Being a Good Example

Hello all you beautiful readers! Sorry it has been so long since I've posted anything. I have basically been living in two different states for the last 3 months and I haven't really made the time to blog. So I've really been thinking about what to blog about next, and  I have decided to go the more personal route this time.

This last weekend was the LDS General Conference and I really made a goal for myself to watch and really listen to the talks given so I can apply their teachings in my life, this was a pretty big challenge for me because  I get distracted really easily. I mean I've never even made it all the way through The Princess Bride!

After I was done watching the 2nd session on Saturday I got to thinking about heroes and people I really look up to in my life and there is such a huge assortment of people and all for different reasons. I strongly believe that people are in your life for a reason, even if it is for just a short amount. From every person I meet I learn something about myself, how I do or don't want to be. Which got we then thinking about an experience I had a while ago.

Two Sundays ago i was in relief society with two other girls i had grown up with, Kaylea and Lindsey. We were having a lesson on progressing and growing spiritually. Sitting in a room filled with older women who were all married and had kids, some even having grand kids we felt a little out of place. So of course the lesson then got thrown in our direction (my luck) when the teacher asked us, "So you three girls, do you think you still have to progress even at the stage of life your at?" The entire room filled with wiser women, most of whom I have looked up to my entire life stared at us with encouraging smiles. It was quite intimidating and so we nervously came to the conclusion that we must always be progressing in life, because if we aren't then we are going backwards. Especially at this stage of life we are at, we need to soak up all the information we can so we can be better wives, and mothers whenever that time comes.

After having that experience I have come to learn a lot more about the person I want to be, mainly because I have been blessed to have all of these amazing examples in my life of the kind of life I was to have and the kind of person I want to be. Heroes, that is the only way I can explain these people I have come to look up to so much and admire their example in my life. Not only in my home ward, but in my family and my friends. Being a good example can shape and change a person's life. One of my favorite quotes is from L. Tom Perry saying, “A good character is something you must make for yourself. It cannot be inherited from parents. It cannot be created by having extraordinary advantages. It isn't a gift of birth, wealth, talent or station. It is the result of your own endeavor. It is the reward that comes from living good principles and manifesting a virtuous and honorable life.” 


Well I hope you all have an amazing week! Do great things!

                                                                                   -Amberly

Band I'm Obsessed With #1: The Alabama Shakes

Hello to all you wonderful, beautiful readers! In my last post I swore I would get better at keeping up my blog, and here is it the middle of February and i'm just now posting. I'll try to get better at keeping my posts coming, even if it's just a random funny story, which I have tons of.

Well today's post is all about a band i am obsessed with!!! The Alabama Shakes. 

I have been listening to their album Boys & Girls almost non-stop since it was released back in April 2012. I was jumping up and down when went to watch last weeks Saturday Night Live, and they were the performing group! They gave a fantastic performance, every time I hear lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard's vocals it's a refreshing experience. She's powerful, soulful, and sings from the heart.

 Every one of their songs is about a different part of the human experience. They cover a range of topics from being afraid to fall in love, to breaking up, changing who you are, and feeling stuck in the everyday routine of life.  Their sound is like a mixture of the classic Janice Joplin and the ever soulful Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, while keeping their sound new and modern. 

So to all you amazing readers of mine, go check out this amazing up and coming group (I've provided several links), turn up your volume and enjoy!!!

                                                  Do great things today!     

                                                                     Amberly

P.S.-

Fail.

Soooo... I've been kind of failing at this blog goal I set for myself. My bad. I will get better at it! There is really no excuse for the next few months because I'm off track aka BYU-I has a weird system and I don't go back to school until April. So my big break is in the winter and I'm in school during the summer, which i hope wont be too bad. I mean last summer all i did was hang out with my dog and watch One Tree Hill on Netflix. I was a real winner hahaha.

Anyway....right now I'm simply still living in Rexburg, ID and just hanging around. I have a lot of time on my hands these days so i have decided to actually do something productive with them! I am going to be blogging more, and I have some old and new goals I will be posting about. Here's a list of some posts that will be coming your way soon:

1-Fashion-on the occasional day when I'm not having an I Love Lucy marathon I do actually get ready and presentable for the world. So I am going to write about trends and tricks I love and use.
2-Crafts- I will be posting an occasional craft tutorial, like i have in the past and hopefully they inspire you all to try them out!
3- Food Posts- Anyone who knows me can tell you that i am far from the next Top Chef, I mean just a few days ago i got my hand stuck in between the beaters on an electric hand mixer (that's a whole other post in itself), but when i do make something amazing (with proper help and supervision) I will post those how-to's as well.
4-Music- Ahh my first love.  I will probably be writing a ton of posts of band reviews and recommendations.
5-Fitness- Let's just say since starting college at BYU-I I thought walking both ways up hill to school (true story!)  was good enough, well on July 6th, the Color in Motion 5k is coming to Rexburg and I am going to enter in it!! My first ever race and it's advertised as the happiest one because of the colors you through on each other as you run! So I'm going to start preparing for that asap!
6- I will just be telling you all funny stories from my life! My old roommate/friend Amy has always told me that my life is a TV sitcom just waiting for a network to pick up. So why not tell some of my stories on here as a starter! And i admit some are pretty odd and hilarious!

