Powder Paint Fight

Check out these fun photos we took of us for our Christmas Card this year: http://jamesandashley.com/portfolio/powder-paint-fight/

We had so much fun throwing color at each other! Thanks to Eric Ewing for great shots!

Prophecy!

For one if you don't know what a prophecy is or a presbytery then you need to listen to this podcast from Robert Morris at Gateway HERE!

We had the privilege to being selected with a few other couples to be prophesied over. Three Pastor's came in from Gateway and were given our names prior to pray and fast over to see what God wanted to say to us. We were so encouraged as they were right on with our present jobs and personalities and continued with some great things in our future.

We love our life here at HighRidge Church and know God has placed us here for a purpose and we really mesh well with this "house".

These holiday seasons coming up are our absolute favorite time of the year! This year we are spending time with my family (James) for Thanksgiving! That night we are all going camping in a cabin up north. It should be a fun time for us all to get away. This Christmas we are going to Colorado to spend time with Ashley's Family for some skiing and some great time with family in the mountains!

Get excited about the Holidays! Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace and Love,

James

Colorado

I (Ashley) had the privilege to spend a week with my mom in Colorado this past month!  I must say… owning your own business is quite great when you get to give yourself vacation days… haha

Colorado has always held a special place in my heart… the beauty all around you is breathtaking.  I love it in every season!  God stirs my heart in new ways each time I get to spend time there.  Refreshment is always welcomed… along with stirred up passion.  I am also intrigued by the people there – many people are seen riding bikes and using canvas bags for groceries (you get an evil eye when using plastic)… some with hope in their eyes but many with a look of searching.  People are living in a beautiful place with God’s hands all over it – yet many turn to empty things for fulfillment.  I am believing for a powerful move of God for the people of this state… God is moving in areas but there are still so many people looking for hope and LIFE.  Who knows… maybe we will get to be a part of sharing Jesus with the sweet people of Colorado one day!

My mom and I did a hike on my last day there – it was a steep hike up to a ridge where we ate lunch looking over a beautiful lake.  On the way up – there were times I wished I had been exercising more consistently leading up to this trip.  I repeated this phrase in my head ‘one step at a time’ in a nice rhythm that I would take steps to.  Sounds funny – but it actually helped when my legs were burning on the steep climbs.   In the midst of this I felt God say… this is just like walking with me.  We often want to jump forward… or sprint forward to see what is ahead… but the reality is that God desires for us to simply take one step at a time with him.  There were times I wanted to call it a day… but the beauty at the top was well worth it! 

Are you discouraged? 

Do you think you can’t make it?

Press on… taking on step at a time… and God will meet you… strengthen you… and surprise you with more beauty and blessing than you ever thought possible.

- Ashley 

Instagram

We have officially joined Instagram!  We noticed that we stopped documenting our lives after we got married.  This is us changing that! 

Check out some of our latest pictures and feel free to follow us! [jamesandashley]

Every Night is Taken!

We have been so busy... and its the good busy. We have been gone at at home every night after work hanging out with friends. We are so blessed to have such a strong, big base of friendships and love spending time with all sorts of people.

I purchased the old NES system with some games from a friend and I have been bringing back memories. My good friend and next door neighbor, Micah came over and we played it one night and laughed and laughed. So grateful for amazing next door neighbors. We need to branch out more to meet the others down our block, but we could not ask for better friends we now have from them moving next door!

Not only have we been "friend" busy, but we have also been work busy. I love where I am at working for High Ridge church as their Media Director. This is the greatest job I have ever had and love going into work every single day! My side business, Thornejam, is going really well and I have more clients and projects than I do time off to complete them. That's not even getting started on Ashley's Business, Brush Design! She has done kitchen cabinets, living rooms, fireplaces, baby rooms, and is just now finishing up a huge project on the kids wing at our church. She is so blessed to be hold a lot of work at such an early stage of her business!

We are so blessed and grateful for what God has continued to do for us. Everyday is a joyous day when we choose to live in Him! Not feeling like doing anything today or sick of your job? Have you chosen to make the best of it, and spent some time with Jesus? Well it works... everyday!

Here is a quote that I pulled from a great communicator's post on facebook: "Those who have a famous secret time with Christ are the ones chosen to make Christ famous in public." Love that it always starts there.


Love you guys,


James

ROAD TRIP: Destin, Florida

         

At the beginning of June we headed to Destin with James’ family.  We loved the time away, being on the beach and spending time with family!  It was pouring down rain the first 2 days we were there…. which made us a little nervous:/  But… it was beautiful the rest of the week!  We both enjoyed relaxing on the beach… under our new umbrella… and did a lot of reading!   It was nice to take some time away from our computers.

We took one date night – we walked down the beach to a restaurant that overlooked the water.  We were seated right by the open window overlooking the beach… it was BEAUTIFUL! 

When we got home from Destin… we jumped right into a family weekend with Ashley’s family!  A family friend was getting married on Father’s Day – so it made for a fun weekend of celebrating.  My mom then stayed in town and we had a big painting job to do!  It was a blessing to have her in town to work on it together – we have so much fun painting!  Stay tuned for details about that project.

We are so blessed by our families!  It is fun to get to spend time with both sides and we are thankful that we have great relationships with everyone.  We are thankful to our families for loving us, investing in us, and showing us what it looks like to live out our faith… together!  

One Year Anniversary!

First off, I can not believe that it has already been over a year that we have been married. Time has gone by so fast and it is hard to keep up with everything that we are doing and everything that is going on.

