Look Who's Back: Lillian Ray

I'm excited to announce that my sister has reopened her Etsy shop Lillian Ray! After almost a year of absence she is back making her adorable as ever handcrafted jewelry, accessories, baby headbands and more! Here are just a couple of my favorite items you can now find in the shop...

Swarovski Filigree Flower Ring

Peas in a Pod Necklace

Silver Tree Necklace

Puff Heart Necklace

Gold Hammered Link Necklace

Green Fabric Rose Necklace

Peacock Jewel Tone Hair Piece or Pin

Ivory and Golden Leaf Hair Clip/Pin

Black White and Red Headband

And now for baby...

Neutral Headband

Rosette Headband

Every time I enter her shop I just go gaga over things, its taken a lot of self control to not buy everything I see.

Three words to describe Lillian Ray: beautiful, adorable, and quality. 

If you like jewelry in the slightest bit, then you'll love what you see. So go ahead and check it out. You know you want to.

 Lillian Ray also does custom orders!

Check it out here!

You can also find Lillian Ray on facebook.

A Little Spring Break Goodness

I sit here on the eve of my last first day of school and I'm smiling from ear to ear. I'm actually excited to get back up to SLO because the end is in sight.  But for now I'm hanging at home with the rents enjoying my last night of spring break.  Here are some things I was digging over break!

1. I came home to find my graduation packet sitting on the counter....with MY name on it!

2. I got to spend a good portion of my break visiting with my sister, her husband and my baby niece.

Modeling her purple beanie from Jodi.

3. I got to do a fun, little planting with succulents that is now featured on my sister's wall outside their front door. We took a trip to the garden center at Home Depot and got to pick out some cool plants. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the finished product, lame.

Succulent shopping.

She is quite a little shopper :)

The girls.

4. I made the Dean's list this quarter. In five years of college, that has never happened before, I have spent every quarter teetering between a 2.0 and 2.9. I finished my 21 unit quarter out with five A's and one B, just shy of a 4.0 bummer.

5. My cousin Lauren drove up from San Diego to visit me while I was visiting my sister. She spent the night and we stayed up till 3:30am talking. I was exhausted the next day, but it was so worth it. We also got to have lunch with her sister the next afternoon!

Late night catching up.

Love her to pieces.

6. I got to spend Saturday afternoon celebrating my friend Jackie and her soon to be marriage to her fiancé.  It was a very lovely shower. I got to meet the other bridesmaids and enjoyed delicious food. I have to admit, I'm slightly jealous of all the goods Jackie got, pretty much every woman's dream!

The bride to be.

7. Even though the sun was never really out during break, the weather was pretty cool. I've never experienced so much rain, hail, and wind in my life!  

 Our front yard was completely submerged in water and our street became a rushing river.

Hale followed the rain leaving a lovely white sheet covering the yard, it was kind of pretty.

8. I opened and ate a whole box of Cap'n Crunch while laying in bed watching movies on Netflix...in the middle of the day.

9. Enjoyed my first experience of Dave and Busters, loved it! We got to go there and celebrate my brother in laws very successful work presentation

10. Got to spend time with my parents, I love them.

Man, If only break was longer. Oh well.

DIY Mason Jar Terrarium

Two things I love: mason jars and terrariums.

I had a little extra time on my hands at work last Saturday. I got inspired to do something crafty, with plants of course. I looked around to see what I had to work with. I eyed some mason jars that were staring at me from the shelf. I grabbed one and knew exactly what I wanted to do. I was pretty lucky, all the materials I needed were just laying around and it took about 5 minutes to make.

Items I found and used:

Mason Jar

Wire

Media

Small pebbles found under the counter

2 little succulents-pulled from beds outside

Moss-picked up outside (thank you rain)

Pliers 

Spoon

Fork

You can easily find items in and around your house that can make an easy and quick terrarium. Old jars, containers, even wine or margarita glasses. Walk into your front or back yard and I'm sure you will find what you need to put inside your terrarium. Pebbles, soil, moss, twigs....get creative, experiment, have a blast!

The perfect touch to a garden, a porch, a table top, a windowsill, an outdoor or indoor dinner party...whatever your heart desires!

 My boss decided we will see how this little guy holds up the next couple of weeks. It will be a trial to see if we should make more and sell them at the shop next quarter. I'm all about it...naturally.

Friend Spotlight: The Best Friend

Meet my best friend, her name is Jodi.

