More personal...

Wedding photos are up!!!

2009-11-24T23:09:00.000-08:00

Check out www.JoshandShelby.com to FINALLY see our wedding photos! Just click on the "Pictures" link to access them. Make sure to read the little blurb to understand how to download and order prints!
Photo by Duck Duck Collective.

Mega-life change post!

2009-10-19T11:42:00.001-07:00

I know it has been about a LONG time since I have updated but there is good reason!

1) Josh and I got married! It was wonderful! It was at the Loch Haven Center in Orlando, Florida. All of our friends and family came from far and wide! We had a great time! We went on a mini-honeymoon to Saint Augustine, Florida. It is so beautiful there. In May, after Josh's foot is 100%, we are going to London. Once we receive all of our pictures from Matt (the photographer) they will all be available on www.JoshandShelby.com.

2) I spent a week and a half with my in-laws and new siblings in Traverse City, Michigan. It was really fun! I had a chance to bond with my mother-in-law, Maureen. She is such an amazingly sweet and kind woman. They threw a birthday party for me and Maureen took me thrifting! :) I got a chance to hang out with Josh's best man and his awesome girlfriend, Brandon and Kristina. We went to dinner, bowling and I went to church with Kristina. I also got to hang out with my FREAKING awesome sister-in-law Maggie. Check out her blog here: SuperSavvyMommy.com.

3) I officially moved to Portland, Oregon to live with my hubby! I've been applying for jobs, bought a car (since my car was totaled right before the wedding) and now I am waiting on our new mattress to be delivered. It has been a blast! It's hanging out with your best friend all of the time.

4) I am almost done with season 3 of Dexter. Haha!

Check out some pictures of life recently, in chronological order! If pictures are cut off, click on them for full view!

Photo of friends from my Big-Hat-Tea-Shower!

My new car was totaled after having it for a month! The other guy got the ticket. I walked away nearly unscathed. Praise God.This is a picture of some of my friends out for my bachelorette party in Orlando!

After THAT bachelorette party some of the ladies and myself went down to Pompano beach/Miami for a few days. This is a picture of us at a cafe.

Sunny came from Germany to celebrate with Josh and I!

then was the BIGGEST DAY!!!!! I am so happy!!!!!

This is Josh and I's backyard in Portland. Portland is so GORGEOUS!

This is my new, new car to replace my new, smashed car. :)

OH MY GOSH!!!!! 18 days!!!!!

2009-09-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

There is only 18 days until the wedding. My dress went from being too small to being too big but it's going to work. Has to.

Sunday we had a centerpiece-making-party and we banged it out! Thanks ladies! However, I cannot feel the tip of my pointer finger from spray painting... STILL! Weird, right? Sensation in my fingertip is irrelevant because the centerpieces look so AMAZING!

I've been eating only veggies and fruits, no carbs, no dairy with the exception of organic salad dressing and coffee for nearly a week. It is crazy what that amount of vitamins does for you. About 95% of the time I feel invincible but I did cheat and have a piece of birthday cake for my Grandpa's 80th birthday last night and I felt as if I would die! My stomach decided it wanted to kill me! So I am starting to really realize how bad high fructose corn syrup is for you, which was present in the icing apparently. That is the only thing that I could think of that would have effected me like that! Or maybe it was just that amount of sugar after being withdrawn from it for a good while.

I cannot wait to see my husband-to-be in 13 days in Orlando because we are GETTING MARRIED!!! AHHHHH!!!! I am so excited!!!! YAYYY!!!!

-Shelby

New salon, new hours, new way of paying!

2009-07-28T19:40:00.001-07:00

I recently moved to Salon Elysee in the Plaza building downtown (165 S Orange Ave, Orlando). This salon is really nice! Like, REALLY nice! I am working in the salon three days a week (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) but I am still available for special events (weddings, photoshoots) seven days a week! Unfortunately, because of this particular salon I am only able to take cash or check, made payable to me.
ALL of my prices have remained the same and I am still doing all of my own booking so give me a call at 321-276-1407!!

I will be available starting on the 6th from 10-6!

This made me chuckle.

2009-06-30T00:33:00.000-07:00

Personal stuff I accidentally posted on my hair blog!

2009-06-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

Tons of stuff I like from weddingbeepro.com

2009-06-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

Iran: I tried to find words.

