And the journey continues....

So here we are now.  We have been married for 7 and a half years! It has been beautiful, crazy, and full of adventures. We bought a home.  It sits on 2.5 beautiful acres of peace and quiet.  I have fallen in love with living in the country.  It is so quiet and the stars are so incredible!

Now that we have our own slice of paradise, it is time to expand our family.  As I have written before, I can not carry a child.  We come to this new journey.  We will be fostering to adopt.

It is likely that at some point, if all goes smoothly, we could have a child or children in our home by summer.  It looks like summer will be an exciting one!!!

So please be in prayer for us.  Please prayer for guidance and wisdom as we navigate these waters. It is uncharted territory and sometimes scary for me.  Pray that we are prepared for what come through our door.  It is also a time to celebrate that we have a loving home and family to welcome a child into.

I look forward to walking through this journey with Chad.  It is very exciting!

Thank you for loving us and walking along side us1

My Story

I was recently asked to write my story for a family in Budapest Hungary. It is a blessing to be able to share who I am and what makes me who I am. I figured I would share it with you as well :)

I was diagnosd when I was four. I was tiny. I was fiesty! My family was pretty unsure what to think when they first heared "Turners Syndrome." In a blur of doctors and tests, they quickly realized that I was still the same child as I was the day before. My parents were my cheerleaders, support, and biggest advocates. Having Turners for me meant continuous ear infections and a suppressed immune system. I was always getting sick with this and that, but my mom and dad taught me how to take good care of myself. They always asked the questions that needed to be asked and made sure I had the best care. I had wonderful doctors and have been very blessed in my life. Many children who go through lots of medical care grow to fear or hate doctors. I have quite the opposite feeling about doctors. I never hesitate to call my doctors or talk to them about something I am concerned about. God has always provided wonderful doctors that have taken great care of me. I have also been fairly lucky to have only minimal health issues. The most difficult issue to date since I am now married is that I can not get pregnant. It has been emotionally difficult for me to feel inadequate, but God has changed my heart. He created me. I am perfect to God. God has walked with me through my entire life. I became a Christian as a fifteen year old with friends that showed me what it was like to live like Christ. God came into my life and showed me what a beautiful creation I was.
I have always said that I have brown hair, green eyes, and Turners Syndrome. It is just part of who I am. God knew I was going to have Turners as he knit me in my mother's womb. He knew it before the doctors did. He also knew that he was going to take great care of me and knew the issues I would face. As a girl, we struggle with issues of self image. A Turners woman has an even bigger battle to face. Our bodies are not shapped exactly the same and do not function exactly the same, but God created us this way. We are just as beautiful as the next girl. God knew I was not going to carry a child so he blessed me with an amazing husband who loves me despite my flaws. God knew that I would struggle with weight and hypothroidism so he put people in my life that could teach me how to eat right and live a healthy life. Having Turners is just a part of who I am. It is not something wrong with me. I am beautiful. I am a child of God and he loves me the same.

Long time, no Blog

Hello dear blog world. Not sure who reads, but I shall write anyways.

It has been a wild ride the last 8 months. Our dog had puppies and October-January is kind of a blur of vets, dog poop, and selling puppies. Now they are gone and all is back to normal.

Nothing else much going on. We are sitting here eating pizza and watching tv. A normal Saturday afternoon. It is 6:30 pm and i am still in my pjs. It is a beautiful thing! I cleaned, but mostly got to be lazy which I haven't done since school started in August....remember the puppy thing so I did not get to relax over Christmas break...... oh well.

We spent Christmas with his parents this year. It was a blast with all of this aunts and cousins and immediate family. We got the first day of our trip to spend with just the 5 Larry Johnsons. It was a very fun evening. I really wish Kimberly lived closer. I hate that she is all the way in Oklahoma. :( I love when we get to see her.

Tomorrow we are going to a first birthday party for our friends sweet baby girl. She is precious, very fiesty, but precious. It will be a tons of fun.

I am learning a lot this second year of marriage. We are going on 18 months of being married now. Each month, each day is different. It is a blast having my best friend around every day. I am very proud of him. He started school this week to do something to better the future of our famliy. It was a very important decision for us. it was something that needed to get done. I was a bit in an internal struggle because if he started school then we had to put off adoption for at least 2-3 more years, but if he did not go to school, then it would not set our family up to be the best we could be. Now, we get 3 more beautiful years together before we welcome sweet babies into our life. It is a precious gift God has given us to take the time together. I am so very proud of my husband for doing this.

