I'm not necessarily a bug person...

But I thought this was pretty freakin' cute.
Josiah's tiny pet cricket, Jiminy!
Little brothers are great, huh?

On another note, yesterday was one of the best days in a long time!
Let me break it down for ya...
630 Rolled myself out of bed
7-8 Met Merina for Spin Class and got my bum kicked!
8-9 Shower, dressed and breakfast smoothie
9-10 Morning devotions with Camillo
10-11 To the social security office to make my name change official (three years later?!)
11-230 At Starbucks with my computer and photos
230-330 Paper Source with Lanissa brainstorming baby shower ideas!!
330-545 With Mandy for a long overdue visit and foil retouch (wait, her foil wasn't long overdue - just our visit!)
545-630 Stuck in traffic over I-90
615 Got home to rush Camillo out the door to get to Stephanie's surprise engagement party before 7!!
7-8 Engagement Party Yahooo!!
8-9 Wind down with pop corn and a show.
Then we went to bed early!

Oh, it was a good day!
Now, I'm wobbling through the house, sore from yesterday's class, and tying up the loose ends for Cody and Danielle's wedding shoot!

What are you guys doing today?
xoxo
Joy

Just Dropping In

This little guy stopped by the photo blog today...come over and say hello!

Summer Drinks

When the sun comes out bright and strong by 7:00am, I can pretty much assume it's gonna be a warm day.

Yay!

The warm weather calls for a cool drink and I've found one that I quite like! 

All you need is your coffee maker, the extras you like, and an ice tray...

Brew a pot of coffee and then let it sit for a 

bit to cool down.

Once it's not so hot, carefully fill a clean ice tray and put it into the freezer.

Pour the extra coffee into a pitcher and leave it in the fridge until your cubes have frozen...

 

My ice tray is from Ikea and I just love it!

*Fun fact: For our wedding we pureed raspberries and froze them into little heart shapes as the ice in our lemonade!!

I think about that every time I use these trays :]

Once everything is frozen, pour your coffee and add what you like.

If you've read for a while, you know I need nonfat milk and some 

hazelnut creamer in my cup of joe!

Pop out some of your cute hearts and viola...

A sweet iced coffee that's fun to drink and won't get watered down!

Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite cold coffee drink for hot days?

xoxo

Joy

Camillo At The Dentist

Camillo: Hey, Babe? Do you think it'd be okay for me to take two vicodin?
Me: Well, it might make you really sleepy. Or high.
Camillo: It's just that my tooth hurts really bad.
Me: Okay, I think it's fine. Just be careful.
...
Me: Babe?
Camillo: Zzzz...

I guess he called to check after he'd taken the extra one.
Tuesday night his tooth started throbbing.
Poor guy was in so much pain!
No thanks to the emergency dentist clinic that A] closes a half hour earlier than stated and B] 'doesn't have a doctor in until Friday'.
Oooh, okay.
Thankfully he got in to an office the next afternoon.
He had a nasty (and infected!) cavity that needs a root canal.
It may or may not be the first time he's been prescribed vicodin.
Wish us luck.

xoxo
Joy

Sunday was Camillo's birthday and I decided that, even though we were celebrating at home, it was a special enough day to get dressed up for.

So when I went birthday shopping for him  I found this cute little dress for me.
(don't worry, I did make it home with a couple things for him, too)

Dress: H&M $30
Sandals: Payless (3 summers ago) probably about $12
Belt: Thrifted
Necklace: Estate Sale $2 (all time favorite piece of jewelry starting now)

I probably haven't spent $30 on any one clothing item in a long long time.
But gosh, I have a million things in my closet that would mix this outfit up.
I've declared this maxi a staple piece and when you think about it that way, $30 is a good deal.

Anyways...
This isn't necessarily my favorite choice of backdrop but we didn't want to take long since I didn't know how long I could keep Camillo's attention on the camera.
It usually takes 3 days of politely asking (okay, I might get a little aggressive) before he'll do it for me.
And then when he does he snaps a million shots like I'm a Kardashian and he's with TMZ.
It makes me feel like an idiot.
But this time I didn't even have to beg!
AAAND I told him I feel too silly when he take's so many, so 'maybe just take like 5 and wait for me to do a little pose'.
Oh my gosh, I feel reeeaal cheesy for admitting that.
Whatever.
I think he felt good and professional.

