I'm just sayin'

I've moved!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I've moved my blog over to wordpress....mostly as an experiment.
I told my mom I would try it out with my blog (which has a meager 22 followers - hugs and kisses!), before she did it with her blog.
Mostly so if something were to happen....say, my blog get rocketed into cyber-space, never to be seen again...then all would not be lost.

So, here it is:
http://ohappydaze.wordpress.com/

All that's left for you to do is head on over there and follow it I guess!

2010 Rewind

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 02:23:00 +0000

We’ve all received those Christmas cards that include a carefully drafted letter from the sender, re-capping their family’s entire year’s accomplishments - “Suzie was pre-pre-accepted into Yale…at the age of 15”, “Tommy built an entire house for a homeless family… with his bare hands”, “Dad got the big promotion and found a cure for cancer”…. and on. and on.

Now don’t get me wrong, those are all wonderful things and I love to hear about what others are up to and the blessings God has given them….but I often wonder about the things that didn’t make it into the letter.

What are the things they chose not to tell you about this year?

I believe in being real. I mean…. really real. That is, nobody is perfect…

(hmmm, suddenly I have the lyrics of a certain teen pop-sensation’s music running through my mind and I’m fighting the urge to do some fist pumps in the air along with the beat ‘Nobody’s perfect, I gotta work it again and again”…. alright, digress already).

So, in an effort to promote ‘real-ness’, I present you with our Christmas letter….

no filter.

just simply a real , honest-to-goodness narration of our year (+ photos ).

Yippee! Just what you always wanted!

This year:

Chris and Ashley helped paint and re-decorate an office building for an adoption agency.

Ashley was as bossy as usual

_____________________________________________________________

Ashley initiated a genius plan to spray paint, mod podge and glitter-ify a large bouncy ball.

She had good intentions. Honest!

No further comments.

__________________________________________________________

Chris and Ashley bought their first home.

It came with this kitchen wallpaper (no extra charge).

They kept it for a while….just because it was certainly way

easier than actually doing something about it.

(sorry for the pic Ma, it was the only one I had)

_____________________________________________________________

Chris took Ashley our for many dates to get ice cream over the summer.

So much so, that she almost couldn’t fit into her wedding dress.

woops!

_______________________________________________________________

Ashley is a wonderful cook.

__________________________________________________________

Ashley made a quilt for a wonderful friend’s baby.

her first quilt, ever.

probably her last quilt, ever.

________________________________________________

Chris played on a church basketball team.

They were magnificent!

Their record is 0 wins, many losses.

___________________________________________________________

Ashley mis-printed the wrong uncle’s name with the wrong family’s

name and address on a wedding invitation.

Chris discovered the error after everything had already been mailed off.

Ashley cried.

____________________________________________________________

Ashley received a sewing machine for her birthday….

then promptly lost the manual.

______________________________________________________

Sometimes Aunt Ashley and Uncle Chris mean well, but….

things just don’t work out.

Sorry for the ride-of-terror, Pickle.

_______________________________________________________

Chris has specially designed, high-end protective eye wear for when he has to chop onions.

________________________________________________

Ashley was late to her own rehearsal dinner because her nail appointment ran late.

There was also a spelling error in her apparently-not-so-carefully proofread home-made ceremony programs.

Ashley cried.

woops.

_________________________________________________

Chris refined his sick sense of humor.

___________________________________________________

Chris and Ashley got a new camera.

Chris enjoys taking pictures of Ashley doing her usual stuff.

Ashley continues to use the coffee table as added height to see her full ensemble in the mirror before heading out the door.

_____________________________________________________

This concludes our year in review.

The End

What do you think? Too much, too fast?

Well, I’d be interested to hear what you would share in your ‘real’ Christmas update letter.

…and, cue music and fist pumps!

**********

Nobody’s perfect,

I’ve gotta work it

again, and again

‘til I get it right

**********

This will warm your heart… unless you’re the Grinch.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 15:10:00 +0000

I know it’s a bit late for ‘Christmas’….

but it’s never too late to thank God for what He gave to you.

‘They called the baby Jesus….and they loved Him’

Christmas Shenanigans

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 14:51:00 +0000

My sister and brother-in-law and two nephews came down from Boston for the holidays.

