The Girl Behide The Blog {link up}

Hola chicas!

Today,  I'm linking up with  Captivated by Grace and 5ohWifey

 for the Girl Behind the Blog Vlog link up! 

The Prompt

-Introduce yourself and any other "regulars" on your blog (spouses, kids, pets)

-Tell us a little about your blog. Main theme? Do you have a niche?

-Tell us why you started blogging and why you have continued to blog?

-How do you envision your blog evolving in the future? What hopes do you have for it?

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

What is the most challenging thing about blogging?

What inspires you to blog?

Is there anything else you'd like readers to know?

Try to keep your blogs between 2-3 minutes!

I went wayyy over the time limit! Oppps! 

Kinda rushed to do this video - not my best! Sorry :(

m.i.a

gosh, i miss you guys and blogging...

this whole move is taking wayyyy tooooo much of my time.

pinky swear once i can pull myself out of all of these boxes, stop working sooooo much overtime and finally get internet at home...I'LL BE BACK!

good news...i'm officially a resident of good ole' PA :)

any fellow bloggers around dezzz parts???

guest post: Brandi from Home Team Dreams

What's up girls? 


Okay, today Brandi from Home Team Dreams is taking over! Her blog is one of personal favs as well. She's funny, smart and gorgeous...just take a look below. See? Totally hottie alert, right? Told ya! Don't forget to check out her awesome blog! You won't be disappointed!

Okay, drum roll please....take it away, Brandi!

Hello All! Since Ashley is moving to PA so that she can be that much closer to my state, so that we can eventually become BFFs, she has asked me to fill in for her for today. I happily obliged. So, here I am!


Let's talk relationships. Curious as to what I find to be one of the most important aspects of a marriage, heck almost any relationship for that matter? Okay, probably not, but I would love to tell you anyway.

Humor!

It’s so very important to laugh in a relationship. Have a good time. Don’t take yourselves so seriously all of the time.

 The one thing that my marriage is full of is laughter. I often joke that we are like Lucy and Desi… except flipped. My husband is pretty goofy-- in a totally mature, good way, of course (wink). One of the reasons that I fell in love with him was because I felt so free when I was around him. No inhibitions. There was just something about him that made me feel all silly and goofy.

I’ve never laughed more than I have laughed with him. Most people that know me would describe me as pretty reserved. No one would ever imagine that I put on a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey and dance to the humming of circus music, courtesy of my husband (mmmhmm, totally weird and random); or that I make up corny raps about wearing palm tree printed pants (no, I do not own a pair). No one would ever guess that at random we will break out into song—opera no less. Or, that without warning, one of us will go into a contagious laughing fit about absolutely nothing in the middle of the night and it will go on and on non-stop. He jokes about how huge my feet are and how bad I dress while at home- his favorite line being “you look sooo crazy right now.” I don’t get upset because I constantly rag on how the size of his head is eclipsing the sun. We. Have. Fun.

Life is tough. Being light-hearted and carefree can be difficult to conjure up on your own sometimes. Having a partner that can make every funny bone in your body go haywire is such a prize!

Yes, the love, trust and romance are all so important butlaughter is also critical ladies. And, that’s not just laughing atthe person, it’s with them as well- but you understood that, right? Now go get married girls!

*****************************

Thank you sooooo much, Brandi! You rocked it, girl! Hope you girls enjoyed todays guest post. I sure did! And, so can't wait to become real life BFF's with Brandi. Hopefully, we'll be able to schedule both of our first blogger meets! ;)

you blog? but...why?

A lot of my friends and family don’t know I blog… And, I kind like it that way.

Sometimes even the closes people to you can be the most judgmental.

The people in my life who know about my blog…ask “What do you blog about?”….

For me…my blog is my personal “PUBLIC” online journal.

Of course, I don’t expose my whole life story with all the nitty gritty details, but just offer a little peek inside my world.

One thing I love about blogging is…. That I’m able to look back at old posts and see how much I’ve grown and I can laugh at me!

At first I thought blogging would be difficult. Expressing myself has always been one of my biggest challenges. Why?

I tend to be an emotional person. Not the over dramatic type, but I’d like to think God has blessed me with a very big, loving heart.

Seriously, I cry at the drop of a hat.

(i get picked on allllllll the time for this)

Especially when it comes to talking about my faith, family or very close friends….those three things are my life.

They make me…well, me!

