Blogging About Blogging

I always thought it was kind of weird to blog about blogging. So even when I had things to say about blogging I just didn't. And then I read this awesome post by Elise of Elise's Pieces and decided that blogging about blogging is not that weird. {Especially when you use the word blogging a billion times in the first couple of sentences}

Anyway, I completely agree with Elise's post so you should go and read it and then come back here {if you don't get sucked into Elise's blog for the next few hours}!

My blogging story:

I got really into blogging a couple of years ago and posted quite a bit. I made quite a few awesome blogging friends and had swap sponsors and even did some product reviews and sponsored posts. It was a lot of fun!

Then I got pregnant and had a baby and didn't post nearly as much. My posts were erratic, to say the least, and I felt bad about that. I switched off between feeling bad about not posting enough and feeling bad for posting so much about Holland. But I am not sorry about that. Holland and Race are my world and I love to share them with my blogging friends.

My mom told me about this awesome proverb that says, "Joy shared is joy doubled; sorrow shared is sorrow halved."

I love sharing my joys and sorrows through my blog. I don't live near very much family and haven't made very many friends in Idaho yet so blogging is a way for me to connect with people. When I am having a hard day I want to talk to someone about it. And Race and Holland sometimes need a break from being my sounding board/Holland doesn't respond too much just yet! When Holland learns something new or I find a fun new hobby or Race and I go on a fun date and I just want to share these things with someone {or lots of people}! And blogging is how I am able to do that!

I love being a part of the blogging community. I know at times it can be hard to refrain from comparing your life to the seemingly perfect lives of every other blogger out there or feeling like you need to own all of the cool things other bloggers have but I know that all bloggers experience sorrows and joys and blogging is a wonderful way to make connections with those around us and bond with people we may have never been able to meet otherwise. And that is amazing.

I am so grateful for the many friends I have made through blogging. I am also so grateful for posts that I have read of people's hardships that have been just what I needed during my trials. I can only hope that someday a post I have written can help someone in their time of need.

I love blogging and I am not going to apologize for my posts no matter how erratic {or solely focused on my adorable daughter} they are! Now please introduce yourself so I can make some more blogging friends!

P.S. I also love Instagram and post LOTS of pictures of Holland on there {and don't ever apologize for it because she is a stinkin' cutie} so if that's the kind of thing you are into then request to follow me! {@emmaashby}

P.P.S. I just can't help posting a couple pictures of Holland because, like I've mentioned a few times, she's adorable!

Holland's fish face that she does all the time. 

{Now if only you could hear when she smacks her 

lips after making this face! So funny!}

And then Holland's teeth grinding face.

Most AWFUL noise ever! 

But her face is still super cute/hilarious!

Eleven Things: Were You Tagged?!

I'm finally doing my eleven things post that I have been repeatedly tagged in and repeatedly too lazy to do. I'm excited though! So first off I want to thank ALL of the lovely ladies who tagged me! {If I forgot anyone PLEASE let me know and I will add you!}

Mary of Mary Plus Vince

Cassie of Ben & Cassie

Kristina of The Streeters Unlimited

Jordan of a little bit of lillybit

Not technically the eleven things post but I was also tagged by:

Sandy of Twelve Makes a Dozen 

Eleven Things:

1. I really enjoy writing things down on paper. I have to have a cool pen to write with though otherwise it's not quite so fun. When I get bored in my classes I write journal entries or more recently I have been working on answering random questions about myself as a little bit of self-reflection. 
2. I am not very good at making girl friends. My sisters/sisters-in-law/mom are my best friends. This might be a bad thing when I don't live close enough to visit all of them often. 
3. I do not like to cry in front of anyone other than Race. Occasionally I'll cry in front of other family members but not very often. 
4. I am a really slow unpacker. It takes me months to get settled into a new place. I was doing really good this time around until I realized that we might be moving again this summer. I don't want to finish unpacking if we'll be packing it all up in a couple of weeks! 
5. I really like typing. I play typing games for fun and do typing tests {to see how fast I type} for fun and I honestly love it when I get compliments on my fast typing. Haha. I'm probably not even that fast of a typist but all the maintenance guys at my work are impressed by it so I feel really cool! 
6. I love taking pictures of my baby bump. And I love posting them everywhere{blog, Facebook, Instagram}. I hope it doesn't bother all my social network friends. 
7. I sit at home with my shirt pulled up and stare at my belly for hours at a time. I'm lazy and my baby is a cool kicker. {I take videos sometimes too but I don't know if people would be offended by my bare belly}.
8. I call my mom pretty much every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. Is this normal?? I don't much care if it isn't because I like talking to my mom but I still wonder. 
9. Sometimes I wish that I hadn't gone to college but had gone to beauty school instead. I still wouldn't mind going to beauty school someday. 
10. I am graduating in less than a month. I didn't walk at my high school graduation so I'm really hoping I don't fall on my face or do something really dumb when I walk at my college graduation. Any walking tips? Haha. 
11. I lose my keys/phone/wallet all the time. It drives Race crazy. It's gotten worse since I got pregnant. Haha. 

Well there are my eleven things FINALLY! Thanks again to everyone who tagged me! Now it's your turn to answer away! I'm going to be a bad blogger and not specifically tag anyone but I want anyone and everyone to do this and send me a link! Even if you did it a while ago you should send me a link so that I can read it! :] Have a happy weekend everyone! 

And before I go--here's a baby bump picture! 

Quick Breakdown of the Outfit: 

Shirt- Target $4 

Undershirt- Target $3 

Necklace- Made by my sister-in-law Nikki 

Jeans- Target $18

Introduce Yo' Self!

