Monday, December 31, 2012

A Year In Review

Twenty Twelve: A Year In Review

 January was fairly uneventful. Scott and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary here in town. Working for Sara Lee doesn't allow for much time to do anything but work for Sara Lee. Landon won a fun award at school and my days were mostly spent snuggling on the sofa with my precious little doodlebug.
February was about as uneventful as January. We got a tiny bit of snow and that was fun! I had a weekend getaway with my girlfriends at a cabin on Beaver but that was about it. At this point I was getting extremely stressed over my little baby and her age. I'm grateful I wasn't working so I could be with  my precious (still spunky) pup all day, every day.
March was a fun month! Scott, Holly and I took a weekend getaway to Kansas City and we had a blast! In true form, Holly was a perfect travel companion and behaved beautifully! While we were in Kansas City Scott and I made an offer on our house! It was very exciting. Right when I got home from the trip I started packing our old house up. I was beyond ready to move.
April. Also known as the worst month of my life. April is when I had to say goodbye to my heart and soul. These photos were taken of Holly the week she died. The first one is of her waiting on me to finish washing her bed. She loved her bed!! That Friday we went to Little Rock for Easter and on Saturday morning she took a complete 180. I think she'd been holding out, waiting for her whole family to be together. Holly wanted to be with everyone she loved before she left us. The rest of April is a blur. It consisted of meltdowns, never getting out of bed, heart ache, never ending tears and anxiety. If you could see the tears running down my face right now you'd think it was still April. I still ache for my heart and soul.
May started a new chapter in our lives. God was truly looking after me with the timing of Holly's death. At the very beginning of May we moved into our new house! It was such an exciting time and moving was very distracting which was so helpful. Scott turned 28 and exactly a week later I turned 27. We spent a weekend in Hot Springs because Scott was a groomsman in a wedding. At the end of May the stork decided my heart needed some help so two twin girls showed up at my door!
June was spent getting to know my new little puppies and trying to train them in every way possible! It was fairly exhausting and stressful!! We also got another addition in the family--my parents new pup, Grace!! The three new little ones fell in love with each other from the beginning and will forever be the bestest of friends.
July. Sun, sun and more sun. It's crazy how much time I spent at my neighborhood pool all summer. I was able to read so many good books and get to know so many of my neighbors who I now call dear friends. I loved every second of my pool time and couldn't seem to get enough! I also lounged on DeGray lake with my family and Landon came to my house for a week to stay with me which was so much fun!
August began another chapter in our lives. Scott quit his job at Sara Lee to join the family business of building homes. Ivy and Madison were really starting to pull on my heart strings and Scott and I spent a weekend in a tiny little town in Illinois where he was in the wedding of one of our best friends! Oh I also got a job but that lasted about 3 minutes.
September equals football, football and more football! That's basically all it consisted of except at the end of the month when poor Ivy and Madison got spayed. It was traumatizing for them....and me.
 October is always one of my favorite months. Along with football, the crisp weather starts to kick in and that makes me happy! My friends and I threw a wedding shower for my friend, Christina (and Jonathan) and Scott and I had a crazy good time at our neighbors Halloween party. My best friend, Jaclyn, shared the exciting news with me that she's going to be a mommy and Madison, Ivy and Grace looked ridiculously cute in their first Halloween costume. It was a good month!!
November was filled over obsession with the election, my dear friend getting married, and Thanksgiving with my family in Little Rock. After 6 months Ivy and Madison finally became 100% potty trained.
December started out in Las Vegas. Once we got home it was back into our typical routine. Scott and I became addicted to Homeland and spent the majority of our nights watching that show. I enjoyed decorating my new house for Christmas and my family came to me this year to share Christmas day together and I really enjoyed that. Grace, Madison and Ivy made Christmas day very entertaining and we got a nice dusting of snow even though it was 3 days late.

