not one to half ass something, I like my projects to be near perfect, which is why it has taken me so long to just go for it on my own. I must say, I am beyond excited with my first fully solo sewing project. Now on to picture overload...



 I made her a little flower pin for her plain turtleneck out of the same fabric.







Now I believe I am more confident to tackle some other patterns. Tomorrow I am on a furlough before finishing my final two days at the office Tuesday and Wednesday. I head up to my parent's house Friday morning and my sewing machine is heading up with Amelia and I. I'm looking forward to what the future holds.
Ashley Elizabeth
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High Five For Friday


I've been waiting for Friday since Monday! I haven't been getting enough sleep lately and find myself dragging. I'm typically very vitamin-D deficient, like a lot of Oregonians, so it's time to start hitting the D drops again. Perhaps that will help put a little pep in my step. So, here is my high five post for Friday!
1. My best friend's mom is watching Amelia for my last few days at work. Amelia LOVES it over there and told me that they are her best friends. I took this picture only a few minutes after we left Tina's house; I'm pretty sure they wore her out with all of their fun! I just love the sleepy babe, rain boots and a giant leaf (the leaf is larger than Amelia's head).

2. This past week we've had an unusually high amount of fruit flies. We didn't even have this many during the summer when our home was filled with fresh fruit and veggies. A co-worker said that her house has them as well. Thankfully Mark and I know how to kill them! Best fruit fly concoction you will ever find. 


3. This is my daily water jug! Amelia has decked it out with some stickers, but I rock this Beavers mug every day. For some reason today I was exceptionally thirsty and had over two of these to drink. I love my water.

4. Chores! I love that Amelia now has a few chores. She feeds her fish and then gets her Rudy cat food and water every morning.
5. My love and I... soon to be home together EVERY DAY!!! Only two more days at the office. 
Ashley Elizabeth
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Bird house


If you are wondering why the title of my blog post is bird house, I was trying to decide what to call it and Amelia said "name it bird house"... and so I did.

I had not intended to hop on here tonight and post but I had to share a few funny things from the day. First off, Amelia is such an awesome kid! and she says some of the greatest things. On our drive home today she scared me half to death when she hollered at me...

Amelia "MAMA MAMA LOOK... look up in the sky"
Me "What honey" (said as I'm trying to look up but also keep my car on the road)
Amelia "I SEE A SHOOTING STAR!!!"
Me "Oh really (looking out at the daylight sky). Where is the shooting star"
Amelia "Up there, I see it right up there"

What she thought was a shooting star was actually a contrail. There was no way I was going to tell her any different, she was so excited about what she had just seen.

Once we arrived home I saw her going through  my purse and attempting to get in my wallet. Another silly exchange of words...

Me "What are you doing in my purse?"
Amelia " I just need some cash Mama"
Me "What?"
Amelia "Cash......... Money, I need money Mama"

And so it starts.

So with my new job title of stay at home Mom I've decided to provide childcare out of my home. I don't want to have a house full, just a couple. Tonight I was getting a background check for Mark and I, this is a total first for me, so that I can provide it for one of the moms I met with. My background check came back 100% clean! Not a thing on there. Mark's background check of course had a few tickets, and something else I found to be quite strange. Apparently my husband is on the bronze medalist Olympic equestrian team. HA! Oh my, I'm quite certain they have the wrong Mark. Most of the other information was spot on, but we live in a rental home and are not owners of some high class stable... and there isn't a medal hanging on our wall.

At this point I can't believe that I only have 4 working days left at the office. I worked my buns off today, so much so that my weigh in showed a total of 10 pounds lost since October 8th. I'm ecstatic!

Well I'm off for the night, but as usual I can't post without a picture! and as usual, my go to girl is Amelia!

Exhausted Babes sleep sitting up!!!


Ashley Elizabeth
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Like an energizer bunny...


I can't believe how busy yesterday was, Amelia and I were going non-stop. Here is what our day looked like...

