The Day I Met Lorelai Gilmore and Julian Baker

{Old Post-May//The Beginning of my summer}

After feeling like I was coming down with something or starting to get sick on Sunday afternoon, hearing about an unfortunate situation for a family member, tossing and turning for most of the night, I woke up on Monday morning to the tune of “Where You Lead, I Will Follow” by Carole King. Now, if you’re in my world, that translates to the Gilmore Girls theme song, and that meant I would be meeting Lauren Graham later in the day.

I was determined to have a great day. I was feeling so much better and had my energy back, got up, put my makeup on, said a short prayer over the day, and pretty soon, my mom and I were ready to go. We stopped at Jack in the Box for breakfast, then hit the road to LA. We live about an hour and a half away, so we wanted to leave as early as possible. I’d say we made pretty good timing to The Grove, only getting a little backed up in traffic for a few minutes.

We parked, made our way to Barnes & Noble, I bought the book, got my wristband and the rest of the details, and then it was official. I was excited, but there was still so much time in between that and the actual book signing, so it was hard to get too excited just yet. That, and I was still waking up. I’m not usually a morning person.

For most of the morning, we walked around The Grove! We did a little shopping at Forever 21, Anthropologie, Dylan’s Candy Bar, and finally got to check out the new TopShop! After a little while, I was kind of bored with it, and we ended up seeing that they were filming for Extra! Maria Menunos and Mario Lopez were filming some bits for the show. As a Journalism major, I found it fascinating watching the whole filming process go down. I have to say, Maria Menunos is incredible at what she does. No matter what the story was, she was asking questions and double checking on facts all throughout. I was definitely making mental notes of her techniques…Mario Lopez on the other hand. Well, he looks great for the camera, if you catch my drift. After a few minutes of hanging around, I made eye contact with Maria, while she had a few minutes of downtime and mouthed,”Can I get a picture with you?” to her, to which she said, “Sure!” and headed over to us. We took a picture, and I told her I really loved her book and that I was a journalism major. She thanked me and said she was glad I liked the book, and said with a sincere tone and pat on the shoulder, “good for you,” with the journalism thing. I hear it’s a tough business  I also thought I might be able to meet up with Janelle from American Idol, but it didn’t work out. I thought it was still really cool that she tried! She seems incredibly sweet and down to earth.

They had a few more things to do behind the scenes and took off in the golf carts to film somewhere else, so my mom and I were back to having time to kill. As we were walking towards the parking garage to put our stuff away, I ran into some friends from Twitter who I was hoping to meet at some point during the day. We talked for quite some time, then decided to have lunch together at The Cheesecake Factory (since everyone was starting to get hungry), which is one of my favorite places. It was a great time; we were able to get to know them more, and by that point, and the food was delicious, as always. They’re really awesome girls, with great stories to tell, so the company was even better! I’m so glad we ran into them when we did.

When we finished lunch, we split up again, and my mom and I went shopping around at a few of the places we hadn’t made it to earlier, like Gap, Nordstrom, etc. Finally, I was starting to tire out, so we were just sort of wandering around, and ended up finding our new friends in the small lounge area in the parking garage. We hung out with them, I charged my phone (thanks to Robyn) and we all had time to start thinking about what we were going to say to Lauren or ask her. It also gave us a little extra time to freshen up! After a little while of waiting and killing more time, we decided to make our way over to Barnes and Noble, just to see if anyone had lined up yet, or to be ready to go when it started. We decided to grab something to drink at the little cafe, walked around to scope out the area, then sat down at the table just talking and wondering how all of us had met, which was really fun.

At 6:00, we all got in line! Most of the girls were in section A, but my mom and I were in C, so we didn’t get to hang out very much in line, but we’d wave and make eye contact with one another every once in awhile! My mom and I also did a lot of staring out the window, watching people go by and pretending they were someone famous based on what they were wearing or what they looked like. That helped pass the time quickly. We also made friends with some of the people around us; talking about Gilmore Girls and other Lauren Graham related topics for the most part.