It was good to catch up ….

but, we HAD to get out of the house. (it’s only a matter of time before a 1 year old and a 3 year old get themselves in to trouble at Grandma’s house when grandma’s house isn’t baby-proof anymore).

So, off to the Children’s museum and winter wonderland.

this face means trouble

_______________________________________________________________________________

Christmas morning was bittersweet; the first Christmas without my Nana.

Having my nephews there definitely added to the entertainment, though.

I wasn’t sure if the Pillow Pets would go over well…

I guess these photos speak for themselves.

all you really need for happiness, though, is 2 boys…a tent….and a flashlight

Merry Christmas!

Hope yours was full of joyful memories.

A giveaway from Tidy Brown Wren

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 01:42:00 +0000

Hello all.

I just want to assure you that I am currently working my little fingers to the bone putting together a fantabulous blog post depicting all the juicy wedding details….

ok, maybe 30% of that was actually true.

it will be fantabulous. and the details are juicy. but I haven’t had much time to work on it over the past 2 months.

however, I wanted to make time to fill you all in on a sweet giveaway going on at Tidy Brown Wren. In case you weren’t aware… she is the organizing queen.

She’s giving away a beautiful gift basket full of goodies to help you get organized…

just in time for the hectic holidays!

The gift basket includes:

~ a folding tote bag
~ a vinyl photo envelope
~ a coupon organizer
~ 6 ID tags
~ 4 tidy totes
~ a belt/scarf hanger
~ a set of sticky notes /page flags
~ a copy of the booklet: The Simple Life by Thom. and Art Rainer
~ a hanging pocket organizer
~ a Christmas pickle ornament
~ 6 Baby Button Wreath Clips

Head over there now and enter! The last day to enter is December 6th.

Aloha!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:43:00 +0000

The honeymoon was the one aspect of our wedding that I left ~~completely~~ mostly to Chris.

While I’d love to say I trusted him 100% with the details of our amazing, relaxing, post-wedding vacation, the truth is I still did some checking up on him in the months leading up to our big day to make sure plane tickets and hotel reservations had been made and confirmed (what?! I just didn’t want any last minute surprises!).

The choice to go to Hawaii, though, was completely left to my new hubby.

He had visited his mother in O’ahu once before, had a blast, and had always wanted to go back to Hawaii.

We spent almost a week in Kauai, then island hopped to Kona, on the Big Island.

We left Virginia Beach at 4am the day after the wedding

(what can I say? crazy cheap flights are at crazy early times!).

The flight was long, but we didn’t mind…

The common phrase of the whole trip was “I can’t believe we’re married”!

(notice the bags under our eyes? I don’t think they went away until day 4 or 5)

I think Chris and I both agree that we thoroughly enjoyed people watching in the airports on our way to and from Hawaii.

I apologize in advance if this is your mother/sister/wife/aunt/grandmother…

it’s just too good not to share

Like I mentioned before, our first stop was Lihue, Kauai.

We learned pretty quickly that all you have to do

is mention “honeymoon” or “just married” to receive instant perks…

…like a free upgrade to a convertible (byebye compact… hello wind-in-the-face)!

The resort was beautiful.

The scenery outside our room was breathtaking.

My camera simply can’t do it justice.

we loved watching the sunset from our balcony.

While we were in Kauai, we spent our time driving around and exploring the Island.

It’s the oldest and smallest Island of Hawaii.

We enjoyed doing so many once-in-a-lifetime things, like….

______________________________________________________________

downhill biking at the edge of “the little grand canyon”

Waimae Canyon

________________________________________________________________

horseback riding along the coast…

I love this one… Chris looks like a total PRO!

This cave was used in the filming of an Indiana Jones movie

(“cuvah ya haaat, Indie, cuvah ya haaat” … anyone? anyone?)

and this bay was used in the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie coming out…

my horse, Youknowhow, also makes an appearance in the movie!

_________________________________________________________________

Helicopter ride around the island

don’t be fooled…. this smile was a “I’m so nervous about possibly getting sick in this helicopter that I’m about to hurl any second… and we haven’t even left the ground” kind of smile… but I think I played it off nicely as a “very excited to do this” kind of smile.

amazingly enough, I never once felt nauseous on the flight

(thanks to Dramamine, that is!)

**by the way, that little yellow envelope strapped to my waist was apparently what was going to “save” me if for some reason the chopper crashed….joy.

It was an amazing view of the island.

