• Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
  • Home
  • About
  • Galleries
  • Freebies
  • Investment
  • Contact

Charlotte Ashley

A Lifestyle Change

Essential Oils· Travel· Wellness

15 Jun

As a child I witnessed several in my family struggle with diabetes… one being my father. So, therefore, I witnessed the lifestyle changes it brought with it, in my childhood home, and even took part in them. I saw the struggles first hand of how excess sugar impacted someone’s life. And I know it’s hereditary, therefore, guess what is on the back of my mind!?! Then, 13 years ago, my father-in-law had a major heart attack. Naturally, this prompted my husband to consider his life a little more in depth. Ok, a whole lot more in depth. So guess what was on the back of HIS mind!?! He listened to advice that the doctors were giving his father on what to eat and the necessary changes that he should make to avoid future complications, and made the decision to start incorporating them into his own life. RIGHT THEN. Now… I’m not gonna lie… this whole process has been just that– a process. While my husband was having no issue with implementing the process, it didn’t come without a fight from me. I admit, I like things to be easy. I do not enjoy cooking. So grabbing convenience foods was more my style, whether it be eating out or eating conveniently canned/ processed goods. So, you see… the first step of this wellness journey was dietary for both of us, but God has truly used those instances to lead us down an amazing pathway! With our diets being the start for both of us!

Now friends, we understand that we are commanded not to worry or be anxious in life (Luke 12: 22-31; Phillipians 4:6) BUUUUUUUT… we truly believe God gives us brains and free will to make choices of how we take care of the Holy Spirit’s temple here on this earth! (1 Corinthians 6:19) So… slowly but surely the food questions took over: “Should we fry this, or bake it? Hydrogenated oil. WHAT is that? (please research this if you do not know!) You mean they put SUGAR in fast foods to draw you back in?! MSG does WHAAAAAA?”  As we were educating ourselves on foods and preparation methods and how they were grown (my husband is a soil scientist/ hydrologist, so he is very knowledgeable about soil and water health), it became a snowball effect before long.

Filtered water– CHECK. No more sodas in the house– CHECK.  No more canned goods– CHECK (BPA in the can liners + sodium levels that are out the ROOF). No more plastic shower curtains (this will be a blog post all on its own soon!). No more non-organic cookies and crackers (re-visiting that hydrogenated oil statement!). Aaaaaand we put a MAJOR check on the candles, beauty products, and cleaning products too. Now, that seemed pretty quick to type up, but rest assured, this has been a slowwwwww process for us. We had to truly educate ourselves along the way, and I will be sharing with you about that more and more! But first, go download the “Think Dirty” app and look at some of the products in your own home. You will be amazed. I promise! I sure wish I would have had a tool like this 8 years ago. sigh. lol Ohhhh the ease of technology!

And I will leave you with two of my favorite photos from our recent adventure to East Tennessee. God’s design is perfect!

Smiles!
Charlotte

Part 2 is found here: click here

Photo Jun 10, 8 44 50 AM

Photo Jun 09, 12 42 27 PM

Stay in the know!

Subscribe fore blog updates.
* = required field
unsubscribe from list
Previous Post: « Katherine + Andrew | Black Pearl Farms Engagement Session
Next Post: Eric + Shealy | A Clemson, SC Madren Center Wedding »

Primary Sidebar

Meet Charlotte!

Hey, hey friend! :) I'm so glad you're here! God gives me all the strength to navigate this crazy, beautiful life of mine; and this is my attempt to keep it somewhat documented and organized! My family and I believe we are called to be stewards of the land and try our hardest to live a biblically-based, holistic life. You'll discover a whole lot about nature, photography, and being a creative entrepreneur if you poke around a little bit on the site! Enjoy. More about me...

Let’s Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Browse by Category

Latest on Instagram

charlotteashley


Last weekend we spontaneously took off and made wa
Last weekend we spontaneously took off and made way to Gettysburg, PA! Gus absolutely LOVES history and has been wanting to do this trip for a while. We knew we better fit it in before he’s too much older, and it was one of the only weekends we had open. 🤪 On the way, we stopped in Lexington, VA as well to visit some cemeteries he had researched. We saw the memorial for General Stonewall Jackson and also the museum and mausoleum at Washington and Lee University where General Robert E. Lee and family were laid to rest. 

Once we made it to Gettysburg we spent 1.5 days exploring the area. We spent most of our time at the National Military Battlefield and Museum. 

On the way home, we also stopped by Antietam Battlefield and Appomattox Court House National Historic Park. 

