Monday!

Ah this week hopefully will be a little more relaxed than last week. I think ill have less to do, less projects n all that, more gym time hopefully. I want to make it to the gym everyday this week, we'll see if that happens. Dominos or the gym is my struggle today haha, but ill try n stick to the gym n hope on the tredmile till i cant move anymore. So consider this an attempted day 1 of the trek to loose 15-20lbs! If i had a dollar for everytime i said day 1.........wish me luck!


Looks like ill have my summer all set already.. hopefully, if all goes well, ill be traveling europe for 3-4 weeks in the summer.. then right when i get back ill be starting an internshop at kohls, like a store management intern. Itd start as in Intern this summer..then after college if all goes well could go back and do a assistmant manager trainee programm which i beleive is 10-12 weeks long..then after that itd be assistant store manager, then they'd like you to be promoted within 5 years to run your own store. BUT we'll see how the internship goes, Im not even sure thats what i want to do?? id like to do a stores intern this summer, and summer 2012 do an internship at corporate and see which one would be a better fit! but who knows! Kinda bummed ill be in menomonie all summer.. probably will be working about 50 hours a week, full time at kohls and part time at the office on campus. fun summer..... nobody will be around.. and ill be working every other weekend... so not much time to go home n have a life! guess im not as excited for summer as itd like to be, even though its not even winter yet1 but i still potentially have europe to look forward to! Ireland, scotland, and around the wales. and maybe maybe paris/amsterdam with some friends before we meet with the class!

Its that time of the year again

The snow is here! here are a few picturse that my mom took today, thought itd share because she did a good job :)

Finally the weekend

but whats good about a weekend..when i work 10-8 saturday, and 11-6 sunday? Theres just that one weekend a month i have a love hate relationship with. I work at my job in my hometown one weekend a month, its a 10.5 hr day saturday and a 6.5 hr day sunday, store close to store open, its nice to be in woodbury..but i have no car and live in Menomonie so when i DO get to come home theres SOO much i want to get done, erronds, shop, see people and what not, and this is the only chance i get to come home cause of bartending in menom the rest of the weekends, so now theres all these things i need & want to get down but im stuck at this big, moon shaped desk on the computer for 10 hours. Its nice when i have homework i can do, but all the homework i have this weekend are exams to get done online, cant do that here! anyway, done complaining...about this weekend that is.

ACTUALLY.. i am very excited for Elena's baby shower on sunday, thats about the only thing to look forward to, accept i am bummed because i wanted to be a bigger part of the shower and really get involved and help plan. but ive been sooo so busy last week and really couldnt do much of anything, BUT im still excited. gonna bring my camera and be the photographer for the day. Im going to try and also get a game planned up, but im hoping it will be a good time :) im SOOO excited to be an Auntie, ive wanted a baby in the family for 2/3 years now, just not one myself yet, but wanted one of my brothers to have one!! not them personally obviously, but their girlfriends! so in 2 months there will be a little bundle of joy in the family, and nothing makes me smile more right now! though ill be at school and wont be able to spend much time with her, i will ask for pictures daily, and visit as much as possible. she is going to be so loved, and spoiled!!

On another note..the interviews..ugh.. i pysch myself out way to much for interviews..i do really take them seriously but sometimes i think i need to take them less seriously and just be myself instead of trying to be this perfect canidate and say exactly what their looking for..i know im qualified..i know i have the skills..so next time i just need to be more relaxed and just be myself and if they like it they will, if they dont, they wont. I wanna work for a company that chooses me because i was being myself, if that makes sense? so anyway, Kohls went really well, interviewed with 2 girls, was my first "professional" job interview i guess you can say. to cut to the chase, they called me for a final interview. So i am going to that next week. As far as target goes? id rather not speak of it. I totally CHOKED, i let my nerves get the very best of me, and i pretty much word barfed every question and vomitted it some sort of anwser, then caught myself not even making sense during it? oh man, what an interview that was, none the less i wont expect to get called back for a 2nd interview. It would be nice, but after the first one theres like 3/4 more interviews with ever higher up/more intimidating people. so if i did that bad with the store leads this time, id do ever worse interviewing with distract managers..annnyway.

what do i still need to do this fall? CARVE A PUMPYKIN. Yes, i did last year for the first time in a couple years with steven and i kinda want to do one again this year. Buttt dont really have anyone to do one with..and no where really to put it? in my apartment where im the only one who will see a messy, sloppily carver pump? well, i talked myself out of carving a pumpkin this year already.


