Happy April!

Well, hello friends. First of all, I want to give people an update on my joints - some of you have asked how I am doing since I reacted terribly to my antibiotic. I am doing okay. Not great - not terrible. I had a bit of a relapse this past Thursday and am still having joint pain/fatigue. It travels to random joints - today it was hip, shoulder, jaw, knees, and feet - not severe, and not all at the same time. Yesterday my hands hurt pretty badly. At this point I'm more depressed than anything. The pain would be more bearable if I knew when it would go away and if I knew why I was hurting. I haven't gone to the doctor yet but will if I am still having problems in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I have been doing a lot of antibiotic research (which I am going to have to stop, because it's not giving me a lot of hope - yikes!) and it's amazing how many people have major problems with so many different kinds of antibiotics. PLEASE be careful when taking medications. Ask for smaller dosages and safer drugs.

This month is my favorite other than December. Why, you ask? Well, my birthday is this month and I am excited, as always. Can you believe I will be twenty-seven years old? I can't. Ha. But I'm thankful for every day in those almost twenty-seven years.

This weekend a sweet friend and I got to lead worship at a women's retreat. We had a great time, were well received, and left refreshed. It was awesome. Here are a couple pics:

Is anyone planting a garden? We have ours planted! This year, we have two different tomato varieties, a couple jalapeños, bell peppers, kale, broccoli (Karlie's pick), mint, and basil. We are very excited. Someone has been eating the kale though - I think it's Bella - through the fence. I'm not very happy about that, obviously.

Our rose bush is growing in the front yard! I am so excited! I planted this a  year ago, and last year we got one measly rose after the original ones fell off. This year the bush seems to be thriving, with one rose today and more coming in. I'm very excited. (-:

I guess that's all for now - I am doing a giveaway soon. So stay tuned. (-:

~Kathryn

I Voted and I Got a Root Canal

Hi, everyone. I know it appears that I have fallen off the face of the planet. My stress level lately has been a little over the top, so I've kind of put everything on hold for a bit to try to relax. I thrive on doing lots of things, but every once in a while I just need to put on a big red light and slow the heck down.

I thought while I was at it I would get a root canal. Ha. You guys. Have you ever had a root canal? Let me tell ya, they are miraculous. Now, the procedure itself was no big deal. The pain leading up to it, however? I was looking around my house for a pair of ice skates so I could go Tom Hanks a la "Castaway" on my tooth. Thankfully, I didn't find any, and my dentist could get me in the same morning I called. Yikes.

You may or may not be proud to know that I voted. I wasn't going to at first. But my mom guilt tripped convinced me that I should. And since my polling place is literally across the street from my neighborhood, I really had no excuse.

I asked Mark to take a picture of me while I voted. Little did I know he decided to turn the whole thing into a photoshoot. Behold:

Here I am, telling them my party: (wouldn't you like to know - ha)

And here I am signing in. There were other pictures, I would like to add, but it is at this point I realized Mark has gone completely paparazzi with my iPhone:

And Mark decided to follow me to my voting booth. I told him he couldn't get to close, to which the voting volunteers quickly echoed my concern. hehe

It was at this point that the ladies asked me if it was my first time to vote. Sigh. I will forever look like an 18 year old. And here's the final shot of me being all proud I voted:

So that's that. I would recommend voting, and I would also recommend a root canal. They were both productive. (-:

Happy Tuesday!

~Kathryn

Johnson Family Updates

Hey, everyone! You know I'm trying to blog more. I mean, now that my blog looks legit, I can't just leave it hanging. So, here are some random updates

Okay. Couponing. Seriously. Does anyone do it? Because I went to this couponing class tonight at Whole Foods, and these people take their coupons seriously. I'm not planning on getting 100 tubes of toothpaste or shopping at multiple stores or anything, but I'm contemplating starting. Love it? Hate it? I do love the free bag I got for going to the class:

Kind of belated, I know, but Valentine's Day was lots of fun for us. We are on a tight budget, so we don't spend much, but we have lots of fun. I made these homemade valentines last year, and had some leftover for this year so Mark and I each hand wrote each other a card:

Karlie got some beautiful gerbera daisies sent to her at OBU, and I got this beautiful rose:

It was a great day. (-:

Bella has recently received an extreme makeover. Like, when Karlie and I went to pick her up from the groomer, we did not recognize her. Karlie was afraid to pick her up because she didn't think it was our dog. Y'all. This dog has never looked this good. (Not that that is saying much, but still). Here she is, basking in the sun, with one ear flipped the wrong way. 

I got a chandelier. For our bedroom. I am BEYOND excited to put it up. My friend Tyler is coming this weekend to install the beaut, and I can't wait. I mean, there is currently an absolutely heinous, broken monstrosity of a ceiling fan hanging in there now, and we're about the completely makeover the room with this chandelier. Woo! It took my forever to hang all these crystals:

And here's a pic of me and Mark, living the dream, going out to eat for Valentine's Day:

Those are our updates. Tomorrow is Friday - Body Pump! Woowoo! Have a great weekend, everyone! (-:

~Kathryn

Today Was a Great Day

This goes down as a completely random post, but I'm okay with that. Why was today so great? Well, let's see....

I went to work and was so productive that I impressed myself and got all my work done in three hours. Yes, three hours (here's to hoping I didn't forget something). So I decided that I should take a half day off and left shortly after noon. I really think there's nothing better than suddenly being rewarded with free time. I remember days when class was cancelled in college and you would have thought that free 50 minutes was like willing a million dollars at the lottery. It's like when you think you gave your time away to something and then suddenly you get it back. For free. It's like, really awesome.

So, I left work early and ran a few errands. I got my bangs trimmed and bought some random things I needed. Anyone used Epionce face wash? LOVE IT. I got that and some other things and then I jaunted over to the local mall to try to complete my list of items to purchase with my tax refund. And I scored. I got a pair of black flats and a pair of brown flats from Payless that were much needed (thanks to dogs that liked to chew up my shoes). But the best part, I got these:

My very first pair of Tom's. Now, here's something I learned today: you can buy the youth sizes and save money. For instance, I would normally wear a 7.5 in ladies, so I would be a 5.5 in youth sizes. How much for these in youth size? $38. That's right, folks. Wheelin' and dealin'. Youth sizes go up to a 7, which would be 9 in women's. You should think about it.

I also did some homework... actually, I should be doing that now. Oh, how I love to procrastinate.

Finally, we topped off the evening with a lovely dinner at a local cafe with live music from one of my favorite bands. We spent time with good friends and even had FroYo for dessert.

And you know what the best part is? I don't have to work tomorrow. It's like I got all my errands done today so tomorrow I can... well.... do homework all day. Ha. Oh well. Can't win 'em all.

And the other thing that made my day super awesome is that my new pink lululemon jacket finally arrived in the mail. I love it. See photo: (-:

It's the small things, people. Anything make your life awesome lately?

~Kathryn