Newsy News II

he past couple of months have been slightly uneventful but still awesome. The month of April entailed

• Christian receiving his Diploma from BYU
• My very talented & sweet SIL Jaicy’s BYU Graduation celebration
• Hike up Squaw Peak
• Tulip Festival for the 2^nd year in a row, my favorite.
• Adelaide & Hector announcing they’re pregs! (aka first-time aunt & uncle for the both of us!)
• Mine & C’s engagement anniversary
• And a handful of birthdays! Including my best friend Lindsay’s, my brother Evrhet’s, my Brother Noah’s, and Christian’s 24^th!

Christian and I have this fun game where anywhere from one to two months before our birthdays we can get whatever we want and say it’s for our birthday. (Slight sarcasm if you didn't catch it.) So he got clothes & shoes and other miscellaneous tech purchases, a Sweet Tooth Fairy surprise from me at work as well as a super fun birthday dinner with all this mission buddies. And while I try to keep things PDA free around here, I felt his 24^th birthday deserved a list of 24 things I love about the boy I live with. (Tried to book the list after a jump, but failed. Any advice, send it my way.)

1. You watch Desperate Housewives religiously with me
2. You also watch House MD, Lie To Me, Mad Men, Gossip Girl, The OC, Pushing Daisies, Breaking Bad, The Office, and Glee with me even though I won’t watch Smallville with you.
3. On my last birthday, you woke up in the middle of the night and sang Happy Birthday to me.
4. Even though this should bug me, I love that you only do the dishes if I’m really mad at you.
5. Whenever I want to do something nice for someone else, you are all for it.
6. When I get into your car & you turn it on, the music is up way loud because that’s how you like listening to hip-hop on your way home from work every day.
7. You’re embarrassed to have an asthma attack in front of anyone.
8. When you transfer money into my bank account, you label it “Love Money”.
9. You’re an accounting college graduate by day & a technology nerd by night.
10. You go through “phases” and tell me what they are when they are happening most recently day trading and then Bruce Lee.
11. Last May, when I went on a shopping spree while I was in CA and then felt bad about it, all you said was “Happy Birthday”.
12. You let me visit California for weeks at a time because you know I miss it.
13. Every time I’m good at something you basically say “You should do that a million more times and then sell it!”
14. When we were in line for MGMT & you couldn’t pin point the actress this woman in front of us looked like you told me to “ask her who her facebook doppelganger was!”
15. Right before the Selena Gomez look-a-like and I walked into the Nordstrom dressing room, I heard a barely audible “Selena!” and had to hope she didn’t hear you too!
16. You’re NEVER grumpy when you wake up. I’m always grumpy.
17. The first thing I’ve heard every morning since we’ve been married is how pretty I am.
18. How excited you were when you discovered Toaster Strudels… which was last week. “They’re WAY better than Pop Tarts!”
19. When you discovered my journals from high school, all you wanted to read was anything I wrote about you.
20. You always let me plan our Saturdays and agree to take me to places like the zoo and the aquarium.
21. Whenever I make dinner you pretend you’re at a restaurant because it ‘tastes that good’ or say you didn’t know Grandma Joyce was in town (she is a really good cook).
22. When you learned that all the actors on Glee are the same age as you, you started calling them “your friends”.
23. I love that the one time I thought you were being cool and listening to music in the office you were really listening to tagalog.
24. I love that you are still attached to your mission and that your best friends are your mission buddies.

The month of May involved me ditching Christian & taking a trip to CA for a couple of weeks to be a bridesmaid in my dear friend Jolene’s wedding on May 8^th which was lovely. Her colors were black, red, & white and out of the many years that I've known her, I had never seen her look more stunning than when we were walking into the LA Temple which is also where Christian and I were sealed. Jolene & Eric even had the same Temple Sealer so I really enjoyed listening to what was said on her wedding day and being reminded of my own. While I was down there I got to do other rad things like take my 15 year old sister, Sierra, to Disneyland where she said hi to everyone she saw wearing BYU caps, and attend a Cinespia Screening of The Wizard of Oz where I spotted the lead singer of All-American Rejects wearing glittery red kicks.

Last month included my birthday and all the grand things that went with it like the Dear Lizzy Boutique with Lindsay, Blue Lemon with Christian, lots of presents from him, and MGMT in SLC. Loved it. But not as much as it loved me.