I have been a little on the emotional side in the end of 2010. So with 2011, I vowed to have a better attitude and better outlook. The first Sunday of the new year, our pastor preached on the verse "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in all things give thanks to the Lord." It was pretty convicting because I had gotten into a habit of complaining about everything around me, mostly the dog poop. :) haha I realy am looking forward to 2011. 2010 was very rough and I hope to see some really great things happening in 2011.

Hello world

Well summer is continuing to drag on. I am home by myself all day with the dogs. We got a new dog. He is a 7 year old lab named Jasper. I did not pick the name but it works for him. We have been on the go since school got out in May. Only on the weekends though. The week days have been dragging on while Chad is at work. I have been running with the dogs, watching movies, cleaning, and laundry. WOO HOO! But our weekends have been awesome. We went to the Houston Astros game and spent the weekend in Katy with Chad's family and cousins. We went to Beorne for his family reunion. It was tons of fun seeing all the Johnson people again. We went to Schlitterbahn and played games. We ate tons of amazing food! THen we went to the beach with just his immediate family. It was a special time we just got to hang out and relax. Unfortunately his mom has gotten sick, so we cut the beach trip short. She had to have her gallbladder taken out. SHe JUst got out of surgery about 20 min ago. She is resting and will feel so much better very soon.
Well I am about to go to Ohio on the 13th. Haley just had her baby. Dillan Renne was born June 28, 2010 around 9 pm. She was 5 lbs and 10 oz. SHe is perfect and adorable. They are all doing well. I can't wait to go see them.
Not much else to say, but Love you!

Getting to know Mrs.J

1. Do you have a fetish?my house being dirty

2. Do you sing in the shower?If I am in a really good mood I will, i mostly sing in the car

3. Who was your first crush? Patrick Edward Coggins, Jr. He is a marine in Iraq right now. He is married with a baby girl. We were neighbors since we were 5. His birthday is Valentines Day and it always bugged me because from Feb 14 to May 19 we were the same age but I really am older :) Praying for ya PC, come home safe!

4. What do you think is the best manly trait a guy could have?Manly trait? I love that Mr J can fix, build, or grill anything. I mostly love that he can fix anything. He is so handy. I also love his sense of forgiveness and letting nothing stay between us.

5. Do you sleep naked?Ask Mr. J

6. What do you do when (you think) no one is looking?the same as when they are looking...

7. What's the first thing you do when you go online?facebook, blogs, then email

8. Summer is.....?No work. =] Just around the corner! Kids are out Wednesday. I am done next Wednesday! :)

A funeral for my attitude :)

I am celebrating the death of my bad attitude. I have been kind of negative and a butthead lately due to recent events.  I am choosing this morning and promised my husband that this is the death of that attitude. The message at church was very simple but hit me right in the heart.  I am going to be filled with the joy of the spirit and speak with loving kindness.  I will strive to be the essence and fragrance of Christ daily.  I will fail.  I will make mistakes. I may have a bad day or so, but I am going to battle with the strength God gave me to be joyful.  So here it goes! :)

We started going to a new church. We were kind of tired and not pleased with the church we were going to.  It has been a learning experience as a married couple to find where we fit in. It has been weird for me to find where Chad fits in to the thigns of the last 5 years of living in College Station.  With that said, my college church was definitly not the place for us and that is ok.  The Lord spoke very clearly to us on that point.  We are LOVING First Baptist Bryan so far and can not wait to see where it takes us.  

Well right now Chad is at the store and wouldnt let me go or tell me anythign about where he was going. I am guess it has something to do with my birthday on Wednesday! :) 

There is more to stay but I can sum it up by saying Summer is only days away now and school is out!

Springtime!

I do not like cold weather. I am sick from September to February! Actually..it is still march and I have 2 more days of Antibiotics for my ruptured ear drum courtisy of sinus infection. Spring is FINALLY here.  Right now Chad is making hamburger patties and fired up the grill! The sun is out and flowers are starting to bloom. It is such a refreshing time of year. I love seeing new colors and being outside.  I can finally breath again and enjoy being awake and out of bed :)

My kids are growing up so much as we get closer to the summer and they are almost Kindergarteners.  I am so very proud of how far they have come this year.  

I don't have too much to say except that thigns are going really well for us right now.  We had come together and found are place of contentment.  The Lord has brought me dear friends who has sent me messeages of verses and love. He has sent me an incredible husband. He has spoken sweet comfort to me and showed both of us his love.  Our family is his and he knows the plans he has for us.  