Yesterday morning I got to enjoy some much needed time with her before I headed into work. It was a rainy morning in SLO. We got to cozy up, sip some cappuccino's and nibble on a delicious scone in a quaint, adorable coffee shop called Sally Loo's (it's as adorable as the name sounds). We sat discussing what's happening in our lives: fears, joys, God's plans and everything else in between. It was somewhere between taking a sip of my cappuccino and listening to Jodi talk about her her new job as the librarian at an elementary school that it hit me. Our friendship has grown so incredibly much since we were little scrawny freshmen in college. We are growing up together, our friendship has left the realm of college and that gets me so excited for what's to come!

Jodi and I met back in 2006 when we moved into the dorms. She lived on my floor. The first time we hung out was slightly awkward, I'm not going to lie. She forgot my name. I was really shy, quiet and very unsure about the whole situation. As a little time passed, I came to learn that she was a sister in Christ and we were able to connect on a pretty deep level. Once again, as it is with most of my friends, the rest is history. We have been inseparable ever since. 

I love our relationship, I wouldn't change it for anything. Jodi is my rock. She has taught me so much and I am so grateful for her. There is no doubt God put put her on my floor freshman year for a reason, she is meant to be in my life. There is no way I could have made it through my time at Cal Poly without her. Amongst all the craziness these past few years, Jodi is the one person who has been constant in my life.

I love that she can call me out on things and I know its because she loves me. She is not afraid to be real with me and I with her. I love that she calls me up to tell me when the Lord has done something great in her life. 

I have loved watching her grow in her relationship with the Lord, seeing her choose to serve Him in all she does. It has been encouraging to me. She serves other's selflessly and it shows in her day to day life. 

Jodi has seen me at my all time worst and at my best, she knows my weaknesses and my strengths. She knows how I tick. I swear sometimes we are sisters who were separated at birth. She was there to encourage me and build me up when the Lord was changing my life and healing my broken heart a couple years ago. She is still there encouraging me and supporting me in all that I do.  I love that our friendship is rooted in Christ.

I have been trying to think of words to describe her, but I can't. Not because there aren't any, but because she is everything. This girl is the whole package, she has every quality a friend should have and then some. Jodi has a heart of gold.

Jodi, thank you for being you, for being my best friend, for being there for me always and loving me even when I mess up. I'm looking forward to the years to come; to growing old with you, double dates with the husbands, being mom's together, having play dates for our kids....it will be grand! 

There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for God giving me our friendship, I don't know what I would do without you. My dear Jodi, my best friend, my sister in Christ, you are a gift from God that I will always cherish. You let the light of Christ shine through you and you bring so much joy into my life

I absolutely love you to pieces!!!

The Finale

I love that God has given me a passion for his creation. I love that my heart overflows with excitement and joy when I'm outside. I love that every time I explore I find and learn new things, His creation is so intricate.

My California Natives class has been the BEST class I have ever taken at Cal Poly, hands down. Yesterday marked the end of our class with our final on Figueroa Mountain.  The class met our professor down in Los Olivos and from there we all parted to make our way up the mountain, making stops where our professor placed little red flags.  We had so much fun. Aside from the wind, it was an absolutely stunning day.  There was so much to see, I could have spent days out there exploring. And the wildflowers, oh the wildflowers! They were just starting to make their appearance and they made for tons of excitement and joy for us girls.  

First Stop:Valley Floor

Observing the existance of only grown Oaks--no young oaks.

Second Stop: Oak Woodland

Salvia spp. under an oak

Third Stop: Hillside

The hills are alive...

Eschscholzia californica-California poppy

Fourth Stop: Grassland

Looking out over some Muhlenbergia rigens-Deer grass

Nassella pulchra-Purple needlegrass

Group shot.

She loves cows.

Frolicking to the car.

Fifth Stop: Lookout 

Breathtaking. 

So blessed by this wonderful woman!

"The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
   the world, and all who live in it;
 for he founded it on the seas
   and established it on the waters."

-Psalm 24:1-2

Tiny treasures.

Fritillaira camsheatcensis- Chocolate lily

Sixth Stop: Control Burn Area

Lord of the Rings?

Seventh Stop: Wildflowers

Lupinus micranthus-Lupin

Eighth Stop: 80 Year old Archtostaphylos Forest

Ninth Stop: The Top- Mixed Evergreen Forest

On top of the world.

Heading home.

I stand in Awe of the Lord's creation.

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
   to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
   and by your will they were created
   and have their being.”

-Revelation 4:11