In My Girl's World

Hi everyone and happy Monday! We are here to host another link up for you guys today. And by we I mean Adrienne, Lauren, Dara, Sarita and myself. Our Not Just a Mom link up is an opportunity for us blogger Moms to share a bit more about US. Not our kids, not our jobs as a Mom, but just fun stuff about us! 

January was our first link up, and we shared some introductions.

February we focused in on date nights.

March was all about self-care.

April was a time for cleaning routines, perfect for Spring.

Last month we shared our fitness routines. Side note, I don't have one so it's not worth reading about.

And this month we are sharing some FUN FACTS. Please grab our graphic and link up with us if you are interested. I would love to learn more about some of you! We are going to have some other fun topics for the rest of the year...

Okay. So I wasn't sure how to approach this because I really don't find myself to be a very interesting person. I figured I would just do my best with this. I wouldn't exactly call them all FUN facts, but they are all about me and my life! 

1. I grew up in small town in Maine. I've shared this so many times before, but just in case some of you didn't already know! Most people from California are fascinated to meet someone from Maine because it's so far and they usually haven't met a Mainer before. It was a fun and beautiful place to grow up and I have a lot of fun memories there. My entire immediate family still resides in Maine and I miss them a lot, especially right now not being able to travel and see them.

2. I have been to the Ellen show 4 times. Before moving to California I set a goal for myself... go to the Ellen show at least once while I was here. I have gone every single year since moving here and it was magical every single time... Especially when I was there for one of her bonus Christmas giveaway days. There is no trick to getting tickets, I just apply and am lucky to hear back from them. You can only go once a season, and I haven't gone this year and probably won't have time to... booo! I went on the show when I was pregnant so little Ella has been there too :) 

3. My Mom has Schizophrenia. My family went through a lot of struggles my junior year of high school, but nothing compared to my realization that my Mom was sick. She was hospitalized when I was a junior and has been in and out of mental hospitals ever since. Apparently she had been diagnosed in her early 20s and had been successful in treating it with medication. It's like someone flipped a switch and she changed. It's a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but I am happy to say she's had a really healthy stretch for the last year or so.

4. My favorite coffee order from somewhere other than home is a medium blueberry iced coffee with 3 creams and 2 pumps of caramel swirl from Dunkin Donuts. Preferably with a styrofoam cup as a holder... If you're from New England you know this is a thing. Coffee at home is preferably caramel vanilla cream coffee by Green Mountain with a splash of coffee mate. I go through phases where I drink it with stevia only. (Am I the only one who loves hearing how people drink their coffee?) 

5. My sister and I were pregnant with girls together and had them 6 weeks apart. I remember my sister calling me when I was at work and I figured it had to be important because we rarely just call each other without shooting a text first. When I answered she was clearly crying and explained she wouldn't be able to be their for my babies birth in October... because she was pregnant too! WHAT A SURPRISE. I literally almost collapsed and had to step outside of the office for a few minutes. I had Ella on October 20th and my sister had Kaylie on December 3rd. 

More pics of them, because of the cuteness.

Some more random facts since my fellow bloggers decided to share a ton and I feel insufficient, lol.

-I go through phases where I always want to do the same things repeatedly. You'll see that reflected on my blog.
-My favorite movie of all time is Back to the Future. I think it's brilliant and Michael J Fox was a little stud.
-I love cleaning and organizing so much, yet my house is never THAT clean. I prefer to deep clean when I am by myself and can open all the windows and blast some country tunes. I almost never have time by myself like that anymore.
-Some of my favorite things to receive are candles, coffee mugs, reusable water cups, and planners. It doesn't matter if I need one or not, if I get a pretty one I will love it.
-I still love Vera Bradley, even if it doesn't seem that 'in style' anymore.
-My current dream would be to live somewhere really rural with a farmhouse, a garden and maybe some chickens. I would love to live somewhere where all I hear are birds chirping and crickets.
-I worked for a Boys & Girls Club in high school and it was like therapy for me. I have so much love for that place, my boss, my coworkers and the 'kids' I worked with there. (They are all adults now.) We have so many fun memories. I probably belly laughed with those guys more than anyone else in the world.
-I can't play a single musical instrument. I wish my parents had pushed me to try something growing up. I think piano sounds lovely and hope that Ella shows some sort of interest for that or any instrument really.
-Michael and I are 8 years apart. When I met him I was just 20 and he was 28. I remember thinking he was never going to want to date a girl that couldn't even legally drink. Luckily I was wrong and here we are, almost 9 years later and going strong!

That's all for my 'fun' facts. We'll be linking up again next month to share how we do girl time, so don't forget!!! I look forward to reading all of your fun facts! :)

-Ashley xoxo