A Very Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone. It's been a whirlwind this past month or so with Thanksgiving, my thesis being due and graduation, Christmastime and all that comes with that and of course the lingering question of What Now? What Now you ask? I don't really know. Job hunting and seeing where the Lord leads me.

This Christmas was filled with white elephant gift exchanges, last minute coffee dates while running errands, a lot of wondering, a ton of joy, renewing my commitment to Christ amongst some of my favorite people, watching holiday classics with friends while working on my favorite gift (a Valentines wreath) for my Mom. It wasn't the Christmas season I necessarily imagined, but I did have a lot of fun. I spent Christmas Eve with my family, Aunt Polly and Uncle Jim. It's a Christmas tradition and one of my favorites. Christmas Day was spent with my family and my brother and his kids. I still can't believe Christmas has come and gone.

& Just A Few Christmas Links From Me to You:
These are a ton of Chrstimas-y links, but I did enjoy back reading blogs today as everyone slept and I caught up on my TV.

If you enjoyed the kids nativity video on my last post, you will love this kids nativity scene inspired photoshoot. It's not just because her photography is gorgeous, but her creativity is impeccable and always in abundance.

There's something about Christmas decorations that make the holiday season so fun. This can't beat the traditional tree, but it is pretty whimsical. Then again, this is a pretty good tree too - and a great place for all those books that just don't fit on your book shelf all at once.

The lack of Texas snow this year makes it hard to envision the white Christmas, next year we'll have to go man-made on the snow. (Check out the video on the comments to see. It is awesome!) Until then, snow men will be made out of creativity. Making snowflakes is often necessary to pretend as well, especially if Darth Vader is there. If not, have Chewbacca sing Silent Night as a substitute.

One of my favorite holiday activities is wrapping Christmas presents while watching classic holiday favorites on ABC Family while enjoying some hot chocolate. It's just not Christmas until I've seen Frosty, Rudolph and Santa on the big screen. Wishing I could use some of the gift wrapping ideas or decorations like these: retro, pinecones, tying perfect bows, and cute labels, sheen and sparkle from melted crayons, fringe pom garlands and super sweet gift toppers.

Possibly some of the worlds' cutest front yard decorations.
Possibly one of my favorite Christmas Improv Videos.
Possibly one of the funniest versions of Christmas songs I've heard.
Possibly one of the most informative Christmas how-to videos. Want a candy cane?
Possibly one of the best Christmas musical uses of an ipad by a church.
Possibly one of the most interesting Christmas raps. Jack Frost creepin'...
Possibly one of the most inspirational story/song combos I've seen this year.
Possibly one of the videos that demonstrates what the visions of Christmas are.
Possibly one of the most fun holiday cards I've ever seen.
Possibly one of the greatest explanations of Santa Claus internationally.
Possibly one of the best versions of Mary Did You Know? It's Darth Vader style.
Possibly one of the most Aggie Spirited Christmas houses ever.
Possibly one of the best renditions of Bethlehemian Rhapsody I have ever seen.
& Fabulous pictures encapsulating the holiday season.

It would have been fun to wear something glitzy like this scarf though, but my flannel was good too. I possibly should have done something red and glitzy for Christmas nails, but I'm thoroughly enjoying my natural silver glitter nails I got done with Elley right before the holidays.

Hope you had yourself a very merry Christmas!

Really Cute Nativity Scene

Today was the Journey to Christ Lunch. I've really enjoyed doing that every Monday night. I'm definitely going to miss it. Tonight was also Live Nativity at the church and our youth did wonderful as always. I saw this video last week and still can't get over the cute-ness of these children.

Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I'm currently watching the Aggies and Longhorns play their last rivalry game for quite some time. It hasn't really felt like Thanksgiving here, just time at home with the family.

Some of the things I'm thankful for this season are...
Grace and salvation from my savior. Family and friends. Plan B's. The whole summer in Rio Frio, Costa Rica. My Tico Family. A&M UMC, especially the youth group. Inspiration. Holiday flavors - pumpkin! Clyde and Lori's antics. Foodgawker. Laughter. Opportunities. Cupcakes. Tears from growth and obedience. The Otter Family. Yogurtland. Bella the soccer playing dog. Those Forever Friends. My phone holding on this long. Almost being done with school. God's protection. Creativity. Second Chances. Relaxation. Trick shots. Surviving 22 hours. Fresh fruit. Getting lost in movies. Getting lost on road trips. Boots. Freedom. Possibilities. Dreams. Chai tea lattes. & So much more...

Getting Back Into the Groove

Between working on my thesis paper, job hunting, hanging out with the youth group and missing critical steps to graduation such as getting a cap and gown*, I've kind of let the blog go by the wayside as many of y'all have let me know. I am hoping to get a good uploading of Project 365 which has been so much harder than I previously anticipated to keep up with it for this semester. Until then, enjoy some things that have caught my eye around the internet.

