Christmas Break ROAD TRIP!!!

Wow! What a crazy end to the year! One wonderful benefit of working for the university is that in addition to 2 weeks vacation/year, the whole school is closed from Christmas to New Years. I got a whole 10 days in a row off and it was fantastic.

Joe & I baked like crazy people. We made chocolate covered peanuts, sugar cookies, turtle cookies, macaroons, brownies, cupcakes, and more! It was really fun to hang out with him. I'm going to miss him like crazy when I move in May.

He and I also went ice skating on Christmas Eve downtown. He did a really good job and some how we got a really good discount. Turns out the kids working the skate rental booth were in the Christmas spirit.

Christmas Day was nice and we just had a nice day spending it with our family and we visited my grandpa at the VA.

The day after Christmas I got up bright and early and headed to Duncan to meet up with Matt where we ate lunch and jumped in the car to head to Midland. I got to meet my sweet sweet puppy. Really my child.

He rode in the car so well for 6 hours. He has the best personality of any little creature that I have ever met. He LOVES his Momma and I love him too. I never thought I would get so mushy about a dog. I don't really even like animals that much. He's perfect though.

I spent 2 days in Midland hanging out while Matt worked and we would have fun in the evenings watching movies and eating out. It was nice to relax with Matt and our puppy. Then it was off to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl!

Stopped in Fredericksburg on the way for some shopping and lunch.

Then we came upon a pleasant surprise

We finally made it to the Alamo Bowl!

We won the game!!!!! Always love a good win! I was a little dramatic getting back to the car though.

Of course we got a late start going back to Duncan. Preparing for our 3rd 6-hour road trip in 4 days.

After lunch, getting a little delirious.

Crossing into God's Country! There's no place like home!

We took family pictures with Matt's entire family about an hour after we got to town. That was an adveture in itself, but we got some good shots!

The next day we got up and shopped the big 50% off sale at a boutique in Duncan. We got some great stuff for the house.

Then we enjoyed some time on the "farm"

I got to drive!

We are crazy people who went to Wal-Mart on New Years Eve. We had to get Black Eyed Peas! What ever would we do if we didn't eat a least a spoonfull of gross?!??

Matt didn't make it to 2011

Ian is soooooooooooooo funny!!!!!!

And the end!

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I'm a Shanna

Recently I made a status update on facebook regarding something I had seen in the news. The thing is, on a nationwide scale, Oklahoma has a reputation for extremism in the right wing department and that's not something I am proud of. I would be equally disappointed if we had a senator that was on the left wing train to crazy town. Extremism is the single most revolting thing about politics for me, in either direction. I cringe when I think of Sarah Palin not so much based on her policies because I really don't care what she thinks, but because she represents the face of an extremest movement that doesn't even make sense and people just follow her because she holds the Republican stamp. Be objective people! Use your brain! Okay... soap box.

Well I had a friend comment on my status, which he's entitled to disagree with me. I shouldn't put it out there if I'm afraid of someone to disagree with me (although he missed my point entirely). However, I am FULLY entitled as a citizen, voter, tax payer, and facebook account holder to put anything regarding my opinion on facebook. If I want to say I think the earth is flat, I'm entitled to that, 'cause it's my facebook. This shouldn't invite hateful words. Maybe a correction, but if someone is really my friend, it's not EVER EVER their right to imply that I lack in intelligence or that I'm not a very good person, just because we disagree. This isn't a slam on this particular guy, it's on people in general and how they handle things. At the end of the day, we're all humans and deserve to be treated accordingly.

So after this event, Matt (who claims to be a Republican) and I had a conversation and talked through our positions. In reality, we agree on most political points. I told Matt how disgusted I am with the entire party system. It's a joke and limits progress. I told him, I'm not a party. I am a Shanna. I live my life and make decisions according to my own belief systems. I also call it like I see it. I'm going to stay registered as a Democrat because I want to vote in primary elections, and thus far they don't have a Shanna box to check.

This has been an eye opening experience for me. I have been harsh to people in the past and made judgements based on their political affiliation and comments. No more. That's hate filled and I'm not participating. I also refuse to allow anyone to degrade me because they disagree with me. If someone doesn't like what I have to say, don't read my blog. Heaven forbid you facebook defriend me. And just so you know, I'll let you see a brief summary of what the party of Shanna entails.

