A trip to the store

It was just your average trip to the store. We briskly walked inside from the chilly December air. After my kitten got fleas I felt the need to replace all my furniture so I wanted to at least price some of my options. We walked up and down the furniture mainly pricing the mattresses. We tested out a few deciding which one was the most comfy. Finally we got to the last and most expensive bed and we both laid next to each other on it. "I like this one" I said, and I slowly looked up only to meet eyes with him. And there were butterflies all over again. I got a chill and rush of such intense love that it made me want to cry. I've never felt more lucky or loved in my life. "I love you," he said. Sometimes it's just a look, a touch, it's indescribable. After almost 10 months of dating I feel exactly like I did on day one. It's so unbelievable to be this in love, I never want it to stop❤️

I heart you

Sleepy eyes
The subtle rumble of your breath.
The morning
Waking up into reality.
Still beside me
Still in love
Still tangled in a daydream.
My daydream
My life
My forever.

Grateful ❤

Happiness doesn't mean everything is perfect. Life has it's bumps and that's okay. But a whole lot of great moments make life worth the not as great moments. I was starting to lose hope about picking a major. Every time I chose a career path, something got in the way. I was stressing myself out day after day, never getting the thought out of my head. I knew where I wanted to work but it didn't really require college. Was going to college really my dream or was I just trying to please my parents? Thanks to my boyfriend I realized I wasn't pushing myself hard enough. The next day I curled my hair, put on some dress pants and confidently walked into the Jeep dealership. After turning in my application it wasn't long before I was asked to come in for an interview. A short 30 minute interview confirmed that they wanted me in sales! I was so excited that I cried on the way home from the interview. I called my parents and best friend who were proud and happy for me. I eagerly waited for my boyfriend to come home from work to give him the news. He was so surprised and happy for me. Life is so incredibly amazing sometimes. I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. I could not be more thankful for my amazing boyfriend who continues to push me to be who I am and make choices I want to make. I could not be happier with my life right now and the people who are in it :)

Happiness

Happiness. We all want it. It's the care free feeling that everything is in place and nothing is wrong. Reality is there will always be times that you are unhappy. Happiness is a mood and it isn't permanent. However, there are so many things you can do to make the mood more prevalent. My boyfriend pounded in my head week after week that I needed to make decisions that would make me happy. What? I thought. I am happy. But he was right, I wasn't. I was making decisions solely to make other people happy or not mad at me. I slowly started to realize the hole that I was digging. It is a never ending cycle because people will not always be happy with you and that's okay. Changing the way I think has made me so different in the fact that I don't feel weighed down. I feel more free than I've ever felt because I let go of the negative things and pushed forward to my future. I am beyond excited because I am on such a straight path now. I know what I want to do for a career, I have positive people surrounding me, I have an amazing God who listens to my prayers and above all I am the happiest I've been my entire life. My advice to anyone is to give up whats weighing you down. No matter how hard it is, you have to think for yourself. I know my boyfriend will look at this and say "I told you so." And I couldn't care less to admit that he's right. Everyone deserves to feel this good. I know like I said before, happiness isn't permanent, but there is never a limit on how happy you can be.

Ready to Begin my Career

My Jeep pulled into the gravel drive and I eagerly stepped out and began walking to the the front door. I peered around the corner to find the first two rooms. Upon opening the door my nose filled with the smell of cat dander and my heart filled with instant love. The cats pranced around the room without a care. Some sleeping, some playing with toys and some purring as they rubbed against my legs. All my life I have wanted to do something with animals. My mom always jokes about how my first career option as a five year old was a "dog walker." Deciding a major became a daily struggle that consumed my every thought. I wanted to do something that I loved that would also pay the bills. It became clear to me over the last month that I was neglecting what I have always loved, animals. I always hesitated to work with animals because it meant working with cats which I am allergic to. But walking into the humane society, I couldn't be more sure. Walking down the narrow hall, I walked into the room where the dogs were. I saw one of the workers carefully helping puppies to learn their new surroundings and I couldn't help but see myself doing something like that. The whole time I walked through I was thinking about how I could use my time to do something better. I am truly excited about what is to come for my future career. I thank God for the answered prayer about my confusion of where I am supposed to go. I feel strongly that this is where I am lead and can't wait to help one paw at a time.

Life's Little Moments

I love the moments where actions speak louder than words. When "I love you" doesn't need to be stated because I already feel it. I live for the 2 am conversations, the way you reach out for my hand when we drive and the indescribable way you look at me and make me feel so safe. I live for the little moments that have more meaning than bigger moments ever could.

You

You're my first hello,
And my last goodnight.
The person I don't want
Out of sight.
With your ice blue eyes
And slicked back hair.
You know I'd follow you
anywhere.
You're the sun when it rains
The comfort when it pours.
I can't explain how long
I want to be yours.

