Last Introduction for June

Hey there!! Hope everyone is having a fantabulous week... I sure am (or at least, I know I will be... writing this post in advance) lol. Who wouldn't have a grand ol' time in Maui for two week, marrying her very best friend surrounded by family and loved ones?!?!

I wanted to share with you all a great blog to read...

Holly @ Running in Stilettos

Holly rocks with her bangin' style, and she has much to say about life!! Go visit her and I promise I won't say, "Told ya' so!" :)

Interested in sponsoring or swapping buttons? Hollllahhh!!!

Arts and Craft Time - Guest Post

Hi! I'm Brook from Cutesy Bootsie and I'm so happy to be a guest here at la la Love, Learn and Laugh while Beverly is becoming a Mrs. I blog about whatever seems to be going on in my life, knitting and
crafts, my reality TV addiction, clothes and accessories I love, Pinterest, and recipes I have managed to
follow.

Today I am sharing with you one of my favorite things: washi tape!  Here's a secret, I have a little decorative box that is filled with washi tape.  I love the stuff!  When I first started seeing washi tape projects on my other obsession, Pinterest, I knew I needed some.  I couldn't find any except one or two patterns at the craft store.  Finally I ordered some from cutetape.com then I found some in the office supply aisle at Target. 

Supplies:

• washi tape
• wooden word or letter
• X-acto knife

Start by covering your word with your tape.  Line it up.  If your letters aren't straight, figure out how to keep your tape straight.  Or, tape it on an angle.  Seriously, there is no right or wrong way to be creative.

in order to
keep it consistent, I covered the whole way across

After it is all covered, use your X-acto knife to carefully cut away the excess tape.  I cut around the letters - inside and out.

Voila!

That's it!  Nearly instant gratification and a fun way to use that washi tape stash.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Ms. Brook for guest posting today!! Love arts and craft, and this is simply adorbs and totes do-able!! Visit Brook at Cutesy Bootsie!

Meet and Greet- Coming from the MRS.!!

Why hello there readers!! By this time, I am MRS. PHILIPP!! Wooooooooooop!!! I can't wait to come back from Maui and fill you in with all the deets, and of course the wonderful pics! WARNING: I will probably be talking about the wedding for quite some time on this bloggy blog, so be ready!

Until then, let's get down to my next group of June gal pals! First up...

Courtney @ Little Moments

Hi! I am Courtney and I blog over at Little Moments! I am an Interior Designer that works in commercial design for hotels and resorts during the day, but LOVE to craft, design and look at the "pretty" things of design that doesn't involve the paperwork that comes with commercial design. That's where my blog took off. Join me for adventures in daily design, DIY projects and all the "little moments" around my semi-newlywed household!

This gal has got quite some taste with her home decor, and her taste buds!! Look at her pictures... they all say so!

Next up is...

Meghan @ Shine On

Meghan is super adorbs... I love reading about her new adventures she is getting ready to take, especially a move from TN back to WA (yessss we'll be blogging neighbors!!).

Alright alright... go and pay them a visit now.. CHOP CHOP!

Wedding Lessons - Guest Post

Hello to Beverly’s lovely readers. My name is Molly and I blog over at Carry Your Heart With Me. I am so excited to be guest blogging for Beverly while she is in fabulous Hawaii getting married. I love weddings, and can’t believe it has been almost nine months since I walked down the aisle. I married my high school sweetheart in late September at my parent’s gorgeous lake house. I want to share a few pictures, and also what I learned from the whole experience. 

Lesson # 1= Really cute dogs make wedding pictures even better. 

I wore these for 45% of my wedding day

I am in love with this picture and used it for our Christmas cards.  

 Lesson # 2

Don't be afraid to DIY. I make those Mr. and Mrs. signs using cheap wooden frames and letters from Hobby Lobby. They were super cute and now are hanging in our new house. All the DIY's made it feel so much more special and individual to Lane and me. 

I made these cake toppers using scrabble tiles and lolly-pop sticks from Hobby Lobby. They were adorable and allowed us to personalize our TEN cakes. Which brings us to: 

Wedding Lesson #3

Look for options that may not be geared toward weddings. There is an amazing bakery in Atlanta called Southern Sweets. Their weddings cakes were a little out of budget, but it was super reasonable to just order ten of their cakes. This allowed us to have eight different kinds of cake and also an assortment of really cute cake toppers. 

