My 29th...again :)

Turning 33 was awesome. On so many levels.

I am so blessed to have the family and friends I have! Everyone has made my birthday so wonderful. When we celebrate birthdays around here it usually ends up being a week long affair. First, we feel it's coming and celebrate. Then it's our actual birthday. Then there is usually some hidden surprise! This birthday was just amazing.

Pre- Birthday lunch with my baby girl: Several days before my actual birthday Morgan and I got dressed up and went out for the day. We needed a little out of the house time. So we hit the mall and went to TGI Fridays. Such a wonderful time with my little Morgan.

It's not really a picture unless you have a kiss says Morgan.

 On that same day (later that evening) my husband told me "Happy Birthday" now come take a photo of our newest family member. I was stoked and actually super surprised. Kale didn't want to expand our family until after we moved. I was in heaven when he told me this. So of course, my new gal. But, she still needed to be adopted :)

On my actual birthday Morgan and I went to my favorite restaurant Zuki. Yes, I'm a sushi lover and I love it! Morgan always ordered rice. Well, today she decided to try my miso soup which I found extremely fascinating. She actually really loved it. Then she ate my birthday ice cream.

And of course we took a kissy selfie!!

Later that evening after everyone came home from work and school we all dressed up...again and went out to dinner. This time Kale's favorite place. Mexican :)

While we were there, Colten wanted a Burrito Indiana. SUPER HUGE! We bet him that he couldn't eat the whole thing. Well, I am not joking when I tell you my 13 year old ate THE. WHOLE. THING!

He was proud.

Later that night I closed the day with this view. Could it be anymore beautiful? Did I seriously beat the odds and earn this great life by way of hard work and sobriety? Yes. Yes I did. I had to indulge. I had to just sit for a moment and Thank HIM for the breath I breathe another day. My beautiful Family. My wonderful and beautiful family.

K & S {4 Years}

CELEBRATING 4 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

Another year, more memories and another kiddo. Year 4 has already been absolutely amazing :)

 We had Colten do our session photo taking for us. He did pretty well. Some settings were changed and the color for the pics was terrible but for a 12 year old with no experience...he did PERFECT.

Here is our little funny anniversary session.... and we laughed the entire time

Kale and I both are looking forward to renewing our vows to each other on our 5th year of marriage :)

~ Our Shank Family

K & S Three Years

{December 16th, 2013}

CELEBRATING 3 YEARS OF MARRIAGE!!!

If you asked me during year 1 how year 2 would be....I would laugh at you.

If you asked me year 2 how year 3 would be...I would laugh some more.

Marriage....hmmm. Totally insane! Fun! Ridiculous at times! Hard! Very Hard! Hardest thing ever!

Yup. I think that sums up my thoughts on marriage right about now.

One thing is for sure... God brought us together and I believe there is a reason...so we fight on!

We are incredibly happy to share our 3rd year anniversary pics with you!!! 

~ Love,

Our Shank Family

This Crazy Foot of Mine

{ Catching up on the latest }

So you all remember my foot surgery? I will opt for showing you the gross photos again but if you don't remember... I had a bunionectomy in 2010. The surgeon opened my foot, surgically broke  my bone (the largest knuckle in the foot) and then reshaped it after placing 2 pins to hold it all together. This was supposed to free me of the pain and correct the tendon that ran along the top of my foot as well ( it was pulling my largest metatarsal in a direction that it was not meant to go).

Well... Things weren't going so smoothly. Ever since my surgery, I experienced pain and swelling in my foot. I continued to run despite the pain. I could only make it around 2 miles before I had to call it quits and run home.

 I finally had enough pain from running that I decided to go and see my doctor. 

So, 9 months ago, along to the doctor I went. He told me I had to wear my boot because I "possibly" a stress fracture. I completely ignored his advice...his medical opinion...and said ah ah. I am going to continue running and I am NOT wearing that boot again.

Well, I did myself a big fat favor. My stress fracture got so bad, I couldn't walk anymore. Am I seriously that hard headed?? Yes.

So I went back to my doctor in October and without a doubt, he scolded me. I asked him to fix it!

He placed me in a boot again.  I have had several x-rays and exams but I really couldn't get any answers. The one thing my doctor did tell me was that this may be permanent from the surgery. What does that mean? That means that the surgery performed changed the anatomy of my foot and the way it physically reacts to running and even walking.

:( HUGE SAD FACE!

How is it that I love to run and I will probably never get to run again.

