Meet the CBMC Writing Team: Say hello to Ashleigh Thomas!
COASTAL BEND:
I moved to Coastal Bend in the summer of 2017 after finishing my master’s degree, looking for a change of pace. I moved from a suburb of Dallas and was very used to the hustle and bustle of a very busy life, since I was a teacher, coach, and grad student for the two years prior to moving. I packed up my two dogs and my townhouse and decided to move to the beach (well, beach adjacent…10 minutes from the beach!). I didn’t know a single person when I moved here, and what a wild journey it’s been since we got here at the end of July 2017. I moved to teach in Port Aransas, and we were in school all of 3 days when Hurricane Harvey struck the coast. It was quite an introduction to life in the Coastal Bend!
MOM:
I love that I’ve built the life I always dreamed of on the coast. Not knowing anyone, I did what all Aggies do when they move somewhere new – they look up the local Aggie club! That’s how I met some of my closest friends and my now husband. I moved far away from all family and friends as a single woman, so I felt like I had the chance to “start over” when it came to what I wanted my life to be like. My husband, Brice, and I have been married since July 2020 (our Covid wedding is a story for another time!), and we are very excited to be welcoming our first child in April 2023. Brice was born and raised in Corpus Christi, and we are fortunate that his parents still live here. My mother relocated to Corpus Christi in the fall of 2020, so we are thankful to have our parents close by as they become first time grandparents! In addition to our first human child, we have two canine children, Beagles named Paisley and Remington.
COLLECTIVE:
I joined the Coastal Bend Mom Collective before having my first child so I have a community of moms to lean on from the very beginning. I will be transitioning from a typical career to being a stay at home mom when my little girl makes her debut in April, which means I’ll need to build a whole new tribe of moms to socialize with that will understand what I’ll be going through in the fourth trimester. I am very excited to become a mom and to watch my husband become a father. It’ll be an experience full of joy and tears, and I look forward to being able to document the journey through blog posts right here on CBMC!
You can follow me on Instagram at @apthomas2013