Wedding Lesson # 4

Be Happy! Plenty of things can go wrong at your wedding. To list a few at mine: the caters forgot the wine at first, the laptop with music for cocktail house was missing its power cord, it poured rain all day Friday, and to top it all off I sliced my finger open about ten minutes into taking pictures after the ceremony. However, I barely remember those things. What I remember is the look on Lane's face when I came down the aisle. I remember the excitement I felt arriving at the reception. I remember the joy I felt when everyone told me how much the wedding felt like us. I believe that what is important to you as a couple should be reflected in your wedding. 

I am so thrilled for Beverly and her handsome groom.  If you want to here more about me, come stop by my blog and say hello. I blog about decorating my new house, life as an Army Wife, my obsession with Kate Middleton, and the search for the perfect job. 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you amazing Dads out there!!! And to my POPS!! You have been the most awesome father I can ever ask for. Each day, our bond grows stronger, and I am so blessed that God has blessed me with a great role model in life who has taught me to live life to the fullest, and to never be blind to anyone or anything! I love you so much DAD, and YOU ROCK MY SOCKS!!

Hooray..Hooray...It's FRIDAYYY!!

TGIF!! Last working day before we peace out to Maui, and I am oh so excited!! But FIRST, we must kick this morning off with a High Five for Friday link up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk!

Top five fave things of the week are....

:: one ::

My cousin Kyle graduated form high school on Wednesday! WOOP!! I'm so excited and proud of him!! It's been one long journey through his high school years, but he pulled through with a diploma and a smile on his face!! AND our cousin Coco graduated too! Same school, same class, same coolness!

:: two ::

Got my Birchbox for the month, and what a perfect start to packing for the trip!! The them is Jet Set, and got tons of goodies in there to help prepare me for the sun and some!

:: three ::

My Bestie of all America sent me THE gift I've been awaiting for all my life!!! Feast your eyeballs on this!! Can't wait to buy all the different flavors in the world and brew coffee whenever I want to!! In either my spiffy new coffee pot from my SIL, or a single cup from the nice Keurig my Bestie best bought me!!

:: four ::

Oregon State University is having their commencement ceremony this Sunday. AND they are ooberly lucky to have the First Lady come speak! The good thing about working in the Football office is this view!! Amazing how much time and effort is put into the ceremony!

:: five :: 

I'm tickled pink I get to marry the man of my life, my best friend, my BOO!

Although I'll be gone and MIA from the blog visits I regularly do, don't stay away from my hood! I have posts scheduled and some guest posting goin' on!! Stay tuned my friends... and if I don't respond in the next two weeks, please know I LA LA LOVE YOU GUYS and I shall be on and poppin' when I get back... as a WIFE!!

From Blog Life to REAL Life!

No, you're not cray cray... this is my 2nd post for today. How can I pass up a super duper fun lookin' link up with Jessica from Lovely Little Things and Britt from The Magnolia Pair?!?!

Let's get to it, and answer some questions about From Blog Life to Real Life!!

1. Do you have any real life blog friends? 

 I sho' do! We were frannnds before blogging ;) Her name is Nita and she blogs at bits-and-pieces. She's a newbie to the bloggy blog world, so go show her some la la love!! She's a crack up!

2. Which blogger are you just dying to meet?

Soooo not a one person answer because I honestly wanna meet errrrryone! But, I'd love to meet Steph from Steph Sweet Life, Liz from Liz's Lovely Life, Bree from The Thing About Joy, Jess @ Lovely Little Things, Molly from Carry Your Heart with Me and on and on! Oh and Tieka from Selective Potential! Her blog is full of fun outfits, and she's so relatable :)

3. Which blogger's closet do you want to raid? 

Hands down Anna's closet from Fash Boulevard! I swear she has a different outfit for every day and her accessories are bangin! I would KILL to live in her closet!

4. You are stuck on an island. Which blogger would you want with you to help you survive? 

Since she's Ms. travel pants and has seen lots of the world (more than I have), I would say Emily from Emmy June. She would have the happs with what's strange vs. normal so I wouldn't freak out!

5. The first blogger you remember "meeting" and connecting with? 

Ms. Jess at Lovely Little Things! I remember stumbling across her blog and reading her "About Me"... and it was as if I was reading the future of my blog. I totes related to her being a student, working, and trying to really just appreciate the present for what it's worth instead of being on the go go go (like most of us are). I emailed her a few times, and still do to this day... she's been nothing but supportive since DAY 1!

6. Any blogger that you admire and look up to? 

I ooberly love Kelley at A Crooked Trail! Thank goodness I was paired up with her for the Send Something Good project... she is one unique gal, and I absolutely admire and adore how she marches to the beat of her own drummer!

