shenangians

today...this girl turns the big 24.

and I have discovered that even if I am 24 I still deserve to be the princess for the day. I will probably still act this way when I am turning 84, Lord-willing.

It.is.fun.

that is all...

I pinky promise to get my blog up and running again soon. As of right now, I am enjoying every itty bitty moment I get while my fiance is home. And I WILL, if it's the last thing I do, get caught up on my reader and leave lots of sweet bloggy comments! :)

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

GRADUATION DAY!

What an experience! I was so proud the entire day! :) Here's just a couple of pics from the day...I am such a lucky girl!

Before the Ceremony

Pinning his rank on...

Pinning his bars on...he's tall ;) Jokin' around...

\

Us with Gregory's Parents

Us with my Parents

My Dad saluting Greg :)

Congrats Baby!! You make me so proud and we have such an exciting future ahead! :)

OCS Graduation Formal

I don't have a lot of time to post...however, WE.HAD.A.BLAST!!

Honestly, can I get dressed up and have that much fun every week?!? :)

Here are a few pics...I will write more about the experience when I get back in town

{opps, we lost Greg's head in this pic}

My dress was perfection. And don't ya just love my suitcase in all these pics? ;)

my dress might have been black, but don't think for a second I didn't wear fabulous shoes! :)Silver snakeskin

Beautiful Room

end of the night. Thank you Gregory for so much FUN! :)

my closing remarks are:

What were some of those girls THINKING?!? that is all.

And I'm off...

To Greg's Graduation!! :) Soooooo proud of him!! I'll be in GA all week, Army Ball on Tuesday and his graduation ceremony on Thursday! I will be M.I.A. but I will take lots of pics and be sure to post as soon as I can! I hope everyone has a great week and I will miss catching up with ya'll!!

Gregory -

YOU DID IT!! I am SOOOOO proud of you baby! I think that I'm beaming with pride, maybe even more than you are. I have watched you complete this challenge every step of the way. You have done so with pure excellence! Even if you have lost almost all of your body weight, you have definately gained tons of knowledge and strength! ;) haha...I had to say it. I am so excited to support you in this experience and I am one lucky lady to be by your side. Although we have been apart for the past 3 months...we have grown closer than ever! I think you would agree with me when I say that we have learned A LOT about each other and our bond is truly unbreakable. Even without physically seeing each other, we leaned on each other's love more than ever. Our few weekends together were remarkable and full of so many awesome memories that I know we will cherish a lifetime! :) Thank you for giving me all of you, your heart is so beautiful!! It feels so amazing to know that I am going to grow old with you...it is going to be such a gorgeous journey! We are off to an adventure baby, and I've said it before, but I'll say it again...I will support you 120% every step of the way!! I cannot wait to be by your side on Monday and spend 3 WHOLE weeks together before you're off again. Know that I will ALWAYS be true to you, I pray for you daily, if not hourly, I would move mountains, if I could, just to be with you, and I will do WHATEVER it takes to keep our relationship growing and thriving.

I love you now..forever..and always!

-Shan

{photo credit: Blue Ridge Photography}

a MUST read.

go HERE!

I could not have said it any better myself!

umm...incredible? ABSO-FREAKIN'-LUTELY

so these arrived at my office just now...

with the card that read:

"I want to thank you for your love, support, and faith in me while I have been at officer's school. I couldn't have done it without your love and strength by my side. You truly mean the world to me. I love you now and forever from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to sharing our lives together and the experiences to come."

-Gregory

::swoon:: Honestly?!? Honestly?!? Is this guy FOR REAL??

Ahhhhhhh...our life is gonna be FUN! :)

Thank you God for blessing my life with him!

p.s.-

I haven't shared this yet...

but tomorrow is my LAST day at work!

Yiiipeeeeeee! :)

a tornado and some bling.

I just spent the last hour and half of my workday sitting outside in the hallway.

Why you might ask?!?

We were under a tornado warning! As if I wasn't be unproductive enough here in the office...I had to sit outside and stare at blank walls. ;) My deepest fear wasn't being swept up to Kansas...or the pipes falling on my head..or the windows busting in...

It was the fear that you, my bloggy friends, would post something interesting and I would miss it! Or heavens forbid I would be the last person to comment! Ahhhhhhhh, I.need.a.life.

And since you guys are sooo sweet and commented on my ring (thank youuuu), here's a better pic of it! I just adore it...he did a FABULOUS job and I'm pretty sure we'll keep him...forever! (wink, wink) If you want to read more about our engagement story and how he proposed go HERE! There's even a video because Greg is oh-so-smooth like that! :) That would be our wedding website...

And here's the whole set together...which I adore with my whole heart! :)

I told you I could never be wordless..especially on a Wednesday! :)

Have a great day dear friends!

{wordless wednesday}

I know, I know..I'm changing it up on my blog..

...and I just used words...

I stink at this game.

Engagement Day

awesome.

My fiance sent a text yesterday that read:

"I'm underweight"

Yesterday was his last PT test before graduation and they had a physical exam as well..

