Hold on tight!

I cannot even begin to describe how much fun last weekend was. I will share the series of events, but more importantly this weekend played a huge part in me becoming grounded and becoming happy Shelby again.

Friday Night-

After work I called my longtime friend Michelle up and we started the night of with a scenic bike ride in the lovely Hampton's of Provo. We rode for over an hour and I finally found a house that I once saw and have been searching for for over three years now. It was beautifully and disgustingly huge.

Immediately after, we were in between driving from her apartment to mine when four very friendly boys flagged us down in our car. At the next stop light three of them proceeded to get into the backseat of Michelle's car. For a VERY long story short, these four boys were the most energetic and obnoxious people I have seen out here for quite some time now. Most would say after 5 minutes with this group they were too much to handle, but I found them surprisingly refreshing! I think it was just nice to not be the one who was doing the entertaining, and to be laughing hysterically. To end their excitement, though, the car owner's car was towed (curse you U.P!) and I felt absolutely awful about it too. I took them to University Parking and paid for the tow- anyone else would have done the same thing if you'd of seen this poor boys face. I told him to take me out for pizza for compensation, and while I was eating his friends snuck $200 in my purse. I didn't see it until I was home, very sweet boys. To continue the madness Michelle, Danielle and I met back up and had quite fun with our next adventure. Unfortunately I cannot and will not disclose any of that information publicly- girls' gotta have her secrets ;). At this point it was midnight when Michelle and I decided to join some of her fellow tenants and set up my tent in their "Tent City". What an occasion!

Saturday-

After my full 3 hours of sleep I had to leave tent city to make an appointment and run some errands. When I finally returned home after 1pm, my short nap turned into a 5 hour nap.Oops! The three of us girls got ready and went out to eat, then to Yogurt Land. From there we went to the Velore to watch a few local bands perform. While we were there Danielle had the GENIUS idea of going to The Westerner right after. To preface why I think this idea is so genius, Danielle is from the south, and every time an old movie comes on and shows a scene from one of those old bars where the people are flat-footing and dancing around to a bluegrass band, I unceasingly proclaim that I have always wanted to go to one. While I was home two weekends ago Danielle discovered such a place, this such place is called The Westerner. So, after Velore I came home, put on my cowboy boots and off we went! As soon as I walked in I knew I was supposed to be at that exact place at that exact moment. 

DJ and I gettin' our step on

WARNING!!

I must advise you before watching this next video...

I have a medical condition where the response of my sympathetic nervous system sometimes causes Coprolalia. I sincerely apologize if this causes any grief...

I swear that bull was going so much faster than the video portrays. In fact, I'm pretty sure this was shot in slow motion..Yep. That's what it is.

Sunday was a wonderful day of relaxation. Church was so good and that's when I started feeling more grounded, like I was coming back. These last few days have been great and after giving a good friend advice, I realized that the always happy Shelby was starting to make her way back. I am going to continue focusing on what I need to be doing and serving others so that I will be lead to the place I want to be. I still starve for more friendships and those people close to me that really make every minute of my life pleasant, but as I work on myself in the meantime those things will eventually come to be.

:)

Shalom @ Home

It was that glorious time to return home again to see my oh-so-asain dentist. 

He is precious :)

This time I was home for 3 nights! I was able to be with my family and spent St. Patty's day with my bestie and her fam. Oh how I love the Calton's!

Stephanie and I tie-dyed our shirts for the festivities. We regretted not looking up directions on how to tie-dye, but for last minute rookies I must say they turned out rather well.

Me and Steph's Dad
"Act like you like me"

You would think after 19 years we would be annoyed of each other.
Not quite!


I flew back to Provo Sunday afternoon to find snow everywhere.Yipee.
Today is the first day of spring and I am ready for the snow to melt and the heat to come! Lets hear it for SUMMER TIME!
I only have to fly back one more time to see my dentist, which I just booked the flight for. The good thing about this is I will get in late Tuesday night, go to my appointment Wednesday morning, and then fly back here to Utah with Stephanie...because we will be going to Moab for the weekend!!! I AM SO EXCITED!
I feel bad for missing work to fly home for dental work, but in reality it will only be a total of 4-5 days. I suppose the getting on and off an airplane is what makes it feel longer, but I cant help but feel like a nuisance. I am SO thankful for my parents, though, because they are providing the funds for these flights. Again, I feel guilty, but I know they see my gratitude. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
But more importantly THANK YOU, for being such supportive and wonderful parents. Your examples to me are preeminent and everlasting. 

Fickle.

I cannot wait until the day when I look back at my life during this very moment and say "ah, so that's what that was for".

 I moved out here to Utah on a whim almost five years ago now and cannot help but feel even more lost than I did those few years back. 

During my time out here I have lived, I have loved, and I have learned. I cherish the memories made, the friends that have come and gone, and the essential life lessons that came about. I do not claim to have wasted my time out here. I am certain this is the exact place where I was supposed to be during the last five years. I do not know why but I have always felt like this is the place I need to be. Recently, however, I have not been feeling that certainty. 

I honestly feel like the two feet that direct me forward everyday are now floating above me as I lye on my back. I can indubitably say that I hate this feeling. I loathe every bit of confusion and lost feeling this brings me. I am well aware that this is part of life, but this time around it brings me more bewilderment than ever before. 