I must say 2012 has been my least favorite year. It's been very challenging. It's brought on a lot of heart ache, a lot of hurt, anxiety and tears. It hasn't all been horrible though! I do have two new little nuggets who I love and adore!! They have warmed my heart and helped fill a void like I didn't think anyone or anything ever could. I also live in a pretty new house that I love and have had so much fun decorating this year! In some ways I'm sad to see 2012 end since it was my last year with my sweet baby Holly. In most ways, however, I'm very ready to let it go.
Happy New Year everyone!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Power

My parents power finally came back on late last night. They were anxious to get back home so they left this morning. They had to throw out everything in the refrigerator and some of their favorite trees and outdoor space was destroyed but other than that I believe everything was okay. They felt like they were overstaying their welcome but I loved having them here. I was really sad this morning when they left actually.
My Mom's birthday was on Friday! We got a really good dusting of snow here in NWA which is always exciting. For dinner that evening we all dined at Basils then came home and watched Homeland. I think my parents are hooked!!
After church and a little nap I've spent the rest of my day getting my Christmas decorations packed up. I always wonder when I'm packing them up where I'll be in my life when I get them back out next year. I dunno...just something I've always thought about.
These two are sad Grace and Gamma are gone but I'm happy to have them back to myself now. My girls make it no secret that they love my Mom more than they love me and it hurts my feelings. I'm just as nice to them so I don't know why they like Gamma more but they definitely do.

Here's a few Christmas Photos that I haven't shared yet.
Photo op with the three little shorkies! Ivy, Madison and Grace waking up to enjoy their very first Christmas in their matching Christmas sweaters!
Pops getting photos of the grandchildren while they're opening up their Christmas presents!!
Scott and I spending Christmas Eve with his Dad and Uncle in his Dad's new condo.
A lot of firsts in this photo. First Christmas in our new house, first Christmas with our new puppies, first Christmas as a Johnson Family. (Holly was a Luttrell)
I had a great Christmas holiday. My parents stayed longer than I thought they would (which is why there was a lack of blogging) and I'm so glad they did. I know they were ready to get back home and into their own routine but I loved having them here for as long as I did.
I can't believe believe tomorrow is the last day of the year. Come back then for a recap on my year of 2012.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas 2012

I've had a wonderful Christmas holiday! Christmas day was so much fun. We woke up and cooked a big  breakfast then we all opened Christmas presents. Ivy, Grace and Madison had so many presents to open and we were curious to know what they would do. Madison actually got the concept! She would open the present while the other two would watch and once the present was free from the paper they would each grab onto the new toy and run upstairs into "their playroom" to play with it until they decided it was time to unwrap another present. It was really cute! I sure did miss my sweet Holly this Christmas but I was grateful to have my 3 new girls to share the day with. They made it a lot of fun.
I didn't really want anything for Christmas. I asked for two things: A blanket for my bed and new hot rollers. And I got both! Plus a lot of other wonderful things too. Scott and I did presents for each other this year. We haven't done that in years and I really enjoyed it. I'm thinking we're going to have to buy presents for each other every year from now on.
We finished with our gift exchange around 11:00 then Mom and I retreated to the kitchen to start cooking. Mom saw this picture on Southern Living of this gorgeous cake that she decided she wanted to make for us. All was going well until it was time to frost the thing. It ended up being a mess and we could not stop laughing.
I put this picture on Facebook and I think some people thought that I thought it looked good. Ha!! The snowflakes do look awesome but the rest of it was just terrible!!! Even though it took forever to do and it didn't turn out so pretty it was worth the major belly laughs it gave all of us.
I checked the forecast every hour and looked out the window all day like a little kid hoping I would see a little flurry fall from the sky. I've never had a white Christmas and of course the first time I don't go to my parents house for Christmas Little Rock gets 48 inches of snow. UGH!!! One of these days I'll have a white Christmas....
Later Christmas evening Scott's Mom joined us for dinner and we had a great time and ate lots of delicious carbs! We always have Christmas lunch but I really enjoyed doing Christmas dinner this year. My vote is we keep doing it that way.

