Part of life is having a good ponytail

House Update: Six Months Later

2013-05-07T22:52:00.001-05:00

It's been a crazy couple of months. Don't worry I'm not going to try to recap everything that has happened since February. But I am going to provide an update on our house. Mainly for myself, so I can document our progress {or lack of}.

So what have we been up to in the first six months in our house?

Spoiler: we haven't really done anything other than change some paint and make some furniture/appliance purchases.

So here's the before and the after. Obviously, the first photos were taken by a professional {I borrowed them from our realtor} and the second photo was taken by my iPhone.

Living Room

My sister and I spent a week painting the trim and wall color a lighter color. It basically looks the same.

I promise we have a TV. I just forgot to take a picture of it. I'm too lazy to go back and take one now.

Dining Room

I started my painting expedition in the dining room. It looks basically the same...

Brandon made our table. I've written a post about it but never published it. Yes, the chairs have crushed velvet seats.

Master Bedroom

You'll find we don't have window treatments in the house. I have commitment issues .

Guest Bedroom

We painted the blue in the first week.

I'm in the process of painting all the trim and doors in the house. I hate myself.

Bathroom

Yes, it's still pink.

Office- see more on my office updates here.

There's a futon on the other wall. Again, too lazy to take picture.

Kitchen- I did an entire post on this.

Backyard

I want a new garage with automatic doors. That is all.

We did add a garden in the backyard.

And hung the sign my Dad made from our wedding.


And cleaned up the front flower beds.

So thoughts after living in our house six months? Everything takes longer and costs more than I ever imagined. Our list of "quick fixes" basically hasn't exactly happened and it's even more evident now that I need curtains. Or something on our walls. Or an interior decorator.

More at a later date. Probably months from now.

Kelly

Grandpa Johnson

2013-02-19T16:09:00.000-06:00

Last week we said goodbye to Brandon's Grandpa. After spending a few days in the hospital, he peacefully took his last breath in the early morning hours on Tuesday. At 91, he lived a long, full life.

Telling stories and saying a prayer in his Seminole language at our wedding

The services this weekend were beautiful. There were many tears, lots of laughter, multiple heart felt stories from long ago, powerful hymns sung in the Seminole/Creek language, a touching military salute and beautiful Native American traditions.

I'm so grateful we were able to spend so much time with him the past 6 months. He was a special person who touched so many lives.

xoxo

Kelly

Christmas is Over!

2013-01-05T22:54:00.000-06:00

I know technically Christmas was over on the 26th but we had a whirlwind of food, family and fun from Christmas into the New Year. So, here I am blogging about it weeks after the fact. It seemed like December flew by with a wedding, work trips and preparing for the holidays. As I took down our Christmas decorations on New Years Day I decided I wanted to capture our first Christmas in our first House here on el blog. Then I went crazy and recapped our entire break. As I mentioned before, short and long term memory problems on my part have lead me to posts like this. Brace yourself, it's a long one...

The first weekend in December, Brandon and I went to a local nursery and picked out our Christmas tree. It was the only weekend in December we'd be able to go get one. I just prayed it wouldn't die before Christmas. I always grew up with a real tree and want to continue the tradition in our home. I know they are a huge mess but I like the smell of fresh pine. Growing up we'd go and cut down a tree in the forest. They never looked as good as the ones you can get at a nursery or tree farm. They had "character." We never had one this good looking growing up.

This one was the winner


I promise he's excited

Brandon was nice enough to help me get it into the house and in the tree stand. He spent the rest of the evening supervising Max and providing color commentary like "Why are you putting the ornaments that look like chew toys at the bottom?" Me: "I'm putting the soft ones at the bottom so Max doesn't knock anything off with his tail. And he doesn't even care about the tree." {Turns out they do look like chew toys and he does care. I have an ornament from '86 and '89 that need to be hot glued back together.}

Before

So, it turns out we are had a disco Christmas. Or at least that's what it looked like with our LED colored lights. When it comes to decorating Christmas trees I'm in the following camp: mish-mash of ornaments from years past and colored lights. Maybe because our tree always looked real "janky" growing up so a "themed" tree would never work. Also, who has time for multiple trees that are various "themes?"

Street view

The rest of the house was "festive" with decorations I've been using for the last couple years. I try to keep things simple because I don't want it to look like Santa threw up in our house.

I like to think this was a pre-Pinterest idea since I had both the lantern and holiday balls before Pinterest.

I like to call this "Throw some beads in a vase and call it decorations."

I think I saw a fellow blogger display their Christmas card from the previous year so I started doing the same last year. It's a fun way to see Christmas cards from the past years.

I wanted to buy or make a wreath from our front door. But I was too cheap to buy one and too lazy to make one so the snowflake I made in the 3rd grade out of beer can holders served as decoration on our front door. It looked good from the street... I think in the 3rd grade they referred to them as coke can holders but obviously now I know they were probably mostly from beer.

My parents and brothers came to visit us before Christmas and to see our house! It was great having them in town. We played games, watched movies and finished last minute shopping. The night before Christmas Eve we had some of Brandon's family over to our house to have Mexican food and to go look at Christmas lights and Rhema Bible College.

After going to the Christmas Eve service we went to Brandon's Dad's house to celebrate Christmas with his family. My family came along to crash the party.

Tacky sweaters and lots of awkward family photos

Grandpa and his great-grandson

Christmas morning was spent at our house with my family. Somehow I didn't take any pictures of our stocking hung by the chimney with care, or with them full after Santa came or opening any gifts at all. Santa left our present out in the garage. I'm ready for it to warm up so we can put it to use!

