resolutions...

this was a page done about my resolutions last year. total scraplift from the designing with calendar! was trying to go thru and see what i did accomplish and what i didn't.

• get organized: working on it. so i'll give that a yes!
• spend more quality time with nick: i'm thinking this is a yes too. we've gone downtown for just us dates, watch more movies together after work, gone out to dinner just to talk. i think we have finally settled into a routine and that totally helps.
• visit with friends and family more: yes but still room for improvement there!
• start exercising: got this in under the wire!
• make and use a budget: next topic please... :P
• eat healthier: not so much. definitely need to work on this.
  
• be true to myself. i think so. i spoke my mind and didn't waiver because someone else said i should.
• keep my resolutions: more yays than nays. always a good thing.
  

i think 2005 was the first year in maybe forever that i've kept some of my resolutions. maybe i should do another for 2006 and see how that goes...

our 5th week...

with the trainer. it should be six but we missed that week due to our crazy carnival vacation! i can't believe i'm still motivated. maybe it's the fact that i'm paying some guy $50/week whether i go or don't go. who ever said money wasn't a motivator?! i'm glad we are doing the whole excercise thing. i totally feel better about myself. mainly healthier, eventhough i haven't lost any weight. in fact, that pesky pound has been around for quite sometime!

took tomorrow off. need a day to recouperate from the holidays. totally kicked me in the bootay! also have to get some stuff done about the reimbursement for our luggage mishap.

so in the mood to organize and rearrange. i guess that is a good thing since our furniture should arrive within the next 4-6 weeks. they are sorta tiptoe-ing around the date due to the holidays. no worries. gives me more time. and in the spirit of organizing and updating, i'm going to try to upload more layouts to my free blogger gallery. :) two peas is great, but i also feel like i need to have comments posted. here kinda feels like my own little area. i know it's on the internet but i'm weird okay! and if i get brave enough can share this site and the gallery with more family and friends...easy access!

holiday fun.

love, love, love this picture that nick's cousin crystale took of us. it's amazing! might have to be the holiday card next year. and i couldn't believe that i got more compliments on our photo card this year that my hand made ones. so i vow to never make another christmas card. well, except for a certain few who i know will appreciate it.

this is my favorite spontaneous picture of nick and myself. his little cousin, megan, got a digital camera for christmas and was enjoying playing with it. she did a pretty darn good job too.


my one hand is strategically placed over my cleavage. i didn't think of it when she took the first picture and it was pretty racy! totally love the fact that his family members all take digital photos and that i went home with a cd copy last night and received some more via email this morning! loves it.

the past few days were so darn hectic. scratch that. the last few weeks. today was the first day of down time. nick and i didn't leave the house. well, he did. just to take the garbage out tho!

christmas eve was great. my mom hosted as usual. and the regulars attended. tina even came at the last minute. it was very weird to not have bob around. i can't believe it has been 7 months. i'm so amazed at her strength. spent the night laughing and enjoying everyone's company. santa was good to us!

christmas day was crazy! started at nick's dad's in the morning to exchange gifts. came home and had to get ready for his aunt's. we totally ditched my aunt. bummer. but what can you do? immediate family wins and we hadn't been with his mom yet. watched the bears win! woohoo! and was it hilarious with nick's uncle, a giant bear fan! after celebrating with the entire family we headed to his mom's. so we could exchange gifts with just her. we already gave her a kitty, so we kinda just watched and received!

all in all, good times. got some super fun pictures and can't wait to start scrapping again...and maybe even use some of my new christmas paper! ;) and in case you were wondering, nick and i didn't exchange gifts again. we both got early gifts. him = xbox 360. her = i pod nano. he would love to add to that list but we will just leave it at that!

janet jackson...

is my mail lady.... totally made me smile when i visited the mailbox today! also made me realize that i'm a twit. totally forgot to get her a little gift. i know they don't need a gift. but she does bring lots of packages to my door step every month. so i like to not be a total scrooge. must think something up quick. or can i wait and regift....hmmm. decisions, decisions! ;)

a recap!

it's gonna be a long one! gonna recap day by day...

saturday. we woke up pretty early because we ran out of time on friday for packing...thanks to that lovely flat tire! we got everything done and ready and just had to wait for jason's mom to come pick us up. christy had to work and was running a wee bit late so this was gonna save us some time. mrs. cooper was nice enough to drive the four of us to ohare. not an easy feat. then it started to snow. we were hoping it would hold off until we left but with that didn't happen. our plane was delayed by more than an hour and they had to de-ice the wings twice. scared the crap out of me. i am so not a fan of flying but better safe than sorry. we finally took off, had a decent flight, and a kick arse landing when we made it to miami. that guy was amazing. we had to wait around and catch a shuttle to our hotel. got to the hotel and asked the check in guy about the shuttle service for the following day to the port. he spoke no english. couldn't answer our questions and was of no help. so we went to bennigans and drank. gotta pass the time somehow, right?

sunday. wake up late and miss the continental breakfast. bummer. call the front desk to ask for an extension on our check out time and to clarify the shuttle issues that were not resolved the night before. again, no english speaking workers. so frustrating. head to the front desk to see if we can better explain ourselves in person. no such luck. when asking about what time the shuttle left and what exactly we needed to do, the only answer we got was 'noon maybe.' what in sam's hill is that? so we waited, and waited. two shuttles and a few hours later we are still at the hotel. we decided to take a cab instead. finally made it to the port and got all of our luggage in order. then a porter comes up to us and asks for a tip before he takes our bags. he had to move them maybe two feet. seriously. then he had the balls to ask for another dollar. he said we had to tip one dollar a bag. we were sick and tired of everything so just handed the guy an extra dollar. however, when we were walking away we noticed that a lot of the luggage had victory tags. we were on the valor. so we walked back and asked the porter if this was the proper drop off area for the valor. he said yes told us we should have our luggage around 5pm and went back to work. we were still unsure. so jason went back yet again to double check. again, the guy said we were fine. off to the check in line. seriously, we had to spend at least 1/4 of our vacation in lines! two hours later we finally made it to the boat. it was amazing. i'm not really sure if i knew what to expect. but holy cow is it cool. we walked around checked out the decks. snapped some pictures and decided to find our rooms. we got to our room and no luggage. okay, fine. maybe we were one of the later flats to make it aboard the ship. rooms were interesting. small, not really sure what i was expecting tho! the balcony was cool. awesome to just sit there and watch nothing and hear the ocean. totally did not freak me out as expected. jason and christy's room reeked of smoke. horrible since all rooms are considered non smoking. they had a heck of a time getting that taken care of! we headed to the dining hall for dinner. that was fun. being adventurous. trying new foods. because if you didn't like it you could order something else...for free! our wait staff was nice and efficient. eric and alina. everyone on the boat was from a foreign country. they all had their origins on their name tags. i kid you not, not once did i see one with a united states under their name. so after dinner we went back to the room. where we had lovely messages waiting for us on our phones. christy called the pursar's office while nick and i just went there. come to find out they placed our luggage on the victory. and we wouldn't be able to recieve it until we went back to port the following sunday. i was livid. i couldn't stand there and hear their excuses i left. went to the room and was almost physically sick. our thought out vacation was ruined. yes, one week without our stuff. no underwear, no bathing suits, no shoes, no socks. no nothing. but carnival said that they would comp. us $175/person. that's crap. their stuff is overpriced and i so don't want to be a walking advertisement. but what else could we do. but their stores were closed for the evening so that was not an option at the moment. what does carnival give us? a crappy carnival tshirt that says we sailed with rusty wallace on 12/4/05. great a left over shirt and a crappy bag with deodorant and mouthwash that smells the same. all i have to say is thank goodness i keep our medicines in my carry on and kept them with me. i would have been uber mad with no birth control! jason called his mom who got in contact with our travel agent. hoping she could help us some more....

monday. wake up mad, angry, upset, sad, devastated. argue with husband because he is mad that i'm in a bad mood. told me to get over it. there was nothing we could do. well, you know what. let me wallow for a bit. it is what i do. how i cope. deal with it. be supportive. grr. so we go shopping in their stupid stores. get some sweatshorts, a tank top, a shirt, suntan lotion, cameras, and nick gets swimsuits, boxers, and a few shirts. since we couldn't hang out and suntan nor do any activity that would get our clothes super stinky we went to lunch in the dining halls and sat around and played some games that i had in the carry on. pass the pigs was a blessing this past week! went to the formal shop to get our it's free because it's ugly formal wear. the boys looked fine. i mean a tux, is a tux. but they were upset that it was cumberbunds! christy and i had these awful black, velvet, long skirts and horrible gold sequined/lame sleeveless shirts. hideous! i tried to get the matching black top but i truly looked like i was wearing a garbage bag so we were going to be twinkies...groan. got dressed in our formal wear. i couldn't bring myself to wear the top. i put on a tank i had bought in their shop. if someone had a problem with it tough. bring it on. we only went for the prime rib. found out thru their $0.75/minute internet cafe that we were s.o.l. our hands were tied. nancy, our travel agent, was contacting corporate and was going to do her best...afterwards we just crashed. we had an early morning debarkation in hopes of finding our necessities for our excursions.


