bloomers

as it turns out, buying a house and then moving into it and then unpacking all your stuff and then organizing all your stuff and then deciding what new stuff you need to buy and then choosing that new stuff and then getting it delivered/set up/put together is all a pretty time consuming affair.

i have really wanted to be organized from the start this time, so i've spent a lot of time decided exactly where things should go and then putting them there. which isn't to say there aren't some things just tossed into closets to be dealt with later (like when we move out in 38 years), but i've been trying.

and it's coming along. really nicely, actually. maybe some day soon i'll show you?

one thing that we just didn't have the time or energy to tackle this year was the yard. besides the basic maintenance (AWD mowing the lawn, me purchasing and then killing some hanging plants), we haven't done much. but, as it happened, it didn't matter. because we have the most gorgeous hydrangea bushes in the front that bloomed gloriously even in the face of drought and neglect. i added a few impatiens to the window boxes and, voila! we look like we know what we're doing in the garden department.

plus, i can snip flowers from my very own bushes and enjoy them inside, too.

and that, my friends, is bliss.

lock and key

we've been homeowners for about 30 hours now. (don't worry, this won't be a running hour-by-hour tally.) i mention this because we have already made a trip to home depot, and AWD has already started and completed our first home improvement project. new door handles!

i did my part by first lying on the floor of what will be our living room, day dreaming and distracting him by reading articles from the onion out loud, and then looking online for a new couch. isn't he lucky to have me?

we also moved over some clothes and i hung a few of our paintings on some of the nails left in the wall by the previous owners. they're the previous owners because we are the current owners! isn't that wild?! as my friend jenn said, "scary! and amazing!" (she is getting married this weekend and i wanted to tell her the same response applies. but i didn't. because i am nice.)

p.s. doesn't AWD look good with a screw driver?

no place like home

as you might recall, AWD and i took a hiatus from house hunting in february.

so, naturally, AWD kept looking at houses for sale online.

and naturally he found one he really really liked.

and naturally he convinced me to look at it online as well.

and naturally i liked it, too.

so naturally, we went to see it with our tireless realtor.

and naturally we liked it even more when we saw it in person.

and naturally there were at least a dozen other couples looking at the same house at the same time who, presumably, all liked it, too.

because, naturally, we decided to put in an offer and so did 17 other people.

but, naturally, our offer was chosen against all odds.

so naturally, in the midst of our "hiatus" we became homeowners.

i am hesitant to post photos of the inside, because the sellers have it decorated really nicely, and i don't want my home organization skills to be compared to theirs. but the adorable outside looks like this.

i am also not posting photos of the inside of our current house,  which is a chaotic mess of boxes and half-disassembled furniture, the very thought of which sends me right back into psychotic breakdown territory.

but, the end is in sight. we close on tuesday, move next saturday and then live in our new house for the rest of our natural lives. because i am not doing this again.

all the life-threatening stress aside, though, we are thrilled. and the bedroom in the basement has its own bathroom and half kitchen (perfect for guests!), so we hope you'll come and visit soon.

the most wonderful time of the year

seeing as christmas is this week (what?!?) i decided i might as well finish sewing our advent calendar.

my mom suggested we just put four times the candy in the pockets for the last six days to get the most out of it. not a bad idea.

luckily, we have been enjoying the rest of our decorations all season long.

and we're doing a pretty good job on our christmas movie list, too. we've knocked off miracle on 34th street (the original), home alone, how the grinch stole christmas, and a charlie brown christmas, with the muppet christmas carol, a (human) christmas carol, love actually and it's a wonderful life on the way.

dear christmas, i love you.

the big rock candy mountains

it was a long weekend trip to denver that would make a president proud.

(get it? because it was president's day.)

there were several new additions to the johnson homestead, including a fancy new mac for papa bear, a fancy (and humongous) new TV with surround sound for mama bear (we tested it out with a screening of "live free or die hard" one of the mama bear's favorites) and for baby bear (that's me!), AWD, who visited the homestead for the first time and did a great job.

we spent saturday morning at garden of the gods. it looks like this.

then we headed to manitou springs for some lunch and a post-lunch stroll, complete with samples from several of the mineral springs around town. (they all tasted the same to me, but oh well.) and then the sky got gray and it started to dump rain, but not before this happy detour.

saturday night was dinner with perennial denver favorites, steve and sarah, where steve wowed us all by drinking a large number of diet cokes. some say it was five, some say it was seven. and we'll probably never know.

sunday was churching and eating. it was all very spiritual and delicious, especially papa bear's sour dough pancakes. those things are the best.

monday we headed to the aquarium, which has both fish and tigers. the mermaid show, however, was a total let-down.

and tuesday, back to d.c. we came.

compared to the last time i tried to go to home for the weekend, i would say it was pretty much a success.

so this is christmas

a very merry christmas eve to you, my dears!

i still basically can't believe that christmas is tomorrow (tomorrow? tomorrow!) and the rapidity with which it has snuck up on me this year makes me a little nervous that i am going to wake up tomorrow and be 90 years old.

in the meantime, in a few hours i am off to denver for many days of eating, sleeping, movie watching and other usual family revelry, this time not punctuated by frantically repacking my car, plotting a cross country road trip route or the general emotional instability that precedes a major life change. so yes, i am looking forward to it very much.