7. Who is the craziest/funniest blogger? 

I get a good laugh whenever I read Michelle's post at The Vintage Apple. She's even funny with her tweets and love the cray cray pictures she posts of herself with silly faces! She's got tons going on with life and always looks at the bright side with some chuckles in it!

8. There's a reality television show for bloggers, who would you want to be casted with you? 

Definitely Michelle at Mish Lovin' Life!! She is ooberly funny, has no filter, and I LOVE IT!!

9. Some bloggers have really cool jobs, anybody you'd like to swap careers with? 

Hmmmmm... I would have to say my bestie, Lauren Conrad. She has the best career because she's doing it ALL!! I can imagine that she never has the same day within a week.. or even a month! And yes, she is a blogger!

10. Favorite blog design?

Absolutely loveeeeeeee Kinsey from Sincerely, Kinsey. It's super duper chic and classy!

Another group of Meet and Greets!

6 days until the I DO's and 3 days until we leave for Maui!!!!

It's a happy thursday around herr, and what better way to start the morning off than to bring to you another round of June sponsors!! I would love to introduce you to a lovely gang of gals!

Maylon, Hailey, and Shian @ Southern Flair

Hey yall! We are Maylon, Hailey, & Shian from Southern Flair. We are three best friends living our lives to the absolute fullest in the sunny South. Our town is very small so we needed an outlet and something to do in such a boring town. And from there, Southern Flair was born :) We like to blog about our shared loves for fitness, fashion, and most importantly our Faith. We hope that you will stop by and check us out! We would love to hear from yall :)

They're super cute, and I love how they blog as a fun group of friends! Next up.......

Stephanie @ The Anecdote of my Life

This blog is the Anecdote of MY life...This blog is an insightful blog from a gal who lives in the midwest and who is just trying to make her way in the world. I promote learning to love yourself...love those around you...and try to appreciate the small things in life and live each day to the fullest. So come check out my blog and i promise you will not regret it!

She has another blog which she schools on some fitness in our lives!!  

There you have them... go and stop to say hello to these lovely ladies!

My Love... My Pins

Hellllo hump day! Today marks the ONE WEEK countdown!! That's right folks... seven days from today at this very moment, I'll probably be running around like a mad woman trying to make sure everything is set up right, getting ready, making sure all the bridesmaids are ready, and everything else to conquer the world as the bride should on her wedding day, right??

Linking up with Ms. Michelle from The Vintage Apple, I'm joining in on another Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday! I'm in the la la loving mood, and wanted to spotlight my pins on some romantical ones, and wedding shots I've been obsessing over! Feast your eyes on these pins!! (please note, Pinterest has been acting up on my computer for the past few days, so I will put up the sources as soon as I am able to!)

:: one ::

Pinned here

:: two ::

Pinned here

:: three ::

Pinned here

:: four ::

Pinned here

 :: five ::

Pinned here

:: six ::

Pinned here

:: seven ::

Pinned here

:: eight ::

Pinned here

:: nine ::

Pinned here

:: ten ::

Pinned here

Time to pay dues!

WARNING... this post is an informative one, which means not a lotta' fancy pictures, BUT, super duper useful info lies ahead ;)

Guess what comes after the victory of finishing up grad school?... LOANS!! Yes ... all the financial aide that has helped you get through tuition... helped you buy your expensive textbooks that cost as if they were made of gold pages... helped you get that expensive statistical analysis software... helped you get the school supplies you need to get through each semester (and you know you had to shop for these things every semester... that was part of the excitement for me was getting a new planner, a new folder, a new binder, new pens and some!!). It's now time to face the challenge of paying back your lenders for all these mighty fine things that aren't covered in tuition costs.

Since I'm in this boat now, I though I would share some of the basic points with you all that may be getting ready to start repayment, or even if you're in school now, you can see what lies ahead for you!

• You must complete Exit Loan Counseling once you are out of school. This is a resource can actually give you further information about your responsibilities to your lender(s).
• For Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, you will have a six-month grace period, which begins the last day you attend school. This is great news because you're not pressured to find a job the day after school to start repayment... you have six months until they go into repayment.
• You have five different repayment plans to choose from, which work around your lifestyle. The good thing is that you can always switch it up for that one day you find your dream job making diamonds and pearls!
• If you have multiple loans and they confuse you with repayment amounts and due dates, you have an option to consolidate them into a single Direct Consolidation Loan. 
• If you want to check out the status of your loans, feel free to check them out on the National Student Loan Data System. I actually recommend checking this site each semester to check for accuracy.
• Always check with your Financial Aide office on your campus. They are there to help you with any and all questions you may have!

