Merry Christmas!

The printed version looks much cooler, but I figured I'd post it here anyway, after all the time I spent in Photoshop!

"What Have You Had to Drink Tonight?"

My friend Merrily is in town right now, and I went up to hang out with her in Maryland last night. On my way home, I came to a stop light. As soon as I saw what road it was, I realized I needed to turn right; however, there was a little median there. A quick glance behind me showed no other cars coming, so I reversed about 10 feet and made the right turn. And then I saw it. The cop coming the other direction, who also turned behind me. I went slow, and sure enough, his lights flashed on. AAHH! I've only been pulled over once in my life. So, I pulled over to the side of the road (which was basically just a few feet since there was no shoulder), and I was so nervous that I hit the curb of the road with my tires. Oops!

I pulled out my driver's license and registration. And I sat. For what seemed like an eternity! It was literally 5 minutes before he finally came up to my window and asked for my license. I handed it over, and then tried not to laugh as he said "what have you had to drink tonight?" I promptly responded "um, a diet coke." "No alcohol?" I said "No. I have not had a drop of alcohol in my entire life." Not the answer he was looking for, obviously. He then went on to say "I'm going to need you to step out of the car." By this point, I'm starting to feel my legs shake out of nervousness. I get out of the car, and follow him behind my car, where I thought he was going to wand me like they do in the airport or something. That's when I saw the other police officer standing there. I was so embarrassed!! He had me step up onto the grass, and asked if I wore glasses or contacts. Contacts. Were they in? Of course. Did I have any other medical conditions that would make me unable to perform a test? No (I decided it wasn't the best idea to be a smart alec and tell him that I might pass out). He said "ok I'm going to do a test, and depending on the results, we'll go from there." The test? Feet shoulder width apart, and watch the cap of the pen he was holding. Follow it with my eyes, "not your head." Ok, simple enough. "Ok well your vision appears to be fine. You can go back to your car now." I told him that I knew I shouldn't have reversed to turn onto the street. To which he responded "Well, we all make stupid mistakes. What really concerned me was when you hit the curb when you pulled over." Oh, that would be because I was just nervous, not because I had been drinking!

I got back in my car. Since my window was still unrolled, I could hear him, either on the phone or talking to the other officer, saying that he'd just been certified two weeks ago. Awesome. Another five minutes later, after he'd done whatever it is they do with your registration on their laptops in their cars, he came back, handed me my papers and license, and said "I'm going to give you a verbal warning." I thanked him. And left. And tried to stop my leg from jittering. All the while trying very hard not to laugh at the fact that he thought I had been drinking. Wow. What a night!

Temple Lights

450,000 lights, a Live Nativity scene, Christmas carols playing overhead, missionaries greeting you, different Christmas performances every night at the Visitor's Center ... how can NOT feel the spirit of Christmas here? So beautiful. I love the Washington DC temple, but most especially at Christmas time when the entire grounds are illuminated (and not just because the man at the recommend desk told me tonight that my name is perfect for this temple...)!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

What I am grateful for, Thanksgiving 2008:

1. Christine letting me come stay with her.
2. Anne and Betsy letting me ride up and back with them.
3. Watching the parade from Christine's heated office.
4. Thanksgiving dinner.
5. Thanksgiving dinner leftovers.
6. Pie.
7. HUGH JACKMAN.
8. Sleeping and relaxing.
9. Hallmark movies.
10. Did I mention Hugh Jackman?

I know, its a little late to be talking about Thanksgiving. It was so great though, that it can't go unmentioned (and unpictured, if that is even a word). Thanks to Anne and Betsy for letting me tag along in the car up and back ... 7 hours up and 9 hours back ... it was painful. If it wouldn't have been for the traffic, it wouldn't have been so bad! But everything else was absolutely perfect.

I stayed with Christine in her new apartment. We went to the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving morning, only to get out of the subway to find a billion people. We were trying to work out way over to Christine's office on Broadway, but we had a bit of difficulty maneuvering our way through the giant crowds of mean tourists and locals. I honestly thought one woman was going to start throwing punches. Luckily, we managed to tag onto the end of another group who pushed their way through. And then, we were free. Free to walk into Christine's office and make our way upstairs to a corner office, where we enjoyed the parade view from the top! It was fabulous. Right on Broadway, heat, and most of all, no crowds.
I bet you didn't see that Buzz's shoe said Andy on it from down on the sidewalk, did you? :)We had to take a picture by this sign ... all the rage ... and what was staring us in the face during the entire parade.Then it was back to Christine's to make Thanksgiving dinner. We had a lovely time, and an even lovelier dinner with her friends and the masses of food that they brought. We had round 2 on Friday. We didn't even go out to eat the entire time I was there because we had so much food! Including ... appetizers (Christine's amazing cheese ball and my pumpkin apple dip) ... And ... some of the pies ... these are the 3 that I made - banana coconut cream, lemon meringue, and derby (chocolate chip cookie-ish). Yum! On Friday we saw Australia ... if you haven't seen it, GO SEE IT! Hugh Jackman. That enough should be enough to convince you. Nicole Kidman (who I don't always love) was great. And the little boy is absolutely adorable! Its long (it is an epic after all), but plenty worth it.The rest of the time, well, that was actually incredibly fabulous. A lot of relaxing and a lot of movies. Hallmark holiday movies. The cheesiest of ALL cheesy movies. And we loved every single minute of it! Just the Thanksgiving weekend that I needed.

A Funny Thing Happened on the TV [at the gym]

Picture this: You are working out at the gym, and as you are casually looking around, you see yourself on tv. Wait, what??