We basically hit the road with only the goals of making it to Lexington and Gettysburg. All the rest fell into place as we drove and researched. 😜😅 We found some AWESOME AirBnB’s doing it that way, though!!! Near Lexington, we found the coolest glamping/tent situation nestled on a 100acre organic farm and animal rescue. And while in Gettysburg, a barn apartment! Both were 5 ⭐️!!! 

#howwehomeschool #travel #homeschool #historystudent #historylover


These boys placed 10th out of 81 boats last year!!
These boys placed 10th out of 81 boats last year!!! They also do not have a bass boat nor forward-facing sonar technology like a lot of them fish with, but they still pulled in fish and made it count! They practiced hard, researched, and learned how to lead in their own ways, with each other, in the boat.

We are entering the 2nd year that Providence Athletic Club (PAC) has had a fishing team, so it’s in its developmental years. PAC’s mission and purpose is to provide competitive level sports opportunities in the Columbia, SC area for home-educated athletes (grades 6-12), while developing both physically and spiritually in a Christian environment.

Each boat has to have a volunteer boat captain, who puts his/ her own time and money into boat insurance, fuel hauling the boat all over SC, and then also making sometimes 60 mile runs or more (round trip) in the boat once on the water. We would like to help raise some money to be able to pay these individuals back for their gas expense at least, so we are seeking sponsors for our anglers.

If anyone knows me, you know this is one of the things I hate to do the most- ask people for money. 😅 But I also know not everyone is like me and people love to help, as well. 💜

The anglers also wear jerseys with sponsor logos, who contribute $200 or more, but any amount will be greatly appreciated. The jersey design will be much different this year than the one pictured, giving the sponsors more real estate on the jersey. So, with all that said, if you would like to sponsor these two fine, young men, please let me know. PAC also is a non-profit organization, so it can be a tax write-off.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. 😁 #bassfishing #southcarolina #sponsors #homeschool @basscatboats 😁


🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 6 🍉🌻

Mid-July we
🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 6 🍉🌻

Mid-July we got the family together out on the river! We got all set up on a sandbar for the day, to be able to just chill- have a picnic and let the littles play their hearts out. Well… that was our hopes at least. 🤦‍♀️🫠 About an hour later, ALLLLL the boats showed up (group of friends) and just beached it right where we were swimming with the kids. I will never understand this… I am just of the mindset if you missed out on the sandbar, you missed out. Not… “well, we’ll just squeeze right in here on top of y’all.” But whatever. 😵‍💫 AmIright? Is that not the unwritten, understood law of the river rats? 🤣

#riverrats #riverisland #muddywater #sweetsummatime


🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 5 🍉🌻

Beach days
🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 5 🍉🌻

Beach days are the best days!!! We were able to make 2 different day trips to the coast this summer. 

1. We are thankful for sweet friends who allow us to crash their family camping vacation for a day! 🤣 

2. And we are thankful for another group who are willing to up and haul their families to the coast for a day, too! 🤗

#beach #beachdays #vitaminSea #sweetsummatime


🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 4 🍉🌻

Two of my
🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 4 🍉🌻
 
Two of my fellow Clemson forestry/ wildlife pals and I managed to take that girls’ trip we had been chatting about for a while! It was so good for the soul!!! We went owling at night, and just looking for all the critters we could find. 😁

#ClemsonAlumni #CAFLS #clemsongirlsbestintheworld #owling #nature #getoutside #exploremoreً


🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 3 🍉🌻

Our old-so
🌻🍉 Summer Photo Dump 3 🍉🌻
 
Our old-soul, mancub hit a milestone birthday this summer. So, as an early birthday present, we hesitantly (😅) decided to take him and a friend to a Hank Jr. concert, since they are both big fans. Our thought process: “Hank Jr. is old now… sure his music is timeless, but it’s bound to draw an older, more calm crowd nowadays.” NOPE. 😆🥴 

The trip morphed into a group trip with the friend’s parents and sister, and my dad joined us, too! All was well until a thunderstorm sent everyone to the concessions area where we were packed in like sardines for TWO HOURS to avoid the lightening and rain best we could. 😳 Well, you can only imagine most people there had only one thing to do during the two hour wait, so that by the time we could return to our seats, it was quite the scene. 🙈 Our sweet, sheltered homeschooled children were awakened to some of the ways of the world that night, for sure. 🤣🥴 Gracious!!! 

But alas, Hank came out on stage and was GREAT, even still as an older man in his 70’s. He played alllll the instruments, and even still could throw his leg up on the piano! 🤣😳

#waylatergram 🤣



Follow on Instagram


Copyright © 2025 · Refined Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in