The Johnsons

Top Five Greatest Hits....(so far this summer)

2009-07-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

I love that summer is here but it seems like now it is almost over! So far we've had a great time, but I am trying to list our top favorite moments or things over the summer...(so far)

5. I have used my Seven Peaks pass two times already this year (considering it was rainy the whole month of May and June I consider that more than I thought I would use it!) AND that is kind of an inside joke, because Tyler told me I had to use it twice to get my moneys worth.

4. Eating a gazillion otter pops at the Dunes - it s been awhile since I've had one, but thank goodness I didn't come out of it with a fruit juice hangover or a brain freeze.

3. Tyler is currently the (unofficial) spokesperson of P90X. He tells everyone he knows about it, and he has been doing really awesome! I'm proud of him for sticking with it. He is coming upon 60 days in about a week or so.

2. Keeping up with the boys at the family reunion at golf. (hey I wasn't terrible ok) I'm ready for my set of purple clubs now!

1. By far my favorite moment is when we went to Arizona to visit Tyler's brother and his family. My niece Maddie and her mom (Jen) were talking while we visited:

Jen: Maddie, you usually always sleep in until at least 8:00, why have you been getting up so early (at 6:00 am)?

Maddie: Mom, I don't sleep in when we have customers! (I think she mean't to say guests) HA HA!

Our Story

2009-06-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Rachel to tell the story of how we met...mmm where to start?

I guess maybe I should call this story ten degrees of separation. Basically my best friend's (Jenne was my best friend) friend (Sarah) at the time thought Tyler would be a good match for Jenne! HA it's funny to think back now, because I couldn't ever see them together. Sarah just thought the world of Tyler and so did everyone else. Well I worked two jobs at the time, so I was never able to hang out with everyone together usually. A big group of people went out together, (in hopes of Tyler and Jen hitting it off) but she actually hit it off with Kevin Bake (stay with me people). Kevin was one of Tyler's really good friends at the moment.

On Sunday after that Kevin asked Jen to go see Spiderman in the Theatre. She invited me to tag along so I did. I didn't mind being the third wheel that night for some reason. When the movie was over Kevin proceeded to walk us to the car. When Jen and I got in the car, he stayed outside to make a phone call and that is when we knew something was fishy - he had called Tyler to come with us to Denny's to distract me! Ugh of all things I did NOT want to hang out with a boy, I was DONE with boys! Well good thing Tyler was not a boy, but a man because we were inseparable after that night. Everything just fell into place so easily, we pretty much were great for eachother. When Sarah asked him my last name one day, he told her it was Wright. She teasingly told him, "ooh you're going to marry Miss Wright"! Almost exactly two years later (we met on CINCO DE MAYO) we were married at Deer Creek by Heber UT (on May 14, 2004) and my life could not be better. I never thought I would love being married as much as I do, but then again I think it's the guy you choose to marry that makes all the difference.

Jenne, Brian, Me, Tyler, Sarah, Kevin

It is funny the girls were just talking about this subject, but I am going to tag them anyway, Carrie, Millissa and Jen (Johnson), you're IT!

Girls' Trip

2009-06-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

We took a girls trip to Phoenix this last weekend. It was so nice, and sunny when it was raining back in Utah. We ate, shopped, napped, and laid out - what a real vacation should be like. I went with Tyler's side of the family of girls - Carrie, Millissa and his mom, we all went and stayed with Jen and Ryan Johnson. After all Jen has been through (gallstones, mastitis, a new baby and kids having RSV), I hope we weren't too much trouble because I had such a good time. She is an amazing mom and gives a new meaning to multi-tasking. I guess thats what moms do.

Thanks Jen for a great weekend!

Items of blogness

2009-06-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

I just thought I should share a few items of blogness I'm excited about:
(hey when you don't have kids you blog about just about anything)

1. Texas Roadhouse is coming to Lehi YA'LL! Wow we are really going to gain a few...Texas is one of our favorite places and during the winter it seemed like we were driving up North to SLC to eat there at least once a week or so. We haven't been in a while but how convenient they are coming right around the corner practically from our house.

2. No doubt is awesome in concert, I don't care what anyone says. We saw them last Monday on Memorial Day and had GA tickets right on the floor. There were no seats so we could crowd in and see better. The Sounds and Paramore opened up, what an experience, you would have to be there, but just know it was AWESOME!!!!

3. MTV has really gone downhill - did anyone else think the MTV movie awards were LamE!??
Well I guess MTV isn't like award winning wholesome TV anyway but I thought it would at least be entertaining.

4. I bought a seven peaks pass and we went on Saturday for the first time I'm hoping of many times we go - anyone else game?

