I Want to Celebrate and Live My Life!

The minute I got in the car after my graduation was over I was ready to par-tay! However, my parents had different plans. We got in the car, made a short pit-stop at McDonalds and headed home. That's all. We went home, I opened their gifts and had a relaxing afternoon doing a whole lot of nothing. That's because....
My fabulous bash was the next day and, wow, it was a giant surprise! I had an idea of where it would be but I had absolutely no clue that it would be so well thought-out.  Let me just say, there was an 8-foot tall Rocky (the USF mascot) greeting me at the door, a surprise video from the hubster and tons of great food and decorations. But I'll let the pictures do all the explaining for me.

the outside of the clubhouse

another view of the outside along with Danny's nephew :)

they also had a theater room!

the foyer

walking in...about to be very surprised!

what I saw when I walked in the door

nephew, niece, friend

sis-and mom-in-law

Danny's dad and grandmother

time to EAT!

 and someone always ends up spilling something!

my beautiful cake

 

after much cropping we used this photo on our Christmas cards :)

of course no one could leave until they did a Bulls picture!

 I really did have an amazing graduation party that I will always cherish! Our guests were also in for an extra little treat! The slideshow that Daniel had prepared ended up not working so instead they got to see the surprise video and our wedding montage since this was also the weekend of our first wedding anniversary, which I'm sure they were thrilled about, haha!

Next week I will fill you in on our adventures across the seas, or at least to the Bahamas!
Have a joyous and VERY Merry Christmas! Remember, Jesus is the Reason for the season :)

love always,

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The Big Day...

Okay, the second Biggest Day...my Graduation day! Here is the lowdown on two of the most surreal/ awesome hours of my life.
 I found out that my graduation was at 9am so I had to be at the St. Pete Times Forum at 7:30am. They obviously don't know me. I am so not a morning person, which is why my sweet friends ended up waiting outside for me until I arrived at 7:54am! Sorry girls! But hey, at least my makeup and hair were in tip-top shape :)

We also toasted each other on our success before entering the arena. Once we got inside I was still in shock and disbelief that this day had actually come. To add to the beauty of these moments was the fact that Daniel and my parents were sitting on the sidelines close enough to where I could look over at them and smile. I felt so blessed to have the most important people in my life there with me for this milestone that took five LONG years to get through.  Here are some pics that I love:

cheers!

I can't believe I really graduated from here!

me and Lauren

FYI: graduation gowns are NOT flattering!

Daniel took this picture of my mom and I taking a picture

Here's how it came out :)

I love the rhinestones on my cap :)

I'm explaining that the cap is really cool...obviously they are laughing at how silly that sounds

 

me and my mom-in-law

me and my dad....this picture is so special  because he really wanted me to finish
school...and somehow I did!

 Fun facts:
1. I did my nails all by myself! Check out the not-so-terrible outcome:

 2. There were 1,000 graduates at my ceremony plus there were two more ceremonies in the afternoon!
3. The lady who was supposed to "fix" my cap before I got on stage actually messed it up and the whole time I was walking across I had to hold it or it would fall off :(
4. As soon as I got to my mom's house I changed into my UGLY but very comfortable muumuu to open gifts. Here is the evidence:

as you can see, Priya and Max wanted to help me open gifts!

So enough with all the emotional stuff.....I graduated and was ready to PARTY!! Which you can read all about in tomorrow's post :)

love always,

Follow @AshasAspects

Are You Ready to Listen?

 Because I have tons of news to share!
 I am officially back from my first cruise ever and have finally begun to realize that I am really out of school. I have been in school nonstop from time I was 5 years old until 23 (pretty much my entire life!) so I can't help but feel a little bewildered when I realize that I actually have something called "free time" now. Every now and then I still get that moment of panic because I am afraid that I have forgotten an assignment or missed a deadline but for the first time in a very long time I actually don't have an academic thing to worry about....and it feels GREAT!

I'm joining Jamie for WILW since my list is full this week!

I'm Liking that I have more time to work out now and can lose all the weight I gained on the cruise. It's amazing how in five days I can put on what feels like ten pounds but it will take at least five weeks to lose that weight. So unfair if you ask me!

 I'm Liking that I am back in the blogging world! Which reminds me....I have tons of fabulous post ideas coming up in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned!

I'm Liking how absolutely stunning my graduation celebration was! My hubby, mom and mom-in-law truly outdid themselves! Everything from the food to the decorations and surprise video were just perfection! I will share all the details tomorrow because the party deserves a post of its own.

I'm Loving that I have such great friends and family. I am so blessed to have people that care about me and are so supportive of me! This quote by Oscar Wilde expresses exactly how I feel about the many wonderful people in my life who celebrated with me, "Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success."

As always, I'm Loving my sweet hubster Daniel!  

he was my camera man!

I hope you all have a beautiful day! 

p.s. - tomorrow's post will fill you in on the graduation day details! :)

love always,

Asha

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It's Almost Time!

I'm counting down the very few days left until I will be graduating, partying, cruising and reminiscing with Daniel as we celebrate our first year of marriage together! I'm also ecstatic because my dad, whom I haven't seen since my wedding almost a year ago, came from Oregon to visit with us until the New Year!
So here is a play-by-play of the next few days:
Friday morning -  I will be meeting my Communication girls for fun drinks and a few laughs before we head into the St. Pete Times Forum and GRADUATE! At first I was dreading that I would have to be there at 7:30am but now I see it as a wonderful thing because there is no time to stress or get anxious because I will be too busy rushing to get there on time!

remember I went here for a concert now long ago? Read it here

On the same note, I'm lovinghow great my blinged-out grad cap looks after I met up at Lauren's house for the decorating party! (pictures will come after the Big Event)

Saturday - sometime and somewhere (it's a surprise!) I will be having an ahhh-mazing graduation party! How do I know it will be so stunning? Let's just say I've seen the account and there were major $$ spent by Daniel at iParty and Party City, haha!

Sunday AM - we head out the door to our first cruise ever! This trip has been long-awaited because we were originally supposed to go on a cruise for our honeymoon but it just didn't work out. Better late than never!

On a side note:  My church just had it's annual outreach and it went very successfully! It's always wonderful to see how touched people are when they find out that their kids can have brand new toys and clothes because of the kind-hearted members of the church who bring in donations. Every year hundreds of people are blessed at Christmas because of the outreach and I'm glad that this year was no different :) 

I hope you all have a great day!
p.s. - I will miss not being in the blog world for the next week :(

love always,

Follow @AshasAspects