Falling in love is quite simply art

  Well hey y'all :) It's Shannon again and it's FRIDAY!!! Who else is relieved that it is Friday? I am. Pick me! First off let's start with baby news I had a blood draw appointment this morning. The army likes to officially confirm or deny these types of things and so.... I can now tell we are "officially" pregnant and they are assuming around 4-5 weeks which is crazy because I am already showing even though my little sea monkey is just barely the size of an apple seed!?! (I'm convinced it's those late night cravings for Chinese food and ice cream!) Oh well. Anything for baby even if it means packin' on a few extra pounds ;) haha. Well I hope you are all having a delightful Friday and that you are spending time with the ones you love so much!! I am actually going to share my love story today. The girls, my partners in crime, have already shared their girl meets boy stories so I thought I would take my cue from them and share how I met my sweet fella who was not exactly the "sweetest" when first we met. Ours isn't a love at first sight kind of tale but it is ours and it means the entire world to me and with that the story of how Shannon met Shane....   ;)

  It all started my very first day of  high school... (Yes, my husband and I are high school sweethearts) I was a doe-eyed, naive, shy, little freshman and Shane was a sweet talkin' flirty sophomore. We met on that very first day of school, in art class, Painting 101 to be exact. I was tardy which was of course devastating to my otherwise perfect record so I was already a bit flustered when I walked in. The teacher Mr. Cox proceeded to chide my being late on the first day being more or less friendly about it (mostly less) so I tried to hurry to my seat nervously. Cox had a no seating chart policy so I was just looking around for the most isolated empty seat when Shane, my now husband, said you can sit by me if you want and pushed the chair toward me a little. I was so grateful for this simple act of kindness I didn't question it at all I just sat down thanked him and tried to pay attention to the rest of what Mr. Cox had to say... quite unsuccessfully i might add ;) I was giving my best attempt at sketching a bunch of violets from a magazine cut out when Shane leaned over and asked, "is that a cow?" I don't know why but I was extremely upset and I told him, "no! for your information it is not a cow it is this" I then proceeded to shove the picture toward him. He continued to tease me about my artwork, my sneeze, everything about me was made fun of. I was never so glad to hear the bell telling us to change classes. I was angry at this "dumb boy" for being so rude and unkind to me. I went about the rest of my school day trying to focus and avoid him but being courteous when I did see him and ignoring him when I could. 

  My first day ended rather uneventfully and when my mama picked me up I was still pretty upset at "the dumb boy" and cried and told her all about it... She told me and I quote "someday shannon you will marry that dumb boy". WOW! when they say mama knows best they sure mean it... haha. We dated through high school and shared mini golf games, movie dates, and many a Sonic strawberry slushy with EXTRA strawberries of course and the rest they say is history, or art in our case ;)  

wow! just a couple of kids at prom ;)

    We continued to date throughout high school and became really good friends and even when we weren't in love with each other we always had a love for each other. I have always loved Shane and I always will. All through college we were in constant contact and when he decided to join the army we wrote letters back and forth all through his days at basic training. When he got deployed to Iraq the first time he would call me at all hours of the night (I didn't much care I figured I could sleep when I am dead) haha but my poor roomies would hear our late night conversations about nothing in particular and laughin until 2 am ... and on more than one occasion had to let me back in the room :) sorry roomie pals! love you girls! But anyway we continued to love each other through distance and difficult circumstances. We got engaged the summer of my freshman year in college it was so sweet. He proposed over the phone and even over all that distance and with miles and miles and an ocean between us it was as if he was right there with me on bended knee! I of course said yes and walked into the living room of my parents to inform them that I was now engaged. haha. We definitely have a very unique love story and I wouldn't change anything for the world. 

Exchanging Our Vows

   We got married on October 14th 2007 and it was truly the happiest day in my life! I wore a polka dot dress and a flower wreath in my hair and it was absolutely perfect!! He deployed shortly after and we met up in Alaska for mid tour leave and shortly after that we found out we were expecting our first! About 7 months later he came back stateside and we were happily reunited though I was now hugely pregnant ;)  and we moved into a town house and shortly after welcomed our first son into our lives! We ended up purchasing and moving into our first home in a quiet neighborhood off post and wouldn't you know it right around the time we were celebrating our first son being 6 months old we found out we were expecting baby #2!! We welcomed our second son into the world about 4 months after our oldest son's 1st birthday and approximately five months later my husband deployed to Afghanistan when he got back we moved to Texas and here we sit making preparations for our third baby to join our lives! :) 

   We have been through so many things already in our life and marriage together and I cannot wait to see what the future is going to bring! I am so blessed to have Shane in my life, let alone as my husband! I love him so much! I have never loved anyone in my life as much as I love him! ...and soon our family will be growing with the birth of our newest addition. We have made a family together and a life that I am so beyond blessed to be living! I am so happy to share my life with this amazing man of mine!! My heart is so full of love and respect for Shane as a man, as the father of my children, as my husband, and as my best friend that it's hard to express myself to make anybody else understand just how much I need him in my life! I am so blessed to have him! I absolutely love him to the ends of the earth and until death do us part!!!! Shane is my one and only and always will be!! I am so grateful for him and this love that we share everyday!!! So to my sweet, amazing husband I love you Shane! You are my forever and always and you are always going to be my forever! :) I'm so thankful for you and so blessed and proud to be your wife! You're the best!! I love you with my whole heart Honey! 

Just the two of us havin' fun in Alaska

  Well everyone I know I get a little mushy over the fella who stole my heart and I hope y'all feel that way about your loved ones! It's Friday night and I hope each of you have a fantastic evening and a wonderful weekend. :) I wish you the best of today and tomorrow. I'm off to cuddle with the man of my dreams and have an at home movie date... 

  walking down memory lane and strolling hand in hand into my future with the love of my life.... so with sunny smiles, big, big hugs and as always polka dot love from my house to yours... Shannon :)