The Sled

Here is a picture of my sled I made. (See post below)

Almost Christmas

It is snowing outside and very cold. Christmas is in less than a week and I can't wait to have two days away from work! Thanksgiving break was good. We were able to go with Eric's cousins for Thanksgiving Day and then I shopped til I dropped on Black Friday with my sisters. Friday night Eric and I went to a Jazz basketball game with his family and that was really fun. Eric and I have not been to a Jazz game for a long time. We put up our Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend and it looks great. I'm a big fan of fake Christmas trees. Nothing else too exciting has happened. I have some pictures from my niece's baby blessing and from Eric's family Christmas Party but I haven't had a chance to load them onto the computer. So maybe over the break I'll get a chance.

I decided I'd blog about some Christmas traditions that I've started because I have time and I've enjoyed reading other peoples traditions. Every year I insist on breaking out my old "Christmas with the Chipmunks" tape cassette! I remember getting it when I was young and I would listen to it all the way through. It was one of my favorites. Well my mom found it and gave it to me a few years ago and I was so excited she found it! Could you believe she was going to throw it away? :) The first Christmas after we were married I told Eric I needed a CD player with a cassette deck in it so I could put in the Chipmunks. (Did I mention he isn't the biggest fan of the Chipmunks?) He came through for me! I drag out our blue CD/cassette tape player every Christmas season to make sure the Chipmunks get some air time! Eric can't stand to listen to it so I try hard to only put it in when he isn't home. It brings back memories.

Another tradition that Eric and I have started is to play Christmas movies while we put up our tree and decorate. We usually watch A Christmas Story and The Muppet Christmas Carol. I really enjoy the Muppet Christmas Carol. I like to sing to the songs, the Muppets are cute, and I love the story. Another movie I try to watch is Elf because it makes me laugh.

And last but not least, Eric and I have tried to collect some fun ornaments since we've been married. We now have Batman, Belle, Jack Skellington (from "The Nightmare Before Christmas") tree ornaments to name a few. And every year I put up this sled that I made out of tongue depressors (aka big pop sickle sticks) in second grade. Complete with glitter. It is beautiful and I had a lot of skill for a second grader. I might have to take a picture and include in this blog so you can appreciate how hard I worked. My mom was going to throw that away too. So I rescued it and now it gets to hang on our tree. :) Eric is so lucky.

Well that is all I can think of for now. Eric is finally done with school for the semester and he only has one more until he is done with his Bachelors degree in Accounting! He can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. So for now he is working a lot over the crazy, busy, Holiday season. I am looking forward to spending Christmas day with him since that's about all we'll have together. Well I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

I am finally posting our costume pictures from Halloween. We had a great day. I was Bat Girl and Eric was Iron Man! I dressed up for work and at times you could find me running past cubicles with my cape flying behind me. It was pretty fun. I made the kids who came to work say trick or treat before I would give them any candy. Eric and I went trick or treating to Roger and Tasha's house. They almost didn't recognize us! ;)

Witches Night Out!

This Saturday I went up to West Jordan to babysit my cute little niece Lyla. We both lived through the poopy diaper experience! Here is a cute picture of her. She is such a good baby, she makes it look easy to have kids.At 7:00 Kimberly and I left the kids with my parents and went with a bunch of ladies from her ward to go to Gardner Village for Witches Night Out! This fun event started with us all dressing like witches and meeting for dessert at Village Inn. Here is a picture of our group.
As you can see, some of the ladies really take it seriously! They were really funny and we had a lot of fun with them. After dessert we went to Gardner Village and walked around the shops and ended up dancing with a bunch of other witches while the DJ played Thriller! It was so funny and there were some people there with really awesome costumes. Here is a guy dressed as some creature out of a Lord of the Rings books, at least I think that is what he was. But he was awesome and danced to the music. It was a lot of fun. Thanks Kimberly and ward ladies for letting me come have a girls night out!

Baby Janessa is here!

