Secret, Secret- I have a Secret!

No, I'm not preggers. But I am guessing that 50 percent of people thought that might be what this blog post is about... =) Don't worry, you'll absolutely know when  that happens.

Anyway, on to the good stuff...

I'm thrilled to say...that Justin and I are starting up a DJ business -- AJ / DJ Wedding Services. We couldn't be more excited. Our first wedding (the Chester Wedding) is on Oct. 15. If you are coming, you better bring your dancing shoes and special requests.

We've been downloading music, buying equipment and learning new dance moves left and right. I can't even tell you how impressed I am with some of Justin's new dance moves.
"I think I turned you into a dancer babe," I told him the other night while he was dancing around the living room.

"You know what, I think you did..." He said shaking his booty.

I couldn't be more proud of him. He even did an amazing job during our first dance at our wedding. I was tyring to do the "superman" dance - but instead I was doing the lawn mower. But, we rocked the stankey legg together. What a perfect first dance, if you haven't seen that...check it out on YouTube here. The dancing doesn't start until about a minute in..and don't mind the small words that pop up sometimes - my mom used free editing software so it had blurbs throughout the video. I think it gives it character.

So, I am thinking the Summer of 17 Weddings has inspired us. And I believe Justin and I will be great at this together. I am so excited to blog about our first adventure as wedding DJs.

More information (including our website and social media sites) is coming soon. For now, I just had to get the secret out! :)

Much love,
Ashley

Sick love

Justin woke up to the sound of me weeping. Actually, I probably woke up him up from doing back flips across the bed because I was so unconformable. I couldn't sleep at all. My ear was pounding. Throbbing. I truly believed it had a heart beat of its own. I tilted my head sideways and I could feel the liquid moving around, stuck inside my ear that was completely swollen shut.

"Baby girl..." Justin muttered in his sleep.

I started crying, "Babe - my ear is swollen shut; I'm in so much pain. I need to go somewhere. "

My jaw was hurting too - it seemed that the infection had traveled down into my jaw, making it hard to even talk or eat. 

He got up and looked at it and then Justin's mom came in to check out my ear. They both agreed that my ear canal was swollen shut and part of the infection was actually swelling out of the ear canal. I picutre my ear turning into a nipple. I cried again. I just want to be normal!

The pain was so bad I remember thinking that I would rather birth a child...alone...in an elevator... with no pain meds than be in this much pain. Yes, I was that dramatic. No, I hope I never birth a child in an elevator, let alone...alone. But at that moment, it was a comparable painful experience.

Justin went downstairs and started Googling my symptoms. I'm sure the first search was cancer - because anytime you Google your symptoms, you almost always walk away thinking you have cancer.

But Justin's verdict was swimmers ear, which can also happen from cleaning your ears with a Qtip. Who knew?

This is not a professional actor. Pain and emotions are real.
Hope this made you chuckle.

We went to a 24-7 urgent care center at 5:30 am. I'm not a morning person and neither is Justin. In fact, he is still in bed as I write this blog post right now. But he was up early and ready to take care of me that morning. He didn't complain. He didn't tell me to suck it up. He didn't question my pain. He just rubbed my back and gave me this look that melted my heart and said, "I hate seeing you so sick. I wish you didn't feel this way..."

And then I cried again because he is so loving and good to me. And then I cried a little more, thinking of the wonderful father he will be one day. And then I cried again because my head felt like it was going to explode off due to the pressure.

Overall, I was whinny, overly dramatic and looked awful. No shower. No make-up. Mismatched clothes. But that got me thinking (Sex and the City Carrie Bradshaw style), do we get sick to remind ourselves to take it easy every once in a while or do our illnesses remind us to be thankful for the people around us? Or is it both?  I think both. I laid around the couch and watched Sex and the City with my boys, Bandit never leaving my side. He followed me to the bathroom. He slept by my feet and he gave me kisses every single time I whimpered in pain. I knew I wouldn't have nightmares because I couldn't even sleep, so I watched Criminal Minds and other scary shows guilt free. I replaced my wine with orange Gatorade and ate pizza for breakfast. I was definitely taking it easy...

I learned that even when you are so sick and the only person you care about is yourself and getting better, you must take the time to thank your caregivers. The people who hug you, bring your dinner, rub your back and drive you around at 5:30 in the morning to an urgent care center across town...thank those people. That's sick love. 



Much love,
Ashley

You Can't Feel the Finish Line If You Don't...

Bring on that finish line baby!

It's hot. Really hot. I wish that I could run in any kind of weather and kick ass. Unfortunately, I let the weather win sometimes.


Today, the weather won again. It was hot and humid. I was not impressed. But I tried to run anyway.

The first time I stopped was for Bandit to take a poo.

The second time I stopped because I told myself that I couldn't do it...it was hot and gross.

But then I heard a loud noise and saw a kid take off running. Holy cow, did I just witness a B and E? (breaking and entering via Dane Cook's terminology). Without even thinking, I took of sprinting. Absolutely sprinting. I don't think I've ever ran that fast in my life. And I don't even know what I would have done if I caught the dude....

But I didn't have to worry about that because once I came flying around the corner I saw the kid walking back to his dad...who was holding a wiffle ball in his hand. Good thing I didn't yell anything obnoxious as I was sprinting toward what I thought was a robber. Even more of a good thing that it ended up being some quality father and son time and not a B and E.

The third time I stopped for a bathroom break at the house and I reminded myself of the quote I re-tweeted earlier today: "You can't feel the finish line if you don't start the run."

I applied it to myself in a different way...you won't get better if you keep giving up. You won't get better if you keep telling yourself that you need a break at every corner, every other house, every stoplight. You have to keep going. Just go until you can't fight the pain any longer. But before you stop, make you sure you ask yourself...is this a phyiscal or emotional weakness that is holding me back?

Today, it was emotional weaknesses holding me back. Today, I struggled. But today I was also one more run closer to crossing the finish line to my goals.

Much love,
Ashley