At 7:00, the book signing started, and I thought I would start really freaking out. I mean, Lauren Graham is one of those people I have loved forever, as well as the main character she has played for quite awhile. There was even a point in my life where I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to meet anyone from Gilmore Girls, just because I didn’t want to kill the specialness of the show, and didn’t want to ruin the characters, in case the cast wasn’t like I had pictured in my head all these years. Well, we made our way up to Lauren, and it was my turn. I took a deep breath, and I felt confident. Here’s how the conversation went:

Lauren: (I walk up) Hi! (In my mind, I’m really freaking out…Like, whoa! I’m talking to Lauren Graham and I feel so cool and nonchalant about it)

Me: Hi! I’ve been such a huge fan of yours forever!

Lauren: Aw! Thank you so much (she signs the book)

Me: I actually have something to show you (I pull out my picture of me at Luke’s Diner when I was about 8)…This is me when I was younger in front of Luke’s!

Lauren: Oh wow! You were so little!

Me: I was And at the time they were talking all about this Gilmore Girls show, and I’m like what the heck is that?!

Lauren: (nodding and agreeing) Sure, right!

Me: And just a few years later it’s like my favorite show of all time!

Lauren: And now you have that awesome picture!

Me: Exactly! Would you mind signing it, please?

Lauren: (I’m pretty sure she had already started to sign it anyway) (we take our picture together) There ya go! Thank you so much for coming!

(My mom walked up! And I had warned her about not crying when she met her…HAHA!)

Lauren: Hi!

Mom: Hi!

Me: This is my mom!

Mom: We loved Gilmore Girls; we still watch it all the time!

Lauren: Aw! That is so sweet! Thank you!

Me: Yeah, it’s kind of our thing!

Lauren: That’s really cool! So, how did you see Luke’s? Just taking the Warner Brothers tour?

Mom and I: Yeah! Just the tour!

Lauren: Oh ok, well that’s really awesome…(something like that, I can’t remember specifically, and I wish I did)

(She signed the book mom had)

Me: Can we get another picture together?

Lauren: Yeah, of course, and now you have another awesome picture!

She thanked us a few more times and seemed SO sincere! She is genuinely one of THE coolest people I have ever met. I have definitely become an even bigger fan of hers, if that’s possible.

I could not believe that had just happened, but I was still extremely calm and super excited about it! We walked outside, where they had a big event going on for The Voice, but there were so many people and you could hardly see anything. We met up with the rest of our new group, and exchanged stories, grinning from ear to ear, because we had just met one of our favorite people! We talked a few minutes, then decided to say our goodbyes and that we would keep in touch through social media like Twitter and Instagram, of course.

My mom and I tried to walk towards the parking garage, but it ended up being blocked off, due to The Voice event. Blake and Shakira were supposed to be entering through that way; I thought they’d be coming pretty shortly, and thought it would be cool to see them, but the crowd was starting to be too much and I was just starting to get tired. So, we took off, letting the girls know the parking garage might be a bit harder to get to, so we all walked in together, trying to figure out where to go next. We found it, made a stop at the bathrooms, then started heading towards our car on the 3rd level.

Well, in the process of getting to the 2nd level, we stopped, because we needed to get our ticket validated for parking, and I thought about checking over the balcony to see if we could see who had arrived or made it onstage at that point. Well, in just a split second, I noticed a guy who looked a lot like Austin Nichols (seeing a celebrity randomly on the street or at a shopping center is very different than expecting them to show up..It takes your brain a minute to realize who they are), and I must have been having a really confident/calm day, because immediately I asked, “Austin, can I get a picture?” and my mom had started looking around, wasn’t sure who I was talking to, then looked up and realized who it was and said, “Oh crap!” because she was excited for me! Ha! He stuck out his hand for a handshake and he asked my name, and I told him Shelby and that he had tweeted me several times, hoping that maybe he would know who I was, and he was like, “Oh, it’s really nice to meet you!” As we were taking the picture, I was saying, “I’m such a huge fan of yours,” and I’m pretty sure he chuckled and said, “Thank you!” LOL. It all happened so quick. Prior to, I had a million questions I would’ve asked, but he looked like he was probably heading somewhere, so I didn’t want to hold him up. He was so sweet, though! And he even tweeted me back the next day! He’s seriously THE BEST!

