Feathering the Nest

The nesting bug has officially nestled its way into our lives. Okay, my life. I am headed into full blown nest-mode. To irritate matters (slightly), the Christmas decorations are still up, and I can't get down to business how I really want. (Those twelve bins of decorations are all fun and games going up, but coming down is a whole different matter.) Right now, I just want to dive into every closet we have and throw it all into a pile and then throw it all away. Well, there's a problem with that. I need (and like) the majority of that stuff. I lived in my house for seven years before Will and I got married. Needless to say, I had a house full of my own stuff. I had it all decorated like I wanted, and each closet had a purpose. (And really, I do NOT have a lot of closet/storage space.... one of my only complaints about my house. At 24 years old, I didn't realize how important that was.) Not having a lot of closet/storage space is good in a way-- it means that I can't just throw a bunch of stuff in there and hide things away. Then, it's bad in a way-- because I can't just throw a bunch of stuff in there and hide things away. Are you seeing my predicament? Back to the story. We get married, and Will moves in. Well. Now we have one house and twice the stuff. We temporarily solved this problem by renting a storage unit for most of Will's things for about a year. Then we realized that it was ridiculous to have a monthly bill for something that really should be unnecessary; so we forced ourselves to move everything out (and into the garage) and got rid of the unit. In the meantime, I had given Goodwill a HUGE donation of all the things that I could part with (and it was A LOT.) I was actually a little proud of myself considering the slight embarrassment I felt dropping off such a ginormous load of crap. It took Will's truck and my mom's car to haul it all over there, and the boxes were neverending. We finally went through all Will's things and he did a good job of letting go of quite a few things as well; but we still have a lot of stuff. Most everything has found a home..... HOWEVER. This baby needs a room of her own. And a closet of her own. Of course I want her to have this! And I have a room to give her. HOWEVER.... that room is my office and I have STUFF in there. STUFF that will now NOT have a home. Now, in an earlier post I explained where all this stuff would go. I think that post was almost for my own self rather than your entertainment... I had to work it out "out loud," if you will. And that's all fine and dandy. My parents are more than willing to help us; to keep at their house what we don't have room for (wedding china and crystal, books, fallow deer, etc) and we are so thankful for that. But I also feel like I don't want my schtuff spread out all over God's creation. So that is also irritating my nesting bug. It's fluttering its little wings in opposition to this idea. But all the SCHTUFF is also giving my nesting bug anxiety! My bug and I are feeling hopeless and like we are in a lose-lose situation here. Now, I know how this will turn out. The stuff will go to my parents'. Happily. And, I probably will not miss it very much until I have a place to put it. This is where in the midst of the nesting the thought in the back of my mind begins to pick-pick-pick at me. "I can't wait til we move, I can't wait to have a bigger house, I can't wait to have a china cabinet, I can't wait to have decent storage in my kitchen, I can't wait for a linen closet (or a closet, period, in my bathroom for the love of God), I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait." Then THAT starts getting to me, because-- we have a REALLY nice home. I love our home. I've been in this home for almost nine years, and buying a brand new house was a great accomplishment for me at such a young age. I've UPGRADED this home-- a lot. We have crown molding, chair railing, encased columns, a mirrored wall in our dining room-- we have REAL wood floors and a 20x16 bedroom! I have absolutely NOTHING to be complaining about WHATSOEVER and it makes me feel like I'm a real brat! And sure, I need new carpet (coming in April, hopefully!) and I should've gotten rid of the formica in the kitchen a long time ago, but those things take time, and will come in time. Just like our future new house will, too. I know God has a plan for us, to prosper us, to give us hope and a future! I have faith in that. I just get a little antsy sometimes. Darn human anxieties. But this little bug is making me to really want to make some changes around here. I suppose some more stuff can go. Maybe we need to do some rearranging. I'm eyeballing a few things and can foretell their future on Craigslist. And lastly, but foremost-ly, these Christmas decorations need to go back to their home in the attic! I've never been so ready to get Christmas decorations down, ever. I always wait until after the New Year, and I'm usually sad-- but this time, they've got to go! I want this house in order, organized, and spotless! I'll "stay up, until this dump, SHINES LIKE THE TOP OF THE CHRYSLER BUILDING!" (Did I mention Will was taking me to see Annie in March? So excited.) Either way, my baby girl is coming home to perfectly decluttered house with a floor she can eat off of, much less crawl on. (Not that she'll be crawling right away.... but you know what I mean.) I will not rest until this job is done. Fortunately, I have five months to complete the mission. I feel like this is the most important mission of my LIFE thus far. I have to prepare a safe and cozy haven for my baby. Just like my mommy did for me.

