Universe buzzes in and beats contestant Shannon to the punch “What is Visa declined to return back to the UK?”

Alex: “That is correct!”

Okay, so maybe I’m not on the game show Jeopardy with Alex Trebek, but I do feel like the Universe buzzed in with a different answer than I originally anticipated.  I just received the news yesterday evening stating that I cannot come back in to the UK with a Visitor Visa again as I have have already used my days this year.

As much as I am disappointed, something just tells me that this is not accidental.  I keep hearing that there are hidden blessings in this creation from the Universe.

Right now I am really trusting that the Universe has something even more delicious to place upon my life plate, because right now I feel like an uprooted flower who is looking for that pot to take root into.  I also sold my car, and am officially without wheels.  My first chakra is definitely not feeling at complete ease, but I’m going to put out my cup towards the Universe.  Fill it up until it runneth over~!

Stay tuned for more updates

Another year has past, and when I look back to my year a lot has happened.  2009 is probably going to go down as one of my most transforming years ever.  This was the year I really started following my own inner guidance no matter how painful, scary, or crazy it seemed to everyone else around me.  I’m incredibly grateful for every last moment.  At the end of each year I now make it a habit to write down all the amazing things that happened in the year to me, and then I set my intentions for the new year.  Let’s recap 2009 shall we…

The new year started with me saying good bye to my old Joy Cafe radio show, and me bringing in a new co-host Echo Bodine.  Together she and I were able to take our wisdom and share how to own your intuition to our listening audience.  It was such a blessing for me to get to work with Echo.  I swear this woman was my mom in a previous life time.  I’m so incredibly grateful as Echo assisted me in opening up my business evening more.  Thank you Echo for sharing your gifts and laughter with me!

Next, as February rolled in I took a solo trip to see my aunt and uncle in Arizona.  The warm sun was a treat after the heavy snowfall in the Pacific Northwest.  It was this trip where my Uncle Ron helped me make the right connections to finally get my proper paper work so I could get my well needed passport.   Man, that passport was a lot of work to get.  Your average person only needs to have their driver’s license, birth certificate, and to fill out the forms.  Not me, I had to turn in 32 pieces of documentation.  That’s right I said 32! All because my loving EXTRA YOUNG parents at the time didn’t realize that when you give birth to a child in Mexico that you are required to fill out paperwork in the states stating that she’s an official citizen.   It’s okay mom and dad I forgive you.  You gave me a story to write about, and my passport was just that much JUICIER to receive in the mail.

March was the month that I turned 38 years old, and received my passport in the mail.  That was a delicious birthday gift!  I also was able to fly back to Arizona to visit this time with not only my aunt and uncle, but my cousin Stevie and her family.  I enjoyed the warm sun again, and found myself doing things I normally wouldn’t dream of doing.  For example, I got to ride a horse in the desert (who did have a name by the way).  I remember being so scared because the lady said “Whatever you do, do NOT let your horse go down to eat the shrubbery.  There are rattle snakes out here, and if your horse gets bit they will run, and you will most likely not be able to control them.”  Okay, guess who had the horse who had an appetite for food like me?  That’s right!  Mine!  My horse couldn’t keep her nose out of the shrubbery buffet, which meant my nerves were on edge the whole entire time.  Luckily, we didn’t meet any rattling slithery friends in the desert.  Whew!

April brought me to Oregon to teach a class.  Twenty people showed up, and I enjoyed giving each of them an individual reading.  It was so fun to travel by myself via the car to Portland.  I have to say prior to this year I allowed everyone else to drive me around.  I have grown more confident in my ability to get myself from point A to point B…but I must admit owning my GPS unit is key to that.

At the beginning of May I was able to use my passport for the very first time as I traveled to Montreal Canada.  It was there that I received my Reconnection training with Dr. Eric Pearl which helped expand my healing abilities even more.  There I was able to get my first real experience of being in a place that spoke mainly French.  Talk about being an English girl out of water.  Laughing.   At the end of May I traveled to Florida to team teach with a former Intuitive Boot Camp student Sunne Young.  I was able to rent my own condo right next to the ocean.  When I wasn’t teaching I was sitting by the ocean enjoying the sunshine and crashing waves.  I can still smell the lime coconut lotion when I think of this travel experience.

Then June brought even more travel.  This time I flew to Europe for the very first time.  I remember touching down in Amsterdam for a two hour wait before getting on a little plane to head to London, England.  During this trip I was able to go on a narrow boat trip in Wales, travel and visit castles, and teach a spiritual class to 63 people.  It was amazing.