Since my parents came here for Christmas they are unable to get home. They were planning on leaving the day after Christmas but their house got about 11 inches of snow and they don't have any power. It's looking like they won't get any until Tuesday!!!!!!! Mom is fine hanging out here but my Dad is going crazy. He's so ready to get back to his home and the office. We're trying to come up with ways for him to stay entertained so we hopped in the car today and drove to Eureka Springs. We were only there for about 2 hours but we got a good taste of the cute little town and ate a great local lunch.
I had to get back to Rogers because I had another chiropractor appointment. I'm going to turn into one of those people who has to get "adjusted" every week. My hips felt so much better after last week but only by about 50%. I'm ready to get back to normal so I'm just going to keep going every week until they're 100% again. Mom came with me this time and got adjusted herself. She'd never been before either and really liked it. It's insane what a difference it makes. I'm a believer now.
I decided tonight that I'm going on a diet tomorrow. Yes I know it's Friday and the end of the year but I just can't wait until January 1st to start. I feel miserable!!! I'm going to be in a swimsuit in T-25 days and it's pretty essential that I lose 7 pounds. I'm going hard core. Fruits-Veggies-Meat-Only. I'm not even going to indulge in my delicious breakfast cappuccino that's only 150 calories that I enjoy so much and is my favorite part of my day while I sip it and watch Kelly and Michael and feel so happy while doing so. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get super tired of my ridiculously bland diet but hey, I can do anything for 25 days. I may allow myself a little room for cheating on NYE since I'm dining at Bordinos that evening but that's the only time. I hope I still feel this way in 9 days...

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Engaged

My parents (and Grace!) arrived at my house yesterday afternoon and I was so excited to see them! It's so different having Christmas at my house this year but I like it. Last night we stayed in, cooked and watched Homeland. I want my parents to be just as into it as Scott and I are!!
This morning we went to church then ate at Houlihans because their chicken tortilla soup is super delish and everyone needs to try it. After that we went to Pinnacle to show my parents the homes Scott and Randy are building. I don't know about you guys but I love looking at homes even if I'm not in the market to buy one. Scott is new to the home building business but I'm so impressed with what he's done. He has great taste! It's way annoying when he tries to contribute in decorating our house but I like seeing what he does with other people's homes.
When we finally got home we walked into a disaster. One of the little pups ate a glass ornament!!!! What dog does that? It was tied to a Christmas package and the package appeared in my bedroom with the ornament nowhere to be found except a few pieces here and there. We all freaked out and immediately began checking all of the girls. We got a paper towel and wiped their mouths to see if anyone had any cuts and examined them all over. We discovered nothing and all of them looked at us like, what??  None of them ever acted like anything was wrong so.....I dunno. I'm not used to dogs who do stuff like this. It leaves me completely baffled. Like, a glass Christmas ornament tasted good to you? Really? Really? What's wrong with them?
After that disaster I helped my Dad do a little last minute Christmas shopping for my Mom then we came home and chilled for the rest of the evening. Well, not all of us. I put Scott to work hanging pictures and curtains. I was so excited about these curtains I found for my office and after Scott spent about an hour trying to hang them I decided I don't like them. I'm so tired of decorating my house. I just want to hire someone to do it all for me. I'm over it and have been for months now.
My brother is in NYC right now with his brand new fiancee. He proposed to Jennifer today in Central Park and had a photographer there to document the whole thing. I was pretty impressed with him for thinking to do that all on his own. Kyle called Landon to tell him the news that he and Jennifer were getting married. Landon said "thats great Dad" then immediately told him how many presents he had counted for him that were under the Christmas tree. Ahh, the important things in life.
Congrats Kyle and Jenn!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Chiropractor {Try Two}

