mo' music

more good music.
was introduced to this one by josh

then i didn't realize they sang this song as well, which has always been a favorite.

and this defines me and my love...

getting ready for my travels to fiji...and this takes me there in more ways than one.

songs that make me feel better.

came across this title while on stumbleupon.com (which is the best site ever) and thought i'd create my own post of it. 

love music.
love listening to the way words are used.
love how notes draw emotion without saying a thing.
love when the two come together in a unified effort.

music can get me riled up.  (LOVE jogging and working out to good tunes)
music can sooth my broken heart
music can give me hope, courage and inspire me to do more than i thought.

music. is. magic.

below are a few tunes that make feel better.

this song does something inside of me--it makes me want to run my heart out (which is my measurement of "goodness")

this song makes me move "take to the sky"

makes me want to get up and get going with my life. don't let the little things get me down. and seriously, kelly is the cooooolest.

weezer + a little bit of magic = big fat smile

sports videos and the passion that goes with it is definitely motivation to get back up.


this song is a favorite...but really who doesn't love this song (yes, even anti-smiley miley fans can't deny that this is good). does bring back memories of a night being sick on the couch and having a man love and take care of me.



the beat they have in their music: love. it. reminds me there are things in life that are out of my control. so take courage.

road trips & a tidal wave.

the shawn and i are taking a road trip tomorrow to visit one of my g-friendies and her husband in arizona.

road trips seem to clear the brain and boy do we need it.

we are being confronted with decision after decision, like a tidal wave that just keeps growing and growing and will, at any unexpected minute crash down capsizing us.  answers just don't seem to be coming and the anticipation and constant question of "what should we do" looms overhead.  i fear time will take away our opportunities.  i've been holding my breath ready to be capsized by water, only the water hasn't fallen. 

and i wonder, why hasn't it?

maybe the tidal wave, this fearful unknown, growing anticipation and confusion above me won't actually crash down on me. 

maybe, just maybe it is there to push me the safety of the shore...

i don't know the purpose of this or understand it.

so, i'll try to take a step back, recognize reality, measure it, take a deep breath and then make the decisions within my control.

there is purpose and reason behind this.
i believe in moving forward with no regrets.
i believe that there are no mistakes but only opportunities of learning, if i allow.


what i am learning is priceless.

and who knows where it will take us.

who knows.
:)

it's perspective...

this song once hurt. but only when seen in the wrong light.  reality. they're my words. unabashedly, with courage and honesty ...my love is deeper and more timeless than i have been able to understand.
and it scares me.
i have and will always love... and continue to wait.

patiently.

and hoping
it's bringing me
     one.
         step.
             closer.

the right way i started my morning...

listening to these beautiful people. 

in a beautiful place.

it makes me yearn for a simple life.

one that consists of a beat-up car and a nap in a hammock 

listening to the wind in the trees and the tide of the waves.

(ps. i miss you fiji...)

deja vu

sitting on the couch.
dressed up and ready to go--

do you ever feel like everyone is going, buzzing, and filled with energy, passion, but you?

i feel it's been this way for too long.
i just can't jump back on the carousel and it won't ever stop to wait for me.  but it really shouldn't. 
i know that.

i'll keep sitting here.  waiting.  i probably shouldn't. 
but i will.
for tonight.

airport conversations

sitting at the airport.
flight has been delayed.
a group of women sitting next to me.  completely involved in their own conversation; oblivious that it has overstepped and entered the "comfort zones" of everyone else in the waiting area.  sharing their thoughts about relationships, children, their hygeine and life for all of us to be apart of.  awkward.  just kind of. 

probably not.

no doubt the tables have been reversed more than just once.

ps.  not ready to come home and take on life.  i should be--5 days of freedom is more than i could ask for.  but nope.  not ready one bit.

youtube.com

here's what has entertained us lately:

this gets me rolling, "i want to go to parties with jennifer just to make observations"



we've become a fan of this country singer. good songs:








we love him and his music





and LOVE this song. seriously:

it's hard being married to the shawn...especially at the airport ;)

Source: imgfave.com via Mary on Pinterest

me to the emphis

shawnshine surprised me with a ticket to visit my brother in Memphis for my birthday.
he scheduled it with my brother and then got the time off at work for me.

it's been a treat.
swimming, playing with the kiddos, shopping, and just chillaxin.

poor shawnshine is at home studying away getting ready for his 8hour law exam.

what a trooper.

please don't leave!

shawnshine and i LOVE utah summer evenings.  they are the best hands down and boy have we missed them while being out in dc.

