My first 5K. I had one goal: to run the whole 5k without stopping or walking. I know a 5K is such a short distance for so many people, but for me it might as well had been a marathon. I’ve been slowly training from no running to be able to run 3.1 miles. Saturday…
Category Archives: personal
I’ve grown up knowing that what comes out of my mouth is a reflection of what is in my heart. When there is good in my heart, good comes out of my mouth. I’ve always thought about it related to my words, but recently I’ve been thinking about it regarding my eyes. Or more specifically,…
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This is the gentle reminder I needed this morning. My heart is a bit grumpy this morning and the words out of my mouth were the same. Time to regroup, reflect and start the morning again!
This is a beautiful post, thanks for sharing! A gentle reminder is good for all of us!
Not five minutes ago, I read the daily email devotional from my church with this scripture: Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Hmmm, looks like God is trying to send me a message today….! I hope I am strong enough to act upon it!
beautiful
Last night I was on an airplane returning home when I shouted, “I know her!” My husband thought I was a little crazy but I showed him the picture of in the magazine and he said, “Oh that’s that blog you read.” I loved seeing you and your daughter in the magazine, fixing her “piggytails.” Can’t wait to see the same photo with your other daughter.
this is beautiful. and so timely as a mom who sweeps up cereal from the floor at least 2x a day!
thanks for this reminder this am, i needed it!
Thanks for the poignant reminder that applies to each of us. I’ll admit that I usually see the dirty dishes. God has been working on my heart in this area, and your share is totally a blessing. Thank you.
Ashley, I come to this blog every morning for this very reason. This post says it all. Please continue to inspire me to inspire myself & others!
Good reminder. 
Thank you, Ashley, for this post. I feel like I need to copy this verbatim and hang it in front of me to be able to read on a daily basis. So often I read things like this and have an “aha” moment and then I close the blog down and life happens (and it’s so stinkin’ busy), making me forget what I just read. I am definitely going to jot this down and look at it daily. Thank you.
My littlest cut her own hair recently leaving a trail of hair from the bathroom to her bedroom and denied everything despite the evidence, we couldn’t help but notice her 17 inch haircut and new bangs. Hope your’s wasn’t that bad? and love the Princess Leia pancake plate idea!
I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat because I’ve not been an extremely happy or thankful place. Kids bickering, messes everywhere, dishes piled high.
Thank you for the reminder to ‘be a part of’ not just ‘the warden’ of my life with children! 
i might need to print this one to pull me out of the funk i am in. thank you!!!!
lovely LOVED this post all the way down to my toes!
definitely keeping this gem tucked in a special place to return to.
thanks. <3
~H
You are wonderful! A true inspiration!!
Wow, I adored this post, just BEAUTIFUL. <3 And the photography is so GOOD as always. The simple things are the best things. This post was a blessing.
Also! I have a $50 fresh giveaway right now on my blog if you want to put your name in for the win!
http://www.mooreminutes.com/2012/05/50-fresh-flower-giveaway-from-better.html
What great words! I didn’t feel well this weekend. By Sunday, I was internally grumbling to myself, “If I’m going to feel like this for the next 9 weeks until my due date, we’re in trouble.” I let me son watch WAY too much TV. I slept later than I wanted to and missed the opportunity to do laundry without my little assistant. And that is what I saw. Today I’m looking back and seeing a healthy pregnancy, a little boy who will actually slow down to snuggle with his momma on the couch and watch an episode of Mickey Mouse, a husband who will help with the laundry when I don’t get it done. Thanks for the perspective shift.
Lovely, just lovely. The pancake “hair” and “ears” was my favorite picture, UNTIL I saw Firecracker holding her newly cut hair. Reminds me of my older sister when she was 3…she brought my Mom her newly cut hair…my Mom ask her why she did it…”it was in my eyes”.
This was just in the message on Sunday. I am reminded again that I should speak positive and not negative, especially about myself, because my sons are watching me.
