Hello, Cupcake!

My dear friend Jess Deal gave me this adorable cupcake cookbook for Christmas.



















Then come to find out, my Mom got me the exact same one, and they each said "I just thought of you when I saw it and had to get it for you." Which means it's the perfect gift!! I'm so lucky to have people who know me so well buy me such wonderful presents.

As mentioned in the previous blog, we decided to make the edible ornaments cupcakes. Here's our spread of supplies.














Our colored sugars for dipping














And here are some of our masterpieces! They are cupcake Christmas ornaments.














This one was my very favorite that we did.














This is Austin's Christmas present cupcake. He insisted on doing one that wasn't an ornament. He's always gotta be different!














A whole box of ornaments ready to be delivered!














Thank to Jess and my mom for giving us something so fun to do on our Christmas Eve in Provo!

Our First Christmas

Inspired by my mother's incredible talent for writing poetry, and to avoid any ranting and anger that could come from relaying the story, here's an emotionally controlled version of mine and Austin's first, and somewhat tragic Christmas together.

'Twas two days before Christmas
And all through the state
Travelers were unsure
Of their holiday fate

With snow came delays
And cancellations a-plenty
It fell in record highs
In inches up to twenty!

Austin and I with our suitcases
Were well on our way
To the SLC airport
To catch our United plane

Everything went smoothly
We could not foresee it
We thought we'd be in the air shortly
Enjoying our complimentary peanuts

But after hours in the airport
And with much devastation
We learned we would not
Reach our beloved destination

The "customer service" agent
Was just a mean old man
Nothing could be done
We'd been dealt a terrible hand

Christmas was ruined
And I cannot deny
I wanted to punch a United employee
Right in their dumb eye

But what good would it do?
It wasn't their crime
As sad as I was
Holiday spirit we would try to find

We started right away
As soon as we got home
We prayed for comfort,
And peace, and hope

Our eyes were opened
And our hearts were too
We clearly understood
What we needed to do

We started off by counting
All the ways we are blessed
Even with such a tragedy
Our lives are the best

With friends and family
We are loved so much
A home, jobs, cars, schooling
We have more than enough

We have our health, the Gospel
Many talents to share
We could find a way to show others
How much we care

So we baked and frosted
Most all of the day
Then we went out
And gave our cupcakes away

It was something so simple
And so easy to do
But it lifted all
Of the sorrowful gloom

Now we are cheerful and grateful
And have certainly found
No matter where you are
You can spread love around

Gale family fun and tradition
We have undoubtedly missed
But there will be other years
That we can enjoy it

From anger to joy
In just a few hours
Your outlook on life
Is all in your power

The Lord's love is stronger
Than any hardship
Even the disappointment
Of a ruined trip

This Christmas tale
Our kids will surely hear
Of the greatest day
Austin and I had all year

What are sisters for??

Here's a conversation Siara and I had via text message today...

Siara: Good thing Mariposa reopened because I wasn't sure what to get you for Christmas...
Me: Oh my gosh no way. Why did they even bother bringing that trash back?
Siara: Maybe now that Mervyn's is closed they'll have the corner on the fugly clothes market.
Me: And the corner on the unorganized store and trashy employees market. That place blows.
Siara: Yeah no kidding. Pretty much every store here is gross.
Me: I can't believe the places like "Deb", or "UrbanWear", or "Papaya". They're all the same junk. Forever 21 is the only good cheap store.
Siara: Haha oh my those stores crack me up. Imagine working there....they'd probably pay you in tube tops.
Me: Hahahahahahaha

More than ready....

...to get out of Provo for a few days. I cannot wait to go to the cabin, see Bailey, see all my little siblings who aren't so little anymore, be snowed in for a while, go shopping in Portland, and just have a break. Here's a little preview of where we'll be spending Christmas, and thanks to my mom, because I stole these from her blog. =)















I like snow when you just see it like this, and you don't have to drive in it.





























And here's the adorably cozy fireplace with all the stockings!














Wish us luck that our flight doesn't get delayed or canceled. Merry Christmas!!!

Calling

I've written about how much I love PostSecret before, and this is just another reason why.














This is what someone wrote in response to this postcard that was sent in...

"i was faced with a decision almost five years ago. whether to let my mother live or die.

my mothers nurse saved me. so to the nurse, i say, that maybe sometimes it is not the patient you save."




That's why I will be a nurse, so I can save someone.

This is why I watch TV

I love my job....

