The Story of US...

I was going to do a post of our gooey love story & wait & post it on our Anniversary, or V-day, or something semi-lame like that, & then thought to myself, why not just do it now? On a ordinary, out of the blue, non-special event day Monday in May? I love our "Love Story" & I am just going to highlight a little bit of it here. Gooeyness and all!

* On our first date, as he was driving me home, he asked me out on a second date.

No waiting around by the phone wondering, 'Is he going to call?'

A boy that doesn't play mind games, knows what he wants and goes after it. Now that's what I'm talking about!!! *

* On our second date, dropping me off & saying goodnight on the porch, he leans in for

a sweet little kiss. Smiles at me and starts going down the porch stairs, turns around

and says "Um, I think that I am seeing stars right about now." *

* After a week of dating, driving me home in his sweet Land Cruiser that he had fixed up himself, reaches over and grabs my hand & sorta yells over the wind blowing through our hair "I want to date you, and only you, so what I am basically asking is Will you go out with me?" Yes, he was a return missionary, & he was asking me with this cutest boyish smile, very aware that he sounded like he was still in middle school, but just as sincere as Mike always is.

I laughed a little bit, looked at him to see if he was really being serious &

said "Yes, I will 'Go Out' with you" *

* Mike, leaving to go to college up at USU just a month after we had started dating, rearranged his whole schedule so that he only had Tue/Thur classes, so that he could come home

from Thursday night to Monday night to be with me. Let's just say he spent a lot more time

in So Jo than in Logan that semester.

My apologies to his roommates, who never got to see him. *

* Sept. 30, 2000 (just a short couple of months after we had began dating), taking me to USU's Homecoming Dance and afterwords going back to the Alumni house & back in the beautiful gardens in the backyard. Just me & him, he drops to one knee, tells me some very beautiful things & asks 'Will you marry me Laura? I promise I will ALWAYS treat you right & take good care of you?' And he still continues to make good on his promise. *

* December 28, 2000 , we are sealed for eternity in the SLC Temple! What an awesome day (other than the fact that the high of the day was 17 Degrees). We even had dancing at our reception, which is something I always wanted. Our first dance as huzzy & wifey was to

"Love of a Lifetime" by Firehouse. *

* February 12, 2002, laying on an operating bed with Mike right up by my head, lovingly playing with my hair to comfort me, and after 3 hours of pushing & then being rushed in for an emergency c-section, Mike looking in my eyes & saying "I want us to see him for the first time together", then hearing the first cries of our baby boy Jaden. Both of us shedding tears of joy/relief as they bundled him up and placed him in Mikes arms. *

* Aug. 23, 2003 Moving into our first HOME together, looking at each other feeling like "We Made It!!!" *

* August 30, 2004, sitting in a hospital room with Mike, knowing that for sure this time, that our next baby boy is coming via c-section, just waiting for the doc to be ready. Scared & with tears in my eyes, Mike gives me a big hug & tells me that it's going to be Okay & that he will be there with me the entire time. Again, he waits by my head, so that we can see Camren for the first time together. And then a couple hours later, holding Cam in my arms, Jaden walks in the room wearing a "I'm the BIG Brother" t-shirt. Mike picks him up & brings him over to see his lil' brother & there we were, the four of us together as a family. *

* Dec. 21, 2007, packing up & moving out of our first house & I felt devastated, I loved that house, how could we leave it, we had made that house our HOME. But then, as we were driving away, me & the boys in my car & Mike following behind in his car. I looked in my rear view mirror to look at the house once more, but had an Oprah "Aha" moment. I didn't see the house, I just saw my two boys in the back seat & Mike in his car & realized that everything that was special & meaningful about that house was right there, leaving with me. And as long as I had that, then I had MY Home. *

* Dec '07- Feb '08 Living with Mike's parents in their basement. Learning more & more about where Mike comes from & what makes him, well Mike! Seeing the daily interaction of him with his parents made me love & respect him even that much more. *

* Feb '08- Oct '08 Living with Mike's sister Krista & her fam, thinking that we were going to be building a home over by Daybreak, plans all in place. Heavenly Father had a different plan for us & it brought us to where we live now. This was a real trial for Mike & I, having this plan for our family & then doing a 180 & realizing that the Lord wants us somewhere else. It brought us closer & was a testimony builder that the Lord sees over everything in our lives &

his plans/ways are always better than our own, we just need to put faith in him. *

