TV Will Rot Your Brain!!!

Between work, workouts, kids, and a full three months this year of being sick, Geeg and I don't get to spend too much time together except for between 8'ish and 10'ish each night about 2 - 3 times during the week.  So we usually pile on the sofa, ice our respective injuries, and catch up on a few of our favorite TV shows.  

There are a few that we just let pile up on the DVR until we don't really have much to watch and then catch up all at once, like The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and New Girl.  But there are a few more that we just can't wait for and will watch just as soon as we can.  The Following, Psych, Parenthood, Suits, Cougar Town (trust me, guys, its a stupid name, but its a funny show), and Criminal Minds never last on our DVR for very long. 

We absolutely love watching TV together.  We watch together, discuss characters, and talk about what we think is going to happen during and after the show. Depending on the show, we will talk about it throughout the week, analyze situations and try to get a peek into the heads of the characters and sometimes even the writes of the show to see if we can figure out where things are going to go.  

For me it's less about watching the show and more about the time that I get to spend with my wife while watching and discussing things with her throughout the week.  It's exciting to see how her mind works when going through a story.  To watch her completely intrigued as she watches The Following, to watch her laugh at silly stupid jokes on Psych, to watch her cry at the tear-jerking moments on Parenthood, or get so creeped out by Criminal Minds that we have to watch Cougar Town to get her mind off how many psycho's there are in the world.  Believe it or not I find her reactions, thoughts, and analysis of these shows endearing.  It is totally fun to engage with her in this way.  

We love to engage with others about our show too! Feel free to talk to us about our shows.  Come over and watch them with us sometime!  We'll crack open a bottle of wine or pour some scotch and make a night of it.

the daddy effect

we've been sick in the johnson household since... um... 2012.  yeah.  it's been a rough winter.  last week peyton and i came up with a brand spankin' new cough and cold and i just about flipped over it.  i'm usually the one to suck it up and just keep moving, but this cough of ours came at a time where i was so hopeful to be done with the sickies that instead it just made me angry. 

and i was angry for 3 days.  monday, angry.  tuesday, angry.  wednesday, angry (thankfully only until 5pm when a dear friend of mine lifted my spirits with her sweet smile and encouraging words.  mind you, this friend of mine was in day 6 of now having 3 kids in her family, and i'd gone to her to help encourage and support her, but it's times like those when God does his little flip-flop-thingamajig and you find yourself in an unexpected, yet welcomed, situation ...) 

oh, and not sure if you know this, but nobody likes an angry sicky.  as it turns out, toddlers don't love 'em either.  especially sick toddlers.  so to say that the peanut and i weren't quite jiving is putting it lightly.  for 2.5 days i was mostly convinced she was trying to do anything and everything that would or could possibly make me mad.  and it was working.  peyton: 46, mommy: 0.  no wins--not one.  i was snappy and had THE LOWEST tolerance for messes.  i was tired and didn't want to clean or pick up.  i lacked excitement to play games, pretend things, or watch her not eat the meals she'd asked for a mere 5 minutes before. it was a VERY challenging 3 days, physically and emotionally.  and sleep?  what in the world was that?! 45 minutes here and there between middle of the night cries was not sleep.  she was crying--not me--although i wasn't far from it.  

thankfully, i woke up thursday morning feeling refreshed, energized, and overwhelmed by the feeling of the day's newness.  why that feeling couldn't have shown up tuesday, i'm not quite sure. but i was grateful for it.  peyton and i started jiving a little better, and our good health was slowly creeping back.

friday afternoon came and it was DADDY TIME!!  can i just tell you how excited i was about this!?  i always adore, adore, adore the days and moments josh is around to be and play with peyton and i, but i was especially excited as i was still feeling left over weariness from the long week that had preceeded. so friday, saturday, and sunday, moment after moment, i witnessed a patience and calmness that had been so foriegn to me in the recent days of sickness and short tempers.  with daddy, forts were built, messes were made, cleaning was enjoyable, tickles were constant, everything was a game, laughter was prevalent, and all that emanated from our home was JOY. a joy that i, mommy--the usual mrs. fix-it-all (insert pat on back here), had had such a terribly hard time producing just earlier that same week.  it was DADDY JOY. :)

no, you cannot have my husband.  he's mine.  i picked him out of the crowd years ago and i get to keep him.  peyton can share with me, but THAT'S IT. he's amazing.

