The Vampire Diaries Commentary 4x06

The last episode of The Vampire Diaries was just too good not to comment on, so I decided to make a short commentary to mess around with some of iMovie's features. Hope you enjoy!

That's all for now,
Shelby

Thanksgiving Dinner Tradition

Every year, for the past five or so years, we go to a Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle's church! It's a time to eat, play some games, and just get to fellowship with others. This year was no different. My grandparents picked us up, since my mom wasn't up for driving and we headed to the church. It was also my old jr. hi, so it always brings back a flood of memories for me, because I'm sentimental like that.
We sat with family and a couple others that we knew and waited for dinner to start. We stood in line for the food, which went extremely quick since they had a new system this year, and sat back down. I really like Thanksgiving food, but I don't really eat that much when it comes to Thanksgiving day. I think I usually eat about the same amount that I would any other day. After we cleaned the table off, it was time for a couple games. We made our own turkey's, which I was proud of my mom for attempting, because there were a bunch of interesting pieces to make a turkey out of. One of the pastor's came around and told her it looked like road kill...RUDE! HAHA. It was all in good fun, and turned out to not look too bad in a photo. We played Old Turkey (otherwise known as Old Maid), which turned out to be quite an interesting one for our group. We all kept passing cards around and hardly anyone was getting matches or disappointed about having the turkey card. Well, I think my aunt had it the entire time, but she was waiting for a matching card! LOL. We played one more game called, "Hot 'sweet' Potato" in honor of the occasion. They played music and when it stopped, if you had the brown bag, then you were out. Last year, it came down to me and my aunt, and it did once again this year too, which we thought was hilarious. Because the table behind us had left earlier, they gave us the items that were on their table, which meant both of us won! I ended up getting a Starbucks gift card out of it.
There was a speaker that came up after all the fun and games, aimed more towards the kids with a couple of puppets, but I thought it was hilarious. She was so captivating with the voices she had for the puppets and the themes that she was going for while teaching the lessons. We shouldn't get so busy with the hustle and bustle of the season, that we forget about Jesus. We have to get our priorities lined up, much like the story of Mary and Martha. It's easy to forget about what's most important when there's so much to do. But, I'm learning that in the midst of our busy schedules, Jesus is the peace we need that holds it all together.
When the dinner ended, we said goodbye to everyone and a few people on the way out, then headed home. It's a nice little tradition we have going. And even though the table gets a bit smaller every year as far as the family that comes, I still treasure the memories with those who do come. Plus, this way, it's like I get to celebrate Thanksgiving even longer :) No complaints there!

"When all that you've got left is being strong, just gotta have a little faith to fall back on!"

Yesterday morning, I hit my alarm a few times, before finally getting up to get ready. I was so wiped out, and the colder it gets, the harder it is to get out of bed. We messed around with the idea of possibly going to the later service, because we thought Taylor Swift tickets went on sale during that time, but they didn't, so we went at the normal time.

The message was amazing! I love the series that we're doing right now, "Believe," because honestly as the year is starting to wind down, I still need that little boost or pick-me-up to remind me that it's not over yet, and there are still plenty of good things and promises coming my way. Our pastor gave us 5 ways to stand confident in what God has planned for us with an acrostic:

1. Start acting in faith; "God can't drive a parked car" and "God always blesses active faith." When we're doing our part and taking those first steps, even when we're terrified or have no idea what's going on, God blesses that. Our pastor said that for some of us, God is going to be asking us to take those first steps with certain things in our lives this week, and I want to be one of them. 
2. The second step was to trust in God's character! We don't always know why or how a situation is going to work out, but we have to trust in God's timing and who He is, and the fact that He is control of everything, no matter how we feel about it.
3. I think out of all of the points made, this one resonated with me the most. It was affirm God's promises. It's so easy to get discouraged when nothing is going like you've planned, but we have to recall the things that God has told us, whether it's in the Bible or personally. If He says He's going to do something, He's going to do it. No questions. It might not be in the time frame that we've imagined, but it's going to work out in a much better way, at a much better time.
4. The next way to stand in confidence was to never act on my feelings. We can't act on our feelings, because feelings are fickle; we change our mind, like we change our clothes. Feelings are temporary, and what we think one minute, might change in the next five minutes. That's why we can't make big, life changing decisions based on what we feel like we should do. Instead, we have to act in faith and rely on God, even when it's hard (and it usually is).  "Courage is fear holding on a minute longer," and that's how we have to respond to it.
5. The last point made in the sermon was discover the miracle. That's when we will truly see God's blessing on our lives and futures. Something that really stayed in my mind after was, "Never doubt in the dark what you trusted in the light." Just because you're going through a tough season doesn't mean you should doubt what you've always believed. 

