Oh. The Pressure.

OK.

As you may have notice--in the past two months I have become a blogging fan. A blog stalker. A blog writer. A blog addict. Whatever you wish to call me:  it now has BLOGGER attached.

Ya...

I now enjoy this thing known as blog.

I have a confession to make (sorry for all of my deep dark confessions recently)
I used to think blogging was super weird. Not bad or anything...just weird. And now I am a part of it.

WHY?

Because my friend told me she would read my blog everyday.

Me? Really? Wow! You think I could really write something that entertaining? Oh stop! *giggle giggle*

Ya. I was flattered.

Plus, my friends had blogs and I enjoy writing and I could use it as a way to journal and save memories and moments and ideas onto the everlasting technological device called the Internet.

So: I became a blogger.

(I'm still struggling inside a little with the title..."blogger"....hmmm)

Obviously, this excerpt of mine reveals a flaw of mine (another deep dark confession): I am easily wooed by peer and the pressure that they placed upon me using flattering and manipulating words(sounds devilish). I am weak.

And you ask "Shelby, what does this have to do with ANYTHING?"

IT HAS TO DO WITH THE CHALLENGE.
The new year's stereotypical blogging challenge.
The one where you write something about some certain something every day for 30 days!
The one that brings me back to fifth grade where I filled out completely lame and confidence determining friend evaluations and questionnaires and weird email forwards.
The ones who mysteriously said "YOU WILL DIE AT MIDNIGHT IF YOU DON'T FORWARD THIS TO 30 PEOPLE" Did I believe that? Maybe a little... But no.

Why did I do these things?

I guess because tests and quizzes and determining your knowledge and competence and acceptance in the social area of life is a bit curiosity-piquing and intriguing. But still.

They were lame.

And now as my 18 year old self I go back and read those emails and laugh. And laugh and laugh and laugh.
And say "Why?! Why did I participate in this nonsensical fad of the elementary/junior high technological emailing world?!"

But here I am.

STRUGGLING.

Everybody is doing it...

All my friends are doing it...

The beautiful blogs I drool at are doing it...

Their pictures and ideas and accepting-the-challenge blog posts are seducing me slowly into this strange idea. So there is definitely a slight intrinsic motivation as well.

Write every day. 30 days. Topic given. Sounds intriguing. Sounds slightly fun. Maybe. Ya. Ya, it does.

BUT NO! I endure and endure but then I give in! Always. To these alluring fads and ideas. Oh the trends!

But....it couldn't be THAT bad. Right?

Well? Should I?

Yes?

or

No?

The Gaming Queen

Confession:

I am really competitive.


Really.


For Christmas, my dad recieved a game called Blockus. It's a game of shapes and patterns and strategy.

Pretty fun.

Asia loves it. Actually, Asia just loves games.

Observation:

Asia is really competitive.


Really.


She used to cheat and set up Duck Duck Bruce in the correct card order so every time it was her turn she would win! And she plays cards and Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride and Scum and always asks people to play games with her. When friends walk in the door she asks them to play a board game. When my sister or I am sad she prays for us....then asks us to play a board game with her to cheer up.

But...sometimes it's not very cheering.

Because she wins.

She always wins.

And I just can't handle it!

I know, I know; I am the older one and should be a good sport and be able to let my sister have the excitement and pride of beating me in a board game. But she's eight years old! And I actually TRY.

I have played Blockus with her about 10 times this week.

She's won almost every time.

She's smart.

I just finished a game of Blockus with her...



She won.




This just won't do.

Fear...

...is never good.
It prohibits.
It is the opposite of faith, you know.
But sometimes it's still really scary.
The unknown is scary.
Like when you first ride a roller coaster and your dad makes you go but you REALLY don't want to because it's so high off the ground and you've never been so high off the ground and what if you are hurt or what if it doesn't feel good or if you never come down or if you have to sit all alone or if your stomach jumps up and down and you want to throw up or if you cry and everyone sees you crying?
But your dad sits by you and holds your hand the whole time.
Which makes it OK.
I'm thankful for my dad.
And the Preisthood.
And him holding my hand when I'm scared.
It makes everything OK.