_________________________________________________________________

Snorkeling off the Na’pali Coast

_____________________________________________________________

ate yummy food…

_______________________________________

got massages…

_____________________________________

shopped at local markets…

yes, they even had Starbucks there…

After 5 days in Kauai, we island hopped to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. When we got to Kona, ‘adventure’ took on a completely different meaning. We soon realized that we had no hope of renting a car (or even a scooter or a bike, for that matter) because that same weekend just so happened to be the weekend that a little event called the 2010 Iron Man World Championship Triathlon was taking place. Every car on Hawaii, and even neighboring islands, had been reserved months before. That did put a bit of a damper on our plans (mostly just my wish to see hot lava… since you can’t exactly walk around the island to find that!). Fortunately, there was a shopping center with some restaurants and a grocery store within a mile (up-hill) from our resort, then a beach about a mile past that. Though we did find ourselves repeating “I wish we were back in Kauai” a few times, I can honestly say that it was a completely amazing experience in a completely different way than Kauai had been.

Banyan tree… like the ones on LOST, only smaller

This is the beach where we went snorkeling.

The one regret that I have is that we didn’t bring the underwater case for my camera on this day (I was trying to minimize the load Chris had to carry while we walked)… and of course, this was the day that we swam with sea turtles while snorkeling!

They were so beautiful and calm; just floating along with the current…. exactly like in the movie Finding Nemo. Noggin! I wish so badly that I had a picture of them.

Oh well, one more reason to return to Hawaii.

Until we meet again, Mr. Turtle. Until we meet again.

Kickball!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 01:11:00 +0000

We won our first game!!

more photos and details to come….

if we keep winning, that is.

Progress on the ‘turn a house to a home’ frontier

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:35:00 +0000

Chris and I bought a house at the end of June.

Here’s Chris mailing our first mortgage payment.

Yikes, that was painful.

While I’m not living there yet

(we’re waiting until we get married to move in together)

there’s no rule that says I have to wait

until we’re married to make it fabulous!

I don’t really have any amazing photos yet of the transformation;

they’ll come later in a big reveal!

but for now…

here is one corner of the living room:

This is a big chair that some friends of my parents gave to us.

My 2 favorite paintings are on the wall behind it

I can’t, for the life of me, find a lampshade long enough to fit this tall lamp properly.

here is my fabulous green chair from world market

along with the green lamps I spray painted earlier

and now begins the process of removing hideous wallpaper

and applying a bazillion coats of primer

to cover over red paint in the kitchen …

Chris vs. Wallpaper

ps: comes of much nicer with a heavy-duty steamer, but still a very tedious process.

me vs. primer

the primer won…. this time.

(eek…crazy eyes!)

by the way, that little bit of primer was hiding on my elbow

(in the shape of a heart, I might add)

for at least 24 hours after I’d showered

I wonder what clients at work thought?

why didn’t anyone tell me!!!

and how did I not notice it when I brushed my

teeth or did my hair that morning?

hmmm…

silly paint.

Some Rascal Flatts Goodness

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 01:04:00 +0000

Hey Y’all!

Things have been crazy lately.

And while ‘crazy’ around here usually means lots of juicy things to blog about…

this type of ‘crazy’ means all my free time has been sucked up by the wedding and working monsters, leaving nothing for the socializing and blogging monsters in my life (so to speak).

what?! you don’t have monsters?

moving on.

Chris surprised me, oh… about a month and a half ago (remember the time sucking monsters I mentioned?), with tickets to see Rascal Flatts in concert!

It. Was. Amazing!

this is us in our seats. yup, big spenders.

pardon my ginormous hips in the photo below.

after seeing this photo i will promptly burn that shirt.

the opening acts: Chris Young and Kellie Pickler

I’m not a big concert-go-er…but I’d go see them in concert again in a heartbeat!

a.maz.ing

blogging, babies, big girl jobs, and buying houses

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:50:00 +0000

ok, can I first just say that my computer hates me.

I got on ‘real quick’ to write this blog post

(yeah, I know it’s been a while… I’ll get to the excuses later)

anywho, I opened up windows writer and (gasp) opened up Firefox at the same time

You’d have thought the second coming was upon us the way my computer wacked out so fast…

all I can say is that I hope I never see the words ‘dumping files’ paired with

a ‘blue screen of death’ again.

