find joy in the journey

today's reading list

I just finished writing my Oh Life entry for the night and was surprised to notice a trend throughout the day . . . reading.  5-6 years ago, reading for pleasure was nowhere on my radar.  Reading to the kids was something I did when they brought books to me, but I rarely suggested it as an activity.  We tried story-time at the library once, but it ended in disaster so we stayed away for years.

Now, I enjoy reading for pleasure.  (But struggle with finding/making the time).

Now, I read books to Anna on an (almost) daily basis.

Now, we visit the library every week.

Anyways, it's just so interesting to think that something I once thought was "so not me" is now a great source of enjoyment and something that I seek out.

--------------------------------------

6:30am / the whole family / piled on the red couch

We are in 2 Nephi Chapter 2 of the Book of Mormon.  "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy."

1:15pm / Anna and I / on the picnic blanket she set up in the family room

These books are pretty cute and funny.  But I have a hard time reading them out loud -- what with the spanish accents, this cat's crazy ever-changing imagination, and random made-up songs.  We read it once, and luckily the library book also comes with a CD so we could listen to the author tell it the right way.

3:20pm / me / wrapped in a fleece blanket on the couch

I got in a good hour of reading while the kids did their afternoon chores and Conner completed his homework.  An hour.  In the middle of the afternoon.  That never happens.  I'm not sure how I feel about this book.  It is entertaining.  But the premise is a little . . . . unsettling?  creepy?  A Mormon housewife meets a Hollywood heart-throb and they become best friends.  See what I mean.  I'm about half-way through.  Maybe there's a reason the brand new hardcover was on clearance for $4.99, but for now I'm enjoying the reading time and the story has me intrigued.

8:00pm / me + 3 kids / sprawled on the couch after the wipeout party

 

3 chapters tonight.  (They are pretty short).  The writing is beautiful in this book.  I stop every once in a while to make sure the kids (Payton & Anna) are engaged and to define words and to summarize what just happened.

While on the subject of reading, can I put in a plug for Goodreads?  It's a great website where you list, rate, and review the books you have read.  You can also connect with friends and get their book recommendations.  I have a lot of books in my "to-read" list based on others' reviews.  Anyway, if you find yourself there look me up because I'm always interested in discovering a good book.

Shannon's bookshelf: read



More of Shannon's books »

master bathroom progress

*Today I ordered these two photos in 16x20 canvas gallery wrapped prints (finally using the great "save" vouchers I purchased last spring through Eversave.com).  I can't wait to get them in my hands and up on my bathroom wall.

Ahhhh . . . .

*This weekend I added 2 coats of a water-based polycrylic to my bathroom cabinets (that were painted white back in September).  We've had a busy fall/winter.  And that's why I really like January.  The soccer and basketball seasons are over and I can breathe again.  And get back to a neglected projects.

*Maybe tonight I'll have Scott help me add the cabinet hardware.  Also purchased in September.

*I have a great idea in my head for organizing some of my jewelry in the bathroom.  We'll see how it turns out.

*Today I ordered some Showers-n-Stuff cleaner from Don Aslett.  Crossing my fingers that it will work wonders on my hard-water stained glass shower door.  Kaboom and Lime-away have been useless.

*I've picked out a color for my master bedroom and toilet room (I don't know what else to call it) . . . . Polished Limestone by Glidden.

A nice clean gray to go with the turquoise-y Waterfall (Benjamin Moore) in the master bathroom.  I'm hoping to pick up a couple gallons this week and at the very least, paint the toilet room.  The master bedroom is going to be a beast.

*And on a completely unrelated note, Scott just walked in the door with a mint Oreo Blizzard for me. Mmmm.

let's go on a date: january

For Christmas this year I gave Scott a slew of golfing gear (shoes, balls, rangefinder).  Oh, and a new stainless steel double-action potato masher.

I also gave him something for us to enjoy together.  

This basket holds 12 envelopes.  Each labeled with a month of the year.  And each envelope contains a pre-planned, (mostly) pre-paid date just for us.  Some of the dates will take place at home, some are planned for the local area, and some will take us into town.  All 12 dates are different.  Several, actually nearly all of the dates are things we have never done before.

The plan is to open the envelope together at the beginning of the month, look at the calendar and decide on a date.  So right from the beginning of the month, we'll have a fun date on the calendar to look forward to.

the date envelope

contents  $15 giftcard to OMSI, $25 giftcard at McMennamins, brochure/map of McMennamins restaurants in the area

cost  $40

the plan

Eat dinner at one of the many McMennamins restaurants in the area and then do something fun at OMSI -- laser show, IMAX movie, or use it towards general admission.

the scrapbook page

Get ready to flip out because I . . . made a scrapbook page!

I brought along my Fuji Instax for picture taking. I love it.  It is just so cute.  I think I'll be taking it on all of our dates this year.

Our January date also doubled as our anniversary date.  12 years!  We enjoyed a hamburger dinner at Fulton Pub (a place Scott visits from time to time for work lunches, but I've never been before).  He even shared one of his tots with me.  :)  My "Communication Breakdown Burger" was awesome.  And before dinner we went to OMSI to watch "Hubble" on the IMAX screen.

