2012: A Year In Review

Now that 2013 has rolled around (and it's been here for awhile now) it's time for me to look back at this past year and think to all the good times I had kind of like I did for 2011.

2012 had some big events in store for me including getting my acceptance into University College of Cork, Gerred graduating from the US Naval Academy, Katie and Phoenix tying the knot, spending the best semester in Ireland, and Gerred proposing to me in Kinsale, Ireland.

It was also a big year for concerts. I wound up seeing Katy Perry, Childish Gambino, Kormac's Big Band, and Mumford & Sons. I even attended two music festivals: the Firefly Music Festival and Silopana Music Festival. Where I got to see The Killers, Modest Mouse, Group Love, Imagine Dragons, Cake, Citizen Kope, G Love & Special Sauce, and many more.

I'd also name 2012 as my year of travel. I traveled all around Ireland and even found the time to visit Northern Ireland, England, and Poland  Not only did I travel through Europe, but back in the United States as well. I hopped between New Mexico, Maryland, Virginia, and Conneticut.

2012 was a ride. Now I'm doing all I can in 2013.

Shannon

Katie & Phoenix's Wedding

June 2, 2012 my best friend, Katie, became a Mrs. when she married Phoenix. Their wedding was one of the best weddings I've been to and was a great showcase of just how much these two love each other. Seriously, the entire day Katie was dancing around singing "It's my wedding day!" and "I'm getting married today!" There wasn't a moment where she wasn't smiling. She smiled while her sister, Andrea, did her hair and make-up, she smiled while she walked down the aisle, andyou could even see the smile when she and Phoenix kissed. She didn't stop smiling once even after all the after parties. This girl was beaming because she finally got to be with her man. And I couldn't be more happy for her.

Here's a peak at their wedding courtesy of Tara Peddicord Photography.

Congrats to the new Mr. & Mrs.,

 I love you both and wish you a life full of happiness together.

Shannon

Firefly Music Festival

On a whim, Gerred, Jack, and I decided to head out to Dover, Deleware for the first annual Firefly Music Festival. Firefly was a mind-blowing 3 day indie music concert, that we got a chance to see all day Saturday. The lineup was solid, we saw Michael Franti & The Spearheads, Grouplove, Young the Giant, Cake, Modest Mouse, Lupe Fiasco, and The Killers.

[Via Firefly and Delaware Online]

It wasn't just about the music, it was the whole scene. The festival was populated with hippies wearing Native American headresses, dreadlocks, war paint, and sarongs. Anywhere I walked there was someone sprawled out on the ground sleeping or someone hoola hooping along with the beat.

There were hot air balloon rides, photobooths, swings built into the trees alongside hammocks, and when it got dark the night was filled with lanterns and string lights that made everything appear to be fireflies. I danced and jumped around to every band and by the end I was beyond exhausted, but so glad that I got to go to Firefly.

Shannon

July Happenings

July has been a busy month for me so when I wasn't teaching, waitressing, or ringing up frozen yogurt I made a real adventure of my day off and went off exploring the East Coast. Here's some images of my 

July adventures.

Power Outage // When July arrived, the power went out for miles. I was driving home from work when each of the lights on my street went off one by one as if someone had used a deluminator. Luckily, my family and I left for the beach right around the time that the week long power outage struck.

Beach // I was at the beach for an entire week reading, relaxing and playing cornhole. I took this picture one day when I went out on the beach with my younger cousins Kara and Tara. We were all resting around reading books (and I was sort of in a bad mood) when suddenly our other cousins, Brian and Charlie came out onto the beach playing Mumford & Sons songs and we slowly started to sing with them and I felt better.

4th of July // It was crazy at the beach house. All I can say was that the next day there was lettuce all over the lawn, green food dye mixed into most of the food, a jump related leg injury, and glowsticks scattered in the pool.

Annapolis Irish Festival // We got these tickets from Phoenix and the festival was right up our alley. I rocked out to some great songs by The Rovers while going from tent to tent. I picked up a Guiness Gaelic Footballer Pub Sign for my Dad's bar he's building in the basement that says "Guinness, Beer of Strength" in Irish. And Gerred even got me a beautiful music box that plays an Irish lullaby and I absolutely love it. After heading to that festival I'm certainly ready to head to Ireland.