monday morning came bright and early at 6:15am, but it came with a new perspective and a recent experience of how to practice real, true patience.  josh had been my just-in-time, life-sized example of patience in parenting and the impact it makes on our entire family.  he is my extreme to my extreme, and he evens me out so well.  so neat how God had crazy Team Johnson planned from the very beginning!

it's "only" wednesday, but our whole week has been different so far, and peyton is my little, sweet pal all over again just the way it should be!  it helps that i can breathe without coughing and that we're all sleeping better at night, but nonetheless, the lesson daddy taught us (okay..."me") this weekend was exactly what we (okay..."I") needed.  and i'm especially thankful that in these special moments my pride doesn't get in the way of learning something new from my OH-SO-VERY-WISE husband.  (alright, babe, this last plug is me looking for points... remember, i like peanut butter squished between my chocolate and any flower that doesn't stink!!! :) weeeeee!!!!)

Four years later

When I was a kid I knew that I wanted to get married and have kids.  I didn’t know what that really looked like or how to make it happen, I just knew I wanted it to happen.  As I grew older I began to define what that ultimate relationship looked like and began to define how to make it happen.  There was a bit of trial and error involved through the years, but through all the ups and downs I learned something from each one that further defined what I wanted in a marriage.

There were a few times I gave up looking entirely.  I knew it would happen eventually, but my ideal had grown more and more specific, and I grew tired of not finding what I was looking for.  It kind of sucks knowing what you want sometimes.  It definitely makes you think twice about settling for less.

I can still remember meeting Gigi.  We were introduced and I remember thinking, “She’s cute.” and then getting back to work.  The next day I invited her to lunch and we had a great time talking and getting to know each other.  It just so happened that there was a Laker game on that night so after a long workday we went down to the local brewery and watched the game and got to know each other a bit more.  I had a feeling there was something there and the more I got to know her, the more I found that picture of what I wanted being filled in day after day. 

Today is our 4-year wedding anniversary.  The picture I had in my mind before we met has expanded from an 8x10 on my nightstand, to a mural on the side of a building.  Every day with this woman is amazing.  And the kid we made together… forget about it.  I couldn’t be more blessed by these two.  We have our ups and downs like every relationship does, but the downs are so far above 'down' it’s ridiculous.  Never does a day go by that I am not thankful that God put her in my life.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us and look forward to every second of discovering what that looks like.

Happy Anniversary, Gigi!!!  I love you more than anything!!!

stuff :)

here to blab--just need to get myself back into the habit of updating the blogstermagoo.

life in february 2013 is as follows, in no particular order of importance...

josh is currently in training mode to run in the ragnar relay (basically an insane group of men go run an insane amount of miles over the course of 24 hours, taking turns and driving a van slowly along side their "mates". so strange, but for a neat cause.) so, this means we are eating healthier (some days) and prioritizing workouts a little more than usual--or should i say, in the way we should ALWAYS be prioritizing them, but we don't. it's feeling good, but changes the amount of time we have together, especially because i can't join him on the runs due to a heel injury. (i came down with a plantar-fasciitis type of injury back in october, probably caused by wearing the wrong shoes all day everyday AND walking incorrectly just because i never mastered the skill... in any case, if i'm not careful it feels like i'm walking on a dagger, so i'm officially relegated to the BIKE of all terrible things in this world, until further notice. praying i learn to enjoy that...) in any case, he is still trying to pull some funding/sponsorships together for the race, so i'm gonna insert my plug right here--can you consider throwing a few bucks his way for the race???  for those of you that have so conveniently memorized your credit card number, the expiration date, the 3-digit code on the back, and how your name reads on the card,  (i know of no one that has done such a thing.......) this online way of giving would be super easy... especially if you have  few bucks in the bank to back it up :) other than that, his job at broadcom is going really well, and he's happy going to work everyday.  can ya ask for much more?! :)