shawnshine and sam riding in the back of the truck

katie, andrea, and i

the boys doing what they do best

us girls went and took pics of the beautiful scenery and flowers while the boys set up the campfire.  they stood staring and perfecting that fire for at least an hour...we love our mountain men-

yeah, that's the s'more...crazy

we went last weekend with our good friends up the canyon for a campfire and to cook us up some hot dogs.  campfire hot dogs "are da best" and then there's the s'mores...oh, they were huge and out of control. 

and then we had to try anthony's family/australian bananas wrapped in bacon, cooked over the campfire.  nasty sounding, right?  suprisingly, not so bad though--

headed home under the stars and grateful for such good friends.
love you guys!

the simple...the perfect

pizza, cuddling, and watching a movie until way TOO late at night on a work night.... (that was the time we got started ;)

LOVE being with the shawnshine.

byu, little league, and rockin' to the oldies

i took thursday off.
and then i took friday off too.
i'm much better at playing than working.  pretty sure of it.

we started the morning in a race to get down to byu for education week.  we split up for the first two classes and i just soaked as much of them in that i could.
loved this:  "my problems are such a full time job.  i don't have time to look or focus on yours"  (a nice little reminder that the only changes in my realm of responsibility are ones that i can control.  not the shawn's)
and this:  embrace ME (all of me) and celebrate others.  mistakes, stupidity are human.  let it go.
this one:  2-2-1 theory (2-eyes, 2-ears, 1-mouth)  listen & observe more the talk
one more:   take away fear.  where would that take me?

okay, 1 more:  frequent positive and low risk interaction = builds a relationship of trust

so in our race down to provo, i somehow forgot to bring make-up and hair stuff.  so it was a la natural mary day :)

i met up with my sister chris.  she is one amazing mom--and was just loving her week away soaking it all in as well.

ran into the newlyweds, sara cropper and shane.  giddiness.  love her. love her. 

the shawn is derek zoolanders back-up isn't he good

wore the wrong shoes.  seriously, i was not thinking.  after the blisters and cuts appeared i thought it better to go barefoot all day.  which i then ended up with blisters, cuts, and burned feet from the heated cement.

the shawn and i loved walking around our old stomping grounds.  love byu campus with the incredible mountains that just encompass you.  something comforting about those mountains...like a warm hug.  cheesy but true.  if you live where there is nothing but flat openess, you'd get my drift.

the shawn has been in love with the little league world series.  it puts the biggest grin on his face.  i'll be working in the other room and he'll start whoopin' and hollerin'.  it's like he's a little leaguer again living his glory days of his own Sandlot experience.

we left friday night for a Saville family reunion up in idaho.
falling asleep under the stars, sleeping in our tent cuddling close together, waking up to the sun and crackling campfire, and the shawn bringing me hot chocolate to wake me up.  the day was filled with a job, sand volleyball, a little bit of baseball, and a whole lot of older relatives telling random         stories of back in the day.  i mean, who knew the shawn's great grandfather was a bootlegger that ran to idaho in order to escape going to jail.  ahhh...the stories.

after great conversation, food, love and outdoors, we packed the prius back up and headed home.
can you believe this beauty?

there was a storm coming making the sky and fields a complete and beautiful contrast

saving the day clearing these off the middle of the highway

i didn't realize it was going to be filled with entertainment.  all i had to do was turn on some oldies and i saw a side of the shawn that i hadn't yet seen.  and. it. was. AWESOME.  seriously.  he rocked out and knew the words to just about every single song.  swingin his hips (yes, it is possible to do while buckled in the driver's seat.  who knew right?)  from the deep singers like johnny cash to the high falsetto of the temptations, he was all over the place and i couldn't take my eyes off of him.  didn't want to miss out on what he was going to pull out next.  and he didn't hold back.

gotta love this man.

heather & a late night outing with mac

i have the greatest group of girlfriends.
i can't imagine a life with as much joy & laughter that i have if they weren't in it.  they're beautiful, quirky, and just the most amazing friends i could ask for.  pure hearts and purely entertaining.  i admire each of them.

my pregnant friend,  heather, came over for a jog up the canyon we live next to...it's beautiful. (ever since my run in with police chief "denver" though on my flight from DC i can no longer run alone up there so i take any chance i can when someone comes with me).  no matter how down my day is, no matter how many hits life has given me (which seems to be more than i'd care to admit the last 2 years), i always leave my friend feeling better.  i most often times even leave laughing.  i don't know how she does it, but she's got a gift.  and that gift makes you appreciate life and who you are.  i hope she knows.


