Birmingham
Birmingham was always the “Big City” to me, growing up just 45 minutes north in a small town. While I wasn’t formally introduced to the Magic City until my early adult years, I was always fascinated by the impressive buildings, city skyline, and of course, the Vulcan, never thinking this would be my future home. I passed by Birmingham frequently on my way to Dauphin Island and Tuscaloosa. Again, I always passed by, never experiencing what the city had to offer. That was until I moved to Birmingham for an Interior Design position after graduating from the University of Alabama. (Roll Tide!) Honestly, it was never my plan to plant my roots in Birmingham. I thought of this move as a way to get my foot in the door and eventually relocate outside of Alabama. But that’s the funny thing about life; it doesn’t always go as planned, and that’s the beauty of it.
Shortly after moving to Birmingham, I met my future husband, Adam. He had lived in the Birmingham area most of his life, so he was able to introduce me to all things Birmingham, especially local restaurants. Fast forward eight years later and we still enjoy revisiting those restaurants; and we have discovered many new ones along the way.
We have experienced and explored so much of Birmingham during our time here. We have lived in many areas, from downtown to 280, and we finally bought a “fixer-upper” in 2017 in the Irondale area. We have been busy remodeling and making our house a home, doing most of the renovations ourselves (which I may dig deeper into later). We have achieved that, as we live here happily with our 13-month-old daughter and three doodles—Sophie, Barkley, and Olivia. In addition to a physical home, we have a home of community, church, and friends, for which we will be forever grateful to Birmingham for igniting.
Mom
I have always dreamed of being a mom, but it seemed almost unobtainable. My motherhood journey was challenging, like many others have experienced. I became pregnant in 2017, but, nine weeks later, I had a miscarriage. Shortly after, I discovered I was in the early stages of endometriosis and received other diagnoses. My husband and I tried to conceive and were losing hope. We started preparing for adoption and how to navigate that road when I had to take a pregnancy test before a procedure. By an absolute miracle, I was pregnant! The pregnancy wasn’t easy; I was high-risk and had an emergency c-section after 14 hours of labor, but it was 100% worth it. I’m thankful every day for our happy one-year-old.
One of my favorite parts of motherhood has been watching my daughter grow into herself a little more each day. It’s amazing what these little humans are capable of! Zoee is full of personality and is a perfect blend of my husband and me. Although I would be lying if I said I don’t pray for her to have a bit more patience than we do. . . ha! My life has more meaning and joy with Zoee, as well as a never-ending abundance of love. Becoming a mother has strengthened my relationship and faith in God. It has also made me even more thankful for my husband. While I’m a little over a year into this mom role, I have learned a lot from trial and error, and I know it’s usually best to take things as they come.
Collective
As most of my day revolves around Zoee, I also own Ashlee Brooke Design, an interior design studio where I work with local and international clients. I have wanted to be an interior designer for almost as long as I’ve wanted to be a mom. I have worked on some incredible projects in my career and love any opportunity to get my creative juices flowing. This is a big reason I’m excited to be a part of the BMC team: it’s a creative outlet that lets me give back to fellow moms! Motherhood can be difficult at times, juggling between mom and work duties, but I feel blessed to do both things I love. Really, aren’t all moms busy in their own way? That’s why we’re here, right? We, as moms, face many of the same challenges and collectively need support or reassurance that we’re doing our best (digital hug).
After having Zoee, I noticed the lack of postpartum support for new mothers. One moment you have a team of doctors and nurses helping you navigate and support you during your first days of motherhood. Then, just a few short days later, you are at home with your brand new baby doing it on your own. I’ll never forget feeling equally overwhelmed and in complete bliss during that time.
I’m excited to share information with other new moms that will hopefully provide direction and support that isn’t offered otherwise, in addition to sharing my interior design expertise with Birmingham Moms. While my life looks slightly different now, I still love discovering new places and activities in Birmingham with Adam and Zoee; I cannot wait to share them with you all! Hopefully, we can find balance together as moms of Birmingham.
