Gravity

Lately my life has seemed to be quite complicated. I have become one of those girls I used to mock. The ones who can never make up their mind, who don't really know what they want - one thing one minute and another the next. You know the type. Dumb.

But for some reason I find myself falling into the trap. Yuck. I don't like it. But I can't help it! I don't know what my deal is. I decide I'm done with something and am all ready and gung-ho to walk away. And then it happens. I fall victim to the classic blunder that plagues the world of decisive people - I change my mind.

It reminds me of a song... Gravity by Sara Bareilles:

Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone...
Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.
You loved me 'cause I'm fragile. When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while and all my fragile strength is gone...
You're neither friend nor foe though I can't seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down
Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long.

I keep coming back to something I'm not sure I ultimately want. Sure, now I do. But in the end? I don't know. That's the problem. I can't make up my mind. I want to be set free and left alone, but then something always brings me back. And it really never takes too long.
Ridiculous.

Midget Hot Chocolate

So there's this place downtown - its a family chocolatier. It is absolutely fantastic! Probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had! Its incredible.
And what makes it even better is it is owned by midgets.

Now don't think I'm judging - I'm not. I think it is the coolest thing ever! Some might argue that is because I'm so close to their size that I feel like I belong... But that's not the case. I just think its awesome. The service is great. The chocolate is amazing. And the counters are low to the ground.

I love it. I'm going there tonight.

San Diego

So my friends and I all thought San Diego sounded nice in the middle of December, so we packed up our bags and went for 5 days. We stayed at Branson's parents house in Chula Vista. It was a lot of fun. A lot of close calls and a couple times where we could have died on the road, but we made it there and back soundly. Perhaps not safely. Ha ha (Thanks a lot, Branson...)

Sidestory: On the way into San Diego, Branson was driving my car. (Yes, my baby that was just fixed and made new again. So you can imagine how weary I was that anything should happen to it.) He thought that it would be funny and entertaining to shoot the gap between a truck and a semi... Now let me explain something - I HATE it when people shoot the gap. Its one thing to do it by yourself, but with someone else's car with other people in it... Nuh uh. Not ok. So he decided to shoot the gap one time and literally came within inches! Had my window been down, my hand would have gotten chopped off if I even thought about sticking it out. Seriously. 3 or 4 inches MAX! I wigged. I was livid. I couldn't believe he did that. I freaked a little. Ok a lot. And I yelled at him and I hit him. Yeah, I was pretty upset.
But it was a good trip. We went to the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Game (I know, could you have a longer name for it??) between the University of Utah and Navy. It was an excellent game. One of the best I've been to in a while. Utah pulled off a win of 35 - 32. And it was the most sportsmanship-filled game I've ever seen. I was proud to represent Utah.

It was a little cold, but still a good time. But California was beautiful! The sunsets were incredible! I wish I could have the mountains and the ocean at the same time... I'll have to work on that...

It was a lot of fun! A much needed vacation. The only problem now is that I want to go again... Dang job that I love that keeps me confined to Salt Lake City 5 out of every 7 days... Blast. Anyway, it was a good trip. There were a few frustrating moments, but we all got through them. The sad part is, I'm already ready to go back! Being a beach bum sounds awfully fun. But that's not ecomonical. Ha ha And probably not so smart. Oh well. I'll just sit here at my cold desk, watch the snow fall outside the window, dreading driving in it, and dream of beautiful CA... Dang snow-filled winter. MmMmm the beach!

Merry Christmas

First things first. Merry Christmas! What a great day yesterday was. Our family had one of the best Christmases any of us could remember. It was fantastic.

It was a little bittersweet at times. It is the last Christmas we will all have together for a while. Austin will be on a mission for sure next Christmas, with the possibility of me being gone as well. And from then on out for 10 years, someone will always be missing. It was kind of sad to think about it like that. But it couldn't have been a better last Christmas just the 10 of us. It was perfect.

So here's wishing everyone's Christmas was as great as mine!

Reunited

AH! What a beautiful day Friday was! I was finally reunited with my car! After 3 and a half painful, inconvenient weeks, my car was finally finished.

It was a pretty emotional moment for me. Ha ha I would be lying if I said that I didn't get teary-eyed when I first saw my car. My dad and I drove up the street and it was sitting out front, beautiful and clean, pre-sneeze condition, if you will. It was beautiful! And the tears welled in my grateful eyes.