tuesday. get up at the butt crack of dawn to catch the early tender boat to grand cayman. once ashore, we find out that nothing is open. but we did find out that their was a sporting store we could walk to. so off we went. they opened a wee bit early for us since they saw us standing outside and were extremely helpful and nice. i'm sure they made a fortune off of us. we were able to find shoes and socks. so that was a relief. we still needed the other necessity...girl's bathing suits. shopping for suits is no fun. it because even less fun under pressure. thankfully, we came across a store that had semi decent suits! they had really cool reggae christmas music on the stereo. the lady lied to me and sold me the wrong cd. argh. oh well, it's still decent. after the whirlwind shopping spree we had to haul ass back to the dock to meet our guide for the excursion. we were going to swim with the sting rays. it was pretty freakin neat. our guide warned us that they would be like cats and just swim right up to us and rub our legs if they wanted to be petted. i'm not sure i believed him, but he wasn't kidding. it was unbelievable. and they felt like a weird, wet mushroom. very cool. don't have the good pictures from christy's underwater digital camera yet. when i do i promise to share! after the excursion we walked around for a while longer seeing if we could find any other odds and ends we might need. they we went to wait in the line for the tender boat. it was some line. down the street and around the corner. lucky for us it was near the rum factory and we got us some yummy rum cakes. since we really hadn't eaten, we were just a tiny bit buzzed by the time it was our turn for the boat ride. and can you say YUM! had a relaxing evening. saw the comedy show. absolutely hilarious. went back for the midnight R rated one too. he was that good. percy crews II i was having some problems with dizziness so i turned in early.


wednesday. roatan honduras. had a really cool docking procedure. no ferrying back and forth. gotta like that. but the island itself was sad. such a poor country. went zip cording. wow, did i just make up a word or what? you can see the description here. was fun as heck. i thought it would scare the bejesus out of me. not so much. and funnily enough, the guide made me go first. yes, me. the giant chicken. it was so fun tho. zipping thru the jungle. listening to the wild animals. awesome. our second favorite excursion. jay and chris did the dolphin encounter. they loved it. reaffirmed christy's desire to train them and not just be a vet! after the excursions we met up on the boat later. nick wanted to go gambling, so we did. both nick and myself lost $20. jas and christy found some crazy sheep slot thingie and were trying their luck there. chris ended up winning $34 in nickels. had to restock the machine before she was done receiving her winnings! then we had some dinner. after dinner we went to catch another show. it was a stinker. some stupid, sucky magician who reminded us of chris kattan and a lousy comedian. horrible. both christy and myself fell asleep!

thursday. belize. amazing. such a beautiful place. we went cave tubing. it was a blast. took a tour bus for quite some time to get to the location but were filled in on some belize facts. pretty interesting. once we got to the tubing site, we had to get our gear and start hiking. we ran into a local with a tarantula the size of his hand. gross. i have pictures tho! then off we went hiking about 45 minutes into the rainforest. gorgeous views! finally got to the river entrance and had to acquaint ourselves with the water. it was muy frio! super duper cold! our guides were really into safety and were always shouting to one another in creole to update one another on the situations. we had sexy headlights to wear and everything. yes, i do have pictures of that! the caves were soo cool. the bats were bit frightening. the darkness was freaky as hell when everyone turned off their headlights. totally suggest giving this a whirl if you are ever in belize! we all got loaded back onto the buses and has some authentic belizen cuisine. yum-o! so good. our guide then told us that we passed an extrememly dangerous snake on the entrance to the cave. he said the locals call them 3 step snakes. step 1: you are bitten. step 2: you say a prayer. step 3: you're dead. egads. i just went down a river that had a very, very, very, very, very deadly snake in it? seriously made me wonder what was under me. then i decided i truly didn't want to know! jas and chris did the turneffe atoll dive. they said maui was better. i was truly glad we didn't do it. after dinner we watched red eye in their room. pretty good flick!

friday. costa maya. supposed to be cozumel but a hurricane did some serious damage. wilma, i believe, sat over cozumel for 36 hours with winds of 144 mph. totally damaged carnival's pier. they are only allowing four boats a week to dock there. sad. i hope they get it fixed soon! we biked and kayaked. our happy family of four reunited again! pretty neat. not sure if i would bike again in 80 degree weather with 97% humidity. the kayak part was fun. i love kayaking. i know, physically inactive shannon admitting to liking exercise. gasp! yes, have some fun pictures from that...but this whole typing this is taking a wee bit longer than expected. so maybe pictures tomorrow. we will see. friday was also the last formal night of the trip. we missed it. bummer. decided we couldn't bear to wear our it's free because it's ugly outfits again. spent some time on the upper deck enjoying the quiet playing pass the pigs! we did head down to see their main show. with their dancers. had some time to spare before it started so we played stinky bingo. {you had to get all the b's and all the o's} the jackpot was $750 but it was one game and you paid $20/3 cards. and i'll be darned. nick won. he had to split the pot three ways but hey, he still won! back to the show, it was horrible. maybe it was because i did dance all throughout high school that i'm used to watching and judging/critic-ing. it was bad. i know dancing on a wobbly boat can't be easy but it was bad. only a few good parts. it was a tribute to the 1980's..the janet jackson rhythm nation dance rocked and so did their break dancers. they were phenomenal. so how can someone spin upside down on their head when you can't even finish a turn? okay, catty shan aside. it was bad!


saturday. fun day at sea number 2! and we actually had swim wear. i was determined to get some sun! and i succeeded. it was so relaxing. just laying on one of the upper decks, listening to the ocean, reading. awesome. took some naps and just vegged out. definitely needed that! turned in early after dinner since we had an early debarkation time to reclaim the luggage...

sunday. back to port. what a joke. we were told to meet in the lounge at 8:30, so we could leave early and beat the luggage rush. well, we stayed there until around 9 and then were let off. actually, lead in a giant line that snaked thru the darn boat. finally got off the boat and waited in more lines. over 2 hours worth. it was a total fiasco. apparently 5 cruise ships had docked that day. customs, immigration, and the port authority were used to dealing with 3 ships. so about 9,000 people. NOT 15,000 people. pure silliness. i felt terrible for those who had early flights. we were actually thankful that ours wasn't until 7:25! got out of the port by around 11ish and waited on a bus to drive us to the airport. since all these ships docked. the airports were also not used to dealing with the high traffic. so you guessed it.. more lines. got to our terminal about 4 and a half hours before our flight. something was up with the flight to costa rica and they kept paging butterworth and cadburry. cracked us up every time. apparently the syrup and the egg have some sort of steamy affair going on. we don't really know but it helped pass the time! so with all the hubaloo. the flight was changed to a different gate but no one mentioned that. so we had to hustle on down to the new gate and wait for a few moments before boarding. the flight was good. drove around chicago over lake michigan. saw awesome skyline and the bears game from 34,000 feet! super clear night. rough landing. had a couple of hops, skips, and jumps. not cool to walk out to zero degree temperatures after claiming our luggage. yes, it made it home! christy's dad was nice enough to pick us up and drive us home. had to call my mom immediately and fill her in on the details. i couldn't bear to tell her that our luggage was lost initially. although, it took so much for me not to call her. she would have worried and cried and been miserable the entire time. i so did not want her to worry. so we chatted until after midnight. it was good. hadn't talked in over a week. missed that.

today. slept in. caught up on mail, emails, bills, miscellaneous errands. made some smores bars for my cookie exchange. watched green bay get their behinds handed to them until i couldn't bear it any longer. did some christmas cards. still have to put everything away. hopefully, that won't take too long! i promise the pictures will arrive soon. i know everyone wants to see them! so thanks for asking and hopefully tomorrow!!

make it a double...

our vacation, ah...i honestly am at a loss of words to describe it! seriously. that never happens. i was talking to my mom last night and i couldn't express myself how i wanted...so frustrating and she said she knew it was bad if I was at a loss for words!

what i can express. right now, i hate miami and carnival. the two of them made for a terrible experience. miami was so not prepared to handle so many cruisers at one time and carnival just has stinky p.r.

so for those of you who don't know what happened... carnival put our luggage on the wrong effing boat. one that went to the eastern carribean while ours was going to western carribean. bad logistics. no way for us to get our luggage back until we docked at miami the following sunday. grrr. well, carnival won't take the blame. they state that they contract out the porters from the port of miami so they should be responsible. i'm sorry but if you contracted them, then they are under you. and the $175/person monetary compensation is crap. especially with your over priced novelty items on the boat. you lost my luggage. i really don't want to buy your clothing and advertise for you. and i most certainly don't want to think about cruising with you again, even if it is for 15% off next time. how about we worry about this time and get this straightened out first before you assume anything abot us returning.

so now the battle begins to get reimbursed for everything we had to buy on grand cayman. the bathing suits, the tennis shoes, the underwear, the shorts, the t-shirts, the socks, the deodorant, the sunscreen, the cameras. yes all $800 worth. and we want more than just being reimbursed. we should get something for our stress and inconvience....

