Good Samaritan (?)

Yesterday I came back to work for the first time in a week. It was snowing of course, and I was driving 10 mph, of course. I usually parallel park at a certain spot by the hospital, so I made an attempt to do so and ended up totally stuck in the snow. After about three minutes of reversing and going forward and spinning out, I was resigned to my fate of digging out my car with my cold little hands. Just as I was in this dire moment of frozen fate, a huge white lifted suburban backs up right behind me. The guy drops a chain out the back and climbs under my car to hook it up and pull me out. I was so joyous!! So I get in my car to steer, he gets into his, and he starts to pull my car back, and the chain somehow comes off the back and throws my car into the curb. But at that point I could pull onto the road, and thought everything was perfect. It warmed my heart that someone would be so kind and quick to help. So I thanked him graciously and drove into the parking lot. I even called Austin to tell him what had happened and that this was the nicest guy in the world.

Then later...

I look at the back of my car and my muffler/exhaust pipe is hanging a little weird. Turns out this guy put the hook ONTO my muffler to pull my car, tearing it off in the process. I was lucky that the hook came free before it did more damage. Now it has to be welded back on, and I am a little more cynical about random acts of kindness.

It would have been cheaper to dig my car out with my hands.

I will no longer be accepting the charity of strangers.

Sisters, Sisters

Another reason why I love having my sister.

Today Siara went home from work sick and was watching the show "Hoarders" on A&E. Obviously she was texting me the sickening updates.

Siara: "Shanna! It's so disgusting, she eats anything past the expiration date as long as it's not puffy. Like old yogurt and crap."

Me: "Oh my gosh. I've heard about a lady like that who had like an amazing immune system cause she ate so much bacteria and mold. That makes me wanna vomit."

Siara: "Yeah, it's almost too gross to watch."

Me: "I love stuff that's almost too gross to watch."

Siara: "Hahaha I know!!!!!!"

Shout out to Seth

Seth is my too cool for school 17 year old brother. But he's not too cool to help make our great grandmother's fudge!










































He's also not too cool to come and visit for my birthday, or to hang out with me while I'm home, or hug me whenever I make him, or help me make a pumpkin pie. So he's really an amazing little brother!

Shout out to Shane

My littlest brother Shane does not like to take pictures with me.















But I'm still older, which makes me the boss. So he has to take pictures with me! Shane is super funny and really smart, and always laughs at my jokes, which makes me feel like I'm still kinda the cool older sister instead of just a nerd.

Called to Serve

This is a very belated blog about Spencer's last few days with us before the mission. We had so much fun spending every last second together {literally, because he couldn't be left alone}. He is such a wonderful brother, and we are already missing him so much!

P.S. I can't believe how much taller he is than Siara and I now.

Happy Day of Thanks!

We will be here.

With a weather forecast of clear, sunny skies and 82 degrees.

This year I'll be most thankful if Delta airlines can get us to our holiday destination.

(I'll also be most thankful if nobody uses the phrase "Turkey Day" within my hearing vicinity. I dislike that nickname for this holiday more than I can explain.)

What are you thankful for this year?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Flag Day Address June 13, 1942

"God of the free, we pledge our hearts and lives today to the cause of all free mankind.

"Grant us victory over the tyrants who would enslave all free men and nations. Grant us faith and understanding to cherish all those who fight for freedom as if they were our brothers. Grant us brotherhood in hope and union, not only for the space of this bitter war, but for the days to come which shall and must unite all the children of earth.

"Our earth is but a small star in the great universe. Yet of it we can make, if we choose, a planet unvexed by war, untroubled by hunger or fear, undivided by senseless distinctions of race, color or theory. Grant us that courage and foreseeing to begin this task today that our children and our children's children may be proud of the name of man.

