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A S H L E Y C A R P E N T E R

@ashleybober

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Love God | Love People
Making people feel seen, known and loved is a powerful way to put the heart of Jesus on display.✨@ourdutchdream

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It takes a village, I’m so grateful to have ours 🤍🤍

Millennial mama | homeschool | play date | Bible study | lunch time by @ashleybober

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10 days ago

Beau & Cole’s Mom, Hallelujah.✨
Barbie’s daughter, Hallelujah.✨ by @ashleybober

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5 months ago

Happy 38th birthday to the man who will forever give me heart-shaped pupils.😍 You’re the best teammate I could ever ask for as we chase our dreams together. The husband you are to me and the father you are to our boys is something I thank God for every single day.

You make us look like pros at every new adventure we take on because you never do anything halfway. You’ll outwork anyone around you, and you always lead from the front with such a servant’s heart.

Taking the leap to start @uprootedtreeservice last year on top of everything else you already do, makes me so incredibly proud of you.

Thank you for challenging me and lovingly pushing me to grow in ways only you could. Thank you for your patience with me and our boys, for the tender ways you love us, provide for us, and cook us the best meals. @jcchristian You are my Jackpot Unicorn.🎰🦄 I love you forever. I love you for always. taken in Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, Columbus by @ashleybober

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7 months ago

This.✨
This is what my soul craved for my 38th birthday. I chose to celebrate my birthday the same way my Mom always did when we were younger. Canoeing was our summer birthday tradition— just us, the Mohican river, no distractions, or a to do list, paddling through nature, and soaking in sunshine. I’m not quite sure why we stopped the tradition (probably because @courtneydenig moved to CA) regardless, I knew THIS is what I needed this year.

Now, I get to pass the tradition on to our boys. I loved watching the boys take it all in and discover all the things I love about canoeing that brings my soul peace. Navigating how to operate the paddles to guide the canoe, splashing in the water, rushing sounds of currents, the rustling of tree leaves, birds chirping, and warmth of the sun. I still feel what I always felt back then: alive, grounded, completely present. No to do lists. No outside noise. Just connection — to nature, to each other, and to God.

Canoeing is more than a birthday tradition to me, it’s a core memory. I hope the boys will continue enjoying it as much as I do and it will always be a source of peace for them, too. We took the boys Putt Putting for the first time and I got a Hole-in-One, birthday luck!

I’m so grateful for the gift and privilege it is to age. If I can give you any birthday advice it would be this:
-Never work on your actual birthday, no excuses. There are 365 days in a year, choose another day to work, but your birthday happens once a year— celebrate it, celebrate YOU.
-Do something, don’t just sit at home and waste the day. Do something that makes you feel alive, something your soul craves or one of your favorite past times.
-Aging is such a gift and I never realized until losing Udaia when she was 37 and we never got to celebrate her 38th birthday. Prior to her passing, I spent many of my birthdays working or not celebrating it because “it was just another day”. Grief shifted my perspective. Now, I see the reality that not all of our next birthdays are promised and we should celebrate every single birthday we’re given. Celebrate other people, too.
-Always blow out candles and make a wish, that’s a rule. taken in Mohican Adventures by @ashleybober

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a year ago

Yesterday, we celebrated our Coley’s Golden 4th Birthday!✨💛 It’s hard having a birthday on a national holiday, but thankfully, he loves everything the day brings! Parades, fireworks, rides, games, lemon shake ups, & the ♥️🤍💙.

Cole- you are sweet, caring, and full of so much love and joy. You help me in the garden and Dad with all of his projects with the biggest servant heart. Your joy is palpable at the beach, digging holes, finding rocks/shells and running along the shoreline. No one loves French fries quite like you—and we know why (thanks, Route 62 BBQ French fry cravings during pregnancy 😅)!

You’ve got a curious mind that asks the best questions, ones that sometimes even make me stop and think. Whether you’re walking around a new city, exploring like a little adventurer, or confidently saying “no”, you always stay true to yourself & it reminds us to do the same.

