Act The Way You Want To Feel

I feel like :) This saying has been surfacing frequently, most recently.

Wow! How my motivation has eluded me. 

I was on fire before we left, doing all the things, that make me excited and feeling fulfilled and accomplished, somehow balancing it all.

Work, Vlogging, Exercise/ Me Time, Recreation with Hubbs and Friends, etc.

But since we have been back. I can not seem to get focused. 

It eludes me at every turn.

I feel like I am slowly getting back into the groove, but man is it slow.

It may partially be because I really dislike our living situation.

This is the smallest place we have lived in, since we have been married and we have so much stuff. (with stuff still in storage in Cali)

It's so cluttered and crowded (work picked this place, not us) but luckily we are moving into a two bedroom Tuesday and if we play our cards right, we should be in a home, end of this year, early next year. We are however, shooting for early this year.

There's not too much to blog about, other than that. :)

I am just super excited to get into a larger, clearer space and get back to my regular pace :)

We did get callings at church. 

Nursery for me, Primary for Jordan.

I miss my teens in Cali. That was so fun. But I do get to be with some totally awesome 3 year olds, two of whom, are our friends kids. So that is kinda fun.

We probably won't be in this ward when we buy a home, so I am glad, that I get to be with these 3 year olds, cuz the bond I get to have with them, will at least, be carried on, after we leave this ward. :)

To be so frank. This transitional period kinda sucks. Buying a home freaks me out. 

1. Because our original plan was just to come her for 3 months and work..we had no original intention of settling down here.

2. It makes me feel like we are "settling down"....which I want a home but I don't want to settle down, so it makes me kinda shut down.....

What I really need to do, is FOCUS on what I Do Want, not what I don't want, cuz that will get me nowhere fast. There is a great analogy for this, that I read in a book and it goes something like this. "Would you get into a taxi in New York City and tell the driver all the places you don't want to go.."..That'll get you nowhere fast.. So I gotta FOCUS on what I do want and how I want to feel and the vision we both have for our life and Start Acting How I Want To Feel. <<Cuz I know, acting how you wanna feel really works..and luckily I'm used to feeling good, so I know how to act :)

This will be a great week, we'll get back on track and be focused for our goals ahead.

If you read this I love you :) Sorry it's so hum drum, perhaps next week, will be more Fun!

If you would like to send us loving prayers, more love and light, that would be appreciated. I am going through a paradigm shift and it's throwin me for a temporary whirl :) 

xoxoxoxo

Shanelle 

TBT To The Eiffel Tower

Hi! This is me, age 17. I wish you could see my shoes, I had those colored converse on. One Dark Brown and the other Light Brown. I thought I was cool.

Can you pick out which is me?!

9 Years ago, I boarded my very first plane, train and subway to and in Europe.

I was a determined teenager. I NEEDED to travel the world and felt as though, if I didn't do it NOW, I was never going to do it! 

I often get that feeling now days too! I don't believe in Somedays.

It's Important to me, to set goals and definite time frames, especially for events like this one.

So anyway, I knew I needed to go and the only way, I knew, available for me to travel, at the time, was this Scandinavian Trip, that was put on yearly by the "Scandinavian Club."

So, I joined the Scandinavian Club, which I rarely attended meetings too and saved I believe it was  2 or 3 thousand, could have been less and booked my place for this trip! I'm grateful my parents never second guessed it, they willingly let me go. I don't even remember them meeting the chaperons before I left and at 17, just towards the end of my Senior year of High School, I boarded my Very First, Ever Plane, to fly to Europe.

We visited 7 countries in 10 days, in which we arrived to each location by boat, car (on the autobahn!), subway and train. It truly was a remarkable adventure. All of my pictures are currently in storage but when storage arrives, which will be soon, I'll sift through and post some more pictures!

We visited Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium.

