Shannon's Stories

Before I begin...a disclaimer...no judgment comments on this post please. I understand that after 29 years of life, this goal is something I should have accomplished somewhere around P.E. in 3rd grade, but I didn't. Just accept it people!

So, anyway, back to the reason for the post. As of 6:05 tonight, I finally checked off...

12. Run a mile (sad, I know, but I’ve never done it)

Here's the rundown of how it happened:
Treadmill
4.2 mph
1 mile run in 14 minutes - 15 seconds

Normally, I would post some fun pictures to commemorate the event. This time though, I decided to save us all from seeing the beautiful glow I had after I ran the first mile of my life (and by glow I mean the layer of sweat that was running down my face). If you doubt me though, Mel was running right next to me and was forced to stop listening to her music at key points in my mile to celebrate with me.

After years of playing softball and badminton, many semesters of P.E. in junior high and high school, and a variety of trainers who have tried to push me into a mile, and always cheating my way through...I am proud to say that I HAVE RUN A MILE! I plan to do it again very soon. While I don't think I'll ever be "a runner," I hope to at least be a person who runs. We'll see. I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you...I'm just saying.

This last Sunday I was finally able to check off from my 101 List

54. Participate in an autism fundraiser/walk.

I have been looking forward to participating in the Autism Walk for a couple of years now. Greg and I were actually in town last year when the walk took place, but we had just moved back to AZ about 2 days before so I didn't participate. This year though, I was not missing out. And my cute mom joined me!!

Our team had so much fun walking together...even though we didn't always stay together. We tried to stop at various points on the walk to gather the team.

We walked, talked, and laughed...

And some of us slept...

On November 1st, I will be joining one of my best friends, Melissa, and her family in the "Walk Now For Autism Speaks." After the walk I will be able to check off #54 on my 101 List and I couldn't be more excited. Ever since I began teaching, I've been learning more and more about autism. The autism spectrum is so broad and touches more and more families every year. In my 8 years teaching, I've had many experiences with children who have autism along all points of the spectrum. It is such a misunderstood disorder and one that I hope to become more involved with. This walk will be a good start.

I joined Melissa's team for her nephews, Noah and Elijah. She has been raising money through her blog and now I am asking for help through mine. If you can donate any amount to this amazing cause, it is so greatly appreciated! Please click on the links below to read more on Melissa's blog about the walk and autism specifically.

The time is now
One month till the walk
3rd Annual Walk for Autism
World Autism Awareness Day

I was super excited to check off this 101 List goal.

9. Visit Lauren after the baby is born

While I love living back in Arizona, there are not enough words to express how much I miss our friends back in Illinois. One of the things I was most sad to miss was the birth of Lauren & Matt's beautiful baby girl, Madison. I was finally able to head back to Illinois about a week ago at the start of my October break (have I mentioned how much I love working in the Chandler district?? -- 2 week breaks!!!).

While my greatest desire was to meet Maddie, I also had the privilege of attending Amy's wedding, visiting with all the new mommies and babies, and visiting my old work to talk books with all the ladies.

Amy & Will were married on Saturday, October 3. It was so much fun to see these two wonderful people pledge their lives to each other. And the wedding was beautiful!! We had our own little Leadertreks table so we could each amazing food and catch up with each other. And of course, watch Maddie play with her toys. :)


The next Monday, I ran to my old job to visit with my former coworkers. It was so fun to see them, talk books, and share stories about our crazy students. After that, Lauren, Maddie, and I headed to Erin's place for some fun baby time! It was crazy to see all of my friends with kids now (although Kristin had already had one little boy ~ the cutie little baby girl is her second).

Erin and I were feeling a little outnumbered with all the babies so we had to celebrate our baby-less status.


We decided to try a little photo with all 4 babies. It provided us with some good laughs. Here's a little montage of how this experience played out...

We set up the 3 week old babies on the outside to try and prevent any unwanted attacks from the older babies. As you can see, Maddie did not get that memo.

Finally Tru and Maddie turned their attention to each other, which didn't seem to please Christian on the far right.

I love how content Susannah (far left) stayed throughout this whole process. Tru and Madison had some funny exchanges.
And then Tru made a break for it. I love Susannah's expression.

In the end, there was no really great photo of all 4 kiddos but we had a good time trying to make them be still for a photo.


Here's some more cuteness from our time together...

I love reading blogs. One that I was looking at tonight had a picture of a quote they found in Massachusetts. I think it's so amazing and wanted to share it with anyone who happens to read my blog.

"I believe in Christianity

as I believe that the sun has risen:

not only because I see it,

but because by it I see everything else."

~ C.S. Lewis