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God Bless Us, Every One!

I took a few days off from the blog over the holidays to enjoy my family and we had a wonderful time. We are truly so blessed with our loving family, and all the blessings that Jesus has so graciously bestowed upon us. We are so lucky in not only our family life, but that we are warm, fed, and have all the things that help us to enjoy life. Being with family and celebrating Jesus is what Christmas is all about to us; and we did enjoy being with our loved ones. I had made a lot of the gifts we gave this year, including a scrapbook of the wedding for each of our moms. They each took me about twelve hours to make, and they were a labor of love! I was very excited for everyone to open their gifts; giving is my favorite part of Christmas! On Christmas Eve, Will and I went to his sister's house to celebrate with her, our nephew, and his mom. I just love when Will's mom Susie comes to town. She is a lot of fun and we are close. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mother in law. We started the evening off with a delicious roast beef dinner that Susie prepared for us, and then Devin passed out our "VIP" tickets to the formal living room with the tree and all the presents. Susie loves to spoil us and she kept up the tradition this year with a load of presents under the tree. Will had gotten the golf clubs he has so desperately been wanting since we got married, and I am so happy for him. He didn't have any hobbies before we met, and now he has taken up duck hunting and golf, which I hope are both lifetime loves for him. He was so thrilled with his clubs and has been so excited to put them to use. Susie added to my wedding china and also bought me some Viva La Juicy, which I've been dying for since I ran out a few months ago. Devin also gave the baby a Scentsy warmer for her nursery along with some Huggies wipes and Pampers newborn diapers. They were so tiny! I couldn't get over them! So crazy to imagine our baby fitting into something so small. It was so sweet of him to think of his new baby cousin on Christmas. We also received stockings stuffed to the brim of all the lotion, gum, Scentsy bars, and fun knick knacks we could want. We played some games and enjoyed each other's company, and it was finally time to head home to wait for Santa's arrival.
The next morning I awoke at 5:45 am. "Hmmmm," I thought. I could've totally gotten up then, but I looked over at Will and knew this would be the last Christmas that he ever got to rest until a decent hour. I decided to let it slide until about 7:20 when I couldn't contain myself any longer. We came downstairs to our gifts under the tree and took turns opening each one. Of course we got each other Christmas cards and those always mean the most because I love what Will always writes inside each card he gives me. I gave him a lot of his golfing accessories, some books he had wanted, a new Bible, and an Avery mud bag for his waders. He gave me an iHome alarm clock (we didn't even have an alarm clock in our room! I thought I might need to know what time it was when the baby wakes up during the night. This was the gift that I thought the camera was on my birthday), a platter for our wedding china, a pedometer I had been wanting (it also tracks calories!), a mommy charm from James Avery, and the sweetest thing was the softest pink blanket for the baby with an owl on it. It is so cute and I have a feeling that will be her baby blanket that goes everywhere with us.
Next, on to my parents house for Round 3! We loaded up the truck and headed on over to their home in Sienna Point. My brother and Aunt Sandi were already there, and we had another big to-do with presents (are we blessed, or what?) I was thrilled to get even more wedding china (trying to finish this collection, and it's going to take several holidays and birthdays), the new book with Jacqueline Kennedy's interviews about life with Jack (the Kennedys are somewhat of an obsession my dad passed down to me), and the blue box that makes every woman squeal with delight: a pair of Tiffany sunglasses. I didn't have any black sunglasses and I've been wearing my favorite pair of Prada's for years, so it was nice to get some new shades. Will got new hunting clothes (no more hand me downs!), a new golf glove, hunting accessories, and jeans (which he was really excited about, seriously. Poor boy needed some new Levi's!). Grant even gave the baby her first BB gun-- really. A pink Daisy BB gun. It looks like she'll be getting into the "family biz" of hunting sooner than I thought. I think we'll just prop it up in the corner for a few years until she's old enough to learn about it. But it was really cute and thoughtful! We enjoyed our lunch, our friend Mark came over, and before I knew it, my dad was whisking my husband away to the duck lease. I had no idea they were going so early, but my mom and I had fun spending the night together anyway. This was our last Christmas as just a married couple and next year it will be all about the baby, which it should be; so I really enjoyed my last Christmas to be the spoiled one. It's going to be a whole new ball game the next time the holidays roll around. Which, I almost forgot! One last present my parents got for Will: a Santa suit. Hahaha! It has been my dad's for a really long time, since Grant and I were little, and they have kept it in really good condition. It's a nice Santa suit, if there can be such a thing. So they thought they would pass it down to Will; wig, boot covers, hat, gloves, and all. He says he's going to actually wear it, too. Lord, I hope Baby Girl never creeps down the stairs on Christmas Eve. She really may catch Mommy kissing Santa Claus!