Is it me or does it officially feel like it's Christmas time now? It's just right around the corner and I'm excited! My parents are coming up tomorrow and I can't wait to spend time with them. Ivy and Madison are going to be so excited to be reunited with Gracie and vice versa. I should film them when they see each other after they've been apart for a while. It's hilarious. No one else in the whole world matters but the three of them and after they pounce all over each other they run like they're conjoined triplets into a different room and start playing. It's so cute!!
I went to the chiropractor today. It was so scary. I've only been once before and had a horrible reaction to it. (If you weren't reading my blog back in 2009 you can check out that post here. Feel free to laugh at me.) While I was in Vegas my right hip started bothering me so bad. I made Scott and Jodie take cabs that would be 10 minute walks for us because by the end of the week it became so painful to move in any way. I thought it was just inflammation from the walking + I had been running on the treadmill at the hotel and figured it was just too much impact. However, it never got better--worse actually. My left hip decided to join in on the party and nothing I did helped. My MIL suggested that I probably needed to get adjusted. Of course I swept that idea under the rug right away given my lovely history with that. But this week I became desperate so I found a new (legit) chiropractor that was recommended by a neighbor, made an appointment and went in today. I didn't pass out this time (yay for me!) and feel a lot better. Not 100% though so I'm going back again on Thursday. She said the injury (or whatever you want to call it) I have is typically caused by running, biking and wearing heels. Hello you just described my daily life. I'm also bad and never stretch which she said will make a world of difference. I need to get back into yoga. New Years goal....
I went to Fresh Market today to get some flowers. They had these beautiful berries and I just had to have them! I got pretty white roses and a green leafy mixture to throw in with them and I think it turned out so beautiful!!! I love having fresh flowers in my house!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Christmas Questions & Answers

Today I'm linking up here to answer some Christmas questions. It seems pretty fun so let's get started!

What's your favorite holiday movie?
That's hard because I love so many Christmas movies. I could never narrow down to just one. Of course I love all of the Home Alone movies. I also really like Fred Clause, The Family Stone, Christmas with the Kranks, The Holiday and Miracle on 34th Street.
Do you have any special traditions?
I used to have traditions but now that I'm married it's messed up traditions a little bit! I've been trying to brainstorm all week on how I can make Christmas seem special this year since it's at my house. Any fun family traditions that you enjoy and would like to share with me would be greatly appreciated!!
What's your favorite ornament or decoration?
My favorite Christmas decoration is my Department 56 Snow Village houses. I love collecting them and setting them up every year. Since I didn't get to put them up this year (so sad) I've really enjoyed this new little decoration---but not as much as Ivy and Madison. They LOVE it.

What's the best gift you've ever received? 
This should be pretty obvious but my best Christmas gift I ever got/will ever get is my precious little Holly.
What's the worst gift you've ever received?
I, like most people I'm sure, have gotten things before and I've thought "really? You saw that and I came to mind?" but nothing majorly bazaar.
What's your favorite winter accessory?
I love wearing ski hats! My favorite is a Northface one that I bought in Crested Butte. It's so soft on the inside and stays on my head really well. You know what I mean, right? Sometimes you're always having to mess with them but this one is perfect!
Real tree or fake?
Sadly, fake. I would love to have a real tree but it seems like a lot of trouble to have one so I've never done it.
When and how did you find out that Santa was not real?
I was searching for something in my Mom's purse and found two teeth that I'd just lost in a zip lock baggie. It was like suddenly it all made sense and my world just came crashing down. Tooth Fairy, Santa and Easter Bunny were all lies? It was a tough day. I still remember it very vividly in my mind.


