Who is The Moose?

Here's a little bit about me, The Moose, the blog, and more personal stuff that is none of your business. I kid, I kid!

My name is Ashlee. I married Ryan in 2007. So as I'm writing this we have been married almost 6 years. In 2011, we decided to adopt our first child. He was born on August 30, 2012. He came home a month later on October 1, 2012. His name is Morrison, after Van, not Jim. Our 1st dance at our wedding was to Crazy Love by Van Morrison. One of his many nicknames is Moose.

Above photos by Sallee Photography

My bff, The Moose's Aunt Mindy, accidentally gave him that nickname. You know when your mouth says 2 words at the same time and 1 weird word stumbles out? That's what she did. She said Morrison and another word (I can't remember what she said) at the same time and it came out "Moose." And it stuck.

Mindy & The Moose

I currently work for the family business with my dad. It's a retail store we are in the process of selling. So the big question has been looming. What do I want to do after we sell the store? Being a stay at home mom sounds like the hardest job in the world. And I'm not really up for it. But I don't really want to work full time (unless it's just an awesome job that I would love). Funny how kids change your priorities.

So I started this blog. I'm hoping something will come of it. No, I'm not expecting to make money from it directly. I am very well aware that that's pretty much impossible. But I am hoping to find my next big thing through this blog. Maybe I post something crafty I make that everyone wants to buy. Maybe I compile enough recipes to make a cookbook (ok, that one doesn't really interest me, but you get my drift). Maybe a local environmental company reads my blog and wants to partner with me somehow. Who knows. I don't have high expectations. I am really just entertaining myself until I figure it all out.

I will say that last month I had an interview with a local environmental non-profit. It was a full time position that I would have loved and I would have been good at. I got a 2nd interview. Was in the top 3. But I didn't get the job. I'm not going to pretend I wasn't disappointed. And I could guess all day what that last deciding factor was; why the other person was picked. But, who knows, maybe if I had an interesting blog at the time of the interview, maybe that would have given me that extra edge. Who knows, maybe at my next interview, this blog comes into play. Who knows......

If I sound dismal, I apologize. Because I'm actually very optimistic. I am very excited about the idea of starting fresh. I am beyond spoiled that I don't have to rush to just a "job." In the meantime, I am enjoying writing this blog, I love volunteering at my farm (yes, I take ownership even if I'm just a volunteer!), my son is pretty perfect, and my husband is more supportive than anyone deserves. I'm excited about, well, life happening!

So you know where Moose comes from. What about Crunchy? Some people have called my parenting style crunchy, as in granola, as in hippie. I use cloth diapers, The Moose's formula is raw goat's milk, I make all of his food including homemade teething biscuits, his lotion is coconut oil, he uses my homemade toothpaste....I could go on. So that's it. That's The Crunchy Moose.