Bethy J's Big Adventures

Too bad there's no insurance...

2011-08-07T22:31:00.000-05:00

Learning to Count

2011-07-13T23:06:00.000-05:00

For a while now, Peyton has been able to count to three, but she really struggles getting past three. I got her some new Dora books, and one of them was a counting book. I was really hoping we could get to four, but clearly it's still a work in progress.

Peyton Helps with the Laundry

2011-07-10T08:03:00.000-05:00

While Lisa and I were getting ready one day, I came downstairs and found Peyton helping with the laundry. I really love how she makes sure the shorts are right side out before she lays them down!

Trip to AZ

2011-07-10T07:05:00.000-05:00

Since Andy is about to deploy for Afghanistan, Lisa and the kids moved in with her parents in Arizona. When her parents left for a family reunion, I flew to AZ to spend the Independence Day weekend with Lisa to visit her and help out. We had such a fun time! I'm not sure what I loved most, but getting sno-cones every day was high on my list.

Peyton also loved getting sno-cones!

Peyton and Nash getting ready for fireworks (which was sort of a disaster)

Peyton didn't take a nap one day, and fell asleep while we were eating

I See You

2011-07-10T06:29:00.001-05:00

For a few months, Peyton has been saying, "I see you" when she looks over at you. I keep trying to turn it into "I love you," but no luck so far.

Fun with the family

2011-06-18T23:06:00.001-05:00

All my family was in town before Andy leaves for Afghanistan. It was so much fun to see everyone, and meet my niece, Eden. We had a great time, even if it got a little noisy at Aunt Beth's house!

Peyton loved swimming with her daddy

Peyton loves to read, and she kept grabbing the Book of Mormon for my dad to read to her.

Peyton at the park - we were the only ones crazy enough to go to the park when it was 100 degrees outside!

Dad and Nash

Kate and Eden - she might be the happiest baby ever!

Eden was fascinated with Peyton and her books. I also want to point out their cute matching shorts!

Tulips

2011-05-26T23:16:00.000-05:00

Tulips are my favorite flower, and every year at the Dallas Arboretum, they have some pretty fantastic displays. Mom and I went this year, and here's some of the pictures I took.

Girls' Trip!

2011-05-26T23:06:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year, Mom and I took a quick vacation to Santa Monica. Apparently I'm destined to never spend more than 2 days in California. It was such a fun trip, despite the horrible rain the first morning!

Santa Monica Pier

Mom on the beach

Not going to lie, one of my favorite parts of the trip was watching the skaters at Venice Beach - felt really out of place, but it was pretty cool!

I Think I'm in Love

2011-05-26T22:54:00.000-05:00

Introducing... Nash Johnson, my new nephew! He's so adorable, and such a sweet baby. Congrats to Lisa and Andy!

Here's his Blue Steel look - I think he nailed it!

Pretty sure he's smiling at me in this one

Don't you just want to kiss those cute cheeks?!

Peyton Teaches her Aunt to Read

2011-05-13T22:40:00.000-05:00

When Peyton came to visit in Feb., I got to take care of her one night. I had lost my voice, but she still wanted to read books. Finally, she got tired of me doing it wrong, so she decided to teach me how to read.

The Summer of Baseball

2011-05-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited it's baseball season again! On a recent business trip to Maryland, we got to go see an Orioles game. It was so fun, and I really love the park! I especially liked the creative pretzels.

How You Can Tell You've Been Traveling Too Much

2011-05-13T21:56:00.000-05:00

For the past six months or so, I've been traveling a LOT for work. One morning, after I got home from a trip, I put my suitcase on my bed to grab my blow dryer, etc. After I came out of the bathroom, this is what I found:

Too bad she can't come with me next time!

Peyton and Santa

2011-01-23T09:37:00.000-06:00

We took Peyton to see Santa in the mall, and it was a zoo! She did really good again this year, and was so interested in his beard and face. They had a hard time getting her to look at the camera, and when they used a toy to get her attention, she reached out to get the toy. It was quite the exciting day!

Waiting in line for our turn

Peyton's Kitchen

2011-01-23T09:35:00.000-06:00

For Christmas, my niece, Peyton, got a kitchen set. She spent the rest of the weekend making imaginary food for us in her new pots and pans. Quite the little chef!

