The second I got the Agfa Karat in my hands, I knew, there was something special there. Maybe it was the way it looked.

Metal.

Leather case.

Dust.

And in that moment – I HAD to go buy a roll of film. Except I had to wait as we were traveling.

Fast forward a week… I look over at my new found friend, sitting quietly on a black bookcase, looking a bit forlorn. I picked him, yes, it’s a him…I picked him up and went on a quest to find the relic known as – film. My quest brought me to the ever so underwhelming, big box store that I truly despise. Success. For just $3.69, 24 exposures were all mine.

The feeling of loading the film, shutting the case and creating images with this antique, quirky little metal hunk of a camera reminded me of so much. It was like I was 13 years old all over again. It was a feeling of complete and utter glee. If I was to say I was elated, it would be a MASSIVE understatement. I was addicted. It wasn’t just a spark of creativity – it was a full blown fire.

Head. Over. Heels. In love. I tell you.

I went through the 24 frames, hoping for anything to come out. I wanted this camera to work so badly. I rushed out the second I finished and dropped it off for 1-hour development.

Drumroll, please…..

And… Epic fail. It was completely blank. Wah…wah…wah… There was good news, we think that it was operator error. Which shouldn’t be something to celebrate, but I did a little happy dance nonetheless. It appears that I incorrectly loaded the film. At least I am still telling myself that, so that Mr. Agfa still has his chance to shine. And shine he will…Or I will place him on a shelf and purchase a more functional less quirky film camera.

Mr. Agfa you’ve been warned.

I never thought I could love two little furry, gas-challenged (those pups can clear a room…woo..) high energy creatures – so very much. I tear up every time we have to leave them with friends or family when we go out of town.

Ridiculous, I know. But Sammie and Olive just melt my heart.

Over the weekend Milan and I stayed with a friend in Redding. Before heading up there we dropped off Sammie and Olive with my amazing in-laws to play with their jack russell terriers. When I say play, I mean…run non-stop across their 5 acre property from sunup to sundown. To say they love it there is an understatement.

Then Sunday, Milan got a call from his mom. The tone of his voice changed and the air got sucked out of the room. My heart raced – I was terrified something happened to our little pups.

Milan’s mom, Sherry, informed us that Sammie and Olive got into rat poison.

We piled our stuff into our car and left immediately to pick up the dogs and take them to our vet. The air was thick with worry as we drove down I-5. No music played. Hardly anything was said. We had one goal – make sure Sammie and Olive were going to be okay.

Thank you Sherry, from the bottom of my heart for saving Sammie & Olive. Sherry called poison control and followed their instructions to minimize poisoning. To quote our vet, ‘We should hire her. She did a fantastic job.’

Sammie and Olive are doing fine. Olive is currently sleeping at my feet as I write this post, and Sammie is snoozing on the couch.

We are so incredibly thankful.

I like to sing. Sometimes, it’s not that bad, but most of the time – It’s bad. The I don’t care what I sound like, belting it out in my car, kinda bad. Thankfully, the people who normally have to hear me (Milan), don’t judge me for it. And the best part is, sometimes he’ll join in, mocking the singer and butchering the song lyrics just to get me to laugh. One of our favorites to imitate singing style and alter the lyrics is Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam. In fact, I think I owe Mr. Vedder an apology for ruining his songs.

If singing completely off key wasn’t enough…Currently, in a monotone speaking voice I like to repeat just one line from a song to Milan. Usually for no reason. Just to make him laugh. At the moment, I like to randomly interject – ‘Hey, I heard you were a wild one’ from Flo Rida’s hit song, Wild Ones. I think this may be slowly driving Milan completely mad. Time will tell.

When I’m not singing – I’m dancing. Usually in my office. I like to edit to music…typically bad music. The type of music, if I had to equate to food…Is more fast food than fine dining. And fast food music – definitely lends itself to dancing. A little Keisha and LMFAO never hurt anyone. Right? …I may need to rethink that statement.

Little, 17 pound Olive, well she loves dubstep. Totally fits her high energy personality. Not to mention her style of dancing, which includes randomly spinning in circles and jumping.

