i heart smores.

i have an obsession. i believe i have posted about it here before. i know i have even scrapped my obsession. it's silly. but i can't help it. i love summer and fall for the bonfires. and the smores that i can make with heath bars or reese's peanut butter cups. sigh. now i'm hungry.

these were absolutely delicious.
i threw a half a pan out because i would have eaten the entire thing. by myself. and not have thought twice about it.

and i'm sharing here because they were so tasty i think you should have the pleasure of making and eating them too! but i'm warning you, they are addicting!

oh and a side note on the recipe. i didn't melt the marshmallows on the stove. i did it in a giant bowl in the microwave. so much less time consuming! ;)

selphy love.

i did it.
i bought my birthday pressie with my wonderful amazon gift cards.

 {image borrowed from amazon}

nick helped me hook it up tonight. and i've already printed and scrapped one picture. might be a world record. i'm really hoping this helps with my scrappers block. maybe i should reword that. it's  not that i have a block. it's just i don't want to scrap any of the 29,443,030 pictures that are laying around the study. weird, i know. but i'm strange. what can i say? the selphy is giving me instant picture gratification and i'm totally digging it.   i'm also hoping this will cut down on our photo budget. i did good and only ordered with hella sales but it was still a pain in the ass because i could never seem to upload on a regular basis, so when there was a sale it was a huge process. and it will cut down on the photo clutter that is a bit out of hand which is another bonus!

haven't played around with all of the different settings and/or functions. baby steps. ;)

wip 2.19.11

gotta catch back up! i fell behind last week.

friday.
ben and momma went shopping and visited dadda at work.

ben woke up and insisted on having the puppy that was on one of his shelves. not sure what that was all about but he carried it with him the entire day.

playing on the sticky mat in dad's office.

being the best baby ever in old navy while momma tried on some clothes.

then we came home and napped. and kevin came over and he napped too!
then it was time for a trip to costco!

aw, uncle kevin and ben.

enjoying a tasty green lollipop.

saturday.
dinner out with friends. was a great time and the tapas were tasty. would definitely go back...  didn't take pictures at dinner but did snap some at the bar afterwards.

sunday.
lazy morning. then we did our taxes and had nick's mom's family night. dinner was delish. his mom made turkey breast and stuffing. so much better than thanksgiving! had a blast playing games and just hanging out.

nothing major to share picture-wise... which is probably good since it's been picture overload this week!

wordless wednesday 2.23.11

the family that vacuums together, stays together! ;D

wip 2.12.11

friday.
nick and i had date night. dinner at asparagus and saw the green hornet.  also snapped our foot picture for the past wordless wednesday while we were in the theatre. ;)

saturday.
met john and bill and the girls at schoops for a nice lunch. the group picture is awful... but whatever, i'll share.  not sure why i'm eating my hair. again, whatever. and the lighting. sigh. we rotated but those pics are not any better so this is the one i'm sharing.

then i'm hoping this is drea. maybe it's gabby. but i'm almost positive it's drea.
anywho. these two were so cute all lunch long!

then we went to our old high school to watch brianna, nick's dad's girlfriend's daughter {phew}, preform with her dance team. we only watched the hip hop portion of the show. which was fun! and ben totally enjoyed it! he would clap as soon as each team finished their performance and say 'again'. they couldn't get out there soon enough for him.

bean and jer bear after a performance.

we came home and crashed. i think we all took naps!

sunday.
birthday festivities with my side of the family.

ben and grandma overseeing the pigs and in a blanket production.

ben loves bows!

scamming some popcorn from uncle kevin.

three and two candles. get it?

sharing cake with great grandma. 

and my awesome valentine's day present from my parents! {the apron, not ben!}

road rage.

um, i am not a friendly driver. i have serious issues with road rage.
however, having an almost two year old, i cannot shout out my preferred expletives. so i've resorted to just saying 'really'?!  well, at least 95% of the time that's what comes out of my mouth.

friday as ben and i were leaving bed bath and beyond this stupid lady is not following the shannon's school of driving rules and i'm irritated. and apparently, i yelled 'really' at the lady. which was then followed by benjamin saying, 'weally'.

too cute and thank goodness i didn't say something worse!

the never ending

work week.
seriously, this week took forever!
we were busy at work so the days went quickly but it just seemed like it would never end!
maybe it was also the fact that i had something to do after work every day except for monday.  that makes for some long days.  however, life is too short. i want to find time and squeeze friends and family in whenever i can. even if it means for some long days.  most of them are totally worth it! ;P

wordless wednesday. 2.16.11

movie feet. ;D

one more month...

uploaded and done. must try to be more current with this little project. ;)

january photo calendar.

