one for one.

so. you may have heard of tom's shoes. you buy a pair and then they give a pair to a child in need of shoes. it's pretty cool. and probably my favorite pair (or 3) of shoes that i own.


i had a pair of white tom's for oh so long and finally decided to decorate them. yay creativity.


at my university, wearing tom's is usually part of the "stereotypical christians." we tease about it, but its kinda true :) what i like most about my lovely colored shoes are how expressive they are. the colors themselves are highly expressive but on the sides i have other cutsie joyful things. i have the verse romans 12:12, "be joyful in hope, paitent in affliction, and faithful in prayer" on one side. on the other side is an elephants bottom, that is so painfully cute, with the words "choose joy" something that i strive to choose. the other shoe has dandilions on one side and a little birdie on the other (my newest craze)


anyway, just wanted to show off my dabblings.


go paint something, today. even if you "dont think you are any good." it just feels good. really.


shalom.

busy bee.

i'm a busy bee. life is a swirly whirly and i'm just flittering shmittering around.



like this little guy. i like him.



i've been goin nuts with photography projects, school stuffs, people, pretending to study... thus lacking on the blog posts.

but its almost summer! and i will definitely be posting more.

embrace who you are today. its fun.

shalom.

two.

this is aaron.



i thought he looked cool, thus capturing this photo for my new project.

i asked him three things that he liked to do, and i think he was caught off guard. he said "playing basketball, jammin with friends, attending texas a&m"

i regret not asking him what he was listening to.
how great would it have been if he was listening to abba... or glee.

yes.

be blessed today. listen to abba. or glee. they will calm your soul :)

shalom.

raindrops.

i love rain.
and sunshine and snow...

but this post is about rain :)

i actually looked up the lyrics to "raindrops keep fallin on my head"
and it's kinda sad. and the person in the song doesn't like the raindrops.
boo.

but i do.
a lot.



the day that it rained, i actually didn't carry an umbrella or wear rainboots because I wanted to get POURED ON. but i didn't. bummer.

instead i just watched it from the window during class, really hoping that i would get to play in it. i didn't get to... but i'm quite confident that it will rain again :)

enjoy your day. enjoy the rain. or the sunshine. whatever comes your way.

shalom.

one.

so, I have a new photography project idea.

i want to photograph 100 random people. preferably, i want to do people that i don't know. just people i see around campus and such, but this first one is a good friend of mine. i liked this picture and just wanted to get this new idea rollin.

this is daniel.

he is letting his hair grow out so i can give him dreads.
he spends 23 out of 24 hours a day outside.
i'm hardly exaggerating :)
he loves to garden, slackline, and build fires.

here goes a new project.

shalom.

easter joy.

easter weekend is such a sweet time.

it is a celebration of who Christ is and how much He absolutely adores us.

it's an exciting and colorful time.

spending beautiful time with friends and family.


painting eggs.

making easter baskets.

enjoying perfect weather.

and really, most importantly, being reminded of why Jesus came, how he lived, how he died, how he defeated death and rose again. It is a beautiful message.

"when he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. and they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

luke 24:50-53

praise God today. rest in our Savior.

shalom.

ultimate joy.

i have received so much joy from the LORD. he is the only one worthy of my praise. he has blessed me with beautiful things and beautiful people. he is the reason i am joyful. yay jesus.



romans 12:12
be joyful in hope, paitent in affliction, and faithful in prayer.



jeremiah 33:3
'call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

spend time loving on jesus today. he has so much to teach you.

be blessed.

shalom.

sunkissed.

mmm. sunny days at the beach.



toes in the sand.
smell of sunscreen.
playing volleyball.
shoreline yoga sessions.
relaxing in the sun.
seashell scouting.
long walks along the beach.
hah. cliche.


definitely something that adds a bit of joy :)

enjoy your day.

shalom.

joy delights in joy.

well.

i have decided to start a blog. and i'm rather excited.

my inspiration for this blog has been all of the beautiful photos i have been taking. my vision is to make this into a 'photoblog' and incorporate the title 'defining joy' by taking/posting pictures of things that bring joy to my heart.

"joy delights in joy" - william shakespeare

when trying to define 'joy,' i kept thinking about things that fill me with joy. i actually ended up making a pretty lengthy list. ultimately, i get my joy from the LORD, but he puts beautiful things in my life that add to the overwhelming joy that he has given me.

i hope to share those things with you.

shalom.