Life in Pictures

Life has been going so fast lately, I can't even keep up to post!

Recently, I've...

-Switched from my 1st student teaching placement (2nd grade) to my 2nd student teaching placement (high school resource). High School is OK, but I'm sure missing the little ones! I'm definitely an elementary girl! On my last day, they wrote me sweet notes all over the whiteboard and gave me a book of notes and pictures they drew. I loved it! Best 30 days of college in all 6 years ♥

-Had 2 weekend sleepovers with my sisters. Complete with movies, caramel popcorn, makeovers (Erin can pull off Ke$ha quite well, right?), late nights, and laughter

-Had a very sweet, romantic dinner date night for an early Valentine's with my wonderful husband. He made me salmon and homemade alfredo with breadsticks and salad. Then we had cheesecake for dessert. He even decorated the table. It was amazing. HE'S amazing ♥

-Now been a scout leader for a whole month. Dan's been so great to help me and my dad was a great sport to help me with human foosball (and play!). It's been great fun so far! AND tonight, I went with Dan to my first ever Blue and Gold Banquet. Dan even got a badge for going on the Klondike with the boy scouts.

-Went to see the musical, Chicago, with Collette at the university on actual Valentine's Day. It was a good sister date

-Attended Dan's Great Grandpa Leany's funeral in St. George. It was a beautiful service. I only knew him a short time but he had a lot of people who loved him and he lived a long and wonderful life. He had a military graveside service and it was really cool to hear the taps being played and the flag displayed. It was also a lot of fun to be able to see all of Dan's family. I love them!

-Babysat this little sweetheart for my old manager at the movie theater, Alicia. We ate Ritz Crackers, played cars, danced to the "Toddler Tunes" Pandora station, painted with water, attempted to watch The Tale of Despereaux, and ran around the house.

-We sold Jimmy (sad) and bought a new truck for Dan that has lower miles and a better engine. It's nice! We're currently selling the white truck we have so I can get a car! I want one so bad!

-Had dinner dates with our friends. On Saturday, we had a dinner and games date night in St. George with our friends, Shaun and Kara, and 5 other couples. It was so much fun to meet some new couples! Then on Monday night we had Laura and Seth over for dinner and games at our house. We went all out and had salmon and chicken! Then we played games and played with their cute little guy, Kaden. He's so cute and chubby! (Makes US want a baby! haha)

Life's been pretty good!

Setting something on fire = Free donuts!

First can we just say, I'm addicted to food. I love it. I just do. AND it looooooves me and clings tightly to me... in the form of fat. I'm just going to embrace it SO as I sit here typing away, I'm busy eating the bag full of chocolate chips from Christmas. I think one of my new years resolutions should've involved the word "exercise". Too bad it didn't.

Aaanyway, Dan and I both learned new skills involving our Christmas presents this past week! His chanter came in the mail and so began the lessons of learning the bagpipes from my dad (my grandpa would've been proud). It was great! Dan learned the scale and practices all the time. It's really cute and he actually plays pretty good! It's fun that my dad is able to pass on that Barclay family heritage to my husband.

As for me, I finally got the chance to put my new sewing machine to work with the help of my mom when we spent an entire day together sewing cute baby bibs. It was so fun to learn from my talented mom and to see the finished products I had made "all by myself". I really am proud of how they turned out! I even hand-sewed a couple things! The bibs came from a packet I bought and it's full of many more patterns so we have plans to do more. I'm excited! I like sewing.

In other news, I started student teaching for 2nd grade yesterday and so far it's been wonderful! Enoch is such a great school! I really have such a great mentor teacher AND all the other teachers and aides I've met so far are so awesome. I know this is going to be a good experience... ESPECIALLY since the kids are just about the cutest and "fun-est" (I know. Not a word. Whatevs.) kids I've met. They really do say and do some of the funniest things!

Example #1: 

Mr. H - "What are some of the things we could maybe have learned from books we've read in this class?"

Student - "Oh! That if we set something on fire, we'll get free donuts!" (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson)

Example #2:

Student - "No man knows!"

Me - "Knows what?"

Student - "When he will come!"

Me - "When who will come?"

Student - "The second coming!"

Example #3:

Student - "I want to have a friend made completely of cheese! I just LOVE cheese!"

