The adventure begins.

Hello! You’re here! I’m so glad. Welcome.

At the time of this writing my name is Ashley and I am 33 years old. Well, I suppose no matter when you’re reading this my name will still be Ashley.

OK, cool. Off to a great start.

My husband and I have been married for 9 years, and together for 15 years collectively.

We have four children who range in ages 1 to 7 at the time of this writing, and they too will likely still have their given names no matter when you’re reading this. We live in a small but beautiful and, prayerfully, ever-abundant apple growing community in Michigan.

Our farm in spring 2015

My husband (to whom I may also refer to as ‘Mr. Dietrich’ in these musings) is a 6th generation apple grower and still today farms on some of the same dirt that the first generation growers settled on when they first arrived here.

         I mean, seriously. How cute is he circa 1988?!

I, on the other hand, did not. When we began dating, I thought I knew wholeheartedly what I was getting into. I did not. Tall, adorably shy farmer with dark hair and eyes and a coy smile. Um…yes, please! I went all in with big ‘ol heart eyes and blissfully unaware of the many adventures to come. This crazy life we have together will undoubtedly be the driving force of content for this blog.

 Bless our adorable little teenage hearts.

In addition to our four children, we have another married couple who lives with us. Of course, I’m referring to our two yellow labs, Tucker and Stella.

Together they have 20 children but only one of them still comes to visit. His name is Lewie. We rarely allow our dogs in the house, which is fine because they much prefer to sleep in the barn, in holes they’ve dug next to the driveway, atop my newly planted hydrangea, or on top of the dog crate. ON. THE. TOP. WHY!?

Rounding out the cast of characters here on the farm is the 4 laying hens that remain out of the 30 that my uncle gave to us before he died two years ago, and our new kitten, Francis. Actually, this would have been the best time to use the phrase, “at the time of this writing” since farm cats never seem to last too long around here. It is hard to say if she’ll have mention in future posts. There are many kitten predators around our farm. Most of which have blonde fur and go affectionately by, “Tucker and Stella” or “NAUGHTY!” or “UGH! STUPID DOGS!”

Ahem. Let’s switch gears, shall we?

My intention with this blog is multi-faceted. I’ve always loved to write and for years kept journals and diaries which mostly documented my adolescent melodrama. Yet I have always wanted to write something that is truthful and meaningful. Something that someone else could read and relate to, or draw inspiration from. I’ve always had this deep burning desire to write, or say, or do something that inspires someone to change their life. Speaking of melodrama. Sheesh! This blog is a space that people can come to when they need a laugh, or to just take a break from the redundancy that seems to be their life because, sister, I have been there too. Hell, me sitting down during nap time to write this blog post is the first non-redundant thing I’ve done in 82 days. Alright, so maybe I’m still a bit melodramatic. Whatevs. The point is that I intend to write for me, and for you. They say that the two most powerful words in the english language are “me too”. We all just want to connect with people and share some laughs and we don’t want some ornery passive-aggressive internet troll cramping our style. Am I right?! So while we’re on the subject, let it be known that there is a zero tolerance policy for hatred, rudeness, or shaming. OK? Good. Great. Grand. Wonderful. NO YELLING ON THE BUS!

It just occurred to me, in real-time, that there someday may possibly be a person reading this who isn’t my friend or my family and may want to know who I am. In that case, and in no particular order, here is some of what I know about myself so far:

• I love a good theme party.
• I’m awkward.
• I have a very serious and loving relationship with coffee.
• I love food. I love letting my husband grow our food. I love cooking it, serving it, eating it. All of it.
• I deeply love fitness and exercise. It totally fuels me.
• I did not love being pregnant but I am grateful for the experience and gift of it.
• I embrace the selfie/Usie because otherwise I would have few photos of myself with my husband and kids.
• I love getting lost in a book and I don’t do it enough.
• My husband is absolutely the greatest love of my life.
• My second greatest love is our children.
• Being a mother is the most challenging, heart-wrenching, and gloriously beautiful privileged role I will ever have.
• I revel in making others laugh.
• Laughter has saved me from myself time and time again.
• I feel peaceful and calm when our home is clean and tidy.
• I rarely feel peaceful and calm.
• I loathe potty training.
• I love to dance, and always will.
• Music is a necessity in my life.
• Give me 90’s and 00’s rap and country music any day of the week, but I love most genres.
• Will & Grace, Friends, and Schitt’s Creek are the shows I watch over and over again.
• As a child, I truly believed I would get to kiss Tim McGraw one day. Still waiting…
• I love salmon fishing on the river.
• I hate goulash. I don’t even like the name.
• I absolutely adore babies. Toddlers? Eh, not so much.
• I’m an adult with “ADD tendencies and strong coping mechanisms”…said a specialist to me recently. That explains a lot.
• I’m a Circle/Squiggle. My love language is Words of Affirmation and Gifts. I’m a Sagittarius but I don’t really care about zodiac signs. And I don’t know my Enneagram number yet.

It’s nice to meet you.

Same time, same place next week?

I’ll bring the coffee.

~A