An Overdue Update...

Whoa. It's definitely been a while. A really long while... I'm going to be as brief as possible in my update here, attempting to fill in the gaps over the past several years...

So six years ago, I posted this update about my engagement to the mr.

Then I was busy moving, planning our wedding, and starting another school year at a new school. And just as the wedding was about to happen (3 weeks prior), D got in a boating accident, ripping his foot down the middle. After a week in the hospital and nine months of recovery, we finally got married!

Following the wedding, we spent our honeymoon in beautiful St. Lucia.

After returning from our honeymoon, I completed my first triathlon...

Then I packed up my classroom (again), traveled to Aruba and Curacao...

And then packed up the whole house. We moved across the country to D's first active duty station with the U.S. Navy (road trip!).

We so enjoyed our year in Virginia, with lots of road trips and visits to historical sites! We even celebrated Thanksgiving at Jamestown!



Then we packed up the house yet again for our move to D's next assignment... GUAM!!! That's right. We moved overseas. It's been quite the adventure.



We've traveled to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and visited family back in the states. For our final year here, we plan to visit South Korea and Taiwan!



After two more years teaching middle school science, I decided to move down to elementary and am now teaching fifth grade.

That pretty much covers it! Well, some of it. Happy crafting... and teaching, moving, and traveling!

Meet My Bridesmaids!

Here they are! These six fabulous ladies will be walking with me down the aisle, standing by my side, and I'm sure calming my crazy nerves! I couldn't imagine getting married without them!

So without further adieu...

Austin, my younger sister
Hadar, my best friend since high school
Alex and Jaimee, my cousins
Heather, my friend since college
Andrea, my after-college friend (and Daniel's friend since college)

Graduation Time!

I love June. It's warm out, but not too warm (I can wear dresses AND cardigans!). School is almost out. Community pools are now heated. And someone is always graduating! So far this year, I've been to 2 college graduations and will celebrate 2 high school graduations. The card below was made to congratulate Tyler, Jon, Kristin, and Tatiana. Congrats, Graduates!

Happy Crafting!

Update!!

Ah! I have not posted in a REALLY long time! I've been crazy busy ending the school year, moving out of my classroom, traveling to Japan, then getting engaged! Crazy, right?!?! And now I'm off to Alaska! I will now be referring to the boyfriend as the fiance... or just Daniel, since by now you all know his name. I can't wait to marry that amazing man!!
So because I am SO behind on my blogging, I will be posting A LOT of overdue posts all at once. I know. You're going to hate me. But then it'll probably be months before I post again, knowing me.

A little sneak peek at the engagement...

Birthday Tu-Tu

As I mentioned yesterday, it's my cousin's birthday. Meet Alex...

She's modeling the black Birthday Tu-Tu I made her for her birthday. She's required to wear it at least one night in Vegas. And if you look closely, she's wearing a Birthday Pin, too. (I could have made a pun joke there, but I didn't... now you know I was thinking it, though.)

I hope people buy her drinks! And wish her a happy birthday!

To make the tu-tu, I cut and tied elastic to Alex's waist/pant size. I then cut strips of black tool and tied each strip in a knot on the elastic. That's it! So quick and easy!

Happy crafting!

Dominican Republic

I had such an incredible time in the Dominican Republic! Santo Domingo was the first city established in the Americas by Christopher Columbus so there was an abundance of history to see! The day I spent with my sponsored kids was of course the highlight of the trip, though. See below for some pictures...

 

 

 

 

Happy Traveling!

In the Navy!

Daniel's Navy Party. Awesome. That's all I can say. Below are just a few of the pictures from the "photo booth" I set up. As you can see, awesome. It definitely helps that we know a lot of really awesome people. I can't stop saying awesome... AWESOME!

 

I know. He's super cute. Both the baby, and my boy. Crazy awesome! Happy partying!

Sailing

As promised, below are a couple of sailing pictures... and by sailing pictures, I mean close-up pictures of Daniel and I with sailboats in the background. I swear we did sail one!

Aren't we a cute couple? Okay, so I may be a little biased, but I still think so! Happy sailing!

Ashley

Class of 2011

My cousin Jaimee graduated from Biola University yesterday... Congratulations to the Class of 2011! After the ceremony, she and  her best friend Cassie gathered their friends and family at a park across the street to celebrate. The following pictures are evidence of the fun we had...

 

The mustaches were a hit! I also had out a graduation cap, feather boa, and a couple of plastic Oscars (Jaimee now has a Degree in Cinema Arts!)... but the other props seemed to be ignored for the mustaches. Since the mustaches were such a hit, I'm going to add some felt eyeglasses to my collection. Off to JoAnn's I go... Happy crafting all!

Ashley