Inevitable

efore my brother Evrhet got married I had zero experience in the wedding business. Even during my first semester in Utah I got invited to a bridal shower and didn't attend because I seriously felt ridiculous going to a peer's pre-wedding anything at my age. I'd rather spend my Saturday afternoon drinking coffee behind my bishop's back and hearing about the boys my friends were dating - not the ones they were getting engaged to. Little did I know that a few months later I would be a member of Evrhet's & Jaicy's bridal party and get the ultimate experience of their flawless wedding... And then do it again 5 months later on my sister Adelaide's big day.

Even after both of those celebratory events I still hadn't quite grasped that needy obsession 99% of LDS college girls possesses. My wedding colors, nor dress, nor the desire to bookmark an idea for my future wedding to an unknown groom hadn't even considered making an attempt to cross my mind. Long story short, Christian came into the picture and changed that.

After about 7 months of my eyes feasting upon anything & everything wedding related, August first came and went along with my bridal high. Now I get to look forward to all of the following lovely people in my life tie their own knot & make a pretty bow:

L to R: Jesse & Laura, close friends of mine. Matt & Michelle, Matt is a friend of Cj's from freshman year + one of our groomsmen. Jolene & Eric, friends from our home ward + Jolene was one of my bm's & I will be one of hers. Jenna & Dmitri, Jenna is one of my old roommates whom I am still very good friends with. Amanda & Nick, Amanda is also from our home ward + someone I consider my older sister. A special congratulations to them each from me & c.

Now if only my brother, Noah, would come around.....

Newsy News

t church on Sundays, the women of the ward take time from the lesson for the Good News Minute which is an excellent bragging opportunity cause, you know, girls are good at that. I mostly hear the same lines from all those newlywed wives every week, “My family came to visit!”, “My husband got an internship!”, “We’re buying a house!”. Sometimes, its especially painful like, “I received a package from my mom!” and “My cousin is returning from her mission!”. Invite me over if you’re so proud of your newly remodeled home, and congrats to your cousin who served in Idaho, is she cute? Cause I have a few BIL’s.

Anyway I've never participated in such foolishness but I guess a few things have happened that are worth mentioning here, but not worth announcing there ~

I recently accepted a new job at Squire & Co accounting firm here in Orem and I LOVE it. I work at the front desk and help the tax department all morning, cruise 5 minutes home for lunch when I watch a half hour of Fox News & half hour of TMZ (since I no longer have time to read Perez, duh!) and then spend the afternoon advising business in the business advisory department... Well, I actually run around doing a variety of things in a variety of departments all afternoon but I get to do it with 4 fun & spunky girls who make the day pleasant to say the least. Oh yeah, did I mention this?

Christian's family is THIS close to finalizing an adoption and got to officially change their son's name to Jonathan Hernani Johnson. Christian & all his brother's have the same middle name after their mother's maiden name, Jonathan is especially happy to be a Johnson boy.

Cj's cousin Taylor will be leaving on a mission to Brazil in March, and we will be attending his mission farewell this next Sunday. Taylor is seriously the most gentlemen of gentlemen's, we'll miss him but it will be nothing compared to how much his parents & siblings will. We love that family! Continuing along the lines of "My cousin this, this, and that!", Cj's cousins (some of my favorites!), Brian & Alisha and Heidi & Justin recently announced the stork is coming to visit them! Alisha writes the most hilarious words that come out of her son, Jayce's mouth but also about how excited he is to be a big brother. Heidi & Justin couldn't be a more adorable pair if they tried, I already know their offspring is going to be the epitome of cute. We are both more than happy for our sweet cousins and their growing families.

And while we're on the preggers subject, one of my old roommates called me an AUNT and announced her growing belly as well. I seriously would not have survived my first semester in Utah were it not for Chelsey & her boyfriend, now husband Riley. This makes 5 of my old roommates married & 2 with cry babies. That I know of.

Honorable Mentions include seeing 2 Sundance films, celebrity sighting Dustin Lance Black, celebrating our 6 month (the only half month that will probably ever get any attention) anniversary, and a stellar Brand New show cause we're heaven sent, don't you dare forget.

Twenty Ten

regret to inform you that I am now blogging from Orem, Utah where it feels like 10 degrees outside. Christian and I returned with 5 new coats from Santa though so I guess we'll survive. Too bad our gas bill won't.

Today I was telling Christian how I had to ask someone and schedule a ride to work (at Sport Chalet) and back everyday for 3 years during high school. He asked me, "How did you do it?!". That feeling of guilt & stress immediately built up in my chest. Guilty for having to ask someone to use their fuel & take their time to drive me to work and stress if no one was available to. But for 3 years, almost always, someone was nice enough to take me & pick me up when I was done. I told him, "I guess people loved me..." I can think of at least 15 people who I called on probably more than once a week and asked for a ride. Church leaders, friends, their parents, co-workers. At the time, I thought it sucked but now I just feel thankful. I wish I could visit them all every time I'm in town, and catch up with them, and thank them.

