Life is good :)

Wow... This blog is WAAAAAAY overdue! This has been a phenomenal month for me and everything has happened so fast, I haven't had time to document it until now. My last blog left off in April, when I was on my way to Las Vegas for the True Beauty Expo.

I met some of the most amazing people, including the Miss Nevada USA state director and host of the event, Maureen Atwell; the renowned and life-changing motivational speaker, Dale Thomas; the one and only, Sherri Hill; and the stunning MUO runway coach, Lu Sierra. A friend and idol of mine, Robin Fleming of La casa Hermosa was also present in addition to about 20 other beautiful women and young ladies competing at various levels across the globe. I also had the opportunity to meet and work with photographer, Fadil Berisha, which was a blast to say the least! The whole weekend exceeded my expectations, taught me more about myself than I ever realized I didn't know, and brought me closer to a group of genuine people that I feel blessed to have met.

Also in April, I attended the Miss Houston USA pageant and watched Brittany Booker take home the crown. It was an exciting show and will be a lot of fun to compete with Brittany at state! While in Houston I also had the privilege of shooting with Ben Urcuyo, the artist and genius behind Benizo. The end result of the photographs blew me away! I have worked with Ben before, and I swear his work keeps getting better each day! He's one of a kind :)

Then came May...

The month of has May brought more clarity and bliss to my life than I have ever felt before, for infinite reasons. After years of perseverance and aspiration, I have finally received the prestigious honor of being crowned Miss Dallas USA, 2011. My first official shoot with Zac Grimaldo occurred the very next day after being crowned. My new little sister, Breanna Young (Miss Dallas Teen USA 2011) was with me, which put the cherry on top of an extremely exciting day!!!

As I have said numerous times before, I did not earn this title alone. It takes a village to raise a child... and this village just happened to be the most supportive, encouraging and inspiring group of friends and family that anyone could begin to ask for. To say that I am blessed is a narrow understatement. The even better news is that the title is just the beginning. I am certain that I have the most remarkable year ahead of me, with Dallas as a stepping stone to the frame of my big picture. Doors have been opened wide, and not solely for me. My goal is to connect with as many people as I can, impact lives, and touch people on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong... I know I never needed a title to attain this goal. It has been the journey that has allowed me this liberty in addition to the beautiful understanding of myself as a human and my purpose. The voyage that brought me to this point is what matters and has provided me the strength and courage to flourish.

May is also a significant month for my family because my beautiful sister, Megan just got engaged!!! I am simply ecstatic for her and overjoyed to know that I will soon have a wonderful brother-in-law joining my family! There is much more I could say about the past month, but I will conclude this blog for now and save the rest for later!

Ultimate Weaknesses

Written 4/1/2011

I'm on a flight to Ameria's adult playground, Las Vegas right now. I am headed here for the True Beauty Expo hosted by Maureen Atwell, the Miss Nevada USA state director. I finally have a second to actually breath and write a new blog, which I have been slacking on lately. I don't think I have ever been so busy in my entire life! I will be on a plane going somewhere every week for the next 5 weeks... Talk about jet lag!

Part of my busy schedule has to do with work, and the other part is pageant prep. I am competing in the Miss Dallas USA pageant in 5 weeks and have officially transitioned into "crunch time". Needless to say, I have very little free time. Crunch time also means being extremely cautious and particular about my workout regimen and eating habits. So no more free diet days on the weekend, no more sleeping-in instead of morning cardio... It's go time! 

This has made me think a lot more about food lately... And how I would LOVE to eat a big chocolate cookie, a bag of BBQ chips, or a delicious fully-loaded veggie burrito from Chipotle. Mmmm. Don't get the wrong impression though. I am extremely careful with my diet as to ensure my body receives all necesary nutrition and  an appropriate amount of calories each day. I don't starve myself... But I am strict as to eliminate any and all "bad food" from my diet. It's hard and not exactly the most fun thing to do especially considering it is extremely difficult to find "healthy vegetarian" resturaunts to go to eat out. 

I am used to the odd looks when I order things like a chicken salad without chicken, steamed tofu, steamed veggies, black bean patty without bread, no butter, minimal oil, no salt, no sugar... You get the point. I'm sure most waiters are thinking... "What an annoying date she must be." Thankfully, Blake (my boyfriend) is used to it now too and is very understanding of my odd food habits, limited time, and drive to achieve my goals. I'm lucky to have his support.

