Welcome to Hollyland!
Well, here it is 6:06am – David is fed and out the door, dishes have been cleaned and loaded, the sheets are off the bed and in the washer, stew meat for next week is on the stove and the 5# of ground beef has been divided and made into cooked seasoned ground beef ready to be added to my dinner creation for some time next week and when that fails to materialize there is always the other 2.5# I made into chili…..
AAAAAHHHHHH! Now, on to my 120++ emails, facebook, twitter, blog, and updates on the 3 different websites we own…oh shoot! I have to get those newsletters ready to send and transcribe that sermon for David… and the handy man should be here by 8 to fix my disposal and my microwave….
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We have recently joined a new church that will play host to our various ministries (we have 3 ministries and 2 businesses) in addition I will be singing in the praise band, setting up the social media campaigns, heading up their counseling ministry for women and David will be teaching yet another men’s group.
So we have met a few people here and there and after they meet my husband, the women…. It’s always the women…. Ask me – “So Holly, what do you do?” I simply state, “I’m a stay-at-home wife.” Then look at David, who I know is laughing with me….
Fact is that, that is the real truth! After all, I sit before you now in my leopard print furry slippers, jammies and white fuzzy robe, sipping my coffee as I type… But the reality of a stay-at-home-wife to Mr. David Ashley is not quite as easy as it sounds….
Up at 4:30am to fix breakfast, make/change the bed, do laundry (yes, every day) – clean up house, feed cat/dog, answer emails, Facebook (we have 2 accounts and 4 pages) a little and then start lunch – David usually is home between 10:30-11am.
Then its sit with him – he hates it when I work during “our” time… LOL!
My afternoon (after David returns to his gym, Fitness by Design) is filled with either meetings – over the phone or online, writing blogs, Bible studies, speaking notes, power point presentations, and/or newsletters for Cross Strength Ministries, Fitness by Design, Christian Women Executives, Bodies 4 Christ…
…Typing notes or inputting data for David’s men’s group (He is also a Bible Study leader at “As Iron Sharpens Iron,” typing up David’s notes/papers for his Apologetics course (yes, he is also obtaining his Master’s degree at Luther Rice Seminary)….
And then there are the updates to Twitter (2 accounts there), Pinterest, Facebook, Linked In, and our 3 websites – oh and my companies where I teach and speak– Bodies 4 Christ and Christian Women Executives… not to mention I write my daily (ok, semi-daily) blog … and next week we meet with a product designer/developer in regards to a piece of medical/fitness equipment I have developed and would like to get on the market….
I also do a little personal training out of our home…
Did I mention that Thomas Nelson Publisher’s called and sent me the information to get my book published? Guess I should finish that as well…
And then it’s time to start dinner… and if you are like me and step out of the office you notice every single piece of lint on the carpet, dust bunny scurrying under the door, the dust on the window seal, the dog hair on the baseboards…. Oh…. My….holy…crrra… goodness!
And the race is on!!!… I think to myself, “how much can I do (as I drag the vacuum out…) before my client gets here and still get dinner made/in the oven….?”
So before you decide to stay at home or think that my life as a “housewife” is a piece of cake-sitting/Oprah watching lunch/shopping play-dates with my girly friends’ all-kinds-of-fun… yeah… well…. You probably need to re-think that… – LOL
As a matter of fact, I almost went back to work, just to get a break! My husband put a hault on any further efforts, however….
But fortunately I have a wonderful husband who knows when we need to get out of town and catch a breath of fresh ocean air – we love the beach and we go as often as we can!
There is absolutely nothing I would change about my life! It is perfect – and it’s actually not as difficult as it sounds! It’s all in organization and time management – that even gives me the opportunity to go back to bed after those 4am breakfasts! And sometimes, if I’m having menopause – insomnia (another blog, for another day) – David just kisses me and lets me sleep… and still gets a full, hot, breakfast – made by me just for him…
So, here is how it works: Get a big – I mean REALLY BIG calendar – make a plan for you blogs, websites, and social media (see how I took all that and simplified it) – one day I am Fitness by Design, the next I am Cross Strength Ministries, and the next, I am Holly – 3 days, all businesses covered. Then add in the school scheduled assignments, the scheduled meetings, appointments, fitness classes, Bible studies, etc. Then add the date-nights and dinner with friends, and what I call the relaxing appointments – mine ALWAYS include a massage appointment for one time per month! (My other New Year’s resolution).
I am always on call for counseling, my fitness classes are managed by set times, and my breakfast muffins and casseroles are in the freezer for days I cannot sleep in addition to the cooked ground beef, the dinner/lunch casseroles, all in the freezer ready to be popped into the oven! These little tricks help me so much – Scheduled things are set so their easy – so in order to make the rest of my life easy… I don’t schedule them in pen! I go with the flow…
I keep a dry-erase marker in the bathroom, to make notes (you can’t even see yourself on my side of the mirror) and lets face it… where do you remember that you need to add toilet paper to your grocery list? Hello!
Housekeeping – well frankly, I’m probably ready to hire someone…. But until then, I’m not as neurotic as I used to be, as long as I keep up with it daily, and this is how I learned that for me, early mornings are the best… I usually don’t have to spend but one day a week on my knees doing baseboards or up on a ladder doing the ceiling fans… those are the day’s I skip David’s boot camps at Fitness by Design and clean… because… there is no way I’m missing “our” time! I love our time! And so does David! And I do NOT work on the weekends! Those days are for David and him alone – whatever he wants to do… sometimes we go places, sometimes we do absolutely NOTHING but stay at home and “rest.”
Sex? Yes sir! We don’t go longer than 24 hours! That’s not a “plan” it’s not on the schedule… we just can’t keep our hands off each other! And I make sure he knows it – daily! (texting is awesome!) And what goes around comes around… He lets me know as well – (again, another blog for another day….)
Well, I’m off to put the sheets in the dryer, so I can make the bed and hit the shower! I only work ½ days on Friday- because David only works ½ day – and therefore… yep… It’s “our time” and our time together is precious since we have wasted 27 years – we do not want to miss a minute together… Ever again!
XO
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Holly T. Ashley 