This post will be a 3-parter:

(3-parts of excuses for not posting recently, that is)

Part 1: Babies

firstly, I just wanna say I love this little guy

(wish it was a little more clear… you can blame the photographer for this one)

my nephew, N.

and I love his brother, J.

(They live in the great North, well, anywhere past Virginia is ‘great north’ for me.

can people even survive at that latitude? inconceivable!!)

wish I could see them and my big Sis more often

(AHEM, eat more chicken, and maybe that will be possible!!)

This little fella was born on June 22

little chunk-a-lump is what he is.

Congrats to my friends Tiffany and Carl.

You guys are awesome parents already :)

love, love, love that grumpy-old-man face

so those are the baby happenings!

Part 2: Big Girl Job

remember this?

my big-girl graduate degree!

well, I was fortunate because after that came…

BIG GIRL JOB!!!

God is SO good; He always provides!

Yup, I’m one of the newest speech-language pathologists

at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters

as most of you out there know from experience about having an adult job:

It’s HARD!

the end.

Part 3: Buying a house

Yup! We’re Homeowners :)

can you tell I’m about to yuck all over that nice big mahogany table?

it was SO unbelievably stressful…

even right up to the last minute.

not even kidding.

Chris crunching some numbers on his phone.

Let’s play a game:

Which of these doesn’t belong?

I’d love to explain why the money we brought to closing included a one-dollar bill… but it still gives me heart palpatations.

so no thanks.

Just showing the picture is enough.

Well, there you have it: babies, big girl job, and buying a house.

let me catch you up…

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:22:00 +0000

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)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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!

DIY Save the Dates

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:27:00 +0000

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.

This girl’s a graduate!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:36:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:55:00 +0000

“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!

Little Gym Luau!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:27:00 +0000

in case you haven’t heard…

I love The Little Gym of Chesapeake.

Last week was our member’s party, a night of member appreciation full of gym activities, giveaways, and snacks.

It was also a time for current members to receive priority for enrolling their child in the fall semester.

Tiffany and Rachel donning their grass skirts (mine didn’t make it past 5 minutes)

um… some belly rubbing and a group photo

once the luau was over we headed down to skinny dip for a yummy treat

(you remember my love for The Skinny Dip,

and my work lovelies share the same affinity!)

what silly-millies

I know you love our matching shirts… go ahead… admit it… we ROCK!

ooh, my purse made it into both pics…. SA-WEET!

in other important world news… I’ve almost finished my save-the-dates!

I can’t wait for you to ooh and aah over them… and you will – trust me, oh, you will.

the finished product… and a FAB baby shower for a FAB friend!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 02 May 2010 03:38:00 +0000

Remember the sneak peek I showed you of a baby shower gift for my friend Tiffany?

Well, here’s the finished product:

My first quilt EVER!

My mom made it look so easy…but this was definitely a challenge.

I was so happy, though, to make this for Tiffany and her first baby, Hunter!

Here are a few more details from the shower:

The day before the shower Tiff and I spoiled ourselves with pedicures:

I won’t even go into how hard it was for me to choose a color…..

in the end I chose a “rockin” green,

(the kids at work are fascinated by it and try to poke at my toes to see if it will come off)

We decided unanimously that we (and all women) need to do that more often…

i’m just sayin’

confession

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:25:00 +0000

i look at my wedding dress every day.

i do.

i’ve had it since last August (i think?)

and it still hasn’t made it to the closet for safe keeping

for some reason, i feel the need to check on it to make sure it’s coping alright;

that it hasn’t been exposed to the elements (mainly pollen around here)

and that it wasn’t cold or lonely during the night.

every morning…

ziiiiiiiiiiiip

peek

smile and fidget + happy jig

ziiiiiiiiiiiip

then on with the day!

sick, no?

some wedding plans… and a breakfast set-back

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:45:00 +0000

do you want to hear the success first? or the failure?

er… i’ll give you the failure first, just to get it out of the way.

<— the culpret

the victim –>

<—The hero

So I hate our toaster.

We’ve got beef (what does that even mean?! I’m not sure I used that correctly)

anywho…

Beef 1: the thing makes a ticking noise when it’s toasting… i guess so you don’t forget you are toasting something

HOWEVER, it ALSO makes that SAME ticking sound even when it isn’t plugged in… so you THINK your are gettin’ your toast on… in fact, your toast is still just bread because the toaster has been unplugged and isn’t getting hot… it’s just making the ticking sound.

