Merry Christmas!

Ok. So life has been a bit crazy. No big deals.  I am now feeling MUCH MUCH better.  I am a functioning human once again.  The day of my last post, they put me in the hospital for 4 days.  I regained so much strength with the tons of medicine pumped in me.  My wonderful husband spent the entire time hanging out with me and bringing me yummy food and movies.  It was not much fun, but I am feeling much better.  

Our Thanksgiving was a blast. His parents came and spent a few days with us.  It was very relaxing, except me and my MIL went Black Friday shopping.  That was exhausting but so much fun.  His cousin then got married the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  THe Johnson clan took over BCS. It was a blast.  It was fun seeing so much of the family at the wedding and the brunch the next day.  

Ok, lets skip to now.  It is Christmas season, my favorite time of year! It love the crisp cold weather, only for a few days though. I love being snuggled in blankets with hot chocolate and watching lights.  But one of my students has forced me to forcus on the real meaning of Christmas. Being a Christian school, I am spending three weeks immersed in the Christmas story with my students.  Part of this includes our Christmas musical.  On of the scenes in the play is a p.e. coach who is disgruntled about all of the Christmas shopping, parties, and commercial holiday mess.  A song in this scene mentions "stop making Christmas such a celebration." One of my students looked up at me during the song while we were practicing and was clearly upset. She said, "why do they want us to stop celebrating Christmas."  My sweet and precious students are yet untaited by the commercialism of Christmas.  They come from such wonderful families and could very easily explain to me that the real meaning of Christmas is that Jesus's was born and all that is to come from that moment.  We talked about how some people simply focus on presents and shopping.  Our memory verse this week was..And the Angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold I bring good tidings of great joy that will be for all people." Luke 2:10

Jesus did not come for a few rightous people.  He didn't come for the people who can put the most presents under the tree.  The joy of this season is for ALL PEOPLE.  I challenge myself and you to think about what joy this season is that our savior is born for ALL of us.  My assistant and I have been talking about, since one of our songs brings up the braveness of Mary, how we could not even imagine what Mary went through.  She sacrificed so much and was so strong.  Her story challenges me to think about my life.  Mary was no celebrity or rich person.  She wasn't the one with the best clothes or anything special. She was simply a girl and the Lord was pleased with her enough to carry his only son.  WOW. Is the Lord pleased with me? Does he look on me and my life with favor? 

I just love the beauty in the Christmas story.  A simple girl brings the Lord of all the Earth into the world in a manger with dirty animals.  He has come to save the world, but started off in a barn.  The Lord loves us so much that he came down to be with us on a beautiful Christmas night.  That brings me more joy than my fantastic Christmas tree across the room or the Christmas lights in the park.  So I am going to take the next few weeks to enjoy the real joy that the angels tell us about this season, our Lord has come for all of us. Amen to that.

Sickly Wife

Ok, for those of you who have been around me in the past month, you know that I have been coughing my lungs up.  It has been miserable.  My body is exhausted.  It has gotten worse.  I have been in bed, literally just sitting in bed, for 4 days now.  I am on Fall break from school which is a conveinant time to be so sick, but I would rather have enjoyed the pretty weather. Guess not.  I am asking that you pray the doctors would figure it out today because I am miserable.  I am so tired of being sick.  It is the story of my life.  I just can't fight it off.  WIsh me luck today with the Dr.

On a good note,  my in-laws came this weekend.  THe boys built a huge deck and storage building in our back yard that is AWESOME!! You should all come by and visit to see it. It is so neat.  My MIL helped around the house while I was sickly, a BIG BIG thank you for helping me out!!!! 

There were plenty of babies born this month.  I am desperately trying to get better so I can visit them.  Chads friend was the first baby.  Julia Faith was born a few weeks ago.  I got to hold her at 3 hours old. She is precious.  Then, the Turner's had baby Benjamin Micah.  I babysit for them and took care of big brother Wesley when I was in college still.  I adore that family so much.  It is killing me to not see them yet.  Then, this past week an old dear friend of mine that mentored me in college had her baby girl Ragan.  She is adorable! Courtney will be a great mom. That is going to be one tall, skiny beautiful girl. Chad's cousin also had a baby a few weeks ago, Ty Johnson.  he is precious as well.  He has two loving and excited big sisters!! His other cousin will be havign her baby around Thanksgiving.  So many babies!!!!  My assistant is also having a baby in January and I got to feel her baby girl move for the first time last week.  It was really cool.  Jesse has 2 kids and is a great Mom.  I am so blessed to have her in my classroom wiht me.  We have tons of fun.  

