Ashley
Mama to Maddox, Walker and Finn plus three unruly dogs: Nick Carraway, Ladybird, and Charlotte. Owner of Nest, a custom painting and furniture restoration business run out of my SoKno home. I've written for Knox Moms since 2014, and have also written for The Dollywood Company, Her View From Home, and Today.com. I'm a recovering type-a personality, overcaffinated, sleep with too many pillows, am a better person near water, and love a good British period drama or anything about gruesome true crime. I'm going to die trying to pet something I shouldn't or lifting furniture I have no business lifting, and am a firm believer in convenience meals. Probably a top contender for the title of World's Okayest Mom.
In Defense of My Kids’ Cell Phones
For as long as I could remember I was that mom. The no cell phones for kids, when I got a phone it was essentially a brick with a snake game on it, back...
Can We Stop With The “18 Summers” Meme Already?
"We only have them for 18 summers; use the time wisely," we're told, accompanied by a little girl playing, crouched down, eyes averted from the camera lens.
Every year, starting in mid-May, I am reminded...
The Cicadaing of 2021
"This is... disturbing," my nine-year-old said, surveying the backyard like a sweeping panoramic shot of a war movie, the bodies of animals and men strewn about a beach. Except, this wasn't Dunkirk. This was...
Guided By Grandma: How a Decades-Old Family Story Led Me to Kern’s Food Hall
My great grandmother, Laura Elizabeth, has always been at the center of family lore. She was beautiful, like you can’t look at a picture of her too long or your eyeballs hurt beautiful. She...
Having Boys Will Break You
Having boys will break you.
It will make you give up on having a clean house, a bathroom that doesn't smell like pee, and ever having a pantry full longer than a day after coming...
Making The Most Out of Your Local Thrift Store
It’s 2021. We mostly sort of survived 2020, I guess. Pandemic. Election. Murder hornets. Fires. UFOs. I’m waiting on swamp people and lava monsters honestly. (Insert shrug emoji or the it’s been 84 years...
My Kids Won’t Be Home For Christmas and That’s Fine
"This isn't permanent," my attorney said, holding up a parenting plan. "It's more of a guide book of sorts until the kids can tell you where they want to go and what they want...