Confession

Seriously... Christmas is this week?! How in the WORLD did that happen?

You will be hard-pressed to find someone who loves Christmas music more than me.
I totally LOVE it.

If I listen to anything other than Christmas music anytime after Thanksgiving (although this isn't when the holiday listening starts), I feel like I am being unfaithful and wasting precious time listening to something I could listen to all the rest of the year.

Having said that, here is the confession:
When it gets this close to the end (which mostly breaks my heart into a million pieces), I start making a mental list of all the regular music I am excited to listen to again. While I am nearly obsessed with listening to Christmas music, it is an added bonus that when it's over I get to rediscover everything else again.

I'm looking forward to listening to:
Matt Hires, Katie Herzig, Kris Allen (yes I know, I'm a dork, don't judge me for the next one either), Taylor Swift, Ke$ha, Benton Paul, The Beatles, Britney, fun, Ingrid of course, Sara B, Missy Higgins, and Snow Patrol (among many others).

That was a much longer confession that I had anticipated. Sorry.

Oh and also....

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope yours is filled with a whole bunch of joy and a ton of love!

Harry

To continue on with the HP theme (by accident), Kalie shared this video with me today, and seriously.....

Just watch it when you have a spare 6 minutes and 58 seconds.You'll enjoy it.

OMG HP

Yes, I am going to be that girl and gush about Harry Potter. It's not just about the latest installment of the movie versions (I saw it yesterday and seriously cannot stop thinking about it), but just the whole package of Harry Potter (which you don't see in the movie, so don't let people fool you).

My lovely aunt gifted me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for my 13th (I think) birthday. She said it was the first book in a new series that was getting rave reviews. Honestly, I wasn't that interested in reading it. Little did I know......

I think Jes read it first, and then I read it after her recommendation. That's when it all began, the Harry Potter floodgates had been opened (like unto the Chamber of Secrets).

I love Harry Potter. I love how the story has always picked me right up and carried me through all of the adventures. I love that the books have created an entire other world that has become this fantasy-reality (I'm not talking about the LARP-ing folk who actually live in this reality, I'm talking about people like me that love the idea that there really is a place called Diagon Alley, and Hogwarts, and the Ministry of Magic). I love that it got millions of kids to love reading, including myself. HP was my gateway drug. I love that when a new book came out I would even read while I walked because I was so enthralled (and because it was too dangerous to read while driving). I love that through the books and the movies, we have watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione grow up, literally. I love how emotionally invested I am in the lives and stories of all the characters. I love how I got goosebumps every time I saw a preview for the newest movie in the series. I have loved waiting at midnight in huge lines to be the first to get the books and see the movies. I love everything about Harry Potter, except that we are only a mere 2.5 hour movie away from it all being over, which breaks my heart.

To end my Ode to Harry Potter, I will jump on the Thanksgiving bandwagon and express my gratitude to Ms. Rowling for giving us the wonderful gift of HP and everything else that has come with it.

I know..... I'm already well aware of how nerdy this post is, but I don't even care. That's how deep my love is.

Halloweeners

It was pretty uneventful, so there was no urgency to post, however......

Look what I made:

Cake eyeballs!

Aren't they cute? I'm pretty proud.

The crew:

Popeye, Darth Lacey, NOT Pocahontas, Chinese something, Dorothy, Toto

Us with our carved pumpkins.

There you are. Happy Halloween.

Preview

Johnson Family Pictures circa Oct 2010:






Doesn't it seem like we are always getting family pictures taken? I think so, but guess what? I'm happy to do it for the singular reason of having evidence of how long my hair is getting. Take that short hair!

I Voted

You may think that this is going to be a post about me and my gratitude for the opportunity to vote, to live in a country where democracy is the practiced form of government, and to have a say in the way things are run and by whom. And most especially for the women who fought so hard for that right. And possibly to bash on those in my generation who think that voting isn't important, or aren't even registered to vote, maybe to tell them how I think it's selfish and irresponsible and just plain lame of them.

But you'd be mistaken, it isn't.

I just wanted to say that I voted today, and that I did not vote for that one guy. :)

Copacetic?

Is it a problem that my Halloween cosutme was made for 12-year-old boys?......