2009-06-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

I can't describe my emotions in relation to the happenings in Iran other than to say that I sat on my couch and wept this morning. It is just a reality as I sit on my comfortable couch in a land that has raised me in comfort, fed me comfort and now sells me comfort that we are living in an age, in every part of the world, that is apart from how we were created to be. The Iranian people were not created by God to struggle like this, to be shot down in the streets as they peacefully protest. I was not created to be apathetic and buy all the commercialism that I am fed on a day-to-day basis. We were not created to eat garbage. We were not created to know hate. We were not created to know death. We were not created to know an unloving ruler. We were not created to be a nameless number in a sea of nameless numbers. We were created to live in harmony, eternally with a Father-King who knew us personally.
Maybe this is hitting me so heavily because I have been thinking on Heaven a lot lately. I have been longing for Heaven A LOT lately.
It is Father's day and my father's side of the family is Assyrian Persian which translates to Iranian these days. We have family in Iran that I do not know and will probably never know but when I see women being shot in the face it makes me realize that I don't have to be a blood relation to someone to know that she is my sister and she should not be pulverized by a fascist regime's militia as she PEACEFULLY protests with peace signs and tape over her mouth. She was created by the same Father that I was created by and because of that she has more value than humanity likes to allot her.

This girl's name was Neda Salehi.

People are being shot in the streets. These people don't have guns or knives. They defend themselves by running or by throwing rocks while police shoot them down.

Art and anxiety attacks...

2009-06-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

I started a new Bible study book about Heaven. Within the first chapter it floored me. Awesome.

Earlier tonight I had a really frightening experience. My heart felt like it was racing, to the point I thought I would faint. My friend Katee was over and she immediately called her boyfriend, who is an EMT and is in school to be an RN. He instructed me to take my pulse. It was really low but my heart beat kept switching from going extremely fast to frighteningly slow. He asked me about what I had been doing during the day and then told me he thought that I was having an anxiety attack, most likely due to stress. I still feel kind of wobbly but I am going to go to bed in a moment.

I began a painting tonight. I challenged myself to using one brush and one paint color. I almost succeeded. I used one brush and my finger and I used only blue except for ONE dot of red. I don't really love it but I did it. I will probably paint over it like I do with most of my work. I have realized that I haven't posted any of my work that I am actually proud of on here so I will post a couple (The photos were taken with my webcam so forgive the quality).

A portrait of my friend Kim:

A self-portrait for portfolio:

Tinted Windows

2009-06-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today Katee and I went to the AT&T studio to see a stripped down performance by Tinted Windows. The band consists of Taylor Hanson on vocals (Hanson), James Iha on guitar (Smashing Pumpkins, A Perfect Circle), Adam Schlesinger on rhythm guitar (Fountains Of Wayne) and Bun E. Carlos on drums (Cheap Trick). There were no drums because it was supposed to be acoustic. The band insisted on playing electric though because apparently their songs don't translate acoustically. There were only 21 people at the performance and I was super tired so it was an extremely surreal experience. Afterward we got to talk to the band a little and take pictures. I felt like I was 15 but I got to talk to James Iha about his hair and the process he goes through to get it to that color and how painful it is. It was pretty rad. To watch the performance click HERE. So yeah. Here are a couple of low quality pictures from it.

A Christmas card.

2009-05-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

I don't fully buy into the new-agey-ness of some of his paragraphs but I read this on Danni Kluge's Facebook and had to re-post it!

Kevin Kelly's 2007 Christmas Card

Kevin Kelly's This I Believe essay was adapted from a Christmas card he sent to family and friends in 2007. Below you can read his essay in full:

Dear Friends and Family,

Before the news of this year, a little personal story. When I was in my twenties I would hitchhike to work everyday. I'd walk down three blocks to Route 22 in New Jersey, stick out my thumb and wait for a ride to work. Someone always picked me up. I had to punch-in for my job as a packer at a warehouse at 8 o'clock sharp, and I can't remember ever being late. It never ceased to amaze me even then, that the kindness of strangers could be so dependable. Each morning I counted on the service of ordinary commuters who had lives full of their own worries, and yet without fail, at least one of them would do something kind, as if on schedule. As I stood there with my thumb outstretched, the only question in my mind was simply: "How will the miracle happen today?"

Shortly after that rare stint of a real job, I took my wages and split for Asia, where I roamed off and on for the next 8 years. I lost track of the number of acts of kindness aimed at me, but they arrived as dependably as my daily hitchhiking miracle. Random examples: In the Philippines a family opened their last can of tinned meat as a banquet for me, a stranger who needed a place to crash. Below a wintry pass north of Gilgit in the Pakistan Hindu Kush, a group of startled firewood harvesters shared their ash-baked bread with me when I bounded unannounced into their campfire circle one evening. We ended up sleeping like sardines under a single homewoven blanket. In Taiwan, a student I met on the street one day befriended me in that familiar way to most travelers, but surprised me by offering me a place at his family's apartment in Taipei. While he was away at school, I sat in on the family meals and had my own bedroom for two weeks.

