Scentsy

Just a quick note,

My brother has an open Scentsy party for anyone to buy from! 

The party will close in about 5 days. 

Click the link before if you need some Scentsy! :)

https://shelbyane.scentsy.us/Buy?partyId=67900856 

Whaddya think?

I've been sort of wanting to host a giveaway on my blog lately. But I need some help. 

First of all, would you all be interested in a giveaway if I did one? I mean heck, you win free stuff, right?! How awesome is that!!!  

The next thing would be, then, is some vendors! Who would be willing to donate? I mean, think about it - you aren't entirely just simply donating - but you're getting YOUR business out there!!! 

My point is, if you are a vendor of some sort (clothing, photography, home decor, etc. etc.), leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and I'll let you know what I'm thinking for this giveaway!! 

If all goes as planned, then be watching my blog for the next little while for an awesome giveaway!!!!

Happy Birthday to....ME!

I had a GREAT birthday thanks to all my wonderful friends and family!!! It was perfect - Phone calls from friends and family, letters, e-mails, watching t.v., being lazy, and most importantly no schooling!!!

Dallas got home from work a little after 6 and told me we had reservations at 7 - so I had to get ready.

Apparently this is what he meant by "reservations":

Yeah - that is cake smashed all over my face, hair, and everywhere!!! 

Luckily it was a surprise birthday party - so I guess I forgive him (and Juan).

Our Dome/Louisiana friends all came, despite the fact that it was the night of the National Championships (yes, I even caught Dallas trying to watch the game a couple of times!!) 

Dallas also spoiled me with a new camera as well as an iPad, which I don't think I've put down since I got it! 

Being a year older feels absolutely no different, except for the fact that I am now married, doing school online, and living in Louisiana - which I honestly never saw myself doing (minus the married part). 

But it's great. 

Here's to another year of my wonderful life!!! 

I am Me!

In order to become a better me, I need to own up to who I am - stop pretending to be something I'm not. To help me with this, I've decided to right now, right here, write down exactly who I am.

I am Shelby Ane McKellar Hawkes. 

Wife. Daughter. Sister. Friend. 

I am an introvert. Always have been, and may very well always will be. Let me explain what this means. I am not a fan of being in crowds. If there is a lot of people, I will shy away. It's nothing personal, it's just how I am. I would prefer to be with a few choice people at a time. I will sometimes say no to going out with you, but it is because I am in need of re-charging, and to re-charge, I prefer to be alone. Nothing personal. I am shy when I first meet you. It is hard for me to immediately open up unless I make a strong connection with you. Dallas and I knew each other years before we started to date. I even really disliked him for a while. What changed? I made a connection. Our dads are really good friends. I found that out, and opened up to him. 

I want to apologize to everyone who feels that I have ever disliked them in any way, especially because of this. I am not trying to be stuck up, I am not suggesting any disgust towards you. I'm simply quiet and shy. It will take me a while to open up. I do not hate you. I don't dislike you. I probably like you. I may even absolutely adore you. But I am shy. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to try to change that. 

It is who I am. 

I am a daughter of God. I am Mormon, and not afraid to be so. I love the Gospel, I love my Savior, I love my life - the life that He gave me and guided me to. The life He blessed me with. I am active. I believe in my religion totally and completely. 

I do not watch R-Rated movies. I do not drink alcohol of any kind. I do not drink coffee or tea. I don't do any sort of drugs. I don't have tattoos. I don't participate in sexual activities outside of my marriage.

If you are different from me and my beliefs, I will not judge you. I will not condemn you. I will not scorn you. This is my life and my choices, and yours is your life and your choices. 

I welcome any friendship to anyone and everyone, even if I am shy at first.

I love to dress up. I hate taking a long time to get ready (30 minutes = too long). I love to clean. I love to lounge. I love to be with my husband. I love culture. I love nature.
My favorite color is pink. I love working with finances. My hair is currently brunette. My eyes are hazel. I love my name. I love modeling. 

I am a college student. I love to learn. I get frustrated with my classes. 

I want so dearly to be a mother. I am afraid of not being able to become a mother. I love children and always have. I want to be everyone's favorite babysitter and first choice as a babysitter. If I could play with babies, toddlers, and children all day, I would. 

I am afraid to talk with people I don't know well. I would prefer texting/e-mailing/blogging/facebook before calling & talking. I am afraid of confrontation. I would prefer to keep the peace, to let things go, to forgive and forget. 

I want to be open with everyone, for everyone to understand me and for me to understand them. 

