Christmas Letter 2013

I finally wrote my Christmas Letter today so I thought I would share it here as well. Obviously if you read my blog you probably know just about everything that's in the letter but I thought you might still enjoy it :)

Merry Christmas dear humans! My mom figured out how smart I was so she made me write the letter this year. I was going to refuse until she promised me homemade dog treats, so obviously my tail said yes. Apparently I’m supposed to tell you what’s going on in our world, so here it is.  

The biggest bit of news is my dad (you humans call him Seth) finally moved home in August. Him and my mom went on a second honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean and when they got back he was at home. Thank goodness because Mom and I spent the beginning of the year seeing him only every other weekend when he made the long drive home from Texas. Before he moved home though my mom got to go to down to Texas for a long weekend in April to check out the big job he was building. She tells me it’s pretty awesome and that she’s not quite sure how he figured out how to build the job, but that he must be pretty smart. (Obviously he’s not smart enough to keep his shoes put away so I don’t chew on them though.) Anyway, dad’s in the Topeka office now being a Project Manager. He still travels a couple days a month but most nights he comes home to rub my belly, so I’m glad for the change. My mom must be glad too because she keeps making dinner. She must be wanting to keep him around or something. 

My mom spent most of the year working for the printing company she worked for last year. In November she was laid off though. It kinda came as a surprise, but I must say that I don’t mind, because now she hangs out with me everyday while looking for jobs. She has also kept pretty busy as a part time photographer when she’s not taking pictures of me, instagramming her food, or blogging. In November she got the chance to go to Indianapolis to the the National Catholic Youth Conference as a chaperone, since she volunteers with the high school youth group at church. She said it was awesome and that it was incredible to see so many young people there celebrating their faith.  

Since I’m sure you are all wondering, no she’s not pregnant with humans or puppies or anything else so you can quit asking. My mom and dad know God has a plan for them and until he decides to bless them with children, I’m the one getting the attention around here (as it should be).  

In other news, my dad has pretty much completed the giant shop and has been building workbenches, a house for me, and he even installed the wood stove last weekend. Now it’s nice and cozy. My mom spent the summer gardening and making fresh salsa, canning spaghetti sauce and trying out new recipes. Most of which have been approved by dad, all have been approved by me. They celebrated 2 years of marriage in October and feel blessed to finally live under the same roof.  

Okay, enough about them. I turned 1 in April and my parents didn’t even throw a party for me. To show them I wasn’t happy about it, I ate the neighbors UPS deliveries. Luckily the neighbors seem to like me so they weren’t really mad. I got lost in October when I was hanging out with another neighbor and got locked in their shed. My mom and dad came to search for me though and managed to find me at about 11pm! Thank goodness the neighbors were nice and weren’t too mad about being woken up to rescue me. I continue to live a pretty good life out here in the country. I dig lots of holes trying to catch moles, I bark at birds and the mail lady likes to give me treats. Speaking of treats, it’s about time for me to go get those homemade treats my mom promised. So, see ya later humans. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year!
 

                                                          Gunnar Johnson
(Seth and Julie)

This is actually last years photo because we still haven't taken one.
Story of my life. 

I Gained 5 Pounds

I'm BAAACK!! 

In case you didn't notice I've been MIA the past week, I would like to point it out now (P.S. thanks to Kala for providing the one and only post while I was gone). Seth and I got home from our cruise Saturday, which also happened to be my 27th Birthday. Dang, I'm old. 

I'm pretty sure I'm still recovering from a fantastic trip and a long fun-filled 3 day weekend though, so I don't have a whole lot to ramble about right now. 

Here's a few highlights from the vacay.

• I gained 5 pounds because I ate approximately 7 meals a day (minimum). 
  
  
  
• I was a terrible blogger and only managed to take photos of a couple meals. I was too busy eating them. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The long island ice teas they serve on the Beach in St. Thomas are straight alcohol. Nothing else. This girl was duuunnnne.
  
  
  
• The free donut shop on the ship could have caused a lot more damage if they had been Krispy Kremes.
  
  
  
• Our ship made other ships look like toys when we were parked next to them at port.

  

  This photo doesn't even do it justice.

• We were offered illegal drugs no less than 3 times while visiting St. Maarten.
• I ran 2.4 laps around the running track on the ship exactly one time which equals 1 mile. Then I ate more food.
  
• I somehow managed to spend $0 on souvenirs but dropped way to much change on a couples massage. 
• No matter where we were going we managed to end up on the wrong side of the ship 9 times out of 10. It was huge. That's what she said.
• I thought about work 0 total times until we got back to KS and I realized no tornadoes had passed through the area to destroy it. 
• We saw lots of itsy-bitsey-teeny-weeny-bikinis on not so itsy-bitsey-teeny-weeny people. And WAY too many Speedos. Unless your an Olympic swimmer, the answer is NO to the Speedo.

And finally...

• Two different people asked Seth and I if we were brother and sister. No, and WTF?

I hope to write more about the trip later in the week. I'm sure it will be all the extra stuff you find incredibly boring, but I want to remember it when I'm old. So, feel free to read and roll your eyes or skip it and come back later:)

One very important final note:

MY HUSBAND FINALLY LIVES IN THE SAME HOUSE AS ME!!!! 

4th of July Recap

Warning: Photo overload in this post!

I'm disappointed that this holiday is over so quickly. It's probably a good thing though because I'm still exhausted from all the shenanigans. Good thing it's almost the weekend again:)

It was a fantastic 4 days away from work and filled with lots of food. 

