Hasta la Vista Baby!

Just so you all know.

I am gleefully leaving my computer and cellular device to fend for themselves as I enter the magical realm of spring break. And of course, DINEEE LAN!!!!!!! :D

Me? Excited?
HA!

.... you better believe it! ;)

"Tears are the sweat to my spiritual exercise." (Best quote! :D)


Now on to slightly less noble matters.
Net Nanny must die. I log in. Password? Check. 'Verify'? Check. Twice. ... And then a few more times. Look. I've authorized you to check up on everything I do ok? Seriously... you don't need that many verifications Miss Nanny. I think you're just after the adrenaline rush from the feeling of power you get each time I have to submit to your authority. :p (That was not a happy tongue sticking outage. That was a mean, "I hate you Alf-Alfa" kind of sticking out my tongue face.)
Have a nice life stuck in this computer Miss Nanny.
Sincerely,
Frazzled Senior.

Saturday is a special day.... how cliche.

Sad but true. :p

This morning I got up. Sorta. And I put contact solution in and got a drink and went back to bed. Sorta. Actually I got back into bed and watched Maid in Manhattan and decided I refuse to fall in love. Just remind me that all men in chick flicks have SCRIPTS and the ones in real life are ridiculous for a few more years. Maybe seven.
And then (here's where the cliche title comes in) I cleaned. A lot. Due to the wonder of going to Disney Land we are being manipulated into cleaning. See- when you take kids to Dinee Lan, you can pretty much convince them to do anything just before the trip. As if it's incentive. As if they'd really cancel spring break if one pillow was out of place- therefore making the house un-spotless. :p So I scrubbed tubs and toilets and floors and (here's the really impressive part) I even cleaned and ORGANIZED under my bed. :p I have labeled boxes now. Either I've been possessed with the cleaning demon of pre-spring break magnificence or I really just needed a distraction. I'm leaning toward the second. Three o'clock rolled around and I decided- huh. Maybe I should get ready for the day. Yeah, I'm slow... sue me. So I got ready and decided that I really didn't feel like going to the Young Women broadcast. Yes I know. I'm wicked. And you know what they say- NO one mourns the wicked. So I changed into a dress and I waltzed on over. And ya know what? It was beautiful. The spirit was so strong, and I realized perhaps (or in Erinspeak, mayhaps) it wasn't me who didn't want to go. Blast that Satan. He knows EXACTLY where i think he should go. :p Anyway, it was motivational and cute and courageous! I'm glad COURAGE is my word of 2010. :D

We came home, and Meg and I went on a Walmart run. Makeup called. We answered. (The chocolate called too but we're not gonna go there...) Upon our arrival home, Brianne had set up a wonderful 'cwire' (choir) concert, which was of course ridiculously adorable. She set up the stuffed animals and sang their songs giggling. We applauded- no encores... ("We want to eat dinner. No encores!" whispered rather urgently.) She took a few bows, we squished out of the storage closet that was temporarily transformed into a wonderful auditorium of total claustrophobia and then we eated pizza. The end.
Almost.
Now we're having parfaits (Now officially known as parfats, because if par means zero, I can eat all the 'zero-fats' I want and not feel one bit guilty! ;P)

Merry sabbath eve to all, and to all a goodnight!

Dear Friends and Foes and all that good stuff,

It's snowing today. Yes, snow. In March- the end of March no less- but it's ok because better days are soon to come.
My birthday was rather quite lovely- Princess and the Frog? Best present ever. I have honestly watched it exactly 2.5 times since Monday. Obsession? Oh yeah.
At an appointment I had, one of my friends brought me balloons- which was very thoughtful of course, but it rained attention on me. Spotlights make me sweat. I don't love them exactly. I can comfortably bask in the edge of a spotlight... but when you're smack dab in the center of the million watt light it makes you turn a wee bit pink. :p
I started Elementary tutor, and therefore switched seminary to first hour which means I have Brother Eastmond which means awesome! He's a really great teacher, and it's a really fun group in that class. I'm rather quite happy about it. Although, I will admit I miss my seminary 'family'. I love those guys!
So. Wednesday. I went to North Elementary and was introduced. :) It was kind of fun. "Class, why do you think that we're both 'Miss Heap's'?" :p Is she your daughter? Mmm... close but not exactly. :p Cutest kids- I got to do the 'Fry Phrases'(?) (P.S those made me hungry for french fries. Understandable, no?) and then the reading booklet things where you time them to see how many words per minute they do. It was quite fun actually. :) Some of them practically gasped in order to get enough air in under .03 seconds so they could sprint-read. :p And then one little boy was honestly the most expressive and fun to listen to reader that I've ever met in a third-grade classroom. :p Cuteness. However, there is now a sad news I must tell.
Brace yourselves.
I went to North Elementary this morning and the office people told me all the kids were at a play. Huh. Can't really tutor a class without a class right? So I'm home blogging. :p

