Scrumptious Sunday...Pop Chips and Pretzel Crisps

I wish I loved eating healthy. I really do. But, let's be honest for a second; while I like healthy stuff,  I never crave broccoli (who does?!) and have to make a conscious choice when eating to choose things such as fruit vs french fries or avoiding my beloved Cookie Monster from Cheddars. I eat healthy 98% of the time because I know I need to- but if it were up to me, I'd eat mac and cheese and cookies all day and stay healthy. But, we all know that's not reality so I am always looking for yummy options that satisfy my cravings without adding on those dreaded lbs!! Here are two yumalicous options I have found recently and think they are totally share worthy! Pretzel Crisps and Pop Chips

Pretzel Crisps

I originally learned of these from Hungry Girl. I know I've mentioned her before and I will totally mention her again, because I love her! Seriously. She provides such excellent options for making food that tastes oh so good without being oh so bad for you! She mentioned these in one of her recent newsletter emails and I thought they looked delish! While at Fresh Market a few weeks ago, I found them and snatched up a couple of bags. They were on sale for $3 a bag (Yay!) and they are super yum! I have both the dark cholcoate ones and the white chocolate ones, and at only 120 calories per 4, it's great for satisfaing that sweet and salty tooth simultaneously.

Pop Chips

I stumbled upon Pop Chips at Krogers last week. They were on sale and in the healthy section so I thought I'd try them. I LOVE potato chips, but I stick with the baked kind because of  health factor. Of course, they aren't as good as the real thing so I was anxious to see how these bad boys stacked up against them. They did. They are SO stinkin' good and are even LOWER in calories than baked chips (120 calories per 20 chips). I have the BBQ ones and think they taste almost as good as the real thing- definitley better than the baked chips! They also contain none of the bad stuff we all try to avoid- perseratives, cholestrol, saturated and trans fat, and artifical flavors or colors! It's a total win win, in my opinion, in fact, I'm snacking on them as I type! ha :)

Happy 'healthy' Chip Eating,

Ash

Wedding Wednesday #1: Confessions of a bride to be

Several people suggested that I blog throughout my wedding planning process. I've been meaning to ever since the beginning, but I just haven't had time. I have a lot of the "big" things planned (thank goodness) and am going to try my best to remember to blog each week about the whole process! If you're already married, this will hopefully bring back fun memories from your past and if you're another bride-to-be, please share your thoughts/ideas as well!!

Have you ever read the Shopaholic books?!  I love them, so in honor of the Confessions of a Shopaholic book series, I thought it would be fun to make the first post a confessional... as a bride-to-be. Here goes :)

I confess...

1) I have yet to wear a ring on any other finger on my hands because I  don't want to distract from my bling. Yes, my big ol' rings that I usually wear are currently out of use.


2) I strategically place my left hand in every picture so that you can see the ring.


3) I have thought about eloping more than 5 times since being engaged.


4) Instead of grading papers, I  sometimes spend my planning block writing Ashlee Kinney over and over again because I'm trying to perfect my new signature.


5) I looked up Kim Kardashian's signature to see how she makes her K's because I really suck at writing mine. I think her's are pretty, even though her 72 day marriage was not.


6) I check Sandals website at least once a week to scope out our honeymoon destination.

7) Making our guest list has been a lot harder than anticipated. Our reception venue can only hold 300, so I had to make some cuts. Every time I cut someone, I feel like I'm being a bad/rude person. 


8) I find myself saying "I really don't care" about a lot of the details of the wedding. I thought I'd be super anal about everything and surprisingly, I'm not.


9) I reallllly want trees in the church, just like William and Kate had at the Royal Wedding. And I'm trying realllly hard to make that happen.


10) I visit Etsy or Pinterest's wedding section at least 5 times a week. SOOOOOO many great ideas!!!!

11) I  tried on a wedding gown before I was engaged; but only one, and that's only because one of my MOH's lives in NC and she wasn't going to be back in KY until Christmas.


12) I plan on running a 5K the morning of the wedding. Crazy?! Maybe. But wedding party, get ready...you're running it too :)


13) When I hear the words "snow" in the forecast, I cringe. We can only have 6 snow days before it interferes with our wedding. Usually I love snow days, but this year...I loathe them.


14) I cry whenever I see another wedding, even if it's a total stranger on TV.

15) I got a "high" when my MOH's were able to score their dresses for 50% off on Cyber Monday.

16) I'm asking all men who attend the wedding to wear bowties and I feel absolutely no shame in doing so. Don't question me fellas, just do it.

17) I really wanted my dog to attend the wedding and a little piece of my heart broke when I was told that couldn't happen.

18) I refuse to look at my wedding registry because I dont want it to spoil the surprise at my showers. I know, I know, I already picked out what people are getting us, but still, I refuse to look.

