You-Hoo Big Summer Blow Out

If you have ever seen frozen, you have seen this character.

Chances are you immediately started laughing and could not handle the hilariousness of his hospitality, fun, and once of sass. 

My friends and especially myself love this character.  In fact, we often yell  "you-hoo" to greet each other or just to give one another a smile. This road trip was also named "Shannon and Rob's Big Summer Blow Out!"

Here are some snap chats of the adventure that went well:

After a few hours of travel, three episodes of car sickness, a quick change, and getting real comfortable with each other, Rob and I finally get to beautiful state of NJ to pick up Peter. The GPS said we were at our destination, which is when Rob and I looked at each other with concern. The following moment I was on the phone with Peter asking "are we picking you up under a bridge?" 

Luckily no. Even better at a creepy hotel under a bridge. 

Greeted with NJ bagels and hugs. And then the road trip continued! Stopped to pick up Hannah in Pennsylvania. Then finally arrived in DC. 

In DC life was filled games, ice cream, and with the most beautiful surprises!

First surprise... Joe, the best partner in crime, and I visited Julie, the most beautiful role model in my life, at her business school graduation and even managed to chronicle the event with a selfie.

Second surprise... After dinner to celebrate Rob's 21st we walked back to the metro and ran into some people we know. The Dominicans and some Sisters singing on the streets of Chinatown

Then came Kate. A friend from mental health clinical. We always said how we wanted to get together and share a bottle of wine once I was 21. Somehow she just happened to be at the bar the night of my 21st birthday!

This surprise may be one of the best!!! This is Kat! A dear friend who has been abroad all semester in Rome. And I just happened to find her in the Caldwell parking lot on my birthday! Reunited at last! All the random weird emails to each other were now in person hugs and jokes! So blessed to have her in my life.

With a little free time made my way over to the Basillica, where I am always surprised by something. This is usually one of my favorites, but on this day it was extra amazing. Little surprise from above, I think.

The visit concluded with hanging by a fire and learning a little bit more about these people, a night I will always remember, but it starts to get a little "hazy" once the game of King's began. 

And a few last bear hugs from Amanda, the girl who helped me get through another year of nursing school and my first year of ministry. She loves me even though I don't like sleep overs. And she even let's me do 90% of the talking when studying. Forever my fashionista. 

And on the road trip home there were a few surprises in Philly (which I still do not know how to spell).

Fish counters in a really cool market.

Independence Hall. Yeah that's it behind us! Please pardon my obnoxious "excited face"

And love park! 

So many cool adventures, but what made the road trip and visit to DC the most fun were the people I spent it with. It was filled with the perfect amount of hospitality, fun, and sass just like the silly man from Frozen. But I have to say Olaf always wins with "some people are worth melting for" and all the people I met and and all the people who I spent the weekend with made one big puddle in my summer! 

Nug + Mini Van + Ben Affleck

Tomorrow I begin the journey of a lifetime. Well it is a journey I have traveled many times before. Once in 8th grade and for the past 3 years driving to and from school for move in and move out. 

But, this time will be different. This time involves a navy blue mini van, and a man named Rob. Who is rob? Well, I couldn't really tell you too much about him which makes this road trip more fun and more hilarious.  What I can tell you is he is a common friend. Don't worry. I kinda know him. We get meals every now and then and he comes over the House for games often. First impression: great beard, looks like Ben Affleck (but really), oober nice, wicked smahhrt and let's be friends. So we are becoming friends, via a road trip and celebrating our 21st birthdays! 

So, to be honest, I like to think i am spontaneous, but I don't know how spontaneous I actually am. I was a little nervous to spend so many hours with this kid but he is an okay dude. Then somehow we ended up in the situation where to make the best use of time and gas, a slumber party was needed. Next step: I need his address. He responds with Poppasquash Road. Poppasquash. Yes Poppasquash. 

So, here I am sitting as his kitchen table, googling the best bars in DC with Rob by my side. Also with chocolate cake. I guess you could say it is going well, so far. 

Wish us luck. Will keep you filled in with the Nug adventures to come in the next few days. 

Tic Tac- That's a wrap

Every time I visit my housemate Peter's room I always do 2 things. 

1.) I moisturizer my hands with the hand cream he never uses but just happens to convienently have on his shelf.

2.) I eat one orange Tic Tac

This did not start at the beginning of the year. It just kinda happened.. And it is a little tradition for us. 