Molly wants to know what's for breakfast

ICE Exhibit

2011-01-23T09:25:00.000-06:00

Andy and Lisa came through DFW on their way back to IL after Thanksgiving. We decided to go see the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Hotel. It was really impressive, and as you can see from the pictures, incredibly COLD! I'm not sure Peyton was that excited, but Andy loved the ice slide.

Pretty Princess

2011-01-23T09:22:00.000-06:00

The last few times the dogs went to Petsmart to get groomed, the groomers put little bows in their hair. Since we refer to Sophie as a pretty, pretty princess, I thought this was especially adorable. If only they could give her a tiara next time!

Oklahoma City

2010-11-27T12:45:00.000-06:00

In August, I spent a weekend in OKC with some of the Hardgraves. Andy, Lisa, and Peyton were visiting Lisa's friend there, so we got a chance to all meet up. It felt almost like a family reunion! While we were there, I got to see the OKC memorial for the first time.

Family Vacation

2010-11-27T11:59:00.000-06:00

Back in July, we took a family vacation to Pennsylvania. We started out in Pittsburg, where we saw a Pirates game. We then went to Philadelphia, where we saw a Phillies game. We finished out the trip in Gettysburg, with a slight detour to Hershey - yum!

Halloween

2010-11-27T11:53:00.000-06:00

This year for Halloween, I went to visit Andy, Lisa, and Peyton in St. Louis. Peyton was a lady bug, and Andy was Justin Bieber. I had so much fun with them, and can't wait to see them at Christmas!

Hello World Series!

2010-10-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

I've always enjoyed baseball, but over the last few years, I've become a HUGE Rangers fan. I even listened to games on the radio last year when I didn't get the station where the Rangers game were shown. Sometimes I still listen to the radio because the announcer is so much better (seriously, I am a huge fan). Anyway, Dad's company has a suite right behind home plate, and one of his coworkers gave us tickets to last night's game. I do not have words to describe how it feels to be part of history! It was so amazing to see the Rangers beat the Yankees to become the American League champs!! Here's a video of the last out (sorry for the very loud screaming at the end)

Also, here are a few pictures from the game:

Family Reunion

2010-07-17T17:09:00.000-05:00

For Father's Day weekend, we all went to Kansas for a family reunion on my dad's side. It was fun to catch up with family, see people I haven't seen in a while, and meet a bunch of new people! Who knew I had so many relatives?

This was the first time our immediate family was together since Kate's wedding, so it especially fun to see my brother and sister and their families. This was also the first time I've seen Kate since she told us she's pregnant! I couldn't believe how big Peyton's getting - she's a little girl now, instead of a baby!

The whole family

Four generations of Johnson

Looks like Sarah Bradshaw isn't the only one that loves my dad's glasses

Girls' Trip to NYC!

2010-07-17T16:50:00.002-05:00

At the end of April, my sis-in-law and I took a quick girls' trip to NYC. It was a whirlwind weekend filled with lots of sight-seeing, and shopping! Oddly enough, we were there when they closed Times Square because of a bombing gone awry. We were only two blocks from the action, but didn't know what was going on at the time. After we got back to our hotel from seeing a Broadway play, we turned on the news, and couldn't believe we were so close to a terrorist attack!

Here's some of the other things we did:

Went to Empire State Building
Shopped on 34th St.
Saw Chicago
Bought knock-off purses in Chinatown in this scary basement
Went to Times Square
Ate in Little Italy
Went to church in the same building as the temple
Went on a TV and film bus tour (much to my embarrassment)
Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Went to the Museum of Natural History

We did all of that and more in three days! It was so fun, and I can't wait for our next trip!

Lisa at the Empire State Building

The arch in Washington Square Park

Us in front of Columbus Circle, near our hotel

Trip to DC

2010-06-27T22:50:00.001-05:00

On a recent business trip to Maryland, I was able to go into DC with a few of my coworkers. We walked around and saw the "new" (since the last time I was in DC) WWII monument. I really loved it, and we had a great time seeing the sights!

