When All Else Fails, Love Your Body

Welcome to 2017 friends!

I hope your holidays were filled with lots of family and love. I had a wonderful break spending time with those who matter most.

Anyways, if I had to guess based on the title of this post, you are probably are expecting this post to be all about losing weight or having a positive  body image of yourself. I’ll go ahead and stop you there. Although I could probably write a post about that, one of the reasons that I started this blog was to not only share projects that Matt and I have done around our first home, but it was also started to raise awareness for those suffering with Crohn’s Disease. To learn more about my diagnosis, you can click on the tab labeled Living with Crohn’s Disease at the top of the page.

March of this year will mark the 5th Anniversary of my diagnosis. Has it gotten easier, you ask?  Yes. No. There’s really not a way for me to easily answer that question.  Every 15 days I have to inject myself with a Humira shot.  Although, I’m really not in pain any more, it doesn’t mean that the inflammation and pain will never come back.  Right now, it’s a managing game.  I will say, this last year was probably the most “normal” that I’ve felt since being diagnosed almost five years ago.

Although, I’ve felt “normal” doesn’t mean my body isn’t fighting against me.  It seems the only thing my body like to do is fight against me.  It’s probably the most frustrating thing and really not a thing that I share because people around me can listen, but really have no idea what the frustration is really like.

Fall/Winter time is when most of my yearly doctor appointments roll around. This year those appointments have turned into return visits.  You see,  in November I had my 6 month visit at my gastroenterology clinic. Prior to that I had to have blood drawn. Of course, my luck, some of that blood work came back abnormal, which led to more blood work and the scheduling of my annual colonoscopy/endoscopy. Now I’ll be going back in for another visit towards the end of the month.

During this time, I’ve also had some other health concerns that I had to bring up at my annual gynecologic appointment.  Of course, this led to more blood work and an ultrasound. Two visits later and I am now being treated for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS.) Does it hurt? No, really it’s just messed with hormones and other womanly functions.  More than anything it’s just annoying. Is it related to my Crohn’s? No, I really don’t think so. But now not only do I have to take medicine to manage the Crohn’s, but now have to add another regimen of medicine for the PCOS. Seriously…

I look normal on the outside, but inside my body gets to just decide to work against me.  Like it would be great if it would ask permission before making that decision..ha! Now this post isn’t about wanting pity, I simply began this blog as a way to reach out to others struggling with Crohn’s and for the last year I haven’t had anything to really write about because I’ve felt fine. There haven’t been any ER visits, hospital stays, etc. It’s honestly just something that has been on my mind.  I feel fine. I’m not in pain right now, and I am able to do anything that any other person is able to do.

Although, my body seems to want to work against me and hate me, I’m choosing to love it. You can say we have a love/hate relationship.  Is that a thing? Can I seriously have a love/hate relationship with my body? Yes. I am choosing to have that relationship because although I have plans for my life, in the end my body gets to choose whether some of those plans are possible. So for now, I’ll love it. I will go to the gym, drink more water, take my medicine and vitamins, etc.  I will lean on my faith and trust that by loving my body all things will work out how and when they are meant to.

 

Thanks for reading!  Matt and I do have a few projects in the work so check back soon.

Ashley

A Couple Fun-Filled Weekends

Welcome back everyone! 

Fall has finally arrived in Missouri and boy am I glad!  Although I’ve been fighting fall allergies, fall is hands down my favorite season of all! I love the crisp, cool air, going to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch, layered clothing, and changing leaves.

Matt’s birthday was September 22nd and we were able to celebrate with family last weekend.  It was such a wonderful time!  Matt is a huge fan of Nascar and received a Ride-Along pass last Christmas.  We’ve been so busy that we never had time to schedule his ride, until last weekend!  The weather was gorgeous and Matt really enjoyed himself.  Afterwards, we went out for lunch and did a little shopping at the outlets near the speedway.

