Halloween was meant for costumes...

... and parties :)

Twas the Night Before Halloween...

'Twas the night before Halloween, when all through the house and back
Not a creature was stirring, or a rat on a rubber sack;
The Jack-o-lanterns were sitting on the porch with care,
In hopes that the Great Pumpkin soon would be there;

The little kids were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions witches flew in their heads;
And lil' sister in mother's 'kerchief, and me in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long midnight's nap,

When out on the street there arose such a racket,
I sprang from the bed and put on my warm jacket.
Away to the window I flew like the Flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen leaves
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my eyes should see and what came,
But a thin man with a cape and a strange name,

With a lively smile, if not so full of sin,
I knew in a moment it must be Great Pumpkin.
More rapid than eagles his comrades they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Come, Vampire! Come, Werewolf! Mummy, and Creeper!
Frankenstein! Scarecrow dude! Zombie and Grim Reaper!
To the top of the house! To the top of the roof!
Let us hurry! And pray that my suit is fireproof"

The dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an old rope, mount to the sky,
So up to the housetop the monsters they climbed,
With a bag full of treats, as the midnight clock chimed.

And then, in a thud, I heard on the roof
The shuffling of each heavy foot- then poof!
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney Great Pumpkin came with a bound.

He was dressed all in black, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
As I wipe away the dust from my face,
He got up gracefully from the fireplace.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! His eyes, how scary!
His cheeks were like oranges, his nose like a berry!
His pointy big mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the pumpkin head is hollow;

He was thin and lanky, a mysterious creature,
And I screamed when I saw him, at his ghastly feature;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the bags with the treats; what a jerk!
And opened his mouth and whispered "Adieu",
And giving a nod, up the chimney he flew;

He sprang up his arms, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew away, away in a hustle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he flew out of sight,
"Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good night!"

I replied back with a laugh, "And a good fright!"

What's He Writing?

What's being written today?

That is a mystery that only my Heavenly Father knows!

I try to write daily about my experiences, my thoughts, fears, concerns, etc. and since 2006 I have kept a pretty good online journal of all things that make up 'Shannon's' life. My story keeps getting more and more interesting and as I look back over the past 3 years, God has done an incredible work in my life.

Some days, I have my hand on the paper(or keyboard), pen touching the sheet and all my thoughts are moving so fast that my hand is shaking as I write(type)...mainly because I'm overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with gratitude, overwhelmed with thanks and just overwhelmed at how BIG God is and how amazing He is at writing stories :)

Can't wait to look back in 3 more years and see what He's done. I'm sure he has some good stuff up his sleeve!

~photo by Ms. Hayley Pharr

It's a beautiful day for a wedding.

Emily Roberts is now Mrs. Emily Ondish!

Let's look at pictures from this beautiful event, shall we...


I adore this beautiful lady! She has taught me so much about what it means to walk with the Lord! She definitely shines with the light of the Lord everyday!

"Putting on my make-up cause I'm gonna get married!" ~ Emily

Little Ms Muffet pose :)

Me and Magan preparing for our honorary duties! And we looked darn cute doing it.

My handsome date to the wedding thanks to Scott getting sick... happy he was there, not happy Scott was sick.

It was an amazing day and if you want to see more gorgeous pictures, check out my Facebook page!

Congrats Emily and Matt! You both are loved very much:)

Let's carve a pumpkin

It's that time of the year where you can't really pass a house without seeing a pumpkin or two on the front porch. The pumpkins hold scary faces or Halloween scenes that have been perfectly craved so that a candle will show every detail. They sit up on bails of hay or railing so that the driving community will see them all as the whiz by on their commute.

Want to know a secret?! Sometimes, if you get close enough to the pumpkins they'll tell you a little story about Halloween. Promise...I wouldn't lie to you!

The crisp air is moving in and you can almost smell fresh pumpkin pie in the distance...well at least I can!

Yep, it's Fall and Halloween season. Time for pumpkin patches and carving faces. Which is exactly what we did last night at the Man Night Invitational, haha. Girls welcome and bring your own pumpkin. Take a look...




We had a great time and we have great pumpkins to show for it :)

You can come to apartment if you want a glimpse of our carvings!

It's time for a meteor

Good news for all you star lovers like me...

October 19, 2009: The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.

"Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."

The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream. Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate, go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.

Right: An Orionid meteor photographed on Oct. 21, 2008, by amateur astronomer Rich Swanson of Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual.

"Since 2006, the Orionids have been one of the best showers of the year, with counts of 60 or more meteors per hour," says Cooke.