*If you have a black cap with a tassle, can I borrow it?

I am aware that Thanksgiving is approaching rather rapidly, but these Valentines animal cookies are pretty cute.

I thought by this point in the semester I would have read a lot more books for fun that don't deal with Costa Rican economics. At least there's other uses for books that are just as awesome.

Christmas is coming up. I'm not sure if any of y'all have noticed it's arrival which began possibly in late July and hit full force by the first week of October. Too bad my Dad doesn't need to wear a tie anymore, because this one would be the great gift of ties - especially for lunch meetings.

Felt pennants have somehow stolen my heart over the last year. So simple, yet so perfect.YAAAY!!!

I tried training for a half marathon a few years ago. I've decided that I'm so much better at other things that I probably shouldn't waste my time on it. (This really means that I can't get to that 2 mile marker without dying.) This news article about an extreme marathoner not only puts me to shame, but I'm pretty sure he's insane.

I'm short, like really short. This sign makes me chuckle just thinking about shortness. 

My best friend, Laura, came to visit me at college a few weekends ago. We got into a conversation on ruggedness. Not what you were expecting? Yeah, us either. Apparently, I love the creativity of something unique, bold and rugged.

This cartoon has been circling for awhile, but it still makes me laugh when I see it.

This book is on my to-read list.

I have very few stuffed animals that I have kept. (This does not include an entire Beanie Babies collection, but hey, that's just the 90s inside of me not willing to let go!) Decorating with these cute little critters might change my mind though. Just look at that squirrel!

I'm a vintage shopper. I'm a vintage collector. I'm a vintage decorator. I love this vintage owl cookie jar.

I could probably go on for a bit longer, but I'll just say sayonara here. 

Hello there Katie!

Katie and I got to head out on a fun adventure that took us all over the Texas A&M campus for her senior portraits we did last May. It was a fun day with my friend not only shooting, but remembering the laughter and tears we had over the previous four years. This semester, she is truly missed. Missing you today Katie!

 

Dearest Fall, Hello!

Fall has officially come in Texas. By officially has come, I do mean between the hours of 8PM and 8AM. A girl can still dream though, right? Who knew Fall could be so hot?

Boots. Scarves. Typewriters. Nail Polish. Fun Navajo Inspired Patterns. Fleece Blankets. Star Gazing. Pumkin Spice Lattes. Bowties on Dogs. What makes you think of Fall?

Be satisfied. Be content.

Psalm 63. A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.  

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.  
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.  

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 
Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.  
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.  

They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth.  
They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.  

But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God's name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Wonderfulness!

Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day. By crazy, I mean I will approximately spend at least a good 8 hours sitting with my thesis. I will also enjoy a game night with the Otter Family or what portion of it that isn't sucked into Aggie football. Yep, I just said that. In honor of tomorrow, I have been doing everything online that I know I will want to instead of my thesis, but can't. Enjoy the wonderfulness that I have collected. :)


I love little kids and things that they say are one of those reasons.

Braids are so pretty to me. I wish my hair would cooperate and hold one well.

You could say I'm a big fan of backpacks, but I'm kind of starting to love utility bags. 

I always thought fisher of men bracelets were kind of cheesy, but I'd wear one of these in less than a heartbeat. I just can't stop looking at them!

I have a definite love for hammocks. This hammock-y invention makes me want to nap outside in the sun!

Shutters on a wall. Yes, I'd do it.

I will probably never in my life be cool enough to rock this necklace, but something about it just makes me happy.

It's a little hard for me to find an artist that I am crazy in love with their style where I almost want to buy every single piece of theirs. Cristopher Stott may have just become one of my faves though. I mean, paintings of suitcases and other vintage items? Yes, please!

Things Hanna and I should have thought of when living in the dorm. 

Sometimes, it's hard to make a good pie-related decision.

I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for a vintage suitcases. I have 3 currently in my room. Ron Baron must agree with me on their loveliness because his sculptures from them are incredible.  

Can we talk about how I completely do not understand this video. HOW? 

It's no secret that I love to travel. I mean, maps in and of themselves are artworks. Making them into a piece of artwork is even better though.


& If you're worried about me getting my thesis done. Don't be. I had these all bookmarked so I'm really not searching the web for ways to procrastinate. Yeah? Okay... I'll go work on my thesis.

Funny. Awkward. Yep, Let's Talk about Dating.

Edit: This was started in May and is being finished now, like when I hit publish now. I've had several discussions with both guys and girls over the last few weeks about this topic of dating and singleness. A lot of woe as me has been discussed. A lot of this has been good chatter about the gifts of singleness. I started compiling this listing of sources that I personally have been able to find some strength in. Also, I listened to the two sermons this weekend on a long drive this weekend and let me just say, that was fabulous use of my time.

