Thankful Thursday

July 31, 2014
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Today I am thankful for warm summer days. I'm thankful for the opportunity to stay at home and work on accomplishing my dreams. I'm thankful for a little girl who puts up with my desire to practice photography on a regular basis, and therefore becomes my constant subject. I'm thankful for time spent with her. I'm thankful for the bond we have. I'm thankful that I get to be here mommy. 









Ashley Elizabeth
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Sunny Saturday

July 27, 2014
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Today was a great day. I absolutely love fun filled summer days. This morning Amelia and I woke up early and got ready to go to the Washington County fair with my sister. Erica's schedule is so packed and it has been hard for us to find time to hang out with her, so I'm glad she spent her free morning with us. We got to the fair early enough that we didn't have to spend most of our time in the sweltering sun... we were leaving around the heat of the day. I love going to county fairs. It's fun to wander and look at all of the animals. I could really care less about all of the vendors, I just like seeing the things people make (to enter in the fair), the photography and the animals. Amelia loves the animals so much and really only cared about seeing them. She's also not a fan of rides. Well, she's scared of rides, but always wants to go on one. This year she wanted to ride the carousel.




After the fair Erica dropped Amelia and I off at home. We couldn't decide what to do so we headed up outside of town and picked blackberries. It was a ton of fun. I gave her a little rule two for the bowl, one for your mouth. More often than not it was three for her mouth and then three more for her mouth. We had fun and picked plenty of berries for me to make a blackberry crisp tomorrow. 







The funniest part of picking blackberries was that Amelia had to go to the bathroom really bad in the middle of it. As we usually do when we are in the woods, she pulled down her pants and was ready to go on the side of the road (don't worry... the road has no traffic). Just as I told her to step forward one more step (she was leaning on something), she couldn't wait and peed all over her pants. Thankfully the panties were spared. So, my child picked blackberries in nothing but panties, a tank top and tennis shoes. I of course snapped a photo for her to have when she's older. Oh and here was the sunset we saw on our way home. Gorgeous.

We finished off our night with lots of stories. Erica bought her some Fancy Nancy books last night and she's really been enjoying them. 

I'm hoping tomorrow is as great as today was. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. 
Ashley Elizabeth
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I'm so Thankful

July 24, 2014
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Have you ever heard that phrase "What if you woke up one morning with only the things you thanked God for the night before"? I read that somewhere several months ago and it really changed my mentality and the way I pray at night. Instead of just praying for things to happen, I give thanks for the things I have, for the people in my life and all of those things I normally take for granted. I love that this is something Amelia and I can do together. I think it's important for both of us to take the time and acknowledge that we are very blessed in this life. Sharing with you a few of the things I'm thankful for today.

I'm Thankful for the time I get to spend with Amelia. These years when our littles are little go by so fast and to have a husband that supports my staying home with her is beyond amazing. This is definitely not something I will ever take for granted. 

I'm Thankful for this cooler weather that has allowed me to bake without dying from the heat. 

I'm Thankful for a little sister who includes me in the fun of planning her wedding. 

I'm Thankful for Starbucks. Do I need to say more?

I'm Thankful that three weekends in August are dedicated to photo shoots. I am excited to have friends and family who believe in me enough to have me take their family photos. I can't wait to continue learning as much as possible about photography. 

I'm Thankful that I inherited my mom's crafty gene. What would I do without my crafting obsession? Now to get on making stuff for the Etsy shop. 

I'm Thankful that the weekend is almost here. Dinner out to celebrate my sister in-law turning 40, sewing, crafting, geocaching hopefully spending time with one of my bffs and maybe even a tea party thrown in there with Amelia. It's going to be a good weekend. 

Linking up today with Hudson & Emily for Thankful Thursday

Ashley Elizabeth
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Fall Inspiration

July 23, 2014
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We've had some cool rainy weather here the past few days. I am definitely getting anxious for Fall. I don't want summer to be over yet (because my baby starts school), but Fall is my favorite season and I love everything about it. Since I'm sure the weather will be back to it's hot and humid self in no time at all, I decided to spend some time today enjoying the cool air blowing through our open windows while browsing Pinterest for Fall inspiration.



Source: Money Saving Mom
Source: Martha Stewart
Source: Miss Lovie Creations
Source: Just Imagine
Source
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything
Source: Anderson & Grant
Source: Gooseberry Patch
Source: Sand & Sisal
Ashley Elizabeth
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The Best Banana Bread/Muffin Recipe

July 22, 2014
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If you have a few ripe bananas but don't want to throw them out, make this! I love banana bread and muffins and this recipe is awesome. It's the same one my grandma and mom use. You don't have to add chocolate chips, in fact the original recipe doesn't call for them, but Amelia loves adding chocolate chips to everything.


