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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Now selling...

My Skeleton Key Necklaces are now being sold at Apricot Lane at The Landing in Branson, Missouri!!! This is extremely exciting for me! This is the first bunch of items I've ever had in an actual store. I make each and every necklace out of braided fabric (mostly vintage, some new, some used), one beautiful hand-selected antique skeleton key, coordinating color of embroidery thread, and a vintage button as the closure. These are a little creation that I came up with a few months ago. I never expected people to like them so much and request that I make them some! I've made a few for friends here and there since then. My dear friends Cassie and Angela were one of the first to receive one of these little guys as a gift. My dear Dad made a sweet little display stand for them and I painted it. It is just really exciting to see my dreams start to become a reality. I have always wanted to make and sell handmade items in my own store one day. I am still in the VERY early stages of this dream but you have to learn how to climb before you can climb a mountain (Yes, that is a Barney song reference!). Here are a few pictures that I took of them before they went to the store.




Saturday, December 25, 2010

.

Merry Christmas.
It was a good day.
I am blessed beyond word and so, so thankful.
I hope your day was everything you wanted it to be.

Friday, December 24, 2010

A long, long time ago...

This is a photo of Mom, me, and Santa when I was almost 2.  I was quite scared of the big man in a weird red outfit and long white beard. He apparently found it humorous.

Happy Christmas Eve! I hope it is lovely. 



Wednesday, December 22, 2010

work sucks


I did nothing all day. I woke up at 11:30 and have been in sweats all day long. I haven’t put shoes on once. I did shower. But only because I have to go to work at 9 pm…PM…what? yeah. American Eagle sucks the life out of me. I’ll drive an hour to go work a stupid night shift that won’t end until at least 5 am…maybe later. It is money. I need money….This is what I keep telling myself so that I actually go. Because nothing in me wants to go. I want to stay home by this nice warm fire and pretty lit tree. Growing up isn’t always fun, but sadly, it is unavoidable.

Home Love

I am a homebody. I LOVE being home more than most people I know. I love walking up to my front door and smelling the wood fire burning inside. I love seeing my Mom standing there waiting for me as soon as I open the door to help me carry anything in. I love seeing the Christmas tree all lit with ornaments that my sister and I made when we were little. I love being bombarded by my giant black lab, Charlie.I love seeing pictures of my family all around the house. I love home. It means so much to me. I can't wait for the day when I can bring my kids here, to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I hope they love it just as much as I do.

Here are a couple photos that I snapped while at home. I will have many more throughout the break.


this one was being difficult and decided to not upload straight....

Thursday, December 16, 2010

I made it.


I have yet another completed semester under my belt. I am blown away at how fast the last two years have passed. I love finishing tasks, and I consider the semester one BIG task. So YAY! Task complete. I Have only three more semesters of classes and then a semester of student teaching, which I am both incredibly excited for and super duper nervous at the same time. I feel like I have grown and changed A LOT in this semester alone. I went through some things that were very challenging but I made it out stronger. I started a new job on campus, one of the most challenging and time consuming jobs that there is. I loved (almost) every minute of it! It has really helped me learn how to manage my time which is such an important skill. I've also been stretched by it spiritually and socially. It has held me more accountable for the things that I do and say. I've also had to reach out of my little comfort zone and talk to people that I normally would have no interest in talking to. I am so thankful for this job. I also went through the loss of a best friend and boyfriend, all in one person. Break ups are never easy. But I think that I became much more independent through it. I realized that I do not need another human to be fulfilled. I am enough through Christ. That lesson alone was worth the pain. I've always been searching to be complete through earthly things and I finally understand that I was looking in all the wrong places. I got a tattoo as a reminder of this just last week. It is a small outline of a heart on my left ring finger.
I have three whole weeks off from class. I'm not sure what I will do with myself. I have lots of things in mind like...sewing, crafting, sleeping, baking, shopping, taking pictures and just enjoying this precious time. Hopefully I will be blogging more now that I have a little break from all the crazy stuff. 

Loves,
Shelby

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

How Is It So?

That...

Last I checked it was only August...hmph. Well, I suppose the coming of December brings a few good things.

The end of the semester.
Christmas break.
Christmas presents.
Time with family :)
Snow.
The coming home of a certain boy man currently in Afghanistan.

I am certainly most excited for the latter of these 6. And also. Eight days after December is over I will be 21, which is also worth being excited about. 

