Hi, I am Ashli! Welcome to my little corner of the web.
I am a first-time mommy, full-time marketing / PR professional, part-time blogger and no-time sleeper.
I grew up in a small town; yet, had big aspirations of becoming something great in a major city. Los Angeles and New York City were calling my name until one day a dashing familiar young man called out to me. His voice a bit louder than the flashing lights, honking horns and incredible background of city life. Soon I was faced to make a decision and decided to take a chance on love.
We sowed out roots in that same small town that I so much wanted to escape and I set about defining myself by my career and my professional successes. I was relentlessly determined and focused to not let those big city dreams die. Soon, I realized that success was not defined by geographical location and making it “big” could be achieved without becoming famous.
For me, life was good and I felt beyond blessed, comfortable and safe. Then, I became pregnant. It wasn’t that I never wanted to have children because that was not the case. I indeed wanted children, but I think I was not physically ready. And, more than that, mentally. I, again, was faced with these ultimate fantasies of what life was about and I could not imagine how adding children to the mix would do anything more than complicate matters.
Then she came, my daughter Logan who you will often hear me refer to as Lo throughout this blog. I felt complete. More complete than any resume builder or any promotion, which previously drove my success and satisfaction. I no longer needed to define myself by my professional successes. My outlook on life yet again changed. What I thought was my dream, I soon realized was not. It took adding mother to my title to feel beyond fulfilling.
I still want it all. Even though “all” is constantly redefined.
And, that is what my Blog is about – living backwards in high heels. The real nitty gritty of a full life.
It’s having a major presentation at work, and not sleeping because your toddler was up all night teething. It’s remembering to pack everything in your child’s diaper bag for the day, laying out dinner before going to work, searching the house for your car keys that you know you saw your child play with the night before, throwing the credit card bill in the mail as you race out the door, putting the car back into reverse and running inside to grab your briefcase you forgot, it is walking into a board meeting with maple syrup on your pants and blouse from your rowdy toddler, it’s checking in on her in between business calls and work emails, its rushing home only to get a phone call 2 minutes before your road that you are out of milk, it is walking in the front door and focusing just enough to make dinner, throwing laundry in the washer and running your child’s bath before you realize your high heels are still on.
As life evolves, I realize so do I. But, I am not alone. Every step of the journey has been part of a greater plan that I never knew nor could see. While I can make the decisions, faith is what ultimate leads me.
FUN FACTS:
- My husband was my elementary school sweetheart and first kiss. I know, gush!
- I am a new Mommy! We welcomed Baby Lo to the world in December of 2014.
- Milk and Oreos… yeah, I could pretty much live off of them.
- I get mistaken for a Southerner all time time. People swear I am from the Carolinas.
- I can sing you just about any song but I will inevitably have a few lyrics wrong.
- Refer to above bullet. This is how I stay hip with my younger siblings, nieces & nephews and hopefully, Baby Lo will agree one day too!
- In case you were wondering, I am the oldest of 5 children.
- I switched my major in college from Architecture to Theatre and announced it to my family on stage at a State Beauty Pageant.
- My father was less than thrilled but got over it when I graduated in 2008 as a double major in Mass Communications and Theatre.
- I am obsessed with American Horror Story. I want to star on the show. Call me, Ryan Murphy! Or, start a PodCast to recap every episode and lend predictions.
- Charleston, South Carolina is my favorite city that I have visited in the US. Refer back to my Southern accent!
Curious about my name choice – BackwardsNHighHeels? I would be too!