We got in the car, and made our way home and I just kept replaying the day over and over in my head. I could not believe I had just met two of my favorite people, from two of my favorite shows…I could not wrap that around my brain. Had I done just a few little things differently, meeting up with the girls might not have happened, or running into Austin wouldn’t have happened, because we would have missed by a split second. I like to call these God destined moments…I was in the right place, at the right time to come in contact with these people for whatever reasons that I might not be aware of at the moment. But, God knows! And I know He has even bigger plans ahead for me, so I just have to keep trusting Him.

That’s all for now,

Shelby

xoxo

"I Wish That I Could Have This Moment For Life..."

{Old post-American Idol Finale}

Every year around this time, especially for the last three years, I always get extremely excited, because of the crowning for the next American Idol. The finale is one of the biggest events in LA, and my mom and I have had the pleasure of going since Scotty McCreery won in season 10, which had always been a big dream of mine to attend. For as many things as I’ve been able to do in my life, the American Idol finales will always be highlights for me. Not only because I love music and big events, but because I can connect with the contestants, most of all, who have inspired me in more ways than I’ll ever be able to share with them or the creators of the show. These are the kinds of people I could be friends with; they have the same dreams and goals that I do, and we get to watch them transform right before our eyes from small town kids to big time superstars, climbing up the charts every time you turn around. They’re relatable, and that’s why people all over the world, not just in America, love this show so much.

Usually we have several people wanting to come to the finale with us, or joking to us that they want to be on the list, but it was actually hard to find people who really wanted to go this time. Well, at least in the sense that they wanted to because they’re huge fans! My cousin really wanted to and had planned to go, but something came up at the last minute and she wasn’t feeling too well, so it was just my mom and I this year. Tuesday night I went to sleep feeling like the next morning was Christmas, and Wednesday morning, I woke up feeling very sleepy; hard to wake up at 6:45, especially when I’m the girl who usually sleeps until at least 11! One of my first thoughts was, “How am I ever going to have a job if I can hardly wake up for one day, knowing something exciting is going to happen?” I tried to push that out of my mind, continued to get ready, and close to 8 a.m, my mom and I were ready to go.

We stopped at Jack-In-The Box (per usual) for breakfast, then hit the road, while listening to the American Idol CD, which was getting me pumped up for the night (as if I needed help in that department)! The car ride was a lot quieter than usual, because mom and I were both really tired and still trying to wake up. And by the time we made it down there, I was not in the best of moods, and really anxious, just because you never know for sure that you’re going to get into the taping, because…Well, that’s Hollywood and that’s how the system works. I was so paranoid that we might not get tickets to the finale, and that would just be heartbreaking (okay, I’m being dramatic, but it would have sucked a little).

So, we made it to L.A Live, where the Nokia Theater is; made a stop at the restroom in Starbucks, then ran over to the usual line.

Well, when we saw where the line actually was, I could breathe, because in the past couple years that we’d been coming to them, it has been so much busier, with the line wrapping around a couple of times. Based on what we’ve seen and read, I think it might have something to do with their eclectic taste in judges this year *Cough* Nicki Minaj *Cough*. Anyway, we had barely gotten in line, when they announced that they would be coming by pretty soon to mark off our passes and exchange them for physical tickets. I would say we were probably done within 30-45 minutes, so our feet didn’t even have time to start hurting and we didn’t start feeling exhausted before we’d hardly made it anywhere. The first year we went to the finale (back when Scotty McCreery won in Season 10), it was SO hot, and we barely had time to run back to the car and eat very quickly before heading inside. So not cool.

After we got our tickets, we wandered back over to the red carpet area, where things were still being set up.