The photo above is my and mah Scandinavian Crew, in front of the Eiffel tower, which I gratefully got to ride an elevator to the top of! and that glass wall pictured directly behind us is "Le Mur Des Je T'aime" (I love you wall) Where "I love you" is written in 250 languages!

How romantical, huh?!

I would love to visit France again!

I ate chocolate in Belgium.

Sweden has amazing shopping.

I bought clogs in Switzerland. 

I am so grateful for that little voice inside that pushes me to "DO IT NOW!" haha! It's annoying, yet inspiring all at the same time!

Setting Time Frames and working towards something not only makes me feel alive, but also makes sure, those things, Do Get Accomplished. 

Travel can be cheap and easy, if want it to be and don't over think it, but rather just do! 

And plan for it, so you can save a little at a time :) 

Have you been to any of these places? What was your favorite thing to do?

#TBT Our 2 Year Anniversary

In 4 days, Jordan and I will have been married for 2 years and together for 2 years and 10 months.

To My Sweet Husband, I Love You.

Being married to you, has been one of the most challenging, yet fulling things, I have yet to do.

We've both grown so much, in these short 2 years and I can't image my life without you.

The things I love most about you are also the things that drive me crazy! 

As you always say, "you are the Ying to my Yang" because we are so different but in many ways the same. 

You balance out my crazy and I make you crazy! ;)

I was so scared to be married and in reality, had never thought to plan a wedding before, in my life, unlike many of my girlfriends who had been planning their weddings from childhood. 

I had never even pictured myself married, until you.

You insisted we have a reception and not just elope, because "every girl deserves a reception." You have given me the courage to love and love fully and have broken down all my previous beliefs about marriage and love. You've taught me how to more effectively communicate, that "people who love each other, don't yell at one another" that was the most profound thing you have taught me, thus far, and I am grateful we learned that one, so early on. The moment you said to me, "I love you, I don't want to yell at you", completely changed my reality.

I know I have challenged you tremendously and that I can drive you crazy but I like it! haha!

Our life would be so boring without, the struggles, which make us more united and stronger as individuals and a whole.

I still hate excess video gaming but you've totally toned it down and your new found energy and zest for life, is so freshing and inspiring. Thank you for always striving to be better.

Thank You for loving me. For loving me, just as I am. 

You are so supportive, in Everything I do, and you never shut down by thoughts or ideas, but rather entertain them and I am SOO grateful for that because my ideas and thoughts are important to me! haha

You make me feel so confident in my skin and being with you brings a calm to my being.

You've also taught me, patience and stick-to-it-ness.

Thank You for traveling the world with me. Although, I had traveled a bit before, you have unlocked a whole new world of travel and play and shown me that life can be easy, if we allow it to be :)

I love your adventurous nature and your curiosity. I love the little things you do with your mouth when you are fibbing. And your sarcasm is funny and annoying all at the same time.

Thank you for bringing JoJo into our lives, if he is any indication of what our kids will be like, I am excited!! haha

Thanks for your sweet kisses and your sweet love. These past two years have been a struggle to find balance between our individual wants and desires and whats best for the relationship as a whole, but I wouldn't want to struggle with anyone else.

Thank You For Being You and Always Working to Be a Better You (<< that last one is a major turn on!) haha

Cheers to Eternity Babes!

Family Reun-FUN!!

Family Reun-Fun!

Haha! August 5^th-16^th! We’re crazy packed with madness and fun!!

I shared some of our Niagara Adventures and Michelle’s wedding. If you didn’t catch that, you can catch it HERE and also take a ride through the Niagara Falls, actually water fall with us.

And at the end of that post I mentioned, we were on our way to NYC. 

Jordan and I drove 5 and half ours to spend One Full Day, in the city and it was Marvelous. It was definitely on my Life List of things to do, so we did it! Haha! And I made a video synopsis of it and a separate post, Entitled Carpe Diem, What to do with One Day, in NYC.<<<

Once we got back from NYC, we slept for just a few hours, said our good-byes to Michelle’s awesome family! Who was so incredibly hospitable and wonderful and we headed to the airport, on course, to our family reunion in Idaho.