I want to be a good example. I want to make correct decisions in my life. I want to be able to please all of my friends, family (immediate, extended, and in-laws all included), and acquaintances, but I simply cannot. I will do my best, but I have to be true to myself as well. 

I am hurt when people feel that I don't like them or when they don't like me and wish I could fix that. I would prefer to be your friend than your enemy or even acquaintance. 

I too often try to fit in rather than be myself because I feel others will like that better. But it isn't who I am. I should be myself, because more often than not, people like that better.

I don't have a quirky, cute, crazy personality. My best girl friend does. She's crazy and I'm calm. Who says that's supposed to make us clash? She's still my best friend. 

I wish I could keep in touch so much better with all of my friends and keep our friendships close. I'll be honest. I can't. I can't call/text every single one of you every single day. I wish I could. It doesn't change the fact that you are still my good friend. 

It makes me sad when people judge others and put others down. I saw it too much in high school. I see it too much still. There's no need for it. There's no reason to do it. I won't pretend I'm not guilty, but I am and do try to be so much better about it. 

Something I've noticed in recent years that has changed about me is that I no longer let others thoughts and judgments change my judgment. 

I love all of you. I love the friendships I have. I love the family I have. I love my husband with all of my heart. I love my Savior even more. 

I am Shelby. I am a Daughter of God. 

I am me.

The past 2 days, I've had some really great conversations and a lot of thinking on my part. 

It's a new year.

It's the first full year I am married.

I am away from all I've ever really known.

I'm starting a completely different and new life.

I'm dealing with new and very different trials I've never even close to had in my life.

There are many life-changing decisions for me and for my family that are beginning to be made.

I have new and different views on a lot of things I'd never really thought about.

Really, this year is so far different than anything I've ever had before. And it truly all goes back to being because I got married. Marriage is so wonderful, and I absolutely LOVE it. But I will admit I never fully realized how much things really change, how different things suddenly become. Today, Dallas and I sat down and REALLY talked about our future children and what kind of lives we want them to live. We don't have any children. I'm not even pregnant. But for the first time in my life, I really worried and pondered on how I want my children to grow up - the kind of atmosphere I want them in, the people I want them around and relying on, the life I want them to have.
And I really, truly worried about it. I've worried about my own life, my own future plenty of times. I've worried so much that I don't even care as much what happens to me because I know I can get through and deal with anything. But I have never worried so much in my life - and it was about children I don't even have yet.

As I was saying before, new life, new year, new perspective. 

And because of it all, I've really decided I want, and need, to turn a new leaf. I want to turn my life around. I have a great life now, don't get me wrong, but there is a lot about me personally I want to change, a lot that I can make better about myself. With so much change in my life, this is the time to do it. The is the time to mold me into that better person. This is the time to make me the kind of person that can make a great life for my children so I don't have to worry like I did today. 

Truly, all my problems stem from me. My thoughts. My opinions. My feelings. Change me, and I change my problems. Because of this, I'm going to start with my personal spirituality - my personal relationship with my Father in Heaven - because in order to change me for the better, I need Him. I need my Savior. I can't do this alone, and we all know that. To become the person I want to be, I need to know the Person I want to be. 

That is my resolution this year. 

A better me. 

Eco-friendly

Many of you know that Dallas and I recently joined a company that has very eco-friendly and healthier products. While reading through countless blogs (really - I love to read blogs, so I'll just keep clicking on links to other blogs from a blog and get myself completely lost and find a new blog I love), I came across this post about these very products (I will give credit to the blog as soon as I can find it again. I copied and pasted and then closed the blog without thinking, and continued reading through more. I'm still searching!!):

before i became a mom... safety and health weren't really an issue for me.

then i had a baby.

who became a toddler.

who was into everything.

so i was always careful about what i had at toddler levels.

and then i started to do my own research about what was in normal every day products.

shampoo.

conditioner.

laundry soap.

dish soap.

cleaning products.

cosmetics.

EVERYTHING.

i was amazed!

floored really.

they are SO incredibly toxic & harmful!

and it's sad to say that because big corporate stores carry them...

we just buy & use them.

they truly should be banned from the shelves.

after completely switching our home over and shopping wholesale through this company

i was amazed at what our health did.

and how good it made me feel to know that i had natural, safe and high quality products in my home.

i never have to worry about miss t getting into anything that could hurt her.

she even asks to clean with me.

LOVE THAT!

and an even better part...