After breakfast, we packed our bags and headed to Dallas to see my Sister. She had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas day so we headed south to spend the rest of Christmas Day with her. Needless to say we ran into a small snowstorm.

We arrived in Dallas safe and sound. Thank goodness for Saabaru all-wheel drive! That evening we went to a nice dinner out in Dallas. It was a nice change to have someone else cook you Christmas dinner. No dishes to wash!

The day after Christmas we headed to my parents house in New Mexico. My Mom's family were all coming to visit the following day. I think the final count was over 30. We spent the rest of the weekend eating, drinking, playing pub trivia, hanging out and building 999 piece awkward family photo puzzles together.

There was also another Cousin Cup soccer game. The first goals scored weren't by cousins at all but by girlfriends and in-laws. I guess we are just good at recruiting players.

Losers

Winners!

Missing a few cousins from the game if you can believe it!

It was good to be home!

After lots of the family headed home Brandon and I took Max on a hike. It was nice to get some fresh air and be out in nature. The trail was snow packed in some spots and it started to snow a little while we were out there.

Until next time New Mexico!

This was the first year that Brandon and I both had the week between Christmas and New Years off. It was so nice to have such a long break and to spend it with family.

xoxo

Kelly

The Rest of 2012 and Beyond

2013-01-02T09:39:00.004-06:00

I know I should have already posted a recap of our 2012 but since I basically stopped blogging the last half of the year I thought I'd mention the highlights I missed {in other words just post the pictures from Instagram that I was too lazy to actually blog about}. For whatever reason I'm feeling attached to capturing it on the blog as we embark on 2013. Maybe its because I've realized I'm experiencing early onset Alzheimer's and I frequently have to look back here to see when we did something or maybe I'm just creating duplicate data and want the memories to live somewhere other than Instagram. So here's how the last part of 2012 looked.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Bachelorette Party in Dallas

Tulsa Run- 15k

Kelly's Pumpkin

Brandon's Pumpkin

Camping by the lake

Fall in Tulsa

Tulsa Route 66 Half Marathon

Becoming an Auntie

Pre-Wedding Winery

Winter wedding in Muenster, TX

Holiday Segway Party

Downtown Tulsa

I know naturally my next post should be about about our rockin' NYE but it looked something like this:

No, I didn't have a baby and forget to tell you but we are Auntie Kelly and Uncle Brandon now!

We spent it on the couch with family, sleepy dogs and bubbly. Here's to 2013!

xoxo

Kelly

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

From our family to yours!

xoxo

The Johnson Family

The Christmas Stocking Saga

2012-12-19T23:48:00.003-06:00

Hi Friends! I'm still here I promise. Brandon and I've both been traveling lots for work and with Thanksgiving, being in a wedding and Christmas around the corner things have been crazy.

I decided to make Brandon's stocking. I decided to make his stocking for our first Christmas we were married. That was two years ago. It hasn't happened yet....

You see...my Grandmother made my stocking {you can see what it looks like here. I'm way to lazy to upload a new pic} way back in 86' using a stocking kit, by a company called Bucilla. Brandon didn't have a stocking growing up or if he did it's no longer around.

Obviously, he needed one to match mine. So, I decided as his new wife I'd sew him one. Why couldn't I just order a NEW stocking for the both of us from Pottery Barn, or Bed Bath and Beyond or where ever? Homie don't play that. Just like I like my real Christmas tree, with colored lights, and a mish-mash of ornaments for the last 25+ years I like the stocking my Grandmother made by hand with felt, sequins and the like. And like I said I wanted our styles to match. So, I ordered this kit.

Brandon's a golfer and who doesn't love a Santa playing golf?

How hard could it be right? Let's just say it ended in tears. It arrived late, I assumed it wouldn't take any time at all {wrong} and obviously I ruined our first Christmas together. I broke down and bought him a red felt stocking from the Dollar General. I didn't even write his name on it.

So, fast forward to last December. Crap, I should probably start sewing his stocking again. I got as far as reading the instructions. Taking all of the pieces out. Separating all of the thread. DID I MENTION NONE OF IT IS PUT TOGETHER. Reading the instructions again. Trying to figure out how to stitch his name in nice cursive-y writing like they did Nick's name above. Well, Brandon has way more letters than Nick and it took be forever to get half of the "B" done. So, I gave up. Red felt stocking round 2.

So, here we are again. The week before Christmas and I've decided to attempt the quest to make his stocking again. I have a new plan this year. Skip the name. Have my Grandmother worry about when I see her next week. {Thanks in advance Betty!}. Focus on things that I don't suck at, like sewing on sequins or cutting out little trees {scratch that...my tree cutting skills are marginal}.

Last night I stayed up until 1:30 working on the stupid thing. All I have is the two big pieces stitched together and 7 trees with sequins. This might take a life time.

Let's just say if we have kids their stockings are coming from Pottery Barn or Grandma is going to have to make them because I have a feeling they won't ever have one at this rate.

xoxo

Kelly

P.S. I blame my Mother for the idea because she made a stocking for my Dad when they were first married. The only difference is she has skills.

P.P.S Did I mention that my Grandmother is the stocking making queen? She made all 15 of her grandkids a stocking. The worst year was 88' when she had to make 4.

House Friday: Home office

2012-11-16T11:45:00.000-06:00

Lots of happenings at Casa de Johnson since my last post and I'll probably never get around to blogging about it. We celebrated our anniversary, I ran the 15K in the Tulsa Run, we went camping and spent a weekend back in Austin visiting friends. It's probably best if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter for the latest and greatest because this blog has obviously been put on the back burner.