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Christmas Wrappings

I haven't finished my Christmas shopping yet but I plan on getting it done as soon as I finish blogging. I want to get it finished because well 1.) it's necessary but 2.) I found the cutest wrapping paper this year from Hobby Lobby and I want more presents to wrap and put under my tree so I can admire it!
Hopefully Ivy will leave them alone. She's unwrapped one of my Dad's presents and part of my Mom's. She loves it! I had wrapped some of the girls presents at first but Ivy opened them all so I had to put them up. Other than the presents they've left the Christmas decorations alone. I'm glad. You never know with those two. I was fully prepared to come home to a Christmas tree laying on the ground one day but they haven't shown any interest in it at all.
I took the plunge and restored my phone yesterday. It didn't fix whatever virus it has at all. It still says I have zero space available and I get to wake up every morning to a message on my phone saying something about iCloud, backing up and having no storage. It's super annoying and I'd give anything to just have a new phone with the largest storage space that they make. I can't even update my apps because I don't have enough storage to do it. I also can't take a single photo which (obviously) causes me major stress in my life.
Scott and I have been spending our evenings watching Homeland every single night. We only have one episode left. It's just so good. I'm going to make my parents watch it over Christmas. We're doing Christmas very different this year. My parents are coming to my house! I'm excited because I haven't been able to spend Christmas Eve with my family in years and I love Christmas Eve almost more than Christmas Day. I also found out yesterday that it's supposed to snow next week!! I hope so bad that it does. I've never had a white Christmas and think it would be so fun.
Speaking of fun, I'm meeting up with my favorite ladies tonight for dinner. I love a girls night! I better get off of here and get my Christmas shopping done.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Fetch and Water Bottles

I don't have anything to do today which feels so nice! I've been working all week on getting my office decorated and it's impressive that it takes all day, every day, for a week to get stuff like that done. Or maybe that's just me. I'm always buying and trying and returning....it's exhausting and causes my hip to flare up. Grandma needs to rest now.
Madison loves to play fetch but she won't let go of the toy when she brings it to you. It's amazing how strong that little 5 pounder is. I use all of my strength to get that toy out of her clinched teeth and she always wins. It makes it not fun to play with her. I don't mind throwing a toy if she'd actually let go of the thing when she brings it back to me. I've tried to explain this to her but she hasn't quite gotten it yet.
Ivy doesn't really care for a game of fetch. She still thinks empty water bottles are the greatest toys ever. From the crunchy sound to the way it rolls on the floor making it so hard to catch---she's obsessed. I brought home some groceries earlier this week and my sack of Sams flavored water busted in the garage. I had an arm load (because I refuse to make two trips to bring in groceries) so I left the bottles on the ground while I set my groceries down in the kitchen. I came back and Ivy was freaking out over the water bottles all over the ground and trying so hard to pick one up.

It's 11:15 and I'm still in my pajamas. I should probably stop being lazy and do something productive. Like, shower and get dressed then sit on the sofa and hunt for Christmas movies on TV. Sounds pretty great right?

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12-12-12

Today marks the end of the fun date stuff. Too bad. I've quite enjoyed it.

I got my office chairs today!! It felt like Christmas. I was so excited for them to get here and they work great in the house so they're officially keepers. I ran all over Northwest Arkansas today determined to 100% complete the room. I failed. Majorly. Sometimes living in a small town makes it really hard to decorate. I came home and got online and found some cool artwork so hopefully the room will be finished by Christmas. I'm just so ready. I've been in my new house since April 30 and I'm very Type A and having so many things about the house so far from completion gives me anxiety. I'll reveal the finished product when it's all done but for now here's a sneak peek.
Ivy and Madison are so funny when we get something new in the house. They get so excited about it. They've already claimed these chairs as their own. They think they're pretty comfy and love that they allow them viewing access of the great outdoors. I imagine they'll spend a lot of time sitting in these chairs while looking out of the window.
I got my hair cut yesterday. It was way needed. While I was in Vegas I got so annoyed because it wouldn't do anything and usually Vegas loves my hair. I cut off a few inches but I guess it doesn't look like it because Scott didn't even notice. I wanted to be brave and copy Giuliana Rancic's new do. I love her new cut (and color)! I chickened out though. While my hairstylist, Jenifer, was cutting my hair she commented on how thin it had gotten. I had noticed the same thing over the last few months but didn't really think too much about it. She said I had so much new growth coming in and asked if I had been in a really stressful situation about 3 months ago. UGH. Stupid job with the worlds most mean and crazy boss. It made my hair fall out!! Whatever. People ask me to tell them stories about that crazy man so they can laugh and I have to think really hard because I've blocked that time frame out of my mind. So miserable.
I mentioned a while back that Scott is consulting for his old company. He's doing it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday right now. They're in their busy time (when are they not?) it's 7:30 and he just sent me a text saying "eat dinner without me." Hello former life, I haven't missed you. It's so nice that I have a husband who comes home sometime between 5:30-6:00 now and who doesn't work on the weekends. Not exaggerating, Scott worked 90 hour weeks while at SL. It was so miserable but oddly enough I got really used to it. I would go out to eat by myself or go to a movie alone all. the. time. I've settled into my husbands new work life quite nicely but when it reverts back to the old ways I think nothing of it. Scott always apologizes and I'm like, ehh!! No biggie babe!
Barbara Walters Most Fascinating is on tonight and I'm really excited. My friend, Jake, wrote on his blog today about who his most fascinating would be. It cracked me up so hard. If you don't read his blog you're missing out. He's so inappropriate. It's what we're all thinking on the inside (mostly) but he says it out loud. I love him for that. Jake is the reason I started blogging. He created one, I copied him then voila! Kara's Stories!!
If you think I'm smart enough to know that it's voila, I'm not. I just googled Waa Laa. I guess I've been saying it wrong all along......