* Abortion is a non issue because there's not going to be a president brave enough to tackle the issue. Furthermore, it will never pass in the house and senate even it the bill was proposed. Finally, if you actually know someone who is dealing with this circumstance, love them as Christ would love them and don't judge. If you show them true compassion and that there's other choices, they may change their mind. If you don't know a person going through this, then mind your own business or start a charity. Either way, quit speaking words of hate. No one is pro-abortion.

* Taxes are inevitable. I don't get mad about this, 'cause there's nothing I can do about it. Do I like giving away my check? Well NO! Am I going to change anything by complaining about it in my living room? No. The party of Shanna has a firm understanding of how many services are used every day that are provided through taxes. Party of Shanna appreciates these services and realizes that they're necessary. The party of Shanna doesn't pretend that her entire tax payment goes to the people who abuse the welfare system because that's a small piece of the pie.

* Being part of the 1st generation on both sides of my family to abstain from serving in the military, the party of Shanna appreciates our troops and the sacrifice they make daily. The party of Shanna thinks this war has gone on too long, and questions the motives that initiated this war. However, still ever the patriot and would never vote to reduce military funding.

* Stem cell research makes good science sense. Population is also too high for world carrying capacity before too long. This creates a moral struggle. Party of Shanna believes in science over opinions.

* Party of Shanna thinks that no matter your economic class, all people deserve health care. We can either force people to buy health care, or we can pay for it through our taxes because those who don't have health care go to the emergency room. Whatever, I don't care how it pans out. I just think how much money you have shouldn't determine if you live or die.

* Wouldn't legalized marijuana just make sense? This is a non issue to the party of Shanna because the current members of the party of Shanna have never partaken in such activities. However, it seems like it would be a good way to generate tax dollars, regulate the substance, and probably decrease it's desirability because it's no longer "risky." Makes sense to me since legal or not, pot heads are everywhere. And Willie can only go to jail so many times. We need his music!

* Don't Ask Don't Tell feels like a non issue to me. It's 2010. Maybe only currently active members of the military should have been able to vote on this one.

* The environment is VERY VERY important to the Party of Shanna. Remember when we talked about science? Well currently all members of the party of Shanna hold a degree in environmental science, and are 1 paper away from a Master's degree on the subject. There's a lot of things that make environmental/economic/social sense if all of the BS would stop getting in the way. Use your heads America! And it's not Global Warming, It's Global Climate Change. It's real. It's science.

Furthermore, Party of Shanna realizes that economics and sustainability can go hand in hand, if people use their heads.

* Ultimately, Party of Shanna is underlined by a firm moral conviction to do what's right for humanity. There is no price you can put on people and their well being. People win every time. The love of money is the root of all evil. Current members of the Party of Shanna participate in a daily and close relationship with the Lord. Party of Shanna can be flawed and even incorrect, but follows an undying principle to be the best it can be on a daily basis. Isn't that the point of life? Walk with the Lord and try each day to learn and be better than yesterday?

That wasn't brief at all, but now you know. Let me know if you'd like to join the party of Shanna and maybe we can petition to get it on registration cards.

Have a great New Year!

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The Best Thing I'll Do This Christmas

At OSU-Tulsa we have a "Cowboy Tree" in place of an Angel Tree and they fill out little orange boots rather than angels. I looked around the tree trying to find someone that Matt and I could support. I found little Jaquan. 5 years old. Asked for Hot Wheels and a Teddy bear. Other kids were asking for ipods and digital cameras. I picked his name and signed up. What a sweet child that he humbly asked for something so small. Matt and I shopped for him together. I fell a little more in love with Matt while we shopped. He was so generous and made sure that Jaquan got not only the toys he asked for, but also 2 pairs of shoes, a coat, a warm shirt, and extra toys.

There's a woman from Mexico that is our custodian for our office. She does a great job and doesn't speak more than about 10-20 words of English. She allows me to practice my Spanish and she is so gracious and patient. She told me last year that they didn't have the money for gifts for Christmas and that broke my heart. I gave her a gift of chocolates and she was so happy. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and I could tell that she really truly appreciated my gift. That's the only gift I remember what I gave someone last year.

