I should be studying right now.... but I'd rather be here...
This is the most wicked cool fort I've ever laid eyes on
Photo from here



and for joyful news:
WE GO HOME IN THREE DAYS

Today was great... we drove around enough to have gone around the island a couple of times. But it was beautiful. Nate snapped some pictures along the way. We had intended to work on school work and essays today... the sun was to mesmerizing. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow...

We got an email from Nate's mom with pictures of our nephew and Nate's sister. They made us even more excited for the holidays and spending time with family. They're (Nate's sister and her husband and Jackson along with their friends, and Nate's mom and younger sister Chrissy!!) also going to be visiting us here in Hawaii the week after Christmas!

Photos:
Nate
emersonmerrick.blogspot.com
Rockstar Diaries
A CUP OF JO

We loved Thanksgiving break. So many adventures.

First turkey cooking experience
Homemade cranberry sauce
Dinner with friends
New Moon
North Shore excursions
Costco
Bridal showers
Crafts
Christmas season decorating
Chair de-squeaker construction
Framing and hanging
Photoshoot of friends

Made some zucchini bread today. MMMhmm.
Was quite a rainy day, so I found this photo of the beach just last week to help inspire a sunshine filled Thanksgiving holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Our kitchen does look a little different than in the slide show. Here's a more recent one with the killer shelves Nate built behind the stove.

Nate and I thought we could give my blog a little more direction by using it to keep our family and friends updated on our little newly-wedded life, and post on it our happy adventures and frolics. So as a starter, here's a little slide show of our place and some recent happenings. Our apartment turned out to be quite fun and cozy and we really like the energy it brings
to our lives.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION--

Joyfuls approaching

This is what our apartment will look like in two weeks...


I'm looking forward to some joyfuls that are fast approaching:

-Thanksgiving!
-Attempting a yummy Thanksgiving meal (our first as the Katie and Nate Williams family)
-My birfday (21, hm.)
-End of the semester...
-HOLIDAYS
-Christmas
-Family time
-Rainy season, I love rain and any excuse to wear a cardigan or sweater... even if it is Hawaii


Picture: http://taza-and-husband.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html

Joyful: Strength in numbers



Waterfall

Sometimes it takes a rainy day
Just to let you know
Everything's gonna be - all right
All right

I've been dreaming in the sun
won't you wake me up someone
I need a little piece of mind

Wake me from this dream
That I have dreamed so many times
I need a little piece of mind
Oh, I need a little piece of mind

When you open up your life to the living
All things come spilling in on you
And you're flowing like a river
the Changer and the Changed
You've got to spill some over
Spill some over
Spill some over
Over all

Filling up and spilling over
It's an endless waterfall
Filling up and spilling over
Over all

Filling up and spilling over
It's an endless waterfall
Filling up and spilling over
Over all

Like the rain, falling on the ground
Like the rain, falling all around....

Sometimes it takes a rainy day
Just to let you know
Everything's gonna be - All right
I know, I know, I know all right

Filling up and spilling over
An endless waterfall
Filling up and spilling over
Over all

Filling up and spilling over
It's an endless waterfall
Filling up and spilling over
Over all

-Cris Williamson

Joyful:
PUNKINS!

JOYFULS:
-service
-volunteers
-help
-rain
-fairytale forests
-getaway picnics
-breaks from studies
-target runs
-pistachios

this is me and my dad

Joyfuls:
-fun old pics
-surprise pancake breakfasts
-Pazole
-farmers market
-ivy
-clean
-skype
-Mom and Suzie

Joyful:
at work recently we've been trying to recruit for volunteers for various service projects and such around the community, and also trying to enlighten people of the catastrophes that have occurred in the Pacific Islands and Philippines because of the recent tsunami and how they can contribute. The joyful is: the amount of people interested in helping out, and donating their time, money and self to better the world. I am inspired when each person eyes our booth, gets a curious expression on their face, and changes their course a little to come over and hear us out. I love how people deep down all want to make a difference and are just looking for opportunities to help.

