Updates!

Wow so much time has passed and I have been lousy at keeping updated! I can't believe Jake and I have been married for almost 8 months. I guess the saying is true that time flies when you are having fun with the person you love, and that's exactly what Jake and I are doing.

Where do I begin?! Let’s see…the last time I updated on our super fun lives was back in October. Since then, we finished the semester (in Jake’s case, barely), moved to a new apartment, had a great first Christmas together, and went on a cruise, and now the new semester is kicking my tooshy!

Jake had a really interesting Fall semester. In Jake’s words, “it sucked.” He was stressing out because he didn’t have a helicopter slot, and a class he was in was ridiculous. His teacher was the worst teacher of all time and wanted him to write 16 hour papers every other day. There were only two other people in the class, and it was pretty much like a semester long job interview to be a flight instructor. One of the other people was a girl who would suck up like no other and bring cookies and baked goods to class. Jake barely finished with his sanity (and mine as well), and he got his helicopter slot! We’re going to Alabama for sure in a year and a half or so. Pretty much whenever the army says, “go.”


Right before the semester was over, I started thinking I really wanted to move to a new apartment. I wanted a place with two rooms so I could have our computer and TV in another room. (This really came down to I didn’t want to sleep on the floor in the living room anymore because Jake was up working on his papers until 5:00am.) I talked to Jake about moving and we both said, “why not?” Jake thought I was crazy at first, but as soon as I dragged him to our new apartment and we signed the contract and moved in all within two weeks, he realized it was for real. :-) Our new apartment is so great! We went from our 510 sq ft. apartment to a 1200 sq foot townhouse! It has an upstairs with two HUGE rooms and a walk-in closet with a HUGE kitchen and a cute little living room and dining room. We bought our very first couches for a steal-of-a-deal, and got a very nice, very heavy, wooden dining room table with chairs on KSL for $250! Jake whined that the table and chairs smelled like cigarette smoke for weeks, but I think he was just being difficult. :-) I am so happy with our new little house!

We not only got a new apartment, we also got a new special friend. Our neighbor’s name is Darla and she is this funny 50-year-old woman with a dog named Wally. We befriended her and she really needed our help. The more I get to know her, the more interesting she gets. I’ve recently found out she had an amazing bridal business doing all the celebrities hair and makeup and planning their weddings, owning an old folks home, and she even had her own line of makeup and jewelry. Darla got in two pretty severe car accidents and is suffering from those. I feel terrible about her situation. She is very sweet and has given Jake and I the opportunity to serve her. A month or so after we moved in to our new home, I went over to visit Darla, and when I came home I was hit with the strongest impression that Jake and I were supposed to move here because Darla needed our help. My testimony on being an instrument in the Lord's hands and being guided to where He needs us to be has been tremendously strengthened. I am honored I could be a part in serving the Lord through Darla. 

Jake and I went down to my parent’s house for Christmas this year, and my mom went all out for us. She even bought us our first Christmas stockings with our names on them. Jake gave me quite a scare the week before Christmas. He was on his way to drill early in the morning and it was sleeting pretty good when he left. He hit a slippery patch and spun wildly out of control off the road going 50 miles per hour on the freeway in our Rodeo and about gave me a heart attack when he called. It was miraculous he only damaged the bumper a little bit because it should have been a lot worse. He told me he also pushed another car off the road and saw them screaming as they whizzed past him, missing each other only by inches. I am so glad he is safe!

 My parents took my whole family on our first cruise ever right before school started. It was so much fun! We flew into New Orleans and went to church in a little branch there before we boarded the ship. The sacrament meeting was hilarious! It was fast and testimony meeting and people were getting up and walking around, and there were so many funny people! One lady went off for 25 minutes talking about her life history and the tragedies she’s had, and the bishop finally had to get up and tell her to sit down so other people could have a turn. Jake really got a kick out of a man who sat in front of us. He swore it was Milton off of Office Space. It was a great experience and allowed my family to see what the church outside of Utah is like. I felt very ungrateful sitting there in that sacrament meeting. These people didn't have much, but they had faith and love. It was an eye opening experience.

