Hey y’all!

I am truly BLOWN AWAY by your response to The Sunday Social yesterday! I seriously never expected to have so many of you link up with Neely and me! Saturday night when we chatted about it, we both were hoping for maybe 20 people to link up. Y’all went above and beyond what we ever expected, and we thank y’all SO MUCH! We are so happy to hear that many of you found lots of new blogs and friends through the link-up!

Snapped this the other night of two of Joyce’s former foster babies. They aren’t siblings, but they adore each other. Just too sweet!

Hope y’all have a great Monday!

Neely, Meghan, Kiley, Amber, and me

Just a few of my wonderful friends!

This may sound weird, but I’m going with TOMS shoes! I’d heard about them before, but it wasn’t until I saw so many bloggers with them that I decided I like them. Then, I bought a pair and fell in love with them!

Ohhhhhh, how I love the twit! I think it’s easier to connect with people on twitter. Messages are short, quick, and to the point! I use twitter waaaaaay more than I’ve ever used Facebook!

Carrie Underwood, duh :) She’s my favorite!

I want people to know that my blog is me! The person you read about here is the same person you’d meet in person. I’m not trying to be someone I’m not. What you see is what you get!

Don’t forget! Everyone who links up this week is entered in a giveaway to win a $20 Starbucks gift card!

Again, Neely and I are very excited about The Sunday Social, and we hope y’all will join us each week!

Next week’s questions:

Favorite movie of all time?

Favorite movie quote?

Best movie to watch for a girls night in?

Best breakup movie?

Favorite celeb eye candy?

Which movie star’s closet would you want to raid?

Hey y’all!

I am beyond proud to be an Oklahoman today! We are all celebrating the OKC Thunder’s win over San Antonio to move on to the NBA Finals!

It’s hard to believe that in the short amount of time that the team has been here, we’ve gone from terrible to winning the Western Conference finals!

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a music post, so I thought I’d share a few of the songs on my playlist right now.

“Pontoon”-Little Big Town

“Postcard from Paris”-The Band Perry

My favorite song by them!

“Feel Like a Rock Star”-Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw
For those days that you feel like a rock star. I pretty much feel that way every day :)

“Too Good To Be True”-Edens Edge

“Fly Over States”-Jason Aldean

What are y’all listening to right now?

Don’t forget! Neely and I are starting our new link-up this Sunday!

Hey y’all!

Before I get started, Neely and I are so thrilled with the response to our new link-up! We are so excited, and we can’t wait to get started! In case you missed it, The Sunday Social starts this Sunday, and you can get details here.

The birthday boy with his strawberry cake!

The fabulous cake! Looked awesome and tasted amazing!

Little Miss was very interested in the cake

My with my sweet M. She’s the one who made Colby’s cake!

Gorgeous flowers that Little Miss and Little Bit’s momma and daddy brought Joyce and Wade!

Little Miss talked her daddy into playing in her tent. It’s amazing what a two year old can get a grown-up to do!

Sunday night we had dinner at our grandparents’ house, and Colby got ANOTHER strawberry cake!

Last night, we had a birthday party for Becky, one of my girls at work. We had a Pinkitzel & Pinterest party!

Pinkitzel is a fabulous cupcake shop, and they make the BEST cupcakes!

Yum-o!

We also each picked a craft from Pinterest to make!

I made these fun headbands! They are almost The Vintage Pearl blue :)

I am so blessed to have such a great group of girls! We all work really well together, and we have such a great time. I can’t wait for our next evening of fun! Jo and Lauren, we missed y’all!

You may have noticed a new button over there on that sidebar huh?

You may have thought to yourself….oh this is gonna be good!

YES IT IS!

We have a fabulous new weekly link up for you to participate it.

The Sunday Social with Ashley and Neely

What is The Sunday Social you ask?

The Sunday social will be 6 questions every Sunday that all have a similar theme to them. Its a great way to meet new people, gain some followers and find new blogs you can’t wait to read! People will slowly get to know you. You can add pictures to the posts, videos, whatever you want.

The only requirement is that you use our button and answer the questions in whatever way you like :)

THE FIRST LINKUP WILL BE SUNDAY JUNE 10th! DON’T MISS OUT!

I know a lot of people don’t blog on weekends but the great part about this linkup is we give you the questions the week before.

This is how it works. Today we will give you the first Sunday’s questions. Every Sunday at the end of our post will be the questions for the next Sunday. Make sense? That way you can plan your posts a week in advance and then sometime on Sunday come link your post up to one of our blogs!

Easy Peasy!

Plus now you have something to post on the weekends :)

We REALLY hope to link up with us and make this linkup super fun :)

THE FIRST LINKUP WILL BE SUNDAY JUNE 10th! DON’T MISS OUT!

Here are the first set of questions:

We figured the first set of questions could really let people know who you are and what your blog is about:

How did you come up with your blog name?