This last Saturday, October 18th, Janessa Linda Mechling was born! My sister was in labor for about 12 hours but finally the baby came out. She was 8lbs. 9oz. and 20.5 inches long! Sounds big but when I held her she was so tiny. Hooray for little nieces and nephews. They are all growing and are cute kids. We almost want to have one. Almost. :)

Disclaimer

Ok, so I should have read through my Manic Monday post before I posted it. It came out sounding like I was complaining and sad about the whole mess. (Ok, I kinda was but all of you know that I love to complain. I think it's one of my talents) ;) But just so you all know, I realize it wasn't that bad of a day and it could have been worse. This week has gone better and every thing is good. Thanks everyone for putting up with me!

Eric and Kassi's Manic Monday

This Monday was not the best Monday we've had. Eric was lucky enough to have a coupon for a discounted dental exam, x-rays, and cleaning at the Mall Dental Group. So I scheduled us both appointments. Too good of a deal to pass up! Eric's appointment was at 9:00 am. He called me at 8:45 telling me the truck kept quitting on him. He was sitting in a church parking lot trying to scrape the snow off his windshield from the previous day and trying to get the truck going. Fortunately, we were able to get the truck to the shop and he still made it to his appointment. My appointment was at 10 so I showed up just as Eric was finishing. I want to congratulate him on making it into the Cavity Free Club! His name was entered in a drawing for dinner and a movie so I hope he wins. Unfortunately, the very young dentist who looked at my X-Rays thinks I have two cavities. Probably one for sure but the second one he thinks is a cavity. He wasn't sounding too sure so I'm not very confident in his dentist ability. I don't think he had been out of dental school very long. I'm sure he learned a lot but I do not want him practicing on me. So thank you, very young dentist, for telling me that you THINK I have two cavities. Now I can't be in the Cavity Free Club! They were so kind to give me a print out of my quote for my upcoming dental work, which was $236.00! Yeah, not too excited. Needless to say I did not schedule a follow-up appointment. Instead, I talked Eric into buying me a cinnamon roll from Maverik! Mmmmm. Later that day we got a call from the mechanic letting us know it was going to cost us $230.00 to fix the truck. Eric and I were depressed after finding out about all of these extra things we needed to spend money on. Not to mention the fact that we had to register our Jeep this month which was going to cost us more money. (Luckily it passed inspection so we won't have to put any extra money into it.) So much for my dream trip to Disney Land.
Did I mention that in Church on Sunday our sacrament meeting and priesthood/relief society lessons were all about trials and how good they are for us. Thanks church for jinxing us. I sat through those lessons with an "I hate trials because they are hard" look on my face. Oh and I was grumpy cuz I get paid crap at my job.
On a happier, non complaining note, today is payday and it is Friday which means I get to sleep in tomorrow!

Quirks Tag

Tell 6 UNSPECTACULAR Quirks about yourself and tag 6 fellow bloggers. Here we go...

Rules: link the person who tagged you. Mention these rules on your blog.

1. I HATE bee's, hornets, wasps, any flying bug that can sting me. I usually freak out when they are flying around. Eric keeps telling me to hold still but it is really hard. I haven't ever been stung either so I am afraid I'll start swelling up and then what am I going to do? (I hate spiders and any kind of bug!)

2. I hate not having my bed made. There are some mornings that I will be running late and I will stop and make the bed before I leave for work, making myself even more late. If Eric is still in it when I leave then I will make it when I come home if he hasn't done it. He knows it drives me nuts so tries to help out.

3. I love aerobics. It is the one and only hobby I have. I even go to the aerobics classes that make me look like a fool because it is fun and I don't end up leaving after 5 minutes. I need a teacher to motivate me to work out longer than 5 minutes, to make me lift weights, do squats, lunges, crunches, you know, the not so fun stuff! I've even tried to recruit some friends and I only have one (Shout-out to Emily!) who will still come with me once in a while.

4. I actually enjoy doing the dishes (for the most part). I find it satisfying to have a sink full and then to have it empty. It makes me feel like I accomplished something.

5. I hate calling people. I will e-mail and text if I can before I will call. And if I end up calling them I usually hope I get their voice mail so I don't have to talk to them. I don't mind calling family or close friends but anything that has to do with church, work, or the maintenance man, I dread it!

6. I have to brush and floss my teeth before I go to bed, no matter how late it is. It could be 3 in the morning and I will stay up to brush and floss. I think it stems from when I had braces back in the day.

