7 days and counting!

Only one week left until the love of my life comes home from McDonough, Georgia! I've missed him so much but these last two weeks have gone by so fast. I just hope this last week goes by just as fast. Thankfully work will keep me busy and the days will go by quickly.

It feels so good to be out of school! I slept in for the first time on Thursday in months! It felt great to not have to get up at 6:30 and be at school all morning. Now I get to sleep in and then the only thing I have to do is go to work at 3, which is nice.

I honestly can't wait for Christmas, not just because of the things we do, but because Brenden coming home will be the best Christmas present ever. :-)

Welcome to the Railroad life

I am so proud of Brenden. He recently got the job of his dreams working for a class one railroad, Norfolk Southern. He has been dreaming of this day since he was just a little boy, and now it has finally come true. Out of 40 men and women that went to the interview, he was one out of three guys to be selected for the job. And being only 18 years old, it's pretty impressive to have made it that far. But his experience at Respondek helped him a lot. After being told he was accepted for the job, all that was left to do was some paper work, and training. And training was said to be in McDonough, GA for three weeks. That was the only thing that worried me. We have never been apart for that long. But I told him I was going to support him 100%. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I have ever done. I cried for a long time after leaving him. What made me upset the most was that he would be gone all of Christmas break and wouldn't be coming home till our anniversary, and Christmas eve. Which meant he would miss all of the Christmas traditions we do every year. So far he has been gone a week. And in that one week he has taken three tests and has gotten a perfect score on all three of them. Which is hard to do. Especially for someone in training. I am so proud of Brenden. If he continues to study hard like he has been and gets perfect scores on everything, he has a really good chance of getting the Top Con award which is an award they give to the best student at the end of the three weeks of training. I believe in him and I know be will get it. Even if that means buying him whatever Lionel train he wants. Because that's the deal we made. I told him I'd buy him one if he got the award. But that's fine with me. I just want him to be successful. :) I'm doing better than I thought I would while he's away. I finished all my classes early and my Christmas break has officially started. I just can't wait for him to come home. I miss you brenden.

It's that time of the year again!

The air gets colder, the leaves start to turn orange and red colors and eventually fall off the trees, and pumpkins start appearing on people's front porches. Yes, it's that time...FALL! This is definitely my favorite season, just because of the weather and all of the scents in the air that bring back great memories of my past. I cannot think of any bad experience that I have ever had in the fall, because I'm always happy this time of the year! I think now it's mostly because a lot of things happened last year in the fall that made me very happy, like Brenden asking me out, and all the fun things we did together for the first time. Ironically, he is currently sleeping on the couch behind me as I write this. 

We had quite an adventurous day today. I met up with him after he got off work this morning, and we went to Creve Coeur park to see the Central Midland train tracks. I took a few pictures while we were there because the environment was so unique I had to capture it on camera. Above is a picture of the bridge we walked across. It goes over a creek that flows from the Creve Coeur lake not far from there. It was definitely amazing. 

After that, went up to a train bridge on the east side of the river in Maryland Heights. There were three tracks, all on different levels of a hill. It was very cool to look at from the bottom of the hill. While we were there, we saw two trains go across the bridge. One going east and then west. I took a few pictures there as well. Afterwards we drove around town and looked at some other places where the Central Midland tracks go through. We saw a few of their engines, one of which Brenden got to ride on a while back when he went up there to talk to a few of the guys that work there. They were pretty neat looking. 

That was the extent of our train watching/foaming adventure. But we did go out to dinner with my parents at Pasta House later on for my dad's birthday. That was fun. And now, here I sit on the living room floor writing this with my snoring love sleeping behind me. He's so adorable. I can't even try to wake him up because he's just too cute. Haha. But he's gonna have to wake up some time! :D

Shannon

New.

It's been a while since I've posted, so I decided to give you an update. I've started school, and I love it. I have four total classes, Math, Intro to Poetry, Psychology, and SCC Singers. The reason I love it is because I only go twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays! And...for the first time in four years, I have kept an A in my math class for four straight weeks! I'm actually understanding it and doing pretty good! I've never been so proud of myself. I like my psychology class too, because it helped me finally decide what I want to do with my life. I want to be a high school counselor. I made this decision because I don't want any other kid to have to go through what Brenden had to go through his senior year. It was a counselor's fault that he didn't get to continue doing winter drumline like he had the last three years. It devastated him and a lot of other people, and I hated seeing him so upset. And I know that if I were a counselor, I would always make sure I had my stuff together, and I wouldn't let any kid miss out on anything.