We-us

It's been said before that the other half of my soul/brain/boobs (actually 75% of my portion here)/whatever resides in that sister of mine, named Jes.

I have grown up knowing how similar we are, and sometimes it still shocks me how parallel our minds run. After having spent an overwhelming portion of the summer together, we decided that because of that similarity, more than just similarity-- our sameness, we could go somewhere (our idea was Disneyland, of course) and even if we didn't talk to each other the whole day, we would always end up doing the same thing at the same time.

Turns out we don't even need to be in the same state to end up in the same place, an idea "place", that is.

The details of the story that lead to this post aren't that exciting to recount, but to summarize:

From different states, and totally different beginnings, we both ended at Tonic Water and it's ability to glow in black light, and the timing was within an hour of each other. I know, your mind is blown, right?

This is Jes:

This is me: (in all my ghetto Lava Hot Springs splendor. Yes, that shirt is for sale there)-please pardon my mid-drift.

And thanks to modern technology, we are able to scientifically see what we looked like before our bodies were separated. Behold.... WE-US!


Lessica

Jacey

BTW- If you didn't laugh your faces off at the ridiculousness of these images, then you clearly don't know what funny is (or you need to click on them for enlargement).

Oh yeah and....

I also happen to be a fiend for this fine fellow...... I just can't seem to get enough of him.

On the top of some really tall mountain in the Tetons.

Playing Uno at the one and only MJMarsh's birthday.

Play date at the Zoo. The giraffes are my favorite.

ZB's birthday date at the Melting Pot.

Fiend

So it turns out that another of my favorite fall things is Candy Corn. I am so hooked on their soft sweetness, made with real honey, hello! This little tray sits on my desk for visitors, and since I never get any visitors in my office, guess who accidentally eats it all....? woops.



In thinking about it, I have realized that I'm a total sucker for seasonal treats:

Candy Corn in the Fall
Candy Cane Kisses for Christmas
Conversation Hearts at Valentines
Mostly all candy around Easter, but especially egg shaped candy bars (I ask you, why do they taste better in the shape of an egg? IDK, but they do.) and the chocolate Cadbury Mini Eggs.
Snow Cones during the Summer

etc, etc, etc.

I'm actually just a sucker for treats. Period.

Cute

Want to read a cute post? I think it's cute anyway (probably because some of it is about me and partly because it's a lead up to the most beautiful wedding ever {until mine comes around, of course}, and also because I also love the people she loves, and have the most frustrating and wonderful memories of the work we did together).

Anyway, just go here before I ruin it all....

Plus you will have to re-visit soon to see all the fabulous pics of the said wedding.

Loves.

Seriously Delicious

All I want to say is that the new color scheme of this here blog reminds me of my current favorite treat:

Raspberry Mango doughnuts (yes plural, I would eat multiples and not even feel bad; sick maybe, but not bad) from Beyond Glaze.

Seriously Delicious. It's like all the best parts of a doughnut and a fruit smoothie together. Again, Seriously Delicious.

So Long Sweet Summer... Hello Fall

September is halfway over already, and my California tan has almost faded away.

Allow me to finish out the summer right, and introduce you to one of my 4 favorite seasons: Fall.

Leaving California was such a HUGE bummer, but as it always does, life moves on whether we like it or not. My voyage home went something like this:

Jessie and I went to San somewhere on our way up to Orange County

to pick up this boy for his inaugural Disneyland visit (mickey ears and all). Everyone, meet ZB.

Isn't he adorable?

He was totally afraid of all the rides, but he took them like a champ! There is no room for sissies at DL.

Us with our goodies as we leave the park for the next adventures: a night time visit to the beach... (brown chicken, brown cow [if you know what I mean]) and then a LONG-A drive home to the great SLC. And that's how it happened. (both my return from SoCal and my romance with ZB)

Next..... ish.

Annual Lava Hot Springs trip

Annual Echo vaca (including ZB this year)

Misc other stuff, including this lovely night in which Jes was home for a job interview, and Cup-o-Snows were had.

Finishing out Summer with the most dreamy, elegant bang you've ever seen. Kalie hosted the most delightful White Party Labor Day weekend.

