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!

memorial day 2011

as in what seems to be tradition now, josh and i hosted a casual memorial day bbq at our community pool. this is becoming one of my favorite holidays--good friends, yummy treats, and great sun!

little p chillin' with grandpa

jimmy and larae hanging out poolside

auntie jess taking peyton for a dip

family time in the water!

angelo and vanessa being sweet together ;-)

yup! we sure did bust out a round or 5 of penny can!

little "hailey boo" having a ball!

uncle josh...being "fun" uncle josh to little man joel.

girl time! :-)

thanks to everyone who made it out for the afternoon. as usual, hoping to make summer barbecues a more typical activity! as always, the more the merrier! :-) join us next time!

happy easter!

...with love,

peyton reese

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!

No Diving Allowed

The funny thing about announcing that we are having a baby is that practically everyone seems to have a prediction about what the gender is. We have heard quite a few predictions for a girl and quite a few for a boy. Since those are the only two realistic options, I think the bases are pretty well covered. It seems, though, that most of the predictions seem to lean in a certain direction (we’re not telling which yet) so we decided to have a little fun with it and start a pool! Since most people seem to have a prediction, we thought it would be fun to see who is the most accurate!

To make it a bit more challenging than just predicting gender, we thought it would be fun to add a few more categories to see just exactly how good you really are. Just post a comment here and let us know your prediction for: gender, length, weight, and birth date.

Here is how it will work:

• Each category is worth up to 5 points
• Points are deducted for incorrect guesses as follows:
• Minus 5 points for incorrect gender
• Minus 1 point for each inch below or above actual length
• Minus 1 point for each ounce under or over actual weight
• Minus 1 point for each day before or after actual birth date
• The winner will get to change the first diaper something fun after the baby is born!

___________________________

Example:

Your guess = Boy, 20”, 7 lbs, & 3/22/11

Actual baby = Girl, 19”, 7lbs, & 3/24/11

Your score = 0 pts for gender, 4 pts for length, 5 pts for weight, & 3 pts for date

___________________________

The person with the most points at the end of the game is the winner! In the event of a tie, the point will go to the person who first made the correct prediction. Don’t be afraid to put your two cents in if we have never met. The game is open to anyone who reads our blog (and so is the prize!)

Alright folks, start guessing!!

*UPDATE*

To give everyone a starting point, the technical due-date is March 27, 2011.

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!

sushi bro.

rolly's 32nd birthday found its way into 2010 last week :-) happy birthday bro!!!!

to celebrate, mom and dad thought rolly's favorite food would work to satisfy his birthday cravings. SUSHI!! however, in an effort to be creative and fun (good job, guys) we didn't GO to sushi, instead sushi came to us. the parentals worked and worked to prep all the fixins needed for a make-your-own-sushi party. (can i really get away calling them "fixins" when it is the farthest thing possible from hick food?? how about "supplies"? or "suprise!" my seuc cousins may get that reference... anywho...)

with seaweed, rice, halibut, tuna, tuna tar-tare, crab, salmon, eel, avocado, cream cheese, cucumber, mushrooms, and those little orange eggs on the menu, we went to town mashing, rolling, stomping, cutting, and eating our freshly made hand rolls. no, it wasn't the most classy effort i've ever seen, it was more... functional. how do i get all this stuff in my mouth at once? (...that's a great segway to a "that's what she said" joke, btw. ya know, just in case you needed some help catching that one...) some rolls were small, some rolls were large. some looked like burritos (dad...) and some looked like small baseballs... in any case, they all tasted DELICIOUS!! and, to ensure authenticity, a few sake swigs and sapporro gulps were fully welcomed...!

rolly's ready...

so is dad...

they're tired from eating...

yummmmmmmy!

i love those orange eggy things...

josh ate potstickers... "i don't like the texture of sushi..."

cheers, kat and rolly!

happy birthday to my rolly poly! i hope you had fun celebrating all weekend long! and thanks to mom and dad for all your hard work!

so blessed...

...to have spent 365 amazing days tag-teaming this thing called LIFE

with my wonderful husband....



