blog change

it official - the blog address is changing. i decided we should have a blog for us both, not just me. (not that brans will ever post anything... maybe he will... we will see.)

so as of now, it will no longer be www.shannaa.blogspot.com. (it will still be accessible, but probably not updated.)

i will now be using:

www.bransonandshanna.blogspot.com

so let it be known and spread the word! and check it out for upcoming pictures and updates of life since june 12th!

R2D2

while bored at work, i stumbled upon one of the most amazing things ever:

an R2D2 cake. yes, c a k e.

here's the proof.

i am so going to make this cake someday! i can't wait!

davison photography

my good friend lauren came to my wedding and took lots of pictures for us! here is a link to go check a few of them out!

davison photography

it came!

it came! and it was perfect!

what a great day!

we haven't gotten many pictures back yet, but i thought this one was quite cool. that's us! in front of the temple! hooray!

more pictures to come!

less than 48 hours

less than 48 hours
i think i'm almost ready!

wow... its almost here!

longer weekends

6 days and counting! its coming quick!

and can i just say how excited i am that its the weekend? granted, i wish weekends are longer! and mine is packed! i have too many things to do... hopefully i can get them all done.

weekends should be at least a day longer. wouldn't you agree?

but on that note, i am grateful for the two days off. when i worked at the bakery, i worked saturday mornings at 5am. brutal. just brutal. so i should count my blessings that i have saturdays off. and i am super grateful for that. if not, i definitely would be ready for this wedding on time.

but i think i'm pretty close. i should be at least. only 6 days left! but out of those 6 days, really only a couple are left to do things. i decided early on that the day before my wedding would be peaceful and relaxing. so everything will be done by then. but with a funeral on monday, its kindof upped my time frame. monday will be a day with family, so i'm down to 3ish days. saturday, sunday, tuesday. i can finish by then. yes sirree.

just pray that the cleaners get my dress done on time and that the photo printers print in the time frame they claimed they would. then i will be just fine.

nervous-less

in officially less than one week, brans and i will be married! i cannot fully express my excitement!

i know i've said this a million times, but i honestly can't believe how quickly it came! with all that's been going on, its almost as if i have forgotten the time. days seem like mere hours to me and weeks are more like single days! the time has just zoomed past me, leaving me to wonder how it went so fast.

but its almost here. i'm so relieved and excited and thrilled beyond belief, but not nervous or dreading it in anyway. the most frequently asked question lately has been, "so, are you nervous?" and honestly - not at all. i couldn't be less nervous! its the culmination of everything i've dreamed of and worked for my whole life. my dream is coming true!

and i just love branson. more than i ever thought possible. he is my best friend and i'm so grateful for him and for his support and for all that he does for me. i'm excited to have him forever. i think we will be slash are an excellent team. we have a lot of fun together and we've learned how to work together. i love spending time with him, even if its doing the dishes together, cooking, tearing down wallpaper, playing games or even just watching the news together. he is the best!

so 6 days and 20 some-odd hours... it can't come fast enough and has come far too swiftly at the same time! sigh... ready or not... here we come.

one week! yay!

peacefully heartbroken

Loren William Ashcraft

1919-2008

grandad passed away yesterday at about 11:30am.
he was released from his suffering
and was reunited with grandma.
what a joyful reunion that must have been!

when my mom's dad passed away, she described her feelings by saying she was "peacefully heartbroken." i think that sums it up fairly well. we are all peacefully heartbroken - sad that our time on earth with grandad is over, but thrilled with the knowledge that we will see him again, and we are all at peace.

i arrived at grandad's house shortly after his passing, and for about a half hour sat with my great aunt lila in grandad's room, talking and reminiscing with her. we both commented on how incredible the feeling in the room was - the spirit was definitely present. at one point, we commented on the great reunion of grandad and grandma, and all of the other loved ones who would have greeted him. aunt lila laughed and said, "oh i'm so jealous. they are having a party without me." it was the sweetest thing.

grandad was a great man. still is. one of the greatest. he is such a phenomenal example to all of us and he will be missed. however, in our peacefully heartbroken state, our sadness won't linger long. his memory will hopefully encourage us all to be like him and follow in his footsteps.

we love you grandad

grape juice, not grapefruit

lately my grandad hasn't been doing very well. he's in a lot of pain and doesn't have very much strength. most of the family will be surprised if he lives through the week.