We are so proud of the amazing little boy you’re becoming. You light up our world, Coley! What a gift it is to be your Mama & Dad and learn from you each day. We love you!💛

#goldenbirthday #4thofjulybaby🇺🇸 by @ashleybober

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a year ago

Happy 37th birthday to my better half, the workhorse behind Our Dutch Dream. People ask me how I do all that I do. My answer is always the same, my husband. I couldn’t do any of it without him.

God has always spoken to me through visions. Everything we’ve pursued on our property was because God gave me a vision for it and showed me what we were supposed to do with it. Throwing all of these ideas out at Christian most likely overwhelmed him in the beginning because— time, money and how? We were beginners, we didn’t have fancy equipment or the knowledge yet to do all of the things…but you don’t know my husband.

I’ll never forget the day he looked at me and said “your dreams have become my dreams” and I knew he meant it. Since that moment, he organized a controlled burn of the old house on our property with 3 fire departments, hand planted more than 300 trees (pine, hardwoods and fruit trees) on our property, cutdown more dead trees than I can recall, poured his blood, sweat and tears into building our barndo by being the GC, learning new trades along the way (electric, building our cabinets, laying our floors, painting, tile, etc) helped me prepare 4 gardens, tackled dahlias our first year, built me a raised bed and farm stand last year, became a beekeeper with me and our bees successfully survived winter after 3 failed winters, tilled an entire acre and planted wildflowers, became a chicken and a duck dad, continues cleaning up our woods, and always finds another project to improve our property… this is just a small list of what he has accomplished in 7 years.

Christian is an incredible husband, father, friend, leader, cook, teammate, firefighter, example to others, and still gives me heart shaped pupils. The best part? He’s mine. Thank you for everything you do for us. Thank you for being mine. I love you forever, I love you for always.

#ourdutchdream #barndo #happybirthday #homestead #happyhomestead #workhorse #homesteadlife #farmstand #dahlias #treeplanting by @ashleybober

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2 years ago

Say YES more.
Beau immediately asked after waking up and seeing the first heavy snow “Mama, can we go sledding?” The answer is always yes. Why? Because Christian and I want to be parents who participate and not watch from the sidelines. No matter how much I dislike being cold or getting wind burnt, we all bundled up and headed outside…because there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices. Beau started using a sled as a snowboard, so we knew it was time for a real snowboard.

I love these moments together as a family, I crave them. I love when we all pile on the big sled and go down the hill together, red rosy cheeks, snowball fights, making snow angels, being covered in snow, and the endless giggles. The best part? Whenever we ask the boys their favorite memories from the year as a family, sledding together is always on their list. Imagine if we had said no, we would miss out on this core memory for all of us. Here is your nudge to say YES more.

Sledding always reminds me of when I was in the fog of grief and postpartum, I said yes to sledding that year— it was the first time I remember smiling and laughing in a long time that didn’t feel forced. Seems fitting that this song comes out as I’m reflecting back.

#sayyesmore #ohio #snowday #snowboarding #sleddingfun #corememories #smile #morganwallen #muckboots #carhartt #carharrtkids by @ashleybober

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2 years ago

The product of pouring my pain into a passion and purpose.

I believe our pain & grief can be redirected and poured into a passion that serves us instead of hurts us. I have recognized this to be true with many famous artists, whether it is music, painting or some other type of art— pain is what motivated their skillset.

Baking sourdough and gardening are two passions that grew out of deep pain for me and I feel great purpose in it. I’ve had many people ask questions regarding “How did you get so good at this?” The answer is simple, I refused to give up because the pain is still there.

To the women who asked me to teach you the art of sourdough, thank you, you’ve helped me share a passion, experience joy with you as you learned, and you’ve helped me heal in small ways. To every single person who has placed an order or stopped by our farm stand, thank you, your support means the world to us and I keep going because of people like you.

This isn’t to discredit the work I’ve done through counseling, this is in addition to it. I wouldn’t be where I am without the resources of counseling and the incredible woman who holds space for me.

