Celebrating weight loss, a promotion, and a birthday!

If something brings tears to my eyes it's a BIG deal so we'll start with that.. I went into the Asylum wanting to get back into the middle of the 120's like far enough in that I am not 129.2 today and 130.4 tomorrow..  I've been doing the Asylum for about 3 weeks and I stepped on the scale for the first time this morning.. I could NOT believe my eyes so I stepped off, took out the battery, replaced the battery, and stepped back on.. WHAT THE HECK?! I ran, grabbed my camera (shut up I know I'm a dork) and stepped back on the scale, and still this is what I saw...........

James found out he was getting a promotion last August but he's kinda been in limbo waiting for a spot to open up and we found out on Friday that a spot is available. We will be packing up and leaving Kentucky very soon. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a KENTUCKY girl so this is a huge step for me. This promotion is huge for our family though so I am on board. Columbus, GA here we come!

Today was also Kaylee's 3rd birthday party. I cannot believe it has been 3 years since we brought home this precious little girl. 

Asylum Before Pictures

I know my body changed so much during Insanity and I'm hoping I see some major changes with the Asylum as well!

The most important thing I want to do in Asylum is get rid of those hips! I wouldn't mind growing a booty too but since that's probably not going to happen I'll settle for sayin' goodbye to the love handles :).

Bicep: I definitely want this to get more defined.. P90x and Insanity was pretty good to that though! PS. I still feel like the biggest goober taking/posting this picture. 

Cherry red and sweaty is how to get there I guess. Unfortunately I don't think the Asylum or any other workout program is going to help me out with those chipmunk cheeks :).

The Asylum and a recipe

I was supposed to "officially" start The Asylum (the sequel to Insanity which I've been doing since the end of January) yesterday but since it was the 4th of July I decided to wait until today. I LOVED Insanity and even though I probably lost less than 10 lbs doing Insanity I know I lost a TON of inches because I look good in my skinniest skinny jeans and that's what's important! My scale knows how bad I long to see the 12-something and it teases me with 130.6, 130.2, 130.0 but never that 129.9 that I need to see. I measured yesterday I did waist, hips, arms, and thighs.. I would like to see the biggest loss in my hips I never thought I would say that because I've never had big hips I've always been more banana shape than anything but Insanity, P90x, and Turbo Fire has done some AMAZING things for my waist (25"!!!) so now it's more hourglass so I'm not used to my hips being so......... out there?? The bad thing now is with my body fat percentage being so low and my BMI being so low I have to fight for every single pound and inch. My calorie burn and recovery is crazy! I remember when I started Insanity burning 1000 calories in a workout.. That will probably never happen again unless I do three workouts in a day!

The Asylum workout is just like an Asylum in real life, only crazy people will go there and everyone on the outside knows the people in the Asylum are CRAZY! Today was Speed and Agility and I was beginning to think I was going to have to dial 911! Shaun T says the work doesn't start until you're tired well that's awesome because I was tired after the warm up!! After the 40-something minutes though I felt AMAZING! I seriously sing Shaun T's praises to everyone I know because that man is a genius! All I want to know is how do girls go to the gym with their hair fixed, makeup on, and come out looking fine and I look like this after every single workout?

Today I did find a recipe that is in the freezer and it's going to be my reward later for all this hard work!! Oh and it's 32 calories! I got the recipe here. Let me tell you I am so OBSESSED with her blog! I've made so many things that she posted but these might be my favorite!

Pineapples, strawberries, kiwi, and watermelon

In a popcicle mold or cups with a popcicle stick fill with fruit and add a tablespoon of pineapple or orange juice.

Freeze for a few hours until firm.

I cannot wait to have one of these later! The kids have been asking about them since they went into the freezer!

Happy 27th to me!

27 is the age I always thought put people officially in their "late 20's," so I'm kinda sad to be 27. I always feel like I'm too young to have a child in school, I'm too young to be close to 30, and most of all I'm wayyyyy too young to be contacted about a 10 year class reunion (WHAT THE HECK?!?) I feel like I just graduated! So for my birthday we went out to Kickers for ladies' night.. It was so nice to get out of yoga pants (or running shorts), actually wear makeup, and lose the fitness instructor ponytail :).

So y'all can now stop feelin' sorry for my husband! I do not always look like the gym rat that I am!

I got some amazing clothes for my birthday, even some dresses so that definitely means I need more nights out to actually wear them! BUT the BEST gift (that I just found out about today) is The Asylum!! I can not wait to get started.. The only thing that could have been a better gift than The Asylum would have been Shaun T himself! Thank you to my friends and family for making this a wonderful birthday! 

