Arizona Living

Oh, hey there, blogging world!
Did you forget about me?
Did you forget about us?
I hope not!

I never forgot about you... I know that a move or two and no internet connection has really hindered our relationship, but I promise to do better!

For now, I'm shooting for once a week posts about the crazy, everyday lives of the 3 Johnson's, and hopefully, that will keep our relationship going strong!

So, a whirlwind update will start right... about... now!

On April 22nd, we moved back home to Cedar City and lived with my parents while we figured out where we wanted to be and while Dan helped out his dad, Steve, with work as he finished out his chemotherapy for Cancer.

That went great! We loved being near both families, and we especially appreciate my family for making that sacrifice to have three added house guests for an extended stay!

We definitely made the most of our time in Cedar, even making frequent visits to St. George, spending much needed time with all our family and friends... because we also made a major family decision while there that would move our family 6 hours from home, to a whole new state!

Dan and I decided I'd put my teaching degree to use and I'd apply for elementary education jobs. I first applied in Southern Utah to stay near home, but the more we thought about it, the more we felt we needed to do something else. I joined a great website for teachers that lets you select states you'd be willing to work in and all the jobs available in those areas--I put in all states surrounding Utah and quite a few jobs came up.

We researched those places and weren't feeling good about any, until jobs came up in the small town of Parker, Arizona.

We'd never been to Parker.
It's pretty much as big as Parowan, Utah... small.
We had no idea why Parker sounded good.

But I sent in my resume, and the principal of a school in the district contacted me to set up an interview.

I interviewed over the phone and it just. felt. right.

Two days later, he offered me the position as the new third grade teacher at the school and two days after that (and much praying and discussing), I accepted!

With a job in place and a home to rent from the school district, we made plans to move to Parker, AZ!

Dan worked his booty off to get our family prepared to move and I am so grateful for him and his willingness to support me in this new venture!

On June 22nd, we packed up our Budget moving truck and our family of three, and we were on our way to our new home... having NEVER seen it before! We broke the trip into two days, and stayed one night in Las Vegas, Nevada at our friends, Dan and Amber Shoemake's (that was so fun!).

On June 23rd (my birthday!), we made our way from Vegas, down through California, and across the Colorado River into the Colorado River Indian Tribes land and outter farming communities of Parker, Arizona to our new home right down the street from my new elementary school.

The drive was desert views; barren, harsh, desolate, and Dan and I were nervous as ever as we awaited the sight of our new area, but I will never forget the beautiful views of HUGE palm trees, gorgeous green farm fields as far as the eye can see, and the refreshing, blue water of the Colorado River as we came into Parker. Wow! Our nerves were immediately calmed and we were ready for the beautiful adventure we had ahead.

Fast forward to almost a month of Arizona living and we are loving it! We have been SO blessed and I know, our prayers are being answered! THIS is where our family needs to be. So many things have fallen into place; it's insane!

♥We have been able to see so many beautiful sights all up and down the Colorado River; from Lake Havasu City down to Yuma.
♥Our only neighbors when we arrived were my principal, Brian, his wife, Heather, and their son, Tillman, and they have made us feel so welcomed!
♥Despite having to first move into the house next to the one we were really supposed to move into, and then a week later, having to move again into that house, we were blessed with a cute little 3-bedroom home to live in!
♥My classroom is HUGE and there is SO much stuff there already for me to use...I am so happy, I could cry!
♥Dan got a job with the school district at the bus garage driving school bus for the school year almost immediately, AND they offer paid training! Then today, he was offered a position in their warehouse for the hours in between bus routes, so that we can successfully navigate living 20 miles outside of town, having one car, and one spouse work in town and the other 20 miles out.
♥We found TWO wonderful babysitters for Aurora; one Monday through Friday, and one as a fill-in on the days the other can't. She will get to experience so many fun things with both and friendships have formed between us already!
♥We have been blessed to be in a small ward, where we feel like family; the ward party is tomorrow and then Sunday, we've been invited to dinner with another family in the ward!
♥Dan and I already feel so much closer to one another, as we've had to rely on each other more being away from everyone and everything we know... Our family relationship is already growing stronger and we've become better friends!
♥And although, moving is always financially stressing, we have been able to make it...

Blessed! We are blessed!

So that's the fast version of our lives over the last month. It's different than Utah, but we love it.

AND as of today, it's officially official... We both have Arizona driver's licenses! haha

OH! And I helped another guy rescue a scared and lost little baby boy from the middle of the street today! I was driving to the park with Aurora when I drove past a boy around Aurora's age wandering in the street in nothing but a diaper and large shoes... in 104° weather. So I continued around the block to see if I could see some family (no luck) and as I came back around to the boy, I pulled up to a man in his car who had the police on the line to report it. We talked briefly and I let the man know that I would get the boy from the street while he was on the phone with the police department, then together we waited for them to show up.