I think I'm liking this plan.  11 more to go.

next month

a relaxing night at home

to see all of our monthly dates in 2011, go here

---------------------------------

Linking up:  Weekend Wrap-up party at Tater Tots & Jell-O

the power of pizza

Friday was Domino's pizza day at school.  We forgot and packed lunches that morning.  The only time my kids get (or want) school lunch is when the Domino's comes.

Apparently as soon as Payton walked in the school doors he remembered.  Because when I returned home the phone was ringing and Payton was on the other line.  Quietly, "Mom it's Domino's today.  Can you bring some money?"  I hesitantly told him no, because I knew there were probably watery red eyes on the other end of the line.  I told him he'd be okay.  And told myself he'd be fine, he just needs to tough through it.

20 minutes later I got soft.  And hopped in the car with lunch money in hand.  Because, seriously, they look forward to this day all month long.

Scott says I caved.

But Valerie (who is a mother of 4 boys) says via my facebook status, "Caving is always on the good list.  Would you rather be right or have Payton's love and devotion?"  I do like being right.  But I also know that she has her boys' love and devotion, well into their adult years.

When I dropped off the money I told the office assistant, "I sure hope my kids love me."

At the end of the day, Payton came happily skipping down the hill and ran into my arms, "thank you so much for the pizza!!!!"  And at home he pulled this out of his backpack:

I guess he does love me.  

yellow

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned I had something yellow that I hoped to give away soon?

Well, my blog had logged something like 4980 comments so I thought it would be fun to give a little prize to the 5000th commenter.

And today that was Lisa on my "on a friday afternoon" post. 

Congrats Lisa!  This little package of yellow happiness will be coming your way real soon.  :)

As I watched the news this morning an interesting little tidbit came across the ticker.  It said that today, January 17th is supposedly the most depressing day of the year.  They say it's a combination of bad weather, post-Christmas blues, debt, discovering that you've already failed at your new years resolutions, and a lack of motivation that make this . . . . Blue Monday.  

What better day to celebrate with a little yellow!  Yellow always equals happy, right?  The sun peeked out just a few hours ago (after 3 inches of rain over the weekend) and it is glorious!  I hope you can enjoy a little yellow in your day as well.

1. It's good for the soul to.... Happy Bench Monday ;) Explored.. (thank you!), 2. Finished work-summer landscape, 3. What a ducky day!, 4. You're like a ray of sunshine through the sadness, 5. paint with light..!, 6. London Underground - Stand behind the yellow line!, 7. __Helianthus__, 8. Tibubeneng, 9. Bubble Eye 2, 10. Los colores de Caminito, 11. Drops, 12. Field of joy, 13. walking on sunshine, 14. rolling fields, 15. Sparkling Sunrise, 16. yellow

oh the places we'll go

Today is our 12th anniversary.

This week we were talking.  About one day serving a couple's mission (or two) for the church when we have retired.  There was a talk given in sacrament meeting this week on this subject (reiterating President Monson's recent call for more senior couples).  Scott is convinced that by the time we're ready to go that Vietnam will be newly open for missionary work (currently there are no missionaries there) and we'll be sent there.  Because he speaks Vietnamese.  I fervently tried to remind him that I am not a linguist in any way shape or form.  My brain does not work that way.  He laughed.  I laughed too, but maybe not as jovially.

Wherever we go, it will definitely be an adventure someday.  I'm looking forward to lots of adventures together.

So, on our 12th anniversary I thought I'd make a list of our traveling adventures thus far.

1.  Monterey & San Francisco, California (January 1999) - Honeymoon.

2.  Cancun, Mexico (April 2000) - Trip with my family.

3.  Sault Saint Marie, Michigan (September 2001) - 10 month old Conner and I accompanied Scott on a business trip here for one week.

4.  Cleveland & Kirtland, Ohio (September 2001) - After Michigan we stayed here for 2 weeks.

5.  Niagara Falls and Palmyra, New York (September 2001) - still on the business trip, over the weekend we went sight-seeing.

6.  Worcester, Massachusetts (November 2002) - 2 year old Conner and I accompanied Scott on a 2-week business trip.  I still can't pronounce the name of the town.

7.  New York City, New York and Boston, Massachusetts (November 2002) - still on the business trip, sightseeing over the weekend.

8.  Las Vegas, Nevada (February 2003) - Our first post-baby getaway!

9.  Vancouver, British Columbia (September 2003) - Snuck away for a weekend and a Josh Groban concert.

10.  Maui (October 2006) - Heaven.

11.  Seattle, Washington (March 2009) - Celebrating 10 years.

12.  Maui (September 2009) - Heaven.

Ahh, doesn't that work out to a nice number.  12.  :)  Number 13 is yet to be planned.  We've got a busy year and a half in front of us (business school), but I'm sure we'll plan something nice to celebrate that checkmark.

Happy anniversary babe!  I'm glad we still "match."  

on a friday afternoon

Payton . . . . unloads his backpack, has a snack, and practices the piano in record time and then retreats to his bedroom to play the Nintendo DS.  Shoes and coat are still on from school.  There's no time to worry about such silly things.

