life is good

first off... I thought a few more 25 before 25s.
-Take a boxing class! I have always wanted to check it out, and they are offering a free first class at a gym by me.
Sooo before may.. I will go!
-re-read the bible and look at it as more than literature but not get my hopes up that it will speak to me. I was raised catholic and have read the good book before. But not with bible study books or even a truely open mind. It will be an experience even if it isn't for me. :)
- start a daily yoga practice where I feel at ease in my routine

secondly...
how did i land such
a stinkin cute husband??

25 before 25

so... I just had my half birthday.. so I am 24 1/2. This has made me think a lot about when I was younger and what I thought I would have done or who I would be when I was 25. Now, some things have happened that I didn't expect, such as getting married at 23 or having to go back to school, but both are an amazing blessing to me. But there are some things that I realize I really want to do before I turn 25. Nothing too large because I do only have 6 months and I want to be realisitic. While i wish I could put, buy a house, get a dog, or go on a european vacation... I know all those things are out of our reach right now. So I need to focus on smaller milestones and life pleasures, so I can give myself some stuff to do but not feel dissapointed by making myself adhere to dreams bigger than our bank account.

So here goes... 25 before 25...  & before 26 for Erik.. haha ;)

• Learn to play chess
• train for a 10K or half marathon- Or at least exercise 3-4 days a week (lose 10 pds?)
• GRADUATE!
• spend a few weekends at the beach
• clean out my closet and drawers
• learn to knit
• create a home with Erik
• create a successful book club
• find and refubish a dresser for our soemday bedroom
• start to learn a language.. maybe French or Spanish
•  create my own signiture scent using essential oils

what kind of things do you wanna do long term??

fill in the blank friday...

1. The holiday season is usually starts with a time of stress and craziness then ends up melting into a time where you can just realx and enjoy family. This year, Erik and I are starting off the holiday right by going on vacation just the two of us. It will be nice to spend some time with my little family before partaking in all the extended family get togethers.

2. Snow makes me  happy. It just looks so pretty! But... here in Portland, OR, you pretty much are stuck if you live on any type of hill. Once the snow starts falling... you hope the temp rises so you only are stuck in your house for one day..

3. The best comfort food to eat when it's cold out is    pasta! I love whipping up a huge pot of yummy pasta sauce then eating it over a couple days. Nothing like homemade pasta sauce,noodles, and garlic bread!

4. Winter is the best time for    scarves and mittens and layers. I love how during the winter, you have to try to figure out a way to be stylish but still kep yourself warm. I loveeee scarves and pretty slouchy hats and sweaters .

5. I can hardly wait for    date night tonight with Erik and our trip to Austin! It will be our first time adventuring together to a place neither of us has been. And tonight! we are going to fancy dinner downtown then a movie. Can't wait!

6. When it comes to holiday gifts I prefer to    make them! This year I am making a lot of my gifts and I am so excited to see hwo they turn out. Hopefully well so I don't have to go on a shopping spree the night before to make up for ugly presents. :) .

7. If I were to  rate my excitement about the holiday season on a scale from 1-10, I would say I am at about a    10! First year that  I  know I will be graduated and in a good paying job after so I can actually spend money to make gifts and relax knowing that I don't have to go back to school in January and worry about all those expenses. YAY! 

So I graduate in 2 weeks....

If I can get through these next two weeks and pass all my finals... I will graduate!!

I will finally be done with school, and it will be such an amazing experience because this time.. I have a job to lookforward to when I graduate. It has been a super trying couple of years and it feels so good to be able to know that I will graduate and have a job and be able to support my family of two.

ALSO....

I will finally have free timeeee! As most of you know, I have been working and goiong to school for the past couple of years and it will be the first time in forever that I will just be working! I am so excited I might cry...

BUT...

These are my plans for my free time...

*Blog more!