...I can't wait for a lifetime more!

happy one year anniversary, my love!

the latest happenings on the johnson front

not sure how many of you care to hear what we've been up to, but i'm pretty sure i have a few far-away family and friends that check up on our blog and see how we're doing, so i thought i'd post a little update of the past few months.

theBIRTHDAY
josh turned __ (blank on purpose) on january 19th. and we're obviously very proud... just kidding--the guy may be racking up the age-points, but he's still as playful as a young chap and i love him to peices! we hit up javiers mexican restaurant for dinner with a few pals, followed by a visit to the yardhouse. josh was testing his new age at the nearest bar. eh, he sort of passed.

theCITY
we entirely lucked out this month and got the opportunity to travel for work together, and to no better place than new york city! okay, i misrepresent...we went to new jersey. i owed a visit to a project out there, and josh spent a day in his new jersey office working on a project with his boss. as soon as we were done with the work, we jumped on a train and planted ourselves in that freezing city for 3 days. this trip was fairly mellow for NYC--it was cold, and unless we had a plan of where to go and exactly how to get there, we weren't the most eager to simply roam around aimlessly. strangely enough, our initial plan had been to have no plan, and hadn't realized how much the cold would hinder us from "just hanging out in the city". ultimately we made it to a couple museums (the MoMA was our favorite!), the new york library, rockefeller center, and some random bars and restaurants. for those "how i met your mother" fans, we visited a bar called mcgee's, which provided the concept behind maclaren's in the show.

theMORNINGS
josh and i have stumbled upon some new found time, recently. mornings. how about that?! turns out, there's lots one can do at 6am, and we're learning it together. eagerly, i might add. i think the jet lag from NYC has yet to fade, and we're hanging on to it tightly. mornings have recently consisted of a long walk with the dog, a yummy breakfast and the today show, or an early start at the office. i've always had an appreciation for mornings, but managed to easily sleep through them. now that josh is finding how beautiful the early part of the day can be, i'm finding myself NOT sleeping through them anymore. it's nice, june loves it, and i would highly recommend mornings to anyone! a little word of advice, though--do yourself a favor and hit the sack before midnight.

theBOOK
our valentine's day was fairly low key. it consisted of church, lunch, errands, and the gym. later in the day, we buckled down and got serious--threw a steak on the grill(pan) and sat down for a romantic dinner. after dinner, we moved to the couch, and josh read "catcher in the rye" to me. it was so simple, and so sweet. i absolutely LOVED it; well, until i fell asleep in chapter 6, that is... i can't wait to be read to more...such a nice treat! and this book is an awesome classic :-)

theWEEKEND
we are heading up to bishop, california to (finally) do some outdoor climbing. josh, june, and i will hit the road saturday morning and meet a couple friends of ours on the rocks that afternoon. i am SO looking forward to sometime outside, away from the hustle bustle, and spending time with friends. we'll post some pics when we return!

those special moments in 2009

this has been a WONDERFUL year! before we jump into 2010, i thought it'd be appropriate to highlight a few special moments that could easily get lost in the memory banks without a gentle reminder...

a little slideshow for your viewing...

That first look...!

Finally getting around to playing with some wedding photos of ours...

oh, christmas tree, oh, christmas tree...!

today was a VERY special day. josh and i chose, brought home, lit up, and decorated our very first christmas tree together! we had so much fun...!

this years "theme" was humor :-) we went shopping for our decorations about a week ago, and had no clue where to start. we started picking up ornaments from the shelf, and some of them just made us giggle. sooooooo, we threw them in the cart, and that became the theme! if it made us laugh, it found it's way onto the tree!

josh with coca cola santa

of course we had to include june in the festivities.

an annoying jingle bell collar was just the thing!

ooooo, so romantic... our first christmas!

the finished tree!

here we go! the fun ornaments! cookie monster... looking sharp.

the reindeer playing a trumpet became our "angel" and is sitting atop our tree :-)

and the pig? SO random...

seriously, the reindeer (that looks like a donkey) and the zebra CRACK ME UP!

bulldozer: AWESOME. ballerina frog...REALLY?

NYC taxi...YES! love the old car and the school bus :-)