Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Shookville!

I am going home this weekend! And I am soooo stinkin excited! I'm glad that I will get to spend Father's Day with my Dad and Poppy!


Shookville is my home, but it is very different than it always has been. We lost two huge patriarchs of our family this past year: Uncle Shelby and Uncle Burley. It makes me want to go home even more though. I need to enjoy it while it's still there. Shookville is where I learned to drive (at age 8), where I learned to fish, where I built my first clubhouse with all my cousins, where I learned to appreciate homemade ice cream, and where I used to (and still) runaway to when life gets too hard. It's the best place in the world. It's my Terabithia.



My Grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Poppy.


the Shook Boys! Shelby, GW, Roy Z, Larry, and Burley!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Random Fact

My name is Alexz, and I have a problem. I am unable to listen to most music without a. singing along and/or b. trying to find every possible harmony. I am honestly incapable of just listening to a song.



Of course it's not my fault. I have MANY people to blame for this problem. The biggest contributor would have to be my dad. I've never heard him sing melody on any song. From the time I was 3, he was pointing out the beauty of harmony in every song we jammed to. HAHA- Our dog's name is even Harmony.

I can also blame my friend, Brittany. I remember sitting by Brittany on the bus for a 3rd grade field trip. While all of the other 3rd graders were jamming to ridiculous 90's boy bands and such, Brittany was sharing her walkman headphones so I could hear Bon Jovi. Can anyone hear "Livin' on a Prayer" and NOT sing the harmony? ...Fast forward 6 or 7 years. I was singing in a group with 2 other girls (Brit being one of them). She made me sing the upper harmony to every single song we performed. Now I can't stop! Thanks Brit. :)

Then there are always a few bands we can blame it on. Bon Jovi, Queen, Mumford and Sons, Guns N Roses, Boys II Men (don't hate!), Simon and Garfunkel, The Eagles, Blessed Union of Souls, I could go on forever!


I know this is random. Does anyone else have this problem?


this is how it always is at our house.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

My Birfffday

Remember how exciting your birthday used to be when you were younger? I remember working on my "list" for weeks and weeks before my birthday. Soooo I decided to make a list for my 24th birthday. In no way do I expect to actually get these gifts, I just thought it would be fun!







For a very very long time, I have been wanting an amazing camera. Not just a good camera, an AMAZZZIINNGG one! Someday, I'll be able to afford the best of the best. Until then, I'm thankful for the camera on my phone!





I have had the same guitar since my 12th birthday. I don't think it's a bad idea to get one every 12 years! I would LOVE an acoustic electric. Mine now is just acoustic. This pink one is wayyy more expensive than anything I could ever really have, but the cool thing is that it is designed for a woman to play. Smaller space between strings, lighter body, etc. I'm lusting.





I love these yellowstone wash toms. So cute. This isn't such a big dream. I might actually get these! :)








This is not going to happen, but I would really like to have this cute little puppy. Because we live in an apartment, we cannot have pets. Someday though!!






Lastly, I'd like to spend my birthday on the beach. Lucky for me, my birthday is alway near (or on) Memorial Day. So we are taking a trip to the beautiful Harbor Island, SC. It will be a WONDERFUL change from this chilly New York weather.


Happy Birthday to me!


Friday, May 6, 2011

I stink at blogging!

I haven't posted a new blog since October! It's crazy to think about how much life has changed since then. Let me give you a brief (lame) recap.




-I lost 2 great men in my life withing 18 days of each other right around Christmas. My uncles, Shelby and Burley Shook both went to be with Jesus. I will post more about this in a later blog. (Because I'm going to get much better about writing!)



-Seth and I moved to New York. It's wayyyyy different from the south. First of all, it's cold. It's May and I still haven't seen 70 degrees yet. I'm sure I'll appreciate it in August, but right now, I'm craving flip flops in a bad kinda way!



-Seth loves his job, but since this is a very small community, I have not yet found anything. I have NEVER desired to be a stay at home kinda gal. I need to be making a difference everyday. I'm constantly looking for a job, and volunteering anywhere I can until I find something. We actually NEED the money. I NEED a job. You can pray about that if ya don't mind. ;-)



-I'm still not brave enough to discuss my "issues" in such a public form. I have, however, gotten brave enough to confide in a close friend and to finally do something about it. Maybe soon I will be able to share the whole story with a fairytale ending.


-I just went to Niagara Falls, Canada. It was on my bucket list. It was beautiful!






I'll post more often. I promise.



Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Workin' on my fitness



Welllllll for the past several months (since June 1, to be exact), I have been working on being healthier. I've been getting pretty darn chubby, if ya ask me. It was time to do something about it. Not because I want to fit the worlds idea of "attractive", but because I want to be healthy. I want to wake up in the morning without hating the way I look. I want to make life changes now to ensure a healthier future.

So far, I have lost 18 lbs all together. This has not been an easy task, mind you. I make mistakes regularly, and I still have about 9 more to go. Here are some pictures...

Before....pretty yuck.

After...getting better.


Like I said, I still have a little ways to go, but I think I'm doing alright. I've had awesome support and encouragement! Not to mention a great workout partner!

This last weekend, I ran/walked my first 5K. Next year, I will run the whole thing! Yay.

Just wanted to share. :)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Sometimes I wonder...

Sometimes I wonder if this will ever be resolved.
Am I always going to be broken, dysfunctional?
I wonder how many more tears I will cry before this is all over....if it ever is.
I wonder if I'll ever feel comfortable talking about this openly with my close friends.
I wonder if it's always going to hurt.

The pain, I can handle. The anxiety, I cannot. It's an emotional rollercoaster that refuses to stop to let me get off. I am thankful that there are steps to be taken to mend the situation. But at times, I'd almost rather live with it than deal with it.

To calm my nerves and my tears, I keep myself busy. I workout at least 5 days a week. I've been needing to get myself back into shape. 11 pounds down so far with about 10 more to lose. It's easy to stay focused on my fitness when I'm using it to ignore my problems. Whenever my muscles get too sore, and exercise is out of the question, I play my guitar. Don't think. Just play. Sing your heart out. Play until your fingers bleed...as long as you don't think!

I wish you could know what I'm talking about. But I'm not brave enough to tell you. One day I will be. Just not today.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Just...life.

A little less than 4 months before the big move. I'm only stressing about a few minor details such as: where are we going to live? Should we buy a house? Should we just rent? Where am I going to work? Should I go back to school for a masters? Shouldn't I be taking the GRE? ughhh

So I bought a plane ticket this weekend. For a weekend trip to NY to search for a home. Because the town we are moving to is quite small, I am having no luck getting much done online as far as house/job searching goes.

I don't just want any ol' job. I want to do something that matters. I want to make a difference everyday. Wishing I could work for UNICEF or YWAM or something awesome like that.

To keep myself from stressing out too badly, I bought myself some goodies off of etsy today. If you need some cute fall headbands, check out this blog. You won't be disappointed!