Anyway, back to food. Since I can't give into my "ultimate weaknesses," I figured it might be fun to at least hear about everyone else's. So what is YOUR ultimate weakness? You know... the one thing that if placed in front of you, you probably wouldn't have the will power to turn down. I'll start- mine is Rice Crispy Treats! :) 

Spring is here!

Today is March 21st; the first day of Spring. Here in Dallas, it was sunny and warm with a high of 82. It was one of those days that made it difficult for anyone to be in a bad mood. Everything seemed to be alive and awake, growing and thriving.  I woke up earlier than usual this morning and had a light cardio workout, followed by a yummy bowl of Kashi cereal (my favorite) and 2 cups of coffee.

Work was productive and I was able to take care of a lot of administrative things I have been meaning to do. When I left my office, it was still clear and warm outside. I would have put the top down if I had a pony-tail holder with me, but instead I had to settle for rolling the windows down. I listened to some of my favorite tunes, The Doves as I made my way home, and I gave a homeless man on the corner of the street an orange.

I was too sleepy to work out immediately when I got home, as I usually do, so I decided to lay down and take a quick snooze. This turned into an hour-and-a-half nap. I woke up, reoriented myself and threw on some workout sweats. I decided to work out in my living room with all of the doors open and music blaring overhead. The cats kept fighting and interrupting my workout, but I just yelled at them every once in awhile and they knocked it off. After I was finished, Blake and I made a fresh dinner with the veggies we bought from the Dallas farmers market yesterday and watched an unbelievable sunset over the skyline. It was a great day, and a perfect way to start off the week, and new season. I truly am blessed to live in such a wonderful place, with amazing friends and family close by.

Knox meets Nora

My Christmas present this past year from my amazing boyfriend Blake was another Bengal kitten (I already have one). If you know how much I love cats, you can only guess how ecstatic I was! Blake surprised me by having me open a box that contained a picture of a kitten. At first glance I was a bit confused, but after about 5 seconds of processing why he would give me a picture of a kitten for Christmas, I freaked out! It was the perfect gift and I decided to name her Nora.

In case you have never met or seen a Bengal cat, they look like miniature leopards. The name is a bit deceiving because they are bred from an Asian Leopard, not a Bengal tiger as the name would imply. While they have the coat of a leopard, they are only a bit larger than a typical domestic cat. Fans of the breed like to claim that Bengals have personalities similar to dogs. They can learn to fetch, they like water, they love being around humans, they are extremely active, and they are typically very vocal.  All in all, they are pretty cool cats.

My first Bengal kitten was Knox. I went through a breeder (cheetahsdenbengals.com) to find him. When I adopted him, he was already about 7 weeks old. Most accredited  Bengal breeders have a policy of not releasing the kitten until it is at least 12 weeks old. This is fine and completely understandable, but it makes the anticipation of waiting to bring your kitten home excruciating. I consider myself a patient person, but for some reason waiting for a new baby kitty drives me crazy!

Anyway, back to Knox. After waiting  5 weeks, I was able to bring him home last May. Ever since he became a part of the family, my life has become much more interesting! At first he drove us crazy because he was clawing everything in the house, especially our leather furniture, but has since become more mindful. He still cries whenever you leave the room, cries when our 7:00AM alarm goes off until you feed him (so much for snoozing), and loves to play a game called "Attack Shannon whenever she walks by". Needless to say, I often have claw-marks and scratches all down my legs and arms. While we love having the little guy around, I was beginning to feel as though Knox was bored. With Blake and I gone most of the day, Knox is alone a lot... something that is not ideal for a Bengal. So when Blake adopted another kitten for us, my mind was eased at the idea of giving Knox a companion.

Well, after three long months of waiting... and waiting... and waiting... we finally brought baby Nora home this past Wednesday. She is such an Angel! Unlike Knox, she loves to snuggle and cuddle. She is much more affectionate, and less aggressive. She has the most beautiful, feminine face with piercing brown eyes and a squatty little body that is so adorable it would make a die-hard dog lover convert .

When we first brought her home and tried to introduce the two, it went much worse than we had hoped. Obviously, I didn't expect for Nora to jump out of her carrier and greet Knox with a big hug while Knox held a hand-painted "Welcome Home" sign, but I guess I had higher hopes than what actually happened.  

