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.
For a Boy…
“You’re the kind of girl who is going to spend her whole life doing anything for a boy. This just proves it. And it isn’t selfless, it’s sickening,” someone I considered a life-long friend,...
I’ve Been Conned by KonMari
I’ve come to terms enough with my own millennial-ness to admit to you, dear readers, that I suffer from a typical amount of FOMO, or fear of missing out, on the regular. I really...
Babies, It’s Cold Outside: A Boy Mom’s Winter Manifesto
Every October, early in the month, I take an inventory of my kids’ winter clothes. Do they have enough hoodies to layer on chilly days? Do their snow boots fit? Can I squeeze one...
Dear (Holiday) Single Mama
Dear (Holiday) Single Mama,
How are you? I'm okay, I guess. If I'm being honest though, just between you and me, I wanted to ask you something: Are you sad this holiday season, mama? I...
I Went Camping with Three Kids and You Can Too: A Non-Camper’s Survival Tips
For the entirety of my life, my idea of camping has been staying in a hotel without a Starbucks in the lobby, so imagine the collective horror of those who know me well when...
I Don’t Know How You Do It
“I don’t know how you do it,” she said to me, a strange mix of awe and pity.
My kids and I were at a birthday party and an acquaintance had heard that my marriage...
I Don’t Know About You, But I Might Die at 32
Laura Elizabeth Willis died on August 18, 1958 of aggressive ovarian cancer, caught too late, that spread throughout her body. She was my great-grandmother.
She was 32...
For as long as I can recall, the women...