alright. rant over {for now!} i have to bake my christmas exchange cookies but plan to do a longer, more detailed post with pictures sometime this evening. stay tuned! ;)

ready, set, go!

yippee! everything is done. i think! i'm sure we will forget something but we have made our list and checked it a bagillion times! supposed to get 'snow showers' tonight. hope it doesn't interfere with our flight. that would suck.
so everyone have a lovely week. i'm going to celebrate feliz navidad a tad early! :D
oh and i have less luggage than nick! tee hee. who would have that could EVER happen!? still in my ginormous bag but there i took way less....

nick and the...

terrible rotten no good day. what is the title of that book? i think it had to do with a tabitha! anyway....
nick had a stinker of a day. running back and forth between his two pharmacies. trying to get stuff situated with some of the changes his company is making. so dealing with traffic around here is pain enough and then to have to mix antibiotics and deal with corporate is an additional stressor. so he tries to get everything done and in order for his prn that is coming to cover. ends up being at work until about 7 p.m. then runs to meijer to pick up our 'just in case' prescriptions and notices a flat tire. yup. an effing flat tire. in subzero weather. on a day when we are on a bit of a timeline.
so i meet him at meijer and he can't get the nuts off. no one is open. it's friday after 7. no one at mitsubishi or any of the local auto places. grr. go to meijer gas station to use air pump. find out air pump is broken. double grr. go to mobile. finally get air for tire and drive it to my parent's. convince my brother and his friend to change the tire. hello, they do work at advance. they can totally do it. great. we leave the car at my parents and drive to the gym. work out crabbily {is that a word. if not, it should be. it so fits this situation.} and then head back to the house. we call on the way and we forgot to tell them which wheel. duh. can you say brain overload?! so they do switch it out. with the ghetto fabulous spare. seriously, the car is pimpin!! ;)
just now got home and are about two hours behind schedule. thank goodness we don't have an early flight. but now it looks like snow in the evening. it better hold off. because i seriously need to be in 80 degree weather with a tropical drink 24 hours from now or i might be stressing. and i KNOW nick needs it too...

making a list...

just trying to keep myself organized. and being the type a person that i am...i <3>

finish knk dt atc's.

upload music to ipod.

go to bank.

stop at target for misc. necessities.

buy cat food.

go to gym.

pack.

fold laundry.

do laundry.

make list for mom.

balance checkbook.

sketch for january newsletter.

get next week's mod challenge posted for the other mods.

organize travel documents.

so i think that is basically it. bold = finished. so we shall see!

fall wonderland???

do you think mother nature realizes it is still FALL????
what the eff is up with this crazy weather? i honestly don't remember ever having so much snow before christmas. yes, we have some snowfall. but nothing like this. 6 inches at least. and the subzero temperatures. again, it's fall. i know it's close to winter but can't we just wait it out a wee bit longer?!
honestly, this snow storm was incredible. such large, sparkly flakes. and man did they fall fast. at times we easily got two inches an hour.
traffic was horrendous. nick and i stopped at the gym. we figured why not...rush hour might clear out by the time we were done and we had to go for time constraint issues! showing up made our trainer super proud! ;) the roads were nasty. not plowed and icy. thank goodness for all wheel drive. i'm still having a hard time getting used to it tho. feeling the car move all funkily and stuff. weird. but reassuring at the same time. i feel much safer than i did in the saturn.
there was a crash at midway due to the weather. they closed the airport soon after for visibility and runway problems. i hope that there are no more fatalities. so sad.
in happier news, we leave in less than two days. TWO DAYS! neither one of us has packed. i haven't gotten our traveler's checks. i haven't made my mom's to do list. {love that she house sits for us!} i haven't picked up the odds and ends we need from target. {love that it's so close now!} still patting myself on the back for having the forsight to take friday off! now, if only i don't procrastinate...well, i guess i don't really have much time for that!!! :)

christmas trivia.

so a random brainiac {ahem colleen} was rattling off all of the christmas trivia and it totally sparked my interest. imagine my excitement when i stumbled across this while christmas shopping!
a trivial pursuit type christmas game. i love it! nick and i bought it and have been reading each other questions every night before we go to bed. romantic, i know! ;o) if only i could retain the information. like who knew the little drummer boy had a name? it was aaron or adam. i told you i have no retention or attention span! and the lemon drop kid. a christmas movie? never heard of it. going to put it onto my netflix queue.
so thanks colleen for tipping me off that there is stuff out there like that! for inspiring my hunt for christmas knowledge!

crunch time baby.

cleaning, wrapping, shopping, tanning, packing, exercising, working, scrapping. toooo much! i think i need a vacation. crap, that could be what is causing my stress! ah, it will be worth it. and i only have 3 more work days left. so glad i took friday off! {maybe i can finally find time to do bills!} so glad i decided not to mess with the tree. so glad that we rocked our christmas shopping and are pretty much done.
my big problem with vacations...packing. i suck at it. i always pack so much. because you just never know what you are going to need or what mood you are going to be in and dress accordingly...know what i mean? gosh, i'm such a girl. my girlfriend, christy, she's a packing champ. when we took a road trip out west in college, she had less luggage than the boys. me, i had the biggest freakin suitcase! was the joke of the trip. you should see the bag i took to hawaii...
so i've been scouring the web trying to find packing tips for cruises. i still don't think that is going to help me with my problem!!
i decided to share my silly, giant luggage pictures with you guys. maybe i should have a contest and see if anyone could guess how much that sucker weighed...i had to buy another bag to come home! gosh, did i just admit that...outloud!? so mine is the giant blue one. nick and i shared the luggage bag. and the two dinky suitcases next to the monstrous blue one...nick's. how do men pack like that?! and to think one was his carry on! okay the blue duffel was my carry on but i think my suitcase could totally beat his suitcase up in a fight. ;)

phew...

what a whirlwind of a weekend. got all of the shopping done {well, i still have to finish up five people but that is mostly gift certificates.}. and got all of the shopping wrapped and organized. it's sprawled across the dining room table. had to warn the cleaning lady. would have felt bad had she tried to clean around it! so that is such a relief.
this week i can focus my time on the cruise and packing. oh and of course, working out. nick and i have turned into a bunch of crazy workout-aholics. we went last night after our marathon shopping spree at like 8:30. yes, we didn't get home until almost 11! felt good but insane. and we so have to stick to this schedule. so it becomes routine. however, i am NOT going to worry about working out on the cruise. nick thinks he's gonna go 3 days. um, i'm in a tropical environment. i want to lay down and soak up the sun. not run my arse off on the precor machine and sweat to death! ;o) <----- {that's for you nick. i know you bookmarked my blog! you lurker!}
and can i just say...how bout dem bears? 8 in a row. who'da thunk!

the study.

why does buying expensive furniture seem like such a grown up decision to me? i mean, hello. nick and i have bought a house, new cars, appliances, and other furniture. but when the cost of the furniture could almost buy you a car it seems so outrageous?!
maybe because it's sooo darn expensive. that we know it's something that we will have for the rest of our lives. that we can't just upgrade to something else because this is it. a custom built piece of furniture with real wood. not mdf or some other crazy material.
so nick and i finally decided that we should go for it. this means we should have our custom built study within 6-8 weeks. it's awesome. black and maple wood combo. super cool. now we just have to get everything out of the study and paint before that happens. we're thinking charcoal walls. fun.
nick's mom works at a really nice furniture store in the area...walter e smithe and they have a custom shoppe so that is what we did. probably totally boosted the heck out of her sales this month. oh well, maybe we'll get a nice christmas gift since she is comission only! ;) she did send us a really nice card thanking us....must get some big money now!
this is the room's basic design. we have awesome hutches with recessed lighting and shelving and file folders. gonna be sooo awesome. i hope to become totally organized. even if it means i'm living in debt! ;o) and i'm just totally overreacting. i mean it is expensive. but we did get a good deal and it's zero payments and zero financing for 30 months. can't beat that!

crazy reindeer game...

thanks krystn!
i am not responsible for any addictions formed from this game!

ahhh!!!

so much to do...so little time! i have piles, upon piles of stuff to get completed before we leave. T minus 8 days...
so much on my mind. so many ideas, thoughts. can't wait to get them out. i hope i find time to do that before they run away!!! i hate when that happens.
surprisingly, exercising is going well. that pound i lost. well, it's back and has brought a friend. what the heck is that about? i'm eating less and exercising more. you think that would equal pounds lost. oy. but i do notice a difference. maybe it's that darn muscle. you know it weighs more than fat. well, that is what i keep telling myself!
work was open again today. no more gas leaks. click here to read about it... too bad it was pure chaos most of the morning trying to reschedule everyone! made the day go by quicker. after having yesterday afternoon off. i realized if we ever have children. i cannot be a stay at home mom. i was going nuts. weird considering i love my downtime. just felt wrong. like i knew i should have been at work. that or it was the fumes. they made me crazy. one of my coworkers, my boss actually, had some bouts of emesis on the way home due to the odor in her car. scary.
before i have to run off to my grab bag gift exchange for work. i wanted to thank all those lurkers out there. thank you so much for taking the time to pm or email me. truly means a lot. i have changed some of the restrictions..so maybe some of you non bloggers can post now!

