HALLOWEENIES

i absolutely LOVE dance parties. and dance parties where you get to dress up? does life get much better than that? i think not!

i've decided that i was meant to be an 80's girl. what a fantastic decade. great music: journey, cheap trick, guns and roses, cyndi lauper, bon jovi, abba, bryan adams, billy joel. . . it's so much better than music today. and their style?! love it. crazy hair, tons of makeup, bright colors, sweatshirts, vans, leg warmers. why was i born in the 90's? i should have been a teenager in the 80's. i wish.

anyway. we all went to the wyview halloween party as girls from different decades. (we missed haley, she was working the basketball game. sad day.) dana was a 20's flapper girl. elyse was a 40's girl -- like the notebook! melina was a cute 50's girl in her poodle skirt and high ponytail. jewels and i rocked the 80's look. it was such a fun night! i love dressing up! and i love halloween!!

jewels and i decided the shower curtain would be a great picture backdrop. haha!

my best friends! dana, melina, elyse, me, julia :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

OCTOBER RESOLUTIONS

this week, i've been thinking a lot about my life. i know it isn't the new year quite yet, but i figure i'll make some resolutions prior to 2012:

• be the best shaylee wilcox i can be! this means that when i meet new people, i'm going to show them exactly who i am. i'm not going to mess around, pretending to be someone i'm not. i want people to walk away, feeling happy they were able to meet me.

• be nice to everyone. i don't know what walk of life everyone is coming from. i don't know every circumstance. but i am going to give everyone a chance.

• be willing to show the lord that i am his. i need to remember to do everything the lord asks of me, big or small. i am his daughter and i intend to be an obedient daughter. i want him to be proud of me. jesus christ atoned for my sins, and i am so grateful for the gift of the atonement. it really is an amazing blessing in my life.

• be prepared to face the future. the past is behind me. i have had a good life, and have been blessed in countless ways, and i need to remember that i have a bright future! d&c 45:62 says, "for verily i say unto you, that great things await you." (thank you, dana, for showing me that amazing scripture!) it is so true -- there are so many things i have to look forward to, if i am striving to always choose the right.

• be standing in holy places at all times. i want to have the spirit with me always!

• be optimistic! life is so wonderful. . . nothing is worth complaining about.

• be more grateful. i have so much to be grateful for!

making a list always solidifies these things in my head. working toward a better me, that's what i'm trying to do every day!

M. O. M.

this is my mom -- one of my best friends. yesterday, she came to provo to go to the temple and she and i went shopping together at costco and target. we had such a good time!

i miss her.

i miss every night, sitting on her bed, talking. i miss laughing with her. i miss confiding in her. she is one of the greatest women i know. everything she does, she does for her family. she sacrifices so much for each of us! she's a wonderful cook, seamstress, cleaner, and referee. she is full of compassion and love. i love that we have the friendship that we do. one of the things i miss the most about high school is being with my mom.

i love you, mom.

TO THE SUN

this tribute is to the sun.

i love the sun. i love walking on campus and feeling the sun on my face. it brightens the whole world when it comes up in the morning. part of the reason for my optimistic attitude lately has been the sun. it brings a warm happiness to my heart, and each day that the sun comes up again in the clear blue sky with the red leaves on the trees. . . i feel ecstatic! :)

winter is coming. i can feel it in the chilly early mornings and the cool evenings. (and the fact i can see my breath when i'm walking to school. boo.)

winter, stay away. fall, stay awhile.

MY STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

spotify is such a beautiful thing. oh, you don't know what that is? it's like this... thing. not really a website. what would you call it then? an app? i don't know, i'm not really tech savvy. but it's really cool. you type in the name of an artist and it comes up with all their songs. right now i'm in a missy higgins mood. earlier it was journey. it changes regularly. tonight for dinner i had a mexican casserole. it was pretty delicious. melina made it. also at ward prayer, these guys in our ward had a really awesome talent. they danced to "i want it that way" by the backstreet boys. man, i really like the backstreet boys. those were the good old days. now it seems like life is just rap and techno. eww.. techno. i'm not really that big of a fan. tomorrow school starts again. the weekend just wasn't long enough! but on the plus side - this week is looking up! there's a relief society scavenger hunt on tuesday. interview with the bishop on wednesday. halloween party on saturday. i'm excited. today i skyped my family. they are so awesome. i find myself being more and more thankful for them every day. i think college has made me a more thankful person in general. i am so thankful for little things, like the leaves on the trees and the food on my plate and the fact that my legs work so i can walk to and from school. life is really wonderful. nothing to complain about. i have good friends, good family, and a good song just came on. where i stood. missy higgins. listen to it.

RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS

i think almost everything i post says something about being happy. well, i guess that's me! why would you waste time being grumpy? days are too precious to do that, and life is just too awesome to NOT be happy. i have so much to be thankful for! and so do each of you, i know it. when i feel myself being engulfed by unhappiness, or overwhelmed, i remember this recipe for happiness:

• walking home on this beautiful day! it's warm, but not too warm, and the breeze carries the promise of fall. the leaves on the mountains are stunning: brilliant oranges, yellows, and reds. but there's also snow on timpanogos! this could make me upset, because i'm not ready for winter, but instead i enjoy the sheer beauty of this place that i am lucky enough to live in.

• good music. i know, i'm weird, and i'm not super into the modern rap crap. here's what i love... 80's music. it's so good! and it can turn my whole day around. another few songs that i recently bought that i'm borderline obsessed with right now: ultimate by lindsay lohan (remember this great song? it comes right at the end of the movie freaky friday. it just makes me want to rock out. and i'm sitting in the middle of the library haha). the tarzan soundtrack is also working its way up to my favorites right about now. there are actually some really good, deep lyrics to these songs. my favorite quote from the soundtrack? "raise your head up! lift high the load! take strength from those that need you." if that doesn't scream BE POSITIVE! then i don't know what does :)

• putting a smile on. today, right when i opened my eyes, i smiled. it actually made a huge difference in my day. i think another thing that helped was that i made a conscious decision to make today a good one. it's all up to me to make it good, and so if i decide it, it'll be a fantastic day!

• working out. exercise always boosts my mood. it makes me feel good to be doing something that's hard and good for me.

• remembering words from our loving prophet, thomas s. monson: "rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future."

here's to a lovely day! hope your day is just as great! :)

CHEF SHAYLEE?

before college, i hated to cook. i mean, hated it so much that i would do ANYTHING to get out of cooking. i remember days when my mom would look at me, roll her eyes, and say, "how do you expect to live in college?!"

every time, my response would be: "just you wait, my culinary abilities are going to come out when i move away!"

i have made many things in the kitchen. here are two examples of my latest:

the other morning, i made german pancakes. they puffed up huge in the oven. they were DELICIOUS.

last night for dinner, i made chicken divan. rice, chicken, cheese, broccoli. . . it was awesome. i didn't get a picture until we'd already started eating it, but here's a little preview:

i rest my case. i can be a cook! i still don't really enjoy it, but it's not the dreaded task it once was. so there mom! :)

EXTRA CREDIT LIBRARY TOUR

(so, we had to take a tour of the library for our honors writing 150 class. professor goldberg told us that he would give us extra credit if we dressed up as tourists and took pictures. it turned out that us dressing up as tourists and taking pictures turned into a story, so here it goes.)

once upon a time, there lived two friends, laura and shaylee.

they wanted to take a tour of the harold b. lee library on byu campus, but they had heard rumors about a creepy guy roaming the halls of the library: skyler the taliban man. they weren't sure if these rumors were true, but just in case, they hired a body guard for their library tour. his name was robby.

the three of them started off on their adventure, getting mp3 players and headphones from the library to complete their audio tour.

they made their way through the library, learning where to find which books and what floor was used for what. as they got down to the third floor, suddenly out jumped skyler the taliban man, grabbing laura's leg! robby tackled him to the ground.

robby had to protect laura and shaylee. he wrestled skyler out to the balcony of the second floor. . .

. . .and pushed him off.

well, soon after this, skyler begged for forgiveness. it turned out that skyler was actually a pretty nice guy. so robby and shaylee and laura decided to let him join them for the remainder of the tour. they had a really good time.

the end.

AND WHEN LIFE GETS HARD

you know those days when life is overwhelming? you feel like no one cares, no one understands, no one loves you, and you just don't understand anything. school is overwhelming, people are overwhelming, and drama is just tooooooo much.

days like that, i just have to remember these three people: three of my favorite people on earth.

parker, me, jaren, whitney

i love them. they keep me going. they are funny, fun, caring, understanding, and they love me unconditionally. how grateful i am for my siblings!

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

(sung to the tune of this song from the sound of music)

waffles this morning

a braid in my hair

vans on my feet

and nobody to care

working on campus

i make my own hours!

these are a few of my favorite things. . .

golden nail polish

working out with my roommate

whipped cream competitions

and staying up late

sun in the sky,

it's warm on my face

these are a few of my favorite things!

when the cold comes

when my nose runs

when i'm feeling sad

i simply remember my favorite things

and then i don't feel so bad!

