Big Snow 2010

First BIG snow of 2010 happened on CHRISTMAS!!!
This was my view the day after Christmas from my kitchen window.

We spent alot of time playing with these...

and I spent alot of time playing with this!! :)

I'm curious to see what Santa brought all my readers!

I'm officially a red head!

I figured New Year, New Me right? :)

Wilson Christmas 2010

The Great Grandchildren minus Bo and Emmett ... Poor Kyndal!
The presents that santa left in the living room! YAY!!

The boys got bicycles this year from their Poppi :)

I had to post this picture because in typical wife and mom fashion,

someone spilled something and it was freaking me out so my husband

grabbed the camera and caught me doing this while people were eating!

As I sat here uploading the pictures, I realized what a blessing it was to have my granny Wilson here for Christmas. She is in part one of Hospice at home and we were told last Christmas that we would not be able to share another one with her - and we were prepared for that. Isn't it funny how God is constantly reminding us that it's HIS timing, not ours? And I get my stubbornness from her so I know she will go when she is ready. I talked to her one day and she told me that she was ready to go see Jesus. I have never felt so at peace with her death - but also just seeing the reality of it. My grandparents, also known as the superheroes of my life, are going to die.

Death is something that I just have a hard time all around dealing with. After all, the only people close to my that I have lost in my life were my two great uncles before my nana died. I still haven't grieved properly for her and I still haven't processed the fact that I will have to bury the WOMAN of my life. The only woman who was there for me and never left. Without detailing too much from my childhood, I spent most of those years living with my Granny and Papaw Wilson. They made sure I was fed, clothed, and also that I had a relationship with Christ. I remember how proud and excited my grandparents were when I bought my first Christian CD, when I went on my first Christian retreat, when I joined Big Emory Baptist Church, when I started singing in the choir... and how their attachment to Christ and how it had changed their life made me want to change mine. I hope that my children look back and say that same thing about me, but I know I need to promote that so much more than I have lately.

I guess that comment brings us to the New Years post. Happy New Year, ya'll! (In the South we say ya'll to our close friends and family!)

West Christmas 2010

This was our first Christmas at mom's house without Nana there. I was really filled with sadness when I was out shopping and realized that there was no need for a present for sweet Nana this year. She was always so excited to see her grandchildren open their Christmas presents. I was really lucky to have such a wonderful woman in my life and I hope that she is looking down on me and is proud of the woman I have become.

An Update

So, for all the readers who have kept up with our baby making plans on this blog, I figured I would let you all know what has happened in the last few days. I have been diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia and have also suffered from panic attacks and a horrible infection in my gastrointestinal tract - all from female problems caused by endometriosis. The doctors are pretty sure that I am not ovulating and will not be able to get pregnant. We have tried everything, but IVF and have decided that is not an option for us so we will no longer be "trying" to have a baby. If for some miraculous reason I end up pregnant, it will be on God's timing and not ours.

In other news, I want everyone to pray for this family - http://threedoodles.blogspot.com/ . They lost one of their twenty month old twins, Evie Grace Harrison, in her sleep on December 9th. The person taking it the worst is her twin sister, Ramsey. I was heartbroken when I heard this story. Please take the time out to leave them some words of encouragement.

And also, I will be posting pictures from the last two weeks very soon to get caught up. The blogging world has been the last thing on my mind with illness, Christmas, life, etc...

Snow Days

We have spent the last few days cooped up in the house...

so that meant lots of remote control trucks!
...and mom loving on these cute little babies :)

I started a mission to get all of my laundry cleaned, folded, and put away.

I can't believe I am sharing this picture, but I needed proof that my house

is not always spotless and I am not superwoman.

My hallway walls were FINALLY painted.

I can't stand white walls! I don't know how these people lived here

two years with no color on the walls.

So, I live all my readers with this commercial for State Farm Insurance

in Kingston. My dad is an insurance agent and my kids are his biggest fan.

So, yeah, if you need insurance - make sure you tell him the boys sent you!

Christmas Parade 2010

My dad trying to fit in the car.
My boys loved seeing Santa.

They got ALOT of candy. Ace was especially excited!

They love having their poppi dressed as a bear!

We didn't get to go to the parade in our hometown this year because it started coming a sleet storm (which has turned into almost a foot of snow in our hometown today!) but we did manage to go to the Harriman, Tennessee Parade with my dad. He is an insurance agent with State Farm in Kingston and was asked to dress up like their mascot, Neigh Bear, and hand out candy bags for the kids. As you can tell, we all had a blast!

For My New Readers!

I was looking at some old pictures and realized that my old blog is still up and running! I thought that if I didn't post for over a year, they may take it down - but I was wrong! It brought back so many memories for me and shared alot of stories that I completely forgot about. I wrote on that about my fertility struggles (in which I am still having), my friendships (some of which are no longer there), and even my seperation from my husband back in 2009 (better known as the worst part of my life). It also shows our old house and the decorating that I did there - and that is where I truly started my passion for interior design!

If you would like to see more of my life from the years 2008-2009, you can check it out at

http://ashleylovesherboys.blogspot.com/

What I'm working on today.....