"The spirit of man has awakened and the soul of man has gone forth. Grant us the wisdom and the vision to comprehend the greatness of man's spirit, that suffers and endures so hugely for a goal beyond his own brief span. Grant us honor for our dead who died in the faith, honor for our living who work and strive for the faith, redemption and security for all captive lands and peoples. Grant us patience with the deluded and pity for the betrayed. And grant us the skill and the valor that shall cleanse the world of oppression and the old base doctrine that the strong must eat the weak because they are strong.

"Yet most of all grant us brotherhood, not only for this day but for all our years-a brotherhood not of words but of acts and deeds. We are all of us children of earth-grant us that simple knowledge. If our brothers are oppressed, then we are oppressed. If they hunger, we hunger. If their freedom is taken away, our freedom is not secure. Grant us a common faith that man shall know bread and peace-that he shall know justice and righteousness, freedom and security, an equal opportunity and an equal chance to do his best, not only in our own lands, but throughout the world. And in that faith let us march, toward the clean world our hands can make. Amen."

A sad reminder

Today I texted Austin and said...

"We did so good on our cell phone minutes this month! It's the last day of the cycle and we still have 60 minutes left"

To which he texted me back with...

"That means we're losers"


{I'm no longer excited about having leftover minutes.}

For Sarah and Nicole

I'd like to say that those canvas pictures were a feat of crafting genius, but they were the easiest thing ever.

I bought the canvases at the craft store in the artist section, they were on sale for about $3.50 a piece.

Then I used my old school picture editor to turn my pictures Sepia, and took them to Kinko's on a jump drive. They blew up the pictures to the size I wanted, 11x17 in this case, and printed them on regular laser jet printer paper with a matte finish. This cost about $0.75 a picture. Regular photo paper won't work, so no need to print the big expensive versions at a photo store!

I then used man's greatest invention since the wheel....Mod Podge. Truly the most wonderful substance discovered on this planet.

I prefer the Matte version of Mod Podge, it looks cleaner than the others. I used a foam brush to paint layers on the canvases. You need about four layers before putting the pictures down, so I used a blow dryer to dry them in between to speed up the process. Paint on one last layer, and carefully lay your picture onto it. Voila!

And the most important thing...DON'T TRY TO PUSH OUT THE BUBBLES. Unless it's a huge wrinkle, it will go away as it dries. I ignored this fact on the first one I did, and I just ended up wrinkling the picture with all my smoothing efforts. The other two looked flawless after about an hour, even though there were tiny bumps right when I placed it on.

You can mod podge over the top after the picture dries if you want a shinier finish, but I just left mine as they were. The canvases are so light that you can hang them on a push pin instead of putting a nail in the wall. Easy as pie! =)

Without a doubt....

....this is the cutest baby that ever existed in the whole WORLD. This is why I love Halloween.
Photo courtesy of Scott and Nicole's blog, but I had to have something this darling on mine too!
Please take note of the monkey slipper on her foot. It just doesn't get better than that.

Aversion therapy

I ate one of these at the hospital















And then took one of these for my sickiness













And then felt like this


















In case anyone is keeping score, I no longer eat enchiladas (since I was 8), Barbecue pizza, or omelets.

Materialistic

Anthropologie is a weakness of mine. I could spend hundreds of dollars on frivolous things and not even feel bad about it. I spend hours looking at their website, just dreaming of owning every. single. thing. It was always a general lusting, until I found these.

Try and tell me those aren't the most darling shoes you have ever seen. I would wear those with EVERYTHING. There were almost 30 customer reviews, the most I've ever seen for one item, and they were all positive. {ALL OF THEM}. Everyone agreed that they were the most comfortable shoes, they could wear them for a 10 hour work day without a problem. Other reviews said you could change out the ribbon and that they looked even cuter with a red or yellow silk bow. Completely convinced of my absolute undeniable irrevocable need for these shoes, I prepared to purchase immediately. But of course, they were out of every size bigger than a 7.5. Of course.
So I called the store in Salt Lake and they were out.
So I called customer service and had them check every store in the country, and they were out.
Every single store.
Defeated, I decided to move on, start the grieving process you know? So today I thought I would look at them one more time. Hoping that maybe they suddenly weren't as perfectly adorable as I know they are. And there it was. A size 8.5. Good thing I already have an account created to order from them, because within ten seconds I was looking at my order confirmation. In some warehouse somewhere, my beautiful perfect pair of shoes is being packaged and shipped to me.

