Top Ten Tuesday: Things that are making me happy right now...

Today was such a happy day. It just was. So I decided to break it down to make sense of why.....and since Jaron was going on and on all day about it being Top Ten Tuesday, I decided to join him in making a list....even though I just realized he never finished his. :(

10. I just purchased the song you are listening to on ITunes!! Ever since the cruise I have been wanting it....

9. Tonight I went to see "What Happens in Vegas" w/some friends and my little sis and it was truly an awesome comedy--better than most comedies I've seen in a long time!!! I laughed the whole time and it was just so funny and unexpected!!! Go see it!!

8. Last week, I found the cutest pair of earrings for $1.99!!! And even though I wore them for an entire day and didn't get a single compliment, I still think they are the bees knees! 7. Chatting w/Matt right now.

6. Fun, awesome, amazing projects at work that I just love working on!!

5. Three-day weekend means 2-days for shopping! :) And even though I need to join SA (Shopper's Annonymous), at least I have some reeeaaaaalllly cute things to show for my shopping trips.

4. A date w/Zoey on Saturday to the Miss Sandy Pageant--which I've been wanting to go to for 4 years now (not b/c I love pageants, but b/c I spend 8 hours a day w/Jaron).

3. Tomorrow is Wednesday even though it feels like Tuesday!

2. It's nearly June and the only days of hot weather we've had so far this year, I was in Alaska!!!

1. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE IS FINALLY ON AGAIN!!! And if any of you remember this from last year--you're probably as excited as I am:

Alaska Top Ten

I's time for my Alaska update--and I've decided to do it in top ten format. There were a lot more than 10 things that I loved, so I've tried to include little mentions....

10. The Promenade: Deck 3 was the one that went all the way around the ship. And I loved it b/c it was kinda old school so it reminded me of the Titanic (one of my all time fave movies). Almost every day, I went for a walk and enjoyed the weather & scenery. Plus, it was cool b/c w/the rocking of the boat, there was an automatic uphill/downhill which provided a great workout!

This is what it looked like just walking through the doors onto the deck...

9. The Food: I wasn't expecting the food to be awesome--but there were some really delicious things!! Breakfast was my fave meal so I snapped a picture...look at all of Jeff's cereal boxes!

I call this picture "ugly t-shirt day." Jeff said he got this t-shirt at a garage sale like 5 years ago for 50 cents!!!! hahaha and I am still perplexed that he just up and decided that this would be one of the few shirts he would bring on vacation! This is also one of the 2 pictures I have of Kyle so I had to get him in here somehow...

This was my b-day lunch. Delicious Burger and fries and WOW the best mojito ever!!

Pop's fruit.....I like taking pictures of other people's food too.

This was the best thing I ate on the whole cruise: cold cherry soup!

8. Naps: This was such a relaxing cruise--we had lots of times for afternoon naps! Plus there were lots of awesome movies playing (Juno, Top Gun, Gone w/the Wind, Forrest Gump). I loved sharing a cabin w/Lindsey! And we were both sick and taking seasickness drugs together--which allowed for even more naps!

The first morning, Lance showed up and handed off the Chub so we snuggled with him before breakfast.


7. The Ship: We sailed on the MS Oosterdam, Holland America line. I've been on a cruise before, on a scary Spanish cruise ship through the Mediterranean. This was such a different experience!!!

Waving goodbye to our fans as we set sail....

One of my fave parts of the ship--just some random seats in one of the hallways...the ship was like a really classy version of Vegas--they didn't miss a detail!
This was truly my favorite thing about the ship--Northern Lights--the dance club! If you can't tell, the fabric on the seats is covered in glitter!!

6. Chubs: He's pretty much the perfect baby! He didn't even cry once!!! Even in the pouring rain when we wrapped the stroller in a poncho--I would peek in and he would STILL be smiling!
This moment made me laugh b/c he barely sits up by himself--but here his just thinking he's one of the big people...

The stroller poncho--see! Totally smiling!
This is prob my fave pic of him of all time...even though it doesn't quite capture how beautiful he is in real life. :)

5. My Birthday: On Tuesday, May 13, I turned 29! It was a nice, relaxing, happy day. All the girls went to the spa for some treatments--which were amazing!

This is my birthday lunch. Me in all my 29 glory!

And then for dinner, my fam presented me w/a cake, or actually the waiters did. Then they sang happy birthday in like 3 languages. And then I was given this amazing birthday hat! :)

4. Night life: Being a complete night owl, I've always felt like around 10pm is when the magic begins to happen....and there was no exception on the ship! We played card games, ping pong, did puzzles, and hit the dance club till the wee hours of the morning! Hill talks a little more about this on her blog so check it out of you wanna....

L & A in Northern Lights the last night....we stayed up til like 2:30 b/c we just didn't want it all to end! :)

3. Formal nights: I love dressing up! So every night for dinner it was time to dress up! But there were 2 nights in particular where we were all dressed to the nines. This is the first night--no in-laws here b/c they either didn't bring appropriate attire and were turned away at the door, or were just to sick to attend.