I tag Tasha, Emily, Kaime, whoever wants to!
Thanks Hannah!

You have been tagged!

The rules: You can only put one word answers. Good luck.

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Your significant other? Eric
3. Your hair? Short
4. Your mother? Caring
5. Your father? Dedicated
6. Your favorite thing? Chocolate
7. Your dream last night? Reunion
8 Your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk (I know, two words. Oh well)
9. Your dream/goal? Disneyland
10. The room you’re in? Office
11. Your hobby? Aerobics
12. Your fear? Spiders
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
14. What you’re not? Dieter
15. Muffins? Sure
16. One of your wish list items? Vacation
17. Where you grew up? Delta
18. The last thing you did? Phone
19. What are you wearing? Jeans
20. Favorite gadget? IPod
21. Your pets? None!
22. Your computer? working
23.Your mood? Good
24. Missing someone? Eric
25.Your car? Gas Hog
26. Something you’re not wearing? Earrings
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Like someone? Eric
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday (Reno 911 cracks me up)
31. Last time you cried? Dumb Question

Okay, if you haven't done this tag yet, then I tag you!

The Angels are singing Hallelujah! (And so is my boss)

I know, three blogs in one week! It's very unlike us but it has been very eventful and exciting. This blog is about my job. I have been working at the same place for 4 years (almost 4.5) and one of my responsibilities is to reconcile our checking account each month. Well, I have no degree in accounting and not much background in in it either so I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing with it. It was hard getting help because my boss is the only one who can help me and he is always super busy, not to mention the fact that I am a professional procrastinator! Sad but true. It came time for my 4 year review and raise and I still had not done any reconciliations. So it was finally time to learn how to do it and get them done. I have been working for about 5 months to catch up on them and now I am a professional reconciliator (that is not a real word but it is now ;) ) of checking accounts! Two and a half years of procrastination has certainly taught me a lesson. I learned why it is a bad idea to procrastinate and what the consequences are as I have been working to get them done. I am proud to announce that today I completed my last reconciliation and I am up to date. So I will only have to do them on a monthly basis now!! I have worked really hard and have even come in at night to try to catch up on them. My boss is just as excited because now we can do the important stuff like file our taxes, run reports for profit sharing, see how much money we really have in the bank account etc. you know, stuff like that. :)

Here is a picture of me holding all of the months of reconciliations I have had to do and complete. It was heavy!Now that I am done I am letting Eric take me to lunch and I'll be asking about my raise! Hallelujah, Hallelujah! I never thought I'd see this day and I'm glad it is finally here.

Happy Birthday Eric!

Today is a very special Day (September 24). It is Eric's 25th Birthday. He was so nice to put up a post about me with embarrassing pictures so I wanted to do the same but unfortunately I don't have access to any embarrassing pictures of him. So I'll just post some of our party we had this last Saturday. We had a BBQ with our family and we even got to open some presents. We had a pinata which was lots of fun. We let my nephews take some whacks at it. There is a nice picture of me modeling the pinata blindfold! Sexy I know. After the bursting of the pinata we had cake and ice cream. Eric has so many talents! A bunch of you probably didn't know that Eric has a creative side to him. Not only is he a good writer but he also makes an awesome SUPERMAN Cake!!! Yes, he baked and frosted it all by himself! It was delicious! I was so proud of him and am so grateful to have such a wonderful guy all to myself. Eric is talented, hard working, and very witty! He makes me laugh all the time and we have a lot of fun together. I love you Eric and I hope you have a great Birthday!!
Here are some other pics of me opening my presents on my birthday. He did a really good job on buying me presents. He gave me a paper shredder (this was on my list) , some awesome socks to keep my feet warm for the cold winter that is coming, and a new necklace. He also gave me a gift card so I can go pick out some shoes.
Okay, so I can't get these pictures to go in the order I want them to so you'll just have to scroll down and enjoy them all. I wish I knew how to do a slide show. Oh well.

What a great Wife! (A tribute with Pictures)

So yesterday was my dear wife's 25th birthday, and in commemoration of this historic event I thought I'd share a few thoughts on why Kassi is so great, and if I can figure out how, I'll add some pictures too.