Happy Anniversary!

2009-05-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Our five year anniversary was on Thursday 5/14 - however we celebrated on Friday. We went to the melting pot. It was ok, you pay a lot for the fun experience and so so tasting food in my opinion, but we had a good time. I can't believe we've been married for five years - it goes by so fast!

We also bought a new bbq for our anniversary present. We are STOKED since we bbq all the time, including in the winter time. So this will be good since this was our bbq before:

And this is our new one YAY!

Vegas Baby

2009-05-11T14:33:00.001-07:00

I'm getting real bored of my vacation photos from two months ago, so I decided today to write a little blurb on our trip to Vegas this last weekend. My mom, sister and I went for mother's day AND my cousin - Scarlet's - graduation.

We arrived on Thursday night, and walked clear from our hotel Luxor, to Caesar's Palace. This was such a walk we took a cab bag to the hotel! Our feet were sore and tired the next day but
I HAD to take my mom to the cheesecake factory (remember she is from Vernal, where their fanciest place to eat is Golden Corral ya'll!) I was excited and hyped it up pretty good. The cheesecake factory we always hit is right in Caesar's Palace in the Forum shops. Everything was so fantastic my mom was not disappointed at all, in fact she personally told the server it was the best service she had ever had! As is my famous trademark, I had to try everyone else's food. My mom ordered fish and chips and if you are a fan you gotta try these! Then full of food, we went to lay in the sun by our pool, caught some rays, took a nap and then out on the town we went.

On Saturday we did the whole graduation thing from 9 am - 3 pm then left to come back home. What a short trip, it was fun though to spend time with my family.

We were home just in time to celebrate Mother's Day. I took my mom to Vegas, and we hosted dinner for mother Carolyn on Sunday night. Just a shout out to our mom's and everything they do for us. Thanks mom(s), we LOVE YOU!

Pics

2009-04-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Mexico. We had such a great time, we would go back in a heartbeat...but it's good to be home.

Hangin out.

This is at Xel-Ha, we took a nap on the hammocks. Can I get one of these by my office please?

We drove along the coast of Cozumel.

This is downtown Cozumel.

This is us getting ready to go to dinner..

This is the view from our room...well I guess it is back to real life now.

Hasta Luego!

2009-03-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

So tonight is our last night and I am soo sad! I can definitely see now how people can stay here for 10 days. I am seriously thinking we should just happen to miss our flight tomorrow. No, just kidding we'll come home, but we had the best time. Tonight I was pondering the thought of living here full time, would you want to? I wanted to for about 5 seconds, and then I remembered how you can't flush toilet paper in the toilet in town, and then I was grateful to be an American!

Let's see, here is how our itinerary has gone for this week:

Monday:
We took the ferry over to Cozumel for the day, we rented a jeep and cruised along the shoreline. We were nervous about this, but it was all good, there was one road for local traffic (hardly any on this deserted highway) and then a dinky highway for us touristas! Beautiful coast, that is an understatement, that is all I can say. We had lunch at this famous cantina, Coconuts, on a cliff overlooking the shore, then stopped at a beach and laid out for awhile, breathtaking AND our favorite part of Cozumel.

Tuesday:
We stayed at the resort and laid out at the pool allllll day, I could do nothing but lay out all day every day, but I do not want skin cancer. (Tyler got a little burned this day so he was a little miserable, poor guy). We are staying at an all inclusive, so food is included. BUT you have to make dinner reservations at night if you want to eat at the restaurants, otherwise its the buffet for you. (The buffet is ok, but we LIVE for the a la carte - they are so fancy, AND the service, is impeccable, seriously nothing I've ever experienced before) We went to the french restaurant and it was... well amazing. I can't find words for the dining experience you get. Five course meal, and it takes two hours to get through it. I LOVE IT HERE - We didn't get pics this night, I could just kick myself.

Wednesday:
Today we went to Xel-Ha (shell ha) and it was very beautiful. It 's like, well Seaworld, but instead of going around seeing animals, you snorkel with them. Nothing like sharks or anything, but just schools of fish and stuff. It was a beautiful day, very hot and humid. I am not looking forward to coming back to 30 degree weather and snow to say the least. You have to understand, we have pretty much lived in swimming suits and shorts while here and it has been fantastic. We love the heat and can't wait for summer now, this has just been a little tease. So we leave tomorrow, and we got some good pictures, so we'll see you all real soon. We do miss being in the states, but I wouldn't mind ONE MORE DAY here!

