3. Were you involved in any sports/extracurricular activities? Share pictures if you can!
I’ve blogged before about my jump rope team from elementary school. That was a fabulous time of my life!

I was in color guard all four years of high school, and I was captain my senior year!

4. What was your favorite birthday party?
When I was in fifth grade, my birthday party was 50s themed! We all wore poodle skirts, and my cake was decorated to look like a record. My friends STILL talk about that fabulous party!

5. Who was your teen celebrity crush?
I adored JC Chasez from *NSYNC. He was my boy!

Hey y’all!

The 55th Grammy Awards are happening on Sunday night! Y’all know I love watching award shows, and the Grammys are definitely one of my favorites!

Let’s talk about the big awards. Record of the Year nominees include songs by Kelly Clarkson, fun., The Black Keys, Frank Ocean, and Gotye. While I’d love to see Kelly win for “Stronger”, I think it’s going to come down between fun.’s “We Are Young” and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know”. 

Song of the Year is another category that fun. could win in, but Carly Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” was HUGE this past year! Kelly’s “Stronger” is a nominee here too, so I think any of the three could take it!

Album of the Year has albums from fun., Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, and Jack White. Again, I think fun. is going to take this category!

Best New Artist is a VERY interesting category this year! There are five very different artists in five different genres. We have country cutie Hunter Hayes, pop band fun., up-and-coming rockers Alabama Shakes, R&B hitmaker Frank Ocean, and indie artists The Lumineers. Frank Ocean has been in the headlines more than the others, but this has been the year of fun. for sure! My country boy Hunter definitely has my vote, but my gut tells me fun. is going to sweep the awards this year!

My fingers are also crossed for my girl Carrie Underwood! She’s the only female nominee for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song, and I’m definitely rooting for her!

I’m looking forward to a fun night of exciting awards and fabulous performances!

Will you be watching?

My email was hacked Wednesday night :( That has never happened to me before, and let me tell you, it TICKED ME OFF! I got my password changed, but because it was changed at 1 am, I can’t remember what I changed it to. Awesome.

My phone flipped out this week, and it deleted all of my contacts TWICE! Fortunately, my text messages weren’t deleted, so I was able to save a lot of numbers from texts, but I still lost a lot. I’m just sick over losing the numbers of several birth moms and adoptive parents. Sad day.

How has your week been? Share your happies and crappies with Sarah and Stephanie!

Hey y’all!

Is it just me, or is this week flying by? I can’t believe it’s Wednesday and I haven’t blogged at all! I have just a couple of fun things from the weekend.

First things first!

The winner of my blogoversary giveaway is Katie!

Congratulations girlie! I’ll be in touch with you soon!

Friday, I was able to get tickets for Jessica, Neely, and me to see…

Oh yes. It’s happening. I love these boys, and I love that I’m getting to see them with two of my best friends! It’s also probably going to be the first time Jessica and Neely meet each other, which will be pretty cool! AND, I’ve seen NKOTB with Neely and Boyz II Men with Jessica, so both girls plus both bands, and add in 98 Degrees, and it’s pretty much going to be a perfect weekend!

Saturday at the shop, we had a big Valentine’s sale! We used a new cupcake place that made THE BEST mini cupcakes ever! I just may have eaten more than I should have :)

Sunday evening, Colby and I went to Wade and Joyce’s house after church to watch the Superbowl. I didn’t get to watch very much of the game, but I did catch the halftime show!

WOW!

I thought she killed it. I honestly thing that was the best halftime show since Aerosmith/*NSYNC/Britney/Mary J, no joke! THEN, when the rest of the girls from Destiny’s Child came out??

I don’t know about y’all, but 14 year old Ashley was really wanting to throw her hands up in the air Independent Women style! It was a fabulous show!

Alrighty, it’s late (writing this Tuesday night), so I better go before things start getting weird :) Coming up this week, there’s going to be Grammy Awards fun and some happies with maybe a few crappies too

Have a great Wednesday y’all!

Oh hi, Chris Mann :)

Also Pitch Perfect! Soooooo good!

and dark chocolate M&Ms!

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

1. What was your first car?

2. Who was your favorite childhood teacher?

3. Were you involved in any sports/extracurricular activities? Share pictures if you can!

4. What was your favorite birthday party?

5. Who was your teen celebrity crush?

6. What show/movie did your parents not allow you to watch?

Y’all have a great Sunday!