IT'S CHEAPER THAN SHOPPING AT WALMART. TARGET. SAMS. ETC!

all i did was switch stores for safer, healthier & more high quality products.

and i kid you not...

i have NEVER used anything better than these products!

i'm obsessed with everything.

and it is THE ONLY PLACE WE SHOP AT.

besides our food.

Now back to me - I could not agree more with her! Anyone can ask me and I will tell you I am literally IN LOVE with these products!!! The cleaning products SMELL cleaner and safer, and don't make you cough and sneeze and cry every time you use them! Plus, in my opinion, they work a million times better than anything you can buy at walmart. Dallas swears by their multi-vitamins - he's a lot more energized and balanced throughout the day, and that's a big thing for a construction worker! Their laundry detergent works better, their sunscreen is safer (no weird chemicals soaking into your skin!), their lotion is the BEST I have EVER used, I could go on and on and on! 

All of it IS cheaper than these wholesale retailers, but even better, you can make a living off of joining this company, which is what Dallas and I have begun to do. We joined in November, got a check in December, and are waiting for our next check to come soon in January! Honestly, you put a tiny amount of effort into it, and you get a paycheck each month, because it's residual income. 

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now, but I just had to share this once I found it because I agree wholeheartedly. If you are at all interested, leave me a comment or e-mail me. :)

Resolutions

Here are my New Years Resolutions for 2012, plain and simple:

http://lds.org/ensign/2012/01/living-the-abundant-life?lang=eng&query=living+abundant+life

All Eternity

My husband. Yes, this sexy man:

Is the most wonderful man in the entire world. He makes me laugh, SO MUCH, he teases the crap out of me, he always focuses all his energy on me and my well-being, he fixes stuff up no matter what it is, he works hard, LONG hours to make a GREAT living for us, he's the most sarcastic person alive, he COMPLETELY understands me, he's sensitive to my every thought and feeling, he snores louder than a foghorn, he makes simple games such as LIFE and Phase 10 the absolute best/funniest times of my life, he spoils me like crazy, he drives everywhere because I don't like to, he loves me for the entirely crazy, sometimes psychotic me, and mostly 

I just plain love him!

I couldn't have asked for anyone better to spend all of eternity with! 

Our First Christmas

I must say, Christmas was very different being married and in the south, but was absolutely wonderful.
I had exactly how the morning would go all planned out, and of course, my plans did NOT happen....from the very beginning!
I was supposed to wake up before Dallas so I could make sure Santa came ;) and then wake him up with his first present. I even set my alarm for 5:30 so I could be absolutely sure I would be awake before he was. But of course, he just happened to wake up at 4:30 and never went back to sleep - actually waking me up about 5 minutes  before my alarm went off wanting to cuddle.
I let him know he ruined my plans and he wasn't supposed to be awake yet :) He laughed.

The rest of the morning went like any other Christmas; we woke up at that point (honestly, I never thought we as adults would be waking up at 5:30 to open presents. Maybe 7:00, but that's only because we had church at 9:00!!) and opened our presents.

Me: A sewing machine, a Husky puppy (plush of course because Dallas would never let me get a real dog), TONS of candy, Dr. Pepper, sunglasses, a shirt, a water bottle, and a headband.

Dallas: Church shoes, a paisley tie (which he and I LOVE, btw), candy, chapstick, Phase 10, Elven Heir (the 2nd book of a series he loves), a BYU blanket, and some other items which I will not list :)

Both of us: A new bedspread from his parents (LOVE this - it makes our white trash makeshift bedroom look much nicer!), a GPS from my parents, movie gift card from my brother and sister-in-law, more candy, a movie from his mom, and ornaments of the Idaho Falls and Baton Rouge temples from my parents.

I think that was everything...could be wrong. But we love it all.

Of course, we went back to bed at that point. And then I almost made us late for church since I didn't want to wake back up. But luckily (or maybe unluckily since we wouldn't have had this problem...) church was combined with the other ward here, and our good friends squished us in their pew so we didn't have to sit on the hard seats. I was extremely happy because this meant I had a little Chancho to entertain me through Sacrament Meeting! :)

After church, we got to Skype with my sister on her mission (yay!) and with Dallas's family after that. It was a pretty good, relaxing Christmas and I can't wait to see what we will do next year!

CHRISTmas

 

I’ve really been pondering a lot today (So sorry for so many posts). Reading the Sullengers blog, my screw ups with the mail system, Christmas, friends, family, exes, etc. etc. And every now and again I feel this way – this turmoil, but peace. I feel so lost and confused, yet so directed. Every time I know it is help coming from my Savior, because every time it happens, it seems as though everything is going wrong. But then I begin to reflect on people – friends and family, and more specifically, those who have passed, and those who have lost.

