lucashannon's Xanga

Say goodbye to Xanga...but not to the blog...

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:29:11 GMT

After months of deliberation I have decided to move this lovely blog to wordpress. Please update your blogroll and follow us over to the new blog...

Our New Blog

Can't wait to see you there...xanga you've been good to us but it's time to say goodbye...

-Shannon

lucashannon.wordpress.com

Introducing...

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:01:39 GMT

...the newest member of our life...

For Christmas we were lucky enough to receive a Canon Rebel XTI Digital SLR from my parents!!! This camera is truly a dream come true and we are so thankful to have such a wonderful present. I keep saying "we" but let's be honest...I've taken over the camera. :) Poor Lucas kind of lost out on a Christmas present because of this but I let him use it whenever he wants. Thanks to this camera I now find beauty in everything...and I do mean everything. So get ready for the pictures.

The first place I enjoyed the camera was at Springfield Brew Co. I had just bought the memory card for it so I could finally take some pictures that lasted. My sister Megan and a good glass of beer...

And some shots around the King household...

I have to say that my favorite thing about the camera at this point is a simple one...I don't have to use the flash!!! It's so liberating to have the proper settings to take the pictures I want to take. I love it!!! Thanks Mom & Dad...

-Shannon

This is only the beginning...

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:13:02 GMT

***I am officially warning you that the next few posts will be FILLED with pictures***

I tried to post a few pictures while we were home but I couldn't possibly keep up with all the action so I'll recap some highlights. While we were still in Kansas City I was able to meet up with a few friends...my friend Jennifer from college...my friend Anna from high school...

...and our lovely friends, The Reimers! They were on they're way through Kansas City heading for Kansas and we were able to catch up with them for a quick lunch at Steak N' Shake...

Big boy Charlie...

Jeff was even kind enough to pick up some great books for Lucas. He did this for Lucas because we secretly brought a bag for Jess that Jeff purchased from Shelley.

As we met with them for lunch the snow began to fall down so we spent the afternoon clearing the driveway and playing in the snow...

A shot of the Christmas tree from the Endicott household...

On Christmas morning we woke up, opened presents and then headed to West Plains to see my family. From there the real picture extravaganza began...but we'll save that for another post. :)

Homeward Bound...

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:25:13 GMT

This will be very short but I just thought I would do a quick update to say we are heading back to Vancouver!!! After 3 1/2 weeks home we will be back in Canada sometime this evening. I'm writing this while sitting in the Kansas City airport waiting to board our non-stop flight to Seattle.

It's been great being home but it will also be great to get back into our "normal" schedules (if you can even call our schedules normal). Lucas will be finishing up his thesis that is due on January 30 and I'll be back to school as well starting next Monday. Until then I'll be posting tons of pictures thanks to our Christmas present from my parents...Canon Rebel XTI Digital SLR!!!! We love it and I can't wait to show it off. :)

Well we're off to Seattle now with a stop in Bellingham for some groceries and a final Target stop...can't have too much Target. :)

-Shannon

More snow/farm pics...

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:51:02 GMT

I was able to upload a few more pictures from our time on the farm and so I thought I would share them with you. :)

Lucas and his cousin Jake showing off their snowballs...

-Shannon

Home for the Holidays...

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:45:23 GMT

We’ve been back in Missouri since last Saturday and we’ve already had some jam packed days. After a somewhat grueling process of getting to Kansas City from Vancouver we arrived on Saturday night to our awaiting family. We didn’t stay in KC for long because on Sunday morning we loaded up the cars and headed to southeast Kansas to the farm. After driving through slush and snow we arrived safely and enjoyed time with family...and some time in the snow...

*I had a few more pictures to show but I couldn't get them to upload so we'll just have to enjoy this one*

After a full day of food, fun and games we said goodbye to everyone and Lucas and I headed off to Joplin to visit Spencer and Abby. We were supposed to go stay with them in Tulsa but since the crazy ice storm came through Spencer and Abby had been up in Joplin with his parents. We spent the evening with them by enjoying El Charro’s Mexican Restaurant, lots of Christmas lights and a drink or two. After a good sleep in on Monday we headed back to Kansas City and they made their way to Tulsa to be greeted by a stinky fridge and a hungry cat.