It's a rather intriguing thing that most sermons about dating are pointed towards, well, dating. There's not so many on singleness. Talks on singleness preached by someone in a relationship or married just seem kind of confusing because the person is not single. The guy that does these sermons is single - which provides both laughter and honesty from a single to a single and from a single to dating/married friends as well. [/endedit].


I am single. I'm writing this in May and will probably post it much later in the summer when I'm in Costa Rica. I'm pretty confident though that the initial statement in this post won't change. I've read a lot of great posts about the subject lately. I'm not sure if I'm drawn to the subject or they just happen to find me. Either way, I hope you can gain some insight into singleness with these links:

Never dated. Never asked out. Never rejected.

Singleness with a purpose.

& A dash of funny because I've definitely encountered the awkward singleness question.

Check out these resources: God's take on dating and how to be a wise woman as well.

The September 2005 Village Church podcasts entitled Single-Minded (Part 1): "It is better to marry than to burn..." and Single-Minded (Part 2): "It is good to remain as you are...". I really hope you can find them through itunes still. They are gems.

Today, I'm Missing Friends, Family & Retreats

There's this wonderful family called the Williamsons that I have lived life alongside of for years. I got the chance to go on family retreat with them awhile ago, like two years ago. It was great catching up with them as I don't get to see them too often. There were awesome moments of teasing and SkipBo and more laughter than should be permitted. Here's some memories from that retreat that I never got around to posting:

 

Seeing these pictures me miss the family a lot.
Good thing I should be seeing them soon.
Also, I kind of want to go on a retreat now...

Website

I have redesigned my joyephotography website and wanted to show it to y'all.  I hope y'all enjoy it. It needs a lot more updated photos, but I wanted to get it up and running again. Let me know any feedback y'all have!

217. 218. 219. [220-222]. 223. 224. [225-233]. 234. [235-237]. 238. 239. [240-242]. 243. 244. 245. [246]. 237. 248. 249. 250! [251-256]. 257. 258. [259]. 260!

It's been about a month since I've been back from studying abroad in Costa Rica with the Quiocho Family. Being back is still extremely weird to me on many different levels. A lot of things have happened in the last few weeks. I've gone back to college and begun trying to readjust back into my 'old' life. It doesn't seem to  really be fitting back together. I'm in a major period of transition from college kid to adult and I'm not a fan of this change at all. Also, I am completely lost as to where my life is leading to say the least.

I realized that I never finished updating my pictures from Costa Rica. In addition to that I have become a slacker on my Project 365 as I have become incredibly horrible at remembering to take photos over this past month. I'm not sure why exactly that my photo taking has decreased, but it is finally starting to increase back up to the daily photo which is good. I'm guessing that the slacking is probably due to a lack of desire, which is what I seem to have for many things that are happening around me right now...

 twohundredandseventeen. unseenbeauty: colorwaitingtohappen.

 twohundredandeighteen. unseenbeauty: beingabletoseevolcanoarenalfrommyroom.

 twohundredandnineteen. unseenbeauty: vacationdayswithfriendsthatarenowfamily.

 twohundredandtwenty through twohundredandtwentytwo. Sad no photo days.

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twohundredandtwentyfive through twohundredandthirtythree. Sad no photo days.

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twohundredandthirtyfive through twohundredandthirtyseven. Sad no photo days.

twohundredandthirtyeight. unseenbeauty: timeisplentiful.

twohundredandthirtynine. unseenbeauty: sweetfunnyClydeboy.
twohundredandforty through twohundredandfortytwo. Sad no photo days.

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 twohundredandfortysix. Sad no photo day.

twohundredandfortyseven. unseenbeauty: beingbackatcollege.

 twohundredandfortyeight. unseenbeauty: havingpeopleandsituationstomiss.

 twohundredandfortynine. unseenbeauty: knowingthattearswillcomeanditwillbeokay.

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twohundredandfifyone through twohundredandfiftysix. Sad no photo days.

 twohundredandfiftyseven. unseenbeauty: learninghowtoimprovise.

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 twohundredandfiftyeightcontinued. unseenbeauty: gettingreallygoodatbaking.
twohundredandfifynine. Sad no photo day.

twohundredandsixty. unseenbeauty: obtainingthatmuchcovetedaggiering.

Keeper

Psalm 121

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
² My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴ Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
⁸ The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

Words... about Costa Rica.

Check out Ted & Gracie's August newsletter and read about basically what I did this summer. Yes, there's been pictures but this newsletter actually has words. Haha.

Ok, it seems weird to not post a picture, so enjoy this sweet picture of my friend, Eposi, jumping rope at the school in Finca 1. :)

Funky Designs.