So this year, I got her some Bath & Body Works products and made her a sampling of some baked goods I made at home the night before. I made her a card, and wrote the entire thing in Spanish. God bless her for forgiving me for my errors. Now that I reread this I am already catching mistakes! Once again, she graciously received it.

Now, I'm not saying any of this to show off generosity or anything, because honestly we should be more generous and it's never enough. I'm just sharing one of the greatest joys that I have experienced this holiday season. Everything is so commercial at Christmas time and it's easy to forget the real reason for the season. Jesus Christ was born so that He could make the ultimate sacrifice for us. I wouldn't even count what I have done as a sacrifice, really a pleasure. I would like to learn each year to challenge myself to a new level of giving. Maybe even give til it hurts.

I wish you all a blessed holiday season. Be safe. Laugh often. Give a little more than you should. Eat too much. Say a prayer of thanks.

Merry Christmas!

Shanna

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Nostalgia

I'm am just about the most ridiculously nostalgic person you'll meet. I really like to internally savor a moment. Every special moment. I've never left an apartment or a job with out taking that one last look, filing away the end of an era.

I'm that person who saves old IDs and movie ticket stubs.

Yesterday I turned in my last final at Oklahoma State University. I could have cried. I didn't, but I could have. Most people sigh in relief, I do a flash back of all the wonderful moments I have enjoyed at this fantastic university.

Now that my life is going to take a dramatic change in a little over 5 months, I suffer from excessive preservation of every potential situation that I will no longer have after I become half of a whole.

I'm having a really hard time with my name changing. People ask why I don't just keep it. Well...Matt told me to "commit already". It's more than that though. As much as I would love to keep my name forever, firmly identifying myself with my past, my ancestry, and the foundation of who I am as a person, this is something that I do believe is part of creating a new family. That doesn't mean that it isn't hard. For those of you who know my last name, well, it's a cool name. At least I think so.
Every time I sign my name, I briefly think, "Oh wow, I'll only do this a handful more times."

And the holidays....oh the holidays. In reality, I think I might be more into Christmas than my family or his family is. I must have had 1 super awesome Christmas as a child, and I have since defined the rest of my Christmas's needing to live up to that par. Or, maybe I watched too many Christmas movies as a child. I've always found Christmas to be a magical time. A time for generosity and kindness and love and family. A time to forget all the wrong doings and just love like crazy. The idea of ever not spending a Christmas morning with my family just blows me away. It doesn't sit right with me. You might think that's a little ridiculous, and you would be right. It's irrational, but it's the truth. I'm sincerely hoping that at least for the first Christmas as a wedded couple, I can get both sets of families to come to us in Midland and I'll just go overboard and everyone else can just relax and show up. We'll see how that works out.

I'm also having trouble with my age. Obviously I'm not old, but I'm afraid that when I am old, I will say that being 24 was the most amazing time in my life. I need to savor every moment! I need to appreciate every second that the good Lord blesses me with. It's also hard to savor moments, because in our society, it seems no matter how accomplished one is, they should always be ambitious, striving to reach the next level, instead of taking time to say Praise the Lord, I accomplished something that so few people on this earth will do.

While we're talking about appreciation, sometimes I think about what I want to achieve and where I am with my goals and sometimes I get down. What helps me is to think about how truly blessed that I am. Think about your position in life on a global scale. You'll have to do a little research for these numbers, but if you look at the amount of people who are illiterate, you will probably be astounded. So readers of this blog, you are a blessed elite. If you have a high school education think about where that puts you among the world's educated? A college degree? Holy Cow! Even if you're living under the poverty rate in the United States, you could be a King in some countries. I just read on a government website that the United States poverty line for a single person is under $10,830. Do you realize what that kind of money could do for people around the world? That is the level we assign to our nation's poorest people. Granted, in the United States, that might not go far, but on a global scale, KINGS.

So amongst all these changes, the purpose of this post is to say that I appreciate what is going on and the major shifts occurring in my life right now. If you're reading this blog and I actually know you, there's a very high chance that I have thought about how my upcoming marriage and move will affect our relationship. Marriage makes people conduct themselves differently. Well here's my promise, my name may change, but I'll always be the Shanna that you know.

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Family Addition

I just came up with the title for this blog, and now I'll be singing Hank William's Jr. "Family Tradition" for the rest of the day. I even thought about remaking the song with words about our new addition, but honestly, I should be studying and I am already procrastinating by writing this blog post in the first place.