Happy Father's Day!!

"It is much easier to become a father than to be one."  ~Kent Nerburn


That quote is so so special to me because it describes my Daddy. No, I do not have any of his blood, DNA, or genetics but he has and always will be my Daddy. I, like Kaylee, early on knew how to work people and if my mama said "no," (which rarely happened) I knew that Dad would not say "no," from tricycles to bicycles to college classes. Now that I'm an adult he likes to play, "tough guy," by telling me his hard life stories about how he "walked to school in the snow barefeet up hill both ways," YES my Dad is one of those! He is a tough guy who several times a week without me asking checks the tires on my Expedition (or any other mechanical issue that I have), a tough guy who spends his one day off fixing toilets, sinks, and electical wires, a tough guy who comes over and puts down new floors for me, and cuts the grass in my back yard. He is also an amazing Papaw whose grandkids all love and adore him!




“He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” -Clarence Budington Kelland


And this quote is perfect for my husband. He has all the qualities in a man that I want my son to grow up and possess and all the qualities in a man that I want my daughter to find in a husband. I fuss occasionally about all the hours he works and how little I see him but he has this amazing ambition, drive, and work ethic to be successful, not for himself but for his family. I had no idea 8 years ago that cute boy with the crooked smile, giant dimple, and a cowboy hat would be the love of my life, and the best Daddy in the world!

 This is what always happens as soon as Daddy gets home!

 Daddy's girl!

 See what I mean about that dimple?

 There it is again!

 He even splashes around in the baby pool. 

 And lets Ethan embarrass him at Call of Duty.

And with a smile on his face lives with an obnoxious Kentucky fan and endures my abuse when his Auburn Tigers beat my Wildcats by THREE freakin' points (no I'm not still bitter)!!

Happy Father's Day Y'all! I love y'all more than you know!

Summertime

Sorry I've been MIA! Summertime is crazy at the Ashley house. I am still towing the line as far as Turbo Fire and P90x go. I think next Monday I am going to re-start month 2 of Insanity though because I just am not getting the same intensity with Turbo Fire and I'm pretty sure Insanity is the reason I feel so good in a bikini after two kids :). Thanks Shaun T!

My biggest challenge in the summertime though is eating. It's not that I want to eat bad food, I just kinda struggle to eat at all during the day because we're outside and it's hot and I don't get an appetite until we've been inside and cooled off a few hours, so basically at like 10 pm, not good!

I know lots of you only know about my fitness/nutrition career endeavors so I thought I'd share with you what else I do.. A few years ago I was spending enough of hairbows/accessories for Kaylee to feed a small country so I thought one day I'd learn to make hairbows.. I am pretty sure James laughed at me, because let's face it I'm not all that domesticated, ha! When I started my hairbows were just basic but I had a lot of people interested in them (probably because I was charging $5-$6 when boutiques charge $13 for BASIC ones!) and of course over time they've gotten better, bigger, and more elaborate, so needless to say, the fancy (read: expensive) boutiques have nothing on me (and mine are still cheaper!). A few of my favorite bows! :)

And since we're talking about summer time here are a few pair of the flip flops I make as well!

If you're interested in any of that stuff you can add my boutique page on facebook http://www.facebook.com/danielleashleysbowtique!

5 Days!

I cannot belive this precious little boy will be completing his first year of Kindergarten on Friday! It seems like just yesterday that I sobbed uncontrollably for the first month that I had to drop you off at school.

He had the most amazing teachers this year and I'm not sure that any teacher will ever live up to the impression that Mrs. Oliver and Mrs. Mary made on him.

This is a page out of the sweet scrapbook they made!

He has had such a fun year and learned so much! He is 5 and he reads and he sounds out words to spell. He counts by 2's, 5's, and 10's.. It is amazing all of the things he's learned this year! He's won academic awards and gotten all "Os" (outstanding) on his report card (except for in behavior he may have gotten a "needs improvement" in that area). 

He has his "farewell to Kindergarten," play on Wednesday and I'm sure it will be traumatic for me and I'm sure I'll use an entire box of kleenex!

Ethan we are so so proud of you! You are the most adorable, smartest, coolest little boy I know. And just for fun a few more pictures.

First day of Kindergarten.

He LOVES his sissy!

But I think she might LOVE him more!

He loves his daddy!

BUT he's definitely a mama's boy!