I'm not sure if the tears were mostly excitement to have it back, remembering the wreck and recognizing how grateful I truly was to not be injured, or a combination of both. It was great, though! I got in the drivers seat and felt at home. OH HOW I MISSED MY CAR! But now we've been reunited and life is much cheerier. Not just for me, either. Tay's been a good sport letting me use his car. Sweet. He's a good kid. He about did cartwheels when he realized he was getting his car back. How precious.

Moral of the story: I will never sneeze while driving again.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel. The Piano Man. What an excellent show!
It was totally rad! He was amazing. And when he started to sing, " I am the entertainer", I had to hold back my tears. Beautiful. Ha ha Ok, so I didn't really come close to crying, but it was pretty awesome.

We didn't start the fire! Really, what more is there to say?

Sing Us A Song, Piano Man

SING US A SONG, YOU'RE THE PIANO MAN! SING US A SONG TONIGHT! CAUSE WE'RE ALL IN THE MOOD FOR A MELODY, AND YOU'VE GOT US FEELING ALRIGHT.

I went to the Billy Joel Concert last night. INCREDIBLE! It was so good. Its something on my list of things I want to accomplish before I die. And it was amazing. Billy Joel - that man is brilliant! I can only wish I could be as good as he is. It was truly the best concert I have ever been to.

I'm working on posting pictures and a few videos from the show... Hopefully I'll get that up soon.

Rivalry Day

So I'm sitting here, at a foreign computer, waiting for people to wake up. How lame. Its 10 am on a Saturday. The best time to be awake. The sun is out! Its beautifully cold outside and there are so many things to do! Why would you want to be asleep right now?

And today of all days! Its RIVALRY DAY! That's right! The BYU vs Utah football game. It only comes around once a year, and it is a day I always look forward to!

Last year's game was incredible! John Beck, Johnny Harline - What a team! It was close the whole game and as the final seconds ran out on the clock, John Beck saw an opportunity, took a shot and Johnny Harline made an incredible catch on his knees.

And the words of Greg Wrubell will forever ring in my ears - "Snap to John. John backpedals, Plenty of time. Plenty of time. Plenty of time. He's moving to his left, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, All kinds of time... And it is... CAUGHT FOR THE TOUCHDOWN! CAUGHT FOR THE TOUCHDOWN!" I love it! Seriously, it was the greatest game I've seen in a long time.

And here it is again. One year later. I'm so excited! Go Cougars!

Grandad

This is my Grandad. Isn't he cute?! That's what we told him yesterday to get him to smile.

See, Grandad doesn't ever really smile in pictures. Not like this atleast. And Mom and I were trying to make him smile after Thanksgiving Dinner and we were telling him how cute he was and he started laughing - And I caught it just at the right time! Thank heavens for digital photography! I snapped 3 in a row and someone ended up with 2 good pictures and 1 excellent picture of him.

Giving Thanks

Well its officially been a week since my $9,000 sneeze happened (I've decided that referring to it as a ridiculously expensive sneeze doesn't make me as sad as calling it an accident...). Its strange how time flies by. And how slow it goes at the same time. It will still be a couple weeks before I get my car back. But hopefully it will all go well and according to plan, which places my car back in my posession the early part of December. But I'm not planning on it. That way I won't be as disappointed when I get it back the week before Christmas.

Merry Christmas to me.

Anyway, things have started to mend. My neck is almost good again- Still a little sore, but bearable. I can atleast fall asleep now, whereas before I had a hard time getting comfortable enough to fall asleep.

And Thanksgiving is tomorrow! I LOVE Thanksgiving! It is officially my favorite holiday! Even more than Christmas. I love Christmas, don't get me wrong. But it is so commercialized and the focus isn't right. That's part of why Thanksgiving is so great. Its almost skipped over. Everyone goes straight into Christmas mode from Halloween, and sort of disregard Thanksgiving - after all, its just a big dinner, right?

WRONG. It is the best day of the year. Its a time for family, fun, food and football. What more could you ask for? You reflect on all of the things you are thankful for and all of the blessings you have been given. You eat delicious food with people you love and who love you back. Its just so great. What a fantastic holiday!

So here's wishing everyone a fantastic Thanksgiving Day! Enjoy the parade! Savor the food! Eat more pie than you should! And most of all, remember to give thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Damages

Toyota Corolla: $16,000
Damages from accident: $9,000
Only having a sore neck as opposed to a hospital stay: Priceless.

*Good thing my mom prayed for my safety that morning!*

Wreck

Wrecked. My poor car! This isn't a very good picture, but it gives you and idea of the damage.

I was driving home from work and I was slowing down, when I sneezed - three times in a row. That's right. Sneeze. As in, ah-choo. Ridiculous, isn't it. I sneezed and closed my eyes and my foot released the brake and I slammed into the back of another car.

