All's Forgiven

I am married to a pretty remarkable man. Although last year come Christmas day and I didn't get anything from him, I did have a brief moment of questioning. I understood that he was stressed with school and didn't know what to get me but as a precausion I drastically lowered my expectation on what to expect from my dear Tyler come festive occassions.

This year I was blown out of the water.

December 19th, 6 days before Christmas:

This was my last day of teaching before the break and was wonderful because it was a half day and I had plans to go snowboarding before the resorts closed. I frantically pulled into the garage (thank you Jensen's for the indoor parking especially in this snowy weather) and as I ran downstairs to get changed, I passed Tyler bringing up my Giraff snowboard of 10 years that I had bought "used" at 14. This trusty snowboard still works altough the bindings are rusted to the board. We got up to Sundance Resort and as I was pulling on my coat and gloves Ty tells me he has my board for me. I turn around and it is a brand new beautiful snowboard and bindings! Of course, being that Tyler bought it, it was one of the best and newest of the season. For those who know snowboards it is a K2 Luna 10th Anniversary Snowboard with sorosky crystals (love the bling). It was awesome for the two hours I have gotten to use it so far.

So, I thought that was it for Christmas, I mean a snowboard? That is a pretty awesome Xmas gift. But this morning, Christmas Day, Tyler tells me there is more. I have been wanting a gold watch for a long time. I am not a big jewelry person, primarily because I am convinced the weight of necklaces and bracelets irritate my "cancer spots" (you don't want to know; I am perfectly physically healthy, but maybe a little sick upstairs), but do enjoy wearing "flashy" gold earrings as of late and they clash with my silver watch (which I also love, Thank you Meg and Ron for the Xmas gift 4 years ago!). I have had trouble finding a gold watch that didn't look old ladyish but recently Tyler and I found one we both liked. I thought it was way to expensive and he didn't say anything until this morning, when I got a letter with the picture of the watch inside. (The reason for the pic and not the actual watch is because I am an incredibly curious or "nosey" as some like to say, person and Tyler had hidden the watch so well he forgot to grab it before we left for Indiana). Although I love the watch and can't wait to try it on when we get home.

In conclusion, this year Tyler totally rocked my socks off in the Christmas present department.

Although, I must admit that I love that sucker the same, gifts or no gifts. He is the greatest blessing in my life.

Merry Christmas!

LA Trip

Last weekend, on a marketing venture, I took my Intercultural Outreach BYU students to Los Angeles to explore the cultural variety of LA.


For a first time trip that was often close to being canceled on more than one occasion, the trip actually went very well.

We arrived in the Long Beach airport on Thursday night. After gathering luggage and renting cars, we headed to downtown LA where we stayed at a very upscale Marriott near the fashion district. http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1063135772110082920

Friday we hit the ground running. We started with Chinatown where we had a tour and history lesson from a very knowledgable 5th generation American Chinese man. We shopped at the little stores, I bought a bowl that matches my dishes for $2.99 (whoohoo! steal!) but we unfortunately ran out of time for traditional Chinese lunch.

We had an appointed at the Islamic Center, the largest mosque in LA which also hosts a K-8th school and other social activities. We meet with a man that teaches Arabic at UCLA in addition to running the center. After a short briefing, we took our spots for the midday Friday prayer. (This is the most important time for prayer in Islam. It is like the 3 hour block on Sunday for us LDS, but only last 30 minutes and they don't have to wear shoes! Lucky...) Watching people from all different socio-economic classes and ethnic backgrounds pour into the mosque as the call for prayer was announced was truly touching. These men and women leave on their lunch breaks to come to prayer. I was overcome by the feelings of brotherly-love and could feel that these hundreds of people truly cared about their relationship with God. It comforted me to know that I am not the only one out there that still believes in God and desires to know him better. The service included scripture that was sung and repeated in Arabic, prayer and a short sermon. I loved seeing the womens beautiful veils (they cover their hair in reverance and the shoe boxes outside the mosque filled with shoes of all shapes and sizes. If you have a chance to go to an Islamic Friday prayer, do it.

We next went to the Getty Museum which was BEAUTIFUL! I can't believe I grew up an hour away and had never been to see the art and architecture there. We finished up the night with the Mann's Theater and the traditional Hollywood shopping. I finally got to a Sephora (there are none in Utah) and got some new eye shadow. I also got a cute sweater at H&M (also not in Utah) for 10 bucks!

Are you tired of reading?? Now we are on to Saturday.

Saturday we woke early and did a little shopping in Santee Alley. Best place in LA to shop. If you need directions, call me! I got a few xmas presents and spent most of the time trying to round up the girls in my group who did not want to leave.

We also went to the Pacific Asian Art Museum in Pasadena and then went to Korea town to have Korean BBQ. Korea town truly was like entering another country. No one spoke English, the signs were in Korean and English (they actually had to pass a law a few years ago to make sure they were in English also) and the shopping mall completely catered to Koreans styles and taste. My favorite was the shoe store that sold shoes that increased your height! We had our best meal at a traditional Korean BBQ. Apparently meat is highly prized in Korea because it is so crowded there is not much roaming room for cows and stuff, so this was a Korean specialty. See the pics. It was nothing like anything I have ever had before. I have been to the Touch of Seoul in Provo and it made me sick. This place was much much better!

