It's been a long time...again...

When the school year first started earlier this year, things got so busy that I ended up having to take a break from blogging.  Several weeks (or was it months?!?!) later, I told myself that I would do my best to keep up with regular blogging, but I obviously haven't been able to keep to that promise.  It's been a daily battle just to get up and face my day every morning, especially now that I've gotten so busy that I'm only managing to get a few hours of sleep every night.  Getting your Master's Degree, teaching 8th grade English, running your own handcraft business, and keeping up with family and boyfriend time is no easy feat.  I swear, time is probably the most precious and most priceless commodity that you could never buy.

I have this tendency to try to spruce up my outward appearance everytime I start to feel a little down on myself on the inside.  This time around, I decided that I've had long hair for way too long and it was time for a change!  My last two stylists refused to cut my hair because they insisted that it was too pretty to cut off, so I finally got annoyed and went back to my stylist from years ago.  As soon as I told her to chop it, she got straight to it and I could feel the scissors at the back of my neck.

So, here's to a new me!  Even though I don't have the option of tying my hair up or curling it anymore, I gotta say that I am loving the reduced time that it takes to wash and dry it everyday.  Here's a recent shot of my mom and I while we were selling jewelry at a local event...

And here's my family Christmas tree that I got a chance to decorate all by myself!  :D  I love Christmas!

My crazy thyroids :P

I shared not too long ago that I've been in a strange mood for a while and couldn't figure out why.  I'm not even sure how to explain how I've been feeling since I'm not even so sure what it is myself.  It's almost like looking at the world through this really dark and gloomy lens and even if you can always take it off, you choose not to.  It finally occurred to me that I've felt like this before, and it was actually right before I was diagnosed with Hyper-thyroids also known as Graves Disease.  

I was diagnosed about 10 years ago when I was having a really hard time keeping up with school while I was in my freshman year of college.  Our school nurse noticed that my father has the illness and since it is hereditary, she suggested that I get checked.  Sure enough, that's exactly what my problem was!  I was quickly put on medication and my symptoms were under control, but my doctor suggested that I get a radioactive iodine treatment done, so that my thyroids would no longer function and create any hormones and I could just take the hormone supplement everyday which is much safer than trying to block the hormone like what I am doing.  It seemed like such a permanent decision and destroying a part of my body really freaked me out, so it took 10 years for me to convince myself that everything is going to be ok and that it was ok to do it.

This past March, I took a blood test and saw my doctor to let her know that I was ready for the radioactive iodine, but then she told me that it looked like my thyroids were functioning normally for the first time in 10 years, so I was in remission!  

Several months later, it's become obvious that my illness is back and I'm no longer in remission, so it's time for me to make the dreaded decision again to get the radioactive treatment.  Gah!  I don't think I've ever realized until now just how important good health is.

In addition to good health, good grooming is also important!  :D  Here's a picture of Chibi getting all prettied up by my mother...

I've probably said it many times before, but I absolutely love taking something a little rough and earthy and transforming it into a sparkly piece of jewelry.  I really love organic shapes and lots of different kinds of textures as well.  This pair of pink coral earrings is a perfect example of that since it combines chaotic shape of the coral together with a sparkling Swarovski rhinestone to create a beautiful pair of earrings.  Furthermore, the combination of gold and pink is really eye-catching and fun!  As always, you can find these in my Etsy shop at http://skinnypigdesigns.etsy.com/

Great T.V. and pretty earrings :)

I had an exhausting day at work today, so I decided to pick myself up by reactivating my subscription to Hulu Plus!  That means that I get to spend my free time watching Nashville while I'm toiling away over making jewelry!  I LOVE country music, so I was super excited when I first heard about the show and it definitely did not fail to deliver.  The characters are wonderful and the storyline is exciting, yet realistic enough to hook you but you can still relate to what's going on.

Anyway, my friends have been going crazy over my dollar earrings lately, so I would like to share them here with all of you!  These are gold-plated sand dollars with gold-filled chain, freshwater pearls, and semi-precious briolettes.  I hope you all like it as much as my friends do!

We're finally approaching the holiday season!!!

First off, I gotta say that I absolutely LOVE the holiday season and I truly believe that It's the most wonderful time of the YEAR!!!  I wish you could all see me singing that at the top of my lungs :)  Since I make and sell my own jewelry, I do love the way that business picks up at this time of the year since everybody is going crazy Christmas shopping.  More than anything though, I love the way that this is the one time of the year where it seems like everybody tries a lot harder to be nice to others.  It's the time of the year where we're all forced to spend time with and appreciate our friends and families.  Furthermore, we're a lot more willing to help strangers in need.  

The weather finally cools down which is a much needed break from all the heat since I live in Hawaii.  Everywhere you go, the world looks so beautiful with all of the lights and baubles and garlands.  OMG, I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

It seems that people have already started their Christmas shopping since I'm already noticing the sales picking up in my Etsy shop.  Here, I would like to share with you a pair of earrings that seem to be one of my bestsellers lately.  With blue glass, tan seashells, coral, and turquoise beads, these earrings are the perfect gift to give a little part of Hawaii to anybody anywhere in the world!  As always, you can check them out in my Etsy shop at http://skinnypigdesigns.etsy.com/

Finding joy in my hobbies...

When I'm feeling a little down, sometimes it helps to remind myself of why I love my life.  Jewelry-making was kind of like the answer to my prayers.  For a long time, I think I had a hard time appreciating myself and recognizing what it is that makes me special and unique.  Jewelry-making changed all of that and now, it's become an integral part of my life and I can't imagine being without it!  I really think that every person should have a hobby...something that excites them so much that it gives them a reason to get out of bed and face the day!  The happiest people are those who have a purpose in life and hobbies definitely help you find that purpose.

More and more, I've been thinking about doing volunteer work, maybe at a local children's hospital or something.  I wanna bring some sort of fun activity to the patients there, but I haven't really been able to figure out how yet.  Any ideas???

Some new materials to play with... :)

In a strange mood.

I think that I've fallen kinda into a funk lately.  Maybe I'm a little strange, but I have a tendency to get really affected and obsessed whenever I watch a really good movie.  After I saw Divergent for the first time, I ended up watching it over and over again and I ended up working out like crazy and I looked into trying to go Ziplining and Sky diving, thinking that it would be a very "Dauntless" thing to do.

A few nights ago, I saw The Fault in Our Stars for the first time, and as expected, I cried and cried to the point where I got sucked into this vortex, the one where you start sobbing and your body is heaving uncontrollably to the point where you almost feel like you might upchuck :P

Since then, I haven't been able to get the movie and it's themes out of my mind.  I spent a whole lot of time yesterday doing research online to learn more about what happens when people get cancer.  In addition to learning the science of it, I read about many personal stories and experiences of people who get the disease.  These stories touched my heart in such a way that made me feel closer than ever before to understanding what it means to be human and just how amazing, and at the same time terrifying our bodies can be.

We talk about just how wonderful and efficient are bodies are, with all of these systems that work together to keep us alive.  Why is it then, that sometimes, our bodies end up becoming our enemy in our battle to survive?  I haven't been able to get that thought out of my mind and I feel like I even dreamed about it as I slept last night.  Maybe this is something that I'll never understand...