By the time the police arrived, the cute and sweaty little boy was clinging to my neck crying as I held him in my arms and wouldn't budge. The other man gave his statement and left. Then I waited with the boy and the police officer for Child Protective Services to arrive since there was no sign of his family. Luckily, I got the boy to drink some water and got him cooled off a bit in the air conditioning of my car... and then just before CPS arrived, the boy's mom came walking down the street! She thought that maybe he had followed his older brother out the door without anyone knowing... Needless to say, I held the boy (and Aurora) for about an hour before his mom came... crazy. I gave my statement and my license to the police and then I went to pick up Dan from work.

It was an eventful trip to the park!

Wednesday Is My Day Off

Wednesdays are my day off... usually. And today, I had the day off... because it's Wednesday. SO I had big plans for my Wednesday, to have fun hanging out with my little cutie, Aurora all day since it was just going to be us.

But then we both slept in and I thought I'd have to babysit my friends' little girl after school and things just weren't working out.

So I was bummed. And Dan's out of town, helping his dad, Steve, with his courier business since he's sick from starting chemotherapy and having a bad cold on top of that. Ugh!

I was just feeling stuck in the house and down.

Around 3:15pm, I was packing Aurora into her car seat to go pick up our little friend from school, when her mom called to say that she ended up getting off work early and I didn't need to babysit today! Woo! Not that I don't love our little friend, but I had "big plans" to do something today, remember?

So I kept Aurora in her seat and we headed out the door with $21 in hand and a plan to find toddler shoes for my walking babe. OH MY GOSH! I forgot to tell you guys! WE HAVE A WALKING GIRL ON OUR HANDS!

Anyway, I needed to stretch that small wad of cash in my wallet as far as possible because I also needed diapers... hmmm... yeah.

For you moms who buy diapers, you know that this was basically not going to happen. Diapers are freaking expensive.

Lucky for us, I remembered seeing an ad on Facebook about a diaper sale happening at a store here in St. George called Traders Discount Markets, so before we left the house, I called them to see if they had some in stock... They did!

Oh! And I also called the Iron County School District to have them activate my application for some open elementary teaching positions! Eeek!

But then, we were on our way!

You guys.

Traders had diapers on sale for pretty much HALF OFF the regular price for the EXACT brand we buy!
I wanted to jump up and down for joy! I didn't.
And I wanted to buy all the diapers on the rack! I didn't do that either... only $21, remember?
So I left there spending only $15 for 138 diapers! That is a steal!

People, that was step 1 to turning my day around.

Step 2 happened after searching Walmart and Target for semi-cheap toddler shoes, to no avail, and ending up at the D.I. (All Target brought us was a fun little jam session with the Beats by Dre headphones haha)

I tried a few pairs of shoes on Aurora at the D.I., had her walk around in them (that was adorable), we chose two pairs, and then we paid for them! Guess how much?

$6!

I spent EXACTLY what I left the house with. Oh, success, you make me happy.

Then we drove around for a bit, enjoying the beautiful scenery of St. George and the summer-like weather before stopping by Albertson's on the way home.

Just one question for ya, Cedar City... Why the heck did you get rid of our Albertson's?! That store has everything! haha I love it!

I left with comfort food (guacamole, chips, a mango, fruit leather, and mini ice cream cartons) and pictures of my cute shopping buddy, so that went well.

When we got home, I watched a small portion of Lilo & Stitch with Aurora before putting her to bed. I am so lucky to be her mom! She is the sweetest thing!

Oh! And I got to talk to one of my best friends, Natalie Wade, tonight on the phone and she let me know that she will be coming to visit St. George in two weeks! I was so happy! I miss her!

AND THEN right after that, I checked Instagram to see that I had WON A CONTEST!!! It wasn't anything huge, but I never win! Never! I was so excited! You all have no idea!

I won a cute little stuffed bunny for Aurora from Apple Park Kids!

And then my cute hubby text me to say he missed me. And my dad called. And my sister-in-law, Kaela, posted a picture for me on Facebook saying they missed me being there.

So even though I'm alone tonight, I don't feel lonely. And even though my day seemed doomed, it turned out pretty good.

Devilishly Easy

Easy recipe for the day: Devil Pumpkin Cake Cookies (yeah, I made up that name... like it!)

Seriously, this is so easy! 