peyton is a riot, as usual. she is SUCH a funny child.  her goofiness is a complete giveaway that she is our kid...   she's definitely going through a clingy stage right now, though, (or so they say it's a stage) and as much as i struggle with how hard it is to get my own agenda done during the day, i mostly love all the extra hugs and squeezes i get as a result of this constant need for mommy to "hold-you" ;) i'm learning that peyton has a lot of "josh" in her--she's got a bit more of the introspective-ness (shoot, not a word, i'm getting the red line under that one, but i'm gonna go with it so because i think it'll help you understand what i'm talking about) in her personality than i have.  i can just see her face as she's processing social situations, assessing them before making any moves, and cautiously approaching people or things knowing exactly her purpose in WHY she's going to go ahead and proceed.  unlike me, who just jumps into any social situation, often without thinking twice what may go wrong or what nonsense may fall out of my mouth before thinking it all the way through. (insert visual of lots and lots of word vomit here...)  it's been so neat seeing her personality form and grow, but more to come about that on a separate post about the peanut--scheduled for "one day soon".

thursday marks 4 years of wedded bliss for me and the hubbers! no, i'm not being sarcastic, but no, i'm also not trying to rub anything in.  josh and i don't have a perfect marriage by any means, but we both, wholeheartedly, work at it every chance we get, and we have THE MOST AMAZING SUPPORT SYSTEM and THE MOST AMAZING GOD IN THE MIDDLE OF IT that i credit for really helping make our marriage as strong as it is.  and as fun as it is.  well, actually, josh and i may bring the fun in on our own, but i'll give credit to the aforementioned on that as well :)

we have plans to do a sweet vacation in hawaii this summer with my parents, sister, and brother.  i can't even begin to tell you how excited i am to relive the days of old when we'd all travel together--this hasn't happened since i was... 13, maybe? and to have my favorite husband and favorite kid join is just going to be amahhhhzing :) YAY! this definitely presents a challenge of SAVING for this trip--a newer concept for me now that we are down to one salary... we are trying to be diligent with our dough these days, but it's hard when all these bills you don't expect keep popping up (ER visits, car issues, vet recommendations, the list goes on...)! we're working at it slowly but surely, and hope to have enough saved up before the trip to be able to enjoy it knowing how hard we worked at not spending it in the months before.

i am in such a season of contentment (thank you JESUS) and i will make claim to that because it's unusual for me, and totally welcomed when it comes.  God has been working in my heart for a good time now, and in such a visible (to-me) way that His blessings AND trials continue to encourage me.  life won't always be hunky-dory, but its solid now and i'm grateful for that.  so i chose to snapshot it this evening in this simple little post so i don't forget the little details and feelings that aren't often blogged about.

closing shop for the night. :) thanks for reading!

father's day 2011

father's day this year began with peyton and i giving daddy our cards. what a sweet morning it was. (if you look closely you can see her surprise "i love daddy" outfit. the bigger surprise was the subsequent blowout that was the cause for an outfit change...DURING CHURCH. yeah.)



then we went to church where we enjoyed pastor jp's talk about what it means to be a godly father. after church we headed over to josh's parents' house where we celebrated....

...DADDY!!

...GRANDPA JORGE!

...GRANDPA DON!

...and UNCLE MARK!

it was a great day, as is any day spent with family! HAPPY FIRST FATHER'S DAY TO MY JOSH!!

What A Glorious Day!

All I can say is WOW! Words cannot express the joy a baby brings. After a long 15 hour day in the hospital little Peyton Reese Johnson was born. At 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 20.5 inches long, she had all the doctors, and especially Mom and Dad, saying, "She's BEAUTIFUL!!" Announcing her to a group of people waiting not-so-patiently in the hall, was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I am so glad we were able to share the day with so many wonderful friends and family. Thank you to everyone who was here in the hospital, sharing their encouragement on Facebook and Twitter, and sending up prayers on our behalf. We wouldn't have wanted the day to go any other way.

And now for the part everyone wants to see. Let me introduce you all to Peyton Reese Johnson!

belly: revealed (big time!)

a lovely friend of mine, the talented mr. kevin kach, graciously spent his saturday morning snapping away at my belly, my baby's-daddy, and me. 7 1/2 months of baking a kiddo, and this is what we have to show for it!

i absolutely ADORE every single one of these photos. they were taken at a trail and stream behind our house that josh, june and i walk all the time. i cannot wait for baby j to join us on these walks in just a couple months...!

kevin, you rock, buddy.

thanks a million, from the bottom of my heart...

now we've just got that one, classic photo left to take. shhhhh!

oh, and i mustn't forget to thank kevin's lovely assistant, and one of my all-time besties, "auntie dani". LOVED that you were able to join us and help kev, and i think these pics are of us are priceless!!