July and August were clean up months where I did paper work for my divorce, which I am happy to say was an amicable one.  It was one of those times in our lives that we both realized we were growing into two different paths.  We loved each other enough to let each other go.  It was a two year process of letting go.   I cleaned up all of my stuff out of the closet, and packed the rest up in the attic to prepare for my trip back to London in September.  I also said goodbye to the Echo and Shannon Joy Cafe show.  Just like my marriage I knew she and I were traveling down two different business roads.  I’m so incredibly grateful for our journey together.

September I flew back to London on a 6 month visa stay.  I’ve been adjusting to life.  It’s been fun experiencing life in a new way.  I’ve learned how to dry clothes by hanging them on a clothes rack, and to walk to the store to bring back the groceries.  I’ve got to experience being with a wonderful person who matches me on so many levels.

October was fun as my mom was able to come visit me here in London.  She said that she had never seen me happier as now.  I do second that comment as I have been able to be my authentic self here in London.  Also, October brought back the new Joy Cafe radio show live from London as I hired my producer Rob to help run the show again.   I also was able to do my first group psychic gallery with 20 people at the Hummus Bros, which turned out successful.

November was my first experience here in London without family during Thanksgiving.  That was a little rough for me, but I managed to enjoy a great meal with my new best friend of lamb and sweet potato: both foods I never ate prior to coming to London.  I finished editing my book Intuitive Boot Camp, and now am working on finding a publisher.

December the daylight was minimal especially with my crazy go to bed at 4am and wake up at 1pm sleep schedule.  This only gave me about 3 hours of daylight, which really can confuse a body at times.  Is it day or night time.  I didn’t know whether I should be wearing my pj’s or regular day clothes.  I spent the Christmas and the New Years Eve quietly with my friend and cat.  The year has been one of many changes, and I am looking forward to 2010 as being another delicious year.

My intentions for 2010 are the following:

• To get my Intuitive Boot Camp book published in paperback
• To publish my ebook online helping others who desire to become spiritual practitioners
• To initiate my official Joy Tour project with the public
• To get another radio program with a larger audience
• To travel and teach my favorite classes to the public in person
• To create an online Intuitive Boot Camp program so people can take the program on their own
• To publish my Create More Joy Oracle cards both in hard copy, on my website, and as an iphone/ipod app
• To lovingly strengthen my relationships with my family, children, and partner
• To get my visa taken care of so I can live in the UK and work at the same time
• To continue to live authentically and joyfully following my bliss not worrying what others think

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted a blog post.  Thanks for all those whom all nudged me to get going.  Today I decided it was time to go out and get my haircut.  The last one I had was back in June (I know…I know…way too long literally).  I realized when I was pulling my hair back into a ponytail each day that the time had reached a critical point.  Ponytails are great every now and then, but they kind of kill the sexy feeling if you wear them every day.

I know I’m going to sound woo-woo, but hey I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t.  Today I decided to tell the Universe what I wanted: a hairdresser who could cut extra thick long blonde hair into long layers beautifully without talking much.  What can I say, I really enjoy not having to answer questions while I am getting pampered.  Unlike most women who go to the hairdressers I really don’t like to talk at all.  Zip.  Nada.  Zilch on the talking.

So, after asking for what I desired I grabbed my coat, and headed out to the 11 million populated deep city of London.  I had zero clue of where I was going to get my hair done, but I knew my intuition would lead me to the perfect one.  After roaming around the local part of East London I decided to get on the train and head to Stratford (where they are holding the 2012 Olympics).

As I roamed around the Stratford Center I discovered a little shop where they did eyebrow threading instead of waxing.  Now, I don’t know about you gals, but I have never ever heard of this prior to today.  Threading is an ancient Indian art of using thread to shape the eyebrows instead of using wax or tweezers.  Well, I took the plunge and had my first threading experience.  I must say it was quicker than waxing and tweezing.  It was almost painless, and besides having to walk around the mall for an hour with red eyebrows I highly recommend it.  Let me know about your experience with it.  I’m definitely going to get it done again when its time.  Much faster and painless verses me doing it myself.

After getting my eyebrows threaded I walked by a salon, and heard “This is the one!”  I went in and booked my appointment for today at 3pm, and went off to kill time afterwards.  I had lunch at the local Pizza Hut in which all the servers were extra friendly to me.   I don’t know if I just had that aura around me of “Be nice to her, she’s recharging” or “OMG! That lady has red eyebrows, lets be nice to her.” Either way it was fun to get treated extra special as I went out on the town for my recharge day.  After pizza and a salad I looked at the clock, and saw it was still 30 minutes early.  However, I decided that I was just going to head back to the salon.  I figured, worse case scenario would be I had to wait for my appointment.