Rewind...let me go back…I can express myself, but maybe in not the best way others can understand. When it comes to certain people I have a hard time expressing myself.

Okay, fast forward....

For the most part I try to blog about happy, uplifting, positive, funny, cute kinda stuff, but this doesn’t mean I don’t have my off days. Have you met my evil twin? Kidding!

Although, my blog is for me and my personal growth…I also try to inspire others with encouraging words or pictures.

Sometimes, when I’m having these off days, I come here and read all of your posts and my spirits are instantly lifted. I mean really...it doesn't take much to make me happy...food, fashion, vacations, babies, and did I mention food?

I’m sure there’s not one post of mine, where I don’t talk about my faith, God or gratitude. And, it’s not to come off as the Christian, bible bearing person in your face, but because those things have helped me get to where I am today. They helped me get to this place...where I'm suppose to be. I look around and say, “So all of that stuff had to happen for me to get here?”…I can only picture God looking at me shaking His head, saying… “Yes, Ashley. I don’t know why you thought you had all of the control”. All I had to do was let him take the steering wheel...simply amazing!

I blog because self expression is healthy not matter what the topic is. And, blogging for me is refreshing.

why do you blog?

you can't put a price tag on happiness.

In the past couple of weeks, I feel like I finally found the keys to open my heart, mind, body and soul. God has defiantly humbled me beyond words. The feeling I have is unreal and I just can’t describe it. It’s a blessing, knowing certain people come in and out of you’re life for all the right reasons. Sometimes, the reasons are not always given to you at first, but He always reveals himself at the right time. I’ve been truly blessed to have the best of friends, meet genuine new people, and experience true love. I could never thank certain people enough for everything they have done. I’ve been inspired to become a better Christian, daughter, sister, friend, runner, employee and person.

I know; I speak a lot about happiness and being positive on here. I guess you just had to know me a couple years of ago or even early last year. My world has changed dramatically because of my choices and having faith. I’ve learned patience, love and gratitude more in the last couple months than I’ve ever known in my twenty-six years of life. I’m grateful for all the bumps on my path; I had to overcome to get to this place. A place of happiness and joy… I think I’ve finally found my purpose here…not only to inspire myself, but to inspire others as well. Nothing makes me happier than seeing others around me happy and finding their purpose.

I realize life isn’t perfect, but life is what you make it. Everyday, God reveals His love for me and makes me love my life more and more. I use to be one of those people who would look at the positive, happy, go-lucky person and grunt. I often wondered why they are so happy every single day. And, now I know….because I’m that person. I’m not striving to be perfect because I know that’s not possible. I’m just trying to enjoy my life and not take for granted the simple blessings we’ve been given. I’m the kind of happy only He can intensify. I'm grateful for my past, present and all the future blessings...thank you.


Lastly, thank you for reading my blog. You're comments make my heart smile everyday :)

i could really use a wish right now...

i'm still getting use to this blogging thing. sometimes i have so much to write about, but then i have to be careful of how much information i put out there. people like to twist words around or assume when they really know nothing. you think if you follow someones blog for long enough, you get a little glimpse of whats going on in their world - you build some type of connection - you laugh, cry, mourn, cheer with them. but at the same time people only allow you to see what they want you to see. its like keeping someone at arms length - you give them just enough to keep coming back. the purpose of me starting my blog was because i was actually inspired by two other friends that currently blog as well. i looked at my blog as a release of some sort...to get things out and to share things. as of lately my blog seems to be consumed of not whats going on in my life, but my friends lives. i really don't have a lot of interesting things going on in my life right now...school and work, that about sums up my life. for the last couple of months i've been so busy contributing to other people's happiness that i put my own on the back burner. not purposely, but it just kinda happened. in result of this, i've managed to push away one of the most important people out of my life. i didn't think things would play out this way, but you never can predict the future. you can only hope, pray and dream things will work out in your favor. and if they don't, i'll be the first to say its okay to mope around and cry a little. everyday things will get easier and eventually the storm will pass. you think about the past a little less each day, but you won't forget. you'll keep those memories forever because they help mold you into the person you are today. i know, i choose my attitude daily and its so easy to be negative, and be mad at the world. that's not the person i am. its not the person i want to become. i don't want to fake happiness...i genuinely want to be happy. i'm still fairly young, and have a lot to learn. i can just take this experience as a lesson learned and not repeat the same mistakes.