Cincinatti

Fall Break came at the most perfect time this year. I guess if we're being honest there's never a bad time for a break from the daily rush but it came at an especially needed time this year. Getting off work that Thursday night was just about the best feeling ever. You know that giddy can't wipe the smile off your face feeling that comes right before a school or work break that just seems to come no matter how old you get? That's my favorite. 

We woke up early Friday to head up to visit my Grandmother in Northern Kentucky. We spent the night running errands, going to Kroger, eating chinese food, sorting returns, and watching HGTV. All the nana classics. 


Then the next morning Nate, Riley, and I headed up to Cincinnati to explore. I can't quite decide if I'm an outdoorsy person or a city gal because while I live for a lake day, good hikes are my favorite, and kayak runs are the best, there's also something about the rush of walking into a big city that just can't be beat. Anyone else relate?

We decided to do a mural walk that was a slight fail because I'm pretty sure I read the map wrong haha. But it was fun nonetheless. We saw some pretty cool walls and took some pics (scattered throughout this post) and just enjoyed the city vibes.


We ate at the yummiest place called Panino. 10/10 recommend! It was SO good, so cute, and on the cutest little street.




The stores around Panino were an aesthetic dream. Not sure if that's normal to notice, but they were seriously so well done!

Nate was a total champ. He loved all the city stuff but these shops weren't exactly his cup of tea. He was a good sport though and he rocked the awkward I am in a store of women and I'm the only guy so I'll just stand here by the door and awkwardly look around/ stretch/ look at my phone role like a champ. haha
classic jumping picture lol. Nevermind the fact that I look insane.
more photos.... it'd been a while since I really got my camera out and it felt so good to get back into the creative swing.





How are my siblings such models?!?!


this is what we call the model pose lol.

safety first. anyone who was concerned that we were in the city alone, don't worry we had pepper spray cause ya gotta be prepared.



Our favorite stop of the whole day was going up the 49 floors to the top of the Carew Tower. You could see the whole city of Cincinnati and it was peaceful up there. Something about seeing all the tiny cars and people rushing around was just so cool and there was all the noise below but it was so quiet up there. Plus the view was just dreamy. We stayed up there forever.

Also, fun fact, if you drop a penny from the top it acts like a boomerang! Who knew? For some reason, we thought this was the funniest thing. Probably because it was the most rebellious thing we did all day haha. (Don't be concerned though, we dropped it into an abandoned alley where no one was at all)








In love with the view.


We ended the day with a Cincinnati classic, Graters Ice Cream. Yum! Definitely lives up to the hype.

Seriously such a fun day and the perfect kick-off to fall break. It was so fun to spend it with Nate & Riley because they're just the funnest. They kept me laughing the whole day. So grateful for them.

And with that cheesy paragraph, I guess I'll end this post. Stay Rad!

