| be mine |

i look forward to valentine's day a little more since being a teacher. the kids get so excited to show off their valentine's day boxes and exchange valentine's. not only is it a fun day at school, it is also the same weekend as presidents' day which means no school #winning. this year (and last) i was able to go to kennewick. washington to be with breck. no lying that long distance relationships are hard. but it makes those weekends that we are able to be together that much more special and exciting. valentine's day was a friday and i was to fly out that night. my brother, scottie, dropped me off at the airport. i was giddy and couldn't wait to land in wa! as i'm sitting at my gate, i notice that the time to board had already passed. people waiting to board the plane were getting restless and i could tell something was going on. finally, the attendant got on the intercom and announced that my flight may be delayed if not cancelled due to fog in the tri-cities. what the? i called breck immediately and he was so confused. he lives in kennewick and the airport is a just few miles away in pasco, but he said it was mostly clear skies. i was so bummed. delayed would be fine. but cancelled? we are already on limited time anyway, that would just put a damper on things. after what felt like forever, the attendant gets back on to announce the flight was cancelled and won't fly out again until 8am. i was exhausted, disappointed and mad. all i wanted to do was to get to wa! i would be lying if i said i got a tear or two in my eyes. anyway, lisa and scotty came to my rescue at midnight.

i eventually made it to washington (without delays!). i was so happy to be there! after i arrived, breck and i bolted to seattle. we had a blast! 

things we did:

• snoqualmie falls
• coach outlet ;) 
• pike's place fish market
• gum wall
• sunset boat tour
• ate at the crab pot. where they little cook the seafood and dump it on your table and give you utensils to eat it. bomb dot com
• space needle when it was dark (umm hello romantic)

we had done all those things a million times before. however, it was more fun to do them together. the rest of the time in kennewick consisted of lounging, making yummy food and driving around. the weather could not have been more perfect. you know what they say. west coat. BEST coast.

| ski bums |

a few days ago i ditched all responsibility and went skiing with the fam up in park city. and what a wild day we had.

i'll be honest, i was a little nervous to go with my mom. she hasn't been skiing since she broke her pelvis ten or so years ago. i was afraid she'd be too uncomfortable and in pain (since she is most of the time). the night before we went up i said, "i am nervous about you mom...for a lot of reasons!" she laughs and says, "me too!" i knew right then that it was going to be a wild day.

scottie's snap chats described it best: dad had fraud on his card which almost prevented us from getting our day passes. mom broke her pole on her second run. how she managed that is still a mystery. and me? i lost my phone in the snow when i crashed.

the crash: scottie took me down this steep hill. should i have gone? n o p e. but did i? yep. and i crashed within 5 seconds. when i flipped, my phone must have landed somewhere in the snow because when we got down to the bottom my phone was no longer in my pocket. i freaked. my phone is white and i lost it in the snow....perfect! we downloaded the "find my phone" app and saw that it was in fact on the mountain. but where? so scottie, dad and i go on a rescue mission. we went to the spot i crashed and kept calling it. also, on the "find my phone" app you can push a bottom that turns on this high pitch "beep" on your phone. we kept doing that and eventually after some digging, we found it!! i lucked out. and to be honest, i really haven't had too many problems with it since. i thought i would have had major water damage. *knock on wood*

what happened the rest of the day? mom and i crashed into each other. and literally couldn't get up because i was laughing so hard. my mom on the other hand, didn't think it was so funny. and then my parents accidentally went down a black diamond. so i guess you could say our day was a little nuts.

so what if my family is a little crazy.
crazy is definitely the new normal......according to the johnson's!

| workin' on my fitness |

in october and november i killing it with the gym. and eating. i was starting to see results and feel so good. then the holidays hit and i let that go. my priorities changed and unfortunately, i didn't make the gym one. and all those holiday treats? indulged with a capital i.

my friend gillian joined weight watchers this past summer. her journey has been inspiring because its been real. she didn't drop five jean sizes in three months. her goal is #30by30. she turns 30 in may and wants to have lost 30lbs. some weeks are off weeks and some are great! its just be conscious of what's going into our bodies. also, my sister adrienne joined in december and has lost 6 pounds.