The ship was huge, the food was all you could eat and fantastic every day, and we had the best excursions on shore! We went to Costa Maya and my sisters Stephanie and Melanie thought it was fabulous they could barter with the men selling their products. They thought they were pretty good. :-) We went to Guatemala and took a taxi into the city. Holy cow! I thought we were going to die! He was a crazy driver! It was a humbling experience because the people there were so poor. Little Katie asked my mom if we could come back to visit the city some time because she wanted to bring food and toys for the little kids to play with. In Belize we went zip lining in the forest and got up to about 100 ft! It was super fun and all the little helpers kept telling me what a natural I was. (I liked that.) We also went cave tubing. They gave us these tubes and we went through these natural caves in a lazy river sort of way. In Mexico we went to Tulum. Tulum is an ancient Myan city that was abandoned. It was amazing! I couldn’t believe how accurate everything was, like their measurements, buildings, and symbols. I hope we can go back there again someday.

(We flew into New Orleans and saw a huge statue of Louis Armstrong. My dad is showing off his P90X muscles. He worked really hard for this cruise.)

(There was a pet monkey in a tree in Guatemala! He was on a leash and had a dog house and everything!)

(Tulum)

Cruising was a lot of fun, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily an activity Jake and I will do frequently. There were SO MANY PEOPLE all over the place! And one night the ship was rocking so bad it made me feel like we were going to capsize! Jake slept through the whole thing the bugger!  

We got back from the cruise Sunday night at around 10:30pm and school started the next day. I won’t do that again because I’m still trying to catch up on everything. School is pretty easy for Jake this semester, but it’s kicking my behind. I hope things get easier from here, but I’m not so sure they will. Jake is going to graduate in either May or August, and I’m going to graduate in December! Wahoo!  

Today is Valentine's Day and we get a long weekend because of President's Day. I love having breaks. It gives much needed breathing room. To celebrate our first Valentine's together, we went to the temple on Saturday morning and then out to lunch at Texas Roadhouse. Jake LOVES Texas Roadhouse. I'm really glad we went to the temple to celebrate. What better way to celebrate a holiday of love than to go to the one place that gives you the opportunity to be with the one you love for eternity. I cut out little hearts, wrote fun sayings on them, and hid them all over the house for Jake. It has been really fun to watch him find the hearts. Jake wrote me the sweetest letter and put it in my car for me to find when I went to church. He even drew his hand on the back of it for me! What a sweetie! 

I feel so blessed to have Jake in my life. I can't imagine life without him. We have grown so close to each other over these past 8 months, and I am so happy to be with him. I often reflect on the advice I was given before I got married, that the first year of marriage is really difficult. I agree that some parts are tough, but overall, I couldn't be more pleased or satisfied with my first year of marriage. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Vacations and Parties!

These last two weeks have been great! School was fairly easy, and last weekend Jake and I went to my family's cabin in Schofield! It was so much fun! We spent our days laying around, watching videos, playing with siblings, and riding 4-wheelers. It was exactly the break I needed to recharge and plow forward for another couple weeks. Fall semester is over in approximately 5 weeks, and I'm really excited. I love my classes and the interesting things I'm learning, but it starts to get pretty draining when you're constantly working with deadlines.

After we got back from the cabin last Saturday afternoon, I was craving Indian food so badly, that I made Jake take me to the Bombay House in Provo. It was delicious! I believe Indian cuisine is my new favorite food.

We went to church with Jake's parents that Sunday, and it was fun to visit a family ward. I had forgotten how crazy sacrament meeting can be when there are tons of kids making all kinds of noise and doing funny things. We sat behind the cutest little family, and I watched the little girl and her mom play Princess. The women made me feel very welcome in the ward, and I enjoyed being there.

