Recipe Help

We have some family fun planned for this weekend and I plan on making a macaroni salad with creamy dressing.  So I am coming to you for help...do you make a mean macaroni salad?  If so, dish (no pun intended), the recipe that is...



{via}

Weekend Rap-Up

Yes, I'm aware it's already Thursday night and that I am only now posting about last weekend, but what can I say?  It's been a busy week!  Last weekend we played in the first annual D.I.F.D. softball tournament and what a blast it was.  Even though our team lost both games, we had such a great time and supported a great cause.

Back in November Jill posted such a touching post about Daron's extremely tragic death and how her family and the community stood up to help raise awareness to mental health in youth.

The ball tournament was only part of last weekend's festivities as the girls who put on the event (Hailey, Kegan and Bria) thought of EVERYTHING.  From organizing the teams (all 20 of them), creating a schedule, getting people to call the games and score keep, to a silent auction, food, bar, music and the NHL finals, everything was covered.  These three girls did an outstanding job and the pictures below show just some of the fun had.  From what I understand, a good amount of money was raised to help the D.I.F.D Youth Mental Health Initiative set-up at the Royal Ottawa Hospital.

Oh right...the pictures...as promised Jen and Sheri... :)

 Hi Jen!!! :)

{all photos from Sheri - thanks love}

Once again, I just want to say what an outstanding job Hailey, Kegan and Bria did.  So proud of you all and so happy to be a part of something so great.  Looking forward to next year.

Friday Funnies - I Heart Autocorrect

A girlfriend of mine sent this to me by e-mail a few weeks ago.  I don't have an iPhone, but I wish I did now!  I love damnyouautocorrect!

{all imagines via}

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Blah

I'm in a mood today and it's not overly pleasant so I'll spare you a Debbie Downer post.

Hope you are all having a happy day!

100

{via}

I just hit 100 followers today and I just want to say thank you so much to all of you that read my random, sporadic posts.  Blogging has become such a fun outlet and I have 'met' so many amazing people.  The support that you receive from the blogosphere is so wonderful and I am truly lucky to have found all of you.

Hopefully I can think up something fun for the next big milestone here on my blog, possibly a fun giveaway sometime in the near future.

Thank you all so much and have a beautiful, sunny Wednesday!!!

WILW

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for What I'm Loving Wednesdays over at Jamie's and here's what I'm loving this week:

McDonalds' Salads

{via Google images}

So far I have tried both the Tuscan and Asian salad and both are DELICIOUS!  To make it even better, until June 13th, you can get your salad for 50% off using this coupon.

Weekend Fun

We are participating in the first annual D.I.F.D. weekend long ball tournament with friends.  We have a really fun team and I can't wait to spend some time with friends, as well support a great cause all while remembering a special young girl.

Sunshine

{via Google images}

We have been lucky enough to have finally gotten some sunshine over the past couple of days.  The weather has been all over the map the past month (mostly rain) and I'll be happy to see it come to an end.  I lurve me some sunshine and a wee tan.

 This Pleated Floral Dress from Forever 21



Just how amazing and generous some people are, see Lena's post here

{via Google images}

These boys ♥

What are you loving today?  Head on over to Jamie's and link up.

Target Tuesday

This is my first time linking up with Tara for Target Tuesday.  Lately I've been doing wayyyyyyyy too much online browsing and of course Target is one of the main sites I can't get enough of.

Head on over and link up with Tara!

Mossimo Supply Strapless Romper - Dark Chambray

Merona® Women's Bandeau Shirred One Piece Swimsuit - Black/White Print

Sterling Silver Necklace - To Thine Own Self Be True

Calypso St. Barth Floppy White Hat

And I can't find it on the site for the life of me, but the dress that PinkLouLou is wearing in this post is at the top of my list, I am in love!  Although it won't look near as good on me.

Head on over to Tara's to join the fun. :)

HAPPY TUESDAY!

A Year Ago Today...

A year ago today I was at the salon getting my hair done with my girls, exciting chatter, giggles and nerves galore.

A year ago today I was writing finishing my vows that I would share with my soon-to-be husband in front of 200 friends and family members.

 (thank you Christy!)

  

A year ago today I stepped into the most beautiful dress I will ever wear.

A year ago today I smiled for a million pictures that would only begin to capture how amazing the day truly was.

A year ago today I watched some of the most important ladies in my life walk down the aisle to stand by my side as I married the man of my dreams.

A year ago today I held my Dad's hand tight as he jokingly asked 'Do you want to make a run for it?'.

A year ago today he led me down the aisle to hand deliver me to his future son-in-law.

A year ago today I vowed to be the best wife I could be to Ryan, to love him unconditionally, to share in his ups and downs, to be faithful and true to him until death do us part.

A year ago today he made the same promise to me, the promise of the world.

A year ago today we walked out of our church as husband and wife.

A year ago today we celebrated our marriage with so many amazing people who we are truly blessed to have as part of our lives.

The past year has flown by so quickly that it is almost unbelievable.  We've made some amazing memories and we've have some tough times too, but throughout it all we've been together.  Thank you Ryan for being my husband and making me so happy, I really couldn't have gotten any luckier.

As Cole would say, love you forever and ever and always.

Ashley xo

Current Love

I can't get enough of this song, amazing.

Enjoy!

Commenting Issues

Is anyone else experiencing issues commenting on some blogs? At first I thought it was blogs with the word verification, but some I can comment on. The ones that are giving me trouble direct me to sign in, then once signed in it shows my comment as anonymous and then prompts me to sign in again, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Anyone???