There wasn’t much going on at all, so after a few minutes of just sitting there, we decided to go to the Grammy Museum, which we hadn’t been to in several years. They had a new exhibit on Whitney Houston that sounded interesting and we had nothing but time to kill, so it was perfect. I felt so inspired walking through exhibits of so many talented musicians, whether it was looking at their Grammy outfits or handwritten lyrics for one of their hit songs. Walking through the new Whitney exhibit, it hit me, right then and there, that I want to live a life that’s worth putting one of my personal belongings behind a glass case. That may sound superficial or just dumb, but I want someone years from now to freak out that my handbag or notebook is in a museum the way I would over one of the greats or best musicians right now. Because maybe it will mean that I made a difference to their life; that I changed their life or helped them in some BIG way to help them live out their dreams. We saw a wide variety of musicians and artists’ clothing and memorabilia, which was really exciting to see how music has evolved so much over the years, and just how music has touched people in all walks of life and all different genres. I walked out of there wanting to play guitar or collaborate with someone on a song…I just wanted to create. Music definitely played a big part of our day on Wednesday, and it was incredible.

When we finished at the museum, we had lunch at the ESPN Zone. I wasn’t too hungry, because of all the excitement surrounding the day, so I just settled with chicken tenders and fries (you’d think I was ten). I was still trying to get into a perky mood, because I was still acting a bit sluggish/down. There was nothing else to do after lunch, so we stood by the red carpet, waiting for something exciting to happen and it never did. Last year, periodically throughout the day they had interviews and past “Idols” were out there, hanging with the fans and talking to the media, but there was none of that. We talked to a couple girls, obviously about Idol (even though they didn’t really watch much this season), then ran back to the car to put our phones and camera away. Only to find out that we could have checked them in, so we were a bit bummed about that, but oh well, it all worked out in the end. The doors opened not long after that, and we headed inside the theater.

We walked through the doors, which revealed the huge American Idol sign across the stage, and the entire theater was glowing in bluish tinted lights. It always just hits me how much this show has impacted my life, not only for good music, but for great memories and great friends over the past 12 years, that I will never forget. We found our seats, and were so much closer than I realized we would be, which was obviously exciting. For the next hour, we scanned the crowd, hoping to see celebrities, but there wasn’t too much going on. There was really loud, upbeat techno/pop music playing throughout the arena, and everyone was just filing in. As it got closer to the show, the music started getting louder, and people were filing in from just about every direction. It was complete chaos, but I was so pumped up. My heart was pounding like never before, so I can only imagine how Candice and Kree, along with their families felt in that moment.

We couldn’t take pictures or anything, which was unfortunate, but at the same time, gave me a chance to truly just soak up the moment, instead of being so concerned about tweeting or Facebooking what was going on. Around 10 minutes til showtime, the other eight contestants of the show walked in and sat several rows in front of us, and Mr. and Mrs. Seacrest also sat just about two or three rows in front of us, which was really awesome. That’s when I knew our seats were good  . There’s a guy that usually warms up the crowd, but he told the same jokes and did the same dance routines that he’s done the past couple of years, so I was anxious to get on with the rest of the show. Well, while he was still getting the crowd pumped up, I saw Colton Dixon and his girlfriend walk by. I had no idea he was going to be there, since he’s been on tour with Third Day for the past couple months. But, I immediately saw the hair and nudged my mom, saying, “Look! It’s Colton!” I was kind of appalled that the people next to us had no idea who he was (REALLY?), and a lot of  people we came in contact with had no idea who was even in the finale. Like, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! But, I digress.

The show is just like you imagine it to be on TV, which is cool! It tapes straight through, since it’s live on the east coast, although it feels so much faster in the audience, because the energy is so high and you’re having a blast being with a room full of industry people and fans. So, while most things are taking place on stage, I’m trying to pay more attention to the little details going on behind the scenes, when Seacrest is trying to make it to his next mark, or the fans trying to get Keith’s attention, while he takes more pictures with the pit and other random audience members (I have never been so lucky to get one with him, though). I like seeing the way it all comes together, especially having seen a couple shows at CBS this season, to moving to the big stage at Nokia. I also loved all of the moments between the other “Idol” contestants and the top two finalists, when they made their way to the audience for a shot. Candice was joking with Burnell at one point, and Kree was talking with Angie, and I’m pretty sure held her hand at one point. It was also really cool to see them jumping to their feet after Kree or Candice’s performances, getting into it themselves. They are a family, and it’s so awesome to see them supporting one another.

