i’m back. i think i shall return to the world that is blogging. if you will keep reading. and commenting 
with my fading blogging, my readership has an equalling fading number….
have a great long weekend, Canadians. Americans - wait for next weekend and then live it up.
thanks for reading
shannon
p.s. more interesting news soon!
i am going on a blog hiatus. there is not much to write about lately. u can still get in touch with me, you know how.
thanks for reading.
shannon
i’ve been doing a lot of catching up with old friends, which has been nice. saw some old old old friends from camp - which was interesting. some people never change! hehe… and i’ve been great friends with one girl from camp for AGES - we always pick up where we left off. also had a girls night out high school reunion with a group of us girls that used to be inseperable. also was fun… again some people change and some never do! it’s interesting to see where we all ended up though!
tonight went out to chat with chris for a bit, which was good - get up to speed on where things are at. apparently this transition period is quite normal, i’ve been assured others have gone through it before me (hehe) and that some are still going through it alongside me. it was a good chat. anddddddddddd Rebecca is coming from PA to visit for a while! will be AWESOME to have her here… i can’t wait. we’re going to tour Toronto and the works.
again it doesn’t seem to be as easy to post as it was before, but i’m still here. keep reading and comments are good.
i miss my friends and nicaragua still very much. but life goes on… it’s an adventure, perhaps even more nowso than before because now the world is my oyster? (i don’t like oysters)… but it’s wide open. exciting and scary.
thanks for reading,
shannon
apparently i haven’t been so great at posting on my blog since i got home. sorry about that. i can’t say it’s because i’m never at my computer. i’ve been job searching, fixing up my resume, and working on my TEFL. can’t say it compares to palm trees and sipping a latte in the sun of nicaragua — but it’s different
i bought a few more books which are now added to my reading list:
reading is a great escape from reality if there is a moment where you want to do that. obviously it also works your mind- i’m working on that
Rebecca might be coming to visit in a few weeks - will be awesome! other than that, no real updates.
thanks for reading,
Shannon
i’ve heard about this before, first from a friend named Karla and then recently again from my dad - but i’d never taken the time to watch it. as the website will tell you, it’s a “20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns”. the woman that speaks, Annie Leonard, is interesting and i love the way she describes the situation.
it’s definitely worth watching. check it out!
what if somebody does a search and randomly comes up with my blog. should i sound more professional? should i adjust my writing style to be more attractive to the non-profit, international reader audience? thankfully there’s not one type. and also, i decided not to because then what would be the purpose of a blog.
i heard once the more you write, the better you get. so i will just keep on doing that. maybe one day i will write a book! but for now, i will read.
thank YOU for reading,
Shannon
it was the best of times. it was the worst of times. it was the time that shannon had no idea what on earth she was doing. i do know that i still enjoy sleeping. sleeping in, in fact. sleeping in and staying up late. wow that sounds sustainable. and healthy! doesn’t it? haha… oh well.
today i cleaned. all of my clothes are away, neatly. my scrapbooking stuff is all organized and raring to go. i sent some e-mails and started a new show: One Tree Hill. just what i need in my life. another show. speaking of which, Grey’s Anatomy returns on Thursday! woot woot!!!
tomorrow i will scrapbook, run some errands, and do some more job searching.
the world is my oyster! but i don’t like oysters….
thanks for reading
Shannon
“to carefully review upon completion”
this is going to be the perfect time for debriefing. i have no job. i have no idea what my tomorrow holds. previously i’ve had an idea of at least the short term future (6 months - 1 yr). but now, in all honesty, i have no idea! i know i WANT to be in Nicaragua… but i think that’s pretty normal because that’s where i’ve lived for 7 months… it’s fresh in my mind. but i DO want to go back!! i just don’t know right now. i have to process all of the things i experienced, try to re-adjust to living in Toronto, re-adjust to living with the fam, etc.
i went to hear Craig Kielburger speak on Thursday night of last week. he’s a really interesting, inspiring guy!
started, although he didn’t know it 13 years ago, the NGO called “Free the Children“. i hadn’t known much about the organization before, but it was wonderful to learn about what they do. here is a pic of Cristyne and me with Craig after we waited to get his autograph and talk to him for a few mins. i bought his new book “Me to We” and it’s on my to read list (i plan on becoming an serious reader again, but this time will read books by choice and not as elected by profs. mind you, many are the same books - that i want to go back and re-read.)
first on the agenda to read are:
- Walking with the Poor (Myers)
- The New Friars (Bessenecker)
- Me to We (Kielburger)
other than that, routine would be nice. although it’s so much easier to lounge in my pajamas, journal, look at pictures, talk to friends on the phone from nicaragua, do laundry, organize and re-organize my room, and job search. it’s not going to stay that way, don’t worry. but i have to have a time for transition…
today i checked out a new church since i don’t really have a home church here… i saw Chris Lewis which was good to briefly catch up. hadn’t seen him since August 2007 before leaving to Nicaragua.
thanks for reading,
Shannon
… in far too long. i’m sorry the last couple days have been crazy with packing up my life in Nicaragua and moving home, then going to the USA for the weekend, coming back and doing all of my laundry and trying to get some type of order and routine.
i will post soon - i promise.
thanks for reading,
Shannon
… in the recent blog department. sorry about that. i’ve had so much on my plate and even more on my mind, that my blog seems to have drifted to the back shelf. but i don’t want that to happen because i appreciate and value your support — and i notice very quickly that my daily readers starts to drop when i stop posting regularly. so let’s keep that up. and by let’s, i mean me and you — that’s right. it takes two. i write. you read (and write - still love comments!!) haha…
1) jobs. the job hunt continues, and while i’ve come across a great bunch of NGO and done some good networking, made good contacts, etc…. i am still without a job. not here in Nicaragua, not in Toronto, and not in any other city in the world at this moment. press on.
