Here’s a quick update of the things going on in my life this week.  Nothing too deep or life-transforming,  just a sneak peek into what’s on my mind today.

• 1. – I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to buy a pre-lit Christmas tree.  I just want a tree with sparse branches and 5,000 Christmas lights.  Is that too much to ask?  ha.  I love Christmas lights.
• 2. – I feel a little guilty that my daughter has forgotten about her Halloween candy stash that I’m still enjoying.
• 3. – The Stride Rite in my local mall is closing and everything is 50% off!  We stocked up on shoes for my daughter for next year but they were sold out of shoes for my son. (I just got an email that select Stride Rite boots are only $19 online though!)

A photo posted by Ashley (@embracingbeauty) on Nov 18, 2015 at 12:44pm PST

• 4. – I entered to win a Christmas gift tag contest where 5 winners’ artwork will be displayed on tags at Gap this holiday season….I entered before I knew it was a voting competition.  Sigh.  I hate voting contests.  If you like my design, I would appreciate your vote here. Thank you!
• 5. – I just noticed that the picture on the bottom of this blog is so old.  Six years, maybe?  Man, have I really been blogging that long?  I need to update that picture soon!

What’s going on in your life this week?

• 1. Today when Facebook was down, I felt lost.  Abandoned.  Lonely.  ha.  Okay, it wasn’t that extreme but it did make me stop and think about how many relationships I hold on Facebook.  I went to converse with a blogging friend in a Facebook group we share when I noticed it was down.  I went to message my husband on Facebook to see if it was down for him.  Yea, not so smart.  I message him on google hangout while I headed back to Facebook to check in another group I’m in and see if Facebook is down for them too.  It was shocking to see how quickly I turned to Facebook and how I didn’t know what to do when it was gone.  What did I do?  I went to Twitter to make sure it wasn’t just my account.  I tweeted my “Is #Facebookdown for everyone or just me?” tweet.  #Facebookdown wasn’t trending yet but after a quick hashtag search I found I wasn’t alone….and that I wasn’t the first one to use the hashtag #Facebook down.  Maybe one day I’ll start my own hashtag but today isn’t that day.  Hopefully Facebook will come back soon but in the mean time, I’ll continue to share with you 5 things about my week.  1 down, 4 to go.

•   2. My daughter was going to sing in church on Sunday so we brought our son with us to hear his big sister before we took him back to nursery.  I snapped a quick pic before it started because I can’t believe how big he has grown.  Seeing him sitting there with his daddy looking all grown up gave me waves of different emotions.  Oh, how I do wish I could slow down time sometimes.

• 3. I didn’t manage to get a good picture but my daughter sang beautifully.  : )  What can I say?  I’m a proud mom.  I’m thankful that she has much more confidence than I did at her age.  It would have taken a lot of coaxing and prep work for me to be on a stage when I was her age but she found out yesterday that she would be singing an hour later.

• 4.  One of my posts over at Embracing Homemaking has gone viral.  The post 200 Things to Throw Away has had upwards of 45,000 visitors a day.  A day!  That’s very humbling.  Humbling that that many people want to read my words.  Well, some of them have left nasty comments but still, many people enjoyed reading an article that I wrote.  I really don’t have the words to describe my appreciation and gratitude for that opportunity.

• 5.  We had a fun time this past week playing at the playground together.  My daughter asked if she could go “play at the ground” and it took me a minute to figure out what she was asking.  It was a beautiful day and a great idea.  We had a blast playing at the ground.

I hope you had a wonderful week and relaxing weekend!  What do you have planned for this week?

My mind is so full of cluttery thoughts, to-do lists, and mental reminders all circling and dancing around in my head.  So much so that I want to slow down and share with you a little bit of what’s going on in my life now.  I used to do this much more before I divided my sites…not that I regret that, but I’d like to start writing occasionally about myself again and this is the site that started it all and where I feel most at home.  Ya’ll are great readers, really, you are!  Every little comment, like, and email mean so much to me.  Thank you!  I truly appreciate you, every one of you!

My 5 Things!

1.  I am in love with this eos visibly soft lip balm, made with coconut milk.  I’ve tried a few of them before and none of them compare to the lusciousness of this one.  Plus, the design of the sphere is adorable!

2.  I started selling Usborne books because I LOVE their books for kids.  I love literacy and instilling a love of reading in my children.  However, I’m torn because the more Facebook parties I host the less time I have to spend blogging and that is my true love.  I’m struggling to find a good balance.  Sigh.  All of life is a balancing act, isn’t it?  Maybe I should just stick to blogging and write about their books occasionally?  Hmm. I’m not sure.

3.  I’m moving soon…I hope!  We’ve bought a new house and we’re fixing up the place so we can hopefully move in at the end of this month.  Which means I’m packing like a mad woman and purging a LOT of our things.  I’m constantly asking myself, “Why do we own this?” and “Where did this come from?”

4.  I just finished watching the series finale of Drop Dead Diva on Netflix and I can’t stop wondering what the next season would be like if it came back for a seventh season.  I put off watching the sixth season because I liked having more of the story left to see and now it’s gone.  Bring it back, Lifetime!

5.  I’ve recently discovered oil pastels!  I feel like I’ve lived in a cave.  How did I not hear of these before?!  They are incredible!  They are what I always wished crayons were.  They’re soft, give a rich color, are blendable and yea, I just love using them to create colorful masterpieces with my daughter.  I bought the 28 pack of the Crayola brand for under $5 shipped from Amazon.  Love them!

I may make this a regular thing, listing 5 things I love.  What do you think?  Is it worth reading or should I just write it out for myself then erase it?    Either way, have a good day!