Now, to the real highlight of the night. After the taping started coming to a close, and the recap video package came on, my mom and I ducked out early to get a good spot at the barricades for the press circle. After going a couple years, you pick up on the things you need to do, so I decided to stay back and save a spot for my mom, while she ran back to the car to get the phones. By the time she came back, there was quite a crowd, so she had to work her way through the crowd to get to me, and it was close quarters, for sure, but knew it would be worth it in the end. This time around, we didn’t have to wait too long before Candice and Kree made their way to the carpet to start to all of the reporters. Candice signed for quite a few people, but Kree didn’t make it over, then they were both whisked away to rehearsals for the following night, while the other eight came out.

There were so many emotions going on at that point; excitement, chaos, happiness, and anxiousness. It’s always fun making new friends with the people that are around you, because it helps the time pass off a lot quicker; talking about your favorite Idols, performances, who you want to meet, etc. I ended up meeting a girl who was around my age, and we really just clicked, so I talked to her the most. She was also a really huge American Idol fan, so we were talking all about our favorites, what we were going to say when we met them, and ultimately just trying to call them over. She was so sweet! Her and her mom had actually won a once-in-a-lifetime contest to fly out for both days of the finale and the after party, which sounded like a blast, so they were having the time of their lives with all of this, which was so cool to see that it went to a deserving family.

The Idols were doing interviews, then would hurry over to the fans section when they had time to sign autographs and take pictures, and we ended up getting to meet everyone (minus Candice and Kree)! I can’t believe how incredibly nice they are, even the ones I wasn’t too sure of what to expect from. It was great being able to see how they all interact with one another, as well as the fans.

• Janelle
• Paul
• Burnell
• Amber
• Devin
• Lazaro
• Angie
• Curtis

It was so much fun to feel like we were all “hanging out” with them! Janelle and I had kinda, sorta gotten to know each other through Twitter. She had followed me one night, so I started tweeting her more often. So, we finally got her attention after she was finished with a few of the interviews; I waved and I’m pretty sure she recognized me (at least I hope that was the case), walked over and gave me a hug. My mom hadn’t had the camera ready, so I asked her if we could do that again, which she agreed to more than happily, and my mom got the moment on camera (the 2nd time). She was as sweet as could be, and even more gorgeous in person! And always has the cutest clothes, let me tell ya! She told us the cutest story about Keith Urban’s daughter,  took a picture with me, signing my book a few minutes later, because I had totally forgotten to have her do that the first time she came by.My mom told her she should ask Keith to play the Opry with him on June 4th, and she said, “You know what? I should check on that..” So, fingers crossed to see her again back there! She seemed to hang around in our section a little longer than the others, which was awesome! One of the ladies nearby even thought Janelle and I had gone to high school together, so I’ll take that as a pretty good sign! 

Paul Jolley was so incredibly nice too! He even asked if he could use someone’s phone to take a picture and have them tweet it. I offered mine, and my mom tweeted it to him a little later on (I was using her phone). I told him that he actually had already followed me on Twitter awhile back, and he seemed to recognize the screen name, or at least pretended to, which made me feel better! HA! So, we’re like total besties too! 

Devin is so animated! He talks really fast and has so much personality; he would be a blast to hang out with for long periods of time! My mom told him he looked like Christmas, he’s like, “I know right? But, even better. I’m from Chicago and we always have really cold Christmases…” and I think he mentioned something about the nicer weather out in LA, but can’t remember. He also came back around later to see if anyone wanted autographs, but he had already made the rounds near us, so I was like, “You already signed mine, but thanks,” and he’s like oh okay, cool! No problem!

