Kudos to....Shannon

I've been thinking...  I know, scary right?! 

Anyways, I've been thinking that I am blessed beyond measure to know a LOT of really neat people.  My husband says I'm a master networker...but really the truth is that I just LOVE people.  Everything about you.  I love that we all have different stories, struggles, joys, talents, pitfalls, personalities, senses of humor, ways of looking at things, pictures, homes...I mean, truly I LOVE people.  I mean, we all have people on occasion who grate our nerves, or people we're closer to, and honestly I think that's how it should be.  You should hold some people closer than others because everyone can't know all your secrets or all your junk, and you should learn to love people who are hard for you to naturally love because in the process you generally learn a lot about yourself.  Anyways, all this to say that I am often overwhelmed when I think of the people who I have the privilege of sowing into and who sow into me.  And so my thinking has been that I want to take a chance here and honor some people I know.  Maybe it won't do a thing for you but make you think that I seemed nice that day.  But what I'd really hope that it'd lead you to do is to think of someone that you could honor by telling them how much they mean to you and how neat you think they are.  I mean, don't you love it when someone unexpectedly gives you kudos...just for being you.  So I'm going to do that today and I hope that maybe you will too.

So today, my first post of "Kudos to" goes to Shannon, my friend and next door neighbor.

First what you should know about Shannon is that she is going to shudder that I'm even giving her public kudos.  She probably doesn't think she deserves it, but let me tell you how much she does.

She is beautiful inside and out.  Her heart is made of gold and she is so thoughtful and kind.  She's so much nicer than me...ALL THE TIME!  She's the friend who knows you're feeling rotten and brings over a Honeybaked Ham for you, because she thought it'd help out...and it does.  The thing that makes it ever better is that she just does it without asking because she knows that's what you need.

She's always apologizing because her kids play all over her house and leave some evidence of it around...but you know what, who cares.  She plays with her kids rather than spending all her time and energy picking up after them.  She does crafts with them even though she doesn't give herself for being crafty, she is silly with them, and the girl loves on those 3 boys like crazy.  Oh, and did I mention that she has 3 boys...2 of which are 3 year old twins.  And I'm just gonna say this here too...if you have twins, then nomatter what you think about yourself, I just need to sit at your feet and soak up some of your wisdom....because oh my goodness...you are amazing!

You know what else is so neat about Shannon...she is super creative.  She thinks she has a silly fettish with fabric and paint, but seriously...the girl has some awesome taste.  She isn't afraid to try new things and figure out how to make it work.  She just painted and antiqued this neat old china cabinet that she found and it is awesome.  And she has about probably 30 other pieces of furniture crammed all over her house that are projects in waiting.  She's a visionary...she has ideas that are awesome and they're just waiting to ooze out and become something tangible.

Shannon I think also has a huge heart for people, but she's shy too.  She doesn't give herself nearly the credit that she should, so it seems fitting to me that I give some to her here...where all of you can see.  So I guess I'm being a little bit of my occasionally forceful self and forcing her into the open where all of you can see her for who she really is...and that's a pretty amazing person.

Oh yeah...she's ridiculously smart too.  She has her JD which means she's a lawyer, but she uses that information to be a helper to other lawyers as a legal librarian.  See what I mean, she helps people...all the time.  I think it's part of her nature...she sees a  need and she fills it.  She's also particularly handy should you ever want to find out if anyone has a police record, or want to know who bought the house across the street, or if they have a police record....truly...she's handy that way! LOL!  So you see...she's a smart one too.  She works 1 day a week doing the legal thing so that she can spend time with her kids the rest of the time.

Anyways, there's way more that I could say about her, but for now I think I just want you to know that I am honored to call her my friend.

Do me a favor...when you read all of that above about Shannon, what do you think in your mind? If I didn't know her, I'd be thinking something like "dang...she's a rockstar"... so, would you honor Shannon in the comments section by just sharing how my words about her stirred you to think about someone you may know, or about her?  Thanks friends!

Now go out and give someone some Kudos today!  PS. Kudos by definition is "acclaim or praise for exceptional achievement."  I KNOW you all have exceptional people in your life too...so tell them!