4th of July in Idaho

We got to go visit Darin's sister, Michelle and her family in July. We'd been wanting to go up and stay at their house for a while and we finally went. We went to a local parade with them after a neighborhood breakfast that was sooo yummy! It was so fun to just hang out with them. Their girls are so cute. While we waited a few hours for the fireworks show to start, they thought it was so fun to just run around in the same circle like 50 times! It's so funny that they just got a kick out of that. Sometimes kids are so simple, it's hilarious.
Brady, Michelle's husband, had just finished chemo therapy and we were so glad to see that he was doing so well. I've been so amazed at their strength, faith and optimism through that whole experience. They're such great examples to me and Darin!

The school side of our lives

We don't blog about school very much (even though it constitutes about 90% of our lives right now) because it's just not that exciting to blog about.  However, at this point, we are reaching some exciting milestones. 

CLASSES:

I've been in graduate school at BYU studying speech-language pathology for the last year.  In just a week and a half, spring term ends and I'll be done with classes...ALL done.  I don't graduate yet though because I still have two internships and a thesis to write, which will all take another academic year. Now you're thinking "at least she can earn some money now with the internships."  Wrong. I don't know why our field is different than most, but our internships are unpaid, but everything else about them is like a job (e.g. we can't miss work, we are expected to contribute a full day's work 5 days a week). 

INTERNSHIPS: 

The 3rd week of June (right after spring term ends) is when I begin my medical internship at a rehabilitation center in Sandy.  I'll ride UTA at 6:30am, then trax, and then bike the last 2 miles...and wahlah...I begin working at 8:30 am.   I'll be working with mostly older patients who've had stokes and traumatic brain injuries and are learning how to talk again.  I'll also work with patients who are having difficulties swallowing (betcha didn't know that SPEECH THERAPISTS do that!).   This will be a brand new context for me and I'm excited for the experience.  

In September, I begin a new internship at a private preschool for children on the Autism Spectrum.  The school is called Giant Steps and I've heard such wonderful things about the program.  I'm really excited for this one. 

MY FIRST SLP JOB:

I also have a job lined up to begin in September also working at another preschool for children with Autism.  My boss is awesome and i do get paid for this (and the pay is great).  It will give me excellent experience also!

THESIS: 

While doing all of the above, I'll be setting aside time to continue working on my thesis.  I'm looking at withdrawal behavior (the kind where they play by themselves more than with other children) in children with language impairment and how it correlates with their language test scores.  Are the withdrawn because they don't have good language skills? or do they not have good language skills because they're withdrawn?  Aren't we all DYING to know?!?!

ok...so see what I mean? BAD idea to blog about school stuff.  It can get boring to ya'll.  Let's move on to Darin before I dig a deeper hole...

DARIN:

He is not currently taking classes, but he's been working at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) and studying hard for the Dental Admissions Test (DAT).  He's been so diligent with his study--I don't know how he keeps himself motivated!  I admire him so much for that.  Anyway, it's getting tough, but he's hanging in there.  He'll take the exam in a couple of weeks.  He will apply for dental school next summer since our plan is to work full-time for a year before he starts dental school.  He's a smarty-pants!

Porter's Cabin

 This weekend we went with some friends up to stay a night at their parents cabin.  We had such a good time!  Anyone ever played the game Blurt?!  I LOVE that game and want to add it to our somewhat nonexistant collection of games. =D  There were hours of intellectual talk about everything from signs of the times, to aliens, to politics, to dropping seals on a country to cause havvok...hahhaha.  Jayce said something about using seals to invade a country and I thought he was talking about the animal--I thought it was a strange strategy, but it might work.  Then they told me he meant Navy Seals.  Oops!

