Vacation back East...Day 1

When we got married, Joe's cousin Sarah Scheideggar gave us quite a few Southwest Airline buddy passes. We were so excited because not only were we able to go to California for our Honeymoon, but we had some tickets left over for another trip!! So we were able to get time off of work (by the way, Joe and I work together at Vivint alarms, which has been so much fun!!).

Due to booked flights and bad weather, we made last minute decisions...needless to say we changed our minds every day of the trip. But that is what was the funnest part. We decided to fly into Balitmore, MD and then go where ever we wanted to go from there. It was kind of fun, scary but fun to not have a set plan...We stayed in Laurel, MD at the Garden Inn, just a half an hour north of Washington D.C

The first day we decided to see Washington D.C.... I had forgotten how long the Mall was...it seemed to go on forever!! We got off the subway and went to the Smithsonian of Natural History...










We didn't make it to the Capitol buiding, but we saw it from a distance...


I asked Joe what he REALLY wanted to see and he picked the Washington Monument...



This is the park that we went through to make it to the Lincoln Memorial...





The Lincoln Memorial...






Inside the Lincoln Memorial...





By the time we made it to the Lincoln Memorial the Jefferson Memorial we were too exhausted to go to the Jefferson Memorial. But here it is from a distance...



We went to walk by the White House...



While we were walking back to the subway, I kept asking people if they knew where the Ford Theatre was....nobody knew!! I was very disappointed...however, we were walking to the subway and there was a sign pointing towards it. Here is a beautiful Catholic Church that we passed on our journey...



But sadly we were 30 mins. short of making it ontime to have a tour for the Ford Theatre. :0( Oh well...




Afer the long day of touring, we decided to drive to Niagara Falls, NY. So we left Baltimore and started our drive at 7:00 in the evening...we drove through Maryland and Pennsylvania. We loved the city of Harrisburg, PA, it was very pretty with the Susquehannah River running through it. We were planning on staying in a hotel at Williamsport, PA. Joe, being the Baseball lover that he is, immediately recognized the town when we drove in. It is the place where the Little League World Series are held. It was a fun little bonus for us. However, when we got there, all of the hotels were booked up because of some oil spill in the region...even the hotels in the nearby towns were booked. LOL, it was very late, but we decided to keep driving until we could find a place...at 2:30 in the morning, after sweet talking the lady to giving us a nice discout, we were able to sleep for a few hours at a Super 8 Motel in Bath, NY...boy, what a relief!!

Easter at the Johnson's

Just because I LOVE to make things, and had a few days off between work and school, I worked on a few projects...and bless Joe for putting up with me!!

E-A-S-T-E-R blocks that flip over and say S-P-R-I-N-G...

My spring wreath...

And a plaque that I put together from vellum stickers Kevin and Rachel gave to me a few years ago...

We were planning on driving home to visit my parents in Idaho, but last minute changes took place and we stayed in Utah for Easter.

This is one of our favorite times of the year. It is so exciting to see the green come out of the ground, flowers springing up, and trees covered in blossoms and green buds...Isn't it exciting!! It was a beautiful Easter. We are both so grateful for the testimonies that we have, for the experiences that have lead us to where we are today, and for a loving and forgiving Heavenly Father that has always been there for us. Through this last year, we have both seen miracles and blessings that have left us with the knowledge that He is fully aware of our needs, our desires, and our weaknesses. Truly, each one of us are precious before Him. So precious that He was willing to share and give His precious gift, His Son Jesus Christ, to teach us how to live so that we can return to live with Them again. Christ sacrifice His life so that we will not only live again, but we can also overcome spiritual death if we choose to by repenting and changing our hearts...This time of year also reminds us of the First Vision that Joseph Smith had of the Father and the Son. What a tremendous blessing to know that Joseph had the faith and a pure heart to receive a special witness to share with each of us that God lives, He speaks to us by answering our prayers, and has prophets to teach us the things that we need to hear today along with the scriptures. We are truly grateful =0)

Although we had no little kids in our home, we decided to paint Easter eggs anyway...I guess after all we are always kids at heart. And we were rewarded for it, because that Easter morning we had a visit of from the Easter Bunny who left treats for us.....

Our Easter baskets...

We teach the 4 year olds in primary. We have loved it, but at times are beyond frustrated on how chaotic our class can be at times. LOL, I don't know if it was the extra sugar, the excitement of Easter, or spring fever, but my oh my they were out of control!! So we took them for a walk around the church, hoping to burn some energy while pointing out God's creations and how Spring signifies the Resurrection and Life of our Savior and His promise to each of us....Good idea, right? Or so we thought...the kids were running around out of control...oh well, I guess we have to learn things sooner or later. Too funny!! I don't know if Heavenly Father is working on us with patience or the appreciation of birth control ;0) If any of you have fun reverent teaching ideas...we would LOVE to hear about them!! We have played games, watched an animated film, taken a walk, all to try to make it exciting and different for the kids, but it just doesn't entice them to be a little quieter...We want to bribe them with treats, however we have a kid whose mom does not want her kids getting any food in class...oh, she has made it known by having the primary president announce it in class every sunday since we taught...sooo.....once again, any tidbits of brilliant insight would be muchly appreciated!!

I am Graduated!!