Firefly Music Festival // There will be more to come on the Firefly Music Festival, but I must talk about this sparkled up, jort + indian headress wearing hula hooper. He was amazing and was just about everywhere dancing to the beat and getting low to some pretty sweet songs.

The Killers // They were at Firefly and they were amazing. There was so much hype, dancing, and the light show was amazing. The only thing that could have made it better was fireworks. Which went off 3 times during the show and there was even a finale fireworks display.

How was your July?

Shannon

Gerred's Graduation

I know this post is a little late, but the graduation photos just came in. So I'm excited to share with you how Gerred graduated with his class of 1099 midshipman from the United States Naval Academy on May 29, 2012.

There was lots of Pomp and Circumstance the whole day and it was certainly a Navy event as Governor O'Malley, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Marine Corps, and the Secretary of Defense all happened to be there. We had about 20 of his friends and family members scattered around the stadium cheering for him when he walked across the stage to receive his diploma.

And here's Gerred with his well deserved diploma for his Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology. Also, notice his new shoulder boards and cover? After Theo (Gerred's Plebe mini-me) gave him his frist salute and the silver dollar was exchanged, Gerred's Mom and I put on the shoulder boards ceremoniously as his Dad put gave him his cover. 

Way to go Gerred! We are so proud of all you've done.

Shannon

Duke Creative Writing Workshop

This summer I will be working with one of my favorite teachers from High School, Ms. T. She was both my AP English Language teacher as well as the advisor to Etchings, the Literary Magazine at South River, which I was actively involved in. Together she and I will be running a Creative Writing camp for gifted and talented kids at Washington College. Since the class is for Middle School children, we will be reading, The Hunger Games!

As excited as I am for the upcoming creative writing class I'm going to teach in three weeks I am also a little nostalgic for the Creative Writing Workshop I attended back in 2009 at Duke University. That two week long camp was just about one of my favorite summer memories and I still keep in touch with most of them and we are all from different states!

The classes the camp offered, really opened my eyes to the world of creative writing. The drills and lessons sparked creativity in me and really did enhance my writing. We read many short stories and poems (that I still have,) wrote and we even gave really constructive feedback on the stories to one another.

When we weren't in class we'd usually be hanging in the common room playing the dart game, playing dodgeball, or just generally being silly. We even had a camp dance where I both had an awkward date and passed out on the dance floor. My favorite events were definitely a combination of karaoke and the talent show where Dibo and I did an impromptu lip sync performance of Elephant Love Medley.

And one night we even traveled around the college town befriending hippies, hula hooping with them and even drinking some fresh milk from a dairy farm not to far from campus. The friendship, the writing, and the memories will always be with me from that wonderful summer.

Shannon

USA vs. Brazil

I attended my first pro soccer game the other day where USA faced Brazil at FedEx field. Even though, Brazil won 4-1, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time cheering down at the players and loving every minute of it.

We (Gerred, Pip, Gerome, Ross, and I) were up in the nosebleeds in just about the same spot that I was in at the Army Navy game in December. Except, instead of complaining about how cold it was while putting toe warmers in my socks I was fanning myself off from the heat.

Brazil had some fancy footwork that went along with their ideal of playing the "beautiful sport," while America was agressive...and good looking. Also the guy in front of us kept saying "This is a home game, let's act like it!" Then there was mass amounts of "USA! USA! USA!" cheering followed shortly there after with "Ole ole ole ole." Gotta love soccer fans.

Oh and the last picture is of Pip retrieving the backpack he hid in the bushes at the start of the game. We were a little surprised no one stole it.

Go USA!

Shannon

Blogger Blitz

Since I started my blog back in November, I've only met a few bloggers outside the blogosphere. But this weekend I took the metro all the way to I to Marvin a bistro bar off of 14th Street for the long anticipated Blogger Blitz DC hosted by {av} of Long Distance Loving. Now that for me was a feat because I've never traveled into DC alone, and frankly I haven't traveled outside of Annapolis on my own. But as soon as I walked in I realized I was not in any way alone because there were tons of other bloggers there. 

