Ryan and Shannon: Growing their family through adoption

Some of you may have noticed a little addition to the left hand column of the bloggity. I will explain it below...

Last month, one of my most favorite humans in the whole wide world and her equally delightful husband received word that their adoption profile has been approved by LDS Family Services. And with such wonderful news, I felt that I had to share it with all of you lovely bloggity peeps, because I wanted to spread it to all.

Honestly, I have never met a couple so kind, loving and delightful as these two. They are both such amazing people with huge hearts. And they will be the. best. parents. ever. Seriously.

Please pass along the word, and visit their adoption blog today! And add their button to your blog:

There really has been a lot going on, aka the "recap" post

It's amazing how busy life can be. The kind of busy where you feel like you don't even have enough to catch your breath, and yet it keeps moving forward. There have been so many things I have wanted to document, so many moments I feel like I have missed. This post is an attempt to recap what's been happening, which will have to suffice. Since I'm writing this on my lunch break, which will probably last about 15 minutes, this is going to be pretty succinct, all things considered.

First, there was a mission call...

to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Then there was a fabulous concert (ranked in my top 3 of all time for suresies)...

Mr. Flowers never fails to disappoint, and looks so much like my husband it's a little scary. (Kind of like my face in the picture below... hehee.)

In December, we found out that we were expecting. (Sorry, there are no photos of me holding the "pee stick" or anything like that, hope no one's disappointed.)

And celebrated Christmas...

In January, I lost a dear friend to a tragic accident...

 and my heart still goes out to her sweet family and those who loved her most.

And then the missionary went into the mission field...

(My mom has all of those photos, so this one from the when he opened his mission call will have to suffice for now.)

Plus the bloggity celebrated its third birthday, we finally told people I'm pregnant and found out we're having a baby girl. So that is, in a nutshell, most of what we've been up to. I don't know about you, but I feel better now. Hehee.

Hyperbole meets happiness

Today I started composing a post that was downright depressing. I think I started writing such a post because lately, I feel as if my reserves are almost empty. Do you ever feel like that? Like all of your energy, your patience, your ability to be understanding are diminished to the point where you're scraping at the bottom of the barrel to regain some composure? (Perhaps a hyperbolic way to describe such a feeling, but hey, that what happens when the writer of this blog watches too much The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Only kidding... or am I?)

At any rate, instead of focusing on all of the reasons why I'm losing faith in the overarching rationality of humankind in general (insert more hyperbole here), I wanted to write about something that is truly wonderful. This story involves one of my favorite people, who has been on the quest to become a mom for a long time. I won't get into the specifics here, but the result of this oft-times horrific journey is this:

photo taken by red brick photography

Aren't they the cutest little family in the history of the universe? I can't wait to meet this little guy. This story reminds me that life is beautiful, that God is good. That going through the sad points in life help us achieve true happiness and joy. Because only then can we appreciate what happiness and joy truly are.

So that's all I am going to say for today. 

[Well, and the fact that I'm campaigning to be this little guy's honorary Godmother. Honorary because I'm not Catholic (even though it's in my blood, so does that kind of count?) but think it's a really sacrosanct role, regardless. That I would take very seriously. What do you say, Kenna?]

I want your love and I want your... robot

I won't lie, this Halloween was pretty Halloweenish, if you catch my drift. There were parties (3) and a work event that all demanded Halloween costume excellence. (You may have already read my costume post here, if so, I apologize if you've read some of this before.)

At any rate, in August, I came across the perfect Lady Gaga wig, and I just had to buy it. I knew this costume wouldn't be the most original idea in the world, so I thought it would be key to find a more obscure look that I could mimic. When I stumbled across the all-black look in the "Bad Romance" video, I knew I had a winner.

So I bought some items from F21 and made myself a wicked-cool crown out of black poster board and black lace. (And yes, it is the most crafty thing I've ever done to date.)

The husb decided to use one of our favorite television shows for his inspiration:

He got a couple of boxes, some aluminum foil and construction paper, and had a lot of fun with silver spray paint. 

Consequently, we became Lady Gaga and her robot, which in my opinion, kinda really worked.

We got to hang out with lots of friends who also had fabulous costumes.

 

And in all, we had a great Halloween. Hope you all did too!

Luck be a lady tonight.

This year we decided to take full advantage of the Memorial Day weekend. So we hopped into our trusty Corolla with two of our favorite people (affectionately known as "TNT") and went down to Vegas. It was just what we needed.

At The Lion King (which was a fantastic show, btw)

Kicking it at the Calico Tanks

TNT!!

