Shannon

Tag- You're it!!! Let others know a little more about yourself by re-posting and tagging your friends. Re post note as your name "
1) What is your favorite salad dressing? Kraft Catalina
2) What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Olive Garden
3) What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it? salad
4) What are your pizza toppings of choice? Pepperoni
5) What do you like to put on your toast? Butter
6) How many televisions are in your house? 1
7) What color is your cell phone? silver & maroon
8) Are you right-handed or left-handed? right
9) Have you ever had anything removed from your body? A child & appendix
10) What is the last heavy item you lifted? A box of magazines
11) Have you ever been knocked unconscious? no
12) If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No way
13) If you could change your name, what would you change it to? If you would have asked me about 10 years ago it would be Emily :)
14) Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Yes, if I could drink it slow
15) How many pairs of flip flops do you own? 5 I think
16) What’s your goal for the year? buy our own home
17) Last person you talked to? Richard
18) Last person you hugged? Richard
19) Favorite Season? Summer
20) Favorite Holiday? Thanksgiving
21) Favorite day of the week? Whatever Richard's day off is for that week, right now Fri
22) Favorite Month? December
23) First place you went this morning? the kitchen{didn't leave home today}
24) Do you always answer the phone? nope
25-27)Where'd these questions go? someone didn't want to answer them so they just deleted them. Where's the fun in that???
28) If you could change your eye color what would it be? I like my blue eyes
29) What flavor drink do you get at Sonic? never been, don't think we have one around here
30) Have you ever had a pet fish? Yes…but I won it from the fair & they never last long
31) Favorite Christmas song? There's a New Kid in Town By George Straight 
32) What's on your wish list for your birthday? dinner at Olive Garden
33) Can you do push ups? not really
34) Can you do a chin up? umm, no not right now
35) Does the future make you more nervous or excited? I'm excited
36) Do you have any saved texts? nope
37) Ever loved a dog like its your child? nope
38) Do you have an accent? No
39) What is the last song to make you cry? Can't think of the name right now, but its good 
40) Plans tonight? relax & vegetate in front of tv or computer :)
41) Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Once
42) Name 3 things you bought yesterday? ummm, it's hard to buy stuff when you don't go anywhere
43) Have you ever been given roses? yes
44) Current hate right now? Not having gas money til thurs
45) Met someone who changed your life? Yes
46) How did you bring in the New Year? At home with a few friends & my kids
47) What song represents you? My Redeemer Lives By Nicole C. Mullins
48) Name three people who might complete this? ?
49) What were you doing 12 AM last night? on computer{should have been sleeping}

50) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?I need to read my Bible before the kids wakeup... very rare occasion

I tag whoever reads this & hasn't done it yet :)

In the Eyes of a Child

Here's some pics Emily took with her Fisher Price Toddler camera that Grandma Karen bought her for her birthday. I added some special effects to some.

This is called Edge Detection.

She did alot of self portraits. 
 
Grandma & Noah
Just randomness
Negative.
So sweet. 
 
She's so beautiful. 
Look at those lips!

Lessons in Life

A little wordy but I hope you enjoy the lesson I've learned.

I was getting my Hots Tots lesson prepared the other day & read a few verses in my Bible to help me. The teacher's guide gives a few verses that apply to the lesson to help with preperation. The story was about the widowed lady who had two boys & needed money. She went to the prophet Elisha who told her to borrow many empty jars from her neighbors & friends. She was to go home & shut the door & fill all those jars with the oil from her little jar. Which she did by the grace of God. Honestly I've heard this story & read these verses but since Alice's Sunday School lesson the week before & Pastor Hake's sermon the other day were also about this same story, these verses hit me a little different then they ever did before.

Philippians 4:11-13{KJV}: 

{11}Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. {12}I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. {13}I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

We have{as well as many others I'm sure} been struggling some financially. Maybe not as bad as some, Richard still has his job & I am still able to stay at home with our children, but nevertheless we can't always get the things we want or even sometimes the things we need. Lately I have been getting very upset by that. I've gotten so used to being able to just spend & not worry about whether we have enough or not. But when I read these verses I felt a tug at my heart. It made me remember something God did for us & I wanted to share that with you.

Our Story of Need:

When Richard & I were married, it wasn't exactly how we had planned. We had a courthouse wedding. Yes we choose to get married that way{& we don't regret our decision}, but I always dreamed of a big outdoor wedding, which we were planning on having. We were going to pay for it with the bonus Richard was getting from enlisting with the National Guard in 2004. Well anyone who knows the military knows they procrastinate with many things, his bonus was one of them.