{Pictures borrowed from Case Study and Hello Suburbia}

Lots of the ladies were lifestyle bloggers which made me feel better and the rest were primarily fashion bloggers who were all dressed perfectly from head to toe. I stuck close to Lisa from Hello Suburbia for the majority of the night and we got along really well based on our awkwardness and love for photography. Though I was a bit shy, I was able to meet a bunch of new people who have some blogs that are really top notch and really knew their way around the blogger world. So I picked up on a few things that I need to do:

1. I need to create a better blog design and ask for help doing so.

2. I need to become more graphic with my posts so that they are reader friendly (Psst..do you like this new way?)

3. I need business cards. Like I really do.

4. I need to be more confident (and fashionable because that never hurts.)

It really was a great experience meeting other bloggers and learning tips from veterans as well as venturing out into DC with a new found independence.

Shannon

Gerred's Graduation Party

Memorial Day was Gerred's big graduation party. We grilled up some hot dogs and burgers and even put out a few maryland dishes like crab dip, crab cakes, and crab balls for our friends and families and had a great time. 

It was great having his extended family (20 or so of them flew out from New Mexico for his graduation) meet my extended family. Towards the end once I heard a few saying they were part of my PopPop's fan club (you just need to meet this guy) and that my Dad was the best bartender ever after trying his margaritas.

Gerred got a lot of cards that day from the guests as well as a few big ticket items. My grandparents gave Gerred a challenge coin display holder which was filled immediately with two new coins from some military guests. Gerred's parents got him a cover bag to go with the new cover and shoulder boards they got him. Then my parents gave him a fancy Ensign (this is what he is now as an 01 after Graduating) box full of cuff links, a belt puckle, and special pins.

Then came my gift. One that I had been working on for over a month conferring with several members of his family and mine along with facebook to piece together. It's a scrapbook of all four years at the academy. The outside cover is made by my wonderful Grandma out of Gerred's old uniform.

There's over 40 pages so far with a few open spaces for his graduation picture. Here are just a few samples of the pages I made.

It was a wonderful Memorial Day Gradutation Party and it was definitely a great turnout by all.

Shannon

Katie's Bridal Shower

Katie had a a tea party themed party for her Bridal Shower and it was absolutely adorable. We all wore floral dresses, drank tea and lemonade while chatting around mass amounts of tea party food.

Finger Sandwiches, Scones, and Vegan Cupcakes Oh my! See the pink and red cake pops over to the right? They were made by Holly the beauty blogger from Holly Says Hey. Her how to instructions can be found here and are a thousand times better than the cake pops Kacie and I made.

Towards the end of the night we got out the Girls Night Out Table Topics. We went around the table asking silly questions to one another and really had a blast.

The bridal shower was so enjoyable and it's almost countdown time until the wedding!

Shannon

Mother's Day

All day today Gerred, Dad, and I cleaned the house like crazy before Mom came home from New York where she saw Wicked with her friends. Jealousy from her broadway trip aside, it was great to see her and I know she was very happy to see a clean house and some smiling faces. 

We had a great day together and I am so grateful to have a mom like her. I can definitely see already that our relationship is coming out of the teenage problem years and blossoming into a much better mother-daughter relationship and that makes me so happy. And not only am I grateful for my own mom, but to all the women in my life who have been there for me.

Love to all the moms!

Shannon

2 Years

For two years now I've been dating Gerred and I could not be any happier. Honestly, we get along so well. We are both a bit weird and balance each other out very nicely. I'm the creative one, he's the technical one. I'm the traveling English major, he's the soon-to be Navy Pilot. But I'd like to take a moment to talk about how the two of us met.

On my 18th Birthday, Katie, Phoenix and I threw a Jersey Shore Party for our collective birthdays. I had never really seen the show, but I was game. Around that time I'd just broken up with my then boyfriend (he's actually a cool guy and we are still friends) and needed a date to prom. So my scheming friends decided to invite Phoenix's roommate from the Naval Academy to the party. I kind of shrugged the idea off though and was like, guys I'm just here to party.

He came to help set up the party and we were both a little shy when we met each other. I had this weird confidence thing during that time though since I was so excited to be single that I pretty much just ignored him the entire party and mingled with everyone at the party. But, by the end of the night while we were all watching Jersey shore he started throwing skittles at me and starting up a conversation. I realized he was funny and, well, kind of cute.