She Dj’s on weekends.

When I was a kid – I had this purple mountain bike. With at least 15 speeds. Because I needed to have all those speeds cruising around either our 5 acre property or the quiet, quaint, ridiculously small town suburbs.

Truthfully…I wanted it because of the color. Practicality and style have been waging a war inside me for a long time. Style tends to kick practicality’s butt. I think I heard it running home to it’s mommy…

Flash forward…ohh ten…more like twenty years and you’ll find me grinning ear to ear. Riding my shiny new Schwinn bicycle. The one with the big ‘S’ on the seat. And feeling like I am eight years old again. Wind flying through my hair, laughing and trying not to fall down. Me and falling down seem to be friends…

But twenty years later…it’s even more fun because I get to share it with Milan.

Not much fazes Sammie and Olive. Which isn’t surprising as they have no time to be scared of anything because they NEVER SLOW DOWN. There are just too many squirrel’s to chase, cats to bark at and toys to destroy….or couch cushions…either way.

Needless to say you can find them wagging their ‘tails’ or what’s left of them…and  a grin ear to ear – all the time.

Except….

When we turned on our new bug zapper.

Hell had come to Sammie and Olive’s world. Shear terror and panic was now all over our adorable little puppies faces.

It was a disaster.

Olive, “If you’re under Shannon’s desk, the evil zapper can’t get you.”

I think this might be the first time in my life I’ve used the word ‘hootenanny’ in any form of communication.

But a hootenanny it was indeed.

This weekend we celebrated my husband’s birthday. And for us parties and any form of celebration revolves around – food. Milan’s favorite type of food is anything southern or Cajun. Last year we started the tradition of a southern style cook out…hootenanny…eating extravaganza and I think we will keep it up as long as possible. Or until we get tired of crawfish or shrimp….which probably isn’t anytime soon

Andouille sausage which I purchased at my favorite local butcher shop – Chico Locker & Sausage Co.

This was the first time I had eaten head on shrimp, which we ordered from Louisiana Crawfish Company. It was absolutely delicious and had an extra sweetness to it. If you want fresh, authentic Louisiana crawfish, shrimp or gator I highly recommend ordering from them. They are very friendly and the order arrives perfectly packaged and on time.

The chef and birthday boy himself. Milan, I am so incredibly thankful to call you my husband…my best friend. Here’s to many more shrimp boils… and hootenanny’s

There are some people in this world who are extraordinarly thoughtful and kind. Who always think of others first. Somehow I was extremely lucky to have married such a person.

Knowing that I was not feeling well, he knew just how to make me smile – A bag full of gummy candy. Not flowers. Not chocolate. Gummies. Because he knew I loved them best.

Thank you Milan for always knowing how to make me smile.

P.S. The bright pink gummy bear is a ‘Techno Bear’ and the little orange one is a ‘Baby Bear.’ I’m still trying to figure out why they call it a ‘Techno Bear.’ Is it a gummy bear that is supposed to be going to a rave? Or loves techno music? If anyone out there has any idea as to why it’s called a ‘Techno Bear’ I’d love to hear it.

I bought mustard colored shoes.

Which shouldn’t be a newsflash or anything important by any means.

But I love shoes

I have been on an endless search to find cute, comfortable flats. Ones that won’t make my feet look ginormous…because lets face it, they are. I have franken-feet. Super long, narrow, nothing fits except high heels. Now, I looooove high heels, but I can’t wear them while shooting because I am so focused on the task at hand (pun intended..heehee) I’m afraid I will twist my ankle…break my neck. Either way – hazardous and way embarrassing.

So the search for stylish flats continued. After trying on the umpteenth pair, I found a shoe that I liked and they fit. Miracle of all miracles.

Except they only had my size in mustard.

I have never worn this color in my life, but secretly loved it. From afar. Like it was a high school crush that I never dared tell a soul that I liked.

I told myself – ‘It won’t go with anything.’ They are impractical.

Thankfully Milan was there and could read the inner monolgue/dilemma going on in this brain of mine. And he said – ‘You should get them.’

So, I said – Pfffft to practicality. Life’s too short to be practical all the time