Example #4:

The teacher is reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull for the read-aloud and it mentions gollum. As soon as it's mentioned about half the class starts saying "My precious!" in creepy little voices like that smeagol guy from Lord of the Rings  

Example #5:

In math, one of the answers to the problem we worked on was '5 children' so one student asked, "Can we put 'kids' or do we have to put 'children'?" In response to that, another said, "Wait! I thought kids were baby goats!" And sounding very appalled, another says, "You can't put 'kids', we're not baby goats!" (Note to self: Never refer to them as "kids".)

P.S. Dan FINALLY fixed the brakes on Jimmy! AND the heater! I feel like I'm driving a new car! I'ts the best. I'm so lucky to have a husband who knows about cars and can fix mine! Yay!

Smothered

Yesterday I went to The Canyon Park to hang with some friends from work and I ended up swimming in the creek for the first time... fully clothed. haha It was fun AND I found a fabulous new way to eat pepperoni pizza from Little Caesar's; "smothered". What does "smothered" mean, you ask? Oh, it's glorious. Get this, they cover the entire pizza in that delicious stuff they put on the crazy bread! You must try it! I can't even eat their pizza regular-way now!

Also, the Ren Fair is back again in all it's glory. Dan and I went yesterday while he was on a break for work. I wish I would've taken pictures! We had a good time holding hands, walking around to all the shop booths set up in the park. I even got a 10 minute massage from a real massage therapy guy and, oh my glory, it felt SO good! I tried to get Dan to get one too but he said I needed it more (totally untrue but he's always putting me first ♥).  Then we got snowcones and Dan went to work and I went to Wally World (aka Wal-Mart). I bought me some hair dye (Surprise! I'm a darkie again) and some watercolor pencils so I can be artsy.

When I was done shopping, I headed over to Quizno's so that Dan could turn my car on and tell me why it kept sounding weird when I'd start it up. Well, that's when my car died. Right in the Quizno's parking lot. Dead. Apparently the battery died. So Dan took it out, left work a minute, and drove to Wal-Mart with me to buy a new one to replace it so I could drive home. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful husband who is my hero when it comes to fixing my car?? Pretty lucky, I'd say! 

I made it home, dyed my hair by myself (haha that went well...), and then drove up to the 8 to watch People Like Us with Steph. It was a really good movie AND I loved being able to spend time with my sister. It seems like I hardly see her anymore, now that she's moved out of my parents' house so it was good to be able to have some fun together and talk after the movie.

While we were in the movie, Dan went fishing at the lake on the hill with Brandon, Krystel, and Cody. Lately he's been obsessed with fishing haha ...him and my dad... I swear... haha But I'm glad he's found something he likes to do.

He and Cody met up with Steph and me after the movie and we all headed over to Denny's to have some dinner. Second night in a row eating there for Dan and me haha Oh yeah, we're cool like that.

tres días

The last couple of days have been fabulous!

Monday was my sister, Erin's, 12th birthday.
She's growing up so fast!
And she was so excited! 12 in our family brings ear piercings and shaved legs (every girl's dream, right? haha)...
It was a fun evening though.
Right after I got off work, I took Erin for a bike ride.
It was awesome and felt so great to get a little exercise.
PLUS we had fun "pretending". Don't you remember those days of being young and pretending with whatever you were doing?
This day we pretended we were "robbers escaping the police" on our bikes. It was epic.
Then we went with the rest of the family to my sister, Cole's choir concert at CHS.
P.S. You guys! Cole has her driver's license and she drives a car! WEIRD!
The concert was good and they sang some fun songs.
After the concert we all met over at 5 Buck Pizza for a little birthday get-together.
And Dan was able to meet us there after work!
It was a blast!
The dinner escapade involved everything you could imagine--eating pizza, laughing, talking (loudly), me getting my hand smashed into the pizza by dad for eating the pineapples off the pizza on the pans, Becca and Paul bringing in the cake my parents wanted to surprise Erin with, Paul accidentally sitting on the cake while bringing it there in the car, singing happy birthday to Erin, picture taking, and eating the cake.
What a great night!