Tuesday Lucas and I were off to visit his grandparents in Smithville. We talked with them and then enjoyed more Mexican food at a local restaurant. The evening was spent at home watching tv.

Today Larry (Lucas’ Dad) was off work so he took us to The Legends, a big outdoor shopping mall thing, and I got a few more Christmas presents (for myself). :) We enjoyed lunch out at Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que and then an afternoon of Target, reading and napping. Tonight the grandparents and Todd and Angie are coming over for dinner.

Who knows what will happen over the next few days but it has been great to be back in Missouri and to see family...and some friends. I’ll try to keep the devoted readers posted with all this exciting news but sometimes time just slips away when you’re on Holidays. :)

-Shannon

I said yes...

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 03:29:09 GMT

Five years ago on this day, December 13, Lucas asked me to marry him...

I said yes! :)

-Shannon

I love this man...

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:42:42 GMT

Happy Birthday Lubber...

-Shannon

Christmas Dinner...

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:50:50 GMT

During our last big trip to the superstore I got a craving to buy a ham and have a fancy Christmas dinner up here...big table, place settings, lots of food, etc. After debating, trying to understand what ham to get and finally selecting the "perfect" ham we walked out of the store with a full blown 10lbs ham. Yesterday was the day of reckoning. Neither of us had ever cooked a ham but after talking to our mothers and finding out is was idiot proof we decided we would be ok. Thankfully our place came with a roasting pan so we placed our large ham on it, wrapped it in a lovely aluminum foil tent and voila...3 hours later it was done!

While the cooking was taking place I set the table and even made little placecards with each person's initials...

Ben & Deanna Edsall and Jeremy & Katy Kidwell joined us for our lovely dinner and once all the food was gathered we had quite the spread with ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, salad, bread, hot spiced cider, hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, wine and a lovely New Zealand style desert. It was yumbolicious to say the least.

Some pictures of everyone...Lucas, Deanna, Ben, me, Katy & Jeremy...

We had a lovely evening and loved spending it with some friends...especially since the Kidwells don't get to go home for Christmas. Hopefully this dinner was Christmasy enough to hold them through the season...

On another note...before everyone arrived I had a little photo shoot with my favorite elf...

Merry Christmas!

-Shannon

School...

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:50:49 GMT

I'm almost done with my first semester at Regent and things have been going well. I especially loved my classes when I didn't have anything due. :) But even with deadlines I've continued to love Regent and my classes. I had quite a pick up yesterday when I received an assignment back for my Old Testament class. In this class we had to do a Diagrammatic Summary of a book of the Bible. Our professor only allows us to choose from Exodus, 1-2 Kings or Job...I chose Exodus. You might ask, "what is a diagrammatic summary?" so let me explain. It's essentially a way of describing and showing an entire book but the key to this assignment is that it had to be done on one 8 1/2x11 piece of paper. The evaluation of this assignment said, "Assessment is based mainly on the ability of the student to articulate, on the basis of their reading, the structure and themes of the book, showing how the parts contribute to the whole, although some marks are also awarded for presentation and style". So I did my best, was a little unsure but...I got an A-!!! I was ecstatic!!! I thought my presentation would be good since I took it to a whole new level of scrapbook goodness but I was a little nervous about the overall project. Thankfully I had the content there as well. :) I thought I would share it with you so I took some pics of the creation. I used my one 8 1/2x11 piece of paper by cutting it in strips and doing a "Journey to the Tabernacle"...

When you look at it, you actually start at the bottom and then journey up to the tabernacle. The movement upward also alludes to the holiness experienced throughout Exodus. I'll put the pictures in visual order but you might want to scroll down and start at the bottom to get the full feel of the summary...

And some closeup shots of the explanation along with my themes and sub-themes...

Hopefully the rest of the semester will turn out as well as this did. :)

-Shannon