Those are only two new things that have happened in my life thus far, but I haven't mentioned that I got a new job! I work at a daycare only a mile from my house. My official title is "Miss Shannon". I work with one year olds and little baby's. I love my job so much. I get to go in and see all the smiling faces of these kids and watch them grow up. It's also been teaching me a lot about responsibility and preparing me for when I have kids of my own. The people I work with are amazing, and everyone is so nice. Right away I felt like I fit in there and they all welcomed me. I definitely like it a lot more than the lame bowling alley.

I would also like to mention that next week, September 24th, is mine and Brenden's One Year Anniversary. :D Time has gone by so quickly. We're planning on taking a road trip up to Galesburg, Illinois to spend the day there. There are so many trains in that city, it's insane. I've wanted to go there really badly since he told me about it, and now we're finally going to! I'm really excited. I would say what I got him on here, but in fear of him seeing this post, I'm not going to reveal that until after he knows what it is. But I will say this...I really hope he gets me a promise ring. He's been saying that he's not going to, but part of me doesn't believe him. He knows I want one, and that I wanted to get him one as well. But he won't wear it because of his job. Which is understandable. So I didn't get him one. But I still hope he gets me one because to me it's a way of saying that he will always love me, and one day we will get married and be together forever. But I'm not getting my hopes up.

So there ya go. You're all caught up on my life! Stayed tuned for further updates on school, work, and my relationship. :D

Shannon

A lonnnng day...

Today has been a very long day of cleaning. I did some hardcore room cleaning since it's been awhile since I've done that. I organized all my shelves and dusted everything off and made it look decent in here. Haha. I put some new drawers on my dresser and organized all my hair bows and clips and stuff. It's been getting a little messy up there. I also used all my converse shoe boxes to store things in. In one I put all my saved receipts, in another I put birthday/christmas/graduation cards that I've saved. One has coupons for restaurants and such, and the last one has all my manuals for my camera, phones, and my portable hardrive. It feels good to know that everything finally has a place and it's not just lying around my room in random places. 

I also wanted to post about my most recent surprise from Brenden. It is a canvas that says "You are my sunshine" on it. It was very special to me because I always call him my sunshine. It was such a nice gift. :) I hung it on my wall right above my bed and put pictures of Brenden and I around it. My goal is to get more picture frames to put the pictures in and make a collage type design around the canvas. I can't wait to see the finished product. Now, if money would start falling from the sky, then I could get started on it. Haha.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

It has been a week since I have seen Brenden, because his best friend, Grant, came to town. And when he's in town, all the guys spend the whole week at Joe's house and just hang out and be guys. This is the longest Brenden and I have been apart in 9 months, and much to my surprise, I handled it pretty well. I usually struggle to find ways to make the days go by faster, but this week I had no problem doing that thanks to working and other plans I already had made. But even though I found ways to keep myself busy, I still missed Brenden a lot, and I'm upset that I missed out on some things we could have done together, since yesterday was the fourth of July. But I'm not going to worry about it, since we have the rest of our lives together, there will always be plenty of time for more "first's" that we've missed out on. Today is Grant's last day in town, and I'm excited to see Brenden again. Although, I don't know when that will be exactly. I'm hoping to see him tomorrow for a lunch date or something. I'm just lucky that I have someone who's there for me all the time and respects me for who I am. I think a lot of people take something as fortunate as having someone there for them all the time for granted. When I say I don't know what I'd do without Brenden, I honestly mean it. Because he is my world. I am in love with him and I can't see myself with anyone else, besides him. :)

Happiness

Brenden and I on September 26, 2010.

I wanted to post this picture because I just edited it on Picnik and thought it looked really cute. It's one of my favorite pictures of Brenden and I. And I really like the quote that's on it. We've been dating for nine months, and the time has gone by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday when we met. I'm so glad to have him in my life. He makes me unbelievably happy. I don' t know what I would do without him. :-)

Train Layout. Good...or bad idea?

Sooo...recently Brenden and I have been going back in forth about his train layout that he wants in the basement of our house in the future. I think it's completely pointless because it costs so much money, time, and it takes up a lot of space. But he insists on having one, because "they're awesome". But that just doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me. And I really have no idea what these things are really like, so I decided to look up some videos of them on youtube, and this is one of the first ones that came up. It's so much more intense than what I imagined. There's so many tiny houses and people and animals. And there's so much detail, I just can't imagine him putting all this together! The guy in the video said that he spends at least 40 hours a week in his basement. That's like having a full time job! And Brenden already has one of those, so I don't see how he's going to manage both. But he insists on having it one way or another. And another reason I don't think it's reasonable is because two of the guys he works with have layouts in their houses, and they've spent thousands of dollars on the engines, cars, and building it! I don't know where he thinks he's gonna get all the money to do this. But...I'm trying to be reasonable instead of shooting down his dream, so I'm starting to look at the more positive side of the situation. It will be a great thing for our kids to look at and play with when they're at a reasonable age, it'll make him happy...ummm...okay so there aren't that many positives to it. But it'll make him happy. And that is what I want. But I'm still not fully convinced. 

