Coevals Perception: Shannon's World Updated

Oh boy. Where do I begin?

Kara and Thomas moved in the day after I moved back home. Yeah. 23 year old adolescent teenager - and a hormonal teen pregnant - and lost. Then Anita and Brad moved in, along with Jeidyn and Macenzie and Farrah and of course Bryton is living with us.

So Steve and I have not had 'us' time that we promised each other.

Another thing that has happened in my life recently was death. Our nephew John Paul was murdered this summer - 26 years old, wife, two small children and a little girl on the way. It was devastating.

Then one of my first cousins died suddenly, and we traveled to southern Arkansas for that funeral.

Then Blaze - my best dog I've ever had followed Thomas' dog out to the highway and was hit by a car trying to save the other dog.

Then a driver and dear friend had a sudden heart attack and died. New wife, very sad.

And finally (hopefully) Breanna's (my future step-daughter in law) mother passed away one month after they found out she had cancer. She died Christmas Day. 43 years old.

Christmas night, Dad called from Texas, they put him in ICU with a growth in his Aorta in his heart - so its been really scary around here. He is out now, but they do not know what the growth is.

If anything, I have learned that life is short, and death unexpected, and I know we need to be prepared.

I have been trying to buckle down and study "A Purpose Driven Life", a 40 day study - they only recommend one chapter a day, and I am VERY pleased with what I have read so far. Its not self help - its not a guide - it is making you think, and makes you put YOUR life in perspective. I have become much more peaceful since I began this study.

Here is the most recent picture of Steve and I -