Love/Hate...

A few things I have a love/hate relationship with:

...jillian michaels, need I say more?? Worst 20 minutes of my life, but when it's over I feel GREAT!!

...my job, office drama is NOT my thing, in addition to long hours away from my family and overnight work trips (SUCK.) however, the youth in my program are THE BEST! :)

...red beets. Okay, so my sister in law, Amy, raved about these things one night while Max and I were just about to start planting our garden, she swore up and down that her kids loved them and that they taste IDENTICAL to sweet corn...... Low and behold, it's true. We made them for the first time tonight and they are SUPER YUMMY and taste JUST LIKE sweet corn!! However, the DEEP red purple and texture throws me off a little bit, and it makes your teeth resemble that of a blood sucking vampire (Speaking of vampires...I have YET to go see the new Eclipse movie---ooohhhhhh jacob!!! :))

...central air -- I love being outside on a hot summer day and then walking into a fresh cool house, but within minutes I am digging through my closet for sweat pants and a hoodie because then I just start to freeze. I prefer the good ol' open windows and ceiling fans any day!

...the idea of Ryder starting preschool in a few short months, when did my sweet baby turn into a preschooler????

...CANDY -- In my opinion, the path to hell is paved with tootsie rolls, smarties, licorice, and chocolate!! I consider myself to be a pretty healthy eater, I usually have a decent breakfast, soymilk, an apple everyday, love veggies, salads for lunch, etc... HOWEVER, if there is the slightest hint of something sugary (candy) around me, I fall for it everytime. Sometimes all I need is a little smartie or jolly rancher to get me going, but honestly, it's my downfall. Very frustrating...

I could go on forever, but I should really catch up on our past weekend... It was afterall, WATERCADE ! :) Ahhhh, nothing like Watercade to bring out the best in Litchy Patch ;) Friday night was the beach party where Ryder had a blast running around to all of our friends and harassing them as best he could, then he got to stay up super late to watch a SPECTACULAR fireworks show over the lake which he loved, then it was back home and into bed we went! Saturday morning was supposed to be the lake ripley run, although we didn't really have a sitter and the run started super early in the morning, so instead, I did the walk at 9:30 with Sam and Gavin, Kristin and Beth, and of course, Ryder in his stroller.... Well, apparently God decided to punish me for not waking my lazy ass up for the run, and it rained nearly the whole 4 mile walk around Lake Ripley -- Ryder was not so impressed, as you can imagine.... However, we made it! Then of course later that evening came the parade and then Ryder was brought to "Mema Nancy's" for the night so Max and I could attend the highly anticipated street dances... Ummmmm, not so much. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood or something, but due to the rain (no parking lot street dance) everyone and their mother's brother packed into every bar in town and wow, was it crowded! After about an hour (maybe less?) at the VFW, a very sober Max and Danielle returned home for a good night's sleep!

As a side note....... All of my horse talk is finally being put into action! Sunday Max and I drove to Alexandria to look at Star, a registered quarter horse mare who we fell in love with--she is pretty much everything we have been wanting for our 'perfect first horse', she's older, in her upper teens, so very calm, great around children, and seemingly very easygoing! We decided not to make a decision that very day as we really wanted to think on it to be sure, but we have decided to go ahead and get her--due to our schedules we won't be able to go pick her up for a couple weeks and we have a lot to get done before then, but it's definitely still exciting for us! Wish us luck :)

Wow, what a random/all over the place blog post -- deal with it.... :)

Barefoot. Bikini. Beach.

Those three words have pretty summed up our last week, and what a wonderful week it was! Unfortunately, we are back to reality now, and although life in Darwin is pretty exciting - nothing can compare to the memories we made in Kure Beach, North Carolina. Between spending time with family, lounging in the pool, shopping with the hubby, spending lazy afternoons at the beach, eating the MARVELOUS southern food, and checking out local attractions, we were busy to say the least! I wasn't sure how Ryder was going to take the beach, the sand, the ocean, the people, etc, but he LOVED it!! He loved to spend his time building jumps in the sand for his trucks and running in and out of the ocean squealing with delight as the tide would wash up on his little toes...It was so precious to watch him, and yes, I took a MILLION pictures :) (Will post some eventually...) I am so proud of my little man and how well he did on the WHOLE vacation, I can't believe how adapting and cheerful he was! I am so glad we spent the money and decided to go, it was a vacation we will never forget...

