Why I Started Blogging

May 7, 2013 By ashleylately 10 Comments

Hey y’all!

I’m linking up with Neely and Samantha today to share why I started my blog!

I started my blog in January of 2010. I had been reading blogs for about a year, and it was so much fun! It got me thinking about and finding little “bloggable moments” in my life, so finally, I decided it was time for me to start my own.

Back then, Ashley Lately was Ashley’s Carnival Ride, named for my favorite line from Carrie Underwood’s “Wheel of the World”.

‘God put us here on this carnival ride. We close our eyes, never knowing where it will take us next.”

I always thought that was such a neat way of looking at the journey of life, and it fit me perfectly!

My very first post was January 27, 2010. It was called “Wow”. Attention-grabbing stuff right here :)
Wow

My second post actually had a little bit of substance, so I like to think of it as my real first post!
I love snow days because..

It’s been a pretty awesome three years in Blogland! I’ve made some fabulous friends and had some awesome experiences. I’m thankful I finally jumped in and started this fun journey.

Why did you start blogging? Share your stories with Neely and Samantha!

The Sunday Social, Week 48

May 5, 2013 By ashleylately 7 Comments

Hey y’all!
Hope you’re having a fabulous Sunday!
Today’s questions are all about 4s!
1. 4 favorite things to do on a weekend

1. Sleep in

2. Lay in bed watching Army Wives/Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice

3. Hang out with the Littles

4. Snuggle with my cat

2. 4 favorite things about your best friend

1. They love me for me.

2. They know me better than anyone else and still love me :)

3. They are there for me any time I need them.

4. We may not live near each other, but when we’re together, it’s like we’ve never been apart! Distance hasn’t changed us at all!

3. 4 things you would do with $100,000

1. Pay off my student loans

2. Travel somewhere fun

3. Put most of it in savings, but keep out a little to have fun with!

4. ???

4. 4 favorite books you’ve ever read

1. Redemption by Karen Kingsbury

2. A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks

3. A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury

4. The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

5. 4 favorite snack foods

1. dark chocolate mint M&Ms

2. dark chocolate M&Ms

3. Greek yogurt

4. um…chocolate? :)

6. 4 things that you must do daily

1. Have a DP

2. Brush my teeth

3. Talk on the phone with my momma

4. Put on mascara

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

Next week’s questions

1. 1 year ago I was doing…

2. 5 years ago I was doing…

3. 10 years ago I was doing…

4. 1 year from now I’ll be doing…

5. 5 years ago I’ll be doing…

6. 10 years from now I’ll be doing…

Have a great day!

#thunderup

Never Ever Ever…

April 30, 2013 By ashleylately 12 Comments

Hey y’all!
Linking up with my bff Neely for her fun linkup Never Ever Ever!
Never ever ever will you hear me say…
…I think I’ll skip my Dr. Pepper today.
…I have enough headbands and scarves. I don’t need any more.
…Facebook is sooooo much better than Twitter.
…This would look better if it wasn’t pink.
…I’m over country music.
…No chocolate for me, thanks!
…I’m tired of watching reruns of Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice/Army Wives.
…I miss my flip phone.
What will you never ever ever say? Link up with Neely and share with us!

The Sunday Social, Week 47

April 28, 2013 By ashleylately 12 Comments

Hey y’all!
Hope you’re having a fabulous Sunday!
Today’s questions are all fun childhood questions :)
1. Did you sleepwalk as a child?

I don’t think I was a sleepwalker, but I did talk in my sleep. My momma has talked about conversations I would have with her while I was sleeping :)

2. Did you ever try to run away or sneak out of your house?

NEVER! I may be the only person, but it seriously never crossed my mind. I was a good girl!

3. Did you have any imaginary friends?

Yep! My friends were real people, but they weren’t actually there! My friends were Sharon, Lois, and Bram from The Elephant Show!

via

They were kinda awesome!

4. Did you ever go toilet papering?

Nope, never!

5. Did you ever sneak tv shows you weren’t allowed to watch?

Um…ok, yeah, I did. When I went to Jessica’s house, we watched MTV. Sorry Momma!

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

Next week’s questions

We know y’all like number-themed weeks, so these are all about 4s!