Last weekend was so wonderful, and it’s carried into this weekend.  The weather was beautiful and we were able to get some things done around the house.  Over the past few months Matt and I have been doing a few small projects around the home.  We re-did our front porch pillar, created a carriage-style garage door using vinyls, and remodeled our master bedroom.  This month we opted to complete a smaller project after splurging on the master bedroom last month.  For less than $30 we have a whole new look to our home’s exterior.

We previously painted the trim on our front porch pillar black.  Although we liked the look of it, it just didn’t really tie together with the rest of the exterior.  We didn’t have much black anywhere else. Our trim and shutter were both white. Well long story short, Matt suggested painted our shutters black a couple weeks ago.  I have to admit I seriously thought he was crazy and I just couldn’t picture it in my head.  But I make a lot of our remodeling decisions, so I finally decided why not?  I went along with Matt’s idea of painting the shutters black.  Let me tell ya, he’s a genius!  The exterior of our house looks wonderful now and the project was super easy!  Take a look at a few before/after photos below! Sorry for some of the coloring.  The coloring of house really shows in the photos that show in the “Before” and “After” photo.  It was getting dark when I took some of the others and it may be hard to tell that our siding is a pale yellow.

 

Have a wonderful work-week!

 

Ashley

Master Bedroom

Hi everyone!

I hope that you are enjoying your Labor Day Weekend!  Matt and I tackled another project that we’ve been wanting to do for quite some time.  Right after moving in, I painted our master bedroom. It was supposed to be a one of those blue/gray colors that everyone is talking about right now.  Ours did not turn out that way! It turned out more baby blue and really just didn’t appeal to us. Neither of us really wanted to voice our opinion though because we had no motivation to spend another day repainting our bedroom.

So fast forward a year and we finally decided to remodel our room.  We’ve been so ready to have a bedroom that we enjoy spending time in.  We chose to go “Cathedral Glass” made by Pittsburgh Paints. It’s similar to the color in our laundry room (teal/blue), but not as vibrant.  We wanted a color that was darker, but not too harsh.  The teals create such a calm and refreshing feel. The pictures below really don’t show how wonderful the color is, but we are absolutely loving it!

We were able to catch our comforter on sale at Wayfair.com last week.  One of my absolute favorite parts of the room is the new lamps that are beside our bed.  They’re full size lamps and we got them on sale at Kirkland’s for $14.97 each!!  Seriously so happy with them! Sometimes they pull off a silver look, but at other times you can look at them and they look gold.

I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day!

Ashley

Quick & Easy Exterior Project

Hey guys!!

So sorry that I haven’t posted in such a long time! I’ve finally started my teaching career and have been so busy preparing my classroom and getting things going for my fifth graders. We finished our first week of school together, last week.

Making time for projects has  been tough, but Matt and I finally got our latest project in the mail today and were able to finish the project in 20 minutes this evening! Yes, the total time from start to finish was 20 minutes..

I had saw on Pinterest where people would use vinyls on their Plain Jane garage doors to create a Carriage Door look.  I thought it was maybe too good to be true, but one morning I ended up seeing a kit for one on a daily deal site that I browse.  By the time shipping costs were applied, I spent less than $25.  I was still unsure, but it was just $25 and figured if I didn’t like it, it would probably be on of the cheaper project fails I could have.

So skip forward a few weeks, our vinyl garage decals finally arrived and below you can find the before and after photos of our garage door!

What do you think?  I’m giving the project two thumbs up!

Before

After

Laundry Room Progress

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Last week, Matt and I kicked our rears in gear and finally knocked out a good portion of our laundry room transformation.  We started back in November, but quickly lost interest in completing the room.  It was a lot of work and we felt defeated. Our burst of project motivation finally came back and we were able to finish painting last week. We also hung a shelf that we are going to use as a folding area.

Unfortunately, we haven’t any tile in the room since moving in. We found out during inspection that the old tile contained asbestos and we had to have it removed prior to moving in. Luckily, Matt’s parents came up over the weekend and helped us tile the room–which was not a small task.  Our laundry room is rather large (14′ x 17′) There is still work to be done on replacing the trim that we tore up while tiling and making and hanging curtains.  However, the difference in the room between the time we first toured the house and now is day and night.  I couldn’t be happier with how the room is turning out.