One remembrance triggers another; I could easily list thousands of such gestures without much trouble, because – and this is important – not only did I readily accept such gifts, but I actually came to rely on them being offered. I could never guess who the messenger would be, but kindness never failed to materialize once I put myself in some position to receive it. As in my hitchhiking days, I began my days on the road in Asia and elsewhere with the recurring question: how will the miracle happen today?" After a lifetime of relying on such benevolence I have developed a theory of what happens in these moments and it goes like this. Kindness is like a breath. It can be squeezed out, or drawn in. You can wait for it, or you can summon it.

To solicit a gift from a stranger takes a certain state of openness. If you are lost or ill, this is easy, but most days you are neither, so embracing extreme generosity takes some preparation. I learned from hitchhiking to think of this as an exchange. During the moment the stranger offers his or her goodness, the person being aided offers degrees of humility, dependency, gratitude, surprise, trust, delight, relief, and amusement to the stranger. It takes some practice to enable this transfer when you don't feel desperate. Ironically, you are less inclined to be ready for the gift when you are feeling whole, full, complete, and independent!

One might even call the art of accepting generosity a type of compassion. The compassion of being kinded. One year I rode my bicycle across America, from San Francisco to New Jersey. I started out camping in state parks, but past the Rockies, parks became so scarce I switched to camping on people's lawns. I worked up a routine. As darkness fell, I began scouting the homes I passed for a likely candidate: neat house, big lawn in the back, easy access for my bike. When I selected the lucky home, I parked my bag-loaded bike in front of the door and rang the bell. "Hello," I'd say. "I'm riding my bike across America. I'd like to pitch my tent tonight where I have permission and where someone knows where I am. I've just eaten dinner, and I'll be gone first thing in the morning. Would you mind if I put up my tent in your backyard?

I was never turned away, not once. And there was always more. It was impossible for most folks to sit in their couch and watch TV while a guy who was riding his bicycle across America was camped in their backyard. What if he was famous? So I was usually invited into their home for desert and an interview. My job in this moment was clear: I was to relate my adventure. I was to help them enjoy a thrill they secretly desired, but would never do. My account would make an impossible dream seem real and possible, and thus part of them. Through me and my retelling of what happened so far, they would get to vicariously ride a bicycle across America. In exchange I would get a place to camp and a dish of ice cream. It was a sweet deal that benefited both of us. The weird thing is that I was, and still am, not sure whether I would have done what they did and let me sleep in the backyard. The "me" on the bicycle had a wild tangled beard, had not showered for weeks, and appeared destitute (my whole transcontinental trip cost me $500). I am not sure I would invite a casual tourist I met to take over my apartment, and cook for him. I definitely would not hand him the keys to my own car, as a hotel clerk in Dalarna, Sweden, did one mid-summer day when I asked her how I could reach the painter Carl Larsson's house 150 miles away away.

The many times I was down or dazed, and a stranger interrupted his life to assist me is a less perplexing mystery to me that when, for no reason I can comprehend, an impoverished legendary Chinese painter I had met only 20 minutes previously insists that I take one of his treasures. I'd like to think that I would, without hesitation, drive way out of my way to bring a sick traveler to the hospital, but I am having trouble seeing myself emptying my bank account to purchase a boat ticket for someone who has more money than I do. (Yep, that happened to me.) But this kind of kindness happens when you travel with an openness to the gift.

Yet while I rely on miracles, I don't believe in saints. There are no saints even among the gentle monks of Asia, or I should say, especially among the monks. Rather, generosity is rampant in everyday lives, but no more in one place, race, or creed than others. We expect altruism among kinfolk and neighbors, although the world would, as we all know, be a better place if neighborly and family kindness happened even more. Altruism among strangers, on the other hand, is simply strange. To the uninitiated its occurrence seems as random as cosmic rays. It seems like a hit or miss blessing that makes a good story. For that reason the kindness of strangers is gift we never forget.

But the strangeness of "kindees" is harder to explain. A kindee is what you turn into when you are kinded. Curiously, being a kindee is an unpracticed virtue. Hardly anyone hitchhikes any more, which is a shame because it encourages the habit of generosity from drivers and nurtures the grace of gratitude and patience of being kinded from hikers. But the stance of receiving a gift – of being kinded — is vital for everyone, not just travelers. Many people resist being kinded unless they are in dire need, or life-threatened. Since I have had so much practice as a kindee, I have some pointers on how it is unleashed.