1. 4 favorite things to do on a weekend

2. 4 favorite things about your best friend

3. 4 things you would do with $100,000

4. 4 favorite books you’ve ever read

4. 5 favorite snack foods

6. 4 things that you must do daily

Can’t wait to read your posts!

Let’s Talk About Stitch Fix

April 24, 2013 By ashleylately 9 Comments

Hey y’all!

So I’m sure a lot of you have been hearing about Stitch Fix. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s a program where you receive five articles of clothing in the mail based on your style profile. You try everything on, keep the things you like, and send back the things you don’t! Sounds fun, right?

Last week, I received my first box! Here are the fun things I got!

(*Keep in mind, I am NOT a fashion blogger!)

blue cardigan from Free People

dress from Angie

silver necklace from Kole Designs

sheer tank from Blu Pepper

sleeveless shirt from Ark n Co

So, what did I keep???

I LOVE this tank! The picture really doesn’t do it justice. It is the very first thing I tried on, and I immediately knew I was keeping it! It is not something I would have ever picked up in a store, completely out of my style comfort zone, and it’s amazing!!

The cardigan was nice, but do I really need another cardigan? The rest of the items weren’t my style or didn’t fit quite right, so they went back.

I loved having someone else pick out clothes for me based on what I like! After receiving my first box, I have been able to tweak my style profile a little, and I can’t wait to see what’s in my next box.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you should! Get connected with Stitch Fix here!

Have a great Wednesday!

The Sunday Social, Week 46

April 21, 2013 By ashleylately 11 Comments

Hey y’all!
Thank goodness for a new week! It’s been a rough week here in America, and I’m sure most of us are excited about a new week beginning.
1. What is your shopping weakness?

Scarves. And purses. I love them ALL!!

2. What is your food weakness?

Chocolate and Mexican food are my favorites. Sooooo good!

3. What is your go to movie to watch when nothing is on?

I don’t really have a movie, but I put on old episodes of Army Wives, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice. They are my favorites!

4. What is your go to breakfast food?

I mix it up. Greek yogurt and a Dr. Pepper is a pretty consistent breakfast for me :)

5. Do you drink coffee? If so, how do you take it?

Ew! No coffee for me! Dr. Pepper is my caffeine of choice!

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

Next week’s questions

These are all fun childhood questions!

1. Did you sleepwalk as a child?

2. Did you ever try to run away or sneak out of your house?

3. Did you have any imaginary friends?

4. Did you ever go toilet papering?

5. Did you ever sneak tv shows you weren’t allowed to watch?

Enjoy your Sunday, loves!

Ashley Lately

April 17, 2013 By ashleylately 13 Comments

Hey y’all!

Sorry for the silence around here lately. I’ve been in a bit of a blogging funk. No desire to write, and no idea what to write about. Hopefully it will pass quickly!!

I’ve got quite a few pictures that don’t have their own post, so here’s a little bit of what’s been happening lately. To keep from major picture overload, we’re going with a couple of collages :)

Last weekend, I had Saturday off and the boys went hunting, so I spent most of the weekend with Joyce and the Littles.

1. Saturday morning, Little Girl had a soccer game! 3 year old soccer is adorable!

2. Kara-Kae’s daughter Jessi’s team played Little Girl’s team! Loved getting to see her and her cute family!

3. Little Bit was not impressed.

4. Little Miss was more interested in the iPhone than soccer.

5. Neo the Chinchilla says hi!

6. Little Miss picked flowers outside for her Joycie.

7. Little Bit and W are so cute! They adore each other.

8. Little Miss would do ANYTHING to keep from going to bed.

9. Little Bit was having sooooo much fun :-/

1. Minted sent me some goodies for blogging about them! Wall art and three cute journals!

2. Cute new notebooks from Target. I’m obsessed :)

3. Love my new Oklahoma tank from Hazel and Olive! I think she’s restocking tonight!

4. Becky, Ashton, and I showed up on casual Friday wearing the same color. Clearly we work together too much!

5. Missing my girls something awful this week.

6. Kitty cat loves him some Pleated Poppy.

7. On tax day, Sonic had half-priced drinks all day!

8. My copy of Single Infertile Female came yesterday! Do you follow Leah’s blog?

9. Some days, you just need a big cookie…

Hope y’all are having a fabulous week!