Amazing how God can speak to us through others. I cried myself to sleep last night just thinking about the lack of joy in my own heart lately and how I can see it being reflected in my kids’ attitudes. I felt like such a failure, but reading this I feel encouraged. God gives us grace, second chances. TODAY I can choose to seek God for the patience, strength and joy that I need rather than trying to do this on my own. TODAY I can choose to have a joy filled heart, to see the good first and react with a heart filled with love not frustration and exhaustion. Thank you for your blog and how you so beautifully remind me to enjoy my children and my role as a stay at home mom… because I do, just sometimes I forget!
good words, sister! makes my heart sink a little wishing i could take back so many overly harsh reprimands to my children, but instead of feeling guilty i’ll say a little prayer and ask jesus to make me more like him! happy monday!
These pancake in these plates are really adorables, but the most adorables is your boy with that beautiul smile.
This post made me smile. Especially of the one of most of the kids standing in their chairs around the table. I’m glad my kids aren’t the only ones who have a hard time sitting down to eat.
What a great message for me to think about today! THANK YOU!
Okay, I tried it. I see my little girl tooting an a vintage kazoo…pink corduroy pants with a heart shaped pocket…a pencil holder made from a soup can, construction paper, and animal stickers…and a half assembled Millenium Falcon kite. Hey, it works! Bless you!
Such encouraging and sweet words, thank you! I never noticed that poster size photo with ( Firecracker?) in the cowboy boots. LOVE!!!
What a lovely reminder! I usually think of that in terms of words too. Wow. Thank you Ashley!!
Thank you so much for this wonderful post, it’s just what I needed to read today!
Thank you for this post. So often I find myself in situations where I think, as I’m saying/doing/reacting, that I should focus more on the good or I should be handling it differently, but in that moment I’m already in the wrong mindset. It’s sometimes hard with little ones, and I really appreciate this reminder that where our hearts our is reflected in every aspect and not just one.
I want to document my family’s life more like this. More realness. More of the details and the little things.
and definitely more light in my kitchen!)
thank you for the continued inspiration… as always.
nancy-of the crazy 9
This post makes me feel pure happiness! So so beautiful! Pancakes for dinner is ne of my favorite things!!!
The haircut! Oh man. We have yet to have that happen. So sweet that she wanted to show you instead of hide it. I love your heart. Great example to all of us.
Oh, your daughter always cracks me up! Too cute. Thank you for this post. Good things to be thinking about.
oh how i love you! oh how i needed this!
i truly feel the same way. too often i focus on ‘what needs to be done’ and not ‘whats currently happening’. i have 3 beautiful children that i try my best to enjoy but sometimes life gets in the way and its hard to just slow down.
thank you for your posts. you are truly a joy to my heart.
god bless.
I’ve been told that the eyes are the lamp of our body and if our eyes are good then our whole body would be filled with light. But if our eyes are bad, our whole body will be filled with darkness.
Our eyes linking us to our perspective. I can choose to see things and people with a generous eye or a stingy eye. This revelation changed my life. Simply by changing my perspective light shines through. I’m so thankful for truth.
Oh, how I needed this! Thank you for sharing these words. We have had a rough start to our week and I just can’t seem to “get into it”, constantly thinking about how I need a break, etc. but that is never how I want to be.
such truth!! i know i need HIS perspective…HIS eyes to see the beauty *all* around. even in the mess.
thanks for sharing!
You know, every time we have pancakes I think of your volcano post. I can’t, repeat CAN’T eat them any other way now. There is magic in the soppy butter circle with syrup soaking into the sides and spilling over the top. I save the butter soaked circle cut out for last…it’s the best!
Hope you are having an amazing week
Leia hair compliments of my 2010 Star Wars costume…brown beanie, hot-gluded yarn buns. Currently one of her favorite hats.
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oh my goodness. she is hilarious. love the i’m gonna get you face and then the sweet face right below it. so very funny
This is awesome in so so many ways.
Hilarious! love that she loves the hat and love her Leia-tough fists!
Love it!! Such adorable photos.
Just made my day…. there’s something about that little girl that gets me everytime!
best hat ever!!!
She is posing like a little Supermodel. Really cute
This is the cutest thing ever! These photos made my morning.
Adorable!