SO. AN.NOY.ING

but that’s not what happened this morning.

Beef 2: the toaster does not STOP toasting… ever.

once you turn it on, it’s the energizer bunny… going, and going, and going.

SO. AN.NOY.ING

beef 2 is what occurred this morning… the thing just kept on toasting, and toasting, and toasting until my bread was a black brick of shame. (ooh, alliteration)

i remembered to plug the sucker in before turning it on… however, then I sat down on the couch, turned on my computer, and sat down to write an awesome blog about some wedding planning …

toaster of terror just kept at it, until flames were practically shooting out from it!

fortunately, one still-growing 19 year-old little brother/scavenger came to the rescue and gave the toast a proper burial…

in his belly.

I think I actually heard a “hm, not bad”

thanks baby bro!

Back to the original post!

the yard is coming along nicely for the wedding (thanks Mom and Daddy!)

Here is the image board I made in an attempt to wrangle all my ideas into some sort of organized thought

what do you think?

can you picture it?

here’s the program I used for the board

http://www.photovisi.com/

SO EASY! Give it a try!

Baby shower for Tiffany!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:39:00 +0000

One of my BFFs Tiffany is getting very pregnant… probably too pregnant now to help me with scavenging shenanigans.

anywho…

She is also getting the perfect amount of pregnant for a baby shower.

I am helping a mutual friend and her sister with a shower later this month

(I’ll finally get to show you the present I’ve been working diligently on for a MONTH)

here’s a sneeky peeky:

that’s it, you’ll have to wait for her shower at the end of April to see the rest!

But I can show you some goodies from the work shower I also helped with:

It was a surprise shower… and let me tell you, it was SO hard to keep it that way!

Tiff and I are taking the same classes this semester, so we are together a lot.

While sitting in class about two weeks before the shower, I opened up an email from our boss… it was an e-vite to the surprise shower…

opened up really big on my laptop…

with her sitting right there next to me!

EEK! I just started hitting buttons, trying to get it to go away before she saw it!

Fortunately, she was oblivious to my mid-lecture panic attack

She was very surprised!!!

(see? I CAN keep secrets!)

Tiff did almost ruin things by showing up early (who does that?!)… thanks Rachel for running outside to meet her and dragging her next door to distract her while we finished setting up!

Here’s the set-up:

the centerpieces were little metal pails I got from the dollar bin section at Target, filled with candy, and then a pinwheel in each bucket (3 for $1 and the Dollar Store).

Not baby-ish, but whimsical and fun.

Tiff got a lot of wonderful presents from our co-workers:

This was my present to Hunter… onesies with ties.

haha, it still makes me chuckle.

perfect for the office, Sunday church service, maybe a job interview…

i mean, whatever fashion needs your newborn has, a tie can certainly take care of them.

I got the idea from a fellow blogger

(I’m looking for your tutorial on how to make these but I cannot for the life of me remember who you are!!!! If you read this, please shoot me a comment so I can give you credit)

When I do remember who I snagged the idea from, I’ll link her post up here because hers are super cute and she deserves credit + oohs and aaahs.

cut out your fabric. I used a pattern I drew by hand but I bet you could get one online too.

using iron-on sheets (is that what they’re called?), iron the sheet to the back of your tie, then peel off the paper and iron the tie to your shirt.

Technically, iron-on stuff is supposed to be washing-machine safe, but since I knew it would be around a baby and possibly yucked all over, I stitched around the tie

(plus it made the finished product looked nice and finished).

super easy, super cute.

bada bing bada boom, we’re in business!

I was running super late that day of the shower though and I forgot to get a good close-up pic of the finished project….

we’ll just have to display it on Hunter when he gets here.

ps: I can’t lie… I got the onesies from the thrift store because I knew Tiff wouldn’t care. A brand new Carter’s onesie is a brand new Carter’s onesie…. whether you pay $6 for it or only 50 cents.

i’m just sayin’

feeling kinda distant

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:55:00 +0000

I feel like I’ve been going non-stop for the past 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the buh-jillion things on my to-do list aren’t really interesting enough to share on the bloggy.

I promise some wedding goodies coming up though…

I’ve almost finished the save-the-dates.

woop woop.

grrr...