I’ll be sure to post pictures in the future with the work we continue in the room, but for now here are some before and after photos of the work done thus far.

The picture of the orange room is how the room appeared when we first toured the home.  The orange was not a color that I enjoyed and the curtains were just TOO busy!  Our goal was to make the room feel nice and cool.  We did go with a bold teal color, but it really worked against the white trim.You can also see in the pictures, the difference in the floors. I can’t wait to use the shelf for folding clothes!  I’ve been using the kitchen table for the last year that we have lived in the house. I also scored the vases that the flowers are in for $5.00 at Hobby Lobby! What do you think?

Front Porch Progress

White screen door to match the trim.

Matt and I are ten months into home ownership and we finally checked another project off of our to do list.  Upon moving in to our very first house,  I had this long list of dream projects that Matt and I would be busting through and checking off left and right.   But if I’ve learned anything about home ownership, it would be that things don’t get done overnight. Surprise costs come up here and there, and things in your budget get shifted around, often times pushing house projects further down the to do list.  Don’t get me wrong, Matt and I have been able to complete and finish some of our projects, but not at the rate that I had expected.  It sounded like it was going to be so easy to do the updates we desired before we purchased the home, but between paying bills and putting money back into savings some things aren’t getting completed as quickly as I thought.

If I were to tell first-time home buyers it would be, purchase a home you are going to love. I would say Matt and I did exactly this.  We did invest in a home that needs updates, but it was in our desired price range and is nestled in a wonderful neighborhood.  Our goal is to be in the home for about five years before selling it.  In this time, we will complete the updates we feel that the home needs.  But in the mean time, we come home to a home that suits our needs.  It’s a sturdy roof over our head that we love.

Anyways, on to the project that we completed. When we moved in the screen door on the front porch stuck out like a sore thumb.  You see, our siding is a pale yellow with white trim and shutters.  The screen door was a silver aluminum color that completely clashed with the rest of the house.  It’s bugged me since moving in and we finally got around to purchasing a new screen door that is white.  We are both really happy with how it turned out…after the 5 hours it took to put install it.  Our darn drill kept dying and we had to keep taking breaks to let it charge!  I think we have both decided our next step in sprucing up the front porch is painting wrought-iron column on the porch white or finding a way to in-case it and make it a solid white column.

Before I let you go, I’ll also let you check out the new flowers that I got planted for the front porch also.

Lillies and Daisies

Job Search..Check!

Long time, no talk.  Sorry!

Life has been pretty calm and quiet lately.  Since graduating, I’ve been in search of a teaching job for next fall.  I applied to a couple of different districts, attended some interviews, and am happy to say that I finally got a call, with an offer! I’ve signed and turned in my letter of intent and can’t wait to find out what grade I’ll be teaching.  I’ll know sometime within the next month and will then be able to sign my official contract.

I’m so excited to be able to have my own classroom. My Pinterest boards are bursting out the seams with different ideas of how to decorate my classroom, back to school night ideas, etc. I can’t wait to see how my first classroom turns out!

I’ll check back in when I find out what grade that I’ll be teaching!

 

Ringing in a New Year

Hi Everyone,

Can you believe that we are closing another today?  So many things have happened in 2015 and I couldn’t be more excited to see what 2016 has in store for all of us! As we are all coming up with our New Year’s Resolutions, I want to take some time to recap all of the wonderful things that have taken place in 2015.

January:  Matt began his journey working as a Branch Manager for Academy Bank.  This opportunity opened up so many other opportunities for us.

February/March: Matt and I began discussing the possibilities of purchasing our first home.  Purchasing a home is no little thing, Matt and I had many discussions about whether or not purchasing a home would or would not be possible. There were several nights that we sat down and crunched numbers and discussed whether or not purchasing a home would be a financially smart move for us.

April: April is an eventful month for our household. We celebrated Legion’s first birthday on the sixth, my birthday on the twelfth, and Judge’s first birthday on the twenty-sixth. And if you are questioning if we really celebrate our dog’s birthdays…YES!  They each got a Happy Birthday cookie, hamburger, and new toy.

