i just wanna stay right here.

the first time i came here i was 11 months old. dad tells me i was extremely tiny and he carried me in a sling holding me tight to his chest as he walked up and down the carolina shore.

we came after a long year of trying to get me healthy. mom and dad needed a vacation and someone offered up a little beach house. little did they know that this island would be one of the most spectacular places in all the world. and that it would be "a tradition unlike any other." this place would be home.

anyone who knows me well has heard me speak of this place. perfectly named. this place is sunset beach. the last island in north carolina. it sits tucked between ocean isle and bird island. i have often tried to explain to people why i love it here. it brings peace. it brings joy. i have only the happiest of memories here. even when times were rough. as we would drive across the old swing bridge and take a deep breath of the salty air i instantly felt at home again. i believe this place is a little piece of heaven on earth. sent straight from the MAN himself. this place brings healing. it always has.

it is hard to explain to other people what i mean by this sometimes. i don't think my own family even completely understands how special sunset is to me. every perfect memory was captured in this place. it would be impossible to count them. it would be impossible to choose a favorite. it is hard to put it in words. but i wrote a little something that reminds me of my childhood.

[i'll be 23 in mid july

this place feels like it holds my life. 

i remember back when i was four. 

it was lightening bugs and boogie boards.

i remember days spent in the sand

collecting shells. holdin daddy's hand.

this place it knows me well. i just wanna stay right here in sunset's place

there were birthday parties and beach church

and mama in her bathing skirt

my brother surfin through the waves

and friends in chairs lined up for days

after fireworks and ice cream nights

we'd hunt for crabs with big flashlights

the older kids, well they ran free

but from the porch we watched,

us three, mama,daddy and me.

this place it knows me well. i just wanna stay right here in sunset's place

eleven years we'd been there now

the 5 of us in that beach house.

my sister got engaged one day

carolina shore, our favorite place.

a bridge that swung from high to low

and a little house tucked right below

might be the thing i'll miss the most

and the lightening storms the way they glowed.

there were tall sailboats and piermen with their fishin poles.

there was pancake mornings with uncles 

and trinket shops that barely stayed afloat.

this place it knows me well. i just wanna stay right here in sunset's place

this place it knows me well. i just wanna. well i just wanna stay right here in sunset's place.

i'll be 23 in mid july. 

this place feels like it holds my life.] 

and if you can't relate to that...perhaps pictures will do the trick.

so prepare to live through my childhood eyes for a moment.

happy to be at sunset 

buried RT

waiting to get over the bridge...holding up a tree

mom, grandma barb, little me

days spent in the waves with seth and andrew

how cute is this!?

just loungin around

when family and friends collide

i don't know what was happening...but our faces are cute!

mermaid shelby

cousins

a buried caleb

the best sissy 

this girl was my "friend of the day"

birthday present...i think the underwear makes the whole picture.

in my element

tradition:: bumper boats with dad

the cvca/church gang

love these people.

thea

beach beauties

matching shirts

my crush on scott lasted my whole childhood 

so beautiful

kell-kell

shy baby

chaditude 

beautiful sissy

sandcastles with mama 

good old grandpa herman. miss him so much.

jordyn and devon

cheesin

handstands with jonny v

the best 

"up on the roof" - james taylor

best brother ever. 

nail painting with daddy 

hamburger joe's ... a tradition unlike any other

the two of them.

he is the greatest 

the most handsome boy

caleb love him 

love her to death

car parties on the way to the creamery

crazy aunt julie

micah! 

little man is the cutest. 

beautiful kellie...my hero, sister, cousin and friend.

uncle richard...the favorite uncle...and best corn hole partner!

sissy 

sweet girl

cass

thank you Jesus for giving me an earthly father who shows me Your love. 

i hope you understand now. that sunset beach isn't just a place we go on vacation. sunset beach holds so much more. 

only 11 months. approximately 330 days  until i am back at my second home. but whose counting?! 

i love you guys

Blessed by a heavenly Daddy, 

Shelby Elyse 

23

i turn 23 tomorrow.

i'm not sure how i feel about this yet. i think 23 is a real smack in the face that i'm growing up. i mean 21 was pretty exciting and then taylor swift wrote a song about being 22 so i felt really cool for a year. and now well...23...it's just 23. nothing neat about it. i mean luckily lebron came back to cleveland and so that makes it pretty neat. but i feel like i'm not ready for this year. i don't know why.

i feel like i blinked and i am here.