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:43:00 +0000

bear with me... I'm undergoing some blog renovations!

yes, I'm a speech therapist, and yes, I had to look up which bear/bare to use:
please don't bare with me... i don't want to see you nekked.
instead, bear with me while my site's a mess!

grrr.. english

i'm just sayin'

Captivating Curls

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:57:00 +0000

I thought I would share some of my favorite hair tips with

some of you fellow curly-Q ladies.

Step 1:

Shower; every day.

Step 2:

Shampoo your hair; but not with shampoo, and not every day.

let me explain: yes, you should shower every day (um…i shouldn’t have to tell you that), but most (pretty much all) shampoos on the market today have sulfates in them.

Sulfates strip your hair of some natural oils, and if you have curly hair then you know…

we aint got none to spare!

nobody wants to have scarecrow hair

EEK!

The solution?

No-poos

haha, i just love saying that. no-poos.

Now, I haven’t gone completely “no poo”, there are some actual home remedies ( baking soda and apple cider vinegar) that you could use,

i’m not ready to head that direction just yet…

but I DO use “shampoo” that is natural and has no sulfates – Hair One.

You can get it at any Sally Beauty store for about $10.

I know that’s more expensive than your average run-of-the-mill Pert Plus…

but I’ve been using the same bottle for 6 weeks and still haven’t run out

(and I use about 20 pumps each time I shampoo since my hair is so long)!

*Just a word of warning: No-poos don’t foam up or lather… they sort of disappear on your head, so it may take a little bit to figure out the right amount to use on your hair.

* Also, they don’t leave a “silky” feeling to your hair when you’re in the shower, like other shampoos would… this threw me for a loop the first time I used Hair One and I ALMOST used my regular shampoo right after it because I didn’t like not having the “slippery/silky” hair feeling after shampooing… don’t be alarmed.

at least give it a try!

What I love about Hair One is that your hair is silky and soft when it dries, which is more important than how it feels right after shampooing.

Step 3 - After showering:

DO NOT us a towel on your curls…

For the love of PETE, just don’t do it!!

terrycloth towels, even the high end ones, have a rough texture with lots of little ‘grabbies’ all over…

if you use one to dry your hair, it will create more frizzies and actually separate the curls.

Instead, I use an old t-shirt or a paper towel to squeeze the water out (squeeze, not ring)

Paper towels actually work the best, and if I do use those, they last me about 3 weeks since all i use them for is blotting

(not scrubbing or twisting, right? right?? I had better not see you twisting!)

Step 4 - the arsenal…

after getting most of the water out I put in my favorite products.

actually, I really just use this one:

it’s magical. it delivers smooth curls without disgusting “crunchy” side effects.

the other bottles are just remnants of failed attempts to achieve the perfect curls.

I don’t know why I don’t just throw them away!

Step 5 - Blow 'em dry!
After applying product and combing it through (with my fingers… PUT DOWN THE BRUSH!), I use my blow dryer with the diffuser attachment; it looks like this:

Just remember, the less you touch your hair, the fewer frizzies you’ll have and the more awesomely bouncy curls you’ll have.

*Disclaimer:

i am not a hair expert.

i do not have perfect hair.

i was not paid in any form for promoting these products.

i am not at fault for any hair mishaps you may have.

use these tips at your own risk.

i’m just sayin’

Exhausted!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:40:00 +0000

this is kind of sad.... but I'm exhausted from one of my Sunday afternoon activities.

nope, it wasn't the awesome church service this morning,
nor was it studying for an exam I have tomorrow.

I am mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted from....

wedding registries!!!!

haha, sorry if that was anti-climactic (it sounded more dramatic in my head)

Future Hubby and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to begin our first wedding registry.

I guess I had kind of been putting it off for a while because, well
a little thing called a THESIS,

but also because I was afraid of registering too soon and then

having something become discontinued before the wedding.

First of all, there are WAY too many buttons on that little clicky-gun...
you don't need half of them.

(it's not even in a fun gun shape to enhance the "whip around the

corner and zap something" experience I had in mind)

Second of all, Future hubby took control of the gun because it

was "too confusing for me"...

(really, I just didn't want to be bogged down with technology...