Sorry if I haven't commented lately, I promise I have tried!

Help please!

Randomness

I really wish I had loads of excitement to share with you all and I should...it has been two weeks after all. Unfortunately, I don't...so here's some randomness to help waste a couple of minutes.

-Lena is having a great giveaway right now. She has teamed up with Brittany Chavers and the items up for grabs are A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. Head on over to check out her blog, you'll be so glad that you did - promise!

-I have gotten back into the workout routine (for now) and am feeling soooo much better because of it. Let's hope that this is motivation to stick with it this time.

-I finally downloaded a bunch of new songs and have a great CD in my car now. I have been belting the tunes out on my drive to and from work like it is no body's business. Of course on that CD there is some Britney (obviously!), Rihanna, JLO and of course some oldies (Ice Ice Baby...don't judge).

-I cooked an AMAZING supper tonight, shrimp pasta with spinach, feta and baby tomatoes...mmmm...recipe to come.

-We have finally had some sunny days! The beginning of the week was beautiful and oh so hot (not complaining) and then Wednesday it got really windy and started to get much cooler. Either way, I'm just happy to get some vitamin D - seriously needed to keep me from being too moody with my sweet husband.

-Speaking of husband, our first wedding anniversary is on Sunday...awwwww...how sweet right? We have zero plans for the actual day, but will hopefully make up for that some time soon.

-Holidays are booked! It's only one week off work but it will be fantastic. We are staying at a friend's cottage for a week (thanks Suz and Bill - love you both!) and then heading away with my family for a long weekend. Sun, water, family, friends and fun - yes please! Oh wait...I forgot to mention wine.

-My girlfriend Katie had sweet baby Avery on May 20th - her due date and my goodness, that girl is PRECIOUS. She is seriously so adorable and oh so tiny. I just can't get over how sweet she is. Mommy is a natural and a pro, no doubt that she would be though! :)

-I am addicted to reading. Nerd alert? I seriously can't get enough. Since my May 12th post, I have read the Carrie Diaries, Cocktails for Three (Madeline Wickham), Table for Five (Susan Wiggs) and I am now onto Snowfall at Willow Lake (Susan Wiggs - part of the Lakeshore Chronicles). I find reading so relaxing and I need to read at least a chapter (or two) before bed every night. Open to suggestions for new books/authors.

-Last Friday I went to a much needed girls night with some of the best girls in the world. I seriously have an amazing group of friends and while I know everyone says that - it's definitely true! Every time we get together there is a minimum of ten of us there and last Friday was no different. We had a BBQ at Erin's and then spent the evening doing what we do best - flip cup, tearing up the rug and singing our little hearts out. An amazing night as always! I know we will be that group that still gets together later on in life. Love it!

-Spending some time this weekend with Ryan's parents and mine, can't wait to have some quality time with the family. Also heading to a stag on Saturday night...should be a great weekend!

Pinterest

Okay folks, I am trying to convince myself that I do not need to sign up for ANOTHER social media account, but all of the talk of Pinterest has me wavering.

According to their website, Pinterest is a place to categorize the things you love.

So, it's up to you ladies to convince me if it's worth it or not. ;)

Do you use Pinterest? Do you love it??

So What Wednesday

I'm linking up with Shannon from Life After I "Dew" today for and here is what I am saying so what to...

-if our wedding invites were later getting mailed out than we wanted to, at least we got them out within the first year - life is busy!

-if I am more excited for Cole's first game of kinder ball tonight than he is...I'm a proud Momma!

-if Ryan will likely need to tell me to cool it with the pictures and cheering

-if a long weekend is coming up and Ryan will be off fishing while I spend time with my family...time apart makes the heart grow fonder right?

-if I am a slacker when it comes to blogging...life is too damn rushed these days

-if I have once again jumped off the Weight Watcher's bandwagon? I'm thinking of switching it up and counting calories for a change

-if poor wee Jillian and Bob are waiting form me to get my ass in gear in the basement and workout to all the videos I have...I'll get to them soon

-if my 3.5 year old is way too cool for kisses from his Momma and wipes them off...I'll just keep planting more on him

-if I am still having severe issues with blogger spacing and pictures...I may lose my mind!!!

Thank You

We made it, just under the wire.

Married on June 5, 2010 and I think it's safe to say that all of our thank you cards have been mailed out and should have been received by now.

I was sure that I would have gotten them out so much sooner, but my goodness we have been busy! First off, I was a newly wed with a busy, busy summer of fun! The I ended up getting pregnant and December became the month from hell for our family, and then when we set out to finally print our thank you cards, we realized that our photographer gave us our pictures on a CD and they printed out horribly. Next up, wait for a new CD. When we finally got one we tried to find a thank you card template and had very little luck finding one we liked until I came to my senses and googled.

Thank the Google Gods, how did I ever survive before?

With the help of trusty Google, I found Shari at dolcetto designs.

Shari was so easy to work with, she patiently answered all of my questions and was amazingly quick. Within 12 hours of my original e-mail to her, I had my thank you card designed and delivered to my inbox. I picked a style that I found on her blog, sent her a couple of pictures, mentioned our color and the font type that we used on our invites and voila! She made a thank you card that I was dreaming of in little to no time.

I am beyond relieved to have our thank you cards finally finished and mailed. We have received so many compliments on them and I have Shari to thank for making something that seems like such a huge job such a simple task. I will most definitely be using dolcetto designs again in the near future. Head on over and check out all of Shari's work, you most definitely will not be disappointed.