OH! Also, Wednesday was Region Solo and Ensemble... congrats to those who made it... cuz Mads didn't. :( We read through the judging sheets and it was all pretty much praise... so it doesn't quite click in my brain how they didn't send us. :p Oh well. It's not like I paid $90.00+ for this whole choir experience (which just so happened to NOT include any of the normal fun trips this year. Just my luck, eh? :p)
It was quite dramatic. Starting with people belting 'Wicked' songs on the trip up, to two people passing out(ok, so one pass out, one close call) in the middle of our performance, to running to Wendy's and spewing root beer from one's nostrils, to bawling and carrying on over not making it to State, to listening to very interesting renditions of Tarzan songs on the High School's front lawn... (EVERYONE kept singing random songs. Disney has been ruined for me. :p Just kiddin, but really. Look people, I know we're on a choir trip, but save the rock star singing for the pro's. K? There's only so much ibprofin you can take for these things. ;) )
And then yesterday I stayed home sickly. Again. Maybe I'm just crazy. (You're pathelogical... Paaathelogicalll... ;p) But I think I ate something that didn't love me very much and took vengence upon my stomach. And now (drum roll) It's friday! And Guess what ladie's and gent's?? Tuesday. Tuesday is a very special day. It's called the day we head to MAGICAL LAND! Spring break baby! Here I come! (THANK YOU SCHOOL BOARD FOR PUTTING SPRING BREAK RIGHT HERE IN THIS VERY SPOT! It must have been divine inspiration because I think I'm about to burst sometimes. And Disney Land is JUST what the Doctor ordered.)

Now: Because I can't really handle posting without pictures (It's a condition I have. Called illistrationitis. ;) ) We are now going to have a moment of happy silence as we get stoked for 'Dinee lan!' :D :D :D

Just so you know... I spied flowers. How exciting is that??

"Your purpose here on earth is not to make everyone else happy- that would be taking away their individual missions. Your purpose here is to pass your test so that you can go home to your Heavenly Father again..."


Just a few P.S's...
Yeah, I did a total freak out of excitement dance over the cute purple flowers in my front yard on Friday. It's perfectly normal to be excited for spring my friends... the dance moves, however, were probably a little less so on the 'normal' scale. :p

I have recently discovered that a little bit of red fingernail polish goes a long way in individuality-empowerment. :p

Being the Laurel president is starting to kick in a little, and the pressure is building a bit. I keep telling myself to breathe- because, ya know, that's what you sort of have to do in order to stay alive. But for some wonderful reason I'm perfectly capable of stressing myself out over nothing. :p

Graduation and College are no longer little specs on the horizon to me- no, now they're these giants looming right in front of my face. Odd.

I went ice skating with my friend for my birthday, which was quite fun actually. I only biffed it once! ;)

:)/:( I finally understand those kinda masks.

My friend Tara is here. ( so :) applies). She's going into the army and leaves in July for basic. ( now :( comes along). We watched Dear John ( :D/ :'( ) which was insanely awesomely emotional. BUT! It made me add yet another possibility into my list of maybe majors. Maybe I'll go into special education. I'm not sure I'd be good enough for it though. It would be a rather beautiful and inspirationally fulfilling occupation for sure. We sat in the theater for another ten minutes crying before we finally snuck out to find bathrooms. I sincerely apologize for all the theater dwellers who had to see the horrid sight of Shannon with cried off makeup. :p
Then we watched Bright Star (upon Tara's insistance.) In case you haven't heard of it like I hadn't- it's a movie about John Keats' life. It's pretty good- mainly because it's kind of Jane Austen-y and her clothes are absolutely ridiculous sometimes. :p Fanny is a seamstress. Sort of. She designs and sews her own clothes- some of which are very interesting. Anyway, it's sort of a romance/tragedy/... I don't know what else. I'm not sure if I recommend it or not.