One of these things is not like the other (which is why I brought my 5 1/2 inch heels on this trip)

Taken by the lovely Tara

 
At the Cabana Club at the Red Rock Casino... a 21 and older "European style" pool 

(thankfully none of the women took advantage of that)

We had a blast and can't wait to go back.

Granato's with my Jami-friend

I'll admit it... I'm a bit of an Italian food snob. With good reason, I think, since I've been inundated with the goodness of good, old-fashioned Italian cooking since birth. Which is why I love finding places that enjoy preserving the culture and cuisine of my parentage.

Enter Granato's.

It's a little place I like to frequent for lunch with my Jami-friend (who, might I add, is one of my most favoritest friends) and we catch up over delicious sandwiches made with fresh ingredients.

Like the San Fran Kid, for example:

It's my current favorite sandwich, boasting imported prosciutto crudo, delectable fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, drizzled in oil and balsamic vinegar, sandwiched in between Granato's fresh ciabatta. Sounds good right? (Sort of food-gasmic? Yup, it's true... it cannot be denied.)

The establishment is so charming, and the quality of the products is top-notch. (You should see how many different varieties of Pellegrino they stock... it's incredible.) It's just one of Salt Lake's many gems. If you're in the area, I highly recommend stopping by. And Jami and I will probably be there, too.

Prayers for people I love

photo of Josh and Kenna taken by Jenny Wheeler Photography

 
I have a friend named Kenna. She is incredible. She is unfailingly loyal and constant and kind. She's the type of friend that will drop everything she's doing to come to the aid of another. And she's definitely had more than her fair share of heartache and trials. (Enough for all of us combined, actually.)

Right now, Kenna and her husband, Josh, are dealing with something that is incredibly difficult and painful. I won't go into details, because it is not my place, but I would like to unassumingly ask for your prayers on their behalf. And if you're not the praying type, maybe just some happy thoughts, positive vibes or anything else sanguine and optimistic. (Thank you in advance.)

There are some friends who will always be friends...

When I made the sojourn to the school down south, it was admittedly reluctantly. I wanted to live in the SLC with some of my high school peeps and go to the University of Utah, but inexplicably I ended up elsewhere. I was slated to live on campus with five strangers whom I had never met, and I remember feeling nervous that I would be rooming with a bunch weirdos.

Luckily, this was not the case. I found myself paired with five roommates who had all been friends for years, and they adopted me into their circle immediately and seamlessly. Though I don't see them as often as I would like, we try to have "reunions" once or twice a year. And every time we see each other, we pick up right where we left off.

 All of us, minus Amy, who is currently living in China

Ladies, I heart you all.

Weirdo Protocol

----- Original Message -----
From: J--
To: S--; L--
Sent: Mon May 19 14:59:31 2008
Subject: weirdo protocol

I was thinking maybe we should come up with a protocol for events
similar to today. Any initial thoughts?

-----Original Message-----
From: S--
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 3:09 PM
To: J--; L--
Subject: Re: weirdo protocol

Shotgun

[Thanks for the giggle, J. You brightened my day.]

A whirlwind holiday synopsis in text and pictures

The loveliness that was our December began with a Christmas tree. This year, our apartment was not conducive to our 7.5 footer, so we procured this little replacement:

which worked pretty well we think.

We attended a lovely little party (with our own little private ice skating rink) hosted by the lovely Millward...

and the hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls and company were all fantastic.

We constructed gingerbread houses

with actual gingerbread this year, a fun change from our typical graham cracker concoctions.

A work party at SkyBox and other family parties transpired, and are unfortunately devoid of any photographic documentation. (I haven't been on my pictorial A-game for awhile, I fear.)

Then, dinner at Rio Grande and our annual viewing of Ballet West's The Nutcracker. It was my 22nd year attending, and I love it more and more every time I go.

Christmas morning brought wonderful surprises from Santa and beyond...

we kinda sorta really got spoiled by each other and our loved ones this year.

And yes, we are Yankees fans. Thanks for asking.

And probably we have the cutest niece in the entire universe.

Though it's belated, we hope you all had a wonderful and happy Christmas.

Happy Halloween darlings...

We apologize that this post is a bit belated... but we were a bit busy de-zombifying ourselves. (It's quite an exhaustive process, actually.)

Our zombie selves enjoyed a lovely fete filled with The Dark Knight, an 80's Prom King and Queen, a couple of incredible basketball players, a Lord and his Lady and some kids who think they're super heroes (shh... don't tell them... they think they're infallible.) We had lots of fun and can't wait to see what everybody comes up with next year.