Ashley

I went shopping for the new Justin Timberlake album, “The 20/20 Experience”! Spoiler alert: It’s awesome. #cbias #socialfabric #JT2020 #ad

March 28, 2013 By Ashley 1 Comment

Pull up a seat, Freckleberries. It's story time. So when I was about 12 or so, my one true love was the band *NSYNC. I had the posters. I bought the magazines with the exclusive interviews. I knew all the lyrics to all the songs. And most importantly, I did not fraternize with Backstreet Boy fans, because that was unforgivable. Turns out, *NSYNC was going to be playing in a city about 2.5 hours away. My mom did what all moms would do, and bought tickets for me, my sister, and my best friend. We were flipping. out! We were going to breathe the same air as Lance, Joey, Chris, JC, and Justin! Girl, get me my hair crimper and find my Skechers, 'cause I need to look fly for this. The day of the concert came, and my mom loaded all of us up in her SUV and made the drive. Surely, we made her listen to Bye, Bye, Bye the entire way. I want to say we even decorated the windows of the car with car chalk. Looking back, I owe my mom a thank you for tolerating us. We arrived, got seated, and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: 20/20, 20/20 at Walmart, 20/20 CD, 20/20 Experience, 20/20 Experience at Walmart, JT is back, Justin Timberlake, Justin Timberlake's new CD

Weigh In Wednesday Week 36: What is with the self-sabotage?!

March 27, 2013 By Ashley 5 Comments

Alright, dudes. This week started off really awesome. I was on track, eating well, really clean, and it was like the heavens were singing. I was pretty bummed out about the .2 pound gain, and so I was ready to buckle down and get these 12.4 pounds DONE, y'know? I was shredding, running, doing my thing. Then Sunday came. It started with Robin's Eggs. and it kept going. and going. and going. I didn't even track a lot of it because I was either so ashamed of the stuff I'd eaten, or I just literally had no idea how much I'd snarfed down. I'm talking fast food, fries, the whole deal. It was an ugly few days :(. I don't know why I couldn't stop. It was just a compulsion that felt uncontrollable. So yesterday I was sitting at work, chatting with my boss. The whole office is pretty health conscious, and my Whataburger cup was just sitting on my desk, glaring at me, admitting my guilt. It's just time to stop the madness. I went for my first run in like, 10 days yesterday. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Running, Weight Loss

The Time I Called Poison Control. #ad

March 27, 2013 By Ashley 1 Comment

Safe Kids Worldwide | Poison Control Infographic

When Maisy was a little peanut, my life consisted of being a milkmaid and blogging from my couch. Maisy was a tiny little gal, and I was constantly feeding her in an effort to make sure she kept gaining weight and that my supply was maintained. All new breastfeeding moms can sympathize, right? It's something that pretty much takes over your life. You've got to make sure you have a comfy nursing spot, because you'll be spending a lot of time there! One nursing session turned into a really, really scary situation. While I was nursing Maisy on the couch, Emma (then 4) and Micah (then 2) were playing throughout the house. We lived in an open floorplan home, and I could easily hear what was going on around the home while I sat on the couch. Maisy was probably a month old at the time, and was in the beginning stages of colic. She was exhausted, hungry, screaming, and fussy while I tried to feed her. I had become so preoccupied with the baby that I hadn't realized that Micah had gotten … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Infographics, Kids

Enter to win a free Geek Squad Online Session! #GeekSquadTechSupport #ad

March 26, 2013 By Ashley 7 Comments

I recently had the Geek Squad overhaul my laptop, and I'm a happy camper! You can read about the entire experience here, but let me tell you -- it was easy, and I'm really glad that I did it. I had resolved myself to just buying a new computer, but now I don't need to! Want to win an online session for yourself? Enter to win below! a Rafflecopter giveaway … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Giveaway, Open Giveaways, Technology

#ad I used #GeekSquadTechSupport and LOVED it!

March 26, 2013 By Ashley Leave a Comment

You'd think that I would be able to keep my computer running in tip top shape since it's basically my bread and butter, right? Without my laptop, I can't blog, I can't work, and I can't waste hours on Pinterest. OH THE HUMANITY! I've had my laptop for about 2 years, and it's kind of starting to die on me. Opening a program is like pulling teeth, stuff crashes all the time, and it's just a mess. I have been eyeing new computers, but I knew that this one is probably fine --- it just needs some cleaning up. I knew that Geek Squad could probably help me, so I decided to give them a try. I didn't know exactly what was wrong with my laptop, or what needed to be done, but I figured that's why I'm calling the Geeks, right? Right! So I logged in to the Geek Squad site, and started a chat with an agent. Pretty quickly, a chat box popped up! Pretty soon, I was up and running! I was transferred to Kelly O., an agent who specialized in this area, and he initiated a Log Me In … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Review, Technology

