OUR NEW BLOGS!!!

Welp, this is it. I have finally changed from blogger to wordpress and here to announce to change of blog addresses. I split up the blog into two, one for updates on us, and one for updates on my crafting etc. Here are the new address:

www.mattandshannonmeredith.wordpress.com

and

www.shannonsknits.wordpress.com

Please visit our new site and add it to your RSS feeds or list of sites you visit. Sorry for the inconvienence but I think it will be better for me and the frequency that I update since it is easier for me to use. See you on the flipside :)

Well, here we are!!!!!!!

We wanted to update everyone and let you know that we made it safe and sound and without too much drama. Just a little in the beginning of the trip :) but what kind of a road trip would it be without something. The picture above was taken early today by Shay. We tried to find Jack for the family pic but he was in a hidey-hole and was no where to be found until later.

Earlier this week we had a great crew of muscular men, women and babies to help load the truck on Thursday which really helped us out a lot and Friday was much less stressful in that aspect. Friday evening, some of our buddies came over for a last supper feast consisting of left overs that we were trying to eat before we left and a few more moments of fellowship together before we moved! Then some more family came in to help finish loading things and cleaning. I hated saying bye to my best bud Katie but I know she will visit soon so it helped but it was still sad.

We woke up SUPER early in the morning to finish everything up before the vet came to give Jack (our cat/panther) a sedation. That was quite the event and one I hope I dont have to do again. We had to not give him food and water after 6ish and so he was starving and confused about what was going on and really fought the vet to get the injection. She had to stick him 4 times before she was able to administer it she got it finally and then we hurried on our way. It was creepy too because I thought it would be more like an anesthetic and he would be sleeping but instead it was more like Michelle Pfeiffer in "What Lies Beneath" when Harrison Ford sedated her with a chemical and she was fully aware that he was trying to kill her and of what was happening but couldnt move her body!!!! AND his eyes were open the whole time!!! I told Matt that it was his turn next time!

Unfortunately, I was in the animal car by myself the whole time to Tulsa because Shay was in her car and was kind of freaking out the whole time that the cat was dead and that his eyes were drying out and that he was going to wake up in an hour. It was a bit of mass hysteria but then I got myself together when I stopped in Tulsa and the rest of the trip was better. I got to see my mom one more time before the move, acquired Shay to assist in the animal car for the rest of the way and continued my mission to hurry up to St. Louis before the cat could move around! We stayed ahead of the rest of the pack and made it there at 3:30 which was amazing (8 hours total even with our stops so really like 7 hours driving time). I made shay "blink the cat" like every 5-10 minutes because we were afraid his eyes were going to dry out and make sure he was still breathing along the way. Amazingly enough, he made it the whole way before he really started being able to stir which in hindsight was more enjoyable for him but very traumatic initially. He came around later that evening and is already back to his normal self but a little more loving than his norm.

We unloaded the whole truck by 8:00 pm on Saturday just in time for dinner and in time to go to bed early. My grandpa and cousins left in the morning and Shay and Janoah got to stay until today. We dined on some local pizza at Imos for lunch and cooked some turkey meatballs for dinner and Shay and I made some trips to Trader Joes before she had to go.

This last week has been an emotional one for Matt. He has been trying to be tough on the outside but crying himself to sleep at night because he is missing everyone at OKC. I have been the strong one and consoling him but sometimes he is an unstopable crying machine......NOT!!!!

But seriously, last week was tough for me especially and sad but we are really looking forward to this new stage in life. Our moving experience was about as good as it could be. Not too much furniture damage, no wrecks, no tickets, no close calls, no moving injuries or anything. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family to help and we cant thank you enough. We will miss you all like crazy so you better come visit us when you can. We have lots of room and want you all to visit when you are able and we will be back often as well. Matt starts his new job on Wednesday so please keep him in your prayers. We love you all, thanks for everything and keep in touch!!

p.s. this is the last official post on this blogging website and hopefully we will get internet in the next week or so and I will post a link here to our new blog address.

more knits

I have a huge update coming soon (not announcing a pregnancy or anything - let me put that disclaimer out there) but it will be a long post or posts so I havent been motivated to write yet. Until then, here are some pics of the recent knitted things I have been working on. We go on our family reunion week this weekend so I plan on knitting a lot there too since I am not a good book reader. We will see...