And the final reason for understanding the stupid smileyfrown masks:
I'm not surprised.
Not everything lasts.
I've broken my heart so many times I stopped keeping track.
Talk myself in.
I talk myself out.
I get all worked up, then I let myself down.

I tried so very hard not to lose it.
I came up with a million excuses.
I thought I thought of every possibility.

And I know someday that it'll all turn out.
You'll make me work so we can work to work it out.
And promise you, kid, that I'll give so much more than I get.
I just haven't met you yet.

Mmmm...

I might have to wait.
I'll never give up.
I guess it's half timing,
And the other half's luck.
Wherever you are.
Whenever it's right.
You'll come out of nowhere and into my life.

And I know that we can be so amazing.
And baby your is gonna change me.
And now I can see every possibility.

Mmmm...

But somehow I know that it'll all turn out.
And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out.
And I promise you, kid, that I'll give so much more than I get.
I just haven't met you yet.

They say all's fair.
And in love and war.
But I won't need to fight it.
We'll get it right and,
We'll be united.

And I know that we can be so amazing.
And being in your life is gonna change me.
And now I can see every single possibility, mmmm.

And someday I know it'll all turn out.
And I'll work to work it out.
Promise you, kid, I'll give more than I get,
Than I get, than I get, than I get.

Ohhh!

You know it'll all turn out.
And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out.
And I promise you, kid, that I'll give so much more than I get.
I just haven't met you yet.

I just haven't met you yet.
Ohh, promise you, kid, to give so much than I get.

(I said love, love, love, love...)
I just haven't met you yet

I just haven't met you yet.


Haha... so cute. So frustrating. Patience? I think yes.
But really... once upon a time I always had dreams of marrying someone. And I never could see his face- like he'd be reading a newspaper or something... ANYWAY. It just makes me excited for the future when all this stupid boy drama will be over and I'll have a best friend. Assuming I don't join a convent between now and then ;)
So whoever you are out there... I've recently decided it'll be your job to find me. Otherwise I'll lose my marbles trying. So I'm just gonna live my life... and keep singin, "I just haven't met you yet!" ;p

(Yes. I am completely aware how silly I sound. Frankly my dear Scarlet... I don't mind. ;P)

Some SERIOUS indecisiveness.

Hello, and welcome to our program this afternoon. Today we are discussing indecisive teens and the choices they face.
Scenario number one: Favorites. Last night I went with Erin to her study session to help out with her poster (and take care of some fingernails, eh Er? ;p) and somehow we got on the subject of favorite music with some of the other study session-ees. Absolutely no one in America can find only one favorite song. Plus none of the fellow beans there could even think of what their favorite music. (Disclosure- I am one of those hypocritical people. I'm one of the ones who has to list off a top 100 list for favorites because I am- brace yourself- indecisive.)
Scenario number two: This morning a certain girl lay in bed- mostly because sometimes eyelids refuse to open- but partially because she couldn't think of what she wanted to wear. Explanation? For one, her pants are a problem. None of them fit. Ever. At all. Sorta. And the pair that she practically wore every single day ripped pretty intensely the day she went to Richfield for 1A basketball state games. So she bought a new pair there because not everyone appreciates seeing bright red panties. For two, sometimes one feels rather hippopot-of-something-ish. Aka Fat. And therefore you have to pick the shirts that require risking looking maternity-like in order to feel like you don't have to suck it in til you feel like you're a holocaust victim.
Scenario number three (the heart of this whole post) :p
What if someone presented you the possible option of picking a nice SLR camera, OR a laptop like you've always wanted for a birthday/graduation gift? And what if you couldn't for the life of you figure out which one would complete you? I mean... what if you picked the wrong one and your heart still had a hole that was void because of your mis-decision?? This is serious stuff people. :p Just sayin.
P.S I just wanted to say:
HOLY GRATEFULNESS FOR FRIDAY'S-EVE DAY (Thursday), And warmness and sunshine! SUNSHINE people- I had to roll down the windows when I was driving my fathers awesome truck (which I was also thankful for him letting me... :p) and the sun was practically slow baking my arm. Mmm... deliciously springful. I can't wait for GREEN and FLOWERS and beautiful white clouds popping out of the ridiculously blue skies. Isn't it funny how right on the brink of season changes it seems like life is just... perfect. Who cares if you're possibly being stupid and getting stuck in friend drama or if people make you want to barf or if the dull fluorescent (oxymoron?) lights of dear old Cedar High make the pigments in your skin slowly fade to the color of death, although that may be directly related to our sedentary lifestyles... in health classes. Isn't it grand? But really- when it started to cool off from Summer's playful weather into Autumn's golden easy going feeling... I could've sat on those stupid red benches outside of school smiling like a schizophrenic psycho for hours. :p Tis true... life's good. Don't believe anything else I say 'cause life is good. Sometimes I just look through the binoculars the wrong way. :p

