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 ;)