My goodness, where do I start?

These past few weeks have been way too long and a wee bit on the stressful side. I finish school on the 6th of August, but in the mean time I am busting my backside on what work I have to do. So many tests are due, a huge project, and then we have mock state exams to prepare us for the real things. All of it just hangs over me like a cloud, and I feel like I can't escape it sometimes. I just keep telling myself that I can do it and that I'm almost done. Prayer relieves a lot of my stress, which I am very thankful for. I shall survive! I'm almost done!

I went and got a much needed haircut today, and it went very well. I turned in my very first job application, and I do hope that whenever the salon starts hiring again, mine is picked. It will be my first job, and I am quite excited. My first job application, my first job -- so many first coming this year! It gives me chills.

I have done just about zip in the way of creative things since school started three weeks ago, I have some half-finished crochet projects and a want to finish them, but the time it would take to finish them should be spent on the large amount of homework I have. Le sigh.

All in all, I don't expect to really have much to post here until I am done. I know I shall post, but I am going to be SO busy....I need to go on a vacation after I finish school and before I start working so that I have something different to talk about. You all put up with my similar posts so well, and it's about time I get some new material. I'll have to pick out what that is when I have time, though. 

So sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I miss you all.

I do get the 4th off from school, however, which will be a welcomed break in my weekly routine!

Wishing you all a stessless Saturday! ♥

Holy Cannoli!

This is what happens when Grandma comes to visit: you get your first cannoli!

It was delicious and the food market we went to was so fun (though perhaps a bit pricey for me). I love seeing so much food everywhere, all different types and varieties of meats, veggies, grains...teas. It is so pleasing to just look at. I enjoyed it! It makes me want to eat everything!

The family is all home now. Due to school, I wasn't able to go to my sister's graduation in another state, and the stress of being away from my family group didn't mix well with common frustration (and missing out on an important event in my sister's life), and I cried at school (something I NEVER do, even when I don't understand) when a french twist gave me some trouble. But I have been out of it since everyone left on Wednesday, so thank goodness I am ahead on the work I have to do, because I have, admittedly, been a bit slow these past few days.  But everyone is back, everything is normal again, and now I can relax. Thank goodness my grandma is here!

Have a wonderful and unstressful Friday, everyone! I have missed you all! ♥

P.S. Spellcheck does not like the word "cannoli". I had to google it to make sure it was right. x3

Nautical Necklace!

So I gave the flowers a break and went for sand dollars this time, just for some nautical fun!

School this week has been intense, but it's the fastest I've ever moved! I'm so happy with how everything is going...I'm just so exhausted at the end of the day! This is quite possibly the most exhausted I have been from these classes, but I shall survive! Some sleep and some tea and I'm on my way again.

Hoping you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm going to rest now.

♥

I'm Inspired by Nature!

The necklace is finished! I'm so happy -- so many things went right with this one. I got the right amount of chains between flowers to make each strand fall perfectly under the ones above, the flowers are tight, and I have the right colored beads for this color thread.

I also found my new photo backdrop. At least until it's trimmed...which I hope isn't soon. I may have to plea to let these shrubs stay taller longer. They're so lovely, and when I look out my window I feel comfy and buried under green leaves. Makes me feel like I belong in movies like Arriety, Arthur and the Invisibles, and Epic (which I have yet to see). I just want to shrink right down to be a tiny, tiny person so I can explore outside from a totally different perspective.

With these crocheted flower necklaces, I get to wear a bit of nature everywhere I go. My imagination is constantly inspired when I wear or make things that reflect the world around me, especially the outdoors.

Wishing you all a creative, inspired, outdoorsy Saturday! ♥

 

Peaceful Thunderstorm

It's raining right now. A nice storm spawned most likely from the tropical storm, making the world outside my bedroom window dark and very wet. Thunder is booming in the distance,  raindrops are pummeling the front porch, and the shrubs outside my window are being bullied by the wind. It's nothing violent, thankfully. Just a wonderful thunderstorm. There is nothing like one of those coming up one evening when you have nothing planned, making you feel all snug inside your house. I just love to turn out the lights and stare outside. It is just so peaceful. I took some pictures of it quickly with my phone to share.

