Simply Shelby

I've been waiting for this day to arrive for a long time. I have reached the 300 day mark since I began my journey west. 300 Days. Holy Cow. I wish I could sum up these three hundred days into a nice little sentence, but these last 300 days have had more emotion and thought than one sentence could say. At some point in their lives, everyone leaves home. Kids go off to college, people get married, people move, people grow up, sometimes people just need a change. When I made the decision to pack up and leave home I didn't realize that I would be leaving such a big piece of my heart behind. It's the place where my friends are, where my family is, where my love of an open road lies, where life was easier and way less busy. I had no idea what to expect. I was ready for wide open spaces and a whole lot of new faces. I still get homesick. I don't think that will ever change. As much as Utah is great, Florida has so many great things about it too. I miss the small-town feel, th...

It was a shocking revelation when I realized that my high school is having another graduation today. Its been two years since I walked across that stage. How on earth does time go by that fast?! Since I'm older and have been out of the "high school" life for two years I finally realized a lot of things I wish I had known then. I wish I would have known that it goes by SO incredibly fast. The memories I made are now just memories. You learn so much about life in high school, but I realized you learn so much more from moving away from home and going off to college. I had so many struggles then and I look back now and realize how I was the creator of those challenges and It could have easily been avoided. I should have listened. Off the serious note, here are a few funny things I learned in high school: 1. You dress up for homecoming, even if you aren't a legit Ninja Turtle. I took one for the team. 2. It's never a bad thing to have shoes that sparkle.  ...

The most beautiful woman on this earth is my mother. She is full of love and she is full of life. The older I get, the more I realize how much I'm like her. How lucky am I? I have the exact same hands as my mom and my body shape is becoming a bit more similar to hers each day (which is not a bad thing). My mom is the toughest person I know and I can't imagine life without her. I live over 2,000 miles away from her at this stage of my life but I still call her every day and it always surprises me how we can always find something to talk about. We giggle about the funny things, we cry about the sad things, and we work through the difficult things. As a 20 year old girl I can still cry to my mother when I'm struggling and she will listen and make sure I'm okay. They say that there is no love like a mothers, but I believe there truly is no love like a daughters love for her mother. It's hard to express my gratitude for her because she means so much to me. I love her ...

It's official! I survived my first semester at BYU! After a long week of finals and much studying and praying, I finally was done. I spent the days after finals rushing to get things ready to move out and move into my new place. I now live in The Lion's House. It's a old beauty with a lot of character. Here are some pictures: My new roommates are fantastic and have made me feel so at home. I couldn't have gotten any luckier! Spring semester might kill me, but I'm determined to do what I have to do to stay positive.  I'm reminded each and every day how great life is. I live a great life and I try not to forget it!