Welcome!  I am so excited, kind of feel like it’s the first day of school (in a good way).  Seeing friends, starting something new, and fresh beginnings…

Let me introduce our family, My amazing husband Mike, our darling daughters, Addie and Hayden (11 months apart – makes them not always seem darling…but we love them regardless!), and me, Shanna.

And then the new addition, this website, My Favorite Everything.

On to why I’m here.  I’m a mess.  Probably a lot like anyone stopping by this blog.  Not necessarily a bad mess, just somehow always feeling like I’m a little behind the 8 ball, even when to the world, I’m probably really doing a great job.

In the past few weeks, on a normal day there were 5 kitchen chairs pulled up to all sides of our kitchen counters and our 19 mos old was climbing them faster than I could pull them back to the table.  Up she would go like a speedy monkey, 2 swift movements and she would be in the upper cabinets in the blink of an eye….seriously, she will either be in the circus or be an amazing rock climber!!  So now I live in a world of no chairs.  My husband took them all to the garage and we eat standing.  And our 8 month old is often tucked under my arm as I make mad dashes to the computer to quickly try to add one more image to the favorites gallery on this site, or answer one quick email before Addie realizes I’ve opened the office door and leaps off the kitchen counter, sprinting to the office to get on the “puter”.

Fun.  What happened to my life??

Kids happened, and an office job stopped happening.  And now I’m a full time mom, trying my very best to keep it all in balance…..be a great mom, fabulous wife, have a career, personal chef to our family, errand girl, housekeeper, overall CEO, COO, and Executive Assistant of the  household.

I’ve been lucky to have many friends in life, all be it, I don’t see them very often these days (thank goodness for texting and email), but I have them none the less.  And when we do get a 5 second chance to catch up, it’s normally “OMG, how do you do it!” , “How do you keep up with it all?”, “HOW many planes have you been on with the girls?!!”.  And in the same beat,  ”Do you have an easy recipe I can make for a party I’m having this weekend for 8?”, and “I need to get my Holiday cards done early this year – where do you get yours?”.  They also ask if they can rent out my husband for their next child as we know he can get the job done….and to that, our answer is yes!  An interesting extra income for us…let’s chat about it!

Many, many people encouraged me to do this website, primarily because I do this everyday anyway.  I’m the girl in the store that walks up and says “I know you don’t know me, but that brownie mix in your hand is horrible to get the lumps out of, you might want to try “x” – its Heaven in your mouth, especially if you add a Hershey’s Symphony Bar”.  Or when you’re analyzing what stroller to buy, “I’ve got them all, do you want my 2 cents?”  And most often you do.

I’m certainly not perfect, and I really don’t know best, and I REALLY am not a fabulous cook (that title is reserved for my mom and dad – both rock the kitchen) I’ve just learned to fake it well over the years.  But I AM organized (or used to be pre-kids).  So I thought it might be fun to start a blog giving tips and on ways to make life a little easier.  This site is not designed to be the end all be all, it’s just favorites that you may or may not find helpful, but it will always have my honest opinion.

What you’ll find:

1. Daily emails on tips, services, recipes, and products that help me considerably in my life.

2. A weekly menu with recipes and  shopping list.  (Side note on the shopping list, I tend to keep a lot of staples in our house which makes my list smaller, but the list will always have everything you need for that week’s menu – edit as you wish).

3. To Do list for the month with tickler items that I keep on my brain, that may jog your memory too.

4. A Favorites Gallery that I will add to as frequently as possible with products and services that I really couldn’t run this family without.

I welcome  your comments, support and critique, and I hope this site will prove a benefit to you!  Please share with friends and check back often.  If I could, I would pour you a glass of wine – we all definitely deserve it!

p.s. Read on to hear about my FAVORITE children’s photographer…