Oh for lovely.

Good morning ladies and gents.
Today is Wednesday. Once considered the grandest and most favorite day of the week by yours truly. However, there is a sad story called senioritis plus stress. And now saturday and any other day we get off from school is my favorite. :p
Cedar High School- I think I hate you. A: I absolutely love getting up and getting ready to wander through the old hallways (Sarcasm.) B: I love the drama that's going on EVERYWHERE right now (SARCASM.) And yet- I'm actually kinda a little afeared to leave the safety of the fake real life we're in while in High School. We like to think we're big tough seniors, ready to take on the world (and of course, we are,) but we're in a toned down version of real life. Next year, my fellow seniors, most of us won't have mommie doing the cooking and laundry- we'll have more than just our rooms to keep clean and we're going to be our own disciplinary judges. And our own alarm clocks. We've got to suddenly be rather quite responsible- and doesn't that sound scary? I think yes. Crazy madness, that's what it all is. Just crazy stressful fun insane madness.
So I've rested my case. I've gone mad- absolutely bonkers. (But all the best people are I'm told... by a fictional character no less. How can you go wrong with fictional advice??)

Beautiful day of peace and rest...

Today has been one of those days. Ah Sunday, your calm afternoons are the remedy for my disease of senioritis stress. The off tune congregation singing hymns are kinda my favorite- especially if there are little old ladies with the overly vibrato-ish voices anywhere near or cute primary children trying to get the words right. (Speaking of adorable children, my piano students moved into my ward and sat a couple benches behind us. I absolutely love them, and we got visiting last time and I realized- Shannon. You're so gonna miss them when you move out. I nearly shed some tears. Actually I probably did. :p)
Anyway, I have just been sustained and set apart as the new Laurel president- and although it's nothing like bishop or Relief Society president status I can't help but feel a little bit stressed. I feel kind of inadequate- but hey. There's only one way to learn right? :) Yup- special prayers and fasts. Haha, kidding- but only partially so.

I also felt completely overwhelmed with the beauty of the Holy Ghost from all the talks today. One girl spoke of how when she was little she thought of the Holy Ghost as an imaginary friend. But of course, he was a special imaginary friend because he can talk to Heavenly Father for us. He's the kind of imaginary friend who sits by our side writing every single word of our prayer and then delivering it to Heavenly Father so he could read it like a letter.
(That part of her talk was so cute! Don't you wish we were all still the naive trusting and submissive children that we once were? Don't you wish the gospel was still seen through imaginative colorful eyes that somehow piece it all together so that we never doubted? I think I cried a little when she told that story.) And to an extent that's what he is. He is our friend and he does link us in a way to our Heavenly father.


"[The Holy Ghost] is the greatest guarantor of inward peace in our unstable world.” -Pres. Faust
And I can definitely attest to the instability of our world. It feels like as soon as I climb up the mountain, Satan pushes me back down. Sometimes all the way to the bottom. But the Holy Ghost is like a beacon and a climbing harness and travel guide all in one. If we follow his promptings we're in line with where Christ walked. And His are the footsteps we want to walk in so that someday we won't have to send 'letters' to Heavenly Father because we'll be able to talk to him face to face. (How cool is that going to be?? It's completely mind boggling.)