i woke up this morning...

to find this hanging in the bathroom doorway...

so, of course, i detoured. on the computer, i found this...

i yanked off the post-it, shook the mouse, and found this...

there's nothing like a valentine's day morning scavenger hunt
to start off my day!!

i just adore the
thought and creativity
put into this little gem.

thank you, sweetie, for loving me the way you do.
...xoxo...

a mental breakdown or two, just in time for baby...

my, oh my... have we been on a little roller coaster or what?

i don't know if it's the ticking time bomb in my belly, the time of the year that brings with it all the leftover holidays, or the many changes looming ahead, but i must say josh and i are more thankful than ever to be tag-teaming life these days. this past week brought a culmination of events that, while individually assessed, seem like pancakes, but when taken together and under consideration of "ahhhhhhhhhhhh! there's a baby on the way, too??!! are you kidding me?!?!?!", we were knocked off our feet nice and hard. go ahead, take a moment to picture josh and i with our hands in the air running circles around the living room, heads bouncing back and forth between our arms like macaulley caulkin in home alone (1, 2, OR 3)... yup, fun stuff.

this may come as a shock to you, but i enjoy feeling like i have a certain sense of control in my life. whoa, i know, right?

i manage projects for a living. schedule, budget, process--all these those things are important to me, and somewhat define what it means to feel like i have things "under control". therefore, when i'm presented with unexpected budget busts (i.e. potentially having to spend thousands of dollars on a plumbing disaster...), unexpected schedule adjustments (i.e. not REALLY knowing when baby j will arrive...early? late? on time?), or an out-of-whack process (i.e. where do we put all this new stuff that we have absolutely no space for?!), i often begin to--what do you call it--stress out. i don't mean to, and i KNOW it's not good for baby j, but sometimes i can't help it. that being said, i had a fantastically cliche pregnant-woman-breakdown driving to a client's office last thursday, in which i was forced to speed-dial the husband, as i knew he was one of the few that could really understand what i was going through. amidst my tears and frustrations, he was able to calm me down enough so i could show up to my meeting free of blood shot eyes. (thanks, again, honey...)

josh, although not as uptight detail oriented as me, still likes to have a handle on those everyday life things. (thankfully so, too, because if not, i don't think we'd be married.) but, in knowing how stressed out i've been with work, he's taken the reigns on everything house-related...including managing the 4 different repairmen that continue to show up for our bathroom, the crazy HOA office that is entirely unresponsive, the uverse installation guy who had to reinstall his original installation, the remodeler that's throwing new ceiling lights in for us, and the folks coming to pick up craigslist items as we try to make room for baby. on top of that, he works during the day, has school at night, and tries to stay sane with the occassional visit to the rockcliming gym. oh, and his love for cuddling takes up some of his free time, as well, especially since our cuddle time lately includes a love-kick from our little one... so when he hit a wall on an unusually tough assignment sunday night and was up until 3:30am, he was not a happy camper the next day. but josh came to me that night looking for a little pep-talk from me (probably in return for his on thursday), and although there wasn't much i could do to physically (or educationally) help, i was able to just be there for him, tell him i loved him, and encourage him a little bit.

thankfully some of the stressors have subsided as this week has progressed, but there's no denying that an overwhelming sense of "can this nonsense be over yet and can we just have our baby now???" has made itself known. OF COURSE baby j will make our lives more busy, our daily activities more challenging, and our ability to jump back on our feet a little more difficult, but he/she will also bring incredible joy, excitement, and fulfillment to our lives, and for that, we cannot wait! the recent curve balls thrown our way are wonderfully frustrating examples of God's little life lessons, but they are helping us prepare for the insanity we will soon experience. so with that said, we'll continue to take 'em, one by one, and do our best to knock 'em out of the park.

it's that time of year!

l-l-laker season!!

twice a week we come home from work, speed dial the pizza guy, throw our feet up, and enjoy a nonstop blur of purple and yellow for a good straight three hours. oh, a small amount of our weekend is consumed with similar activities too, thanks to sunday games...

this is becoming a familiar view :-)

hello again

WOW!! i am STOKED about the awesome response to/on our blog since the big announcement. ya'll are suckers for a new baby, sheesh...