We've made some progress on the home front but overall due to lack of time and money things are moving at a snails pace. BUT this week we finally got my office semi-put together. Or really I should say I got my desk situation figured out. I had been using a desk that I've had forever. It is fine but not great for everyday home office usage because it's pretty small. I don't want to get rid of it so I think it will become my sewing desk. Yes, I've decided to take up sewing.

Before

So, I found this replacement on Craigslist for $35. It weighs a ton {it took three of us to bring it inside} and is a little banged up but I liked the old tanker desk look and overall surface area. It had been sitting out in someone's barn and required a serious deep clean {I don't want to talk about it.}

After

After the serious deep cleaning of the entire desk and drawers I decided to go ahead and line the drawers with contact paper. At first, I was worried about the next person who owned the desk might not like my contact paper choice. Then I remember what a pain in the butt it was to move it inside {we had to remove the legs} and realize it would probably be ours for a long time.

The rug is from RugsUSA and was on super sale when I purchased it. I'd show you the rest of the room but it's still a mess because we're still moving furniture around but I thought I'd at least share the latest on my home office... or desk.

Kelly

Two Years.

2012-10-23T09:46:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how it's already been two years since we said 'I do' in the mountains of New Mexico but it's been a fun two years!

Happy Anniversary Babe! I love you to the moon and back!

Love,

Kelly

Feeling Festive for Fall

2012-10-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

For the first time in about 8 years I live in a place that has seasons. Yes, seasons. This is a big deal people.

It's a big deal because it's not 85 or 90 in October. This past weekend it got down to 35 and the highs have been around 65! Which the last time I woke up and it was 35 degrees in the morning would either be the one time a year we'd get an ice storm in Austin or when I was in high school living in New Mexico. Let's just say it's been a while since I experienced fall like temperatures in October and I love it.

A combination of the colder temps, wearing boots, the leaves changing and going to the fair this past weekend got me into a festive mood. Thus, I decided to decorate for fall. Other than pumpkin carving I'm not really into decorating for Halloween. I'm just not a huge fan of witches, ghosts, skulls etc for some reason. Also, I'm too lazy to decorate for Halloween AND Thanksgiving. So, I just tried to put together some things that would carry over throughout the fall.

Oh, and we now have a mantel so obviously I had to decorate. Or attempt to decorate....

Yes, if you follow me on instagram you've already seen these pictures. My bad. Obviously, I'm not good at managing my social media. Or again just too lazy to take more pictures.

Anyway, in addition to purchasing some pumpkins, gourds and candles I bought three other pots of mums. They aren't fully bloomed yet so I didn't take a picture of them. Let's just hope they don't die before they bloom so we can enjoy them. We aren't exactly good at keeping plant life alive.

xoxo

Kelly

House Friday: It's a Work in Progress

2012-10-05T16:43:00.001-05:00

Hi friends. Yes, I totally just made up a new series called House Friday. Because #1 it's Friday and that seems to be the only time I write anything. And #2 I need to write about our house before I forget all the details of being in our first home. Really this is for my own good.

After being in our new house for about a month I'm slowly starting to feel settled.

We still have a handful of boxes that we need to unpack and things aren't hung on the walls BUT we are making progress. The truth of the matter is our walls are plaster and I'm scared to hang anything because I'm terrible at making decisions. Especially when it comes to hanging photos.

So, until I actually get some of the other rooms "decorated" {news flash I'm not a decorator AT ALL} I thought I'd share the progress to-date with the kitchen.

Backstory on the house. Built in 1929. Original hardwoods throughout. Original windows. Nice architectural detail with archways, picture frame molding etc. 3 bedrooms. 1 Pink bathroom, yes pink. Salmon or Rust {I'm not sure the exact color} in the kitchen. Eat-in Kitchen. Drainboard countertop that we think was original.

Here are the photos I "borrowed" from the real estate listing mainly because I'm too lazy to plug in my camera and really they are probably better than the ones I took.

What color is that?

No countertop space due to microwave

Yes, laundry is in the kitchen but we have plans for countertop and cabinets

Why would you paint that door knob orange?

When we bought the house we figured we'd remodel the kitchen at some point but that requires time, money and an idea of what you want to do. I decided that I could live with the kitchen for a little while if it was a different color. So, the weekend that we moved in my sister and I painted the kitchen.

After painting various samples we picked this lovely shade of grey {not shades of grey like the book} and went to Lowe's to purchase it.

Please forgive the mess. We moved in that morning.

Well, I forgot the sample. No problem I know which color it is on the little piece of paper. At least I thought I did. After putting on one coat of paint we finally decided that it was the wrong color. Yep, painting fail. I bought the wrong color.

Hi Max. What are you guys doing?

The color we ended up with is way more on the blue side than we had planned. But I wasn't about to stop and re-paint so we are just going to go with it.

So, here is what it looked like after the paint dried and the boxes were unpacked.

Luckily our dishes look nice in the open cabinets. I'm still not sold on the open look.

Soon we decided the microwave and convection oven needed to be on a more substantial shelf instead of the wire rack. So, we moved the bookshelf into the kitchen. Our books are currently still all in boxes. I'm trying to convince Brandon we need built-ins or bench setting...

Oh, another fun thing that happened...the refrigerator decided to die after we had been in the house for two weeks. We had planned on upgrading all of the appliances at some point but I don't think we had planned on it this soon.