The Captain clearly stated that Greg, my Fiance, is underweight.

freakin' awesome. Don't you just LOVE men's metabolisms?!? I mean, honestly. The boy has lost almost 30, repeat 30 lbs since he left here in Feb. He is 6 feet tall and I'm not even gonna go there with how much he weighs. Seriously...you don't want to know. In fear that some of my bloggy readers {including myself} might skip lunch and dinner today after reading this, I am gonna keep my mouth shut.

And when he left here..he was THIN.

here are some exhibits of Greg's thinness pre-OCS

{all photos courtsey of the Amazing Katie of Sarah K Photography}

Exhibit #1:

I love this pic below that Katie snapped while we were just talking in-between pics..anddd, it def. shows Greg's slim lil self. Exhibit #2:

Exhibit #3:

After my first visit down to see him I came back telling everyone I was marrying an Ethiopian. He told me during my visit that he had just simply cut out the mashed potatoes and gravy from the DFAC. Humm..my response to his text yesterday proclaiming that he was "underweight" was:

"You stopped eating your mashed potatoes..that's where you went wrong."

I mean goodness, I seriously GLANCE at a piece of cake and gain 5lbs...the boy can put down a whole sheetcake and LOSE 10! It's amazing...

however....

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about his super cut abs, rock solid shoulders, thin little running legs, etc ;)

But I just want my boy healthy!

So Gregory, if you're reading this...eat those mashed potatoes baby...eat a whole plate, extra butter, extra sour cream, extra gravy! And as soon as we get married I will make the BEST mashed potatoes you've ever eaten!

{straight from the box of course}

Anddd, just for kicks and giggles {since I was messing around in the folder saved on my computer}, I threw in one of my fav. pics from that engagement session. I looveeeeeee my ring and I loooveeee Katie and her photography skills. She's brand new to photography ya'll...she's in college for it now and, she's a family friend! Tell me she isn't just fabulous?!?

If you live in the Eastern part of NC...look her up!

{fabulous-ness}

I now have this dress in my possession..

thanks to j.crew

worth.every.penny.

the PERFECT summer dress! :) be jealous...

Games

The beautiful Grace over at Grace's Ramblings tagged me in this fun little game...and seeing as how it's my last week at work, I think I'll play along! :)

1. What is your current obsession?

-Gregory. I cannot get enough of him. Also, cleaning out all of my old crap for our big move!!

2. Which item of clothing do you wear most often?

-Hands down. My leopard print cardigan. I wear it with ANYTHING!

3. What's for dinner?

-well, I have Zumba tonight and then BFF and I walk a mile on Monday (Mile Monday) and sometimes hit up Zaxby's. Hey, don't judge....

4. What are you listening to?

-As in music? Or right now? humm...I hear myself typing...that is all.

5. Say something about the person who tagged you.

-Grace is the sweetest thing and is absolutely beautiful! She always knows the right thing to say to make my day better. I cannot wait to watch her wedding plans unfold...she's sooo unique!! :)

6. Favorite vacation spot?

-Hum...Haven't really been anywhere cool. Daytona Beach was fun. I might have a brand new fav. vacation spot after the next 2 years ;)

7. What are you reading right now?

My "Power of a Positive Woman" Devotional and just started "5 Love Languages" last night with Gregory.

8. 4 words to describe yourself:

-spastic, talkative, unique, spirited

9. Guilty pleasure?

-Tanning Bed, Blogging, Shopping when I'm sad.

10. First spring thing to do?

-Pull out my Sundresses & Flip Flops...Go for walks outside & grilling out! :)

And now I get to tag people...hummm....

Tasha

Teresa

Hil

and anyone else who wants to play along! :)

Happy Monday Everyone!

Drum Roll Please....

First off...biggggg CONGRATS to one of my very best friends Katie for her pinning ceremony on Friday! Katie has busted her butt to get through the Radiology Program at SCC and let me tell you, the girl has some skills! :) I'm soo proud of her and I know that she is absolutely going to do wonderful! We have her graduation coming up this Friday evening, but her pinning ceremony was so very special! Katie even got to give the prayer of benediction and it went something like this..."Dear Baby Jesus...6lbs, 12oz...my best friends Shan & Laura are the most amazing people on the planet..." Right Kt?!? haha..j/k.

Here she is in action :)

Blast from the Past: High School Best Friends - L.L.T.P.

some things never change...

We had a great time celebrating at O'Malley's with some fabulous chicken wings! Yum! That place is seriously my favorite place in the world! It's in my old College Town and if you know me at all, you know how much I LOVED college and O'Malley's. They used to have "wing night" every Thursday and you bet your bottom dollar that I was there with bells on...every week..same table..same group of friends! Even if I did get wing sauce on my dress this time (so sad) I did have a fabulous time! :) Here are some pics from the event...

Honestly..this place gets TWO thumbs up!

