Monday, November 11, 2013
Sacrifice.
Happy Veterans Day!!
Remembering our fallen heroes, those we have served, and those currently serving. Because of your honor, commitment, and service, I am forever grateful to live in the land of the free. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for all you have done to ensure this country's safety.
Especially thankful for my granddad, my surrogate granddad, my big brother, both of my brother in laws, and my sister in law. I appreciate you each so much and pray God blesses you in astounding ways for all you have done (and for some of you, what you are still doing) for our country.
Also, thank you to the families of our military veterans and current service men and women. Without you on the home front offering support, love, and strength for those fighting, they would have not gotten through. I have an extra special appreciation for military families after last year.
Blessings,
Xoxo, Shelby
Remembering our fallen heroes, those we have served, and those currently serving. Because of your honor, commitment, and service, I am forever grateful to live in the land of the free. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for all you have done to ensure this country's safety.
Especially thankful for my granddad, my surrogate granddad, my big brother, both of my brother in laws, and my sister in law. I appreciate you each so much and pray God blesses you in astounding ways for all you have done (and for some of you, what you are still doing) for our country.
Also, thank you to the families of our military veterans and current service men and women. Without you on the home front offering support, love, and strength for those fighting, they would have not gotten through. I have an extra special appreciation for military families after last year.
Blessings,
Xoxo, Shelby
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Close Enough
In case you do not know me well enough to already know this, I love France. I love learning and speaking French, I love Paris, I love french food, I love the culture, I adore the architecture, their style is perfect, the french accent gets me every time, everything. {Sidenote: I certainly think God will have me over there eventually, possibly for missions} Anyways, I say this to say; recently, God made things fall into place to where I now work at a French/European market in Atlanta. asgdksgbalgbasfg. While you're asking yourself why this is so grand and why I am this excited about it, let me remind you again... I. Love. France. And now I work in a french shop with real french individuals, with french music playing, with french foods, and working on my french. Thank you, Jesus. I about cried when I was offered the job. So excusez-moi while I get giddy about God leading me and taking me on new adventures... even if I cannot be in France, this is close enough :-)
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Since its Wednesday...
..... here are my unashamed #wcw woman crushes:
Jennifer Lawrence
Let's be honest, she is perfect. I love that she is a "curvy" woman in a "straight" Hollywood culture. She is so goofy and weird. Also, the fact that she kicks booty and plays Katniss gives her so many points.
Blake Lively
She is so naturally gorgeous. AND she is married to my man crush, Ryan Reynolds. Plus, I get that I am her brunette twin all the time. I think its the smile ;)
Bekah Stewart
Grateful for Tumblr that allowed me to find her and let us meet. Such a strong yet simply beautiful woman who I greatly admire. If my future boys could be as cool as hers I would be ever so thankful.
October Recap
New Beginnings:
I am officially an Atlanta resident!! Besides one dresser needing to be brought up, I am completely moved into my new Atlanta home. Yay! Finally, I can call this city my home. A bit surreal honestly, but thrilled to say it now. It took a while for all the plans to happen. I've been rather frustrated since September about the transition needing to happen. And as of October 31st, I am here to stay.
While the house is new to me, its definitely an older home in need of a lot of TLC. Good for my crafty side and Pinterest boards, not so good for my wallet and this whole simple mindset I'm trying to have. Eh, we shall see what happens there.
Biggest Lessons:
Patience. Trust. Trusting in God's direction, being patient for what He has in store. Two big things that never seem to go away and that I am always learning.
"Anxiety happens when the Lord is not present in future plans." Boom. How's that for a reminder? Not sure about you, but that one was a big-whoppin' sucker punch. Thank you, God, for the beautiful reminder, even if it is hard to accept at times.
Four things I told myself at the beginning of the month that I would change:
1. Cut back on the amount of time I spend on all social media and technology.
2. Find Motivation for all areas of my life.
3. Get out of bed when your alarm goes off in the morning. Not just to turn it off... get up.
4. Always be five minutes early.
Grade I give myself since then: B-.
I am still trying to work on each one (specifically #1 it seems here recently). However, all in all, I'd say we made a little progress. There is always room for improvement and I need to revisit these often.
Favorite Moment(s):
Speaking to a group of girls at an Atlanta school and being reminded at the beauty of why God has me as Miss Atlanta. Each girl I come in contact with has a different story and different up-bringing, but we have a common bond: we deal with or have dealt with low self confidence at some point. Seeing how high school girls are mentoring middle school girls to stand up against bullying gives me chill bumps.
Going to the GA National Fair with my family and a best friend. Always one of my favorite things to do that officially marks the fall season for us. I saw pigs cuddling, got sick off rides, ate carb-loaded fair food (Yuuuuuummy), drooled over the crafts people made, and enjoyed more fair goodness.
Random Goodies:
The fall colors have started popping out.
I pulled out sweaters, scarves, and boots. The fact that cool weather is here makes me giddy.
My personal library is growing by the day... suggestions on how to organize these boogers would be appreciated.
In love with Chris Tomlin's newest CD {Burning Lights} as well as Matt Redman's newest {Your Grace Finds Me}.