More Fun with Peyton

2010-06-27T22:39:00.000-05:00

While Peyton was visiting, we also went to the park. Peyton loved the swing so much, she never wanted to leave. I tried to stop her a couple of times to sit her up better, or give her a drink, but every time she would scream until I pushed her again.

Peyton's Trip to the Zoo

2010-06-27T22:26:00.000-05:00

Peyton came to stay with her favorite Aunt in April when her parents went on a cruise. While she was here, we went to the zoo with Grammy and some friends from church. She was a little young to really appreciate the experience, and wasn't really into looking at the animals, but she enjoyed being pushed in the stroller all afternoon.

Peyton's birthday

2010-06-27T21:06:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in forever, and I finally got the pictures off my camera, so here's a couple of pics of Peyton's birthday from March!

Here she is right before she's ready for a nap, reading books with Grammy.

Reality TV

2010-04-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm usually not such a huge fan of reality tv, but I absolutely LOVE Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I have been SHOCKED by some of the things I've seen on the show, and I completely support the changes discussed on the show and the website. Anyone who has school-aged children, or cares about kids should check out the website and sign the petition!

Fun with the Wii

2010-03-28T08:23:00.000-05:00

I finally broke down and used part of my tax refund to buy a Wii. I really thought I was the last person to get one, but everywhere I looked, they were sold out! It took forever to find one! One night Mom and Dad came over for dinner. After we ate, we played the Wii and Dad was awesome at sword fighting.

Peyton and Molly

2010-01-18T06:45:00.000-06:00

While we were getting ready to take Lisa and Peyton to the airport, Mom was holding Peyton on the couch, and Molly was laying by them. Peyton reached over and started petting Molly, and it was so adorable! Molly was a really good dog, and just held still while Peyton touched her.

Those Smart Google People

2009-12-21T17:28:00.000-06:00

At work we're always talking about how to "force" customers to adopt some new technology that they'll probably like and will save us tons of money! Those Google people are really smart - all they have to do is call something "old" and I immediately want to download the new shiny thing. Any Google people looking for a new job?

Dating Analogies

2009-12-21T17:22:00.003-06:00

Today I was talking with a co-worker who just began dating someone. There was an analogy about buying a new business, and it reminded me of another dating analogy from college - trying on pants. My funny friend that came up with that one emailed me a year or two ago out of the blue and at the end of the "life update" asked me if I found any pants I liked enough to buy yet. It really cracked me up! If you ever get an email, text, or phone call from me and I say "I'm buying the pants" you'll know what I'm talking about! Anyone else have a funny dating analogy?

Peyton with Santa

2009-12-21T17:03:00.003-06:00

We had a great time with Peyton's first Santa visit, even if she wouldn't look at the camera and smile at the same time! She was so happy, and she totally loved Santa!

Christmas in November

2009-12-21T16:50:00.004-06:00

Peyton with the book Uncle Andrew made

Peyton and Lisa with a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament

Peyton with her first present

Since siblings were in town for Thanksgiving and won't be coming for Christmas, we decided to celebrate Christmas early. It was so fun watching Peyton open her Christmas presents. She did not really get the concept of open and move on - she wanted to play with each toy she got. Good thing she liked the toys better than the wrapping paper! I was especially impressed with a couple of books that my bro-in-law made for Peyton!

The cutest baby EVER!

2009-10-02T17:15:00.002-05:00

I'm not even lying, she is the cutest baby ever! Even though I only got to see Peyton for a day, I was so excited to spend some time with my niece. I think we can all agree she's beautiful, but you should also know that she's also pretty much the smartest baby ever. I asked her to give me a kiss, and she did that open-mouth baby kissing thing, and it was really, really cute. She kept doing it over, and over, so I know she did it on purpose. I can't wait to see her at Thanksgiving!!!!! Oh, and that's right, she's totally giving me a hug in the first picture. I just LOVE her!!!!!!

The cutest thing EVER!

2009-10-02T17:06:00.002-05:00

To the 5 people who read my blog:

My old college roommate is giving away a hooded towel on her blog - check it out!

But if you win, maybe you'll remember who told you about it...

I bought a house (eight months ago)!!!