We had an awesome One Year anniversary in downtown Fort Worth, where I took Ashley to the place that went to when I purposed! We enjoyed some good food at the Lonesome Dove and I told her about what we were going to do the following weekend. We spent the weekend in San Antonio on the River Walk! We had a great time walking around, shopping, and eat good food. On saturday we went to Sea World! Saw all 5 shamus , all the shows, rode rides, and had so much fun! Sunday we went to see my Best Friend Arlin Landers. Spent the day outside grilling, swiming, and sharing stories!

Its weird to say we had an anniversary, like we are getting older:), but I am excited that we will have many many more!

I love you Ashley! You are my prized possession!

Oh and here is our wedding video if you never saw it last year!

- J

Friends. Friends. Friends.

FRIENDS . FRIENDS . FRIENDS

We have been blessed beyond belief by the people that God has put in our lives.  We have had so much fun this last month!  It continues to amaze me how well God knows us and what we need.  I mean… I know God knows me, but I love how He knows me even better than I know myself.  He has placed people in our lives for this very season.

He has given us neighbors that love the Lord and are a great encouragement!  It is so fun having them next door and we look forward to spending more time with them… our time together is filled with great conversation and lots of laughing (something we all need!).  And a shout out to Erica for her enchiladas that were ‘off the chain’ and sweet tea that rivals Chicken Express… success!

He has also given us some friends who are in the same season of life as us.  It has been fun to talk about the first year of marriage and exchange funny stories!  We love having some couples to hang out with.

We can so easily get caught up in our schedules and everything that’s on our ‘To-Do’ list… but we cannot forget about people.  Everyone can get busy and overwhelmed… but we all need community.  James and I are pretty scheduled out… but we continually remind ourselves that it is worth it to live life with people and make a point to plan things out.  Every time we have dinner or go bowling or make a late night sonic run with friends… we are refreshed and encouraged!

PEOPLE ARE WORTH IT

Who are you investing in?

Who needs some encouragement?

We are blessed by each of you in our lives – thank you for loving us so well!

- Ashley 

Family Time

We are definitely blessed. We have such a great big wonderful family on both sides. This past month we got together with "The Cunninghams" for a weekend in Southlake. We had a blast and was good to see everyone from that side of the family! I love when family gets together for whatever reason, and even though always interesting, still unique and enjoyable. Went to lunch with my Uncle Mark and was really good hanging out with him. I am glad we are bringing back relationships that have been there but have never really been built. We then got connected and went out to see a movie with my cousin, and brother - good times!  Excited to see where this leads on this side of the family as well. Oh, and if you haven't read my Uncle's Book : A cop and his God - its really good and I am looking forward to being apart and helping his ministry grow in the near future. Chad is getting married, and as I stay on the topic of family - we are gaining a new family member and sister!  yay! We are so excited for them and the wedding is rapidly approaching. Check out there website: chadandalyssa.com and even if you are not invited you can still send them a gift ;). Love you bro! I have been following Josh Shipp, probably the world's leading expert in teens today, and a young dynamic speaker to top it off. Check out this video of his I just watched: joshshipp.com/parents - it hits a lot of great points if you are a kid or not. Just thought I would throw that out there. Well - there was my thought process. I am not much of a writer, but I like keeping people informed. Love you all!

These Days!

Hello friends!

We are LOVING life these days! James is settling into his job and it is perfect for him! We are excited to see all that comes in this season. We just finished up our membership classes so we are officially members of HighRidge church! Now we are going to start getting involved even more! God is moving and we know this is exactly what He has for us.

Valentines day marked the 3-year anniversary of the first time James and I met! A little cheesy, I know… but I love that we know the first time we met and ironically it happened to be Valentine’s day! We enjoyed this year by going out with Chad and Alyssa and we gave each other fun, personalized gifts (my favorite)!

Check out the book James made me with all the things he loves about me…. And the custom view-finder and reel I made him!

We are so incredibly blessed!!!!

Ephesians 3:20-2120 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

New Job!

New Job, New Friends, New Website!

That’s right! I got a new job and I am very excited! I am now the Media Director at HighRidge Church in south Fort Worth. It is a perfect fit for me, one because God ordained it, and also because it takes my past three jobs and combines my strengths into one! No doubt there is a lot to be done, but they are great people and I am excited to see what God has in store for Ashley and I here at HighRidge!

It was a little sad leaving family at Milestone Church, but thank God we are still close and did not have to move out of state! I feel we have the best of both worlds and we could not thank God enough. We are so blessed in every way, and so grateful for all that has been given to us. We are already making new friends and Ashley is getting plugged in with the Wife’s of the staff –  !!

Oh, and yes we now have a new website! Much cooler I think;)

Well thanks to all, and we love you!

OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS

We have had a fun and busy holiday season.  We love this time of year… buying gifts, festive music and decorations, spending time with family and friends… there is just a joy in the air!

Being our first Christmas – we started to set the standard for decorations, etc.  We had fun putting out our tree with burlap skirt, displaying Christmas cards in our old shutters on the wall, and making trees out of old books.  We also found our perfect stockings!  We both surprised the other with our gifts – which is always exciting to pull off!  First Christmas = success.  We are excited for many more to come!

We spent Christmas eve and day with James’ family.  It was fun seeing everyone, catching up and relaxing… even if we got up at 6:30am on Christmas morning… haha  James and I feel so incredibly blessed!

01 – Bought our first house
02 – James joined the creative team at Milestone
03 – Married on 5.22.11
04 – Honeymoon in Jamaica
05 – Ashley started a new job in interior design
06 – James started Thornejam as a side business
07 – We hosted a weekly small group of students at our house
08 – We had fun at Baylor Homecoming
09 – Spent Thanksgiving in Chicago
10 – Enjoyed our first Christmas season togethe

We are excited about this New Year – we know God has more than we could ask or imagine in store for us!