Decisions decisions..

Sometimes life is just HARD.  No way around it.  Beau and I are getting to a point where we have to make quite a few big decisions.  Or maybe I just feel like we have to make these decisions now.  I don't even know.  This is where my over-preparation gets me in trouble.  I like to have a plan, and as I'm learning, sometimes we can only plan ahead so far before life changes our plans. *Sigh* What's a girl to do?  Grad schools? Where to live? Careers? Family?  Hmmm...I'm sure I'm just blowing all this out of proportion, but sometimes I can't help but be overwhelmed with all the decisions that we have coming up.

Beau graduates in a month, and I graduate a year after that.  So in about a year we will be going SOMEWHERE.  Doing SOMETHING.  But WHAT??  No clue.  Well that's not technically true.  I have plenty of clues.  Too many in fact.  Why do all the choices seem to be so good?  How are we supposed to decide? A year seems like a long time, but just judging how everything else in my life has flown by lately, I know another year is going to come and go in no time at all. I think I need to start appreciating things more.  Cliche right?  I know, but it's true.  I'm always looking ahead and trying to figure out what life has coming for us, and sometimes I forget that I have already been extremely blessed in life.

I'm married to a wonderful man who takes care of me and loves me.  I live in one of the most beautiful vacation spots in the world.  I'm receiving a great education and gaining more experience than I ever could have asked for.  And yet...I'm obsessing over "the plan."  What's the plan??  Ahh, crazy girl I am.  The husband often reminds me that I need to focus more on the "now" and be happy with it.  I get extremely frustrated when he tells me this.  Mostly because he is right of course. What a good husband I have.  He keeps me level headed.  For now, I'm grateful for that and won't worry more than necessary about what's to come.  

Life has been wonderful to me.

More wonderful than I sometimes think I deserve.

Thanks for suffering through my babblings today. 

a little color for your tuesday

If you're like me, you find Tuesdays to be just a little rough.
It's not a Monday, but definitely not close enough to Friday either.

So, here's a dash of color to brighten your day.

Just think, spring is coming soon!

For most of you anyway. 

The only real seasons that exist in Hawaii is the Rainy Season and the Non-rainy Season.

Not much diversity here.  

I think my favorite part of Hawaii is the constant overload of colors.

The grass and trees are green all the time.

There are always beautiful beautiful flowers blooming.

And you know those pictures of tropical oceans you see in magazines?

You know the ones. Where there are about ten shades of blue all within a small radius.

Yep, that's not photoshop my friends.  The oceans here really are like that.  

Surprisingly I miss Spring on the mainland though.  There's just something so refreshing about waking up one day and seeing the first daffodil pop out of the grown. 

One thing I do not miss however is the pollen.  I am not a pretty sight during pollen season.

Thankfully, pollen hardly exists over here. 

What's your favorite thing about Spring?

(all images via)

Driftwood art

When you live in a tiny town that you hardly ever have time to escape from,

you tend to get a little creative when it comes to decorating.  

Plus, when I know I'm only going to be living in my tiny studio for another year, it's hard to justify buying legitimate house decorations.  And as much as I would love to spend an entire day working on cute house projects, with school and work and whatnot, I just don't have the time. 

Sooo, I get creative. At least I like to think of it as creative. 

No, I'm not the artsy type. Not by a long shot. Unfortunately.

But, every now and then I like to try something new. 

So, since I don't have the time to do anything elaborate and we don't have the money to buy anything super nice, I've found a few uses for driftwood. 

Yep, driftwood. It's free, and easy to collect.

Beau and I go strolling on the beach sometimes and pick out the perfect size pieces. 

We let them dry out, and then wa-lah! Instant aids in house decorating.
Add a thrift-store vase, and there ya go!

Anyone else out there ever have to get creative?

I'm dying for some low-cost, quick and easy ideas.

Enjoy your Monday!

Weekend recap

You know what I love about weekends?

They are the only two days when Beau and I both wake up about the same time.

There's nothing better than sleeping in a bit and waking up next to such a great guy.

We just lay in bed and cuddle up, pretending that we don't have to start the day.

It's such a great feeling.  

This weekend has been full of rain and gloomy skies.

So for the most part we have stayed in, worked on homework, watched Lost, and played games.

Friday night we went to the school's "Culture Night."

This is one of the biggest events of the year here.  Not only do BYUH students attend, but so does the community, and even students from other universities on the island.
Here are two of the videos from culture night.
The Samoan Club and the Mongolian Club.
(disclaimer: I did not take these videos, so if the quality is bad, so sorry)
Enjoy!

Drum roll please....

I know everyone's been dying to know what I'm so excited about...right?

Well, regardless, I'm still VERY excited!

Alright, ready for the news?

Here is it...

Check out what I got this weekend!

Can't wait to start learning how to use it!

I wonder...

Any guesses on what has me so excited right now?

Check back soon to find out!

Hair trend

Alright, I need some thoughts.

What are your opinions on feather hair extensions?

Ever seen them?

Awesome? Too young looking? So-so?

I have mixed feelings about them, so I wanted to get some other opinions.  

So let's hear them!

Picture Project

Have I ever mentioned that I only have one wall that I can put nails in?  

Every other wall in my house...good ol' cinder blocks.  

Lame, I know. But remember that when I say "house," I mean studio. A very small studio. Very very small.

It's home though.

But, I bought these picture frames from a friend a while back and only just got to putting them up.

I made a collage of 7 frames, but wanted to mix things up a bit, and so I came up with this idea to use pages from an old book as a sort of background for some of the pictures. I cut out pictures of Beau and I and pasted them over top of the book pages.  

Easy peasy.