Jake's brother, Jeff, had the Swine Flu, and the whole time we were visiting the Baileys, Jake kept doing funny things to Jeff. I told him to be careful and make sure he washed his hands and not touch his face while we were there, because I didn't want either of us getting sick, and he, being Jake, took it to the extreme. He would walk over to Jeff's door and say, "Come out here Jeff I need to talk to you." Then when Jeff would open the door, Jake would throw his hands over his face in a dramatic manner and say, "I can't look at you because you might make me sick," and they would carry on in this crazy way. Jake even got some candy bars and shoved them under Jeff's door because Jeff was being quarantined. Jeff put on a doctor's mask so he could come out and socialize with us. It was pretty ridiculous, but funny. I always enjoy spending time with my in-laws.

This weekend was my aunt Geri's 50th birthday. Geri is mentally handicapped, and so doesn't have the opportunity to get married in this life, and it's been pretty hard on her. She cried at my wedding because she wanted to get married so badly. My sweet aunts decided to throw her a huge reception for her birthday, and invited everyone from the community who knew Geri. It was spectacular! There were all kinds of treats and goodies, and the cake was gorgeous! I made a video montage of Geri's life that played in the background, and it made my grandma and aunts cry. The best part was that it was all a secret. They secretly found her favorite dress and got her a tiara, jewelry, a corsage, and had her take pictures. She looked beautiful! My aunt Sandy told me that while she was doing Geri's hair and makeup, Geri said, "I look so beautiful, I look like Shannon! Don't tell her I said that!" I just laughed. She felt just like a princess, and I am so glad she was able to have her time to shine.

Today was our Stake Conference and the Spectrum was packed! We had Elder Ballard and Eyring come and speak to us. They said just what I needed to hear. Jake was distracted by the two sets of couples in front of us. There were these two girls that talked through the entire meeting, showing each other pictures off their phones, and the other couple sat there nuzzling each other and doing things that would have been better in private. I felt embarrassed for them. Overall, it had been a great meeting.

Fall and Birthdays!

I love fall, it's my favorite time of year. The air turns crisp and cool, and you get to wear sweaters, and the leaves turn such beautiful colors. The holiday season is just beginning, and you start to feel that holiday excitement! That's probably why I was born in October. :-)

Jake has been such a sweetheart these last few weeks. Birthdays are really big in my family. We get woken up early by our family members belting out "Happy birthday," and open the presents they present to us. Then we get a special breakfast of our choice, and the whole day is dedicated to you. We get to choose the place we want to go out to dinner that night, then we eat cake and ice cream to end the day. It's the perfect way to celebrate coming into the world once a year, and my whole family loves it. Jake got to witness my brother and mom's birthdays while we were engaged, and my dad wisely advised him that "the women in this family expect big things for birthdays, and if you are smart, you'll make it the best day of Shannon's life."

A week or so before my birthday, I thought it would be a great service to Jake to let him know exactly how I expected my birthday to play out. I've learned early you can't expect your spouse to know what you want if you don't tell them. I let Jake know I expected him to wake me up early and sing me "Happy birthday," as well as give me a present, arrange dinner with my family, call some of my close friends and invite them over for cake and ice cream, and surprise me with anything else he wanted throughout the day. I definitely wasn't disappointed.

He woke me up early, sang to me, and gave me a present (which I picked out, bought, and wrapped while teaching him how to wrap a present in a gift bag). It was exactly what I wanted! Jake and I went to our separate classes, and on the way home after my class, I saw a bunch of little blue sticky notes with cute messages all over our car windows. We were driving to my parent's house that afternoon, and he knew I would see them. It was so sweet. I wasn't expecting another surprise when I walked in the door of our apartment, and was astounded to see Jake had bought me flowers and chocolate covered peanuts (my favorite!), and arranged the pictures in our house on our table. I started bawling when I saw it. Jake had gone completely out of his way to surprise me, and I absolutely loved it! He also covered our door in little blue sticky notes with super cute messages, and wrote me a mushy card.

