Thanksgiving

*This post is really more for my own personal benefit, than for anybody else's. I just want to remember what a great holiday weekend we had. It was amazing to relax and be with family, not worry about taking pictures (I took none), and just enjoy what was going on.*

Devin and I celebrated Thanksgiving 5 times this year! That's sort of a lot! We tried to spread it out as much as we could, but it still made for a pretty busy weekend. I can't even tell you how nice it was to have 4 days off, especially when Devin had a few days off to spend with me as well!

We had a big Thanksgiving dinner with some of my coworkers a few weekends ago, and honestly, it was so much more fun than I thought it would be. Everyone pitched in and brought a dish and the food was all so, so good. After we ate, we played spoons. Have you ever played spoons before? This was the most epic game of spoons I'd ever participated in. It was insane! We were laughing so hard, we had tears streaming down our faces! I left that dinner with serious gratitude for the guys I work with every day. They drive me crazy sometimes, but I'm pretty lucky. I could never work in the industry that I do with anybody else. These guys make all the difference, and it's nice to be in a setting with them that wasn't focused on work.

On Thanksgiving day, we went to two dinners! We started out at Devin's sister, Amanda's house. We headed over early and I helped cook, which was so much fun. But by cook, I mean I stood in front of a cutting board with a big old knife in my hand and chopped every vegetable that was put in front of me, but it was still a great time to be in the kitchen with my sister in law, mother in law, and Devin's sweet Nana. We had so much fun cooking!

Amanda is an incredible cook and made everything from scratch, including her famous stuffing that I love! Nana brought a cranberry relish she had made from scratch that was amazing, and the turkey cooked so perfectly, I couldn't stop picking at it as Jason carved it! We had delicious homemade rolls, Suzanne's yams (she puts apples in them - it's incredible, and Devin's favorite). There was so much food and it was all so good! After getting waaay too stuffed, way too soon, we went to my Grandma's house for meal #2.

Once we got to my Grandma's we knew we weren't going to be able to eat again, so we just waited until dessert! I had made a triple berry pie, and it actually turned out! Pies are hard, though, so I think I'll stop signing up to bring them. We had a great time playing card games with my cousins and aunts and eventually wound our way back down to Nana's house for some snacks, and visiting with some of Devin's extended family.

We watched my sister's dog, Zero all weekend, and it made for a lot of dog wrestling and hardly any sleep, but we still had a good time and Zero's a good boy. While Devin worked on Friday, I did some Christmas shopping with Kayla and we went out to dinner. She is about 32 or 33 weeks now I think, and she has vertigo (which is a really awful virus that attacks your equilibrium), so she's not feeling the greatest, but she looks so dang cute and we can hardly stand to wait any longer to meet that baby girl!! Kayla has enlisted my help in decorating the nursery and I'm so excited - I've never decorated a nursery before! I'll let you know how it goes.

Saturday, Devin and I took the morning really slow and relaxed, and then headed into Salt Lake to try a new sushi place he had heard about called Kobe Sushi. I'm not a huge sushi fan, but I tried each of the rolls he got and they weren't so bad! Maybe it's growing on me? I just got teryaki chicken, haha. It was the best japanese I'd ever had though! Their miso soup was so delicious and I loved the chicken and tempura vegetables. Devin is obsessed with sushi, so he was totally content.

After lunch, we drove by the new gym Momentum is building in Milcreek. Devin has shown me lots of pictures and videos, but it's so different in person! It was cool to finally get to see the giant project that's been in the works for so long. I really think this new gym is going to change climbing in Utah. It's going to be another world class gym, just like the Sandy location, but I think it's going to bring a lot more attention to Utah's climbing scene, in a really positive way. I am so anxious for it to open!

Next, we took the very, very long way home and did a little apartment searching. Because of the new gym opening, we are looking to move in September when our lease is up, a little further north, and I was surprised at how many places we were able to find just by driving down the street! It's always hard finding a place that's pet friendly, though, but I'm sure we'll find somewhere no problem. At least we're starting early!

That night, we had another party! Maybe this one doesn't count as Thanksgiving, because we had lasagna, and it was technically supposed to be a Christmas party, but it was over the same weekend, and it was with family, so it is what it is! Anyway, this time it was with my Dad's side of the family. We get together with them much less often, and usually those parties aren't structured and you go for the food (haha), but this year, my aunt Elaine was in charge, and although I'm sure she'll disagree, it was the funnest party yet! I won cool prizes, we played all kinds of fun games, and we had such a great time!