somedays i feel like just yesterday my family and friends were throwing me birthday parties at the beach. those days are some of my best memories. cake. balloons. cheesecake brownies. presents and people galore. for a long time i thought we went to the beach because of my birthday. hey i mean it was totally not my fault. all my parents did my whole life was talk about how special i was. and what is more special than 30 people you love from ohio having a birthday party for you at your favorite place in the world?!
see...totally not my fault. i had a majority of my birthdays at the beach. there were ones that weren't spent there but it was rare.

somedays i feel like just yesterday my friends were at my house and we were doing things like going to dover lake water park and having dance parties in my living room to celebrate. i miss those days.

don't get me wrong. i am excited for my future. but john mayer put it best.
 [ SO SCARED OF GETTING OLDER. I'M ONLY GOOD AT BEING YOUNG. ]

as many of you know my entrance into this world was nothing short of dramatic. i mean what else would you expect from me? i was born around 30 weeks with a condition known as hydrops. the doctors told my parents that i wasn't going to live through the night and that they needed to name me so i wouldn't die without a name. they gave me a 10% chance of survival that hot day in july. but God had another plan for my life. and i am so thankful He did. "they" were very wrong. everytime they gave my parents bad new about my healing process He would step in and things would turn around again. just the other day i asked mama about the day i was born. as she recalled the story she told me that despite every statistic they were given she knew that the Lord was going to heal me. she said she never had a doubt.

it has been quite the journey since that day. but the Lord has remained faithful and i am thankful for his protection over my life. sometimes i am shocked i made it to 23. i know that sounds kind of morbid. but trust me people. there have been days where i had such a bad migraine or that i was so sick that i thought i wasn't going to make it. mama and daddy tell me they knew i was gunna defy all the odds all along. i am thankful for that.

so lets travel through the past 23 years in the form of pictures...i couldn't find every single birthday but i think i got around 20. i'm not exactly sure.

disclaimer...the first picture you will see is from the day i was born...it isn't pretty...but i think it was important to include it...because God was working even on that day when my life seemed like it was only going to last for a moment on this earth.

july 18th 1991.
named shelby elyse meaning "little rock" 

july 18th 1992

july 18th 1993

july 18th 1994

july 18th 1995

july 18th 1996

july 18th 1997
please note that i wore the same dress 2 years in a row.
this should have been the first clue that i had a growing problem!

july 18th 1998

july 18th 1999

july 18th 2000

july 18th 2001

july 18th 2002

2003 and 2004 are the missing years. i mean i wasn't missing. i just can't find pictures.

july 18th 2005
the summer after the brain surgery
thank you Jesus for this day

july 18th 2006

july 18th 2007

july 18th 2008

july 18th 2009

july 18th 2010

july 18th 2011

july 18th 2012

july 18th 2013

i am excited for the years to come.

i am hopeful for a future. 

i am thankful that the Lord has let me live such a beautiful life

i am praying i can continue to glorify Him 

thank you to everyone who has prayed for me from day 1. 

i love you guys.

BLESSED by a heavenly Daddy,

Shelby Elyse Taylor

MAY

YOU GUYS. May was a fantastic month!

who doesn't love a little n'sync

It was Pediatric Brain Tumor Awareness Month which is freaking awesome in and of itself.
AND because of that...SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENED! but you will have to keep reading!

but there was so much more.

so grab a cup of coffee & join me.

{ i always look forward to may. it is the time when school is out and the sunshine comes. there are family gatherings and times with friends. there is always bike rides and going to get ice cream late at night with my best friends. and somewhere around the middle of the month i end up at skip park swinging just like i did back when i was 5. may brings the sweet smells like fresh cut grass and beautiful potted flowers. you hear the birds really early and the crickets late at night. there are still rain storms but the sun keeps shining. may is just really a great month. no month is better than july. but may is pretty close. at least for this year. }

so as ren mccormack from footloose would say lets "jump back" to the beginning of may.

so the 1st of may led the way with the start of pediatric brain tumor month. if you know my story you know how close this is to my heart. for many reasons. i wrote some words on the profile picture that dad said wasn't his favorite a few months back and turned it black and white. he says now he understands the "art" of it. i told him that this month was serious and needed a serious picture. i think he was okay with it.

please Jesus!

umm also on may first i walked up to a girl in target and asked her something and she said "i don't work here." REAL LIFE. but you guys. she was wearing sneakers and a gray and red t-shirt. and khaki pants. and a lanyard. she totally looked like she worked there. then my response was "oh my gosh. i'm so sorry. i'm an idiot. happy spring!" HAPPY SPRING!? who am i? needless to say. that was embarassing. 