I promise his birthday wasn't all about me!
I had so many tricks up my sleeve, it was a whole weekend of celebrating!
There were lots of photos for documentation, I just have to round them up.
But soon you'll see how Camillo got down with his bad self!!
Oh, just you wait!!

Are you guys enjoying your last few weeks of summer?
What have you been doing with your weekends?

xoxo
Joy

Here I Am...

From I Love Design via Etsy

Wow, I kind of don't know what to say.

But I'm back!

This last week has been pretty full with interning, editing, happy birthday planning, and figuring out how to arrange a schedule that has doubled in the last month.

I had to put things into perspective and prioritize my To-Dos.

Unfortunately, writing to you guys was the last thing I could get to in a day.

We're finding a rhythm and today feels less cattywampus (um, I totally made up the spelling of that word...)
I'm so happy to be here with you again.

Thanks for checking in on me while I was away!

I've got some fun things for you this week..things like a new outfit post, birthday photos, and an iced coffee recipe!

See you tomorrow..pinky promise :)

xoxo

Joy  

Something just filled me up

I can't quite tell what this feeling is.

I'm sitting here in the coffee shop and I've suddenly been hit with an overwhelming sense of 

peace/inspiration/joy/creativity/excitement/urgency

Where has this come from?

I want to paint/sing/sew/write/draw/cut/paste/edit/shoot.

Oh, it's refreshing breath of air and it's just what I've needed in this muck of things.

Thanks, Jesus.

Frozen Afternoon Snack

I realize I talk about ice-cream kind of a lot.

Well, it's okay.

I just love it.

Today I'm enjoying a sunny day working on my computer with an afternoon snack -  

A tiny little Ben&Jerry's.

They are the perfect size, dontchya think?

When they go on sale for $1 each, I like to grab a couple flavors for days like today.

Mint Chocolate Cookie is a great pick-me-up when my brain is fried from staring at the screen too long.

Happy Thursday!

xoxo

Joy

Got My Hair Did On Craigslist

Okay, so - really quick - open up a new tab in your browser and type in craigslist.org
Ya there?
Now scroll down to the 'services' section and click on 'beauty'.
Thanks.
Okay, now come back!
And you're welcome!

I found an ad from a girl at the 7 Salon Academy who needed a model for a foil.
For. Twenty. Dollars.
Oh yeah...wait, what?!

Having worked in the industry for over 5 years and never having paid more than 20ish dollars to get the works, I haven't been willing to dish out more than that.
Enter 5 inch grow out.
Thankfully the 7 or so days I've gotten to enjoy the sun left evidence on these roots so my worn out hair do wasn't so bad but I was starting to notice :(
(I would also like to thank all of you who have somehow impacted the ombre phenomena)

Aaanyway, can you imagine my cheap self's excitement when I found this ad?!
The girl is already licensed and well into her year of extensive training at 7 Salon so I wasn't worried about not getting something good (after all, I've been there before and I was good then, too!)
Wow, so I'm rambling but what I'm really trying to tell you guys is that I got a service that starts at $115 for only twenty dollars.
Thanks to Craigslist.

And thanks to you guys for reading this far before I gave any photos.
Please excuse the creepiness of the first one but here you go:

Yay!
Moral of my story: you can get good hair without chopping of your foot or selling your left lung in the black market.
So go look on Craigslist and see what you can find!
(Or, if you live close to me, call me instead: I do still hair on the side for not very much $$!
Only, like a pinky! haha, I kid I kid.)
Thanks, Allison, for a killer new color (perfect blend, no bleeding) and for helping me help you!

xoxo
Joy

Immediate Gratification VS. Excited Anticipation

There are two books that I really want to read.
One is The Happiness Project:

photo found here

And the second is The Help:

photo found here

I could have easily driven the 10 minutes to Barnes and Noble to pick up my own copies, right?