On Sunday, Devin had to work, but when he got home, we set up our Christmas decorations (which resulted in completely rearranging our living room so the tree would fit, because we live in such a small house), Kayla came over for awhile, and we started Insanity, which is a workout program. Uh, it's day 3 and I can't feel my legs, so that's how that's going...

The weekend was amazing. It was over way too soon, but at least now the countdown to Christmas is on! I am stressing about everything that's left to do before Christmas, but it snowed this morning for real, for the first time this year, so I'm in a pretty good mood. I can't wait to ski!

Anyway. Holidays. They're the best. And so is my family.

Katie, Lately | Not Much

 

whenever we leave cooper with friends, when we go out of town, he is always absolutely exhausted when we pick him up. 

 

this is what i found when i cleaned out my purse before we left for phoenix. can you say #hoarder?

chocolate and raspberry macarons (i spent the week before the boutique/AZ making macarons every. single. night.). i think it's safe to safe i've mastered them.

 

my newest experiment with macarons turned out amazing: orange creamsicle!

 

devin and i played farkle with some friends a few weeks ago, and now we love it.

and now: experimenting with how a photo changes when you crop it differently (using the photos we took in october with jared and lynn) i love how most of these turned out. i think cropping them so close gives them more focus. it totally changes the photo.

Johnson Family | My Favorites

A few weeks ago, my parents cashed in on one of their Christmas gifts from us kids last year, and we finally took some family photos. The last time we took family photos was in 2009. On my dad's film camera from his high school photography class. Using a tripod and self timer.

Yeah.

We've since added 3 boys into the family, and we all grew out of our awkward stages. We were long over due for a family photo. (The time before 2009 was several years earlier. Probably 10  years ago, my head is floating because the sweater I wore was the exact same color as the backdrop. Awesome.)

Without question, we called Jared immediately. Jared and his wife, Lynn are some of our favorite friends, and Jared took our bridals and wedding day photos (I still get compliments on them. He is so talented!) Jared is so, so easy to work with. He has amazing, endless ideas, and has so much knowledge and experience with photography. He has such a keen eye for lighting and posing, and his pictures always turn out phenomenal. He makes you feel so comfortable in front of the camera. I cannot say enough good things about Jared's photography skills.

We headed up to Big Springs Park and it was really, unbelievably cold. These pictures were taken within seconds of ripping off coats and blankets and layers, and then right after the photo, put them all back on. I'm glad we don't look that cold, though! Plus, the lighting was so warm and bright, you'd think it was hot out there! 

These are some of my very favorite shots Jared got. I will post all of them later. These ones, I played with in the VSCo Cam app - I just can't stay away! These pictures make me so happy. This is my family. These people are my absolute favorite. Being with them is so much fun. I love them. 

Phoenix | Part 2

On Tuesday, Devin was feeling a lot better. We took our time waking up and eating breakfast, and by 11:30, were back on the 51 to Tempe, to explore Mill Avenue. We had come during the week, and John and Caree still had work, and Rory still had school, so it was up to us to fill our afternoons. This area is really fun because it's right by ASU campus and there were lots of shops and cafes. We walked up and down the street while planes flew disturbingly low overhead (we were near the airport as well) before deciding on a place for lunch: La Bocca, a local pizzeria. Devin and I split the truffled mushroom chef's pizza, and it was the greatest pizza i've ever had! Sauteed mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, goat cheese (my favorite), spinach, balsamic vinaigrette and truffle oil. Amazing. I can't even. Just... auh. Yes.

After we exhausted Mill Avenue, we drove to downtown Phoenix, and got lost almost immediately. We passed all the major league arenas and found ourselves in the sketchy part of Phoenix, before happening upon a street name we recognized, and then we decided to check out the local rock climbing gym, which was ultimately unimpressive (we've concluded that we're just really spoiled at momentum. no other gym really compares).

Next we headed back home to rest up and get ready for the concert: our whole point in coming to Phoenix. We had watched the Pearl Jam documentary, "PJ 20" the night before in preparation (it got us all pumped!), and I was so excited to finally see them in concert. We grabbed a quick dinner at in-n-out before heading into Glendale to the venue, the Jobing.com Arena where the Coyotes play (NHL team). The drive was sort of long (Arizona seems to be a lot of really, really long, really straight roads).

We got there about 30 minutes early, but seats were assigned so we weren't worried about that. The show started almost an hour late, and then began the mind blowing.

Holy. Cow. After 22 years together (I will always remember how long Pearl Jam has been together because they started the year I was born!), they can still entertain. They are veterans! This was no rookie show. The second song they played was "Release Me" which is one of their most popular songs, but also one of the most powerful. I had goosebumps! Eddie Vedder sounds the exact same as he did in the 90's - if anything, just better.