Today I was so upset over the fact that one store got my order entirely wrong for one of Dallas’s presents, resulting in me now having to go fix the problem tomorrow, and then receiving contacts in the mail today that I paid a fortune for, and finding out most of the boxes had been stolen in the Postal System. Very frustrating and very upsetting that I’ve lost so much money.

But then I kept thinking about Christmas and thinking about how this is a giving season. And even though the contacts were stolen, I cannot shake the feeling that maybe someone out there needed them more than I did. There was a reason they were stolen – everything happens for a reason. And it could be a test on my part. Or it could be these contacts will end up in someone else’s hands that needs them. I keep telling myself this is so irrational and how in the WORLD could that be so, yet I cannot shake the feelings. And I just kept thinking – How would Christ react in this situation?

I’ve also had a rough time wrestling about exes and dwelling on stupid things with them, missing the friendships I had with them and so frustrated that some people can’t be even remotely friends after something has happened between them. I only have one ex that is still a friend – one. How can you go from being best friends to not even talking to each other? And maybe it’s weird that I would like to keep friendships with them, but I would. At least, not have them hate me or avoid me. If I were to see them on the street, I’d like to be able to say hi and catch up without it being awkward or upsetting. Why does a friendship have to be ruined? Is that how Christ would want it?

Then to calm down about all of it and try to sleep – I went browsing some blogs. And came across my dear friend Kasey’s. And then the Sullengers. Which made me think of Kyla, Preslee, and Jill. And I must say these two girls’ blogs inspire me so much. They somehow can keep focusing on what’s important in life – on the eternal perspective and on what we are all really here for.

Ashley Sullenger post this on her blog:

Joseph Smith rightly taught:
"The mother who laid down her little child, being deprived of the privilege, the joy, and the satisfaction of bringing it up to manhood or womanhood in this world, would, after the resurrection, have all the joy, satisfaction, and pleasure, and even more than it would have been possible to have had in mortality, in seeing her child grow to the full measure of stature of it's spirit...When she does it there, it will be with the certain knowledge that the results will be without failure; whereas here, the results are unknown until after we have passed the test."

I’ve also been thinking lots about my friend out here who is headed home for her grandfather’s funeral just days before Christmas.

And this Christmas season, here’s what I want to say. I miss Kasey. I miss Kyla. I miss Jill. I miss my family – immediate, extended, in-laws, everyone. I miss my friends. My old roommates. My co-workers. Anyone who’s ever made some impact on my life. This Christmas season it’s not about the presents and having a Christmas, for me, it’s really about everyone in my life. I wish I could be with everyone this season. I wish I could have Christmas like I used to as a child, surrounded by family and friends. It’s WONDERFUL to get to be with the love of my life this Christmas season, it truly is wonderful, but I do wish everyone could be here to celebrate as well.

Suddenly the rush of Christmas, the frustration, the stress, everything, it just doesn’t matter. What really matters is all the people who need me this Christmas, who need my love, who need my support, who need my help, who need my encouragement, who need my shoulder to cry on, who need my friendship, who just simply need me, just as we all needed Christ.

Merry Christmas. I love each and every one of you!

Our Apartment

Ok, people have been asking, and I took a picture of my latest project for my mom, and figured I might as well photograph the whole apartment while I’m at it. So finally, here are some picture of our apartment. I realize I forgot to take a full picture of the dining room, but honestly you aren’t missing much. Also, sorry the pictures aren’t the best quality. I still don’t have a camera, so these are taken with my phone, which is not an amazing iPhone that takes professional pictures like many people seem to think.

First off, my project. I made these canvases myself (today) and hung them. Sorry for the glare on the one picture. These are hanging on my dining room wall (the wall next to the bedroom) You don’t see this wall in any other pictures.

 

Here is our living room – we are never in here. It is TINY. (that tree is a 6 foot Christmas tree if that gives you any idea of just how tiny the room is)

Here is our Kitchen. Off to the left is a small storage closet and a little nook with a desk. Seriously, this Kitchen is a bit overkill on how large it is. It’s nice, but I would rather have the large living room and smaller kitchen. (BTW, this is the view from the front door…and I am squishing back into the corner by the front door to get this pic)

The doors to your left is our laundry closet – just big enough to hold the washer and dryer and some storage above. The door to your right is our pantry, also small.

