ASHLEY
Hi, I’m Ashley. I’m 28 years old, a born-and-raised Washingtonian. I have lived in a small maritime city, Gig Harbor, nearly all my life, and am now raising my two girls here alongside my studly husband, Ashton. Ashton and I have been married nearly five years now, and have two daughters Scotland and Roslyn. They have been the best, yet hardest, years of my life. They have left me on my knees thanking God and they have left me on my face crying out to God. They have broken me and they have shaped me. I have seen beautiful days and I have seen ugly days. One thing that has remained through every day of my life: I need God and without him I am nothing.
My walk with God has been a struggle. God got ahold of my life six years ago and saved me. Before that I was in a downward spiral, and only through an army of friends and family was I able to turn my life around. Those people are the same army my husband and I have surrounded ourselves with throughout our marriage. Without them I don’t believe we would be where we are today. They have seen us at our best and they have seen us at our ugliest. We are thankful for our army.
Being only five years in, we are still new at this. But we know enough about marriage to know it is work. It is work every single day of our life. There are good days and there are hard days. Throw two kids into the mix and there are just plain ‘ol awful days. All I know is that God chose me and plucked me right out of the life I was living to meet the man who I would be married to for the rest of my life. He chose me to do this life for a reason. My husband is my best friend, and I can’t believe God chose me to be his wife. Not to mention, he is the foxiest man who ever walked the planet and without further ado, meet my husband.
ASHTON
Greetings folks, I am the man fortunate enough to be the husband to my beautiful bride, Ashley, and father to daughters Scotland and Roslyn. My story has familiar tones along with a few stark differences. About six years ago I was a second-year law student with it all put together on the outside…but behind closed doors I had a tough time understanding what way was up or down. Much of that changed when I decided to go out to an unsavory bar in Spanaway with some friends from high school. It was there I ended up meeting the love of my life.
That is right, Ashley and I met at a bar. Not just a regular ol’ bar, but an unclassy, don’t tell your parents you went there, type of bar. I was at a bachelor party and I still don’t know if I have the real story on why she was there. Nonetheless, that is fairly far in our rearview mirror and it is safe to say that meeting her at that place and ultimately convincing her to marry me is still something baffles me to this day. However, it truly shouldn’t. It was clearly God’s plan for both of us to be in a semi-spiral and then find one another. Together, we would then straighten out our tracks and create a path toward Him.
As mentioned, I was the king of portraying that I had it put together. I did not share my struggles—I did not admit to myself that I even had struggles. I was always there for everyone else and carried an unnecessary sense of pride, as if I was above it. That façade has faded in recent years, but not completely. Do not get me wrong, I have it pretty good. I have a beautiful wife, wonderful children, an amazing Church, and the world’s best family. With that being said, there have been more than a handful of days that neither my bride nor I thought we’d see tomorrow…let alone years down the road. Yet God has picked up our broken mess, dusted us off, and carried us through.
So, here is a blog for those who want to “get real” about marriage. This isn’t foo-foo marriage, everything is perfect and let’s have 5 more kids marriage. This is messy-marriage, hard-work marriage, and how do I give my kids back marriage. 😉 But it’s MARRIAGE, and it’s fo’ life.
** As a disclaimer most of the advice or principles we share are blatantly stolen from those much wiser and smarter than us. They are tidbits we have picked up from our parents, friends, family or at church.**
Let's Get Real About Marriage 