Today is my Friday...

... And I am soo thankful! 

While I am also blessed with a busy couple of weeks at work, I am blessed and thankful for some time off as well. 

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Amber and I are headed to Big Canoe for girls weekend! This is Amber's happy place with her family and I am so excited for her to be sharing it with me. What an awesome Christmas present! 

We are headed out an noon tomorrow and will be back sometime Sunday.

One more thing I am happy about is being mostly blonde again! I feel like my old self again.. its crazy how color can do wonders for you.

I had sent Coach a picture after it was done but when he walked in the door from work he said, "Woah! It is blonde." Haha. But he really liked it. 

And this is just too sweet for me not to share. When Kyli was a puppy every time I would turn the hair dryer on she would want to play or cuddle in my lap. To this day, she still does that, and as soon as I turn the dryer off she turns around and snuggles in the curve of my neck. 

the. sweetest. thing. ever. 

I hope that all of you have a wonderful, relaxing, blessed weekend 

and I am excited to share with y'all our weekend when we get back!

XXOO

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I don't know about you guys but can you believe it's already the middle of the week? My Friday is tomorrow and I could not be more thrilled! 

I hope everyone's day is off to a great start.

Here is what I'm loving today...

I am loving that me and my grandmother were able to have brunch yesterday..

I am loving my thrift store finds..

I am loving my new nails I got done Sunday..

I am loving I am getting my hurrr did today.. Hello blonde!! Can you say spring fever??... stay tuned for my spring look or you can follow along on Instagram..

I am loving mine and Amber getaway weekend is quickly approaching to our departure time at Noon Friday! Big Canoe here we come!

A Painting

A couple of years ago, Amber and I were walking around Real Deals trying to find her daughter a bed. She came across this painting that she absolutely loved but said she would never get because, 1. it was too expensive and 2. Her husband would probably be really upset spending that much money on it.

So what does her BFF do?? 

She takes a picture of the original, takes pictures of favorite items around the house, and puts her art skills to work to create her very own painting.

In Amber's dining room.

Some of the artwork is similar to the original, but the flowers and some of the colors are from Amber's Southern Living dishes. 

I'm certainly not trying to toot my own horn here.. it is just something I love to do. Every year that art was available in school I was there! I painted everything I could using watercolor paints and acrylics. Oils is something I would love to try but just haven't done it yet. 

Do any of you paint? If so, I would love to hear what your favorite paints are to use.

Work Out Date Night

Saturday night Coach and I headed to the gym. On the way, there was conversation on what our plan was for that night. By the time we got there Coach said we would workout together this time and he would put me thru his leg workout. If you are a new follower, let me throw in here that Coach played AAA baseball and has been exposed to some pretty good training and knows his stuff. I must say that I was a little nervous but thought it would be fun. We do go to the gym together at times but this is the first we worked out together. It was great! I hope we get to do it more. The last words I heard were, "I don't wanna hear any complaining." HA.

We did start with my Couch to 5K training before going into lifting.

This is exactly in order as I did:

LEG EXTENSIONS 

1 set of 10 at 35lbs

2 sets of 10 at 50lbs

2 sets of 7 single leg at 15lbs 

LEG CURLS 

1 set of 10 at 35lbs

2 sets of 10 at 50lbs

2 sets of 7 single leg at 15lbs

ABDUCTORS 

3 sets of 12 at 70lbs

Update: after I posted this I remembered in 1 set we did 12 in an upright position and then another 12 sitting back. This works different areas.

ADDUCTORS 

3 sets of 12  at 70lbs

Update: after I posted this I remembered in 1 set we did 12 in an upright position and then another 12 sitting back. This works different areas.

LEG PRESS

Make sure that your legs are in position where your knees do NOT go past your toes.

3 sets of 12 at 115lbs

SQUATS

12 reps 

1 set at 65 lbs

1 set at 75 lbs

1 set at 85 lbs

LINEAR LEG PRESS

3 sets of 12 at 90 lbs

As Sunday has gone on we are definitely feeling it! I am always worse the second day soo we shall see.. I may be soaking in an epsom salt bath.

DISCLAIMER:: I, nor Shane, are certified trainers. Always consult your physician before beginning any exercise program. Baseball-Diamonds & Hairspray, or any persons associated with BDH, will not  be held responsible for any injuries or problems due to use of this workout post. Proceed at your own risk.

