Hi friends, I’m Ashley! I’m here to help you save time so you can live with more intention.
You probably didn’t know we were friends, but if you’ve made it to this page, that means we think enough alike that I’m sure we’d be friends in the real world.
But let me be the first to tell you– despite how this photo looks, I certainly don’t have it all together.
I’m 38 and I live with my hubby and daughters in Herriman, Utah just outside of Salt Lake City.
After a stressful set of circumstances, we landed in Salt Lake by following my hubby’s jobs from Louisville, Kentucky, to Gainesville, Florida, to Memphis, Tennessee, to Salt Lake City.
We have always been more mountain people than beach people, so we are beyond thrilled to look out our windows every morning and see the Wasatch Mountains.
Though I can’t say my life has turned out the way I expected it to. In college, I was certain I would end up living downtown in a large city and working as vice president of something at some company.
Working part-time from home and being the stay-at-home mom of two girls isn’t what I imagined at all. But even on the rough days when I want to lock myself in my room, I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
- Happy Place: Colorado Springs. (Can’t beat the Garden of the Gods.)
- Favorite Singer: Thomas Rhett
- Favorite Movie: You’ve Got Mail
- Pet Peeve: People who don’t use their turn signals
- Favorite Stores: Barnes & Noble, Hobby Lobby
- Celebrity Crushes: Jamie on Outlander, the Arrow
- Person(s) I’d Like to Meet: Christine Caine
- Dream Job: Author & Speaker
- Three Things I Love: Books, Pizza & Exercise
- Tea or Coffee: Tea (Despise coffee.)
- Bath or Shower: Shower (Baths just don’t do it for me.)
- Summer or Winter: Mountain Summers and Southern Winters
- Early Bird or Night Owl: Early Bird
- Facebook or Instagram: Instagram (Love Instagram Stories.)
My hubby, Justin, is my best friend- no contest. We met in 2003 at a Disciple Now event at my parent’s church. We were both college students coming to lead a group of high school students at the event.
I like to say he is the most likable person on the planet. He has a great sense of humor and his biggest flaw is the pile of dirty clothes he continuously leaves by the bed, so how lucky am I? (My solution is to make sure his side of the bed doesn’t face the door.)
He is an engineer, so he’s super smart but outgoing too, so he’s the whole package.
We got married in 2006, so it’s saying something that I still adore him after 13 years.
These are my girls, and this picture says it all.
Francesca is 6 years old and is a miniature version of me, only without a filter. She does everything 100%. She has strong opinions and loves to boss everyone around. She drives me crazy and I’m in awe of her at the same time. And, on top of all that, she looks a lot like me too.
Julia is 3. She has her Daddy’s personality. Most of the time, she is calm, cool, and collected, but when she gets mad– watch out! She is crazy about Minnie Mouse and puppies. (Aren’t we all!)
I started Defeating Busy in 2016 as a place to write about my pursuit of trying to live a simpler life that goes in the face of today’s trend to crowd our lives with busyness. I didn’t want to have a family that was never at home, always running from one activity to the next with no time to relax, have fun together or enjoy the simpler things in life, like meals around the table. I know that works great for some people, but just not for me.
My hope was to create a community where we could talk about these things together and inspire each other to create simpler and meaningful lives.
If you are new here and would like to get a sense of what Defeating Busy is all about, here are the posts I’d recommend starting with:
- 6 Things You Can Do to Have a Better Marriage
- Finding Quiet in a Busy, Loud Life
- A Morning Routine that Will Take You from Crazy to Calm
- Stop Focusing on What You Don’t Have
- My Secret for Tackling Your Endless To-Do List
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