Ingredients

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree

1 box Devil's Food Cake mix

Directions

Mix together the pumpkin and cake mix until moistened. 

Drop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes at 350° F.

And that's it! They make the softest, fluffiest cake cookies you've ever had. The only thing that would make them better? A handful of chocolate chips... but, hey, I like my chocolate! Oh, and milk! Drink a glass of milk with them!

Also for today, I tried a new hair-do on Aurora. She wasn't quite as cooperative as the other day so it's not perfect, but she's still perfectly cute! Please don't judge the dried snot or the chocolate remains on her face... you can only wipe a nose so many times and what can I say? She liked the cookies!

Oh, and while Cedar thought it was Winter today with their 11+ inches of snow, St. George thought it'd better stick with Spring rain showers mixed with sunshine. I love St. George!

Kids These Days

Today I learned a couple of things; 1) Nose hairs act as "smell trappers" so that the smell of child throw up will NEVER leave your nostrils, no matter how much laundry you do or how many times you spray the floor with Lysol *kill me* and 2) I have road rage.

You see, the last few days around here have consisted of kids barfing, kids whining, kids in general, and lack of sleep. All of those combined = Count down to nap time/count down to bed time.

Confession: that makes me feel horrible. But some days, a girl just gets worn down!

One of the little gals I babysit has this perpetual cough and a sensitive gag reflex, which means exactly what you think it means...

Aurora is teething. Again. And the tale-tale signs of that are poo-splosions and projectile vomit.

Both situations cause me to feel completely helpless, because all I can do is rub their back and let it happen, and then try to keep them from stepping in it!
AND both situations make me want to scream from frustration, and pick them up, vomit and all, for a snuggle because I hate seeing them feel that way AT THE SAME TIME. Life as a mom is a struggle!

Then tonight, I drove to Wal-Mart to get some stuff for Aurora to eat (I'm starting the B.R.A.T. Diet to see if that helps), and this kind woman in front of me stops on a busy road to let people turn left so they didn't have to sit there forever waiting for a space to open up to turn. Yes, I say "kind" because, honestly, that's what she was being. BUTIWASJUSTWANTINGTOGETHOMEANDIWASSOTIRED! So I honked at the woman and pulled the most annoyed face that I could muster, then muttered to myself about how annoying that was that she'd hold up traffic like that, AND I held my hands in the air like "What the heck!?"

I then became "that" driver... (air quotes)... as I silently glared at her rear view mirror hoping she'd soon get the show on the road.

Looking back, I think that was a nice thing she did and I wasn't even in a hurry. I was just frustrated. I need to dial it back while driving..

But it is in moments like these or days like today this week, that I have to take a breath, take a power nap, and think of all the things I have to be grateful for. I think that in most stressful times in life, if you take a minute to be grateful for the little things, everything else doesn't seem quite as bad.

So here is what I have to be grateful for over the last few days:

♥ All major throw up incidents have happened on my kitchen floor and not on the carpet. Hallelujah!

♥ Nap-times and 8:00pm bed-times

Cute Abi taking a nap on the couch... Look at those lips, people!

♥ Date nights with my hubby... Whether that's been to the movies and shopping where he makes me laugh my butt off over a stupid joke, or a simple night in together after Aurora goes to bed, he makes me feel amazing!

♥ The sound of Aurora's wonderful laugh. Seriously, the best sound in the world. I love that girl.

♥ A visit from my mom and my sweet little niece, Grace! My mom is one of my best friends. I could talk to her for hours... and sometimes that's all you need.

♥ The beautiful weather we've been having and ward friends who invite us to go to play-dates at the park! It has been in the 70's this week and it's been amazing. Plus, I was able to meet a few new girl friends from my ward who are just the sweetest!

♥ And honestly, all these little people who I get to spend time with in my home as a babysitter/stay-at-home-mom. I'm grateful that their parents trust me to look after them as my own, I'm grateful to have the love of their children--I love them all, and I'm grateful that I get to stay home with my own little princess in the process! For that, I'd take the chaos any day!

Aurora and Abi (I watch Abi everyday)

One day, I even got to have 5 cute girls at once! Rilee (10 mon.) and Sophie (3 years) are my friend, Kjerstin's little girls and they were so fun! Then Shaun and Kara's sweet little foster girl comes over before and after school some days. She was basically like the cool older sister at age 6!

Beautiful day at the duck pond in the park by our house with Aurora and Abi

Our cute 3 year old neighbor, Max, comes over occasionally and tells us all sorts of fun stories haha

And on Thursday nights, while our friends, Allie and Brady go to a work meeting, we get their fun little Brilee!