Things have been kind of crazy since I got back, so I'm just going to let y'all enjoy some fun design stuff that I found around the blogosphere before I left for Costa Rica. More updates on life back here in the states when I get a chance and things settle down.

=======================================================
Lego of all your previous designs, this wall is way to fun to pass up!

Months after seeing this, I am still floored this is someone's dorm room.

What childhood memories could be created sleeping and dreaming in a tree house.

Not sure if I'd live in a real tree house, but I wouldn't mind spending a few nights.

Money usually allows people to buy design, but why not make money into design?

My Fireside DVD is quite comfy, but the i-Log could take it that comfy-ness a whole new level.

Ribbon is quickly becoming one of my favorite decorative items.

Some people train their dogs to shake. Some people train their kids to put socks into dressers.

This isn't really design room-related but these little potted flowers are adorable.

Sometimes I want to have my own roped-off space, yet have yelling access to people nearby. A rope wall combines this quite nicely.

Who said when you grow up you have to paint inside the lines?

Speaking of painting, I'm in love with this artist's abstract designs and vibrant colors.

Costa Rica Update + Fun Things

I'm here on one of my last nights in Costa Rica trying to process that this whole thing is over. Well, I say I'm processing, but I'm really waiting to leave for our Mother's Day Church Party. Tomorrow, here in Costa Rica, is Mother's Day. I will wake up and say goodbye to my Costa Rican Mom, Gracie, and return in Houston to say hello to my Mom. It's so strange to think about and draws tears to my eyes, so I try not to.

I did break down last night. Cristina and Angie spent the night last night with me. We had the big room with all the bunk beds to ourselves. With 4 bunk beds, we decided to crawl (all 3 of us!) into one bed to spend our last night shedding tears and laughter together. I wouldn't have changed my last night with them for anything. Before bedtime, we had a bunch of the families over for some games, dinner and goodbyes. It was wonderful. This morning, we trekked around the neighborhood for a bit, cleaned up the house and had lunch at Alejandro and Yendri's before heading back to San Jose. I still can't believe that I'll be in Houston this time in two days and not waiting to head back to Rio Frio.

So, to not think about it, let's talk about something less well, SAD!
I read blogs late into the night a few weeks before I came to Costa Rica delving into photography, design, typography, fashion, etc. etc. Here are some fun things I found through those readings:
=========================================================

First off, my heart longs to canoe. Second, how great would it be to see through the canoe?

I hate to see things like cassette tapes fade into the past. Making it into a MP3 player? Yes, please!

Icebreaker games can be so hit or miss. Icebreaker nametags though make me actually kind of want to wear a nametag.

Who knew your face could be a blank canvas? Mustaches and beards as art is cool.

How cute is the kid in the rocket ship? Adorable? Yes, that's what I thought.

Sticky notes, you have become so fun. Floppy disks, apples, tweets? Fabulous!

I love traveling. Clyde does too. I'm sure he's too big for this, but he does need an airstream.

This cracks me up! Guess no one will be stealing my sandwiches anytime soon...

Who says knowledge can't be mapped out? Especially by nerdy kitties that make everything better?

USB Drives either seem to be the ugliest computer accessories or the most interesting. A roll of film USB makes me smile.

Sometimes cheesy things are, well, cheesy. Sometimes I love them. Have a ball this summer!

Last summer, I transformed a lions tail into a leopards tail. These could have come in so handy.

209. 210. [211]. 212. [213]. 214. 215. 216.

twohundredandnine. unseenbeauty: newfriendscomingtovisit.

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twohundredandeleven. Sad no photo day.

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twohundredandthirteen. Sad no photo day.

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At least this week I've been consistent with my inconsistency of taking photos. Somehow I've made my Project 365 into a Project Take A Photo Every Other Day. Hopefully that will change this week.

These past few days, I made some new friends and worked countless hours on my COMM 485 paper over social media. The good news though is that my paper is done! It possibly has the longest works cited ever though. It was supposed to be a 12 to 15 paper and despite it ending up to be much longer, the works cited ended up being 15 pages in itself!

In other news, I got to visit the clinic this week. No parasites here! :)

192. [193]. 194. 195! [196]. 197. [198]. 199. [200-205]. 206. [207]. 208.

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onehundredninetyfourcontinued. unseenbeauty: life.

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onehundredninetysix. Sad no photo day.

onehundredninetyseven. unseenbeauty: learningtodolaundry.

onehundredninetyeight. Sad no photo day.

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twohundred through twohundredandfive. Sad no photo days.

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twohundredandseven. Sad no photo day.

twohundredandeight. unseenbeauty: gettingtodiscovernewcoffeeshops.

I didn't seem to have my camera on me much these past two weeks. We had the BIG Team in from Arizona. It was a youth team and although it was fun, it really made me miss my youth group in CS. I'll be back there soon though!