Last thought: I AM NOT EXCITED FOR OUR FIRST OVER NIGHT FROST DEAL. buurrr. I hope winter will hold off for a while, or maybe even skip a season? ok thanks

wowza!

To say the least, it has been a littttle hectic lately. This week has been one of those weeks that its just non stop things to do, places to be! working 3 jobs, taking 15 credits and trying to maintain status in 1 club, and trying to learn and take on the role as future president of the other club (exposed photography club) gets a little exhausting, mentally and physically! I am not complaining, i set all this up for myself, and i do not plan on eliminating any of these circumstances. But dont get me wrong, there are times, more often than not, that i wish i could leave for 2 weeks to a sandy beach and pretend this busy-ness does not exsist :)

Sometimes all it takes is just to kinda mentally step back, breathe and know that I am doing what i should be doing, and that what i am doing is going to take me places! where? uhh i dont know! sometimes its exciting NOT to know though. But being so busy, sorta keeps me "grounded" and it keeps my head on straight. i DO wish sometimes i had more time for a social life, black out nights and days to be hung over with no obligations, but i kinda have been there done that. and being hung over sunday after homecoming was not very convincing of wanting that lifestyle back haha. I know i am in the right place, and I am learning a lot along the way. time management is HUGE for me right now, thank god for planners and free printable daily time schedules on the internet, right? Right!!


I am sitting in the pawn at schoool (little cafe cafeteria deal) grabbing lunch before work, usually i dont have time to, but my professor was sick and canceled class. (totally okay with me) So then i work for a couple hours, then dropping of some $$ to Stout retail association and grab some fundraisers things i have to sell. Then off to the library to literally spend the rest of my evening/night there. I have an internship interview with khols tomorrow. I believe its a management training position. Me a manager? its weird to think about. REALLY weird. But honestly, i think i could handle it. So i will be pretty much studying interview questions alll night just like im studying for an exam.
My interview is on Wednesday with Khols, then all wednesday night i will be studying for an exam on thursday which is the first exam in the class, so covering like 2+ months of material, so that will be a long night as well.
then (thanks to buddy my co worker who is working at the bar for me) Thursday night i will studying again, interview questions and practicing interviewing. theres "mock" interviews online career services provides that you interview into your webcam, then can watch it back. so i think i may give that a try, weird! all this because i have another interview with target stores on friday! I think target will go better since i had already practiced with khols. I haven't had a "REAL" Job interview i dont think yet. Ofcourse ive had interviews, but those were for dinky part time jobs, nothing TOOOO serious.
These job interviews, if i get accepted, could be a start to some direction in my life. Figure out what i wanna do, if i do the internship and i dont like it, i know thats not my thing and i could go in a diff direction, if i do the intern and i like it, and im good at it, i could have my career set (if theyd offer me a full time pos after college) SOOO in the long run, these next couple days can be BIG. Even if i dont get offered positions, its okay, it will be great interview practicing to see how its like.
Im dreading when they ask the question "what do you wanna do shannon" because frankly, im still trying to figure that out. SUCH a loaded question, corporate, store mamangement? buyuing? merchandising? please dont ask me that, because im young, i dont know yet, and im trying to figure that out still. thanks.

I was suppose to start P90x today, but instead im gonna attempt the 30day shred by jillian michaels, i really wanna loose 15-20 lbs. but with how busy i am, its really hard to take 2 hours to work out everyday, its what i want most even right now, and i just cant fit that in my schedule right now.. i take it day by day, if i can fit a workout in one day, i will. I am a huge stress eater too, so obvi with all this going on the last couple weeks, its been brutal on me & weight. I dont have time to COOK healthy meals, i have time to throw something in the microwave that cooking+eating takes less than 15 minutes. BOOOO. okay, enough of that. blah blah wah wah.


Anyway, im off to get some more things done. If you've read this, which i really dont think anybody does, which is totally okay. Kind of just ranting to myself sometimes :) but IF you are, wish me luck and cross your fingers and send good vibes my way, thatd be great :)

TaTa for now loves!