Don't Just Live

Realizations.
Have you ever sat down and thought about what's going on in your life? I think we become so numb to purpose when we go through our daily tasks like a ritual. It's not easy, but I have been trying to see my daily grind as the road to my future. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "live each day like it's your last." But have you really thought about that? What if life stopped today and all you had done was complain about the struggles you were facing that weren't even permanent?

I struggle with a lot of things on a daily basis, but I need to be reminded that everything I'm doing now is steps I need to to get to my goals. I have a lot of people who I make time for and its not easy to make arrangements to see everyone I need to. But when I think about how many people love and care about me, I realize that working out a crazy schedule is manageable and important to me. I want people to be able to rely on me and know I'm there to make life easier for them.

God has put a lot on my plate throughout my life so far, but I think He knows I can handle it. It's my hope that I can help as many people as I can to enjoy this beautiful life we are given.

I urge you to sit back today and think about where you are going and get excited about the days that it takes to get there.

Have a great Sunday y'all :)

Shay

A Year Ago

A year ago today I gave up living for myself and got baptized. Baptism had always been one of those things that I knew you didn't need to do to go to heaven, so I had always shrugged it off. There was one service in particular that really changed me. My pastor was talking about baptism as an outward expression of your devotion to God. I had never heard it put that way. Of course I wanted to tell everyone that I love Jesus and am committed to him. So the idea of baptism then became a no-brainer. I stood in line that morning as many people took their faith to the next level and couldn't wait for this moment. There's no magic when you put your head under the water, but I sure felt like a new person afterwards. I couldn't get a smile off my face. God has done incredible things with me in just a year and I can't wait to see what He has in store for me next 😊

Winter Beauty

Pretty winter scenes. {Although I am ready for spring to come as soon as possible} I think a lot of the reason I don't like winter is because of the indoor activities. I am such an outdoorsy person so being cooped up from cold weather it's safe to say I'm ready for spring and most of all summer.

Focus

Despite the good or bad in your day, may your focus stay strong today my loves.

Updates

So I've done a lot of in-depth posts on feelings and Godly material lately and Im feelin an update blog how bout y'all?

As February is almost ending, I can't help but realize all that has happened in two months! 2015 has not held back to be a crazy yet superb year so far.

I started a new hair care routine in Janurary and the results have been excellent! I started using all organic shampoo and conditioner that was free of sulfate and alcohol. Also I have been introduced to the ever-amazing "dry shampoo", made out of corn starch, cinnamon and essential oil. Every two weeks I do a coconut oil treatment to my hair and let me tell you... my hair feels so great! Softer, stronger and thicker than before. I will never go back to my old hair care routine, that's for sure!

School is still as boring as ever but gotta get through it! I have some pretty generic freshman classes so it's not all that interesting yet. However, my educational psychology is extremely interesting and I love it. My professor is hilarious and makes me love the material even more. Still debating a double major in psychology and education. We shall see I guess!

Apartment hunting has taken up a huge portion of my time last month and into February. Changing from 2 to 3 bedrooms or finding a decent price is harder than you'd think. Especially when you want to live in a good area. Buuut, my best friend and I put in an application for a three bedroom townhome at the beginning of this month. We will be living with our other best friend who will return home from tech school in early March. We are all super excited to get it. The inside is so chic and beautiful! The interior decorator inside of me has so many ideas on how to decorate. So we should know by next month if we have it or not.

All exciting things happening this year so far! Our God is too good!!

Xoxo,
Shayyy

Insert Heart Emoji Here

Gosh this boy... he is too good to me ❤

No Longer Single

What? Shannon has a boyfriend? That's unheard of...

