Meet Shannon

This is Shannon. She is one of my most favorite people on the planet. I swear to you our souls are stitched together in some strange way, and we were destined to be friends. I love her. A lot.

Grace loves her too, despite the thug-life face she is pulling in this picture.

She was one of the very first people that I met when I moved to California. Three of us moved into our ward at the same time. She was calm, cool, collected, and so so nice. Fashionable from the tip of her head, down to her toes, confident like nobody's business, I thought for sure I wasn't cool enough to hang with the likes of her. But that wasn't her style. She smiled at me, kindly introduced herself and our story began from there. 6 months later, she moved away.

But, just like the boomerang effect, good things can come back too. And she moved back. She and her husband fit snugly in the little pocket I created for myself. Fell in line with the rest of the members I considered to be my California Family.

We spent many hours talking, chatting, sharing our deepest thoughts, desires, regrets. We wined and dined, and she blew my mind away with the most fabulous chicken salad sandwich. We went for pool dates, and scheduled times to hang out despite not living too close to one another. And I'll never forget how much she loved Grace. She loved my baby. Like Grace was her niece. Oh, I loved her for those tender moments. Grace had no idea that we weren't actually related.

But life rolls forward and moves on, and sure enough Aaron and I moved away from California. Shannon made sure to keep me entertained while I packed, or pack boxes when I felt like I was going insane. When we moved a pile of boxes that unleashed a beast of a spider, she was the one who took it head on. Bless her soul. I was too busy screaming bloody murder to take any action.

We have kept in contact, stayed in touch. Shannon totally gets my lack of long-distance-communication ability, and has stayed with me despite it.

Something wonderful has happened for Shannon and her fabulous husband Ryan. Something that got me so excited I almost cried (it happens a lot these days). They got approved for adoption!!!!!! I am beyond excited for them. I felt like I had to say something, to spread the word, shout it from the rooftops, because these are two of the most incredible people you will ever meet. (Pictures below taken from their blog somuchhappyness.blogspot.com)

And the best part? They don't take themselves too seriously, despite their sheer awesomeness.

Shannon writes a witty and entertaining blog called somuchhappyness.blogspot.com and you can pop over there to get a glimpse of the awesomeness I mentioned about. Or you can head over to their adoption blog.

Trust me, it's well worth your time.

Congratulations on your approval Shannon and Ryan. We're so excited for you!