Well, not much else to say.  I am LOVING my job.  School is going great.  The kids are really soaking it all up.  We are on Fall Break which is a super neat week-long vacation. I had tons of things planned to get done, but guess not.  We are going to be staying in College Station for quite a while.  We have made some decisions that will keep us here for at least a few years.  Just pray that the Lord will be guiding us in the way to go.  Chad will be starting school and there are many things up in the air for us to figure out.  It is VERY VERY Exciting!   

Being married is such a beautiful gift.  We have had a bumpy road to get to this point over the last 5-6 years, but the Lord has given us something truly beautiful.  I enjoy seeing my husband every morning when we get up to that stupid alarm.  I love the way he wants the same thing in his lunch every day .  I love how he calls me just to say hi throughout the day.  We make a great team and I can't wait to see how the next 100 years will be! 

Awful Beautiful Life

Ok, so I haven't blogged in a while. We have been going 90 to nothing moving, working, and hanging out. We are officially moved in to our new duplex. It isn't decorated or cute yet, but has come a VERY long way since we drug in all of the boxes. We have NO boxes left! We have been cleaning ,organizing, and cleaning some more. The dogs are loving the new place. They got brand new dog houses. They have tons of room to run around, and for the first time, they have each other. Brazos is having a little bit of trouble from being Momma's only puppy to having an obnoxious baby sister. She kind of bugs him all the time, but she adores his attention so much. They are cute together. I love playing with them when I come home.
School is going fantastic. My students are incredible. I have 11 of the most beautiful 4-5 year olds in the state of Texas. They keep me laughing ALL DAY! I love my job, my coworkers, my families, and administrators. Work is good. :)
Chad is still very busy working hard. He got a grill last weekend and we enjoyed some smoked steaks, ribs, and pork tenderloins (however you spell it) with some friends this week that Chad works with. That was fun, especially to hang out with some of our new friends together.
My old roommate Allie and her husband came by on a drive around College Station and hung out to talk about their upcoming move to Estonia. For those you who don't know, Estonia is not a city in Texas. It is across the world in Western Europe. I'm not ok with that. I was her maid of honor, and she has meant so much to me through my college years. I am beginning the good-bye process in my mind, but I am very sad to see her go. My other roommate from that house is living in Cameroon Africa, who I miss so very much. I am sad to see them go but am so proud of them. I want any of my readers to pray for the Jordan's journey to Estonia, and Ashley in Cameroon with the Peace Corps. I miss them each so much and pray on the work they are doing for the Lord.
well, my husband just pulled some yummy food off the grill. Ganna go eat. Love to all.

Married Life

So, now it has been almost 4 weeks since the wedding.  I have the worlds greatest husband.  He is so funny, caring, determined, and helpful.  He helps me so much with things I'd always done on my own like carrying in suitcases, washing/ drying dishes, cooking dinner, and laundry.  He has really taken the husband role to heart and it has made me so very proud. 

He has been working very very hard and excelling at his new job.  He is enjoying having something to do.  He is much more relaxed and chill now that he is busy and working hard.  It is such a joy to see him loving me by working so hard to provide for us.  

I do miss my sisters terribly.  They came for a few days for the wedding but 4 days was certainly not enough time spent with them.  They bring me such joy and strength.  Chad has been so good about spending 100 % of his time off work entertaining me since I am alone all day while everyone is at work that I have been way to distracted and enjoying my husband to be too sad about missing them.  I talk to them as much as I can so that helps too.  

I have been setting up my classroom every few days so it will be ready for my cuties come Aug 14th! I cannot wait for the school year to start, but I am also really nervous.  My room is Dr. Suess and it all red, blue, and yellow.  It is so much fun! Pictures will be up soon....maybe.  

