Danny Boy

One of my favorite songs ever would definitely have to be Danny Boy. Being Irish, I can't even being to count all the times I've heard it, but it never gets old. I love beautiful, traditional, Irish music, and this is definitely top of my list! I've been working on this song for a little while now, and I thought I would give it a little test drive today. So here is me singing one of my favorite songs, Danny Boy. Let me know what you think. :)

Cups with the Twins

So the twins love the Cups song almost as much as I do, so I decided to make a video of them since they're so cute when they try to sing the song with me. This may be my best post ever!

Hope this puts a smile on your face! :)

Cups

Made a video of my new obsession...the song Cups from Pitch Perfect. This is my new favorite song. P.S.: If you have not already seen Pitch Perfect, you should definitely watch it!

Time to get serious.

So I figure it's about time for me to make my decision on the 2 songs I will be singing in my video submission to The Voice. I have chosen one song: How Great Thou Art, and I have started practicing making a video of it. Eventually I will have to sing it with a track, but for now it's just a capella. Let me know what you think and let me know if you have any ideas for the other song I should sing. Thanks! and Enjoy!

Just Keep Singing

I haven't done a very good job at keeping up with my blog, so I thought it was about time to put up some more songs. Comments and suggestions are welcome as always. :)

Practice Makes Perfect

So I have been practicing more and more on my singing. I'm almost ready to maybe do a real video of a whole song. However, I haven't decided which song to use yet. Any suggestions are welcome as always. So without further ado, here a few more...

Glad you Came-Shannon Version

Annie's Song-Shannon Version

Country Roads-Shannon Version

Let it Be-Shannon Version

How Great Thou Art-Shannon Edition

My personal favorite of this round is How Great Thou Art. I got the idea after listening to Carrie Underwood's version of it. I hope you all enjoy! :)

I ran a 5k!!!

I finally got to go visit Laura and her little familia, as well as my Grandma this weekend. It was so nice to see them. It had been way too long since I last saw them. I drove up the the Kevin Cruess family because we all wanted to participate in the Walk/Run for LIFE in Roseville. I ran my first 5k since Cross Country, and I was pretty proud of myself. I was able to run the whole thing, and my time wasn't awful. I hope to do more 5k's in the future though, and I hope to get much better times!

I had a great weekend, even though it FLEW by. Spending time with family is always worth it. Playing and dancing with my little nieces is always a blast, and driving for hours in a car with a sick Benji is always fun. He was actually very good for a sick little boy. He did a lot of sleeping. (I hope he is feeling better now.) Car trips are always awesome when you have a little kids in the back singing/trying to dance to Party Rock Anthem and Gangnam Style. While at Laura's house, it was so fun to see her little ones growing up. (It was also sad to see how much I've missed.) They were dancing, singing, talking, riding bikes, and just being basically AWESOME. I would expect nothing less though, of course.

I am so glad that I was able to spend the weekend with great people, eating delicious food (thanks Chris for the BBQ), and having a fun time. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! <3

When Country Comes to Town

So here are a bunch of country songs. Since I aspire to be a country singer, it is probably smart to sing some country songs. ;) Oh, and I threw in One Day by Matisyahu as well.

My Best Friend-Shannon Edition

Someone Else's Star-Shannon Edition

Mama's Song-Shannon Edition

Pontoon-Shannon Edition

One Day-Shannon Edition

Heads Carolina, Tails California-Shannon Edition

That Song in my Head-Shannon Edition

Mean-Shannon Edition

Since I'm putting these videos up, I thought I might as well type a little something. Country music has always been my favorite genre of music. I feel like each song tells a story, and I feel like country music is so easy to relate to. For everything that has ever happened to me, good or bad, I can think of a country song that is perfect for the situation.

My favorite female country artist would probably be Carrie Underwood or Shania Twain. My favorite male country artist would probably be either Garth Brooks, George Strait, or Brad Paisley. My favorite country group would probably be either Little Big Town or Lady Antebellum. My favorite country song, if I could only choose ONE, would be My Best Friend by Tim McGraw. Although my top 3 all-time country favorites would be My Best Friend, Blown Away (Carrie Underwood), and Unanswered Prayers (Garth Brooks).

I clearly like way too many country songs and artists, but what can I say? I LOVE country music.

Going to see the boyfriend...

This past week (or about 10 days) I was able to fly away to Ohio to see the best boyfriend in the world. It was a great trip. I was able to spend some great quality time with Scottie. :) I am so blessed to have such a great best friend! Since I have been missing my friends in Steubenville (well mostly Katie), Scott drove me to Steubenville for a few days and I surprised Katie and all my friends at Franciscan. Here's the video I got of me surprising Katie. She literally got all teary-eyed, but of course not until after I turned the camera off.

