Miller Family Pics

For Jay and Cheryl's 30th Anniversary this July, we decided to surprise them with family pictures.  We'd had some taken since I joined the family 4 yrs ago but not since Peter joined last year.  Ashley did an amazing job, once again!  Here's the sneak peak.

Graduation

I did it! After 3 years of working full-time and going to school part/full-time, I graduated with my Masters in Professional Accountancy!  What an amazing feeling to be done!

As I reflect back over the past few years, I know it has been a growing experience for me. 

 I've learned so much. And of course you want to say, "DUH, you were in school - of course you learned stuff!" But more than that. I've learned more about who God is, His faithfulness to me. I've learned more about who I am. I've learned how to be a better wife...(and how not to be at times). I've learned how to deal with stress, how to juggle the activities I want to be involved in but still get my work done. I've learned to make time for the things that truly matter...aka: people, and sometimes let go of some of the things that don't matter so much....aka: making that A- paper an A+ paper or turning a B into an A.  In a year (if not less), I won't even remember what my grades were.

I've learned the importance of following through on something I've committed to. It was not always easy nor was it always enjoyable. 

Life became full of sacrifices. Sacrifices by me to take the time to study and give up some of the fun activities or family time I was used to, and sacrifices by Ben. Lots of sacrifices by Benjamin. 

He's been my amazing supporter, encourager, tear wiper, complaint listener, attitude checker, prayer warrior and everything in between! He has sacrificed his time over and over again to do those little things I felt were nagging on me to get done...but I needed to study. Things like doing loads and loads of dishes, laundry, picking up numerous dinners to go, running errands, going to the grocery store with crazy lists for random items. And those are just a few. There were so many times I was crying...at the end of my rope and he would just listen to me and love me and tell me that if anyone could do this, it was me. He believed in me!  He's amazing and I love him. I couldn't have done this without him!  

My family has also had to sacrifice.

 They've been flexible with my crazy and often unknown schedule, making sure we can still celebrate everything together at whatever time works for me. They've listened to me, encouraged me, supported me, prayed for me, and been so proud of me...even when I've felt like a failure. 

And how about my amazing friends who graciously took a back burner while I scrambled to fit everything in...they are amazing and stuck with me through the months of no talking to the few times we got to see each other over a meal or coffee.

I've also had an amazing team of coworkers. They've pitched in when things got crazy, listened to me stress before a big test or sympathized with me over a group project that was due. 

My boss has been so amazing and flexible to let me work all kinds of crazy hours and take off at the last minute just to get classes, tests, papers and group projects done on time.

They say it takes a village to raise a child...I think the same goes for school. 

It took a village...but we got it done!!  Thank you for everything! I am blessed by an amazing group of family, friends and coworkers!

Checklist

Graduation....check.
Kauai.....2 more days.

My nephews are the cutest!

check them out on Ashley's Photo blog

The Full Marathon

I'm incredibly proud of my parents.  In December 2009, never having run before, they decided they wanted to run the half marathon in May.  They started training in January and did amazing!

After the 1/2, they decided they wanted to be in the 1% of the population to have done a full marathon. They started their training in January and....did AWESOME!  They ran it in 4:55:43.  With is over 30 minutes under their goal.  I am so proud of them!

Me and my boys!

Brayden's Sleepover

Over spring break we had Brayden spend the night. He was very excited about it. He called Ben and I a few times that day asking when we were coming over. Actually, he called me asking and he called Ben saying, "come over nooooooooooooooow!!" All day is a long way to wait.

We started the night at chipotle for dinner.

Headed down to the Lincoln Grand for our movie, but since we were early stopped off at the video games.

Then on to Gnomeo and Juliet in 3D!

On Saturday morning, Ben had to work so I took Brayden to Prairie Life to swim.