may 2nd was my friend andrea's bachelorette party. she is so precious to me. at the party we all went around and gave one memory we had of her, and one funny thing. i told of a day in march 2005. she was a young teenager and still barely knew me. but she showed up to the house one day a few weeks after my surgery and just sat with me. i was totally a grumpy person and barely said a word. but we just sat and colored. hardly anyone else did that who was a highschooler. but she did. and i will never forget it. that day was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

the third was the kentucky derby. we went down to my sister's to watch. i wanted uncle sigh to win. but california chrome took home the win. oh well. somehow i ended up sleeping the whole day. 

first mom caught me asleep after lunch

then i fell asleep with little man. 

poor kid  fell and this face was killing me.

shy baby 

the next week was filled with times with sweet friends. most of which i've known since i was 5. {those are the best kind people. believe me.} and a very special dinner with my daddy followed on that friday night.

on may 8th i saw one of my best friends get "pinned" for nursing. erin has worked so hard and i know she will be the best nurse. and a beautiful one too. if you don't know erin you should. she is filled with so much joy.

proud bulb

on may 9th i had a really nice dinner with my daddy. it consisted of laughter, life talk and lemon cheesecake for dessert. i am so thankful for his sense of humor, honesty and his character. he is one in a million. you can read about that HERE! CLICK THIS! 

this week was also the week my friend chad came home on leave from the air force. he has been in my life for 17 years and i am so thankful for him. and very proud of him too. 

so the next week not much happened...just life...keep reading people...something amazing happens toward the end of may!

but a few things happened before that. none of which are too amazing. just me informing you on things that don't really matter all that much. stay with me people::

well...my friend erin took an artsy picture of me one day on her porch swing during a storm.

AND i decided to dye my hair reddish/purple and chop it off for summer again...

making summer wishes

OKAY HERE WE GO!!!!

so lets flashback a little bit:: around the second week of May i got an email from the pediatric brain tumor foundation. i got a scholarship from them my freshman year of college and still keep in contact. the lady asked if they could run a story on me. after i danced around the kitchen in excitement i emailed her back and set up a phone call for the next day. 

i was so nervous. i always get nervous when i'm telling my story. because it's one of those things where i don't want it to come across like i'm totally fine: because i'm not. but i don't want it to seem like i'm the sickest kid in the world: because i'm not. and it's hard to convey that sometimes. i also wanted to make a point that my faith had gotten me through, as well as my family and friends. after a morning spent with butterflies in my stomach she finally called. the interview went smoothly. i had to answer so many questions. i was sitting on my friend erin's futon in her room. that is actually my futon. i mean. we gave it to her when she moved into her house. but it was in my basement for like 15 years. so anyways. i guess i was sitting on my futon. this doesn't matter. so interview over. and the lady said my story would be featured one day in may as a part of pediatric brain tumor month! 

THEN!

on May 23rd the story was posted with a picture of me. i yelled for mom and she stood in my doorway as i read.

this is what it said::

Meet today's Starlight, Shelby Elyse:

Shelby Elyse Taylor plans to become a child life specialist.

After all, she says, child life specialists helped her get through her brain tumor diagnosis in 2005.

“They are my favorite people and I wanted to become one of them,” says the college student.

Doctors diagnosed Shelby Elyse with an oligodendroglioma when she was 13. She says the diagnosis shocked her and she worried people would view her differently. But support from family and friends poured in. Her classmates sent daily get-well cards that lifted her spirits.

“Diagnosis isn’t the end,” Shelby Elyse says. “You need to fight for yourself.”

And she did just that. Nine years after her brain surgery, Shelby Elyse is 22 and her tumor is stable. She says she feels great, but does encounter migraines and becomes anxious before routine MRI scans.

“My prayer is that one day there’s a cure,” she says.

YOU GUYS! i mean how cool is that!? Mama T & the family were pretty excited. The post got so many likes and comments on the pediatric brain tumor website. I was so excited. And thankful my story got to be shared during such a special month. 

the end of may came quickly...

my beautiful friend erin craig married my brother from another mother josh one sunny day. so now she is a blatchford! crazy! 

precious

my dance partner in crime simina

a sunny afternoon was spent at sarah's vinyard sipping wine in the garden.

and on the last day of may i saw lady antebellum in concert with my mama.

life was good in may people. or as billy currington said at the concert::

God is great. beer is good. people are crazy.

P.S. my next MRI & doctor appt is on june 18th. if you could be praying for that i would be very thankful. i never know what the future holds. but i always know WHO holds it. but it would be really good if mr. tumor is just staying still. 

I love you all!

Blessed by a Heavenly Daddy,

Shelby Elyse