We drove down to my parent's house for the weekend, and went to Winger's for dinner. Afterwards we watched my sister's drill team dance, and then had cake and ice cream. It was the best birthday I've ever had. Jake was so sweet. I keep falling more and more in love with him. :-)

Jake had drill, and it was also conference weekend. I spent the weekend with my mom and sisters going to model homes and out to dinner Saturday night during Priesthood session. I loved every minute of spending time with them. I was sad Jake had to be at drill, but at least I had fun. My Grandma Griffiths came up to my parent's house Sunday afternoon and gave me the quilt she made for my wedding. It is so beautiful! I am so thankful to have grandmas who are so talented. Jake's Grandma Bailey also made us a quilt for our wedding. We are so lucky.

Jake and I had to leave Jake's Saturn at my parents house because he let the tires get so bald you could see the steel bearing on the front passenger tire. Men.

I love being married to Jake. He is so much fun and tries so hard to be a good husband. I couldn't have asked for a better man to spend eternity with.

Helicopter Slot

These past few months have been stressful for Jake. He has been avidly trying to find a helicopter slot. I've come to learn the Army is really difficult to work with, and the right hand doesn't really know what the left hand is doing. They've told Jake there were slots open in Utah, and then there weren't, and then there were, then they transferred him to a new unit without him knowing, then there weren't any slots. It's been frustrating and stressful, and we have prayed every night that Jake would be able to get a helicopter slot.

Jake came home this last Thursday and told me we finally got a helicopter slot in Utah. We were both so excited! (Me especially because he was starting to get ornery.) I felt so blessed and knew the Lord knows our situation and knows the desires of our hearts. He wants us to be happy, and we are living right and trying to do all the things required of us, and He can't not bless us when we are obedient.

Jake wanted to give the details about getting the helicopter slot:

Well, Shannon is making me give the details about the helicopter slot so here it goes... just kidding Shannon. She pretty much summed it up already. Anyways, I did make a lot of phone calls and talked with a few people who should have been sure-fire authorities on telling me whether or not there were slots open and how I could get one. I wanted to know sooner rather than later so I could call other states if I had to. I was surprised more than once that no one seemed to know what they were talking about and what was going on. The 211th even sent a representative down to talk to all cadets at our school two weeks ago and told us there was no chance any of us would get a slot this year. That was right after I was transferred into the unit on the suggestion that it would improve my chances of getting a slot. Well, one week later I got word that the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 211th, a Lt. Colonel Adams, was coming to Logan to have a meeting with two of our cadets. If he didn't know the answer, no one would!

I wasn't one of the cadets invited for some reason and to my disappointment but one of these cadets told me I should come anyway, so I did. After talking to us for an hour about the history and situation of the unit being so full I thought he was going to tell us sorry or maybe just give one of us three a slot. In the end he just said, "well, this is what I can do..." and he gave all three of us a helicopter slot to fly blackhawks! I couldn't believe it! I was so relieved and happy!

I'd given up on this dream a long time ago and it just recently came back to life a couple years ago after they loosened the standards and let me get eye surgery. Sometimes I thought that maybe Heavenly Father had something else in mind for me and that I needed to learn to not get my way sometimes and that I needed to remember that there were other things that were more important. Shannon and I feel so blessed! We prayed for this every day and now it's actually going to happen! So, probably about a year and a half from now is when we'll report to Fort Rucker, Alabama for flight training and "other fun" (SERE School). We'll probably be there for about two years. On my way home from the meeting with Colonel Adams I skipped and sang "I got a golden ticket" at the top of my lungs!... in my head.

Festivities of the Past Week

This week has been a little more crazy than usual, but we had some exciting things happen.

We took Jake to the dermatologist on Tuesday to finally get his moles looked at. He has a lot of moles on his body, and I was very relieved to discover they all looked normal. The dermatologist decided to take one off his back, and he used this little metal scraper thing to shave the mole off. It was disgusting. Jake will probably have a good scar there, but he likes scars so it was no big deal.

