A Glimpse of Summer

Hello, friend!

We just had a three day weekend that ended yesterday. :( Time is running quickly, and we are already halfway to the end of the year! Say whaaaat? I am actually quite tired from the weekend, which I find a bit ironic because normally people feel replenished and refreshed from a long week, while I feel tired from doing so much(which is a great thing, I may add).

On Friday I went to my church's teen devotional and my friend Danielle drove home with me and she slept over. Our night consisted of listening to Adele and chatting until about 1 am. The next morning, we woke up bright and early(surprisingly!). Dani and I decided to get up and have an early start to the day so that we could go to the farmers market in Kerrytown. The sun was already beginning to say "HELLO WORLD!!" when we arrived. 

At the farmers market, Danielle and I bought some pesto and cheese bread to go along with it. Then we strolled up and down the street and took our time walking around. I found a panda printed on a pillow!

Some pretty flowers.

After the farmer's market, Dani and I drove to Barnes and Noble and Starbucks to run some errands. I then drove Danielle to Canton, dropped her off, and picked up another friend of mine from church, Emily! We went to Panera and then downtown Plymouth, it was such a beautiful day. We walked around the stores downtown and enjoyed the weather. There was this candy store that was so cool, I hadn't been to one of those in a long time!

A cute tree chair.

This way to happiness.

After hanging out with Emily, I drove back to Ann Arbor for a friend's graduation party and hung out with my other friend, Victoria. 

Victoria :)

 We took a stop at Washtenaw Dairy before we went back to her house and watched Spirited Away, one of my favorite Studio Ghibli movies by Hayao Miyazaki. It was a fantastic way to end the day.
The next morning was church, and then afterwards was our church's softball game. My team, the PowerSharks, unfortunately lost to the Mighty Ducks 5-4. It was such a close game! We'll get 'em next time.

On Memorial Day, my whole family drove to a parade, and afterwards we saw a tribute to some veterans from Ann Arbor. A girl who was singing in the choir fainted, I think she fainted because it was so hot outside, she just fell over in the first 5 seconds of the song! Parents immediately ran over and helped her up and she was good after getting some water. *tip: drink lots of water in the summer, even if you don't feel like it!

Classic parade!

Feeling extremely grateful for everything veterans have done for us.

Afterward, we went to our neighbors house for a barbecue. My allergies were bad again that day, which was a bummer, but they cleared up towards the evening. We ended the day with some family shopping and then my mom and I went hammocking. She colored in a green pattern while I wrote this blog post, and we swung from two green trees watching the sun set.

I hope that you have a great rest of the week,

Joy :)

A Day Well Spent

Hello, friend!

I am extremely pleased to be able to say that I am done with all of my AP tests and standardized testing! Woohoo! :) Now all I have is finals, which don't start until the 13th of June.

Along with finals coming up, summer is on its way and unfortunately, my exchange student friends are leaving Ann Arbor. :( (Link to previous blog post with them here.) We decided that we wanted to do something fun together and just relax.
Yesterday(Saturday), we went to Nichol's Arboretum by the UoM hospital. It was perfect weather outside! I picked up Dhiya and Lars (we tried to get Sarah too but she was busy with homework),  and we drove to Meijers to pick up some fresh fruit and chips for a picnic in the Arb. We had to walk far to get there, especially because of all the construction around the hospital, but it was worth it. If you want to go to the Arb, now is the time! Everything is so beautiful there.

Here are a collection of pictures from our time-

Classic polaroid to remember everything

Mini hike!

s'cute

Yes we're all wearing hats

Dhiya's first dandelion!

"We should do this for a living"

Then we remade this photo from the fall in a corn maze-

Your favorite explorers

Back at it again

After our day, we skipped back to the car.  I was so grateful to be with such fabulous people and I am going to miss them SOOOOOO much when they leave me! *crying face emoji* They never cease to make me smile.

I hope that you have a great week, and don't forget to stop and smell the roses at least once!

Joy :)

ps. IDK if the texts about my blog are being sent through. Apparently if you're already subscribed( text follow @simplyjoy_ful to 40404 to get updates), you can then text ON simplyjoy_ful to get texts.

Prom 2016!

Hello, friend!

I just got back from our church's prom in Chicago! Every year, the teens from churches all over the midwest come together and have a prom in May. There were people from Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois(excuse me if I'm forgetting other churches), and we danced from seven until about ten thirty.

Me and Lexi! <3 :)

The theme this year was, "Under the Sea," which was fun because lots of girls wore blue dresses and- in my opinion-looked like mermaids! It's actually sort of funny because every year, I've worn a blue dress except this year. I chose a red one which didn't really match the theme, but oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Mckenzie, Jennifer and I at the hotel!

We arrived to our hotel at two, which was nice because we had a lot of time to get ready and not be stressed about it. At around five thirty we drove over to the dance!

