Young Shelece Writing

I've been going through boxes and boxes of my old stuff lately... Things that used to be stored in my parents' basement.

I'm starting to think I never got rid of anything, ever. :) It's fun to see all the reminders of my past life, and also a little trippy. I thought a lot of this stuff was gone for good.

I found a ton of old stories that I wrote in my youth. In my elementary days, I went through a horse loving phase where I read and wrote about girls and their horses. Since I was a suburbanite with very little contact with horses, I got very creative sometimes. :)

In middle school and high school, I wrote comedy novels mostly. I really enjoyed reading through those... especially the comedy fantasy novel I wrote back in middle school. The plot is pretty loosey goosey and it was definitely written by a 13 year old, but you know what, the dialogue actually is funny. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it after all this time... but then, I am biased. :)

As I've gotten older, my writing has gotten more dramatic. It's funny, I tend to either write pure comedy or very dramatic. It's hard to decide which tone to take. Reading through my teenage writings that were almost always comedy... I wonder if that is what I should go back to! It is a lot of fun, and I do enjoy making people laugh.

Molly's Gotcha Day

Today marks 2 years since I brought this cute little bundle of fur home! Hard to believe it's only been that long.

She sure has grown up!

My 100 List

I read an awesome article in the BYU magazine today that really inspired me. "Make a 100 List and Thrive." The basic idea is this: Life is what you make it. Make a list of the 100 things you most want to do in this life, and then make them happen. Live the life you've dreamed. Making a list and planning is the way to achieve your dreams rather than wasting your potential.

It got me wondering, what's on my 100 list? What do I most want to do with my life? I've started my list, although I have a long way to go. Dr. Taniguchi (the man featured in this article) has a rule that he can add to his list, but he can't take anything off. I don't think I can commit to that. Life changes and what I want out of life changes from time to time too. Even so, I'm really trying to ponder what the deepest desires of my heart are....... It will take a lot for something to make this list, so it'll probably be short for a while, but eventually I'll reach 100! I don't want to put anything on there just for the sake of reaching the number--I really want to record 100 things that are meaningful to me.

I've decided too that it's okay to include some things I've already done, lifelong dreams that came true. It's very motivating to be able to cross some things off the list right from the start. :)

Anyway, here's my baby list, waiting to grow. Since my laptop hard drive is on the brink of failing (yesterday it told me my "Documents" folder no longer existed....) I'll store it here in the cloud. They aren't in any particular order... except for the first 3, which are my most important lifelong dreams I've had since I was a little girl.

Shelece's 100 List:

Get married November 4, 2017

Be a mom January 11, 2020

Write a book

Graduate college April, 2010

Get a master's degree April, 2012

Be a published author 2012. So far I've got 4 published articles (first author on 3), a textbook chapter, and some Healthy Relationships California in-house research publications. Someday I'd love to add fiction to this list!

Go to Hawaii November 5, 2017

Go to Europe (especially UK and France!) July 2016, October 2019

Go to South America

Go to Australia

Go to Asia

Go to Africa (basically I want to see 6 out of 7 continents... I have 0 interest in Antarctica. :)

Adopt a puppy February 18, 2017

Buy a house August 2018

Serve a mission

Learn a foreign language fluently

Learn how to ride a horse

Ride in a hot air balloon

Eat gator meat

Try asam pedas fish

Take my kids to see fireflies

Take my kids to the church history sites

Go to a floating lantern festival November 7, 2015

See the Northern lights

Visit Bourtange