I had a lot on my mind as we walked out of service, but was quickly shaken out of that, looking for familiar faces to say hi to! It's always makes me so happy when I know people, because for the longest time I didn't have that. I love catching up with friends or even just people I've seen around the church before. We even caught up with some old friends of my parents (my old english teacher too). They told us about their kids, who I went to school with, and it's crazy that they're all married or have kids and are living out of state. I can't believe how time flies.

We made it home just in time to get online for the Taylor Swift presale tickets, but as I imagined, it sucked! We didn't get anything, because they only put certain tickets out. It doesn't sound like any of my other friends had much luck either.

After that rip off, we met up with our family friends for lunch at PF Changs! It was good seeing them again; they told us about a trip to Oklahoma they'd just taken, while Mandy and I talked about me transferring to the other university. She gave me some helpful tips and even possibly looking into another school. We also talked about how we wish we could go away, because we don't want to be stuck here forever. That is honestly a fear of mine. If you don't go away for college, you don't really know what else is out there, and that's something I'm dying to find out for myself, not just hear from others. But, at the same time, it's not very realistic...and maybe it doesn't have to be. I've never been realistic, so why are all of these thoughts creeping in now?
I even ran into my best friend's family, while there, so I got to catch up with them and see her new baby niece. She is so precious! Even though I am nowhere near having a family or even getting married, seeing Emmy really struck that idea in my heart of how badly I would like to be a mom someday.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of me on the computer, listening to music and relaxing. Sunday afternoons are usually like that, which is nice. We had dinner at Panera and ended up going grocery shopping, which ended up not being as terrible as I thought it'd be. We were home the rest of the night, watching The Notebook and drinking hot cocoa, which was a really nice way to end the day!

Remembering God's promises!  

God has really been showing me a lot of that this week! Trusting in Him. 

That's all for now. Here's to a great week,
Shelby

The Perfect Fall Saturday

Yesterday was one of the most perfect days I've probably ever had. I woke up a little earlier, and realized that I probably could have slept a little longer, but figured I would sleep way too long anyway. I walked out to the living room, where my mom was on the couch with our cat, and decided to turn on the electric fireplace we just got. I sat in front of it, trying to warm up, because it is getting COLD. While I love it, I still want to stay warm at the same time. I decided to take my time of waking up, and just taking in the day. It's nice to be still, and I forget that a lot. My dad had to run a couple errands, so my mom and I decided to get ready. I listened to a little Celine Dion, ate breakfast, and pretty soon we were ready to go. We picked my aunt up from her house and took her to the airport, since she's flying out on business. We hung out there for awhile; you can always see a lot of interesting people at the airport. Or, it's also fun playing the guessing game of what their story is.

After my aunt decided to get in line for the check, we headed out. We drove by the location of this charity event for cancer called, "Fight For Life" that Little Big Town would be playing at later on, hoping to see them. All we saw were people setting up, and a few trailers in back, but not too much action, so after looking around, we left. My dad had to take care of some business at work, so we just went with him, which was cool, because I think I've only been inside once or twice. We weren't there very long.

When we were done, we ended up deciding to make a visit to a small town about 45 minutes away from us, Tehachapi. It's a quaint little town, that has some neat shops and restaurants. It's a nice getaway that doesn't require a lot of traveling. The drive takes you through the mountains, past a lot of beautiful scenery, and I was just taking mental pictures in my mind the entire time. I was the dj, as always, playing Taylor Swift jams from the backseat. It is the best fall soundtrack, let me tell you. It's something about the simple melodies and lyrics that mention autumn and the leaves changing color that make me giddy for this season in a whole new way.