I wanted to flit around, dreaming of how I would decorate
our future home and which shower curtain would look
the most fabulous in the upstairs bathroom...
and that silly calculator on steroids would only bog me down! )

I realized this plan had backfired on me this evening as I was reviewing our registry online
lo and behold... what do I spy with my very own two eyes?
some surprise registry items, like this little fella...

err.... i just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Can you imagine if I hadn't seen it?!
some little 'ol lady from church would have, and probably croaked on the spot!

future hubby thought he was soooo sneaky
what a phony balony!

*i know that's not how you spell bologna,
but it seems more "rhymy" with phony when it's spelled that way*

That's not where it ended though...
after my first surprise registry finding I scoured the rest of the pages.

good thing, too.
certainly not something I would ever let grace any shelf of mine...

errr....

yeah, about that.

I don't know if it's the wording "girls night out"

the way it's bedazzled
or that fact that some punctuation is missing...

all around... not something I'm dying to receive as a wedding gift.

I also found this picture on my camera

(please disregard the inappropriate closeness of this pic and the relative lumpiness of it all)

yes, that is the scanner-gun light on my heinie.

haha, wishful thinking on his part.

"no babe, you can't register me for a heinie upgrade at Bed Bath and Beyond"

*jk, he's not that kinda guy... mom you can put the shotgun down*

__________________________________________________

while we were at BB&B (kind of sounds like it should be the name of a bank), future hubby decided he needed a new pillow, on account of him not sleeping well the past few months.

well, ya can't miss the pillow section!

a lot of poking, prodding, squishing, and "snoozing" ensued.

I pretended not to mind that he laid his head on each and every one.

I kept my "do you know how many heads have been on those" comments to myself.

I think we've found a winner!

(but still... gross!)

I guess back to the main point...

I'm exhausted, from an activity that should have been super fun, because even the simple task of choosing a pizza cutter resulted in this:

um.... I can barely make a decision in the morning on
apple butter or cinnamon for my toast;

how am I supposed to make a decision here?!

there's just too much stuff in this world.

do we really need it all?

How is it that our mindset today has strayed so far from that of early Christians;

the mindset of more, more, more.

we just make things more difficult for ourselves.

we've lost the concept of "community"... the way God planned the earliest churches in Acts.

we've replaced the idea of "sharing and caring" with "me and my stuff in my isolated world"

is this stuff really what's important?

i'm just sayin'

Confessions

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:44:00 +0000

I have a confession.

actually, it's more of an announcement.

I was cleaning out my bathroom bins last night...

- throwing away old makeup

- chucking dried up nail polish

- weighing pros and cons of keep 5 majillion half used hair product bottles (what?! i might use them one day!)

etc, etc.

anywho.... i'd like to report this ~~embarrassing~~ funny finding

go ahead... take a closer look

yup, you're seeing clearly.... that's 4 tweezers and 6 pairs of nail clippers

*wretch*

AND

i know for a FACT that i have 2 more tweezers and 1 pair of nail clippers in my car as we speak!

Who needs this many tweezers and clippers?

I'm not Chewbacca

though I wouldn't mind being best friends with Harrison Ford.... *giggle, snort*

(no offense future hubby)

SO....

How did this happen?

two words:

GRADUATE SCHOOL

dun dun DUN!!!!!

I NEVER used to be this out of sorts.

forgetful, messy, unorganized, buying new nail clippers because I really needed to trim a hangnail but could find any of the other 5 pairs...

embarrassing, to say the least

I loaded those photos up so fast, my blog didn't have a chance to blink.

because i wanted it to be public...

hopefully in sharing my "i can't find it so i'll buy a new one" sickness I can prevent this from happening again.

on a happier note:

I found my retainer!!!

(*yes, she is still in one piece and relatively clean....
...and yes, she IS glow in the dark blue!)

and this morning my teeth are aching so badly i half expect them to jump right out
of my mouth and run away screaming to find a better home (maybe the elderly lady down the street?)

.... I guess that's what happens when (cover your ears dad) you don't
wear it for 5 years and then try to jam it back into your mouth.

side-note people: TEETH CHANGE

i'm just sayin'

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:14:00 +0000

hello, yellow boots.

I love you.

you're perfect for snow, sleet, rain... and you've served me well.

but I want so badly to put you in the closet for 7 months so my feet can be free!!

Dear Summer,

I love you.

please descend on Virginia

a little early this year.

i might die if i can't put my toes in sand soon!

warmly,

ashley

ps: i know where you live... i will hunt you down...

and there will be consequences.