Sunday Social.. Week 90

What a gorgeous day it was here in the south! Coach and I started our day with an awesome message from Jason at Bethlehem Church. Eight people were baptized this morning and the whole front was filled with the youth. I think it's so awesome to see so many youth in a church and on fire for the Lord!

We got back home, enjoyed the fresh air outside, and I got busy with some house chores.

 Hope you all had a great relaxing Sunday!

Here are my answers to this weeks questions.

What is your favorite breakfast food?

I think I would have to go with pancakes. One of my friends gave me an awesome protein pancake recipe that is soo yummy! But if I want to be really bad, Coach can whip up some of THE best cheesy eggs. Like cheesy, cheesy eggs.

What is the best way to spend a free day?

I love it when me and my boo can sleep in together, have a sit down breakfast together, and one of my new faves- being able to go to the gym together.  

We also enjoy spending time out in the sunshine with the pups. Similar to today.. we even opened up the windows and doors and also sat on the front porch.

Also getting to ride Trio.. I thought I may be able to today but time got away from me and there was so much to do in the house after a long week.

To end the day, a wonderful cooked meal.. maybe in the candle light. I did this for Coach once when I lived in Athens and once here at home. We should definitely have more dinners like that tho.

If you had a ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Bora Bora PLEASE!!! 

I may possibly think I had died and gone to Heaven. Sometimes I think I was meant to live at the beach. 

 You can only leave the house with one thing.. what is it?

My phone.. It does everything!! It truly is a phablet. In case of a fire, I would grab the 3 Amigos and my recipe book, handwritten by my grandmother.

How do you take your coffee?

I actually take a little coffee with my creamer. HA! I try to only have it as a treat because I LOVE it so much. 

5 on Friday

Whew!! The work week is almost over for me! And I am so glad to see the sun shining today as well! That big yellow ball in the sky sure is good for the soul.

Linking up today with Christina and friends for 5 on Friday.. without further adieu..

ONE:

Here is one of the many services I did this week.. actually did this Intense Keratin Treatment today.

This was the first keratin for my client and she was IN LOVE when I turned her to face the mirror. 

TWO:

I ended up having some free time Thursday morning and got to spend some time with this sweet boy! He was making me laugh for sure with these shots I got!

THREE:

My flowers are still gorgeous from Valentine's Day! I still have them on the kitchen counter and love looking at them.

FOUR:

I want. I want. I want. 

On the left, we have a necklace that I would either get Coach's number on or I would request a special order for the word "Coach".

On the right, we have bling bling bling. Need I say more?

FIVE:

I am soooo excited! Saturday I have orientation for my first sewing class! This is our first project. Cannot wait for next Thursday.. class officially starts and lasts for 6 weeks.

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

February Flowers & Southern Bloggers

Aren't they pretty?! 

Snow one day followed by ice.. then rain and an earthquake.. sunshine and then flowers. That's what you can expect down here in the south. 

Speaking of the south, I found thru Lauren, over at Peach State of Mind, about Southern Bloggers. Rebecca made a button for all us southern bloggers down here and provided a link-up.. What a fun way to see who is near to you!

It's only Wednesday?

I don't know about you but since the snow/ice wiped us out for a few days I have been playing catch up with work. Now don't get me wrong I THOROUUUUGHLY enjoyed some down time and it was great for me and Coach, but back to reality Ash! I guess you could say I definitely got a little spoiled. I went back to work Friday and Saturday, had a hair event in the A-T-L Sunday, and back to work Monday and I will be there thru Saturday again. WHEW! Business is good but these little footsies are gonna need a massage by that time that's all said and done! Yesterday was slammin'.. all of us at the Sassafras felt like we had ran a marathon. I truly wish all the hair that we disposed of yesterday could have been made into wigs! SO. MUCH. HURRR. 

Speaking of Sunday, Mrs Arlene, Whitney, and I headed out to Atlanta to hear the latest in EVO. I have mentioned before my love for their products and still love them! helmut hairspray is the bomb.com. There are so many opportunities with this Fabuloso line I wanted to grab everything off the table and take it back to the salon right then! And also take the Australian accent from the speaker.. This is big right now in Australia! 

You even had the option for these EVO geniuses to custom make your own conditioner for 20 bucks.. and hey.. I couldn't pass that up. It smells divine!!