My parents put down our dog Marksberry's Captain Maxwell...aka Max. Last weekend so we suprised my parents to help them not think about our dead dog.  We got a cookie cake and made homemade ice cream.  It was a bummer that Max is gone.  He was a good dog for sure, just very very old.  He loved to swim but was totally scared of fireworks.  He loved to go roller blading with Haley, but liked to take off into the street from the back yard and has been hit a car. 

Ok, ending this blog.  We are really enjoying Franklin.  Dale and Teri are AMAZING!  Their house is so much fun with a big pool!  They are soooo sweet to let us live in their guest house all of July and into August.  It is a cute little town and it is an easy drive o Bryan for school.  I miss all of my friends but this down time is teaching me a ton.  

How about a few pictures...mostly from the Johnson Family Reunion on July 4th.

 

1.Playing "The Newlywed Game" at the hotel with Steven, Ashley,                                                        Elizabeth, DJ, Jared, and Kathryn....all married 6 years or under

2. The kids in the pool at reunion. There we 68 people. Tons of kiddos swam ALL day all three days.  This is Dale and Teri's house where we are staying.  This is the AWESOME backyard.

3. This is Dale and Teri. Dale is Chad's 1st cousin.  This is the gracious couple that is housing us for the time being.  They are absolutely wonderful!! Love Em!

4. The Johnson Siblings.  This is why the family is so big.  9 kids from Ed and Stella Johnson. They are in no particular order.

L to R: Uncle Bobby, Aunt Mary, Aunt Linda, Larry (Dad-in-Law) , Aunt Jo (standing in for Uncle Jim), Uncle Donnie, Uncle Billy, Uncle Jerry (current living oldest), Nathan (standing in for Uncle Tommy)

5. The Larry Johnsons. Me, Chad, Larry, Marilyn.  Missing Kim who was as camp still.  My new family. Check out my new short hair! I cut 6 inches off after the honeymoon!! 

There will be plenty more to come. Stay tuned...

Ok, love to all!!

Karen Johnson :)

Love from Mrs.Chad Wayne Johnson....aka ME!!

Ok. We are finally married.  It was a perfect day.  Gorgeous and wonderful.  It was so special to have everyone around us for support and love.  It was such a joy to have my sisters around for a few days. Love them to death!!!!  Pictures soon to come.  

The honeymoon was absolutely perfect.  Our hotel was RIGHT on the beach.  It had a little walkway over the dunes to the beach.  We spent so much time in the sand.  It was so wonderful.  The sunburns aren't so wonderful.  We went deep sea fishing on Monday.  We each caught two huge Red Snappers for a combined total of 16 lbs of snapper.  They were tough fighters but I reeled mine in all by myself.  WE have plenty of stories form that trip, just ask.  They are not appropriate enough to type out and not near as funny without faces and sounds :)  I will put up pictures later.

So now, I am sitting in bed in our room at La QUinta in Waco.  We got here late Tuesday night and stayed with the Walkers.  They are such incredibly sweet people.  I enjoy them so much. TOo bad Tyler wasnt around to cause some trouble with Chad. That would have been too much fun.  Chad is in training for work and they put us up in a hotel for the next five weeks.  We will be back and forth from Waco and College Station, but we are going to be staying with some of his family in Franklin, just north of town.  He has some training days of on site triaing in the College station office and some classroom training in Waco.  Its complicated but they are takign care of us.  I get to relax and find fun stuff to do all day while he is in class.  At some point in July, I am going to stay in College Station and set up my classroom before inservice.  

Well, those are the details of life here is some fluff.  I absolutely love being married.  I love being a wife.  I love being Chad's wife.  It is such joy to be here when he gets home at night from work and just hang out with him.  Even this week, we have encountered some crazy situations with work, traveling, food, and such.  He has taken the husband role very seriously and has taken such good care of us.  I love my best friend and this has been the most incredible 5 days of my life.  

OMG JOB!

I GOT A JOB! I will be the Pre-K teacher at Brazos Christian School starting in August. I will have a classroom full of little crazy babies! I am so very excited and  cannot wait!! 

So....today is June 14th.....and

-We both have a job...Praise Jesus!

-We have a duplex! It is aboslutely AMMMAzing! Juust call us to plan a visit to paradise..haha it coms pretty close.

-We are a six days away from the wedding!

I have a pretty semi-intense todo list for this week. But I am excited! I have gotten a tons done so it wont be bad at all. My sisters, neice, and aunt get here Wednesday night. I am so excited.