We drove through town, and I felt like a kid again. Alright, so I'm not that old, but still...I just love small towns. They have a certain charm and really tend to focus on the important things in life; I also wouldn't mind things going just being a bit slower, instead of feeling like I always have to rush through the busy day of "city life." Our first stop was the Apple Shed, which is a restaurant, but they also have a cute little store with treats and knick knacks, and apples (during apple season), but apparently we missed apple season. We looked around for a little while, then decided to get some lunch across the street at a restaurant that had opened up recently called, Red House BBQ. It was alright, but not really as tasty as we thought it'd be, which was a bummer. Also, did I mention how FREEZING COLD it was? Our city is not used to incredibly cold weather or snow, or anything really lower than 50 or so degrees, so when it does get that cold or we experience it in other places, it's quite the culture shock.

We looked around at a few little gift shops, along the main street. There was even a new bakery, where my mom and I got individual sized mini pies and my dad got a cream puff. There isn't really much else to do around town, so we drove around, just looking at houses and whatever else was around. From where we were, you could see most of the town, and the trees that were turning orange and red for the season. It was breathtaking! And once again, listening to Taylor Swift was the perfect soundtrack.

After we made it back into town, we stopped at Murray Farms, which is a grocery store, petting zoo, botanical garden of sorts, and depending on the season, they have either an apple orchard or pumpkin patch to browse. We had never been there before, so it was something different to do! It was a beautiful day, and still incredibly cold...But, tis the season, right?

We came home and were all pretty wiped out, so I cozied up to the fire, and started watching Gilmore Girls. It's such a feel good show, especially during these cold months that are approaching us. I also ate my tiny little caramel apple pie. About midway through I was a little over the apples, but boy was the caramel and crust good! It was so relaxing not doing anything, though.

Later on, I trailed along with my parents to Target, and I have to say it's probably the most fun I have ever had in Target. That's saying a lot because I'm there all the time, and I've been with a lot of people. We were going up almost every aisle, cracking jokes and just being our witty selves. No place better to do it than Target, am I right? All of the Christmas items were out, seeing as they have been since October...But, this time, I felt like I could actually look at everything, since we're getting closer and the weather is starting to turn. I tried to talk my dad into buying these shirts for our Christmas cards that are the Griswold's and says "Christmas Vacation" on them, which is pretty much one of my favorite movies, period. It was really tempting, but we might go back for them, and hope they still have our sizes.

Any mention of The Vampire Diaries gets me excited! 

I couldn't go to Target and not play the Taylor button...It's a tradition. 

After our little excursion through Target, we went over to Chic-Fil-A for dinner, and of course, we couldn't leave without getting the holiday peppermint shakes, which are delicious! We drove around for awhile, and headed back out to the Fight For Life event to see if we could see anything. There were a bunch of lights out back, and we saw a ton of people going in and out, even a couple that looked like Jimi and Karen from Little Big Town, but never got close enough to find out.

After a crazy day, we came home to wind down with some TV and I headed to bed. It was such a crazy fun time! It was something that we don't normally do, and I loved every minute of it. As many things as I've been able to do in my life, the random trips or times I've spent with my parents will always take the top spot as my favorite memories.

That's all for now,
Shelby

Major Freakout

Lately, I've been having a few more "meltdowns", if you will, about the future. As all of these big changes are starting to come up in my life, it's starting to freak me out a bit about what the future holds for me. I've said this time and time again, I know, but I have all these plans, and what if none of them work out? What if everything I've worked for ends up doing absolutely no good? But, I also feel like the more open I've been about my freak outs and fears, I find that I'm not alone. And even people that I think have it together all the time or know exactly what they want, are just as confused and trying to figure it out like I am.

When I think about it, even some of the strongest fictional women (but representing real women somewhere out there in the world), have had their breakdowns from time to time, as well. That's when  it clicks in my mind that it's normal to go through these seasons and moments of doubt. Let's take a look at some of my favorites shall we?

