The Thing About Pedicures Is...

IM HOME!


I decided to try this blog a little bit Quinci style because I miss her (And all of my girls!)

So how awkward on a scale of 1 to 10 is it to have a pedicure done?

Minimal, right?

That's what I thought. Mom and I decided to go get pedicures for medicinal purposes. You see, I am going to have to get surgery on my foot... maybe. I won't know till August 23.

But what if we up the stakes a bit? A man is doing your pedicure and you haven't shaved your legs in... well, a while?

Now the awkwardness level is climbing.

And don't forget. They don't really speak English but they love to speak Vietnamese super loudly all around you.

I've learned while living with a Korean room mate and her many friends that Asian languages are SUPER LOUD!

The other thing about having a man give you a pedicure is that they massage your feet and legs a lot more vigorously than a woman. This would be a good thing if I didn't have sooo many bruises on my feet and legs right now from cliff/ bridge jumping. Can you say, OUCH!

Also, he turned on the massage chair which made me look like I was shimmying for like 40 minutes. (Yes, it's ok to laugh. I had to pretend like I was texting someone a few times so that I could laugh and have it pass as something they said.)

See, the thing about me is that I just can't help laughing sometimes and once I start, there is no stopping it. Especially if I am not supposed to be laughing.


So in the end, Mom and I got cute toes and a lot of laughs. (P.S. Is it weird that I think of Roger and Augie Rife when I get pedicures?) The Asians all guessed that I was 10 or 13 years old and couldn't contain their laughter when I told them the truth. (This seems to be happening a lot lately. Last night at a singles ward thing, I said that I was older than I looked and this guy guessed 17. Also, my new bishop told my sister that I couldn't be more than 16 years old.)


I am loving being home! I finally got to meet my Thatcher and see my other 2 boyfriends, Jackson and Liam. I am loving the bounty of food and laughter always supplied at my house. I am so grateful for the simple joys of life. Things like Thrift Store Proms and Elders Quorum Presidents, Giggles and Family, Promises of a bike ride soon, and Spare ribs for dinner. Thank you for the extra raisins. :)

Quinci, I hope you don't mind my borrowing your blog style for this post. :) I sure miss you, Girls!! I hope your break is awesome and Fall semester is even better!

Much Love!!

A Ride with Whitney, Michael, and the Girls.

Tonight we went for our roomie dinner! We went to IF and ate Reeeed Robin! Yummmm.
On the way back, we suddenly had an 80's music jam out session.

Question of the Day: Can a car full of college-aged girls change the world? (Just let that simmer for a few minutes while you read on.)

We were driving back to Rexburg singing/ screaming, "Oohhh I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat with somebody! Yeah I wanna dance with somebody. With somebody who loves me!" by our girl Whitney. We passed many cars and got lots of looks. But the best had to be this old man in a Rav 4. He was just driving along in his cowboy hat and I think we may have given him a minor heart attack.
A couple miles later, we had moved onto "The way you make me feEel" by the man Michael, and we passed this red car full of our age-ish boys and a couple of girls. They waved, Emma awkwardly waved back and went back to our jam out. A few miles later, they appear at our side again full out DANCING with us. It was just such a great time to share our love of jamming out on the freeway that we were all busting up laughing.
There was this one guy in particular that was very enthusiastic. As we passed them for the last time. I turned back and made the "I love you" sign with my hand as if to say, "This is our exit, but you're awesome and I am going to blog about this and probably remember it for the rest of my life." He made it back and nodded his head as if to say, "Hey, you too. I'd say we'll meet again someday, but I don't think we could go forward from this moment." Then we exited and he waved one last REAL BIG wave and we were back in the calm of Rexburg. Just like that the moment had passed and gone. I love the bloggable moments of life. :)

So can a car full of college-aged girls change the world? The answer is YES! Especially if they have a little bit of help from random strangers. And hey, you should see what we can do when you meet us outside of a car! :)

Much Love!!