14 on the 14.

why?
because i haven't done them in a while.
because i meant to do one on thursday and then got side tracked.
because i wasn't doing this on the 12, since it was a saturday.

- i think this contest is pretty freaking awesome.
- am super close to finally purchasing my birthday present. i love amazon gift cards! {it deserves it's own post, so if i ever hit the order button, i'll share!}
- ben went to school today! first time in almost two weeks.
- am super excited for dinner this weekend. with good friends and half price wine bottles it can't be bad!
- thinks that this weather is absolutely awesome! ha.
- couldn't be more excited that it's light out at 7 and still light out at  530.
- needs to scrap like you wouldn't believe.
- ben loves moon dough. momma not so much. that stuff is messy!
- thought date night was pretty darn funny. and green hornet wasn't too bad either!
- needing new tunes. anyone have any good suggestions. {rystn, i think that means you!}
- am excited for our weekend getaway next month. bought ben a super cute life jacket. next on the list: swim suit, cover up, and flips!
- i'm really kinda diggin paper books again. {vs. ebooks} i've been using the kindle on the elliptical and regular books for the everyday.... which often means i'm reading two books at once. i have NEVER done that but it's working so far.
- cannot believe that ben is almost two! trying to make decisions on his party{ies}.
- has been wearing nail polish to work. gasp! in nursing school it is so not okay to wear nail polish. i feel like a total rebel! ;P

wip 2.5.11

friday:
nothing too excited. still snowed in. nick had to go to work tho.

ben enjoyed playing with his new kitchen. ;)

then i headed out that evening for girl's night with nick's family. no pictures. however, i was tempted to take a picture of the giant snow mound in the parking lot and a pick up truck with its entire bed filled with snow. i don't know why, but that always makes me laugh!

saturday:
time to clean. ben likes mopping.

then we headed out to dinner for some cheap ribeyes. they were okay... especially the second time since the chef messed up our orders the first time.

sunday:
headed to a wake in the afternoon. always sad. but still good to catch up with family. ben was a trooper and behaved so well when we were there.
home skillet wasn't feeling the greatest. i mean, how tired are you, if you go the entire car ride home with your hat like this?

sunday evening we decided to go last minute to our friend's super bowl party. had a blast! thanks mom for babysitting!! xo.
took lots of blurry, bad colored photos with my iphone. not sure if it was us taking awful pictures or the phone. they might appear on facebook though... have had a few requests to share, so we'll see!

wordless wednesday. 2.9.11

sick wee man. ;(

{iphone photo.}

february 2011 photo hunt

i think i am going to try to do this.
i think i can, i think i can, i think i can.

anyone else gonna play along?

normal?

i'm hoping that we get back into our 'routine' soon. and i use the word routine loosely..

those snow days threw me off.
now ben's sick. ;(
i stayed home with him today... my mom is staying with him tomorrow.  we'll cross the bridge of wednesday and thursday when we need to. i can only think so far ahead at 230 in the morning!

i haven't been to work since last tuesday. i kinda miss it! i'm sure tomorrow i'll be wishing i were at home again. gotta be one of murphy's laws, right?

a more exciting post tomorrow...maybe!

wip 1.29.11

friday.
lazy day at home with mom.

ben did figure out how to take the back off of his busy ball popper.

and how to hide behind the blinds. peek a boo!

and learning his letters. ;)

saturday.
twas a total adventure.
met my godparents at bridges.  $1 sloppy joes. of course, i didn't order that so my meal was 1/3 of our bill. awesome! good company. good food. can't beat that.

they passed out these jack daniels necklaces. not sure it was completely appropriate for a 22 month old but he loved em!

then we went out to the car. my godparents wanted to check out nick's flex. then someone noticed we had a flat tire. sigh. it's 230 saturday afternoon. are we really going to find someone to fix it?

we did. thank goodness. had to sit in another car and wait for ours to be fixed. ben managed to fall off the backseat and split his lip. thankfully, i was able to contain the blood to just his blanket. i didn't snap any pictures in fear that he would fall off again!

we made it home. were able to tidy up the house and get ready for our dinner date. cooper's hawk here we come!

gotta have a white and a red, right?

yes, i know my teeth and lips are slightly purple. i blame the malbec. ;)

group photo minus the photographer who refused to have his picture taken.

phew. was a long day. fun. lots of memories. but exhausting!

sunday.
lazy morning. when i finally got motivated to do something. [change ben's light bulbs.} i ended up breaking the light. um, yeah. i twisted the light bulb and some how it broke apart. sigh. i suck. nick had to turn off the power to fix it. and we tried the potato thing and it didn't work. just fyi.

sunday evening was family night with nick's mom's side of the family. was a nice, relaxing evening. took a few pics... they're of ben eating. i think there are plenty of those pictures on here, so i won't share!

quotes. february 2011 edition.