2009-06-22T05:31:00.005-05:00

I bought a house in September! It's been a very exciting, very expensive last eight months as a homeowner. The house has three bedrooms, two baths and a really open floor plan that I love! I'm here with just my little doggy, so if you're ever in the area, feel free to come stay with me! When I first got the house, the living room was painted a dark red color, and the bedroom was burnt orange. Now, while I love UT, I'm not sure that's the statement I want to make with my bedroom! I repainted the living room a light green color, and my bedroom a slate blue color. I've also purchased real couches! Some of these pictures are taken before the couch purchase, but you get the idea.

Living room before I painted

Bedroom before I painted

Fireplace before I painted

Front of house

Living room after I painted (this is the opposite wall than before)

Fireplace after I painted

My awesome kitchen (with tile countertops!)

The hallway

My new love seat

My new couch!

My favorite niece

2009-06-07T10:08:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a while, so I'll just start with the more recent events and work my way back. In May, Andy went to Ireland for work, so, with a little help from some friends, I flew to St. Louis to spend a few days with Lisa and Peyton (my new niece). I really, really love that little baby, and it was a lot of fun to spend time with my sis-in-law without Andy there! While we were there, we took Peyton swimming for the first time. Mostly, I think it was an excuse for us to put her in her cute swimsuit, but she seemed to enjoy it okay. Anyway, here's some pics from the trip!

I wonder who picked out this fabulous outfit?!

Bathtime after swimming

Lisa and Peyton in the pool

A Great Blog

2008-10-25T14:04:00.001-05:00

I don't know if it's real or not, but I love it.

Yankee Stadium

2008-10-25T13:41:00.006-05:00

Dad decided he wanted to see a game in Yankee Stadium before the last season was over, so he and I went to a game (I'm always up for a trip to NY, and I'm the new baseball stadium traveling buddy). It was really incredible to see so much history, even if I do hate the Yankees. We had a great time and I was glad we went!

This is where Josh Hamilton hit all those home runs in the Home Run Derby.

Too many things!

2008-10-14T16:21:00.002-05:00

I have way, way, way too many things to blog about. It's my goal to post the biggies here by the end of the week, but we'll see what happens. I do want to share a fantastic experience from earlier today...
I got to work and my computer screen was blank, which was odd, because the computer was turned on. I turned it off, and turned it back on, and the screen started up with the Windows XP thingy, but then it went blank again. This happened several times, so I called the help desk. They "escalated my ticket," so I'm sure my computer will be fixed in the next 6 months.

Meanwhile, I was sort of freaking out because I had some things saved on the hard drive. I should've learned my lesson when this same computer's hard drive had to be erased a year or two ago, but I'm a slow learner. Anyway, I really needed to get the items on the hard drive and transfer them to my jump drive, but the computer would not stay on! Finally (and, why is it always finally, instead of first?) I said a quick prayer that my computer would work long enough for me to transfer the files I needed. When I looked up, the computer was working! I got all my files moved over and then when I started working on something else, the screen just went blank again and hasn't worked any more for the rest of the day. It was a computer miracle (which is not as good as a Christmas miracle, but still a miracle)!

Exciting news

2008-08-16T08:48:00.002-05:00

Click here to see the exciting news from the Johnson family!

Baseball Trip

2008-08-16T08:33:00.004-05:00

The promotion that night was being able to go out on the field and take pictures

of players as they walked around. I have no idea who these guys are.

Well, I'm finally a part of the baseball group. For a few years now, my dad, brother, and some of Andy's friends have gone to baseball parks around the country. They kept telling me I couldn't go on the "guy trip," but I'm Daddy's favorite, so he invited me to come with them. This year we went to St. Louis to see a Cardinal's game (and to see Andy and Lisa). It was so much fun, and the stadium was really nice! Next trip - Beth and Dad only to see Yankee's Stadium in Sept. Can't wait!!!

Family Reunion

2008-08-16T08:21:00.002-05:00

The siblings

The whole family (well, almost)

Last weekend we went to a Graham Family Reunion in the mountains of southern New Mexico. We had a great time and it was a lot of fun to learn more about my grandparents and aunts and uncles when they were younger. Hopefully this will become an annual tradition!