Needless to say...I have gained well over 18 pounds from not being able to run. I am not really a gym kind of person. I ignored the weight gain completely until I hit 18 pounds. Then it hit me...I had to do something to take care of this foot and be able to keep my metabolism at its best.

So, wore the boot as directed for 2 months. I got the boot off December 11th. Unfortunately, I am still in pain even when walking. I will be seeing my doctor again today. I am really hoping for better news this time.

I am not sure if corrective surgery is a route that he will want to go. I believe orthotics will be the next step. I really don't want to have to wear special shoes but at this point, I am willing to do whatever it takes to be able to run again. I really hope to hear some answers.

At least I am back to wearing two shoes :)

~ The Shank Family

Busy, Busy, Busy {#1}

Our Shank Family has been busy lately.

We have started so many new things in our lives for 2013. I can promise you though that these are NOT new year resolutions. We, Kale and I, decided no more funky resolutions that we knew we wouldn't keep! Instead, we have been praying and seeking the Lord within our family to help us make many changes throughout this year and beyond!

I want to say that some of these changes are coming along pretty easily...but then I would be totally bluffin!

It's been really tough. We have shed some tears. We have had some changes that are almost unbearable!

So what have we been up to in our lives these days??

Sharin has officially decided to step it up and take on full time schooling this go around for 2013. What does this mean?

Instead of graduating around January of 2015...she gets to graduate THIS OCTOBER!!!

Yep. You read correctly. Sharin is graduating with an Associates Degree in Web Design and Interactive Media through the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in October!!!!

Is she excited?? YES!!!

Despite a really rough start to this new routine and demand for her time...she's doing really well.

Sharin is the kind of person...her grades being A's are so important. As she progresses through onto harder classes....she might have to settle for a B here and there.

We will definitely be throwing a shin dig for her graduation!

_____________

More to come!! Stay tuned for the other busy, busy, busy posts!!

~ Love,

The Shank Family

Tyler

I love my kids!

I love them all equally. This one is a little special! Why? Well, its a very long story. It has everything to do with my recovery and the choice I made to stay sober. A life isn't a life if you don't have anything to live for. I lived for this little boy right here! I am so thankful everyday that we (Tyler and I) made it through something very special and dear to my heart. He was the one I had my eyes on during my crises of recovery. He is the one I chose to LIVE for. He is the little boy that hugged me so tightly during the most painful time in my life. I couldn't be happier to have lived through the hardest thing I have ever been through with him right beside me!!

I love you Tyler Shank. I am so grateful to have you in my life. 

(and my new photography logo)

Love mommy!

This post was inspired last night when I had a meeting with my Mary Kay consultant. { she was trying to recruit me }. She is a great woman who has been through some things herself. She had asked me some important questions in regards to my past etc. This little boy came out in my small story. I was very happy to tell it. I am very happy to be sober and to be living the life that the LORD has chosen for me. 

~ Love the shank family

GED news

The results are finally in for my GED

I was nervous by the way...why...not sure... Maybe because going back to school depended on these scores.

I passed.

With flying colors.

I'm really excited.

This is just one more thing under my belt.

Foot Surgery {1}

I'm not really sure if all of you knew this but I had surgery November 2010 on my left foot. The procedure (medical terms) was a bunionectomy. I seriously thought that only only old people had bunions lol. No offense.

Well...as much as I hate to admit...I was so wrong. I had a bunion on (in) my left foot. 

Terrible pain. Right before I had surgery I had to stop wearing closed shoes. All I could wear where flip flops. It was terrible.

Here are some photos:

{they aren't that gruesome}

the x-ray that determined my fate... my bone shifted quite a bit to the right causing the pain

My poor foot!

They went in and surgically broke 3 bones and put in 2 pins. All better...NOT.

The pain from this surgery was so much worse than my c-sections.

The doctor told me it was normal for my foot to swell through the first year after surgery. Well..It's been more than a year. My foot is a little swollen everyday. Not noticeable but I can feel it throughout the bottom of my foot. This gets worse especially if I go running. I can only run a few miles right now. I fear any longer of a distance right now.

This morning I noticed it was swollen throughout the top of my foot. Which is no good. I went for an 8 mile bike ride today and came home to an even more swollen foot. I figured if I wasn't running it would be alright. Wrong again.

I called the doctor and they want to see me on Friday.

Please pray for my foot as weird as that sounds. I seriously just had two major surgeries in two years!

Well. I am crossing my fingers that this will be an easy fix.

Love you all!

SS Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY

& ME

One of my passions is photography. I believe everyone I know...knows this about me. It's sort of like this...

