If you’re reading this… thanks already.

There’s a good chance you’ve stumbled across this blog as a link from another social media forum of mine you may have been following already. Coincidentally, I’d like to think you liked me enough to give this a shot too. So, here I am, in all written format, let’s give this a go.

Blogs rock ‘cause I don’t have to have a killer bikini bod and I don’t have to do my makeup to bring attention to this forum. I just get to do what I do best: Brainstorm and write. Brainstorm and write (likely with greasy ass hair and sweat pants for the most part: so fuck ya, let the party begin, I’ll be here all night)

Although, I’ve prominently used Instagram and Facebook as my means of communication with my social audience, the desire and internal need to express myself in words has been eating at me for years. Seriously. YEARS. I started writing stories for my mom in first grade. I would conjure up the perfect sappy stories in an attempt to get her to cathartically cry: it always worked. I also won a printing and cursive writing contest at the age of 8- thanks Grandma for the entry. Since then, I’ve been reading online blogs and books for decades, daydreaming that one day, I would create my own. I took every English GLER course offered for a Chemistry major in University, and oddly enough, this science kid walked away with A’s across the board. So, its been decades of swooning over this genre of self expression and the furthest I’ve gotten is paragraphs of written IG captions underneath photos of my ass. Point I’m trying to prove? Why the hell haven’t I done this sooner?

“Oh, well it takes so much time” or “pictures are so much easier than verbal expression” or “the world is changing, no one reads this shit anymore” and “if I have a lot to say… I should start a YouTube channel” YUP, these have been my excuses not to do this sooner, but enough is enough, in all of it’s glory, let me introduce to you: my blog.

This is a place where I will share my advice, my embarrassing stories, my health and wellness tips and my most authentic self.  Let me get this straight: This ain’t a business endeavour. If you’re looking for the best chicken recipes and my tips for rock-solid abs, this likely won’t be the place. There’s going to be a few f bombs, a few inspiring stories, and maybe a few opinionated posts that wouldn’t find their way on my business-associated social. Y’all might find out you don’t like me at all, or maybe, you’ll want to be friends. Either way, I hope I’ve provoked you enough to follow, and read on.

So why now? Well, even after years of putting myself out there on social media (View my IG,) I have still got caught in the lie that I might be a shit writer, despite it being my secret passion. I’ll be honest, I’ve considered myself pretty enough for a camera, and witty enough to rip-off a 6 sentence Instagram caption, but when it comes to writing, I can’t rely on my ass or my abs to gain an audience- I’ve gotta’ be thrilling in a new kind of way. THIS is vulnerably for me folks.

Vulnerability for me means being true to who I am, whether my posts get 10, 100, or 100,000 viewers, I’m making a promise to care MORE about WHAT I am creating than I do about HOW the world receives it. Vulnerability means I will write and create for ME- whether I have a public audience or public opinion (god damn, there’s always a public opinion). I want to create words people will enjoy ‘cause I can’t bottle them up anymore- I MUST send them out into the world and hope they find a home with a fellow friend. I am here to embrace my creativity cause it’s a god given gift and I’ve chosen THIS to be my form of self expression. Writing IS my outlet, my creative art. Maybe for you it’s piano, painting, praying, dance- for me, it’s words.

My favourite form of verbiage has always been writing: stories, poems, notes, rap-songs, you name it. I’ll go red in the face expressing my emotion but you better believe my love-letters will give Shakespeare a run for his money.

So, I have no flippen’ idea whether you will love or hate this blog ahead, and for once, I don’t really care. Obviously, I hope you truly dig the shit out of it and share my future posts with thousands of your Facebook friends, but if ya don’t, I’m making a promise to still be here, iPhone in hand, notepad open, words jumping out of my brain and onto the screen like rapid fire, even if no one in the world is ready to receive them.

So, without further a-due, let me briefly introduce myself: trust me, if you choose to follow along (peep the side bar), you’ll learn more.

My name is Ashlyn Gunderson (say whaaaat, I just changed my name last week), I have a husband (say whaaaat, I just got one last week), a kick-ass Wheaten Terrier dog named Louie, and I co-own and operate a health and wellness company (#Perfectfit4u) with my spouse and killer staff- and aside from writing, my passion is FITNESS, well, WELLNESS rather, as I am currently on a path of discriminating between the two. I preach happiness, I preach health and I preach balance (more to come on these facets of my life soon) and I like to believe my role in this world is to help women live better lives for themselves- for their kids, for their friends, and for fuck sakes, for THEMSELVES.

So, let this post serve as a jumping-off point to something greater. If you made it this far without cringing or exiting the screen, I applaud and thank you. If you’re interested at seeing the blue-collared me, throw me a follow on Instagram, befriend me on Facebook or subscribe to me on YouTube: and let’s let the good times roll!

Ciao Bella’s!