I believe the generous gifts from strangers are actually summoned by a deliberate willingness to be helped. You start by surrendering to your need for help. That we cannot be helped until we embrace our need for help is a law of the universe. Receiving help on the road is a spiritual event triggered by a traveler who surrenders his or her fate to the eternal Greatness. It's a move from whether we will be helped to how: how will the miracle unfold today? In what novel manner will Good reveal itself? Who will the universe send today to carry away my gift of trust and helplessness?

When the miracle flows, it flows both ways. When an offered gift is accepted, then the threads of love are knotted, snaring both the stranger who is kind, and the stranger who is kinded. Every time a gift is tossed it lands differently – but knowing that it will arrive in some colorful, unexpected way is one of the certainties of life.

We are at the receiving end of a huge gift simply by being alive. It does not matter how you calculate it, our time here is unearned. Maybe you figure your existence is the result of a billion unlikely accidents, and nothing more; then certainly your life is an unexpected and undeserved surprise. That's the definition of a gift. Or maybe you figure there's something bigger behind this small human reality; your life is then a gift from the greater to the lesser. As far as I can tell none of us have brought about our own existence, nor done much to earn such a remarkable experience. The pleasures of colors, cinnamon rolls, bubbles, touchdowns, whispers, long conversations, sand on your bare feet – these are all undeserved rewards.

All of us begin in the same place. Whether purified or not, we are not owed our life. Our existence is an unnecessary extravagance, a wild gesture, an unearned gift. Not just at birth. The eternal surprise is being funneled to us daily, hourly, minute by minute, every second. Yet, we are terrible recipients. We are no good at being helpless, humble, or indebted. Being needy is not celebrated on day-time TV shows, or in self-help books. We make lousy kindees.

I've slowly changed my mind about spiritual faith. I once thought it was chiefly about believing in an unmeasurable reality; that it had a lot in common with hope. But after many years of examining the lives of the people whose spiritual character I most respect, I've come to see that their faith rests on gratitude, rather than hope. They exude a sense of being indebted, and a state of being thankful. When the truly faithful worry, it's not about doubt (which they have) but it's about how they might not maximize the tremendous gift given them. How they might be ungrateful. The faithful I admire are not certain about much except this: that this state of being embodied, inflated with life, brimming with possibilities, is so over-the-top unlikely, so extravagant, so unconditional, so far out beyond physical entropy, that is it indistinguishable from love. And most amazing of all, like my hitchhiking rides, this love-gift is an extravagant gesture you can count on. No matter how bad the weather, soiled the past, broken the heart, hellish the war – all that is behind the universe is conspiring to help you – if you will let it.

My new age friends call that pronoia, the opposite of paranoia. Instead of believing everyone is out to get you, you believe everyone is out to help you. The story of your life becomes one huge elaborate conspiracy to lift you up. But to be helped you have to join the conspiracy yourself. You have to accept the gift.

Of course in the daily grind giving is always more holy than getting. That's what a Christmas season celebrating the gift of redemption is all about. Please share your abundance, while you can.

But I've only slowly come to realize that good givers are those who learn to receive with grace as well. None of us deserve what we have; all of us need help. From my perspective, the origins of this Christmas season lie in this eternal offer: although we have done nothing to merit it, we have been offered a glorious ride that will transcend the ills, failures, hates and destruction of this existence, if only we accept it. To accept the gift requires we surrender to our need for the gift, and to the truth that we don't deserve it. The outreach to this charity begins in the same humble position a hitchhiker gets into when he stands shivering on the side of the empty highway, cardboard sign flapping in the cold wind, and says, "How will the miracle happen today?"

We had a lot to be grateful for this year. My brothers and sister and parents are all well. Gia-Miin's mother moved from Taiwan to a house near our neighborhood. To keep her mom company, another of Gia-Miin' sisters lives with her. There is now a critical mass of Fuh family in Pacficia. We all returned to China for second adventure into remote villages. There were 9 of us, including my mother-in-law (80) and my brother's son, Rhy, who came to keep Tywen (11) company. We ate a whole lot of strange food (even for Gia-Miin), got snowed in Tibet, climbed to a high-altitude Yi mountain village, and strolled along the canals beside the Grand Canal. Missing from this trip was Ting (16) who was visiting colleges on the East Coast accompanied and chauffeured by my sister Colleen, and Kaileen (18) who was at school at Pepperdine. This past autumn, Kaileen spent a semester abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She's reluctantly home for the holidays, wishing she was still in BA, as they call it.

I'm traveling a bit more this year, and writing more as well. I'm writing about what technology means, as in, what is the role of technology in our lives? There's more and more technology, but where does it fit in the cosmic scale of things? That philosophy sounds as airy-fairy to me as to you, which is why I am having trouble actually writing it. Just to keep my feet on the ground, I also continue to review tools for my web site, Cool Tools. To relax I made a few new photo books. I'm working on one about Burning Man, which I've been photographing since 1995.