I love when stories have happy endings.

Sucker Punch

Read this short but amazingly hilarious article about a woman in Australia. I hope more men like that get what's coming to them.

And now for a quick game of....

Where's PIP???

No man is an island

We have the smallest kitchen in the world. I had dollhouses with more counter space than we have right now. The solution? A portable kitchen island. We ordered it online and waited anxiously for the day of arrival.

This is what we found waiting for us on the porch one day after work



















This is what was inside














These were the rocket scientist instructions














Two hours later it started to resemble something useful














After screwing on hinges, drawer tracks, and spice racks, it's done! And Pip approved.














Beautiful wonderful coveted counter space!!!














A whole dinner prepared on one counter top. All of my dreams have officially come true.

Attempts to decorate a basement

Austin and I live in a very small basement. It's the reality of being poor students. Several weeks ago the word "dungeon" was coming to mind more and more each time I walked through our front door. So I decided to do something to brighten up our humble home.

Wooden letters to remind us to have a little more of this














Some cheery canvases














Empty picture frames always make me happy
















As does our brightly colored bedding














And finally, some wedding pictures up on the wall. Mod podge canvas versions of them.

Birthday Blog!

Finally, pictures! Here's a few of the shots we got in the whirlwind weekend of Seth visiting, General Conference, and my 23rd Birthday!

23 candles in my delicious key lime pie, courtesy of Siara














Dirt and worms!














Homegrown pumpkins














Adorable Halloween countdown from Ann and Terry



















The traditional haunted gingerbread house...and Seth's foot.














Cutest Halloween wrapping ever



















With these adorable gifts inside...




























Incredible pillow handmade by Jess














And the darling sign that Brittney made me!














The adorable coaster Ashton found for me at Anthrpologie, my favorite store ever!














And among other things, Siara always gives me the things I need to have fabulous hair!



















And possibly my favorite (and most useful) gift...new wonderful running shoes!















And thanks to everyone else for the gift cards, checks, B-day cards, and wonderful wishes! It makes me feel a little better about getting so old. =)

Uggghhh. I suck AGAIN!!!!

Our camera is broken and I can't get any pictures to load for my blog. So it seems too boring to write without pictures, so I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I'm sure no one has been dying to hear what's going on, but still, I'm very sorry! I do have to say that I am SO excited about the upcoming Halloween holiday. We are carving pumpkins this weekend (real ones we grew in the garden) and I've been eating pumpkin seeds on everything to get in the spirit! I have to admit that we won't be dressing up for any events, but we will definitely be going to downtown Provo for the Halloween Festival. What are your plans for this Hallow's Eve???

Ughh...I suck.

Oh my goodness I am officially the worst blogger EVER. I swear up and down that blogs are to come. I have so many wonderful pictures of our most recent activities just waiting patiently on my camera to be uploaded and surround by clever blog text. So I promise, don't give up on me! But in more exciting news....NieNie, my favorite blogger/mom/Mormon girl is going to be on OPRAH! October 7th. Watch it, she will change your life. And read her blog here. She is an inspiration.

Alma Mater

I am already pretty proud to be a Cougar Alum. It was a huge accomplishment and a goal I had been looking forward to since we visited campus when I was about 4 and wore my first pink BYU shirt. But last night I was even more proud of my Cougs! I never really enjoy too much football, but I will love watching this season. It makes me wish I still had money (and the student discount) to watch the games like this...

