2014

I'm not sure that I really even quite know where to begin with this post. It's been so long since I last wrote, and that's just because I plain didn't feel like blogging, and also because I truly didn't have the time. I've tried to spend my time more consciously the last several months, and yes, that sometimes meant consciously watching 4 hours of Gossip Girl on a Wednesday night with popcorn for dinner. But it's a choice I made, not a circumstance I settled on. Blogging was just never how I chose to spend my time. I can't remember the last time I went through my blog roll either, I'm so behind on reading everything else.

2014 ended on such a horrible note for me, and I have a hard time looking at the year as a whole positively, even though, when I break it down, it really was. I'm still bitter about my miscarriage and I am still really struggling with mostly anger, and impatience. But really, 2014 was a huge year for our little family:

J A N U A R Y

+ devin started yet another year at UVU, and a light appeared at the end of that tunnel! (as of right now, D should be graduating at the end of the year!)

+ we saw our dear friend, Joshua James perform in Salt Lake City - Joshua's music has always been a moving experience for me, and the only way I can verbalize it is that it's spiritual, almost. He is so talented, and such a good person.

+ we went to the OR show - this is a big trade show that takes place twice a year in salt lake and it's basically every outdoor nerd's paradise. it's hard to describe, but it's basically a couple thousand companies' booths full of new gear release previews, information, deals, and whathaveyou. Devin loves the networking aspect of it, for obvious reasons. This OR will always stick out to me, because it sort of got the ball rolling for starting to try for a baby. As we were leaving, weaving through all the booths to get to an exit, we passed one that had a tiny baby hat and teeeeeeny tiny baby wool socks on display. We bought them, and they've since been stowed away in an old trunk of my great grandfather's. But I think that purchase was the tipping point for Devin, and I threw out my birth control a few weeks after.

+ Momentum Millcreek construction was well under way at this point, and it was SO exciting to go up and see the progress. I remember getting choked up as things started to take shape. I was just (and still am) in complete awe of the amazing things the Momentum team was accomplishing. Jeff, Kevin and Greg, the owners, all the staff, Devin, the other managers, and Walltopia, the Bulgaria based company that designs and manufactures the rock climbing walls (it's a meticulous process, and so impressive). And even though Millcreek quickly became old news as the Lehi location was added to the discussion, and became devin's undertaking, I am still so proud and impressed with that gym. It's amazing.

+ this seems a little silly, but around January is when I really took interest in makeup artistry and began taking it more seriously, growing my collection, learning more, and started looking at options for school. most of this is thanks to jaclyn hill, and don't tease me, but she has been a serious inspiration to me, and in all honesty, a bright spot in my life since i found her on youtube a couple years ago. she's my soul mate best friend, i just know it.

F E B R U A R Y

+ scarlett lavee was born - my younger sister had a baby. that was huge! we spent like, 72 hours straight by kayla and zac's / scarlett's side and it was such an awesome time to be a Johnson. I loved all of it. I loved spending 10 hours in the hospital after Kayla went into labor, just to go home, before even seeing scarlett, because it was like, 3am and we were all exhausted (and scarlett went to the nicu for awhile for some breathing problems). i loved spending the entire next day crowding my sister's hospital room, taking pictures, oohing and ahhing at scar, and waiting on kayla's hand and foot. i loved it.

+ i subscribed to birchbox, which launched me into a product hoarding problem that i resolve to be better at this year, ha!

+ we were called as sunbeam teachers in our ward, and immediately fell in love with those kids. sweetest, most obnoxious, most wiggly kids ever. it sucked, but we loved it.

+ we celebrated valentine's day at our favorite restaurant, Communal

+ devin's cousin, and my (practically, i mean friends since 7th grade) life long friend, Kasey came home from his mission. i add this to the list because it still blows my mind that I married the cousin of one of my oldest friends. it's one of the many coincidences in our relationship that leaves me so shocked, because it took us so long to meet, when we were right under each other's noses for most our lives.

+ Banff Mountain Film Festival - think sundance film festival, but cooler films and cooler people. if you're outdoor nerds like us, that is. Banff is.... the most inspiring thing i've ever been to. probably. every video they show is so well made, so exciting, and it totally fuels me for adventure. you leave Banff with such a huge bucket list, and all the motivation you'd ever need to fulfill it. i love it.

M A R C H

+ Tooonnnnnns of skiing at Deer Valley - i grew up skiing at sundance. in fact, it was the only resort i had skied at until i met devin. the first time we skied at deer valley was all it took and i'm totally hooked. it's hands down my favorite resort. i absolutely love it. a little spoiled now, too, i suppose.

+ We also spent a day of skiing at Solitude with some of our greatest friends from the gym. It was probably my worst day of skiing in years (i know that saying this is like a runner saying they prefer a treadmill, but i'm just a groomer skier, okay? i like the easy breezy stuff. it's more fun), we had such a fun day, even with all that pow.