And I am working on being more grateful. I'm aiming my thanks at the thousand of things we take for granted, things that would be a miracle if they only happened once. I noticed a pigeon the other day. It had fantastical colors, incredible bearing, and shimmering feathers. I feel sure that if there were only one of these specimens alive in the world, we would all agree it would be the most beautiful bird in the world. We'd push and shove to see it. Almost every moment in our lives is a pigeon overlooked. May we notice and be grateful. Sometime in the past, our lives intersected in real life (not on the computer!) and I wish we'd intersect again that way soon.

Peace,

Kevin Kelly

Rain, rain go away so Jess and I can spray paint.

2009-05-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

I want this car. http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/1148513180.html

It has been raining since Sunday. My poor dog needs puppy Percocet. My A/C in my car went out so it is really hard to drive in this weather because there is no defrost and it is down-pouring.

Last night Jessica and I stayed up into the weeeee hours of the morning working on wedding stuff and it looks awesome! I wish the rain would stop because we have some spray painting to do.

I miss Josh terribly BUT I get to see him mid-June! So so so so excited!!!

Downloaded some Firefall, Gerry Rafferty and Dave Barnes from iTunes. I love the internet. Going away to listen to that before work.

Have a beautiful day without rain!!!

2009-05-19T23:00:00.001-07:00

Man Dave Barnes. Please don't even stop writing amazing music.
K thx.

I'm sad The Office is on break.

I get to see Josh again in like 3 weeks!

Engagement pictures!

2009-05-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

Last week Jessica Bennett (www.JessicaBennettPhotography.com), who is my roommate and MAID OF HONOR, flew out to Portland to see my future-hub and take engagement pictures! It was such a FUN but tiring day! What a way to spend a weekend! I cannot get over how incredibly beautiful this man is and I get the priviledge of being his MRS! How did I get so blessed? Jess left on Monday and Joshy Josh and I had some alone time. I ALREADY miss him and I just saw him this morning! BAH!

THIS is where he proposed!

Pictures of PDX via Josh.

2009-04-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

I am going to LIVE here in 5 months and be married to this hottie mchotster! Pretty excited. You can go ahead and be jealous. :-p (If you click on the pictures you can see them full-sized.)

I hope the trees are still in bloom in a couple of weeks when Jess and I go up there to shoot Josh and I's engagement pictures! I love them!

And THEN I am going to cuddle with that guy. I miss him.

Ah. Life is going to change a lot. I'm so excited and also sad to leave everyone in Orlando. So amazingly bittersweet but mostly sweet.

Night night,
Shelby

My hot fiance...

2009-04-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

in his new hat! :)

Megan Smith and I rescued the cutest kitten tonight. Megan's hoping to acquire a golden cat someday for that effort. We'll see.

Doing hair for Tom and Lori's wedding in the morning! WOOHOO!!!

Also, my dress came in the mail and it is GREAT! I found my shoes, just need to order them. Waiting to hear back on the venue. The wedding date is officially September 25th!

Cristina and I saw 17 Again last night for free and it was HILARIOUS! I would have definitely paid to have seen that. I can't wait to see Wolverine with my babe.

Also, Jess-amazing-Maid-Of-Honor and I had lunch the other day and there was an "S" on my tomato! *And yes, that is what I look like without make up*

My dress is on its way!

2009-04-08T00:37:00.000-07:00

*Sigh of relief*

Things are going better. I found my dress and ordered it. It shipped today.

I found a dress that I like. Now it is up to Josh to approve it.

I am going on a tour of a potential venue on Saturday.

Photographer, check. DJ, check.

Feeling relieved.

Thank you God.

My maid of honor is AWESOME. Thanks Jess!

My groom is super loving and patient. I am so blessed.

Praise the Lord.

Stress relief.

2009-04-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

*Sigh*

It has been a long week but finally I am going to relax.

I saw two movies this week.

I saw Sunshine Cleaning with my friend Sean Rogers. It was good but definitely not AS good as Little Miss Sunshine. I really like Emily Blunt. She's a fun actress. I liked her in The Devil Wears Prada and she was interesting in this. VERY different roles and very different accents. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars, maybe 4. The only complaint I had (and Sean agreed) was that there were subplots that were never resolved.