Oh my gosh, that’s brilliant! I love it!
That hat is adorable (and we own that shirt, small world! Lol) I wish I had been reading your blog a few years ago before the hubby gave up his star wars collection! I keep kicking myself cause your family would certainly would have appreciated it more than where it went! (Even if the shipping would have cost a fortune!)
oh geez! the one with her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side…so freaking adorable!!
Oh my gosh….she is a mess!!!! Love the hands on hips pose..too cute!
soooo cute! just put a smile on my face. great way to start the day!
Your kids are so adorably awesome!
LOVE this! this is the girl equivalent of wearing cowboy boots with everything!
i was in the middle of complaining about work to my officemate, in mid-sentence even, and opened your blog.
immediately, i laughed out loud and i’m not sure if my bad mood will be returning any time soon.
firecracker is a riot.
that scrunched up face made my whole morning!
The cuteness is just too much to bear. Love it.
That is so stinkin adorable! So perfect for her!
OH my goodness, she is such a ham. So cute.
oh, she is a HOOT!!! Love her!
i die over the picture of her with her hands on her hips!
Seriously… how much cuter could she be? I believe my boy is around the same age as Firecracker. He makes some of the same faces. That last picture of her scrunched up face with fist in the air… he does all the times when showing his muscles. Love it!
It’s possible Fire Cracker is my favorite blog personality to read about. She is a hoot! Of course, she also has opportunity….who else would have crafted their own Princess Leia beanie? You crack me up!
she is awesome!!!
ADORABLE!!! What a great idea!!!
That is an awesome hat!
She is so stinkin’ cute!!!
are you kidding me? that is the cutest toque i have ever seen! and her personality is just brilliant in it!
She kills me – could she be any cuter! I just love her personality. Her baby sister is going to love her!
She is hilarious! I love it.
Love love love the pic of her with her hands on her hips. And of course the fist ones too! My 4 year old was recently gifted a star wars shirt by my sister….we are an all girl family so we don’t do star wars…but we have family friends with boys who do. The star wars shirt is her current favorite and it’s about 10 sizes too big so she will be wearing it for a long time!
Oh so cute!!!!!!!! She truly looks like a Firecracker!
She is seriously the cutest thing on the planet. I love her spunk!
She cracks me up and I LOVE her nickname(firecracker)! You can tell just by these photos that it suits her well
Haha, this is hilarious!
I love seeing her pics! She is such a little character, she is so adorable.
LOVE! I think my Josie might have to have one of these! Her brothers would be so excited for her! thanks for sharing
Awesome.
You just made my day!
This is too adorable…I just found your site from a friend who shared it. I absolutely LOVE your blog…the content and the look. If I had envisioned this look for my blog (without copying you, of course), I’d have wanted my blog to look exactly like yours The blog header especially…I’m digging all those colors together lately.
That is so cute! Shes adorable. Its a shame you cant bottle her up.
Ummmm… those “power pose” pictures? ADORABLE. Lil’ Miss Firecracker, you’re the bees knees, girl-io!
Too cute! She never fails to make me laugh! What riot she is!
She is a hoot! Is she showing off her muscles??
That is too cute, you a such an inspiring mom!
Seriously? Could your girl BE any more adorable?!?
This adorable!
These pictures are the best! She rocks that hat like no other.
Goodness she’s delicious! I think I’ll make leia hats for us all!
This came up in my bloglovin’ feed and I saw the picture and immediately started laughing. I LOVE it. SO much fun.
love it! i was princess leia when i was in kindergarten – back when star wars around the first time.
Just when I didn’t think she could get anymore adorable.
she is so awesome.
This headband thing reminds me of what Korean people do when they go to the spas in Korea. . they twist it like that. . towels and such. I’ve seen it on a couple of their shows (i watch them). Anyway it is super adorable.
She is such a goofy doll! Love her posing!
oh.my. ADORABLE!! so so CUTE!!
i LOVE your posts w/ your sweet girl ~ makes me look forward to my sweet pea growing up.
by AshleyAnn
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RachelC - Way to finish one race ……here’s to finishing the other one today!