19 hours of flights, layovers and driving, we finally made it to our destination, where we slept and in the morning got on for the day.

The three and a half days spent with the Thompson family was filled with laughs, lots of love, lots of boat time an tubing and Loads of Fun!

Ideal Beach Resort- Bear Lake

 We're Flying!

 Cheech Knee Boarding

 Me and Grandpa

 Cheech Knee Boarding

 Uncle Syd

 Jordan Knee Boarding

I would have to say, hands down, out of all the traveling, that was my most favorite part of the trip. I have really been blessed to have been married into such a fun, loving and accepting family! They really fill my heart, each one of them, in their own way!

 Jordan in a Tree

                                                

 Juanito Bandito Show

I wish I could have personally gotten more pictures, with all the cousins. But I have lots of memories.

Friday morning, ended the reunion and Jordan and I spent the rest of the day, in Montpelier, where we relaxed and visited with Grandma Kunz and later his sister, entertained us, with some small town fun! Huckleberry picking, which I had never done before and which was a cute/fun experience, Pizza at Firehouse Pizza, which was the bomb-diggity and Night fishing.

I had never been fishing before, so it was quite the treat! Especially because Tyler caught one, allowing us to get the whole fishing experience! Haha!

In the morning, Marti made us, Huckeberry pancakes, with the huckleberries we picked and then we were off, to drive 3 hours to the closest airport to take us home! Haha!

Emily is so awesome for driving us down!

I wish there was more I could say, but it was more of a feeling…

I mean… we had great food, awesome fun and lots of love. Haha! It was a great end to our 2 weeks of fun!

Our flight was delayed 4 hours, due to plane issues, which kinda sucked, especially cuz we were so close to home!! 

BUT! Jordan and Jason had it arranged so that, my puppies, were at the house when we got there, so I didn't have to wait one more sleep to see them!! That was really Awesome!!

I am one grateful girl! :) xooxoxox

Carpe Diem - What To Do with One Day In New York City

 Top 12 Things To Do In NYC in ONE Day!

1. Pizza – Traditional New York Pizza is the thin crust. I wasn’t super fond of it and restaurants are kinda pricey, so, I would recommend the little whole in the wall pizza joints. You can get 2 slices of pizza and a coke for $5. You can always try a restaurant but I like the whole in the wall better joints better! ;)

2.   Empire State Building, Phenomenal at night! Prices to go up the tower start around $40.

3.   Battery Park- has soooo much history! It’s were all of the immigrants landed. New York city pays excellent tribute to those immigrants as well as beautiful memorials for all of the fallen soliders, who have also worked to make this country Great!

4.   The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island can be met from Battery Park and surprisingly, it’s super cheap to visit both. $18 takes you to the statue of liberty AND Ellis Island AND if you book in advance for $21 total, you can reach the crown of the statue of liberty. Unfortunately we didn’t book ahead, so we weren’t able to do that, but that would have been a phenomenal experience. The boat ride there, also allows you to grab some great shots of the city. ( go first thing in the morning, less people traffic) and purchase your tickets online, to avoid lines!!<<lifehack<<

5.     Twin Tower Memorials. Beautiful Must See Tribute. There is also a museum available, that I believe was $20 a ticket. 

6.     All the history in the buildings, as you walk from site to site.

7.     New York Stock Exchange (you can enter it, but it is closed on Sunday ) The famous bull, is also neat to grab pictures with, that is, if it is not surrounded by billions of people!

8.     There are many many museuems. MOMA is really popular, Museum of Modern Art.  It’s $25 a person, but if you like that stuff, well worth it! 