Adventureland was a huge disappointment. Cristina, Andrea, her boyfriend Chris and I went to the midnight viewing at Citywalk on Thursday. Man o' man. It was bad. I should have known it would be because Kristen Stewart is in it. Her facial expressions are so inappropriate to the emotion she is supposed to be going through. She constantly blinks and studders. (Think of the hospital scene in Twilight and repeat it. That's all she can do.) Ugh. The storyline was uneventful and uninteresting. It gets 1 1/2 stars and that extra half is just because I like Ryan Reynolds. He made a bad choice with this one though.
Toward the end of the movie the sound went out and it started fast forwarding and so we were given free movie vouchers so atleast I didn't really lose any money on it. Silver linings. :)

Jess and I visited my dress tonight. Bah.

I miss my fiance a lot. May isn't coming fast enough but I am sure September will be here in a second and then I will be MARRIED to Mr. Joshua. :) Ok I am sleepy, on allergy medicine and semi-delirious.

Later.

My dear friend Kate has an awesome new Etsy store!

2009-04-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

Kate has a new Etsy store with adorable vintage clothing. Check it out and help support her!

www.kateking.etsy.com

Real thoughts that really hurt.

2009-04-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Thought one: while looking in the mirror, "God Shelby, you're fat."
Thought two: facial expression changing from total disgust to a softer form and I add, "compared to unrealistic images that have been burned into your psyche."
Thought three: "I should just stop eating."
Thought four: "People are dying everywhere because they haven't been blessed with food. I am such a horribly ungrateful person. Of course I can't stop eating."
Thought five: "Maybe this isn't me that is causing these thoughts. Maybe I should just stop making an idol out of my body. Maybe Satan is whispering these horrific words to me."

But even with this knowledge I still think these thoughts. In the past I have obsessed to the point of counting every calorie (no more than 900 a day) but that left me miserable and sick and well... obsessed. When you start to focus on things like that, to that degree, you lose sight of what you really care about. You become a shell of your former person. It's an addiction.

So, I have to tell the evil voice to shut up and listen to the True voice that screams, "NO!" when I tell myself I am ugly or fat or stupid. Because that isn't who God made me to be. I think I am only hurting myself but, in reality, I am sinning against Him when I insult His creation in that way.

**Random thoughts because my wedding dress is made by a designer who only goes up to "10" but in reality her "10" is a 4 or a 6. Stupid.**

---------
Re-post from my friend Brit:

"I asked for strength-
and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom-
and God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity-
and God gave me brain & brawn to work.
I asked for courage-
and God gave me dangers to overcome.
I asked for love-
and God gave me opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted-
I received everything I needed.

My prayer has been answered."

-Michael
(Indian Medical Student killed June 1999 because of his father's evangelistic activities)

My heart is heavy today.

2009-03-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Not only has Afghanistan legalized the rape of women and reinforced the law that restricts them to stay in their home unless accompanied by a male family member (read about it here) but two women working for Current TV have been detained in North Korea and are facing trial. I don't know why my heart is so especially heavy for them but it is just so scary. I guess being an woman helps me to empathize with them. Please be praying for their release and that a peaceful outcome can be found in all of this.

"Two US journalists detained in North Korea are to face trial on charges of illegal entry and "hostile acts", a state-run news agency has reported.

Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, were seized along the Chinese border on March 17.

"The illegal entry of US reporters into the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday."
(Read more about it here and here.)

I'm really happy

2009-03-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post and say that I AM REALLY HAPPY!

Also, thank you Sheriff's department for changing my tire last night. It blew out on I4 and the cop cop stick his hand inside of it! Whoa!

Work time!

I need to post more. Sorry.

Also, my future husband is a TOTAL freakin' babe! I am so excited!

We're engaged!!!!!

2009-03-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

My Portland trip turned out to be more than I was expecting!!! Josh asked me to marry him tonight right before we went to see Wicked! He was hugging me and then got down on one knee and asked me!!! Ah! What a great night! It stinks that I am flying home at 6 am tomorrow!!! Bah!
Here are a bunch of pictures from Josh's camera including some of our trip to the Portland Rose Garden and of the pups! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Also, due to Photobooth the pictures are flipped. It is actually on my left hand where it belongs!)

Beautiful things! Amazing pictures!

2009-03-16T17:53:00.001-07:00

These are just random photos that I love.

Love it!! I like ice cream trucks, chandeliers and water so I am pretty keen on this picture.

(Photo credit: http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/2008/01/illuminations.html)
(Photo credit: http://www.punambean.com/)

(Photo credit: Christian Dior)

(Found on Snippetandink.blogspot.com)

(Photo credit: rodneysmith.com)

I kind of want to adopt this little guy although I am sure his family would have an issue with that. But how awesome is he???

(Photo credit: abigailseymour.net)

Also, check out my friends podcast. This week they discuss whether women should be allowed in ministry. YIKES! Check it out: Here.

