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Isabella Lynne turns six

Posted on October 29, 2025 by shawnnaNovember 13, 2025
Posted in My personal blog | Tagged granddaughter, Isabella Lynne Hickney, IsabellaLynneHickney, Love

October 4, 2025

Posted on October 4, 2025 by shawnnaOctober 4, 2025

Fall is slowing dropping in here in Denver. Evenings are mostly cool but days get nice and warm. I have been so pleasantly surprised by the Denver weather.

My work is going well. It’s been a challenge to learning a new organization as well as a new arm of the industry I work in. The company is so amazing, compared to where I spent the vast majority of my career. They actually care about their Associates in a way I never imagined possible; at least that’s my impression at this point in my first six months. My supervisor is a genuinely warm, compassionate individual too. The significant decrease in pay not withstanding, I’m doing OK.

Matt accepted a new position yesterday. I’m so very proud of him for sticking to his chosen path. He’s an incredibly talented filmmaker and genuine Old Soul. The Force is definitely with him, always.

Ryan is busy with his path too. He’s got a couple more tests before he can actually be a certified teacher and then he’ll be able to get a better paying position.

I miss Brody. Hi memorial is almost finished.

IzzyB got her first B.E.S.T Award at school yesterday! So very proud of her. She’s why we are here in CO.

Posted in My personal blog | Tagged granddaughter #IsabellaLynneHickney, Isabella Lynne Hickney

Update – September 26, 2025

Posted on September 26, 2025 by shawnnaSeptember 26, 2025

I haven’t been able to post in a long while. Technical difficulties with my old WordPress theme (Weaver II) not being supported any longer and my patience with technical issues grows shorter as I grow older.

I paid someone $200 to fix the technical issue so I could at least use this journal again so here I am. And so much has happened that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Ryan and I bought a townhouse and closed at the end of June 2025. It’s considerably smaller than our home in WA but it’s home now. Lots of improvements in the future to make it what we both want, including finishing the basement as Ryan’s sanctuary.

My BFF is no longer in my life. I realized how little support I truly had from her with everything we were going through and just decided that longevity in a friendship isn’t enough to sustain it. Makes me so sad every time I think about it.

Brody, my Soul kitty was killed. We believe it was a coyote from Cherry Creek State Park that is close by. It’s a horrific story (one I will write about soon) that traumatized me beyond anything I could imagine. Ryan was traumatized too. I’m struggling to come to terms with it because it was my fault. He should have never, ever been allowed outside given he only had 3 good legs. I wanted him to have his best life with me and that decision got him killed. I’m back in counseling to come to terms with it all.

Moving twice in one year (first to our initial CO rental house, and then our new townhouse), Brody being killed, Ryan’s job situation, losing my BFF, and so much more I cannot share here has been beyond overwhelming for me. I find myself very depressed on some days; other days I’m functional, barely.

My Isabella Lynne keeps me going. She’ll be six next month.

Let’s see…… a lot has happened since my website broke. Mother’s day brunch with both sons was very special.

We celebrated my 71st birthday (did I just say 71?!?!) going out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, and spent most of the summer swimming. Our townhouse has a wonderful heated pool that we can walk to easily. She brings so much laughter and love to my tired heart.

Here’s a couple of pics from my birthday dinner with her (the whole family was there). First time in decades I’ve spent my birthday with my whole family.

She really loves to swim at our pool. Lots and lots of swim time this summer for us.

IzzyB graduate from pre-school. She insisted on wearing her snow boots and leggings under her dress (she doesn’t wear dresses much). This independence will serve her well in the future and is consistent with her heritage.

Mark (aka “Pops”) took Matt and IzzyB to Disneyland to celebrate Matt’s birthday in July. She had a great time.

It’s been quite a year for us. In fact, a year ago on the 28th of September Ryan and I took off on our move from WA to CO. Whew…… I know I’ll be in counseling for a good while. Losing my Brody the way I did; knowing I could/should have kept him safe. Ugh. My heart is broken. He truly was my Soul Kitty. I can still hear his distinctive meow when he would ‘talk’ to me. I’ve created a little memorial for him and know he’ll be in my heart always. And who knows, Brody may very well reincarnate into a little kitten if I get one. (Yes, I know animals have Souls and I also believe in reincarnation). I miss him terribly.

Posted in My personal blog | Tagged family, IsabellaLynneHickney, shawnnaconnolly

We Move Anywhere and Jackson Movers, LLC

Posted on October 10, 2024 by shawnnaOctober 10, 2024

Moving from our home of 30+ years in Washington to Colorado was exciting as we’ve been planning this relocation for 3 years. We needed to be near our family and we are glad to be here. This post is specific to our experience with We Move Anywhere owned by Andrew Petrozzo, and Dirk R. Perdrix Jr.

My original estimate of just under $10K from We Move Anywhere doubled in their QA process (3 days before packers are scheduled to show up) – which frankly – should have been the original process used for the first estimate.  The business model is designed to reel you in with a very lowball offer and then you find yourself stuck because by the time the QA process occurs (3 days before scheduled move), you cannot make alternate arrangements.