day in the life | junior year

a day in the life | junior year





4:45 am- alarm goes off, turn it off, roll over
4:55 am- 2nd alarm, roll over again
5:05- i should probably actually wake up….
5:20- there’s no more procrastinating it, i roll out of bed bleary eyed and slightly confused and stumble into my closet
5:40-6:00 (depending on whether we are talking about the beginning or end of the year): hop into my car and drive to early morning seminary listening to either a conference talk, my current favorite mix on spotify, or just the radio
6:05-6:20 (again- depends on what point in the year we are at): sheepishly walk in late to seminary
6:20-7:00- learn a ton of really great stuff at seminary. the book of mormon is the coolest- i honestly learned so much about the love God has for us, the power of humility and righteousness, and how much God wants to bless us. 
7:00-7:10- socialize or finish homework
7:10-7:25- drive to school, it’s fun to see how the people who rode with me to school changed over the course of the year. at the beginning I was usually alone, then sometimes someone would ride with me to help with homework or studying, then at the end it was pretty much the same 2-3 people every day. 
7:30-8:53- Pre-Cal or Physics. ugh. i learned a lot in these classes but am 100% okay to be done. marissa was in both of these classes so luckily i survived. i fought so hard for that a in physics. 
9:00-10:23- ap engligh III or APUSH. i survived skinny block!!!!!! english was tough at times but overall i really enjoyed both these classes and feel like i learned so much! 
10:30-11:00- SWORD. aka filler class. 
11:00-12:53- yearbook & lunch! yearbook was a lot more fun this year because i was all in (compared to doing both band and yearbook sophomore year). i learned a lot about how the yearbook actually works, made some new awesome friends, and also had a good amount of spare time to work on things i enjoyed. despite that, i did work really hard and am excited that it payed off cause now you’re talking to next years editor in chief! we had an amazing staff this year and we made what i think is the best book our high school has put out yet…. pressure’s on for next year! 
12:53-2:25- first semester i had spanish II, another class that was hard but i really really loved learning spanish- it's so interesting! second semester i had an online dual credit class so i got to leave early!! (best. thing. ever) i used this time for a lot of things. some days i would go home and work on homework, tossd, or photography stuff. other days i would go to dad’s office and hang out in action room one while i worked on various things. sometimes i went over to nora’s grandma’s and we talked, ate junk food, and did homework. occasionally i actually did work on the online class that i got to leave school early for haha. having this extra time honestly saved me this year. 
2:25-3:00- drive to work & listen to a podcast. favorites include How I Built This and the occasional episode of Munchin’ with Moguls (especially the early ones)
3:00-5:30- work at the preschool. i just completed my last day here but this job taught me so much about patience and hard work. i worked in a lot of different classrooms throughout the year but all of the kids were sweet (although very..um.. spunky? at times too) and even though it didn't make me rich, i’m really grateful for this job. 
5:30-6:00- drive home. traffic made it seem like forever. 
6:00-9:00- honestly so different every night. sometimes it was going to sibling events, giving people rides, doing homework or working on projects, in the fall i volunteered at curbside on thursdays, every wednesday i stayed in town and worked on photography projects and homework in the church parking lot to save gas, some days i went to gramma and grandads, some days i just came home and spent time outside, hung out with siblings, and just did normal teenager things. i feel like i had to learn to use my time a lot more efficently this year in order to get things done but also to just enjoy life. 
9:00-10:00- the first 1/2 of the year i used this for school or watching t.v but in the last quarter i got in the habit of running and it made my life so much better! 
10:00-11:00- shower, read scriptures, go to bed. 

my nightime schedule is really just a rough draft because it was so crazily different every night! some nights i stayed up until 1 am doing homework or working on for fun projects, other nights i didn't even get home until 10 and then just stumbled into bed. between 2 jobs, 2 ap classes, a dual credit class, a church calling, responsibilitues that come with being a human, trying to have good realtionships with friends and family, raising money for hefy, waking up at 5 am every morning, and the side project i always seem to have (no matter how busy i am i can't seem to help having some kind of creative or business project going on- some examples include creating 2 websites, trying to launch a photography business and all that goes a long with that, creating a paper portfolio, editing pictures, designing and selling a tshirt, creating invites for church activities, hosting a second craft camp, trying to learn new skills, etc.) this was definitely the year of tired. a really fullfilling year, but also a really tiring year. i think that was one of my greatest challenges. sometimes i would just feel so overwhelmed but so blessed because i truly loved everything i was drowning in. i think i learned how to work harder, survive on less sleep, and manage my time a little bit better. this was a crazy year but a real good one. 


highlights of junior year: fall break, going to arizona, visiting BYU for the first time, finally saving up enough money for HEFY, launching moorelightshine, first job (x2), first car, driving!

Junior year was a 10/10 year and i'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that i'm a senior now- what even?!?!

writing for fun | little letters



i miss writing for fun.

i took an english ap exam this morning and wrote 3 essays.

that was not writing for fun.

if this was not writing for fun i would have already lost about 20 points for incorrect capitalization and simple sentences.

i have no plan for this post, that's part of writing for fun right?

there are LESS THAN 10 DAYS OF SCHOOL LEFT.

can i get a rah, rah, rah?

in honor of these very, very few days of school left (that will probably feel like approximately 9 years if we are being honest) and the fact that i will not be writing an essay until the fall, i've decided to write some little letters. i wrote some a loooong time ago and got the original idea from Love Taza  (cutest blog btw)

dear summer,
COME
not so patiently,
shelby

dear ap exams, ap & dual credit classes, and ________,
peace out! i feel like i actually learned a lot but i am 100% okay to be done. thanks for all you've done but goodbye forever. (more like goodbye for the summer- for some reason i always come back to you)
yours truly,
shelby

dear gas,
please, please lower your price. your girl needs money.
crying everytime my fuel light comes on,
shelby

dear awkward tan line i got from wearing shorts,
i'm really excited about the tan side of you, but can we work on the pale side? you're really cramping my style & i don't want to blind anyone.
#modesty probs,
shelby

dear physics grade,
please round up, please round up, please round up. extra credit? that is all.
slightly stressed,
shelby

dear job,
only 7 days left together. what a ride. very mixed feelings about leaving you, but considering the day i had at work i'm feeling prettttyyy solid right now.
bittersweetly,
shelby