+ march was the start of a new passion for devin and i: firearms. i don't remember what sparked devin's interest in getting a gun, but he began doing a lot of research, and we eventually went to the range with an old friend of his, who was in some government authority position in South Africa and is also an NRA certified instructor. we shot a couple dozen guns with him to find one we liked, and we purchased a .9mm beretta (the first of many gun purchases this year). i've had a whole post about guns in my drafts since then, and i'm sure i'll post it eventually. we've both really grown to love guns, and i'm glad it's something we can do together. i feel so much safer at home, knowing i have those tools, and the confidence to use them. i think it's hugely important for people to have an understanding of firearms. there isn't anything to be afraid of!

+ march is also the month we both fell completely in love with sushi, haha! devin had a business meeting one day at a japanese restaurant, and one of the guys just ordered for the table. i don't think devin had had sushi before then, but he found he really loved it! when he told me about it, i probably made a face like i'd just bit into a lemon, because i had had sushi before, and i despised it. slowly, he got me back into trying it (after several orders of teriyaki chicken, that is) and i went from vegas roll to playboy roll to volcano roll, and on to ramen and all things sushi and japanese and we now have about 3 go-to sushi restaurants that we absolutely love. (although, i am still a tempura girl, and can't handle the giant chunks of raw tuna, haha)

A P R I L

+ we got a fish! we got a beta fish. i think he was a half moon, or a blue moon beta... something like that. we named him lloyd christmas and he was an awesome addition to our kitchen. a few months after we got lloyd, he mysteriously disappeared (i'm not kidding. we couldn't find our fish. for like an hour). then we discovered his shriveled up body over a foot away from his bowl. suicide fish. it was sad but also hilarious. i so wish i knew what happened.

+ my bestie Danica and I hosted our first ever Favorite Things Party - and so began a bunch of new friendships! We had the greatest time, got tons of great stuff, and I met so many awesome girls.

+ I made 150 macarons for a wedding. my first official order, and the largest order i've ever done! i took the day off work to make them, and spent literally 8 hours baking, and they all came out beautifully! AND, the bride was legitimately french, as in, FROM FRANCE, as in, not just by genealogy, but was a foreign exchange student, and she totally approved. does it get better than that?!

+ we went camping in one of our favorite spots - Buckhorn Wash, and cooper loved it. sand everywhere. all the digging and running possibilities. all the sticks. all the rivers to swim in. he was in pure heaven, it was adorable. this was also the trip we discovered cooper's deathly fear of guns (after we found him hiding under the car over 100 yards from where we were shooting. poor guy!)

+ on our way back from buckhorn (we drove home on a sunday) devin got a call that the stake president wanted to meet him, and came back from that meeting as the new stake young men's secretary!

M A Y

+ scarlett was blessed by my dad

+ we planted a flower garden for our front porch!.... and it died like, 3 months later. and it's still sitting there. all dead. i know. i'm really on top of things over here.

+ devin turned 27 and we celebrated at mirror lake diner in kamas. and it was one of the most memorable birthdays! so many people came (kamas is about an hour drive from utah / salt lake valley so it was a huge gesture that so many people were so willing to come celebrate!) and i spent the entire night just basking in all the love all these people have for my husband. it was amazing. we are surrounded by amazing people!

+ we celebrated 3 years of marriage in Park City at the Westgate Resort and it was a dream.

J U N E

+ the lehi location of momentum climbing was officially announced to the public, and things really started to take shape! this project was extremely time consuming for devin, but in all the best ways. he loved it, and i did too!

+ spent every waking second outside playing with cooper

J U L Y

+ oakley rodeo with the hamblin's (the oakley rodeo is one of the bigger rodeos in the state, and my first time seeing a lot of the events. it was a total blast. lightning storm and all!)

+ another awesome year at grey's river with both our families

A U G U S T

+ i turned 23, and we celebrated all weekend long! we had a big campfire up american fork canyon with a bunch of friends and it was the best possible way i could have spent my birthday!

+ soaked up tons of time at our clubhouse pool (we live in a townhome development)

S E P T E M B E R

+ we went to psicobloc! a huge climbing competition at the olympic park. it was incredible. i can't wait to go again!

+ we built a bed! we sold our entire bedroom set, in an effort to start collecting (and building) pieces of furniture that we truly love. starting with an awesome bed we designed together. it's still my favorite piece in our house!

+ went to the ogden temple open house with my family

+ found out we were pregnant! - this was still one of the happiest moments of my life. even though God had different plans for that sweet babe. i will always, always remember that day.

O C T O B E R

+ october is always really nostalgic for me. i love the fall, and this is when i met and began dating devin. those first few weeks were so new and exciting and october always reminds me of that feeling. it's been 4 years now! so crazy to think about how much has happened, how much we've gone through, in just four years!

