New Hobby

Today was a great day. We went to church (early at 8am) and followed that up with a day of loafing & visiting family & friends in Brent's hometown of Calera. Brent's best friends wife (my friend Jana) noticed that on my 101 in 1001 list I had a goal to take photos of a family. She asked if I'd be interested in practicing on them and I was so excited for the opportunity. I had so much fun capturing their interactions. For the record, my lighting skills need great improvement and I broke down and shot on automatic because I was worried my subjects would be agitated if I kept messing up. They were troopers and I thank them so much for letting me be a part of their world for an hour. Click here to see  a few of my favorites from the day: http://ashleythomasphotos.blogspot.com/ 

***You'll also notice the new gadget I've listed to the right of my blog. It's a direct link so you can check from time to time if there have been any updates. I hope everyone had a great Sunday.

bad habit

I can't believe I'm admitting this but I started biting/ picking my nails again. I absolutely hate it and did it for 23 years of my life. After meeting Brent and deciding one day he'd put a ring on my finger I stopped. (Who wants to have gross nails when people ask to check out your ring?) Cold turkey...well finger by finger until finally I had 8 of 10 pretty nails. By the time the wedding rolled around (8/2009) I had pretty polished manicured nails on all 10 fingers. That lasted until the Alabama/Tennessee game last year and the blocked field goals drove my picking into overdrive. I managed to grow the nails back out and had them until the BCS championship game got a little too close and I had to force myself to stop because we had just won the title and I was lucky enough to be in Pasadena to witness it all. I believe South Carolina (earlier this October) was the death of me. I've managed to pick all nails off and am thoroughly disgusted with myself. I thought it was a one time instance but it's October 30th and the habit is in full swing. I hope by writing/ publishing this I will hold myself accountable and break this nasty habit once and for all with tomorrow being the first day of freedom. Wish me luck... Mind over Matter.

59 Days until...

CHRISTMAS!. I've purchased 1 persons present. How pathetic is that? I always tell myself I will get started shopping early. I'm usually good to buy the first gift right after Thanksgiving but really need to spread the ca$h out this year and shop early. Has anyone else started shopping early? Any good deals anywhere? I don't even know what to get my loved ones. Needless to say I have NO idea what to get Brent this year. Hope everyone else is in the same boat as me. Here's to a happy FAST approaching holiday season. Yippee!

Weekend Roadtrip

This past weekend we were able to head to Gatlinburg and Knoxville with several good tailgate buddies. It's became a 3rd Saturday in October road trip tradition. We all head up Thursday after work (or in the Thomas family's case--half day Thursday) and stay until Sunday. Nothing beats a big cabin and a Roll Tide Victory. (Special Thanks to my friend Alicia for awesome tickets) Here are some photos:

To top off the trip Charlie was able to go camping with his Memaw & Papaw. He LOVED it (you may wonder how I know this since he can't talk but I could just tell the way he lit up when he saw my grandparents and how much he pouted once we put him in the car to come home). Here are some photos my grandmother and I staged of the dog... I know..I'm crazy dog mom.

Birthday Blues

In less than one month I will hit the big milestone of 26. OUCH! I know it's not old but it seems like the years keep rolling by so fast. I'm actually putting together a list of things I'd like for my birthday and Christmas... a wish list of sorts you might say. I've emailed the link for the jewelry armoire to Brent. Hopefully that one will be checked off. A girl can dream for these things, right? I know some are a bit unreasonable but when he asked me to give him ideas I decided not to sell myself short.

Tory Burch Reva Flats

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Ray Ban Wayfarer in Tortoise

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Black Jewelry Armoire

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David Yurman Pearl Earrings

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Marc Jacobs Handbag

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I hope everyone had a great weekend. We actually just walked in the door less than an hour ago from our weekend getaway to Gatlinburg & Knoxville. I will try to post pictures from the trip sometime early this week. It's great to get away but I love the feeling when you finally get back home. Happy Sunday.

Broadway in B'ham

A few weekends back I had the chance to see the Broadway show Legally Blonde in Birmingham with my Grandmother Carol and sister. We had a great time. It was the second time I'd seen the show. Once in NYC and now in B'ham. They were exactly the same (great cast) just a different location. It was nice to be able to do something in town and still feel like you were far away.

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My grandmother Carol has already purchased our tickets to go see Fiddler on the Roof next month. I don't know anything about that play but I can't wait to go. Nothing beats family time topped off with a delicious dinner (which is how we always end our days together).

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I'll let you all know how this one goes as well. Hopefully this is the second of MANY plays we are able to see together. 

***So far, my favorite is Wicked but I've only seen 2 plays***

South Carolina Road Trip

BOO. That's all I have to say about that. The trip wasn't bad but the loss absolutely STUNK. Here are a few pictures of our tailgate and pre-game festivities:

always get a picture with Big AL

Fellow Tailgater Girlfriends

Half of the Usual Crew

good spot, bad outcome

everyone loves Big AL

We then stopped by game 3 of the NLDS in Atlanta. Who'd a thought our teams would go 0 for 2? The atmosphere was amazing though. I think there were 56,000 people at the game. It got loud. Too bad the Braves couldn't hold on to the comeback they made in the 9th off a pinch hit homerun.

Antigua

My favorite island of all. I loved the other islands for many reasons but Antigua was my favorite and we are PLANNING to visit on our 5 year anniversary. *I can't wait* The thing that stood out most about the island was the water. It was beautiful. Granted it was rough where the waves broke and I got knocked down and mooned any old men who happened to be gazing in my direction at that split second. Besides the embarrassment the day was fantastic. We took an open air taxi-truck tour through the towns. It was neat to see most of the island in one 2 hour tour to the beach. I feel like I've seen enough and next time (when we stay at Sandals Grande Antigua) I will have no reason to leave the resort unless it's to go shopping (did I mention I got a great deal at the Longchamp store?) The water wasn't the bluest I've ever seen and it wasn't the clearest but something about it just caught Brent and Myself off guard and we both looked at each other and thought "this is the most beautiful place we've ever been". The pier in Antigua was also the most built up of all that we visited. We sat at a local bar for about an hour before boarding the ship. It's crazy how you take moments like that for granted and can find yourself longing to go back when the daily grind of life sets in. Here are some photos...

Us with our tour guide

Having fun with the self-timer on the camera

if they don't film Corona commercials here they should!

St. Lucia

The day we left our Honeymoon I was almost positive I'd never step foot back on the island of St. Lucia. Fortunately, I was wrong! Granted we only had 1 day of Piton beer and sunshine but it was a wonderful and unexpected surprise trip back. Here are some pictures:

Way across the water is the Sandals Resort we stayed at on the Honeymoon

cloudy but still a nice day

hanging out at the pier before boarding the boat to set sail

after a few Pitons I found this hilarious... big head in an even bigger helmet..

Can I just say that if I could book a cruise online right now I would? I went from anti-cruiser to sign me up, invite me, I don't care where we are going just put me on a boat! I hope we find ourselves on another Royal Caribbean Ship soon.

Barbados

Barbados was nice. We only saw the pier and a beach. We did take a van ridge thru the town of Bridgetown but there wasn't much to see along the way. Barbados is the southern most island I have ever visited. It is south of St. Lucia. We spent our day in Barbados at the "Cockspur Beach Bar". No idea what the name means... it's just where the Royal Caribbean Beach Break Excursion dropped us off. Here are a few pictures....

if only Brent would have scooted over a foot to the right...

Brent and the pirate cruise ship

old boats washed ashore

Sunset as we left port in Barbados