So...let the party begin!

Hello Old Friend....

So, I am back.  I took a hiatus because life was getting a little too crazy.  I quit my job on May 12th and came home to job hunt and wedding plan full time.  Although I moved home I feel like I haven't even been in Katy very much.  After I moved home, we had to immediately run to College Station for Graduation...WHOOP! I am now officially a former student, but ALWAYS an Aggie.  It was so exciting!! That same weekend, Chad and I went looking at houses, with NO success.  Oh BTW, Chad got a job in College Station.  We were simply job hunting for any job for either of us, so his job came first! After many prayers, we decided that when we had found what God wanted us to do, it would simply just happen and would work out.  He will be installing cable tv for Mastec which does Direct TV.  He starts the week after the honeymoon! 

We went back to College Station the next week to meet with relators and find a house or duplex.  We finally found a duplex we LOVED. It is a 3 bed/3 bath with a huge yard for Brazos and Annabelle. It is gorgous.  We will keep you updated on it as we get closer to move in.  His training will be in Dallas for 5 weeks after the honeymoon, because they did not want to start him and have him have to leave for the honeymoon so he starts after.  So we get to stay in Dallas for a little bit, and move in to our Duplex in August.  

I had my first shower on May 9th.  My Aunt Karen, Dusty, and Aunt Cheryl were the hostesses.  It was so amazing to see the women in my life that have blessed me all in one place together, fellowshipping, laughing, and eating really yummy cake! I had such am incredible time.  I also got some pretty amazing gifts!! I also had my "Underwear" Shower as Chad calls it. It was a sweet girls night out that Mandi put together for me.  It was so fun to have a few girls that mean a lot to me hang out for a night.  

I had a fitting after the May 9th shower.  The dress is as perfect as I remembered!! It was really special that my aunts, Dusty, and Nana got to come with me and Mom.  It was so much fun to put the dress on with all the ladies around!

I also had my 22nd birthday! It was a lazy night going out to dinner with Chad, Mom, Dad, Nana, and Grandpa.  We went to Fridays, soo yummy!  I got a Brighton watch and all the Twilight book!! I am sad to say that I am sucked into the series and cannot wait to find out what happens to Bella, Edward, Jake, Charlie, and the Cullens. 

This past week we went to Dallas for Phillips and Lindsey's wedding. It was beautiful!!!  We stayed with Sally, Tim, and Peyton.  We saw Kim, Jeremy, and the kids.  We hung out with Uncle Billy and Aunt Donna. We stopped to see the Walkers on the way home. It was a crazy weekend. So much fun!

So, here I sit in Hondo.  He is playing my DS while I update the blog, trying to figure out our new video camera.  We got the marriage license this morning! It is for real now! I go back to Katy Saturday.  I pick up the dress Wednesday! then I have bridals and Rustys wedding with the Johnson clan next weekend.  Then, we have premarital bootcamp with Uncle Bobby June 12.  There are only 3 more weeks until theh big day! It is crazy!!! I am just ready for my sisters to get here. That is what I am ready for so much!!!! 

well, time to go eat and get the videos working.  Stat tuned to my facebook for more pictures and videos hopefully soon!! Love you!

Karen Elise almost Johnson

So busy...

For those of you who see me on a regular basis know how insane things have been lately. From children throwing chairs, punching each other, and TAKS test in two weeks, to wedding planning, house hunting, and getting jobs.  I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for praying for me, us, and Chad. I certainly can feel them each day.  The Lord is guiding us swiftly through this time in our lives and keeping me sane, healthy, busy, and directed.  

I graduate May 16th! EEK! I am teaching in Bryan until May 20th since I took over for my dear Mrs. Suel after she ventured to New York over spring break. Then, the wedding is June 20th.  We are currently deciding what town we will end up in, what jobs to take, and where to live. I will let you know as soon as I know :)

My dress came in last week!! I KNOW...GET EXCITED! My first fitting in May 9th and can't wait to see it! I went to Boerne last weekend with Mom. We ran around with Aunt Cheryl for two days getting stuff done.  We picked out all of the flowers, which are going to be absolutely fantastic! I ordered both cakes and you better be getting excited becaues they are going to be incredible! I got the bridesmaid dresses picked out but I have to pick a few more details still before they are getting ordered.  For now, it is goodnight!