gas leak...

i have never smelled gas so strongly in my life. today we were at work and at about 9ish someone asked if anyone else smelled gas. well, everyone did. then a person from another office came in and told us that we had to evacuate the building. there was a definite gas leak and nipsco was on their way...
we ran around unaccessing patients and helping them out of the office. they all sat in their cars and waited patiently. we were all on the phone: trying to reach our docs, to notify our main office. and then we were directing traffic. so we are all standing outside for an hour. in the snow!
finally some firemen came around and told us it was safe to enter the building. that the leak was at the post office directly behind us. um, the post office is literally 10 feet behind us. just a wee gap between the buildings. not sure if it's the smartest thing to stay at the office. we have oxygen, compromised patients. not a good situation. so we send all the patients there home, reschedule all the patients, and notify our docs and main office.
supposidly they have the entire back parking lot roped off. how scary. and you are gonna tell me it's safe to stay there? that you have to turn off the gas but no worries. freeze your doopah off in the office....
so i'm home. glad to be here. have a boatload to do. have been sooo extremely busy. cannot wait for vacation! hopefully, i can finish up some projects, clean a little, maybe even christmas shop, and then meet nick at the gym later. oy, what a day! ;)

long weekends...

are the bomb! i think that we should only have four day work weeks. i would so love 3 days off at a time. hmmm. maybe i should just talk to my boss about cutting down my hours. maybe one friday off a month?
thanksgiving was nice. busy, yet nice. we were able to spend some time at my parents before heading to nick's mom's. that was a wee bit crowded. 15 people in a 2 bedroom apartment. ack. but the food was good, company was great, and the girls won at the annual trivial pursuit challenge!
friday nick and i hit the gym again. i am so feeling like a normal human being now. i'm sure that will change after we meet with the trainer on tuesday! so far, i have lost 1 pound and nick has gained 2. not bad for one week. i'm proud of us. if only we can keep it up!
saturday, was scrapping day. did a lot for the knk dt projects, also finished my atc's for the knk dt swap. should be fun. well, they are almost finished...just have to do the backs! but hard part is over, right?
today we have thanksgiving part deux. yup, grandma's taking everyone to teibels. blech. not a huge fan. but oh well, at least we get to spend some time with family. hoping to head to the gym before then and do some cardio only. no weights!
i also want to fill out all of the requirements for our cruise! i can't believe it's almost here. i wonder if we will still get to go to belize after hurricane gamma. cozumel is out. darn wilma. we are going to costa maya or something instead! i really don't mind where we stop just as long as i'm enjoying warm weather and good company. :)

thankful.

so since it is thanksgiving i should probably jot down some of the things i'm thankful for...

~ that my soreness is subsiding. :)
~ my loving husband.
~ my wonderful friends and family.
~ that i have a job i love {and i don't have to work holidays, weekends, or midnights}
~ that i have a hobby i truly enjoy.
~ good health.
~ my home.
~ memories: good and bad. the good to remind me how lucky i am, and the bad for putting things into perspective.
~ that my mom is one of my best friends.
~ that nick is my best friend.

this is a list that could go on and on. but to me, that would be more of pointing out the specifics. these are the general things and i believe some of the others are smaller portions or branchings out of the above mentioned.

excer-torture!

so i am completely miserable today. my arms ache like crazy. it was quite sad this morning... i was trying to put a sports bra on so i could just run after work to exercise and i got stuck. yes. you read that correctly. my sore self couldn't get her arms up and thru. it was insane. i was laughing because it hurt but then it hurt even worse! i finally managed to get it on and now i'm dreading taking it off...maybe nick can help in that department! :)
i'm sure tonight's gym adventure is going to hurt like the dickens but maybe it will help. to work it out. or to just make myself that sore that i can't move any part of my body tomorrow! we were supposed to play two games of volleyball tonight but a water main burst at the y, again. i don't get it. it happens every year. well, maybe there will be some pick up games after our workout...well, if we can both walk!
i surely hope that this pays off. that i notice some difference, that i don't always feel like a 103 year old stuck in my 26 year old body! ;)

idiots and zeros...

so i believe i stumbled across this while at two peas it was in someone's siggy line. could be a new favorite. right up there with the slinky!
'idiots are like zeros. no matter what you do to them, they never change.' unknown
teehee. it's so funny. so true. and almost sad when you really think about it. but you just have to realize that sometimes things are out of your control. that you cannot change people, only yourself. ah, don't want to get totally deep. would lose the 'fun-ness' of the quote! :)

holy cannolis.

how the heck do you spell cannoli? anywho. i am so stinking sore. our trainer was nice but for someone who has lifted weights, um never. it was torture! okay, not that bad, but i hope i can walk and lift my arms above my chest before thanksgiving!

i've been tagged...

blog quiz!

2 Names you go by:
~ shannon
~ shan or shane
~ i am sharing more... sp. love that one!

2 Parts of your Heritage:
~ hungarian
~ german

2 Things that Scare You:
~ drunk drivers
~ snakes and giant spiders...ew!

2 Everyday Essentials:
~ chapstick
~ internet

2 Things you are Wearing Right Now:
~ jeans
~ livestrong bracelet

2 of your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists:
~ ben folds {my boyfriend!}
~ dave matthews band

2 Favorite Songs:
~ wonderland {john mayer}
~ better together {jack johnson}
disclaimer: i can't keep favorites. i always change my mind when it comes to these sort of questions!

2 Things you Want in a Relationship (other than True Love):
~ laughter
~ comfort and support

2 Truths:
~ i have the mouth of a trucker {no offense truck drivers.}
~ i have an obsession with chapstick {i probably have at least 10 laying around the house!}

2 Physical Things that Appeal to You (in the opposite sex):
~ eyes
~ smile

2 of your Favorite Hobbies:
~ scrapbooking
~ reading

2 Things you want Really Badly:
~ my study/scrap area redone!
~ eternal happiness

2 Places you want to go on Vacation:
~ australia
~ europe
heck, i'll take any vacation i can get!

2 Things you want to do before you Die:
~ be debt free
~ be a world traveler

2 Ways that you are Stereotypically a girl:
~ i cry easily
~ i would love to lose weight!

2 things you are thinking about now:
~ our harry potter imax adventure tonight
~ if hurricane gamma is going to hit another one of our cruise destinations...

2 stores you shop at:
~ target
~ gap/old navy

2 people I would like to see take this quiz:
~ whoever reads this and has a blog!

get in shape girl.

that's me. so excited about this whole gym thing. well, nervous actually. yesterday, nick and i went to omni and signed me up for a membership. nick has has his for over two years but rarely goes. we decided that we could be motivation for one another.
so after signing up, we were able to get our fitness profiles done. scary yet good. i mean who wants to know how much fat they are carrying around? no girl i know! but the lady said that mine was very good. less that 25%. so her goal for me is to drop 3%. which equals about 5 pounds. so doable in my book. but she also wants me to gain lean muscle. i don't really care about the number. i just want to feel better about myself and be in shape. i mean, i may be thin but in no way does that mean i'm healthy.
nick's body fat was nonexistent. i hate him! ;) 5% only! old boy has some serious bulking up to do!
they have a program with trainers. you meet once a week and then the following two days they rearrange your program and meet back the following week. for the both of us it would only be $50. reasonable to me. i don't want to look like some fool hanging upside down and backwards from a piece of equipment. and nick totally needs the guidance with all the muscle building he has to do. so we are going to try it for three months and see how it goes. hopefully, we will both have the feel for the gym and not need to. well, at least me. nick might need all the help he can get gaining 30 pounds or so!
so far we've gone two days in a row. tomorrow is our first day with the trainer. i hope to pete i can still walk on tuesday!
we also went on a shopping spree for our gym goodies. i got a new i pod nano. still need some super cute accesories for that but they can wait. nick already had a mp3 player. not a good one, but one nonetheless. then we had to get new shoes, some warmup pants, sportsbras, shirts. you know the essentials.
eventho we spent a bundle, i'm totally stoked. i hope we can both keep this up and can feel healthier! heck, exercising was one of my new year's resolultions...i got it in under the wire. a month or so to go!

motivation...

i need it. and today i had a wee bit, so i decided i'm gonna start working out. i know i say that and then never do. but things have got to change. i'm tired of feeling lazy. you see, i truly am one of the laziest people you will meet. but once i get up and actually do something, i feel sooo much better. refreshed, energized, sore! ;)
so saturday nick and i have a date to go to the gym. we are gonna do a couple membership and plan to meet 3 days a week after work. it's so great that now we both work in the same vacinity. having a partner thru this just may make it so much more fun. er, tolerable!

and i got my first knk dt kit today...fun! can't wait to start playing with the goods!!!

the heck?!?!

is up with this stinking weather. 60 yesterday. today 23 flipping degrees, 30 mph wind gusts, and snow!!!! is it spring yet?! ;)

10 days til thanksgiving...