Although vacation was amazing, we are also very happy to be home with our puppies again (who are currently snoozing at the bottom of my feet as I write this). We missed them so much! We also were excited to come home and see what new flowers have bloomed and how BIG everything had gotten in our garden! Ryder and I enjoyed some yummy sugar snap peas fresh out of the garden today--they were delicious! Makes all that hard work well worth it...

Now this weekend we are looking forward to a long fourth of July weekend-- hanging out with family and getting stuff done around the house, story of my life! :)

Heat, and a lot of it!!!

It's official, we are on VACATION!!! :) Meaning, I am not going to blog for very long, but as I sit and wait for Ryder to fall asleep - I will fill you all in on the details of our trip..... I know the curiosity is just killing you ;)

5:30am came bright and early this morning and off we were to pick up my mom and head to the airport! Ryder was so excited, he just chatted our ears off the whole way to the airport... When it finally came time to load the plane, I was one anxious mommy. I have been flying my whole life, but it wasn't until I had kids (okay, KID, no...I'm not spilling any secret news via my blog) that I started to DREAD flights. I just start panicking and keep thinking "what if", etc, etc. However, as you can see, we made it just fine! Ryder LOVED everything about the airplane ride...he thought the take off was exciting, then decided he was tired and laid down and took a nap! When he woke up he was full of energy, had some snacks, and then we landed! All in all, couldn't have asked for an easier trip...Hoping the way back home is just as relaxed... Since then, we've just been at my grandpa's house and we've had a lot of visitors which has been fun, but exhausting at the same time. Not sure of our plans for tomorrow but since the weather is supposed to be 100 degrees again (it's like a sauna here!) I'm guessing it will involve a POOL, and..... possibly some shopping ;) Can't wait to head to the BEACH!!!

I'd rather be in bed....

It's 10:36pm on a Saturday night and I wish I could be sleeping right now... Lame, I know. My work week was exhausting this past week working 12-14 hour days and not getting home until 11pm and I still haven't quite caught up with sleep.... Why am I not in bed now, you may ask? Because I'm waiting for a DELICIOUS apple pie to finish baking for Father's Day tomorrow.

Long story short: My mommy-in-law taught me how to make the best apple pies in the world, I made one for Thanksgiving for my parents, my dad fell in love, and now for Father's day he is getting a homemade apple pie :) Currently, it's in the oven and starting to smell amazing, meaning it's almost done!

As I wait, you'll have to deal with me rambling on about nothing in particular... Started packing today for our trip! Countdown = t minus 4 days until VACATION!! I'm SO READY to get away for a while with Max and Ryder for a whole week just to relax, enjoy the sun (hopefully!), introduce Ryder to the ocean, feel the sand between my toes, enjoy a glass of delicious wine, eat amazing and FRESH seafood (yum!) and lose track of days and time in general.... If you couldn't tell, I'm pretty excited.

Another thing I'm pretty excited for (I told you I was going to start rambling....It's sleep deprivation, I swear) is adding another addition to the johnson farm :) Ever since I moved in with Max over a year ago on this quaint little 'farmstead' I have been dreaming of getting a horse! I think they are by far the most beautiful animals in the entire world and would love to be able to have one here to admire each day grazing in our pasture... That is, the pasture that doesn't quite exist yet, but will soon! Anyways...I've continued to bring up the idea of getting horse and somewhere along the way, someone (Max) started taking me seriously apparently. We've now been looking at a few horses and currently have been making some plans on whether or not we can/will bite the bullet and get a horse! My dad has also gotten involved in our plans lately and has offered to let us keep the horse in his pastures until we get our barn up and running and a fence up. Since he also bale's his own hay, that will help us out alot! Anyways...It could be a week, a month, or a year (who knows?) before we actually get to follow through with this horse business, but either way, the idea gives me something to look forward to!

Is it time for bed yet????

oohhhhhh ryder!!

As I'm sitting at work yesterday at approximately noon, I get a call from my hubby... I can't answer right away so I later send him a text and ask what he needed.... He then comments, "Oh nothing, I just noticed when I went home for lunch today that Ryder colored on his walls last night"...... Ummmm.....WHAT!?!? I burst out laughing because seriously, this is such a sneaky little Ryder move!!
Every night we have a bedtime routine of teeth brushing, peeing, jammies, story, and prayers. Ryder then kicks us out of his room and he secretly continues to play. We really don't mind, because usually he just gets down to get a few toys and then hops back up to bed where we are then serenaded by some great tunes like "bah bah back sheep" and "ipsy bipsy spider", etc. Well, apparently, he switched up the routine last night and was feeling rather creative as he drew a masterpeice on his wall :) Max couldn't figure out how/why I thought it was so precious that he did that, but for me, I just think of it as one of those adorable toddler moments that when I first found out I was pregnant I knew I would one day encounter....