Later on that night after everyone left and Gerred, Katie, and Phoenix were about to leave my mom finally cut in and asked "So, Gerred, are you taking Shannon to prom?" Honestly, mom? I just met the guy this morning, I can't go to prom with him that easily. I then played the whole situation off as if it were meant to happen, "Yeah, so do you want to go to prom with me?" Gerred then replied, "Oh, so this is the Sadie Hawkins prom then is it?" "Sort of." "I'd be happy to go, can I have your number." And just like that we were going to prom together.

I'm pretty sure by the night of prom, Gerred and I had already gone on one date and were texting each other like crazy. Can I just say prom was amazing? It was definitely one of the best nights of my life and I know that's a little unheard of but all the "great expectations" that prom is made out to be were totally surpassed that night because I got to dance with Gerred. After that we started dating, May 9, 2010.

Dating Gerred has been a blast and what a wonderful two years it has been.

Shannon

May Day

May day! May day! May is finally here, and like any good group of young scholars, Washington College celebrates this pagan holiday the right way by upholding traditions. Strong traditions like downing bottles of whisky, stripping down to absolutely nothing, and running laps around the flagpole. Yeah, that's right the one thing that Washington College is known for is the annual late night naked run. 

May day started out as a nice little get together on the green with a professor in the 70's that involved wine and poetry. However, as this tradition was passed down there was a greater emphasis on the wine and the poetry got a little more intense as students started to grasp onto the fact that the pagans used to dance naked around maypoles.

This year I watched out for a few friends that had run out on the green. See, people are known for stealing others clothes as a prank. That's one of the many reasons why I will never participate in Mayday. I still can't believe the number of people out there, it's almost as weird as the day when I went to Blarney castle and there were 100 nudists (it was for a photograph.) .The spectacle was great, since some guy was playing bongos and one guy had an American flag cape and people chanted "USA!"

You got to love tradition. Especially a naked tradition.

Shannon

Croquet Match 2012

This year my friends and I finally headed over to St. Johns for the annual croquet match between St. Johns and The Naval Academy. It's been an age old tradition (30 years to be exact) in which Navy boasted that they could beat the Johnnies in any sport. Well, the Johnnies picked croquet and had the Navy drink a ton (which the celebration is known for) and St. Johns has continually won. 

Here Gerred and I are dressed to the "southern croquet" nines. At the croquet match you're supposed to dress as if it were The Kentucky Derby, with Lilly Pulitzer dresses and big floppy hats. Now while I did not necessarily do that, I did manage to find myself a beautiful yellow Calvin Klein dress and Gerred a Ralph Lauren shirt for a really reasonable price at Marshalls. Also I love Gerred in his little seersucker bow tie!

Here we are with the best friends, Katie and Phoenix. We went for lunch at Joss's and then had icecream after. I got Strawberry Oreo which is just about the best flavor in the world. Oh and these two are getting married pretty soon and I couldn't be happier for them...since they look so stylish.

Oh and here's a group shot of us all (Rick, Sarah, and Lucy not included.) Drinking and silly prep fashion definitely included in here. I do want to say though that there were some extremely silly outfits walking around at the match. We saw a guy with a top hat, five men with jorts and suspenders, and what looked like the Beatles in their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club outfits.

It was such a fun day even if we didn't even watch the croquet match.

Shannon

Spring Fling

Advising Day is here and that can only mean one thing-- Spring Fling! It's the day where all classes are canceled, the Freshmen get some advising, and everyone else just gets to go crazy on the green. Basically there's a bunch of inflatable fun like a moon bounce, an obstacle course, bungee races,  jousting, a rock climbing course, as well as a mechanical bull and a mastodon hunt. The whole event is set up by the RAs (including myself) and it was so fun.

Temperance entering the obstacle course. 

Alex falling with loss on the other side of the obstacle course.

 Sara riding the mechanical bull. She was probably one of the few people who did it correctly and lasted.

Shannon vs. Shannon

Shannon in correct indiginous stance to attack the mastodon.

Becca throwing that spear like a champ. Do you see the baby mastodon in the background?

The Spring has flung!

Shannon

26th Company Dining Out

Friday, I went to Gerred's last 26th Company Dining Out and had an great time seeing everyone and cracking jokes all night.