i desperately need to take this time to post a big T.H.A.N.K. Y.O.U. to my baby's-daddy for keeping our little blogger world up to date with our big news and all that comes with it. he's been the only one posting new blogs in the past month, while i'm off somewhere "laying down/not feeling well/wussing out". four posts in 15 days?! daaaaannnng, babe!! you rock.

oh, and thank you for the little pea that's making me so sick. i love you.

when i first started this blog, i asked the man if he'd "partake". i knew my intent was to share our week to week engagement excitement/struggles, but i presumed his involvement would be... sparse. much to my surprise, his first blog was awesome! and they continue to be (you have the right to your own opinion). i mean, i know my husband is witty and funny, but his writing was clever and refreshing, and i loved it. as we continued to contribute to the new blog, i found one of us would write a blog then run and tell the other person, "read my blog, read my blog, babe! didja read it?! huh?? huh??? reeeeeeeeaaaaaad ittttttttt....!!!!" it was FUN. a lot of our posts were about marraige and relationships, and it was always interesting to read where the other's head was at that time.

well, here we are, 7 months away from adding a little one to this crazy little family of ours. recently, we've become beyond excited about our blog and enjoy looking back at all the time and energy we've spent making it an interactive public journal. we promise in advance that not all the future posts will be about the baby--but we can't deny it's a big part of of our lives. (okay, today it's the size of a green olive, so it's not THAT big a part yet, but you get my drift.) we can't wait to share with all you (5) devoted readers how this journey will continue. most of all, though, i can't wait to print our blog into a book or three (blog2print.com) and show baby johnson who his/her parents were before he/she came into the world.

oh my gosh. does this mean MY parents were around before I came??? oh, heck no way...

(oh, and for those of you looking for a picture of how happy the new dad was after he found out, say no more....!)

the shirt says, "i'm new here". hehe, chuckle chuckle.

I am geek. Hear me roar!

Geek. It’s not a word I liked when I was younger. As a kid it definitely had a negative connotation and didn’t put you in the cool crowd at school. Oh how times have changed since then! Nowadays geek is cool. Geek is something to be proud of. Lego’s, Mythbusters, and video games…OH MY!

When I met my wife I had to release my geeky-ness in small amounts. It started small with an insanely overgrown music collection. Then it moved on to animated movies, tons of pop-culture references, and my collection of old-school video game consoles I have kept since I was a kid. Over the years of knowing each other she has come to see exactly how much of a geek I can be am and has even slowly started becoming one herself (although she won’t readily admit it). She craves watching The Big Bang Theory (we sing along to the song every week!) and has come to appreciate my The Nightmare Before Christmas decorations.

When we discussed having kids before we were pregnant I would always tell her that our kids will grow up with a geek for a dad. Our kids will most definitely be schooled in the ways of the Atari 2600, classic cartoons, and knowing who The Goonies are. Now that we have a child on the way, she actually encourages my geek to shine. From her encouragement of me buying baby clothes with geeky sayings on them, to the creation of our announcement video she is embracing my geeky side and actually joining in on the fun. It’s pretty awesome. SHE is pretty awesome.

A while back I stumbled on a blog called GeekDad. It has become one of my favorite blogs to read and pull ideas from for when my kid(s) are ready to join the Geek Nation. (I just made that term up. I have no idea if it really exists.) They review, keep track of, and keep me in the loop of all things geeky that kids are sure to love (and learn from!). Yesterday we decided to send them a link to our announcement video to show them how geeky we can be. Much to our amazement they LOVED it! So much so they decided to feature it on their blog this morning! We officially have geek cred and I am wearing it like a badge of honor. Jump on over and check it out!

HGTV Ruined My Life

My wife is addicted to ALL of the shows on HGTV; every single one of them. After getting married, my DVR went from being filled with shows like Rescue Me, LOST, Fringe, and the occasional sports documentary or History Channel special I found interesting, to being filled with shows like House Hunters, Color Splash, My First Place, and the latest, Design Star. Each of the HGTV shows is a variation of either buying a new house or condo, or renovating a current space. Luckily, my wife is extremely settled in our place and never wants to move or change a thing about the way our house looks. (Insert THICK sarcasm here.)