View from the bedroom door. You can see part of the living room, the storage closet, and the desk. To the left is our dining room (and yes that’s the window, that is how large our dining room is – and I’m standing in the corner between two walls…well technically two doors…)

Our bedroom (view from back corner) the far left is the door to the dining room/living room/kitchen, the door behind that door goes into the bathroom, and the door on the right is our walk-in closet.

Worst placement of doors ever. The bedroom and bathroom doors open INTO each other, and the other bathroom door is right next to them. Why we have two bathroom doors like that I have no idea. Why both the bedroom and bathroom doors open towards each other I also have no idea. Bad design. At one point, Dallas actually took the doorknob off the bathroom door because they kept getting stuck on each other. I complained because the bathroom door sits open like in the picture if not latched close. He complained and put the knob back on once he realized that meant no privacy ever in the bathroom. I won

Our garden tub, toilet, and shower. (The tub is HUGE which I LOVE…room enough COMFORTABLY for two!) Also notice worst placement of towel rack ever as well. Yes it’s nice to have once you step out of the tub, but don’t people generally use the shower more? So putting it next to the shower instead of around the wall behind it would have been better, right? We never use the towel rack.

Tub and vanity (and door to our bedroom)

Shower (with our improvised towel rack) What you don’t see in this picture is the linen closet right to the right of this picture and the other bathroom door leading to the dining cornering that.

 

So there you have it. A tour of our apartment. Personally, I like the upstairs design better (I’d show you pictures on my friend’s blog, but her blog is private…sorry!) That design has more room AND a balcony – our balcony is just our front entrance…not much of a balcony. I like even better the 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, but hey – I shouldn’t complain. I get this for free!!!!

The end

End of a semester. End of a year. End of this cold (hopefully…)

I’m not sure what to think lately. I FINALLY finished the semester…thank goodness I thought I was going to die. But the really funny thing? Now that it’s over, I have NOTHING to do. Literally. Nothing. I actually got BORED browsing the internet, playing games, watching movies, and cleaning the apartment – all things I did (and enjoyed) to avoid homework. But now that there is no homework to be avoided, I’m literally bored. I get this way. I hate not being busy – hate it hate it hate it. Always have – which is why I’ve always loved working or going to school. But the funny thing is when I am in school, I complain and complain until I can’t anymore, and then complain some more. I feel so overwhelmed and stressed over my schooling when I’m doing it, but miss it dearly when I’m not. Am I crazy? I must be!

I literally submitted my last assignment Saturday night, and here I am Monday morning already wishing my classes for next semester were open early so I could get a head start and get them done! But of course, they aren’t, so I’m bored.

I did get lucky this week, though! My dear friend is flying home to Idaho for a few days this week, really last minute, and she asked me to watch the kiddos for her. 6 kids. Ages 2 through 15. From sun-up to sun-down while her hubby is at work (with my hubby). Hallelujah I have something to keep me busy!!!!! (It did take some convincing to her that I actually WANTED to do this for 3 straight days and that she doesn’t need to ask a million people to help) But I’m excited.

Now to get over this dang cold. Yup. Been fighting a cold, felt it coming on Saturday night. Of course I took some nyquil to get ahead, but it completely backfired. I woke up feeling sicker, and the drowsiest I have ever been!! I literally woke up to my alarm (I ALWAYS wake up before my alarm goes off!!), got up and showered, but fell asleep IN THE SHOWER and was still completely groggy and really not even there. I may have been dreaming the whole thing. So I curled back up in bed and Dallas said I was out again within 3 seconds of laying down. No wonder I didn’t make it to church…I slept through most of that too. But by the time Dallas got home from church I was finally somewhat awake and thought I was over the cold.

Then it hit this morning. The good news is that now that it has hit, I can usually get rid of it by the next day, so today is my sick day, tomorrow – well…we’ll see what I feel like doing then!

Merry soon to be Christmas everyone!

Sleepless Nights….

 

Seriously this has got to stop. I’m so sick of staying up so late. I’m not tired, and Dallas’s snoring is so not helping. I almost went and slept on the living room floor last night, and am seriously considering it again tonight, but then it all just goes back to the fact that I’m not even tired.

I’ve washed Dallas’s dirty work clothes twice so far tonight, taken a bath, made a list of things to get done tomorrow, cleaned the kitchen (I won’t clean the living room though, as much as I want to, because Dallas made the mess and promised me he’d clean it up tomorrow!!!), reorganized our closet (and in doing so discovered that Dallas did not after all bring his camera, so it is somewhere hiding in Idaho, darn it), made a facebook page for my scentsy business, and browsed and browsed and browsed the internet.