Whatever you do, DO NOT IGNORE THAT YOU HAVE TO REPAY THESE LOANS BACK!! They are always willing to help you out, in any situation you may be in!! I completely understand if this is overwhelming to you. It stresses me out... but not as much as it used to. Besides, with this man being my soon-to-be-husband, he'll help me fight through any battle in life!

What I Loved, Learned, and Laughed About

Happy Monday peeps! Hope your weekend was full of love, laughter and some!! Ours was full of boxing... that's right... my fiancé is a huge fan of Manny Pacquiao! I have to admit that I myself like watching him fight too! He's such a humble man, who is ooberly aggressive in the ring. Things were going just fine in our house... Pacquioa was dominating each round, and even scored higher than Bradley in 11 of the 12 rounds... and then BOOM!! Bradley was announced the winner and our mood in the house just turned super silent. Quite the disappointment to hear that Bradley was announced the new champ... even though the stats (and common sense) said otherwise!! WOMP!!

Good news is that we BBQ'd for the fight, and I had a scrummy turkey burger :) Gotta look on the bright side, right?? Anyhoots, moving on with Monday Funday's post... last week I brought up starting a series on this bloggy blog called my LLL's, which stands for Love, Learn, and Laugh (hence the title of my blog). Without further ado, here are my LLL's of the week!

LOVE

I love that I passed my final defense (if you haven't heard by now)!! It's just a huge accomplishment that I've been waiting for since the day I started grad school! WOOP WOOP!!

LEARN

I learned that this wedding is approaching me wayyyy faster than I imagined!! I've been so indulged with dissertating, that time has been just slippin' away from me... 9 days to be exact.... AHHHHHHHHH!!

LAUGH

I caught an I Love Lucy marathon on Friday AND Sunday, and I from the gut as I always do! I didn't even have to watch the tv to know what was happening... I've watched her episodes so many times, I knew exactly what was happening by hearing it all while I sat at my desk in my office! The episode where Lucy and Ethel bet Ricky and Fred that they can live from the 1900's was on, and watching Lucy knead the dough was hilarious!!

Those were my love, learn, and laugh moments from the week... What were your LLL's of the week?

High Five for c/o of 2012!

TGIF!! Man oh man what a long week it has been!! Monday just started off with a BING BING BANG!! And if you haven't heard why... then read on!

Linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk, we're counting the top fave things of the week, and saying HIGH FIVE for Friday!!!

:: one, two, three, and four ::

That's right.... I'm saying my top 4 faves this week are PASSING, PASSING, PASSING, and PASSING my final defense!! WOOOOOP!!! Told you guys about it here, and telling you about it now... and probably will mention it for the rest of my life!! There's nothing in the world that can explain how I feel... it's slowly sinking in that I actually passed with great feedback from my committee members!! All that's left are a few minor revisions and then applying for my diploma, but I got their signatures and that's the main accomplishment!! Thank you guys so much for your awesome support and encouragement these past strenuous months! I definitely did not do this alone... it took a village ;)

Surprised the family!!

Celebrated with some good lovin' In-N-Out on the way back to the airport.. yes flew for the day, and still recovering!

One of my great friends, Mel (and another cohort) came to watch my defense, and Mel brought me a gift with the most awesome card that I cry when reading for the 5th time! Isn't this the most cutest Michael Kors (professional) business card holder?!

My boo took me to din din the next day to celebrate. Can you guess which meal is who's?

Brings me tears of joy to read encouraging words of congratulations from my loved ones. Even came to work with a ZONE bar on my desk! 

:: five ::

Last but certainly not least, I am so proud of my two cousins (they're both sisters). Ke'ea graduated from high school, and Raelynn graduated from middle school! These two girls are so bright, and I know God will bless them with amazing futures no matter what direction they head in. I am SO proud of these two, and I can't believe they're officially getting older... and so am I! WAHHHH!!! Can't wait to show off pictures next Friday of my other cousin's graduation (Kyle), which I am OH soooo proud of!!

Ke'ea

Nenen

Now it's off to celebrating more graduations this week, and oh yea... getting ready for the wedding we will be taking off for NEXT weekend!! GAHHHHHHH!!! 

Don't forget to link up with From My Grey Desk for your top five faves of the week!