When Jackson Movers LLC (the subcontractor that We Move Anywhere chose to handle my move) came to pack everything, my cost went up another ~ $9,000.  I noticed on the Jackson Movers foreman’s tablet screen that when he finished his grossly overestimate it said “congratulations” so clearly there’s some sort of incentive to overcharge.

When the Jackson Movers men were working at my home in Washington (I paid for full packing), they left trash throughout the house (empty shipping tape, water bottles, etc).  They also put their leftover pizza crusts in my outdoor planters.  They didn’t bother noting the contents of the boxes so it was impossible to tell where the boxes were supposed to go when they arrived at my new home in Colorado.  While packing, they used some of my good bed sheets as box filler. Some of my items weren’t even boxed at all and some didn’t even appear on the “inventory”.  

When the delivery was made in Colorado, there were only two people to unload my belongings (the driver and one worker); this was at least a four person job.  As a result of not having enough people to onload, it took them two full days.  It was clear they didn’t care about where they put things either, despite me trying my best to direct them.  I was working to check off everything they delivered against the original “inventory”, and they seemed bothered that I wanted to do that.  They made it very hard to keep track of everything they brought into my Colorado house.  They broke the leg on my antique dining table and tried to hide it under a packing blanket in their truck, but I had already seen it and retrieved it myself.  They also damaged my antique coffee table, and broke one of my covered baking dishes.  The leg posts to my custom brass bed were bent so I can’t use them.  They tried to talk me out of where I wanted my sofabed to go because it was very heavy and I wanted it in my loft area.  I haven’t finished unboxing things as of this writing, so other items may be broken as well, including my Bernina Special Edition sewing machine which wasn’t even bubble wrapped!!  After taking two days to unload and all of this damage, the delivery driver had the nerve to ask for a tip!

I’ve moved between 4 states in the span of five years previously; all with professional moving companies (Allied, United and Mayflower) and I never experienced anything as unprofessional and horrific as I did with “We Move Anywhere” and “Jackson Movers, LLC”. 

Bottom line is this – do NOT use a moving broker, ever.  Especially “We Move Anywhere”. The moving broker business model is bait and switch, at best.  Always, and I mean ALWAYS, insist on an in-person, visual estimate of your belongings so you get as accurate an estimate as possible from an experienced, professional moving company.  Or better yet, get a big U-haul, hire local people to help load and unload and pack and label your belongings yourself.

Posted in My personal blog | Tagged Con men, Jackson Movers, Jackson Movers LLC, Moving Brokers, Relocation, We Move Anywhere

2024 – major life change – moving to Colorado!

Posted on July 31, 2024 by shawnnaAugust 28, 2024

We’ve been planning for years to relocate to the Denver area to be near Matt, Ashley and Isabella. I promised Ryan he could finish his degree here in Washington.

Well…. Ryan finished his Bachelor’s degree and certification as a teacher. Woo hoo! He’s worked so very hard, and I’m incredibly proud of him!

So in late September/early October we will be relocating. We found a wonderful house to lease in Castle Pines that actually has a lot more room than our home here in Washington. And all of our furry family members are welcome! It was absolutely meant to be!

I’m feverishly doing some much needed maintenance of the house and replacement of the deck so we can lease out our home here. I had to have one side of the fence replaced and now the new Trex deck is being installed. I will be replacing garage doors and having the house painted too. I replaced quite a few glass in windows (much cheaper than buying new windows!). New interior carpet and paint will finish it up after we move out. I’ve hired a property management company and filled out all that paperwork yesterday.

We absolutely LOVE our house here and have no intention of selling it! It feels so good to give it some much needed upgrades!

A few pics shows the progress.

We’ve lived here 30 years now and I never knew there was an original cement patio in front of the family room door!

This is the old deck that I built with Ryan’s help. Time to go!

Old deck is out and installation of new deck begins. So excited to see it!

Here’s the progress as of Friday, August 2, 2024.

Posted in My personal blog | Tagged Big move, Colorado, deck

More Major Life Lessons About People

Posted on February 8, 2024 by shawnnaSeptember 26, 2025

I find myself searching for articles related to dealing with people who backstab.

This one, in particular, has been quite informative:

How to Identify and Handle Backstabbers at Work

You know who you are, and now, so do I.

Posted in My personal blog | Tagged backstabber, coworker, duplicitous, ego, inauthentic

2023 Isabella BD and Halloween

Posted on November 1, 2023 by shawnnaNovember 1, 2023

We had such a wonderful celebration for Isabella’s fourth birthday and Halloween. Such a blessing to share both with her this year!

Posted in My personal blog | Tagged granddaughter, granddaughter #IsabellaLynneHickney, Isabella Lynne Hickney

Isabella Lynne – at four years old!

Posted on October 24, 2023 by shawnnaOctober 24, 2023

Yep – she is definitely MY granddaughter! She’s as smart and confident as she looks right here!

Posted in My personal blog | Tagged #granddaughter, granddaughter

Matt and Isabella at BJJ

Posted on September 23, 2023 by shawnnaSeptember 23, 2023
Posted in My personal blog | Tagged BJJ, daddy, granddaughter, son

Isabella Lynne is almost four!

Posted on September 22, 2023 by shawnnaSeptember 26, 2025
Posted in My personal blog | Tagged granddaughter

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