Brandon also finally decided to stain our table top. Supposedly he's building one and this piece of wood was just a temporary thing, which is why it was never stained. We are going on year 2. No tabletop. It does look much better than before.

This is our tiny back door. We aren't exactly sure why it's so tiny or why it doesn't match the trim.

It's fine, it goes with our tiny washer and tiny dryer {which is on back order}. We think the previous owners must have had top loading washer and dryer because the space is so narrow we had to purchase little baby front loaders. This could also be why the water line is so much higher than the washing machine. We've talked about building them in with cabinets to give us more counter top space. Also, it would be nice to be able to close them off. But again all those things require time and money.

So, that's the tour of our eat-in kitchen and laundry room. And no, it doesn't look this clean all the time. If I make a bowl of cereal I somehow use every utensil and pot and pan we own. At least according to my husband...

xoxo

Kelly

ACT 1: The nerf football

2012-09-27T21:08:00.000-05:00

SCENE ONE

{After dinner Kelly takes the trash and recycling out to the curb. Trash duty is usually Brandon's job but he's been working late so Kelly hauls it out there. Max the dog, follows Kelly around because lord help us if he isn't right beside someone. As they return to the backyard the following series of events happen}.

KELLY: Oh, you found your nerf football. Wanna play fetch?

MAX: Obviously lady why do you think I keep jabbing this ball into the side of your leg. {Max is a dog so naturally he doesn't talk but Kelly starts talking in 'Max's' voice}.

KELLY: Ok, heel. Max heel. Max, why don't you ever listen to me. Max, heel. Ok, sit. Ok, go get it. Max, stop. Max, give it. Max.

{After a few times of playing fetch or really in this case keep away Kelly gets bored and goes inside. A little while later Kelly goes back outside.}

KELLY: Where's your ball? Go get your ball.

MAX: Crazy lady it's at your feet.

KELLY: {looks down to deck} Max, you just ripped your ball to shreds. This is why we can't have nice things. You obviously got too excited from being stuck at home with me all day and ruined your ball.

MAX: I know. I was real excited. Sorry.

KELLY: We need to get out more.

MAX: Tell me about it.

End scene.

{Moral of the story: I am now having entire conversations with my dog or really myself like it's totally normal. It's a good thing I'm getting out of the house to run with a group or go to yoga or I'd need to be sent to the looney bin. And yes I realize my dog probably needs more exercise than the morning and evening walk he goes on but that's not the point of this story}.

Working from Home

2012-09-14T10:11:00.000-05:00

Some days working from home can be very lonely.

For example when the only "person" you talk to is your dog. Occasionally, he talks back {yes, we are those crazy people that talk to our dog} but usually he doesn't have much to say. Since, we've moved into our new house, I no longer have Grandpa to chat with, so it's just me and the dog.

Oh, P.S. we moved into our new house over Labor Day. We've been busy unpacking and organizing. I'll get around to an official tour sooner or later. Probably later instead of sooner. And yes, we are currently using a folding table and chairs in our dinning room. At least it has a table cloth, right?

Anyway, back to working from home. My day is usually filled with conference calls and emails so working from home/remotely works great. There are some days that I miss going into the office. Putting on real clothes. Interacting with real people.

But then there are some days where working for home is awesome. Like, not having to put on real clothes. Running a quick errand in the middle of the day if I need to. Or working from our back deck like I did earlier this week.

Or there are days like today where I'm still in my yoga clothes {I did actually go to a class this morning}, drinking coffee, watching it rain, responding to emails and listening to Pandora at a level that wouldn't be acceptable in the office.

Moral of the story: Will I always like working from home? I don't know. But it works for me this week.

Happy Friday!

Kelly

Home Sweet Home

2012-08-31T11:10:00.001-05:00

Earlier this year Brandon got the following fortune:

We joked that the new home would be his Dad's travel trailer or the extra bedroom at his Dad's house. We've wanted to buy a house for a while but always assumed it would be later this fall or even early next year.

You see we really wanted to have a hefty size down payment and even though we had been saving for a while we weren't sure we were there financially. Well, then I moved to Oklahoma and we started talking more seriously about getting a house.

We've been so fortunate to have a place to stay while we figure out our next move. I'll forever be grateful to my Father-in-law and Grandpa for letting us stay with them. But we needed our own space. I needed to not work and live in the same room.

Well, today we close on our first house.

It's a cute 3 bedroom house, built in 1929 and has beautiful hardwood floors. It's in a great neighborhood that's close to Brandon's work and downtown.

The last month and a half have been a whirlwind. {Which is part of the reason I haven't blogged...I didn't want to jinx anything}. The whole thing has happened so fast. The following is the timeline of events: {Really this is more for me because I want to remember this crazy process}.

July 16th: I reached out to a Dave Ramsey's ELP. He started sending us listings in the area we thought we wanted to live in.

July 21st: We started to drive around to look at houses in various neighborhoods.

July 23rd: I emailed a bunch of lenders to start the pre-approval process. Brandon is Native American so we were trying to find a lender that specializes in Section 184 Native American Loans.

July 26th: We had a pre-qualification letter.

July 29th: We went and looked at 5 houses.

August 1st: I took my Sister-in-law with me to look at 5 more houses including one from our first outing. {Brandon was out of town on work}

August 2nd: Brandon called the realtor to find out what the chances were that the house we really liked would sell in the next couple days. He called the listing agent and it had an offer on it but that the seller hadn't reviewed it yet. So, we went ahead and submitted an offer. They accepted our offer!

August 6th: We signed a million papers at the bank and handed over every piece of information about our past.