This Sucks!

Question of the day is: How excited can one possibly be over the purchase of a NEW vacuum for cheap?

And the answer for you: PRETTY FREAKING EXCITED!

Reason being that my vacuum broke before our last move and I have been having to borrow anyone and everyone's vacuums or face the day having nasty floors from having a very mobile, food carrier and mess maker at my house (aka Aurora, not Dan, for those wondering).

So today, before Dan headed to work, he said he'd seen a that a woman was selling a vacuum on the St. George Yard Sale page on Facebook and he told her he wanted it. He then gave me the address of the woman and asked if I'd pick it up!
Uhm, hello!
Of course I'll pick it up!
I've been needing/wanting a vacuum since forever!

It was just up the street from me so I jumped in the car with Aurora and we headed that way. When we got there, I discovered that the vacuum was brand new and had never even been opened! Bonus!

So the good news around here for today is that I get to clean the crap out of my house and show my carpet some love. And if you're concerned that that will be a really boring and horrible day, stop it right now! I love having a clean house. Love it!

Thank you to Dan for letting me purchase said vacuum, and thank you to FB for having city yard sale group pages! It's the little things.

Oh, and P.S. Yes, I did a photo shoot of myself holding the vacuum, and yes, I used my tripod I got for Christmas to do it. Enjoy it! That tripod thing works pretty grand!

Double Post?

Ok, I know what you are thinking! But I promise, this is not my second post of the day... not technically, anyway!

You see, I'm what you'd consider kind of a night owl. Especially when Dan is off working graveyard shifts. I just can't, for the life of me, go to sleep at a decent time. Tonight though, I'm going to try!

Which is exactly why it is going to look like I'm posting twice in one day, but really, I posted once last night (around 2am) and once right now (at 10:30pm) and I live by the phrase that "It's not the next day until I go to sleep!" haha

And besides, I'm trying REALLY hard to keep up on the whole blogging front because I know how much you all hate love having to read my catch-up posts. So I gotta post! I gotta!

Today was a semi-lazy Saturday. I say 'semi-lazy' because while I did get a few things accomplished, I still didn't do all I probably should have.

Highlights included:

♥ Day #2 of my Jamberry Nails trial.
I'll admit... I wasn't that impressed on day #1, but they are much better the second day... kind of like soup! And now that I can see my regular nail polish start to chip while the Jams are holding strong... Love 'em!!

♥ Waking up to my hubby getting home from work and a text from my sister, Becca, announcing the arrival of their new little man, Lucas Knight Riddle!
Don't feel bad if you didn't even know she was in labor... neither did her own family! haha I was a little sad that I had no idea until the little guy made his appearance, but I'm glad mom and baby are doing ok and that my brother-in-law, Alex is taking good care of them. That's about all the information I have to share other than his stats: He came a week before due date (even though Steph and I teased she'd be a week late, like us) and weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 9 oz.! Welcome to the world, little Lucas! Isn't he beautiful?

♥ My sister-in-law, Laura, was awesome and came to sit with Aurora while she napped, so that I could go with Dan to work for the interior design lady again.
If you missed the last post, he helps her move furniture and decor for model homes in St. George. Today was a short day, but I got to look at one of the homes he helped with and OH. MY. HECK. I want to move in like yesterday! I told Dan that one day, one day, I'll decorate the inside of our home like that. It was beautiful. Both homes we had to run by were in spectacular areas of town; Entrada and The Ledges of St. George. And the sun setting on the cloudy skies was the cherry on top of a wonderful time with Dan. I mean, look at those clouds!

Oh, and p.s. Laura and Cody are pregnant!! They will have their baby sometime in August! It is the year of the new nieces and nephews, apparently!

♥ Seeing Aurora's face light up at seeing her dad and then watching her try to eat the peel off the orange was great too. I just really love my daughter, ok!? Could she get any cuter??

Sick of Sharing

Remember a while back, like a month ago, I told you all that Dan had quit his job and was on the look out for a new one? And I'd mentioned I'd started babysitting? 

Well, If not, there ya go. You've officially been reminded. And just stay tuned, because I'm going to give you all the dirty details of our lives, as follows. Just keep those above reminders... in mind.

So far, we are going on weekend #2 of Dan's new job, PLUS the end of week #1 for Aurora and me being sick. Luckily, I'm starting to recover and so is she... only after a very scary visit to the ER in the middle of the night. More on that later.

And we're back to Dan's new job... Dan got hired on at Eagle Ranch Academy! Yay! 

It's a youth home that he's on staff to monitor at nights. 

Like all night. 

On the weekends. 

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. 