YAM CRISIS

my mother bought me some yams when i went off to school. despite my incredible culinary abilities, i did not find any recipe in which i could use these yams. and so, i put them under the sink with the rest of the potatoes. and. . .

i forgot about them.

tonight, as morgan and i were doing the dishes, i saw some rather disgusting brown juice on the kitchen floor under the sink. "okay, what is that?!"

morgan opened the kitchen cupboard. . . .

as soon as we saw this, all 5 of us started screaming. and when i say screaming, i mean SCREAMING. we all ran from the kitchen to the living room and jumped onto the couch, on top of each other, gripping each other's arms and screeching our little hearts out. "oh my gosh! sick! sick!" "AGHHHH!!!!" "that is sooo gross! somebody do something!" "help! help! help!" "EWWWW!!!" i got so into it that i fell off the couch straight onto my back. ouch.

needless to say, it took us a while to get it cleaned up. we had to stop laughing first. :) oh how i love college!

SCATTERBRAINED

today i got a 70 on my american heritage test. considering that i've been studying for the past almost-week, i was a bit disappointed. study sessions, lavender rice bags, hours devoted solely to this dreaded subject, 7:30 am wake up on a saturday for a review session, talking to the ta, and more studying... that's what got me a 70. kill me.

sometimes, when you just feel like life is too much, and the rain outside threatens to make you want to pull your hair out, you have to put your sweats on, drink some hot chocolate, and curl up to take a nap. it's just necessary. (and, just to add, it was probably the BEST nap i have ever had. ever.)

getting ready is so inconvenient, i find myself dreading it. would anyone really have a problem with me showing up to school in pajama bottoms and an over-sized T-shirt? and my moccasin slippers?

okay, yeah, i guess i should get ready.

the snow on the mountains, while it is pretty, makes me want to move somewhere tropical. where is the season we call fall? the leaves are still green down here, weatherman. and yet the white stuff floating around in the air and the fact that i can see my breath spells winter. BOO. however, it is kinda fun to be here at school with all these people who have never seen snow before. they're going out of their minds crazy about it. "snow! snow?! oh my gosh, it's snowing! can you see that?!" and i just want to say, "yeah, snow. it comes in october and it doesn't leave until april or may, and by january i'm sick of it." and one more thing about snow. people who post "it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!" on facebook drive me crazy. it's not even halloween yet, people!

i just read the above paragraphs. i sound like negative nancy. sorry.

(switching to positive polly.)

it's always fun to make a big pot of mac and cheese and bust open the oreos. maybe some chocolate ice cream? bring on the freshman 15! haha! (i'm kidding. kind of. i don't eat like that all the time. in fact, i've been rather proud of myself. thanks, mom, for teaching me how to eat healthy. even though i made fun of you for it.)

i love my roommates. all ten of them. and you wonder, how can that be? wyview has three girls to an apartment! well, my roommates are really dana and morgan. and dana's roommate over the summer was elyse. and dana's best friend from high school is melina. and melina's roommates are allie and haley. and julia is my best friend. and her roommates are tessa and jessica. and julia's roommate from the summer was aubrey. and there you have it -- ten girls. i consider them all my roommates, and some of my best friends :)

i've been pretty good about bedtime this week (figuring that it would help my score on my american heritage test! fat chance). tonight is an exception. 2 am again, oops. sorry, mom. i'll be better. this scatterbrained brain needs its rest.

goodnight blog. until next post.

RELAXED & EMBARRASSED

tonight i was feeling very stressed. school, finances, work, boys, and people were weighing down on me. on top of that, i needed to study for my american heritage test coming up this week. i decided that in order to achieve the best possible studying, i would do the following:

1. dim the lights
2. warm up my lavender rice bag and put it over my eyes (a little therapy before homework)
3. put on relaxing music (shine by william joseph)

so, i'm sitting there in the armchair, breathing in the scent of lavender and de-stressing before i studied, when i heard snickers from the couch.

hmm.

i ripped the lavender bag off my eyes and demanded, "what?!"

and the response? "nothing." very suspicious. i jumped off the armchair and turned dana's computer around. this is what i saw:

wow. okay. thank you, roommates. another picture for facebook to see. as embarrassing as it is, i decided my blog followers would probably enjoy it as well.

MY FAVE GEN CONF

i have never felt more spiritually uplifted by general conference before -- ever. in my entire life. perhaps it's because i'm at college? away from my family? perhaps because i needed it? perhaps both.

i was able to go to the saturday afternoon session with julia and james. being there, in the conference center, is an absolutely incredible experience. i don't even think i could express my love for that place. it felt like all the talks were meant for me! and when we all stood up, singing "praise to the man" while knowing that the world was watching, i couldn't help but get emotional. i love this gospel. i feel the lord's love for me so much. i am grateful to be alive, attending brigham young university, surrounded by the gospel each and every day. what a blessing!

a few (a very few) highlights:

• it's better to look up!
• let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text
• the atonement is for us all -- no matter our circumstance, how big or small our mistakes are, or how inadequate we feel
• motherhood is not a responsibility, it's a calling
• we need to be better about doing family history
• we are members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints!

ps. i want to get married in the salt lake temple. i love it.