2009-03-15T02:34:00.000-07:00

My days here are numbered
and at the end of my tenure
I pray that I pause, turn around as the rushing wind, urging me on, hits my face,
and that I'll have peace that I have been a good servant, a good bride, a good love
to the King, the paupers and the princes that I've spent my 50+ years with
and that through my service and my love and tears and scraped knees they were drawn a little bit closer
to the Infinite Spark of Truth and Beauty and Grace
...
but I fear that I am being tainted by this world,
that my lovely and righteous Infinite Spark is being choked out by worries and money and hate and pain
and that at the end of my days I will not have much left to give to anyone else
I may be walking into Heaven but a realization like that will be a glimpse into Hell.
So how do I un-break these chains of doubt and scrambling, digging and trying to claw my way above the water just so I can breath for a damn minute?
I have these thoughts of what would I change but I can't change the would'ves
so what can I change?
Simplify.
But how?
I don't know.
I just have to start trying.
I guess that is going to take some more scrambling but hopefully it will end soon
because I need some peace.

Please watch this documentary.

2009-03-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

This is a free documentary about child soldiers in Uganda. It is only 36 minutes. PLEASE watch it. PLEASE.

Infringing.

2009-03-05T00:09:00.000-08:00

Let me create
without boxes or lines or ideas contrived
I seek to express through thought
and communicate through breath
but then I realize that I can only reflect
because You have done it all
I am not the Creator
I am merely created and creative
I think I have been missing the point
because You are it.
So let my scrawling and sprawling emotion into images
and imagery
be sweet praises of Your ability
to breath in and out
and bring about
all the beauty that my eyes will ever behold
and Your thoughts have inspired
every story ever told
that conjures up good and right, love and adventure
I am not the Creator
I am but the created
creating worship
from these created hands
that looks a little like what You made.
I suppose I am just infringing on Your ideas.

- Me

Art from tonight...

2009-03-01T02:52:00.001-08:00

I started two paintings tonight. One was finished and the other has a long way to go. I wrote on both of these low resolution pictures with paint so please don't steal my stuff. K thx.

This is the one I finished:

This is the one I didn't:

A painting...

2009-02-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

I don't usually post my artwork online but I just finished this painting in about 10 minutes and it is probably my most simple piece but I feel like it is really important to me. I miss my brother Josh so much. It doesn't get easier and I don't want it to. I don't want to forget him or to not miss him. I don't want to be "ok" with it. **The picture was taken with my cell.**

Revelations 21:3-5

I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away."

He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true."

Man I miss these days...

2009-02-24T21:07:00.001-08:00

I like this stuff...

2009-02-24T01:35:00.000-08:00

Priscilla Ahn
Buy her album here.

Punch Brothers
Buy their album here.

My friend Ryan (Between The Trees) singing with Anberlin, "Unwinding Cable Car".
Buy Between The Trees album here.
Buy Anberlin's album here.

Speaking of Between the Trees, they leave to record their new album on Wednesday!
Check out a newer song, "We Can Try" on YouTube! The recording isn't great.

And oh man, I just thought I would include this. I have sat and just wept while listening to this song. It is so amazing. Jon Foreman is a truly talented man.

Listen to Jon Foreman here.

I couldn't help it, had to add this song!

Valentine's Day in Seattle!

2009-02-19T19:37:00.000-08:00

Edit: LOOK at how CUTE Josh is! Man, I miss him!

I had an amazing Valentine's Day in Seattle with Josh! I spent the rest of the week hanging out with him in Portland. We were both sick on different days so that deterred some of the fun. Overall I would say that it was a 10/10 trip though! I get to go back next month!!! :)

Valentine's Day in Seattle. We went to a fancy French restaurant. It was 32 degrees out. Brrrr!

You can kind of see the skyline back there!

Josh being a cutie!!!

Kobe being rad!!

Pretty awesome!

2009-01-31T00:23:00.000-08:00

**You have to click on the picture to see the entirety of it.**

Also, this is pretty lo-fi and it is only one minute of the song but I love this song.

Pepsi Smash...

2009-01-30T00:32:00.000-08:00

Pepsi Smash was in Tampa (about 1.5 hours from Orlando)and we were supposed to be there to check in at 5:30 pm. Our trip over was complicated with torrential down pouring of typical Florida rain. Cristina was driving and the poor girl was stressed out. We ended up getting to the Ford Amphitheater around 6:20 pm. Thankfully, due to the rain they hadn't started but it was already pretty full.