Ingredients
3 ripe bananas
1c sugar
2 eggs
1t soda
1&1/2t vanilla
2c flour
1/2c vegetable oil
optional: chocolate chips, nuts

Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 300. If you are making muffins, bake for approximately 30 minutes. If you are making loaves of bread, bake for 1 hour. 
Ashley Elizabeth
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Styling Straight & Fine Hair

July 21, 2014
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I am by no means a fashion/beauty blogger and I have no desire to be one. I will save that job for the ladies who don't find themselves in yoga pants at noon. The ones whose sleeves aren't used as napkins, whose socks aren't mismatched (because I had help with laundry), the ones without tiny fingerprint stains on their shirts or those who don't have nail polish all over their fingers (again because I had help doing my nails). I do, however, love shopping, hair products and make up. I have ultra fine hair. I'm that girl who dreams of beautiful long thick hair like my sisters have... bitches. Seriously, can't I just take a quarter of their hair and add it to mine? Ugh. Mini rant over, moving on. I have had to learn how to use products that add volume without weighing my hair down, figure out which haircuts work for me, and which don't and how to style my hair so that it won't fall and look like I bathed in grease. So here are a few of my tips for dealing with fine hair. And no, I'm not a professional hair stylist... just a girl that was birthed with less than ideal hair.


First, if you have hair like I do then I must say that I strongly believe in coloring your hair. I can always tell when I am due for some color when my hair starts getting flat and being difficult to style. I was going to add a photo of my hairstylist up above, but I'm not sure she would have appreciated that, haha. Seriously though, having my hair colored adds tons of volume and decreases the amount of time I have to put into making my mop presentable. 

My typical hair routine is as follows...

*Wash with a sulfate free shampoo. I use the Organix shampoo and like that I can find it at most stores. I have tried different Organix shampoos and they have all been great. I only condition my hair once every week or two, with the same brand. I notice if I condition too much then my hair doesn't style as nicely. 

*After my shower I comb my hair and apply Big Sexy Hair Root Pump Plus to my roots. I probably hold the bottle too close to my head, but that's what works for me. 

*If I plan on curling my hair, or plan on going out, I add LivingProof Prime Style Extender. I love this stuff. The style extender really works if you want your hair to maintain shape and curls all day. Just add some to the palm of your hand, rub your hands together and put it through your hair. I stay away from my roots with this stuff and focus just on where my curling iron is going to hit. 

*Next I dry my hair upside down using a hairdryer with a diffuser attachment. I don't flip my head back over until my hair is completely dry. This really helps add volume. Also, while I'm drying it I brush it with a brush similar to the one above. 

*No matter how I plan on styling my hair, I use a teasing comb. It's my best friend and I tease the crap out of my hair. 

*I use a 1 inch barrel curling iron on my hair. Click HERE for the single barrel curling iron I use. If I want full wavy hair then I use a three barrel curling iron. Click HERE for the three barrel curling iron I use. 

*After I'm done styling, either straight or curly, I spray with Big Sexy Hair Spray & Play

And that's it. 

Ashley Elizabeth
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Weekend Fun

July 20, 2014
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I love lazy weekends, and we've had just that so far. Yes, I have a "to do" list a mile long, but sometimes you just need to play in the kid pool, have game night and relax with the family.

Before I go on further about our weekend, if you haven't checked out Cinnamon Creek Boutique on Facebook, head on over and give my little shop a "Like". I will be adding more items and plan on branching out into the world of boy's clothing too eventually. I'm excited to offer a sweet giveaway once I reach 100 Likes so help a girl out. Here are a few of the items I'm offering now. 





Now onto our weekend. Like I said, it's been pretty relaxing. Friday night we decided to have a fire in the new pit that Mark made. We listened to music and roasted marshmallows. It was fun. Amelia and I shared such a sweet moment when I was putting her to bed. She wanted me to lay with her so I hopped in her twin bed with her, and using a giant pink tutu wearing stuffed pony as a pillow, we laughed until it hurt. I'm not even sure what we were laughing about. We just couldn't stop. She's been sleeping so well in her new room. Most nights all I have to do is tuck her in, give a kiss and shut the door. 

Unfortunately I had the worst time sleeping that night and ended up dozing off around 6am Saturday morning, only to be woken up around 9 by my sweet girl. Yesterday we drove into Oregon City to visit Amelia's favorite park. It's not a heavily used park and it has a great view of the river... definitely a great place to play. 





We grabbed dinner in Milwaukie after at my favorite Thai place, Buathong. If you live in the area, love Thai food and haven't been here yet... go! It's delicious. I told Mark that when we decide to try and get pregnant with baby #2 I hope my pregnancy craving is Buathong. I could eat there all the time! After a yummy dinner we headed home to play outside. We have pretty much used our pool every day since my mom got it for us. I set it up near the deck and Amelia has had fun running and jumping in. 





Amelia had a hair appointment this morning to get a trim. She's only had one other haircut in her life. I like to keep it long, but the ends were in bad shape. She took a few inches off and it looks much healthier. I think I will have it cut a little more frequently (maybe twice a year) to help keep it healthy so we don't have to cut so much off at a time. 
before
before
after... it was windy
I hope you are ell enjoying your weekend. I plan on spending the rest of today cleaning up our rooms and trying to finally get our stuff completely unpacked. I have high hopes of accomplishing a lot of stuff this next week; sewing, crafting, blogging, posting for the shop and sorting through stuff for our garage sale. Fingers crossed I can get it all done. 
Ashley Elizabeth
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