The First Week of 2014

January 9, 2014 By ashleylately 7 Comments

Hey y’all!

It’s hard to believe we are already one week in to 2014! 2013 went by so fast, but honestly, I am ready for what’s ahead in this new year.

I spent New Year’s Eve with Joyce, Wade, and the Littles for awhile. I was lame and went home at 10:30 or so. I’m not big on going out and staying up until midnight, so I decided to just hang for a bit and then spend the rest of the night in bed. I did enjoy spending some time with my Littles!

This Little Girl…she’s amazing.

The faces…

I don’t even have words. So much attitude in this girl. She’s like a teenager in a tiny body.

Last week, Colby and I got to go to an OKC Thunder game with a few people from TVP! I had never been to a game before, and even though we lost, it was so much fun!

For Christmas, Colby got me a gift certificate to Hazel & Olive, my favorite online boutique! One of the things I got was this super cute cardigan!

It is so comfy and so warm, and it might be my favorite article of clothing right now.

I’ve only briefly mentioned this once (more details to come!), but my bff Neely got engaged a few weeks ago! I am so unbelievably excited for her, and I’m so honored to get to be a part of her special day.

As you know, I have a little bit of a ~~problem~~ love for Dr. Pepper. Because I now have a dress to fit in for this wedding, I have started cutting back on my beloved Dr. Pepper. I can’t give it up completely, but I’ve cut back to less than half a can a day, and I’m replacing it with water. Yes, water is SO boring to me, but the last couple of days, I’ve found myself reaching for my bottle of water over my Dr. Pepper. Crazy, I know. I”m hoping this will be the start of a life change for me!

So far, 2014 has been pretty good to me! I’m looking forward to what’s to come this year!

How is YOUR 2014?

Fun Gift Ideas (A Target Giveaway)

January 5, 2014 By ashleylately 78 Comments

*I was compensated for this post, but all opinions are my own.*

Hey y’all!

Today I want talk about fun gift ideas! I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy gift-giving. I love shopping for people and picking out something special that I hope they will love. I love seeing their excitement when they open their gifts too!

Like I mentioned in a post last week, Target has really become one of my favorite places to shop, not just for myself but for gifts. They always have such a fun variety of gift ideas, and I was even able to get several Christmas gifts there this year!

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I am OBSESSED with scarves! Seriously, I have a whole closet full of them :) I love fun colorful ones, and Target always has such a fun selection! I love giving them as gifts! It’s fun to pick out the perfect color combination to fit the person you’re shopping for.

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A girl can never have too much nail polish! A set like this with a variety of colors will make any girly-girl happy. I bought a set similar to this one earlier in the year, and I’ve painted my nails more this year than I have in a long time!

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If you have friends and family that love to cook, cookbooks are a fun idea! Add a few cooking utensils and a cute apron, and you’ve got a great gift! It’s no secret around here that I love Pioneer Woman, so I would definitely recommend one of her books :)

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Coffee mugs are another obsession of mine! I don’t drink coffee, but I love hot chocolate, and I’m convinced it tastes better when it’s in a cute mug :) I love giving gifts of a fun mug with a box of hot chocolate or a package of coffee!

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Don’t we all have that one friend or family member that is just impossible to shop for? Target has cute gift cards in the store, but they also have a huge selection of Digital GiftCards! The fun things about them is that you can either have the card emailed to the recipient or sent via text message! How cool is that? These are great especially when you need to give a gift last minute or you can’t be there to give the gift in person.

Today, one lucky reader will win a $25 Target GiftCard!

Visit the Target website, and leave me a comment telling me your favorite gift idea! That’s it! Enter with the Rafflecopter below!

Happy shopping, y’all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Sunday Social, Week 83

January 5, 2014 By ashleylately 5 Comments

Hey y’all!
Happy New Year! I don’t know about y’all, but I’m really excited for the start of a new year. I have a feeling 2014 is going to be a lot of fun!
1. Do you plan to change any of your eating habits in the new year?I’m definitely trying to eat a little healthier. I’m not eating out as much, and I’m cutting back on the amount of Dr. Pepper I drink each day. So far, I’m doing pretty well! I’m not doing anything drastic, but I think some little changes will help me feel better.

2. Any workout tips to get us back in shape after the holidays?
Um…the only tip I have is try not to injure yourself. I started doing some light cardio and stretching exercise, and after two days of it, I have a swollen knee that’s causing me lots of problems. This is why I don’t exercise, y’all! :)

3. What is your favorite thing you did over the holidays?
My favorite thing was getting to go home and spend Christmas with my family! I didn’t see them very much this year, so it was great to spend time with them, even if it was a quick trip.

