Good Friday and Easter

Good Friday is tomorrow and that has me reflecting on the Easter season.  Good Friday is the day that we solemnly remember the ultimate sacrifice that Christ paid for our sins.  He was brutally abused and crucified.  He hung beside common criminals, when He had not committed sin.  Thinking about it makes my heart ache.  He gave up his life so that we could live everlasting life with Him.  

Our God loves us so much and it truly astounds me.  I find such shelter and comfort in this love.  I also feel called to try to be the person that God wants me to be.  I know that I will always fall short, but I take comfort in the fact that I am forgiven.

Tomorrow, I will take Miss. E to mass and we will remember the sacrifice Jesus gave.  (Hubby will be traveling home and likely won't be home in time for church.)  I look forward to Easter Sunday when we can celebrate the resurrection and Jesus' victory over death.

 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have everlasting life."

I pray that your Easter weekend will be a wonderful time for reflection, family and celebration.  I wish you all a very happy Easter!

High Five For Friday- 18.03.16

Hello Friday!  Hubby drove home late last night and it was so nice to wake up with him here this morning!  Here are my five:

1.)  Our house is listed!  Most of the work is done and it is all cleaned up.  I hope it sells quickly, but I am not sure it will with the market being low around here.  Did you catch my post about staging our living room?  You can read it here.

2.)  My Mom, Miss. E and I had a shopping day in the city last Friday.  We went for authentic Italian pizza, which Mom and I really enjoyed!  Miss. E was not a fan and had fries later on!  Ha ha!  We hit a few stores and I found some really great Spring pieces.  (Yes, I am shopping again.  I have definitely reigned it in, but I am shopping.)

3.)  We are back home!  I really appreciated my Mom and Dad's hospitality when we were staying with them.  They really helped me out and spoiled us!  It feels good to be home, though.  I missed my bed, my couch and my routine.  It is good to be back.  Mom even sent me home with some of the Reese's eggs which of course I have been gobbling up!

4.)  Work went well this week.  It was crazy busy for the first 2 days but still good.  We have 2 new instruments in the lab and they work so well.  It makes a HUGE difference in my day.  Miss. E was even excited to go to the babysitter.  I was dreading dropping her off, but she was so excited to play with her friends.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, she didn't even say goodbye!  She just ran off to go play, which made things much easier on this Mama.

5.)  I won an Instagram giveaway!  Woo hoo!  I follow Carlton Cards on Instagram and liked one of their photos.  They commented that I had won a pack of their cards!  I was so excited.  If given the choice, Carlton is my favourite card shop.  They are always beautiful and well made!

I will leave you with a couple of photos from yesterday.  Miss. E and I didn't do anything special for St. Patrick's day, but we did dress in green!  We are a wee bit Irish and I always like to recognize that part of my roots on St. Patrick's day.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Do you want to join in the link up?  Link up with the lovely ladies below and tell us your five!

Staging Our House- The Living Room

Our house is officially on the market.  Last weekend, I ran around like crazy trying to get the house ready to sell.  We had done all of our big purges and had cleared most of our clutter.  I put the house back together, cleaned and staged our home.  I want our house to be a place that someone can imagine themselves in.  It is a tough market around here, with the economic downturn, so I want to make our home as appealing as possible.

I staged our living room with what we already owned.  I added a few touches that I purchased at HomeSense.  I staged the ladder shelf, hid the toys and added some throw pillows.  I plan to keep fresh flowers in the living room to help brighten the space.  (Shortly after these photos were taken, Miss. E tore my pretty tulips apart!  I usually move them up on a counter while she is playing so she can't get them.  I will have to make sure I do that in the future...)

I looked for ideas on Pinterest for staging the ladder shelf.  After I had my inspiration, I brought out the items that I owned and knew would work.  I purchased the few things I needed to make the shelf complete.  I am quite pleased with how it all turned out.

Never underestimate the power of clean and tidy.  If your house is dirty, people will be grossed out.  If your house is cluttered, people have a difficult time looking past your belongings and imagining themselves in your home.  

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my living room!

High Five For Friday- 11-03-16

I have always loved Fridays, but now that Hubby is working away they have become even more special.  He comes home every Friday.  Miss. E and I are always eager to see him and he is excited to see us!  Here are my five:

1.)  I have been staying with my parents because of my restrictions after surgery.  They are amazing people and have been so generous.  They play with Miss. E, spoil us with yummy meals and take great care of us.  I am so fortunate to have family who are so wonderful.

2.)  My parents completed all the painting at my house.  It looks amazing!  I am so grateful that they did it.  We will be able to list our house for sale on Monday.  I am so excited!

3.)  I had a lovely day to myself on Tuesday.  I went to the optometrist in the city.  I got some contact lenses.  They really come in handy, because Miss. E has a love of mucking up my glasses!  I had a yummy latte from Starbucks and did a little shopping.  It was a really nice day.

4.)  Miss. E went to the babysitter for a few hours this week.  I didn't want next week to be a shock to her.  I work 3 days next week and thought it might be nice for her to have a "warm up" day with the babysitter.  She had a blast playing with her buddy!  She was so happy and talked about him the rest of the day.

5.)  My parents have PVR, which is something that Hubby and I don't have.  My Mom PVRs Fixer Upper episodes,  I LOVE that show!  I think that Chip and Joanna have such a lovely relationship.  They are so kind and respectful to one another.  They also have a lot of fun!  I find that most T.V. shows like to focus on angst-filled relationships, so Fixer Upper feels like a breath of fresh air!  I also love Joanna's design style.   It is beautiful, clean and bright!