After what seems like forever, I have finally graduated from the Associate's Radiology Program at Weber State University (5 semesters in the program and 3 semesters of taking prerequisites). Yeah!! I have loved the program. It has been a wonderful experience for me, and I am beyond grateful for it. I enjoy the patient interaction, but I also enjoy the lack of drama in the patient interaction as well. We work with the patient, ranging for 5 minutes for a simple chest x-ray, to a couple of hours doing a small bowel follow through study. But my favorite part is working in the OR and seeing the surgeries and visualizing what is taking place....I love the human body!! It is so wonderful.

I have taken pictures with my phone of my coworkers....I decided to add them here for memories.

This is Ward Ireland, one of the RRT's that taught us...(so I guess I was obsessed with us sleeping...it seems to be the highlight of our day!! If we are so lucky that is...)

Deb Rodabough, who was the head tech over the general radiology...

Lizette Chapple, a student a year ahead of me. It was a Sunday, very slow, and we both kicked back and relaxed...

Natalie Harris Jensen, in the OR get up. She was a student the same year as me. She got engaged a couple of weeks after me, and then got married in August. It was fun planning our receptions at the same time...

Audra Mosher, another student the same year as me. They got a hold of my phone and added gadgets onto the photo. Funny, but I wish I actually had a good picture. She is in the Ultrasound program with me as well. She was one of my favorites... Sadie Elder, another student the same year as me. There was a total of four of us. We were all very close and it was one of the funnest experiences of my life.

I can't believe I don't have a picture of Sue Guinn!! She was over the students, and my absolute favorite tech to work with. She taught be so many good things and I wish that I had a picture of her. She created our wedding slide show for the reception. She even made Joe and I an embroidered picture of our names and wedding date. Such a sweet heart!!

There were others. I wish that I had more pictures....

A brief update...

Wow!! Has the last few months flown by like crazy since we have been married!! And although I am excited as my graduation gets closer, I still wish that time would slow down, and at times just pause for awhile ;0)

Life is great at the Johnson's!! I finished the semester the beginning of December and Joe finished a couple of weeks after that. SO we have ThOrOuGhLy enjoyed having the majority of the evenings together =0)

A new semester has begun, and I am beyond excited to be done with Radiology!! Oh my goodness...it seemed like an endless journey!! I have applied for Echocardiology and Ultrasound Bachelor Specialty programs in Weber, so I am just waiting to find out in April. Joe is taking classes online and working full time at Vivint (formerly known as APX Alarms) and working superly hard as an inventory clerk.

We went to the Utah Jazz vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game...we wish they would have won, but it was still a fun game to see. We went there last year when we were dating, and enjoyed it so much we had to do it again.

We just got called as the CTR 4 class teachers....we are beyond excited!! We both were talking about how fun it would be to have a calling together. Joe has never experience the magic of primary, so it will be way fun and new. We are already planning on buying a songbook so we can start memorizing the songs. So, hopefully a few months from now, we will have the same attitude.

We love you all!! And wish you the very best!!

We were able to get a fantastic deal in Las Vegas, so we had tons and tons of fun looking at the casinos, lights, and a few shows. Included in this deal was two $25 chips....required to play all before we could cash out. The cashier rcommended that we play roullete...So I put mine on red (obvious, right?) and Joe put his on black....a 100% chance we would at least walk out with $25....Joe won...then he won again....and AGAIN!! So were able to walk out with $75....not bad, right!! Don't worry....we agreed to pocket the money won and as soon as we lost the chips that required us to play, we were done...my proud hubby, proudly beating the house ;0) The way we were acting you would have thought we had won $1000...but hey, it was fun!!

Joe's first time playing the penny slots...

We stayed in the Skytower of Circus Circus... (We bought matching hats...cute huh!!)

Joe with one of his favorite animals....the infamous camel inside MGM...

The Excalibur.

We made it to the Shark Reef at the Mandelay Bay...way COOL!! We are always facinated any kind of animals, let alone marine life.

The happy Buddah... (my photo idea, he's so good to indulge in my requests)...

Then we went to The Lion King Broadway Play at Mandalay Bay....It is Joe's favorite Disney, and his first Broadway experience....absolutely a wonderful show!! They did such a great job and we both were laughing....I had to hold back from singing on my own ;0)

We then attended the Tournament of the Kings...ate yummy cornish hen, potatoes, broccoli, and rolls....all with our hands....And watched the knights compete in the tournament. Absolutely one of the best trips we have had. We feel very spoiled and love every minute of it!!

We all were seated according to countries/teams....we were in the the Dragon section, which meant we rooted for the bad guys. We were the loudest section.

And just a few goof off shots....Joe inside the Luxor...actually one of my favs; I have never been inside it before...way fun!!

Us inside the M&M Factory...

Due to Joe's visits to the Hebdon's in Ohio, he has joined in my nephews love for Sponge Bob...

Inside the Mandalay Bay...We both love frogs...yes these are little statues of frogs with fountains...we had to get it...

I wanted something from Vegas that I could wear, and Joe found these dice earrings...aren't they cute?

Have I mentioned how much I loved the weather!?!?! It was always in the mid 60's in January...It was sooo tempting to forget logic and transfer to school there. Believe me...we have discussed it and researched it out. So instead it will be a fun vacation spot for us.