At the moment, however, I am not staring out of the window (though I do take a moment every so often to glance out and admire the weather). Currently, I am picking through seed beads and threading them onto red thread, crocheting another necklace. I have hopes of selling this one, and I plan to make many more to have in stock for whenever someone wants one. Nothing makes me happier, though, than seeing the smiles on the faces of folks I give necklaces. I can't wait to make one for my grandmother when she comes down to visit. I'm going to let her pick out the colors of thread and beads she wants while she's here, though, because it's hard to imagine colors over the phone.

School has also started up again. We have been moved to new stations in the classroom, and I'm excited to be near the windows and sunshine. Any bit of dread I felt a few weeks ago, every little bit of anxiety, has all but vanished, leaving me with a strong zest and excitement for the work ahead. I love what I do, and the excitement my classmates feel only fuels me onward. We are all almost done! 

Today, though, I am relaxed. I woke up at ease and nothing has bothered my day to change that. I'm thankful for days like these. These are the days you can sit back and examine your life, counting your blessings and realizing how much good there has been. It's just a good time to reflect, and reflect I shall.

How is your week going? What can you reflect on today?

 

P.S. I just realized I have forgotten to mention that several months ago I got another aloe plant. It's called a Blue Elf, if memory serves, and it is adorable. A nice addition to my "growing" collection. In the mean time, my main aloe is getting HUGE. I had to repot it not too long ago. I love it. ♥ 

Lake Adventures~

{The view from this lake is phenomenal no matter which way you go! Yesterday we decided to go to the side of the lake we had never been on before. This is what we found...}

{More flowering stumps!}

This cove was particularly fertile -- every stump had its own rainforest on it!}

{...And trees! How ironic is it that a tree grows on a driftwoody stump? It was beautiful and elegant. Life endures no matter where!}

{And then we left because the fishing was iffy. It was particularly sunny on this side of the lake, and the fish were not biting because the water was so hot.}

{So we returned to our usual fishing holes, where I could get better pictures of all the flowers! While back near the shore where I took the picture above, I decided to cast closer to the shore in hopes of snagging a bass. What surfaced about five feet from my kayak was not a bass, but a MASSIVE alligator snapper turtle. It HISSED. Having an irrational fear of being eaten by some beast in shallow water (I have a fear of shallow lake water when I'm floating over logs and stumps. Just ask my mom.), I screamed various things and paddled the heck out of there. I was pretty sure it was an alligator because of the color and the way the thing just floated to the surface with a hiss. It was most likely a turtle, but his body combined with his turtle-head sticking out of the water look a whole lot like a gator's head, so it's needless to say that I got a bit of an adrenaline boost on the paddle back to the dock. I was shaking in the car not from fear, though. I wasn't really scared, just horribly startled. So, there's my story for today. Laugh and go tell your friends about it if you want. It is amusing, but I was sure I was going to die.}

{These are my mountains. I love them, and I feel so at home wherever I am so long as I see them. I just adore them and the God who made them.}

Where is your favorite place to be?

Hope you're all having a wonderful week so far! It's Wednesday, so it's all downhill from here! I start school again tomorrow, and then it's roughly two months until I am off to take state exams and graduate! I'm so excited and I know these next two months will just fly. Before I know it, I'll be graduating. It'll be lots of hard work, but I can see the finish line and taste success. So off I'll go, praising God and thanking Him all the way! He's the only one who can help me through what's to come.

Have a blessed week everyone! ♥

Floating Flowers

 

The floating islands have blossomed into pure loveliness! ♥ I hope to get back there soon so I can take pictures of all the other flowers. There were more than pictured here, and in quite a variety as well!

Topsy-Turvy!

So. Obviously one is to walk into Walmart backwards and on one's head. Those coming out are lucky -- they get to see where they're going!

This sign has been like this for a little while now. My family always gets a kick out of it when we see it, so I thought I'd share our amusement.

Happy Sunday, everyone! Go and conquer Monday! ♥