that just doesn't seem right. i'm not sure why, but it just doesn't seem like that time of year yet. maybe it's the insanely bizarre weather we have been having, maybe it's that i don't have plans for thanksgiving yet, maybe that is because i'm planning on being scrooge this holiday and not put the tree up {because of our vacation}. i don't know. but i do know that i have to get crackin because i have a boatload of stuff to do before our cruise.
so as of right now, nick and i have no plans for thanksgiving day. my grandma usually has it at her house but she is having such a rough time with uncle bob's death that she just couldn't do it. i don't blame her. it's the first big holiday without him. so she's changing up the schedule and taking us to a restaurant on the sunday after thanksgiving. totally fine by us! and nick's family. jeez, who knows. it seems like no one wants to host. okay, correction. people are willing to host but it is the same ones over and over so now they are tired. so no one will take the holiday. personally, with such a large family, i think it could be broken down. to immediate family. like mother's/father's and their children. it would solve a lot. but then again, some say the point of the holidays are to have family together. all of them. who knows. but i do know that i don't want his mother to be alone for thanksgiving. we could care less, but i know it means a lot to her. so we have decided that if no one offers to host then we might have a small gathering at our place. meaning...his mom, his sister, her husband, and us. plenty. but then how do i not invite my family. ack. i hate the holidays. too many sides to see. we haven't even discussed seeing his dad yet. 3 sides of the family in 1 day. doesn't make for fun time management. maybe that would be a perk to having children. 'hi, we're staying home to be with ludwig {that was for you colleen} if you want to stop by fine. if not, no biggie. we understand. we just don't want to lug our kid everywhere. happy holidays.'
gosh, did that sound horrible or what!? i'm really not always this grumpy. it just gets to be overwhelming!

my first dt lo!!!

holy cow, was it nervewracking. wondering if it was good enough. trying to only use kit products. feeling intimidated by the bold paper. thankful that the paper wasn't as bold in person! :)
loved working with this paper. so cool. have a few other pics pulled from my stash that i hope to get scrapped after i run to target!
if you wanna check the page out. you can go to my gallery or check out knk's design team gallery.

i've been thinking...

a lot lately. about nothing, everything and all the stuff that falls in between. i usually like that i'm such a thinker but other times that overanalyzing is a pain in the rear. i recently stumbled across a quote that i wrote down a while back and it's perfect. {yes, i write down quotes from t.v. shows. but only if they really move me at the time!}
'boundaries don't keep other people out. they fence you in. grey's anatomy'
holy cow do i love it. so true! and the timing couldn't be better. but you see, i'm a chicken. i hate getting hurt. being let down. sometimes i think it's easier to put up that fence just to protect me. but i know that is no way to live life. that all the ups and downs help us grow. learn.
so i now have a new motto. at least for the time being! and i'm gonna try to take down those boundaries and experience life; bumps, bruises, and all!

triwizard tournament...

here we come. i'm so excited. nick and i got tickets to see harry potter and the goblet of fire at the imax theatre! yippee. they were already sold out for friday and saturday....but sunday evening is all ours baby. a quick trip to navy pier and then watching my favorite of the books on screen. giant screen!
never been to an imax movie before so i'm hoping to not be disappointed. his mom is going to join us. {she too is a harry potter nerd!}
only 11 days!

careers.

no not the game! :) what i do for a living. my career. now i'm not sure how much i've talked about my job on here. i have a way short attention span so bear with me if i've been down that road before.
how the heck did i end up in nursing? i know that i never thought i would be a nurse. i always wanted to be a physical therapist or maybe even a teacher. but a nurse, the thought never entered my mind. you see a little under ten years ago a boy i liked, let's call him my husband, decided he was going to go to college in appleton, wisconsin...premed. and this crazy, stalker girlfriend, i mean wife {ahem, me} did want to be eight hours away. my plan was to go to i.u. they had the best pt program and i always thought that was where i was going to go to school. but i decided that i wanted to stay home. and i needed an excuse to justify it. so nursing school was it. purdue cal is one of the best nursing schools in the area. better than lafayette. better accreditations, better passing rates. i figured that was my out. if i could get in, everyone would understand my decision and not judge me for wanting to stay home to be closer to nick.
funny, huh. how things work. how life's little twists and turns always seem to work out. they might not always be for the best. but i figure you have to learn something from everything.... but back to this topic. it did work out for the best. although, nick isn't a m.d. he is still a doctor. a rph. i couldn't be prouder. he loves what he does and he worked his butt off to get where he is today. and through everything i ended up doing something i couldn't imagine my life without. nursing.
people always say if they won the lottery, they would quit their job. i wouldn't. okay, i would go part time but i don't think i could ever fully walk away. i am so grateful to have found a career that i love. that i can envision my self doing forever. and not just the nursing. the oncology nursing. such a challenging and rewarding area. another thing that i stumbled upon. that i almost didn't have because of a cross country move scheduled for nick's internship in pharmacy. so glad that nick and i could talk out the pros and cons. to actually make a well educated decision. to think through all of the repercussions. to be so grown up. to work as a team.
i guess all this rambling just stems from all the thinking i've been doing lately. i'm such a deep thinker. sometimes so much so that it's a bad thing. but ya never know what is in store. that the easiest thing might not be the right thing. if you don't try, you'll never know. so i guess it's worth a shot regardless of the outcome because at least you tried or did the right thing.....and who knows. it might even end up being the best thing that happened to ya.

i can't believe...

that i've actually had this blog for 6 months. that i've actually kept up with writing here. i'm amazed. i think it's great actually. that i've found a medium that i am comfortable with. i don't know why, but journals rarely stick. maybe now, since i've been pretty good with posting here. i can start forcing myself to journal as well. for the more personal, inner thoughts. those that i'm not ready to share.... i mean, i know only like 5 people read this thing but it's still the fact that it is out there. accessible to a lot of people: family, friends, strangers...

darkness falls...

i hate the end of daylight savings time. who wants to get up when it's dark and come home when it's dark. i certainly do not. i hope that indiana gets things straightened out with their decision. i guess, i don't mind. i mean, it's great to be on the same time as chicago. i would be beyond confused if we were different!
now i know i have said this before but i dispise traffic. it takes me around 30 minutes to go 10 miles to work everyday. well, nick and i drove downtown thursday for the concert and it took us 40 minutes. tell me how the heck that works. to go 45 miles it takes 40 minutes...but to go 10 miles it takes 30 minutes. did i mention that i hate traffic?!
caught a cruddy cold this past week. it was brewing as of friday. hit full force sunday...i think. i've slept most of the last three days. i did go to work yesterday. it's halloween. had to dress up and see everyone dressed up. went home early. had today off. originally, it was so nick and i could go get passports for our cruise in december. but i just couldn't get myself out of bed. slept over 16 hours just last night. oh well, i guess we will tackle that errand on a weekend. hopefully, i'm better for tomorrow. thank goodness doc's out of town, so we have a slower week. otherwise, i would probably have called off for tomorrow! i hate calling in sick....
felt bad for the poor trick or treaters yesterday. it was pouring rain. they were troopers. and nick and i were generous with the candy! i love seeing the little ones dressed up. so excited about all that candy that their parents aren't going to let them eat!
me with my ginormous witch hat at work!

lots and lots...

going on. it was one crazy week. nick and i stayed up way past our bed times to watch the sox in the world series. hey, if it took 88 years to get back there you never know when it'll happen again! so the series took up the beginning half of our week. then thursday we went downtown to see ben folds. honestly, it was phenomenal. THE best concert i have ever been too. i now have a new boyfriend that i am willing to quit my job for and follow around the world while he tours! :)
so the cool thing about having a concert downtown the day after the sox won was that i was able to snap some fun pictures! now please remember, we were driving down lsd {lake shore drive} where you must not slow down. i rolled down both driver's and passenger's side windows and began snapping away. got some good shots and some not so good. doesn't matter. the fact is that i have some and it's so stinking cool to say that we were there. here's my favorite. it was right in front of buckingham fountain...how freaking cool is this...


we've also had some craziness on the homefront. nothing serious... but nick had been working two jobs. poor guy was overworked and exhausted. we decided the extra money wasn't worth it and he was going to tell them that he was done with both sites and was just going to work one...well, he didn't have the opportunity. the company made some serious changes and now he is the full time pharmacist and the infectious disease site and will no longer have anything to do with the neuro one. sad for him. he started at neuro and loved everyone. it was just a job security thing. neuro wasn't doing so well and i.d. was so not too hard of a decision but one nonetheless. and nick is so not a decision maker!
my workload was a wee bit larger too. my manager was at a conference. so guess who was lucky enough to be in charge. sigh, yes, me. extra hours, extra responsibility. no more pay. so glad she's back. love her to death and never want her to leave.
hopefully, this week will slow down and let us both relax and unwind...and maybe even play some sudoku! ;)

wooo hooo!

it's been a long time coming! sox win!!!
i'm hoping they keep the sears tower lit up tomorrow. i want to snap some pics!