19) I have nightmares at least twice a week about it being our wedding day and NOTHING is planned. Most recently being we were getting married on a farm in England surronded by ducks, donkeys and pigs and not a thing was planned. Hysterical.  


And finally.........Don't judge, buuuuuuut
20) I have shown M a picture of my dress. No, not of me IN the dress, but of the dress. I just couldn't help it.

XOXO
The Bride to be :)

Christmas decorations....on a budget :)

So, last night I uploaded my first creation to Pinterest. I still feel a little confused by the whole site, so I'm not even sure if I uploaded the image correctly; but if you're visiting my blog from Pinterest, Welcome :) This year, I began my Christmas decorations overhaul. Because I will become a Mrs. in a few months, I realized my former decor wasn't too husband friendly. M wasn't a fan of my peacock themed tree and to be honest, I was ready for a change. I used to be very opposed to the whole red and green theme for Christmas as I felt it was very 1980ish ( I know its Christmas tradition, but I always felt it was retro), but this year I've gone fully red and green! M LOVES red and green and I must say, I'm loving it as well! Of course, we will be adding more to our decor for Christmas 2012 when we actually live together, but we have gotten a fun start for Christmas 2011. Here is a peak into my house (6 months from being OUR house) and some simple how-to's/where to buy for cheap decorations:
Note: A lot of the items I used were items I use year-round in my house, but with some added Christmas fun- a great $$ saver!!

My dining room table

 This was made using my 3-tiered stand, limes, and ornaments. I already had the candle and some ornaments from years past and purchased the other one's at Hobby Lobby for 50% off! HL is a GREAT place to buy your decor because it is, and has been 50% off since Thanksgiving!! Even if they go full price, you can always score 40% off coupons from their website! I don't think I've ever paid full price for anything there. Love!

Here's the place setting at the table. Next year, our monogrammed dishes from our Pottery Barn  wedding registry will be sitting on the chargers. The chargers were $2 each at Michael's and the napkins were $7 each (a bit of a splurge for a napkin, but I LOVED them) from Caught Ya Lookin' in downtown Lexington. The napkin rings and place mats were both from Kohls and were 60% off last week.

Gonzaga also scored some Hobby Lobby love. He got some festive bowls that coordinate with our overall theme. These cost me $7 each after being 50% off. I love the polka dots in the bowl; they match our napkins and stockings 

The mantle is my favorite. We were able to score the lighted garland at Bed Bath and Beyond the day after Thanksgiving for $19.95, plus, were able to use a 20% off coupon. The red mesh from Hobby Lobby (50% off, of course) and was simply wrapped around the garland. The wreath above the garland is one I've used on my front door the past few years and was an after Christmas steal from Kohls. The stocking holders are from Target (2 years ago) and although our stockings aren't complete yet, they will be hanging in the middle and are a combo of peppermint stripe and green and white polka dots, from Caught Ya Lookin'. Our stockings will be reversible from each other, M's being mostly the peppermint stripe print and mine mostly the green and white polka dot print to coordinate with the napkins! And, when little baby Kinney comes along in a few years, his or hers will be made to match ours :) But until then, our furry children will enjoy their stocking and being our only babies!

I added some ornaments (that coordinated with the table centerpiece ornaments) to the garland-I just stuck them in there, they aren't attached to anything, and so far, so good. And the candles were $4 each from TJ Maxx. I LOVE the round sparkles at the base-it matches the polka dots on everything else! The candle sticks are on the mantle year round- I just change them our during season changes.

On the coffee table, I took the bowl that typically sits on my dining room table filled with lemons and limes and added some ornaments and the peppermint striped ribbon. Adding ribbon to things is a simple and cheap way to make things look cute! I like keeping the limes in the decor-it's different and a way to add some green, plus I already had them :)

I added some vintage family tradition to our decor by adding my absolute FAVORITE thing as a kid, the candy cane house to my side table, and my Memaw's old holly glasses from Arbys to my wine glass rack. Don't you remember these from back in the late 80's/early 90's?! I used to LOVE getting them during the holidays as a kid and seeing them today brings back memories from Christmases past! I have a super vintage and fun table cloth from my great grandmother that I'm going to try to get made into pillows for Christmas 2012.

And of course, the most important thing of all, the nativity scene. I bought this from Kohls when I had my first apartment in college. I just love it and will probably always display it in my house even after we get a newer nativity scene. My dream nativity is from Willow Tree, but until we get one of those, this little gem will do! It sits on the sofa table and is surrounded by my multi-level votive holders.

A SAVIOR is born!!

