infinite illumination

Friday, October 12, 2012

a simple opportunity taken for granted

I strongly believe in remembering the small things and appreciating them. One of the small things that I think is often taken for granted is the beauty of the sunrise. I, myself have taken it for granted but today we (bestie, camera, and me) journeyed out to Ada Hayden to enjoy the magical view. We woke up at a quarter to seven and bundled up and drove the 5 ish miles out there. It was very cold but very much so worth it! Plus we had the incentive of coffee at our favorite shop afterwards. :)

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

new camera :)

I am sooo excited that I finally got my own camera! Yay! No more stealing my friend's camera ;) Soooo... you can only imagine what I have been up to right?? Don't fret, I'll show you!

My childhood friends came to visit me this weekend and they are beautiful models!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

life update

Hello all, I have been away again for awhile... school is kicking my butt! I have so much going on since it is my last semester on campus. I am happy to announce that I will be moving to Houston in January! Yay! Here are some instagram photos of what I have been up to lately with my jewelry business :)

1. My website got a makeover! go check it out at abbyanndesigns.com
2. I made new earring cards and I LOVE them!

Monday, August 27, 2012

summer's end & school again

Wow! It has been a whole month + some since I have written a post. I cannot believe how fast time goes. Well since I have been MIA for a while now I will fill you in on what I have been up to. I spent the last two weeks of my summer vacation on a road trip to California. We stopped in Vail on the way out to San Diego and spent the week on the beach. It was a beautiful and relaxing trip. I am very much in love with San Diego. On the way back we spent two nights in Vegas, which proved to be a huge tourist trap. It was still fun though. I played a few penny slots and didn't lose all my money :) The trip was well worth the long hours spent in the car.

I arrived back to Iowa on the Thursday before classes started up again (which was Monday, August 20th). I spent the weekend hanging out with friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I also got to spend some time with relatives at my cousin's bridal shower. Then of course the dreaded Monday of school came. I cannot believe I have already been back at school for a week because it honestly feels like a whole month with all the stuff I had to do in the the past 7 days. I get the joy of spending my last semester on campus with my nose in 16 books!! Yep, you did read that correctly. I had to buy 16 books for my classes. How depressing?!

After a few days of classes I realized how much I actually enjoy the classes I am in. I keep thinking wow, you know you're passionate about what you do if you wake up really excited to go to heath studies to learn about ways to educate youth about being healthy. Sounds lame huh? It really is a good class so far. So, even though I have to read soooo many books this semester I think I will actually enjoy it.

As I said earlier this is my last semester on campus! Next semester I will be going off to my student teaching location (of which I do not know yet). I am applying to go to Houston, Texas as my number 1 spot. I am studying elementary education with an emphasis in ESL (English as a second language). Houston seems like it will give me a great opportunity to work with a diverse group and give me a great experience with teaching ESL. Hopefully all goes as planned and I will be making my way to Texas in January. :)

Monday, July 23, 2012

summer love

This Jason Mraz cover by Maisy and Lennon

I'm obsessed!

These awesome wooden bowls from here

This camera strap from here

This greeting card from here

Thursday, July 12, 2012

a rule to live by


image from here

I have been thinking about this a lot lately and it is a rule I live by so I am going to share it with you today. Instead of judging someone... think about the motive behind their behavior and where they may have come from as to why they are the way they are. There is always a motive behind behavior and if we take the chance to even have that question in our mind as we go through our daily routines we can be better people. A lot people simply judge or say mean things about someone who is different. Always remember to think about where people come from or how they may have grown up so we can try to eliminate negative judgmental feelings towards others.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Ava's Purple Paislee

Today I have a special Etsy artist to share with you. The lovely Linzy from Ava's Purple Paislee will be sharing all about her adorable shop!

Hi there! My name is Linzy Herron and I own a shop called Ava’s Purple Paislee where I sell unique baby and children’s hair accessories and photo props. I got married to my high school sweetheart, Chris, the month after I graduated high school and we are happily married eight years later! We now have three children: Ava, who is five and twins Paislee and Graedy, who just turned one.

How did you get started with your business?

I started making headbands for my two girls Ava and Paislee (hence the name of my shop), when the twins were born last summer. I loved being able to create fun things that matched their outfits. I soon realized that all of my spare time was being spent on this new obsession and learning how to create fun and new things. I was finding that the quality and uniqueness that came from creating my own things just couldn’t be found in stores. As you will see in my shop, I love using bright colors in my headbands!

How did you decide to join Etsy?

First of all, I LOVE Etsy! I decided to join Etsy because I felt it was an easy way to get my products out there and I knew that the clientele on Etsy would appreciate the creative and artistic feel to my products. Plus, I realized that my pile of headbands for my girls was becoming way too big for just two little heads.