Goodmorning :)

"The remarkable thing we have is a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude." Charles Swindoll

true "truths"

Oh just something I came across one day that I thought was, cute? they are "Truths"

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Taking on the week!

So this week is the 2nd full week of school this year, i am plenty ready for our first break, let me tell you! :) I have been noticing myself, in conversations with others, complaining a lot. About my busy busy busy schedule, my jobs, homework, my weight, and other things close to the heart. Im constantly stressing about having to do this, having to do that, having to go here and fill out this paperwork go there and do that, dont eat this, dont eat that, money for this money for that. UGHH!! My goal for this week, is to RELAX. sometimes i get SO overwhelmed, like my life is just to much and then the anxietty comes and the stress comes which leads to the headaches and sleepless nights. well, this week im going to make an honest attempt to take my days one by one, task one by one, and just calm the eff down & breathe. I know i am capable of handling whats on my plate right now, I just need to get there. Its always easier said than done! but i will get there. I need to just find my balance between work, school, social life, hobby time, fun time, ME time. all of it, and i know it will come as weeks pass and i get adjusted.

anyway, sometimes typing the things out and having them to read and look back on throughout the week help remember to breathe and keep focused.

so Thats all :)

Thought of the Moment

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
- Raymond Lindquist

This quote i came across today, really grabbed my attention. I feel like so many people, or i may just be talking about myself, hold on to things that are comfortable, familiar and safe to them. Their security blankets. Some healthy, some not, some they know maybe isn't right but its all just so familiar. you don't have to find something new, do something different, change anything, you don't have to let go.
I think if you can realize and admit that you are doing this, that's great, but like the quote says it takes courage to step out of your comfort zone, put yourself out there, drop bad habits and let go. But by doing so, you could also gain many things, that could even be greater than your initial blanket.
This is something i struggle with on a daily basis, but that I am working towards. And i feel like once i achieve this, whether it is the very small things in life, or the large, I'll be one step closer to where, and who I want to be! :)

"The Perfect World"

So i was going through old photo albums stuffed with notes and papers from back in grade school I found this assignment i had to do for class, and I thought it was interesting! It was an assignment called "The Perfect World" and i assume we had to write what we think would happen in a perfect world, so here is what i wrote. This assignment was when i was 15 yrs old.

"Well in a perfect world everyone would be happy and nobody would judge anyone. And all guys would be nice and like you for who you are..and you wouldnt have to worry about being yourself. And that me and all my girlfriends would have perfect boyfriends and we could spend half a year in hawii. that poor people would not be poor, and that i could go shopping whenever. That my dad would move back to minnesota and i could see him whenever. That they would lower the drinking age so i wouldnt have to wait 6 more years. And that everybody would et along and be free but not break the laws too bad. THat i was friends with famous people. I wish i could sing coz that would make my days so much better coz i love to sing whenever and i could play guitar. i wish no1 was in war. i wish that everyone would live to the fullest. I wish there was a cure for all diseases. I wish Reece was still here with us and me and him could start over, that would be my #1, and i wish the doctors could have saved him. I wish that people wouldnt drink and drive. I wish i had my license
Bye

ps. and that it was summer all year long, fo sho!
that would be the perfect world, but its not so lets live w/what we got so i gotta deal with that. So people need to put up or shut up"



Well, thats what i had to say at 15 years old. some of it is pretty funny, and some pretty ridiculous. Moving to hawawii with perfect boyfriends woulda been nice, well, that never happend. and WHY was i wanting them to lower the drinking age when i was 15?? ohh boy. Though, sometimes i do still wish i was friends with famous people :) i do wish i could sing, because i feel that would be the ultimate stress reliever. And yes, i had a HUGE crush on Reece and had been wanting him back after we broke up for a whole summer, i remember telling ashley gilberston all the time how much i liked him. I remember cutting a picture of him out into a heart haha. Also, my ending? people need to "put up or shut up? haha that amused me.

Well, Just thought itd share that because it made me smile and i thought it was kind of funny. :)
So i was digging for that pic of reece and I, and i found it :) have a look! we we're so young!