Tuesday, Dan and I slept in until noon and, oh, was it glorious!
Not to mention the fact that we slept on our couches (with them pushed together) so we could watch Better Off Ted, which is absolutely hilarious.
Then we had a totally productive and fun day together!
We registered the Jimmy (finally!)... We've only been illegally driving an un-registered vehicle for the last 4 months. No big deal.
And got the title turned over to our name (oh yeah! we own it!)
Then we cleaned out both our cars, vacuumed them, and even took them to the car wash!
At about 3pm we realized we hadn't eaten anything the whole day and we were hungry and since it was our "date day" we needed to go eat something.
SO, we went to the drive-thru at Carl's Jr. (mmm!) and then jumped on the freeway to go to Escalante.
We had to pick up blood from the blood drive for Dan's courier company like the last time we went there...
We had such a fun drive.
I love being with Dan, no matter what we're doing ♥

TODAY, when we're both off of work, we're going to do a little spring yard cleaning.
I'm SO excited!
No, but seriously. I am.
Which is funny because when I was at my parents' house I was never excited to do yard work BUT now that I have my own house, I'm stoked on it haha
I've become... "an adult"... oh gees.

Everyday I'm Shufflin'

Today is a special day (and, no, it's not Saturday for those of you thinking Saturday is the only special day haha).
Today is November 11, 2011 aka 11.11.11
SO I decided it would be in my best interest to participate in this little challenge:



Lucky for me, class got out an hour early (a whole hour! That basically never happens) so I got to go to lunch with Dan and Steve (my father-in-law) at The Hong Kong Buffet (so yummy!).
They were a bit late so I got to take my 11.11.11 @ 11:11:11am pic in my Jimmy, in the parking lot.

It was a grand moment.
I was boogy-ing to the tunes of LMFAO and texting the lyrics to my sisters
"Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle, YEAH! I'm sexy and I know it."

Advice: Do NOT watch the music video for this song unless you like guys "wiggle wiggle wiggle"-ing in speedos. I learned the hard way.

Firsts

Friday, I told Bec I'd take her home from school after I got off work.
So we're driving Jimmy down 800 west, when Jimmy runs out of gas...
I get it around the corner and we jump out to push it to the side of the road (Bec in the back and me on the driver's side steering and pushing)
As we're pushing, these 2 boys see us and come running to help us (the highlight of the entire adventure for Bec *wink wink* She thought they were real hotties haha)
So the boys leave and Bec and I have a mini photo shoot/dance party to document that this is the first time I've EVER ran completely out of gas while we wait for Dan to come save us.
The fact that I ran out of gas might have had something to do with the fact that I drove around with it below the 'E' for several days... but we won't talk about that

Friday night was also, the night I went shooting for the first time in my whole life (not including the times I've shot a bb gun at the cabin, these are "real" guns).
I shot 4 guns with Dan and his dad, Steve.

Since I'm not sure what these guns are called I will say that I shot a smallish revolver, a mediumish revolver, a medium gun that shoots the shells out of it after it shoots the bullet (when I shot this one, the shell came out and wacked me in the face... haha), and a bigger gun that rests on my shoulder (this one was fun to shoot but it is heavier and more powerful than the others so it made me laugh hysterically every time I shot it... cause the force would make me jump).

I'd say, for that being my first time, I got a good variety in AND I'm pretty much the bomb dot com at shooting (ha... ok so maybe not but we'll pretend)

Also, today I got a hair cut.

It was just layers.
But I really like it.

udate. (or uPdate for those of you who CAN spell...unlike me)

Ok.
I'm slowly and surely becoming the WORST blogger.
SO just be glad you are getting an update... haha

Yesterday
Dan's van broke down.
So we were in search of a new vehicle for him to drive to work.
We applied for loans and such for this one van we found
but things were looking bleak...

Last night
We moved some of our stuff into our new place!
With the help of family and Bryan.
Woo! So happy to be in our new house!
But we were a little under stress from the fact that the van was broken and all the *bliss* that is moving...
AND Roxy and Koko kept sneaking out of the yard...
AND my Scentsy broke (sad)...
AND we were SO tired...
So we put away a few things and fell right asleep.