One time Meagan and I knocked on his door at 2 in the morning. Half asleep and in his pj pants, he took a break from his studies and opened the door with Tic Tacs in his hands to see if we wanted one.

Precious I know. 

Quick pause: 

Have you ever been to a Relay for Life? A school fair? A friends birthday party? And there is a jar of jelly beans or Swedish fish and you can win the prize if you can correctly guess how many are in the jar...? Yeah I have never won, ever!!! 

I say this because God surprised me with Tic Tacs.  And this time I won. I never took the time I figure out how many Tic Tacs were in the small container. I didn't even read the nutritional facts to figure it out.  I just took them. 

Somehow there were just enough to last the semester, down to the last day. 

My last night of Junior year, I went into Peter's room to say goodnight and there just happened to be one left. 

Brain Fry

So this community I have lived with this past year, well I can never explain how much I love each and every one of them. And I can never quite explain to people what it is like to live with your best friends. Even if we weren't the best of friends before this year of ministry, there is something so beautiful about getting to know another person in such an intimate, no filter way. You see them at their worst. You see then at their happiest. You see what they look like when they first wake up. You see their laundry, or you do their laundry. You pray with them. You pray for them. You memorize each other's footsteps on the stairs. You get the picture. It is just like living with your family except maybe just a little bit more wild and cool. 

One of the best parts of living in community is our "fun time." Our end of the year fun time was the same game we played at the beginning of the year. It's was introduced to us by our mom, Rylee. This epic game is called... BRAINFRY. 

Here is how it goes.

1. You pick a topic, such as "things we ate for community meal this year."

2. Everyone picks a different meal.

3. You make a patern such as pete yells one meal to max. When max hears that meal he says it to rose. So on and so forth.

4. You cannot move on in the game until you get that persons attention. Aka be prepared for tons of yelling. 

5. Once you successfully get through one round you add another topic.

6. Keep adding topics until the game consists of constant yelling for several minutes trying to follow several different patterns all at once.

That could probably be described better but anyways. So for this last game we decided to make all the topics related to the past year of ministry. 

Our favorite and last topic was quotes often said from members of the House. 

Just so you can get to know these beautiful people better I'll list a few for yah.

"Mounds of cocaine."

"Can I help help you?"

"Que tu sabes"

"Let us serve you."

"Poop"

"Yoooowhoooo"

"Whose mother didn't teach them to put ketchup in the fridge."

"Wanna play games?"

The game does wonders for community bonding for us. The night even had to end with a community selfie. Take in the good looks, folks. 

It always takes us a few tries to get it right. 

Because I live by quotes.

It's been a while. 

I could say I have been busy, but that's always a cop out.

 Truthfully, I write a lot, but I have not known what to write for the blog. A lot has happened with too many beautiful people to count. So here are pictures of the shenanigans in my life And quotes that I either love or quotes that I think sum up the picture or the relationship perfectly. 

FNE prepping:

"So we grew together like to a double cherry, seeming parted, but yet an union in partition, two lovely berries molded on one stem" ~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."  ~Marcel Proust

April Fools

"April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four." ~Mark Twain

Renew ladies take an Emmaus walk to Potbelly's

She is more  precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Proverbs 3:15

Supervision Selfies:

"Ministry of absence is just as important as ministry of presence." ~fr. Marek

"Faith is not about feeling. It is about commitment." ~ Fr. Marek

Founder's Day!

"FML. What is my life?" 

Insert turtle noise.

"Just love me." "You are so demanding" 

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~Bernard Metlzer

"I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells." ~Dr. Seuss

Just some of the most amazing men in my life:

"The stuff dreams are made of."

~ Maltese Falcon

"We go together like (vanilla) cupcakes and frosting."

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world." ~ LM Montogomery (Anne if Green Gables) 

"Love of a family is life's greatest blessing."

"Hey, I'm a girl, and I like to play dress up." ~Charlize Theran

"...we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes from community." 

~Dorothy Day

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams."

~ oprah 

"Of the seven dwarfs, the only one who shaved was Dopey. That should tell us something about the wisdom of shaving." ~Tim Robbins

"You are my person." ~Grey's Anatomy

My best student who just also happens to be a great teacher to me. 

"It's better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." ~ Mahatma Ghandi

Last night in DC. 

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up." Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

Hope that sums up some highlights of the semester for yah.