baby announcement

I made this a couple weeks ago for my good friend Amy. Missing my camera prompted me to go through pictures and I realized I never posted this. I probably should have put this on the photo blog...oh well. That blog makes me sad now that my camera is off being fixed for who knows how long. I had to reschedule a few shoots so that blog will be quiet for some time.

have a laugh.

we have magnets like this at work, they make me laugh, so now you can too!

and if you don't laugh, then well, we can't be friends. (thats a joke too)

My Sisters Keeper

I am a fan of this book, and now its a movie!

We all know the movies are always so much better than the books, but I will give it a shot. Actually, I can't wait for it to come out! I really like Abigail Breslin, but Cameron Diaz as her mom?? seems odd to me. She seems too young to play a mom, even though she is probably way old. Ok here is the trailer, if you care to watch :)

Today I made a bomb peach cobbler. So good. 

Now back to my dessert and my new obsession, The Real Housewives Of New Jersey (even if they don't have a fruit to hold)

Love.

I really, really really love this man.

I just wanted everyone to know.

ramblings

In case you haven't noticed, I often have itches to change up my blog. I love having it on minima stretch to allow for bigger pictures, so I switched back. 

..............

Ok, have to mention American Idol. Thank goodness! I was so sick of Adam and his tongue. Although it probably wont be the last time we see him... Kris needed to win to be successful, I think. Also, what was with those cage shoulder pads Adam wore?? He scares me. 

..............

My camera broke while on vacation. Yes, the nice one. I need to get it sent out for repairs, so no photos from me for a while :(

..............

I am now off to buy more mouse traps. We still have mice. To me that would mean, call someone already, but men don't work that way. I think we have caught over 10 mice in the past month. Disgusting! The smell of it is getting to me. 

Have a great week everyone!

Vacation

Is there a such thing as post-vacation blues? I think I have it. I wish I was still on vacation and now that we aren't go-go-going I am terribly bored. We went to bed last night at 1 a.m.(after someone was sent to turn our water on, I guess our pipe was flooding out and a neighbor complained) and then I was up at 7 to start laundry and shop for groceries. I am not even tired...yet :)

So last Saturday we arrived in New Orleans to start our cruise. We were on a Carnival cruise, first time cruising for the both of us. We got on the ship and there was food EVERYWHERE! It was lunch time, there was 3 buffet lines, a salad bar, a pizza bar, and a Mongolion BBQ-type set up line. So good. We were in heaven. Our room was nice, much bigger than we thought. Everyone on the ship was from the South. I mean everyone! So we did get to meet some very nice friendly people, which I was really nervous about having to talk to new strangers but I got over it.

On the back of the ship:

Me and our boat:
The view of Key West, FL:

Man it was SO humid everywhere we went. I have never lived in humidity and rarely visited it, so it was a hard thing not to complain about! We walked around in Key West and visited some shops, then went on a kayak tour that went from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. It was Chris' choice of activity :)

Us in front of the Atlantic Resort in the Bahamas:

The Bahamas was gorgeous. We went to the Atlantis waterpark and spent the day there.

Me snorkeling in Freeport:
I have always been afraid of snorkeling, but it was actually a ton of fun!!

Chris leaving the ship:
Yesterday we spent the day in the French Quarters of New Orleans after the ship docked.
Again, humid and hot. We were even caught in a thunderstorm for a couple of hours.

This church was beautiful, I think it was also the first Catholic Church I have been in.
Now we are each 10 pounds heavier and I have to cook again...ugh. Haha we loved the cruise. I think it is a great way to see new places. It was good for me to be somewhere that was all inclusive because I tend to worry about money while vacationing. This time around I could really just relax and have fun! We will definitely want to cruise again!

Home.

Ok we are home after a long, much needed vacation. 

We came home to find our back gate open, and the main water pipe exposed, and the water turned off. We have no water. I want to shower, brush my teeth, start laundry....but what is going on?? Plus its after midnight so we cant do anything about, and tomorrow is Sunday so who knows if anyone can help.

Oh, and there were two dead mice in our garage. Our house smells pretty ripe.

Well we had a blast, this homecoming just sucks. I will post pictures soon!

love & marriage.

I wanted to post a little something for our anniversary now since we will be gone and I won't be blogging.

So this Tuesday is our 2nd wedding anniversary. It seems like we have been together forever, but at the same time it has just flown by. Strange I know. I am sure most married people feel like that. We have been together a total of 4 years. We met at Chandler-Gilbert Community College/Desert Springs Church/myspace.com. It was complicated. As soon as we met I knew he would be my husband. It scared the poop out of me (Chris used to hate the word 'poop'. I wonder what happened to that). I didn't want to commit to him since I knew it would move quickly. And it did. We were engaged after 6 months. We got married a year and a half later.

Marriage is challenging. The thing I struggle with most is biting my tongue. I know now that choosing your battles is crucial, and being quick to get mad and 'tell him off' is not worth it. Like I could harbor anger over the fact that Chris never ever takes the trash out or I could just do it (I really shouldn't post that....now he REALLY isn't ever going to take it out). I do get frustrated when I see other men helping their wives so much. The burden of the home is so heavy and a ton of work, but their are other things he does that I can appreciate. He takes care of all the bills. I never have to worry about money. I focus on those things, not the ones I want to change. Its all about encouraging the good of your husband, and praying for the bad :) It makes life easier. Thats just a huge thing I have learned the past couple years!

In church a couple weeks ago, the pastor said:

"Women marry a man hoping they will change, and men marry a women hoping they won't"

Haha isn't that the truth!