Viva La Mexico

2009-03-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

So yeah, by the way we are in Mexico! We made it safe and sound in case anyone was worried (I think I was the most nervous from all the propaganda going on lately) It takes getting rained in, and sitting in our hotel room in order for me to update the blog. I know, I know I'm lame, but I'm updating it now, so there. Now don't feel sorry for us we are having a GREAT time, it is just rainy today. AND I wanted to have a record of what we did because when we get home, I'm sure I'll have forgotten each day what we did. (I will have to post pics when I get back, I didn't bring our cord with us to put pics on the laptop).

We traveled all day on Thursday and arrived here at around 1 in the morning. We had to change planes twice, but got in 10 episodes of Lost Season 1 on our I-Pods. Things went pretty smoothly, and our broken spanish got us around the Mexico City airport (we had lunch there with our 5 hour layover). We had the best nachos in the world! Our resort is pretty cool, not too stuffy and definitely doesn't suck. On Friday we went into Playa del carmen (we are about a 15 min drive from Playa and 35 min drive from Cancun. There are lots of cute shops and a pretty beach there, hence the name Playa del Carmen I suppose. We just kind of explored on Friday, and I was pretty in my element with shopping!

On Saturday, we went scuba diving. We were very happy with the company we chose to go with, they were very professional and it was only the two of us and our instructor. They had good equipment, and a good boat, you never know because there is a dive shop on every corner in town. We just got certified last week so we went on a very beginner dive. It was fun, we saw an eel, AND a seahorse. I've never been down that long (about 45 minutes) so it was a little challenging. Tyler and I are both so proud of ourselves since it isn't really something we thought we would ever do. It takes control and skill to be able to control yourself underwater while controlling your breathing also. Then we just had lunch at a cantina in town. It is fun trying to order in spanish, and the service is incredible here. We have a much better feel here than we did in Cabo when we went.

And...today, well it poured when we were eating breakfast, and I don't think it will clear up but we are still having such a fun relaxing time. It is thundering and is overcast with very dark clouds.

We have no phones which was a little challenging at first, but is a good thing now. I think everyone should go somewhere where they have no phone service for a week, but definitely bring your I-Pod :) We'll be watching episodes of Lost season 1 now, if anyone asks.

November (Cont)

2008-12-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

I just need to add a great big I love you to my husband for his b-day. I talked about what we did, but most importantly I want to say how grateful I am to have such a wonderful, strong, intelligent man in my life. I am lost without him and am deeply in love with him. Happy birthday babe, and thanks for all the wonderful things you do to be a wonderful, good person.

November

2008-12-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

Are you kidding? I haven't blogged in over a month, that is so lame just because of all the fun things we did. Here are the highlights for the month of November (not in any particular order of importance or fun factor)

1. We went to St. George with friends for a weekend. It was so fun, it was warm and just fun. We had dinner at Ruby River and the service in St. George was terrible, but we were rowdy and kept it, well fun! I gambled a little in Mesquite and played Pai gow Poker (sp:?), it was fun because I didn't lose, but also didn't win anything, but it was well you guessed it, F-U-N.

2. Tyler's birthday. Tyler turned 32 on the 24th, it was a Monday which he thought was kind of a bummer, but we went to Texas Roadhouse, which is kind of one of our favorite places. It was just a small gathering of friends. I got him the DVD season 1 and 2 of Family Guy at his request.

3. Tyler's birthday. We went to Park City with Papa Paul and Ray for the weekend before Thanksgiving, we had such a blast. It was such a nice break, good food, lounging, shopping AND we celebrated Tyler's birthday. He got a nice sweater and some earplugs for his IPOD from Ray and his dad. We are now addicted to Guitar Hero and are attending GHA (guitar hero anonymous). There are lots of fun pics, just click on the "papa paul" link on this page...

4. Tyler's birthday. Friday before his bday we went to Outback (also gone downhill lately) with his mom and gramma. (sorry gramma for coughing my guts out the whole time, oh did I mention I was sick the entire month of November, the doctor said it could have been a bacterial infection whatever that means, but I think it was bronchitis). He got some money from his mamma, and mo money from his gramma, and mo money from Garrit, Millissa, Saige, and Elle.

5. Thanksgiving in Vernal. Oh it is always nice to go home to Vernal of course, my hometown. Thanks mom for the great Turkey, and candied yams are my favorite. (if you ever want to get on my good side...) I couldn't believe how beautiful the weather was, it was so sunny and warm.

6. Dogsitting Gracie. We had Tyler's mom's dog for the week of Thanksgiving. I took her back home today (Monday), and I was so sad, I was shocked when I shed a tear. She is such a good dog, AND she liked me over Tyler:) which never happens with dogs. I would actually consider getting a dog now after having her, if we had a yard. Sigh, someday a yard.