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Good TV

Scott and I are addicted to a new show--Homeland. Does anyone else watch it? We just started with the first season on Sunday night and we are obsessed!!!!! If you aren't watching it you're missing out on the best show on television. This is coming from someone who watches (and loves) Modern Family and Revenge--Homeland wins. Start watching immediately if you aren't already.
I started my morning out on the right foot. Or at least I always feel that way when I eat oatmeal for breakfast. It just seems so healthy. I always add blueberries to my oatmeal and sprinkle a little cinnamon on it. It tastes extra yummy to me that way.

I'm finally getting chairs for my office tomorrow and I am so excited!!! I hope they looks as good in person as they do in my head. This room has been empty for way too long. I'm anxious to get it complete and hopefully it will be very soon. That's my mission for the week.

I'd love to stay and chat but Homeland is calling my name.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Sweater Weather

Hey all! How was your weekend? Mine was a typical weekend. On Friday night Scott and I had dinner at Abuelos (hello dip sampler) then finally went to see Breaking Dawn Part 2. It didn't disappoint me except that it's so awkward to watch K-Stew and R-Patz in a relationship even when they're acting. Watching them on a talk show is even worse. I can't imagine how the host feels. Getting them to have a good interview is like pulling teeth and it always feels like the most awkward moment of my life when I watch them. A lot of actors are that way. Promoting your latest project is part of your job therefore a winning personality should be a requirement. Some actors are great on a talk show and some are so bad.
Saturday night we had Brad and Jaclyn over for dinner. For the first time ever I made lasagna from scratch. I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything but it was delicious. I got the recipe from Cuisine For Two. I love that magazine. Anything we've ever made from it has been crazy yummy and it's the perfect size portion for a family of two. Of course you can just double the recipe if you're cooking for more than two. I highly recommend getting it. It's a little piece of culinary heaven.
On Sunday my Uncle Rex and his wife Marge Anna came to see our house for the first time then we all went out to lunch together. All in all it was a pretty good weekend and I finally got my lights up outside which is a big stress relief for me. I don't like it when I look like I don't have any Christmas spirit!!
Speaking of Christmas spirit, these two have been looking adorable in their little Christmas sweaters recently! I took this pic of them last night because they were chewing on the same bone. They are so crazy with the bones. There could be 100 of them lying around but there's always one that's apparently better than the others. Usually they can't agree on who gets the magical bone but sometimes they compromise and share and it cracks me up.
I've been SO proud of them this last week. For the first time since I got them (May 21) I've not had the baby gate up blocking them from going upstairs (aka the carpet) and they've had ZERO accidents!! You cannot imagine how happy that makes me. It took nearly 7 months!!!!! I think it's because they were at my Mom's house for almost 2 weeks and it must have finally clicked with them that the puppy pad is the only spot they can go potty on in the house. It's not only been great for me but them as well because they LOVE going upstairs to play. If only they'd realized this sooner. Hopefully I didn't just jinx it.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Gallery Wall's and Baby News (not mine)

Now that I'm done decorating for Christmas it's time for me to get back to focusing on decorating my house for real. After spending countless hours on Pinterest, I've come to the decision that I want to do a gallery wall along my staircase. I think they're super cool but trying to create it has already become a daunting task. There's so many ways you can style a gallery wall but I've particularly taken to these two photos for inspiration.

