God is Good to the Johnsons

Today my baby brother Corey graduated from High School. TODAY MY BABY BROTHER GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL!!! Of course he and I are our own people, but there are some striking similarities in us that make us truly kindred spirits. One connection we share is that we both have dreaded growing up. We very truly loved living at home with our parents and very truly loved being children! I'm 25 years old. I have a husband, I have a degree, I have a career-type job, I have a kid... I ought to accept the fact that I'm a grownup, and in many ways I had, but a piece of me still said "Hey, my childhood happened during Austin and Tyler and Jordan and Corey's childhood, so if they're still in their childhood, then a piece of me has got to be there still too..." As each brother's graduation passed I still held on. So today as he walked across that stage and smiled up at us with his "I Love You" sign, my heart sang at his success. But a piece of my heart

THE TRADE-OFF Sometimes you put one dream on the shelf In order to dust off another, and hold it close. While a wholesome and exhilarating feeling for one It seems a tragedy for the other, almost. The trade-off in dreaming is healthy and well It's part of our journey, time must have balance Infinite pursuits... I can't chase them all Without life becoming a pain and a hindrance. So tomorrow I put one dream up on my shelf I open another with joy and embrace. I stay home with my son to watch him grow older, And see classroom #5 fill a teacher in my place.

So my keys were totally in the diaper bag in the car that Kevin drove away in at 6:50am today on his way to take Charlie to Grandma's house. Yep. At 7:10 I be like "MY KEYS ARE IN THE CAR! AND IT BE THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL AND I CANNOT BE LATE BECAUSE ALL THE THINGS NEED TO BE DONE AND THIS WEEK I HAVE NO PREP TIME!!!" And at that point Kevin was far and away beyond turning around to help me, because he's a hunk and was getting our cute kid to his darling grammy. So what do you do in a situation like that? Well if you're me, you call up one of your VERY BEST girlfriends who happens to also be your next door neighbor, and you know something? She saves your hide. She puts in her contacts, meets you out front, and chatting it up with her on the way just is a really fantastic way to start the day. SHAY, YOU'RE A BABE! Thanks for saving my bacon. And then during my lunch break, when you're thinking about driving home and realize "oh wait, no keys

Temple Time Together Artists R Us Delighted. Eternal. Couple. Hors d'oeuvres are FAB Breakfast Dad Date I'mma Nature Child Future Porch Sitter Tactile Cougar Pelt Woodswoman Meditation Log Outside = Happy Kidlet First Time Swinging Car Decorating Break Classroom Cleanup Cartload

So I'll be honest, I know it's not a curse. It's a God-given gift. I think it's important to use it for good! If you have an elephant brain, don't be ashamed of it. Let's you and I rouse up the courage to go talk to that person at the gas station that we remember from junior high P.E. Class, and let them know that they're remembered! My elephant brain helps me to help others feel important, special, unique, and memorable. Usually, it helps me to pick out a meaningful gift for birthdays. It enables me to feel compassion, connection, and empathy for others. And perhaps if lesser importance but still valuable, I'm full of excellent material for my writing pursuits. <3 Mikayla

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else? It happened to me in front of the library once. A girl approached me, ready to give me a full on hug, exclaiming, "Samantha! It is sooooo good to see you, girl!" "Sorry!" I said as she got closer. "I'm not Samantha!" "Girl, stop teasing me! Of course you are!" * awkward pause* "My name's Mikayla. I can show you my driver's license even, if you want!" * I stumble away as she looks at me with this mixed expression of hurt and confusion* Two years later, I'm cleaning up after dinner with my husband when I get this knock on the door. I answer the door, and two young women just step right into my apartment uninvited. "Can I help you?" I ask. "So, we're here to see the apartment. We're going to buy the contract," they say. "I'm sorry, but my husband and I live here and we're planning to live here for some time!"