speaking of major life changes, it has now been two years since i started keeping this blog, and i think she deserves a change as well. so, we are going on a brief (don't panic) hiatus for a redesign, helmed by my ever-so-talented cousin, trevor, and a little quiet reflection about where we want to go and what we want to be in the year ahead. we'll see you again on january 4, the year of our lord two thousand and ten. (if you're dying for a fix before then (and i wouldn't blame you in the least) i'll be over at segullah on december 26th.)

until then, all my love and best wishes this holiday season.

hugs and kisses,
f

home (and home again) for the holidays

despite the travel annoyances that led to my trip home being extended (not to mention approximately 10 hours of driving to and from the airport for my parents), i was really, really glad to be home for so long. it was, in fact, the longest i have been at home for probably years, and since i didn't make it home last christmas, it was especially nice.

my family has never made too big a deal out of christmas, but we do have a few traditions. one is watching "love actually" on christmas eve. (this year, or i guess i should say last year, we watched it on the 27th, but same diff.) also, my mom always makes this breakfast, which i love with all my heart.





the big highlight of the holidays this year was a trip to aspen for new year's, because sometimes we are just fancy like that.



if you are planning on visiting aspen, i recommend you invest in a large, ostentatious cubic zirconia ring, with the stone being at least the size of your eye ball. you should wear this at all times, even if you are skiing or going to the grocery store. everyone else's (elses'?) rings will have real diamonds, but if no one looks closely, a little cz will help you fit in.

the big highlight of the aspen trip was an entirely decadent and heavenly christmas present in the form of a half-day at the spa. we are talking full body exfoliation, hot oil massage, deep scalp treatment, hot packs, hand and foot massages, facial... the works. plus lots of lounging around in the steam room. and, as if it could get any better, i didn't have to wear clothes for any of it! like i said, decadent and heavenly. when it was all done i was so relaxed i literally could not stand up. my "technician" had to get me a drink of juice with extra electrolytes. now that's being relaxed. you know?

the lowlight of the aspen trip was a bomb scare that shut down the whole commercial core (aka: downtown aspen) on new year's eve. it was pretty wild. all the people staying in those swanky condos at the foot of the ski mountain had to spend the night in the high school gymnasium. (that may or may not have included paris hilton. we haven't been able to determine one way or the other.) all the restaurants and hotels and private clubs (including the famous caribou club, where our eccentric "homes of the rich and famous" tour guide, elizabeth, had invited me to join her) were shut down. so we rang in the new year with hot dogs, frozen cheesecake, "the bourne ultimatum" and carson daly in our non-swanky but also non-bomb-threatened, out-of-the-core condo. since the real highlight of the trip was being with these people, it didn't really matter what we did.




i rounded out my extra days with first-time viewings of the old "indiana jones" movies, a trip to target, that favorite suburban mecca, dinner with some of my most favorite denver friends, steve and sarah, and copious use of the "that's what she said" joke. as in, "this could last all night." "that's what she said." or, "i hate it when they pop up." "that's what she said." and, in case you were wondering, the answer is no, that joke never gets old.

sweet home sweet

since no one could remember the last time i had been in denver, it was about time i made a trip home. and even after a long absence, lots of things were the same. such as...

mom's delicious homemade tortillas...




dad refusing to have his picture taken. the only reason i got this one is because he was distracted from laughing about having given the camera the finger when i tried to take a picture a few seconds earlier...




dinner with steve and sarah, two of my most favorite, and their brood, including baby julia...








big baby brother...




afternoon thundestorms...




lunch with dad in downtown denver...



the mormon feminist rocky mountain retreat in winter park with mom (more on this later)...







and then some things were different. such as...

the cat.



mogli is not super new, but new enough that i sometimes still forget he exists. my family has never had a pet before, but they are completely obsessed with mogli. and i mean obsessed. they sit and watch him endlessly. my mom referred to him as "loquacious." my dad got me off the couch to take me into my parents' walk-in closet to show me where mogli had executed an amazing jump, every single detail of which dad could recount perfectly. my parents have been shopping for a new rug for the living room for more than a year and they finally found one they could agree on but didn't buy it because the cat wouldn't walk on it. i find all of this very bizarre.

massive deck/patio construction.






as with all my parents' home improvement projects, the deck renovation has spun slightly out of control. it is so big they have to display a building permit in the front window of the house at all times. but, the new patio is going to have a fireplace and a waterfall, and my mom already has a fancy new grill for the deck.

my room now = guest room.



the good news is there is a bigger, more comfortable bed in there than ever before. but, to make way for said bed, and other guest room acoutroments, i spent a large portion of my trip cleaning my stuff out. this involved getting rid of a lot of old clothes and sorting through hundreds and hundreds of papers, college notes and photographs, many of which ended up in the garbage.



a quick photographic perusal of my past revealed that i have made many a humiliating wardrobe and hairstyle misstep. an entire album of pictures from seventh grade went straight in the trash. but, i saved a few gems, which i just might scan into my computer and put up here some day for your enjoyment. keep your fingers crossed. this is all that remains of me at my parents' house. not bad, eh?




bike rack.




i would like everyone to know that baby brother ben and i removed my spare tire all by ourselves (i did the lug nuts) and attached this bike rack. i drove out to denver this time around so i could bring back some books and small pieces of furniture i had left there, and that meant i could take millie with me. which was good news because there are some awesome bike trails by my parents' house and i had a great time riding them.

and the drive wasn't too bad, either.