My camera would definitely be something I rescued if my house was burning down! Enough said!

So...while being a daycare provider...there are times when we are outside lying on a blanket, the sun shining, all the kids smiling...this does happen! Not always. But fortunately it happened today.

AND...I grabbed my camera. I'm really glad I did.

I got some awesome photos of two of my daycare kids. I have permission to photograph by the way. BUT again...please do not download or share these. I have to say that :)

I am so please to present to you some of my work!

And while I was at it... I got a snapshot of Tyler and his favorite bud. Hunter.

I have been asked by a few of my closest friends if I would take some family portraits for them. I was so excited to hear this! I jumped on it immediately! One of my friends said they were going to pay me. I thought...pay me? NO! Your a dear friend. But they insisted and it's not like I could refuse. I am so blessed right now. I can't wait to show off these images!

Being Honest gets me

A GED

Yep. Your vision is still ok 

Some of you may not know but I only made it to my junior year of high school. I was forced to drop-out by the school because of my attendance record. 

But that didn't stop me...

2005 Mankato Minnesota... 

I entered South Central College's nursing program. I wanted to become a nurse. Really bad! Upon entering I was asked tons of questions on the application such as my age, address of residency, etc. I was also asked about my level of education. 

I told them I never completed high school. They went ahead and let me begin college pending that I passed a GED. I took 3 of 5 tests. I passed the 3 I took but never took the other 2 tests.

Before starting college I took the placement test. I passed with flying colors. Colors good enough they never questioned or asked for the results of my GED testing. I decided at the time NOT to tell them.

 They allowed me to enroll in another semester without the proof. It's as if they put in that I had a GED but I didn't. 

Then I transferred these credits to Ivy Tech Community College in 2009 to start college in 2010. Again I was asked tons of questions about my personal history and again I marked down that I had already achieved a GED.

Without question I placed {assessment testing} into taking the rest of my general education courses and pre-requisites for nursing. I completed ALL of my general education courses and all of my pre-requistite courses for nursing by Spring of 2011.

THEN>>>> I decided I didn't want to be a nurse.

So the college hunt began. I found a school. And was able to soul search for the degree I desired ~ to become a Web Designer. 

Again I was asked my level of education. This time I was on the phone with my student advisor while filling out the forms. When answering...not sure if it was the changes I've made to my life and self...but I was actually honest. I said...I don't have any of these {listed}. She said excuse me? No... Just mark the one that you have. I again repeated...I don't have any of these. She asked how I managed to put years of college under my belt without a high school diploma or GED? I told her the truth. She thanked me for being honest and advised me to get it done. It wouldn't have kept me from going to school {with my credits transferring in } had she not known... but because I told her... the truth... it was definitely something I needed to think about.

My GED scores from South Central transferred as Incomplete. Obviously. So retesting on all 5 subjects was a must for me.

Since last Friday I have been studying and studying. Worrying and worrying. Studying some more. Beginning to feel ashamed and stupid. Then a LONG talk with my hubs made everything better.

So... I put on my big girl pants and paid the test fees. Registered. And sat through hours of testing this past Monday and Wednesday.

I'm so relieved it's unbelievable - to be honest. And to get one more triumph under my belt since my days of addiction and destruction.

I'm so happy for myself right now ... of the accomplishments that {together} Kale and I have achieved over this last 3 years.

NOW.... I await for the results.

waiting...

waiting....

I hope to find out next week if I passed these tests for good.

Our God is an awesome GOD. I got the second chance at a great life and through HIM I will succeed.

”He had great success in everything he did because the Lord was with him.”

1 Samuel 18:14

Sharin's Career {updated}

The process has begun!

I am on my way to becoming a student at

How excited am I? Ha! Extremely. I'm so happy that this has become reality for me. 

My Degree:

Web Design and Interactive Media

I'm stoked!!

I start on June 18. I can't wait.

Juggling Life...School...Daycare...

Things couldn't be better!!!

Delaware Dash 5k

It's official: Colten and I ran our first race AND our first race together this last Saturday morning :)

Colten asked me to run with him for the Delaware Dash 5k. I said YES of course. I love to run.  We were able to raise money for his school, get some bonding time in and we BOTH learned what the word PACE means.

I (Sharin) used to run track when I was younger.  I was a SPRINTER not a long distance runner. So this is pretty much all new to me. This is new for Colten too. Colten has NEVER actually run before. The only running experience Colten has is running away from my fly swatter !

This was a great experience for us both. We did some training together. This, I will say, was difficult. Difficult because I was training a 9 year old. 