So there are some posts to look forward to! Hope you all enjoy! Also I am thinking about changing the name of my blog, so if you have any fabulous suggestions let me know!!


                                                                                    Do great things!xoxo Amberly

PS- Here's my favorite pin of the week!:

                                       

Tis the Season for a Festive Craft!!

This holiday season me and my fantastic roommate Chelsy have been quite the crafters! By far my most favorite one we've done this semester was our ornament window decorations for Christmas! Our inspiration was from, of course, pinterest! So we decided  to go for it and this is what we came up with:

I don't know about you, but I absoutley love how it turned out! Christmas cheer was in full effect in our apartment! Here's the How To on creating this delightful display:

What You'll Need:

1-Ornaments: Buy the whatever colored ornaments you would like to display. In our window we used the more bright nontraditional colored ornaments, but chose to your liking. We bought around 40-50ornaments total, it all depends on the size of your window. 

2- Ribbon: Preferably a color that goes well with or matches your ornaments. We ended up using red and silver.

3-Tape and/or Glue dots

What to do:

First you're going to cut the ribbon at different lengths so you get the staggered effect. Then you'll tie the ribbon onto the ornaments, where you would regularly put the little metal hook things for your tree. It's slightly time consuming, but worth it! Then using the tape and glue dots, stick the ribbon to the top of the window, where the blinds cover. Bam! You have a fantastic and festive window display! For an added effect we used white Christmas lights to frame the window using push pins. 

There you go! Our wonderful window.

Stay Lovely, Amberly

Back in Action!!

SO... I made this blog back at the beginning of the school year and have yet to make a single post! I know i am a slacker! So I'm going to start today and try my best to keep it up. In my first post I talked about what this blog will be about, (makeup, hair, diy's, etc) but before i jump into all of those fun posts I'm gonna update you beautiful readers about what Ive been up to lately.Well since coming back to Rexburg, life has been amazing!! I've met the most awesome, funny people and done some crazy things. Here are some pix from the last few months! Enjoy!

This is my photo wall at my apartment! I love it! I used twine and clothes pins to string up my pictures, and i love how it turned out. Less holes to put in the wall too!

This is me and my roommate Chelsy before the All-American Rejects/ Boys Like Girls/ Parachute concert. The photo to the  left is us before the concert at our apt. and the one to the right is us waiting in line for 2 hours in the snow for the doors to open up!

This is me and my roommates at our ward Halloween party. From left to right we have: Nicki Minaj, a cheerleader zombie, a cat, skrillex, and the mad hatter. My other roommate was Goyte from the "Somebody I Used To Know" video, it came out soo cool! I'll have to do a later post on her costume

My Wonderful Roommates and Myself at a bonfire 

Our door decorated for Halloween!

On Halloween my brother came back from his mission! 

This semester we also celebrated Day of the Dead!

This is me and Briana when we found a stuffed hippo on campus!

We like to draw faces on random cars

This is me and my old roommates from last fall at a concert at Sammy's!

Well that is life lately! 

Stay Lovely,  Amberly

P.S. Ill leave you with one of my favorite laughs right now:

New Beginnings & Explanations

       So I started a new blog (as you can obviously see) I decided to start fresh because doesn't a new beginning feel pretty dang good? I think it does! In this blog I've decided to pursue some of my passions, so I will not only be rambling about silly day to day stories of my life but I am also going to write reviews about fashion, beauty, music, movies and d.i.y. experiments! I'm super excited to start this new adventure and I hope you all will follow me on this journey.

    

(see what I did there?)

        Just a little background information on myself, I am a sophomore in college and I attend BYU-Idaho. BYUI on the outside may seem boring, but trust me I have had plenty of grand tales come from living there last fall. Some of them including riding the campus security's mo-ped, meeting the greatest/oddest people, and one time was stuck in a vortex of awkward for 4-hours (that's a whole other story, trust me). Right now I am majoring in elementary education, but this changes on a bi-weekly basis. I figure if I still am undecided I will just spin a wheel (just kidding mom!). One day I'll decide, but until then I will have fun figuring it all out.

 Welp that's pretty much all I can currently think to share, it's already past 1a.m. and I have to wake up for church in the morning! As my first post come to an end I'll leave you with a quote to note!

           

stay lovely, Amberly