Never Stop Talking

On occasion I am going to start talking about marriage, it's a new thing I'm trying with this blog.  I feel that I have somethings to say that could benefit others and I want to share them.  So here is my very first marriage post.

If you don't already know, I work at a local church as the Pastor to Early Childhood.  Most people just think that I watch and play with the babies (which I do), but I also do much, much more.  A few weeks ago, I had a mother confide in me about a truly horrible (is there anything other than?) divorce that her and her soon-to-be-ex had just started.  While my heart was breaking for her, she shared a bit of marriage advice that weeks later is still echoing in my heart.

"Never stop talking to your husband"

"My husband and I stopped talking years ago."  At first I brushed it off, thinking obviously my husband and I talk!  How can you live in the same house as someone and not talk?  It wasn't until later that the words sunk in.  How often do my husband and I truly talk?  How often is the conversation centered on what needs to be done, rather than meaningful conversation?  Sure, he knows what time the kids need to be picked up and what happened at work but does he know what is going on in my head and heart?  For those who are married, how important is your marriage?  How much time do you intentionally invest in it?  When was the last time you and your spouse just talked?

As a wife,  mom, worker employed outside of the home, and a challenged homemaker, it has been so easy for me to get busy with the house, work, the kids, this blog, my life, etc.  I wanted to share this encouragement with you, to never stop dialoguing with your husband.  Stay connected.  Go out of your way to connect with him, emotional, spiritually and physically.  Do not allow yourself to be so caught up in life that you forget about your partner.  Seriously, text or tell him how much you love him, or something you appreciate about him right now, I just did. 

Cheers!

Ashley

Doctor Who Halloween Costumes

So as I posted earlier, we are HUGE nerds and LOVE Doctor Who.  I made family costumes this year and worked really hard, but I think they turned out ADORABLE.  If you follow me on instagram, then you may have already seen this sweet family picture of us in our Doctor Who costumes

I went as Amy Pond.  I dyed my hair red (though it didn't come out as red as I would have liked), wore a purple shirt, black skirt and tights, with a red scarf and duster.

Matt was Rory, The Last Centurion.  We ordered a simple roman style costume from Oriental Trading, then I added a cape and sword to it.

Little Man was The 11th Doctor (Matt Smith), we bought the "official" sonic screwdriver from BBC America and then I put together the costume with a white dress shirt, red suspenders and made a bow tie.  He loved it!

Baby Girl was The TARDIS.  I used felt to make her police box and then had a friend help me make a tutu with fun head band to make it more "girly".  She wore white shirt and tights under it, and looked adorable (if I do say so myself).

It was a great night, and we had so much fun dressing up as characters form Doctor Who.  I will post more specifics on how I made the costumes later this month.

Cheers!

Ashley

November Goals

Credit

Each month, I strive to do a few things better in my life.  I always want to do better, as a wife, mom, homemaker, worker and in each of the other hats I wear.  These are things I strive to do, and to do better.  Last month I did the 31 day challenged and I ALMOST made it.  HUGE for me.  I really loved writing each day, even though I know my posts were not the best, it was stretching and challenging and I enjoyed it.  Here are my goals for this month of November:

1. Get things done.  I will admit it, I have gotten slightly lazy about some things, part of it is pure exhaustion from my work schedule and dealing with an infant who is still waking up multiple times per night.  However the other part is me using that as an excuse and choosing to be more zombie like after the kids go to bed, or going to bed really early.

2. Blogging.  I really want to make this blog better.  I'm not sure how to do that, I'd love suggestions/feedback from my readers please email me at homemakingchallenged @gmail.com (no space).  I know I can do better and I do have some really exciting things that I want to do, I know I can be more effective as well.  Still trying to figure it all out.

I'm just sticking with two this month.  Hope you all have a great one!

Cheers!

Ashley