Bedding, Crystal, and Kitchen...Oh my!

We got to register this past weekend.  We registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for most of our stuff.  I adore this store and LOVE the stuff we registered for! I am so excited about our dishes and glasswear. I think they are goign to be precious in my fun little kitchen! :)

We also registered at Target.  We got some electronics that are super neat and maybe we will get :) I was tired, cranky, and sick by this round and so target was not as much fun. Chad got to do the gun at both stores and had a blast.  He is pretty sneaky zapping things when I was not paying attention.  It was quite funny to print off the registries at the end and see the silly stuff he put on it. So I sweetly went through and deleted some unnecessary items :) haha i do love him so much!

We also both got new boots this weekend  We spent a totally of like 5 hours in Cavendars on two separate days.  We both ended up buyign two paris because we couldn't mak up our minds. I took one pair back because it wasn't my favorite pair. I love our boots. We are kind precious in them together ;) 

Well, Hello Again...I've missed you....

Things have been kind of crazy. I have been traveling every weekend to plan, shop, and rest. A few weeks ago Mom and I went to see Aunt Cheryl and she just got the ideas flowing. It helped us SOO much to sit down with her and get ideas out.  We met with a florist and planned out what each of the flowers will look like...which comes to the colors. I also picked the colors which I am very excited about! Lavendar and daisy...for the boys out there thats purple and yellow. I just like saying lavendar and daisy more :) We also went to the bakery adn looked at all of the pictures of cakes and picked out both cakes, reserved her, Now i just have to go back and order it and tell her what I want.  Lets just say...GET EXCITED!! We meet with a few photographers; one of which wer were totally NOT impressed with and one we LOVED!!..guess which one we picked? She is AMAZING and will be taking engagements, bridals and will be shooting the rehersal dinner and the entire wedding day :) she is so much fun and I can't wait to take for her to take our pictures!  I ordered, addressed, stamped and organized the save the dates I just have to get them put in the mail. 

School has been absolutely crazy. TAKS test is next tuesday and its MAJOR crunch time!!! We are just workign with them all day getting prepared to test. I think our stress levels are rubbing off on them becuase they have what we have affectionately calleed the "crazy bug" But all is well and i love each day.  Mrs. Suel and my kids are making each day of my student teaching something very special. I graduate on May 15th and it feels so far away, but at the rate that time if flying by it will be here by tomorrow. THe days just fly by so fast that I feel like this semester is liek sand falling between my fingers...the time is gone. Its just flying by at insane rates!! But I am loving every second.  I am crazy busy but its what I love doing.

Chad is still in Hondo. Our puppy Anabelle is growing faster than I want.  She is doubling in size every two weeks. She is so wonderful and precious. Katy is loving her doggie oasis Chad built for her in their backyard.  Brazos is as crazy as usual. He is such a good running buddy because he doesn't let me give up, stop, or slow down. We are still waiting on a final say from Slumberger and talking to other companies.  It is looking like if Slumberger pulls through, we will be in Bryan and I will teach at Jones, but if it falls through, we will most likely end up with another company in Houston and I will teach in Katy.  

But everything is going amazingly well. We have gotten so much done and I couldn't be more excited! Thanks for the prayers and I love you all very much. Time for a weekend of fishing at Lake Fork with the Goodmans and all of the dogs!

  

Planning Whirlwind

So this week things were kind of calm on the wedding homefront. I was sick and pitiful so i stayed in bed all afternoon after school every day this week. I am definately feeling much better, thank goodness, which brings me to my next point.  This weekend Mom and I are going to spend the weekend in Boerne with Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Scott.  We are meeting probably 2 photographers, 2 bakers, looking at florists and hair dressers.  And not to mention, we will be observing the beautiful scenry that is around their house and attempting to decide decorations and colors.  I also need to pick out bridesmaid dresses once I decide on a color.  Save the Date cards should be here tomorrow, which means I will be addressing all weekend and sending them out rather quickly because they are so cute I can't keep them to myself anymore :)

I am very excited at the moment because I just got an email from one of my lovely cousins who lives in Abu Dhabi...for those of you who don't know that is in the United Arab Emerates...and for those geographically challenged friends that is a very very far away place that oil companies send people.  She is over with her fiancee and will be getting married in March. She emailed me to tell me that she will be coming back to the states for my wedding! I am SO excited because I did not think she would be able to fly back so soon after her March visit for her own wedding.  My cousins mean so much to me becuase there are not that many of us so we try to stick together and stay close no matter how far apart we all are. I am very happy that Ashely gets to come. 