Butttttttttttttt I wanted to tell you about the new member to our family (before we're actually a family), sounds scandalous! Matt and I have known basically since we got together (3 years!) that one day we were going to get a shitzu puppy and name him pistol. His parents have a shitzu named Pete, get it? Pistol and Pete? Yeah, we're clever. Well I never anticipated this day coming so soon. Maybe in a year... At the very least, after the honeymoon, because really, we kind of a have a lot going on and we need to be good puppy parents.

Well Matt's Mom works with a woman whose cousin breeds shitzu puppies. Originally there was a bargian puppy for sale (think Marley & Me) because it was older and the lady needed to sell it. It really was a good deal. They had all of their shots, were at a remarkably low price, and there's benefits to having a slightly older dog. I was completely against this because Matt and I had agreed, when we were both of rational mind (not being taunted by precious puppy face) that we would wait until after the wedding. Matt's mom first told Matt about it, and I said no. Then she told me about it, I still said no. So then she went back to Matt about it (if she were my kid I would spank her for going from one parent to the other!). Matt's dad even told Matt to get the dog anyway! Well then the boy dog was already taken. I was most certainly NOT NOT NOT getting a girl dog. Nuh uh. Girl dogs do gross stuff and I just can't deal with that. I'm not the animal lover that Matt is.

I thought long and hard about it. Matt's down there all by himself (he has some great friends though) and I know he loved watching his parents dog while they were on vacation. A good wife would put her husbands desires before her own. FINE. Fine I say! He can have the dog! I hope I was more eloquent when I sent his mom the email. I told her to go ahead and put our name on the dog (the boy dog suddenly had become available again).

Well the real selling point came when we found out that a new litter had been born and they would be ready by christmas. http://www.christyspreciouspups.com/ All Boys!

My heart melted. Matt's mom said they would buy us a puppy, puppy. Not a 4 month old. A baby. A little guy so young that would have me be his momma.

I think I looked at the pictures 100 times. I guess those really aren't their names, they just use those names to know who you're talking about when you order them. Matt flew in last weekend and somehow we decided to drive the 2.5+ hours to Talahina to see these puppies for ourselves and pick which lucky pup would get a new set of parents.

Now I don't mind stealing cool blog ideas, but I like to give credit where credit is due. Kathryn and her husband Mark did a video blog on their way to vacation, so I took this idea from them. Enjoy!

<<<---- Sexy.....

After playing with them for an hour, I took a little video of the little guy. His brother is in the back. We wanted to take them all home with us!

Oh he's just so cute. He laid in my lap for so long. I think he was using me for my body heat, but that's fine. He just wanted to cuddle. Will you be my momma? And I said yes.

I could have came up with OSU-Themed names for ALL of them if we could afford to take them home! Perhaps I would later regret that decision... remember, not a big animal lover. This will be my child!

After an hour we had made our decision, it was hard though! Then we were headed back to Tulsa to meet with his parents and have lunch and work out a few wedding details.

Whe do the frames freeze at the most inopportune time????

Matt picks him up on the 23rd. Can't wait to play with him again soon! We already bought him stocking stuffers and he has a stocking with his name on it. He is going to a good home and he will be a sweet blessing to our family. Can't wait to take pictures of him! yay!

Have a good week. Seriously pray for me and my upcoming GRE!

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I'm MIA

I'm too busy to blog which totally sucks because I've been doing a lot of fun things that I want to tell you about. 5 updates:

1) We're getting a puppy. Picking hime out tomorrow. Pictures to follow. Of course there's a story with this.
2) Matt met ZZ Top today in the Midland airport. I wonder how they felt about riding a crop duster out of that town?
3) We adopted a Lil Cowboy off the OSU version of the Angel tree, his name in Jaquan. I don't know anything about him, but the fact that he only asked for hot wheels and a teddy bear for Christmas make me want to give him everything in the world.
4) Matt & I went to his work Christmas Party last weekend. He told me I could wear jeans. We got there, it was suit and tie. Imagine my reaction.
5) I've decided that I want a cool blog like The Pioneer Woman. I'm going to start working on that May 29th, 2011. Bonus points if you know why that would be appropriate.