* Feb '06- Present Time: Realizing that there is another little one out there that is meant to be added to our family, but after many infertility treatments, prayers, blessings & still in the process of trying to adopt, & no such luck..... yet. I KNOW that it WILL happen, just don't know how or when quite yet. But I do know that I couldn't ask for a better partner to go through all of this with. Mike has been there to hold me as I cried every single month when I would realize that, No, I am not pregnant....still. When I was on all of this medicine that would literally make me crazy and Mike would call on his way home from work and would ask what kind of take-out he could bring home for me so we could have some yummy food to munch on while we watched whatever movie I was in the mood for. When Mike would be sooo strong for me, even though I knew that it was something that was so hard for him to handle as well. He wants another baby just as much as me. One day Mike, we will be holding our baby that we have prayed so hard for & you will have said to me "I want us to both see her/him for the first time together" & the waiting will have been worth it. *

* And then of course all of the little details, that really make our love story special. The way that we squeeze each others hands 3 times, to secretly tell the other one "I Love You". The songs that have become the soundtrack of our journey together: "Love of a Lifetime" by Firehouse, "I will Love You" by Fisher, "Everything" by Lifehouse, "Tangled up in You" by Staind, "Everything I do" by Bryan Adams, "Fix You" by Coldplay, "All I want is You" by U2, just to name a few. The way that he still gives me that boyish grin & it melts my heart every time. The way that we laugh together, and the way he can make me laugh harder than anyone I've ever met. The little inside jokes we share that no one else would probably even care to understand. The way he still opens doors for me, lets me control the remote, writes me cute little love notes & shows up with flowers "Just Because" & the way that when we went on a date the other week to see the flick "Date Night" & at the end of the movie Steve C.'s character says to Tina F.'s character "I would choose you every time" & Mike leans over and whispers in my ear "I would choose you every time TOO Laura, I love you!" Well Mike, I would choose you too, every time, & any situation. I love you with all of my Laura Johnston Heart!!! *

To be continued, and never to end.....

Summer Essentials

I love Summer time! The warmer weather, the trips to Powell, the icy cold refreshing treats, the NOT having to bundle everybody up just to go outside, the BBQ's, the sound of ice cream trucks driving around the neighborhood, the summer blockbuster movies that come out, all of the yummy fruit that is in season, watching the kids play in the sprinklers, the overall laid back feeling that IS Summer. Well, with all of this cold weather lasting a little bit too long for my liking, & warmer weather finally on the horizon, I give to you my list of Summer Essentials....

Okay, so nothing is more refreshing than taking a summer shower lathered up in

Raspberry Sorbet Shower Gel, smells like summer in a bottle!

I actually use "Faux Tan" by Bare Escentuals year round,

but I really up the ante when summer rolls around, more skin = more Faux Tan.

And then when I go in the ACTUAL sun I lather on some SPF 50, no joke.

The Perfume "Miss Marisa" by Ebba, I wish you could all take

a big wiffarooski through your monitor, you'd smell delightful notes of cassis & cooling mint. Amazing.

A ginormous Straw Hat. Mine is a tiny bit different than this, possibly larger,

if you can possibly deal. I worried at first about wearing it with my pixie haircut, but I'm over it. Love my BIG hat.

Flip Flops galore! I always think that I am going to sport really cute sandals,

& I have a few pair that work their way into rotation, but for the better part of summer, it's a trusty old pair of Flip Flops.

A big fluffy Beach Towel, to wrap up in after taking a dip in the pool,

or knee boarding/wake boarding off the back of the boat.

For some reason I have been obsessed with Aviator Sunglasses lately.

Love their sleek, can't go wrong classic shape.

And no, I actually don't at all feel like

I belong in the movie

"Top Gun" when I am wearing them.

Essie Nail Polish

These are three of my personal top 3 picks for summer, looks great with a tan (faux tan, ahem). And with names like

Lollipop, Shop Till I Drop, and Pink Parka

how can you really go wrong?

Now, c'mon Summer...

please arrive SOON, with lots of Sunshine!

I'm not NOT nuts...

Some things that I have found humorous as of late... ( do keep in mind, my loves, that some of these things didn't occur lately, sometimes I think of random funny things that happened years ago & D I E laughing out of nowhere. To which my huzzy usually looks at me & says "What is sooo funny?" & then through bursts of laughter & not really being able to speak real words at all cause I am laughing so hard, I explain what the hay I am giggling about. To which his reply usually is "Oh, I guess you had to be there!". No courtesy laughs from him. So, if I don't get any from you, I understand & besides, I won't know anywhoo. But you best believe that I am doing a full on belly laugh on my end here writing this. Plus sometimes it makes me laugh harder when my stories are received with cricket's. Now, after a looooong drawn out explanation of myself let's begin shall we...