Well last week, in between working a couple of days at the office & spending time with our families, I got to see and hang out with 4 of those people and couldn't have been happier. I had a short but sweet Starbucks sesh with my good friend Bobby. I spent time with Jolene at her in-law's home, and got to see her newlywed cuddle cave. I visited Nicole Smith and her parents during the last afternoon of 2009. And spent the the countdown with Sarah, who has continually cared about my well-being for the last 5 years. The countdown was especially fun with Jesse, Lex, Laura, & May there too.

New Years Day marked mine and C's 5 month wedding anniversary and our 3rd NY's together. And in every one of those years we've had a close encounter with an A-List celebrity, and when I say close I mean sit right next to them. This year we sat next to Sean Astin aka Lead Goonie aka Sam of LOTR while eating dinner at Chevy's. We never have the guts to ask for John Hancocks/pictures but this time C's mom had no shame. Last year was Jason Bateman at a Dodger Game (they lost) and the year before that Shia Labeouf at the movie theater (The Orphanage, he sat to my immediate left). I'll stop bragging now...

Christmas

elebrating Jesus' birthday this year has been stellar. We have been jumping from one party to the next all Christmas Break long which started with a cute lovey dovey mushy Christmas Date to see the holiday lights at Thanksgiving Point made possible by our loving sister-in-law Jaicy. Hot chocolate, real life reindeer, and THE EMPORIUM.

We delayed our flight a couple of days to attend our first wedding reception since our own in honor of Christian's mission buddy Jacob Pieper and his new wife Becky. Her colors were silver & dark purple with a few christmas trees in the mix, and her venue had a nice rustic feel to it. (You might want to assume we hit the theater afterward)

Christian's family arrived in Utah from Los Angeles the next day for the Johnson Family Christmas Party. C's dad is one of 8 children so Christian has about a million cousins. I couldn't be thankful enough to have married into such an awesome family! Getting to know them this past year has been so fun, some of them are near our age and there are a few newlyweds as well.

Finally, the next morning we boarded our flight to Oregon where I am writing to you from Grandma Joyce Rayborn's home in Tualatin where we are freezing and wet... Actually her house is super cozy but it was way frosty outside on Christmas morning. All week we've enjoyed early morning, hotel-worthy, home-made breakfasts & restaurant dinners including countless shirley temples.

Portland Pleasures

• Explored downtown Portland & Powell's City of Books (Christian's faaavorite, Sierra and I could have killed him for the amount of time he spent in there)
• Swimming across the Columbia River to Washington and back
  
• Met the Krogh family and landed in the Krogh Nest
• Sherlock Holmes & Bridgeport Village!!!
• Sliding down Multnomah Falls

And in between our adventures we completed a 750 & 1000 piece puzzle. We're racking up our Southwest Rewards credit and flying to C.A. tomorrow, next week you can expect an L.A. update.

Television

hristian and I are slightly major movie goers. Name it, chances are we've seen it. Even the not so good ones like Jennifer's Body. Well, actually I saw that one by myself while C and his good buddy Derek watched a much more manly flick. Anyway, I'm sure that the lack of activities provided by Orem helps us keep up this hobby of ours with the local theater every weekend. But all films aside, something we are even more guilty of - keeping up 100% with our favorite television shows. If you ever wonder what we do with our free time, this is it:

Mad Men

House

The Office

Lie To Me

Pushing Daisies

Freaks & Geeks


(Short stint with) Big Love

Arrested Development

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Smallville

American Idol

Prison Break

Seinfeld

Community

Desperate Housewives

The OC

Gossip Girl

I especially love watching Mad Men, Pushing Daisies, and Gossip Girl not only for the drama & comedy but equally as much for the fashion & costumes! Gets me so excited! Who else watches any of the above? And not that we need to add anything to this list but what shows are you into? Christian admitted that one day he wants to venture the journey through "Lost"... good thing they are finally on the last season, sheeeeeeeeesh.

Grandpa

efore the year ends, I would like to mention two very inspiring men that have recently passed away. Both Christian's Grandpa B. Clair Johnson & my Grandpa Bruce Rayborn left us with sweet and admirable memories.

(Photo taken from Matt & Heather Brinkerhoff)

Among Grandpa Johnson's lifetime of great, kind, and impressive accomplishments that we heard of during his beautiful funeral service, one of his sons described him as "... the epitome of a cool dude!"