At first he wouldn't pace. He kept sprinting. We couldn't get in an entire 3 miles at all. He kept giving up on me.

But he got better. He became 'trainable'. I'm not saying I'm perfect but THIS race was for him. Which meant we ran this together. 

And right there I take that ALL back. This race was for me too. I had a blast. I learned a lot. I plan on running more. 

This was tough on my fairly newly just had a baby body. I honestly thought my hips were going to break during this run. I was in a little pain after the race throughout the next day. The only thing I could think of... I'm old...I just had a baby 5 months ago. I'm hoping this is the case because I definitely don't want anything standing in my way of running with my kiddo.

This was an awesome experience. I loved every minute of it. Being out in the open running with my oldest. Sharing a passion for running. It couldn't get any better than this!

Fortunately I had some juice left! I think Kale took about 10 pictures of me messing around right before finishing. I had to let my little man slow poke catch up! WE WERE CROSSING THIS FINISH LINE TOGETHER!

On a serious note: Race wasn't bad. I could have done about a mile more and then I think I would of collapsed! At the end of the race Colten was pooped. I was pooped. We both could have ran some more. I think this is a great thing!

Colten's teachers and friends were giving him thanks, praise, and high-five's all over the place. They were so proud to see such a dedicated 9 year old actually running the race like a mini-pro. ( he was one of about 3 kids {at least 30 kids ran that day} who actually took this race in a serious manner) I was and am so proud of my son!

We finished up strong! Not really. We should have but this was supposed to be fun not torture. We got really silly for the last stretch of this race. We did clown around a little. Could have brought our time down by maybe a few minutes but we were having so much fun we didn't bother with it. A good friend told me not to worry about TIME...Have fun and at least run the 3 miles. Progress rather than perfection. And I love her for that.

Our official time was 37:10. 

I couldn't be more proud!!!

After the race we met up with Kale, Tyler and little Morgey Poo. Colten and I chowed on fresh cut pineapples. Talk about delicious! Thanks to Kale for slicing, dicing and remembering to bring fresh fruit.

Sharin's Career

For most of you who know me {Sharin - the main author of our family blog} knows I love to blog. I love getting a little crafty now and then. I LOVE photography. I love to sew for fun.

What also interests me?

The DESIGN elements of blogging.

Our new family header made by { me }!

I have made I dunno probably 30 million changes to my blogs look over this last year. I love designing what I can when I can. I could do this all day long!

I also had the pleasure of creating an entire blog look for my sister-in-law's blog:

Granted these aren't professsional. When I say professional I mean I don't have the skills, degree, or the software/programs to create the real deal.

They are pretty good considering the only programs I own are Picasa 3 to create anything for blogger. Picasa is free through google. And saying that I am an amateur. 

I recently had a comment from someone saying : well if I had photoshop like you....

I currently do not own any Adobe programs other than Lightroom 4. I have some trial versions I toy with but do not own any of them.

The program package is $2599.00 minimum that I will need and of course I wouldn't buy something like that for "fun".

now getting to the reason for this post:

I am currently considering getting my degree in Web Design & Interactive Media.

Why?

I do have a  passion fory for the posts themselves because I love blogging and love keeping our family up to date.  I am also absolutely intrigued with the way these templates are formed and how they look. I would give anything to be able to design just one with a professional program and the know-how.

I do plan on creating a career/business with this degree. I will possibly work under someone until I have enough experience to have my own business and name.

Kale and I are weighing our options now. We will have a decision made here shortly. Kale is the master mind behind our finances/savings/future and well being of the financial aspects as a family. He is the reason I am able to understand what it means to save/spend wisely/plan for our future and our kids future.

Spending this kind of money towards a degree like this is something he first thought wasn't profitable. As he looks into it further he is beginning to realize my vision. My passion. This is everywhere. Almost every business these days HAS a website.

This degree would be completely online. It is really expensive. I don't want to go to a land college for this especially having the 3 kids to care for. One reason it's so expensive.

I would like to have a career so that we can see more of daddy instead of him constantly working.

Over this last few years I have started realizing that nursing is just not my style. Daily I think, 'what is it that I will do with my life career wise?'

Daycare was an option. I do love my little daycare. The sweet babies. The time with Morgan. But my daughter will grow. My boys will move out. All my children will go to college. And I will be stuck with babies?

No.

Then I looked into Human Resources. But not really hitting that bell I was looking for.

I believe this is my calling. I am going to let go and trust the Lord with the passion he has given me in designing.

LOVE,

US