December, thus far...

I'm behind in my blogging (really, what else is new??)... It's already the middle of December and almost CHRISTMAS--that, I can't even believe... The month of December started off with a much needed weekend away with my husband in Crosslake, Minnesota at a cute little lodge resort. I say it was much needed because of many reasons but mainly because life gets crazy, our jobs get crazy, our son IS crazy, (well, sometimes!), and because probably just like every other couple in the world, sometimes we just don't get to connect and have uninterrupted time alone, together. So we went, we shopped, we ate (lots), we toured the brainerd area, and we took naps.... Ahhhh wonderful :)
Then as always, it was back to real life in Darwin for the Johnsons! (Which, by that time, we were more than ready to be back home to our little monster known as Ryder) Since then we have stayed busy... Last week we took Ryder to the Holidazzle Parade and to the Macy's 8th Floor Display - A Day in the Life of an Elf :) He loved every minute of the parade and was more than excited to have a little chit chat with Santa at Macy's... He was a little dissapointed after we left Santa and I couldn't figure out why, but then I realized that he actually thought that Santa GIVES you the toy you tell him you want right then and there... Ooops! Nice going mom, didn't explain that one very well! Haha...It was nothing a big sugar cookie couldn't fix, and that is exactly what we did --grabbed some delicious cookies and headed home for the night! As for this week, it has honestly been a blur. Things have really picked up at work and I am COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS until Christmas vacation where I will have some time off! This weekend will be another busy one with college graduation parties of good friends, last minute Christmas baking, and Max's birthday is coming up on Monday! :) The big 2-6.....(What an old man!) I am also ecstatic to say that my best friend is coming home to visit from Florida next week (hope you bring your Uggs, my friend--no sandals needed here! Brrrr)
Overall, we have stayed busy this month, which is probably a good thing as we have had plenty of ups and downs to deal with lately. We are fortunate to have the amazing support of our family, our friends, and eachother to help get us through each and every obstacle that life throws at us...Patience is a virtue that I have yet to master, but I am slowly learning to take things as they come, one day at a time.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well, it is the Johnson household anyway! Our tree is up (pictures posted soon....if you're lucky;) the Christmas lights are up on the house, and (the few) Christmas decorations we have are all up! I also got Ryder to take some winter pictures for me one snowy day last week for our Christmas card (which I LOVE by the way, thanks to Miss Emily Binsfeld!! I love her work and let's just say she is saving me LOTS of money on Christmas cards this year)--love it. Now if only I could finish up with the shopping! I don't have much left, but I'm definitely not done yet either.

The other exciting thing we have going on is our basement project has finally started! It is all framed up and we just picked out the bathtub this weekend so hopefully the plumbers/electrician get over here soon. I am sooooo excited to have the other half of our house to use, it is going to give us so much more space!! The basement will consist of the family/living room, a bedroom, and office/spare bedroom, storage room, full bathroom, and walkout to the (one day, when finished) patio! The upstairs will then have the master bedroom and master bathroom/closet, Ryder's bedroom, the guest bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, and what is now being used as a living room upstairs will eventually be the formal dining room! Other projects will be some painting projects, some renovation in Max and I's bathroom (knocking down a wall and installing a bathtub), and a tiled backsplash in our kitchen. Our house is a never ending project, but then again, who's isn't??

As a side note, Ryder has had a bad cold for the last week or so. It really hasn't stopped him from doing too much, since it's just a bad cough and runny nose, but his attitude has been soooooo bad. I've really had to practice some 'tough love' parenting lately. Seriously, this girl doesn't deal with backtalk from a three year old. Needless to say, I've had to whip out the "Santa is watching...." threat more than a few times lately.