*take more weekend adventrues

*learn to knit

*read for pleasure

*watch movies

*explore Portland

*hopefully decorate a new home or apartment

*paint my fingernails

*get a massage

*craft

*spend more time with Erik, family, and friends

*travel!!!- Austin at least!

* drink tea

*drink beer

* finally pat myself on the back for a job well done.

AMEN.

Weekend Adventures: Austin, TX

Did I ever tell you that Erik and I are going to Austin, TX next month??

We are going to celebrate my graduation and the end of his term!

I am sooo excited I might explode.

Has anyone been there? Suggestions??

stressed....

So as you can all see... it has been awhile since I have written routinely on this blog. And I don't wanna be a complainer, but my life has been SO stressful. First off, I have been working and going to school. And while I have done this for over 4 years, for some reason this term is so much harder and my work is very demanding for the first time in awhile. So, I have been super stressed trying to divide my time between the two.

In addition to all of this, Erik is stressed because of school, we have been doing a lot of traveling anddddd two of my best friends got married within 6 weeks of each other.

Buttttt... my term is over in the middle of December and they are all married and happy and all that. :)

So... moral of the story... I AM SO STRESSED! Butttt... it is only about another month.. then I will be back blogging on a regular basis! YAY!

See ya!
Shannon

i shouldn't make promises...

I can't keep...

I promised I would blog everyday last week and it just didn't happen. I will give you a little background. First of all, it was the final week of my internship, so it has been SO crazy at work, thinking about every little thing I need to get done... BUT.. it has all been worth it because I GOT THE JOB! :) They hired me on to start full time after I graduate in December.

BUT ALSO,

I also started two new classes so it has been rough managing all my time. BUT I need to start thinking about how much I love this little blog and how much better it makes me feel every time I write on it or get to read other incredible blogs!

So... I thought I would share a little bit about what has been going on with me... Besides my internship...

I also just started two new incredible hobbies/sports.

First off: I started taking a "Learn to Row Crew" Class about 2 weeks ago. It is a class where we learn the basics of rowing, both sculling and sweep rowing and get to go out on the water at 5:45 2 times a week and just let all our worries flow away and just focus on the sport. It is an amazing work out both physically and mentally. It is the ULTIMATE team sport. You cannot be a successful rower... unless you are in a single boat... without team work. If one person is throwing the boat off balance you will never meet your destination and maybe might even flip over into the water. It has been an AMAZING experience. It is also nice to get a feel for what my little sister, Katie of Currently Obsessed With, does on a daily basis at school. She is the Coxswain for the Santa Clara University mens rowing team. And after these two weeks, I have an even greater respect for her sport and all the effort and brain power that goes into it.

And Second, Erik and I also started a marathon training course, where we meet every Saturday to do a group run and throughout the week we do smaller workouts to prepare.

So all in all, I am so tired!

But... I am back to blogger. :)

Happy Saturday everyone!

Weekend Adventure: Gearhart, OR

Erik and I got really lucky and got to have a 4 day weekend over the fourth! So on Thursday night when I got off work, we headed down to the beach in Gearhart, Or! It is so beautiful and quiet there. We build a bonfire and drank some wine on the beach the first night and just got to chat and be a couple. It is so nice to have time to just be with the person you love! 

The next day we went to Moe's for lunch then played Bochee on the beach. It was super fun! We set up camp and just relaxed on the beach. It was pretty amazing weather for the Oregon coast, getting to about 70 in the afternoon.

Then, our friends Amanda and Tyler came down and we had another bonfire and just chatted.. (after the boys had to figure out how to get in the beach house since I accidentally locked the keys inside.. oops). Then the next morning we got some yummy breakfast at the Mcmenamins Sandtrap then headed into Seaside for the parade, some arcade gaming, and some beers.

All in All... AMAZING WEEKEND. Wish I was there now...

Friday!

I am so happy it is Friday today and that it is finally the weekend! I got all my work done for the week so I can actually enjoy it! I am very excited for this weekend because Erik and I have actually planned a lot to do and even if it doesn't all work out, I am just so happy it is sunny today and hopefully the weather will stay nice.

