Heavy heart.....

It's truly amazing how fragile and unpredictable life is. We go through our day not thinking about the important things like that kiss we didn't share, that phone call we ignored or that email we'd "reply to later". And then one day you wake up and all of a sudden it's gone. You're chance to reply to that email, return that call or kiss that person has been ripped away from you.

There has been a significant amount of loss in my life and the life of my friends in the past year or so. I never thought, that at 32, I would be saying goodbye to friends or even family. I never thought that friends would get sick or pass away. I figured we had plenty of time before we would have to deal with that. But we don't. You never know what path your life will take....and you never realize that it may be much shorter than you ever imagined.

A friend of mine from high school is in the hospital tonight....she and her family have just been told there is "nothing more they can do". She will go home to live out the last few weeks of her life, surrounded by the many people who love her and will miss her terribly. She is 34.

Tonight I ask you to kiss someone you love "just one more time", answer that phone call even if you think you don't have time or answer that email that's been sitting in your inbox for far too long. You never know when the chance to do those things will slip away from you forever....

Beth, may peace be with you and your family in this incredibly difficult and painful time.


So much love to all of you....
xoxoxox


Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.

Not today Ms. Shannon.....

Oh the classroom. An actual conversation

Me: "K?"
K: "what?"
Me: "Can you come clean up please?"
K: (after a thoughtful pause) "No Ms. Shannon"
Me: "I'm sorry. What?"
K: "Not today Ms. Shannon. It's just not my day for that"

I feel that way sometimes. It's just not my day for that..... I'm STILL in class. And I know techinically this class runs until 9:50. And it is our last one. And yes, we have gotten out early every night. But really....on the day I'm MOST tired? It's 9:02 and I just want to be in my bed.

We are finally leaving! Thank you god!

Love, Love, Love!

Right click...delete

I decided that I needed to start this blog over. It had WAY too much crap in it. So....here we go.

I've learned that you learn A LOT about yourself in the following situations:
1. when you move
2. when you are getting married
3. when you are faced with a person or people that have hurt you in some way

Let's discuss....
When you move....especially far away from home.......you begin to realize a lot of things. The most important being that no matter where you are your family is always going to be your family. Being away from them is hard but keeping in touch is easy with email, skype, cell phones and airplanes :)

Friends...well that's a tougher issue. Everyone says "oh we'll keep in touch and we'll come visit" and they don't. That's to be expected. For the most part I have been very lucky in this aspect and my friends have remained close. Facebook and blogs also make this fairly easy. And then of course there's text messaging :) But there are a few who have just dropped off the face of the earth. And I have learned that if it's that easy for them to disappear then there's no love lost.

New Friends. I am VERY lucky in this area. VERY lucky. I have made some really great friends at work, friends I love and trust and who are supportive of me and the work I do as well as of my personal life. They are wonderful and they make me super happy!
I have made friends at school. I am lucky to be taking a year long autism program with a cohort of really amazing people. They understand, they support, they listen, they help and every day they fight the same fight that I do. It was something I was bitter about having to do, but I have grown to enjoy it.
And of course there are friends I have made through Sean. This is where I feel extra blessed. I feel like we have some really great people in our lives....very close to family. Thanksgiving here is already a tradition and I love it! We have a support system that I don't think he's really experienced here yet and I'm so thankful for Chris, Amy and Danielle. And the new friends I met this weekend Adam and Jami see pretty cool too :)

Now, onto getting married.
Let me start this off by saying that by no means am I a "bridezilla". What I am is nervous. Nervous that everything works out the way we want it to. That it doesn't turn in to a fiasco and that we get our marriage license in time for the wedding. It's been a crazy road and I've learned that with the right person life can be pretty amazing. We are by no means perfect but we are beyind happy. He's my best friend and I love him with all my heart. It's more than I could ever have asked for.
I've also learned that when it comes to details... I freak out a little too easily :)

and # 3....
Well I'm not really in the mood. Maybe another day.

I'm glad this blog is back. I'll try to keep it up! <3
Love, Love, Love