....because it's always different. One minute I'm doing something as minor as drawing blood or giving a CT scan, and the next minute I'm helping with an eye lift, a nose cautery, a thyroid FNA, straightening a nose fracture, and anything else that involves blood and guts. I guess everyone doesn't have an inherent love of needles and sterile instruments. But I'm just living the dream.

AUSTRALIA!

Baz Luhrmann is officially a genius.

First Romeo and Juliet














Then Moulin Rouge













And now Australia. The entire 2 hours and 45 minutes is totally worth it, and I think I might see it in the theater again. Nicole Kidman is incredible and gorgeous, as always. And oh my goodness. Hugh Jackman...I'll admit I didn't really like him before this movie, but I am sold. He has now joined the ranks with Brad Pitt as Tristan in Legends of the Fall...
































Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday...

































And Jude Law in Cold Mountain






























Because seriously, look at him in this movie...






























Him and Nicole Kidman are incredible together
























So if you want to see an amazing epic that will seriously make you cry your eyes out, go see Australia. It's better than Titanic the first time you saw it.

Hang Up

I understand our country's current addiction to our cell phones. I get that panicky feeling just like anyone else when I realize I've left it at home, or when I can't check it every five minutes for any reason. But what I just don't understand is the ridiculous way that people refuse to GET OFF THEIR CELL PHONES. If you're in line at the grocery store, get off the phone. Don't hold up the entire line behind you by blabbing incessantly instead of paying for your groceries. And for heaven's sake, if you're waiting in the doctor's office and you get called back to be seen, HANG UP. I can't believe how many times I have waited, waited, waited for patient's to get off of their phone so I can check them in. And then they complain about how long they are in the office. I just wish people would have a little more discretion when it comes to appropriate cell phone use. There is a time and a place.

Life is a dance floor

Jamie did this fun blog, and I normally don't do anything that resembles a "Forward", but this one actually seemed interesting! So what you do is put your iPod on shuffle and for every question, you type the song that's playing. So here it is!

Shanna's Movie Life Soundtrack (by the way, I'd like Jennifer Connelly to play me in the movie)
Opening Credits: "There's No Going Back" -Midtown
Waking Up: "Black Balloon" -Goo Goo Dolls
First Day of School: "Sleeping In" -The Postal Service
Falling in Love: "Perfect" -Alanis Morissette
Fight Song: "Uptown Girl" -Billy Joel
Breaking Up: "Great Romances of the 20th Century" -Taking Back Sunday
Life: "Addicted" -Simple Plan
Mental Breakdown: "Any Way You Want It" -Journey
Driving: "Just What I Needed" -The Cars
Flashbacks: "Real World" -Matchbox Twenty
Getting Back Together: "To The World" -Brad Paisley
Wedding: "You Were Meant For Me" -Jewel
Birth of a Child: "Lovely Day" -Lit
Final Battle: "Foolish Games" -Jewel
Death Scene: "Still" -Rufio
Funeral Song: "New Born" -Muse
End Credits: "Season" -The Academy Is...

It really is weird how perfectly some of those work out! Like Jewel for my wedding. Austin and I didn't actually dance to that song, but I would like to in my movie! And hello! "Sleeping In" for the first day of school?? I laughed when that one came up. I'm pretty okay with my soundtrack, so someone remember to make it when my saga comes out! =)

We've definitely come a long way.

I just started reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and I'm already loving it. I came across this great little quote that should make any woman grateful to be living in THIS day, rather than back then.

"Cyrus wanted a woman to take care of Adam. He needed someone to keep house and cook, and a servant cost money. He was a vigorous man and needed the body of a woman, and that too cost money--unless you were married to it. Within two weeks Cyrus had wooed, wedded, bedded, and impregnated her. His neighbors did not find his action hasty. It was quite normal in that day for a man to use up three or four wives in a normal lifetime.

Alice Trask had a number of admirable qualities. She was a deep scrubber and a corner-cleaner in the house. She was not very pretty, so there was no need to watch her. Her eyes were pale, her complexion shallow, and her teeth crooked, but she was extremely healthy and never complained during her pregnancy. Whether she liked children or not no one ever knew. She was not asked, and she never said anything unless she was asked. From Cyrus's point of view this was possibly the greatest of her virtues. She never offered any opinion or statement, and when a man was talking she gave a vague impression of listening while she went about doing the housework."

Nothing like a woman that keeps her mouth shut and cleans, right? It's like in Little Women when Amy's teacher tells her that "It's as useful to educate a woman as it is to educate a female cat."

Thank the heavens for women like Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, etc. Or we'd still be scrubbing floors barefoot and pregnant with no useful thoughts in our heads except how to please our husbands.