What is your favorite thing about blogging?
What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now can’t live without?
Facebook or Twitter? and why?
If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be?
What is something you want people to know about your blog?

Also, because we love y’all, everyone who participates in the first link-up will be entered to win a $20 Starbucks giftcard!

THE FIRST LINKUP WILL BE SUNDAY JUNE 10th! DON’T MISS OUT!

See you then!

Um, no…not really.

…with this girl!

…to absolutely love my job, but be really excited about my day off tomorrow, mostly because it means sleeping past 7:00 am!

…to still be a little disturbed about the Grey’s Anatomy finale.

…to sorta miss wearing dresses to work every day.

…to admit when you’re wrong.

…to maybe have cried a bit watching Ace Young propose to Diana DeGarmo on American Idol last night!

It was super sweet!

…to eat an entire bag of dark chocolate M&Ms by yourself in a day and a half :)

What’s Ok with you this week? Link up with Neely and Amber!

Sorry I haven’t been around much this week. Here’s why!

Our OKC Thunder are in the playoffs, and Monday night, we wrapped up our series agains the LA Lakers with a big win! I have to say, the win was extra sweet since it was against the Lakers :)

Be back soon with a “real” blog post!

Also, if I can hit 300 followers this week, there will be a giveaway next week! Tell your friends :)



Soooo…The Voice. Y’all know I was rooting for Chris Mann, and Tony Lucca was my second choice. Unfortunately, they placed 4th and 3rd :( But, I was happy for Jermaine. He is a great guy with a great voice, and I’m happy to see him succeed!

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m kinda over Army Wives this season. I feel like not much has happened, and with so many episodes without Claudia Joy, there has not been nearly enough General Holden. I am glad to see that the next season starts in June, but I’m sure that means it will end after that. We shall see!

I sobbed watching Private Practice this week! Watching Amelia go through labor and delivery knowing her baby wasn’t going to live was just horrible.

Ok, so I haven’t watched Grey’s Anatomy since like the second episode of this season. I’m just really over the show. Neely convinced me to watch the finale because she needed me for moral support, so I gave in. It. Was. Awful. I’m not going to rehash the entire episode here because it’s too depressing, but I definitely don’t think I’m going to be watching anymore.

What have you been watching? Link up your TV talk with Neely and me!

Hey y’all!

I normally try to keep things pretty light around here, but I have some things that have been on my mind for a few days, and I just felt like sharing them here.

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month. After spending three years working in the field of foster care and adoption, these things are very close to my heart.

While working in a foster care program, I had the privilege to work with some incredible foster families. These families do one of the most selfless things a family could possibly do. They open their homes to these precious children for a few days, a few months, a few years, or forever. They are truly living out God’s command to care for the fatherless, and it is such an honor to know and to have worked with such amazing families.

I also had the privilege of being a part of the lives of some of these precious children. My favorite days at work were the days I got to go do visits with my kids. I may be a little biased, but my kids were pretty much the cutest kids ever!

I met precious little A when she was just an itty bitty little thing! She was eventually adopted by her incredible foster family, and I was so honored to get to be a part of that wonderful day!

There are over 8,000 children currently in the foster care system in Oklahoma. 8,000 in Oklahoma alone. I don’t know what the nation-wide numbers are, but I’m sure the number is huge. Honestly though, it’s horrible to think about even one child not being able to live with his or her parents.

There is a great need for foster parents in this country. Oklahoma has a shelter where kids go when there are no foster homes available for them, and many times it is over capacity. There is not enough space and not enough beds to accomodate all of the kids. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to be in such a scary situation, and then not having a bed to sleep in.

Foster care is something that has always been on my heart and something I hope to do one day. I have so much respect and admiration for the people in my life who are foster parents.

Joyce and Wade are currently fostering three precious little kiddos.

Regina and her husband have fostered several kids. You can read more about their foster care journey on her blog.

If you are in a position to do so, I encourage you to look into becoming a foster family. If you aren’t, there are many other ways you can help these sweet kids.

*Donate clothing, toys, backpacks, or money to a foster care organization. State agencies and private agencies accept all kinds of donations.

*Provide a meal for a foster family. I know from the families I’ve worked with that this is a HUGE blessing!

*Become an alternate caregiver. Did you know that foster families can’t leave their foster child with just anyone? All childcare providers/daycares have to be certified. It’s not a difficult process, and it is a great way to help out these families.

For more information, contact your local department of human services.

One of the biggest reasons I hear for why people choose not to foster children is “I would love them too much to let them go”. Leah, one of my former incredible foster moms, says it best. She posted an article on Facebook about a child who was horribly abused by its parents. She had this to say about the article:

“These babies need safe homes! So many say “I couldn’t let them go, I would care too much about them” …. I promise, I care about them too…. I care so much I can’t sit back while this happens every day.”

If any of you are involved in foster care in some way, I’d love to hear about your experiences!