Probably one of the legit greatest fears I have is forgetting something important about somebody I care about. I have two friends whose birthdays I can never get right. Jessica's birthday party was on the 15th once, but her birthday is really on the 13th, and forever and always I can't remember which one is which when that time of year comes around... which is the party date, which is the birthday-date? And Lacy's birthday is in the 20 somethings of November, but who knows which of those 20 somethings it is until I ask her, year after year after year. It stings to be forgotten, I know well. So it kills me when I forget, especially when I start to get too reliant on my elephant. One time I was cracking up at the song "Taylor the Latte Boy" while I walked home from class, and asked my ol' roommate Rachelle if she had ever heard it before. She looked at me wide eyed, and it took her reminding me to remember that we had goofily sung that song together do

So yesterday I talked about remembering people and giving up saying hello to peeps for fear they don't remember who I am. Sometimes I feel like I'm Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, you know, after he asks the blonde girl where she went to high school and which desk she sat in and who her English teacher was, etc. And then he talks to her the next day and totally blows her mind because he knows all these things about her High School experience, but she doesn't remember who he is (obviously). Except I'm not Bill Murray, and my life doesn't go on repeat every day. I just remember, and people just forget! These are two reasons why I give up saying hello to certain folks... A young man named Sam* was a prominent and popular gent at my high school. He was in several classes with me. Apparently his older sister was a calligraphy genius because some of her work was posted on my AP Lit teacher's wall, and my classmate Katie* said Sam's sister was "a legend.&q

There's a handful of us out there that suffer from an incredibly unique condition I like to call THE ELEPHANT CURSE. Myself, my mom, my brother Austin, and two friends of mine Melissa Nielsen and Emmalee Packer all have it. The elephant curse is an excessively enabled selective memory for remembering people, their lives, and the minute details therein. The oddest part about it, is the memory is only for remembering people facts. It doesn't usually work for Biology class or Calculus. It's selective to anecdotal experiences of individuals we've met. This is going to be a five part mini-series of blogposts, so hang tight. More will be explained later. But just to give you an idea... One of Kevin's favorite activities any public place we go is to ask me, "who do you know here?" And half the time, I do know somebody. But I've given up saying hello to them sometimes because they don't usually remember who I am... but I know who they are, and I

Today's post inspired by Ella Henderson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lois Johnson (my high school Choir Teacher).  -Ella Henderson "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."  -Teddy Roosevelt "Doing something really hard, really well... that's real fun." -Lois Johnson YOUR LIFE IS HARD MY LIFE IS HARD BUT GUYS LET'S BE REAL  NOTHING TRULY WORTH IS EASY. DID THAT A GRADE IN STATS CLASS COME EASY MY JUNIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE?  HECK NO! IT CAME AFTER YEARS OF JUST BARELY MAKIN' IT IN ALGEBRA  AND SUMMERS OF MATH SHEETS AND TUTORING FROM MY DAD AND ALL THAT TIME IN THE THIRD GRADE MEMORIZING MY MATH FACTS.  DID I REALLY JUST "PICK UP" THAT SECOND LANGUAGE  ? HECK NO! IT CAME AFTER STRUGGLE AND SOLITUDE AND LONELINESS AND LANGUAGE BARRIERS  (AND SILENT MOMENTS AT LOTS OF PEOPLE'S DINNER TABLES) AND TALKING A LOT TO GOD,  BECAUSE HE UNDERSTOO

Have you noticed that certain food smells take you places? It's amazing how our senses are intertwined. Here's a few of my favorites--list one or two of yours in the comments below. POPCORN: initially, it smells like the movies. But after that, it smells like reading a good book after school. CINNAMON ROLLS: initially, they smell like mom's kitchen on a special Sunday evening. But after that, they smell like walking into the mall and passing Cinnabon and the pedicure place on my way to Bath & Body Works. CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: initially... also mom's kitchen. But after that, they smell like something to look forward to in Dr. Arnold's office after my braces got tightened. COFFEE GROUNDS: Now, I don't drink coffee. But initially (ALWAYS) they smell like WAKING UP AT A HOTEL IN DISNEYLAND! That's the first place I smelled it (I don't much smell coffee since nobody in my family drinks it). After that, it smells like the baking isle at

