Everyday Ashlie

We have been invaded around here! Our backyard is always full of little birds fighting over the bird feeder and squirrels rooting around in the grass. I have such a great time watching those little birdies flit around and run here and there! They're so active & inquisitive! Just look how cute they are! And be sure to click on the pics to get a better look! They spend a lot of time fighting for space on the suet feeder! A fresh suet cake draws a big crowd! See? So inquisitive! Look! A pretty little dove coming to check out the little hidden water bowl I set out for the critters. And I think my favorites are the cute little squirrels with their fat white bellies! Just at look at that little face! He (or she?) was scratchin' around in the dirt just past our back porch stoop. See where he scratched up the dirt? Not sure what he was lookin' for, but I thought it was neat! I hope you enjoyed meeting my little friends! What's in your backyard...

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4 I don't quite know what to say this morning. Our beloved pastor, Bro. Scott Teutsch, and his family lost their precious daughter, Jessica, to a car crash Thursday morning. She was on her way to student teach at a middle school in Texas when another driver crossed the center line and hit her car. I can't wrap my head around the fact that Jessica is really gone from us. It's not real that I won't see her singing with the praise team at church. It's not real that we'll never pass in the hallway and she'll never give me that shy, bright smile again. My heart aches for her family and the friends that loved her so much. We all loved Jessica. Her sweet, gentle spirit and quiet strength compelled us to do so. That was evident at her memorial service, which was filled almost to capacity with people who loved her. Her family is a strong one, their faith in God tangible. Jessica was, a...

I have been such a lazy blogger! I haven't posted in weeks and I've just barely managed to make the rounds of keeping up with everybody else! I suppose I got caught up in all the Christmas craziness and work has been super-busy lately too. By the way, if you have any pregnant friends, you should probably go visit them in the hospital. I'm almost positive that every local pregnant woman has delivered in the last week... at my hospital ! Our Christmas was wonderful, the only thing that would have made it better is if my little sis & her husband had been with us. Don't worry though, she sent us a couple pictures that made it feel like she was there. Ok, so it didn't feel like she was there at all, the pictures just made us cry! Thanks a lot, Laura! We had Christmas with Mama & Daddy on Christmas Eve and ate way too much. Here's a few pics of us opening gifts. Silly Daddy! Sweet smile, Mama! Uh-oh! He's hooked! (that's an ornament shaped lik...

Merry Christmas, Y'all! Things at my house are still going full speed in preparation for Christmas dinner and dinner with my folks tonight. I hope you too are anticipating a wonderful Christmas with your families! As for me, the out-of-town packages have been sent and all the remaining gifts are wrapped & hanging out under the tree. The last couple of weeks have been a blur of crazy-business at work, decorating for Christmas, and finding something special for all my loved ones. This year, instead of spending tons of money and breaking the bank to buy gifts, I tried to remember that how much you love someone is not measured by how much you spend on them. This was hard for me because I feel the need to lavish lots of presents on everyone! But, I'm trying to keep in mind that Christmas is not supposed to focus on the number of boxes and bags under the tree! In that spirit, I fashioned several handmade gifts for a few of the people on my list. Y'all, I hope you like them! I...

Remember how in one of my recent posts I told you all that I'm having fun with felt these days? Well, today I got to visit with my new-found friend for a good chunk of creative craft time. And since it is the Christmas season, what better to make than an ornament? Nothing, I say. It also helped that I needed an ornament for an o-swap (sorry, tired of typing "ornament") that was occurring tonight . At a Bunco party. A game that I have only heard of in passing, yet not ever participated in. Which was actually really fun and not too taxing on my strategy-deficient brain. If I have to think about more than one or two things at a time while playing a game, then forget it. If I have to think about those things and-be-quick-about-it ? Nah. I might as well hang it up! So anyway, I spent a chunk of my time today with my friends the needle and thread. Oh, how I love them! My sweet hubby actually came up with the idea for this ornament. I asked him on Thursday night, "Sweetie, ...

Hello everybody! Guess what I'm doing right now? Sitting at home typing at you, that's what! I'm actually supposed to be working today, but I was put on call this morning. And I called work to see what the possibilities of me getting called in were, and they said it probably won't happen. Woo hoo! Although, if I did get called in, I would be making time and a half. So, it's good either way, I guess. Anyway, I've been playing around on the computer and I found the neatest thing! I get e-mails from Better Homes & Gardens about decorating ideas and projects. Through one of them, I found a little site where you can make your own virtual snowflake ! It's so neat! And you can even add a Christmas message to it when you're done. If you want to go to the site and look up my snowflake, there's even a place to click on and find it! Ha! Who would've ever thought?! To find my flake, just type in my name (Ashlie, duh) and my location (Louisiana). Oh, and ...

Well, y'all, my blog is all decked out for the holidays, but my house has yet to get the same attention. Hopefully, that will change this evening. Hubby and I are gonna have chicken & sausage jambalaya for supper and then deck the halls. Should be fun with the local Christmas station playin' on the radio. And this year is going to be low-key as far as the tree goes. We had a real tree last year but decided not to get one this year. And I don't want to pay full price for a faux one, so I'm going to wait until after the holidays and try to get one on sale. Don't worry, though, we won't be completely tree-less. I have a topiary tree that I used in my wedding and I plan on sprucing it up for the season. I'm gonna try something different this year and make a Christmas vignette. I have a picture in my head of what I want it to look like. We'll see if I can bring it to life! I'm just starting to get into the Christmas groove. I just can't bring m...