Love you all so very much! 

Karen

A Heavy Heart

Caution: This is a very blunt post about my feelings right now. Read as much as you wish to know.

My students are "asleep" which means I am watching them wiggle and roll on their mats and trying to get them to rest.
About two weeks ago, a student at our school was killed in a four wheeler accident. The mother is my "personal trainer" ( I use parenthasies because she does not charge and it is a group of us that she works with up at the school) and a very dear friend. I cannot wrap my mind around the pain she much be going through. My heart is broken for her. It is also painful to watch the small chilren of our school, mainly his classmates, go through this at such a young age. Their best friend died. He was so young and full of life. He was a believer already and is waiting for us all in heaven, probably playing basketball or something he loves. His siblings have returned to school and are doing well, but my heart is still broken for my grieving friend. We miss her deeply and despereately here at school. She is such an encouragment to many of us. She brings me such joy with her smile everyday. My prayer for her is to find peace and find some sense of normal in their new road as a family. I hope she can find her way to school soon and return to us.
My second heartbreak right now is a baby. Being a mother has been my wish my entire life, but I have also been told all of my life that it would not be possible. I always told myself that if I prayed hard enough and wished long enough that I would become pregnant when I got married. When I met Chad, my heart for adoption grew bigger and became more real to me, but I still told myself that when I was older I would get pregnant because I wanted it so bad. We both want children. We want our family with little ones running around. We also have been praying for a long time about when we should have children. We wanted them fairly quickly after we got married and knew we would more than likely hit road blocks. We wanted to start the very long road to parenthood under God's will and see what was ahead. We have talked extensively and prayed abudantly what should happen. We know that I do not need to be off any of my medicines including the bc. We also know that we DO NOT want to do fertility drugs and in vitro and mess with my body. Both of these make me a crazy person and that is not good for any human I am in contact with :)
So basically, we want to get pregant or we will adopt. We just feel like why try SO hard and screw u my body chemistry when there are precious babies that need homes and families to provide for them. This is where is become VERY hard for me. There have a been a few moments that we thought I might be with child, but no such luck. After thinking about it, I do not want my child to hvae to deal with my medical issues so conceiving has become almost a bad idea to me. I also would love to feel that baby move in my belly. I would love to have belly pictures and I would love to feel it grow inside of me. I know this is not for me. God has spoken to us and we know that adoption is for us. God is working on my heart to fall deeply in love with a child destined to be ours. I am just not good at waiting. We will have to wait until he is done with school adn we can afford a house. We want to be ready, stable, and prepared for a child. I am just learning to love the waiting game. I am learning to rely on God to carry us through. God is working on our marriage, on us as individuals, and on my heart. I love my job, and I am not ready to be a stay at home mom. It is a weird place to be in, and my husband is so very supportive. He is my champion, my hero, my best friend. He is going to be a fabulous father some day and I cannot wait to see that. We are still so young and have many greay years ahead. I just need to be patient and wait. I need to wait on the Lord's will. I need to wait until my husband is done with school. I need to wait until we have a good home to live in as a family. I pray that this journey grows me. I pray daily for the child that will someday be ours. I pray for the family that has to part with a child that we can give it life. My heart is heavy. The Lord is good and he knows what he is doing. OK I am done. THe kids are awake. Love ya, see ya, bye!

Hello 2010

Hello blog world. 

Just wanted to say hi again. Life has been pretty crazy. School has been a whirl wind. The kids are taking off academically. They are starting to read sight words and follow along when I read stories. It is simply amazing. This has been a week of blessings for me. I am looking at my school and job and thinking about how lucky I am to have ended up in such a fantastic place for my 1st year teaching and hopefully many more.  It has been the neatest year of my life, being married and teaching.  I have wanted to be a teacher my entire life and now i actually get to do it. I LOVE my job and my class. They are so much fun. 

I can't wait to meet my new neice or nephew this summer. Haley is having a baby.  It will be a great adventure. I hope she stays healthy and strong the entire pregnancy.  Her puppy is sick right now and is not good, but hopefully he will be okay soon! Check her facebook for details.  The vet butchered his neutering and his ball sack bled and got all nasty and swollen.

Chad is as silly as ever.  You need to call and hang out with us no matter who you are. We miss everyone sincce we have been so busy and haven't seen many people.  Pray for us as we make decisions about our life and move into nearing our 1st annivesary.  I don't have much else to say except thigns are going well.  Being married is great. Our pizza just arrived. I'm going to go eat. Love you!

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