he's had prostate cancer for the past twenty-some odd years and it hasn't really been a big issue. but in the past few months it has gotten much, much worse. it makes me sad to see him suffering so much. i know he's ready to go home, ready to see grandma again, but something is keeping him here. and i hope it lets him go soon.

with all the medication he's been given lately, he's had quite a few episodes of hallucinations. he sees objects that aren't there. but through it all, he has kept his sense of humor.

saturday and sunday afternoon, we went over to his house. a few of his brothers and sisters had flown in from out of state to see him. it was fun to visit with them and hear stories from their childhood - stories that often included grandad. at one point, i was inside sitting with grandad while the aunts and uncles were in the other room talking. he asked for alona, my aunt, so i sent bryson to get her. when alona came into the room, she started talking to grandad asking him if he wanted something to drink. he asked what she had, to which she replied, "i have some grape juice." but i guess he thought she said "grapefruit" and grandad hates grapefruit. so he declined and said, "i don't like grapefruit."
"no, grape juice."
"no grapefruit."

it went back and forth for a minute or two, and then he finally understood, "grape juice" and said, "yeah, i'll have a sip of that."

the exchange made me smile.

i just hope his suffering isn't prolonged.

june disbelief

i can't believe its already june. the 2nd of june... i get married in 10 days. a week and a half. and only a few more things to do. i am still on top of things, i think. i'm trying to get all the last minute things does, so that at the last minute, i will be relaxing with my mom. i think its a good plan.

ten days... its almost here!

wedding nightmares

you know how they say that before a big event in your life, you sometimes dream about things going wrong? well, i had the most awful dream last.

it was my wedding day. i got to the reception and started greeting people and i realized i didn't make my wedding cake. so i started to freak out and run frantically around looking for an oven to bake the cake. as i started to bake the cake (no idea where ingredients came from... i guess thats what happens in dreams), i realized, not only had i forgotten the cake, i had also forgotten my shoes, the sign in book, and most importantly - branson. he was no where to be found. but have no fear! i had an apron, so i wouldn't ruin my dress.

ridiculous. i woke up at 3:02am so confused. that's the thing about dreams - it felt so real! for a minute, when i woke up, i really had to convince myself that it was still two weeks away, and it was going to be fine.

but then, in my semi-conscious, confused state, my mind wandered to the thoughts of thing like, is branson not going to show? and i really going to forget something big? am i going crazy? is this some sort of foreboding?

it took me a minute or two to relax and i fell back asleep - only to have a different version of this nightmare! this time, my ring was missing, my dress was dyed pink and some little boy put gum in my hair, so to get it out, they chopped and butchered my pretty hair!

i woke up again at 4:17am.

these nightmares have got to stop!

the good thing is that, in the end, i realize its only a dream... but come on! a girl needs her sleep!

two weeks from now

exactly two weeks from this moment
i will be in the temple
being sealed
for time and all eternity
to branson.

we will be surrounded by some of the most important people in our lives. others will be waiting outside for us. and others will be at the reception that night. its going to be a great day. i'm so full of anticipation, and excitement, and i'm nervous and have butterflies, but could not be more confident in the decision we have made to get married. and there's nothing like the feeling of knowing you are on the right path.

i'm well on my way to being ready. i've started to do all the last minute stuff now, so when it is last minute, i won't have much to worry or stress about. i've been quite organized. my mom is pleased. and i owe a lot of it to my mom and dad. my mom's encouragement and my dad's eye for detail has kept me on the ball. so thanks, mom and dad. you're the best!

2 weeks
13 days
335 hours
20160 minutes
1209360 seconds

until i get married!

i'm so unbelievably excited!

three amigas

elizabeth, rachel and i at chili's. not an uncommon event. in fact, i don't remember the last time we went to dinner and didn't go to chili's. its become our "place". now we just need to get the same waiter/waitress everytime so we can just say we want "the usual" - which consists of chips and salsa and then both kinda of molten cake. mmMmm! i'm hungry already!

the three of us went to high school together, kinda rotated through the same groups and ended up becoming best friends. we are all super sarcastic with each other, but we have so much fun together. i laugh more with these two than most people. love them.