14 innings...

is a heck of a time for a game!
i can't believe that game 3 of the world series is now in the record books. longest world series game ever. and it'll be the first time that they play two games in one day. made ya think on that one, huh?! :)
the games have been so fun to watch. not total blowouts and not too boring. i really hope they win tonight. i want to be able to watch them win and tomorrow night we are going to a concert. so i won't be able to watch! but on the other hand the concert is downtown...so if they play and win we could be part of the insane celebration that is going to happen! but do i really want to be in the midst of the craziness? will i be able to celebrate and then function the following day at work? hmmm...
the concert should be great! i heart ben folds and plan on buying myself a few t-shirts!!! i only wish cameras were permitted. hopefully, we can make it there without too much traffic and i can snap some pics of the chicago theatre and the sign! {gosh, i hope they have a sign!}
k. must nap and rest of for tonight and tomorrow!

su doku.

i'm addicted. who knew a crazy little number game could grab my attention and have me addicted within minutes!
a coworker clipped a game out of the newspaper. i guess they are now doing one a day feature in the local paper. we figured it would be nice to copy and put out for patients to help pass the time. well, shoot. now that we have all played, there are no where near enough pencils in our office. it was sad because in between seeing patients yesterday i would whip out my grid and a pencil and get to it.
i brought it home for nick to play. he figured out the strategy and now i'm a master! :) i had to stop a borders to buy a gift for a relative and ended up with two darn books on it! then i came home to find a boat load of sites on the web! sudoku this one has got to be my favorite! if any of you decide to search out this addictive behavior, please feel free to share any links!
now you'll have to excuse me...i'm off to have a competitive friday evening of sudoku with the hubby! :)

powerball

never played the darn game in my life. and now i have some how found myself in a group pool at work and nick and i bought 5 tickets. i have no clue how it works, yes it's a lottery i know that much! but i hate the lottery. i would rather spend my $5 and actually have something to show for it! but you can't just pass up the chance at 340 million dollars!!!!
yeah, i know. that is what everyone is thinking. that my odds are like 98752498765 to 1. but i had to give it a whirl. that and the fact that i would be majorly pissed off if my coworkers all won and i didn't! :)

another quote...

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.” Charles Schultz

made me stop and think when i read it! i love it.
i believe that all things happen for a reason. that no matter how horrible or wonderful they may be...you can always learn something. grow from that particular moment. well, at least i try. i don't over analyze everything and everyone. okay. so sometimes i just may. i also have a tendency to worry about things that are out of my control. i wish i didn't...but it seems i am turning more into my mother by the minute! :)
nick is so not a worrier. he is also an optimist. or in his words a realist. i am a complete pessimist. i think that if you expect the worse that you will more than likely be pleasantly surprised. whereas, if i am setting such high expectations i feel i will more than likely be let down. funny logic for someone who works oncology. who sees death and dying on a daily basis. who tries to instill hope in her patients. who doesn't want to be miss negativity. who tries to make the chemo experience as pleasant as possible.
a hypocrite. maybe that is who i am. someone who tells her patient not to give up. that there is hope. but at the same time expects the worst when it comes to her own life. maybe it is a good thing. that i can seperate myself from work. that i don't let my feelings interfere with another person's healing or feelings. maybe it is a bad thing. i don't know.
and i'm not sure how the original quote has brought me here. but it really got me thinking about today. the here and now and living in the moment.

now i also don't want this to come across as a shannon is a horribly depressed person post. i'm not. i promise. i guess to sum it all up...i just hate being let down. ;)

world series...

here we come! way to go sox! i'm so excited for a chicago team to be in the world series. how cool is that! it has been FOREVER!!! one of the commentators said that only one other team had a greater number of years since making it to the series. guess who? the cubs! to me that is unbelievable. both chicago teams with a serious drought. and the bears, well...the superbowl shuffle was '85, right? here's hoping chicago wins!!

and an update on my organizational kick...i finally bought some albums for all my pages that have been laying around. who knew albums were meant to hold pages!!! i just hate buying albums since i would rather spend it on actual supplies! :) my plan is to sit in front of the tv and fold, organize albums, and catch up on my tivo'd shows!

a place for everything...

and everything in its place. gonna be my new motto! i've been doing a lot of organizing and rearranging. it feels good. to not have clutter or useless items just laying around. hopefully, i can purge our house of unneccesary stuff by spring. i figure i can tackle little things here and there and it would be a great winter project. i know the study area is going to be a biggie. hopefully, nick's mom can work out the storage situation for our new room and i can get it taken care of. we truly don't have a lot of unloved items but there is enough! {like my three junk drawers that nick loves!}
so i thought i would start a blog for my lo's. i used to post them at two peas but sometimes i forget. and not everyone can see the knk gallery. i think it would be neat if any of our family members were interested in seeing my work...they could just have one stop shopping. all the art in one spot. so, i think i'm gonna upload some of my more recent lo's. don't think i have the patience to upload all of my los!
gonna put them all on disc tho. that and all my pics. gotta figure out storage organization for those too now! alright. enough rambling. gonna catch some foosball with my hubby and then watch the sox win the alcs tonight! ;) {i hope!}

cleanliness....

i love my cleaning lady. so technically, she's nick's cousin. but she doubles as our cleaning lady. man is she kick arse at what she does. this is only her second time cleaning the house {she's set for every other thursday!} and both times i have come home i have been thrilled.
thursday mornings i am always unsure. i mean it's $100. that is a lot of money that i could be spending on stuff, i mean saving! ;) but when i arrive home, i know that money was well spent. and i love that i didn't have to do it! now if i could just figure out how to have the house constantly smell fresh: like a light smell of bleach or better yet, fresh lemons year round!

take me out to the ballpark...

okay, now i'm singing the whole darn song! but that's okay. so it's almost time for the world series and i can't believe the sox could have a chance! yes, i am a hoosier. but we are so darn close to chicago that i can root for the sox! and indiana doesn't have a baseball team! ;P
this pic is from comisky {fine u.s. cellular field} this year. 9.22.05 to be exact. our friend jason's {who can be seen on the far left with his wife christy!} birthday he is a sports freak. baseball especially! they played minnesota and lost. but that is when they had their losing streak. i truly hope that they are able to win and move onto the world series. that would be so cool! because honestly, i don't think the cubs or the bears will be in the playoffs anytime soon. indianapolis is a definite maybe...i would root for them too! but back to the original topic...GO SOX!! ;)

a new creative space...

might be in the works. nick and i have talked and looked for a new desk for me for quite some time. well, this weekend we spent sometime with his mom. the topic of our study was brought up and she offered to help us with the design. you see, she works at walter e. smite furniture. kinda pricey but hopefully they have some sort of family discount. his mom is really good at this whole interior decorator thing. i guess, she should be since it is her job...but sometimes it doesn't work that way! this is the sketch she sent us. sorry it uploaded funkily. it's all bookshelves and cabinets. i think it could be very cool. nick offered the side by the window for lighting purposes but i think if i take the side by the closet i would have that much more space!
but then again, there's the whole how much do we want to do if we are going to move in a few years... well, we have to live here now, so why not? maybe we can remove the shelving and everything and if we build, build a smiliar room. or if it can't be removed how will it affect the resale of the house. i mean we only have 3 bedrooms. would someone really like one taken for the study? ah, who cares. i think it might be a go. she just has to discuss the moola details with us. should know more wednesday!

initials.

so i have this thing with initials. i also make up words to go along with them. for instance, when i worked in the hostpital i needed a password to login to our computer system. well, my letters were D S F U. now...if you know me, you know i have a potty mouth. i really wish i didn't, and i'm trying to improve...but you can easily guess the word combination i came up with to remember that code!
before i got married, i always wondered what sp would stand for. i never had one for sm. my maiden name combo. so i have no clue why i was obsessed with creating one for my new initials. my lovely coworkers at the time helped with a few...status post, suprapubic, and some that aren't appropriate for posting {think dirty, you'll get there!}.
for some reason, one of the doctors i worked for started calling us by our initials. all of a sudden, you would hear 'sp. where's sp?' i'm pretty sure the same day, i cracked one of my trademark wise butt comments and he called me smarty pants. how perfect! sp = smarty pants. i told my mom. of course, she thought it was hysterical and a perfect fit. nick agrees too. i love it and am so glad that the word combo was stumbled upon.

yay!

the new knk dt has been announced. i have to say i was beyond shocked when i found out. i wasn't even sure when angela was going to make the changes...i thought there might have even been a dt call. i guess she went with guest designer and moments defined apps and message board participation. i am totally thrilled and so excited. but it is a lot of pressure. big shoes to fill. responsibility. to have a deadline. to be restricted with materials. kinda pushes you, if you know what i mean. i think it will be a great experience. the pic is the six of us that met in michigan this past weekend {colleen, shan, tracy, liz, carmen, and kelly}. not pictured are paula and sam {an original ;)}.
i know a while ago i said i didn't want the pressure. but at the same time it's also a validation of my work. kinda nice to be recognized. a totally new experience, an adventure. something i told myself i would try to do more. push myself. go out of that comfort zone. to grow. to learn. i can't wait.

beyond tired.