~ curiosity is one of those insatiable passions that grow by gratification. - sarah scott.

~ it is an amazing thing, the difference to one's powers of concentration a pair of comfortable shoes can make. - laurie r. king.

~ each moment in time we have it all, even when we think we don't. - melody beattie

~ courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point. - c.s. lewis

~ wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants. - esther de waal

~ if you're going to play the game properly you'd better know every rule.  - barbara jordan {this one's for nick! ;P}

~ reclaiming the belly laugh can cure a world of woes. - jamie sams

~ when nothing is sure everything is possible. - margaret drabble

~ it is easier to know man in general than to know one man in particular. - duc de la rochefoucauld

~ people need joy quite as much as clothing. some of them need it far more. - margaret collier graham

~ they know enough who know how to learn. - henry adams

~ growth is the only evidence of life. - john henry newman

~ keep a thing seven years and it's bound to come in handy. - russian proverb

~ sooner or later we will all quote our mothers. - bern williams

snowmageddon 2011

we survived the third worst blizzard in chicago history.

some of these photos are just amazing.

so the snow started yesterday, tuesday, while i was still at work. nick and i had gotten called and were told that ben's daycare would be closing early for the day. thankfully, nick was able to leave work early to get to the him. i also left work early, about 245, which was nice. however, i didn't get home until almost 4! {it's normally under a 30 minute commute.}

i took some pictures on the ride home. i know, i know. but i couldn't help it.
i'll add descriptions for the locals.

the hill on calumet coming up to route 30.

30 and 41.

the stop light at lake central.

it was awful. more so the visibility than the roads. the snow hadn't really started to fall just yet.

i tried to take a picture out our front door at about 6. didn't have much luck.

love when the snow accumulates on windows like this...

 taken safely from inside our home. out of our front window.

and a quick shot of our backyard that evening. i opened the sliding glass door for this one and holy cow did the snow blow in! {note the teeny tiny slide in the right mid portion of this picture.}

then nick went out and attacked the driveway. he shoveled when we got home. and only a few hours later he needed the snow blower.

and the visibility just a few feet from the garage. 

today. wednesday. nick and i were both fortunate enough to have the day off. thank goodness! and ben's daycare was closed. was nice having a family day!

nick took these pics with the point and shoot the first time he went out to snow blow at around 930.

isn't he cute?

awesome snow drift. he didn't tell me about it.. i just found it on the camera. fun!

another crazy snow drift.

a view looking down our driveway. um, where is the street?

nick standing in the street {i think} looking up our driveway. i love the drifts. 

i snapped a few from inside the house.

remember that playset i told you to pay attention to earlier... hiding under a big drift. love that one of the drifts comes up to our deck. this portion of the deck is a bit higher than the rest, just fyi.

our neighbors. yes, i'm weird. whatever. ;P

then i actually ventured outside once ben was down for a nap.

 nick's first time down the driveway. so thankful for our snow blower {thanks auntie lois and uncle wayne!} but thinking he might need to upgrade! i can't argue the man, as long is he is out there, he can buy what he wants!

hello roof.

a shot of the front door. 

a view down the street. love all the snow blowers and the crazy couple walking down the street!

then i headed out the back door and onto the deck.

it's kinda pretty even though it's a pain in the ass. 

a better shot of the drifts, i think.

so now it's like 11. and the lake effect snow decides to kick in. gotta love lake michigan....

nick is pissed because he hasn't even cleared the drive way and he's been out there for like 2 hours.

holy white out!

did someone see our mailbox?

dumb ass me and bundled up nick!

i think someone is tired.

taken from the mailbox.

then it was some inside time.
ben wanted to take pictures of the snow too.

notice how the snow drift here is considerably higher than earlier...

curious ben.

cheese.

then we ventured outside once the lake effect stuff stopped.

i think someone was excited. ;)

dada wait up!

a view of the street.

the sad sidewalk.

um, i'm not sure that i like that snow is almost taller than i am!

poor mailbox.

sweet boy.

another street view.

on mount mailbox.

 but momma i don't wanna go inside. {he's totally running away from us in this one!}

but beaner your cheeks are crazy red and we've only been outside for like 5 minutes!

and lastly a few more shots from our warm home.
the neighbors pool. there is a cool space on the one side and on the other it's almost covered by snow.

and his poor slide! 

if you made it this far, you're awesome.
and sorry for the crazy picture quality. i just was shooting. not really paying attention to settings. just wanted to document this crazy experience. ;)