Yes, that really happened to me. In my cardio ADD, I'd gone from the treadmill to the stair-climber and finished up on the elliptical. About halfway through my time there, I glanced over to the girl next to me, and noticed that she was watching "What Not to Wear." Not just any episode, but my episode. Ok, technically not my episode, but the episode that I took part in. How embarrassing! Well, actually, not really, because I'm sure no one would actually recognize me unless they knew me (and I can't tell you how many people have asked me if they really saw me on the show, followed by questions as to WHY or HOW I made in on the show). But it was still really weird to be in the middle of working out and seeing myself on tv! At least I got a good laugh out of it.

Its a Christmas Miracle!

Its the little things in life. For the last week or so, I have been scouring my belongings searching for something very important to me. Yes, it is baseball-related. I am putting together one of those fancy MyPublisher books to document my baseball stadium tour (still trying to come up with a title - any suggestions?) The majority of my trips are well photographed, in the "digital age," but there are still a few that happened prior to that. So ... I'm on the hunt for the negatives from those games, so I can take them to Costco and have them put on a cd ... voila! Digital pictures.

But wait. In order to do that, you have to first FIND the negatives. I'd found a couple random games here and there, but I was missing an entire summer. The summer I interned here in DC. I went to a lot of games that summer, and actually have it all scrapbooked. I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to peel the pictures out of my scrapbook, scan them, crop them, and hope that the quality was good enough to be used in a photo book. Better than nothing though, right? I was positive that they were somewhere at my parent's house, because in the last month or so, I've cleaned out my entire storage room and gone through everything, and nothing has showed up. My mom searched high and low for them at home, but to no avail.

I woke up the other morning with an idea - one more place to look. A little plastic file that I'd organized a bunch of pictures from BYU in (that I still haven't scrapbooked ... that was a hobby that, unfortunately, died a quick death when I moved here, um, six and a half years ago). I found the file and knew that was it when I saw my bib number from the Rex Lee Run on top. However, NO negatives were to be found. Only a bunch of fun pictures from my last year of college.

Well, last night after I finished saying my prayers (and yes, I did pray that I would find the negatives), I immediately thought to look in the basket sitting on my desk. I knew there were some old pictures that I'd used in frames in the past, but didn't think much of it. Well, I walked over to the basket, and what did I find underneath the stack of picture envelopes? A black plastic photo sleeve from World Wide Photo in Provo. Why wasn't this with my other similar envelopes, neatly stashed away in a box? I'm not sure. But what was inside? My negatives from Summer 2001. Including ... the Yankees, the Mets, the Phillies, the Orioles, the Royals, AND the Braves game from that fall. Prayers really are answered, even if it is over something as trivial as finding negatives to a bunch of baseball games. HOORAY!!!!! When I told my mom about it, she said "its a Christmas miracle" ... and I have to agree.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I was so excited. I keep thinking about all the fun games I have been to with so many friends. I think I have pictures from close to all of them ... but if I'm missing any that I went to with YOU, please email them to me so you, too, can be immortalized in my baseball book!

Suckers and Candy Canes

Remember when you were little and you loved going to the bank with your mom because every time you went, you knew they would give you a sucker (even if it was one of those nasty chalky sugar-free ones)? I hope that wasn't just me!

Well, last night I went to the bank last night after I waited patiently for the guy to ask me how to pronounce my name correctly (and wondered why the video screen wasn't working this time), I finally hear the whoosh of the plastic tube making its way back to me from the chute. Much to my surprise, I opened it up to find this ...

I don't even really like suckers, but the candy canes were an added bonus! There's nothing quite like sucking on a candy cane on your way to Costco to make you feel like a kid all over again and put you in the Christmas spirit!

What a Difference a Day Makes...

Yes, that is actually the weather today. It will hit the low SIXTY'S. In December. But don't worry, tomorrow it will be back in the Thirty's. Go figure.

Must Love Llamas

I saw this bumper sticker on the car in front of me on my way to work this morning and laughed so hard that I had to snap a picture of it. I'm sure the guy next to me thought I was crazy. Maybe I am. But actually, its just an inside joke. If you do not know about why I must love llamas, well, I'm sorry but I am not going to post it on my blog. If you do, however (Carina, this means you), enjoy the laugh that I did today!!

There IS Life After Baseball.

I know what you're thinking "wow, Shanna hasn't blogged since she went to the World Series. She must not have any other hobbies. What does she DO in the off season?" Well, my friends, I am here to tell you that, as Dwight would say, is FALSE! I have been busier than ever in the last month or so, and just haven't taken the time to blog about anything. Here's the quick and dirty run-down ...

1. Kelli came to visit from UT. It was sooo much fun to spend the weekend with her and "the girls." We had fun crafting until the wee hours of the morning and enjoying the time we had with each other.

2. A lot of time letting those creative juices flow and getting carried away with a lot of new projects. The good news: super cute (and personal) Christmas presents.

3. Thanksgiving in NYC. The parade, lots of food, friends, and movies ... so fun!!

4. Its Christmas! My house is all decked out and I LOVE it. I spent Friday night helping with the Lighting Ceremony at the Washington DC Temple Visitor's Center. This is one of my favorite events every year. Elder Neal Anderson was the keynote speaker, and the lights around the temple grounds are magnificent.

5. I'll Be Home For Christmas. I managed to snag the most amazing deal on airfare this year ... $219 round trip from Dulles - on the Delta nonstop both ways. Last year I had layovers in Atlanta (because its totally on the way from DC to SLC!) and it took forever. I swore I'd never do it again. And I'm not! So all my friends in UT, consider this your warning: I'm in town Dec. 23-30.

I'll try to post pictures of the above soon. But I am alive. I am well. Yes I am busy, but it wouldn't be December and I wouldn't be Shanna if it were any other way.