Alan and Jake went to the rest home here in Logan and performed some of their camp songs with other members of Alan's ward. It was pretty funny.

Jake and I drove down to my parent's house to stay the night because Jake's brother Jeff was coming home on Thursday. Jake was so excited and could hardly stand the wait that night! It was so great to visit my family. I miss watching my siblings grow up and do the funny things they do. It makes me sad sometimes at how far away I live. Jake tells me it's not far at all compared to Alabama, but I still feel like it's far away.

We drove up to Salt Lake on Thursday morning to attend Jake's sister-in-law, Ornela's, citizenship ceremony. She's from Albania and has been in the US for six years and is finally getting her citizenship. The ceremony was awful! I was so annoyed with how everything played out. The people around us were really disrespectful; letting their kids run wild and walking in front of the projector screen while we were trying to watch the program, talking, and most of them wouldn't even stand up when they were asked to. I hate people sometimes. The judge conducting the ceremony, and the speakers, talked to the people becoming citizens like they were five. The judge asked several people where they were from and how long it took them to become a citizen, and most said they had been in the country for 10 or 20 years, and this guy was trying to tell them how to be a citizen. It was ridiculous! I was really happy for Ornela though, it was a great day for her.

After the ceremony, we rushed over to the Salt Lake airport and made it just in time to see Jeff walk out. Everyone was so excited to see him. He looks a lot like Jake I think, and he was really nice. We all went to Sizzler for lunch and enjoyed each other's company. I love Jake's family. They are so sweet and fun! I especially love the younger members, and I love having nieces and nephews! Jake let Jeff drive our Rodeo back to his parent's house for practice, and I thought he did a really good job for being gone for two years.

The Bailey gang.

Jake's missionary badge has now been in three missions. He gave it to Alan and then Jeff to carry with them while they were on their missions.

We hung out with Jeff and Jake's sister Becky for the rest of the afternoon, and took him shopping that evening. Jake and I decided to head back to Logan Thursday night because everyone had school the next morning. It had been a fun day, and Jake was really glad he got to spend some time with Jeff. He was a little disappointed he and Jeff didn't get to watch the movie Hot Rod (which is a really dumb movie) or play Ghost Recon (a computer game).

I spent Saturday morning deep cleaning our apartment for school to start and also my family was coming up to see it. Jake had to work, so I took lunch up to him for a break. My family came up to visit, and we went Repelling up Logan Canyon. Everyone loved repelling.

We went and ate at Golden Corral, where I ate WAY too much food. Jake, dad, and I went to Walmart after to buy some jumper cables because the suburban had died in the canyon.

The Temple dedication was great. There were some really great talks given and hopefully I can remember to go to the temple to listen and receive the blessings of temple attendance. It reinforced my goal of going to the temple each week. My family came over to our apartment after the dedication and Jake fixed his famous steaks for lunch. My family was really impressed with our apartment and my mom called it very "homey". This was the highest form of a compliment for me, and I was very pleased.

This has been a great week! School starts tomorrow and I am so excited! Mostly to get on a schedule again. Jake is very unhappy. :-)

Sealed Forever

Jake and I went up to my cousin Drew Davis's sealing on Thursday night in Idaho Falls. It was interesting because we were originally going to get married on August 14th, but decided why wait? Idaho Falls has a beautiful temple, but awful streets. They were all named instead of numbered and Jake and I drove around for about an hour trying to find a Target and Chuck-A-Rama. By the time we found Chuck-A-Rama, it was about to close, so we had to drive around again and find some place else to eat. We ended up eating at Olive Garden, which was nice, but I detest Idaho Falls streets now!

We slept in a Hotel Thursday night and woke up bright and early to be to the sealing. I told Jake it was like we were getting married all over again as we walked down to breakfast and saw a lot of my extended family. The temple was beautiful, and it was so great to listen to my grandpa seal Drew and his fiance Whitney together. It helped me remember the covenants Jake and I made, and also to remember the counsel and instruction my grandpa gave us.