Laughing with Abby!

 

It was so refreshing seeing my friends from other states. It gets me so excited for camp in the summer and Reach 2016(our national church conference this summer)!

Joselyn's first prom. :)

 Afterwards, we went to an after party at Enchanted Castle, which we had all to ourselves. We did bumper cars, go-karts, arcade games, and watched some karaoke until two in the morning(which really felt like three in our bodies from Michigan!). I am honestly SO tired from this weekend, but it was worth all the fun. Thanks to everyone who put the event on! :)

Have a great week,
Joy :)

Birthdays, Mother's Day, and Tulips!

Hello, friend!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!! :)

Love you, Mom!

I just got home from Holland, Michigan, home of the Tulip Festival. This weekend, my Grandma and Aunt were in town to celebrate my mom's birthday(May 7) and Mother's Day(May 8) with all of us! To start my mom's birthday off, we had a birthday breakfast and opened some cards and presents.

Mom drinking out of her Happy Birthday mug.

Then, it was on the road to the Tulip Festival, a two and a half hour drive. First, we walked to this place called "Centennial Park," and we watched Dutch dancers. Then we headed into the park to look at the tulips and do a little bit of shopping. Going to the festival at eleven o'clock was a great time to go, it wasn't overly crowded yet.

In Centennial Park looking at the fountain and tulips!

Mom and I in front of the tulips.

After mom found her souvenir necklace and we ate some lunch from one of the vendors, we walked to "Window on the Waterfront" to see more tulips. This is where I found out that I was 100% allergic to the tulips; my allergies were so bad when I walked into the fields! *tip: take lots of allergy meds before going to visit tulips!

Rows and rows and rows!

At around four o'clock, we went on a trolley tour of Holland. It was very interesting and I learned a lot! If you live on Tulip Lane, you get tulips for free to plant in your yard.

The streets were decorated beautifully.

After the trolley ride we found dinner, went to a barbershop choir concert, and then had a cupcake party in our Grandma's room. Then we crashed on our beds and refueled for more tulips tomorrow! The next morning we went to the "De Klomp Shoe Factory," where they make the classic Dutch wooden shoes, and right next door was another tulip garden with five million tulips! *tip: go early in the morning because there is crazy traffic after twelve.

Cute little welcome area.

Some of the beautiful tulips. 

One of the very cool windmills.

Tulips for days

And many more!

 This is also where I found out that I was also 100% allergic to Holland! (Just kidding) The tulips were beautiful, but it was horrible there for my nose. We then went to a Mother's Day brunch which had great food. We decided that we wanted to go to one of the beaches because that is what people do in Holland, and it was great weather outside. We saw the classic Holland lighthouse, but all of my photos of it were pretty bad with the lighting and such. I climbed this structure thingymabob and Luke joined me!

Spiderman, spiderman

And we're up!

Picture of the beach!

Me enjoying my Mexican blanket.

Photo creds to mom!

All in all, the trip was beautiful and so colorful! My whole family enjoyed it, and we highly recommend it for anyone who wants to getaway. Now, it is time to do some homework!

Have a great rest of the week,

Joy :)

Little Things

Hello friend,
I hope that you had a good weekend!

Here is a list of little things that you can do throughout your day that make a big difference:

make your bed in the morning

start your day off right! and then maybe take a couple minutes to stretch

drink infused water 

add some fruit or veggies into your drink! it's great for clearing up your skin, and so much healthier for the body than soda or juice. here is a picture of some fun recipes to try.

listen to happy tunes

songs with positive messages, or even instrumentals from movies that you love. one of my all-time favorites is, "Dawn," from Pride and Prejudice. you can listen and read the rest of my blog :)

go for walks

exercise = vital. i'm trying to get back into running, and walks are great too! especially since it's getting warmer outside. bring a hammock ;)

unplug

be present. limit your time on social media.

I saw this on tumblr and it made me laugh!

 follow people/things on social media that encourage you, not discourage you

this can help you be more positive. so many times we get grumpy after scrolling through snapchat stories, our facebook feed, and our instagram. unfollow negative influences.

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13

eat fresh fruit

go to a farmer's market! my family is subscribed to a fruit of the month club and we just got two pineapples in the mail; they are delicious.

my family and I stopped at a peach place in Dexter last summer

hold the door open for others

just bein' polite :)

make eye contact with others and smile at them

let others know you care about them and what they have to say

call up a friend
talk to someone(even if it's only for 10 minutes) who you normally don't see.

I'm trying to work on these things, and I just wanted to share them with you. Hopefully you found something new that you want to try and incorporate into your daily routine. :) Oh and if you have any little things that you do that you would like to share, feel free to leave a comment. Have a great week!!

Joy :) 

ps. text "follow @simplyjoy_ful" to 40404 to get text notifications about my blog every time i post!