Blessed with Bliss...*

Thanksgiving came and went and once again it was good food, great family time, and lots to be thankful for!Max and I are truly blessed with all the amazing things we have going for us in our lives... Our family, who we love very much, the true friends who have always been there for us, Ryder who keeps laughter in our home, Mickey--who I swear is the most calm and peaceful dog in the world, our house that we are lucky enough to call home, our jobs that help us to provide for our family with, our faith that keeps hope in our hearts, and last but not least, we are thankful for eachother.


It doesn't get much better than that :)


Thank you to anyone/everyone who falls into any of the above categories in our lives! Well....If Thanksgiving was here, that means BLACK FRIDAY also came!! I spend a lot of time arguing my case for BF shopping, but mostly it comes down to this -- Black Friday shopping is about the experience, it's about a fun holiday tradition with my mom and my sister, and if we happen to get some good deals while we're at it, then so be it! This year we tried something new and attempted to do some shopping on Thanksgiving night at Toys R Us and then spend the night with my Uncle in St.Cloud... Well, that didn't exactly happen. We drove past the store and said, ummm.....no thank you--the line was out the door and alllllll the way around to the back of the store and it was eleven degrees outside! We headed to my uncles and decided that the deals would still be there in the morning so we went to sleep and at 5:40am we were at it again! Started at Toys R us, then headed to Target and the mall.... It was a successful day shopping to say the least and I accomplished a lot! Now I can't wait to *hopefully* head to Holidazzle Parade tonight (depending on how Ryder is feeling), go to Turck's Trees tomorrow to have a chit-chat with Santa Claus and pick out our Christmas tree. Then we will string the lights and decorate the house and life will be just grand :)

Ohhhhh Starr....

Taking care of my horse is very similar to that of a dog. It's true. For instance, this afternoon (beautiful outside!!) I came home from work, headed out to Star's pasture where she happily greeted me at the gate and gave me a low whinny... I opened up the gate, snapped on a lead rope, and brought her into the front yard to let her mow down on all the grass her little heart desires since the grass in her pasture is pretty much depleted (don't worry, she gets plenty of hay to make up for this!). I then brushed her for a bit and headed inside to start some laundry and clean my house before the monster (aka: Ryder) got home... Every once in a while I would peek out the front window and there Starr would be, just happily chomping away in front of the house. About an hour and half later it dawned on me that it was begiinning to get dark outside and I stepped out on the front porch and there was Starr, just kind of hanging out right by the steps like, ummm shouldn't I be put back in my fence now?! She's kind of cute sometimes, as slow and as old as she is - at least she is loyal :)

Wedding Chimes, Jingle Bells, and Everything in Between!

I know, I know... Wedding chimes, AGAIN?!? Yes my friends....one more round and then my diet-like-crazy-to-squeeze-my-ass-into-yet-another-bridesmaid-dress season will finally come to an end! AMEN! :) (I must admit that's not entirely true, I have not been dieting like crazy, just the opposite in fact, I've been eating everything in sight --how can you resist fall sweets and halloween treats!?) Speaking of sweets, apple pie is in the oven.....delish.
Anyways, Mellissa and Nate's big day is this FRIDAY in Little Falls and I can't wait! Best wishes to the happy couple!! I'm kind of surprised for the wedding because I really did not partake in a lot of planning, so everything is kind of a surprise to me as well! The color is a deep dark teal with accent colors of black and cream, should be beautiful! More than anything, pretty sure Ryder is going be a STUD MUFFIN in his little black suit pants, white shirt, and black tie. :) Who doesn't love a kid in a tie!?
Side note--> I did a little Christmas shopping today! I'm finally starting to get in the holiday spirit!! I haven't done a whole lot of Christmas shopping, but peice by peice I've been picking up a few things! Ryder joined me shopping today and helped me to pick out a few gifts for a couple of his cousins...I know its only early November but I know all too well that these next couple of months will FLY by and Christmas will be here before I know it! I've been thinking of all the fun things I want to do with Ryder this year INCLUDING: Macy's holiday display in Minneapolis, HOLIDAZZLE PARADE, Sledding, Snowmobiling, Turck's Trees (family tradition!) and about a million other things that are fresh on my mind.... I seriously love this time of year...