The second Knox noticed the foreigner in the house he started growling a deep, wild growl I have never heard him emit. He was hissing furiously at her, but to our surprise she simply counteracted his aggression by sniffing his nose. She's a brave one! Unfortunately, that entire first night Knox was enraged and wouldn't even let us go near him. Nora just continued to play and prance around, even as he hissed directly at her. This same pattern repeated the following day and night, although the severity of Knox's anger subsided slightly. Finally, he lightened up some yesterday when he realized that Nora didn't mind it when he chased her. A light switched on in his head and he discovered that she might just be fun to have around.

Now it is Saturday and they are doing MUCH better together. They have been chasing each other (in a playful manner) all day long and Knox has only become frustrated with her once or twice all day.  I am highly impressed with their progress and am now confident that they are going to be best friends!

Make sure to check my "Cats" album on my website as I will be updating pictures to include the two playing soon!

Why am I a Vegetarian?

I am asked this question often, especially during pageant interviews. People always want to know why I don't eat meat. Is it because I am an animal rights activist? Is it because my parents don't eat meat? Is it because I am a weirdo hippie? Well, the truth is that I just don't like it!

Ever since I was old enough to recall eating, I have turned down meat. As a child my parents would try to insist that I eat it, but I was always disgusted by the idea of chewing on flesh. Of course I love animals, but I honestly believe that God put them on this earth for humans to consume and use for various needs like warmth, shelter, etc. I am not offended when other people buy/cook/order/cosume meat... I just don't want it in MY belly.

You might even say I am borderline Vegan. I don't eat eggs, I don't drink milk, and I am turned off by some other dairy products. Again, this boils back down to the fact that I just don't like it. I don't like the taste, I don't like the texture, and I don't like the smell. I have never even tried/tasted an actual steak in my entire life and honestly, I have no desire to.

Another question I am often asked is "How do you get enough protein?" The truth is that I probably don't get enough... but I certainly try. I eat meat substitutes, lots of soy products, any kind of whole grains with increased protein like Quinoa or Kashi cereal, and protein shakes daily. However, I haven't always been this conscious about my health. As a child, I could care less if I took in enough protein or vitamins. It didn't hit me until I was about 17 that I probably don't get enough nutrients in my diet.

Now, I'm kind of obsessed with making sure that I am eating properly for more than one reason. I won't go into detail about my dad's heart health just yet, but I will say that due to his extreme heart issues I am much more concerned for my own future state of health and try to promote heart health awareness as much as I can.

Please feel free to ask me any vegetarian related or heart health related questions! I am happy to help or give my insight!!

Website/True Beauty Expo/Miss USA

Since I finally had some extra time today to work on my website, I thought it might be something worth writing about. I don't consider my self an expert, by any means at web design, but it is still fun to do. If any of you out there have built you own sites, you know know my frustrations when it comes to getting code right. Its hard! It is such a long and tedious process that would make most impatient people's heads spin. Luckily, I am one of the patient ones.

A more notable topic of today is the True Beauty Expo. I just bought my plane ticket and will be attending the weekend expo in Vegas in about a month. It will be part of my training process for Miss Texas USA. I have coaches I work with here in Texas, but it is always good to get additional tips/advice/perspective. I am open and willing to absorb any and all training I can get my hands on this year!

This trip to Vegas will be one of many this year. I also recently booked my ticket to Vegas to attend Miss USA in June. I am so excited to be apart of it, and cheer on the beautiful Texas state title holder, Miss Ana Rodriguez along with the Florida state title holder, Miss Lissette Garcia (In case you didn't know I have a history with Florida pageantry). Let me know if you will be attending Miss USA in June as well; I would love to connect with all of the pageant people out there!

Blog Launch!

This blog was written a few days ago... but just now posted :)

Today marks my first official blog for www.shannonmcanally.com! It's a snow day here in Dallas, TX and I'm for the most part trapped inside my house which freed up a lot of time for me to work on the website.

I wanted to have the chance to explain exactly why I created this website. It's not because I was just bored, but rather because I wanted to share parts of my life with everyone that you would otherwise not be able to see. To be honest... I Googled my name one day earlier this year and saw a lot of old random pictures and news that wouldn't be very helpful to someone who wanted to know more about me. I like to consider myself technologically savvy, even though I am nowhere near an expert level of website creating.

So as of right now, the site is basic, my blogs might be boring, and the site visitation will be slow. But... I have to start somewhere. :) So in short, Thank you for taking the time to stop by and be a part of My "Big Picture."

-Shannon M.-