Liberation

Remember how Shelby has been slowly starving and dying?

Well--through this process Shelby has been Morse-coding S.O.S to all people who have been visited by the Unknown-hated-hidden-allergies. Screaming and crying and praying that there might be a way for her to continue a normal life! There's basically no food in existence that doesn't have gluten, milk, or eggs....other than corn chips and air, of course. Great diet eh? No. She wants fat. And tenderness. And flavor. And rich tastes and textures that melt when they reach her longing tongue. But she has discovered in her survival process that gluten, milk, and eggs are all the main ingredients for flavorful food.

Then one day, she came across an idea. An epiphany! A hope and dream to grasp.

She pulled out her recipe box... and A-ha! She was right.

There is a dessert out there. One with no milk. No gluten. NO EGGS!

So of course she quickly put aside all other matters and went straight to the kitchen. Bringing along her two beautiful sisters and turning up some Disney tunes to full blast she got to work. Singing, and dancing, and laughing--she couldn't even believe something flavorful and fattening existed in the Unknown-haten-hidden-allergies world!

Muddy Buddies! Even the name sounds fattening and unhealthy!

Look how the dishes shine in anticipation!

A sister dances with shared happiness and rejoicing that Shelby will almost be able to eat something tasty!

Both sisters rock out on their "muddy buddy" air guitars in excitement and merriment!



A sister presents the final product to Shelby.

She accepts the gift.

There is hope.

Almost There (well...I wish)

this is what i do when i am sick. and wasting time. and loving jazz. and wishing i was a princess.

How To Be Lovely:

I was in Young Women's when The Word showed up again. It's in our new theme:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

As I pick apart the words in this Article of Faith, I can't help but notice...that as a Latter-Day Saint, if there is anything lovely, we seek after it.

My curiosity was piqued! I have been questioning and pondering The Word for some time now. As a new blogger--I look at all the lovely blogs of my friends and family. Making new friends I realize how lovely they are. Enjoying beautiful things I use "lovely" to describe them. My two lovely friends made a blog called this lovely notebook, I have wanted so desperately to be lovely!

When I read The Word in our theme--I knew I just had to do something about this.

So... I researched.

What is it to be lovely?

First place I looked: The Dictionary. I was a little disappointed. They gave some synonyms such as charming, beautiful, exquisite, delightful, etc. But those words don't REALLY sum it up for me.

I don't think the Article of Faith meant to seek after charm and beauty. Even though there's nothing wrong with those...it just didn't seem to fit.

So I pulled out a book. This book is a lovely book.

Ah. Audrey. Yes. Audrey. This lovely lady lent it to me. I have been meaning and meaning to read it for weeks. I was finally motivated enough to sit down and do it.

I LOVED it! It is exquisite. And very lovely.

So I came up with my favorite points and applied them to me.

I call it:

How To Be Lovely: The Shelby Frampton Guide to Life

#1 Love Deeply. 


Love with all your heart. There's no other way to love. Jenessa taught me this week that fear of heartbreak is just a crutch that prohibits your ability to have your heart grow stronger and stronger. Each time it aches- open it up to love more and someday you will learn to love everything with everything you got.



#2 Laugh A Lot.

"I love people who make me laugh, I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person" -Audrey


Make it funny. Laughing with someone is one of the most enjoyable experiences in life! I love to laugh. I love others who laugh. It shows that they are happy and enjoy the circumstances they are in.



#3 Don't be afraid of your insecurities.

"I don't think your insecurity ever disappears. Sometimes I think the more successful you become, the less secure you feel. This is kind of frightening, really." -Audrey


Being lovely isn't being perfect. It's dealing with those imperfections gracefully. I thought to myself when I read this "how in the world can Audrey Hepburn have insecurities?!?" She is beautiful and wise and talented. But she did. And so do I. But that's part of being lovely--not being discouraged by insecurities, but being motivated by them.