I definitely like the idea of the photos being artwork and I also like it being just a few photos in bigger frames instead of a lot of little ones. I searched online all day and found some pretty cool prints that I like. The tough part to me is the frames. I hope that I can figure it out and when I execute my project it looks just as good as the above photos. Has anyone ever done a gallery wall that can share tips with me? I'd really appreciate any help I can get!
I had lunch with Jaclyn at McAlisters today. We had a lot to catch up on because I missed our lunch date last week since I was in Vegas. My best friend finally announced this week that she's expecting a baby in June!!! I'm so thrilled for her and Brad and I can't wait to meet that little nugget. She spilled the beans to me during lunch one week. I super didn't see it coming even though when she said "so I have something to tell you" I immediately said "you're pregnant."
I'm beyond excited for Jaclyn and feel so blessed to have as close of a friendship with her as I do. We've known each other almost 10 years now and we've been through so many life changes together. I've been there with her every step of the way and she with me. I'm excited to walk through this amazing time with her. I feel like I know more about pregnancy now than I ever have. I'm all over the internet seeing what the baby is up to each week! Congratulations Jaclyn and Brad! You two are going to be amazing parents and I can't wait to watch you in action!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Very Johnson Christmas

My Christmas decorating is officially complete and I'm pretty pleased with the way it's all come together! Wanna see?
This is one of my favorite things I did in my house. That lantern is always there but I added glass balls to make it festive and swapped out my blue hydrangeas for the poinsettia. It makes me happy!
Here's my mantel, again. I love my little stockings so much. Thanks Mom!!
I love that I have stairs that I get to decorate now! I saw some garland at the beginning of November at Sam's that I loved and planned on getting but they sold out of it before I could get my hands on it. I was so bummed. So I had to go to Hobby Lobby and get a bunch of stuff to make my own. Scott didn't believe me at first that I made it so I took that as a compliment. It kind of looks like a mess in this picture but I promise it looks really good in person. Haha! I'm really pleased with the way it turned out! It matches the garland I made for my mantle. 
I've had a few moments this week where I've cried really hard over my sweet Holly. Christmas will always remind me so much of her since she was a Christmas present for me and she LOVED opening Christmas presents so much. I decided I needed a little bit of holly in my house to honor my sweet baby so I hung holly ornaments from my chandelier in my dining room and put a bunch of holly berries in a vase for my centerpiece. It looks really pretty and hopefully I won't cry every time I look at it.
I did my Santa tree again this year. This is my 3 year to do it and I still really enjoy it. The girls have a Christmas house and they love getting in it, especially Ivy. 
I usually keep wine corks in that big glass vase and every Christmas I swap them out for glass balls. As you can probably tell, I love a bunch of glass balls in a clear vase. I think it looks so pretty and I'll probably do it for many, many years.
I love my coffee table this year! I took away the pink flower that's usually in the vase because it was really throwing off the whole Christmas look. The glittery pinecones look way better and of course, more glass balls!!!!! There's me in the super bright pink top. Hello!
So there's my house! I'm glad it's finished so I can sit back and enjoy it now.  
Merry Christmas everyone!

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Linking up to Kelly's Korner Christmas Tour of Homes

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

New House Christmas Decorating

Ever since I've been home from Vegas I've frantically been trying to get my house decorated for Christmas. I'm in a new home this year so I wanted to decorate my house differently than I have in the past. I wasn't aware that Christmas decor shopping on December 3rd would mean slim pickins. I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday and they were already clearing the aisles getting ready for Valentines Day. What?
Needless to say, next year the new house will look different. This year it's basically the same.
I spent all day yesterday and today making my house festive and I'm almost finished. On the inside. I haven't even thought about my outside and I'm sure my neighbors think the new folks occupying 902 Sloane are super Scrooge-ish. Tomorrow I'll throw some colored lights in the bushes and call it a day. I wanted my Craftsman Style home to look just like a Department 56 Snow Village house but it's 20 days until Christmas so I feel like there's no point in that effort. 
Here's a mini sample of my Christmas home that I posted on Instagram yesterday!
This is the first time I've had a fireplace and I love it!! I've always wanted to hang stockings. 