5:30 am,
just stop.
tiredly,
shelby

dear yearbook,
guess who's your editor next year?!?!? we'r'e gonna have fun.
excitedly nervous,
shelby

dear last 9 days of school,
LETS DO THIS. fingers crossed you're filled with lots of movies, card games, and a ton of easy points to raise my physics grade. it's the final countdown!
xoxo
shelby

(if you didn't sing that last line in your head, who are you?)

dear self,
it's almost 10 and you still have things to do so get on with it
truthfully,
shelby

welp. that was fun. no empty promises about posting more. but i do like rereading old posts and writing for fun is pretty...well fun.

until next time.

-shelby

(update: i wrote this a few days ago, now there is only ONE day of school left and my job is over- happy tears all around)

light the world lift off






i'm in love with the #lighttheworld campaign. it's such a cool concept and i believe it wholeheartedly. everybody has opportunities every day to spread light and when we choose to use that power for good it can have amazing beautiful results. plus, who doesn't want more light in their life?

at the end of december we had a ward activity where we talked about service and let a bunch of balloons go with messages of light on them to usher in a year of lighting the world. it was so so pretty!

the missionaries were in charge (missionaries are legit the best) and it was a super fun night which included the super cool balloon release, the great wallet hunt, the awkward food exchange, and freddy's.

here's to a great 2018 full of lighting the world!

*end note: before the lift off all of the balloons were in one of the classrooms off the hallway and it seriously looked magical with all of them lit up and filling the whole ceiling. pictures couldn't do it justice! (especially grainy iPhone ones)

lets go 2018


this year was the first year i was actually able to check and see how i did on my new years resolutions. it was actually pretty fun to really be able to measure my progress without having to dig up an old notebook that i probably never would have taken the time to find. so even though it' s already a week into the new year and i already wrote about all this in my journal, i figure i might as well put in on here too so that i can look back and do the same thing next year.

this year i decided to set a variety of goals. some are things i pretty much know will happen unless something crazy happens, others are things that are going to take a lot of work, a few are vague, and some are just one time things that i hope i can accomplish at some point in the year.

2018 goals 
*go to Brazil (!!!)
*get my full license 
*get accepted into college (!!!) a scholarship would also be nice but since that's not 100% in my control, i'm not listing it as an official goal. 
*graduate seminary Book of Mormon year, kind of a shoe in goal but my tardy record from last semester would say otherwise. 
*do a no sugar month
*
*finish personal progress (i have a plan to finish it by the end of the school year and i'm really hoping i can stick to it)
*finish saving for hefy and start saving for my future
*make a video it can really be about anything, i've just always focused on photography and want to branch out for fun
*get more serious about photography. i would love to be able to make a good amount of money taking pictures because i really enjoy it 
*set up a hard drive my computer storage has been begging me to the last few months
*journal at least a few times a month
*be at school as little as possible senior year haha, but seriously, isn't that what dual credit classes are for?
*maintain current gpa
*value and improve family relationships since this is my last full year at home. 
*get to know Nashville better 
*go to a concert 
*visit Utah (again, not totally in control here, but i would really like to)
*stay positive even when a bunch of people i know graduate and leave
*service!!!!
*help mom make a christmas card on time
*expand creativity 

overall goal: live! if i have a good idea run with it! enjoy where i am but create the life i want

as far as blogging in the new year, i don't really have a plan. i'm not sure what i want to do. i've been into journaling a lot lately but i also really enjoy being able to add pics to blog posts and find specific memories and thoughts with a few clicks. for now i plan to just post when i feel like it and mainly focus on life. i used to really want to be able to blog for money some day but now it just seems fun to be able to record my life on here and i'm pretty sure there aren't that many people still reading (which is fine with me, because i didn't really do my part in posting but if you are still reading, holy cow you're awesome). i plan to publish some old posts that never got put up and write when i feel like it but other than that i'm not sure. i don't want to force it because i have a lot of other creative projects that are making me excited these days and i don't want to spend time on something i don't love. plus there's also school, my job, and then just having time to actually live that i've got to think about. 

i guess that was really just a super long way to say i have no clue what my blogging plans are. haha.

anyway, i'm so super pumped for 2018 and i cannot wait to see where i am at this time next year. i'll have been to brazil (!!!!!), have my college plans pretty much set, and be in my last semester of high school!! and with the way life goes, i know there will be a few surprises thrown in there too. here's to 2018! 