9.     Canal Street & China Town.  If you are from LA, canal street, Canal Street is very similar to the Fashion District, in which you can get lots of stuff, including knock off items for super cheap. Also similar to shopping in Mexico, but in NYC. Not my, super, cup of tea. However, it is an Excellent place to grab souvenirs and  if you have never experienced something like that shopping in Mexico or the Fashion District, YOU SHOULD and what better place, than NYC!

10.  Time Square! Take time for this beauty! There is sooo much energy and so much to do there! From fine dining to little food stands (which are super good btw) tons of shopping, from high end Michaels Kors shopping to Ross. There is so much unique beauty and culture there and man do those shops go over the top and all out!! Toys- R- Us was a phenomenal experience!

11.  Central Park! Central Park is Ginormous! Try and hit up this bohemith during the day, as, at night, the park can get quite confusing and from mine understanding, dangerous! Also having GPS navigation is super helpful to assist in better navigating you through there.
I would also recommend to plan ahead for the central park experience as well! Many times, Central Park will put on free concerts or shows, and you never know, maybe one of your favorite artists is performing there, the night you are there, for FREE!. 
So, make some time to enjoy Central Park, it is such a beautiful place, even just to take your shoes off and place your toes in that Central Park grass for a bit.
There is also a Zoo in central park, which you may want to see…(we didn’t have time, but you might)
Also, horse and buggy rides, may meet your fancy, which are also available for your Central Park experience. They run $50 for 15 minutes!!

12.  Broadway shows are closed on Sunday, but had we gone, any other day of the week, we would have seen a broadway show. And ended our day that way. Shows run 2pm, 7pm and 8pm and start as low as $50!! Their only dark night is Sunday, so if you want to catch a show, that is good to know!

13. We also visited the LDS Temple, which was really neat experience, it doubles as a chapel and unlike many of the other temples, is not set apart from the other buildings but rather is attached, just like all of the other buildings in NYC. It was very interesting!

Pics Available on FB

There is sooooo much to see and do in NYC, the energy there was intense and strong. It is such an interesting place and I look forward to checking it out again one day at a much slower pace, but with one day, I say we got in quite a bit and it certainly did fill my NYC curiosity and my adventure cup!! :D

Here's a Vid from the Things We Did!

Have you done NYC in a day?? Anything I miss? What would you say??

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Xoxoxoxo
Shanelle

Old Friends - Rochester New York - Palmyra Wedding/Sealing & Niagara Falls "Maid of The Mist"

Whooo! A lot happened this week! Haha!

Monday, I had the great pleasure of spending a few hours in downtown, Houston, with a couple of girlfriends who I grew up with and who I have seen in a few years. 

The beautiful thing about good friends, is that, we can hang out again and that old bond is still there, you mesh like mash potatoes and gravy..or peanut butter and jelly..spaghetti and meatball. Lol

There is nothing like close friends from childhood, they know who you were, the things you endured and many times endured it all with you. My heart is so full and I am grateful I got to spend a couple hours chit chatiing with those beauties

The very next day, I filmed a couple videos All Natural Teeth Whitening & Strawberry Treat, we dropped off our Paw Babies at The Larsen’s house, whom we are soooooooooooo extremely grateful for and Jordan and I boarded a plane to Rochester, New York.

We arrived at almost 1am, New York time, where Michelle Dian Taylor, picked us up.

The next day we did some wedding decorations, in the LDS chapel and spent the day prepping for the reception in two days.

Growing up, I had always heard of this town Rochester, my dad’s from here. I don’t talk to my father much, but it was neat to be in his home town and as I was there, my brother insisted, I visit my father’s childhood home. So towards the end of Thursdays decoration party, we visisted his childhood home.

Rochester is very green  and basically an accumulation of small towns.

Thursday, late afternoon, Jordan and I rented a car and drove to Niagara Falls. It’s only an hour and a half from Michelle’s families home and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Additionally we went later in the day, because her mom had tipped us off, on the beautiful night display the falls puts on and we wanted to see that too. Good thing we left when we did, because we caught the last of the “maid of the mist” ride, while experiencing a beautiful sunset and ending the day with the colorfully lite Niagara Falls. You wanna see?