Well as luck or intuition would have it, as I opened the door to the salon the gal finished up with her last client, and invited me that moment to sit in the chair.  Wow!  I love it when I follow my gut feeling and it turns out!  As I sat down she asked me what I desired, and went right to work on it without talking except to verify what she was doing was to my liking.  Perfect!  Meanwhile, the barber to my right was talking about the show Medium and how much he enjoyed psychic shows.  Part of me wanted to say “Oh, me too.  I love that stuff so much that I even became one.” However, this was a day that I just wanted to be known as that American girl who waited too long to get her haircut.  Today, I kept my psychic card in my pocket, and delightfully received my first London haircut.  Feels good to pamper myself after waiting so long.

My Unwinged Angel

Tonight’s blog is going to be short and sweet, but I just had to take the time to say thank you to the unwinged angel that I ran into at Henry’s Cafe while my mom was visiting on her last day here with me.

I’ve taken a picture of him eating his chips, talking on his cell and sipping his wine.  This gentleman in the picture overheard my mom talking to the barkeep at the bar asking if they had any aspirin, because her daughter had a really bad headache.  Unfortunately, it is against company policy to distribute any forms of medication, so there was nothing the bar keep could do.  My mom came back to the table saying “Sorry, drink more water maybe that will help.”

As I sat down with a pounding headache, sipping water, this gentleman in the photo came out of no where and sat down a box of aspirin right in front of me. After over hearing my mom, he decided to go down the road to the nearest chemist (pharmacy) and purchase this box of aspirin.  The gift made my eyes water, and I was incredibly grateful.  I was especially grateful 30 minutes later after the aspirin dulled my pain, so I was able to enjoy my mom’s visit even more.  I was able to laugh at her silly jokes.

So, I hold up my virtual glass of wine and toast you “Mr. Unwinged Angel” for so lovingly assisting a gal you’ve never met.  Thank you for that random act of kindness. It felt incredibly wonderful to receive from such a generous Spirit!

I'm grateful for you reading this post.

So, the last couple days I have to admit my panties have been in a wee bit of a ruffled bunch, and I found myself souring up my face at the littlest things. We won’t focus on those things right now, as I don’t want to go back into my puckered up lemon moments.

However, while I was busy having my little temper tantrums, I paused for a moment and thought “Wow, Shannon Lee you’re certainly choosing to really stay in a crappy space. What would you tell a client to do when they get into this little black hole of negative thinking?” I laughed and thought “I’d tell them to tell everyone to F#$! off who was judging them for their creations, and to audit themselves and say F*#($ it.  Who cares what others think.”

Okay, okay, so that’s the inner “tough girl” talking, but she does have a point some days.  We spend so much time worrying about what others think about our own creations, but the truth is if you are creating something from your heart that gives you joy….seriously F#$*) it to what the others say! Enough said.

Now, when I find myself in this inner grumble slump, one of my favorite ways of moving into a closer state of joy is to start to create a gratitude list.  For did you know, that when you move into a space of gratitude the Universe gives you even more things to be thankful for.  Yeah baby!  So, right now I am committing to create a gratitude list of my top 50 things I am thankful for.

I am grateful for the following things:

1.  I am grateful that I have a beautiful cute flat in London.

2.  I am grateful that there is a gorgeous garden in the background, and better yet there is a gardener that comes every month to clean it up.

3.  I am grateful that I am healthy enough to walk where ever I desire to go.

4.  I am grateful that I have great walking shoes.

5.  I am grateful for the wonderful cat that sleeps on the pillow, and smurgles me each morning to wake up.

6.  I am grateful for the electricity to run my computer, lights, Wii, stove, and heat my water.

7.  I am grateful for hot showers and access to bubble baths.

8.  I am grateful to a washing machine that cleans my clothes.

9.  I am grateful that I am next to a major grocery store, and can purchase food daily for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

10.  I am grateful for the delicious soft serve ice cream here in London.

11.  I am grateful to Peter for working on my website, and making it “so my personality”…. it tickles me very much!

12.  I am grateful that I have a meetup group, and I have people attending my healing and psychic reading night.

13.  I am grateful that I get to be in London and tour around.

14.  I am grateful for my radio show The Joy Cafe, and all the people that choose to tune in live and listen to the archives.

15.  I am grateful to my clients who get readings and do the Intuitive Boot Camp.

16.  I am grateful to my parents for accepting me for whom I am, the adventurous daughter who is living her life dreams.

17.  I am grateful to the underground subway that gets me to my location without me having to worry about the directions.  I can just sit and enjoy the ride.