I go about my days in a manor which I believe is right. I am patient (as best to my ability as that entails) and I know that as long as I am doing what is right my Heavenly Father will place me where I need to be. I do not just believe that, I know that, but I still put too much pressure on myself. I wonder all the time if the decisions I am making are the absolute best choices for me. It is not a lack of faith I have for my Heavenly Father, but for myself. Of course I make decisions that I see obvious to benefit me, but it is the ones I cannot foresee that scare the tar out of me. 

For quite some time now I haven't been the happy Shelby that I normally am, and this makes me feel so horrible! I am so unbelievably blessed and truly have the whole world at my hands, so why this dejection? This certainly isn't the first time I have been in a stage of ambiguity, so why is this specific time bringing me down so forcefully? I really need to change something in my life, I just don't know quite what it is yet. In the meantime I will still go about my days living my life to the best of my ability. I have no doubt that I will be placed where I should be, but that does not mean I don't get anxiety over it.

What I do know is this: Life is good. We can be having the worst day, month, year, even decade! But the things we go through in life are tailor-made for us. And we go through them so that we can appreciate things so much more and come to understand what life is really about. Whatever reason(s) I am going through this fickle stage are, I know that it means something good will come of it. There will be a result from this experience, and it will be for my benefit.

The best advice I received from my dad when I was seriously down was this- "the best thing you can do is laugh. Laugh really hard at something".

Laughing is the best medicine anyone can receive. Regardless of whether or not the blues you are having is for a quick moment or long term, laughing truly does help. It may just be a quick fix, but those quick fixes add up to a long time of laughter and happiness. So go on, and find something to make you laugh really hard.

Today was such a BEAUTIFUL day!

 I sat inside the first four hours of the morning behind the drive-thru window at work staring out at the gorgeous blue skies. There was not one cloud in the sky, it was truly magnificent. 

As soon as we closed the branch I rushed home to grab some lunch, fought every last desire of mine to take a nap, and then packed up my bike and headed to the canyon. Speaking of packing up my bike, I finally investigated the ins and outs of my car and was determined to figure out if my backseats folded down. After several failed attempts I called another girl who has the same car and she encouraged me to dig around in the trunk, where her car button is. 

VICTORY! Her model is slightly different than mine, so it took me more time than proposed. I cant believe I have gone six years w/o utilizing this wonderful feature. I have thus used it twice in the last three days to load my bike in. Oh the simple pleasures in life :)
The bike ride was wonderful. I rode all the way up to Bridal Veil Falls, I wanted to go further but the snow and ice on the trails did not permit me to do so. If we keep having days like today than hopefully the trails will be all clear soon. Every time I come back from a bike ride I am in such a better mood. I absolutely LOVE being outside and being active. It will be even more fun as soon as Danielle fixes her tires so that she can come with me!

.............................

Tonight is the night where we set our clocks forward an hour. I never want to miss that extra hour of sleep, but this time it might be good for me. For 7 nights in a row I have been waking up at 4:00am and staying awake for hours, it hasn't failed once. There is nothing new in my schedule, in my diet, no new mattress, my stress level remains the same as usual, so I am baffled as to why my body is punishing me. I cant keep this up much longer so hopefully it works itself out, otherwise I am going to take this chaos to my Doc. It is already 3:00am so maybe this time I will sleep through the night. One can only hope.

Tomorrow is expected to be 57 degrees so Danielle and I bought a kite to utilize this nice weather. Oh and we aren't just talking any kind of kite here...it's a Cinderella kite. Be jealous.

I am now off to try my hand in this whole sleeping through the night thing.
I just wished myself good luck.

  

The Itching Has Become a Rash

It's really not as gruesome as it sounds. 

My best friend and I are taking a weekend trip to Moab in April, and the anticipation has become painful. She is flying in from my precious town of Puyallup, and then we will head to Arches National Park the very  next day. Needles to say I AM ECSTATIC!  I have been to Moab three times now, but this trip could be the best of all. Why? Because I will be experiencing it with my bestie! She is the only one I know that shares my serious love for hiking, camping, and exploring. Stephanie has never been before, so I am very eager to see her reaction to such a beautiful place, especially because where we come from is pure lush greenness, trees, and the magnificent backyard of Mt. Rainier. Arches may only be a few states away, but the climate change truly is dramatic. I am itching to get there!

I am rather bummed however with the grave news I received on Sunday-the word on the street is the bolts from the top of Corona Arch have been removed. I have been dying to do this rope swing ever since I caught wind of the video, and when I found out my brother-in-law's brother and cousin (who are in the video) are part of the group of people that set this up, I thought I was a shoe in! I had personal connections to this adventurous scheme and was going to take full advantage of it. If you know anything about my history, though, it is probably for the best that I may not be partaking of such succulent excitement. I'm sure my parents wont miss the call from the Emergency Room. 

Maybe one day.... ... ... ...

In the meantime I will be preoccupied with another dentist trip next weekend, work, and the new program TRAILS that I am volunteering with at the U of U. I am having my first orientation this Thursday- FINALLY. After applications, a back round check, 15 TESTS, and a packet of paperwork, I now get to proceed with my orientation and then a medical exam. I am hoping that the Volunteer Application Process is much less strenuous than the actual volunteering itself. We shall see! :) 

In better news, I am almost finished reupholstering my chair! I have the atrocious process of putting on the back, and then finishing the cushion. The only thing that is more time consuming then planned is the cushion because I ran out of bloody fabric! I ordered 5 yards, 2 more yards than I anticipated on using, yet I still run out of fabric. Brilliant.

Now if you will excuse me I need to figure out how to put up temporary blocks on Danielle's computer. This way she can cut her homework time in half! Who would of thought that surfing the internet every five seconds was a form of procrastination!?