August 10th: We had a home inspection. There was some minor things that needed to be fixed but for a home built in 1929 it was in great shape.

August 20th: We had the appraisal. The bank requested some additional work to be done on the detached garage.

August 29th: Final appraisal by the bank.

August 31st: We close!

So, in basically a month we went from looking at houses to closing. It's still crazy to think we own a home.

xoxo

Kelly

Livin' on Tulsa Time

2012-08-01T18:09:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Well since we last spoke the following has happened:

I packed our remaining sh*t {I'm sorry there's not another word for it} into a Uhaul. {Don't judge my packing job. I was just trying to get things to fit at this point.}

I said goodbye to our little Duplex on Grover.

And goodbye to Austin.

Oklahoma welcomed me with open arms. Oh and Brandon and Max were excited to see me too. Did I mention that Brandon has been working in Oklahoma since Memorial Day? Probably not because I didn't want any crazies coming and breaking into our house and stealing me and our things... Then again maybe I should have considered it to get rid of some crap. Anyway, we were basically having a long distance relationship for the month of June and parts of May and July. But don't feel too sorry for us we basically saw each other every other weekend.

So far our time in Oklahoma has been spent:

Going to the lake.

Counting cows on Saturday morning.

Eating homemade peach ice cream. Not to mention way too many watermelons, peaches and tomatoes. Pray for rain. I'm not sure I'll make it the rest of the summer if everything burns up and I can't have fresh <insert any in season fruit or veggie here>.

We've also gone to a concert at Cain's Ballroom. Which wasn't documented by photo....blogger/life fail.

We've been painting our nephew's nursery. Did we tell you we are going to be an Aunt and Uncle?! Yep, my Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law are expecting in November.

And house hunting! Which is super cool. Except when it's over 105 everyday I don't think "cool" is necessarily the word I would use.

I'm slowly getting into my grove working from home. Max is the laziest co-worker known to man. And Grandpa isn't much help either. Oh yeah, small detail. We are staying at my Father-in-law's and Grandpa-in-law's {Is that even a word?} house until we can find a place to buy. The original plan was to stay out in the camper. Yes, we were going to live a "travel trailer" but the A/C isn't working and lord knows I'd die if I was in that thing for 5 minutes. So, Max and I spend our day working in the guest bedroom and taking walks down to the mailbox to get the mail. Sometimes we drive into town to get groceries and to have human interaction. Exciting times.

Oh and apparently my husband has started to wear a cowboy hat.

He claims it's a "western hat" {whatever that means} and needs it for when he goes fishing. How did this happen??

xoxo

Kelly

Remind me...

2012-07-11T17:13:00.001-05:00

Next time I move to a new state to hire movers.

Next time I tell my husband "I can handle moving the last of our stuff." I can't.

Next time I think I can fit the last of our crap into an SUV, I can't. It will require hauling a trailer, which will require special lights and hitch to be installed. Oh and figuring out how to "haul" something.

Next time I want to buy something tell me to reconsider. We have too much stuff and need to purge in a major way.

Moral of the story: yes I'm still complaining about moving.

Hopefully by Friday me and all our crap will officially be in Oklahoma.

Kelly

Family Vacations

2012-06-28T14:01:00.000-05:00

I'm not very good at packing.

I'm especially not good at packing when it involves fitting 3 days of work clothes needed for 50 degree weather in Seattle and 4 days of vacation clothes for 100 degree weather into a carry-on suite case. Needless to say I had lots of repeat outfits. But it appears I only take photos of things not people so you won't see my repeat outfits....

So, after my trip to Seattle for work I flew to Dallas to begin: Family Vacation 2012.

Our travels over the course of the next 5 days would look like so:

Fly to Dallas-> Drive to Little Rock-> Drive to Branson-> Drive to Tulsa-> Fly home to Austin.

I met the fam on Thursday night at the Rangers game. The Rangers lost. They went on a 7 game win streak after we saw them.

The next morning we got up and drove to Arkansas. Along the way we stopped in Texarkana for lunch at Bryce's Cafeteria. If if you ever find yourself in Texarkana and need some good cafeteria food I'd recommend Bryce's. Once we were back on the road we drove to my Dad's family homestead outside of Little Rock. The original house is no longer standing but we got to look around the property a bit.

This is a really big tree. So I took a picture.

Our family is so fancy we even have a loop named after us. We also went by the family cemetery and saw some dead relatives and proceeded to get chiggers. I don't think I can live in Arkansas because of the amount of bugs alone.

After seeing some dead relatives we saw some living ones. Turns out there is another Kelly in the family.

Another food recommendation in Arkansas: Purple Cow. So Good.

The next morning {Saturday, if you're keeping track} we did the driving tour of Little Rock and headed on our way up to Branson. Side note: Arkansas is really pretty.

Along the way we had some car troubles. Turns out there isn't an abundance of car repair shops in middle of no where Arkansas that are open on Saturday. Luckily, we found a nice family garage that helped us out. Brandon was able to save the day and bring us the part we were missing from one town over. {He was driving from Tulsa to Branson to meet us for the weekend}.

After a couple of hours of eating hot dogs and people watching we were ready to be out of there. But what's a family vacation without car trouble? Soon we were back on the road and headed to Branson.

Lots o barns in this neck of the woods

The whole point of the trip {other than seeing the dead relatives in Arkansas} was to see my Brother who is working in Branson for the summer. Obviously since we were in Branson we had to go to a show. We picked Dolly and had a grand ol' time. Other than the fact they don't give you silverware. You had to eat with your hands. Which is fine if you're eating pizza but an entire chicken and baked potato makes it more of a challenge.

