Mother's Day: DIY Flower Canvas

We had a fun-filled weekend.  My older brother flew in from Texas for my mom's special weekend: graduation & Mother's Day!
My mom received her second masters degree on Friday, this time a Master of Science in Educational Leadership.  She's the bomb dot com.

For her graduation/Mother's Day gift, I gave her a flower themed gift.  Four different flowers for our garden, some gardening supplies (gloves, spade, planter) and a painting that I did on a small canvas.

I followed Evelyn Henson's DIY tutorial but changed a few things around.
I used a 8x10 canvas since I couldn't find a 5x7.  I also added leaves since it looked a little "spacey" when I was finished. Here are the steps of my project:
Paint colors are from Michael's: White, Deep Midnight Blue, Foliage Green, Pink Blossom, Pink, Citron Green, Lavender, Ocean Breeze

Check out her tutorial for a more detailed version. It was so fun & easy to make! I might make another for myself since the canvases at Michael's were BOGO free :)

I'm enjoying my last week of "break" before my summer classes start up next Monday! Happy Tuesday!

Graduation!

Hey y'all! Recently I fell off of the face of the earth. But {hopefully} I'm back for good.  Recently I've graduated, started grad school 4 days later, finished up the elementary school year, and am ready for my one week off! I'm looking forward to a trip to Richmond next week and the BEACH in 2 weeks!! :)   First off, to catch up on graduation: May 17th was absolutely perfect! Besides the extreme weather (scorching hot during outdoor ceremony and then pouring rain as we ran to the car) I couldn't have asked for a better day. I feel so proud to have graduated from the best university on earth!  

We had a "reception" at my house afterwards - food catered by the DELICIOUS Hethwood Market, a cake from Our Daily Bread and delicious Sweet Little Jo truffles from my girl Sara! They were seriously to die for.   One of my big gifts was an iPad from Mama! I am loving it! I would love any app suggestions!  
So thankful to all of my friends and family who celebrated with me near & far!

I'm a GRADUATE!

Today is the day.

I am an official graduate!

Don't ask me where the time went...because I have NO IDEA!

 

I was born and raised a Hokie and I wish I could stay at Virginia Tech forever (seriously) but I am excited for where my future will take me.

I am so excited to get to work in grad school and then look forward to having my own classroom shortly thereafter, which I'm sure will have it's fair share of maroon & orange.

I am so thankful for what these past four years have provided me with & I will look back on them with many smiles.

To everyone who helped me along the way -- thank you <3

 

my cap!

Feeling incredibly blessed!

Time to celebrate!   To follow along with the fun, follow me on instagram:: @sarah_ryan3

This is it.

4 years, 8 semesters and many classes later...my last day of classes at Virginia Tech is here.
I never used to believe the whole "time flies" saying.  When people would tell me to enjoy college because it flies by, I would smile and say "Okay!" but always thought they were crazy. Because for a while, time moved really slow. I thought college would take forever.  Sophomore year turned to junior year at the speed of molasses.  I saw graduation as a tiny little bit of light at the end of a very long tunnel.  Especially after changing my major twice freshman year, I thought I would be here forever catching up.  Not that that was a bad thing, since I am absolutely in love with my school. So I just kept on keepin' on...
But here I am...about to pack my backpack for the last time, take my last walk to campus and sit through my last 75 minutes of academics at Virginia Tech. Afterwards, I'm going to spend the rest of my very last meal plan at Hokie Grill - I'll never get to have Chick-fil-A on the meal plan again... Then I'm going to make the long stroll back to my apartment and try to not cry my eyes out as I wonder to myself WHERE DID THE LAST FOUR YEARS GO? I honestly feel like it was 3 days ago that I was googling where "Wallace Hall" was located and wondering how on EARTH was I going to make it there from McBryde in 15 minutes...   To all the young and/or future Hokies out there - or really any college students - do not waste this precious time you have been given. LIVE IT UP! Take your academics seriously, but take absolutely every amazing opportunity you run across.  Have lunch with every single one of your friends.  Go to silly campus events, make a midnight run to WalMart and PLEASE always take a study break to go to Sweet Frog.  This is your chance to live life with no regrets - to try something new, just to say you did - to find a new hobby - to really change your life. Time literally does fly by when you're in college.  And I'm not just saying that...believe me :)
Okay, I'm off! Wish me luck! ;)

I'm Currently Loving...

