home sweet home.

i had a very full week. actually, my weeks have frequently been very full as of late. tuesday thru wednesday i went on my very first business trip! i went to nashville with a couple of co-workers to scout out the hotel we are hosting out next convention [in october] and it is GORGEOUS! it's called the hutton.. i'm pretty pumped to stay there for FREE! i'm hoping joel will be able to come because i found out that his dad lives only 30-some miles north of nashville, so we could go pay him a visit. it would be the first time i've ever met him and the first time in years that joel's seen him.

thursday thru just a little while ago, i was in mt. pleasant [where i went to college] for the midwest fest. goodnight house played thursday night and camerata played friday night. so, so, SO much fun!!! i think that's the best time i've ever had playing with camerata. it was fun re-living the college life again for a few days, a.k.a. going out every night and staying up well past 2 AM (one night i even made it till 5!!). but it is also nice to be home... although i am very, VERY ready for a new home consisting solely of me, my hubbs, and my maggers.

soon enough.

some exciting news -- joel has an interview with oakland university for an academic advisor position on august 5. PLEASE send your prayers his way.. this would be an AMAZING opportunity, and it would change everything for us. it is hard to even fathom having money left over after all of the bills are paid.. we could actually start paying off our ridiculous amount of debt!! even if he doesn't get this job or the other one he is applying for, he will definitely have an assistantship that will pay for his Ph.D and provide a stipend. praise God!!

with all that's been going on, it's been hard to find any time to create. i did make a few pair of earrings that i really adore. i think they're my new favorite to make.


agua earrings.





pretty in pink (and green).






i recently made a necklace (which sold instantly!) that matches the above pair of earrings.


lolita necklace.





i will be making more of these very soon :) hopefully, next weekend since i will finally have some free time! :D


have a wonderful week!

Beads from Nederland

I am super excited right now because I finally got my shipment of beads from the Netherlands that I ordered probably 4 years ago. Uh, I mean 4 weeks ago. You see how long it has seemed to me!! I felt like a kid on Christmas day opening that package. I relished over each little bag of beads, and I was so sad when I had reached the bottom of the box. They are all super fun and unique beads - I am so pumped to start CREATING with them! My Etsy shop's repertoire is going to blow up in the coming week. And there will be all sorts of textures and colors, ranging from bright orange to soft grey. Yayayayayay

I added some new pretties today with beads I already had lying around:








Also, I made my first necklace, as a custom order for my lovely co-worker Judy :)




I haven't written on here in awhile, have I? Well that is partially because we actually have gotten quite busy at work lately. (And, remember, work is the only place where I update my blog and my Etsy Shop.) Last week, there were a few days that I actually worked the ENTIRE time I was at work (imagine that). That had not happened in a very long time. I had forgotten how I feel at the end of the day when I've actually been using my brain for 8 hours straight -- worn out! Especially when I had babysat in the morning prior to work. Wow, did I get exhausted last week! Haha, I have become quite spoiled at this job, that is for sure.

Joel and I had a very lovely Valentine's Day together :) First of all, Joel brought me a dozen red roses and I was just beaming because I love, love, LOVE getting flowers. I love flowers in general. Check 'em out.





They look just perfect in the textured white vase we got as a wedding gift :)


In celebration of Valentine's Day/the day we got engaged two years ago, we got dinner at P.F. Chang's for FREE thanks to my amazing siter, who got us a gift card for Christmas. So we did that and I wore my favorite dress and it was a splendid time. When we were waiting in line to get seated, the lady in front of us asked how long the wait was, and the hostess said it would be about 5 hours, 15 minutes!!! Boy am I glad I made a reservation over a week in advance! After dinner, we cuddled up and watched a movie at home and ate chocolate-covered strawberries that I made for us :) Mmmmmm. It was perfect. Just what I needed.


This weekend Joel and I are going to Mt. Pleasant TOGETHER!! Usually I am not able to go with him for one reason or another. This is the first time we'll be spending the night in Mt. P together since we've been married. Crazy. I finally get to play another show with Goodnight House. Actually I will be playing at the next 4 shows I believe :D, two of which will be LOCAL! Yay!

Joel has been super busy lately, preparing to take the GRE (this Saturday) and meeting with professors regarding Oakland's counseling psychology PhD program, which he will be applying to next weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man am I proud of that guy. I've had fun quizzing him on all the big words he has to learn for the GRE (I think there are 500 of them!) I like words. There are some really beautiful words in the English language.; they're just not used very often.

Well, I think that's enough for now. I'm not sure if anyone really even reads this, but at least I have it for myself, if I ever want to reminisce about the days of old...