ALSO (sorry if you're tired of my tangent... but if you are shame on you because gospel topic is beautiful. :p)
Today in Young Women's we talked a little about our theme. I remember my main concern as a brand new beehive was whether or not I could keep up with everyone else saying the theme. (You know, each ward has their own speed and meter to how they say the theme. I swear, some wards have a contest to see how fast they can say it! "Good job girls, we're down to 1 minute and 4 seconds. Hillary- try to tighten up those vowels, you're holding us back." :p )

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places. As we strive to live the Young Women values which are:
Faith,
Divine Nature,
Individual Worth,
Knowledge,
Choice and Accountability,
Good Works,
and Integrity.
We Believe as we come to accept and act upon these values we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

Isn't that incredible? These are kind of 'no brainer' type things but they're so huge. And doesn't it just radiate beauty to you? I admit- I'm guilty of mindless repetition. Sometimes I'm thinking more about what's for lunch than about who I am and my role as a young woman. My dad (and or bishop) talked to the young women about how he felt like Heavenly Father has a special place in His heart for women. Of course he loves the men too... who can help themselves? :p The men of the church earn a great deal of love and respect, but my dad thinks Heavenly Father has an extra tender love for the women. They are the mothers of his future generations of Latter-day Saints, of the future missionaries and prophets and they are the homemakers and gentle side of things. I complain plenty about not loving being a girl, but I decided maybe I'm ok with it. Maybe it's ok to go through all this stupid girl drama because I get to be a mom someday, and I get to fulfill callings and positions that men could never do. On the new poster for the theme 'We are daughters', 'We will stand', 'We believe', and 'We will be prepared' are emphasized. I love the gospel.


We are daughters of our Heavenly Father. He loves us and we love Him.

Why IS a raven like a writing desk?

Today has been mostly lovely. Slightly dramatic (but it’s been that way for the past 2 months- not that I’m counting) in that people invited me to be a total third wheel in a super complicated pass the boy situation type deal- but lovely nonetheless. I spent the morning watching a “Masterpiece Classic” Called “The 39 Steps” (FABULOUSLY AWESOMELY AMAZING! Just in case you wondered if I liked it or not.) Which is a movie about a man who comes back from Africa thinking life in London is ridiculously dull, then gets accused of murder when he encounters a secret service agent who gets killed in his apartment… then he’s on a journey to reach the secret service with a notebook that the agent trusted him with. There’s romance and tons of chasing and being chased. :p It’s intensely perfect! It almost had a Steinbeck ending though. Then I got ready and spent the day with my cute Grammie Marilyn doing picture stuff at Wal-Mart mostly- we scanned about a bajillion- except for not really, it just felt that way because when I was two pictures from being finished with my stack I accidentally hit cancel order and had to start all over again. Haha, leave it to me to mess technical things up. So we submitted the picture order and went to Panda to eat while it all but blizzard-ed outside. I’m so ready for spring… where are you flowers? Where are you green? (They never respond so you’d think someday I’d learn to stop talking to almost inanimate objects. But no. I’m a stubborn one.) And then we went to the Cedar grandparent house to sort through my dad’s pictures and do scrap booking stuff. Which by the way- I like, but mine are never as cute as everyone else’s. Oh well I guess. It’s preserving memories- even if the preservativeness is ugly.
Now I’m editing the pictures of Erin’s delicious Foods 2 project. (I love you Miss Tegge! You presented the opportunity for us to have deliciously awesome food!) Anywho- she had to plate it and have judges and take pictures to email to her teacher… so I of course jumped right into the plating/photography/artsy part of it. :p Sometimes I think that culinary arts is the way to go for sure! I love it! So I sorta elbowed Erin out of the way a little bit… but don’t worry folks- I got out of her way so she could participate in the grandeur of plating food. :p
She made shrimp with cocktail sauce for the appetizer, (Oh, some strawberry kiwi lemonade for the beverage ;) ), green salad of yummy-ness with green onions and radishes, and then tilapia with a Dijon mustard sauce and breadcrumbs for the main course, on rice pilaf with carrots and parsley. Plus some delicious dessert thingy. Cream cheeseish stuff haha, I can't remember all of it. So here’s my attempt at food network magazine photography. :p







Eh, not too shabby eh? :p Not the best either. But someday when I have an awesomely awesome camera and better lighting...

Huh. Someday.












P.S I've decided I'm finding my 'muchness' again. :)

Sometimes...