According to Japanese meteor scientists Mikiya Sato and Jun-ichi Watanabe, 2006 marked Earth's first encounter with some very old debris. "We have found that the [elevated activity of 2006] was caused by dust trails ejected from 1P/Halley in 1266 BC, 1198 BC, and 911 BC," they wrote in the August 2007 edition of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. In their paper "Origin of the 2006 Orionid Outburst," Sato and Watanabe used a computer to model the structure and evolution of Halley's many debris streams stretching back in time as far as 3400 years. The debris that hit Earth in 2006 was among the oldest they studied and was rich in large fireball-producing meteoroids.

Repeat encounters produced good displays in 2007 and 2008—and "the meteoroids are expected to approach Earth [again] in 2009," say Sato and Watanabe. They note that these old broad streams tend to produce equally broad showers, lasting several nights around the peak. So, if clouds interfere on the 21st, try again on the 22nd or 23rd.

Above: Orionid meteors stream from the elbow of Orion the Hunter. Because the shower's radiant point is close to the celestial equator, sky watchers in both hemispheres can enjoy the show.

The phase of the Moon favors a good show. The Moon is almost new and completely absent from the pre-dawn sky at the time of the shower's peak. Bright moonlight will not be a problem.

Last but not least, the display will be framed by some of the prettiest stars and planets in the night sky. In addition to Orionids, you'll see brilliant Venus, red Mars, the dog star Sirius, and bright winter constellations such as Orion, Gemini and Taurus. Even if the shower is a dud, the rest of the sky is dynamite.

Set your alarm and enjoy the show.

Baby Luke...He's growing up too fast!

Oh my goodness...I remember just yesterday Aaron was calling me to let me know that Downey was headed to the hospital to welcome little Luke into the world and now he's a little man. He's getting to be so big and so handsome. The problem is that he is growing up way too fast and I haven't gotten to see him since July. That's not cool!

But that will all change in about 3 days cause I'm going to visit, YAY! Now, don't be jealous. I know all of you want to go and visit this sweet little boy with me but you can't cause it's my weekend and my time with him, haha. But, since I don't want to leave any of you guys out...I stole some pictures off of Downey's Facebook page so you could all see this little person that I get to hang out with this weekend :)




I mean seriously, is he not the cutest little thing ever?!

A sweet fruit basket

I wasn't having the greatest of mornings! It's Monday...I woke up late which means I got to work...Walked into a stacked of things on my desk...and something about some keys(can't remember). Anyway around 10 AM I got a call from the front desk and Mrs. Lee said I had a surprise!

I rushed down to find this beautiful basket waiting for me with a sweet card that said 'Hope your day gets better! -Love Michelle'

How awesome is that?! I really have the sweetest friends in the world!

Thanks Michelle for the wonderful fruit and even more thanks for being one of my best friends! Love you girl :)

Run

let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

~ Hebrews 12:1

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

...I am imagining a scene from the Drumline movie right now :)

Now why am I insisting on a drum roll? Well, because I want to introduce you to someone!

Ladies and Gentleman...meet Kevin...
.


...My boyfriend!

Now, some of you are confused at the moment and the rest of you are completely shocked. I know, I know... it's strange that this girl, whom some of you have known for years just being 'Shannon' now has a real life boyfriend(that's what my Mom called him, haha). It may be an adjustment for you all to grasp the fact that I now have 'couple status' but don't worry I'll keep reminding you daily on Twitter, Facebook, texts or whatever annoying social media tool I can use because this guy is pretty special... and I think the world should be reminded often :)

To my NC friends: I will update you all next week while I'm in Wilmington. Complete with pictures, stories and countless mentions of his name in conversation, haha.

To the rest of my friends stretched from Florida to New York to Texas to Washington, don't worry I'll fill you all in. Call you soon :)

Bold

God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold
and loving and sensible.

2 Timothy 1:7 (The Message)

Rest up

Ugh... It's been almost a week since I've written! That means all of you have missed out on some much in the past 6 days and apologize.

There has been a wedding, a birthday surprise, 16 hours of driving, time with my niece, homemade chicken salad, becoming small group leader, creating homemade vegetable soup, waving good-bye to Cambi, becoming Facebook official, using my 4-runner's bright lights for the first time, watching Aiden walk, dancing with my Daddy, etc. etc. etc... >insert deep breath here<

It was all fun and all memorable and I wish I could write about it for days...but I'm exhausted just thinking about it all.

Here's the thing... I can't keep up. I can't keep up with my work, I can't keep up with my friends, I can't keep up with my laundry. I mean, I can't even keep up with my sleep and that's kind of important. My day is constant jump from one thing to the next and even on the nights when nothings planned, something comes up and I once again miss another opportunity to rest.

Rest is defined as a bodily state characterized by minimal functional and metabolic activities.

Yea, I don't get that! For me, rest is sleep...alone time...finding a hammock somewhere and completely shutting off my mind. Ahhhh that would be glorious! I would love to go home after work, curl up in my bed and take an hour to 2 hour nap. I LOVE afternoon naps. They are my favorite. I need more of them in my life.

