Well it's been a LONG time since I've had time to do this. A lot has happened since I posted last. Well take it a month at a time and I'll be quick... because I'm sure you aren't THAT interested in my life...

In November my parents came out to visit for Thanksgiving! It was a lot of fun to have them around and spoil us. I helped cook Thanksgiving Dinner which was a mind blowing experience. My mom even said it was the best turkey she ever had... I'm that amazing. We made some amazing pumpkin roll and I think I made some friends in the ward because of it. It sucked I had to work as much as I did but we both really appreciated the fact that my parents made the trek out here. Plus it gave Jon time to bond with my Dad over this horrible show "The Tripods". It's basically a book on video meaning it takes as long as reading an entire novel as it does for anything to develop in the plot. Ever once and awhile Jon will mention "it was really fun having your Dad around". I think he likes having someone to share his nerdom with. The only thing that could have made the holiday better was to make the rest of the Johansen clan there. It's really hard to find the time to get the entire family together.

December was a little crazy. Finals and A LOT of traveling. We survived the semester and did well enough in our classes. My brother got married that next week. It was a lot of fun to be able to be there and participate the in wedding. The wedding was beautiful! It was a late night but it was full of good memories and stories even the key being lost and calling a poor old lady and asking for her dead husband... The following two days were really fun but bittersweet for me. It was my first holiday without the family so it was hard to enjoy the good times knowing I was going to leave soon. I made lots of goodies with my mom and am a candy making expert! Thanks again Mom!

The week prior to Christmas was spent with Jon's family. It was a lot of fun and the weather was really nice. We've always lucked out and had good weather on our trips. Jon was able to snap some great pictures of the island and a super cute one of his niece and grandma. Who would of known I married a photographer. It was a packed house with 12 adults and 8 children! I had fun helping Jon's mom wrap presents. I guess my mom was inspired and knew my future mother in law would need my expert present wrapping skills. We got to meet Devan's now fiance Nicole. Jon and I both really like her and are very excited to go on a lot of trips and adventures with and to see them. Jon's mother is wonder woman. She did a great job of keeping up with the dishes and not getting overwhelmed... If it were me I would of kicked everyone out from day one, I hate dishes. All in all it was a lot of fun even hanging all 20 home made stockings.

I jokingly tell Jon that every time we see Charlie and Jill we get really excited and are a little anxious to see kids but having that many kids in one house helped us to realize we have a long ways to go until we're ready to start our little family. Plus I like my sleep a little too much.

The rest of break we just worked and enjoyed the down time. Since then school has started and we're both swimming in school work. It's really fun to see how much better we're getting at our work. All the homework really stinks but it's worth it to see the improvements.

I started a new job in February. I have the opportunity to work with troubled teen girls. In the few weeks that I've worked there I can see that I've learned a lot not only about teens but how to interact with people in general. I'm really excited to see what will come of it all and the positive growth that will come from it. I've had some good days and ok days. I'm just scared of what the bad days will be like. I seem to be doing alright though and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up throughout my duration there.

Well hopefully I'll be able to get things a little more under control and take a few pictures and keep this thing updates... I hope. Oh and I've found some really good recipes over the last little bit... Got one for tikka masala and beef with broccoli if you want it!

Well Jon and I have been pretty busy lately with school and work but since we've become teachers in the marriage and family relations class we've really been working on having quality time together. We're both a little bit of perfectionist and I think we both have a little problem with letting other things get in the way. Ok, I'll be honest it's mostly my problem... Date nights are something that was stressed to us from the get go and I'm really starting to understand why. It's really easy to loose that focus on your spouse and you just forget how important they are or why you liked them so much in the first place!

So now to the fun stuff!

About two weeks ago Jon and I spent our date night going to the pumpkin patch. Probably not the wisest expenditure we've made thus far but it was a lot of fun to reminisce and enjoy each others company. We went to the pumpkin patch over a year ago when we were dating so it was fun to re-experience that. The corn maze is always really frustrating to me because they really don't make sense especially when people make their own short cuts. We somehow went from check point 1 to check point 8 without seeing any of the others... Over all it was a good time and just nice to have that quality time to enjoy each others company... even though Jon wouldn't jump on the giant balloon pillow thing with me. But I kicked his but at the duck race so it's OK.

So this last weekend we got to carve pumpkins. I've started dabbling in the world of couponing so I'm kinda obsessed with sales.. We waited it out and got our pumpkins at a whopping $.09/lb!

Just under $5 for 3 good sized pumpkins. This was Jon's first time carving an intricate pumpkin. It was a complete success. He was really proud of the outcome and I finally got to do flounder! So I think we're both excited for next years pumpkin carving festivities.

