What I find joy in ())-%--

I find joy in having a job! (No, I have not found a summer job yet, but when I do, I will appreciate it so much more!!!) :)

Bling it up with Vintage

This is a ring that I have been bidding on on ebay. I love it. Chances are, I won't win the ring because I don't have all that much money to spend. (btw-- if anyone knows of a place that I can work this summer, let me know!:) However, I am the top bidder as of this moment, and there are only 2 hours left of the bid time.... I know a lot can happen in two hours, but hey, maybe I'll get the ring after all :)

What I find joy in ())-%--

I find joy in driving.

(car on country road)

I Can Do Anything Good

Okay, so I have this awesome friend named Ashley, and I follow her blog. Yesterday, I was looking at it, and she had posted this amazing little video. I instantly fell in love with it, and couldn't resist but to share it! The title of this clip on youtube is actually Jessica's "Daily Affirmation". Perhaps you will wake up tomorrow morning, look in the mirror, and act out this inspiring monologue. Just watch it, and you'll see why I love it so much :) (Thanks Ash for sharing it!)

With a camera and a little touch of pixie dust...

"Life is full of beauty.
Notice it. Notice the bumble bee,
the small child, and the smiling faces.
Smell the rain and feel the wind.
Live your life to the fullest potential,
and fight for your dreams."
--an Ashley Smith quote

A couple days ago, my older sister and I got sick of playing card games (Skip-bo and Wacky Sixes--Justin, those are the names of the games I was trying to remember yesterday!) because we had been playing for nearly 5 hours, so we decided to find something else to do. Guess what we did... We did a mini photo shoot! Oh my lanta, it was one of the funniest things ever! We pulled clothes from each others closets, attached different bed sheets and shower curtains to my bedroom ceiling, and then just had at it!
Yesterday, one of my friends informed me about a nice little website called Picnik where you can play around with pictures and make them all fun... for FREE! Needless to say, I spent a couple hours last night playing around on the website with some of the pictures my sister and I took. Here a just a few of them! Let me know what you think :)

(I had to hold my skirt down, lol :)

It's Only the World

I've been goin down memory lane lately, particularly with Ambassadors my junior year of high school. One of the songs we sang that year was "Only the World" by Mandisa (she was on American Idol a few years back). I absolutely love that song! Our soloist was Sheii Preece (what an amazing vocalist!). I'll admit, there are some days--like today--when I'm alone at the house and I just belt that song out, pretending I was as awesome as Sheii ;) Alas, I am not Sheii, but I still love the song anyway. You can find Sheii soloing (is that a word?) for our group here (on youtube). You can also find more of our numbers if you search Ambassadors 2008 Grand Champions on youtube :)

Family Pictures

Two days before my little bro left for Nauvoo, our family got family pictures!!! My mom had been wanting to get them for years and years, so it was a relief to finally get them :) The photographer was the same woman that did my (and also my sisters) graduation pictures, so it was good to see her again. Woot woot for family pictures!!!
These are just a few of the pictures :) (She took around 200 pictures!!!)

The Cocoa Bean

A long, long time ago, I talked about a cupcake place that I went to with my best friends. Now I am finally introducing it! The name of the lovely little shop is The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe. My, what a cute little place it is! Although I have only been there twice, I plan to venture back for a third visit so that I can gorge on cupcakes of all divine flavors.

(Pictures come from their blog)

I Like

There are just some things that I love the intricate details of. A couple of those things are lace and doilies. Last week, I went shopping with my mom to find clothes that we could wear in a family picture. (We had family pictures taken last week before my little bro left. I'll be putting some of the pictures up in the future). At one of the stores we went to, I found some shirts and vests that had lacey backs, which I immediately fell in love with! I know it's hard to see in the picture (I got tired of trying to make it better quality, that I just made it black and white!), but the back of the shirt is put together like a lacey doily. Unfortunately, I didn't keep the shirt, but I am hopeful that I will find something like it in the future that I can add to my wardrobe :)

Gone for the Summer

He's off! He's gone! He won't be back for 4 months!
Yesterday, we sent my little brother off on his mini mission. He will be gone for 4 months to Nauvoo, where he will be playing in a band. That kid is really quite talented on the drums, other percussion instruments, the guitar, and piano; he will mainly be playing drums and guitar in Nauvoo. As we watched him go through security and out of sight, I was more excited for him than sad. But now as I sit at home, I realize that I am really going to miss my little bro! He'll have a great time though, and I'm just really happy for him and that he has this wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord and do something he loves :)

Having a Preference

When I put make-up on, I typically work on both eyes at the same time. I'll put eye liner on one, then on the other; eye shadow on one, then on the other; mascara on one, then on the other. I don't know why, but I just had the urge this morning to put all the make-up on one eye first to make a comparison between the two. After looking at the differences between each eye, I was reminded of a magazine I looked at yesterday while getting my hair cut. There was an article that talked about natural beauty and the preferences people have on wearing make-up or not. I'm a fence sitter. Some days I just feel like going with the natural look, while most days I tend to wear make-up if I'm leaving the house.
I hope you all have a lovely Tuesday!!!






And here are some pictures of my new haircut for those of you that are interested :) It's not too different from what I had before, but I like it!

A New Head of Hair

Hayley 1

Hayley 2

Hayley 3

Hayley 4

Hayley 5

Hayley Nichole Williams, the lead singer of Paramore, has one nice head of hair! I love how she dyes her hair a daring redish orange, and cuts it up all choppy. Today I actually went to get my hair cut, and I used her style for inspiration. No, I did not dye my hair, but I somewhat immitated her choppy layers.

I don't know what it is, but I tend to like the emo girl haircuts. I'm not necessarily into the black and blue colors, but the grunge is something I like.

Emo Hair 1

Emo Hair 2

Emo Hair 3

Emo Hair 4

Simply words

Hello lovelies :) Welcome to another beautiful Sabbath day! Despite the fact that the sun isn't shining very much here, it is a beautiful day after a night of rain.
So I have been considering starting another blog to go along with this one. It was kind of inspired by the book "Oh the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss. I was thinking that I could start a blog that mainly consists of pictures of me and all the places I go... whether it be to the piano bench in my front room, the post office, a foreign country, or to the sidewalk in front of my best friends house. There are so many places to go, and it could be fun to just keep track of all of them. I will let you know if I get that blog up and running :)
I really love the book Oh the Places You'll Go. My mom gave it to me as a graduation gift last year, and simply put, I am inspired by that little childrens book! If you have not read it, go read it!
Have a lovely Sabbath day :)

A Special Homecoming

Happy Saturday!!! You made it through another week :) So I simply love these paintings of homes. With the first one, I fell in love with the trees surrounding the home, and the peaceful colors. When I am married and looking for a house to buy, I want there to be a lucious green yard with many trees. (There's something about growing up in Utah; sometimes I feel like there's not enough trees and other green plants.)
Today, my older sister is coming home from college! I have to share my room with her for a couple weeks while we paint her room, but I think we will have fun together :) She is planning on getting married over the summer, so I need to take advantage of her single days while I can! haha.

Welcome home sis :)

Home Painting 1

Candle

Home Painting 2