Helen - I’m so pleased that you managed to do this. I have done a couple of 5k in the past for Cancer Research, but have never run all the way.
I really don’t like running, but last week I went out for the first time – not for such a poigniant reason( I just need to lose 3 stone & not spend too much money doing it!!)
I didn’t even run all the way on the ‘course’ my husband gave me.
But I shall be out again tonight, hoping that I may also reach the point where I enjoy the run, sometime. I am enjoying 20 minutes on my own, with my music though.
Kezia - Well done! I’m training to do 5k, and finding it rather difficult, so I hugely admire your perseverance!
Tara A - Ashley, That’s awesome. Wish I was there with you. Now when I hear that song you played before you crossed the finish line I will think of your little one. Keep running!!!! Have a blessed day. Tara
Joy - “Wherefore we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance the race set before us, laying aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us by fixing our eyes on JESUS, the author and finisher of our faith. FOR THE JOY set before him, he endured the cross and despised its shame and now is seated at the right hand of God…” you are living this, sweet ashley! run hard!
Anna Joy - Go Ashley! I ran my first 5K since I got preggo 4 years ago earlier this year. It was great and I did catch the running bug again. I hope you do too. It’s a nice distraction as we wait patiently on the Lord.
N - Be proud! And keep running towards that little one:)
Fliss - True photographer… you have your camera everywhere
Congrats on the run…
giozi - I though first you said My firs 5 kilos
I only thing in weight ha ha ha. Well well well. Congratulations. I can’t neither one block, 
kate c - Congrats on your 5K! (which is only 3.1 miles – so not nearly as far, right???)
It takes a really long time to get the runner’s high and get addicted to it, though I promise it’s worth it!
I ran for ~3 years before something changed and I finally really loved running just for the sake of running. Now I get grumpy and out of sorts if I can’t run – and I love how it makes me feel fit and healthy!
Don’t give up doing things for you and being healthy – it’s the best thing you can do for your kids (well, besides loving them and feeding and clothing them, I suppose!!) – having a mom who takes care of herself and is really fit is being a great role model – along with preventing future health problems so you can live longer for your kids!
Anyway, just a note to let you know that it can take many years of running before you get the runner’s high and feel like a runner, so don’t think just because it hasn’t happened to you yet that it will never happen!!
Congrats again on your great run!!!
AshleyAnn - Kate – thanks! I agree completely on taking care of myself…I just prefer lots of other ways over running. Maybe one day I’ll enjoy running as much as I enjoy other ways of staying strong & healthy…we’ll see if that runner’s high comes
Sara Torbett - Great job Ashley!! I am also not a fan of running so I can relate with your feelings. I think of your family often waiting on your sweet daughter. Praying that you get to bring her home sooooon!
Très bien - That is so wonderful. I love the parallels you have shared! Keep persevering! Keep your eyes on Jesus. Your sweet song will be with you soon!
Tammy C. - So chocked up reading this, the finish line song just did me in! Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us.
Tammy C. - Oops, I mean choked.
Bethany - Get it, girl!
tracy a - Hey, if I make it down there in November, let’s take a run together? Well, unless you’ve gotten to hang up your running shoes by then. That would be even better!
Eva - I’m so sorry that the race to your approval letter didn’t get the memo that it should keep up with the lead pack. It’s disappointing, for sure. So glad that your friend found you at the finish line, and you crossed it together. Remember that the Lord has been with you throughout your race/journey to your girl. And He will cross the finish line with you, too.
meg duerksen - great song for finishing.
i LOVE that song.
good for you for doing it! way to go!
Nicole C - I too have had a goal to run a 5k without stopping and have failed many times. I’m pretty much pushing that one to the backburner but I am beyond glad to hear you completed! I did a duathlon yesterday (like a tri but only running and biking) and it was so much fun my Mom even signed up after seeing me to it last year. So, if you decide to keep your running shoes on, maybe your sweet Song will run along with you..
ellie - I absolutely love Third Day and love that you run to them.
Kelsey I - I love reading your blog & hardly ever post. But today while I was reading the song, While I’m Waiting by John Waller came on my Pandora station & thought it was so appropriate for this season of your life. I hope that song blesses you.