Ugh.

I’m also about 85% sure I have yet another yeast infection This will be the 2nd one in 2 months and the 3rd one in a year!!!! I’m really hating this. I’ll test tomorrow to know for sure, but if it is, this time I’m calling up the doctor WITHOUT visiting him (that was a nightmare last time) and telling him to prescribe me that wonder pill that gets rid of yeast infections!

Just been one of those nights, can ya tell?

My last 3 finals I’ve been avoiding like crazy are due tomorrow night, so I really need to crack down and get those done (I can’t believe I’ve procrastinated them this long…I mean it’s my finals…if I just do them they are done!!!) But then I will FINALLY be free (at least until January when it starts all over again)

 

I’ll quit with this pity party now, and attempt to sleep (or just clean some more)

Goodnight everyone!

Surprise!!!

Our surprise trip to Idaho was a success! Dallas and I have been planning this for well over a month and it could not have turned out better!!! We bought plane tickets the beginning of November to go home to Idaho this last weekend, and didn’t tell a soul. We reserved the rental car and everything! I had been super stoked for this trip forever!

Our wonderful friend Ashley was so kind enough to drive us to the airport last Friday afternoon to begin our long journey. We boarded at 3:30 and were out of New Orleans by 3:51. The flight was 2 1/2 hours, but wasn’t so bad. I had a book to read for finals, and Dallas had some games to watch and sleeping to do.

We landed in Denver thinking we would only have a couple minutes to begin boarding our next flight, but surprise surprise: DELAYED!!!

30 minutes.

We finally board.

But now we have to de-ice since some fog has rolled in. awesome.

SO we don’t actually leave the Denver airport until sometime around 8:10. Ugh. Especially considering we were supposed to get IN to Salt Lake at 7:49. We don’t get in until 9:00, wait forever for the luggage, wait forever for the rental, and finally are driving away from SLC around 10:30 (talk about crappy).

The roads were great though and Dallas was wide awake!

We get into Idaho Falls around 1:15, and can’t manage to break into my house without causing some commotion, so I finally just called my parents to come open the door. Oh their faces.

My mom thought I was going  crazy telling her to open HER OWN FRONT DOOR!

But lo and behold, there we were, freezing to death in the super dry, super cold Idaho weather.

They were ecstatic.

And so were Dallas’s parents the next morning, when his mom stared at us for a good minute before realizing we were really there in person.

And then there were my old roommates. Oh boy. That was the best. Lauren opened the door, stared at me, then screamed at the top of her lungs while jumping on me. She was SUPER excited…which of course woke up the other roommates, who were too scared by the scream to even move (or in Kadee’s case, just not willing to do anything Lauren wanted her to so did not move).

I ran upstairs, opened their door, Kadee began to cry tears of joy at seeing me and Kaitlin zoomed right over for a hug. It. Was. Spectacular.

The weekend itself was great, extremely busy, but great.

Here are some pictures (courtesy of Kadee and Jenn):

Kadee and I:

 

Dallas and I with our newest nephew, Logan (so adorable, by the way) That night, I convince Dallas’ brother, Ryan, that the baby was ours. It took him a minute to figure out we’d only been married 3 months and that he was actually Brandon and Jenn’s!

 

All in all it was a wonderful trip. We were able to see our entire immediate families, all except Carmen, who of course is on a mission. We even were able to visit with lots of extended family! I’m so glad we were able to go and surprise everyone!

Merry early Christmas!!!!!

90s Flashback!

 

This week has been filled with being extremely stressed. Finals are next week, I’m rushing to get all my projects and papers finished, on top of trying to massive clean the apartment, babysit LOTS of kids I just ADORE, and trying to keep myself completely free of any obligation this weekend so I can FOR ONCE have a nice, relaxing weekend that involves no homework!

Every time I get too stressed, I watch an episode of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch to escape reality for a bit. (All seasons and episodes are posted on youtube). I’m currently in the 3rd season. And I’ve only been watching for two weeks. See how stressed I’ve been?

Today, I watched 2 episodes that had some nice flashbacks of my childhood (there are always flashbacks, just some ones that stood out) – Backstreet Boys and N*Sync.

Then I was on a roll.

I have been dancing around the apartment (every now and again doing homework), cleaning, and doing laundry all rocking out to some of my favorite hits from these boy bands.