Click here to make an online donation to the LDS Disaster Relief fund by clicking on the "Donate Online" button at the bottom:

http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/news-features/church-responds-to-disasters.html

Tis been awhile since I've posted. School started. Work started. Life started. 

Joyfuls of the last couple weeks:

-Birthdays

-Desserts

-Eggs

-Sharing

-Love

-candles

-Parties

-Friends

-Husband

-classes

-Photo Shoots

It's been a long, hard, busy week since getting to school with meetings galore, broken cars, broken computers, lost watches, and tickets. "Welcome to Adulthood" says the Governor of Money-Vacuum Land! But the joyfuls still seem to keep coming!

Joyfuls:
-bikes
-gardens
-friendly people
-job offers ?
-packages
-leftovers
-granola

My brother found this old photo of him and I. Oh how lovely.



Joyfuls:
Creme Brulee
Hawaii
Beach
Sand
Soup
Love
Friends
Apartments
Old photos
Red Chairs
Collages

Joyfuls:
-Hawaii
-Seeing old friends
-New home
-Gift Cards
-French toast--Wildwood style
-Tapestries

Joyfuls:
-Skype
-Banana Bread (with chocochips)
-Home grown plums
-Unexpected friend visits
-Tea dates
-Sibling hang outs
-Sunshine
-Goodwill

Joyful:
-Happy times with friends
-cookies, salt
-pickled veggies
-17 Again
-Medicine Balls
-Aprons
-State Fair
-Oregon
-Family
-Acrobats

Joyful:


-Clothes swap
-Giving stuff away
-BBQ
-Garden Burgers
-Phone calls from loved ones

Joyfuls of the last weekend:
-beaches
-sand
-ocean: waves, noise, smell
-family
-fairy Godmothers
-dance game
-salmon
-birthdays
-checking things off a check list
-letters in the mail
-nonfat sugar free vanilla steamers
-Paper Heart
-dejunking :)

Photo:
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/paper_heart05.jpg

Joyful: Road trip. Woot.

Joyful: Grilled Veggies

picture: http://techjai.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/grilled-vegetables-ck-222862-l.jpg

A Joyful quote: 

"See the fullness of life all around you. The warmth of the sun on your skin, the display of magnificent flowers outside a florist's shop, biting into a succulent fruit, or getting soaked in an abundance of water falling from the sky. The fullness of life is there at every step."

"Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance."

-Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

photo: http://www.exito-motivacion-y-superacionpersonal.com/images/Lluvia.jpg

Joyful: We have a new nephew!

Joyful of the day:
my husband is trying to perfect creme brulee. I love watching him cook/bake.

Picture: http://www.1point21gigawatts.net/wp-images/cooking/creme-brulee4.JPG

Joyful: My 17 year old sister-in-law picked me up from my house (literally I was stranded) today in the pouring rain of a thunderstorm, to get soft serve, and go to my in-laws for a movie. What a rescue.

Picture: http://www.quarrygirl.com

And it begins...

Today's Joyful: I can wake up every morning, look out these windows, and without fail, see several deer enjoying our yard.

My husband is a blogger. 

A wonderful blogger. (Along with many other wonderful things.)

We are newly married, just over a month. I've loved this time getting to know him better, and finding out just what makes him him. He has so many talents and each day there's something new and exciting to discover. One thing I love about him is that he knows what makes him happy. So he does it. If he knows reading a good book will cheer him up, he'll grab one of the three he's reading, and take off with a cup of tea. If he knows that sitting, pondering, meditating, will get him balanced, realigned, and happy, he'll do just that. I've tried to learn from him, and pay more attention to the things that make me happy as well. 

Blogging makes him happy. He is a photographer, a real artist. He features his photos frequently. I'm a fan. Not just because I'm married to him. They're great. He's inspiring me to both pay more attention to the little joyfuls in my life, and to share them with others, by starting my own blog. 

I am going to post photos, quotes, anything that makes me happy, gives me a smile. That's what most bloggers do, post things that they enjoy. But that is the sole dedication of my blog. To post what makes me happy, and by doing so, bring a smile to someone else's face as well...