You find out that a friend from middle school who sat next to you and played the guitar in the silly but fun little pep band died in a train accident. And sometimes it's strangely ridiculously upsetting. And sometimes you get pink eye and stay home and sleep in until a beautifully late hour :p but then you sometimes realize that you can't miss Mads because Mr.Choir teacher would LITERALLY have a cow. And who wants to be the cause of a Mr. Choir teacher having a cow? Not I said the little Shannon- not I. And SOMETIMES you REALLY wish you had all the money in the world to buy coolio cameras and computers and photoshop. And a new closet full of cute new clothes.
Just sayin.

Congrats to new Mads members!!

So. The seniors in Madrigals pulled an all nighter last night and then kidnapped early this morning... I have absolutely no idea how I'm still functioning right now. I'm so ridiculously tired. I totally crashed in Freshman P.E this morning... there were basketballs flying EVERYWHERE and I guess someone was poking me but I just slept right through it. Then in seminary I promise I just put my head down for two seconds while he was reading some Chuck Norris jokes and then I woke up almost an hour later really confused... a couple pizzas later and lunch was over- back in Mads singing group pass offs. And sleeping some more on the floor. And then French I fell asleep and apparently didn't move or look like I was breathing... "Can I poke her?" "No." "Can I poke her 'cause she looks real dead..." Ha. Haha... and then when I woke up the lighting seemed super weird and everyone was sorta giggly at me and I felt SO out of it. Remember how I hated staying up all night? Oh yeah. I remember. Why do we do these things to ourselves???

The Beam

A young girl balanced uncertainly on the end of the balance beam. Noticing her hesitance an instructor went to her aid.
"Honey, if you keep looking over your shoulder like that you'll fall."
The girl looked blankly at the instructor, then shifted her gaze to where her feet were planted. But the instructor shook her head and smiled saying, "You can't look at where you're standing either. If you're going to make it across this beam you've got to focus on where you're going. Keep your eyes focused on what's ahead rather than where you are and where you've been."
The young girl took in a deep breath and placed one foot in front of the other. She smiled, and progressed slowly down the beam. At one point her arms flailed out in the air when she lost her footing, but her instructor's gentle hands caught her before she could fall off. When she reached the end the instructor caught her up in a tight embrace.
"I knew you could do it," she laughed, "you just needed a little kick start huh."

That's how life is. If you focus on the present and the past and forget about the future, you're apt to fall and get hurt. But we have an instructor in life as well- and Christ's gentle hands will never let you fall. "You'll never get anywhere looking back, Love. You've got to keep looking forward."

OH MY GOODNESS YOU MUST SEE THIS!!!

So for Erin's "Birthday" (a few months early)... actually I have recently been informed that it was her very merry un-birthday. Yes, much better. ANYWAY- for her very merry un-birthday we went to Alice In Wonderland! And I have news for you. It was rather spectacular. Albeit slightly psychadelic and perhaps a wee bit drug induced, but spectacular nonetheless. And now the bell rang so I have to run to Nutrition and read some Wuthering Heights before second hour! I'm sure I'll be nerdy and blog again later. :)

I refuse to edit.

Last night- although I still kinda wish I was in Lindon right now for a baby shower complete with a diaper cake :p- we had a semi guy hater party. I went to some water polo games with my friend Emily. I have two things to say about it. A-Holy brutal game!! And I think I heard that anything under the water is legal. Ouch! A guy got out of the water with scratches ALL over. Sad huh. B- I think I've seen a whole new side of the Cedar swimmer guys... a side I'm pretty sure I didn't want or need to ever see. :p Gross. Whoever invented speedo's... must have been gay or something. Idk, but they're gross. So Em and I talked and talked and TALKED and talked after school, and then went to the water polo games while Jennifer and Paige hung out, then met us there and then decided to leave but Emily had a special interest at the pool so we stayed for a few more minutes until someone showed up and kinda made me feel awkward. So we left and watched a chick flick. :p It was pretty grand. Not as much guy hating as I would've loved... but that's ok. We giggled for almost twenty minutes over: "I ran into my ex the other day.... put the car in reverse and hit him again!" :p See how mature we are? :p But hey- at least we only talk of bodily harm and revenge instead of actually doint it. Love life. Truly, I do. And now I REEEEAAAAALLLY want to run away and go to Richfield to watch Piute play basketball. :p Maybe I will! If of course the PGU's let me. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with this... acronym of sorts it's Parental Guidance Units. :p Basically it's just fun to say- no disrespect in any way dad. :p ) Now I'm just rambling so I should probably just hush up, and look into the gumbo. :)