+ we traded in our altima hybird for a jeep compass. and yes, i'm still in love. crosby is my favorite car i've ever owned. it's already made a huge difference having an SUV for us. a car that fits our lifestyle so much better! and possibly a quarter life crisis, but who's to say ;)

+ we lost our baby. those few weeks were... unbelievably painful. physically, and also emotionally. it's something that we're still overcoming, but something i think that's changed us for the better and brought us closer together. it put our lives into an eternal perspective and our focus has shifted slightly, to things that are ultimately more important. it was a huge time for growth and change and enduring and overcoming and we're not out of the woods yet, but it gets better every day.

N O V E M B E R

+ we took a weekday off and played tourist in our own city and it was probably one of the most memorable days of the whole year, to just do whatever we wanted, all day long, with no agenda. everybody needs a day like that every once in awhile! it was refreshing and i felt totally recharged after just taking a minute to really breath and enjoy myself!

+ i had a "celebrity" etsy sale! Lacie of queenlacie.com - a hilarious, real, mom blog - bought one of my prints from my etsy shop! still doesn't feel real. i'm practically famous, you know?!

D E C E M B E R

+ momentum climbing - lehi officially opened their doors! this gym is a literal dream come true. i'm married to a man who follows his dreams, and that's something you don't see much of these days. his passion is in his school, in his work, and in his hobbies, and i admire that so much. he worked so, so hard. i don't even think I know the extent of just how hard he worked, to make this gym happen. and i truly couldn't be more proud. it's been a huge blessing in our lives, and an answer to many prayers. it's the "ooh I see!" result of a huge leap of faith we took about three years ago, and i am so glad we jumped. being part of momentum has changed our lives for the better. we've met some of the most esteemed members of the community, some of the most skilled climbers in the world, and made some of the most genuine life long friends. i couldn't ask for more! momentum has been good to us.

+ after two and a half years, i left my job at cascade collision, unexpectedly, to take up an offer i couldn't refuse! the last few weeks at my new job have been stressful and overwhelming and exciting and fulfilling and even though i'm exhausted and feel out of my league, i love what i do, and i work with a lot of really, really great people. the company i now work for is owned by one of the owners of momentum (and he also owns 3 other companies, so... he's a busy guy!) and Devin and I now work in the same building! The climbing gym is in an office building complex, basically, it's hard to explain. But it's been so cool to be so close.

+ we celebrated another fantastic christmas with friends and family, my favorite time of year! who doesn't love christmas? in utah, it didn't snow until christmas morning, so it was hard to get into the spirit until that day, but it still ended up being a great holiday. i loved all the down time i got with devin, and all the time i got to spend with my sisters!

+ devin made some dreams come true for me this year and got me a yamaha clavinova digital piano! i grew up playing and quit as soon as my mom let me, but kept playing just for fun. i'm so glad i maintained that skill! once we got married, i didn't have access to a piano and it broke my heart! now there's one in my living room, with a headphone jack, no less! and i've spent hours and hours on it already and already have a huge list of songs i want to learn! i love it. i love it. i love it. best gift ever.

+ we rang in the new year with chinese take out and our friends the hamblins! we aren't very big on crowds, or staying up past 10pm, but we still had a great night and made it to about 12:30 so hurrah!

Him

Gahhhhh.... this post is so old, haha I'm doing so bad at this!!! Here's a nother * catch up post *

Sometimes I think I lose track of the fact that I want this blog to document my life, my family. My marriage. I don't feel like I update Devin and his life enough on here so...

he's been on several trips for school this semester. this is cassidy arch in capitol reef

 

he tied into his harness on nana's chimney earlier in the fall to clear away some of the ivy. he sent me this picture and i thought it was so funny that he was up there in his climbing gear.

 

gym progess. he's there all day every day now, and everything is starting to take shape. the bouldering walls are done now and they are working on a giant, free standing boulder that will be in the center of the gym. the audio equipment went in this week, the padded floors will be installed, and then we'll open in 2 weeks! whoa. WHOA.

 

from a couple weeks ago. devin and one of the other managers, Derek were at the gym until 1am installing security cameras so me and Derek's wife, Pieper kept them company. whatever it takes! i can't believe how hard they work. they deserve awards for this kind of stuff. lucky for us, there is a macey's right down the street that's open 24 hours, has kong kones, donuts, and fountain diet coke. we're set for life.

another shot of the guys in the lift. a few hours after this picture, i went up in the lift with Devin, and i'm not usually afraid of heights, but in a rickety scissor lift? not my thing. it was terrifying. can't believe all the things he's done for this gym. 

Katie, Lately

* catch up post *

 

these baby diet cooooookes.