Bottom line: I need a break or I'm going to break! And by break I mean nap :)

It's a Beautiful Day

I can now check 'Seeing the greatest concert' off my life to-do list cause I accomplished that goal last night! Muse and U2 were absolutely incredible. Everyone should see them no matter what the cost. I mean you could always sell some platelets or something to scrounge up some extra funds!









Mal thanks for going with me and sharing such an amazing concert filled evening :)

U2

U2 tonight!!!!!

Yes I will be there :)

I am so excited! I will write about how amazing it is tomorrow!

Never stop

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy Fall

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see. That makes me happy :)

Happy Fall!

Meet Michelle

Wow! I can't keep up with days or moments at this time in my life. It's like every second is taking by something or someone and I apologize for not keeping you all informed of all the things God is blessings me with. I promise I will do a better job!

Today I would like to introduce you all to my friend Michelle!

That's her on the left...but don't be alarmed, we are not trying to keep from getting the plague or the swine flu in this picture. We're actually helping clean up some homes from the destruction caused by the Georgia flood. **If you've been keeping up, you've seen the pictures from our relief efforts.**

The reason I want all of you to meet Michelle is because she has been a big part of my life for the past 5 months. God allowed our paths to cross one night after church and we've been learning and teaching each other ever since. It's pretty awesome. We have similar stories but different at the same time and one of my favorite things to do is sit and talk with her about life, about goals, about guys and the best topic, about God. She has a strong faith, one that I hope is rubbing off on me daily. I watch her give her time and her money to help others. I see her investing in people even when she's tired and broken. I observe her as she interacts with new people and it's awesome to watch her hold out her hand and welcome any and everyone into her friendship circle.

She's got it! She's showing Christ's love in so many ways. Through her kindness. Through her willingness, Through her smiles. Through her encouragement. Plain and simple...Through her!

Thanks being an awesome friend Michelle. Praying that we continue to walk this path of friendship for a while :)

Be alert

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

~ Colossians 4:2

Go and help the others

I never thought I would step foot on to the concrete and see the things I saw today. Hearing about flood waters rising and homes being destroyed on the news never really prepares you for actually walking in to a neighbor that was smack in middle of all the chaos.

Piles of sheet rocked lined the streets. Couches and chairs flipped upside down, ruined sitting on the curbs. The smell of mildew mixed with mud and bleach filled the air. Grass and trees covered in mud from where the waters rose and settled feet above normal. Baby toys and bikes laying in the brush from where the water swept them away from their standing positions under porches and decks. It was heartbreaking and overwhelming! When I stepped out of the car, I stepped into the reality that what the news called "just a flood" was way more than that! It was a life changing event that left some broken hearts and broken pieces that may take a while to repair.


After staring for what felt like 3 hours at the cul de sac which held about 8 homes, I headed down towards the destruction with a group to get started. We went to the house at the end of the street first, which had the most destruction. The water not only flooded the basement, it flooded the first floor. The owner of this home was Ms. Monica and she is one lady I will never forget. Her home needed the most work because of how high the floor crept in. It could have used a many hands as possible gutting out walls and bleaching wood but when we approached her to ask how we could help, her response captured my heart. She handed us two bottles of bleach, gloves and 5 squirt bottles and told us " take these and go help in the homes of Ms Sharon and the Johnson's." I looked at her and thought 'this lady knows what it means to show Jesus.' In the midst of destruction and her home broken, she gave to others before thinking of herself. It was incredible! It was a blessing and it was one conversation I will never forget!

So, just as Ms Monica told us, we went out and we helped the others. We bleached Ms. Sharon's basement and helped her sort through pictures and memorabilia, trying to salvage all we could of her memories! We helped move furniture in Jamie and Shannon's house along with packing boxes full of things that the flood didn't claim. We moved trash bags, we swept floors and we basically did whatever we could to help! It was a Saturday that will be etched in my mind forever!






Please pray for these families. Pray for the work that still needs to be done, for the volunteers they still need to put things back together. Pray for the money to come to rebuild and pray for healing after the storm.

It's the little things!

It always has been the little things that make me smile! And this week was full of them. Let's look back and smile together...

Craft time with Jen! What is that you ask? Well that's a paper chain for the days Jen has left before she gets to see her boyfriend, Anthony! There's 16 links here and it's so cute to watch her tear them off with a big smile on her face.

My puppy always makes me smile. Her and her HUGE ears!

Baby pumpkins means it's almost time for Halloween.

And my biggest smile this week came from receiving these! Are they not the most gorgeous flowers you've ever seen. They may be an exaggeration to some but in my eyes, they are because they came from someone very special!

What a great week! Full of smiles because of the little things :)