Dining Outs are formal dining events for midshipman and their companies to form camaraderie by relaxing, joking, and drinking. Midshipman can invite their significant others and show them off before the dinner comprised of a bunch of silly rules, like one must not utter "bro," "broski,""broseph," or any other variant of the word bro during dinner. When midshipmen slip up, they are called out and sent to the grog (a messy concoction of gross stuff like tabasco sauce, orange juice, or whatever else they find around the yard) as punishment.

This dining out was great since it was at the Marriott and Katie and Phoenix weren't in France this year, so I got to hang out with Katie all night. We both wore some pretty classy black dresses that fit the formal cocktail attire of the night.

We all sat at a table and ate some good food, saw some dance offs, a man carry another man on his back across the room, limericks, drunkenness, and a power point presentation on how to be an effective SWO Officer.

At the end there was a slideshow of each class that showed off goofy pictures of everyone. Gerred's class had a nice one that showed off pictures of them all through the years as well as a few engagements at the end.

In all, I have to say this Dining Out just showed his graduation is coming up and I am absolutely proud of him for all that he's done and will do in future.

Shannon

The Maury Show Bachelorette Party

Katie had one thing on her mind for her Bachelorette Party, to see The Maury Show live. In her words, "There are only a few things I like and Maury is one of them." So Andrea, Caroline, Katie, and I drove all the way up to Connecticut where it is filmed to see the show with her.

Once we made it in line, early the next day, we were so cold waiting outside the show. Katie pulled out her cell phone and began to play some dance beats that we all danced to in order to get our blood pumping. When we walked into the building we were first greeted by the Lie Detector guy. Honestly, I didn't know who he was since I'd never seen the show before and was just some guy in a vest looking to take pictures with ladies.

When they finally let people in the set they pulled us brightly dressed ladies to the side. They first brought us over to an area of 3 reserved seats. Andrea then pointed out that there were four of us, and would you look at it there were five empty spots in the front row. They quickly accommodated us in the front.

The producer came around and began chatting with us and then asked if we wanted our photo taken on the set and told us that we were chosen facebook fans of the day. Being the facebook fan of the day allowed us to sit on the talk show seats, go back stage and see the green room, the hall way, oh and meet Maury Povich. He's really nice by the way.

Then we got around to learning what it meant to be in the audience. The producer told us that we are not meant to watch the show, but to work. Meaning, we had to exaggerate our expressions for each and every emotion. I honestly don't want to see the taping because I certainly look like a goob whenever I thumbs down the cheating spouses or supposed baby daddies.

The show was crazy though especially since the day I saw it from the front row was the first day I actually saw The Maury Show. Seriously the six segments they filmed was on baby mama drama. These ladies popped on the show accusing men of having the same eyes as their baby and that they had to be the baby daddy. There was fighting, tons of conniption fits, as well as the famous lines of Maury "You are not the baby's father."

It was an amazing Bachelorette Party and Katie absolutely loved it. She was about an 11 or 12 on the happiness scale and loved how everyone congratulated her on her upcoming wedding. Seriously though, Bachelorette parties should be this oddly creative instead of the same old same old club and bar. 

Do something you'll remember for your Bachelorette Party. Something where you get to dance on stage with Maury Povich.

Shannon

The Ball

The Great Gatsby Birthday Ball was a bit of a mess this year. The main reason being that the awesome DJ from last year wasn't there and instead a fake band with a laptop played awful music all night long. However the fun I had with my friends made up for all of that. 

Sarah and Jenna did my hair which proved a difficult task if you've been following curl quest. We went with a simple updo in the end which balanced out the flashy sparkles of my dress. While Sarah and Jenna were doing hair, I did the make-up of the quad girls: Kelly, Caitie, and Christine.

After we were all done up we headed over to Sarah's friends apartment for dinner. I met some amazing girls (Becky, Kristin, and Becca) and had a great time there.

 Becca also happens to be dating a Marine and so the guys had a little military bonding time. Here they are in B-Boy stance.

After dinner Gerred and I made a quick appearance at Harford where we got to see the suite girls. Check out Aileen and Emma's amazing 1920s fashion!

Here's all the Ravenclaw girls!

Here is Gerred and I before the ball. I loved my Rent the Runway dress and had so many compliments the whole night. I'll definitely be using Rent the Runway for the rest of the military formals I'll have to go to.

Still had fun despite the lack of beat on the dance floor.

Shannon