Cars 2!

I can't wait to go see the midnight showing of Cars 2 Friday! The first one was great, and I think the second one will be awesome as well! I'm going with my family, and Brenden and his mom. It's going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what it's like with the cars in Tokyo! There's so many new characters too! I think my new favorite is Francesco Bernoulli. Friday is also mine and Brenden's 9 month anniversary. He'll be at work all day though unfortunately. So we won't be spending it together. 

I'll be sure to post again after I see the movie!

Date Night!

Last night I got to have a nice date night with Brenden. Since he's always working during the week, it's very rare that we get to go out together anymore. So, we went to Big A's in downtown St. Charles for dinner, took a short walk on the Katy Trail, went to the Hobby Shop and then Toys 'R Us. While we were at the Hobby Shop, Brenden spotted four cardboard boxes in the back of the store full of magazines that were marked "50 cents each". We immediately started tearing through the boxes pulling out every single 'Trains Magazine' that he didn't have. When we were finished, the total count was...*insert drum roll here*...75 MAGAZINES! It was crazy. He carried all 75 of them up to the front counter and the look on the cashier's face was priceless at the least. Brenden looked at her with a huge grin and said, "I've got some readin' material." She broke out into a laugh a proceeded to count all 75 magazines to make sure that was the correct total. I think she was a little exausted afterwards. After ringing up all the magazines, the total price came to $39.75! It was such a good deal because if he would have gotten those magazines at full price, it would have costed over $400. Needless to say, he was a very happy camper when we left the store. I just wonder what he's gonna do after he reads all of them...oh boy, I don't even want to think about it. :P

McQueen and Sally!

So, I've been looking for a car for quite a while and today my mom and I went out to a friend's house to look at a potential car for me. It's a metallic blue 2000 Ford Taurus. As soon as I saw it I laughed and immediately thought of Sally from Cars. Then I laughed even harder because I thought of Brenden's car, which is a red 2000 Pontiac Grand Am, which reminds me of Lightning McQueen! I thought it was so cute, because if I got this car, then Brenden and I would look just like McQueen and Sally! Then as our friend was explaining to us what was wrong with the car, it was too good to be true. Everything that she pointed out, was the exact same problems that Brenden has on his car. The right side mirror was knocked off in a hit and run accident and needs to be glued back on, and Brenden's is missing completely. The back left window gets stuck sometimes and won't work, Brenden's doesn't roll up and down automatically anymore. You have to do it manually. The AC is out, Brenden's was out for the first 6 months that we dated, and the CD player is an inconvenience because it's in the trunk, which means it's pretty much unusable, and Brenden's doesn't work at all. So as you can see, I was in complete shock at how many things the two cars had in common. It kind of makes me think that this will end up being my first car considering the several similarities! 

My Railroad man

I thought I would just take a second to post about my railroad man, Brenden. He has loved trains since forever, and now he's finally got his dream job working for a shortline railroad out in Granite City, Illinois. I am so proud of him and how he never gave up on this job. He is a natural at what he does, and all the guys out there agree. This is a picture of the two of us on the engine together. I love my railroad man! :)

A very successful day

So, today I woke up feeling the need to apply at a few places for a new job. I currently work at Brunswick Zone, the bowling alley, but I'm just not getting enough hours lately, even after working there for almost 2 years! So...after a lunch date at White Castle with my boyfriend (I know, cheap lunch. But hey, I'm not working enough, so I don't have a lot of money) I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to turn in an application I had filled out. Along with turning it in, I got to speak to the store manager as well! That's always a good thing. The job seems pretty promising. Not full time, but hey, it's money! But I decided to keep searching, just in case that fell through. After stopping at my current job demanding more than my one shift a week, I went to Goodwill to turn in another application. It doesn't seem like the greatest place to work, but the sign on the door said they were hiring 40 hours a week guaranteed! So I thought to myself, why not?

Still in doubt of the last 2 places, I continued my search. I went into Fashion Bug and got an application there, which I filled out later and turned in. Then I went to 2 different daycares and asked for applications, and then to a third one to turn in an application. So, even though I only turned in four applications, I still have two more to fill out and turn in. I would say this day was very successful. I'm going to be a freshman in college in the fall, and one shift a week is not going to cut it. Job hunting today was a very good idea. And to top it all off, I bought...wait for it...new toothbrushes and father's day cards on my way home! :) Sounds cheesy, but I felt proud that I made such progress in one day. Who knows what the rest of the week will bring!