Have a great weekend! Can't wait to rejoin the world. Wish me luck on the GRE the 20th!

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My Great Idea

At my job I have this thing called a Flexible Spending Account that my job pays for in place of insurance 'cause I'm still riding on the let-my-parents-pay-my-health-insurance-premium-until-May 21st- when- they-violently-give-me-the-boot-into-not-their-problem-land train. It's awesome. No more co-pays here! Which is great because I discovered at the doctor's office that I could just have them send the bill to my parents for my co-pays. Well after about $80 in co-pays sent to my parents, I still haven't heard the end of the yelling as to "Why didn't I just pay it then at $20 a pop?" Why? Cause I thought I could get away with it. That's why.

So I had this great idea. I still had well over $1000 on my FSA and if you don't use it, you lose it. I started searching my brain for ideas of how to spend said money. You can't spend it on anything cosmetic or else I'd have the whitest teeth, the brownest skin, and maybe some lipo. I came up with a great idea. GLASSES! I'll get SUN GLASSES! Throw a little prescription on there, just a tiny one because my vision is perfect and bada bing boda boom, I've got some designer shades FO FREE. Pure genius right? I could just hear MENSA calling...

So here's what happened:

I went into 'ol Zoellner. They have like 57 employees working at one time and about 1000 patients circling through. That should have been my first clue to read the fine print. They've got a business going here. Well on the form it says "For an additional $15 we can do a dilation test on your eyes and we recommend it at least once every 2 years" (I don't know why I used quotations, because that wasn't a direct quote. A paraphrase if you will). So I think, what the hey, I'm not paying for it, throw in a dilation. What are they gonna do? Just have a bright flash at my eye ball, like when you take a picture? Sure, let's do the dilation. So I got through the whole puff of air in your eye, check my peripherals, sit in a dark room. Now she's gonna put some drops in my eyes for dilating. First the numbing drops. What the heck are you using numbing drops for? It's just a bright light?!?!? Whatever, numb away. Now for the real dilation. You're putting more drops in my eyes? Is this going to hurt? No it's not going to hurt, but here's some sexy paper sun glasses for you to wear out of here 'cause the sun will hurt your eyes for a few hours after this.

In go the drops, and now my eyes are "dilated". Slowly, slowly, my vision is going!!!!!! I'm GOING BLIND!! I'm getting text messages!! What do they say?!?!?! Oh the cruelty. Why do people pay for this!????! NURSE! This is perfectly normal? I can drive home? How am I going to pick out sunglasses if I can only see a blurry blob of myself. I. am. so. sad.

So the doctor comes in. Are they really doctors? I didn't wanna ask... but I'm still not sure. He puts that goofy machine in front of me. 1 or 2? 2 or 1? Better or worse? over and over. He stops. Do you get headaches a lot? Eh... well sometimes at work. I'm in front of a computer all day and I read a lot. Well that explains it, you're extremely far sighted. I don't get it. It means that your eyes are having to strain to keep the computer and books and anything close to you in focus. All of that strain causes headaches. What? I don't need glasses. I'm perfect! My vision is perfect. He says, well you're still perfect, just in other ways.... Thanks. I say, can I still get sunglasses? He says sure you can, we're gonna throw a prescription on them. Good, that's all I came in for. Okay, now go pick out your frames. I couldn't pick out my frames because I couldn't FREAKIN SEE!!! So they give me contacts. It took me 1 hour. 1 entire hour to put those things in. THEN they told me I had to take one out to prove I could. Their running a torture chamber around there! Okay, finally got em in. I still can't see much. But they're in, they're staying in. Let's pick out some glasses.

And folks, the reveal:

Jimmy Choo. Perhaps the only thing I'll ever own that this designer makes. I look like a teacher. I'm still not used to them, I'll probably forget to use them most of the time.

Valentino. I asked, like the guy who makes Oprah's dresses? Yep. I'll take em. I really do like them, but they're AWFUL for driving. So I guess if I'm sittin outside reading a book these will be the glasses to wear. Moral of the story, I'm getting the prescription reduced. And I think the tinting is too light.

At the end of the day I intended to walk out with a pair of cool new sunglasses. I came out with 2 pairs of glasses and a set of contacts. I still haven't been brave enough to put the contacts in. Maybe next week. I'll have to prep myself for it.

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