HOLLOW...what?

HALLOWEEN!

"Who is the fairest of them all?"

HELLO KITTY

I got the pleasure of taking my niece Ariel (the mermaid princess) around trunk or treating. In HONOR of my CHOKE-A-HOE sisters I decided to be HELLO KITTY. It was like Kemp and Iosua attitude and spirit were there celebrating this holiday with me. BEST part of Halloween-RANDOM foreign people wanting pictures with me at the Gateway Mall. So a German guy was like can I take your picture. Ummn..sure. I'm used to random weird people looking at me anyways....I did serve a mission. Then right after some ASIAN ladies came up to us and was like we want picture. So then they were like we want to have picture with you. So I was so tempted to do a peace sign...since I don't know why I think all Asians do that so I decided against it; then at the last second they both did peace signs. I LOVE IT! It was so awesome. Made the whole stressful Halloween worth it. After...I went to a YSA Halloween dance in SLC. Getting jiggy wit it and getting my groove back. To your shock; I'm so out of it. Couldn't talk to anyone and only HALF danced (which impressed people). BUT, I AM AN AWKWARD RETURNED SISTER MISSIONARY. Which is fine-next year in St. Geezy will make up for it. So my sister Bre was like, "He's cute go talk to him!" & I couldn't/didn't want to. SO LAME...SO THE ONLY guy I talked to was a guy DRESSED UP AS A ELDER....hahahh...twisted I know. It's like I MISS ELDERS...break through...when have I ever admitted that. BUT, i do. My elder friend loves, that hopefully are still friends even after they don't wear the tag anymore. So enjoy the awkwardness of the mission...since after it-you won't have any excuse to be weird like me. LOVE YOU...hope you had a spooky HALLOWEEN. The spookiest thing of all, was...me...not being me.

HOMECOMING TALK

The GOLDEN GIRLS REUNION

Despite all odds; I finally gave my FINAL homecoming talk. It was overwhelming and easy at the same time. I didn't prepare. I pondered on some things that I felt I should say and then did it all by the spirit. It flowed and I didn't take more time than was given to me. Surprising that everyone wished I could have had more time. My theme I was reflecting on was about my personal mission and my SDRC mission and how the two correlate. Our mission is like our mission/earth life. We have loving parents whether Heavenly or mortal that wants us to return to them with honor. Sending us out into a world with as much preparation as we can have. Knowingly, that we can only acquire so little before the mission, but only through the actual experience of heartache and trial will we ever truly learn. That sometimes we forget our purpose in the mission field and in life. & coming back to the center of all missions is our Savior Jesus Christ. His atonement made it possible for our mission to succeed. I've learned that the atonement is real and it covers everything, every possible hurt, sickness and temptation. It has healed my wounded broken heart for me to even be able to function as a representative of Christ. It has given me the strength to tract, to love, to hope for a better world. Not just for me, but for others. We will never get to see the whole plan, but God gives us "letters" from home, meaning He sends us His love through different kinds of things. In my life on earth and TOTALLY on my mission; God has sent me so much love through my SISTER FRIENDS. Golden Girl SISTERS: Beck and Duncan traveled down to be at my homecoming. Though it's been over a year since our crazy roller coaster of a mission in Payson, a part of my heart will always be there. PREPARING me for even more love and heartache in my divine call to Rapid City, South Dakota. I love my missions. I think about it everyday. I realize that I am no longer SISTER ADISON, sister missionary and removing my tag was harder than I thought and imagine. Way harder than the 1st time. I just cried. i love this work. I loved my mission. I loved my friends, my sisters, my loves. I realized a part of me will always be with the people I love. I am with you. I love you, Kemp and Iousa, my sisters. Leaving was hard to do, not because of the "mantle" but because I was leaving you sisters to continue to fight the battle without me. I can't express my love and concern. I think of you always and sometimes think, "if i was still there I could call them." I've hated this past week of no connection with my missionaries. My sisters, my friends. I love you, please remember that. I was nothing more than Sister Adison, another ordinary sister missionary, but I am everything I am now because of your love & help. Miss you, LOVE LOVE, Shannon!

SISTA...A, adison homecoming

WELCOME BACK...to UTAH!
It's official.

Sister Adison is no longer a SISTER. Kiss her goodbye missionaries! NO MORE DRAMA, ELDERS, & WHITE HANDBOOK!
Hello to family, pants and REAL BOYS! So happy to be home, but it's bittersweet. Couldn't imagine what would happen when I did finish. I miss it so much. It's true you feel lost. Even Sister Adison, the worldliest sister missionary is saddened by her new life. I'm just another RM. The last couple of days of withdrawals.
I miss my other sisters...kemp & iosua and the only thing that could make this more special is for them to be here with me.

Loved my Halloween themed airport scene I seriously was like, "Who's family is that?" & it turned out it was mine. Incredible Heavenly Father blessed me to share the gospel with a girl on the plane. Her name was Molle. She was sweet. I felt prompted to share my missionary non-"romance" story. My bad romance; then she opened up. I shared the experiences of what I went through for the past couple of months of tree-lover days & now wondering what to do next. She was so interested and then I taught different parts of the lessons. She is totally wanting to meet ElderHatch& his comp in Pierre. So it was good, a good like member present lesson since everyone was like a member or an elder sitting by us. It was awesome ending with being a facebook friend with her. LOVE THE WORK! God works in awesome ways. The hardest part was leaving the plane and saying goodbye to her, but also saying goodbye to the tag. I will never ever regret anything that I did. I wouldn't change a thing. i am grateful for feeling that way. I love you all. peace out. XOXO-Shannon

THE CLIMB....