I can really see the improvements in our patience and willingness to have a strong marriage since we've received our calling. You really do find a strong love and understanding for your spouse as you keep the Christ at the center of it all. I'm really happy I've had this time with my husband! Well it's sad that October my favorite month has come and gone. And what's even worse is the snow is quickly finding it's way here... Pray for us. I hate the cold!

Well time really has a way of flying by before I really have time to stop and take a moment to realize how much I've missed. A lot has gone on for us. Jon and I are both extremely busy with school and work. We're lucky if we really have time for eachother. I've kinda felt bad lately because I just haven't had the time to keep in contact with old friends and family members as much as I'd like to.

But to help remedy that little issue... we were able to go out to Los Angeles the last weekend on September and spend some time with my family. The trip was short but worth it. Being Johansens the first thing we did when we arrived to LA was EAT! We stopped off at the hard rock cafe and had lunch. Really I'm praying that the camera really does add ten pounds... I guess the way to a man's heart is also the way to the newlywed ten.

After lunch we took a trip over to the walk of fame and got to look at all the stars and stuff. It was really hot that day and a lot more humid than Jon and I are used to. It was fun to see all the different celebrities hand prints and foot prints and to realize how small a lot of them are..

On Sunday we were able to go to our niece Jillian Daisy Johansen's blessing. It was a really good blessing and her little brother was surely enjoying the attention. He kept trying to kick the pew in front of us and when I told him he had to be quiet he just slowed down his kick. He's a little charmer. The blessing really made the trip worth it. Jon was able to stand in the circle and be a part of the blessing which we were both grateful for his opportunity to do that. After the blessing we just sat around, ate, swam, and played some games...

On monday we got to go to the beach for a little bit. Unfortunately it was record breaking highs and got all the way up to 113... But like my brother Dave said, "if it wasn't that hot I don't think anyone would have wanted to get into the water."

Grandma and Grandpa do a great job of letting the little guy know how much they love him. It makes me really excited for the day when Jon and I will have little ones of our own and they will be able to have that same relationship with their grandparents!

For one of my classes I'm going to be illustrating a small boy dressed like a pirate. So I needed reference for the image and I figured my nephew was a great canidate. I gave my mom a call and asked her if her and Jenni could take some pictures of Charlie. This isn't quite what I had in mind...

All in all it was a great little trip and it was nice to have a break. It's weird to think that we're quickly approaching 6 months. It's been such a roller coaster ride but it's so worth every minute. Hopefully one day Jon and I will be able to be amazing parents like ours have been for us. So things are still going well. We have our hiccups but as The Car's put it "let the good times roll." We're going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow for our date. You better believe I'm excited. And there will be pictures to follow.

Well we just past the 4 month mark and we're quickly on our way to 5 months. It really seems like it's been a lot longer than that! It's funny to think that just over a year ago Jon took me on our first date. Which if you haven't heard that story... ask me. It's quite entertaining. A lot has happened in those 4 months and it's crazy to think of everything else that will happen in the future. I guess that's really why we should write in our journals... I mean I have a hard enough time remembering all the great memories I've had with Jon just over the last year or so... I can't imagine how it'll be in 20 or 30 years. Jon and I have been having a lot of fun together and I really appreciate the fact that he's willing to put up with my need to "beautify the house". My mom sent out a bunch of cute decorations with Kim when she came to visit last and I had to put them up immediately.

Probably the biggest news as of late is that we got a calling. We're the marriage and family preparedness sunday school teachers. Kinda crazy to think that we're here teaching people how to have a good lasting marriage when we've been married 4 months. I was talking to a girl at church about it today and I said "well I guess we must have some things we need to work on..." and she said that it's probably just the Lord's way of helping us start off on the right foot. She even went on to talk about how it would be nice to have this calling because it would be easier to work on improving your marriage. After hearing that I totally agree. I'm so happy that we're able to grow, learn and teach together. I've already seen improvements in our daily marriage together just in the 2 weeks that we've had the calling...

Well of course school has started again and we're both fairly swamped but I'm happy that we have the preparation of the lesson to look forward to. Over the summer we got to do yard work. I thought I'd hate it but I ended up loving the fact that Jon and I had a goal and a project to work on TOGETHER. But it's now midnight and I have to be up early... school is definitely back in. So I'm off to bed. Just wanted to let whoever is out there that we're doing alright.

So I got in an accident. All I need say is it wasn't my fault and I was the lunch meat in an idiot sandwhich.