As excited as I am to do all those fun things with Ryder, I am equally excited to spend a whole weekend ALONE with my husband!! ----> December 3rd and 4th Max and I are headed to a resort in Crosslake for a small getaway to just be together. I am so thankful that we are able to take a few 'mini-vacations' throughout the year because I think they are SO important! Don't get me wrong, I love our life and am thankful for our son and our jobs but sometimes life gets so busy and hectic that it's just nice to slow down and have nothing on the agenda other than enjoying time together without distractions... Ahhhhhhh can't wait!!

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Life as we know it...

has been changing a lot lately! Yes, my poor blog has been neglected but honestly, EXHAUSTED has been the only word that comes to mind when I think back on the last couple of weeks! I began my new job as the Meeker County Truancy Specialist and I. LOVE. IT. :) It has been exhausting, challenging, fun, and exciting since day one. I love having a job that I can look forward to going to each day, it makes SUCH a difference and my anxiety levels have gone wayyyyy down! Okay, what else.... Halloween is coming up and I have a little Spiderman crawling on the walls over here. Okay, not literally but he would if he could. I can't count how many times he's asked if he can try on his costume because he "woves having biiiigg musows" (we are still working on the LLLLLLLLLL sounds!) He also had his kindergarten screening this past week and I may or may not have been the lame mom who teared up the whole time. True story. Oh and also, when I tucked him in to bed not long ago I reminded him that he's a big boy and he needs to sleep in his own bed (sometimes he sneaks in our bed) and his response was "I will mom, unless that bear comes back outside my window again" ----ummmmmmm?? Okay? Sick of hearing about Ryder yet?? Too bad, my blog :)

I'm sad to say that my biggest guilty pleasure ended yesterday. Okay, so I love Teen Mom. Sometimes I like to pretend that Maci and I are secretely best friends (except that I really wouldn't be a good friend to her because I would probably try to sleep with both Kyle AND Ryan....Yum :)) and I also cringe and want to throw things at the TV everytime Amber goes crazy. As a mandated reporter I find myself questioning how she even has a child sometimes....A little harsh?? Oh well. Anyways, it's over and life sucks once again.

The weather has been fabulous lately and I love it! Baking has started in full force and am hoping ot whip out some apple pies this weekend if I get to the orchard. I made the pie crusts last week but just haven't found time to do anything with them yet so in the freezer they sit. I did, however, just make granola bars and they were quite tasty if I do say so myself! They are Ryder's favoooorrriiiteee snack and they're super healthy so I'm all about it. I've also been able to saddle up and ride Starr quite a bit lately although I've been worried about her so I'm going to stay off of her for a while. She recently started losing weight, and quite a bit of it. Not a good sign for a horse. She seems to have her appetite back now, which is a good thing so we've just been increasing her hay/oats lately to put some weight on her before winter comes. Sadly, she's also been a little 'stumbly' lately which is also not a good sign--poor girl. Anyways, she is up to date with all her shots, has been dewormed recently,and the ferrier was just out this week so at this point I guess we just wait and hope that things start to improve... I have faith in her, she's just too sweet...

Lately in my free time I've been editing and playing around with some pictures from my friend Elicia's wedding that I was able to take for her. I got to play photographer for a day and it was so much fun (with the help of Max during some of the wedding party photos -- I LOVE photography and am hoping to one day make a dark room in our basement and kick it old school with an old 35mm film camera and develop my own film. Film photography was my favorite class in college at Montana State and I haven't done it since.... My Nikon is fun to play with as well but nothing beats the classic b&w film....

It's MEA this week so that means a 4 day weekend for this girl! I have one quick court hearing tomorrow for a kid I work with that shouldn't last too long and other than that, Ryder and I are going to head to willmar for lunch with some old coworkers and then relax all day! Gosh my blogs get long lately...