I am so blessed. We are so in love, have so much fun together, and are the best of friends. I love you Chris, I can't wait to start our 3rd year of marriage with you! Thanks for being so good to me.

I ♥ the Swine Flu

Yep, you read that right. I love the swine flu! Now don't get me wrong I am sure it is awful for those who have it and have died from it, but it has brought us:

A 7 DAY CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS!!!!

I mentioned before that we are going on a cruise for our anniversary. A while back Chris booked a 4 day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and last week it was cancelled due to the swine flu paranoia. Carnival automatically re-booked us on a 7 day cruise to the bahamas leaving 2 days later (the bahamas are much more expensive to cruise to). SWEET, right? Well, yes until we had to change our plane tickets. They wanted $400/ticket! Instead we just bought new tickets since it was WAY cheaper, and Carnival ended up giving us a $500 credit to spend on the ship for all the inconveniences. Score! That pays for excursions and gratuity. So overall, to get 3 extra days and better ports/destinations, we had to pay about $200 extra. 

This anniversary trip is such a blessing. I am soooo looking forward to it!  

Memory Lane Monday

Sliding

My Aunt Cheryl was in town so we had a great dinner at my moms. She had just bought a "wee" slide for the grandkids, so this is them enjoying it:

Emmy

Aidan
....and the "other" grandkids....

Thanks Grandma

For sending us this picture. Its us 3 kids with our Great Grandma. Made me smile :)

Weekend Reflections

Let me just say this computer is moving VERY slow....I really feel like I am using AOL right now. 

Our weekend is ending, boo. We had a lot of fun...lets see:

• Friday I worked all day and was out in the Phoenix area so I made a quick stop into Last Chance since I haven't been there in years. I was so excited to find a pair of Vigoss jeans in my size for $9.99!! What a steal, right? Well I get them home to try them on (no I didn't want to wait in the enormous fitting room line), and they don't have a front button and the zipper doesn't work. If anyone has any tips on fixing that, let me know.
• We had a great dinner that night we some friends. We ate at Brio at the San Tan Mall and had the strangest girl for a waiter EVER! Our friend ordered a lobster dish and she said "I love Crustaceans!" She was creepy weird. And she hovered. We had a good night though!
• Saturday Chris had won tickets to the Diamond Backs game in the Wells Fargo suite. Fun time eating free food and having a great view of the game. 
• Today we went to church, we are really enjoying where we are going. Then my dad took us to lunch which is always a nice treat. We ate outside at Red Robin and it was a beautiful day.  Then I had sushi for dinner with my girlfriends :)
• Just now we got back from a bike ride, and I am about to die. WOW I am not in shape.

This is a picture from a photo shoot I did last week, and I loved this shot.

AI

Don't judge me for writing about this.....BUT

every Tuesday on American Idol I wait for the judges to say:

"Adam, quit screaming,"

"Adam, quit sticking your tongue out and shaking it,"

"Adam, not everyone likes your flamboyant music."

Do they ever say rude things to him like they do the other contestants? No. He is like the queen of AI this season, and I don't like it.

Okay. Thats all.

Lazy Butt.

This is me trying to work on the computer tonight. That dog thinks the keyboard is her bed.
and she loves sleeping upside down.

Guess what! We bought these t-shirts tonight....(well ones like it)

....to wear on our anniversary cruise! We are so excited! Chris loves SNL....thats where this saying is from, although if you look it up make sure it is edited or whatever, and to me its not the funniest......ok enough rambling. It will be funny to wear these on the ship though ;)

Happy Birthday,

Olivia Faye! We love you!

Happy Easter!

What a great holiday we get to celebrate. The miracle of Easter and the price Jesus paid for us is so amazing to me. We had a great service today at church. In case you didn't know, we have been trying out new churches for a few months now. It is really overwhelming and it is easy to feel lost in the midst of it all, but we know God is faithful and has a home for us. Please keep that in your prayers. 

Ok my favorite candy of the whole year!!!!

 I love my mom for still buying us Easter treats. And you know I will be hitting the stores this week for candy clearance! Then I guess I will need to hit the gym :)


I wanted to show off my newest headband for Em- I made her 4 new ones and I think she will be sporting a new one at her dedication next week, so I will post that one too.

This was her Easter headband. 

..........................................

He is risen indeed!

a little muse...

more of this on the photo blog!

Its Friday...!

Fridays just aren't the same since we have been married. To us, its just another weeknight, especially since we always work Saturdays. It used to be such a 'date night',  now we often forget its a Friday night and that most people are out having a good time! Haha we even find ourselves going to be at 9pm on Fridays....oh the joy of married life! I wouldn't change it for anything!

........................................

I have had such a blogging block lately, not much going on in this household. We both have been working so much. It is really needed though. We are just grateful to be able to work! 

Hopefully my next post won't be far away!!

Shannons Randomness.

This week our dog Samson graduated from PetsMart training. It was pretty cool I guess.

I got to spend some good times with my mother-in-law and her dog Minnie Sue since they were apart of the class too.

At the end of the series they give you a bumper magnet that I am sure you have all seen on peoples cars. Chris sneakily put it on mine and I drove around with it for a whole day before I realized.

..................................................................................

These are our dogs in case you forgot....Notice that runt Delilah. She never can get comfy. Drives me loco!!! I took these in about 1 minute and look at all her positions.

.................................................................................

This is who I root for on American Idol. She used to be called Megan Corkery but now is Megan Joy. Anyone else notice that??