Angie was out there forever, signing autographs and talking to the press! Natalie and I were starting to worry that she might not make it over to us, but she did! I told her that she had been such an inspiration to me, and she was like, “Aw! Thank you so much,” and I added that my mom and I cry just about every time she sings. I told her that you could definitely tell that she had Jesus, to which she responded, “Oh, girl, yes!” which I thought was so cute. Then, Angie said, “You girls are gorgeous…” ….DID I CATCH THAT RIGHT?! CRAZY! :0 We took a picture with the three of us, but I was kind of cut out, so I ended up blurting out, “Can I get another picture?” and Angie was cool with it. That pretty much wrapped up the evening, so we started to walk off, but Natalie ended up going over to talk to Angie’s mom and the rest of her family. So, she came back over to get us, and we walked back over. We told them how much we loved her daughter, and how amazing she was, and they thanked us! I asked her brother if all of this was weird, and he said it was, nodding to the media circus in front of us. You can tell they’re definitely still getting used to all of this new “fame.” And understandably so! It’s crazy! We got pictures with her family, then her mom wanted a picture with us, which she tweeted out later! (WHAT?!).

The other contestants were all super nice, too! I just didn’t really talk to them as much as the others! 

As we were walking out, we saw Paul again, hanging out with some friends, and we said bye to him, then ended up stopping at the end of the street, talking with Natalie and her mom a little more. It was so good getting to know them! We exchanged information (Twitter and numbers) to keep in touch with them! And then Paul walked past us again, we said bye and how nice it was to meet him, and my mom told him she tweeted the picture he wanted! He thanked us again, and that was that. We decided to get on the road, since we still had a drive home, so we said goodbye to our new friends, and that was the last of the magical moments of that day.

On the car ride home, I caught up with all of the tweets about the show, and sent a few tweets to the idols. Paul Jolley and I even had a short conversation! And Candice favorited one of my tweets. My mom and I watched Idol with my dad when we got home to fill him in on all of our adventures from the day, which was a lot of fun, and we even spotted ourselves in the crowd, which is always exciting!

The next morning I woke up to see that Burnell was following me on Twitter! And thanks to my friend, later on that night, Lazaro followed me. It was a really exciting couple of days, and now I have to find something else to do with my time now that American Idol is over. I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll be able to go to the tour, because it would be fun to see everyone again. But, if not, this has been one of my favorite seasons, and I am so glad to have some wonderful memories to go with it.

That’s all for now,

Shelby

xoxo 

{My Life Lately}

Wow! It was just brought to my attention, thanks to my friend, Cassandra, that I haven't blogged in almost two months on here. That has to be some sort of record! I remember the days when I first started that I used to spend days at a time just solely blogging post after post, whether it was about a new book or the day I had in LA. I guess I really am growing up after all, so I'm busier than I used to be...Or I just don't have the patience and attention span for it. Maybe a mixture of the two? But, I digress.

Anyway, I thought I would give you a short run down of the past couple months just so you'll all be caught up on my totally exciting life (HA!) and then I'll break it down in separate entries if there's more info to be shared :) Sound good? Okay, let's go!

• Graduation:

I graduated May 24th from Taft College with my AA in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Communications! It felt like it had been such a long time coming and the day would never come, since I'd been there almost 2 1/2 years. But after I walked across the stage, it felt strangely like it was over in the blink of an eye, and I couldn't believe I was graduating yet again, and moving onto the next phase. I made so many great memories at Taft and really did learn a lot, whether it was about myself personally, being ready for a challenge, or just getting warmed up for the real thing and what I need to do to succeed when I transfer this fall. I didn't go to Taft looking to make friends or really meet new people. Actually, I was probably trying to avoid it altogether at the time, but I met some people who really did change my life and made me realize how great it is to meet new people and I really am proud of that accomplishment, because there were plenty of times I was just ready to say forget it and I would start looking for a job. But, anything worth having in life means hard work and determination, and the ceremony reminded me of all of that and the new goals I want to make for myself.
It was a bit of a whirlwind to be honest, but I'm glad I got to share it with some of the most important people in my life. After the graduation ended, we went out to celebrate at none other than Denny's! LOL. It could not have been more perfect! I had my aunt, uncle and cousin there (from my dad's side), my best friend (Marissa), some family friends that are like family to me, my parents and my aunt (my mom's side). We were able to laugh, joke, eat, and just let loose, which is always entertaining! I also felt extremely loved that everyone wanted to be there for me.