18.  I am grateful that I get to work for myself doing what I love best.

19.  I am grateful for cartoons that make me laugh.

20.  I am grateful that I get to sleep on satin sheets and pillow cases.

21.  I am grateful that I have a career that will allow me to go to bed at 3am in the morning, and wake up at 11am without any guilt, shame, or having someone tell me I did something wrong.

22.  I am grateful for Skype and free phone calls internationally.

23.  I am grateful for text messaging to my children.

24.  I am grateful for my boys.

25.  I am grateful that I am able to create a life that I desire no matter what others say or do around me.

26.  I am grateful for the amazing support that I have received from those all around me.

27.  I am grateful for my friends.

28.  I am grateful for healing trades with my friend Sue.

29.  I am grateful for the sunshine that was out today.

30.  I am grateful for the park that I walk in almost each day.

31.  I am grateful for all the animals that I see in the park each day.  They make me laugh.

32.  I am grateful for the peace and harmony that I experience in my daily life.

33.  I am grateful for my Intuitive Boot Camp book that I have written.

34.  I am grateful for being able to experiment with cooking.

35.  I am grateful for podcasts that educate, inform, and make me giggle.

36.  I am grateful that my mom is visiting me in London tomorrow, and staying for the week.

37.  I am grateful for my camera to take many pictures of all the new things I see around me.

38.  I am grateful for my new polka dot robe.  It’s so cozy, warm, and down right comfortable.

39.  I am grateful for amicable divorces.

40.  I am grateful for my spiritual beliefs.

41.  I am grateful for my intuitive and healing abilities.

42.  I am grateful for my ability to find joy in even the simplest things.

43.  I am grateful for sweet potatoes and brown sugar.

44.  I am grateful for Mars bar ice cream.

45.  I am grateful for those who take the time to read my blog posts each time.

46.  I am grateful for those who not only read my blog posts, but leave a message as well.

47.  I am grateful for my colorful socks that go to my knees.

48.  I am grateful for my sense of adventure.

49.  I am grateful that I am alive.

50.  I am grateful that I get this opportunity to share my thoughts on The Joy Tour blog.

What are you grateful for?

Well, last night I decided to get creative again with dinner. I’m still having fun creating in the kitchen. Although, I do find myself still afraid to make mistakes. I keep reminding myself that this is fun, and food mistakes are allowed. That’s how people get better at anything whether it be driving, singing, sewing, playing an instrument, and of course cooking.

I’m realizing with my cooking that I am more of a perfectionist than I thought. This cooking is allowing me to let go those things I so fondly call “perfect pictures” down my grounding cord and of course into my rubbish can. Teehee!

Last night I decided after looking a several youtube clips I was going to create honey balsmic mint glazed lamb chops, with a savory mint lime garlic mayo dressing for the side. I thought I would also add in some cubed sweet potato, a fresh herbed salad with a light feta vineagrette dressing tossed with a few cherry tomatoes.  Sounded good to me.

I diced the sweet potatoes, and tossed them in the oven.  Meanwhile I blended the garlic, fresh squeezed lime, mayo, with freshly cut mint.  I tasted it, and YUMMY it was tasty.  Good stuff.  Next, in a glass bowl I threw in the balsamic vinegar, honey, and freshly cut mint.  After whisking briskly I tossed in the fresh lamp chops allowing the tender meat to be marinaded in this sweet and sour sauce for a half hour.

I preheated the pan over the stove, and put on what I thought was medium high heat.  I’m still trying to master the fahrenheit to celsius temperature shift.  Awww, the learning never ends.  I love it.

Anyway,  I took the first lamp chop, and decided to put it on the heated pan.  I knew something was wrong when the sizzles instantly turned to smoke, and that glorious smelling balsamic and honey started to smell beyond burnt.  I used the fork to peek under the chop, only to discover that my once beautiful lamp chop had now turned on me.  It had become the “black sheep” of the family.  I turned it over, and proceeded to make it a well rounded black sheep.  After fully bringing the chop to a charcoal crisp I then turned the temperature down, and tossed this little “baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-d” lamb chop into the rubbish.

However, the next lamb chops luckily refused to follow their black sheep brother. They ended up beautifully caramelized with their honey balsamic glaze, and I proudly put them on the plate.  I was pretty tickled with myself.  I brought beautiful shaped plates, so my food can look extra special.   Ohhhhh, I am loving this cooking thing…even if I have to burn a few before the good ones come out.

Discovered I love the taste of lamb, and it was tasty!

Oh down, below I am adding in a funny I received in my e-mail on communication and women.  I think it’s accurate on my part anyway.  I know I am guilty of using all of the 9 words down below.  What about you guys?

NINE  WORDS WOMEN USE