so since i am having the hardest time motivating myself, i joined too. right now my goal is to get back on the eating right and exercising band wagon. another goal is that i lose 10lbs by spring break in april. so here we go....again.

| nom-naan-naan-naan |

sometimes all you need is a night out with one of your best friends. indian food and talking so much that you get kicked out the restaurant, kind of night.

tonight gillian and i met at bombay house in provo. it was much needed. what's funny is that we have a "much needed" friend date pretty much every other day. basically i need her in my life at all times. not living together has been the worst, i miss her like crazy!

we got carried away talking (as usual) when our waiter came to us to let us know there were a ton of people waiting for a table. first time for everything, right? of course we just laughed it off. and let's be serious, we will probably go to dinner tomorrow, too. so we can just finish our business then. not only that, we will probably have a thousand new things to talk about.

| 27 |

When I was younger, I always wondered what life would be like in my twenties. Would I finish college? Start a career? Get married? Maybe even start a family? These are things I was always curious about (some I still am). I always thought my life would be "figured out." Not sure where that idea came from, but that was a complete misconception.

Here I am. 27. Not married. No kids. Yet, I wouldn't change that. I've been so blessed.
But it has kind of hit me though that in THREE years I will be thirty. Dirty-freakin-T H I R T Y.
(insert freak out here).

Which has me curious all over again: Will I have life "figured out" by 30? Marriage? Kids?
I guess it's all a mystery. So I'm buckled up, ready for the adventure.

My 27th Birthday was perfect in every way. I wanted to keep it pretty low key and simple. Friday, I celebrated my birthday at school with my kids. The best part? When we were celebrating and I was passing out their treat, Breck surprised me with a bouquet of flowers. My class freaked out (as usual). Every time he comes in they go CRAZY. And that's putting it nicely. It's funny because when my parents, sister or friends come in, they are calm. A boy? They freak.

Friday night, I invited some friends to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. 

You know it's serious when.....your brother and your boyfriend show up to dinner matching.

Saturday morning, Breck and I went and got pedicures (yes, Breck) at my favorite place. He gave that to me as part of my gift. The best part? Gillian and her sister, Lauren, walked in while we were getting pedicures, not even planned.

 Later that afternoon, Breck's family and I went up to Porcupine Grille in Cottonwood Heights to celebrate my birthday and to say bye to Breck who had to go back to Washington (insert cry emoji here). 

(I know, I know. I look like I'm dating his brother in law)

Saturday night, some friends and I went up to Deer Valley to watch the World Cup Moguls. The weather was balls cold. When the announcers were awarding the winners at the end, it started snowing like crazy, we got soaked, but it was "snow" fun.

Sunday was a family party up at Lindsey's. Loved blowing the candles out with some of my favorites.

Needless to say, it was a great Birthday! And whether or not I like it, I am officially 27.

| 2 0 1 5 |

last year, i had a resolution to go on as many adventures as i could find (and afford). and i held myself to that. every time i was invited somewhere, whether it was just a party at a cabin or a trip to st. george, i took the opportunity to go. jet to hawaii for nine days? a total yolo moment. and it was worth every second. i definitely went on a lot of adventures in 2014.

my new resolution or motto for 2015 is to not hesitate when it comes to serving others and look for more opportunities to do so. i really haven't been seeking out service opportunities and feel like this year i want to make up for that. doesn't have to be big. could be the smallest thing like helping a friend move, holding up a door or lending a smile.

i am so excited for the coming year and what it may bring. so 2015? bring it.

{ monday funday }

December 8th started out like any other Monday.
Long.

After lunch recess I knew that I only had 45 minutes until the AM kids left. As I went to go get my kids from recess, a coworker randomly said to me, "let's get out of here early today."

I thought, "We have meetings until 4pm..."

I walk into my classroom and half of my kids are already in there F R E A K I N G out. Like, they were all screaming at me. On my desk there were pink, frosted, sugar cookies and a Diet Coke.

Kids were yelling, "A guy left these on your desk and then left!" "But it wasn't Breck because he didn't have a mustache!" I love that they automatically assumed it was him. Finally one student said, "I thought I saw him go into Mrs. Donithorne's class!"

That's when it hit me. Was it him? Breck had Mrs. Donithorne when he was in 2nd grade (cute huh), and had been in her class a time before this year.