Friday was the whole reason we flew out here for, to see Michelle be sealed to her husband, for time and all eternity at the Palmyra temple, in Palmyra, New York.

Jordan and I had gotten home late the night before but I woke up early to met the bride at her hotel and was able to assist her get ready. I painted her pretty nails and got the opportunity to do her make-up. While Christy did her hair, kept her fed and happy and calm.

Michelle looked Beautiful.

The sealing was at 1pm. I was a beautiful sealing and was a great reminder, as Jordan and I will have been married for 2 years, on the 25^th of this month. The sealer reminded us, that we all struggle, but that is how we grow and to always keeep trying. It was a quant sealing and I was so happy to be there and to have Hubbs there with me too.

Jordan and I also had the opportunity to walk through the sacred grove and see some of the historic church sites there as well.

Michelle’s home and childhood chapel is an hour awasy from Palmyra, so almost immediately after we got done with the tours and got home, it was time for the reception.

I wish I would have gotten more pics of the reception. Man, that place was STUNNING!!! Michelle did not want a reception, in an LDS chapel and the chapel was the last resort, as that was the case, Michelle’s aunt and her aunts friends, promised her, it would not look like a church gym and it didn’t, not by any means.
They raised beautiful pink parachutes on the ceiling., hung antique ladders, that held, mason jars that were holding tea candles. There were sooo many tea candles and they were the source of light for the chapel, as the other lights were shut off.

The ambiance was simply magical and awe inspiring. It truly was  a love filled, remarkable evening.

We ended the night by, Christy, Michelle’s Brother and Jordan and I, all going in on a Jaccuzzi suite for them, where we laid rose pedals and got bubble bath stuff, as well as apple cidar hehehe. It was fun!

I am grateful to have been apart of it all and to experience all the love of family and friends and the love between Michelle and Will, it was all beautiful.

Saturday, Jordan and I slept in, packed up and drove 6 hours to New York City, Manhattan for a day and then we fly out Monday from Rochester, New York.

I am writing all of this during our drive! Photos will be on IG and FB and a video synopsis will be available later this week.

I’m excited for the next coming week, with family and lots of playing on the water.

I do miss my pups though! :)

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Xoxoxoxo
Shanelle

Jordan Kunz 27th Birthday Extravaganza!

It was my Lover Butts Birthday! 

I have to admit, I was so stinkin excited for his birthday.

I feel like birthdays are so important and I actually probably go bigger on Birthdays than I do Christmas, cuz I mean come one it is YOUR special day. The day YOU were born..and in the case of my husband, that is certainly something to celebrate.

Don't get me wrong, we struggle sometimes, but he is certainly the greatest decision I have made and I love him eternally.

I got Jordan something, that he has been wanting for YEARS and just hasn't pulled the trigger on purchasing.  ;)

Jordan said, "those are the best kind of presents, the presents you can't personally justify getting for yourself...and that someone surprises you with" <3

So Here's His Birthday Bash, from beginning to end :)

It sure is fun for us to watch! :) I love seeing his reactions again and again :)

He really was excited and happy <3

P.S. Jason, Jordan's friend, who helped make this all possible, was out of town, during Jordan's Birthday. He let Jordan shoot his AR-15 (which he had Never shot before) and went in half on the gun with me!

Here's The Recipe for the Frosting. <<Click Link

-I personally didn't use yoke, I used Xantham Gum and Instead of Vanilla Extract, I used Stevia.

-We also ommited Pecans (he doesn't like them in dessert..hence why the frosting was homemade)

Also important, to stir mixture over heat for a least 10 minutes, continuously stirring, until mix thickens.

What was your most rememberable Birthday?!! 

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Xoxoxoxo
Shanelle