Have a fabulous weekend, friends!  If you want to join in H54F, join the lovely ladies below!

Life Lately...

Hello friends!  I really mean that word: friends.  I am so grateful for all the love, support and friendship that you have extended to me in the past few weeks.  It has been difficult, but your words and prayers have helped lift me up.  Thank you.  If you had told me when I started this blog that I would "meet" some wonderful people who would become genuine friends, I never would have believed it.  I am so happy that I have all of you and I thank you for your support.

I thought that I would write a bit of a catch-up post, because it seems that life has been moving a million miles a minute over here.  The Sunday before our miscarriage was confirmed, my wonderful Hubby accepted a new job.  It was an answered prayer and we were grateful.  The new job is in my Hubby's hometown, which is 6 hours away from our current home.  It is wonderful because Hubby can stay with his parents when he is working.  The boss wanted him to start right away, but when we learned of the miscarriage my husband decided to start the next week.  This allowed him to stay with me during my hospitalization and the few days after.

We plan to move to my Hubby's hometown so that we can be together as a family.  I have given my notice at work and will be done at the end of March.  We are currently fixing up the house and getting ready to sell.

This job has come at a difficult time but we are so excited about the new opportunity.  I will be able to stay at home with our daughter, which is what we wanted all along.  I am so happy!  I will also have a college in the city that we are moving to so I will be able to take the schooling I want to take.  It will be hard to be so far from my family, but it will be wonderful to be so close to my in-laws.

I am going to try to share a bit of our moving process and staging process on the blog.  I also hope to do more of the Kon Mari method before we move, but that has been put on hold for now.

From a health standpoint, my miscarriage is still ongoing and it has had some complications.  My doctor still wants to manage it conservatively which I am happy about.  Due to our known fertility issues, I would like to avoid a D&C if at all possible.  I am off work until further notice, so I am unable to do much of the house preparation on my own.  I have been making great task lists for Hubby, though!  Ha ha!

I have found the hormone crashes to be difficult emotionally and on those days I don't get much done.  I simply pray a lot and lean on my family.

Thank you again for your support and friendship during this time.  I hope you know how much it means to me.

Your friend,

Ashley

High Five For Friday- 05.02.16

This week, dear Reader, has left me feeling weak and heartbroken.  On Monday, I was sick and went to the doctor.  He diagnosed an ear infection to go along with my nasty cold.  Hubby and I then headed to my follow-up ultrasound.

We were thrilled to find out that we were expecting on January 3.  It was a dream come true.  My pregnancy, however, did not progress as it was supposed to and we headed for an ultrasound when I was 7 weeks.  We were saddened to find out that there was no evidence of a baby and that the pregnancy was measuring quite behind.  We tried to keep our hope alive that we would see baby at the follow-up ultrasound.

Monday's ultrasound confirmed our fears.  They did not find any evidence of pregnancy.  Although I knew that this was probably going to be the case, I was still heartbroken.  I didn't want to lose my baby.

I saw my doctor on Tuesday who referred me to an OB.  I was admitted to the hospital, much to my shock.  I thought that I would be sent home.  We frantically phoned my Mom who was with Miss. E and she assured us that all was well and she would stay with Miss. E.  My hormone levels were still climbing and my doctor was worried about infection.  I spent two nights in the hospital.  I was in pain, heartbroken and missing Miss. E.  We have never left her overnight anywhere and the separation was killing me.  I was sent home on Thursday and have many follow up appointments booked.

I can't remember the last time I felt this low or cried this much.  I have been clinging to my faith and to my Hubby.  Mr. Roger's wise mother once said that in tragedy we should look for the helpers and that is where my focus is this Friday.  Here are my five:

1.)  I have leaned heavily on my faith this week.  I have whispered "Jesus help me" more times than I can count.  I find comfort and hope in my faith.

2.)  My wonderful Hubby has been my rock this week.  He has held me up when I was crumbling, rubbed my back and cared for me.  I am married to the most amazing man and I am so thankful for his love.

3.)  My parents.  They stayed with our daughter and kept her happy.  They took great care of her and gave us support.  My Dad even ran a bag up to the city where I was in the hospital.  I was grateful to have a few of my own things.

4.)  My friends.  I have felt the prayers, love and support of my friends through this week.  Their love and concern helped lift me up.

5.)  My workplace has been extremely understanding and supportive.  They accepted my sick note without hesitation.

I am not sure how the next few weeks will go on the blog.  I hope to be able to keep posting, but between my illness, ear infection and ongoing miscarriage I may have to step back from the blog.  I hope you will stick around until I am able to get my posting back on track.

I am linking up with the lovely ladies below:

The KonMari Method- Books and Papers

I tackled my books and papers on one weekend.  Marie Kondo devoted a lot of her book to these two categories.  I have never seemed to have trouble getting rid of papers and books.  That being said, I had more to get rid of than I thought.

Books:

Before:

After:

Cookbooks Before:

After:

I got rid of a lot of books and a LOT of cookbooks.  My bookshelves are breathing a sigh of relief and I also feel lighter.

Papers:

I sorted through the piles and got rid of quite a few papers.  The pile on the left went back into our safe, the middle pile got shredded and the pile on the right got recycled.  My files are much lighter and I only kept things that we absolutely need.

I was happy with the outcome of my tidying.  It was nice to see more items leaving my possession.