Blogging Blurbs

I feel like this is a blog of blurbs... but sometimes we need a little bit of unorganized junk in our lives. So I'm gonna leave it. :)
Marriage Prep. Sadly yesterday was the very last class. I am sad to see it go, but not disappointed in the least. Sister Hendricks truly is a wonderful teacher. I have learned so much from her. Yesterday not one of us left the class with dry eyes. (Even the boys.) I wish I could explain the reason, but I don't feel like I could do it justice in writing. Let's just say that "Come Thou Font" was involved and it was so amazing.
Side Note: Funny story. My bedroom window faces the men's housing right behind our apartment. We don't have air conditioning and neither do they so we all leave our windows open pretty much 24/7. There is this... very amused man who loves to laugh. REALLY LOUDLY!! It is the same laugh every single time. Use your imagination: "Heh Heh Heh!" It's great that he loves to laugh. I am happy that he feels the need to laugh just about every 17 seconds in the same loud 3 outbursts of noise. But not so early in the morning so loudly! Or at least can he share what he is laughing about?? It is obviously super funny! (Sorry, some things that just get under your skin early in the morning. It really is funny now though, looking back.)
Happy Thought: I was able to talk to my boss at Ave Maria today and find out that I do have a job when I get home! What a blessing that is! That is a huge weight off of my shoulders. :)
So I always thought that The Ensign was really boring and not worth my time, (Except for the conference edition.) but I guess that's because I have never read one before. Ladies and gentlemen, I was wrong. This month's Ensign is quite amazing. It is so full of treasures! I cannot believe that I have let myself miss out on this. It is hard to choose a favorite from the ones that I have read so far, but I really enjoyed the "Be of good cheer" one. (And the First Presidency Message.) John 16:33 is such an encouraging scripture. "...In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." It really helps you to keep a happy and eternal perspective. Things are going to be tough in our lives. The weather will make us sweat our skin off, the boy across the window from you will wake you up by laughing loudly and constantly, you will lose the ones you love, people will spit on you or yell obscene things as they drive by you, you will bomb a test and forget an assignment, the man at Taco Bell will forget your order, you will have so many struggles that you might feel like you can go on no longer. But Jesus Christ has overcome the world! And He has overcome it for us. Can we even comprehend how fantastic that truly is!? There is so much joy to be had. We have so much reason to "Be of good cheer." When we really see the joy that the Atonement can bring; if only for a split second we can grasp it, we can understand that all of the other things are so small. And not only are they small, they are for our benefit. That doesn't mean that they don't matter or that they are not difficult, it simply means that they will not last.
Sorry if that was a little intense... Sometimes you just have to share. I hope that you feel joy and hope today. I am forever grateful for the many people who touch my life daily. You make all of the difference. :)

Much Love!!

The Best Thing to Do When You are Hot is... Hug a Leopard to Keep Cool??

The heat in Rexburg lately has been UNREAL!
Today I was doing laundry for 2 main reasons. First, because it is "free laundry week" which means they give you $3.50 in quarters to spend on laundry. (P.S. When Quinci and I picked our quarters up from the office, we were putting them all over our skin because they had been sitting in the cool, air-conditioned lounge.) Second, because I went on a fantastic vacation and all of my clothes smell like campfire or lake water. (Which obviously means that it was a worthwhile and action-packed vacation. If the smell isn't enough, I've got the bruises on my legs and the burn holes on my blanket to prove it.)
So I was taking someone's finished laundry out of the washer so I could use it. (Yes. I usually dislike this task. It's slightly awkward.) But it was so dang hot today that I was about to hug this random girl's laundry because it was cold and wet!!! And let me tell you. She has a lot of leopard print.
To be honest, the main reason that it is miserable is simply because there is no air conditioning in our apartment. I am so thankful for air conditioning. I realize that I have soooo taken in for granted in the past. And at least it is not the awful, bitter cold of a Rexburg winter.
I think that Rexburg is so temperamental with its climate because if it wasn't everyone would be crowding it and it just wouldn't be the same, small town. I love the spirit here at BYU-Idaho. It feels great to be here despite the-sometimes-awful weather.
Rexburg. The best of both worlds. Extreme hot to extreme cold. Thank you for giving me a chance to look beyond the surface and find the blessings buried underneath the temperature.