I’m a GoodNites Ambassador! #spon

March 21, 2013 By Ashley 2 Comments

So Micah turned four yesterday (what?! I just gave birth to that kid! When did this happen?), and he's growing up into such a firecracker of a kid. He loves to ride his bike, play outside, and he can whip your butt in Mario Kart. I always ask him, "Am I your best friend?" and he always responds with a solid, "BEST FRIEND!" Love that booger! But while he's growing up, he's still got issues that little kids tend to have. Micah has a bedwetting problem, and it's just ... not going away. He's been potty trained for well over a year, so it's not an issue of comprehending where he's supposed to do his business, it's nocturnal enuresis. He wears a diaper at bedtime, but even then, we have leaking issues. He can usually make it through nap time without an accident, but there are times when I am forced to do a load of laundry due to a nap time bedwetting incident. So we're looking into things that will not only help keep him dry during the night, but something that will save his … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Review

Weigh In Wednesday Week 35: Can’t Outrun a Cruddy Diet

March 20, 2013 By Ashley 3 Comments

Welp. I didn't want this to happen, but I saw it coming. I hit the 50 pound milestone last week. Hooray! But then this week, I kind of let loose a little when it came to eating. I still went balls to the wall with running and exercise, but I also did things like eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. It was super delicious, and super bad for me, haha! I had a small burger (aka A NORMAL SIZED BURGER) and Andrew and I split a regular fry. It was 21 points plus for what I ate! When I only get 26 points in a day, that's kiiiind of detrimental! That was my only meal that was *really* bad, so I thought I might be okay. But then I remembered all of my little drive by snacking that I've done. Ritz Baked Chips, anyone? I am pretty sure I kept within my weekly points, but I never usually eat into those. I kept myself active, though! Every single day, I did something to earn back some activity points. I even took all three kids hiking solo! We had such a great time. (by the way...do you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Weight Loss

The New Skinny Cow Divine Filled Chocolates are A.MA.ZING. #skinnydivine

March 14, 2013 By Ashley 4 Comments

I've posted about how sometimes I save up my points plus for a treat, or I'll run a little farther to earn something special. Usually that something special is filled, dipped, coated, or solid chocolate. I even saved up enough points for a chocolate chip cannoli from my favorite local bakery! That one was a lot of work, haha! I opened up my email inbox a while back and saw that Skinny Cow wanted me to give their new Divine Filled Chocolates a try. Girl, do you even have to ask me twice? I jumped on that so fast! My candy arrived and I couldn't decide which ones to rip open first! They come in two flavors: caramel and peanut butter creme. I settled on caramel, because caramel has never steered me wrong before (get it? steered? Skinny COW? I'll be here all week...) and I'm pretty sure I started salivating the second I opened the package. Let me tell you: as a former fat girl, the taste of these chocolates rivaled that of the the finest full-fat candies that I've ever had! And … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Food, Review

Wednesday Weigh In Week 34: The elusive fifty.

March 13, 2013 By Ashley 11 Comments

I want so badly to even remember what has happened this week. But I can't, and that's because I just made my newest side by side photo collage to celebrate... Hells YES I've lost 50 pounds! I can't believe it sometimes. It takes looking at before and after (during) photos of myself to help me realize just how far I've come. In celebration of hitting one of my biggest goals, I've got an updated photo for you guys! This just blows my dang mind, you guys. I know you have seen me in this same workout outfit a bazillion times (I really need some new tech shirts!), but I wanted to show you the difference in my body as much as possible. And is anyone else checking out my butt? 'Cause I am. Thank you, squats! I'll be adding a bazillion more of those to my workout agenda, thankyouverymuch. Stuff that's going on: I am dreading the heat of the summer, so I'm trying to get my running in as much as possible. In case you missed my last post, I'm an Omron Running Challenge Ambassador! So … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Running, Weight Loss

I’m an #iheartOmron Running Challenge Ambassador Through #Mamavation! @OmronFitness

March 12, 2013 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Omron Strapless Heart Rate Monitor | HR-500U

That's a lot of hashtags and @s isn't it?! It's super fancy pants, and super amazing, so it's worth it! So a while back I sauntered over to Mamavation to take a peek at what they had coming up. I always see the #mamavation hashtag all over my Twitter stream, so I finally decided to see what was up! I'm so glad I did, because while I was there I applied to be a part of a running ambassadorship with Omron Fitness. And guess what? They picked me! (They like me! They really like me!) So I received a strapless heart rate monitor from Omron Fitness (omg!), and the folks over at Mamavation have hooked us all up with a training plan that we can follow. We'll be kicking our butts for the next three weeks, and on March 30, all 25 of us will run a 5K! Do the challenge with me! Want to get in on the action? You can print your own schedule and follow along with me and the rest of the girls! I just finished day 2 tonight, and holy. plank. I got deliciously sweaty and had a great … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Running, Weight Loss Tagged With: 5K, Fitness, Omron Rrunning Ambassador, Running