"I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming..."

I got my "mission call", well my mini-mission call tonight. Instead of serving for 18 months; I will be serving for 12 weeks on a trial mission to see if I'll be okay physically & mentally. To be honest I wasn't ready to hear it and had no idea it was coming & as fast as it will. I have only 2 weeks to prepare. 2 WEEKS to tie up all loose ends. To say goodbye to my family and friends. I didn't get to do all the things I wanted. I wanted so much to fufill the righteous desires of my heart. I finally got to the point where I understood and realized it wasn't a sin and that I shouldn't feel guilty about what I want. I want to be in Provo. I wanted to be available...I wanted to be available for the possibility...of dating. I want time to finish up school. I want to be 22! I want to be happy. I want to have fun and enjoy my life. I WANTED to finally get back to it...so naturally this mini mission comes at the worse timing, but perfect timing for reality & for the Lord's will.

I know the Lord knows the right timing for everything & everything happens when it's suppose to. I know I'm doing what is right. I am doing everything in my power to show the Lord I'm willing to sacrafice to serve him. Although I have been overwhelmed with everything over the past couple of months, I am certain I can do anything through the Lord & with the strength of Christ.

"Keep on moving. Keep climbing. Keep the faith. It's all about the climb."

A new day has come...

MARCH 25, 2010

"I love to see the temple. I'll go inside someday. I'll covenant with my father. I'll promise to obey. For the temple is a holy place."
I will be able to go to the temple in Salt Lake City. I'm so happy and completely calm and peaceful. I am truly grateful I got to share this experience with those closest to me. I love my family & friends more than ever from learning how much our Father in Heaven loves me.

start a new trend; wear your heart on your sleeve.

All year I've been anticipating the day I become a SISTER missionary & dreading the day I have to wear SISTER missionary clothes.

So......

Here's a tribute to my fashion style inspirations.

Lauren Conrad, Lady GAGA, Camilla Belle, Emma Watson, Jessica Alba, Nicole Richie, Rachel Bilson, & Taylor Swift.

I figure it's a new year & a new style.....unlike the other sister missionaries I have my secret style weapon, my personal stylist:

BRE: the Rachel Zoe of my life. Her style & fashion sense is so BAANNANAS! I literally die, it's so cute. Thanks to her, I will do my traveling & missionary work in STYLE.

"No one on the corner have swagga like us"

S-ingles A-wareness D-ay

"ALL THE SINGLE LADIES....." in Happy Valley....
I got to spend Valentines weekend in the delightful "Happy Valley," and it really was. I love LOVE my friends! So many things happened within the 2 week stay. I L-O-V-E movies, hot-tubing, restaurants, sushi, scooters, BC rooftop, temple trips, girl bonding, BANGS, & BOYS BOYS BOYS! Even though I didn't have an "official crush," my bestie Seth said he'd be my Valentine...only if I'd be his.

"There you have it, folks. Young love, full of promise, full of hope, ignorant of reality."

It was a CRAZY rollar-coaster ride when my best chick-friends met my best friend Seth. They fell in love & wondered why I wasn't. I love him, but I'm not in love with him. It was good to know for myself how I really feel about him. It felt so good to spend the LOVE holiday with people who do love me. Things fell back into place. Life started making sense. I started to think of last Valentine's Day & baseball boy. "We are all programmed to believe that if a guy acts like a total jerk that means he likes you."
REALITY, he doesn't really like you-NO exception! Even in my case, I met his new girlfriend, but luckily I got to spend time with my ideal man to avoid the ex-crush.
I realized after seeing the LOVEY DOVEY Valentine movie, which depicted different aspects of my life; the dating, the best guy-friend, & the rejection.

"You don't keep inklings to yourself! You share them! You're like hey guy, I got an inkling you're headed for a fall here! That's what friends do, that's common knowledge, it's in the damn handbook!"

I really wish someone would have warned me about baseball boy last year. It would have saved me from heartache & my precious time. My closest friends knew what I didn't want to know. He just wasn't into me.

It took a WHOLE year to learn this lesson, if a guy wants to date you, he will make it happen. I'm such a Gigi to get wrapped up in something that's not there, but she does fall in LOVE a whole lot more times than anyone else (like me).

"Because this girl, she is great! She's like... like sunshine. Everything is better when she's there. I can't stand the idea of some jerk hurting her, I just can't. I can't."

i need to take the wisdom from both movies.

"Girls are taught a lot of stuff growing up. If a guy punches you he likes you. Never try to trim your own bangs and someday you will meet a wonderful guy and get your very own happy ending. Every movie we see, Every story we're told implores us to wait for it, the third act twist, the unexpected declaration of love, the exception to the rule. But sometimes we're so focused on finding our happy ending we don't learn how to read the signs. How to tell from the ones who want us and the ones who don't, the ones who will stay and the ones who will leave. And maybe a happy ending doesn't include a guy, maybe... it's you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself up for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending is... just... moving on. Or maybe the happy ending is this, knowing after all the unreturned phone calls, broken-hearts, through the blunders and misread signals, through all the pain and embarrassment you never gave up hope. "

This Valentine's weekend; changes happened..."I got BANGS!" I'm starting over. I am opening my eyes & seeing the signs & new guys. I know now who'll be in my life forever & ones only making an appearance. I am over last year baseball boy! & I know what I want in a guy from seeing my ideal man. I don't need a boy; I have my friends. My happy ending is truly....moving on.