2017


2017

*got permit and then license!
*first car
*turned 16
*first date
*first blind date
*got my braces off
*first year as a ycl! (plus i got to go to high adventure because of it)
*first ap classes and tests
*went to nauvoo, carthage, st.louis, and st. augustine
*spent pretty much every weekend this summer at our cabin in cumberland
*graduated sophomore year and became a junior (one year closer!!!)
*went to prom
*went to nashville without parents twice (once with emma and once with nate)
*first paid photoshoots!
*officially signed up for hefy
*first job! (i work at a preschool now and the kids are the cutest)
*got a passport (i've had one before but it expired a few years ago)
*got 2 cats, a few fish, and a puppy
*got to do some graphic design work for 2 companies


(pic from my instagram story)


2017 wasn't my hottest year for blogging but it also wasn't on the top of my priority list. one thing i really enjoyed that i actually did post was my new year resolutions. i spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year thinking about the past year and i have a feeling that 2018 is going to be pretty awesome. i decided since 2017 has been the only year that i've actually known where to find my goal list and check it at the end of the year I should probably continue the tradition and add a little recap. my 2018 goals will be going up in the next few days.


how i did: 

*keeping track of my goals: i probably should have checked in on them more throughout the year but I did know where to find them and i kept up with them better than i have before so i'm calling it a win.
*finish the Book of Mormon before my birthday: win! i may or may not have been reading the night before my birthday but it was done!
*write 3 happy things down each day: fail. i went through some phases of being good at this but was never really consistent.
*personal progress: made some definite progress here but maybe should have done a little more? i feel good about where i am though.
*get my license: DONE! seriously the. best. thing. ever
*sign up for HEFY: also DONE! i CANNOT wait!! #brazilbound
*craft camp: another thing done! we hosted a christmas craft camp this year and it was a blast!
*run a color run: still on my bucket list...
*photography: i'm not exactly where i hoped i would be at this time but 2017 was definitely the funnest photography year i've had yet! i was able to finally do some paid shoots and get the word out a little more about my business, plus just take some of my very favorite pictures yet. the year ended on a high of getting to take pictures of an event for our local performing art center with press passes and everything.
*patience: this was one of those goals that i knew would be hard to measure, but i feel like i became at least a little more patient. i definitely still have a loooong way to go, but i think i became more patient in areas that were driving me crazy at the beginning of last year.
* journal more: kind of draw here. i journaled a good amount but in chunks. but between all the photos i have, quite a few journal entries, social media, and the few blog posts i posted this year i feel okay about how my life is being documented.
*spending time more meaningfully : also not sure how to measure this. now that i have a job + school + seminary + trying to spend time with friends and family i'm forced to use my time a little better but i still think i could improve on cutting back on checking social media.
*taking risks: there weren't a ton of risks i had to take this year but i did grow some in the fact that i tried to work on things that made me happy and just go for life instead of worrying a ton. there were several fundraisers that could have tanked (and some didn't end up being the most profitable), getting a job made me nervous at first, signing up for hefy was a risk because i didn't have all the money raised, posting my weekly #sundaythoughts, etc. all these were little things but i'm not sure i would have done them the year before last. there's always room to grow in this category but overall i think i did okay?
*blog 2 times a month: 4 months is better than nothing right? this was one of the first times i felt totally okay about that though. i just decided that blogging wasn't my highest priority right now.

all in all, 2017 was a pretty rad year but it also had some pretty hard times too. its easy to look back on the highlights and see it as a huge stream of success and fun memories one after another, but i think its really important to remember that there were hard things as well as awesome things. i just choose to write about those kinds of things in my journal more than online. 

2017 was a year of learning, growing, and creating a life closer to what i want mine to be. i feel like 2018 is going to be a culmination of a lot of things that happened in 2017 coming together, but also pretty unexpected too. i can't wait to see what it holds!