Well, without further ado, I am going to eat breakfast and leave for school.  It is almost Friday! Thursdays arent so bad becuase you can see the light at the end of the week! I love my job, my kids, and my school so it isnt so bad to begin with just exhausting.

Ok, I'm really going now.

Love, 

Me

Dresses, Dresses, and prettier dresses!

Today was a big day! I got my dress. I can not wait until it arrives at the store, and I get to go in for fittings and such :) It took two stores and about 15 dresses, but its the perfect dress! A lady named Peta at the store was wonderful for the hours we spent with her and will be guiding my dress all the way through the process until it is ready for me to take home for the big day! Get ready to have your breath taken away ;) 

Hope you are having a lovely Febrauary..I am still not sure where January went. Student teaching is flying by. I am on week 2 of full responsibility, and it is a bit overwhelming.  With me student teaching and everyone else working all day, wedding planning is going to be done mostly on weekends and is fast and furious! Now that I have a dress, I am even more anxious for the big day. It's going to be amazing and perfect! It will also be my first Johnson family reunion this summer which is very exciting. These next few months are going to be wild and crazy but blissfully wonderful!  Hope you enjoy following along...

Love,

Me.

Mrs. Chad Johnson...

I got engaged on January 30, 2009.  It was a Friday. At school that day my kids were being awful. It was such a bad day. I was stressed out and almost in tears.  I was so ready for the end of the day. I couldn't wait to leave.  The kids leave around 2:30. At 2:15, my classroom phone rings and my mentor teacher picks up. She looks at me seriously and says "Mrs. Mosqueda (my principal) wants to see us in her office." So we walk to her office. We talked about what it might about. I was so worried i was in trouble for some reason. So we get to the front office and she is waiting for us. We walk over to her office with the rest of the administrators following us.  She opens her door and Chad is standing in her office!!! I was so happy to see him because I had a bad day. I was hugging him, and I finally realized that we were standing in principals office and he was in fact NOT in san antonio waiting on me to get there that night.  He dropped to a knee and asked if i would marry him. I said yes and now here we are 139 days away from marriage! After we left school, he had another suprise. Our parents all showed up at Los Cucos (our favorite restraunt) for a nice long happy dinner.  Then we went to San Antonio to relax for Superbowl weekend.
I am getting married to the most incredible man I know. We have definately been through a lot together, and have one heck of a story.  We will be getting married June 20, 2009 in Boerne, TX at my aunt and uncles place that is 139 days from today!!   I am SOOO excited! Its going to be wonderful.It will be a very small wedding with thoes closest to us. That is as far as we have gotten in wedding planning so far. Its going to be start going very quickly so stay tuned...here are some pictures of the place! 

Teaching

I love teaching. I am having a blast with my kids. I have had the blessing of working with one of the most gifted, sweetest, and loved teachers I have ever met.  She has taught me so much in the 4 short but seemingly long weeks I have been in her classroom.  I have also worked with the sweetest kids that say "Ms. Marksberry, I believe in you. Next week will be much better." I have also had the joy of working with darlings that say, "You're not my mama!," or in response to a discipline measure, "Do you see me crying?" It has been one of the most stressful but reward experiences of my life thus far! I am loving every second of it.  My teacher is moving, and the opportunity has presented itself for me to take over her position as a third grade teacher here at my school when I graduate.  I am so excited for what is in store, both in and out of the classroom!! Stay tuned the count down to graduation begins....

Oh and BTW...I HATE the cold. I am so stinkin tired of being cold. I am cold ALL the time. The heater is broken in my classroom so I am cold outside when I walk inbetween buildings and cold in my classroom, cold when Im driving. I am SOOO ready for spring and mostly summer! But on that note...2009 has been amazing and it's only January. I can't believe what this year is going to be like except FAST since January is already gone.