The rest of our trip to Branson involved:

Going to Bass Pro Shops {duh}

Looking at Armadillos on the side of the road.

And going to the lake. My G-ma Betty was a rock star on this trip.

Brandon and I headed to Tulsa on Sunday night to spend Father's Day with his Dad. On the way we got to see the {at one time} largest McDonald's.

It goes over the highway.

The rest of my family joined us in Tulsa on Monday. I was glad they were able to see where we are moving to. That weekend was my last as a Texan.

I spent all day at the DMV to officially become an Oklahoman before I flew back to Austin.

It was definitely a jammed packed vacation but that's how my family rolls.

Kelly

Brain dump

2012-06-24T23:00:00.000-05:00

I'll be honest my life has been a whirlwind since the marathon. Between packing, moving, work trips and family vacations things have been out of control. {If you follow me on Instagram these photos will look very familiar...My apologizes in advance. I'd like to document the craziness so I can look back and figure out what happened to June 2012 because it seems like a blur.}

1. Let's talk moving. Moving sucks. {I mean creates a vacuum. Sorry Mom.} But really it does. Don't get me wrong I'm excited about our new adventure but I'm not excited about packing up the last remaining part of our house.

2. Also, if you move all of your furniture and "stuff" in two major trips {really it will be 3 trips} you might find yourself basically camping for over a month. I don't recommend it. Although the cup holder in the chair is a very convenient and I might consider for my future home.

3. I'm going to really miss Austin. Especially our friends. It makes me sad to think about leaving so many awesome people...so sad that I don't want to post a picture of said awesome people because I know I'll leave someone out. I know I need to start making the happy hour rounds to see folks but instead I just hang out in my folding chair watching the smallest TV known to man and avoid packing. :(

4. I'm also going to miss the food. The abundance of good, local non-chain places is something that you don't find in every city. And waiting in line at 9:00am for BBQ. Not many places are that dedicated to good brisket. Yes, it was that good.

5. Side note: Unplanned color coordinating outfits are fun.

6. Things that make life super crazy: work trips in the middle of moving. But visiting Seattle for the first time was pretty sweet.

Obviously my hair loved Seattle. That's a lie.

7. Family vacations really deserve their own post. They don't belong in a crazy mish-mash post like the one I currently have going. Maybe later this week?

8. Did I already say I'm going to miss Austin?

xoxo

Kelly

2012 Colfax Marathon {Part 2}

2012-06-04T23:12:00.000-05:00

{It's been two weeks since the marathon and it's been a glorious two weeks of no running but I think it's time to get back on the fitness train, especially with swim suit season in full swing.}

So, at 6am sharp I took off on my first marathon.

The full marathon, the marathon relay and the half marathon all started at the same point at the City Park in Denver. About a mile into the race the half marathoners split off in another direction. I was a little paranoid that I was going to go the wrong way because it wasn't marked as well as I've seen at other races. Then there was the bad Pearl Jam cover band....

Soon after the split we ran by the Colorado State Capitol.

And headed down Colfax Ave. towards the mountains.

One thing about this race that I really liked was the variety of scenery. There weren't a lot of spectators but the various aspects of the course kept things interesting. We even ran through a Fire Station. I thought of Chic Runner and B as we ran by.

After the fire station we ran along the water.

And by what I think is Six Flags...or at least it used to be.

I was pretty worried about the change in elevation and getting dehydrated so I made sure I took some water and walked through every water station. I was glad I brought my own water and cytomax because it didn't seem like the water stations were every other mile like they were advertised to be. All of the water consumption lead to multiple bathroom stops but they were luckily all short stops!

One of the coolest parts of the race was running through Mile High Stadium.

I'm hypoglycemic and I have a history of getting low blood sugar, so I made sure that I figured out what fuel worked for me in training. Every 3 miles or so I tried to have some shot blocks or a Hammer Gel. I even brought a Clif Kids Z-bar because I wanted some "real food," just in case.

Soon after leaving the stadium I ran into Brandon and my Mother-in-law around mile 7.

I was glad I got to see them a couple times on the course because other than the marathon relay exchanges there were few spectators on the course compared to some big races I've done. After leaving my cheering squad the course went around a lake.

The cool temps, the lack of humidity and the snow capped mountains in the background made for a great race morning. The elevation didn't seem to bother me at all. After circling the lake we ran back by Brandon and my Mother-in-law around mile 10. They ran beside me for a couple blocks and then were off to find breakfast. I kinda wanted to just go eat breakfast but I wasn't even half way there yet.

The race route was technically an out and back so as I was still heading "out" when the half marathoners were coming back in. I always remember thinking how miserable marathoners look when I run half marathons. Now I was one of those miserable marathoners.

From miles 10-19 we ran mainly through the Lakewood community. Their support was so great. The cute neighborhood kids wrote on the streets with sidewalk chalk wishing us good luck and handing out orange slices.

I was able to see my cheering squad again around mile 19, which is just what I needed. It started to warm up and needed some encouragement.

I never hit the "wall" but my pace definitely slowed after the downhill portion around mile 19 and 20. My sister was going to call me around mile 20 but never did. I'll never forgive her {I'm kidding, I just like giving her a hard time about it.}

Honestly, the last 6.2 miles were kinda a blur...maybe because I just wanted to finish. Also, since we were basically running the same way back I think I blocked it out. The worst part was seeing people out eating brunch at these little cute restaurants on 17th street. What I would have given for a mimosa...This is the portion of the race when everything started to hurt.