• Gotta love going to the doctor's office!

I had been having a lot more headaches lately, about a month ago, but I didn't think too much of it, because I've always dealt with headaches from the time I was younger. Well, after getting my haircut, I noticed a bump on my head...I'm talking a bump probably the size of a golf ball underneath my skull that I had never noticed before, and something just didn't feel right. The day of my graduation, I had a pounding headache just on the right side of my head (where the bump is), but I figured it was just nerves and excitement. Anytime there's a big event, I tend to get a little tense, so I figured it would go away...But, it didn't. I avoid the doctor like the plague and usually just try to brush whatever it is under the rug and hope it'll go away or stop bothering me. But, a knot that you've never felt on your head couldn't be a good thing...So, I decided to get it checked out before leaving for vacation. Well, the doctor felt it right away, but didn't seem to be too concerned, so I guess I shouldn't either, but I also didn't get it taken care of or find out what could be causing it either..I did some researching online (which I always try to stay away from, but always end up on anyway) and think it might have something to do with my sinuses, as weird as it sounds. So, I took an antibiotic and nose spray...And now we'll see if that actually does anything at all. The bump is still there, but it doesn't bother me right now, so that's a good thing.

• Nashville. 

Where do I even begin, other than, once again it was one of the best weeks of my life? And I guess that really sums it up best for right now with the "catch up" blog! I'll fill you in on the rest of the details later on. 

• My beautiful cousin just got married last Sunday afternoon (Father's Day). It was a beautiful and intimate ceremony with that countryside feel, which I absolutely adore and she looked gorgeous. It's so weird to think she's a married woman now; a wife. I remember the days when we would pretend we were married and talk about our "husbands" over imaginary tea, and now she has the real thing. It gives me hope that one of these days I will find my Prince Charming, too. I also couldn't help but smiling like a complete idiot either as they both said, "I do." TOO ADORABLE FOR WORDS. So so happy for them! Can't wait to see where life takes them!

• The transitions in my life are also becoming more real as I attended "new student orientation" and started talking to the counselors and advisors from CSUB this week, which is officially my new school. It was a little overwhelming as I saw all of these unfamiliar faces and the HUGE campus that I had to try to find my way around. Definitely a big stretch from what I'm used to (usually with 2 or 3 main buildings wherever I've gone in the past), but it's a good change. It felt a little like my Jr. Hi experience all over again in the beginning-not knowing anyone and calling my mom at lunch, because I felt so awkward to just randomly start talking to people. But, I did talk to some friendly girls; two of which I'll probably be having classes with, since we're all communications majors, so I'm really excited about that. We hit it off really well! I'm excited to see what the next two years of my life holds. I'm determined to try a little bit of everything (Student government, auditioning for plays, joining choir, writing, etc.) and to be involved in as much as I can without going overboard and running myself into the ground. I want to make new friends, reconnect with the old ones, to be remembered by people and to leave some sort of legacy there. I want to make a dent there, and to not be just another face in the crowd like I've done so many times before. I want to not be afraid to take a few risks or take a few chances, and to just see what it leads to. I'm ready to make things uncomfortable in the best way possible, if that makes sense. God has called us to live BIG lives and I intend to do just that...This is the moment I've been waiting for, and I don't want to take it lightly. I'm going to have a FULL load in September, which has me a little nervous. The advisor said it was a good thing that I didn't work and that I live with my parents because it's going to be a crazy quarter (GULP)...But, the sooner I can get done, the sooner I can be out in the real world and do what I've always wanted.  I want to give it everything I've got.. "I don't want easy, I want crazy!" 

So, there you have it! I've been keeping pretty busy this summer and it's only just beginning really. I'm going to try to update more, but I'm just trying to enjoy the moments a little more as well, instead of being so concerned that everyone else has to know what I'm up to! Sometimes it's better to just take it all in and soak up every feeling of the moment than it is to be concerned about how to put it into words...

That's all for now,

Shelby :)