Its funny how things work. The day I got rejected was the day I fell for my boyfriend. I called him crying about how everything that i had been feeling for this other guy had been wrong and it wasn't gonna work out like I planned. He asked if I wanted to go get ice cream later and I said yes please. I never really call guys for a advice but I felt so open talking to him that it didn't matter. He made such an effort to make me feel better and by the end of the night, I already knew that God had bigger and better plans for me. I started texting him daily and it started to feel weird when I didnt talk to him for at least a portion of the day. It became obvious to me that I liked him. The fireworks burst inside my head every time he walked into work and gave me that adorable smile. As the days went on, my feelings only became more and more obvious and I could only hope he felt the same. We picked up on each others flirty behavior and it was unsaid but we knew we were gonna be a couple, it was plain as day. He took me out to dinner and was all excited to take me there. His excitement was just the cutest thing ever and I saw how he was trying so hard for little old me. Later that night we were cuddling and I knew I never wanted to leave his arms so I asked nervously the unsaid question: so, are we together? His smile said enough and by his scruntched up blue eyes I knew. Turns out he was gonna ask later and i ruined it lol, but hey I'm impatient. I am just so amazed at how truly awesome our God is, how could he give me someone who I feel so undeserving of. A guy who treats me with respect and has the sole purpose of making me happy. I can just here him saying "shannon's mine omg!" He kept tossing his head back saying this is unreal and too good to be true. I just laugh because I can't believe hes mine, like omg I just can't get over it.The mutual excitement of our feelings is so unlike anything I have felt before and if I had to wait forever for this feeling, it doesn't matter to me in the slightest because holy cow its worth it. Just when you think you know what you want, the best curve ball of all hits ya! Finally it felt like something was going my way. No other guy could compare to him and the last piece of my puzzle was in place. My endless prayers had been answered and my tears had purpose. Oh that crazy adorable blonde. Ahhhhhh , he's mine!!! Gosh  we have an amazing God who works in such mysterious ways.

Sorry for the lovey dovey post y'all but I can't believe this is all real.
Xoxo,
Shayyy

P.s. he drives a jeep😉😍

Positive Psychology

Hello my loves! Last semester in my Intro to Education class, we started each class with "success stories." It could be something small like "I cleaned my house" or something big like "I got a job." Whatever it was, we all had to start the class with something positive. Even now that I'm out of that class, I try to wake up and be positive. I say a quick morning prayer and think about the positive things in my life. It's easy to wake up and want to feel like crap {especially in this cold weather} and drag yourself down, but forcing yourself to be positive has provided me with nothing but great results. I wouldn't call myself a morning person, but I enjoy waking up and having time to reflect on myself. Last night I stayed up late talking to a friend on the phone and woke up super tired this morning. I could have woken up grumpy about my five hours of sleep, but instead I woke up super happy. I thought about how my friend called me, how they wanted to talk to me and that made me feel so good. We had a great conversation and if I lost a little sleep over it, so what!

So I encourage y'all to start each day with a success story whether it be large or small because it really has provided me with happier days.

Xoxo,
Shayyy

Cabin Seclusion

What a darling weekend! Me and my best friend and her family went to Hocking Hills to stay in a cabin in the woods. The seclusion was so neat and  the utter silence was amazing. As we hiked through various places from Old Man's Cave, to the forrest to an open field, I couldn't help but think: what an awesome God we have! Take away distractions like cell phone service and it forces you to realize how important little things are. Even though we froze our butts off (8°) we still had ann incredible time

God Bless,
Shayyy

"Let it Go"

Gotta love good friends who buy you junk food and do a photoshoot to make you feel better ❤ here's a few of my favorite shots

Would People Know

If you saw me, would my actions display my Christianity? I'd like to think that they do. However, I have caught myself lately when I am about to say something that isn't right. I think a big thing I struggle with is judgment. When was the last time you gossiped about somebody? When was the last time you didn't judge someone for their own decisions? Its a tough topic and I realize that. It's silly because a lot of girls "bond" over talking poorly about other people. Who's to say another group of girls aren't talking about you too? It's naïve to think that nobody has ever talked about you. What if you could turn the gossip into a good conversation. I would love it if people would say something like "wow, that Shannon girl is super strong in her faith." or "she's like super Christian." Even if it is people who disagree with me, I would love for people to see me and see how I live for something other than myself. I would think it was the coolest thing ever if you could tell I was a Christian the instant you met me.

I was talking to my best friend about judgment and it's very apparent in our society. When we see someone who's overweight we talk about it and say "wow, they're huge" and think it's funny. But we don't even see past that one element of the person. The person is not just their silly label, they are a human with feelings just like us. And who knows, maybe they are trying to lose weight and it's judgmental people who are preventing them from moving forward. That's just one example, but judgment is very prevalent in anything we do. I, of course, judge people just like everybody else; but it is something I am trying to get better at.

Lately I have been trying to get better at vocalizing my judgment. If I vocalize what my poor judgment is on someone, it is only giving the other person the obligation to agree or have something stupid to talk about. By keeping my mouth shut, I am forcing myself not to get confirmation that judgment is okay because it is not.

I want everyone to see the kind of love that Jesus has. Jesus doesn't judge anyone for anything. Even though we are sinners, trying to love people like Jesus did can really change a person. If people can realize that that kind of love exists, think about all the people you could change. We may think that we are only one person and we can't have much of an impact on people but that just isn't true. Changing even one person could lead to a chain reaction. Maybe that person has decided now to be there for someone who was in their position.

It's not an easy thing to do, but I am praying and trying to become more cautious of when I am being judgmental.

love y'all

Shayyy