I knew that once I got back into the park I was getting close. Then I heard someone say, it's just around the corner. So, naturally I tried to pick up my pace even though my hips and knees were killing me. Then I saw it. Or at least I thought I saw the finish. Nope. It was the 10 miler finish line from the day before. Fail.

When the finish line did come into focus I was so excited that I broke into a full on "sprint." Really it was probably a normal pace run because I had been going so slow but it felt like a sprint. Brandon missed my sprint to the finish because obviously I was moving so quickly.

When I crossed the finish line and felt like I was going to die.

After getting my medal and some food I walked around trying to find the medical tent for some ice. Naturally, it was right by the finish but I was too disoriented to realize it when I was in the finishers shoot. I went ahead and got the free beer and bbq sandwich that was part of my entry. Needless to say, beer and bbq seems like a good idea post race but in reality it isn't. I thought I was going to puke after one bite/drink. So, Brandon benefited from my free beer and sandwich.

My goal was to finish and that's what I did. My official time was 5:04:33. Looks like a ran a little farther than the 26.2....

It all seems like a blur.

I don't want to say I'll never do one again but I think I got my fix for a while.

xoxo

Kelly

All photos were either taken by my Mother-in-law, my iPhone or "borrowed" from the official race photos.

2012 Colfax Marathon {Part 1}

2012-05-29T23:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been over a week since I ran my first marathon! We've had big life changes since then, for example Brandon took most our things to Oklahoma. We are now basically camping at home. More on that later!

On May 20, 2012 I became a marathoner.

The weekend of the race included the usual, eat, drink, fly to Denver, forget my phone charger and water bottle, pick up my packet, shop for Gu's {that I also forgot}, more eating, drinking, sleeping, followed my more eating and drinking and driving to the mountains.

The packet pickup was super easy and there was tons of parking at Mile High Stadium.

Along with the marathon they were having a half marathon, a marathon relay, a 10 mile run and a 5k over the course of the weekend.

I was glad that we grabbed my packet on Friday after leaving the airport, instead of Saturday morning. This allowed us to sleep in and have a late breakfast up in the mountains. We were going to drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park from Grand Lake over to Estes Park but it was too early in the season and the road was closed. Instead we took in the scenery, ate pizza and saw 20+ elk on the side of the road. It was a nice way to rest before the big day.

The next morning came super early, like 4 am early. Luckily, I had all of my gear nicely organized and fuel ready to go. I must have been too excited to remember to take a race outfit pic...Anyway, we were worried about traffic and wanted to ensure we had plenty of time {remember the Rock n Roll Arizona debacle?} but we made it with no serious mishaps. The big races I've ran in the past have been a nightmare as far as logistics go at the starting line so I had Brandon and his Mom drop me off because we weren't sure about parking.

After I got out of the car I made my way to the portopotties. There was NO LINE. This NEVER happens. Brandon soon called and they found a parking spot in a garage near by and were going to walk over to the starting line.

Someone wasn't happy about the 4am wake up call

Since, we made it so early to the starting line I actually went and sat in the car with them for a while because it was freezing half way to death. Yes, I've turned into a huge wuss.

Soon it was time to head to my corral.

I then had the "long sleeve vs. no long sleeve" debate. I decided to freeze the first part of the race and left the long sleeve with Brandon and didn't look back.

It's show time.

xoxo

Kelly

P.S. I had planned on making this into one super long post but I didn't want to overload you with photos and words. And it makes me tired thinking about it. More soon!

All photos are either from my Mother-in-law or my iPhone/Instagram

So I'm running a marathon tomorrow...

2012-05-19T21:57:00.001-05:00

I'm only kinda freaking out. That's all.

Xoxo

Kelly

P.S This past week has been crazy with work and moving logistics thus the reason for no pre-race posts. I'll have a full recap soon!

1 week

2012-05-13T23:23:00.001-05:00

Let the obsessive weather checking begin.

We like to move it, move it

2012-05-08T20:10:00.000-05:00

So we have some big news in the Johnson household....

{And no it doesn't involve me putting on 50+ pounds. I'm assuming this will be my fate if I ever get pregnant because of the number of times I commented on Jessica Simpson having the LONGEST pregnancy known to man. Obviously, the universe hates comments like this and will punish you. Also, I should probably lose the pounds I've packed on from marathon training first before adding the 50+. Don't believe anyone that says training for a marathon is a good way to lose weight. They are full of lies.}

Anyway, we are moving to Oklahoma!

For the geographically challenged it's the state in red.

Brandon got a new job with a great company in Tulsa and I'll get to keep working for my company remotely! We've been super lucky how everything has worked out.

I'm not looking forward to moving in the middle of the summer AGAIN but I'm excited for the next chapter in life. The last time I moved out of state I was 18, headed off to college and basically knew no one in Austin. I'm sort of freaking out since Austin has now become home over the last 8 years but luckily we have lots of friends and family in the Tulsa area to make the transition easier.

It should be an interesting couple of months!

xoxo

Kelly

P.S. Unlike the last time I made life changing announcements on the internet that didn't end up working out, we are like 100% moving this time!

20 miles

2012-05-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

I survived 20 miles last weekend!

There was the small issue of getting dizzy and nearly passing out {don't tell my mom}...but the running part was fine. After I got back to the house, I ate a little, drank some gatorade, stretched, foam rolled and took a shower. I then started packing for our weekend trip and doing some chores around the house. Suddenly, I got super sweaty and started to get dizzy. I thought I was going to puke and pass out all at the same time. I ran to the bathroom and sat down. Luckily, Brandon was on his way home and diagnosed me with dehydration.