Even Dixie and Soup got presents....... :)

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Grant and the Great Elfie Escapade

Let me tell you a little Christmas story.... something to warm your heart and add to your cheer. And, hopefully, give you a little giggle. I take you back to last Christmas, when the Fish family was all but ignorant and uneducated about a little thing known as The Elf on a Shelf. Most of you reading this know exactly which Elf I am talking about here; Santa's little buddy that does naughty things and reports to Santa the bad behavior of your children. However, being a child-free family, we had no IDEA who this Elf was. And, last Christmas, thanks to our adorable Chloe, we had a very rude awakening. This Elf definitely made a first impression to last a lifetime.
Every year, my dad's side of the family gets together before Christmas to celebrate the season before the holiday takes us to our own individual families. Last Christmas, the get-together was hosted by my cousins, Shannon and Doug, who have three small children (Keagan, Chloe, and Charlie.) After we put our coats away, we had no sooner hugged our hellos and poured our wine, and we had a Christmas crisis on our hands of epic proportions. Everyone knows the best place to gather for get-togethers is the kitchen, which is exactly where we had migrated. Shannon has a huge and beautiful kitchen, not to mention the menagerie of goodies that were waiting for us in there. Unfortunately, "Elfie" was waiting for us in there as well. Elfie was perched up on the fruit bowl smiling his innocent smile, but he had a knowing naughty gleam in his eye, and he knew exactly who his most vulnerable target was: my brother Grant, the quintessential bachelor. He had no CLUE who this Elf was and the damage he was about to inflict. So, as we gathered around the island picking at the hors d' hoerves, Grant unwittingly picks up the Elf asking, "What's this?" There was an almost immediate reaction as we all jumped out of skins at the sudden outcry of grief and anguish that rips through the kitchen. Chloe, who has fallen into a tragic heap of despair upon the tile floor, screams out, "YOU CAN'T TOUCH HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Grant threw down Elfie like he was stricken with leprosy as Shannon tried unsuccessfully to pry a crestfallen Chloe off the floor, who was just flopping around like a ragdoll, spent with emotion. Through her choking sobs, Chloe cries out, "He loses his magic if you touch him!!!" We all stand there aghast, shocked, and at loss for action or words as her parents try to repair the damage that been brought down on their middle child. "Grant didn't know, Chloe; Elfie only loses his magic if YOU touch him; Grant is all grown up, he doesn't count...." Eventually, with the lure of presents, Chloe calmed down enough for us to move on with the evening. (Which, by this time, I've consumed a bottle of wine on my own, but that is a whole 'nother story all together.)
However, Chloe has never let Grant forget this memory that will no doubt scar her for the rest of her life. Throughout the year, "Elfie" has come up numerous times in conversation. Grant felt really, really bad about it, too. So, this year Grant got his own Elfie. Aunt Sandi (Chloe's Grammy) bought Grant his very own Elf on the Shelf. Chloe stood by impatiently waiting for Grant to open it. She explained all how the Elf worked and that he, of course, COULD NOT touch him (that is why Grant is holding the Elf by as little as possible in the pictures.) Thankfully, Chloe has recovered, and our family has gained a new member. Grant's little Elf better get busy; he's going to have a lot of work ahead of him with all the things he's going to have to report to Santa. And I mean ALOT of work. Happy holidays from our Elf to yours!