I am so grateful to have parents who taught me the right way to live so I could attend the temple and be sealed to Jake forever. He is such a good man; ambitious, hard working, loyal, honest, and kind. He is always trying to find ways to please me and do whatever I ask, even if he doesn't like the things I make him do. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect companion to go through life with.

Jake helping me vacuum one Saturday. He is quite the stud.

Oh How Time Flies

Wow time sure seems to fly by. It's already time for school to start again. I'm really excited, but Jake is less than enthused. I'm really glad we decided to get married in June. It gave us almost two months to get used to married life before school starts and life gets crazy. I guess I need to do a quick update on the happenings of the Jake and Shannon Bailey household.

Jake and I went back to Salem to stay with my family over the 24th of July. It was so fun to have Jake there to share one of my family traditions growing up. We went to Magleby's for breakfast, then sat on Spanish Fork main street to watch the parade. Jake fit right in with my dad and brother. All three of them hate parades, and the Spanish Fork parade is known to be super long! It had been going for about 2 hours by the time we decided to leave, and there was still about another hour left to go. Both my sisters were in the parade this year. Stephanie is the Miss Salem 1st attendant, and Melanie is on the Salem Hills drill team. I've been in the parade for both things before, and it was fun to see them follow in my footsteps. (They hate it when I tell them that. They like to think they're paving their own way. :-) After the parade we were invited over to my aunt Kristin Morley's house for lunch and to swim in her pool. I had never seen it before, and it was pretty amazing. They have a pretty big pool with a nice big hot tub next to it and a really tall ledge you can jump off into the water. Jake and Brandon just thought it was the greatest thing ever, and tried to do cool things off the edge. Jake really impressed all the little boy cousins with his front and back flips off the ledge. He was pretty proud of himself.

Jake and my dad chillin' at the pool.

Jake's front flip.

Jake's cool back flip.

Jake's throat started hurting him something terrible a few weeks back, and we decided to take him to a ear, nose, and throat doctor. The reason his throat was hurting was because he got hit square in the neck way back in March playing football. I made him go to the emergency room just to make sure there was nothing wrong. The dumb doctor didn't even look down his throat but made Jake feel he went there for nothing. Fast forward to the present, we went to the throat doctor, and the doctor looked down his throat and apparently Jake got a hematoma on his larynx and scar tissue had formed, causing some minor damage. Hopefully he’ll be 100% better in a few months.

We went on Jake’s family reunion this last weekend. It was a lot of fun! We met in Rexburg and went rock climbing first to kick things off. Jake, Alan, Rachel, and Jenny tried to race to the top. It was entertaining to watch. We went camping at this really pretty lake in Montana. It rained really hard the first night we were there, but cleared up the following morning. Jake begged me to make these chocolate cookie brownies that everyone loves, so we brought those and they were gone really fast. Jake also found this HUGE rope swing that he went off three times. His sister, Becky, also went off it once but almost hit the rocks. That was a stomach clencher. It was a really fun vacation, and I felt I got to know his family a lot better.

Jake tried to be a redneck. I thought he pulled it off pretty well don't you?

Just playing at the beach. Doesn't he look all muscled up? :-)

I thought this picture was really cute of Jake and little Logan laying by each other. He found a worm and we thought it would be funny to stick on Jake while he was sun bathing. Jake is such a good sport.

The rope swing Jake found. He went about 30 feet in the air before dropping into the water.

We babysat Cassie overnight a couple weeks ago, and Whitney instructed us to give her a nap in the morning after she had eaten. I gave the job to Jake so I could get ready, and when I came out of the bathroom this is what I found.

He is such a good uncle.

Jake really wanted to go to the demolition derby yesterday, and was so ecstatic when we got there. Looking around at all the men with their tongues hanging out, goggling over the cars bashing each other just made me laugh! Every man is just a little boy at heart.

Waiting for the demolition derby to start.