7. The beard is back. Oh yeah Tyler is growing another beard this winter and he has a pretty good shot at winning best beard contest (oh that doesn't exist, ok then well watch out Santa) pictures to follow at a later time!

So now I am going to work on Christmas shopping and cards! I better blog before January or I am officially LAME!

2008-10-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

Ok I was tagged by Rachel here s my attempt by eights:

8 TV shows that I love to watch...
1. Grey's Anatomy
2.The Hills
3.Everybody Loves Raymond
4.Chelsea Lately (Millissa's fault on that one, I'm hooked)
5.Family Guy
6.Desperate Housewives
7.Ugly Betty
8.ummmm I can't think of anything else...
9.
10.

8 Favorite Restaurants
1.Olive Garden
2.Texas Roadhouse
3.Johnny Carinos
4.The Roof
5.Mi Ranchito
6.Burgers Supreme
7.Zupas
8.Your mom's house

8 Things I am looking forward to
1.Eating my guts out at Thanksgiving
2.Eating candied yams at Thanksgiving
3.Eating Turkey at Thanksgiving
4.Eating mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving
5.with gravy
6.Eating pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving
7.Eating applie pie at Thanksgiving
8.with ice cream mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

8 people I tag
1. Tyler
2.Chelan
3.Julie H.
4.Shauna C.
5.Marty
6.Mary
7.Ray
8.Paul

PROJECT: STANKY TO SWANKY

2008-09-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

We found a dresser in the classifieds online (looking sad and abandoned) and couldn't resist to see what our creativity could do. With a little TLC, we are very happy with the final project. Check it out....

We finally are proud to say we now have a dresser in our bedroom for the first time since we have been married. Tyler worked really hard, and this pic of the finished product does not do it justice.

Sand Dunes Part Deux

2008-09-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

We went to the sand dunes with our friends Kelly and Rachel again. We had a blast! It was really sandy and windy but that is probably why they call it the Sand Dunes. Rachel and Kelly brought their trailer, and their were a ton of people there who brought their toys and trailers too. So it was a heaping good time. We rode during the day and roasted weinies at night. We came home just in time to enjoy our Monday off work for Labor Day. We went to the Olive Garden and helped Tyler's mom buys some plants from Lowe's. So hope your weekend was good, and rejuvenating.

We Did It!

2008-08-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

Tyler has been talking non-stop about hiking Timpanogos Mtn this summer (well he actually wanted to backpack up and stay the night). So Saturday, we arrived at the American Fork Canyon side at 7:00 in the MORNING. When we arrived the park rangers said the parking lot had been full since 3:30 in the morning from hikers wanting to hike up in time for the sunrise. So we had to park a ways and hike to the trail to hike!

We hiked all day up to the very top. We stopped at Emerald Lake and "the saddle" of the top. Then at 2:00 in the afternoon we arrived at the summit where you can see the whole valley. On one side is Utah Lake and Utah Valley, on the other side you could see Deer Creek and Heber. It was amazing, incredible and beautiful and I will not be doing it again for a LOOOOOOOONG time. It was amazing that we conquered the mtn and I did not think I had it in me. We did not stay the night, but we did not get to our car until 7:00 at NIGHT! Twelve hours of hiking is enough to hold me over for a bit. It was worth it but I have to wear flip-flops to work this week because of the blisters on my toes, and Ty has been icing his knee for the past day and a half but we lived to tell about it. (Oh but no pics, our camera was not charged enough, here is a pic taken from the internet (borrowed not stolen per se)

Donations

2008-08-21T15:40:00.001-07:00

For some reason I was really touched by this story posted at my work today and I suddenly wanted to help. It was the blog listed that I was so touched by, she seemed so inspirational. I posted the button to the right for any that would also like to donate. This was the story posted

Stephanie and Christian Nielson's Plane Crash
On Saturday, August 18th, Stephanie and Christian Nielson were in a horrible plane crash in Arizona. Stephanie is the daugher and Christian is son-in-law to our legislator Steve Clark and councilwoman Cynthia Clark. The pilot has passed away, Stephanie has burns on 80% of her body, and Christian has burns on 30% of his body. Their recovery will be slow and painful, and costing well in to the millions. They have four small children at home, ages 6,4,3, and 1. You can place donations at any Bank of America under the 'Christian and Stephanie Nielson Rehab Fund' or Wells Fargo under 'Stephanie Nielson Fund.' Please keep them in your hearts and prayers in the upcoming weeks. For more information please go to cjanerun.com where the family is posting updates.