Us gals ended our night at Bonefish. What a great night of girl time and fellowship!

Melt my heart, look who came to visit Monday! THE TWINS!! I went thru school with their daddy Jon and his wife Vicki is the sweetest. I even had the honor of doing her hair and makeup for their wedding in Dahlonega where they met in college. Meet Bryce (left) and Braydon (right), Bryce is such a little snuggler and Braydon was ALL over the place! I thought he was going to leap right out of my arms! They were 11 weeks Monday. 

And here is their big sister, Rylee. Her and Jon are hilarious together and she is such a big helper with the boys!

As much as I didn't feel like it after yesterday and lack of sleep the past couple of days, I took myself straight to the gym after work. Take your gym clothes to work with you peeps and take it straight to the gym.. if I would've had to come home after work I probably would've talked myself out of it. After 2 rounds of legs and arms I took myself to the treadmill where I started my Couch to 5K training for The Color Vibe in May. WHOOP WHOOP!! 

Any tips on why my distance wasn't recorded? Do I need to change something in settings? Thanks in advance!

I was telling Coach I think those spin classes have really helped my endurance because I didn't fall off the treadmill at all like I thought I might! I will say, I don't think I recommend squats and leg press before running. I wonder how many people were laughing at my jello running legs? There is NO telling what I looked like. 

Actually it probably went something like this:

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! 

Discover..

Happy Sunday everyone! 

If you were snowed in this week, I hope that you are enjoying being back on your regularly scheduled program and hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Lauren from Peach State of Mind has nominated me for the Liebster Award! I hope you head on over and check out her blog.. You will absolutely love it! It is super cute and I can't wait to see more about her wedding. And she is from Georgia as well and we found out we are not too far from each other. 

Thank you so much for the nomination!

Here are the deets::

The Liebster Award is a way for bloggers to celebrate other bloggers. It's passed down from one blogger to another, as long as the blogger has less than 200 followers. If you choose to accept the nomination, here are a few rules to follow:

1.  Answer the questions from the person who nominated you.

2. List 10 facts about yourself.

3. Create 10 new questions.

4. Nominate 5-10 bloggers with less than 200 followers.

1. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? [Hey, it's the teacher in me.]

I would be the color Red. It is my FAVE color. There are red accents all around our house and we even have a red dining room. Love, love, love. 

2. What is your favorite smell?

I LOVE the smell of coffee. I could sit in Starbuck's all day just to smell the aroma. And the smell of fresh color on my hair. 

3. What is the farthest you've been from home?

Jamaica.. Coach and I were on our Honeymoon and it was also the first time out of the country for me. 

4. Do you have a special talent? If so, what is it?

I will have to say being a hair stylist. You can't do this for the money alone. This passion and knack has to come from within. If it does, you will never work a day in your life. And there is nothing more rewarding than to wheel your client around, her look in the mirror, and her face light up because she loves the reflection in the mirror.

5. Who is your best friend? How did y'all meet?

Amber!!

She moved to J-town, ended up in my chair for a hair appointment, began our appointment with "So I know somebody that you know", that "somebody" ended up being my husband BTW, and the rest is history. Once there was a WE WERE ON A BREEEEAAAAKKK moment but that is long said and gone this no longer 'mutual friend' caused some drama, and in two weeks we are headed to Big Canoe for a girls weekend! Whoop whoop! SOO EXCITED about that one! 

And, I can't leave out my husband.. 

He is the peanut to my butter, the milk to my Oreos, the bubbles to my bath, the shake to my bake, the flip to my flop, the color to my brush, the beat to my heart, the ball to my glove... well, you get the point. 

I sure do love him.

6. Do you have any pets?

Yes! We have three pups.. the 3 Amigos.. Sox, Mara, & Kyli.

I already had Kyli minpin, Coach had Sox Saint Bernard mix, and I found Mara bassett hound/lab mix in the middle of the road when we were dating. I had very good intentions of finding Mara a great home but by the time people had started inquiring about her, I had bought her her own food bowls, a collar, and had given her a name. By then I was ready to take adoption applications, schedule interviews and home inspections. HA! 

You can read more about them in this post.

And I have a horse, Trio:

This sweet boy has come such a long way!!