To the person who started creating out of pain, I see you, I’m proud of you, keep going— you are what the world needs. To the person in pain or in the trenches of grief— I see you. How can you turn your pain into a passion and purpose? What are you curious to learn and do? What’s stopping you? I believe in you.

#sourdoughscoring #pumpkinsourdough #painintopurpose #sourdough #homesteadlife #farmstand #microbaker #microbakery taken in Johnstown, Ohio by @ashleybober

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2 years ago

Dahlias of 2024: you’ll always be so special to me. I’ve dreamed about you for 10 solid years. Despite the many obstacles (Lymes, weather, pests, drought)— we made you happen! Nothing could have prepared me for the first frost & saying goodbye to you.

Thank you for the lessons you taught us, allowing us to fail forward while learning along the way, the quiet mornings watering & picking, all the bugs I had to google and now I’ll never forget, all the memories we made this dahlia season as a family, the joy I felt as I watched each bloom open & gifting bouquets— it blessed us more than you could imagine. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and our dreams.

We are especially grateful for @redtwigfarms helping us make another dream reality, gifting us tubers, and always being there to answer our questions with your wisdom and expertise. Josh & Lindsey’s kindness, passion, heart and mission are infectious. The products they produce are amazing, but what is really special— they’re incredible humans. They’re full of talent and a wealth of knowledge— they’re the real MVPs for setting us up for success this 1st season! We couldn’t have done it without you.🤍

Dahlias, we’ll see you in 2025!

#dahliaseason #dahliaflower #ohioflowers #ohioflowerfarmer #firstfrost #flowergrower #dahliatubers #flowerpatch #youpickflowers #dahlias #Ourdutchdream #farmstand taken in Johnstown, Ohio by @ashleybober

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2 years ago

TRAD WIFE: Don’t get me wrong, I once wanted to break glass ceilings as a woman, poured myself into my career & traveled the world with my job. However, nothing compares to pouring myself into my family, getting back to our roots and how it leaves me feeling— fulfilled and living out my purpose.

#tradwife #homesteadlife #sourdough #beekeeper #backyardchickens #farmstand #farmstandrevival by @ashleybober

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2 years ago

Homemade butter! Can I just tell you joining a herd share for Raw Milk at @copiafarm was one of the best decisions we’ve made for our health. I’ll share more on that, but for now let’s get to making butter. It’s so easy, even our 3 & 4 year olds know how to make butter & enjoy the process.

Separate the milk into wide mouth jars so you can scoop the cream off the top. It may take a day or two to settle before being able to scoop the cream.

Add to a blender at medium speed. You’ll see the cream transform to many things, even whipped cream, and then to butter. You’ll know it’s done when the butter has lumped together in your whisk and buttermilk is left in your bowl. Don’t pour that goodness down the drain, save it!

Get a bowl with cold ice water to rinse your butter and get all the butter milk out before storing. The more buttermilk you remove the longer your butter will last. Shape and roll in parchment paper.

We do a batch without salt and one we add sea salt to so we have options when cooking. Store in the fridge or freezer! Enjoy!

#rawmilk #homemadebutter #buttermilk #rawmilkbutter #homemade #simpleswaps #realbutter #healthoverconvenience taken in Johnstown, Ohio by @ashleybober

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2 years ago

I have wanted to grow Dahlias since 2014. 10 years later— we’re really doing it!! I was brought to tears as I held these flowers. So many emotions, so much gratitude. I really started to doubt that it would happen this year after my Lyme’s Disease diagnosis. I cried as we planted the tubers in June, from the physical joint pain and exhaustion I was having from the Lyme trying to fight harder against the doxy I was taking at the time. But here we are, we did it, making another dream come true.

I’ll never forget on Nov 4, 2014 @h4mber brought in dahlias from her wedding for my desk. (Swipe to the last photo to see it) It was love at first sight. The symmetry of the petals and colors calmed my soul. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to grow flowers for other people to display and enjoy in their homes. We’re getting closer to other people enjoying the labors of our love— be on the lookout for bouquets soon @ourdutchdream I hope these flowers bring you as much joy as they do for me.🤍 taken in Johnstown, Ohio by @ashleybober

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2 years ago