May: Matt and I really dived into the house hunting process.  My aunt, our realtor, was so helpful with the process and was always willing to show us homes.  I also finished another semester of college.

June: This was such a special month for us!  We celebrated our first anniversary on the fourteenth and closed on our first home on the twenty-sixth.  With the great help of friends and family, we were able to move into our home on the twenty-seventh.

July: We really began settling into our home and making it our own.  Although there is still work to be done, we couldn’t be happier with our first home.

August: This month marked the beginning of my last semester of my undergrad.  I had such an awesome cooperating teacher and class for my student teaching experience!

September: To start the month, Matt and I were able to celebrate the marriage of two of our close friends. We were also able to celebrate Matt’s birthday on the twenty-second.

October:  I love fall! On October 3rd, the newest and last pup for our family was born.  I was also able to have a wonderful girls weekend in October.  It was great getting to have some girl time.

November: November was an exciting month!  I learned of an opportunity within the school district, after interviewing I was offered the position and gladly accepted.  I was able to end my student teaching experience a couple of weeks early and began the position with the district. To end the month, we brought home our baby girl, Scout, and I purchased my first vehicle all by myself.  I love my new Explorer!

December:  December has brought lots of lovely time with family! I graduated on the nineteenth and Matt and I were able to see both of our families for Christmas.

In all, 2015 treated me well and I am looking forward to what the next year has in store! I wish you all a wonder New Year full of love and happiness.

Ashley Atkinson

 

 

 

A Thankful November

Welcome back!

Can you believe November is already here? This year has gone by so quickly with all of the great things happening for Matt and I. Most days, I don’t take time to realize how much we have that others don’t, but today it’s really just hit me.  For as young as we are, we are doing okay–we have purchased our first home, are making small updates to it, and providing for our pups.  Matt has a job that he enjoys going to and I am graduating in just five weeks.

I also have some other great news to share with you guys today!  I was offered a position with the school district here where Matt and I live and I will be starting in two weeks!  I will be working as a Para in the fourth grade, due to a very large class (29 students in one class and 30 students in the other.)  Although, this will only be through the end of the school year, it is a great opportunity for me to get my foot in the door for an actual teaching position, next year.  I’m so thankful for all of the opportunities that are finally opening up for us.

This is such a special time of year and I can only hope that everyone takes the time to remember what it is they are thankful for. I look forward to checking back with you guys soon!

Have a wonderful week!

October Recap

Welcome Back!

I want to begin by apologizing for not having any posts the past few weeks.  I was hoping to be able to post more often, but October has been such a busy month for me!  I began the month by submitting two tasks for state certification and have been working on another that is due the first part of November.  I’ve been getting to the school around 7:30 and leaving around 4 everyday. On top of student teaching I’ve been working between 13-18 hours a week at my part time job.  So between everything that has been going on, I haven’t had much time to create any blogs.  I’m hoping that the coming weeks will begin to slow down a bit as I’m nearing the end of my student teaching semester.  I can’t believe I only have seven weeks left until my last day and eight weeks until graduation!  I have learned so much this semester and can’t wait to apply it all in my own classroom.

Since my last post, Matt and I have began remodeling our laundry room.  We have a large laundry room (15’x16′) and when we first viewed the room the walls were a tangerine orange color, that Matt and I agree would be changed. Lol, take no offense if you like this color.  It was just an overwhelming color for such a large room. Matt and I have began the remodel by painting the walls and trim.  Last night we were also able to have a guy come and fix our ceiling.  We believe that this room was a DIY project for the previous owners and they didn’t correctly finish the ceiling, so we had parts of the ceiling that were coming out of the screws–making the ceiling uneven in places.  In a few weeks we will be installing new tile and putting in cabinets and countertop to make a folding area, while also serving extra storage purposes. I’m happy with the progress thus far and can’t wait to reveal the final room when we are done.

Thanks for reading, have a wonderful weekend!

Ashley Atkinson