Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The things we do...



So yesterday started off like any normal day. Gym, lunch, piano lessons- maybe I should have skipped out on the piano. ... well I get to my lessons at my friend Sarahs house (who is now a RN) and she is sitting at the table with a look in her eyes, a grin and needles!!! "Shannon" she says.. "can I try an IV on you?". This is where a normal person looks at that sweet face and says absolutely not. But no- not me. I hate needles.. I hate pain. So answer me this- why oh why did I say yes???? Am I that desperate for love and affection that i will resort to the use of needles? Apparently so.




So she's searching my arms for a vein. Finally finds one on my left arm. She has this rubber band tied around my arm, I grab onto her daughter Krisi's hand and here we go... yeah OUCH! But Sarahs excited- she found a vein. And then I hear "I've never had this before".... never a good sign with a big ol needle sticking out of your hand! She pulls out and tells me don't look down. I did... yeah not a pretty sight! I'm BLEEDING A LOT!!! She's freakin out a bit until she realizes she left the rubber band thing around my arm! Her brother is standing there laughing, taking pictures and poor Krisi has fingernail marks on her hand.




Anyways short story written long, apparently there's not much I wouldn't do for my friends:)




Monday, March 30, 2009

For my Az friends!


You know you're from Az if....


You notice your car overheating before you drive it.

You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.

You can hear the weather forecast of 115 degrees without flinching.

You can be in the snow, then drive for an hour...and it will be over 100 degrees.

You discover, in July it only takes two fingers to drive your car, because your steering wheel is so hot.

You run your air conditioner in the middle of winter so you can use your fireplace.

The best parking is determined by shade.....not distance.

You realize that "Valley Fever" isn't a disco dance.

You can make sun tea instantly.

Hotter water comes from the cold water tap than the hot one.

It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation and yet all the streets are totally empty of both cars and people.

You actually burn your hand opening the car door.

Sunscreen is sold year round and kept right at the checkout counter.

You put on fresh sunscreen just to go check the mail box.

Some fools will market mini-misters for joggers and some other fools will actually buy them. Worse.....some fools actually try to jog.

You can pronounce Saguaro, Tempe, San Xavier, Canyon de Chelly, Mogollon Rim, Cholla, Gila and Tucson.

You can understand the reason for a town named "Why"

You can fry an egg on the hood of a car in the morning.

You know hot air balloons can't rise because the air temperature is hotter than the air inside the balloon.

You see two trees fighting over a dog.

You can say "Hohokam" and people don't think you're laughing funny.

You see more irrigation water on the street than there is in the Salt River

You have to go to a fake beach for some fake waves

You hear people say "but it's a dry heat!"

You buy salsa by the gallon.

Your Christmas decorations include sand and l00 paper bags.

You think a red light is merely a suggestion.

All of your out-of-state friends start to visit after October but clear out come the end of April.

You think someone driving wearing oven mitts is clever.

Most of the restaurants in town have the first name "El" or "Los."

You think 60 tons of crushed red rock makes a beautiful yard.

Your house is made of stucco and has a red clay tile roof.

Vehicles with open windows have the right-of-way in the summer.

Most homes have more firearms than people.

Kids ask, "What's a mosquito?"

People who have black cars or black upholstery in their car are automatically assumed to be from out of-state or nuts.

You know better than to get into a car with leather seats if you're wearing shorts.

You can finish a Big Gulp in 10 minutes and go back for seconds.

You take rain dances seriously.

When a rainy day puts you in a good mood.

When you drive two miles around a parking lot looking for a shady place - even in the dead of winter.

You feed your chickens ice cubes to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.

You "hug" a cactus only once in your lifetime.


When you have to look up "mass transit" in the dictionary.

A hundred ten in the shade is sorta hot, but you don't have to shovel it off your driveway.

A haboob happens.

Petrified doesn't mean scared.

The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.

You've lived in AZ your whole life and have never been to the Grand Canyon

You would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your face.

You can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

you realize that snowbirds aren't really birds at all, but just really bad out of state drivers that you learn to hate

there are only two temperatures, hot and hotter

even thinking about not having air conditioning makes you sweat

you travel out of state and any sort of humidity nearly kills you

*you have no idea why 48 other states (Hawaii doesn't do it either) insist on changing their clocks twice a year for this thing called "daylight savings time"

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

For all us mani/pedi lovers!! (be sure to turn off my annoying music at the bottom)

Gotta love the south...



Got this from Jons grandma





You've gotta love the South....

Tennessee

The owner of a golf course was confused about paying an invoice, so he decided to ask his secretary for some mathematical help. He called her into his office and said, 'You graduated from the University of Tennessee and I need some help. If I were to give you $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?'
The secretary thought a moment, and then replied, 'Everything but my earrings.'

Alabama

A group of Alabama friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck. 'Where's Henry?' the others asked.

'Henry had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail,' the successful hunter replied.

'You left Henry laying out there and carried the deer back?' they inquired..

'A tough call,' nodded the hunter. 'But I figured no one is going to steal Henry!'

Texas
The Sheriff pulled up next to the guy unloading garbage out of his pickup into the ditch. The Sheriff asked, 'Why are you dumping garbage in the ditch? Don't you see that sign right over your head'. 'Yep', he replied. 'That's why I dumpin it here, cause it says 'Fine For Dumping Garbage'.