A baby hat for Katie's friend

A baby blanket for Shay's friend and a pic of my new tags in action. I didnt mean for it to look so pink camoflauge but thats how it turned out. It is hard to see the pattern in these pics but it is checkered with a seed stitch border.

And a baby elf hat for Baby Harper. I hope it turns out well in the photo shoot Bopha!!

**I had issues last night with the pictures but at least it worked today :)

DAD Life

Here's a pretty funny video made by some folks at Church on the Move in Tulsa for Father's day:

Ohhhhh snap, I got my hair did!

I have been saying for a while that I was ready to cut my hair since it was long enough to donate again and I finally did! Sticking to my sneaky ways lately, I made a secret appointment for Thursday and didnt tell anyone not even Matt or anyone at work for the whole week. But I ended up telling Shay on Wednesday night when she called because I just had to tell someone but she lives in Tulsa so I knew no one else would find out.

Thursday was a really rough day at work for me so I was so glad when it was time for my appointment because I was needing a break big time. But I was running a few minutes late and then got stuck behind a train so I thought I might not get to get it cut afterall. The cottonwood secretary lady was being really uptight about me being late so I drove incredibly unsafe and made it just barely late with no wrecks or tickets.

I have never been there but it was awesome! You get a head and temple massage as well as an arm and hand massage when your hair is being washed. Plus some other complementary services that I didnt take advantage of because I was in a hurry. And since I was donating my hair, they didnt charge me for my haircut and mailed it for me also! What a deal!!

These are the only pics I snapped that day. I was so flustered from my day at work and running late I almost forgot to take any. She cut off about 11 inches here and then about 12 total after it was all said and done.

Voila!

The above picture was taken much later in the evening when I got home and the bottom picture was right when I got back to work from my haircut.

Since no one knew, my work friends were totally shocked when I came back. Matt was shocked too because he also didnt know. I love surprises!! It has been about 3 or so years since my last major cut to donate and so I was ready for it again especially since it is getting so hot now. I love the cut and plan to keep it short for a while then start growing it again for the next Locks of Love donation!! Bring on the summer!!!

Vancouver trip re-visited (like 6 weeks later)

Well, as I do often, I have neglected my blogging and I havent even blogged about the best trip of the year so far!! I havent really forgotten I was just putting it off because I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hate putting pictures on blogspot especially when there are tons to choose from. For as many people that use this website, you would think it would be more user friendly especially in the picture/movie uploading features but it definately IS NOT! I have been contemplating switching websites but dont really know of other ones that are better. Any suggestions??

But anyway, back to Vancouver...

We had an absolutely fabulous time there. Everything was beautiful and there was so much more to do that we had time for. For those who didnt know, we got to plan such a wonderful trip because Matt had a chemisty meeting conveniently located there. It takes place twice/year in various locations around the world and in April in was in Vancouver. And because he is such a brilliant fellow, we got it all payed for (except my plane ticket because i have nothing to do with OU) but we did have credit card milage that allowed me to get my ticket for almost nothing! That is part of what made the trip even more awesome!

We got to go for one whole week and few days we got to do stuff together and a few days Matt was at the meeting and I did stuff by myself. Aside from getting plantar fasciatis, I can think of no bad things to report about the trip. The town was beautiful! It is the 5th greenest city in the world and you can definately tell. The have recycling bins in the hotel room! If you stay downtown, you can do big city stuff, yet you are within walking distance of hiking, parks, beaches and a bus ride away from the mountains and kayaking. It was just wonderful.

But as previously mentioned, I hate puting lots of pics on here so I think I am just going to direct you to my facebook page and put them all up on there with comments about where we were and stuff. I took so many it is really hard to cull down for blogger. So go here and look at my pictures to see all about our wonderful Vancouver expedition. If you ever get a chance to go, I highly reccomend it!!

Baby boy beanie

This is a cute little baby boy hat I made for my friend this week. I really like the design and will probably make some elf new born hats as well for baby photos. This hat is for a 6 month old baby.

I always struggle to come up with cute ideas for baby boy stuff, but I thought this was cute and still masculine enough :)