~
I am so grateful for the beauty God shows in dirtiness. I am grateful that a midst my crazy days and life, God still has His hands on everything. Even tonight, I was reminded that HE is in control, I need not fret. Such a simple thought but it is so constantly forgotten.
Blessings,
Xoxo, Shelby
I am officially an Atlanta resident!! Besides one dresser needing to be brought up, I am completely moved into my new Atlanta home. Yay! Finally, I can call this city my home. A bit surreal honestly, but thrilled to say it now. It took a while for all the plans to happen. I've been rather frustrated since September about the transition needing to happen. And as of October 31st, I am here to stay.
While the house is new to me, its definitely an older home in need of a lot of TLC. Good for my crafty side and Pinterest boards, not so good for my wallet and this whole simple mindset I'm trying to have. Eh, we shall see what happens there.
Biggest Lessons:
Patience. Trust. Trusting in God's direction, being patient for what He has in store. Two big things that never seem to go away and that I am always learning.
"Anxiety happens when the Lord is not present in future plans." Boom. How's that for a reminder? Not sure about you, but that one was a big-whoppin' sucker punch. Thank you, God, for the beautiful reminder, even if it is hard to accept at times.
Four things I told myself at the beginning of the month that I would change:
1. Cut back on the amount of time I spend on all social media and technology.
2. Find Motivation for all areas of my life.
3. Get out of bed when your alarm goes off in the morning. Not just to turn it off... get up.
4. Always be five minutes early.
Grade I give myself since then: B-.
I am still trying to work on each one (specifically #1 it seems here recently). However, all in all, I'd say we made a little progress. There is always room for improvement and I need to revisit these often.
Favorite Moment(s):
Speaking to a group of girls at an Atlanta school and being reminded at the beauty of why God has me as Miss Atlanta. Each girl I come in contact with has a different story and different up-bringing, but we have a common bond: we deal with or have dealt with low self confidence at some point. Seeing how high school girls are mentoring middle school girls to stand up against bullying gives me chill bumps.
Going to the GA National Fair with my family and a best friend. Always one of my favorite things to do that officially marks the fall season for us. I saw pigs cuddling, got sick off rides, ate carb-loaded fair food (Yuuuuuummy), drooled over the crafts people made, and enjoyed more fair goodness.
Random Goodies:
The fall colors have started popping out.
I pulled out sweaters, scarves, and boots. The fact that cool weather is here makes me giddy.
My personal library is growing by the day... suggestions on how to organize these boogers would be appreciated.
In love with Chris Tomlin's newest CD {Burning Lights} as well as Matt Redman's newest {Your Grace Finds Me}.
~
I am so grateful for the beauty God shows in dirtiness. I am grateful that a midst my crazy days and life, God still has His hands on everything. Even tonight, I was reminded that HE is in control, I need not fret. Such a simple thought but it is so constantly forgotten.
Blessings,
Xoxo, Shelby
Monday, October 14, 2013
A blessed closet. That is what I have to remind myself that I have every day. I do have clothes to wear. Maybe not compared to some people, but more than plenty compared to the rest of the world. I don't understand why it has become such a chore for me {as it has for most women I know} to find something to wear. I find myself constantly taking far too long putting on one outfit then changing to another, then another, and before I know it it has been at least forty-five minutes, my entire closet is on my bed, and I will be late for a meeting. The absurdity has got to stop.
I suppose a quick fix would be to go to the nearest shopping mall or picking up the latest Anthropolgie catalog and starting all over again; throw out everything I currently own and buy an entirely new wardrobe. That option, however, completely ruins the whole "simple lifestyle" that I am trying to achieve. Also, I am a broke college student who just moved to Atlanta... I don't have the funds to spend who-knows-how-much on a new wardrobe. So then, what shall one do?
Well, to start, I am going to clean out my entire wardrobe. Not going through and completely dumping everything I own and starting over, but taking things out I do not wear much anymore and updating the pieces I already have. After that, I want to see about getting a few basic pieces that I will be able to wear with just about anything. I'm talking white tees {they are my favorite anyways}, a great pair of jeans, a good pair of boots, basic cardigans {no fluffy stuff here}, and the like. I am more of a classic gal than a "cutsey" one so it is not super hard for me to say no when wanting to buy things from boutiques {although, I did work in one at one point and certainly love the unique clothes they carried}.
Third, for something to make it on to my wish list, it is going to have to go through the spin cycle. Do I honestly need it? Can I afford it? If I can afford it, is it worth the money I spend on it or would that money be best spent elsewhere? Can I use it with at least three outfits? Is it good quality? Do I need to wait? You get the point.
Lastly, I'm just going to strive to stop focusing on what I need, what I want, etc., and focus on my Jesus. Clothes are not bad. I am not saying that at all nor hinting at it. What is "bad" is when my entire day shifts around what to wear, how to look more cute, adding 150 things to what I want to buy, spending an hour to decide what I want to wear, I need to stop focusing on what I do or do not have. The constant thought of "I want this" or "this is going on my Wish List Pinterest board" needs to end.
There we go. My rant of the day and first step towards minimizing materialism.
