Ashley I remember as a kid my dad would hold my thumb and my brother’s thumb and say, “Okay, try and get your thumb out of my grasp. My brother and I would pull, pry, and try to maneuver a way to get our thumbs out of my dad’s firm grip. When we would finally … More Roots

Ashton: They never really spoke up about it around me, but I cannot tell you how many times we ran into another person or couple and Ashley would walk away saying, “She [or they] just mentioned the depression blog.” Oddly, nobody brought it up to me, likely out of some fear that I did not … More Part II: Depression & Anxiety

ASHTON We have learned that the topic of boundaries is hard. First it’s broad. You have to set boundaries with kids, parents, family, friends, and work. Each set of boundaries are different for a multitude of reasons. Ashley and I are planners. We like to have a schedule and we like to have a routine, … More Boundaries

ASHLEY Baggage. We all have a lot of it. There have been countless times in our marriage where Ashton and I have both said how we wished we could have met in middle school, dated for 10-15 years, got married, and only had memories with each other. Yeah right. And for those that have that … More Baggage

ASHLEY Pride goes before the fall. In my case I like to say that pride comes before my plummet. I’ve never experienced a graceful fall from pride. It’s usually an all-out battle, struggle, and power trip before I head toward my downward spiral of regret, anger, remorse . . . and then replaying all the … More Pride

ASHTON I am very blessed to have a roof over my family’s head. It’s a newly constructed house with neighbors you can touch through the window, and we’ve personalized it through decorations and paint. However, it is my wife and darling girls that I come “home” to, not the house. The house is simply a … More The Church

ASHTON “Marriage is a grind, keep dating.” If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times prior to being married.  When prompted I immediately said Of course! That won’t be a problem. Why did I say that? The answer was honest but naive. We were having a ton of fun dating and through … More Dating While Married

 ASHTON The diagnosis came in my first year of law school. I was having difficulty coping with a friend’s death, was not sleeping well, and was overall not myself. I was able to manage with medication for a few years. At some points I was nearly weaned off the medication and sometimes I was taking … More Depression & Anxiety

ASHLEY My older brother and I were very blessed to be raised in a loving home. My parents fought, sometimes in front of us, but we never heard or saw them show disrespect. My parents didn’t play sides, talk down about the other, curse or call names. Their marriage wasn’t perfect, and parenting was not … More R-E-S-P-E-C-T