4. What is something you hope that you accomplish in 2014 that you did not in 2013?
I want to read my Bible more and blog more consistently.

5. Name 3 things happening this year you are excited about and why.
1. Hopefully more time with my family
2. Neely’s wedding!
3. George Strait concert
2014 is going to be a busy and fun year! I am beyond thrilled for Neely, and I can’t wait for all of the wedding fun we will be having this year. We are also squeezing in a George Strait concert in June! I’ve wanted to see him in concert FOREVER, so I’m glad I get to see him in his last show before he retires from touring.

Your turn! Answer the questions, grab our button, and link up with Neely and me!

Next week’s questions

We are going back to the beginning and letting everyone introduce themselves and their blogs! It’s a fun way to get to know more bloggers and meet new friends!

1. What is the name of your blog? How long have you been blogging?

2. Why do you blog?

3. What is the first blog you ever followed?

4. What is your favorite post you wrote in 2013?

5. What are your blogging goals for 2014?

6. Top 3 favorite blogs to follow?

*I’m having a Target giveaway later this afternoon, so be sure to stop by and enter!

Y’all have a wonderful Sunday!

Christmas with Donny & Marie!

January 3, 2014 By ashleylately 8 Comments

Hey y’all!

Ok, for reals, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to blog about this awesome, fun night!

In early December, Momma and Daddy came up to OKC so we could all go see Donny and Marie Osmond’s Christmas concert! If you’ve never seen them in concert, you don’t get to judge me for going and talking about how amazing it was. Because it was amazing.

Growing up, The Osmonds were my mom’s favorite. Specifically Donny. I like to think her love for them was about the same as my love for *NSYNC :) She got to see The Osmonds in concert when she was a teenager, so when I found out Donny and Marie’s Christmas concert was coming to OKC, I really wanted the two of us to go. To our surprise, the boys said they would go with us.

I know, I’m as shocked as you are.

Anyway, we bought the tickets several months in advance, and before we knew it, the day was here!

We were SO EXCITED!

Family selfie outside the arena!

Momma and I posed with Cardboard Marie

The fam! We were excited for a fun night of Christmas music, and I couldn’t wait to see Momma’s reaction to seeing Donny and Marie!

There they are!

Momma was so excited to see them! It was priceless! She was giddy like nothing I’ve ever seen from her before. It was hard to take pictures because every time I would push the button on my camera, she would elbow me out of excitement!

Before the show started, Marie posted on twitter for people to take a picture with the cardboard cutout and tweet them to her and tell her why she should pick you for front row seats.

I tweeted this one to Marie!

After a couple of the songs, she said it was time to announce the winner of the contest.

“Section 101″.

That was our section.

“Row PP”.

That was our row. I grabbed Momma’s hand and tried not to scream.

“Seats 7 and 8! Is there an Ashley in here?”

THAT WAS ME! I couldn’t believe we won! We were ushered from our seats to our new seats on the front row!

It’s still a little unbelievable that we watched the rest of the show from the front row. I’ve never been front row at a concert before, and this one was great!

It’s Donny! Y’all, he’s beautiful. I know he’s old enough to be my dad, but he looks really good.

Momma and Donny :)

During part of the concert, they sang songs from the Broadway shows they’ve been in, including The Sound of Music, The King and I, Beauty and the Beast, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Wicked. It was my favorite part of the whole show!

They sang “For Good” from Wicked, and it was beautiful!

Donny was watching me take his pictures. He could’ve smiled a little more for me! Haha!

Marie seriously has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. She can sing pretty much any kind of music, including opera. It was incredible!

My goodness, it was such a great concert! I was so excited to be able to go with my mom to see her childhood crush and childhood idol in concert. She’s gone with me to quite a few concerts to see people that I love, so to go with her to someone she loves was really great. Winning front row seats for her was truly amazing, and I’m so glad we got to share such a fun night together!

My Favorite Things of 2013

January 2, 2014 By ashleylately 6 Comments

Hey y’all!

With a new year starting, I wanted to look back on a few of my favorite things from 2013. It was a great year, and there are a few fun things I want to remember from the year.

Favorite Songs

1. “Home”-Blake Shelton & Usher (from Healing in the Heartland)

2. “See You Again”-Carrie Underwood

3. “Roar”-Katy Perry

4. “Sober”-Little Big Town

5. “Amen”-Bon Jovi

Favorite Movies
1. Les Miserables
2. Frozen
3. Pitch Perfect

Favorite TV Shows
1. Scandal
2. Army Wives
3. Nashville
4. Private Practice

Favorite Places to Shop
1. Target
2. Hazel and Olive

3. Caroline G.

Favorite Books
1. Single Infertile Female-Leah Campbell
2 Audrey Bunny-Angie Smith
3. The Duck Commander Family-Willie & Korie Robertson

What are your 2013 favorites?