Even though Grandpa Rayborn had been retired for years and in no condition to drive, he still offered me rides to work and wanted to buy me a new car! Just a shadow of his lifetime of help & sweet kindness. We miss you.

Christmas Wish - Giving Back

wo April's ago, my old roommate & good friend Lindsay invited me to New York where I met her sweet sister Heidi & her family. She was nice enough to let us crash at their house while we explored the city!

Heidi is working on a Christmas Miracle, one that you usually see on t.v. like when Oprah or Ellen DeGeneres show up on deserving people's doorstep and pays all of their bills and gives them a new car. Well, Heidi doesn't have new cars to give away but she does have the heart to reach out for everyone's generosity to help a family in need... the exact same thing television shows do for publicity, she is doing out of kindheartedness and in her own home town:

"At first, I went the same route as last time, trying to find a foreign family that needed help; but after a week of not getting any leads, and then getting a call from my bishop's wife telling me about a family in my own neighborhood that was desperately in need this Christmas, Alan and I felt that we had an obligation to help our neighbors before anyone else."

Heidi has done this before, having helped a family from Japan pay off their hospital bills AND have a good Christmas. Please read more about her project, the family, & how to help here. Everypennycounts.

Anniversary

oday marks both our 2 years together as well as our 4th month of marriage. “Marriage”, I can’t believe that word is even in my vocabulary.

As some of you may know, Christian is pretty reserved. Until you get to know him, he comes off as a very soft-spoken, calm, and quiet person. I remember the first time he picked me up to hang out, I got into his car and I swear I had to lean my ear in over the middle compartment and listen with all my might to hear what he was saying. He doesn’t seem that way to me at all anymore, but I still remember that first impression and I can see it when he’s around people he’s not close with.

Well, after 2 years together & 4 months of marriage I STILL have not ever seen him laugh uncontrollably and I STILL have not seen him cry! But I do get to see other personality traits that he seems to save for people he loves, and for that I feel special.

Our first Christmas, one month into dating. (Hate when he doesn't shave)

Daily Drop Cap

Something you might like...

Each week day, a new decorative capital letter is posted by illustrator Jessica Hische. I've seen a lot of bloggers use them for their icons and I've got one up for my Twitter. She started the project in September and has already completed the alphabet but has continued displaying more designs. There are just a few usage rules but they are generally free for our creative minds to use. A few of my favorites are the green "D", purple "E", and navy "G" so if your first or last name starts with one of those letters, I'm totally jealous. Daily Drop Cap

Autumn in Orem

adies and gentlemen, you are reading before you the life and times of newlywed Mister & Misses Christian and Alondra Johnson. (How long before we are no longer newlyweds anyway?) We have been married a whopping 4 months going on eternity. We live in a cozy two story apartment in Orem, Utah that I have taken a new hobby into decorating (surprise surprise), which has been a slow but steady process. Most of the time I just ask Mister Nielson... I mean Mister Johnson... just kidding, I ask Christian how this would look and that would look, or what color fabric or print I should use. I have yet to overcome my inability to make final decisions but almost always pleased with my final results, including a window treatment I created out of foam board and fabric. After getting married, I have come across new things I enjoy that would have never made me so excited just a couple years ago. Things like table runners, and front door decorations, haha. Life is nice.

Today is Thanksgiving and I am writing to you from Park City, Utah where Christian and I are spending the holiday weekend with my crazy loving parents, Michael & Deborah, my little sister Sierra who is 14, my brother Noah who is 22 and a student at BYU-I, my brother Evrhet and his wife Jaicy who live in Orem too, my Aunt Mary + her family, and my Uncle Matt + his family. If you couldn't already tell from the amount of people, we are having a total blast including countless board games, puzzles, and food comas. I love my mom's cooking because inserting sugar or carbs into her body is a major sin that would send her to the depths of darkness so she has mastered complex meals that are so deliciously healthy like caramel maple apple pancakes with whip cream and zero grams of sugar.

I guess the rule is to conclude with things I am thankful for ~

• The Milam Family - The love they have for me leaves me speechless at times. Just thinking about it makes me swallow my tears with gratitude.
• The Johnson Family - They welcomed me graciously into their family in a heartbeat.
• Every gift giver & gift we received from our wedding. - We returned to Utah with a full and complete stock of kitchen appliances, dishes, bathroom towels, and things we don't even have room for. I made it a goal to TRY and remember who gave us what and think of them when I use it. I think of Torrey Geer & Janice Stephenson quite often.

This list gets longer, but Jaicy, Deb, Mary, Christian, and I are going to conquer the Park City Outlet's black friday sales at midnight so I need to get ready to go. This is our our first bloggerworld post, what do you think?