The original 7 plus Chubs...

5 siblings--youngest to oldest from left to right (Lindsey, Ally, Jeff, moi & Hill). This is prob my fave pic from the trip. We don't really have a pic like this as adults--probably b/c we've never all been there for any of the weddings.

Then these last 3 are formal night #2....

Lance did decide to show up for formal night #2--after it was all over. And he brought his best friend. I told him I am going to take pictures of him now whenever he has his computer out in weird places...

2. The Weather: Hill summed it all up when she said, as we were landing in Seattle, "Can you imagine how amazing it would be to live in a city w/cloud cover 100% of the time!?" Almost all of us were ecstatic to experience the Alaska cold! It was rainy and beautiful and chilly and I LOVED IT! It was great to escape the desert for a week!

Juneau weather....completely poured rain the entire time!
The Hubbard Glacier--biggest in the world. Actually this first pic isn't--but the next pic is. This was a SERIOUS Titanic moment. Not only were there huge floating pieces of ice, but the ship stopped so we could view it and it was super eerie and quiet. Amazing!

This one is the weather in Sitka: also complete downnpour the whole time! :)
Ketchikan weather: cloudy and cold...

1. Family time: Cheesy maybe for this to be my #1, but still true. This would've been such a boring cruise if I had not been w/the people I love most! The cruise was a perfect medium for our vacations so I hope we do them lots in the future!

Family time in Juneau...

Family time in Sitka...

Family time during a special dessert bar...

Family time in Ketchikan (with a random stranger)...

Family time in Seattle on the Underground tour...

I should also mention that Alaska was my 44th state to visit. I only have the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin & Arkansas left. :) (And I'm not sure if I need to go to the others--obviously there's a reason I haven't been to them yet, right?)

Thanks for reading this longest top ten of all time! The trip was amazing and I'm so glad I got to go!!!

Wordless Wednesday

My Favorite Card of All Time!!

You may think it would be difficult for me to choose my favorite card of all time....and before today I would've thought so too. But just take a peek at Stamping Queens to see why it was so easy for me to choose. I guarantee you will either:

a) Agree with me, or

b) Understand exactly why.

My New Chair

For my birthday, my parents surprised me w/a new chair for my living room, which I had been wanting for awhile....And even though I was a bit skeptical about them picking one out for me, I am really happy with how it works in the room....

Thanks Mom & Dad!! And Mom, thanks for the lilacs too! :)

Alaska

I'm off! Tomorrow morning I'm going on an Alaskan cruise w/my family. Because of the overwhelming requests (all 3 of you) I'm posting this link to the cruise so if you're wondering "where in the world is Shannon" you can find out by simply clicking. :)

I hope you all have an amazing week--I won't be back until the 17th so you've got a few extra days to get my birthday card in the mail! :) j/k this is 2008--of course an email is good enough.... except of course if you work for the most fabulous card company in the world and then you would understand why nothing but a card will ever suffice. :) Oh and p.s. Happy Mother's Day!

The Perfect Pet

Little Robin Red-breast has made my home her home....look closely inside the wreath, which hangs on my front door...

What you are seeing is a little nest where a Robin and her 6 or so eggs reside....here's a close-up....

Isn't that so sweet? I am so glad they feel welcome in my home (or outside my home). I think one reason why I love these little house-guests is b/c of the familiarity I instantly felt towards those darling little pastel eggs...

But don't worry, I'm not going to eat them b/c LeAnn busted out this fabulous bag in Midway last weekend and said I could take it home!!! I did consider selling it on ebay for a minute, since there is no way you could get a bag of these (of any size, not to mention a massive 19oz bag!!), right now. But then I remembered how these are one of two perfect candies and I have to wait nearly a year before they will be available again. :( So sad. So LeAnn, I definitely can't thank you enough! :)

Midway: Favorite Things

Last weekend, a few of us gathered in Midway for another stamping extravaganza!! Friday night, Vanessa, LeAnn & I stamped the night away....ok really I only made 2 cards then fell asleep on the couch! But V & L were much more productive....

Then on Saturday, Lisa, Christa, Jaimey, Shiloh & Angie gathered as well....and you can see here that we didn't waste a minute! haha I put the ALIAS pilot in for Lisa & LeAnn and it pulled the rest of the crowd in from the dining room....(of course I'm not surprised since I still think it is the best 69 minutes of television that ever was)...
This weekend there was more of a focus: favorite things scrapbooks! Or at least that's what I am calling mine....but it is far from finished. :( So I will just post a teaser....and then post the rest on Stamping Queens when I get it finished...

I don't really know why I voluntarily post pics of myself w/out makeup on my own blog....I guess the only reason is that everyone else has already posted them anyway so oh well...LeAnn & me....

I love seeing the big mess that we make....to me it is a sure sign of creativity!