I got a surprise visit from some family at the shop yesterday!

In January 2011, my best friend Neely attended her first BlissDom conference. Before she went, I had never heard of BlissDom. I’d been blogging for almost a year, and I was still trying to figure out my place in this world of blogging.

Neely texted me a lot during BlissDom, about the things she was learning, the people she was meeting, everything. Every conversation ended the same way: “Ashley, you have to come next year.”

And so, the planning began.

Fast forward to February 2012. Barely a year after first hearing of BlissDom, I was going for the first time. I was going to be rooming with Neely and Meghan and making the drive with Neely, Amber, and Kiley. While I had spent time with all of these fabulous girls before, I was still a little nervous. 

Four days after being diagnosed with the flu (which I don’t recommend getting right before a blog conference, by the way), I headed to Texas to spend the night with Neely and head to Nashville the next day. Bright and early Wednesday morning, Kiley and Amber met us at Neely’s, and after a quick stop at Starbucks, we were on our way.

I was so nervous, more nervous than I was willing to admit at the time. I’m not an especially outgoing person, and the thought of being surrounded by 750+ people I didn’t know wasn’t exactly comforting. Sure, I had Neely, Amber, Kiley, and Meghan to lean on, but I knew we wouldn’t be spending every moment together.

Thursday, we headed down to registration, and right away, we ran into Jenn! After hugging and screaming with her for a few minutes and then getting all checked in, I just knew that things were going to be fine.

Things were better than fine. I felt so at home. I didn’t have a lot of blog friends in OKC, and I hadn’t shared my blog with very many people “in real life”, so being with a huge group of people who understood me was incredible. Listening to my close friends, new friends, and great speakers helped me realize that I was part of something important, something special, and something bigger than myself. I am a part of an incredible group of people that are changing the world!

One thing that truly amazed me about BlissDom is that everyone there is just a blogger. It doesn’t matter how big or how small your blog is. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been blogging for five years or five minutes. We are all just bloggers doing what we love and coming together to celebrate that!

I gained so much from attending BlissDom. I had time to deepen relationships with some of my precious friends. I finally got to spend some real time with friends I’d only known online. I got to meet several people I connected with in the newcomers group on Facebook that I still keep in touch with today. I got to meet some big bloggers that I’ve admired for awhile. I also got a hug from Alli Worthington :) More than anything, I gained a confidence in myself and my blog that I never had before.

When I got home, I suddenly had an urge to tell everyone I knew about my blog and how amazing the blog world is! For the first time ever, I shared my blog link on Facebook. It was such an exciting moment!

This year, I feel like things are different. I have a different attitude this time. My blog has gone through a name change and has almost quadrupled in followers. I’m a community leader for the first time, and any nervousness I had last year is gone. I’m more comfortable with my place in the blog world than I have ever been. I’m excited to be attending BlissDom again, and I’m excited about the new opportunities and experiences I will have this year.

This year, I will spend a fabulous weekend with some of my favorite people. I will help newcomers and new bloggers. I will NOT get the flu! I will get another hug from Alli and remember to get a picture this time :)

Hey y’all!

I got home late last night and didn’t feel like recording a vlog, so my blogoversary giveaway has been pushed back to tomorrow!

This weekend, Colby and I went home to watch our dad’s tae kwon do test. He got his black belt a few years ago, and Saturday he tested for his third degree black belt. The test was incredibly intense, and he passed! 

The first part of his test was doing patterns.

No way on earth I could kick that high :)

Doing one of his spinning kicks

Sparring

He had to break four cement tiles. It was super stressful for us watching, but he broke all of them!

He made it look super easy!

Preparing to break boards

Got ‘em all!

He did it! His instructor, and 8th degree, presented him with his new belt.

Daddy with his instructor, the testing board, and one of his students.

The fam! We are all so proud of him!

Love my daddy!

We all went out to lunch after the test, and then went to visit some family that came in for the weekend.

Momma and I have sooooooo many pictures like this :)

Me and my Mom-mom!

It was quick, but it was a really great weekend.. It’s so great to spend some time back home, and it was so cool seeing Daddy move up to the next level in tae kwon do!

Have a great Monday, y’all!

Tomorrow I’m celebrating with a giveaway and maybe a vlog, so come back and see me!

Now, on to this week’s questions!