And no, I don't have a tree up this year and won't be putting one up. We are SO busy right now and will be leaving for NYC on Christmas Day. We opted to pass on the tree this year because we aren't really at my house enough to enjoy it, but are excited to get a real tree to celebrate our first Christmas as Mr and Mrs in 2012 :)

I hope this helped y'all find some helpful ways to decorate your house without breaking the bank! I have a super cute ornament idea to share, but I'm waiting until I give them to the girls before sharing on the blog! It will be up soon!!

Happy Christmas Decorating

XOXO

Ash

The Proposal

First off, THANK YOU so much for all of the phone calls, fb messages, texts, etc! We are beyond thrilled to begin this next stage of life and feeling so loved by everyone, just makes it that much better! We cannot wait to share our "big day" with each of you in June!!


Here's the story:
I have been bugging M for a few weeks to go see the Bodies Revealed exhibit at Heritage Hall. I'm quite the museum nerd and the thought of seeing real dead people fascinates me. Sick? Maybe, but regardless I've been dying to go! So, early this week we made plans to finally see the exhibit and have an actual, official "date night" since those have been scarce lately due to our crazy busy schedules. I began to think something was up when M was very insistent that we eat someplace downtown and spend our evening down there, without any of our friends. We had the first part of our first date at Thursday Night Live, so I started to think that maybe he had something in the works....Well, little did he know that when he began to plan this evening, that downtown would be hopping with events, particularly the end of the Bourbon Chase and the Light The Night Walk. After trying to make reservations someplace without any success, he decided we would simply head to deShaes early in hopes of getting a table.
Well rewind to Saturday afternoon, when the migraine that I had been battling since Thursday finally was taking it's toll. I was at a baby shower with my mom and just began feeling MISERABLE. We left soon after the gifts had been opened because I just needed to lie down. My mom, knowing that the proposal was going to happen, was like "Well Ashlee, you have to get better by tonight." I said something along the lines of postponing our evening out and mom was VERY insistent that I should go. By this point, I really began thinking something was up because what mom would try to send her daughter out when she's sick?? She took me straight to Rite Aid, bought 2 types of medicine and gave me strict orders to take it and feel better so I could have my evening out with M.
An hour and half later he shows up at my house ready to head out. I had just woken up from a nap and was feeling somewhat better, but had no desire to get super fixed up for our evening. I had a cute dress planned to wear and everything, but since I still wasn't feeling too hot, I told him, "Sorry honey, I'm just going to wear what I have on (jeans and a cute top)." He said "Are you sure?!" M never questions what I wear (yet another clue something was up), and I said "Yes, I'm sorry I'm not in a dress, but I just don't feel like it." Those of you who know me well know how much I LOVE wearing dresses so you know I'm sick when I think I may be getting proposed to, but still cant muster up the energy to change clothes.

 We arrived at deShae's, ate dinner, then headed over to Heritage Hall to see the exhibit. I was finally starting to feel better by this point so upon leaving HH, we began walking back towards the car which was parked at Broadway Christian. Broadway is the church M grew up attending and also the church where we attended our first service together as a couple, so it holds a special place in our hearts. As we approached Broadway, there was a van of elderly people arriving along with several of cars, because the church was holding some type of an event. M quickly realized he was going to be unable to propose there, so he suggested we just keep walking and enjoy downtown. He suggested we head over to Gratz Park to enjoy the scenery and some peace and quiet since downtown had been so crazy! We arrived at Gratz Park and began walking around the sidewalk that flows through the park. Then, we entered under the iron archway and he suggested we take a picture together.

  I got out my camera and we snapped the above picture, then, as my head was turned he said, "I think we should take another picture with this." As I looked down he had the ring box opened and I said "Shut the front door. Shut the front door." He then got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course, I said "Yes!"  It couldn't have been more perfect with the sun setting, the beautiful fall trees, and the intimate setting of such a historic place in Lexington.

Right after I said, "Yes" I was only slightly excited ;)

I really couldn't ask for a better man to spend the rest of my life with. Michael is such an amazing man of God who exhibits every quality that I have prayed for in a husband. He is SO loving, so stinkin' funny, and has such a servant's heart. He is definitely the "yin" to my "yang" and I like to think we make a pretty good team :)   He strives everyday to be the man of God he was designed to be, and I cannot wait to see him as a father to our future children. Although it took us 27 years and 8 months to finally meet one another, it was worth every bit of the wait! We met each other when we were both so happy and so complete in our own lives that it just works. If you would've told me at 21 years old that I wouldn't be engaged until the age of 29, I probably would have died, but for us, it's been exactly the way God had planned. We have lived our single lives to the fullest and are now ready to embark on this new journey as our own family!!

Again, thanks again for all of the lovely messages! We are SO SO excited to get this wedding planned- and we promise, it's going to be a great one!!

XOXO

The bride-to-be :)