The entire concert, I had these images in my head of the 20-something year old Eddie climbing up the stage scaffolding and diving into the crowd and thought his crazy days were behind him. Although there was no crowd surfing that night, there were still plenty of split kicks and more than enough head banging. It was awesome! I was so impressed by the sound, the energy, and the chemistry that can only come from playing together for two decades. It was so cool to see and recognize each band member, and hear all the songs I hoped they would play! (except no ledbetter! ugh. i'll forgive them this once, i guess.)

They did two encores, and I'm sure we could have stayed all night. They didn't have an opening act, which was so cool because it meant they played for three hours! I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I was with this concert. Aside from most of the crowd getting high the whole time and stinking up the place, it was such an incredible thing to be a part of. There were probably at least 16,000 people there and they played it like an intimate bar show. I don't think you could ever explain to someone what it's like to go to a show like that. You've just gotta experience it for yourself. I was so, so impressed. These guys are pros. Masters. AH!!!

still not over the palm trees and cacti. it's paradise.

her name's blackie.

*so…. I have photos from the concert, but they refuse to rotate? That's cool. You can see the ones I posted on instagram here and here though! 

Phoenix | Part 1

We woke up on Sunday morning at 5am and drove down to Orem to meet Brandon at Devin's parent's house. We were driving by 6:45, and grabbed a quick breakfast for the road. We drove while the sun came up, and didn't stop again until Beaver. We grabbed a few snacks, refueled, and took our exit to head into Arizona.

It was a really long drive, the scenery was unexpected, thick forest, and we all took turns driving and sleeping (i actually never drove...haha). We stopped for lunch in Jacob's Lake. The burgers and cookies were delicious and exactly the pick-me-up we needed for the second half of the drive.

The rest of the drive went by sort of quickly, and as we came around the corner to the Vermilion Cliffs, it finally felt like Arizona, and our adrenaline lasted until we pulled onto the carefree highway in Phoenix.

I fell in love with this city immediately. I had never seen cacti in real life, not like this. It was everywhere. It just seemed like the coolest thing to me. It was such a different place than Utah, and I loved it for that. It was so refreshing to be somewhere totally new. Somewhere I had never been before, and knew nothing about.

We went straight to a restaurant to meet Devin's aunt and uncle, and their daughter, Rory. We ate delicious enchiladas and mole outside (70 degrees at 6pm, thankyouverymucharizona) at El Encanto next to a gorgeous pond with authentic music and dance entertainment. We ate until we felt sick and then drove a few minutes to their home, right off the 51.

We got settled in, and even though it was only about 7pm, we were tired, and spent the evening relaxing and watching football. Devin and I brought our air mattress, which we knew would guarantee us good sleep (surprising, huh). And it was worth it.

The next morning, Devin woke up really sick. He tried his best for most of the morning to get over it. We took the dogs for a walk at the park just down the street, but he found himself back in bed right after, and stayed there for the rest of the day. He thinks it was food poisoning from the burgers at Jacob's Lake.

I spent most of the afternoon with him in bed, watching reruns and taking long naps. He kept apologizing, but I assured him I preferred it. Relaxing is one of the main reasons for vacation anyway, right? It felt nice to have some down time like that after the 10 hour drive.

That night, Brandon and I left Devin at home and met John, Caree and Rory at the Desert Botanical Garden for the Chihuly in the Garden Exhibition. On our way there, the sun was setting and the traffic was horrible. It was so strange to drive at 5pm and still see sunlight. In Utah, the sun would have been behind the mountains already, but I loved the change. It was so refreshing to be in the desert!

When we got to the garden, we had dinner at Gertrude's - one of the most amazing meals I've ever had. Of course, one of my favorite things about going somewhere new is trying new food. I had an achiote and citrus marinated chicken sandwich with bacon, avocado, jicama slaw and aioli on an amazing brioche bun. It was to die for. After our meal, we went out to the garden. It was already dark, but I snapped some photos anyway. It was just too gorgeous. the exhibit was basically colorful blown glass sculptures installed with the cacti, and it was so unique. The weather was perfect, and it was a relaxing evening. I wish Devin could have come.

 

i'll never travel without these headphones again! lifesavers, i tell you.

 

view from our table at el encanto

 

music and dance entertainment right next to our table

 

Lala, this sweet little 5 month old puppy, may have converted me to chihuahuas. she was the sweetest most cuddly little thing. i was probably so attached to her because i missed coop so much!