It’s been FANTASTIC

I sure miss those simple days of the 90s. (not the clothing though)

Oh, and Justin was definitely the cutest in N*Sync

I win

 

It’s so funny – I’ve started to notice on Pinterest exactly what kind of rings girls are in love with and want for their wedding ring. But the best part is they’ve started trending a certain look of rings, one that has one big  diamond, lots of smaller diamonds around it on inter-weaving bands.

And I look at these and go, “hmmmmmmm. I WIN!”

That’s right. I picked mine first. Before it was “cool” to have my ring.

I. Win.

Pro Babysitter

 

Think that’s what I should become? Because I’m sure beginning to think so. This week I learned so much more of my LOVE for babysitting! Seriously, I love it. A lot. I’m actually even a little competitive and get jealous when I find out kiddos I love to babysit are being babysat by someone else. A little much? Probably. But I love it that much!!!

 

I love it enough that on Thanksgiving day, when our good friends were wanting to go Black Friday shopping, I volunteered Dallas and I for the whole night!!! (And honestly, how could you not with how adorable the boys we watched are!?)

On Friday, my other good friend needed someone to be home when her boys got off the bus. I was MORE than excited! (And am even planning a sleepover for those boys in a couple of weeks!!!)

We got asked after church today to watch the CUTEST baby boy you have ever seen this coming weekend, and we had to say no. I think a part of me died when I did that. I love babies. I don’t just love babies, I mean I LOVE babies!!!! You ask me to watch 20 kids and throw a baby in there, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. So why did we have to say no? We already have plans that we made WEEKS ago with some of our best friends. I have been SO excited to go do something with these friends, but turning down babysitting an adorable baby boy was too much.

That’s when I realized how much I love babysitting. I’m quite literally ready to drop everything if it means I get to go play with some kids, toddlers, or babies for awhile! I mean EVERYTHING, even fun plans with friends! Pathetic, I know. But hey, I love it! Ask my friends back home that I babysat for – I STILL volunteer to watch their kids, even though I’m hundreds of miles away and can’t do it. I’d do anything to be able to!!!

Maybe I’m addicted to babysitting. You think they have a babysitter anonymous?

So here is my public announcement to everyone:

If you need a sitter, call me up. If I’m not already watching someone else’s kids, I’ll be happy to play with yours!

The Hubby

 

My Hubby is the best. By far. Can I just tell you all that he does for me? Over Thanksgiving, he was so wonderful and fixed up things in the apartment that I needed fixed. He helped me clean, he cleaned out our car, and when he came back from cleaning out the car – he brought me my FAVORITE Starbucks hot chocolate and coffee cake. ALL of this before I was even out of bed Wednesday morning.

He’s the best, right?

He let’s me start my own business (Scentsy), be lazy all day sometimes and stay in my pjs/don’t get ready at all (it’s actually a little pathetic sometimes), and deals with my nagging sometimes.

He even takes family pictures willingly 2 MONTHS after we got married (Let me do the math for you – pictures for engagements in July, pictures for wedding in September, and yup, again family pictures in November. Looks like we gotta keep the trend and take some January pictures!)

And as if THAT wasn’t enough to make you jealous, look at the hot model Husband I got!!!!!!!

 

What a hottie. I just gotta let all the girls out there know, I win. Mine’s the best and you can’t change my mind!!!!

Weird Bug?

I’m thinking some super odd bug is going around. So here’s a heads up in case you get it (so you don’t think you’re dying like I of course did )

I had some pretty bad pain yesterday – on the right side of my body (mostly from the waist down to where us girlies get cramps) – but let me tell you it wasn’t like cramp pain. It was definitely something different – and I honestly don’t even know how to describe it. Dull and achy, but also sharp at times, sometimes mild, sometimes moderate.

BUT here’s the weird thing – it hurts the worst when eating. I ate anything, and that’s when it would begin hurting bad. Of course during this experience I’m freaking out thinking I have ovarian cancer or my appendix is exploding or something (I tend to like to think the worst…yeah…).

I don’t like the doctors here though. Last time I went to one, he shoved me off like everything I was having was nothing. Dead serious. (I posted about it much earlier, in October, if you remember) So not a fan of going to doctors in Louisiana. I was just going to wait it out and see what happened with the pain – see if it was constant and then the next time I went home I would see a doctor, see if it went away, or see if it worsened and I HAD to face a doctor here.

Luckily I woke up this morning with just small pain (I’ll call it “sore pain” – where it’s very very mild pain that’s the same as before, but again, just mild and almost non-existent). And I haven’t had much more trouble with it.