I am happy to see more and more followers recently and to be getting so many comments from new people! I try to make it to all of your blogs but people slip under the radar sometimes so I want to give you the chance to introduce yourselves! So here's a quick questionnaire to answer and then leave a link to your blog and I will come by! Also, go check out some other blogs and make friends! :] And please introduce yourself whether or not I have come to your blog! I always love learning more about other bloggers and making friends! And if your email isn't unblocked for me to respond to your comments you should check out these tips for figuring that out over on Gentri's blog!

Now answer away!!

1. What is your blog about and how long have you been blogging?
2. What is your favorite book?
3. What is your favorite lunch sandwich? {I may be using this to get ideas because I'm bored with my normal choices...}
4. What is your favorite DIYproject/recipe/hairstyle/etc. that you have tried from Pinterest? {If you haven't done one what is one you want to do? And if you aren't on Pinterest leave your email and I'll send you an invite! It's fun stuff!}
5. What is your favorite blog post that YOU have ever written?

Now I'll answer these questions and leave you with a picture of 'le bump' for good measure!

1. My blog is about my life with Race and our future little one. I try to write about all the little joys in our lives.
2. This is a hard one but one of my favorite books is a true story called Hannah's Gift.
3. My favorite lunch sandwich is peanut butter with honey and bananas!
4. My favorite Pinterest recreation would probably be these headbands that I made a TON of!I need to find a  more spring/summer appropriate recreation to do soon though!
5. This is also a hard one...good luck to all of you! I think that one of my favorite posts is...Somewhere Over the Rainbow  where I wrote about some of my hopes and dreams for my future with Race. It's fun to look and see  how much closer we are to reaching some of those goals/dreams!

Le Bump as of Sunday: 

I'm excited to get to know all of you! :]

And give me a few days to get to all of your blogs! But I will be coming by for sure!!

Seven Questions via Miss Gentri Lee!

I am finally joining in the Seven Questions Link-up on Gentri Lee's blog! You should all join too! 

And here's a silly picture to accompany the post!

{On my birthday a year ago I got to kiss this giraffe! :]}

1. You're given the choice between a life with love and trials or loneliness and ease. Pick one.

I would most definitely pick love and trials! Love makes everything so much better even when things are ridiculously hard. Being married is wonderful and there is so much love besides romantic love that I would not want to miss out on. Loneliness just doesn't sound worth it even if life is easy. 

2. Would you rather live in Narnia, Hogwarts, Middle Earth, or Neverland?

Hogwarts! I don't know enough about Narnia and I wouldn't pick the other two. I just want to live in Hogwarts land after Voldemort is gone. And I would hope that if I lived there I had magic powers. Because being the only muggle amidst witches and wizards might not be the most fun thing...

3. Think of your dream home... what style is it?

This is so hard for me to figure out! I have about a billion different styles on Pinterest. But I think light and airy and simple would describe my dream home. I definitely like homes with lots of natural light and big windows. 

4. What's currently your favorite song or album?

I am not super into music...so this is a hard one for me. I would say that I always love listening to...country music though. That's about as far as I can narrow it down right now. Haha. 

5. Who was the last person you hugged?

My husband. :] And what a great hug it was! He really does give the best hugs. They're especially wonderful when I'm being weirdly emotional because of these crazy pregnancy hormones! 

6. You have a ticket in your hand, where is it going to take you?

I'm assuming this means plane ticket? It's going to take me to Spain! I really want to go there someday! And I'd explore other parts of Europe from there if I could. My second choice is Japan. And if this isn't referring to a plane ticket then I do have a ticket to see Hunger Games this week and I can't wait!! 

7. Who is one blogger you KNOW you'd be BFF's with in real life?

Gentri Lee is one blogger I KNOW I'd be BFF's with in real life! I don't email tons of bloggers but Gentri and I have emailed and Facebook chatted it up and texted and all that good stuff and I better get to meet her someday because we would really be such great friends! Also, I love her name and might want to steal it for my baby! If only I could convince Race to love it as much as I do! We'll see! :] 

Fashion Guest Post: Autumn

I'm excited to have Autumn of Stay gold, Autumn posting on my blog today! Autumn is one of my swap sponsors and she is one of my wonderful blog friends! I absolutely adore her clothes, she takes gorgeous pictures, and her words are always inspiring. You can see her blog here, her button to your right, and another guest post by her here! Have fun viewing Autumn's very first {I'm pretty sure} outfit post!

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Emma always has the cutest outfits and so I decided to try my hand at my very first fashion post.

 Cardigan - Macey's

Blue shirt - Sam's Club

Gray under shirt - Bella Bird at Walmart

Blue jeans - Levi's 524 skinny cut

Shoes - Walmart...from high school 

Headband - Provo farmer's market 

Belt - random store in Arkansas

Coat....yeah, I should have been wearing one.

Since beginning teaching I have found myself in a rut with my hair and clothes; this rut is called having to leave our apartment at 6:50 AM for work. Until I began blogging I thought people were born with innate talents of mixing and matching clothes.  What am I realizing?  Like every talent, some people are naturals, but we all have to practice.  For me?  I didn't really start practicing until I came to BYU. Someone once told me with my body type I shouldn't wear an empire waist anything- that person was silly and I have a beautiful empire-waist cut wedding dress in my closet.  Someone else once told me cargo pants would be slimming on me in middle school....what?! What I do know?  I try on a lot of different types of clothes and I'm often surprised at how they fit or lay.  I know that I often try a little too hard to blend in, but at the end of the day?  My husband thinks I'm pretty and that's really all that matters.

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I LOVE her outfit! Don't you?! And I agree that in the end if my husband thinks I'm pretty it really doesn't matter if I blend in. I love that! Thank you for this wonderful post Autumn! Can I borrow your outfit?!

P.S. Today I am grateful that I am more than halfway done with this semester. And way more than halfway done with college! One and a half more semesters!!