As for my little Picaso-to-be, when asked about the incident a big sly smile creeped across his face and he said, "I'm sorry for doing that, I won't do it again, mommy"...How do you stay mad at that?!?!
.......On a small side note, Max just made homemade bread, I love that man :)

life, in general

I feel like I haven't blogged in a while... I'm trying to think of what all has happened in our lives since the last time I wrote... I'm drawing a blank, although I know we've been SUPER busy! This past weekend, especially, was a busy one for us. Friday I had off of work and ran errands with Kristin and Ryder for most of the day... Sadly, Ryder then left us for the weekend to spend it in Breezy Point (which is becomming his favorite place in the world!) with his Daddy and grandparents.... That left this mommy itching for a night out with the girls, and man, did we have just that! I won't go into any of the fabulous details, but I will tell you that we ended up at Kickers, and well, if you're from Litchfield, you know that means that you should have been cut off right around the time you closed the FIRST bar down at (which for us, was the VFW)...Needless to say, 7AM came quite early the next morning when I had to get up and get ready for Kristin's bridal shower!
Unfortunately, there was no time for a nap on Saturday. We finished up with Kristin's shower around 11 and then I headed out to the cabin to watch the Lake Stella Triatholon, which really is just a fancy name for Max, his brothers, and a few friends to compete in some kayaking, running, and biking, and then of course beer drinking and food after it's all said and done. ;) I am happy to report that my husband did NOT take last this year -- woohoo Max!! After some wonderful food and conversation with Max's family, we then headed home to shower and then immediately take off to Blaise's 3rd Birthday party... Which was then followed with Blair's birthday party, which we didn't really stick around for, because this sad excuse of a 22 year old was SPENT and needed a long back massage from my husband followed by sweet dreams in my bed! :) Sunday was a lot of landscaping and we even scored the BEST deals on perennials (except of course for the free ones we get from Cindy!!) from a local lady in town, I'm so exciting for them to bloom!!

Lastly, today is Monday which means VOLLEYBALL :) Our first game was tonight and we didn't do too bad at all! We won one game and lost two but they were SUPER close and we went into overtime every game -- our team consists of me, Max, Emily, Andy, Kristin, John, and Kyle... We are currently in the process of making shirts, yes, we are that cool.

One small note, for those of you on the facebook world, you are already aware of this, but today was my first and LAST day of a no carb diet.... NEVER AGAIN!!! I realize now that I can not live without fruit, yogurt, milk, bread, pasta, and just about EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE PLANET!! I think in celebration of this decision I may just make delicious shrimp alfredo tomorrow--bring it on carbs, oh how I've missed you!!!

A little emotional....

Max and I are on a cleaning spree at the moment (as you can see, I'm taking a break;)) However...I was cleaning/organizing our closet and began to take a trip down memory lane... At the moment, all of my scrapbooking stuff was in the closet so of course I had to take a peak at some of my favorite pictures (and realized how behind I am at printing pictures, Gosh I am awful at doing that!)...went through some clothes to decide what is going on the garage sale load....and then found myself face to face with my wedding dress. I couldn't help it. I haven't put it on since the wedding over 8 months ago!
.....Needless to say, there I was at 10:30 at night hopping into my wedding gown and no, it didn't end there. I rummaged through my bathroom and put my headpeice in my hair, earrings in my ears, and my wedding necklace. I walked out and Max just kind of gave me a weird look...Luckily, after 8 months of being married, he no longer questions my randomness :)

Well then since I had the dress on, OF COURSE I had to flip through my wedding album (where I also realized how many more pictures I have to print!!) and got a little emotional! My sister is getting married, my best friends are getting married and all this wedding talk just makes me want to get married all over again! However....I will say that my lovely little stroll down memory lane makes me realize how grateful I am for the way my wedding turned out. It was truly the EXACT wedding I have been dreaming about since I was a little girl.... Nothing big, nothing over the top fancy, just close friends and family out enjoying the amazing gift of nature that God put in our world celebrating love and happiness.... I honestly don't think I would change a single thing, and THAT my friends, is a feeling of contentment like no other :)