I suppose a quick fix would be to go to the nearest shopping mall or picking up the latest Anthropolgie catalog and starting all over again; throw out everything I currently own and buy an entirely new wardrobe. That option, however, completely ruins the whole "simple lifestyle" that I am trying to achieve. Also, I am a broke college student who just moved to Atlanta... I don't have the funds to spend who-knows-how-much on a new wardrobe. So then, what shall one do?
Well, to start, I am going to clean out my entire wardrobe. Not going through and completely dumping everything I own and starting over, but taking things out I do not wear much anymore and updating the pieces I already have. After that, I want to see about getting a few basic pieces that I will be able to wear with just about anything. I'm talking white tees {they are my favorite anyways}, a great pair of jeans, a good pair of boots, basic cardigans {no fluffy stuff here}, and the like. I am more of a classic gal than a "cutsey" one so it is not super hard for me to say no when wanting to buy things from boutiques {although, I did work in one at one point and certainly love the unique clothes they carried}.
Third, for something to make it on to my wish list, it is going to have to go through the spin cycle. Do I honestly need it? Can I afford it? If I can afford it, is it worth the money I spend on it or would that money be best spent elsewhere? Can I use it with at least three outfits? Is it good quality? Do I need to wait? You get the point.
Lastly, I'm just going to strive to stop focusing on what I need, what I want, etc., and focus on my Jesus. Clothes are not bad. I am not saying that at all nor hinting at it. What is "bad" is when my entire day shifts around what to wear, how to look more cute, adding 150 things to what I want to buy, spending an hour to decide what I want to wear, I need to stop focusing on what I do or do not have. The constant thought of "I want this" or "this is going on my Wish List Pinterest board" needs to end.
There we go. My rant of the day and first step towards minimizing materialism.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
A year and a half later....
I'm back. Trying to balance too many blogs {each one having different reasons of existence}, on top of my social media, has left this poor blog unattended. But after spending the last few days cutting back on the number of accounts and blogs I have, I think I have managed being able to combine them into a total of two. Which lead me to renaming and refocusing this one.
It took some time trying to decide what the main theme of this blog should be {I am quite a visual person... you should see all my brainstorming scratch papers}. There were so many ideas coming to me and plenty of thoughts but nothing seemed to fit for what I wanted the main purpose to be. Driving around the city today it suddenly hit me: balance and simplicity. Ah. Light bulb. The two can go hand in hand. In this situation they do.
I feel as if my life is crazy. Well, actually it is. I am always trying to find the perfect balance; how to balance work, school, and relationships; how to balance giving my time to one project while giving it to five other; balancing family relationships and strengthening my {long distance} relationship with my dear man; making time to eat healthy, while being on the go all the time, while sticking to a good running and training schedule, while making appearances to schools and events, while managing all the above; the list goes on. But along with balancing life I am learning how to be simple and simplify my life; enough multiple blogs and social media outlets {who am I kidding thinking I can run five blogs, two twitters, an instagram, a facebook profile, and two facebook pages on top of everything else I have?!}; enough going through my blessed closet and thinking I have "nothing to wear"; enough of this running around and being out of breath all the time; enough not seeing the beauty in the simplest of things; enough seeking how I can have more, more, more.
Through blogging of my adventures in the balance acts of life and the simplifying of materialistic thoughts, I hope to find that balance of placing God at the center of my life and to learn to seek less, not more, and finding my all in Him alone.
Here goes nothing.
Xoxo, Shelby.
I'm back. Trying to balance too many blogs {each one having different reasons of existence}, on top of my social media, has left this poor blog unattended. But after spending the last few days cutting back on the number of accounts and blogs I have, I think I have managed being able to combine them into a total of two. Which lead me to renaming and refocusing this one.
It took some time trying to decide what the main theme of this blog should be {I am quite a visual person... you should see all my brainstorming scratch papers}. There were so many ideas coming to me and plenty of thoughts but nothing seemed to fit for what I wanted the main purpose to be. Driving around the city today it suddenly hit me: balance and simplicity. Ah. Light bulb. The two can go hand in hand. In this situation they do.
I feel as if my life is crazy. Well, actually it is. I am always trying to find the perfect balance; how to balance work, school, and relationships; how to balance giving my time to one project while giving it to five other; balancing family relationships and strengthening my {long distance} relationship with my dear man; making time to eat healthy, while being on the go all the time, while sticking to a good running and training schedule, while making appearances to schools and events, while managing all the above; the list goes on. But along with balancing life I am learning how to be simple and simplify my life; enough multiple blogs and social media outlets {who am I kidding thinking I can run five blogs, two twitters, an instagram, a facebook profile, and two facebook pages on top of everything else I have?!}; enough going through my blessed closet and thinking I have "nothing to wear"; enough of this running around and being out of breath all the time; enough not seeing the beauty in the simplest of things; enough seeking how I can have more, more, more.
Through blogging of my adventures in the balance acts of life and the simplifying of materialistic thoughts, I hope to find that balance of placing God at the center of my life and to learn to seek less, not more, and finding my all in Him alone.
Here goes nothing.
Xoxo, Shelby.
Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
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