See, Thursday and Friday are DS days.  (Unless you're Conner and decided to get sucked into DS this morning rather than listen to mom when she called, and have since lost DS privileges for a week). The other 5 days of the week, it's a no to the DS unless mom and dad give special permission.

Conner . . . grumpily attending to homework.  Re-writing his assignment because his teacher, myself, and even he knows that he can do better than that.  His priority is speed, and we're trying to teach him that the goal should be quality.

He'll get it eventually.  Hopefully.

Scott . . . building a new bookcase for the kids' books.  We went to IKEA today and picked up a few things.  I'm so glad he was there to provide some muscle and the wallet.  :)  I did buy him lunch.

Anna . . . gets creative with an empty IKEA box.  Bee-bo bee-bo.  I'm a robot.

And me . . . working on my 2008 blog book (via Blurb) - yes I'm a little behind - while I monitor Conner's progress.  I have a couple Groupons that expire in a few weeks so it is full steam ahead with this project.  As I have gone through these blog entries, over and over again I have felt so so grateful that I have kept up this blog.  There are so many moments, stories, conversations that would have been totally forgotten if I didn't write them down.  So, yay for blogging!

The culmination of our afternoon was a Winter Wipeout Party!  The kids looooved this show last summer, so we were thrilled to see it come back last week.  The boys had planned to go skiing today, but the warmer temps & rainy weather would have made for a miserable day on the mountain.  Scott broke the news to them yesterday and as consolation suggested that we have a Wipeout party tonight.

Anna went to work right away making signs.  I love these.

Her attempt at sounding out and spelling "Winter Wipeout".  And some mean sweeper arms.

Then there's the "7 Letter Word" (love that she drew a couple contestants making their way across it) and Wipeout's good friend Ballsy.

The Wipeout Party consisted of watching last night's DVR'd episode, bottomless popcorn, and ice cream.  It was perfect.  

Now, let the weekend begin!

 

one little word 2011

I have chosen . . . . 

my one little word for 2011.  Nurture.  With a goal to nurture relationships with my family, friends, and my Heavenly Father.  Funny thing, I had already chosen this word back in December when I got a fortune with my chinese food that read: "This year your highest priority will be your family."  I still have that fortune and it is sitting right in front of me.

I have been inspired by . . . 

talented people and their projects, ideas, and goals.  I've started a mini blog here to "re-blog" or bookmark some of these inspirations for future reference.

i have realized . . . 

I am content.  I can enjoy the smells, dreamy smiles, and softness of someone else's baby without stirring up desires for "just one more."  Today I got to hold Sheila's little boy Nolan as he nuzzled into my shoulder and arms for a 2 hour nap.  Ahh, . . .

I have nodded in agreement . . . .

with this e-mail forwarded to me by a friend not too long ago. 

"I just finished taking an evening class at Stanford. The last lecture was on the mind-body connection-the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other  things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed, but he was serious. 

          Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality “girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin-a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings?-rarely. Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym. 

         There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged--not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking! So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health.

I have a craving for . . .

Izze.  Cold, sweet, and not too sugary.  I'm tempted to buy a case or two on Amazon (a whole lot cheaper than in the grocery store + free shipping).  I enjoy Sobe Lifewater as well, but for the life of me I cannot open the stinkin' bottles!  (Just call me jell-o arms).  When Scott is out of town I'm toast.

1-1-11

 {as you can see, mom, the bulbs you brought are growing just fine.  thanks.}

Today we slept in until 8am, saw the sun alllll day, grazed on Pig Out fare for lunch and dinner, and generally did nothing.  

  {the carnage of new year's eve - gingerbread trains & house}

We've been doing a whole lot of nothing this week.  Just call us Lazy Bones.  Sleeping in every morning, piddling around the house, eating too many sweets.  I've left the house exactly 3 times this week.  Any aspirations I had for finishing projects during Christmas Break did not come to pass.  Other than put the decorations away, blog, and prepare my primary lesson I've done jack squat.

It has been nice but my body is beginning to crave fresh air, healthier foods, and confirmation that there are other people in this world besides the 5 residing in this house.  And as much as my body clock is going to put up a fight, I need that early morning alarm to get me up and going to start a productive day and normal schedule.  

So tonight, I think we'll tuck the kids into bed, I'll gather my primary supplies and pray for a smooth class tomorrow (I have the 4 year olds this year), and then cozy up in my bed to watch some tv or a movie until I go to sleep.  Scratch that.  First, fold the 3 loads of laundry that are piled on my bed.  Then get cozy.

{something yellow to brighten this winter's day.  I have another (different) something yellow that I hope to giveaway here in the next week or two}.

top ten posts of 2010

With the year coming to a close I thought it would be fun to look back and remember my top ten (most commented) posts of 2010 . . . 

1.  the summer fun list

2.  11 lucky years

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

3.  her world

whole wide world from Shannon on Vimeo.

4.  spring is in the air

5.  birthday week 2010: indulge

6.  us: pictured

 

7. a note

 

8. a touch of green

9. idaho top ten

10.  today . . . september 2010

Thanks for stopping by!