In Nov. of 2006 Richard lost his job. We knew it was coming & he was searching for a new one but with no luck. He was still working with the NG one weekend a month which was about $200 a paycheck{once a month}. There was still no sign of the bonus he was promised two years before. We were living in a one bedroom apartment when our little girl Emily was born that same month. Richard was unable to find a job for seven months. Yes we were struggling in a way, & by that I mean we had to learn that we couldn't always do the things we wanted to do. 

During those seven months we were able to move into a two-bedroom apartment, pay all our bills{with very few going late} & have food on the table. In April of 2007 Richard finally recieved that 15 hundred dollar bonus he was promised{back in 2004}. We were able to use that to survive until he was finally able to find a job that June. 

Richard & I often think back on that & realize how much God was there for us through that time, & how He provided us with that bonus in the time we needed it the most. God wanted us to rely on Him & trust that He would take care of us no matter what. It took a little bit of time for us to realize that during our struggles but I know that we are both closer to God because of it. 

Those verses the other day helped me to remember that time & all the times I had so little but I had all I needed. I know God will take care of us through this time of struggle as well. All we have to do is pray & trust in God & He will give us all we need & sometimes even things we want. A lesson in life that is worth learning in so many ways.

Our Story of Want:

Richard had always wanted a big screen tv. He had a certain one picked out & everything. Last summer Richard was 'tv shopping'. He was wanting to settle for a tv that he didn't really want & we couldn't exactly afford. He was very upset when we left that store without a tv. We both decided to pray{neither one knowing the other was praying} that Richard would be content with what we had. The very next day Richard saw an ad{which he never looks at} for the exact tv he wanted at half the price. So we went to take a look at it. When we got there we found out that it was even cheaper than the ad said so we bought it. It feels silly sometimes thanking God for things that we don't need but God is the reason we were able to buy that tv. 

Four Things You Can't Recover...

The stone........after the throw. 

The word.........after it's said.

The occasion........after it's missed. 

The time.........after it's gone.

My Bucket List

Place an X by all the things you've done during your lifetime.

(  ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
(x) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
(  ) Been to Mexico
(  ) Been to Florida
(  ) Been to Hawaii
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(  ) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only
(  ) Climbed to the top of a mountain
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) Made prank phone calls
(  ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(  ) Lied about your weight
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Got straight A's on a report card
(  ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone to the movies
(  ) Been deep sea fishing
(  ) Driven across the United States
(  ) Been in a hot air balloon
(  ) Been sky diving
(  ) Gone snowmobiling
(  ) Lived in more than one country
(x) Laid outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(x) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(  ) Enjoyed the beauty of Ole Faithful Geyser
(  ) Seen the Statue of Liberty
(  ) Ate dog food as a kid...or adult
(x) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(  ) Been to the Grand Canyon
(  ) Won cash or prizes worth more than $1,000
(  ) Been on a cruise
(  ) Traveled by train
(  ) Traveled by hitch-hiking
(x) Been horseback riding
(  ) Ridden on a San Francisco Trolley
(  ) Read a Bible from Genesis to Revelation
(x) Been to Disneyland or Disney World
(x) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(  ) Been in a rain forest
(x) Seen whales in the ocean
(  ) Been to Niagara Falls
(  ) Ridden on an elephant
(  ) Swam with dolphins

1. Any nickname? Shannypooh
2. How much do you love your jOB? very much!  
3 Birthplace: Napa, California
4 In how many states have you lived? 2, 3 if you count CO when we lived in a hotel for 2 wks while my mom worked
5 Ever been to Africa ? nope
6. Ever eaten just cookies for dinner? guilty
7. Ever been on TV? not that I know of
8. Ever steal any traffic signs? nope
9. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4
10. Can you drive a standard shift car? yes
11. Favorite pie: banana cream pie
12. Favorite number: 3
13. Favorite Movie: Sweet Home Alabama
14. Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving
15 . Favorite dessert: banana split
16. Favorite food? Italian
17. Favorite day of the week? Whenever Richard's off, it changes every 28 days
18. Favorite brand of body soap? Bath & Bodyworks
19. Favorite toothpaste? Crest
20. Favorite smell? a baby after it's bath
21. Favorite vacation spot? camping at the beach
22. How do you relax? read a book
23. How do you see yourself in 10 years? getting old raising my 2 beautiful children
24. What was the name of your first pet? I believe CT {Chopped Tail}

25. What were you doing this time yesterday? playing on the computer

I tag Kat.

Results...

 I didn't realize how much I was subconsciously worrying about the results until I started shaking when I saw Group Health on the caller ID this afternoon. I am healthy Yay!! All I can say is Thank You God. I am able to breath again. Thank you for those of you who were praying for me.