7:30 - 10:00is hair appointment for a cut and color
10:30 - 11:30 rush home for a quick bite to eat and get Amelia dressed for ballet
12:00 - 2:00 Amelia had a costume fitting and rehearsal for the Nutcracker
2:30 - 5:00 change out of ballet and head to Grandma Grace's to have dinner with my family
5:30 - 9:00 Oregon City bridge re-opening festival with a great fireworks show
9:00 - 11:00 play with Amelia & snuggle time
11:00 - 1:30am - wait for my husband to get home while I watch Netflix

Wow, I get tired just looking at this, but it was a great day! and now I don't plan on doing anything today!
My hair was in desperate need of a cut and color. The ends were horribly dry and my color had faded. My sisters and I all go to the same hair stylist, Emily at Canby Hair Design. As always, she did an incredible job and I am now ready for fall!

I hadn't been able to take Amelia to ballet yet, since I'm always working when she goes, so I was excited that she had Nutcracker rehearsal this weekend. I talked with some other moms and hung out for two hours while she got fitted for her mouse costume and they rehearsed. It is going to be such a great performance. 

Over at my Grandma's they had the Oregon State game on. We were predicted to lose by 6 and our quarter back was out with a knee injury... we won 42-24!!!!! My Aunt Debbie had made soup and bread for dinner, and it was delicious. We only stayed briefly so that we could get back for the Oregon City festivities. 

After dinner we headed home and then took the Oregon City elevator down to the festival that was going on for the bridge re-opening. Grace and Chris joined us, and it was a fun time. 

 My little Miss sportin' her new boots that I bought her

 Taking a little nap before walking around Oregon City

 Us!

I was quite impressed with the firework show that was put on. It lasted about 30 minutes and the finale was great! 

I bought Amelia this new shirt Friday. She is a Rainbow Dash fanatic and when I saw it, I couldn't resist. 

I'm spending today crafting, decorating and lounging about. Only 7 more working days and then I'm a stay at home Mama!!!

Oh and I'm down 7.4 pounds this week. I lost about half of that before taking the water pills so I assume the rest is from having to pee all the time. Either way, I'll take the loss!


Ashley Elizabeth
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High Five for Friday 10/12


Here is my late high five for Friday post. I spent Friday evening out shopping with my mom & sisters, and didn't get home until close to midnight... So here is my little recap on this past week.

1. Since my fall down our stairs (one month ago) I have been sore off and on. This past week my right leg really started to swell and both of my legs eventually puffed up like balloons. Above is a picture I took at the doctor's office while I waited. My leg hurts so bad that I can barely push down on the gas pedal. My doctor put me on a water pill for a week so that the swelling would go down, and from there we will figure out if my knee is just a simple strain/sprain or something else. I think the pain could just be from the swelling. 

 2. Amelia and I have always read at night off and on, but lately we are making a habit of reading. There are two books that she absolutely loves and knows well enough know to read them to me. I love this time together.

 3. I'm cleaning out my office and packing up all of my things. Amelia drew this on my whiteboard at work and I've kept it there ever since. I will let the girl that was hired to replace me erase it... I love it too much!

4. I love my little lunch break visitor!!!

5. I love fall! It is probably my favorite season of all (not intending to rhyme). The colors, the smells, the early sunsets, sweaters, boots, cider, being cuddled up in a blanket... all things I love. This week we had to turn on the heat a few nights. We didn't run it all night, just long enough to take the chill off... but it was so cozy in the house.





Ashley Elizabeth
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Catching up...


Wow, I really have been away from my blog for a while. I just uploaded pictures from my camera and realized I had a lot that I hasn't posted yet. So, a week ago Saturday Erica and I went to the Oregon State Beavers game and I know I posted a few pictures from my phone but none from my camera. Our OSU team is doing great so far this year!

 Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon

 It was a great game

 Final Score

Sister!!! I had so much fun with her

 Amelia playing in Great Grandma's backyard, wearing her new OSU shirt.

