Wonderfully Unexpected

So in my last post I talked about how I was planning on staying in Utah this fall to save money and such. I was excited for this plan for a few weeks, but then it wore off and I was dreading coming back to Utah for that long. Everyday closer to the end of the semester I was so uneasy about leaving. So after I had this feeling for a few weeks, yesterday I finally sat down and made a pros and cons list. Most of the pro's of Utah were material things, while Idaho was more emotional. I mean I would love to be closer to my family, but in the end being in Utah is what I sort of wanted, while being in Idaho is what I need.
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Yesterday morning I didn't have an apartment set up, roommates, or a on campus schedule for fall. After making my decision to stay everything just fell into place so quickly. Within about an hour I had an apartment, roommates and my schedule all done for fall, and any student will tell you that the schedule part is really amazing. So I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing, and I feel 100% better about life. So I will be home on break from this Saturday until September, so I will still be able to get a little bit of Utah in my life for a while and go to some family events while I am there.

My life in Rexburg has been so amazing, I couldn't imagine being anywhere right now. The people I have met up here are all so amazing.

This week is finals week so I've been so busy. Just today I've had 3 final projects/presentations due. Plus last night I didn't go to bed until 5 ish and I woke up on my couch using my binder as my pillow. Saying I'm stressed is a bit of an understatement, but after Friday morning I am all done with my finals!  Hooray!

                                                                                                     -Amberly

Updates and Music

Hello my beautiful readers! So  it has been quite a while...my bad. I've been super busy with school up here in Rexburg. It's really weird but I really enjoy being in school during the summer. When I walk to and from campus the sun shines and there's usually a nice slight breeze the perfect weather. I especially love it because I can study outside. School takes up about 90% of my time, so the other 10% is made up of church stuff, working out, and eventually sleep. My midterms just got over last week, so in about 5 short weeks i'll be back at home in Mona.

So my sorta big news in this post is that come this fall I won't be coming back up to BYU-Idaho. For the fall semester I am going to be taking online classes so I can save money, live at home, and get a job so I can save more money. There are some other goals of mine which I really want to accomplish in the next year and so the best thing for me to do was to live at home. It's gonna be a bit of a change after not living there since last September but it will be fun. I'm really excited to be able to see my dog everyday...okay and my family too :)  So this is the new adventure/chapter I'm taking and I'm pretty darn excited.


In other news I listened to the new Cloud Cult CD today and it is amazing!! It;s been on my 'to listen to' list forever and I'm just now getting to it now. My favorite track has to be 'You're The Only Thing In Your Way' is has some of the best lyrics.

 You are the wind, the flood and the flame.

Nothing here can get in your way.

You've come too far to care what they say.

Now you're the only thing in your way.

I'll probably be listening to this album over and over along with the new Vampire Weekend CD. 
                       
                              Well have a fantastic day! I'll post some recent stories soon!! -Amberly

                                                                    

Rants and Rambles

Hello readers! I hope you all have been having an amazing month! Mine has been pretty busy and hectic, i feel like i have just been going and going. I started my third semester at BYU-I two weeks ago, and so I've been busy with my classes and still unpacking and getting organized. My picture wall isn't even done yet which I usually have up by the second or third day of the semester. Right now I have one picture up, so there it sits quite lonely on the large, blank beige wall.

Anyway my classes have been going really good, I love basically all of them. My favorites right now are Marriage Prep and Interpersonal Communication. Both classes make me think in a different way and puts me a little outside my comfort zone, which is scary but refreshing in a way. Last Wednesday my communications class went to the university's rope course. Not my thing, but I tried and that's all that counts.

Yesterday I got my hair done and I am so in love with it! It's a bright red color, and I am probably going to keep it this color for a long time. I went to Form Salon up here in Rexburg and it was overall an amazing experience, the stylists are so nice and they provide awesome service.

Well if off to Bear World now, to see da bears. I'l try to post a more meaningful post either later tonight or tomorrow.


                                                 Have a great day!!
                                                                    -Amberly

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