Brooke Davis is one of the toughest chicks to have ever been on TV, in my opinion. She was always trying to make the best of situations, even when the cards did not seem to be in her favor at all. She would fight for her friends, her family, and most importantly what was right. But, even she was afraid of the future. When the class was graduating, and everyone else seemed to know what they wanted to do, she had no idea where she wanted to go to school, and said, "I don't like to think about it." When her business was starting to crumble, she worried about what would come next, but still looked forward to it, as scary as it was. Later on, when the business finally closed down because of Victoria, she admitted in Julian's film that she was afraid of what would come next. I guess the truth is, no matter how successful you are, there will always be moments of being afraid to jump.

Keeping it in the One Tree Hill family...Let's see how Haley James Scott. Haley was another incredibly strong character. Think about all the times she could've given up on Nathan in their high school years, or even all the trauma her life brought her out in the real world. Talk about stress! But, she always handled it with such grace and poise, as Nathan put it in season 7. But, as strong and put together as Haley was, she had her moments of "What am I going to do?" She was about to graduate high school, was barely making enough money to pay the bills, Nathan wasn't working, and Jamie was just a little bun in the oven, she worried about how they were going to take care of everything. Even the girl that everyone comes to for advice, needs some help of her own at times.

To me, if anyone was going to achieve greatness, it would be miss Rory Gilmore. After all, she was the one who had been planning on going to Harvard since she was five years old. She's always on top of things, doing whatever extracurriculars she could do to get her foot in the door, and always knew exactly what she wanted. But, as she nears graduation from Yale University...All of a sudden, those dreams and plans turn into one major breakdown. She starts wondering why it even matters if she finishes her finals, and why Lorelai had always told her that she could do anything, because more than likely it wasn't going to happen. Lorelai gave a couple pieces advice that I've heard a thousand or so times, but watching again last night, as I near the same situation, I had to write them down. 

"Everyone needs to have a meltdown every once in awhile, I have firsthand experience!"

"A setback is really just a step for future accomplishment."

Maybe it's because Rory is also majoring in Journalism that I relate to this freak out the most, but I know it's going to be okay, because things turned out pretty good for her in the end.

Rachel Green started out as a spoiled brat whose dad bought her just about anything and everything she'd ever wanted. She had just run away from her own wedding, and was starting out in the big city alone, never having worked a day in her life. To some of those things, I can relate. I haven't worked for anything, really, at all. My parents have always provided for me; I'm extremely dependent. From the get go, we almost see Rachel at her worst-starting off with a breakdown moment, trying to build a life for herself without credit cards or people telling her what to do all the time. Seeing that she could overcome those obstacles, reminds me that I can too. It's all just a matter of wanting to, and having a good support system around you for encouragement.

Plus, I have one thing that none of these girls had... A faith in God that I won't let be shaken at this point in my life, just because of a few questions. I'll do what I can and leave him the rest. I'm going to be just fine. 

That's all for now,

Shelby

Thoughts At 1 A.M

I had these thoughts awhile back that I had jotted down, one night, but apparently they never posted...So here are the random thoughts I get, while late at night. Although, most of these are pretty common for daytime, as well.

• I really miss the Kardashians when they aren't on every week. I think they are so entertaining, and sometimes I talk like them just for the fun of it. 
• I wish I lived in LA
• I'm hungry. I might go to the kitchen to see what we have (Sidenote: I started to go out, but the floor makes too much noise, and I knew more than likely we wouldn't have anything anyway).
• I wish I was doing more this fall season. I feel like I haven't been really up to the expectations I wanted to.
• I haven't watched the Married To Jonas season finale yet. Where are my priorities?! (Since I've written this, I have watched the finale; the day after, in fact).
• I blog too much
• I need to find out how to do commentary, over a video, especially when it's on a TV website. Anyone know how?
• I want Julie Plec's job! Being around Ian and Paul all day? Perfect. Plus, working on a hit TV show would be pretty awesome! 
• How many days until Christmas break?
• I want to bake a lot over the holidays! I always say I'm going to, get too lazy and never do.
• "Monkey, monkey, underpants!" (It's a Gilmore Girl thing)
• I really want the Walmart edition of Red. Really, I don't mind two copies of it and I'd like the little magazine booklet that comes with it (Since I wrote this, I did in fact get the Walmart copy). 

The end.