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Greatest

Over the weekend I watched a new movie called The Greatest. It was great. I didn't know anything about it when I started watching so I had no expectations. Those are always my favorite. I don't really want to give it away (for all of the 3 people that read my blog) but it is a beautiful love story. It made me cry, but it also warmed my heart in an odd way. It think that if I were in her situation, I would do the exact same thing.


So, go rent it from RedBox and fall in love with it like I did. 

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Photo Love

Muh desk space

window view


girl time
cloudy day window view

Just missing Mel and Ash

Dress up with Grandma

the docks

B & D pic

Blessed to have this view 

Thanks for this one, Hal.

These are just a few photos from the last couple of months. I don't usually post many, but these were begging for some viewing.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A Little "happy" for the day

Last night i was blessed blessed blessed to be able to spend hours, seriously hours, with a couple of great girlfriends talking about life and sharing God. It is so sweet to have the opportunity to do this openly. I take it for granted quite often but many people in the world are not allowed such a privilege. Afterwards I went to a worship service on campus. I always try to pull away at least ONE thing even if I find the lesson is not necessarily pertaining to what I am going through at the time. The speaker told a cute little story about a boy and a sailboat he made. He lost the sailboat and found it in a store window one day. He went inside and told the man at the counter that that was his boat. The man told him he was wrong and that it was not his boat but he could buy it if he wanted. The little boy knew that boat was his, because he made it. So the next day the little boy came back and grabbed the boat out of the window display and took it to the counter. He sat it up there along with some money. He told the man that it was his boat. The man gave him the boat after accepting the money. While walking away, the little boy said to the boat " you are twice mine. I made you and I bought you".
WHOA! that story gave me chills when I heard it. That is EXACTLY what our God has done for us. He made us, and he bought us!!! That should make us feel so loved, and wanted, because we are. well, I just really enjoyed that little story, hope you do too!

Monday, November 15, 2010

time?

I haven't had an ounce of time to blog lately. and that is okay with me. school has been as busy as ever and life is crazy. i'll get back on it over thanksgiving break. i am so looking forward to this upcoming week. i only work a few of the days towards the end of the week and i am beyond excited to spend time at home with my family. im so lucky to be able to do this. see ya next week.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Saddest Halloween

I am quite aware of the unavoidable fact that life can only be so great for so long until it gets hard again. It is a cycle that I've come to accept and know well. As much as I wish that life would always be as simple as afternoon drives and pretty sunsets, I appreciate the hard times because I always grow closer to my Lord. I have to really try to be positive though. This is hard for me, as it is for most anyone I am sure. I could easily be Debbie Downer and bring everyone else around me along with me but I have to focus on the positive.
My dear friend, ex-boy friend, and only boy I've ever really loved is in the Army and was home recently on R&R after a minor injury. We had the chance to hang out quite a bit while he was home for the last two weeks. We have a relationship that I won't even try to explain because not even we understand it. But all I can say is that I love him with more of my heart than I've ever loved anyone else. His feelings for me are even stronger. I was able to be with him at the airport on Halloween until he departed. It was such a weird, weird feeling. You see it in the movies, you watch it on the news, and you hear it on the radio but when you are the one saying "goodbye" it sends emotions through you like you didn't even know existed. There were more emotions and thoughts going through my mind than I could even sort through. It was almost fake...like I could go on with my every day to day tasks and pretend that he isn't really fighting a war. He isn't really having to sleep on the ground in the dirt, night after night. He isn't really jumping out of helicopters. He isn't really finding bombs. He isn't really being shot at. But deep down I know all of those things are true. It hits me at very unexpected times. He is in my mind all day, every day, but it is out of no where when I actually get sad, and cry without any control over it.
This is what I'm waiting for*
I've never written a blog so personal and full of emotions before. It's not something I intend on doing often but  I was starting to go a little crazy with no one to just babble about it all too. So thanks for bearing with me, if you got this far.

loves.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

SundaysareofficiallymyfavoritedayEVER

Every Sunday lately has just been great. This past Sunday I got to see a friend that has been in Afghanistan for the last 9 months and who I haven't seen for about a year. It was a great reunion. We got to have lunch at his parents house and then go for a 3 hour drive in the beautiful back roads of our hometown. It really is a beautiful place, full of hills, rivers, changing trees, and just a sense of "home". It is hard letting go of someone and then having them back in your life for a short time only to lose them again in a couple of weeks.
We drove.
On roads like this.



And this statement was ever so true.