Probably at least once a week I hear about how we need to paint the walls, rearrange furniture, or tear down a wall in our two bedroom condo to open the kitchen to the living room. Most of the time we go for a long walk with June and talk about all the reason we should or shouldn’t do any of these things and by the time we are back home (plus or minus an evening of me pushing the sofa to various areas of our 15 foot living room) we realize that we have things pretty well figured out and changes aren’t necessary right now. We should probably just wait until we purchase our next home and then we can do all the things we’ve wanted to do to a house.

Yesterday we hung out with my folks for the afternoon. We went with them to their new house and gave them our input on some of the decisions they are making in their new house. Then Gigi and I walked through a few of the model homes and talked about what we want in our next place and then we went to Room and Board in Costa Mesa to look at a few of the furniture pieces they were planning on putting in their house. It’s official; my life has turned into every show on HGTV.

After we got home last night we kept looking at the Room and Board catalog dreaming of stuff we could do to our house. Then we watched not one, but two episodes of Design Star. The final words my wife said to me before she turned over and went to sleep were, “I think we should use the Rothko painting in the dining room as inspiration for the rest of that space.” I am pretty sure that I had dreams of designing houses last night. This morning I can’t stop thinking of different ideas that we can do to our living room/dining room areas. Crap, I’m getting into this. Luckily there will probably be a few new tools involved.

It’s a good thing we both like DIY projects and enjoy spending time together, otherwise this could get ugly. Thank you HGTV for making me constantly insecure about the way my house looks and giving me a man-crush on David Bromstad, you have officially ruined my life.

problem solving

a: do you have a funny taste in your mouth today? from the juice or the pizza last night?

j: no

a: oh. yeah, me neither......

j: what kind of taste?

a: i can't tell. not iron, like when i eat cinnamon toast crunch. more like... aluminum... i think...

j: weird. did you eat a tin can?

a: oh crap, i totally did

j: well there's your problem

a: thanks

a lost art

my birthday fell on father's day this year. ahem, correction--father's day fell on my birthday this year, thank you very much! in an effort to celebrate the grand feat of having raised my brother, sister and i for the past 25+ years, i made a concious decision to focus sunday's celebrations on my dad. after all, he IS the most incredible dad in the world, and i love the gosh darn heck out of him...

here's to you, dad...! nmw...

josh, being the ever-so-loving-and-thoughtful-guy-of-a-husband he is, thought it was important we still celebrate my birthday. i didn't push back. shocking--i know. fast forward to the following saturday, a 20-minute westward drive with a quick stop for fancy food-to-go, we pulled into newport harbor where we found a duffy boat waiting for us. yup, for US. josh and me. i didn't know you didn't need a captian on those things! better for us--it was PRIVATE. wink wink.

anywho, josh had planned the boat, the dinner, and obviously the drink selection, because he pulled 2 bottles of my favorite cabernet out of his backpack, along with (plastic) wine glasses and a bottle opener. because that's how we roll :-) i was SO IMPRESSED by his thoughtfulness, and i absolutely adored the surprise factor of it all, but it was what he popped into the cd player on the boat that really stole my heart. leave it up to josh, he made me a MIX TAPE for my birthday boat ride. I LOVE HIM!! :-)

josh is album centric. if you know him at all, or have done a decent job of keeping up with his blog posts, you'll know he is not a "shuffle songs" kind of guy. no way. because that entirely negates any effort put forth by an artist to consciously arrange their music as they wanted it to be heard--as a story, with a beginning, middle, and end. therefore, i can only imagine what a struggle it must have been for him to put multiple songs and artists on one disc, visciously tearing them away from the cozy, assigned spots on thier respective albums. it must have been heart wrenching.

unless.................. unless this was josh's way of creating his own album. and btw, whether it's true or not, this is the story i'm going with. because it's my birthday. and i can.

josh has a library of over 85 days worth of music. 85 DAYS OF MUSIC. we could be stranded on an island together for 2 full months plus a february, eating maggots and drinking salt water, and as long as we had his ipod (and a charger... oh, and speakers, too...) we'd be able to dance to a different song the whole time we were there. it's almost stupid...but it's mostly cute. :-) it also comes in handy when i'm ready for an ipod mix change. i just love that he sat down and intentionally pulled 16 different songs from 16 different albums and 16 different artists and placed them all side by side onto one, single cd. these were 16 carefully chosen songs that made him think of us as a couple, as a family, and as two crazies that love to have a good time. he thought about what songs we'd enjoy on a birthday boat ride at sunset down newport harbor over dinner and drinks, on a night full of cuddling and day dreaming :-) this mix tape was a piece of art--it was wonderful, and it melted my heart. i (un)secretly hope for another one someday (honey...) ;-)


here are a few of my favorite lyrics from the disc, for your artful reading pleasure.