When we went back to Cincinnati, I was able to spend a lot of time with the wonderful Bissonnette family.  I even got to help with school. Clearly I was a great teacher... ;)

Scott and I had so much fun! Highlight of my trip was probably our fantastic date. We went to dinner at The Meritage where we ate until we couldn't eat anymore, and then received free cheesecake. After dinner we decided to walk 20 miles so we could get Graeter's Ice Cream. Ok maybe it wasn't quite 20 miles. But we did have a nice long walk. :) Then, we went to Graeter's and had some of the best ice cream EVER! (For the record, I had to finish Scott's because he was so ridiculously full. Probably because I made him finish my food the entire time I was there.) BEST.DATE.EVER. 

Another highlight was when we went to Bicentennial Commons and I made friends with a goose that I named Ted. He scared me at first, but when I realized how nice he was, I decided to be friends with him. I almost asked him to take our picture, but he was too short, so the camera angle would have been awkward. 

It was a great trip. Well worth it for sure. Sorry girls for taking the most amazing guy off the market. ;) And thank you Bissonnettes for your hospitality and for all the fun memories! 

A few more before the weekend..

So before the weekend (when I will rest my voice), I am putting up a few more songs. And special thanks to Sara for helping me with some new ideas. Keep the suggestions coming, or tell me which ones are your favorites. The Voice HERE I COME ;)

Help me...

So I'm sorry that there's only one more song and it's really short, but I have been trying really hard to think of songs to try, but I am having a hard time. I would love to hear your suggestions for songs I should try. I am a little bit stuck. So thanks for helping me. :) And here is a short preview of another song.

My Voice

So one of my favorite shows on television these days is The Voice. It is BY FAR the best singing/musical show on the air. I am completely obsessed with it and I think that it offers a wonderful opportunity to singers to be able to live their dreams. I have decided to send in an audition video to The Voice and see if I get invited to be on the show. However, before I'm ready for that, I have some practicing to do. I haven't been singing very much lately, so I am going to keep working on my singing and hopefully my voice will be ready soon. I am also trying to pick a song, so I'm going to have you listen and give me feedback and tell me which songs sound the best. Hopefully soon I will have better videos of me singing, but here are some different songs I'm thinking about. Also Suggestions for songs will be greatly appreciated. If one stands out please let me know so I can practice it more and perfect it! Thanks! And you should watch NBC's The Voice on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Easter 2013

This Easter was probably the best Easter I have ever had. My boyfriend, Scott came to see me, and I was so happy to be with him. I also got to spend Easter with my brothers Robbie and Kevin and their families. We were all at my parents house on Easter hunting eggs, eating, and spending quality time together. I had such a wonderful day. "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad."

Scott and me.

Easter Egg hunt for the kiddos.

Lily was the Easter Egg hunt champion and here is her trophy.

Cousins!

DANCE

A new season of Dancing with the Stars has begun, and now I miss dancing more than I usually do. Ballroom dancing is so beautiful and graceful, and it actually takes skill, talent, hard work, and dedication unlike most dances people do on the dance floor nowadays. I am going to name who I think the top 3 will be on this season of Dancing with the stars:

Zendaya

Kellie Pickler

Aly Raisman

I will be voting for Kellie Pickler. 

When I was little I always wanted to grow up and be on the stage. I wanted to be a singer, actress, and dancer. And what kid of dancer did I want to become? A prima ballerina. I would wear my pink poofy dress and dance everywhere, especially in front of a mirror. Pink was always my favorite color, so I thought I was born to be a ballerina.

Unfortunately, I was never able to do ballet until I was about 14 years old. But, better late than never. I was so excited to finally be able to dance! My first performance was a ballet dance to the song The Prayer at my sister Laura's wedding reception. It was my gift to her (and it replaced my maid of honor speech). I was only able to be in one more actual performance: my dance studio's production of Snow White. I wish I had been able to dance more, but I am so grateful that I got to be a ballerina even if only for the short time that I was. 

I may never have become a prima ballerina or a professional dancer, singer, or actress, but I did get to be in ballet, choir, and drama classes. So, here's to doing the things we love! Maybe one day I will get to learn a little ballroom dancing. Until then, I will just keep watching Dancing with the Stars..

Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Today is Tell a Fairy Tale Day. Surprisingly, I had never heard of that. But, when I found out about it, I got super excited. I have always loved fairy tales and princesses and happy endings. Beauty and the Beast was always my favorite disney movie as a kid. I think that was mostly because Belle has brown hair, but I always noticed other things about her that I felt were similar to me. I even dressed up as Belle for a choir concert.