All night. 

8:00pm to 8:00am. 

Am I a fan of the schedule? No. 

Am I proud of him for getting the job? Yes! 

Am I grateful for all his hard work and that he has the job? You better believe it!

But on nights like tonight, where I haven't seen him all day because of opposite sleep schedules and combined work schedules, we go back to me not being a fan of the hours. 

Everyone always posts those articles that go on and on telling you how much better you sleep alone, and well, all I really have to say to about those articles is, "What a load of bull hockey!" I'll take nights sleeping with my bed-mate over nights alone, anytime!

On the bright side, with Dan gone, that meant that Aurora and I got to have a little mother-daughter date night. Granted, my date did fall asleep in the car on the way to get ice cream, but we had a killer time eating it (after I woke her up) and snuggling to Tangled (Aurora's current go-to film) for the 30th time today. 

And although she thoroughly hated having her picture taken for date night, I'm just over the moon that she's feeling better! Sunday night was, literally, the worst night.

I contracted whatever it was that our little cutie gal I babysit had last week and was sick with low-grade fevers, headaches, cough, and runny nose for the greater part of the week. So on Saturday, when Aurora started to get sick, I just assumed she had the same thing and tried to work with it accordingly. 

Sunday, she had a fever of 101-102 F the whole day with medicine, and Sunday night when she hit 103.5 F and rising, I quickly took her into the emergency room. Dan was in Cedar City for the Superbowl, so I called him and he rushed back to be with us at the hospital, and I was so relieved! I was so scared, as I sat in the ER cradling my lethargic baby and they clocked her in at just above 104 F. Her breathing was rapid and she was SO hot.

I kept praying that they'd figure out what the problem was and they'd get her temperature back down quickly and that Dan would get there soon. And all those prayers were answered as the hospital staff went straight to work and the doctor saw us quickly and my Dan got there in record time.

Thankfully, they located the problem and figured that what may have started as whatever I had, escalated to deep chest congestion and a double ear infection. They started her on antibiotics and ibuprofen and her temperature slowly creeped back down.

So after being out sick and doing no babysitting for a week, we started back up today because we're both feeling better. And the new favorite toy for the day was the laundry basket. We had a good time!

But, oh, the downside of babysitting. 

The sick sharing. And yes, we're sick of sharing. haha 

*Cue the emotional mother post*

It's 2:12am and I just laid our sweet little babe back in her crib. The last few nights, around this same time, she's woken up crying. I'll go in her room and pick her up, hold her in my arms and snuggle her close. She lays her pretty little head on my shoulder or rests it on my head, cheek to cheek. And as tired as it makes me to have to get up multiple times every night when I already have a hard time going to sleep before 1:00am, I can't help but love those moments.

Tonight, she let me hold her like I did when she was a newborn, cradled in my arms and looking straight at me. In the dark, I could see her eyes open wide, just watching me. I hummed a bit and swayed back and forth... and then I cried as I realized that at this time one year ago, I was in the hospital with Dan awaiting the arrival of our beautiful daughter.

I'd gone in to be induced at midnight, one week past my due date, and we were just ready to have our little girl here. We sat in the dark hospital room listening to her heartbeat on the monitors and dreamt of what it would be like to finally have her here and what she would look like.

Seven hours later, we were in the operating room and Dan was holding my hand while the doctor delivered our baby by cesarean section. Then they brought her up so I could see her. She was better than either of us could ever have dreamt about. And Dan and I looked at each other and just smiled. We couldn't stop smiling because that tiny little lady had just made us parents and we already loved her more than we ever thought we could.

And now it's a year later! A whole year! And that tiny baby has grown into the most amazing little girl. She brings so much sunshine to our home each day.

She has a cute little laugh and we love the way she scrunches her nose to do a big cheesy grin for all those around her.

She crawls like lightening and will stand up by herself if she's distracted, but we can't quite get her to walk yet. And, secretly, that's ok with me...

She dances to just about any song that comes on and, oh, we love to watch her dance.

She can say "Hi, dad" and "mama" and has the sweetest voice you've ever heard. Jabbering all day long and singing too.

She has three, almost four, teeth.

She loves to snuggle her baby doll and all her stuffed animals.

She's so smart and already knows just how to do things like a little independent lady.

She loves to read and even knows how the pages are supposed to be turned.

Everyone who knows her falls in love with her inward and outward beauty... especially her mom and dad. She has us wrapped around her little finger! And we love every minute of it.

This year has been absolutely wonderful. Aurora has made our lives infinitely better.
We don't know how we ever lived without her!

Happy 1st birthday to our little princess! We love you!