Today
Dan drove Jimmy to work using a small Uhaul trailer (not ideal since the Jimmy is getting old)
and I was without a vehicle so Bryan took me to school with him
BUT then while I was at work, Dan called and our loan went through!!!
So we are now the proud owners of a greenish/blueish/blackish van of awesomeness that Dan can drive for work and such!
We were excited! (I'd be more excited if it were an Acadia buuuuttt... I'm excited for this too)

Tonight
I'm making dinner at our new house (woo!)
Then we're buying a shower curtain rod, a clear shower curtain, and a microwave
And finishing moving everything from the old house into the new one,
cleaning the old and the new,
and setting the place up officially.

I'm happy. Things have gone our way today!

I promise to post pics ASAP!

Ta-ta!

That's alright. That's ok.

So, Jimmy (my awesome vehicle) is, unfortunately, broken down.
That's right.
It's been a sad few weeks 'round here at the Johnson house without our "get-around" vehicle.
Especially now that we only have our wonderful old van to get us around.
Yup.
But really, it hasn't been too bad.
Fortunately, we live close to the university, and I can walk to work and back everyday.
It's actually been really nice.
Our neighborhood is really beautiful in the summertime!

But, in addition to seeing some beautiful sights, walking has also given me some "what the....???" moments.
You know, where you see something awkward or totally out of place and you go, "what the...???"
Yeah. I know you know it.

Examples of "what the...???" moments:
a. Walking home, almost to my house, I pass some girl and two boys going into a house. The girl says to the boys, "If you guys help me go to the bathroom, I'll help you." Uhmmm... what the...??? I'm hoping I just came in at the wrong time in the conversation...
b. Leaving work, walking out of my office, and looking down the hall just in time to see an OLD man CHANGING his clothes by the drinking fountains! Really?? What the...??? Change at your house!

Yes, well, that's all I can think of right now but you get the gist.
Lovely, right?

The Almighty Jimmy

Yes, Jimmy does many things. And I may say, he does them well. VERY well, actually. AND yesterday was no exception.

In fact...look what Jimmy pulled:Yeah, it was only 6,700 lbs. No big deal. Pshh!

BUT because Jimmy pulled that HEAVY monster over to my brother-in-law's, I got to play with my way freakin' cute nephew, Jack Johnson (awesome name, huh?). AND he's super cute. For reals.

4 Days and counting

It has been 4 days since I've driven Jimmy.
Yes, 4 days of NO driving for Liz.
Jimmy is turning into Becca's vehicle (even though her super cool sister, Liz, still puts some gas in it).
Oh sigh, I guess in some regards I miss driving but in other ways, I don't miss it at all.

Things I LOVE about not driving:

• not having to find a parking spot on campus
• not paying an arm and a leg for gas
• it makes me walk more, which is good for me
• I get to ride in Dan's truck
• I get to ride in Natalie's car, which smells good
• I get to ride in my mom's van and it has a/c (a definite plus)

Things I don't really like about not driving:

• being dependent on others for rides
• still putting gas in Jimmy sometimes for my sisters (even though they are the gas hogs ha)
• not being able to leave school in between classes

But, I can live with it so I may just handle being car-less for awhile.

Adventures

Yes, I know, two posts in one day. BUT in my defense, the one with the clothes was what I was going to post yesterday but didn't get a chance.

Ah, but yesterday was a good day so I just have to blog about it! AND, of course, add some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

So...here is my day in a nutshell.

8am-noon: Work at the box office.

• Becca had to take me because my Jimmy had to go into Bradshaw to get the radiator fixed so I can travel! (which reminds me, I got my new license on Wednesday. Not excited about how it turned out)
• Did a little facebooking
• Watched Wipeout with Shon (such a funny show)

Noon-1240pm: Dad took me to lunch.

• We ate at Panda Express (yum!)
• Had a good chat
• Took mom some lunch at work
• Busted home so I could make it to work

1-5pm: Work at the pool.

• Pretty much uneventful
• Very HOT, overcast, and not windy (the one day I'd like it to be windy)
• Also, I hate it when little 12 year old boys from my neighborhood smart mouth me about the rules. Just throwing that out there...

5-630pm: Dinner at Chile's with Amber and Kayla.

• It was fun to chat with them
• I love those two girls!
• My dinner was amazing
• AND Amber is going to have a baby in January! So exciting! :) :) :)

630-7pm: Lori was at my house.