Then I'd have both books, ready and waiting for me to peel open the first page.

But somehow, ordering them online (something I never get to do) seemed more fun and exciting.

Instead of getting them quickly and easily (and being instantly satisfied), I wanted to anticipate their arrival at my doorstep.

For the next 5-7 business days.

It's fun getting packages, isn't it?

Even if I know what they are and who they're from.

Sometimes the anticipation of something good arriving is half the fun.

xoxo

Joy

Wings and pickle chips?

Yes, please! 

We spent a lunch hour at Wingdome and the boys were in heaven. 

I ate a tasty salad with grilled chicken.

It was pretty good but I forgot to get the dressing on the side and it was a little mushy by the end.

      

Notice the TVs everywhere?

Different sports channel on each one!

If you've never had pickle chips, I'll tell ya they're a good (very occasional) splurge.

 

And then there were the wings.

Medium spicy, really spicy, and some sort of cheesy...

I didn't try them but Isaac and Camillo enjoyed them.

 

All the way down to the bones!

 

Overall it was a fun place for lunch, and I'm sure Camillo will want to go again.

Next time I think I'll try a burger!

Have you guys tried any new food joints this summer?

We're trying to be a little more adventurous and eat new food.

There are always those few places that you crave though, right?

xoxo

Joy

A Good Book

You know how every now and then you find a book that keeps you up at night?

The one that grabs your attention and won't let you sleep until you read 'just one more page'.

Well, I'm on the hunt for a good book like that (considering The Help..have any of you read it?) and

until I find it, I'm captivated by these photos I get to work on!

I was up until almost 2am last night (this morning?) with Brynn and Andrew's photos.

Head to my photo blog for a few more sneak peeks!

xoxo

Joy

Husky Pride

Nope, not UW..

We found Husky Deli the other day and, boy, what a treat!!

Their ice cream was delicious  and made right there in the family store!

Here's a little video as to how they make it...mmmMM!

They can even create custom flavors!!!

Out of the 20+ flavors, all three of us some how ended up choosing oreo cookie.

Can I please elaborate how tasty it was?!!?

As you can see, it was so good, the boys didn't even care that I was 

taking a hundred pictures of them.

Do you guys have a favorite summer-treat-go-to?

I think this might be our new spot.

We also tried out an Indian restaurant, Wingdome, and Dubliner's while Isaac was here.

It's fun to explore new things when company is in town but geez, 

I'm not going to be able to eat for a week!

There are some more photos + reviews of those places coming up in the next few days so keep an eye out.

In other news, today was Day 2 of my intern boot camp.

My brain is full of a lot and I'm doing my best to sort it all out.

I'm glad I took decent notes!

Tomorrow we don't start until 10am (instead of 830am).

Is it weird that I'm excited about the extra time not because I could sleep in but because I'll get to work out? 

Hi, my name is Joy and I'm addicted to the gym...

xoxo

Joy

Hello, August!

This first day of August has come and almost gone already!

It's been a really great day if you ask me.

What about for you guys?

This morning I left our house at 815 for the first day of my internship!

I was so nervous, like the first day of school.

Last night I tried to go to bed early but I was so excited, I don't know when I finally fell asleep.

Then I woke up a half an hour before my alarm!!

We were fed croissants, fruit, and coffee for breakfast,

QDoba catered lunch,

And donuts for an afternoon snack!

Along with food, we were taught a lot of great things and encouraged about the next 14 months.

I know it's not going to be easy but nothing worth wild ever is, right?

I'm so excited about this next season in our lives.

Even though Camillo can't join me, I'm praying that the work Jesus does in my heart will be obvious to him and encourage him to want more of Jesus, too. 

Aaaw, I'm so happy!

Have you guys ever committed to something for a long period of time?

Besides, you know, a job or marriage.

I've done an apprenticeship in a salon before, but that was only 6 months.

14 months sure sounds like a long time but in the scheme of things, it's barely a breath.

I'll be sure to keep you guys posted every now and then!!

xoxo

Joy