we got a new mac.
just to open it is an experience.
when i lifted the tab i thought i heard a chorus of angels singing.  (er...okay, it was actually me singing as if a chorus of angels were singing).  in the marketing world, everyone knows that mac company does a fabulous job giving the buyer an experience not just a product.
and i, for one, enjoyed my experience.

so, last night, we went up to my sister's and my awesome brother-in-law, rob, got us all set-up.
all the new things this computer can do was mind boggling.
am i getting old?  cause this techno stuff is super cool but definitely leaves me in the dust.

i sat catching up with my sister while rob showed the shawn what the newer mac can do.  feel lucky to have family who will make time for us, stay up later than they'd like, and still be all smiles.

all you need...

ps)  i know "ps" usually goes at the end but i'm starting this post with one.  this actually post actually happened a year ago, that's right august 2010, but somehow i found that it hadn't been published.  and i not being one who knows much about blogging, will just have to let it fill in wherever it will. :) 

have we mentioned we love living in slc?  cause we do.
we have this spot up the street from our house that overlooks the capitol and the city.  as the sun sets sparkling of the city lights takes over the valley. 

jumping--only took us a dozen shots.  but oh the fun.  mr. shawnshine kept pulling out these moves that i couldn't get enough of.  and kept me rolling. 






forgive the blurriness.  but isn't the capitol beautiful?
we here in the moore household love our country and find reverence in that building and what it stands for.

you gotta start somewhere...right?

even when you really want something. 
it's still hard to pull away from what feels safe and comfortable.

i had sometime here in salt lake alone while shawn was finishing things up in dc.  it gave me time to look over my life and take that step back that helps bring things into perspective. 

the last few years have been hard.  probably more difficult than other years of my life.  but what did i have to show for it?  it was an empty, blank answer.  i have been so focused on how heavy my pack was that i had left the other parts of my journey a blank, white canvas.  while i know it couldn't have been.  it was just what i chose.

and why did i choose that?  for many reasons i guess. 
but i don't want to choose that any more.

i'm starting a two year plan.  

and today is the begining.

An unbelievable...

the husband and I just got back from a jog...but not just any jog. 

would you believe that we went out our front door and ran around, the Iwo Jima monument, Arlington Cemetary, and the Lincoln Memorial?  All on ONE jog!  yeah, seriously...oh wait AND it was during that magical dusk time, when the breeze cools you down, the lightning bugs begin coming out, the part of summer you CRAVE. 

We went over the bridge, stopped and took a moment to take it all in.  We could see the Washington Monument, the tip of the capital, the Jefferson Memorial, the city skyline of Roselyn.  

when we arrived at the Lincoln Memorial we sat on the steps to talk and take it all in.  amazed at how lucky we are. 

I have some thoughts about Abraham Lincoln as I stood looking at him sitting on his chair, overlooking DC but i'll save that for another evening.

Chinese Class + China Trip = FLASS Fellowship!!!

BIG NEWS!!…

We got the fellowship for Asian studies at the U!! WaHOO!

What does this mean, you ask? Well, it means not only is Shawn’s tuition at the U being paid for BUT he’s getting paid to attend the school! Seriously…SERIOUSLY…how cool.

PS) This fellowship is NOT something that is easy to get (although Shawn may make it look that way ;) Shawn's hard work, dedication, more hard work, late nights of studying, letters from incredibly adoring fans (aka: letters of recommendation) his Smarts, and LOTS of help from the Lord helped him receive this highly notable award!

You are amazing
GREAT JOB LOVE!

SLC Summer

After seeing all these cool pics of Shawn in China you might be wondering to yourself…"so, Mary, what have you been up to while your adventurous and amazing husband is away?”…and to that my friends, I say—a lot of really cool stuff ;)

Due to the fact that we only have one camera (and honestly, I know we’d all LOVE to see pics of what I have been up to—but the Great Wall of China took the “I’m cooler” card and so that’s where you get the pics, and honestly I know I'd rather much see those as well!). But don’t fret I do have this picture to share…what is it?

Oh, it tells so much. One thing for sure is that when I don’t have someone around I have to cook for…I don’t. Yes, that’s orange juice that started growing bacteria…along with everything else in my fridge and cupboards.

I’ve spent my time going to yoga classes(Love Yoga...love it), working on making our little apartment a home (do red and robin egg blue really go together? Well, I sure hope so because those are the two colors I picked and I’m likin’ it, let’s hope Shawn will too :) , reading, playing tennis (not enough though), laughing with the girls, and biking--biking up the canyon, to work, and just all around the city. I LOVE biking. That is a post all in itself.

Isn't summer just the best?

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

A Powerful example of FORGIVENESS--