My hubs made it home Wednesday night, just in time to shower and change before heading to a 3rd of July party. We ate some food, drank some drinks, and watched people try to blow things up. What's not to love?

Excuse me, it was so cold, I wore a sweater. In July. 

My cousin Sophia and my husband have a very love-hate relationship. 

Sophia and I just have a Love-love relationship. 

No one was harmed during the exploding of these explosives. 

Thursday morning I got a little sleep while Seth mowed the yard. His favorite thing to do. Seriously, it is. I cut up some fruit to take to the family reunion at my Grandma's and we picked up a bucket of fried chicken. Oh yum, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

What? You don't cut your fruit into star shapes?

Lots of people showed up to Grandma's and after saying the pledge of allegiance and praying we chowed down on all the food. 

Grandpa leading the group in The Pledge. Enjoy the socks. 

Julie, would you like some carbs with your chicken? Why yes, I think I would thanks!

Perhaps a slice of Peanut Butter Pizza as well? Don't mind if I do!

It was then time to relax and enjoy our adult bevvies while watching little kids. So responsible, aren't we?

Maybe my husband and I have reclining lawn chairs. 

My cousin Dominic and his girlfriend with the most patriotic
hand-painted cooler I've ever seen!

I don't even know. Yankee doodle dandy maybe?

Just eating a brownie before her sister can steal it from her. 

Since a bunch of the cousins were decked out in our matching apparel we thought it best to take a photo. Obviously, we ordered our Grandparent's shirts as well. What Grandparent's wouldn't love a "Time to Get Star Spangled Hammered" shirt?

Cheers, America!

Here's a terribly unflattering photo of me with some of the cousins. You're welcome. 

Me and hubs. Mildly freaked out by overly skinny wrists.

We were the entertained by a hearty rendition of "cups" courtesy of my cousin Michael. 

Seth managed to hit not one but two triples in the family softball game. His team won. nbd.

Good thing he hit the ball far because he's not too fast. Sorry love.

Then we ate some more (not to be confused with a s'more) before enjoying all the night time fireworks.

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the fireworks.
Notice Grandpa never changed out of his shirt:)

It was definitely an amazing 4th and no one lost an eye. Bonus! Can't wait until the next one:) 

4th of July Crafting

It's FRIDAY!! Okay, so it's not really Friday but it's my last work day of the week which essentially means, it's Friday. If it's not your Friday, please excuse my exuberance in this post.

I'm ready for 4 beautiful days of nothing but fun times on fun times on fun times. Hubs will be on his way home from Texas in a few short hours and then we are heading over to a 3rd of July party to get the weekend started right.

We've got a great weekend planned in Kansas City, Kansas City here we come (feel free to sing along.) Look forward to that update next week. 

Well, on to business. 

As I think I have already explained. I love the 4th. A lot. So, I've been doing a few crafts to help me celebrate. 

A lovely little banner wreath on our front door. 

Then I painted a few colorful blocks. 

Mod Podged and freehanded a couple letters...

And BOOM! A patriotic bathroom. (nevermind the fuzzy-ness)
Find the patriotic printable here. 

Looking forward to an amazing weekend. Remember, don't shoot your eye out!

Growing a Garden

Remember when my garden looked like this? All sweet and innocent in nice pretty rows?

Barely sprouting out of the ground?

Well, it's been a month and we have had lots of rain. Which means, my garden grows right along with the weeds. So, it turned into a jungle. 

Literally, a jungle. 

Monday, I busted out the tiller, my garden gloves and an empty wheelbarrow and went to work. After about two hours I had a pile of weeds, muddy knees and some satisfaction.

This picture doesn't even do the amount of weeds justice. It was A LOT.

My jungle is starting to resemble a garden again.

Thank goodness. I was about to spray it all with roundup and say, "let's try again next year."

So far, I have been able to pick, and eat, some lettuce, spinach, onions and my husband had a few Serrano peppers. It's coming along slowly but surely. Not that slow really but it sure seems like it.

We have lots of tomatoes that are waiting to turn red and I'm pretty sure I planted too many green beans. Oh well, I guess I will have some to share since Seth doesn't seem too excited about them. 

Fresh food from your own garden is by far the best. I guarantee it!

Insta-Drop

I decided to do a new series I'm calling "Insta-Drop." Haven't googled the name so it's probably not original but oh well. I like it and that's what I'm calling it. Anyways...I'm just going to drop some/all of my Instagram photos from the past week or so on here. 

Feel free to follow me on Instagram and leave your "Insta-Name" below in the comments so I can follow you too:)

This was from #throwbackthursday. That's me on the left, my brother Joe in the middle and my youngest brother Mike on the right. As you can see my mom was fond of overalls. Lucky for me, I love them too. Probably a good thing because 9 out of 10 photos of myself as a child involve a pair of overalls. And don't be too jealous of Mike's hair, it didn't stay like that when he grew up, unfortunately. 

The sky near my house last week as the sun was setting. There were too many trees blocking my view so I jumped in my car and drove half a mile down the road so I could snap this. Country livin' at it's best folks. 

Dinner several days. Brown rice, garlic baked chicken and
steamed broccoli that I threw in a pan to sauté with diced red peppers. Yum. 

My nephew Ryder. The ladies better watch out for his big brown eyes.  Love this kid!

My cute husband catching while his little brother practices his pitching skills. Seth was a pitcher back in his college days and still loves the game. Never-mind his work clothes, no time to change before the game.

The necklace I used to wear in high school. Seth and I started dating in high school and he was #5 on the baseball team. Apparently I used to be a jersey chaser. And cool.

Leave your "Insta-Names" below so I can check out your photos!