Besides Christmas decorating I've been dealing with an old lady issue--inflammation of my right hip. I know, right? It's happened a tiny bit in the past but not bad enough to mention it to anyone. It started flaring up in Vegas and is still hanging around and it's killing me!! I blame running. That's the main cause of inflammation of the hip. I ran really hard in Vegas because I was trying to counteract my crazy eating and I think that triggered it. Plus, we were walking all. day long. which didn't help. It's really irritating and I hope it doesn't cause me major problems 20 years from now. I feel like I create all types of broken body issues because of exercising. Isn't that ironic? It's supposed to be the opposite.
I guess I should head to bed now. Ivy and Madison have gotten to where they sleep with us at nigh and it's stressing me out. I want to do the right thing but I'm not sure what the right thing is!!!!! Dr. Bob says you should sleep with your dog because you bond better. They are great sleepers and I don't notice them at all. I don't know why but I just feel like they shouldn't sleep with us. It's so confusing!!!!! I'll think about it tomorrow. For now, off to bed with my girls (and guy).

Monday, December 3, 2012

Vegas Wrap-Up

I'm back from Vegas and it feels so good to be home. I had a great trip but I was anxious to get back into my routine. Let's play catchup on my last few days in Vegas!
Friday was Jodie's birthday so it was a fun day of celebrating. After a little shopping at The Forum Shops we indulged in a lovely lunch on the terrace at Olives. Olives is one of my favorite lunch spots in Vegas. It's at the Bellagio, it's a Todd English restaurant and anything I've ever eaten from there has always been delicious. Scott and I shared these sliders and they were sinful.
After lunch we wondered up and down the Vegas strip like we did every day we were there. Of course we had to stop to see the water show.
This day in particular was super exhausting to me. My feet were tired of hitting the Vegas strip so I went to my room early to watch Friends reruns and relax. After a much needed nap I got ready for Jodie's special birthday dinner at Lavo. It was no surprise that dinner was delicious but I was still so tired from running around Vegas all day and week that I went straight to bed afterwards.
The next day I woke up super refreshed. It was our last day in Vegas so Jodie wanted to make sure she got some things checked off her list that were must sees to her. First we went to the Wynn to get our tickets for Le Reve. I love the Wynn. It's probably my favorite Vegas hotel. We decided to have a casual lunch there while we watched bits of the Bama vs Georgia game.
After that we visited the Vegas sign....
Then we went to the Stratosphere to get a sky high view of the city. It was the first time I'd been there and it was just okay to me. It's so far away from everything and I guess I just don't care about seeing the whole city of Vegas from a birds eye view. Looking inside of Tory, Chanel and Barney's is way more interesting to me.
That evening we had another casual meal at CPK. I was craving it for some reason. Then we went back to the Wynn to watch Le Reve. It was very good but I definitely enjoy Jersey Boys way more. Cirque shows are cool but I'm not obsessed with them by any means. I'm always impressed but I could take it or leave it. After the show we went to the Bellagio to view the Conservatory. They had been working on it all week and they finally finished it by Saturday night which made me happy since Jodie had never seen it before. A little gambling later (not by me, I officially hate blackjack since it hates me) we called it a night and rested up before our early flight out.
Starbucks was my BFF in the airport and I was so tired from a week of going nonstop that I slept for almost the entire flight home. We landed in Little Rock, I picked up my sweet puppies, then we drove back to NWA and arrived home around 8:00.
It feels so good to be back home!! Five nights in Vegas is a long time. I had a blast in one of my favorite cities though and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to visit it--again.