Trip to St. Louis

2008-04-20T10:21:00.003-05:00

Andy and Lisa just got stationed at Scott Air Force Base in IL, about 30 min from St. Louis. Since I was in NY when they came to TX last month, I decided to go visit them. The weather was horrible, and I thought I was going to freeze. I'm pretty sure it snowed a little while I was there. We had a lot of fun, though. We went to the Arch (it's not golden, I was sad to find out), but we didn't get to go up the Arch, since we got there pretty late. We also went to Blueberry Hill, a restaurant that had a lot of cool stuff. I also go to see Baxter, one of my most favorite dogs, ever. He loves his green monkey!

Trip to NY

2008-04-20T10:04:00.003-05:00

On my last trip to New York in March, I decided to go to a couple of places I'd never been, since it was probably my last free trip! Plus, I had to be there over my birthday, so I decided to give myself a birthday present to see Wicked on Broadway. The show was AMAZING! I completely loved it, and it was totally worth the money paid for the tickets.

A few days later, I went to the American Museum of Natural History, featured in Night at the Museum. It was a lot of fun to see some of the same things that were in the movie. The best part was when I went into the Pacific Peoples hall and heard a bunch of kids say, "Gum, Gum! Can we give him some gum?!" I wonder if they had to add a special security guard since the movie came out to keep kids from sticking gum on the statue.

I also went to the Arch at Washington Square Park. The arch is in a bunch of movies, as well, but they were doing construction and had it blocked off, so I couldn't get too close. I'm still sad I didn't see the Brooklyn Bridge, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but I guess I can do those things when I go again.

Free Trip!!!

2008-04-20T09:50:00.003-05:00

At work they had two free tickets to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fl on Jan. 1st. They decided to do a drawing with the people in our Support group. Only 6 people put their names in for the drawing, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to win because I don't really win stuff like that. Anyway, they drew a name out of the bucket, and then our Sr Director said, "Okay, before you read the name, let's see who didn't win!" They proceeded to draw names out one at a time from the group that didn't win. When it was down to three people, I was still in the running, but so was a coworker from FL who said, "If I don't win this trip, I'm not going to see my family for the holidays." It was kind of sad, because her name was drawn next. Then it was down to me and one other person. They switched to read the original name of the person who won the trip, and it was me!!!! I was so excited! The trip included tickets to the game, free airfare, hotel, car rental, and food; basically an all-expense paid trip!

The game was awesome, and our seats were incredible! I discovered a recent love for college football, and two great teams played in this game, Florida and Michigan. We didn't really care who we cheered for, so we chose Michigan because they had better colors (I DO NOT look good in bright orange). It was so crazy with SO many Florida fans, but Michigan ended up winning, and it was a lot of fun.

It's been forever!

2008-04-20T09:14:00.002-05:00

It's been FOREVER since I posted anything, and a lot of fun things have happened, so I'm just going to put a ton of posts on here at once. Probably the biggest thing that happened since my last post, is that I changed jobs. I'm still working for the same company, in the same department, but I have a different manager and I'm now a Process Manager. Basically, when we want to change how we do something, or start doing something new, it's my job to figure out how we're going to do it. I like telling other people what to do, so it's a great job for me. I'm going to try and do better with keeping up with my blog so I don't have to do 10 posts at a time!

My Panera Rant

2007-11-07T18:44:00.000-06:00

I'm in New York (on Long Island) and don't really want to explore new restaurants by myself. Plus, it's freezing here! Well, it's in the 50's, but compared to the weather in Texas, I'm surprised I'm not a popsicle! It's not surprising, given these two facts, that I wanted some stinking French Onion soup in a bread bowl from Panera Bread. I got it to go, took it back to my hotel room (more on that in another post) and discovered they gave me broccoli cheddar instead. Now, I can eat the broccoli cheddar, but I really, really wanted the French Onion. So what did I do? That's right, I went again the next night. When I placed my order they informed me, "We're out of bread bowls." Are you kidding me?! I sucked it up and made them give me extra bread so I could just have it with my soup. And I just got pizza tonight. Finally, after 7 years, I had a slice of yummy NY pizza again! Let's face it though, I'm probably going back to Panera again tomorrow...

