Day 2-I'm Thankful For...

My family. I don't know where I'd be without them. I've always been really close with a lot of family members. I think being an only child has always made me want to get to know my extended family more and to be close with them, like "Full House". When I was younger, I thought it would be the coolest thing ever if we all lived in the same house...Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem very realistic, but it's still a nice idea. I love my family; they are incredible people, and they've shaped me into who I am today. They've helped me, encouraged me, put up with me, and most of all, they've loved me. And I usually end up laughing the hardest when I'm around them! They're hilarious! We may not always get along, and we may not always see eye to eye but we're family. We stand by each other!

Not all of my family are shown in the pictures, and there are grandparents that I was really close to that have passed away, but I still love them just as much. It doesn't matter how much time has passed with seeing or talking to family, or what you've gone through...The bond families have will keep them together no matter what.
I'm extremely grateful that God has blessed me with them, and there are a lot of times that I take them for granted, I'm going to start working on that more, because I don't deserve them and we're not guaranteed tomorrow. And we need to cherish every moment we have with our families.

That's all for now,
~Shelby~
xoxox

This Weekend

Friday:
I only had one class, ran some errands with my mom, and had a girls night in with my friends! :)

Daisy cozying up to Viviyan

Dinner..YUM!

When we went around the house trying to find the "ghost" haha

Bracelets that our friends picked up for us at a concert. Such a cool story! :)

Saturday:
Watched Boy Meets World in the morning, ran some errands and had lunch with my parents,  stopped by the craft fair at our church (had some really cool stuff), and had dinner with friends to celebrate a birthday!! Such a fun time!

Craft fair at our church

Girls Night Out!

 

Delicious!!!

Sunday: 

 Went to church, had lunch with my parents, and spent the afternoon at home watching Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill. It was perfect! And we bought our tickets to the Hollywood Christmas Parade! SO EXCITED :D

Rainy day :)

Tweet from Zooey Deschanel=AWESOME!

It's a Gilmore Girls thing ;) haha

What a fabulous weekend with amazing people!! :) Hope you all had a great weekend and have a blessed week!!

Prayers for the Holiday Season

I was reading Good Housekeeping, because my mom bought it the other day and I find magazines like that really interesting; they have good tips. Anyway, there are a lot of articles on the holidays, and I came across one called, "10 Prayers To Carry You Through The Holidays." I found a few that I thought were really beautiful.

"If the only prayer you ever say in your life is 'thank you', it will be enough."

"God help us to live slowly, to move simply, to look softly, to allow emptiness to let the heart create for us."

"I still think that the prayer without words is the best!" ~C.S Lewis~

"If you put your whole trust in God, as you ought, He most certainly will give you sustenance, as He doth the birds; they come out hungry in the morning but return full to their nests."

Here are a few more that were too long to type out ;). 

It's so easy to get caught up in the craziness and business of making sure everything is perfect, that we forget why we celebrate in the first place. These are great little reminders to look for God and seek Him in the midst of everything else. Don't let the shopping, food, or stress take that away from you!

I Wish I Was Here..In Utah

The other day I was watching the season 7 finale of One Tree Hill, when they all go to Park City, Utah for the premiere of Julian's movie. They stayed at the big lodge resort in town, and everything was all snowy white. It made me miss my family in Utah (also in South Carolina now) and how we spent Thanksgiving there with them one year. It was FREEZING, but so much fun. It really felt like the holiday season. It's such a beautiful place; if you ever get a chance to visit... Do it!

Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

I love reading Lauren Conrad's blog (http://www.laurenconrad.com/post/member-spotlight-lauras-soft-pumpkin-cookies), and Friday, she posted a recipe for "Soft Pumpkin Cookies", from a blog that she reads. I thought they sounded good and they were something festive for the season, so my mom and I made them later that afternoon. I brought them over to a friends house that night, and everyone really liked them :) I thought I'd post the recipe too, just in case anyone else wants to make them.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. of vanilla
• 1 (15 ounce) canned pumpkin
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp. of baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 10 ounces of butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1 1/4 cups of sugar

Directions

1. Cream together: butter, sugar
2. Add: egg, vanilla, canned pumpkin (I used Pumpkin Puree)
3. Sift together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt
4. Add butterscotch chips and mix until just incorporated
5. Portion dough using a tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes

They're really easy to make and tasty too! Enjoy! :)

~Shelby~
xoxox

Inspired by...Bethany Joy Galeotti

It's no secret that recently I've become obsessed with One Tree Hill, considering a good portion of my posts have been about the show! Now, I knew very little about the cast, other than Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush. I thought I'd do a little more research on the rest of the cast's background, and I was fascinated by all of them. I realized that they're all so talented in many areas of the business; they're filmmakers, writers, activists, musicians, and fashionistas.

The one that stood out to me the most was Bethany Joy Galeotti. I loved her character of Haley, and connected with her the most. The way she lights up the TV screen is pretty incredible. I started reading her blog (http://www.bjgofficial.com/), and was fascinated by her accomplishments. Her first love is the stage and theater, which we have in common. She's an old soul, and has a love for the glamour of old Hollywood (same here!), and even has a new project based on that called, Diamond Gothic. It's really interesting, and everyone is still questioning just what exactly it is. Follow it on Tumblr (http://diamondgothic.tumblr.com/).  As I read more about her, I realized there was so much more to her than just playing a fictional character on a television series. I love her commentaries on topics, places she travels to and shops at, and her ideas. I had no idea she was really a musician, half of the duo,Everly. I'm gonna check out more of their music soon! She's incredibly talented, and I can't wait to see how she showcases more of her talents and skills as One Tree Hill is ending.

Fictional Characters I Relate To The Most

If you put a lot of these qualities from these fictional characters together, for the most part, you would get me. I don't necessarily relate to their lifestyles or what has happened in their lives. It's more about who they are as people, and what they like to do.

Rory Gilmore:

Now, I'm not the overachiever like she is when it comes to school, but I am a book worm, and a Journalism major like Rory. I can be a little quiet, and I'm much more of the girl who loves to stay home and watch movies, rather than going out to parties. And of course, we're both close with our moms and have a love for pop culture.

Rachel Green:

When we first meet Rachel, she has just escaped walking down the aisle and stumbles into a coffee house totally lost, needing a place to stay. Now, this has never happened to me, but I relate to her in the sense that she's not exactly the brightest when it comes to the business world. She had never worked a day in her life before she was reconnected with the gang at Central Perk. She was brave, tackled on something totally new, and reinvented herself. I feel like I'm at that point in my life, where it's time for me to start branching out.

Haley James Scott:

Haley is the quiet girl, sort of a nerd in the first season, but as the series goes on...she grows into this beautiful, strong woman who will do anything for her family. I relate to Haley in the sense that again, she's the quiet girl, but she has a lot of qualities that no one knows about except for her close family and friends. I guess another big part of her character that I connect to is that she has a love for music, and makes it a dream come true. That's my biggest dream as well. (I didn't get married in high school haha).

Peyton Sawyer:

I'm not quite as dark and deep as Peyton, but she's very much into art and music, like me. She sees life in a different way and channels that into her art. I'd like to think I'm the same way. I write about the things that happen to me and that are going on around me. She feels a little lonely at times, and I have my moments...but we both know that our true friends will be there for us when we need them. And in the end, she finds her perfect match ;) I'm still waiting for mine! HAHA.