Louisiana

A senior at LSU was overheard saying... 'When the end of the world comes, I hope to be in Louisiana .' When asked why, he replied he'd rather be in Louisiana because everything happens in Louisiana 20 years later than in the rest of the civilized world.

Mississippi

The young man from Mississippi came running into the store and said to his buddy, 'Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!'

Bubba replied, 'Did you see who it was?'

The young man answered, 'I couldn't tell, but I got his license number.'

Georgia

A Georgia State trooper pulled over a pickup on I- 75. The trooper asked, 'Got any I. D. ?'

The driver replied, 'Bout whut?'

North Carolina

A man in North Carolina had a flat tire, pulled off on the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet of flowers in front of the car and one behind it.

Then he got back in the car to wait. A passerby studied the scene as he drove by and was so curious he turned around and went back. He asked the fellow what the problem was..

The man replied, 'I have a flat tire..'

The passerby asked, 'But what's with the flowers?'

The man responded, 'When you break down they tell you to put flares in the front and flares in the back. Hey, it don't make no sense to me neither.'

And this from South Carolina

'You can say what you want about the South, but I ain't never heard of anyone wanting to retire to the North !! !

Monday, March 23, 2009

Sweet Home..... Arizona



Okay here we go. Lots of pics on here..... this is the last of the pics from my trip.




Jim has this gorgeous corvette... how can I not want to lay on it?!?!? This is as close as I get though...


Does my grandma not rock? So I got these sunglasses and the saleslady said they looked good. Well the first reaction that I got from EVERYONE was laughter.. then "are you serious"? So they became the joke and I couldn't help to get a picture of my grandma with them on and my brothers Hooters hat. The hand gestures were her idea (I taught them to her earlier).






Huh.. and you wonder where I get it from? Here is my grandma with my mom.


Another reason for the reunion was Peggy and Dwight coming down from Florida to bless their baby Jonah.




Us kids, Dwight, Jonah and mom after the baby blessing.



The whole family that was there for the blessing




My little neice Madison (Ambers little girl).





Are my brothers cute or what??? Chad and Cody are the babies of the family although they tower over us all!!




Jim and Lindsey at her baptism




4 out of my 6 brothers (and the infamous sunglasses)





TRYING to look cool!





Chad is now a cop in Phoenix. He had to bring his "junk" to show off.




Here is my oldest sister Misti, her husband Stephen and my baby brother Cody jumping in behind. We were at the Thatcher park to have a bbq for my moms 60th birthday.





Here is my Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam... it's been many a yr since I have seen them and it was a great visit! Pam shares my extreme love and obsession with handbags. How can I not love her??





Jim cooking up some yummy cheese jalapeno filled hotdogs!!!





My brother Ryan and his wife Jessica. They were wonderful to let me crash at their pad while I was in Safford.





Misti made this gorgeous quilt for my mom for her birthday. It has pictures of all 11 kids and families as well as extras of the grandkids and little messages we all gave. I helped quilt it a bit.. but well.. you'll see how well I did below!




Just another shot of my oldest brother Jim-bo





and his beautiful wife D'anne



Okay so I tried to help tie on moms quilt. However I guess I thought I was supposed to tie the quilt to the table. Little did I know! I doubt I will be asked to help out again. DARN IT




We're having a good time doing it anyways although they pretty much laughed at me the whole time.




Working fervently on the quilt




Another adorable picture of Madison.





Okay so remember the Reese's egg post? OH YEAH!!!!



So Misti made me try the McRib at McDonalds that she has talked to highly of lately.



Well..... it was good!

Here is my little nephew James- Mistis boy. He's almost 4.

And this one is Jareds- Mistis oldest. He's 6.

Can I PLEASE get a serious picture... PLEASE?!?!?!

Here's my family for ya. We're not so great at being serious so you know where I get it from....

let's see... back: Ryan, mom, Cody, Jim, Chad
front: Amber, me, Misti, Peggy and Karissa
9 out of 11 kids were able to get together

This was probably the closest we got to all looking relatively okay

yeah.. nice Shans


Jim in his typical fashion



hmmm... not so much in this one. I think that's my hand shoving Mistis face


Why are we holding Chads leg?


I guess I just love my sister. Poor little Lindsey looks so enthused!


Again.. why the leg holding Chad?????


I guess it was a funny thing to do.


I love you too Cody!


of course Jim HAD to jump in!



I have no words



Me and my sisters.. Amber, Misti, Peggy and Karissa


Say whahhhhh?

We Are FAMILY.....

Maybe I'm a little toooo camera happy. Here's some pics from Az of me and my various family members:

Misti, me and Peggys baby Jonah
My and Cody.. he's the baby (and really not as dumb as he looks... for the most part;) )

me and my mama


James is my oldest nephew and has suddenly GROWN on me! I remember the day he was born!



Me and Amber- we seriously don't look anything alike


Holy closeup!

Grandma rocks..


Chad and I-- we've worked hard to get a pic without too much extra chin


Me and my neice Alexis


My aunt Pam-- she didn't know I jumped in this pic with her but it worked perfectly!


Lindsay and I on her baptism day!



me and my baby brothers Chad and Cody


Grandma LaRue and I again!



Another Cody and me