• Lori came to get her hair trimmed up by my mom
• She's funny
• And Bryan totally showed up while she was there
• I was in my swim suit still from work haha

7pm-1am: Party time.

• First, I changed then cleaned up the kitchen while Bryan sat and talked to me
• Second, we looked at our school schedules online and took a tour of Canada via Google Maps. Bryan was the tour guide. It was a good time haha
• Third, I put on Steph's gladiator sandals that were about 3 sizes too big on me and we headed over to the Renaissance Fair at the Main Street Park
• While we were parking Bry's truck, this huge gypsy man in a purple tunic drove past on a fourwheeler...weird.
• We walked around the park awhile and saw some funky stuff. Including a pregnant belly dancing woman and a boy who hit on Stephanie with his dog puppet haha So awkward...
• Roman was there so we hung out with him for awhile too

There she is. Pregnant belly dancer.

Sword dancer

They were totally giving Camel rides! So cool!

But I was too scared to ride it. So we took pictures instead.

The woman at this booth told Bryan this is the one he should get. I think so too haha

Bryan's mask

Roman in his cool hat and shoes

Steph's umbrella

I'm a warrior haha

Roman, Steph, and Becca

Birds of prey

With my fellow lifeguards, Roman and Miranda

Becca carried Bryan down Main Street haha but not for long

• Fourth, we decided to walk up to Ace Hardware to get snow cones from the Tiki Shack. I'd never had one from there but I figured it had to be good since the line was going down the street for that place. AND it was good! SUPER good! I got a Horchata with coconut milk flavor. Oh my heck. I'm in love! Definitely the best snow cone I've ever eaten!

• Fifth, we walked back to the truck and Becca drove us home after we dropped Roman off at his car.
• Sixth, we finished up the night by watching The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (so good)

So you see, it was a good day!

The Good Life

Today was such a great day! Seriously, it was great.

1. I worked from 8-noon then came home and made myself some lunch.
2. I took an hour long nap. So nice.
3. I cleaned out my car! Vacuumed, cleaned the windows on the inside, and took it to the car wash kinda clean. It's wonderful!
4. I cleaned my room--so needed.
5. I went to the swimming pool because my team had a "surprise" for me to say goodbye...They threw me a goodbye party! When I got there they had a cake for me (made by Katrina and Alissa) and a card signed by everyone and then served everyone rootbeer floats and cake and cookies. Then all my kids gave me a big group hug! They told me they were never letting go so that I would never leave. Haha I love them so much! I didn't even cry, they made me laugh though. I will miss them! I told them I'd have to go watch some of their swim meets. Seriously, it made my day :) Oh! And Joey's family gave me a nice card and a Venus Fly Trap! Cool huh? haha It's my new baby.
6. Then I hurried over to the SUU pool to lifeguard class. We worked on back boarding and spinal injuries and deep water rescues. I was in the pool from 5:45pm to 9pm. Longest class ever. I was such a raisin when I got out!
7. Dan text me when I got out of the pool and asked how my day was. He's so great. We've talked everyday and when he called me yesterday, we talked for 45 minutes. I honestly can't wait to see him next week!
8. ONE WEEK until I go to Lagoon with Dan, Natalie, and Bryan! I'm so stoked! I can't wait to see my best friend, Natalie, and Dan, of course. :)
9. When I got home from lifeguard class, my family had saved me dinner. They made hamburgers and corn on the cob and cucumbers...it was so summery and yummy! It was so good!
10. Then Bryan called and we were going to go to the midnight movie of Prince of Persia but it's not until tomorrow night so we went to Bryan's and ate string cheese while we watched the third Mummy...which, I figured out, I've actually seen! haha I've seen so many movies lately because every time we hang out, we watch a movie and text Natalie and Dan. Oh well, we always have a good time doing that haha
11. Dan's phone died though so now I'm watching Elf. This movie cracks me up! Seriously such a funny movie!
12. Tomorrow my family and I leave for Salt Lake to stay at my grandma's house
13. Life is great!

The cake Katrina and Alissa made me. It's so cute! It's of the pool with Teddy Graham people and a shark and back stroke flags. And apparently I'm the Teddy Graham wearing the Airheads bikini hahaMy swim team and me at the party they threw for me! I love this pic, even though my arm is looking a little fat from being squashed...