#4 Embrace Life.



What's the point of living if we fear it? Live as much as possible. Grasp opportunities. Love and learn from your circumstances. Be HAPPY. Life is good.



#5 Have Faith.

"The world has always been cynical, and I think I'm a romantic at heart. I hope for better things, and I thank God the world is also full of people who want to be genuine and kind." -Audrey

Looking through the dictionary, there was one definition of lovely that needs to be included: "moral or spiritual beauty". I believe that this is the loveliness talked about in the admonition of Paul. That includes the ability to have faith. To believe in miracles.

Simply Lovely. 

Before and After

BEFORE
5:15 Made Won-Tons with Anna
6:00 Carlie comes over!
7:00 New Years Party. Hot chocolate and starburst.
7:30 I play with my food and create Harry Potter with Anna. Even signed with red just like Bob Ross!

8:00 I Swing around on this ladder in Brynne's library. I could not feet more like Belle--and life couldn't get better.

9:00 I am once again with Hannah.
10:00 Different New Years Party! Catch Phrase. Grapes.
11:00 Imaginiff...
11:45 Oh oh oh! 2011 is almost upon us. Finish up our "lasts". A few examples:

"Last text in 2010!"

"Last pretend murder in 2010!"

"Last hug in 2010!"

"Last scripture quoted in 2010!"

"Last time being tickled in 2010!"

"Last popping-a-grape in my mouth in 2010!"

"Last make-shift dance party in 2010!"

It seems to go like that each year...

Then. Suspense builds. We scream and yell and countdown and run around in circles and go outside in bare feet and watch our cellphones until we see the long-waited 12:00am... I always feel like I don't really know how to approach a new year. With gratitude: Yes. With remembrance and memories and nostalgia, almost? I don't know. Or maybe excitement and anticipation and looking forward to new adventures to come. Definitely both. I have been looking forward to 2011 ever since I entered Preschool. GRADUATION YEAR. How crazy is that? So. All these thoughts rush into my head the second before the clock turns and a new beginning...begins.

12:00 Then FIREWORKS... 

AFTER
...And screaming and yelling and dancing around in bare feet on the back porch on ice and running around in circles and wishing everyone near-by "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Then we start our "firsts". A few examples:

"First broken necklace in 2011!"

"First picture taken in 2011!"

"First uncorked bottle in 2011!"

"First dog pile in 2011!"

"First received call in 2011!"

"First wink in 2011!"

"First cheesy smile in 2011!"

1:00 The funny thing about these firsts and lasts is that they really probably aren't the first and last. For instance: you know the whole kiss at midnight tradition right when the new year comes? I bet every lovey couple out there thinks they are the first people to kiss in the new year. Special right? But every other couple is doing the same thing! So they probably aren't the first. Or they just tied with a million other couples in one massive kiss-moment around the world! I guess that's kind of cool...

2:00 Anyway. I've always thought New Years Eve was a little anti-climatic (maybe it's because I don't drink?). Stay up all night and then in one second it's over. But it always makes for good times I suppose. And there is one thing about the New Year that is a WONDERFUL tradition. That is goal setting.

2:54 So here I am almost three in the morning; not wanting to go to bed until I have declared my goals. Setting them would be a good place to start...

Here goes.

1) Be more selfless

2) Keep the Spirit with me ALWAYS

3) Get good grades-4.0 would be nice.

4) Be more understanding and sensitive to the feelings of others

5) Sing AMAZINGLY PERFECT at Carnegie Hall

6) Pay off New York and Europe and save for College-be VERY frugal

7) Exercise and be fit

8) At college--stay strong. Embrace change.

9) Make a special effort to be kind to my mom

10) Make someone feel loved every day

I am satisfied. That is a good start.

3:03 Fewf! Goodnight. And Happy New Year :)