Still, I called my momma about it (Because mothers know everything) and sure enough, she had something very similar a couple weeks ago. Pretty much the same (pain from eating) except her pain was more located in her stomach (Still near where mine was…mine was just located to the right side). And apparently some of her friends had had the same thing.

SO our conclusion is that it is some weird bug, maybe a flu, going around. Ours only lasted a day or two. So if yours last longer than that, probably get it checked out.

Again, here were our symptoms:

• Pain (mild to moderate) in the stomach/intestine areas
• Pain worsened when eating.

Hope none of you have to get this bug!!

Turkey Day!

 

Thanksgiving was sure fun!!! We are lucky enough to have an awesome “Dome Family” out here that we got to spend Thanksgiving with. Our friends from Dome and the ward got together and we all had a potluck Thanksgiving. We each brought a few of our favorite dishes, and had more than enough food for the 50 some of us that showed up for this Thanksgiving party.

I must say Natalie’s corn was the best (Who’d of thought of making creamed corn with jalapenos in them? DELICIOUS is all I can say!!!) I made sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (as always) and two pies that I’d thought I had completely butchered but turned out just fine! It was a grand ole’ time.

We ended the day with a LOOONNNGGG nap and getting to watch two of the cutest boys in Louisiana while their parents did some Black Friday shopping! (Dallas was sure happy we got to watch Top Gear all night long )

AND

I joined Scentsy. Now I am your typical Mormon housewife! (Just kidding…sort of)

So if any of you would like to order some smelly goodness or host a party, just go visit my site:

http://shelbyane.scentsy.us

or get in touch with me

AND

Here are some of our lovely family pictures we had taken last week:

(sorry – these aren’t the best ones. We saved those for the Christmas card – you will be getting that shortly)

Dear Blog Readers,

 

I have a dilemma (again). As many of you know, Dallas and I are living in the good ole South (Louisiana to be exact). See, working with

Dome, we have a lot of opportunity to travel the world, as I have always dreamed of doing. Those of you have been reading my blog forever know that

I had always wanted to be an Anthropologist, but thought it unreasonable considering that I would have to live in various places for various amounts of

time. Not your average “family” job. But here we are, traveling (hopefully the world soon!)

Now my dilemma, you see. We are taking this job to save money for our future – for school, for a family, for a house, etc., BUT we are

also young and without children – the perfect opportunity to take advantage of. I feel like we should DO things while we are in certain areas – but

DOING things also consists of spending money – something I’m not too fond of, especially since we are trying to save. So what should we do? Live all

over the world and stay home so we can have more later? Or take advantage of this now and scrimp later?

Hmmmmmmm

To get a job, or not?

 

I was a little sick of doing homework yesterday, and with the other dome wives suddenly all getting jobs, I started thinking about possibly getting one myself. I actually was able to find a local credit union hiring for a part-time teller. Perfect, right?! Yeah – for the most part, but I seriously cannot decide If I really want to get a job. I mean, starting next semester, I need to be taking 14 credits – all online! Yikes! And then there’s the fact that I still need to be the homemaker – clean the house, make dinner, etc. And we have our Melaleuca business I also need to take care of as well – so it seems as though I don’t have the time or will be stressed out by having a job. but on the other hand, it’s extra money, it’s only part-time so it takes away just 4 hours out of each day (maybe even less), and I seem like I’m bored all the time right now.

Ahhhhh I don’t know. Maybe I should just apply and see where it takes me?

We’ll see.

Help?

Running

I'm pretty much extremely lazy. It takes a lot to get me motivated to go exercise. Seriously. I hate doing it. But every now and again, I get that motivation (for no reason at all) and decide to go running. Just like today.
It was great. There's a nice track around the lake just outside my apartment (literally right in front of my apartment), so I took advantage of the cool morning (60 degrees for all ya'll back in Idaho! I know you are jealous!) and went running.

I didn't make it far before I was completely out of breath - and again was reminded WHY I don't go running all the time. I have this problem when I go running outside. I start out running much faster than I should. When I'm on a treadmill I don't have this problem, thanks to the fact that you literally have to select a speed. I know which speeds are right to start out at. I'm outside, however, and I just want to book it. Not so bad except for my second problem. I have slight athletic asthma. So I get running, and after about a minute or two of booking it, I literally cannot breathe and my throat hurts for hours afterwards.

As great as it was getting to run on the track, I think I need to go workout at the gym first - train myself a little on the right speeds and then attempt the fresh, crisp outside air?

Now to just motivate myself again to do so.

Wedding!!

Here are my lovely wedding pics (some of them) for you all to enjoy.