7. What is your favorite sport to watch?

My number one sport is football - GO DAWGS!!- but since my husband is baseball, baseball, baseball I will have to say that we watch MLB constantly. In the beginning of the season I don't mind it because I want to know stats, etc and surprise him with MAYBE something he hasn't heard but by the end of the season I am O.V.A. it. 

8. What is your favorite fashion accessory right now?

During the winter, scarves, scarves, and MORE scarves. I feel naked without one!

9. Why did you start blogging?

My friend, Danielle, 

2012

encouraged me to start to document mine and Coach's life and our engagement/wedding journey. I am so glad I did! I love looking back on all our moments and it also was a way to keep our families updated along the way. 

10. If you could give one piece of blogging advice, what would it be?

I learned this early on in the blogging world. If you have are a noreply-comment blogger and you leave me a comment, I CANNOT RESPOND to you! And this frustrates me because I WANT to be able to respond to your sweet comments. I have noticed that if I look at my comments from my phone it gives me a 'reply' option to respond to you that way.. but I am not sure if you get a notification? Maybe there is a personal reason why you have this setting the way you do, or maybe I am missing something in this blogging world and if I am please correct me but just know that I would love to know you are getting my responses. You can also change this under your settings.

10 Facts about Me:

* I didn't have the chicken pox until I was in the 8th grade and still have two scars left on my face from those last remaining blisters. 

* I love love love taking pictures, looking at pictures, and having pictures all over the house. Obsessed really.

* I sleep with a massive amount of pillows and one of those is a body pillow.

* I probably take the HOTTEST showers ever. 

* I am scared to death of flying.. like I will seriously embarrass myself, or you, on a plane.

* I recently just signed up for my first 5K in May.

* I want to hurl at the touch of cotton balls. Oh my goodness that makes my spine tingle.

* I have hung out with Slash and his family in LA on several different occasions. And I met Ken Paves at a hair show several years ago.

* I don't believe in having outside dogs.. They should all be inside dogs. I am extremely sensitive when it comes to animals. 

* I went dress shopping 3 times. The 4th time I went solo and found the gown of my dreams.. actually it was more than I ever expected to find and be blessed to buy!

My questions:

1. What TV show are you addicted to right now?

2. Tell us about your favorite moment in life ever.

3. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

4. What is your favorite season out of the year and why?

5. Who is your favorite author?

6. What book would you recommend to read by he/she?

7. Where do you want to take your next vacation?

8. What is your favorite meal?

9. What was the last movie you watched?

10. If you could meet one celebrity who would it be?

My nominees are:

Megan @ Barefoot Bluejean Princess

Marty @ Marty with the Party

Sarah @ The Dusenberry Daily

Kellee @ An Over-caffeinated Hermit

Kim @ Racing Bananas

A Valentine's Date

After all the snow/ice days and having to reschedule clients, I worked a long day at the salon. It flew by so fast! I get a text when I am about to leave asking me when I will be headed home and to hurry but don't speed because we have dinner reservations at 6:30pm. It was 5:45!! FYI I live about 20/25 minutes from work. Anyways, I made it home, Coach jumped in the car, and we were headed out... dinner surprise ended up being one of my favorite sushi places, Ninja Steakhouse!!

His first choice was PF Changs but they were already booked. 

We were a couple minutes past our reservations and turns out another couple took our seats without permission. SE-CURITY!! Not really, we only had to wait a few minutes for another table to be available, we got our order in and got our bellies full!

The night was filled with laughter, sweet surprises, and lots of love.

The following picture is so hilarious to me it deserved to be standing here alone.. 

When I got home there were beautiful flowers on the counter, my favorite lily of course,  the most perfect card ever, and my favorite chocolates. Coach made a fire, we relaxed on the couch, and snuggled with Miss Diva herself. We couldn't have gotten her out from under us if we tried. 

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I saw on the news last night where a county near us was canceling/postponing V-Day! I hope that you can get out with your loved ones and celebrate somehow, some way!

I found these candied hearts and candy corn at our local grocery store and couldn't resist how cute they were! Of course, they found their home in mason jars.

How about a Flash Back Friday?? 

I was praying I would find a picture I thought I had of Shane when we went on one of our many first dates. I didn't find the one I was thinking of, but found one even better of the two of us together!!

Can you say babies or what??

Happy Valentine's Day boo and many more!

I love you to infinity and back!