Jack Johnson

2008-08-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to see Jack at the outdoor USANA ampitheatre. The venue holds 13000-20000 lawn seats and 7000 reserved seats and the place was packed. It was incredible! This was our third time seeing Jack but this time we were in front (not front row, but a little bit back in the seats) and we could clearly see him. Tyler loves playing Jack's songs on his guitar and he knows practically every word to every song. This concert was amazing and we had a really good time with our friends Nate, Keith, Kade and Mary.

TWILIGHT news bulletin

2008-08-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is off of Stepheniemeyer.com......Yay the wait will not be as long as originally thought:

Now for the good news! Though we're all sad to have to wait for Harry Potter, this open spot at the theater creates a cool opportunity. The good people at Summit were thrilled to let me know that now Twilight fans are going to get their movie three weeks earlier than scheduled. That's right—Twilight will be released in theaters November 21st! Let the merry-making commence!
--Stephenie

Yesssssssssss! I can't wait.

GJ or BUST!

2008-08-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

We went to Grand Junction this weekend to visit Tyler's sister and her husband (Carrie and Dustin). We got started a little later than we had hoped on Friday night with mom and gramma, so we finally arrived at around 11:30, and the lightning on the way there was fantastic. But alas still no pictures, ( I promise I am looking into a new battery soon). We went and saw the beautiful scenic mesas they have there. It's a pretty nice place to visit and I guess it might be nice to live there too:) They just bought a nice, new house and it was fun to visit and stay in their new digs, (and I miss kitty too!) Thanks Carrie and Dustin for being such great hosts (yuuuummmmmm, hot dogs!)

Happy fourth, twenty-fourth and all that jazz!

2008-07-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to update our blog as we have done so many fun things this month. UNFORTUNATELY our camera is on the blitz and I haven't been able to get any good pics, I will have to go picture shopping on others' blogs to maybe steal some pictures. We have been to Lake Powell, Las Vegas, and our family has been in town (Tyler's side Jen and Ryan we love and miss you already). It has been a great time and I will try to get a new camera so our journaling can continue, (I know you are just on the edge of your seat to see pics of tyler and myself:)

Utah Valley University

2008-07-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Today was very exciting at my work. Today we officially went from Utah Valley State College to UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY. All the media and state senators were there at 10 am this morning for the celebration. It was so hot, but a very cool moment in history in which I was able to attend. In the background is the brand new "Digital Learning Center" they had to build in order to become a University. It has taken over a year to build and is the most energy efficient in Utah.

Here are me and some of the people I work with in my office beating the heat with our nifty UVU visors which were provided.

Here is the actual ribbon cutting ceremony of the President of the college, William Sederburg. He is the one I drew the arrow to.

AND not to forget my favorite picture of BIG BUDDHA. Tyler and I watch Fox 13 news every morning and he is their news correspondent who follows special stories and events every morning. He was there covering the event and I was so excited to get a picture with him!

Happy Belated Father's Day!

2008-06-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Father's Day to PAUL! We all went to TGI Fridays on June 14 to celebrate. Also, these are pics of Tyler and Saige (who have long been best buddies apparently) at the restaurant. Tyler is going to be a great father someday, and thanks to Paul for raising such a great man!

Painting Day!

2008-06-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

We went to Tyler's dad's yesterday and helped him and Ray paint. It was nice to get out of the office and do some manual labor!

I LOVE Stephenie Meyer

2008-06-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

I am such a nut about the author Stephenie Meyer lately! I stayed up late last night (and if you know me, I go to bed at 9:00) reading "The Host", her latest book until "Breaking Dawn" comes out August 2. I've already pre-ordered my copy, have you? Call me a nerd, I am like a trekky, but its not about star wars.

Dancing Queens!

2008-05-27T08:09:00.001-07:00

These are my nieces, Saige and Elle, dancing to the soundtrack of hairspray. It cheered me up today since I had to come back to work after the long holiday.

Sand Dunes

2008-05-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

We went to the sand dunes this past weekend with our friends, Kelly and Rachel (and Keith). It was the first weekend it was actually HOT! We had a good time, thanks Kelly and Rachel!

~Happy Anniversary~

2008-05-14T09:42:00.001-07:00

4 years of marriage and counting.....Tyler and I were married 4 years ago at Deer Creek on a beautiful WInDy day. I can't believe how time flies, and we have known eachother for 6 years which is crazy to me. We are planning to go to Gateway in SLC, and have a nice dinner at Fleming's (sounds appetizing eh?).

New Blog

2008-05-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, we finally did it! We are creating our own blog, everyone is doing it so now we are "in"!