**Warning: a lot of these pictures have been cut off due to the pre-set restrictions of my blog layout. Click on them to see the entire photo. Some of the descriptions will not make sense unless you see the entire picture.**

At first we were kind of far back, since we weren't there for check-in. Lifehouse was the first act to go on. They were decent but I am not into their music and didn't know their songs except "Hanging By A Moment". I was pretty excited when they played that.

Fall Out Boy played after Lifehouse. I have never seen them live but I have heard a lot of negatives about their shows. Honestly, they were awesome. I was really surprised. They had awesome stage presence and the lead singer has a great voice.

I forgot to smile in this picture but the blonde lady behind us didn't. :)

Cristina is adorable even after buckets of rain drenching her.

Throughout the show I was constantly being shoved forward and by the time Rhianna went on stage I was right up front. Unfortunately my phone died before this but they were taping the entire thing and it aired on VH1 so I don't have to worry about remembering anything. I mean, not that I would because... I mean, it is Fall Out Boy, Rhianna and Lifehouse. They're not my favorite artists/bands or anything but I am still glad that I went. I have to say that I do like Fall Out Boy more now.

Anyways, Rhianna was entertaining. She sang the songs the way she recorded them. Her jacket was super cool. I don't know why her dancers were wearing Spanx though.

The only difference between that picture and Rhianna's dancer's costumes were the bras. Her dancers wore red bras.

I must say that she is absolutely beautiful though. She was about 5 feet from me and I doubt that they have to airbrush her very much because she is such a pretty girl.

Anyways, we stopped at a gas station on the way home and Cristina was heavily hit on by a man in a Cowboys jacket. It was pretty hilarious. He offered to make her a sandwich at his house. I mean... what? LOL! We then took the hike home, dropped V-ron at home and grabbed a bite to eat. I am going to bed now.

Also, Josh is a babe and it is still pouring outside.

The End.

Fall Out Boy, cheesy wedding decor, etc, etc.

2009-01-28T23:02:00.000-08:00

Today was a roller coaster. I did my wonderful client, Robin's, hair and it came out beautifully. Holly had a bang trim, cut Michelle and Emily's hair. Left the salon and went to have some food with Emily-the-miracle-Mcguire and Dan, her boyfriend. I approve of him... so far... watch out Dan... watch out. ;)

From there I skedaddled over to the Element. God's been tapping on my hardened heart lately and that is causing a lot of emotions. YIKES! Had a pretty decent talk with Bree. Headed home to work on decorations for Jen's wedding shower.

You don't need to comment on the cheesiness. I am already aware.

Tomorrow I work for a bit and then I head over to Tampa with Cristina and Veronica. Cristina won tickets to Fall Out Boy, Rihanna and Lifehouse for VH1's taping. I don't know what it is for and I don't really know any of the music. I enjoy Fall Out Boy and I used to LOVE Lifehouse when I was in high school. I remember I saw them with a bunch of people from youth group at House of Blues when I was like... 15?

Josh got the job he wanted! I am so so so happy/PROUD of him! God moves in mysterious ways. It is just so good to hear the happiness in his voice. I can't wait to see him soon!

So yeah, I need to go to sleep.

Here are some pictures from my brother's birthday dinner on Sunday.

My niece, Joshlyn (pronounce Jocelyn) is the sweetest child ever.

Unsuspecting Amanda.

JT, mid-sentence.

My Grandpa is growing a beard for the first time in his life (79 years).

GOOOOOOOD NIGHT!

Disgust me.

2009-01-26T23:42:00.001-08:00

Don't cry my dear
don't cry
but I have no words of comfort
because I sit on my privilege
and smile down at the world
complain about traffic
and the price of gas
while I leave half of my food
on a plate that cost too much money
made by Indonesian, Thai, Turkish, Chinese hands
that bend in low light for nickels and dimes
and I leave half of my food
as swollen bellies go hungry
and I search my mind, my heart
for answers but often I am left with more questions...
I sit in my American safety and sometimes have the audacity
to pretend that I have a clue what suffering means
I sit in my American safety, afraid to walk down my very street
but I don't know fear
not the way that children sleeping on bare floors in Uganda do
not the way families huddled in corners, awaiting explosions do
We want to secure our homeland
but security does not justify turning blind eyes
So disgust me with myself please
disgust me for this culture that breeds gluttony and laziness
force me to choose a different way Lord
because this is not Your way
this is not what You died for
Death and destruction go against everything You created us for,
came for, lived for, died for, rose for, commissioned us for
Disgust me Lord when I look in the mirror and I see my possessions and my vanity
Break me Lord
These are scary words, but I mean them
Break me Lord
Break me down

Personal...

2009-01-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a link to my personal blog because I have been censoring myself a lot on ShelbyDoesHairBlog.com and I wanted a space to share some of my more personal thoughts. So... here it is.