Here are a few things we have planned for this weekend:

* Tonight is the first meeting of my book club! I couldn't be more excited, it has been something I have wanted to do for a looong time and never had the right people to start it with or never really thought I could make the time. But I am so excited with the group that is coming and realized that it is so much easier to make time if you prioritze correctly!

* Tomorrow we are going to a lacrosse game for the team that Erik is helping coach! Finally... I am getting a glimpse of my dream to be a coach's wife.. haha I feel like I am going to have to channel Tami Taylor and wear some coyboy boots and say "hey ya'll" a lot.. Even though Erik is helping coach lacrosse and not football and we are in Oregon not Texas. Oh well. Should still be fun.

* Later in the day tomorrow/tomorrow night, we are going to try to get out to the UFO Festival that Mcmenamins is having in Mcminnville. There is a "Dress your Pet like an alien" contest and live music, and of course beer. Should be a good time.

*Then Sunday, plans aren't exact yet, but if they don't work out... maybe we will just have a day of rest. But if they do work out, hopefully we will get some drinks with friends and have a great afternoon. hopefully the weather will compromise!

I am so happy Spring is FINALLY here in Oregon!

Anyone else have awesome plans for this weekend??

Health

Recently, I have been having a lot of health issues and have had to go to the doctor a few times, and while I am not going to elaborate past that on here.. bascially I have been feeling horrible. My doctor asked me to start keeping a food jounral to see if anything can be alleviated by cutting out any particular food or drink. So I have been doing this for about a week and I have realized that I eat very poorly. I used to be a vegetarian.. well almost, I have always eaten fish. But I stopped doing that about a year ago when Erik and I first moved in together because I didn't want to have to make tw different dinners. But, Erik is great, and told me he doesn't mind eating mostly vegetarian again. So, I am thinking I might need to go back to that. (I will REALLY miss buffalo wings... for some reason they are pretty much the only meat food I love). 

So, here I go. Also, I have been looking into cutting my caffeine intake because I am not sure it makes me feel good and also cutting down on gluten. So, here is an experiment that I am willing to try. First things first, I need to figure out a plan for grocery shopping where I don't just buy everything I think looks good, but instead go in there with my weekly plans set out. And, I need to start eating a better breakfast, exercising, doing yoga, cutting down on alcohol, and setting up a sleep schedule. All of this will come easier once I start work again and have a set time to arrive at work. But I need to start now so that the transition is easier. 

So. Wish. Me. Luck. 

Happiness Experiment: Spring

Spring. 
So, the last couple of days have been beautiful.

First, Friday and Saturday were so sunny and warm that I even wore a tank top for awhile. 

Then Sunday, was beautiful with family all together and rain that just took over. (I love rain though). 

But even when the weather isn't cooperating... 
HAPPINESS EXPERIMENT.

I have realized that happiness is totally what you make of it.
You choose your battles, choose your activities.

So. I choose: 

*more date nights with my husband
*more lesuirely reading time, right now I am reading two books:

* making accounting notecards so I am not stuck at home studying, I can do it anywhere.. including sitting outside

* Fresh cut flowers

* Cooking with fresh vegetables and eating fresh fruit

* Spring dresses and attempting jeggings? 

* Going camping and golfing

* drinking lots of coffee 

* figuring out how to successfully stay faithful to an exercise regimen

* 7/11 Slurpees

* Sunglasses 

* Exploring new restaurants, especially ones with outdoor seating

What do you have planned for Spring??

Reminiscing...

I cannot stop thinking about Erik and my honeymoon and how amazing it was. The weather was beautiful, the accommodations were AMAZING (thanks mom and dad!), and we just relaxed and had a good time all day and night. I just keep thinking about how much I wish we could take a trip together every year. Wouldn't that be amazing? Ah.. maybe someday.