...sailing around the world, please know that i'm yours to keep, my beautiful girl...

...but there ain't nobody that can sing like me, ain't nobody that can sing like me, way over yonder in the minor key....

...that i am, i am, i am the luckiest...

...i wonder everyday as i look upon your face, everything you gave and nothing you would take...

...and then when we get to the ocean, we're gonna take a boat to the end of the world...

...you and me together, we can do anything, baby, you and me together, yes, yes...

...watchin' the fire as we grow...

...ahhhuhh, ahhhuh, ahhhhhuhh...

...happy birthday, beautiful...

look for some of the birthday mix songs on our blog playlist, soon!

a cup o' tea

ugh. i'm thirsty. hungry, too? no, not hungry, just thirsty.

mmmmmm. tea sounds good.

pour water, crack open the micro, slam door, hit 9-0-start. and wait.

i wonder if josh would want tea. eh, he's doing homework. he won't even know i'm having tea. and he can make some when he's done.

UMMMM. HELLO, GIGI! I KNOW IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND ALL, BUT THIS PRINCESS/ME/ME/ME ATTITUDE WILL GET YOU NOWHERE. i cannot believe i rationalized this move in my head. shocked and saddened at the same time, i walked to the office and offered my husband some tea, to which he graciously accepted. "with a tiny bit of sugar, please, honey! oh, and babe? thanks so much!!"

90 seconds later it was HIS tea that was coming out of the microwave, and not mine. i dropped his bag in, added some sugar, popped another water mug in the microwave, hit 9-0-start, and walked his tea over to the office. my hot water came out 90 seconds later. i LOVE mint tea. yummmm :-)

one of the first dates josh took me on was to a favorite pizza joint of his. he ordered for us, and after we each poured our own sodas, he grabbed a straw, unwrapped it, and stuffed it in my soda. WHAT? uhm, okay, i guess i'll unwrap a straw and stick it in YOUR soda....

WOW. this "thinking of the other person first" thing is kind of cool. :-)

when josh and i got married 16 months ago (no i'm not counting, it's simple arithmetic. february plus four equals june, plus two days, and that year thats gone by, and you're at 16 months, or one year and one third. okay, i'm counting...) it was easy and exciting to offer him a cup of tea on a sunday evening. it was a cakewalk to put him first. we were MARRIED, and that's what married people do. i told myself i'd ALWAYS think of josh first.

when i popped MY tea in the microwave, i justified why i didn't need to put josh first.

and that was so not cool.

it's not always easy, and it's not always natural, but as a wife, a lover, a caretaker, i have to continue to think of my husband first. a year after the wedding. ten years after the wedding. 50 years after the wedding. selflessness and consideration--two healthy qualities that help ensure we're not hurting each other. because on a daily basis, the things i do need to HELP my husband, and not HURT or HINDER him. even if it's as simple as making sure he's set with a sunday "prevening" cup of tea. :-)

I Can't Wait To Get Off Work...

Each day this week, this song has helped get me through the day. It's such a nice feeling to come home to the one I love more than anything.

A Couple That Sweats Together, Stays Together

Those that know Gigi and I know that we like to stay active, maintain a practically full calendar at all times, and do what we can to stay in shape. Whether it's climbing, running or walking with June, hiking (on occasion) or just doing something outside, we do what we can to enjoy the outdoors and maintain an active lifestyle.

About 55 days ago I told Gigi that I was thinking of doing P90X (those of you who don't know what that is can go here to see for yourself). Her first reaction was, "I'll do it with you!" That quickly turned into, "Six days a week for 90 days!... and a diet program too! Heck no way!" slowly evolving into, "Okay. I'll do it with you, but only if you do all the research and just tell me what to do."

I quickly took that deal.

I looked through all the material and started talking to Gigi to get her prepped for what we were about to do. The more I read about the program, the more intimidated I became. Six days a week was a huge commitment for two people who love to max our schedules out. But if we wanted to actually get into the shape we had been wanting to it was going to take something a bit more drastic than walking the dog a long distance and going to Bishop every six weeks. So I shoved my intimidation aside, put on my brave face and we jumped in with both feet.