yesterday there were no words for how tired i was. i was draggin the entire day.... a four hour monotonous drive surely didn't help either!
so this weekend was the michigan get-together. some may say boodlefest others boodlepalooza! it was such a fun time! awesome company, fantastic shopping, and wonderful memories.
i took friday off and drove up early. made good time except for the last 2o miles which took 1 hour! did some major shopping at the zone. i think i had the longest receipt of the trip there! almost as tall as me! but all pp and bazzill were on sale so that helped!
saturday hit 5 stores! in record time i'm sure...at least for 12 crazed shoppers. the bill for the entire excursion for all 12 women.. $2600! 8-) <--- he's my bug-eyed smiley! we had a mound of bags to say the least. we had several impromptu swaps which was so much fun. sunday we were up early and headed home again. can't wait to do it again. however, now i know to be well rested. i think i had 7 hours of sleep the whole weekend! when i got home yesterday i napped for 90 minutes. last night, i got about 9 hours and i still took a nap today. i am so glad that i took the day off! i've been reorganizing my area. pp are now organized by brand, cs by colour {liz that was for you and colleen!}, have my stamps in holders, all my brads are in my craft mate {thanks carmey!}, now i just have to figure out the embellishment nightmare! ack. gonna redo my entire rainbow iris cart. then i'm finished!! here's a quick pic. not the greatest due to lighting but it's all i got...for now!
the girls: back row: colleen, stephanie, rystn, monica, kelly, carmen, shan. front row: tracy, laura, carrie, liz, and chris!

word verification...

is it just me or does anyone else have a heck of a time reading this buggers? so a lot of sites have them and lately i cannot get them right. all the darn lines and squiggily majigs. what is that about? oh well, maybe it's just my old age. a first of many things, i shall complain about as i grow up!
had my evening planned. how to pack and bake. darn basement flooded. stupid sump pump or ejector pump or stupid water thingy. so frustrating. so thankful it wasn't worse. so happy we found it, early. nick is awesome. he told me not to worry. that he would arrange to be home for the plumbers. that i could leave for michigan as planned. gosh, do i love this man! he's a total sweetheart. and grateful that my mother convinced my lil bro to come over just in case nick can't make it in time! gotta love family...sometimes!
for some good news. our cleaning lady came today. alright. technically she is the cleaning lady but i feel strange calling her that since she is nick's cousin. i've always talked of having someone come clean the house every now and again...just never looked into it. or thought we could afford it. crystale is a kick arse cleaner. i swear, if she is moving...she's cleaning! well, she came today and did an awesome job. i'm so glad i did it. kinda nice to come home after a long day to a clean house. to not have to worry about mopping! yay!
and now starts my four day weekend. can't wait! getting more nervous/excited by the minute!

rain drops keep fallin on my head...

ah, the sound of rain. i love it. so calming, relaxing. and the smell...love it. the sound and smell of rain: two of my favorite things! maybe that is why i'm a water baby {aquarius}...
love the fall. cool weather, lots of rain...perfect for snuggling! :)
had a busy few days. saw the white sox, apple picked, finished out a swap, working on some odds and ends, got a cleaning person, packing for my mini getaway to detroit. so excited. yes, i'm still nervous! i mean, i know these girls but i don't know them. ya know? everyone has been so friendly and helpful in trying to help me figure out how the heck to drive my butt there! it's gonna be a blast. i think it's just my timid personality.
honestly, for a while. i wasn't sure if i wanted to go. i hate new things/change. i know this isn't technically change. but it's a scary thing meeting 13 people you don't know. at least for me it is. but i'm trying to work on my sense of adventure. to realize that not doing it doesn't get me anywhere. that i would rather do something and regret it, than not do it and regret that. i would have an experience to learn from. another part of it is, that i hate doing things alone. i admire the crap out of someone who can go to dinner and a movie by themselves. i just can't do it. so i figure this is also me taking a journey by myself. not worrying if nick or a friend has to pee. that i can pull over whenever the heck i want. that i can pick any fast food joint i want. it's also the fact that i think it is going to be amazing to be surrounding by people who love this hobby of mine, as much as i do. not many people i know scrap. i wish they did. but they show no interest. that darn scrapbooking negativity aura thingie. that we are obsessed camera wielding crazies. well, let me tell ya something...we carry scissors too! ;) anywho. enough with my rant. hopefully, when i get back i can share some fun pics and some exciting news!

busy bee...

so work is busy as usual and i try to make home time, down time. a time for me, for us, to just relax and enjoy. but this week is an exception. tomorrow i get my hair done. no biggie but still not a night at home. thinking of going browner for fall. we shall see. thursday we are going to a chicago white sox game with two of our friends. the tickets were free. hopefully, decent. and it should be a gorgeous fall evening. friday i have to work on a brad swap that i hosted. saturday is our down day and sunday we are going apple picking. gonna get some cool fall pics i hope. can't wait to pick some pumpkins too!
the following week isn't soo crazy but the weekend should be a blast. heading to detroit to meet some fellow knk members. never met someone that i've only known online in person before, so kinda nerve wracking at the same time! but it should be neat to spend time with people who enjoy my hobby as much as i do. kinda stinks since none of my friends nor family scrapbook so they don't really understand!
and i'm super stoked about a concert we are going to attend. it's ben folds!! i absolutely, positively love him! it's gonna be such a great concert. nick and i <3>

proud new owner...

of a kick arse printer! i'm so excited. haven't the foggiest idea of how to work it tho!
so my old printer died. nick spent quite some time trying to fix it and finally got frustrated and gave up. totally surprising for him. he is usually the patient one. okay, so maybe he did spend a few hours on it... well, he said that we should probably just buy a new one. that's when i replied, 'any one i want?' now this was said in my cutest shannon voice. that he is just a sucker for! and it worked. can i just say, thank goodness for credit cards! yes, i know that just because you have a $5,000 limit. doesn't mean you have $5,000 for free! i have so been trying to behave and pay off our debt. and i'm pretty sure i will have three of them paid off before the new year! darn college debt. but back to the printer...
after multiple stops, we found it at best buy. brought it home and it was broken. grrr. headed back to best buy to exchange it and finally got it working around 6 or so. what a long adventure! lemme just tell you, the thing is ginormous. took up the entire top of my cabinet. i don't care tho. it's gonna be so great to finally be able to print on my 12x12 cardstock!!! wee! it's gonna be so much fun!
if anyone has any giant printer tips or regular sized ones for that matter please let me know! :)
so i tried to post a link but blogger ate it. the new printer is a epson R1800.

off to see the wizard...

the wonderful wizard of oz!
heading to the wizard of oz fest with my mom tomorrow. our third annual excursion! can't believe it. we started the tradition the year i was married. thought it would be good way to have some mother/daughter time! it's great. so fun to walk around and see everyone dressed up! {we do not dress up!}, to hit the craft booths and do some shopping!
we usually get some pretty cute stuff! love going to craft fairs...just don't like to go too often or i get burnt out! also fun to spend quality time with mom. just talk about whatever floats our boats. this year we have invited my aunt. her husband is the one that passed away in may. last year, she mentioned joining us. i'm not sure if she will make it since we weren't sure which day we were going until a few hours ago. darn nick's crazy schedule. this working two infusion sites is getting crazy. that and he was supposed to join us tomorrow {to carry our purchases of course} but unfortunately he has to go in and mix some meds. ;( i'm sure he isn't upset. a quick run into work and an uninterrupted day of video games. every boy's dream!
anywho. i'm off to see the wizard...

personality test...

so i'm not very original. i've seen this on a few blogs and thought i would try it out for myself. not too bad with the breakdown...

Your Personality Profile

You are dreamy, peaceful, and young at heart. Optimistic and caring, you tend to see the best in people. You tend to be always smiling - and making others smile. You are shy and intelligent... and a very hard worker. You're also funny, but many people don't see your funny side. Your subtle dry humor leaves your close friends in stitches.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

murphy's law #2849

the day after shannon buys gas will be cheaper than the day she buys the gas....
argh, what is up with that. it never fails. every single time i buy gas it is at least $0.10 cheaper the following day. i bought it right after katrina when all the gas crisis talks were everywhere. sure enough, i buy gas and the following day it's $0.30 cheaper. that is it. new rule. when i need gas or decide to buy it {i have another new rule...at least a half a tank at all times due to crazy oil situation} i will make myself wait an additional day...you think it will work?! ;)

ready for some football!

i am so ready. i love football. i love the fact that nick and i love football together. that we can cuddle on the couch for hours just watching football.
i remember being little and watching football with my dad. i even had a birthday party that was in honor of the 85 bears. i'm a dork i know... what little girl has a football party? what little girl draws a poster of the fridge? one who's dad got her to sit with him while he yelled at the teams! cracked me up. never understood why men yell at the television. now i just chuckle because at some random moment nick or i just may be yelling at the t.v.! i swore i would never do that. what have i become?! :o)
today was our first day of lounging. watched those darn bears lose. seriously, what else is new? getting ready to make some dinner and watch the espn game on high def. did i just say high def? i swear, nick is wearing off on me!!!

crazy...

what the heck is up with the anonymous responders....
sorry peeps. but i've changed how i allow people to respond. hopefully, they will go away and i can change it back! thanks so much for the kind emails/pm's. it really does mean a lot to read these replies! ;)

i really dislike...