School started on Wednesday, I am going to be one busy busy girl this year. 2 jobs in menom, one that i work once a month in woodury, and taking 15 credits. and joining 2 clubs, whew--i will deffinitly have to be on top of my game this semester.

The classes I am taking are:
Managerial & Corporate Accounting
Food Technology
Social/Pysch Aspects of Clothing
Sociology of Gender Roles
Retail Promotions

That would be it for this semester! Wish me Luck :) I've done well thus far, so i shall try and keep up the determination!

While reading the book " Women, Food and God" i came across an interesting thought or Idea. I'm not sure how hard it would be to grasp, if not reading the chapter. but this is what i found interesting, and true.

" Jill Bolte Taylor, a harvard-trained neuroanatomist, talks about the euphoria she experienced when, during a stroke, her left-brain functions of linear thinking and using the past to orient the present stopped functioning. When there was no longer a memory of the way thing were, there was no concept of the self, no longer a me and you. THere was no seperation between the molecules in a hand and the molecules in a sink or in a blade of grass. Without the grid of the past imposed on the moment-to-moment unfolding of the present, there was only peace, only radiance, only awareness and profound awe at living itself.

Spiritual teachers have been pointing to that same possibility minus the stroke for thousands of years: the bliss that occurs by arriving where you are. When we are not reconstructing the past in every nanosecond, what is here is so satisfying, so loving, so unbelievably simple that once tasted, it changes everything. Because then you know whats possible and you refuse to settle for anything less"

"By Constantly Laminating our past defenses onto our current reality, we create the illusion that what was there then is here now. We never arrive in the refulgent ever-new possibilities of the present"

This was really interesting to me, Because sitting thinking about it, if everyone eliminated all that has happened in the past, we would be so much more satisfied with whats here in the present. I think people should working on taking a look at all the have right now, in the moment, forgetting what may have happend in the past, or how youve felt in the past, and just let the present be, let go, and look at what you have NOW. I have a great apartment that i love all to myself, i have piece and quiet, I am going to school full time, pretty much year round, i have 3 jobs, and a family whom i love. Looking at that right there, is enough to put a smile on my face. I am so fortunate to have those things, that i know a lot of people out there cant say that they have them. From here on out i will start loving what i have, instead of dwelling over what i do not have, or wish that i had, or never wish that i lost. I am going to stop dwelling over things that i cannot control, and focus on ones that i can :) Right now, thats the only way to be if i want to keep moving forward!

The Great Minnesota Get Together

It has been since, 2006 that i had been to the state fair last, and finally i got to go, and i even went TWICE this year. I was happy :) a couple low key visits was all i needed! My first time back was with Steven, the First day the fair opened, that thursday! Twas a good time, we bought a coupon book hoping to save a couple bucks, it was $5 so why not, plus we passed it down to Aaron and Amanda after we were done with it. But our first stop, was the Big Fat Bacon booth, Steven really wanted one, but we didn't have a coupon so he said no no..but i ended up buying him one cause that was a must, when will he ever get to eat a Big huge piece of pure fat bacon, ON A STICK! Here is a picture of him enjoying :)

After that we walked around for a long while, im pretty sure we covered the whole fair, walked all the way down by the machinery area then took one of the sky rides back so we could wait in line to get my mom one of those kare11 backpacks they were giving out for free, she asked us if we go to just try and get one, so we were determined! We looked through our coupons and we decided to head to Heritage Square to get a pretzel, it was buy one get one free, so we got 2 jumbo pretzels and cheese for like $4.50 so that was a good deal, that and between the pops we bought pretty much covered the cost of the coupon book. We stayed around for a while then just headed up, took the buss from the oakdale location! Im glad we went though, we hadn't been able to do a lot this summer together, or in general so it was nice to get out for a couple hours, plus we both enjoy a good day of people watching :) Here are two others of our food, and of us from our day trip to the fair :)

My Next trip to the fair was with my mom September 5th :) She hadn't been in about the same amount of years as i have, so we decided to go and walk around for a bit as well. I also brought my SLR to mess around a little bit, so that was nice to, i got some practice in on the night photography with the ride, got a few good shots, but the tripod that i brought i couldnt figure it out, so i didnt get very clear pictures because im not very steady, and with the slow shutter speed it made it difficult to get clear pictures. But we also had fun, walked around, peaple watched, went into a few barns. We had one of my favorite foods, but on a stick, PIZZA. gotta love pizza :) we also had some cheese curds (a must) and a corn dog too, oh and ofrcourse, BEER! Here are some pictures from OUR trip to the Great Minnesota Get Together!