First step, fit test. Boy was that an eye opener. I couldn't reach my toes, could barely do a wall squat for a minute, and was up around 30% body fat!!! What the hell?!? I used to be athletic!!

Next step, Day 1... and a severe ass-kicking from a damned DVD! The first workout I thought I was gonna cry like a little girl and then pass out dead. I knew someone would find Gigi standing over my body laughing and she would go to jail and June would be an orphan. Okay, that maybe a little bit of an exaggeration, but I did think I was gonna pass out. Luckily I was able to take a break and watch Gigi handle things like a champ. I eventually jumped back in just in time to get my ass kicked again by "340 core slash ab exercises" known as Ab Ripper X. By the end of the whole thing I was flipping off the computer and cursing the trainer's name. But I was still committed to it and determined to see the results the program is designed to give.

After a week I was exhausted. God I hope this is working!

After two weeks I was so sore I wasn't sure I could feel anything else but pain. Seriously, all I feel is sore. This had better be working.

After three weeks my body wanted to give up. It is so much easier to be fat and lazy. I think I lost 2 pounds. Seriously?!? I can barely move any more and I've only lost 2 pounds!!!

Week four was a rest week and we sure did need it. We were exhausted and in desperate need of rest. We did our workouts (even while on vacation!) and began to feel a bit better and ready for phase 2. But something happened. We started to look and feel better. Not just a little better, but a lot better. We noticed we were both able to go for a 2 mile run and talk the whole way. That was new. We noticed that even though we were tired, we still had more energy than we did a few weeks prior. Okay sign us up for phase 2.

After the first week we were tired again. Psh... bring it on!

After the second week our bodies were sore. A minor set back. I can't wait for week 3!

Now, here we are ending the third week of phase 2 and we are constantly saying to each other, "Holy crap you look great!!" We can see big results in each other and now we still have enough energy after our workouts to go on a mile or two walk with June each night! Last night we both, for the first time in the workout, were able to keep up with the trainer and do every move of the Ab Ripper X workout!

We are right at halfway through the 90 days we set out to complete seven weeks ago. It's had it's up's and down's but we are having a blast every day. I know that I have totally enjoyed getting into shape, working my ass off and having my wife doing the same thing right by my side. It has been so exciting to watch her push her limits, and be there to motivate her while she is right there doing the same for me.

I love you babe! I'll be home soon to do yoga with you!

tuesday afternoon chit chat

a: i think i'm gonna bring my computer home tonight and do some work. do you have homework to work on?

j: i do. i have some work i can do too :)

a: well, between workout, dinner, dry cleaning, walks with june, and grocery shopping, i'm kind of changing my mind.

j: i thought you might.

a: what?! how did you know?

j: i knew you'd start to think about all that we need to do tonight and give up on the work part. ;) i know you.

a: aaaarrrrrrrgggg. you stink. but i love you. lots.

j: you have to. i have the paper that says so.

a: i know. damn paperwork.

j: i know.

favorite places: park bench cafe

it's not often that we get to enjoy the little gem in huntington beach called central park, as it's a good 35 minutes from home, and we don't spend all that much time in that area to begin with. every so often, though, we make it a point to grab the dog's leash, jump in the car, and head up the freeway to get a bite at one of our favorite places: park bench cafe.

this fully outdoor breakfast and lunch restaurant not only allows dogs, they actually encourage 4-legged friends to join for a treat of their own. the puppy menu ranges from hot dogs and ice cream scoops to kibble and dog bones. june's treat today--just a simple peanut butter dog-shaped treat. she decapitated it, ate the head, and left the rest of the treat for her furry squirrel friends that would clean up behind her.

i know what you're thinking--if they serve dog food, i'm sure the people food can't be that good. WRONG. it's definitely a greasy spoon type of restaurant, and a "white plate/cheap silverware" type of place, but the grub is good!!

today's trip was not quite as planned as usual--we happened to be in fountain valley running errands, and we happened to have the june bug with us because the weather was cool enough to leave her in the car for 20 minutes at a time. realizing we were just 10 minutes from park bench cafe, we headed up for lunch and a walk. june loved this afternoon, and so did we. the weather was gorgeous and the flowers were blooming--i'll take this weekend afternoon any day!