2013 Year in Review

December 31, 2013 By ashleylately 8 Comments

Hey y’all!

I can’t believe 2013 is over! It seems like this year has really flown by. A lot has happened, and it’s been fun to look back over everything I’ve done this year. Here’s a little recap of my 2013!

January

We celebrated Christmas with our family in OKC.

Tracy and I saw Les Miserables.

We celebrated Ashton’s birthday.

Daddy got his third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

February

I turned 27!

Ashton and Annie took me to lunch to celebrate.

I got to spend time with Jessica.

I saw the Harlem Globetrotters.

We said goodbye to Kendall as she moved to LA to model.

March

I went to Blissdom for the second time.

Daddy, Colby, and I saw Bon Jovi in concert.

I celebrated a year with The Vintage Pearl.

April

Regina and I got to meet up for dinner.

We went to an OKC Redhawks game.

May

Central Oklahoma was hit with a devastating tornado outbreak. Over the course of two days, 26 people were killed, and many homes, businesses, and schools were destroyed. It was the worst tornado outbreak I’ve experienced since I’ve lived in the OKC area. As terrible as it was, it was also inspiring to see how our state pulled together to help and support each other.

Blake Shelton organized a benefit concert to help with tornado relief, and Colby and I were able to go. It was a night of great music, but also a lot of tears.

Joyce and I took the Littles to the zoo.

June

We celebrated Father’s Day with Daddy and Momma.

Neely made her first visit to OKC so we could see New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men in concert.

I got a surprise visit at TVP from cousins I haven’t seen in years!

July

I went home for the 4th of July weekend.

Momma and I visited Miranda Lambert’s store The Pink Pistol in Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

Lori and I went to Toby Keith’s OK Twister Relief concert, and I fulfilled a life-long dream of seeing Garth Brooks perform.

We had a fun summer sale at TVP.

I got another visit from Regina!

I always tweet during the Bachelor and Bachelorette, and one of my tweets ended up on tv!

Kathi Yeager from 101.9 The Twister, my favorite radio station, visited TVP.

August

Adoptions were finalized for two of the Littles! It was an incredible day as we celebrated Little Girl and Little Man becoming a permanent part of Joyce and Wade’s family!

Little Man turned two!

September

I attended Rebekah’s OKC baby shower! It was so fun to celebrate her sweet little man!

Ashton and I went to see Wicked.

I got to babysit two of my favorite kiddos.

October

We said goodbye to Becky as she left to become a flight attendant.

We had a little bit of Halloween fun at TVP.

November

Little Girl turned two.

We celebrated Joyce’s birthday too!

I went to my first Bloggy Boot Camp in Dallas.

TVP had a Thanksgiving chalkboard contest between the three stores, and my store won!

I celebrated Thanksgiving with my church family and with Joyce and Wade’s family.

We had a fun Black Friday at TVP.

December

Momma and Daddy came up so we could go to Donny and Marie Osmond’s Christmas concert! More details coming on that later in the week.

OKC was hit with a snow/ice storm that was super fun. Not.

Neely got engaged!

Rebekah came to visit, and I got to meet her sweet little James! To pray for something for so long and then to see that prayer answered in such a wonderful way was truly amazing.

I went home to celebrate Christmas with my family!

2013 was a good year! I got to meet a lot of great people and I saw a lot of great concerts! I wish I would’ve been able to spend more time with my family, so I’m hoping that will happen in 2014.

I’m excited to see what 2014 holds. I’ve got a few goals both in my personal life and my blogging life. Some of those things I’ll share here, and others I’ll keep just for me :) I hope you’ll stick around for the ride!

Happy New Year, y’all!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays 2013

December 27, 2013 By ashleylately 6 Comments

Hey y’all!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

I had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off work, so I got to spend a couple of days home with my family! I hadn’t been home since July, so it was so nice to get to be with my people.

Colby and I drove home early Tuesday morning, and after running errands with Momma and meeting the boys for lunch, I had my Christmas with Jessica and her family!

I miss living close to Jessica so much!!

Christmas Eve night, we had Christmas at home, just the four of us.

Duck Dynasty DVDs and cups for Momma and Daddy

Colby got a Nike Fuel Band

Have y’all played Ellen’s Heads Up game? We played the iPad version at a TVP girls night, but I didn’t know there was a board game! Can’t wait to try it!