2) Nicaragua/Canada. this is a tough one. tough in that really some days lately i wish i didn’t have emotions!! i mean, ok no i take it back. but at least that they weren’t so strong. it’s been emotional enough with culture shock and some normal challenges of living abroad - but I think the culture shock of going home after living here for a while is going to be worse and hit me harder. i am not sure what any of you would suggest (Lorna, any ideas?), but i packed one of my suitcases so that I will have less stuff in my room and so that I will see it each day to adjust to the idea of leaving. so far it isn’t working. Don’t get me wrong (mom, dad, Andrew!!), i am looking forward to being home with my family. but this is going to be super hard. prayers appreciated. and at least most of my friends have e-mail so I can keep in touch. Nicaragua — I will be back!! but it’s the things that bugged me in the beginning that i’ve become accustomed to… the comments when you’re walking, the taxi drivers (oh the joys), the Spanish!, the music, the heat (i’ve even adjusted to the heat for the most part), the food (mmm), all of it. i shall miss it all. and then the culture shock of seeing the waste (not that you don’t see it here, you do…) but the excess and wealth of the West when I go back to Canada.
3) other things. really, i have some great friends. fabulous friends. but who’s going to want to sit down and look through all the billions of pics I took. right? right. and i do have tons of pics… and while i’ll be looking at them and trying to adjust back to my old home, i need to remember things like “have a nutshell version”, because not everybody that asks wants to hear the whole story, all 7 months. hehe those that want to know more will ask! what else? hmm… well everybody’s life has obviously continued while i’ve been gone!! note to self: continue to show interest and ask questions about THEIR lives. you’ve missed a lot too.
4) unknowns. today one of my good friends informed me that his girlfriend of 3 years (3 year anniversary past on Sunday) died in a bus accident. she had gone to Honduras to celebrate her birthday and was on her way back when there was a bus accident. i am incredibly sad and heart-broken for Juan who is truly one of the most genuine guys I’ve met in Nicaragua, a real friend! (unlike the many men here who are questionable and very much the opposite) please pray for him and for his g/fs family during this difficult time of loss.
*other notes to self*
- buy a mac. other computers suck, as is noted by the 5th and final computer of the last year crashing and burning as the mother board gave out on the second computer. ugh!
- back up all of your stuff every day, or at least make note of what’s new and back it up. you never know when your computer will die. lol. (lesson learned - finally)
- do one thing every day that scares you. (you will notice i stole this line from my previous post with the lyrics from the Sunscreen Song)
- think with more than your heart in all moments.
- do not completely ignore your heart.
- get enough sleep. you are no longer 18. you cannot do all nighters. it will haunt you for at least a couple days after, and you need those days.”
- network network network network network…
- make enough time every day, at the start of your day, for God. if you do not make the time, your day will not make the time for you - priorities!
- make enough time every day for yourself! can be at any point in the day - no computer, no phone, music is okay - journal and take some you time. “fill your cup” as a certain friend has said.
- make an effort with friends and the people that are important to you. when they stop, continue making the effort. true friends are hard to find and although it’s a two way street — life is busy. keep on them haha.
- love red hair. despite what some people might say - it rocks. and you wear it well (hahaha)
- continue to blog and live your life one day at a time, looking straight out ahead and waiting for those real pearls.
Updates with friends: Cristyne is super excited to have me home and I am excited to see her. She is my person (a quote from Grey’s Anatomy — in case you aren’t familiar with it), which means a great friend. Yay! Monique is continuing things with her music career. Check out her blog and songs here. Mirna and I can almost always speak only in Spanish now - that’s exciting!!! Noel is still in Honduras, back from a great vacation for Semana Santa. Beth got the job!!! Rebecca sounded great when I talked to her on Skype the other day and can still be found in Israel. Marshall (my one housemate) is leaving for Toronto in 3 days. Kiki is staying here for a while longer and doing a great job with the annual report (stress free!) Jessi went home and I miss her. Matt is still in Afghanistan. Dawn, Jeremiah, and Josh are still looking for the right job — as am I!! Lorna has also made the switch to WordPress (good choice!!) and continues to blog and take beautiful pictures!!! Mandie continues to rock my socks — we’ve been good friends since we were 12 and it’s still going strong (thanks for the good talk!!)
For many others of you I’m not sure — we need to connect! That and I couldn’t literally write about everybody hehe…
Anyways as you can see I still have lots to say, so I’ll continue funneling it through the blog.
Thanks for reading!
Shannon
p.s. I also now have red hair. As you can see here. hehe… 