That afternoon we dropped our students off at the airport and I got to spend about 21 hours with my family. It was great seeing everyone (except I didn't get to see Elise :( she had to work).

I think I'll end now even though I have more to say. I hate reading long post so I bet no one is actually reading by now. hehe. LA was great and I loved it!

Merry Christmas Tree

Here is our first Christmas tree! I think it turned out pretty great. :)

My husband is the best and helped me with the buying and decorating. We have pretty good taste together.

Merry Christmas Tree!!

The Beauty of Tests!

I am currently sitting in my room with 25 students and it is SILENT and therefore BEAUTIFUL.

For the past two days I have given 6 out of my 9 classes tests on "The Road to the Revolution". My tests are pretty hard and take most kids the majority of the 70 minute period, which means utter bliss for me. (Until the grading comes).

I really enjoy test days not only for the silence, but because I get to see the excitement in many of my students as they feel the accomplishment of taking on something challenging that they have prepared for. There is nothing better than the satisfaction of KNOWING you did well on a test because of your preparation. I also enjoy a degree of satisfaction I get when it comes to grading. Many of my students do very well on their tests, scoring A's and B's. It feels great knowing that I taught them something and they previously knew nothing about.

So, I thought it would be fun if you got to test your knowledge of the American Revolution. Are YOU smarter than an 8th grader?

a. King George III b. Mongrel Breed c. Common Sense
d. Treaty of Paris e. Quartering Act f. Red Coats
g. Patrick Henry h. Tories i. Whigs
j. Samuel Adams k. Tyranny l. firebrand

____1.) A law which required colonist to provide housing and food for soldiers.
____2.) A political party which believed the king should remain in control of the colonies.
____3.) This word describes a hothead or someone who sparks a revolution.
____4.) This person is remembered for the famous quote, “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
____5.) Authored by Thomas Paine and helped colonist to question the British control.
____6.) A political party that believed the colonies should be allowed to govern themselves.
____7.) The nickname for British Soldiers.
____8.) Formally ended the War for Independence.
____9.) Oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of the ruler.
____10.) An agitator who started the “committees for correspondence” and the Sons of Liberty.



Answer Key: 1-e, 2-h, 3-l, 4-g, 5-c, 6-i, 7-f, 8-d, 9-k, 10-j

Are you satisfied?

The Hostess with the Mostess!

Today Tyler and I had 14 people over for dinner in our 1 bedroom basement apartment.

I am pretty proud of myself!! :)




I didn't take pics while everyone was over because I was too embarrassed to let them know how pleased with myself I was! hehe.

My Missionary

As I sat home alone tonight, I had quite a bit of quiet time to reflect on my past.

The week before I turned 19, my now husband, left on a two year mission to teach the people of Vera Cruz, Mexico about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember the first few months (well maybe more like 6 months) he was gone I cried like a baby each night. The advice my older brother Ryan gave me was, "Shannon, it's not like he is dead. Get a hold of yourself." My little brother Russ would tease me by spraying on Polo Blue (Ty's signature cologne) which would always bring back a surge of memories and tears.

As the months wore on I grew stronger. I was able to continue my weekly correspondence with Tyler via letter and enjoy a fairly superficial social life with the zoobies of BYU. During this time I managed to tear apart everything I thought I believed, reach a point of utter confusion, and slowly build a thicker and firmer foundation of beliefs.

While Tyler was gone I tried to fill the void with a variety of things. I was passionate about a new outlandish thing each week. I'll never live down the time I claimed to my family that I wanted to be a granola. According to them, that would mean I couldn't shop at Nordstrom anymore. Whatever it means, it didn't stick.

After two years, Tyler came home and I was freaked out. At this point I was tired of waiting. I wanted to know the moment he got off the plane if we still had that teenage, romantic, dying love for each other. Things were a little rough at first. He was weird, I was scared and it was quite awkward.

Luckily that only lasted a month or so. The first week of August I met him at his family reunion at Current Creek outside of Heber (I know I must sound brave, but his entire family is really kind and I really had nothing to fear). We went on a 4-wheeler ride together and after a two year absence, thoughts and feelings fell right back into place.

I have now been married to my missionary for almost two years. I won't lie. It hasn't been the fairy tale I imagined it would be while he was off serving the Lord. But without the pains of trial how could you truly feel the rewards of success?

While Tyler was on his mission, he often found ways to encourage me and make me smile. One week he sent me some lyrics. These lyrics continue to give me comfort and encouragement.

Tell me what you thought about when you were gone
And so alone
The worst is over
you can have the best of me
We got older
But we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up

I am so grateful that I married my missionary.

Summer Memories from California

Here are a few pictures from this summer.

This pic was taken down at Solana Beach where we spent some days in the sun with the Conley Family.



The lovely couple we spent most of our time with is now engage to be married! Hooray Aubrey and Joe! we can't wait for the big day . . . when you move up to Utah! (jk love you guys)




We also got to meet our niece Audrey for the first time.



Max exhausted us with his energy. He sure is fun!


And what is a trip to California with the Johnson's without a little sailboat action? (Even if it is just to take a family picture at the dock)