At times, I am completely overwhelmed by all the pain of everyone. It seems of late that the earth is completely overrun with floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, wars, mental illnesses, deaths, shootings, rapes, addictions, divorces, diseases, loneliness, infertility, job loss... You know. I know. At times the suffering is suffocating. As I've been wrestling with the tears and heartache of my own life and others' (both of strangers and lifelong friends alike), I've pleaded with God to understand why these things happen. Of late, three quiet but reassuring thoughts come to mind. #1--These things help us grow. See  D&C 122 for more details on that one. #2--That's what moms are for, that's what they help with. Whether that be our mothers or other women who nurture us, just as this video portrays--to every woman who nurtures out there, you are not JUST a mom. You heal the heartaches of life. Remember that. #3--God sends angels to buoy us up during o

Last night Kevin, Charlie and I made the trek to a little teeny town to attend the reception of an old friend of ours. We drove down an old road in farm country to a lovely abode, where the reception was held in the backyard. As we pulled in, a smiling gentleman in a baseball cap and cowboy boots greeted us and told us he'd park our car for us (the parking lot was a grassy field, by the way). I have never been somewhere that had valet parking, so I asked where we could pick up our keys later on. He responded, "I'll just leave them in the car for you." I was dumbfounded, and Kevin just smiled, kissed my forehead, and said, "We're in a small town, love." I'd forgotten what that felt like. The reception was lovely, simple, happy. The bride and groom couldn't be more beautiful, but in a perfectly un-flashy, sincere way. The country backdrop, setting sun, mooing cows, and fresh earth smell was entirely relaxing. Several folks asked us where we

Pencil & Pen As long as I have a pencil or a pen With a little paper I've some dear friends. With Time... Weeks and months and years, they roll Away from me in a speedy race Then why do days and minutes stroll It seems at such a leisure pace? The Essential Quiet for Building Faith I know in order to believe I need quiet moments' soft reprieve An hour to reflect on life To talk with God of Joy and strife. Resolutions Yesterday I Said I'd eat better tomorrow. And that's still quite true, But tomorrow's still a day away, see So I'll see this piece of pie through.

So I'm mildly obsessed with Ed Sheeran's song, Perfect . Until this week, I had only listened to  Perfect Symphony,  which Sheeran sings with Andrea Bocelli. This song sounds like every romantic language ever. It smells like roses. It tastes like basalmic soaked cheeses and Martinelli's and Giovani Rana pasta. It feels like slow dancing with my head on my husband's chest. It looks like flickering candles and a veranda and shimmers on a dark pond.  But GUYS. There's like SIX VERSIONS OF THIS SONG, all of which are sung by Ed Sheeran himself--not just covers done by other ambitious artists.  It's incredible--I haven't researched the history of why there's so many versions, but I have this feeling that Sheeran couldn't decide on just one setting for this gorgeous piece. So he broke tradition and made a bunch so that each couple could have one that's just right. Well, all of them are just right, let's be real. But for differe

Kevin and I met while working as secretaries in an advisement center on campus. One of the best/worst things about being a secretary is that people come around and talk... it's at once hilarious, revealing, uncomfortable, endearing, awkward, and emotional to be a front-desk-ite hearing people spill their stories. Nathan came around to talk one morning (this was during a season when Kevin and I's interest in each other was strong but still unspoken), and he began to chat with Kevin while I was entering some sort of humdrum clerical data. He began to explain how aggravating it can be to match  Tupperware lids to their corresponding containers and compared it to how aggravating dating can be. Some lids look like they'll fit the containers (just like some folks look like they'll be a perfect match), but they just don't quite cut it because they're overly oval or a little large or novelly narrow. But every so often you'll have an odd duck combo, like a star-sha

Okay, so some things I've learned while Grocery Shopping... Firstly, Either you have more time than money, or more money than time when it comes to stocking your fridge & pantry. And that will determine what you can buy and where and how much effort you put into grocery shopping. (Many thanks to my Facebook friends last summer for helping me figure a lot of this stuff out, in the comments they gave on a post inquiry I had about frugal shopping): If you have more time than money, then you ought to check the following out: Ibotta  app and/or  Checkout 51  app. With these apps, you simply look for "offers" of rebates you can receive by purchasing various items at differing retailers. Then, you scan your receipts after your purchase. The companies that run these apps then reimburse you after a certain collective rebate amount is met (usually 20$) and you pocket the funds via venmo or a mail-in check, etc. I wondered what the catch was, really the only thing you hav