* When I was in middle school I honest to goodness thought that the phrase,

or condition rather"Lactose Intolerant" was really "Black Toast Tolerant"!

Boy was my face rainbow red when I realized my mistake. Whoops A Daisy.

* When we were recently in California, we had ordered some yumdiddly-umcious

Papa John's Pizza. Each pizza comes with a Jalapeno Pepper in the box. Chris, my bro in law,

really wanted to have his 2 year old daughter, Kate, try one. After a "look" from my sister & her saying "I guess, if you warn her that it is really HOT & going to burn her mouth, & she still wants to try, then she's all yours" So Chris warns Kate & she opens her mouth & takes a bite. To which, of course she makes a funny face & grabs her milk immediately. Well, a few minutes later, Kate grabs a grape off of her plate & says in the most serious of voices "You want a grape Daddy? It's going to be REALLY HOT & hurt your mouth!!!" Could she get any cuter?

* Realizing that after you eat some "Smacks"- you know, the cereal, the next time you urinate your pee smells exactly like Smacks, & I mean EXACTLY. Mike says that the same thing happens with asparagus, I wouldn't know, I don't eat the stuff. I'll just trust him on that one.

* Camren, a few months ago:

Cam : Hey mom, who gets to decide who you marry, the boy or the girl?

Me: Both, really. The boy usually does the asking, but the girl gets to decide whether she says yes or no.

Cam: When do I get to get married?

Me: Not for a LONG time, hopefully when you are 19 you'll decide to go on a mission.

Cam: How long is a mission?

Me: 2 years

Cam: Ugh, 19 is going to be a boring time.

Me: No, Daddy went to Jamaica & he loved his mission.

Cam: Oh, fine, whatever, but WHEN do I get to get married?

Me: I guess when you get home from your mish. Where do you want to be married?

Cam: (Thinking that I have asked him WHY he wants to get married) Because you get to eat CAKE, hello? And I am going to eat my cake at the beginning of my wedding, not the end like Spencer & Tiffany!

PRICELESS!

* Lisa Rhinna on dancing with the stars, being interviewed after doing a good job on her dance routine. The lady asked her, "You did such an amazing job tonight, what's your secret?" "Oh, it's cause I have 'my girls' with me tonight (grabbing at her chest), they are my good luck charms!" The lady than looking a little puzzled, so Lisa starts laughing so hard & grabs a picture of her daughters (aka her GIRLS) out from her brazer. What the?

And at the risk of offending some of you, please don't be, Joel from "The Soup", (this is how I even saw this clip), featured this on his show & after airing the clip he says "Oh, that's funny, cause I do so well too because of MY lucky charms, MY BOYS!" Reaching down his pants & grabbing a picture of his sons out of his pants. Hilarious!!!

Okay, that's all for now. Keep on laughin & livin'!

Deepest Fear...

I LOVE this! I 100% agree with this. I love that it empowers us to do better, be better & to not only not be ashamed of it, but be PROUD of it. So many times I have answered the question, "And what do you do?" with a reply of "Oh, I am just a stay at home Mom".

I read this quote a few years back & started to change my answer & change my LIFE, so that the answer changed. I decided, who am I not to live out my dream of having my own Dance studio? I love to do make-up, who's to say that I couldn't go & be a make-up artist for my favorite brand MAC? And why in the heavens could I not do all of this & still be a "stay at home Mom"? I started putting my plans into action & going after what I REALLY wanted out of life, until I got it, even when people would still ask "the" question, I would tell them that I was a Mother & loved that I was able to stay at home with them. Nothing had changed, except my refusal to belittle myself & what I had made of myself. Well, here I am a few years later & I have accomplished the goals that I had originally set. Don't get me wrong, I still found myself saying things like "Yeah, I teach dance, but .... it's just in my basement & I just have a handful of small classes", or "Yeah, I do make-up, but..... I just freelance." And then I am reminded of this quote & that I need to not feel little in this big world. There are many new goals that I hope to achieve & I hope that I can continue to better myself & not limit myself.

Even in writing this post, I get a nag in my brain that says, "Well, if you just come on here & talk up yourself, then my osh kosh b-gosh Laura, you are FULL of yourself!!!!" Then, whence again, I have to remind myself that it's not that at all, it's allowing ourselves to shine & hoping that everyone around you will allow themselves to do the same. I have a vazillion things to work on & always will. It's a lot in the attitude of how you get somewhere & the confidence in yourself to know that you are meant for greatness. In all of the people that surround me from day to day, I see in them traits that I would absolutely LOVE to have & I hope that they see it in themselves.

So, as we ask ourselves "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?", I hope that we can say "Actually, Who am I not to be?"