Writing

I’m with Scary Mommy Today!

~ Ashley ~ Leave a comment

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I am so excited to have a post featured on Scary Mommy today. I’ve been writing for about six years and it’s only been in the last six months that I’ve been brave enough to submit posts to other websites. I absolutely love to write but I don’t think I’ll ever feel like a writer. You can find my stories on The Mighty, The Huffington Post, The Glorious Table and the upcoming Atlanta Area Moms Blog (launching next week). I still can’t believe these fabulous editors agreed to share my words, but I am not going to argue with them!

If you made your way here from Scary Mommy, I’d love to get to know you better. Here are a few random facts about me and I’d love for you to share a random fact about you!

  1. The very first time I saw my husband from across the room, I told my roommate that I was going to marry him and have his babies. (Of course, she’ll tell you I also said the same thing about Ben Affleck after seeing Armageddon. Whatever.)
  2. All three of our children were born on minor holidays. We have birthdays on Flag Day, Groundhog Day, and May Day.
  3. I’ve never seen a single Star Wars movie. Not because of any particular reason. I just never had the chance and I keep forgetting to fix that.
  4. The ultrasound tech was wrong about our first baby. We planned everything for a girl and it wasn’t until the poor kid was five minutes old that someone finally got tired of hearing, “She’s here!” and yelled at us, “This is NOT a girl!” The sweet nurses brought him back from the nursery dressed in a cute, manly outfit they’d bought from the gift shop. They most likely saved him from a lifetime of being teased by his sisters for his pretty pink butterfly outfit.
  5. I’m terrified of airplanes and snakes. So Snakes on a Plane kinda felt like a personal attack and I was pretty mad at whoever came up with that movie. I have yet to torture myself by watching it.

If you’re interested in reading more of my posts, here are a few of my favorites to get you started:

  • How We Told Our Son About His Autism was featured on The Mighty, The Huffington Post, and Hello, Dearest. It’s the story of how a moment that I had kinda dreaded turned out to be one of my very favorite life moments.
  • Community Is the Best Gift We Can Give Ourselves was featured on The Huffington Post. I am passionate about building community and encouraging women. In this post, I share about my experience with MOPS International and how I almost refused to go back but am so glad I did.
  • Roller Coaster is the story of one of the biggest tests of faith I’ve ever had in my life. It started with two very unexpected little pink lines and a crushing ER visit. There was week of grief and then outrageous hope. Spoiler: there’s a happy ending.
  • The Biggest Lie Women Believe was the most read post of last year. Do you ever feel like you’re not enough? You’re definitely not alone! What would our lives look like if we stopped believing we didn’t measure up?

To learn more about our wild bunch, you can visit the About Ashley page. I’d also love to connect with you on social media. You can click on these links and find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Please come back soon!

 

The Glorious Table

~ Ashley ~ Leave a comment

bloggerbutton_500x765Girls’ Nights Out are way too rare. Am I right or am I right, ladies?

It can be so hard to find the time, especially when you’re in the middle of nursing babies or potty training toddlers or overseeing homework time. It’s ironic to me that the very thing that could so encourage us in this season of life is the very thing that is hardest to fit into our schedules.

I’m talking about community.

When I think of the perfect night out with friends, I immediately imagine sitting around a table. Breaking bread or sipping coffee. Either way, I imagine conversations and laughter, maybe a few tears. Walls come down and relationships are built.

Community.

It’s a safe place where you can share your stories, let down your guard, connect with other people who get you. All too often, though, it’s just so hard to schedule time away from home.

That’s why I am so excited about The Glorious Table.

The Glorious Table is a brand new community blog that is launching TODAY! This beautiful site has been created to provide a cozy place for women of all ages, all walks of life, all seasons, to come together and have a place at the table. To laugh together, cry together, stand together in good times and hard times.

To build community.

And it’s open 24 hours a day, no reservations required.

Whether you’re up in the middle of the night with a new baby or waiting for your teenager to make curfew, studying for finals in your dorm room or waiting in airport lounges, there is a place for everyone.

I hope you’ll join us at the Table here: http://theglorioustable.com!

You can also join the conversation on Facebook (The Glorious Table), Twitter (@Glorious_Table), Pinterest and Instagram.

My Stats Monitor was a Gremlin

~ Ashley ~ 8 Comments



comparison is the thief of joy
There is something missing from this website.

You probably wouldn’t notice it at all.

But I do. Every day.

When I decided to start this new blog, I decided to start fresh with my mind “right.” Or at least as right as it could be. I wanted to really think about what my goals are here.

What do I want to accomplish?

I want to encourage you.

That’s it.

It’s a little funny because this goal is the exact same goal as when I started my first blog, Stinker Babies. I wanted to encourage any readers I had by being honest and real. I wanted to help others know they weren’t alone in what they were feeling or experiencing.

But something got in the way of that simple goal. There was one little thing that I naively added to the first website. Just like an adorable gremlin, I thought it would be this interesting little thing that ended up being a controlling, freaky monster.

My stats monitor became my measuring stick of how “good” I was.

The stats didn’t measure how encouraged people were or if they left feeling less alone in the world. Even if I was achieving my original goal, I didn’t feel successful unless a certain number of hits were happening.

I found myself writing with clicks, comments, and numbers in mind instead of hearts touched or smiles brightened. It was scary how easily it began to be about campaigns and recognition. For me.

I found myself constantly comparing stats with others. I felt discouraged, lonely, and frustrated because I would never measure up.

Once, I wrote a post that I was feeling really great about. It was original. It was funny. It had something for everyone. I loved it.  Barely a week later, another blogger wrote a very, very similar post. But she did it absolutely beautifully. And it went viral (as it should have). And everyone sang her praises for weeks (as they should have).

And I had all the feelings. And it was not pretty.

I was too busy looking at the stories that others were living out and trying to make mine look like theirs. I picked the ending I wanted for my story and I was trying to force the plot to move in that direction. That does not make for a very good story. I more-than-momentarily forgot that my story is the only one I’m meant to live out. Not hers. Not his. Not yours.

I took a long time away from blogging to refocus. My posts were very few and far apart this last year. I spent some time praying and really listening to see if I was even supposed to keep writing at all.

I feel like I’m starting fresh where I’m meant to be and it’s not with a million visitors. It’s not with paid advertisers. It’s not with a book deal.

And it’s definitely not with a real-time stats monitor.

It’s with a new home on the web and refocused intentions and you.