I wasn't going very fast. I was already slowing down to stop at a light. I couldn't have been going more than 10 or 15 mph. The whole situation is uncanny and surreal almost. I wasn't going fast enough for my airbags to even deploy. But it may have totalled my car. It pushed the radiator back into everything on the passenger side of the car and compressed the front frame of the car into the doors so that I couldn't open them. I had to crawl out the window.

But no injuries were sustained. My neck is a little sore this morning, but other than that all parties involved are ok. Including the other car.

Just not mine...

Veteran's Day

My Siblings... They're so funny. "Lets try and put each other in one big headlock!" "OK!" Ha ha I love it. They seriously are some of the funniest people I know.

For example, I was sitting in church on Sunday, and in the meeting, they recognized all of the veterans in the congregation, asking them to stand, what with it being Veterans Day and all. And my youngest brother Braden (the little weasely one with glasses) leaned over to me and said, "Shan, should I stand up?" Completely straight faced. I kind of laughed and told him no, that he wasn't a veteran. And he looked up at me and said, "Yeah I am! I've lived through a war!" And we both started laughing - Right in the middle of church! How irreverently hilarious that was! I couldn't stop laughing for a good five minutes. It was fantastic!

Foo Fighters and Candy Canes

I hate it when people are in poor, surly moods and it rubs off on others. That drives me CRAZY! I can't stand it! (Picture Lina LaMont in 'Singing In The Rain'... When she is going over how to say her lines with the speech lady... And she says, "I con't stond him" - that's my way of writing the accent... ha ha ha! And then Lina repeats with, "I kean't steand 'im"... Like that. In a real high pitched voice... I KEEAN'T STEEAND IT!!!)

Anyway, when you're hanging out with your friends you generally want to have a good time, right? Right. However... when someone storms in the house and you know and they know they don't really want to be there, but they show up because they don't have anywhere else to go... That really bothers me. And it would be one thing if they kept their woes and grumbles to themselves... But they never do. They want everyone to feel awful for them. Misery LOVES company... And the more people to sympathize with them and coddle the miserable one, the better they feel about being ridiculous. Which I think is exactly that... Ridiculous!

I know everyone has bad days and everyone has troubles and whatnot, but seriously - Life can't be THAT bad. Look for the good. Quit dwelling on all of the horrible. It won't go away if you are constantly thinking about it. Focus on something positive. Think about Thanksgiving - Who isn't happy on Thanksgiving?! Its the best day of the year! A blessed feast! Football games galore! Naps! Family! Friends! It is absolutely wonderful. And I love it!

Seriously, though. I hate being around grumpy people. It makes me grumpy. And there's only one thing (ok maybe a couple more... ) that I hate more than self-pitying grumps... That is when they rub off on me. I will have to start avoiding them like vampires. I'll have to find something similar to garlic and sunlight to ward them off... Hm. I'll have to work on that. Let's see... Garlic, garlic, garlic... Garlic salt, sea salt, sea water, sea lion, Lion King, King Arthur, Arthur and DW, Dark Wing Duck, Donald Duck, McDonalds, Egg McMuffin, Egg Foo Yung, Foo Fighters! That's it! I'll constantly listen to Foo Fighters... and... Wait for it... Sunlight, moon light, blue moon, bleu cheese, cheesecake, cupcakes, frosting, sugar, sugar cane, candy cane... Candy canes!!! I'll listen to Foo Fighters and eat candy canes and ward off grumpy people... Fantastic.

I'm going to go buy candy canes...

Pie Face

So I just introduced my sister to blog. She's 4. Ha ha I told her how to access the page. And she did it. On her first try. This girl is tech savvy... When she was 3 she knew how to turn on the computer, open the internet and go to HomestarRunner. com ... Ha ha! I think its awesome. She's a genius. She'll be the smartest of us kids for sure. (But only because we teach her everything we know... So maybe we'll just be even.)

Mom & Daddy

These are my fantastic parents....
My Mom - How cute is she? In her army get-up for Halloween... Ha ha! I love it. She's my bestest friend of all time.

And my Daddy - He's the best guy I know! He just looks so jolly in his hawaiian get-up, don't you think?! Ha ha ha! He's great! He is the hardest worker ever. There should be more men like him in the world....