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Christmas with the Family

We went to my Aunt Sandi's last night to celebrate Christmas together before heading off with our own distinctive families on the big day. We walked in the door and were met with a rush of blonde munchkins, aka Keagan, 9, Chloe, 8, and Charlie, 2. The whole family just loves them to pieces and it is so nice to have kids around at Christmas time again. They are the children of my cousins Doug and Shannon (Doug being my actual cousin, but we love Shannon so much it's as if she's always been with us. We consider her a "real" cousin, too.) Shannon is from Chicago and until recently, they have spent the majority of the kids' lives there. Luckily we've gotten to see them often since they've been home. It was a pleasant surprise to see most of the family already there-- even Grant! playing away at Christmas bingo and cheering with excitement. After (cousins) Heather and Dillon showed up, we really got down to the business of visiting. Everyone was loving on the bump. The appetizers were delicious (that's where I was hanging out, haha) and we played some really fun Christmas games. Heather and I always exchange birthday gifts on Christmas (mine is the 18th, hers is the 28th) and she got me the cutest necklace that I had been dying for-- she didn't even know it! I am so lucky. We ate some yummy chili and had a nice dinner; then, of course, it was present time for the kiddos. It was fun watching them tear into that paper. I can't wait to see my own children do that one day. Their excitement and happiness is just contagious. They loved it all and were playing right away; especially Charlie, who just happens to be obsessed (and I mean that seriously!) with Toy Story. We got him a Toy Story dump truck with Woody; you would've thought we gave him a winning lottery ticket. I even got a little pink tutu and pink little shoe socks from Aunt Sandi, and the kiddies got the baby her first teddy bear with a Christmas book. I just love my family and enjoy spending time with them so much. I wish we could all get together like that more often. It's hard when we are spread out all over Houston and you can drive across some states faster than you can get across this city. So we always really try to enjoy every moment we are together and pass out lots of hugs and kisses before we leave. Thank you for such a nice evening, Aunt Sandi! We love you!

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The Spirit of the Season

I'm going to take a little time off from creating (why, oh why, did I wait until last minute?) and wrapping Christmas presents to do a little writing. I have wassel boiling on the stove, Polar Express playing on ABC Family, my tree is lit, and my husband is sitting happily on the couch. Things have really shaped up this Christmas season and we only have 4 days to go! How are your holidays coming together this year? I hope everyone is enjoying the season. I'm a real (chest)nut when it comes to Christmas. I believe in giving Thanksgiving the month it deserves, and I really try to hold out until December 1 to start putting up decorations. This also happens to be one of the longest weeks of the year for me. We wait all year for the Season, and that last week is like molasses; especially when the neighbors have their Christmas lights and yard decorations on display the second the porch light goes out on Halloween. I have twelve (yes, TWELVE) bins of Christmas decorations. Every year, I think, "No more," and then it never fails, I add at least one more bin to the stack. (We can always put more boards down in the attic, right?) It usually takes me two to three days to get everything how I want it inside. I turn this place into Santa's Workshop, complete with Snowman Island in the kitchen. It is my goal and DREAM to be on a Christmas home tour one day. It WILL happen. That's why I need every one of those twelve bins. However, it isn't complete without the tree. I insist that we have a real tree. Every year my mom tries to get me on the artificial tree train, but I can't bring myself to do it. What other time do you get to have a real tree in your house? I've heard that putting sugar in the water helps keep it alive; and though I'm not sure if it's true, I do it every year anyway. My favorite tree is the Douglas Fir. It's limbs aren't the strongest, but it has the softest needles. Our tree has really held up well this year. Above you see a picture of one of my favorite ornaments. My parents started a tradition that I've carried on of buying a new ornament every year. I have my Baby's First Christmas ornament all the way up to.... well, this year. Will thinks we'll run out of space soon, so starting next year, we are going to pass this tradition on to Baby and only buy her ornaments from here on out. I think it's a great idea. Something else I love: Christmas carols. My favorite: "Sleigh Ride," by Johnny Mathis. I love all of the "old" Christmas music. There are songs that I enjoy by current artists, but it's artists like Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, and Nat King Cole that really get me in the spirit. I force Will to listen to them all month. He can be a little Grinch-y at first, but then he gets into it. I think it will be a whole different story next year when Baby arrives. He will officially be Santa for the first time and it will be all downhill from there, I'm sure. Favorite Christmas movie? By far, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I saw it in the movie theater in the fourth grade with Dani Perroni and loved it every since. "Why is the floor all wet, MAR-go???" "I don't KNOW, TODD!" (Just one of the millions of favorite quotes from that movie.) However, the best time I spend watching a Christmas movie over the holidays is "Christmas Story" with my dad every Christmas Eve. We start at 7:00 and watch it AT LEAST four, five, six times before it's all over with. (We do have to sleep somewhere in that 24 hour run.) That is a Christmas tradition that I will remember for a lifetime. I am so excited to see what traditions Baby Girl brings our way. Though I have many, many more traditions that I enjoy during this time of year, as I'm sure you have with your own families, it would take quite a while to get through them all. I'll leave you here with a little stocking stuffer of my own: my wassel recipe. I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays. God bless!