Playing ball with Grandma Tami, Auntie Erica, Auntie Grace & Mama

Ashley Elizabeth
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Just stuff


What a busy day today. I cover our dispatcher's days off so I worked a 9-6 shift... but ended up staying until 8pm because of a fire we had. I really will miss the incredibly busy fire days at ODF. I love being so swamped with fires and dispatching, it is my favorite part of the job. Since I was going to be getting out of there late tonight, my sister Grace picked up Amelia for me and dropped her off at the office. She likes hanging out and coloring at the office. 
 Dispatcher in training

Ready to head home after a long day at the office (1&1/2 hours)

I had set two goals a few post back but I can guarantee I am not going to accomplish either of them. Goal one was to track everything I consume on Sparkpeople.com, and the second was to go on a date with my husband. I failed on the first goal by the second day and as far as a date with my husband, it will happen soon I'm sure, just not within the two weeks I gave myself. 

This past weekend was pretty great! My sister and I headed down to Corvallis, Oregon for the Oregon State Beavers football game. It was a wonderful time! I went to Oregon State my first year of college and have some of the best memories ever from my time down there. It was wonderful to be back in that town. Erica was laughing that I can navigate around there better at night than in the day. We talked about possibly getting season tickets next year, how fun would that be! I took some pretty great pictures from the game but left my camera over at my Grandma's, so I will share those in another post, but show you the ones from my phone. 
 Oregon State

 My older sister Erica!

 Sisters

Me! 

We got home from the game around midnight on Saturday so I definitely slept in on Sunday. Late afternoon we headed over to my Grandma's house and spent some time with my parents who came in to town Saturday. We played ball outside and had a great time until I got called to work. We had a fairly decent fire and I needed to head in and help out our dispatcher. I was at the office until 11:15pm and again, got home around midnight. Needless to say, Monday I was dragging. I'm enjoying my extra time in the dispatch center. I now only have 11 more days at the office so I'm glad to be getting a lot of co-worker hang out time in. 

I know this post is a lot of nothing... but I seem to be going and going... and going so much lately that it is hard to post anything but a quick post. 

One great thing I guess is that I did eat incredibly well the past two days. I think once I'm home every day I will be on a roll, but for now I'm just happy to have not eaten all of the tempting sweets that have been placed in front of my face lately. I mean, we have had ice cream in the house for over a week now and I've only had two servings. Yay me! 

Good night all!



Ashley Elizabeth
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High Five for Friday!


This week was a total whirlwind. It seems that once I put my final notice in my workload tripled. There are so many things I want to get done prior to leaving and I've been going non-stop. Here is my High Five for Friday post!!!

1. Making silly faces with my girl! We love goofing off and then laughing at our ridiculous pictures. I was told I just had to stick my tongue out! Love this girl!!!


 2. Amelia decided she wanted to make herself a blueberry smoothie the other night for dinner. She did it all by herself. Blueberries, Banana and Mango

 3. Amelia picked me some new flowers for our craft room! They are so beautiful. I'm glad we decided to grow some flower mixes this year.

 4. Yay for having a space to color! Amelia and I were able to get in some coloring time three evenings this week!

5. My little treat while sitting here blogging to you all. A nice hot cup of black tea with nectarines! 

One more major highlight from this week... I love to decorate my porch for fall. Usually I do a hay bale with some pumpkins, corn stalks and a scarecrow. My sister Grace picked up a bale for me this week and I got a few pumpkins but I was missing the corn stalks. So I had gotten Chinese food for lunch one day but I was literally interrupted all but 5 minutes of my lunch. I had set it aside and wasn't planning on finishing it. My bestest buddy walked in and asked if I was going to finish  my lunch, I of course replied with "do you have corn stalks" and he said he did. I told him I would trade him my half eaten lunch, that I had intended on throwing away, for his corn stalks... and he agreed!!! I will have to post pictures once my porch is beautified!!! Happy fall everyone! I am ready for some fall weather, bring on the sweaters and Uggs.



Ashley Elizabeth
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