It's really cold outside so I thought it would be a good day to work on the kitchen ... although I will not be painting, I am thinking about putting some greenery and decor up today that I can find around the house and moving things around a bit too. The kitchen has always been my least favorite room in a house. I know that alot of people says the kitchen sells the house, but for someone like me who doesn't like to cook AT ALL, I have to say that my kitchen was just another room - the view and privacy sold my house :) I wanted to put white lights above, but I cannot find a close enough plug for it to look good.

We are trying to decide between butter yellow and a crisp green for the wall color and also if we will put a backsplash up. I like the shiny, metal backsplashes, but I am not sure how easy or hard they are to put up and I am not the best at stuff like that. I love having a TV in the kitchen, but I have NEVER used it so far.

I hope you all are staying warm today.. and yes, I know I have been lacking on the Saturday blogs. They just weren't turning out how I had hoped so I will resume something similiar to that after the holidays are over.

We are supposed to be getting snow tonight!! YAY!!!! Happy Holidays from the Jackson family!

My Motivation...

They are my motivation for everything. My life has revolved around these two since the day they were born. Thank you God for giving me such wonderful blessings.

So, this post is going to be filling in everyone on our infertility journey. We have been trying to get pregnant off and on for about two years. We have been trying with fertility strategies for the last 7 months and we thought for sure we would be pregnant by now. I got pregnant as a teen with Blaze, completely an accident - but a blessing, and Ace was not planned, but very easy to get! After almost eight years of marriage, a new house, and two boys finally out of diapers and in school, our house and hearts are really aching for a new little bundle of joy. I would really appreciate if all my readers prayed for our family today and in the coming weeks as we seek a doctor for our other fertility options. I have endometriosis and there is always a chance that me not getting pregnant is because of a larger problem - which we pray is not the case.

Those of you who want to go that extra step can just leave me some words of encouragement or a simple "I'm praying for you" in the comments section. Thank you and God bless all my readers!

Guest Bedroom Renovation: Part One

The room looking from the master bedroom hallway
I had to share the pictures of this frame.
I got the idea from Kelly's Korner to tell guests where things are located
and to help themselves. I have a drawer full of trial size
soaps and stuff and also a basket full of towels and washcloths.
I want my guests to feel at home or like they are in a luxury hotel :)

I decided to make a seating area. I would like to
get a high end chair or chaise lounge for this area.

The room is so peaceful and has a luxury feel to it.

There are trey ceilings in this room and a chandalier.

I forgot to take a picture of both, but they are the same in my master bedroom.

So, this room is the most "iffy" room in my house (if "iffy" is even a word). I originally saw this formal dining space and thought NURSERY. But, if you want a nursery, you have to have a baby and we don't have one - yet - so we decided the most logical use for this room is a guest bedroom. Since a guest room does not need a closet like another bedroom or nursery would, we thought the best use for the space was a bed, tv stand, side table, and sitting area. I eventually want to move the computer that the boys use in there and possibly their bookshelf. Sometimes I have to put Ace in the guest room so that the boys don't get on each others nerves.

Guest Bathroom Renovations (Before Photos)

I decided to come back and post the before pictures of the powder room because I realized that my readers had never seen it and didn't get the full effect of what a difference a little decor makes. As you can see, the whole room was so drab. I would still like to take the shelf down and paint it black and of course the walls are going to be painted something close to a sand color. It is sunday and I still have plenty of time to post the guest bedroom and more... so stay tuned today!

Show Us Your Life: Sunroom/Play Room

I got a bin for all the sports stuff. I need another bin for toys.
The view out to the pool (wish it was summer!)

The tv stand I got at House Of Hope for $10!

The view of the sunroom from the other side.

It's a huge room with lots of potential.

I just don't know exactly how to put stuff....

More posts later! :)

And here is what the room usually looks like...

Blaze goes out there to practice football and escape from his little brother! ha!!

This is why I hide all writing utensils....

No Words Needed.

Guest Bathroom Renovations (Part One)

The new mirror! Made a huge difference in the room! (excuse the holes)

My Powder Room Sign that I bought at Hobby Lobby for $4!

My basket of "goodies" for the bathroom.

The rug I got at Big Lots - $5 steal!

This was the old shelf I was talking about.

I may post before pictures above this post because it's a huge change.

Wall hangings.. they were the most expensive thing in the room.

Is anyone else having problems with pictures uploading to blogger? It took about ten minutes for five pictures to load and that makes for a very slow, non-productive day in the blogging world! blah!!

Anyway, this is the guest bathroom (powder room) reveal. It is such a small space that I really wanted it to have a personality of its own. Every wall in this house besides the living room is still white so I am patiently waiting for the rest of the walls to be painted. Never hire a professional that is about 6 weeks or so behind on work.

Christmas Time!!!

This is what my house looks like today. I am sure there is much more to come, I just have not had time. Yesterday, my kids got really sick and we also prayerfully decided to let a friend stay here until the first of next year because he is struggling financially. We fixed up the guest bedroom (pictures soon) and did the best we could to keep the kids happy. All in all, a pretty quiet weekend. It's starting to look like Christmas!! :)