The Sunday Social, Week 45

April 14, 2013 By ashleylately 9 Comments

Hey y’all!We are getting SO CLOSE to a full year of Sunday Social! Can you believe it?This week’s questions are all about one of my favorite things, the twit! We hope you’ll play along this week!
1. When did you join twitter?

I think I have been on the twit since sometime in 2009. I didn’t get super involved in twitter until I started blogging in 2010 though.

2. Who is your favorite non-celeb to follow?

I love following all of my family and friends that don’t live here! I love being able to keep up with them and feel like I’m a part of their lives, even though we don’t get to see each other very much!

3. Who is your favorite celeb to follow?

Joshua Morrow, who plays Nick Newman on The Young and The Restless is a fun one. Karen Kingsbury tweets a lot of inspirational quotes and Bible verses, and I like reading those. Sheila Walsh is great too! Sometimes she’s tweeting Bible verses and sometimes she’s tweeting funny stuff about her dogs. It makes it funnier to read them in her Scottish accent! Haha! I like following Shonda Rhimes, creator of Greys, Private Practice, and Scandal. It’s fun reading stuff about the shows from her point of view.

4. Have you ever had a celeb respond to a tweet?

Yes! I’ve had quite a few actually! My very first was a DM from Sherri Shepherd! We were discussing performers at the Grammys :) I’ve also gotten replies from Brian McNamara (Gen. Holden on Army Wives!) several times, Wendy Davis (Joan on Army Wives), Little Big Town, Joshua Morrow, Melissa Peterman (Barbara Jean on Reba), Steel Magnolia, Selah, Chris Mann and several others. Then there are famous people in my mind like Alli Worthington and Danielle Smith :) I’ve gotten retweets from Karen Kingsbury, Eric Braeden (Victor on Y&R), and several others. Oh, and the day Jon Acuff and Doug Davidson (Paul on Y&R) followed me on twitter, I nearly died! It’s fun stuff!

5. What is your favorite store/brand to follow?

I don’t really follow many stores or brands. Anyone I should be following?

6. Give us three tweeps we should be following.

I’ve got four :)

Neely. My bff and fabulous cohost. Duh!

My momma! She’s pretty awesome!

Dana Weiss (Possessionista). Following her during Bachelor/Bachelorette shows is hilarious. Plus, she tweets about really cute clothes!

Honest Toddler. I don’t have kids, but this twit account cracks me up!

Be sure to follow me!!

Alrighty, it’s your turn! Answer the questions, grab our button, and link up your posts with Neely and me!

Next week’s questions

1. What is your shopping weakness?

2. What is your food weakness?

3. What is your go to movie to watch when nothing is on?

4. What is your go to breakfast food?

5. Do you drink coffee? If so, how do you take it?

Have a great Sunday, y’all!

It’s Ok…

April 11, 2013 By ashleylately 7 Comments

Hey y’all!
I’ve had a serious case of the sickies this week, so I’ve been taking a little bloggy hiatus. That’s ok, right? :)
Here’s the other things that are Ok with me this week!
It’s Ok…
…to still only be partially unpacked from Blissdom.
…to spend my evenings watching old episodes of Army Wives, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice instead of current tv.
…to wish that Oklahoma weather would make up it’s stinkin’ mind! Seriously, 80 degrees one day and then freezing rain/ice the next is so NOT ok!

…to be sorta obsessed with my new Oklahoma tank from Hazel and Olive!

Sooooo cute, right?

…and, to be ridiculously excited that an upcoming Saturday off means a day of helping chase a houseful of Littles!

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

The Sunday Social, Week 44

April 7, 2013 By ashleylately 13 Comments

Hey y’all!
Today’s Sunday Social is all about Pinterest! We want to see your favorite pins!

1. What is your favorite outfit pin?

via

I want this whole outfit. So cute!

2. What is your favorite food pin?

via

This is one of the few Pinterest recipes I’ve actually made, and it’s become my go-to party recipe. So good!

3. What is your favorite wedding pin?

via

I think this is the CUTEST idea! I have special “poses” that I do with a couple of my friends, and I think it would be so fun to do something different with each girl. LOVE this!

4. What is your favorite DIY/craft pin?