our friendship is funny - we can go years without talking or seeing each other, but as soon as we do, we're right back where we left off. we've all gone off and done our own thing, but when we get together we always have a good laugh and enjoy each other's company. they're the best.

friday night, they threw a shower for me. it was really sweet of them. and it was fun to see people i hadn't seen in a while.

so thanks to those two. they are great! and i love them endlessly. they better not cut me off when i get married or i'll be seriously upset. ha ha they wouldn't... or would they? ha ha nah, we'll be friends forever. they'll be surrogate aunts to my children and we'll have set dinner dates at chili's every month or so and it will be great. you can't cut off family right? yes. so since we're practically related, too bad for them. their evil plan is foiled. ha ha!

shanna, elizabeth and rachel
friends forever...
or something like that.

grocery shower cont.

food! glorious food!

we got so much! it was awesome!

grocery shower

so on wednesday night, my home ward threw me a grocery shower.

the

greatest
shower

idea

ever!

seriously! it was awesome. so many generous, kind friends and neighbors came and i ended up with more groceries and food and household items than i ever even though existed! i was in awe! and so was brans when we brought it all home. it wouldn't fit in my car, so we packed my parents 12-passenger van. it was full! unbelievable! we'll have a stocked pantry for at least the next year!

i took pictures of all the loot after we piled it on, under and around a table in our family room, but i can't find my cord to connect my camera... so i will post a picture as soon as i can. it was so much! i couldn't say thank you enough! i don't even know the amount of money people spent, but i can imagine it was a lot!

people are so kind and generous. i feel like a thank you card isn't enough to truly express my gratitude. perhaps i will have to make them food with the food they gave me... ?? maybe? probably not. but hopefully people know how grateful we are. honest, truly ..."you're the answer to our wishes... truly scrumptious, you're truly, truly scrumptious..." a little chitty-chitty-bang-bang for you there.

anyway, it was great. i am so blessed and loved - beyond what i could even imagine!

i'll post pictures soon!

exactly 3 weeks

my cousin jason and cute lizzy got married this morning.

it was the first temple marriage i have been to, and it was amazing!
lizzy was stunningly beautiful and jase was the happiest i have ever seen him. they were both radiating happiness!
if its possible, my excitement to marry branson has doubled!
the experience was incredible and throughout the whole thing, i couldn't help but keep thinking that in exactly 3 weeks it will be me and branson.


exactly 3 weeks from this very moment, i will be sitting down in a beautiful room at the joseph smith memorial building, eating lunch with 60 people who i love dearly. and after that, i'll be taking a nap and getting ready for the reception. but by that time, the most important part will be over. we will be married in the morning - the culmination of both of our lives coming true! i am filled with joyous excitement! i can barely contain it! i just want to shout from the rooftops how much i love branson and how excited i am to be his wife for not only time, but throughout all eternity. i can't help but grin.


3 weeks!

calm and waiting

well, its about down to 3 weeks... and i gotta say, i am much more calm than i thought i would be. in march, at the start of all of this engagement business, i foresaw me being crazy about this time... completely overwhelmed with everything i have left to do, stressed with the next-to-last-minute details and just getting nervous all together. but that hasn't been the case.

people don't believe me when i say this, but planning is done. finished. the reception is squared away. boys have been fitted for tuxes. branson's ring has been purchased. invitations have been sent out. all that i have left to do is print and frame pictures, bake a mighty big cake and wait.

the waiting is the hardest part. while the big day is only 22 days 21 hours and some odd minutes (i could figure it out if you're truly curious), i want it here now! i'm ready... mostly. will be sooner rather than later.

but still, i wait.

caught off guard

last night while branson and i were talking
there was a brief pause in the conversation
and he turned to me and said,
"did you know that i think
you will make a wonderful wife and a fantastic mother?"
it caught me off guard. i couldn't help but grin :D

23 days. i can't wait.

preview

here's a little preview of what is to come and why i love my daddy:


10 reasons why i love my dad
(in no particular order)

1. he is supportive
2. he is super knowledgeable
3. he taught me to know truth and whats right
4. he makes faces with me
5. he is all about the details
6. he has an excellent sense of humor
7. he taught me how to work hard and the value of it
8. he is very talented - jack of all trades
9. he is always willing to help anyone with anything
10. i'm his little girl...

the list could go on and on for eternity

shanna+branson

compliments of mike lyman photography