Pigeon Lake, Photography Camp

Pigeon Lake was a great experience! I learned a lot about my camera, and basic photography. The class was all about Nature Photography, which is one of my favorites. Or maybe one of the only styles of photography i have experience in, and have really had an oppurtunity to explore.

The first couple of days, were kind of on your own, it was really pretty much full on camp style, not what i expected. Camp style as in yes, bell rings for brekfast at 8am, 12pm and 5pm. Line outside the cafeteria door to get in, lunch tables, etc. It was all in good fun though. The camp wasn't quit what i had expected, not much there. it was right on a small-ish lake. almost could see around the whole thing. Other than that, not to many photo opps so the first couple days were pretty slow. I stayed in a cabin with 3 other girls. Lots of Bugs, bathrooms couple cabins down. It was nice to get away for a bit, even though it was not luxurious whatso ever! This is a picture the Lake was on, i believe that was a morning/ sunrise picture, though often it was really foggy to get a good shot.

One of our first main adventures was hiking down a couple miles from camp to a "bog". For those who dont know a bog is just like a swampy, wet land where you walk on water level mostly, but its covered by mossy swampy buggy-ness. I wore flipflops, i wasn't to prepared. It was interesting, how many people can say they literally walked through a bog? I guess its not something to boast about too much. :) Anyway, not to much wildlife, and i wasnt toooo thrilled with the photo opps and such. and i stepped into a bee hiv planted on the ground, and got stung 3 times within probably 10 seconds. i havent gotten stung by a bee since i was a kid. but it was a nice little hike/work out :) Here are some pictures from it!

The next couple days we took some trips, Gooseberry falls, and many other state parks, also we went to Duluth for some night photography. We had some pretty good times, got lost on our way home at 2am and we're driving for hours dodging deers. We had some drinks up in Duluth that we got at a liquor store, little mini bottles, it was 30% because of thirsty thursday, so we drank those before going into a nice restaurant. Definition of class, we know. So here are just some pictures from the rest of the trip, im glad i went, got out of my comfort zone a bit, learned a lot and had some fun :)

Back to Blogging!

Hello there! :)

Im back to blogging, I only really blogged when i was away in Europe for 2 weeks, just to write about my experience and keep my family posted while i was away.
But, now im back! I haven't had time really ever, so now that my 6 week sessions of classes are over and i dont have hours of homework everynight, i can sit on my couch, pop up my feet on my coffee table, turn up the pandora, and write. (well or type)

I dont exactly have a Niche for the blog, like the title says, its "this and that" whatevers on my mind that day, sometimes i come by some cool articles i read that day, things on my mind, sharing my photography and journey through college and growing up! I may write about relationships, work, school, friendships, dieting/work outs, random youtube videos, who knows! whatever i feel like! I like to write (again or type) so sometimes its nice to just sit relax and get things off my mind. I like reading other peoples blogs and articles and hearing about other peoples experiences through life, so why not share mine as well! So here we are!

Tonight? tonight im starting a book called "Women food and God" by Geneen Roth. I saw an article on it on AOL news (which i read all the articles everyday to stay in tune) and i thought it would be good for me. what she went through and is writing about, exactly describes my life right now. pretty much all of it. i have been a yo yo dieter for years now, and this summer have been struggling with it a little bit more than usual. and I'd like to get my life back. all i wanna be is healthy, and happy :) and back to the fun self i used to be before i gained 20 pounds since highschool! So thats where I am at right now, I have been trying to start the master cleanse (lemonaide cleanse) whatever you wanna call it this week, ive been on and off. im hoping to get on with it tomorrow, as well as get back into running. I lost 13 pounds this summer, but what do you know, i gained it all back already. so i need to get back on track and stop being a damn yo-yo. Ill report back when the book is done, hopefully by next week!



"The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed up in these two – common sense and perseverance."
-- Owen Feltham