Much Love!!

Thatcher Cruz Johnson

Welcome to the world, Little Bundle of Joy.
I envy all of my family members who have gotten to kiss your sweet face today. But don't worry. As soon as I saw the first picture of you, I knew I loved you and I always will.


Liam meeting his baby brother. I love you too, Liam! (And Jackson) :)


What a beautiful mommy! I only hope I will look this good after giving birth!

He is so precious!

I will see you in a month and 2 days if all goes as planned. Don't grow up too fast! Thank you for choosing to come bless our lives.

Much Love!!

Rednecks Vs. Hippies.

You know those days where you find yourself out in the middle of a barely field in Idaho, walking down a dirt road as the sun has just set? Then you get picked up by some guy in a cowboy hat in his big boy truck and end up at a bonfire right on the edge of the Snake River? And through all of this you find yourself pondering the question, "Why don't I have my taser right now?"
Yeah. Neither do I.... :)
Last night Jake invited us to sojourn to a bonfire in IF with him. And I kid you not, the above story is reality. This is how they do things in Idaho apparently.
At first we couldn't find the tiny, dirt road that we were supposed to turn off on. So Jake pulled over to ask some boy for directions. This is Idaho, so naturally he knew this boy. His directions sounded like this:
Drive that way until you see the big house down there. Then there's a little dirt road right before a telephone pole.
Idaho? Yes.
So we turned off onto this dirt road that really was tiny and drove for a while on a very bumpy road until we crossed a bridge and got out. Then this man on a four wheeler excitedly greeted us and yells that he is gonna go grab someone to pick us up. Then we walked/drove for another who-knows-how-long and ended up right by the Snake River at a quaint, little bonfire where we learned about the circle of life (farmer style... I'm not gonna share this one.... I like to keep my blog somewhat uplifting) and how the hippies from Arkansas could never survive up here because they don't like guns. And by the way, Rednecks do believe in world peace... If you want me to explain that one, call me. Again, I like to keep my blog somewhat uplifting. :) We all agreed that this night was a really great motivator to stay in school... Haha.
It was a little on the sketchy side, so we didn't stay long. But the journey was just soooo Idaho that I couldn't resist sharing it. This is how they do it in Idaho, folks.

News update: Tyler (My roommate) just informed me that she got 2nd place in her age group in the Twin Falls Triathlon that she just completed!!! Nice going, Girly! You are a rockstar!!!

So what's new in Idaho? ... Mmm nothing. But I am trying my best to enjoy the old. :) Idaho is a whole different world and Rexburg is even more unique, but they have a lot of cool experiences to offer. Embrace it or die of boredom and possibly insanity. I will forever be grateful for my time up here and all of the people I am meeting. I am sooo blessed.

Much Love!!

Graffiti and Pondering

Random and probably dumb thought real fast. Why are we so fascinated with old junk? When we want to go take a photo shoot, we always want it to be by old, rustic stuff. Why?

Maybe:

We find solace in the past
We can feel the old memories that surround these places
Or they just look so cool!


Today I got to go to IF again. It was a lot of fun. Jake took Holly and I up to this old mini golf place that is completely destroyed and graffitied. The above picture is of my lovely paint shoes on this slide that is broken off. It's up on this tower and it overlooks a pretty view (and the old mini golf place.) It is so cool looking though and it is completely in the middle of nowhere. You can even see the Rexburg temple from up there! I loved just being able to sit and ponder there. Jake calls it his "close to Heaven" place. I totally agree. Here a few pictures of it. But I have to warn you... The pictures do not do it justice.

Here are some baby mountains. .... Ok. They are just baby in comparison to the Rockies.


Dang. I just can't say enough how beautiful this Earth is. We are surrounded by so many blessings. :)

Much Love!!