Katie - Oh so beautiful…as I mentioned before, I too am running while we wait to adopt….and praying, and rocking (in chair in nursery) and trying to keep praising, and growing and stretching. Waiting on a call today to hear if “yes” or “no”. Congrats on your race…keep it up. Can’t wait to hear when you get your approval letter; but knowing this too is part of the beautifully hard journey towards your girl. “Waiting on someday, living in the moment, hoping in Your promise to uphold me. Until someday I’ll keep going, not just survive, but seek Your glory.”
Shannon - That is a great song, but just wondering if you have heard the waterdeep version. it’s too good
Kelli - Hi Ashley Ann~I love reading your blog and following you on your adoption journey. It brings back so many memories of the journey to our daughter. She was born in Guatemala 6 years ago next month and has been home with us for a little over 5 years now, it seems like a lifetime ago now and it feels like time stood still during the wait. We were able to visit our daughter when she was 3 months old then had to wait an excruciatingly long 6 months to bring her home. I love that you are running while waiting. I am not a runner but when we visited our daughter at 3 months I picked up a pin/brooch of a little guatemalan girl and wore it EVERY day until we brought her home. I found it in a drawer recently and it brought back so many memories. Even if you never love running, may your shoes be a fond memory soon
I can’t wait to “meet” your little one! Hang in there.
Sophie~Bug's Mom - Ashley… what a poignant post. Adoption is a marathon. Not a sprint like we hope. I know that feeling too well as my youngest daughter was born in my heart thousands of miles away in Guatemala. The wait for her was more excruciating than childbirth, that I was fortunate to experience twice before her. She just turned 7 and is the light of my life… just as her siblings are… but with a little extra something special when I look at her sleeping at night and think about how the stars lined up so perfectly for me to be matched with the most amazing little girl.
I just ran my first 5K last weekend… I got to run it with a friend and really enjoyed it. I don’t have that runners high yet either… but want to stick with it and give it another couple of tries!
Praying your approval comes very very soon!!!
Suzanne - Way to go, Ashley!! Your beautiful Song will be here before you know it. Maybe you will find your runner’s high before then… or maybe not
it’s all good!
Flor - congrats on finishing your first 5k! you go girl
i’m not a runner either but i make myself do it
in order to stregthen my mind as well as my body.
and with songs praising the Lord in my ears, it’s my quiet
time as well.
slow and steady, you’ll get to the finish line soon and
the reward will be so sweet…your precious daughter
Amanda torres - Congrats on your first race. Seeing that finish line and knowing you are going to cross is a great feeling!
Lindsey P - Your sweet sweet Song. Oh you know just how to make a girl cry. I hope it’s comforting to you that God picks the timing for everything. Ultimately, you will get your girl when He decides it’s time.
Can you imagine how many women around the country will be in the ugly cry with happy tears with you when you finally meet your little one?
Cindy Sullivan - BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!
Amy K. - I’m no runner, but I know if that was my finish line song, I would finish every race sobbing!! =) Keep your head up in the loooong race!
Kelli - Congratulations! I ended up walking my first 5K, a little disappointing, but I learned I’d much rather run alone than in a crowd of several thousand. It was crazy.
Jess - Way to go, Ashley! Praying for you as you wait for your sweet girl.
Lisa Box - I LOVE that song! And now, every time I hear it, I’ll think of your sweet Song, and pray that you get to hold her in your arms soon!
Naomi - I love that you are running for a reason, your Song! Whether it is 3.1 miles or a marathon, it always feels beter when you have a goal! I overcame cancer last year and for my 1 year of being healthy, I set the goal to run a half marathon. I’ve since ran 5 half marathons in the past 6 months! When you reach that goal, and have Song in your arms, run the race set out for you. And it is ok to cry as you cross the finish line.
Bon @ A Golden Afternoon - Finish line song…such a good idea! I think I’ll try out a finish line song for the end of my day. That would be awesome and a signal to my kiddos that Mom is winding down. Could it work?
Way to go on the 5K!