I sort of missed out on WILW, so today I'm going to share some things that I'm "currently loving"!
{Paper Straws}

I am just obsessed with these cute things! Especially if they're in a mason jar. Perfection. I'm thinking of getting some for my graduation party...any idea where I can find them in stores? :)
{Beach Themed Bathrooms}

I got to paint/decorate the half bath at home & I went with a beach theme.  I painted the walls a bright coral color, however I love this soft blue as well! I really like the idea of putting shells in some apothecary jars. I have so many shells from various beaches!   {Countdowns}

 And by last day of classes, I mean last day of everything undergrad! I don't have any finals scheduled for exam week so once the clock strikes 12:15 on May 7, I'm done. *time to partyyyyyyy!* Then we have 10 days to go after that until graduation!   {Sangria}

Citrusy Champagne Sangria

I tried sangria for the first time at the wedding! It was so delicious. Very fruity and I could hardly taste the wine...which was good and bad. I downed it! I want to try more sangria recipes now. I love sweet, fruity drinks so I'm excited to find new recipes. Do you know of any good ones?? 

What are y'all loving these days?
  Have a wonderful week! Almost FRIDAY!

Friday Five: 5 Favorite Grad Photos!

Hey y'all! Happy Friday! Man, I am SO glad that Friday is here. I have had a heck of a week! I substituted in a first grade class Mon-Wed and had soooo much fun. I worked Monday and Wednesday - which was an early release. We made kites that took about an hour to put together, and then five seconds to get unbelievably tangled. Thursday was a "normal" day...and I started a new workout video! Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30. Have any of you done this video? Obviously I did level 1 and HOLY smokes it was pretty tough! I had done a bit of jump roping before hand so I was already a little sore from that (it's more of a workout than I remember!) but I'm hoping I get used to it!
Anyway, today is Friday and I am substituting in my kindergarten class! :) I have missed those babes so so so much during all of these sub days I've done so far. They are too cute when they see me with another class in the hall - they get so confused! It's like I'm cheating on them! I am so happy to get to spend the whole entire day with those sweet kids.
I'm going to leave you with a little Friday Five fun and share my 5 favorite pictures we took last weekend.  Mom and I went around campus to shoot some pictures to use for my graduation announcements. I'll share those later! :)
At Lane Stadium:

At War Memorial:

At Burruss:

Oh my gosh...I am in love with my school! The only reason I am "OK" with graduation is because I'm not moving away from Blacksburg quite yet! I can still take a jog or walk my pup through this beautiful campus anytime I want to :)  
I mean seriously...I could not say goodbye to this yet...

Tech, Tech, VPI til the day I die!

TGIF!

HELP! Graduation Advice, Please :)

The countdown now reads: 44 days left until graduation!

On May 17th, I will walk in both my university and department graduation ceremonies. I am so excited, it's unreal. I am in the midst of creating announcements and I will be sure to share them here! However, I need some help with some other decisions I need to make! Hopefully y'all can help me!
1. To decorate or not to decorate? I have seen the cutest graduation caps on other blogs & pinterest. I can't decide if I want to decorate mine or not! Right now I'm leaning towards yes, decorate...any advice? What sort of paint/pen should I use? If I print out something, how do you attach it to your cap?? I was thinking of putting my monogram & maybe some message? Maybe a bow? Maybe an apple to represent me being a future teacher? I have no idea!
2. What to wear!? I know I am going to wear a dress, but I am stumped on what dress to wear. My gown is black. I have a strapless, white eyelet dress OR a Lilly dress OR another solid color dress. This may require it's own post later on! Right now I'm leaning towards Lilly. Advice??
3. Flat sandals or wedges? This is another tough decision. I'll most likely be doing lots of walking, so I can't decide if I want to be comfy in sandals (Jacks) or be a little more dressy/cute/tall in wedges? What do y'all think?
4. Did you carry something with you? I'm thinking that I'll want my phone with me, maybe some chapstick or something...did y'all carry a clutch or anything with you? Or did your outfit have pockets? I guess this will be something to consider when choosing my dress!
5. Miscellaneous Anything that you wish you had with you/hadn't done/had done?? Did I miss something I need to think about? I am up for any and all advice!

Thanks, friends! I appreciate your help!   Happy Wednesday!