 

here he is, in all his glory: our brand new jeep compass, Crosby. okay so I wanted a jeep patriot, actually. you know how most people's dream cars are like... foreign sports cars that cost half a million dollars? my dream car? is a jeep patriot. i know. i'm very realistic. so when we went to the dealership to talk about trading in our altima, we debated a lot. and then i told devin that if we were gonna get a new car, we should just go for it and get what we really wanted. we had driven this compass for the day (they let us keep it over night, and we actually really did love it), but then we told the sales guy about the unrequited love for the patriot, and we test drove a few. and i'm not kidding, i had like, tears welling in my eyes being in that car because it's my DREEEEAMMM. so we went inside and looked at numbers. and then we laughed and bought the compass instead. ha! (it's not that they are a gazillion dollars. it's that we don't want a car payment that costs the same as our rent, so... maybe next time?! haha) but seriously, i love this compass. it's the best car i've ever owned!

 

look at my adorable sunbeams. evie, korver, aniston, carson and libby. i wish you could all meet libby so somebody could finally agree with me that she is JUNIE B JONES IN THE FLESH. i love her. i love these sunbeams SO much. and i miss them! our ward split a few weeks ago and i didn't get to keep any of them :(

 

so one time, i was like 7 weeks pregnant, and exhausted... ALWAYS. and i came home from work one day and finally had a tiny bit of energy, so i told devin to hurry up and let's go on a hike before i remember how tired i am! we were dogsitting koda and riley at the time... so we hiked. and it was great! and then all three dogs found a creek. and all three dogs took a swim. so all three dogs got a bath. it was the worst idea ever.

 

but they're so dang cute and they were so happy to be adventuring!

 

koda is the sweetest little old lady. she makes the happiest squeals whenever you see her.

 

i'm so glad i got some cute photos of my sunbeams because a few weeks after this picture, our ward split, and i didn't even get to say goodbye and i don't even want to talk about it. i miss them SO much. now we teach the CTR 4 class, and after a couple weeks, these kids are growing on me too, but my sunbeaammmmssss :( audrey, mckenlee, evie, sophie and libby

 

loved the way these chocolate and blue raspberry macarons turned out for the baby shower for Sarah! it was such a fun afternoon and i'm so glad everyone liked my macarons. they can be a pain sometimes, but i think they're totally worth it!

 

this was one of those TGIfreakingF afternoons.

this kettle is only $10 at ikea, but don't buy it.

i have a mug hoarding problem.

harney & sons is HANDS DOWN the best brand of tea.

i still don't know for sure how to pronounce "agave"...

Cooper Lately

 

newest toy: his lamb. which now, about a three weeks since this photo was taken, doesn't even resemble something that kind of looks like a lamb. and he loves it. he takes it everywhere, and he sleeps with it.

 

his spot is right in the middle of wherever and whatever devin and i are doing.

 

hahaha that eye roll. such a drama queen.

 

his happy face. this is how he looks whenever he's outside, or playing. it melts my whole heart.

car rides with his best friends a few weeks ago


he has the best facial expressions, i love it.

Katie, Lately

*catch up post*

 

try these. (heart eye emojis forever)

 

when you accidentally make a double batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

 

and you end up baking for like, a whole day.

 

i hope he never grows out of this. it's the best.

 

this was conference breakfast for us. (yeah i'm that behind on posts...ha!)

 

this is when i was waiting to hear from devin so i would know when i could go pick him up and tell him i was pregnant! the anxiety was REAL. i've never been so impatient!

 

have you tried pizzeria limone? let's talk about this. amazing.

 

and i'm usually not even a huge pizza fan.

Katie Lately

several weeks ago, i was hanging out one night with McKayla and Chloe and we discovered THIS! queenlacie bought my print! And posted about it! And everybody loved it! And everybody bought it! It was the coolest thing. I'd never had anything like that happen to me before, and it was a really proud moment!

 

A random afternoon we spent at the Strawberry Marina with my family - it was pouring rain all day so we were stuck in the tailer, but Scar kept us all entertained!

 

my little sister is the cutest mom.

 

one of my favorite photos of Coop. he's so weird and awesome.

 

okay. go ahead. make your judgements. but this album has been in my car since it came out, and i don't think it will ever be replaced. i love taylor swift. i have tried to fight it in the past, but the truth is. i love her. and i think she's cool.

 

sometimes being a supportive wife means hanging out at the climbing gym until 1am while your husband installs security cameras. luckily derek was there to help him, and derek's wife pieper was there to keep my company!

 

and now, too many car selfies with my dog. the end.

Ashby's | 2014

Like we've done in past years, we got together with our friends, The Medley's this fall and took each other's family photos! We love the Medley's so much - they are some of the most genuine people we've ever known and they are always great company! Not to mention, their adorable daughter Ellie who is always entertaining, and Lynn's amazing cooking! I loved the way these turned out, and I'm excited for next year!