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!

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.

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...

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!

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!

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.