I blame "This American Life."

20 miles is a long way. 20 miles is especially a long way by yourself. I was afraid I'd get bored just listening to pop hits for hours on end. So...I decided to download some podcasts. I love me some NPR so I thought it would be perfect to have some of my favorites for part of my run. The only problem was I got so engrossed in the stories that I wasn't as good about walking a minute each mile and drinking early on, like I had been on my 18 miler.

It was also especially warm towards the end of my run and I barely had enough water to get me back home. Not a good combo.

But I got it done. I practically walked all of mile 15 due to a mental block. The thought of running 5 more miles seemed like too much. But as soon as I hit mile 16 I got my stride back and was able to finish. I'm actually glad I ran into such a mental block because now I know what it feels like if it happens race day. I know I can keep going and push through.

The rest of the weekend was spent eating way too much German food and drinking way too much. But after running 20 miles I had calories to spare. I won't tell you the number of corndogs we consumed as a group this weekend...you'll be disgusted.

Happy Birthday Babe! Love you. Old man :)

I'm not exactly sure how I'm already to the taper phase of my training or how the race is in 3 weeks! Seems crazy.

xoxo

Kelly

Crazy dog owners

2012-04-25T11:24:00.000-05:00

Brandon sent the following email to a friend who is watching Maxwell for us...Lord help us if we have kids. They'll have an instruction sheet that will fill up an entire notebook....

Little dog. Big dog.

I just wanted to type up a little instruction sheet. As any crazy dog owner would do.

Tricks:

1. Sit - I usually make a fist like black power and say "sit".

2. Down - I point to the ground and say "down".

a. Then there is "all the way down". This is where he lays on his side with his head resting on the ground.

3. Up - I usually cup my hand and make an upward motion from the hip

4. Look at me - Usually when getting treats or before eating. I wait until he looks at me in the facial area.

5. Heel - I slap my left leg twice and say "heel".

6. Roll Over - He will roll over on carpet or grass. I make a "hang loose" hand and say "roll-over".

7. Jump - From a sitting or standing position, I make a more exaggerated "UP" motion and say "jump".

8. Slap Hands - From a sitting position, I hold out my hand and say "slap hands".

9. Beer Me - if you have a cooler that he can open (such as my soft red one) I say "beer me" and point/snap to the cooler.

10. Recycle It - if you show him where to recycle something he can retrieve an object and drop it into the bin/container.

This is all of his tricks unless you want to, or can, teach him something else.

Commands:

1. Leave it - when he is sniffing something or prancing around with some object in his mouth which shouldn't be there. Say in a stern voice "leave it". Sometimes this doesn't work unless you have something more appealing in your hand.

2. Go to bed - when you need to put him in his kennel. I usually don't say it in a "you're in trouble" type of voice.

3. Jump Up - when you need him to get into the car or whatever. I usually point/snap to the spot and say "jump up".

4. Go AWAY/GO LAY DOWN - when you are tired of his shenanigans and don't want him staring at you anymore or putting his nose all up in your grille. Say in a stern voice "GO AWAY/GO LAY DOWN" while pointing towards a random area.

5. NO LICK - If you find him licking you too much, I usually say "no lick". I taught him not to lick me by grabbing his snout while his tongue was out licking me. You have to be quick though.

6. OUT OF THE KITCHEN - If you have a dish towel handy, shake it at him. If he is a repeat offender, pop him with it.

7. Wait - when feeding or playing fetch. If you want him to wait to eat or retrieve the object, make him look at you and hold up one finger saying "wait".

Sometimes he is really annoying with new people and will just stare at you and lick your pants randomly.

Feeding Time:

We feed him two times per day. I give him 1.5-1.75 cups in the morning and the same in the evening. I will measure enough food for 3 days and include the measuring cup. Once you scoop the food into the bowl, make him wait..... then say "ok, eat your food". I don't want him biting your hand off.

Walking:

Max is good on walks and can pick up chicks. I will include his prong collar and his regular buckle collar. I don't have to use the prong collar during the walk to correct him very often, but don't let him walk in front of you. Poop and pee on command, otherwise he will try to sniff shit during the whole walk since it's new territory. But you don't have to walk him at all unless you want to.

Car rides:

If you take him for a car ride, just make him lay down or he will stand up and block your vision the whole time. Just holler at him to "lay down" if he keeps trying to stand up and look at cows and stuff.

Off leash areas:

If you want to take him to swim or whatever, he won't run off or anything but he does go pretty far sometimes. I whistle "pretty bird" and he will look all dumb and come running back.

Kennel time:

When I don't bring him to work with me, he stays in his kennel up to 8 hours at a time. He usually drinks a bladder-load of water when he gets out, but he is fine. We have never left him in the yard overnight or during the day, but I'm sure he would be fine if you choose to do so.

Ok, this email is long enough. I told you I was a crazy dog owner. I just wanted you to be warned and prepared all at the same time.

Yes, this is the man I married.

Kelly

As seen on my run..

2012-04-20T11:11:00.000-05:00

Even though I haven't blogged much about my marathon training it doesn't mean I haven't documented it. Luckily, I've had my trusty iPhone to document and Instagram the whole thing.

an afternoon on the trail

a good reminder to "breathe"

lots of carbs and caffeine

sunsets

some days it's too pretty to worry about turning on the watch

16 miles

pink laces make everything better.

18 miles

poppies

I have 13 miles scheduled for this weekend and then it's the big 2-0 next weekend....

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo

Kelly