Ashley's Wassel Recipe:

10 cups of water

2 cups of cranberry juice

1 1/4 cup of pineapple juice

4 packets of apple cider

half a lemon (squeeze out juice, then add lemon, rind and all)

half an orange (same as above)

15-20 whole cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

Healthy sprinkles of ginger, nutmeg, all spice, and ground cinnamon

Bring to a boil on the stove and your home will fill with the smell of deliciousness.

"Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe."

--The Polar Express





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Post Secret

My very favorite blog in the entire world is Post Secret. I have been following Post Secret for more than five years now. Post Secret was a community art project started by a man named Frank Warren is 2004 in his hometown of Germantown, Maryland. He went around his community leaving blank postcards with his address on them, asking strangers to mail him back the postcards after they had decorated them as simple or as elaborate as they liked, but there was two stipulations: each postcard had to share a secret that they had never told anyone, and it had to be anonymous. Since 2004, Frank Warren has received over half a million postcards worldwide, has published five books, has been featured in numerous museum exhibits (one of my favorites involved a wedding proposal), and has been a keynote speaker at university campuses nationwide. Each Sunday at midnight, he posts the Sunday Secrets at www.postsecret.com. Some of the secrets are funny, some are disturbing, some are confusing, touching, serious, regretful, happy, sad, excited, shocking. I've seen secrets of my own that I share with some stranger out in the world. Post Secret makes me realize that we are not alone at all.... that we are all human, that we all have the same feelings, make the same mistakes, experience the same things. In a world today where we should feel so connected through technology, sometimes I think it drives us further apart. It's nice to find something that we can share in our human-ness. The relief that some must feel after finally purging something they've been holding onto for years, that they've never been able to tell anyone.... secrets can be suffocating. I heard once that secrets are like walls... they can protect you or isolate you. Secrets can make or break things. Frank usually shares a story, e-mail, or some other sort of communication he's had with a sender or reader throughout the blog (like the weddding proposal... if you scroll the end of the link, you'll see the story.) Post Secret has literally saved people's lives, brought people back together who have lost numerous years, saved marriages and relationships, helped people realize things through a stranger's words, see the world through someone else's eyes.... it's amazing.  I own all five books (Post Secret, Secret Lives of Men & Women, My Secret: A Post Secret Book, A Lifetime of Secrets, and Post Secret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God) and read the Sunday Secrets without fail. He recently started an iPhone/iPad app as well. If you are looking for something interesting, you're bored, or just plain nosy, I highly encourage all of you to go take a look. You'll be as hooked as I am. Have I sent in a secret? It wouldn't be fun if I told you. Will you send one?
Here are some that I like:

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Getting Ready for Nursery

We will know the gender of the baby for 100% at my sonogram on January 4. The fetal specialist, Dr. Rowe,  told me "girl" at 13 weeks; and though it was only 80-90% accurate, my regular doctor told me, "Oh, it's a girl then.... he's only been wrong twice in his nearly twenty year career." Seeming that Dr. Rowe did not just begin his career yesterday, I feel pretty confident in his accuracy. He is a very well respected and sought after doctor in our area. We feel very fortunate he is following the development of our baby girl. So after months of putting off shopping because we didn't know the gender of the baby, I finally started getting just a feeeeeew things. Just a few, and I mean that seriously (I can sense some of you rolling your eyes.... but it's true!) Here is the very first thing I've bought for the nursery, and I just got it this week:

I saw it at Target and knew it was a must-have. We haven't cleared out the bedroom we are going to use for the nursery yet, and I know, I know-- it's gotta be done soon. I'm sure we'll start in the next month or so. Luckily, it was the room that is my study/office, so that way we'll still have our guest room intact (for mommies and mother-in-laws that want to come help and visit.) In my office I have two good-size bookcases, one filled with children's books and the other with the adult books that survived The Great Half-Price Books Selling of 2011. I have a God awful computer desk that I've been waiting to trash for years, and a 3 shelf case with the usual office necessities (since the computer desk doesn't have drawers.) The closet is used for storage of some wedding china that I don't have a place for right now, a file cabinet with all my papers, and other random "office-y" stuff. Then, there's the deer heads. Yes, deer heads. There are four wall mounts and a pedestal mount of a fallow deer. So, this is what we're working with. My mom has generously offered to help me organize the children's books (along with the hundreds from teaching) in age-appropriate tubs and she's going to store all my books at her house since she has a lot of storage space. I'm sure the office things will find a home in our closet, which is rather huge, and the bookcases are going to my dad's office where he has some storage space. This is all temporary until we buy a larger house in a couple of years. I think Will is going to hang the deer on our stairway wall (it's about 20 feet high) and the fallow deer will find a nice home in my dad's game room until further notice. It's really not a  lot; we just have to do it, and before I get too big! But I know my mom and Will will do anything and everything to help me. I'm thinking that we will paint Baby's room either a light pink or yellow. I'll have to study the bedding a little more. Lavender was top of my list (I had a lavender room growing up; it's one of my favorite colors), but there isn't any lavender in the bedding. Yellow is very sunshiney, and it IS my favorite color. I also had a yellow room in high school, but it was so bright it would burn your retinas if you stared straight at my wall, haha. I think we will go with a little more of a pale shade. (I remember when the painters came that day to paint my room.... I came home from school to find my mother shell-shocked at how absolutely bright it was. Funny.) I am REALLY excited to get this ball rolling, and after January 4, I think it will be gathering speed at a rather rapid rate. I suppose we have to get through the holidays first; and I really am trying to enjoy every second and not rush through them, since this is my favorite time of year. But the New Year will be full of excitement, as well. Wish us luck!

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Rebel Without A Cause

Actually.... this Rebel HAS a cause, and its cause is to capture memories, give me a new hobby, and to provide my family with beautiful photos of our (future) child. Will bought me the Rebel T2i DSLR camera for my birthday, and my mom and I had so much fun experimenting with it yesterday. Looking at this camera can be a little mind boggling with all it's buttons, dials, and gadgets. I plan to read the instruction manual cover to cover (I have never done that with anything before, but this is worthy), I may purchase the "Dummies" book at the suggestion of one of my friends, and, luckily for me, my best friend Jennie is on her way to being a professional photographer, so she can give me a crash course. My friend Erin also inquired as to whether I'd like to take a camera class together. So, things are in the works. I read up just enough in my manual yesterday to get an idea of how to do some creative shooting, so my mom and I went around her house doing some shots of her Christmas decorations. I came home and fiddled around some on the computer with a few of them, also. Here are some I'd like to share:

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