What do you do when you're out of town on business and you're eating alone again? I'm running out of ideas and I can only have so much Panera Bread.

The Much Anticipated Event

2007-10-30T16:52:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. I promised I would post pictures and tell the whole story, but it's been a busy past couple of weeks! Here you go. Here's pictures of Sophie (who was first Cooper) and her sister Molly. Sophie is the light colored one, and she's mine. The dark colored one (Molly) is my parents'. We got them a couple of weeks ago, and the breeder told me mine was a boy. She is definitely a girl, though. Then I took her to the vet and she had TWO bacterial infections. Poor baby! The medicine made her sick at first, so she spent a whole night throwing up. It was very sad, and I'm really glad I have a really nice mom who helped me out. Anyway, we're adjusting to each other. She's doing pretty well at my house with not having accidents, but she's still having some problems at Mom and Dad's. So, there you go! Isn't she so cute?!

In Love

2007-09-28T19:51:00.000-05:00

I am in love. In love with "The Office." That show just makes me smile. Jim and Pam are finally together!!!!!!!!!! All is right with the world. Okay, I know it's just a tv show, but it really is so fantastic.

Here's another thing I'm in love with: http://lisaandandyj.blogspot.com. Is that puppy not the cutest dog in the world?!

And, for the final thing I'm in love with, it's fall and that means...PUMPKIN BAGELS at Einstein Bros. I love pumpkin bagels and they're back! I think that was my best day this week, when I went to get bagels for a work thing and they had the yummy pumpkin bagels on display. It's really the little things in life...

Maybe it's time

2007-09-25T21:42:00.001-05:00

Maybe it's time for a new post. I typed in what I thought was my blog address and really it belonged to someone else! I really have a lot of random thoughts going through my head, so I'm just going to list them out and maybe expound on them at some later date.

- I'm reading this awesome book called Vital Friends. I highly recommend it.
- My whole world is changing. Do you ever feel like things are pretty much going to stay a certain way for a while, and then all of a sudden, everything is different?
- Is anyone else as perplexed as I am about how AT&T changed to Cingular and is now changing back to AT&T?
- I'm running a 5k this weekend. Should be fun.
- I'm going to NY twice in October. Should be fun.
- I really love The Office. It may be my current favorite TV show.

I think I just remembered why I hardly ever post anything. It's because this stinking post has taken me almost an hour to type and it's really not that long.

Thanksgiving

2007-08-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

I know you're intrigued by the title. After all, Thanksgiving is three months away. I'm not going to lie, I'm already pretty fired up about it. I'm going to stay here this year instead of going to New Mexico with my parents, which means I'm in charge of making Thanksgiving dinner. Alison is going to be here from UT, and I'm trying to convince a few other people to come (or stay).

I'm not sure why I'm so excited about Thanksgiving. Maybe it's my inner Martha that's so happy to get out after I squished her last Christmas. Just a few weeks ago I was thinking, "What time would I have to start cooking the turkey so it's ready to eat at 4?" This Thanksgiving cooking is serious business. You can even help me plan the menu by taking the poll on the left. If I've left a "must have" off the list, let me know. This could end up like the "Friends" Thanksgiving where Monica made 4 different types of potatoes. I am not above catering to everyone's individual Thanksgiving requirements if it means they'll all be here at 4pm on Thanksgiving Day.

Trip to UT

2007-08-25T15:36:00.000-05:00

I had one of the best trips to Utah this summer (which is saying a lot since I don't really like going on vacation to places I've already been). I went for Alison's birthday. Here's some of my pics from the trip (I don't really think I'm the kind of person who can casually throw in "pics". I've debated changing it to "pictures". It would make me more comfortable, but I'll succumb to the social pressure and use "pics".).

Okay, okay

2007-08-25T15:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, you people win. I'll join the blogging world...

I think we should all spend a minute discovering our inner pop princess. Here's mine:

Your Inner Pop Princess Is Hilary Duff

"I'm shedding

Shedding every color

Trying to find a pigment of truth

Beneath my skin"

You're sweet and cute, but a little more complex than that.

Who's" Your Inner Pop Princess?