First Friday post of the Year

I cannot even tell you how happy I am that it is Friday, I have been looking forward to this day all week!!  Just the thought of having the weekend and a chance to get our house back in order just gives me the thrills.  We still have our Christmas decorations up because I believe that the Christmas Season really ends on Epiphany (January 6th), but I have to be honest and let y'all know that I have actually been itching to take our stuff down since before NYE...

{ONE}

We were planning on going to Disney World in April and seriously I was so looking forward to it.  I have been there (back in like 2nd grade) but don't remember much and I am sure that it has changed....a lot! But due to some pretty exciting stuff we have decided to not risk it and give ourselves a stress attack and have decided to go back to Disneyland in February instead!!  To be honest - I am just as excited to go back to DL because it's like a second home to us.  We know the park so well and have already accomplished everything at the parks that we just get to enjoy and do our favorite things.  This will be Ellie's third trip to Disney and I am so happy that we have made the choice to give her these experiences!!  You can check out our other trips to Disneyland here, here, here, here, essentials  and here (which reminds me I still have to recap the rest of our latest trip...).  Have you ever been to Disneyland?  What are your must see's, must  do's and must eat's??

{TWO}

Ice Skating has to be one of my most favorite things we have done with Ellie.  I shared about her first experience here, and we have gone one other time...and I can't wait to take her again.  The second time we went Nanny and Papa came to watch and she was really feeling good about her skills and insisted on trying to skate all by herself...which she did for like 3 inches before she started to fall.  I was right there the whole time but she was adamant about doing it herself.  I can't wait to go again to see if she will go by herself again and to see if she has improved!!

{THREE}

I got to make some of the treats for our Christmas dinner with Thomas' family this year and I let Ellie help me make the Rice Crispy Treats and the Peanut Butter Blossoms.  Ever since I let her up on the stool to help me measure, pour and stir she has been asking me non-stop "I help you again mama?!!!!" every time I am in the kitchen.  I despise messes and because of that I haven't really let Ellie help me too much but I have made a "Resolution" if you will to have Ellie help out more in the kitchen and to try and make at least 2 baked treats a month with my mini chef in training ;)   So far we have made Rice Crispy Treats again and I actually love having my little helper...also Courtney shared these tips recently which gave me all the motivation I needed.

safety first!!!

{FOUR}

Over our Christmas Break, I really wanted to de-clutter and clean out our house. I took to throwing out a bunch of stuff from our junk drawer(s), bathrooms, and nightstands.  I cannot tell you how good it felt to just get rid of stuff that we don't use (or why I was keeping a practically empty bottle of shampoo???)  Through this process I have eliminated about 40% of my scarf collection (which is just hanging out in a basket waiting to be donated) as well as 4 sets of sheets we no longer use, three laundry baskets of clothes (also waiting to be donated) and then just a bunch of crap that was either nearly empty or broken (oh and all my make-up in my drawer that I haven't used since college - I graduated in 2008....) 

Now that our bathrooms are cleaned and organized, I can actually find a place on my nightstand for my phone, and our kitchen drawers are no longer overflowing with paid bills...I just want to keep on going!!!  Let me show you how some of our things look!!!

Our Master Bath...it's still a work in progress but really all I feel like we need to do is get some drawer pulls, new lighting fixtures above the mirrors and pick out new tile for the floor to replace the peeling linoleum from 1989...

My Nightstand gets to house the baby monitor, but other than that our nightstands are nearly identical.  I love that I have finally "styled" the shelf below and that one of our favorite features - the built in lights - actually has something to highlight, a picture of me and my mom from Senior night in high school!!  I think I am totally over the lamps in here though so I want to get rid of them, I already have replacement bases but I need to pick out a new shade for them...any suggestions??

You can also see my Himalyan Salt Lamp, I love these things and have them in nearly every room!!

here is a close up of me and my mom!

{FIVE} 

I have some super exciting stuff to share on here so be sure to check back next week to learn what's up on the farm!!!

♥ Ashley

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