These two lamps came home with me from the thrift store ($3 each)

I’m spray-painting them bright green.

safety first!

ignore the boxes in the background… I’m MOVING!

(but there’s always time for green spray-paint)

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also, it’s basically summer here in Virginia Beach.

as usual, we go from 60’s to 100’s in about 5 days.

we don’t mess.

but, these little cuties are growing.

I wish I could say the fuzzy-ness is all from the geese…

but unfortunately that’s camera user-error.

they let me get very close…

until big papa spotted me!

then sized me up…

then gave me a tongue lashing

(haha, ok sorry, that was corny)

but they’re still cute

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and there was a beach day with my good friend Tiffany

a beach day that has been in the planning since,

well, probably 3 years ago when we started graduate school 🙂

this little fella came out to relax too

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and there was also a wedding in Roanoke, VA

I don’t know why, but I always take a picture of Chris driving when we go on roadtrips…

Here he is telling me to “put my camera away” because “the battery will run out” and I “didn’t bring a back-up one” and it will “run out before we even get to the wedding” and “then I will be sad”.

psh… like he knows anything.

I’m fairly sure I actually made that sound, “PSH”

and I bet there were some facial grimaces as I put my camera away…

but NOT because he told me to and NOT because he was right.

I got to see some good friends…

and eat some Y-U-M-M-Y cake

I’d even dare to say the BEST wedding cake I have ever had.

Each layer was a different flavor

(including strawberry and dreamsicle… I don’t remember the others)

I’m terrible at using my camera in low lighting… so sorry again for the pictures

(plus I was too excited to mess with settings)

My friend’s dress was made using lace from her grandmothers dress!!

what else? hmmm….

oh, and I wore my green dress and yellow polka-dot shoes

green. dress.

yellow. shoes.

enough said.

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Chris and I raced back home Saturday night after the wedding so we could be at church on Sunday morning

currently, our church meets in a school building on Sunday mornings…

but we recently built a structure (of sorts) on our property.

Sunday was the first Sunday that our “pavillion” was complete so we held service outside.

it was AMAZING

I wish we could worship and fellowship together outside EVERY Sunday…

seriously, if you haven’t ever experienced that… a church that is less Church-y,

I recommend it.

God should be the focus, not the pomp and circumstance that

we typically surround ourselves with in church.

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ok, I think we’ve done enough catching up for now.

I can’t wait to show you my new place, and finally reveal all these projects I’ve been working on!

As you probably know, I’m getting married in October (woop woop)

It will be a budget friendly, family affair in the backyard of my parent’s home.

I think when most people hear ‘budget friendly’ and ‘wedding’ in the same sentence, they cringe….

but it doesn’t have to be that way!!

remember my “idea board” ?

I wanted to make the invitations and save-the-dates fitting for the outdoor event.

I was so lucky to find this ‘giving tree’ save-the-date from Merriment Design.

The template is free to download here

I modified it with Adobe Illustrator,

then had two printed per page at Office Max.

They have a great selection of cardstock colors and weights.

I think it came to about $20 total.

I trimmed the cards to the appropriate size using my mom’s ancient,

but still awesome, paper cutter

my friend Tiffany came over and helped me add water-color detail to the leaves

(love her!)

Chris’ had a special technique for sealing them (instead of licking each envelope)

(the Seinfeld episode where Susan, George’s fiancé, dies from licking low-end wedding invitation envelopes kept coming to mind)

The envelopes are called ‘Kraft’ or ‘brown paper bag’ envelopes

Number 10 (standard business), open ended

I bought them from Envelope Mall (100 envelopes for $12)

I was so nervous to mail them….

it’s not like I can climb inside the mailbox and get them back if I forgot something…

believe me, I contemplated it, they make those things practically airtight.

First of all, I just want to say THANKS to everyone who has stuck around with me through the whole graduate school thing. 

I know it’s been a long, long…. long road.

merci beaucoup!

thank you family…

for the free rent, free food, free laundry, and free hugs for the past 3 years.

thank you professors… well, most of you.

I know it isn’t always easy to deal with type-A students.

thank you Tiffany

There’s no WAY I could have made it through this program without you girl;

You are a forever friend!

thank you Chris

you are patient, you are kind, you do not envy, you do not boast, you are not proud (except of me of course), you are not rude, you are not self-seeking, you are not easily angered, you keep no record of wrongs….

I could go on… but it would take pages..

Thank you, my love, for living out 1 Corinthians 13.

now I can sign my name  –>   Ashley Miller, MS, CFY-SLP

au revoir   Leo the lion!

“Oh Happy Day”

That was the text message I received from my dad on my birthday on Tuesday.

I told him I wouldn’t even ask how long it took him to type it out and send it.

It was a perfect day:

• Chris came over for dinner (which was roast, potatoes, and carrots… my fave)
• He brought cupcakes from The Carolina Cupcakery

Y.U.M.M.Y

• Chris’ present to me was a membership to the YMCA, which I had been wanting and wanting very badly for a while.
• my parent’s gave me

….drum roll please….

my very own SEWING MACHINE!!!!

oh, giggity giggity.

she’s beautiful.

and she’s all M.I.N.E.

stay tuned for my first project using ….um, I haven’t given her a name yet… stay tuned for that too!