But just for the sake of smiles... let me introduce you to my tactic of escape the blame. :D

Works like a charm ;) If you can convince them you have hydrophobe... haha, Have a grand Saturday all!
P.S as for the title of this- I was gonna vent then decided not to so I got back on here and clicked on the post called "I refuse to edit" and then clicked 'edit' while chuckling at the irony. Haha, I love it. :p

I know EXACTLY what you mean. (Has nothing to do with with anything that makes sense.) (Just so you know)

IT'S FRIDAY AND WE CAN ALL CELEBRATE NOW!!!!!!!!!! Holy long week of sickness drama and sickly sweet condolences for said drama. Who knows how much more I could've handled before I rightly exploded?? So my friends and I decided to have a boy hater party. :) So here's a few things to get you in the mood...







I actually found most of these on an 'Anti Valentine's Day' Website... how awesome is that. I love it, haha... BUT now my cute Grandma called and thinks I should hate boys with all of them and go to the baby shower- which frankly, is what I'd rather do anyway. I miss me familia. So I may just do that and have to hate boys another time. Either way, I kinda liked this post. ;)

Just a couple of perfect quotes. And a couple of cartoons. Ah, my life.

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyways. -- Anonymous

I don't want to deny my heart its chance to feel, I don't want to deny my soul something real... -- Satisfy by Verdana

In the game of life it's a good idea to have a few early losses, which relieves you of the pressure of trying to maintain an undefeated season. -- Bill Baughan

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. -- Danny Kaye

Life isn't worth living unless you're willing to take some big chances and go for broke.-- Eliot Wiggington

Sadness flies away on the wings of time.
--Jean de La Fontaine

“I'd rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are.”

“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option”

“We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are.”

Girl's parties! :D

Last night my dad went off to have some man party of some sort- that sounds weird. Anyway, he was out of the house and so us girls had a girls party of course! We made homemade little pizzas, which isn't out of the norm, except this time we made chicken Alfredo pizzas. Which all I have to say is: Yum! Even if the chicken was that you know has been ground up into a nasty chicken pulp mess and then put back together, and fake spray tanned so it looks like someone actually took time to make the cute grill marks on it. And since I'm related to Angie and read her blog all the time I'm starting to like taking pictures of food again. :p So here's a few of the pizzas. (Yeah, the lighting was AWFUL so they're not very good. Just as a warning.)






Yum huh. I know right?
And now I would like to be deep like Confucius and discuss tic tac toe. Sometimes you get into very sticky situations. Like when tic tac toe has become unhealthy for you, and you avoid it like the plague but then its beckoning fingers hypnotize you and you end up letting the great brick walls of china that you've built between you and tic tac toe come down just a little bit. Which is when tic tac toe starts climbing back over the wall- because it misses you playing the games. And it's hard to rebuild walls when there's a tic tac toe climbing over the top, right? Right. And you feel bad because sometimes when you play tic tac toe and no matter which move you make- you lose. So sometimes it's just better that you burn the game and move on to something different. Just not battle ship. Or trouble. Or sorry. Something happy like pictionary.

High off of cold meds perhaps?

The past couple of days I've pretty much been in total giggle fits on and off throughout the day. And I sing really loud in my car a lot lately, which is typical, but now I sound like a twelve year old boy because I'm sick. :p It's practically hilarious. But that's probably the cold meds talking.
So... good news. But first you have to hear the bad news that makes the good news good. Saturday is my cousin's son's baptism, and my cousin in law's baby shower... sounds like a party right? That's because it will be- my family is fun to party with. :) But then Mr. Choir teacher said, "Workshops Saturday" and my sad little heart dropped... probably even chipped a little because that translates into "You now have zero plans for Saturday morning which for you, Shannon, cancels going out of town with your family to hit two family gatherings in one day. Sorry. Except for not." So I was feeling sadly. But now due to "his health" we're canceling the work shops. (WOO WOO!- Erin, TWO windows! Plus BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! ;) Ha. Love it.) So now assuming we all conquer this illness crap I'm gonna get to go to the baby shower and baptism! Exciting right? I knew you'd agree. Also I'm getting excited for the family trip to Nauvoo... I know pretty much nothing about it so don't ask when or why... does it really matter? We're going to Nauvoo! When we went before I was ten so I don't think I really grasped the coolness of it all as well as I should have. And this time Bri won't be a little new born so it'll be less tricky. Plus we're old enough (minus Brianne) to do baptisms in the Nauvoo temple... um, AMAZING? I think yes!