This one is Kassi's first birthday. Even though in this picture she looks more scared than anything else she really does love spending time with friends and family, which is great and definitely one of the things I love about her. We had a birthday party on Saturday, and had people from her and my family show up, it was great. We are both really blessed to have fun and supportive families that we enjoy doing stuff with. We got some great pics from this year's party that I think Kassi will add later (probably at the same time she takes down some of the ones I'm about to put up because she doesn't want them publicly displayed.)

Here is Kassi goofing around, which is something she still enjoys doing. She is pretty lighthearted, and she can almost always whip out something funny to lighten the mood, or pull me out of a stress-induced funk. I love that she doesn't take herself too seriously, and that she knows how to make me laugh, and help me out when I am down. Apparently she is also a Kix kid.

This one is Kassi wearing a hat that I sent her when I was on my mission. I'm pretty sure that is the only time she has worn it, but she pretended to like it long enough that to make me happy. She has done this with a few presents I've given her which is pretty ok with me. She's also let me know on a couple occasions that there are some gifts she would not like, such as nintendo games or new tennis rackets with handles that are too big for her hand but mysteriously just right for mine. Kassi is pretty good to let me know what she wants for birthdays and such, and she is really easy to shop for once. I know I can't go wrong if I just look for something she'll enjoy rather than stuff that's secretly for me. That might seem like an odd thing to love about a person, but it makes my life easier when I know what to get her, or that she'll be happy with my efforts as long as they are sincere

This one I added because I thought she looked really good. I think it's the first time I saw her with short hair, and she looks great, doesn't she? Really she's done a few different things with her hair and appearance since I've known her, and it just keeps getting better, and just like her looks get better, she gets better too. We've known each other for about 7 years now and been married for just over 3, and I love the person she is, and the little changes that have come into her personality. We have a great time together, and I love that I get the prospect of spending more time with her throughout our lives. I love you Kassi.

This one just made me laugh, and it wouldn't surprise me if it somehow disappears shortly after it gets posted.

No news is good news

So life has returned to the drudgery that I call school. Weekdays are now spent reading, reading, reading, doing assignments, and not giving work as much attention as during the blessed summer months. Weekends are spent procrastinating, feeling guilty for not studying, doing a little sewing if I can, and spending much needed time relaxing with Kassi and our families. Seriously, I kind of like school, and am enjoying most of my classes, but all the stress that's associated with it is not my idea of fun. We did go camping since we last updated, and it was fun, but the wind blew the entire time and it was really stormy the last night. We had a great time playing ladder golf with Kassi's siblings evven though we lost the tournament again for anyone who's keeping track, we played some card games, and showed off our complete lack of cooking skills by ruining pancakes (yes we can't cook the simplest of breakfast foods). Next year we are not signing up for breakfast. We came back with a disappointing lack of pictures or else I'd share some with you. Camping with Kassi's family is always a highlight of our year but we need to go more often on our own so we can get some practice in. Anyhow, I better pay some more attention to my professor so I can learn how to manage risk, and make good choices.

A letter to my customer

Dear Sir,
No we will not replace the cds that you left in your car and they melted. Don't lie to me and say they "wore out" I wasn't born yesterday and I know what happens to cds if you leave them out in the sun for so long that the foil disappears and the case is discolored. I don't care if you think a manager at another store would let you return the cds, I don't think they would, and if they do it is only a testament to the fact that other managers are too scared or dumb to call you on your lies and I'm decently appalled that you don't find what you are trying to do very unethical. I agree it sucks that you ruined your cds, but you did it. Not Me. Didn't your parents teach you to take care of your possessions? If you dropped a book in the bathtub would you expect us to replace that? Yes you can take my name and complain about me all you want. If the people you are complaining to have any sense (which I have faith they do) they'll agree with me and send you packing. Maybe they'll be less polite than I was and call you on your lies or maybe they'll try some tactic that is beyond my capability to devise and get you to see the error of your ways. Don't try and make me feel guilty or incompetent for doing my job. Nobody should have to pay the price for your dumb mistakes but you.

