The Right To A Beautiful Life: 2014-07-13

July 19, 2014

The Art of Waiting and Disappointment

Disappointment used to absolutely crush me. Obviously. But, I feel like I took it harder than the average person. I'd make plans and have things imagined in my head just a certain way, and when plans were canceled or didn't happen like I thought they would, I would get into this weird funk. I would get bitter and frustrated, probably because I wasn't in control. I'd sit there and stew, wondering what I could have changed.

Over the years, I've had to learn to not let my imagination get the best of me. It's great to have ideas and to set goals, but it can really just set you up for disappointment if you have unrealistic expectations. Always have high hopes and low expectations, as Taylor Swift's mom always tells her. It's a good way to look at things. The truth is that life happens no matter how much you plan or prepare.

As I've learned to rely on God and give everything to Him, I don't sweat the outcome as much. That's not to say I don't get disappointed or feel sad when a friend bails at the last minute or plans change, but I've learned to accept it much better than I would have been able to before. Like anything else, it's a process. I'm learning to be a little more flexible. I mean, you can sit there wondering what went wrong or be angry that you didn't get to see that movie you wanted because it sold out or there was too much traffic, so you missed the first five minutes of the concert...Or you can just pick up right where you are and change the rest of that moment for the better.

Why make things so miserable when there's no need for it?

Speaking of all of this, when I woke up this morning, I thought things were going to be very different. Some of our plans have been delayed by a few hours, but on the plus side, I've been able to get a few things done that I wanted to. See? Not all bad.

So, don't let life's little disappointments or waiting around too long get you down. Trust God, trust His timing and reasoning, then make the best of whatever your circumstances are.

That's all for now,
Shelby :)

July 16, 2014

Favorite YouTubers

During the summer, I LOVE finding new YouTube channels and I tend to watch them all day every day! It's fun watching vlogs and seeing how other people live, what kind of adventures they go on and always inspires me to try more with my videos. So, here's a list of some of my favorites and the ones I watch religiously.

Check em out:

Claudia has a really outgoing personality! She has videos about beauty, obviously (hence the name), some of the conferences for YouTube, hanging out with her friends, and just every day life. Plus, she goes on A LOT of vacations, so right now I am living vicariously through her.

I absolutely LOVE Maya! She's hilarious. Most of the time, she'll just have little rant videos and talk about specific things, like movies or back to school, but she just has this way of making everything so light, funny and entertaining to watch. She also has a lot of FABULOUS how to videos, as well.

Ingrid has a lot of fun, lifestyle/beauty videos (like a lot of other people on YouTube do). She has great graphics, cool beauty routines and talks about the products she uses...Has a lot of haul videos, DIY tricks, tags, etc. She's super cute and has a darling personality, and always seems SO cheerful.

I think Cat is one of the very first official "YouTubers" that I started watching. My friend had tweeted me a link to one of her shows where she talks about introverts, because that is SO us. She takes a closer look at bigger topics with personality, etc and on her other channel, she just vlogs. I love seeing her day to day life, hanging out with her friends and going out in LA. She's so charismatic and outgoing. She seems like a blast to hang out with.

Veronica is actually one of my friends from jr.hi/high school, and saw that she had started YouTube videos. I was AMAZED! I'm kind of obsessed with her Instagram account, posting her artsy photos of her outfits and such, but I'm even more obsessed with videos - she posts her outfits, her shopping trips, hauls, monthly favorites and occasionally other vlogs fun places, like street fairs. She has a style all her own and has such a way of pulling it off.

This is the most recent YouTuber I have gotten into and it happened randomly. My friend posted one of her videos on my Facebook wall of tips while you're in college. I started watching several more and I just absolutely love her now! She has this really hilarious, over the top sort of personality. She's funny, but not obnoxiously so. She has hair tutorials, hauls, reviews, favorites, tips and so much more. I'm excited to just start watching more of her videos.

Okay, I really love Nikki's videos, because they are always SO colorful. I really started watching her videos just for the graphics and her thumbnails, because they were so cute. But, she also has a pretty exciting life with her husband and her friends and dog. She vlogs all about her vacations (on the vlogging channel) and day to day life...On her beauty channel, she has the typical hauls, reviews, rants/raves, etc. She's just very fun and always has great music to get things going.

I had to get used to her voice a bit, but Aspyn is very creative, lovely and keeps things very entertaining. Mostly, I watch her day to day vlogs because I'm fascinated by those... She gets to do a lot of cool things with YouTubers, conventions and all of that. I also like her hauls, shopping trips and everything in between. She has a fun personality and doesn't seem to hold back. Also really love her graphics and the way she places things in her videos...I don't know, I'm kind of a nerd about that.

Another one of the YouTubers that kind of got me into the whole idea of officially making videos and doing it all the time. She always has such bright and exciting graphics that draw you in right away, cool song mixes, hauls, favorite things of the month, routines for the day, and beauty tips.

I have pretty much spent ALL day watching all kinds of different videos and catching up on some that I haven't watched in awhile. So I'd say I was super productive, right? Just kidding...haha.

I'm sure there are several other channels that I could have included, but I'd say these are the ones that I spend the most time on. I'm constantly finding new vloggers to check out, so if you have any that I should check out, feel free to let me know!

That's all for now,
Shelby :)

Downtown Adventures

I don't know why you don't take me downtown/

Like you've got anywhere better to be

Yesterday, Marissa (one of my very best friends) and I randomly decided to hang out...She was free and I was free, so it just worked out. Plus, it's summer, and we've been saying that we need to be a little more spontaneous and just DO things.

We weren't totally sure of what we were going to do, but we decided to go downtown to explore. We always have the best adventures there. We might not have a lot to do in our town, but our downtown area is starting to boom. There are a lot of restaurants, live music and plenty of antique stores. It's a fun place to go and try new things.

We had coffee at one of the most popular places in town, Dagny's. And we talked for a couple hours. It wasn't very crowded, but it busier as we stayed. It's a cute little contemporary place. I had a wild berry smoothie, and it was SO refreshing! Marissa had a white tea with pomegranate syrup.

It was getting later in the afternoon, so we decided to check out one of our favorite stores, "In Your Wildest Dreams." We decided to park, and thought we were a bit closer, but realized we were a street up still, so we had to walk. That was kind of funny, because it was incredibly hot and we weren't totally sure of where we were going. We talked with this post office guy, but he wasn't really sure where the store was either, so we just wandered until we found it. On our way there, we decided to go into one of the music stores here that I'd never been in and we were "meowed" at while walking to the antique store. That was really weird, although I missed it. Marissa informed me...So, there's that.

Now, there are three sections of the store - clothes/costumes/shoes and two separate levels of furniture. We were mentally planning out our future apartment, because we think we'd be the perfect roomies... We want very eclectic, very "Monica Geller"....You know. We were freaking out about so many things, because they have a ton of great stuff and some pretty good deals. It's kind of our favorite.

By that time, we were hot, sweaty and felt so gross. We were ready to cool down and head back to my house, but first we grabbed drinks from Sonic. They were so tasty! We came back to my house and chatted with my mom for a bit, then Marissa had to take off.

It's so good to get out of the house and spend time with good friends :) That's just one of the many good things about summer.

That's all for now,

Shelby