#KJlittlevictories + Paige Christensen
Hi! My name is Paige Christensen and I'm a photographer, a redhead, and mom to probably the three cutest blondies. Together we create YouTube videos of our family, our trips, our weird quirks, and fun...
#KJlittlevictories + Ashlee Swensen
I was so excited Kortni Jeane asked me to be a part of the little victories campaign. I think it's so important as women to celebrate all of our little victories because life can sometimes feel like it's working against you. A little about me... hi I’m Ashlee! I am a widowed mother who lives for creating happy memories. I graduated in interior design and I feel most myself when I am tapping into that inner creativity. I dream about traveling the world and try to travel as much as I can. I’m a fanatic for all things beauty and fashion and deep down I really just crave connection and realness…. and chocolate chip cookies (am I right). This life has brought me many different crazy hard stories including infertility, death, infidelity, divorce of parents, etc. While these all may be sad stories, each one has helped me learn and grow in a new way and ultimately each story is full of love and perspective, and a new love to find within myself, and a new outlook I’ve never had. My world revolves around my baby. She breathes air into my lungs. This is the beginning of a new chapter for us. Social media is a place to share my journey, things I’m passionate about, and all the moments of healing, life, and love in between.
If I can take a moment in the morning, wake up before my Poppy does, and do a morning meditation, my day always is smoother. My mood is better and I feel overall more balanced.
There was a point in my life where I was trying to get pregnant and it just wasn't happening. It took four years of infertility to finally get pregnant but it taught me a huge lesson. I was trying so hard and doing everything I was supposed to. I got on hormones and did tests, I took my temperature every morning and I was doing everything right, and still I felt like a failure. I didn't feel good enough. My body couldn't do what a woman's body was supposed to do. Overall, I was in a really low place.
Through losing my husband, infertility, belief shifts, and having to literally start over, I FINALLY realized that I AM enough and not only am I enough, I’m more than enough. I’ve been through some really hard stuff and I’ve come out on the other side still breathing and still TRYING. To me this is a huge victory. I never would have thought that I could continue in a life with so many trials, but I have and it’s given me a lot of confidence in myself to keep going.
I would say right now I'm in a major victory moment. I lost my husband almost two years ago and man it was rough. I had to sell my house and put our whole seven year marriage in a storage unit, move into my mom’s house, and literally restart. I have learned a lot, but I've gotten myself and my daughter to a place where we now are in our own home. We are creating a new life and I am able to provide for her. I am a different person and this is a different life that I never planned on experiencing, but it's taught me so much and I feel very blessed to still have my baby and to be thriving.
I think that over the years society has pushed women down and sexualized women creating a swarm of insecurities. Society has made women think they have to be a certain way and made us to believe we are not good enough. I feel so grateful to live in a day and age where women are more celebrated than ever before and it gives me hope for my future and for my baby.
Women supporting and cheering on other women is the most beautiful thing. With all of the negativity going on around us from society, we need to support each other and lift each other up without ulterior motives attached, just pure excitement and support for one another.
It’s so important to do our own work and really take the time to love ourselves. Loving the beautiful bodies that we have been given and making choices daily that make you FEEL happy are so important. I believe when we do things that feed our soul overtime… the moment it's time to step into a swimsuit and those insecurities come up you already have the foundation you need to remember how amazing who you are and not be so hard on yourself.
xoxo,
Ashlee
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Check out Ashlee on Instagram @ashlee.annn and read more about her on her blog: wherepoppiesgrow.com. For even more inspiration, you can listen to her incredible podcast The Art of Joy featuring her and her mother talking through their trials and how they've found joy through it all.
- Tags: #KJlittlevictories
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