Losing my patience with dishonest people,
Eric

New Niece

No, this is not my child. No, we are not getting baby hungry. Now that I have answered the thoughts going through your head I can tell you who this cute baby is. She is my brand new niece and her name is Lyla. My sister had her on July 30th. She is such a cutie! I just wanted to post some cute pictures of her since I have them handy. It is so exciting to have a new baby in the family because I can hold them and hand them back over when they cry or need a diaper changed. It is fun being an aunt!I love her striped PJ's.
Look, I even got Eric to hold her!

One Crazy Summer! (Crazy Fun Summer!)

Here is an update on Team Johnson from June 27th through July 26th. In June Eric and I went down to St. George with the Johnson's. We went down on Friday the 27th and shopped and swam. On Saturday the 28th we went to Tuacahn to watch Les Miserables. It was so Awesome! I have never seen that play before but I know some of the music so I was able to sing along with some of the songs. Eric really liked it too, except for the parts I was quietly singing in his ear. : ) Here is a picture of Eric and I in front of the stair fountain. For those of you who have never been to Tuacahn here is a picture of the stage. It is an outdoor theater that is in the desert and it is surrounded by really high cliffs so it blocks the sun and it is gorgeous. If you have never been I recommend it.
Eric had a present for me back at our hotel. He gave me a very cute Bell figurine. The story behind this is that 3 years ago we came to St. George on our honeymoon and watched Beauty and the Beast at Tuacahn. (I sang along to all the songs that time!) Eric is so thoughtful and very sweet to remember how much fun we had that night. It was especially funny because Mrs. Potts fell over on her way off the stage and she couldn't get up because her costume was big and round, a pot actually. Thanks Eric, I love it!
Next we move on to the 4th of July. Everyone has already posted about that but here is a picture of my family waiting for the parade to start. I left Eric in Orem to work while I came home and had a great time. I helped gather candy with the kids!We also celebrated Carter's 6th birthday with an Incredible Hulk cake and presents. He is so lucky to have been born on the 4th! There is always a huge celebration going on.Let's not forget about the famous 4th of July Demolition Derby! I haven't been for a few years and I had so much fun! There were quite a few cars that tipped over. I even got the dirt sprayed on me.Our next event was the Lovell Family Reunion in Idaho on the 17-19th of July. I've never been to Idaho or this reunion so I wasn't sure what to expect. We went up on Thursday and spent the night at this Ranch. It was a big house with lots of rooms and lots of fun activities. Here is a picture of the slide that Eric went down. Pretty intense. Luckily he didn't face plant at the bottom. On Friday the 18th we had the opportunity to go river rafting on the Snake River. We drove over the border to Wyoming and Eric's awesome second cousin or something like that took us down the river. Here we are on the drive to the river.I was nervous for the river run but after our guides gave us some good tips on how to stay in the boat I felt a little better. And I originally thought I was going to be the "River Princess" which means I could sit in the middle of the boat and not paddle and it also means lower chances of falling out. But our boat was small and I ended up being the River Cinderella! I ended up paddling and bailing the water out of the bottom of the boat. So much for River Princess!
The run we went on was called The Hoback and it was 8.5 miles long. The biggest Rapid we went through was called Lunch Counter and it was a category 4! Eric was a lead paddler so he was in the very front. He got a lot of water splashed on him. I also got soaking and the water was FREEZING! My feet were numb and red by the time it was over. Here is a picture of us going through lunch counter. (Sorry for the quality. It was the best I could do.) Eric is the one right in the front in the white shirt.I didn't fall out but the boat tipped a bit and I fell towards Becca. So much for paddling. (I'm on the back left hand side of the boat. By left hand I mean if you were sitting in the boat I would be on the left.)It was awesome and I'm so glad I went! At the reunion I played PIG with Eric and Mike. I won them both!! It was pretty good. Then Eric and I played a few games of Pool with Mike and Becca. We were all pretty good so Eric and I won a couple times and Becca and Mike won too. It was really fun and I like to win. Thanks Becca and Mike for some good games!
Here are some more pics from our ride home. We stopped in Idaho Falls and took some pics.That is all for our summer trips. We are out of money and can't afford gas anymore so it's my goal to cut back on driving. Carpooling anyone?