The Beautifullllll Graduate! :)

My BFF...Laura

Evidence of the Wing Sauce Crime...sad times for this girl. However, I'm loving Kt in the background...

Next up...BIG, BIG, BIG news!! Greg and I found out our duty station! I mentioned before that we found out where he will be going for his BolcIII schooling...but now, we found out what's next after that! I'm not gonna give away the exact location...

However, I will say this:

69 hours from our current home.

4,108.31 miles.

Once we get there in January I'm sure you will be able to tell by some of my pics! :)

holy guacamole! That's some distance! That being said...Greg and I have the chance of a lifetime...and instead of focusing on the negative {how many things I'm going to miss, how far it is, how different it will be, etc} I'm going to focus on just how amazing it is that WE get the chance to live there! I know that God has placed us there for a reason...and I cannot wait to see the outcome! :) Seems like everyone that has heard the news has some rude comment to make, or some snide remark about what I'm going to miss. I'm sooo sick of it! I do believe that hearing people say things like that only make me want to go more! Maybe I'm the only one, but I feel as if when changes occur to someone I know or love, I try to support them in that and not make them feel WORSE for it happening. Greg and I will have each other and make the very best of the situation. Remember that post about remaining positive? Man, it just gets more and more important each day. Who knew that God was preparing my heart for this....

::gulp::

I.cannot.believe.it.

So I guess I have some explaining to do from my previous post...I just kinda posted and ran to hide.

Here was the issue...Greg got an email from the Army.

It's subject line read: Reservation Cancelled.

uh.oh.

This could only mean one thing....our perfect schedule was getting messed up...

{and those of you who have dealt with the military know that this happens...a lot!}

His computer has been acting funny so in the evenings when we talk I will check the necessary things that he needs on the internet. So I was the one to see this email. Can you imagine how devasting this was for me?!? I opened the email to find that his class dates were being switched and he was now being sent to his next class on July 7th-Aug. 21st.

Hummm...what falls RIGHT in the middle of that?!?

OUR WEDDING!!!!

I immediately freaked just like any normal bride-to-be would who was just absolutely ESTATIC about marrying the man of my dreams and having Our day! His training classes are very strict..as in no leave and I knew that we couldn't take our chances and hope that he was granted the weekend off. We would either have to a)cancel the wedding and lose tons of $...or b) move the date up depending on the availability of ALL of our vendors {and you brides to be know how hard it is to schedule something during wedding season}. We are 2 months out. I have been putting together this day for a very long time and for once, I'm starting to get over the stress of wedding planning and actually see all my hard work coming together.

I'm sure you guys can tell by some of my posts just how much IN LOVE I am with my fiance. He honestly makes my world a better place...but I also know most of you guys are aware of what kind of hard-work it is to put together a wedding day and how much every girl dreams of it! I do know that ultimately marrying Greg is the #1 thing in my life...but our day was going to be soo perfect, sooo us!

Well, I won't go into all of the details because I'm not so sure that Greg would want me to put them all over the internet...however, he fought long and hard to make it work. And those of you with military experience know that things just don't work very easily. You always have to go around your elbow to get to you know where...anyways.

He did IT!! There is no doubt in my mind (there never really was any) that my Fiance will absolutely do whatever it takes to make me happy and provide for us! Through lots of meetings, emails, prayer, much rejection, phonecalls and being told his wedding wasn't a "compassionate circumstance"..{and even some trouble} my Fiance pleaded his case and we got the dates switched!!! He will now be attending his next phase of training beginning in June and he graduates on July 23rd...hopping on a plane...and marrying ME!!! :)

I would like to take the time to thank my fiance and other men & women who are in the military for all of their hard-work and sacrifice. I would like to say thank you to my fiance for not just making our wedding day possible, but for working hard for our country. I guess this entire {experience}, although it caused me so much stress that I would rather forget about it, did open my eyes to just HOW MUCH military families do sacrifice. There are military men and women all over the world who give up their wedding days, their anniversaries, their Christmas's, their Thanksgivings, their birthdays...the list could go on and on..just so their spouse can serve our country. It did open my eyes to just how AWESOME my fiance truly is for serving. So if you are a military spouse, thank you sooooooooooo much for sacrificing your "special days" for our country. I absolutely not only appreciate your spouse for serving, but you as well!

Your comments honestly kept me sane...thank you!! If you are a bride-to-be or have been before, you can attest to the fact that nerves are on wits-end during these last few months. Reading your thoughtful comments and bible verses honestly keep me from absolutely wanting to just give up. I will admit, I'm a control-freak...and I MUST get over that soon. First off, God is in control and second off, my soon-to-be husband answers to Uncle Sam now. However, I did break down and absolutely think that my world was coming to an end. Your passages that you left on my previous post have been my strength during all of this.

So thank you for reading this blabbled version of what my life has consisted of these past few days...sorry so long and ridiculous and it probably doesn't make any sense! haha!

Let's hope I can get my booty in gear and get back up and running to normal soon!

Love my bloggy friends and I've missed you all! :)

p.s. - God provides!