Thursday, October 14, 2010

This week has been tough...and next week will be even harder. Every single day is just about getting to the end. Ugh. I hate when life is like this. I want to ENJOY life to the fullest, and lately it’s been far from that. I have a pile of things in my head that I need to accomplish in the next week and a half. Honestly, I feel like I can't do it. I know that I cannot do it, but God can. Such a hard thing to just let go of sometimes, but it is all I can do. Tests are piling up like no other this week and next and it is all I can think about. Also, I just want to be done with school... I want to be married to the man God has waiting for me, I want to be a mommy to some sweet, sweet children, I want a beautiful house to decorate, I want a successful career doing whatever makes me happy, I want a strong relationship with the Lord that just shines for others to see. These "wants" consume my mind. I know that I have to go through this first to get to where I so badly want to be someday though. It is a really hard thing to wait, for me anyways.




Well, I have about 3 days of studying due for my test in the morning but I am going to do some yoga, drink some tea, study till I want to be done, clean my room, and call it a night.

loves

Monday, October 11, 2010

Sunday...


Yesterday was my grandpa Miller's birthday. If he was still here, he would have been 83! I love my grandpa more than anyone else in this world. I'm not sure how we had the connection that we did, but it was special. I could probably write a book about him and how great of a man he was.

Grandpa and me when he was really sick.

I got to enjoy the day with my mom and grandma. My grandma and I share a love for sewing and pretty fabric. She knew that I was wanting a new sewing machine for Christmas and she found a pretty good deal so she BOUGHT ME A BRAND NEW ONE!!! woohoo! It is a Singer Curvy...and I am in L.O.V.E! It is seriously one of the best gifts ever. She is awesome.

After our shopping trip I went to the park with my mom to enjoy a little lunch. There was an art festival going on so we enjoyed looking at all of the booths.

It was really a great weekend. I love my family so much words cannot even begin to describe. 


P.S. I seriously could not love this time of year anymore. Here are a couple pictures taken at my house, and across the street from my house. Love.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A little weekend

I love the weekends. Simply because it means I get a small break from the hurry hurry of the week. here are some photos of my weekend. it was really a great one.

Thrift store that i ventured to. it is out in the middle of no where.

And these lovely girls joined me on the trip.

Outisde...we just loved the print on the windows.

We also found a Pun'kin patch on the way.

Elly Bell and Jacob.

Creek day


Love Birds

Sun-bathing

No, it is not my birthday... but i did see this sign and needed to take a picture.
This is on the way out to my grandma's house and i have seriously seen it over a hundred times. it was different this time tho. the almost dead zinnias mixed with the lack of anyones name there made it a perfect picture. i was so glad i have a mom who turned around for me just to take a pretty picture.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Sundae on Mondae

Today was a good monday.
 I had a big math test that i think i did quite well on. I also had a 2 hour nap! That was fantastic because i rarely allow myself to waste that much time on a monday.  I skipped dinner and went to Mel's Hard Luck Diner with the girls. I live in Branson, MO which means i am surrounded by old people and country music. This little diner was... corny. Like so, so corny. The servers actually sing to you while you eat. It was soooooo branson! But we had a $9 banana split that was so big even 6 girls couldn't finish the whole thing. I have yet another test to study for so i need to get off here. I'm really starting to enjoy blogging more as a way to wind down the day and reflect as opposed to pleasing others. I think that is a good place to be.

Friday, September 24, 2010

FRIDAY

I've made it (almost) to the end. It is still early in the morning but im finishing up my one hour of work, and after 5 classes, one presentation and one big ol test, this week will be over and the lovely weekend will begin. Ive been waiting. this week has been a crazy busy one. im not sure how i always make it through but i do. God is good.

It is officially fall! And feels like it as well.



This is what i have planned for the weekend,
* spend some quality time with the boy. we are both so busy all week we dont get to see each other at all
* start a sewing project, maybe 5. i havent sewn since i went back to school and i MISS IT like no other
* visit home
*play with my dogs
* go see CATS with my mom and little sister at the little theatre
*enjoy this season with people i love

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Fall Photo: Day 5

Fall Summer Photo:

I'm not sure where you live but here in little Missouri it is HOT. it just didnt seem right to post pretty cool weather pictures when i walk outside and i start to sweat. ew. so here is your daily prettty summer weather photo.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Fall Photos: Day 4

This is what autumn look like where i live.
beautiful.
the hills are all lined with fallen leaves.
the trees start to look like something out of a storybook.
and the crisp air just brings a new freshness to every day.
i.love.it.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Fall Photo: Day 3




I love hot air balloons.
I've loved them since i was little.
They remind me of being a carefree little girl.
I am on the search for a hot air balloon festival near me.