I rest my case. :) Awesome huh??

Also, as a random side note- I have lots of Avril Lavigne songs stuck in my head... punk girl power anyone? I like it. And I've found my type. :p Men don't come like this anymore...

I stayed home sick today... so I blogged. Probably not a grand thing to do on sick days when you're supposedly in bed dying but I couldn't resist! ;)

Remember that “I’m grateful for family” tangent I went on? Well, thankfully it hasn’t diminished… actually I’m still kind of stuck on it. Sadly we’re all sickly in my family right now, so for family home evening last night, my dad and I went to get some curly fries from Arby’s and then we just watched McLintock (greatest John Wayne movie of my child hood. That and True Grit :p) But my dad and I had a lovely little visit and then I stayed home today from school and so my mom and I visited all morning about marriage and her and dad’s story and family and all sorts of happy fun stuff. And ya know what? Marriage still sounds stressful to plan and ridiculously scary to ever make that decision since it’s sort of life changing-ly important, but I’m so so SOOOO lucky to have both sides of the family as beautiful examples to follow. They’re models of what I want my life to be, and how I want my marriage and future family to be. When I was little I used to think my mom was just “mom” she didn’t have any other name or any other interests besides cooking and cleaning and laundry and me :p. Same goes for my dad. (Well, except the interests differ slightly) And I thought that marriage was just… idk, I never really thought about it besides the before you have kids portion as being fairy tale and disney like. It’s been so much fun to see stories unfold and understand the feelings and depth to family and my parent’s marriage. I’m so glad I know how much they love each other- that’s a real blessing in today’s world. I think it’s completely adorable to watch them both tell about how they met and how my dad chuckles and says, “She said ‘oh, I’m so glad I asked you to this’ fifteen times!” (Referring to a sweethearts dance in college) And my mom grins and says, “I was though!” Life and love is beautiful. And both sets of grandparents have been married for 50+ years, which is also a huge blessing (and some say a miracle) in today’s world. Which by they way, I think is sad that marriages lasting is now considered a miracle. It’s sad that it’s become rare enough to be called that. Which I suppose adds to the magic and beauty of my family, and all our experiences. I’m lucky to have the memories of trips like Canada and Nauvoo and maybe even Disney Land. :p It’s magical right? And Cherene my aunt I hope you’re reading this, because I feel so blessed and lucky to have you : ) I’ll always have deliciously fond memories of cousin parties and the CSI one (Haha, Frank, “What does it stand for?” “Maybe it means, ’Come Serve I!’” Haha) And going to The Lion King and Big River, and Les Mis, Wicked and so many other plays and fun things! The ‘Amazing Cousin Race’? Yup, we’re very lucky to have you in our lives Aunt Cherene… we love you!!
So today I got on and found pictures of my family on both sides and all of our good times. :p Some of them I had to giggle at because we all look so little! And just as a disclaimer, if any of you are perturbed that I have your picture on here or you feel like I didn’t find the most glamorous ones… I say tough. It’s a family legacy in pictures so hush up and enjoy it. :p Be thankful and stuff. ;) I mean, I look like a total hooligan in most of these ;) For real. I love it! Anywho… here’s my tribute to my amazing family all around me! (P.S the leaf thing is because My Grandma Barton wanted me to take a picture of it. So it sorta counts as a tribute and I like leaves. :p)


































































Aren't they precious?? I love the one of my mom and dad on the beach running toward the water... don't believe a word people say about having to grow up- I plan on staying a kid at heart forever. And I love the one of Brianne sitting by my dad with his gloves on. Haha, so sooo cute! But then again I love all of them. Now. I found this picture- which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being grateful for families but it's sort of how I'm feeling in some of my classes occasionally. Like the poetry analysis madness in AP English. Plus, who doesn't love Calvin and Hobbes. Sorry it's not a very good picture, I took it off of a bulletin board.