The Working Girl's Lament

Ohh that blessed day of being paid. It only comes every two weeks, and I count it down like children do to Christmas. But somehow, I always seem to end up shocked and shaken at how miniscule my paycheck seems. After all those long hours of burdensome slavery, I always have a glimmer of hope that I'll be better compensated than last time. Withdrawals for my Roth 401K and our Health Savings Account are always expected. But alas, FICA-SS and FICA-Med are getting paid almost as much as I am. A fund I pay into but will never get anything out of. So I'd just like to thank our massive government, for dipping into my pockets every pay period and taking whatever they'd like from me. I truly enjoy supporting those who work the system into getting food stamps, WIC, medicaid, welfare, etc. etc. etc.
I'm sure everyone taking from those programs qualifies for it...

Right??

Thank You Notes

Dear Pandora radio:
Thank you for saving me from dying of boredom when I have to scan all day at the Lehi clinic. My Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Postal Service, Jewel, and Lifehouse stations in particular keep me sane.

Dear Cafe Rio:
Thank you for really cheap and really good Mexican Tortilla Soup.

Dear Down East Outfitters:
Thank you for my adorable red Diesel jeans that only cost me $13.37. I think the original retail price of $150 was too much anyway.

Dear Austin:
Thank you for driving all the way up here to meet me for lunch on Tuesdays. You are very sweet and I am lucky you are mine.

Dear Rachel and Ashton:
Thank you for emailing me all day while I'm at work. I get excited when I see "Gmail-Inbox(1)" at the bottom of my screen.

Dear Jess:
Thank you for writing cute stories on your blog that I get to give my feedback on. It's like a choose your own ending book, and I miss those.

Dear work:
Thank you for blocking Facebook on our computers. I am much more productive, even though I hate to admit it. Facebook is overrated anyway.

Dear Pip:
Thank you for sleeping on my pillow every night and waking me up by shoving your paws in my face when you stretch. It really is quite thoughtful of you.

Dear Corolla:
Thank you for not using too much gas. It's real expensive these days, and I am pretty poor. I'm glad you only need to be fed every couple of weeks.

Dear Mommy:
Thank you for giving birth to me in October. I love sharing my day with Fall and Halloween and General Conference, and I am really excited about it now that it's getting close. And thanks for being my mom.

I'm such a consumer....

...but this commercial makes me cry. Every single time I see it.






And yes, we went out and bought a huge bottle.

You know you are in poverty when...

Austin reminded me last night of one of our more pathetically poor moments so far in our marriage. Sadly, this occurred in the more recent past than I'd like to admit.

One night we were coming out of Target, where we shop exclusively for our groceries (Wal-Mart can burn) and lo and behold, in the middle of the parking lot lay a gallon of milk. A whole gallon-slightly dented, but perfectly sealed. It was getting dark out, and we barely spotted it. Upon further inspection it was Skim, our favorite, and it was perfectly fine. We couldn't inconvenience the customer service employees with such a burden by turning it in. So yes, we picked it up, took it home, and we drank it.

Does that count as stealing?

BFF

My besty best friend Rache came back from New York almost two weeks ago, and we just had our reunion last night! There is nothing better than having a friend that no matter how long you've been apart, it feels like you just saw each other yesterday. I got to see her sweet new ride, and we partied at Starbucks, like usual. Stay tuned for the full on reunion with JESS when she gets back!!

Garden Blog!

Last year I wrote like nine blogs all about our garden and how excited we were, and I realized that I haven't written anything yet about this season's venture. We still have the same little plot outside, and once again we were a little ambitious about what could fit in there. So we have strawberries, pumpkins, green beans, tomatoes, green peppers, basil, thyme, indian corn, and sweet corn. And it all looks like one giant green mass!




















PUMPKINS of course!














Austin's beloved and insisted upon Indian corn



















Green beans!

































Fresh basil may be the best thing ever














Our first harvest of tomatoes














And a delicious spaghetti sauce!