  

I had a Belle singing solo and a smal ballet dance. I love to read and I used to read for hours and hours. I love to get to know people because I think what's on the inside is more important than looks. Obviously I don't want to end up with a big hairy monster, but I do think that personality and heart are so much more important.

When the movie Tangled came out, I found myself a new favorite movie. Although I don't have much in common with Rapunzel, I absolutely love the movie and it's music.



Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are definitely top listed Fairy Tales for me as well. I love to read Fairy Tales and watch movies/tv shows that are based on Fairy Tales. Once Upon a Time is probably my new favorite tv show. The point of all my rambling about princesses and fairy tales is that I think everyone should dream big and make their own lives into fairy tales. It doesn't have to be dramatic or extraordinary to be a fairy tale. The important part of the story is the love and happiness that is found. So everyone...Dream Big and Love BIGGER! Happy Tell a Fairy Tale Day!

I love when Lily dresses up like Cinderella! 

Love...

The most spectacular,indescribable, deep euphoric feeling for someone...
love (noun): a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

Sometimes people don't know how to recognize LOVE. This is something that a my mom's very good friend gave me about LOVE...

Love is a whisper

Lust is a roar.

Love is content

Lust wants more.

Love is offered

Lust just takes.

Love mends hearts

that Lust breaks.

Valentine's Day is the perfect day to remember what true love is. There's a Great Book I know of that has some great things to say about LOVE...

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

But God shows His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should never die, but have eternal life! John 3:16

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians13:4-7

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! 

Walk for Life West Coast 2013

On Saturday, January 26, I went to San Francisco for the Walk for Life West Coast. I don't understand how someone could kill a helpless little baby while they are still in their mother's womb, but for some reason too many people think that it's ok. I still have hope, however, because about half a million people marched in Washington DC on friday, and about 50,000 walked through San Francisco on saturday. Even though that many people are speaking out, the media still ignores it. If we keep trying though, I think that eventually they will have to listen to us! "For with God, nothing shall be impossible." I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to do something for the innocent little babies, who are helpless without us. Let us give them a voice!

LIFE, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness..

Be their voice..

They can't ignore us forever..

If God is with us, then who can stand against us?

"How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers." -Mother Teresa

Choose LIFE...your mom did.

Life is beautiful..

We did it for the babies.. 

"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." -Deuteronomy 30: 19-20

School Days...

So this morning while I was getting the boys ready for school, I decided to take some pictures of them. They were in such a happy mood. Their big smiles are so contagious! They were pretty tired, but they were still smiling away. They definitely think it is their job to make everyone around them happy. One of my favorite parts of each day is when they come home from school. Every day, I ask them if they had fun at school and they shout, "YES!" Then i ask them what they did at school, and every day, without fail, they reply, "BUS!" It makes me laugh every single time! These boys are the sweetest! I love my job!

Jonathan and Chance

So precious! 

Super Bowl XLVII

So my Niners are going to the Super Bowl! Am I excited? Is that a serious question? OF COURSE! I can't wait! This is our year! I am so happy my team has done so well this season. Now it's just time to wait for the big day! I AM ECSTATIC!

Lily is excited! 

Let's go NINERS! Don't let me down!

Super Bowl XLVII February 3, 2013 New Orleans. Don't you dare forget to watch it! ;) I will be!

My Mom and Me

The other day, my mom and I went to lunch together and spent the day together. We went to In'N'Out Burger, Costco, and Best Buy and we had a great time. I started to think that maybe I don't always appreciate her as much as I should. Moms do so much for us and most of the time, they get nothing in return. They really are the perfect example of both LOVE and SACRIFICE. I only hope that one day, I will be as wonderful a mother as my mom is! I love you, Mom!

Knott's Berry Farm with my wonderful Mother!

Sally!!!!!

Zuma Beach! 

In the summer, we went on a trip to Knott's Berry Farm. On the way back, we stopped at Zuma Beach for a little while. It was one of the best times I've ever had with my mom. It was just the two of us spending quality time together! I'm glad that I will always be able to have that memory with her! Don't ever take your mom for granted! Moms are the best!

First Day...

Today is my first day taking care of the boys without Margaret. Today is going to be a wild and crazy adventure, but I am very excited to be embarking on this journey. Chance and Jonathon are very cute and sweet, but I am still going to have to discipline them. This is going to be the closest thing to parenting besides, well...parenting. I think that they are going to brighten my life while I'm with them, and I am really looking forward to spending more time with them. Wish me luck on my first day on my own!

Hats. :)

Silly Boys. :p

All smiles. :)

So far this morning has been great. The boys slept in, they ate their breakfast all up, and they are playing nicely together in the toy room. All small successes that I am very proud of. :) Here's to a great rest of the day!