Guests (including Gooch of course, with her white ribbon)

ENTER FALL!!!!!

What would fall be without a little high school football? All decked out in our Murray garb to support the losers. Love you Murray, glad you haven't really changed since I was there.

me and ZB again....

One of the reasons Fall is in my top 4 seasons is because of this singular event....

THE STATE FAIR!



I LOVE IT. I could go every single night of it's duration. I don't care that it's dirty and sometimes stinky, and expensive, and trashy, I LOVE LOVE IT.

Double date and quadruple matching tats. From left to right: dump truck, lips, Rolling Stones mouth, purple unicorn.

The fair. Need I say more?

(This is the best place there for a photo op. as evidenced by my usage of it)

WT

What the..... almost a month has already gone by?! How in the world did that happen.

Until I work up the.... whatever.... to post an actual blog, here are a few items:

School.... boo
Work.... flippin busy
Jes.... coming home, new flight attendant job, can't wait for flight benefits
Room.... AWESOMEly BEAUTIFUL new dresser and desk, finally getting things the way I want
Life... fun, interesting, beachless, etc.
Car... finally sandless.

Ode to J, 26, LA

From the top-



The weekend begins in Anaheim at the Crystal Cathedral. Pretty neat.



Shortly after, my camera battery dies, and the fun begins with disposable cameras!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Angels games. Even if it was sweltering hot.

Sweltering heat continues into Saturday at Six Flags Magic Mountain. We sweat our guts out, wait in line for approx 3 hours, ride one KILLER ride, then bake to a crisp as we walk on the hot asphalt to the car. (I believe that experience to be like unto what hell would feel like.)

After the gut sweating, the only thing to do was take a cold shower. In the gut covered clothes, of course.

All cleaned up for a simply perfect birthday dinner at Maggianos followed by a lovely birthday creme brulee. Candle blowing out #1.

Quick stop to get breakfast for Sunday. Birthday cake and water. Breakfast of champions.

Loving each other and Harry Potter in bed.

Actual birthday. Not quite breakfast in bed, but close. Candle blow out #2.

The honest truth is that the above featured store is what spawned this entire weekend trip up to LA. It did not disappoint. Man, I love it SO much!

Showing some love to the famed Pinkberry. I really liked it, but it was still no FroYo love...

Hit up Hollywood to find some famous people. All we found were these stars on the sidewalk with famous people's names on them... lame.

Grauman's Chinese Theater. Kind of.

Back down to SD for a Which Wich (please send out good vibes to bring this wonderful place to the UT) and...

A picnic in the park. Delightful.

And to finish off this fabulous birthday weekend, a cupcake on the beach. Party hats and all. Candle blow out #3 (the one that really counted).

I can't think of a more perfect way to have spent my last weekend in California than celebrating Jes. She is how my dream summer came to pass, and also my bestie. I love you, J. Congratulations on 26 wonderful years.

Flip, they just keep coming!

Last post of the day, I swear.

Yesterday was Jessie's birthday and we spent my final weekend here in CA (sad trombone) up in LA. Due to a series of unfortunate events, neither of us had our cameras.

So what did we do?

We bought disposable cameras of course. Loved every crazy minute of looking through the viewfinder and asking random people to do the same. Then making jokes about checking to see if the picture was good enough. So, as you can tell, it will be slightly longer than usual for me to post pictures of this weekend.

But know this.... it rocked.

P-I-Z-Z-A

Following our ridiculously long, yet productive day in DL (see post #2), we were privileged enough to make a visit to Rubino's (or something) pizza. Notice how there are no people, and no lights on in this establishment....

Friend of a friend owns this place, and invited us to an after hours, private dining experience.

We took the term "personal pizza" to a whole new level.

Cheese. A whole tub of it in fact. I was loving life.

Getting ready to work out that little pizza dough of mine.

Jessie eating an anchovy. I tried it, and I have to be honest, I did not like it. At. All.

Putting the pizzas in the inferno of deliciousness.

The private diners. J, N, L, J. (Also, the ranch -for dipping purposes- at this place rocked, and N even packed us a giant bag of cheese to take home. What service!) It was simply delightful.