four day work weeks. i absolutely love a three day weekend, who doesn't? i just dispise going back to work after them. i mean, it's complete and utter chaos. trying to fit in all the patients who are normally seen on monday into the other days of the week...then have management schedule a mandatory meeting for friday morning, so the office is closed for part of that day too. where the heck are these people supposed to go? okay, fine. it wouldn't be SO bad if we weren't short two people. yes, everyone deserves a vacation...but not after a holiday! :) that and the fact that another is no longer employed with us. just makes for frustrating times and exhausted shannon!
thankfully, i love the majority of my coworkers. yes, we all have our days and can get on each other's nerves. but that is part of being a family, right? ;) no matter how hairy the job or the situation it's always better when you are surrounded with people that you like and care for. this is so the case where i work. it can be frustrating when you are busting your butt and you feel that there is another person slacking off. it seems easier when you know that everyone is working just as hard as you are, if not harder. it's awesome to know someone so well, you know how they are going to respond to a situation, what they are going to say. it's refreshing to be so stressed yet be able to laugh so openly and freely.
i haven't had very many jobs in my time span...but i honestly can say that this is by far the best job i have had. challenging, rewarding, fun all at the same time.
it's funny how the scariest steps in your life can turn out to be the best ones. i almost didn't take this job. silly, i know. i'm just such a chicken. i love my safety/comfort zone and i was so in it when i was approached with this. but i was so intrigued by the office job! but also so very overwhelmed as to what nick and i were going thru at the time: his graduation, our marriage, buying a new house. i wasn't sure i could handle adding job change into the mix. i mean, that is a lot to do in less than one month's time!
i can't say i didn't look back either. because i did. thought of all the skills i would be losing, the new surgical procedures i wouldn't be learning... but i had to realize that nursing isn't just the hospital. it's not that one aspect that was so drilled into my brain at school. that working in oncology could be just as challenging and rewarding as any other field. the constantly changing treatments and therapies. the growing with a patient through everything instead. and so many other things.... so all the stress and second guessing was definitely worth it. even during our crummiest days at the office it can hardly compete with the even crummier days in the hospital!
ack. that was so longer than expected. but i guess that is just what happens when i let my fingers loose!!

karma?!

so one of my goals this weekend was to head to the 'rents house and lounge by the pool and catch some end of summer rays. well, i think karma came up and bit me in the arse....
you see, this weekend i did a layout about my friend jason who never learns his lesson and ends up sunburn almost anytime we are in the sun....and guess what. i'm fried. maybe i should have learned from that smartbutt layout i completed. but no...shannon thinks she can be in the sun without sunscreen for 2 hours and be fine. welp, i was so wrong. i even have sunglass lines...groan!
normally, i am such a good sunscreen girl. okay, so i've been getting better. i usually carry both spf 8 and 15 with me when i go to the meyer pool.... maybe i should reword that. i did have the sunscreen with me. i was just a dork and forgot to apply it.
nick, on the other hand, never applies sunscreen and rarely gets burned. it's that darn native american in him! and when i ask him to apply he says i'm a nagging mother!
oh well, what is done is done. i've aloe-d up and hopefully i won't peel. grrr....

at a loss for words....

i am just blown away by the devastation that katrina has caused the south. i am glued to the television and internet whenever i have a spare moment. i just cannot seem to fathom it. yes, i understand the amount of destruction but to think of an entire city submerged in 15-20 feet of water is just mind boggling.
my thoughts are with anyone who lives there or has friends or family affected by this storm. i have a friend who evacuated new orleans and is now on her way here because she has no where else to go down there. i hope she has something left to go back to when the water receeds.
i have a patient who's entire family lives in mississippi. she is the only one that lives here. she said that they evacuated for the hills, so they are all okay. her sister in law is a nurse and when she got off of her shift she managed to sneak by their house. well, what was their house. she said there is nothing left.
so sad, so heartbreaking, so undescribable. i cannot imagine losing all of my worldy posessions. i know it's just 'stuff' but it's also the home where someone created memories. built their family.
and the level of destruction...our tsunami as they say. i say worse. a tsunami didn't have sustained winds of over 100 mph. now don't get me wrong, i'm not arguing that it wasn't a totally devastating occurance but to me, this just seems so much worse.
i'm not there. i don't know. but it's all what i'm taking away from what i read and see and hear. just a perception. a thought. i hope that they can find more survivors. that the damage isn't as bad as they say. but i know that in actuallity it will probably be worse.
nick and i have talked about donating. now we are just trying to figure out how much and to which charity. i feel like i should be doing more but i know that there isn't much i can do. that money talks. so we will figure it out....

a fun little date day!

so nick and i actually had a date day. just the two of us, no interruptions! so fun, so expensive! we started off saturday by going to the museum of science and industry. i wanted to see the bodyworlds exhibit and nick is a video game freak so we decided to check out the game on one too!
the game on exhibit was so much fun. nick was in heaven. video games all around! we had a blast playing all the different games. it was crazy to see how it all started and they had some ideas for games of the future. very cool.
i was kinda let down by bodyworlds. don't get me wrong, it's absolutely amazing. but it was so darn crowded. there were people everywhere! i know we probably shouldn't have picked a saturday to go but that was our only option! besides the crowdedness...it was mind boggling. it did give me flashbacks to the old days of anatomy and physiology in college. i almost broke out in a sweat thinking i was going to be quized on all of this information in the end! the bodies were too freakin cool. how they positioned them. what they were able to show. how the heck they were able to do it.
after the museum we headed to the john hancock building. went to the top of the cock! neither nick nor myself had been up to the viewing deck. was super cool. could see everything. we lucked out and had a pretty clear day. got some cool pics of us...well, the shadow of the building. have a lo in my head already! :) we walked to water tower afterwards. i wanted a kenneth cole purse. but they didn't have it...boo! i guess it's for the better. not like i NEEDED it!
had an awesome dinner at the cheesecake factory. another first for me. not sure how or why it is that i have never eaten there before. considering nick's mom lived downtown for a few years! oh well, so good. had awesome pesto pasta and nick had the ribeye. we were both so full we had to take our cheesecake to go!
got home watched garden state. nick hated it. i didn't mind it. so fun to know that it was just the two of us all day long. that we had no one else to worry or think about! well, nick was on call but thankfully he didn't get any calls!
today was k's birthday party for the family! i'm such a party pooper. i slept on the couch for most of it. i told ya, i'm getting old. now just relaxing...dreading going to work tomorrow! ;)

the only pic of nick and i from our fabulous date day! it's not real! they take your pic infront of the green screen before you get on the elevator to go to the observatory. thought it was pretty cool. nick's mad that i'm holding all of our stuff! but i think it gives it character!

pictures.

definitely not in vegas. lol! :)

the five of us in the vip lounge...

me and kevin...

mom and nick...

dad and me...don't i look tired!? and isn't he silly! love this pic. he is never this animated!

out of shape.

no not in that way. well, yes. i am out of shape in that sense too. but this is all about my drinking, partying days and ways. they are so over.
last night nick and i went out with my mom, dad, and brother to celebrate his 21st birthday. we went to the boats. my parents are crazy addicted. they are always on the darn things! so they decided we should go since we celebrated my 21st there.
it was a blast. we snuck into the vip area and had a few too many! mom and dad are drinking champs! i always knew my dad could hang but my mom kinda impressed me....only because it took her two drinks before she was a wee bit drunk instead of her usual one! we were finally able to meet their favorite bartendress. is that even a word? my mom insists on calling her that. she was very fun! she even shares my birthday!
the dinner was entertaining. went to the buffet. kev and nick hit the mongolian wok. mom, dad, and myself stuck with the regular buffet. the food was good. i think the company was even better. it's kinda strange hanging with the parents. i guess it's that change from parent to friend kinda thing. i mean they are always your parents but at one point you see them differently. something just clicks. they become more human. does this even make sense? well, hearing them talk and tell their stories just makes them more real. and easier to understand. let me tell you, my father is not the easiest man in the world to get along with but he has had one heck of a journey. i guess everyone has. it's just taking the time to get to 'know' the real them. why they are who they are. sorry. off on a shannon tangent.
back to the gambling. well, nick and i stunk. i was ahead at video poker. mind you, i was not nearly brave enough to hit the real tables. that and i so hate gambling. i would rather spend the money on something concrete. i know gambling gives you the chance to make more but forget that chance. i want the odds on favorite. to know 100% that i'm getting something for my dollar. not just sitting there blindly inserting money into a machine. so not my thing.
mom was absolutely hilarious. she told us the odds on all the machines. knew were everything was. knew the bonus levels for each machine. she cracks me up! not sure if anyone came out ahead except kevin. i think it was $10! but mom did slip us all $10 each so we didn't do too bad! we left an hour or so before they did. had to take a 3 hour nap to recover! i was so tired and draggin butt at work today. what happened to me? i used to be able to do this every night of the week. ah, the good ole college days. where does time go?
gonna upload and share some photos....can't wait to scrap them. but the developing will wait. we have the museum tomorrow and k's party sunday!