Stuff and Nonsense

So you know when you hear a song you haven't heard in a while and you realize you remember all the words and as you sing them outloud, you realize that this song is completely applicable to your current situation? ... Yeah, thats my story today. "Stuff and Nonsense" by Missy Higgins (originally written by Neil and Tim Finn)... What a great song. It goes like this:

*Disobey my own decisions. I deserve all your suspicions. First it's yes and then it's no - I dilly dally down to duo.But I've got no secrets that I babble in my sleep. I won't make promises to you that I can't keep... And you know that I love you, Here and now not forever. I can give you the present. I don't know about the future, That's all stuff and nonsense.
I once lived for the future - Every day was one day closer. Greener on the other side, Yes, I believed before I met you. But I soon learned your love burned brighter than the stars in my eyes. Now I know how and when, I know where and why... And you know that I love you, Here and now not forever. I can give you the present. I don't know about the future, That's all stuff and nonsense.
And you know that I love you, Here and now not forever. I can give you the present. I don't know about the future, That's all stuff and nonsense.And you know that I love you, Here and now not forever. I can give you the present. I don't know about the future, That's all stuff and nonsense.*

Beautiful song! Awesome lyrics and this amazing guitar slash piano accompaniment. I love it. It sorta hits how I feel lately. I'm sick of living for the future! Live life now and enjoy it! The future is inevitable... So why not live the present? Right? Right. Because everything else is 'all stuff and nonsense'...

The Kids

These are my boys. My bros... They are the most hilarious people I know! I mean, just look at them! Taylor's squirrel face, and Brade has a hook? Ha ha I can't help but laugh. They truly are the best brothers in the world. They're so much fun and I absolutely love them! We have so much fun together! And we have so many inside jokes, that I feel bad when other people are around and try to follow our conversations. Word to the wise - Don't try! Just listen and laugh... It won't make sense to you, so don't bother! Ha ha

But they are fantastic! I can't say that enough! The Ashcraft Boys... Man. Love them!

And this is Brindy... Or Princess, as she likes to be called. Ha ha! She's the 2nd youngest. She's beautiful and is incredibly talented! She has this amazing voice (That she gets from my mom...) Seriously... She'll knock your socks off! She makes me laugh so often! She likes to do things she sees me do... Like making cards and playing the piano - Which makes me feel real good about myself... My little sister wants to be like me! And even one time when she was like 5, she tried to cut her hair to match mine... It was horrible... but don't worry, I swooped in with my nifty scissors and saved the day! Ha ha She's darling.


This is my baby sister Pie Face. (Yes, we actually call her Pie Face.) Isn't she cute? She's the youngest of our crew, but you wouldn't know it by how much control she has over everyone! She is quite the little sass... But I love her! One day, I was sitting in the front room, and Taylor came running in and said, "Pie Face is the funniest girl ever!" And I was like, "What?! Tell me the story?" I guess Brin and Pie Face were arguing about something and Pie started being mean to Brindy. Tay tried to intervene and told Pie Face she was being mean... And her response was priceless. "Yeah, but its funny..." Ha ha ha! Picture a 4 year old sassy emphasis on the end of funny... Oh man! Hilarious!

Halloween

So my good friend, Sarah had a Birthday slash Halloween party and asked me to make the cake for her. I was very pleased with how it turned out! I think it is a rad cake!

I have never really had the opportunity to just let the creative juices flow with a cake. With other cakes that I've made (mostly wedding cakes...) people have told me exactly what they wanted. But Sarah just told me to make it look "Halloween-ish" but still cute! So I did... And the table set-up only made it better! I loved the candles and the black tablecloth - Even the candycorn scattered all over! It just looked so great!

I generally hate Halloween and everything about it. I just think its a horrible day and its awful. Perhaps thats due to a tramatic childhood event. But seriously, what 5 year old kid, choking on a jawbreaker and alomst getting hit by a car WOULD like Halloween??

However, I am still in love with this cake! I need an excuse to make it again!

The FAM

In order left to right: Daddy, Mom, Me, Pie Face, Tay, ATeam, Braden, Tanner, Brindy, and Bryson.

Although our real order is Shanna, Austin, Taylor, Bryson, Tanner, Braden, Brindy, and Pie Face.

This is my family... My 9 best friends. I'm the oldest of 8 kids and we all love each other... Imagine that?! My oldest younger brother, ATeam (know to everyone else as Austin...) moved down to Price, Utah to attend CEU for a year. It was a sad day. He's my best pal. Love him. Anyway, we were all trying to lighten the mood so Mom and I wouldn't cry... This was our attempt!

Bloggin'

I decided to try and be cool like the rest of the world and start a blog... Ok. That's not entirely true. I was actually just thinking to myself, "What can I do today to occupy my time.... I know! I'll start a blog!" Ha ha and then I laughed to myself and went for it.