I tried to calm my kids down (impossible at this point) and said whoever it was might be back. To be honest, I also thought it could have been a parent or sibling dropping off a birthday treat because my class had a lot of birthdays.

Within a few minutes, they were screaming again, "HERE HE COMES!"
And in walks Breck :)
Surprised? You can say that again.
And his fishy-ness from the night before was all making sense.

That night we went to Temple Square with my family and then to Cheesecake Factory for dinner #nomnomnom

My Monday > yours

{ Son of a Nutcracker }

One faint memory I have with my Grandma Johnson is when she took us Johnson girls to the Nutcracker Ballet at the Opera House. I remember feeling so grown up that I was able to go. I don't remember much of the actual ballet itself, but loved going with my big sisters. 

This year I decided I was not going to let Christmas pass me by. Meaning, I wanted to take full advantage of embracing the spirit of Christmas. One of the ways I was going to embrace the Christmas spirit was going to The Nutcracker with my girlfriends and sister, Lisa. 

Besides breaking the Nutcrackers arm, the little girl sitting in front of Lisa and I who couldn't sit still, I'd say the night was an overall success. 

{ Thanksgiving in Salem }

If you know me, you know I have mad love for The Pacific Northwest. Even though my parents want to live closer to their kids and grandkids, I am still so happy they live in Washington so I can go visit. Selfish? Maybe.

Adrienne and Scott will live in the Northwest for life. Scott is from Grants Pass, Oregon and Oregon is where they have decided to settle down with his podiatry practice. Not even mad.  Now I will always have an excuse to go to the Northwest. Currently, they live just south of Portland in Salem.

I was so excited to get out of Utah and spend some time with my family in Oregon. Especially see Tommy and Savannah! They grow up so fast and I hardly get to see them. Scottie drove down from Rexburg and we flew out together. When we woke up the next morning, the weather was perfect. You can see Mt. Jefferson clearly from Adrienne's house. However, later that after rain clouds started in and never left. It rained the ENTIRE rest of our stay. And not even the drizzle kind of rain. Pouring rain. For four whole days. Gave me a little taste of daily life on the west coast.

Thanksgiving morning, Scott, Adrienne and I ran a 5k at the Keizer Turkey Trot. It was a fun way to start off Thanksgiving. I finished in 31 minutes which was great considering I hardly trained. Meaning, I didn't train at all. My bad.

The day after Thanksgiving my family and I went to Lincoln City, Oregon which is on the coast. It was freezing but so fun to see the ocean. We went shopping (naturally) at the outlets and to the beach.

{floppy hats or bust} 

{The boys. The entire drive.}

That night Breck text me saying, "What if I just drove down tonight?" Of course I wanted him to come down, especially because it was only a 4-5 hour drive from Washington. However, Breck likes to tease me so I entertained the idea for a second but then came back to reality and thought, "he's just messing with me." Finally he text me and said, "Just left." Eeek! I was SO excited. He didn't get in until 1am. The best part? I might have not told him Salem was an hour south of Portland until he was an hour or two into the drive. Does that make me a bad person? Anyway, when he finally put the address into his maps he said, "Wait, they live in Salem!?" Whoops. Luckily, he still came!

Saturday Breck and I were able to go to The Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton. His cousin works for Nike and gave us a pass to go shopping at the Nike Employee Store. This store is legit. You get the newest Nike merchandise for 50% off. Imagine any Nike outlet you've ever been to, times that by 10 and that's how big it is. Plus, no tax in Oregon #winning

 {It's a known fact we match everywhere we go}

{heaven}

After that, we went downtown Portland and met up with my family. The line was too long for Voodoo Doughnuts when we got there, but my family had already gone through the line. Those doughnuts are the bomb!

How we kept Portland weird:

It was FREEZING by the time we got downtown Portland. Rain. Wind. 

Breck and I got Mexican food at a food truck and since everything was wet and there wasn't anywhere to sit, we decided to go eat in his car. The backseat of his car to be exact. Totally fogged up the windows and we were a good 3 feet away from each other. We kept giggling about that. It was hilarious. The best part? We were parked directly under the "Keep Portland Weird" sign. So yes, Portland, we tried our best to keep our experience weird. 

Needless to say, it was a perfect Thanksgiving.