We were so irresponsible and stayed up until 4:30 am watching the Truman show and Independence Day.  Then, a few hours later we had a delicious breakfast of fruit and waffles.  Yum!  Short, but fun!  I'm so grateful for good friends.  I've known Lindsey and Jayce since high school in Colorado and am so glad we're all still hangin out...now with spouses! =D

Real mountain bikers

       

Look at how hard core these guys are?!  I knew I was in trouble when they started pulling out the knee and elbow pads and attaching them to the bikes for the ride down.  They are not afraid of speed!  This is Faozi and Laina, our Tahitian friends who live below us at Wymount.  They took us on a single track trail that was so narrow, the trees brush each arm as you ride!  Then occasionally, it opens up to show you the drop off on one side.  That's the part that was a mental challenge for me...as soon as I pictured myself falling toward that slope, that's exactly what I did.  I didn't fall far though and just had a few bruises.  I'll need a little more practice this season before I hit this one again.  Fun trail though!  I want to be able to do it this summer.

Two helpful tips from Faozi:  

1. Look further up the trail.  When you look down close to where you're riding, it's harder to keep your balance. 

2. When there's an obstacle coming up, be aggressive and hit it hard.  When you hesitate, you lose power.

Climbing Rock Canyon

I'm finally getting around to posting about the afternoon I spent with my friends Kristi and Maria from school.  We just went climbing on a wall up Rock Canyon right here in Provo.  It was a much needed break from studying!!  Maria was belaying me...and she's so tiny, I had to have a lot of faith in the little pulley system.  But she knew what she was doing and did a great job!  I was glad that I went first because Maria and Kristi were so fast!  I was so impressed.  Maria assured me that it's hardest to go up first because you don't have the advantage of seeing the route that someone else took.  I think she was just trying to make me feel better.  Anyway, I'm hooked and can't wait to go again!  Let's do it girls...next Friday? [Maria, send me the pic of all three of us and I'll add it to this post!]

Vacation in St. George

Darin and I hustled to finish our finals early and have some time to join Darin's sister's family (the Richards) at a condo in St. George.  Each year the Johnstons have their timeshare at a condo in St. George.  This year we weren't all able to be down there at the same time, but the Richards stayed the whole week and we got to join them an the end of the week.  We had such a fun time having their family all to ourselves!  Jamilynn and Cory are so much fun and their kids are angels!  I am in love with Tommy (don't worry, Darin knows).  He's SOOO cute!!  I wish I'd taken video of him because his personality is so fun and he says funny things all the time.  At any given moment you can say, "Who are you?" and he'll answer with "Spiderman!" or "Bumble bee" (transformers).  He says it with his nose wrinkled like it is in the picture here and with a raspy voice.  So cute!

The weather was perfect the whole week.  We went on a hike first thing.  Look at that sky!

Then we ate lunch at a little park in town where there are nice grass islands to sit and a little manmade stream for the kids to play in.  I love this picture because you can see Tommy's little crack.  His mom asked him to pull his swim suit up and he obediently pulled the legs up to expose his thighs.  Haha!  Jami just laughed and shook her head.  

Then we went to Fiesta Fun (a tradition in the Johnston family) where we did bumper boats, bumper cars, go carts, and mini golf.  The bumper boats have a fun feature--sprayers!  We all had a great time getting each other wet, but Ryan wa

s the king.  He absolutely SOAKED everyone!!

  We were drentched by the time we were done.  Good thing it was still so warm even at 7pm. Ahh...I love warm weather.

We also got to go on a few bike rides.  Darin and I found a nice little trail for riding.  So glad I married someone who loves to be outside and be active!  We have some good times!

 We also got to spend lots of time at the pool, play

 tennis in the morning and afternoon and watch movies at night.  It was a much needed break!  Now it's back to the books.  Spring term started 2 weeks ago for me and Darin's studying for the DAT.  Our trip seems like it was just a dream...

Now it's back to the books.  Spring term started 2 weeks ago for me and Darin's studying for the DAT.  Our trip seems like it was just a dream...

                        By the way, does anyone know why my text is doing this wierd spacing thing?  The big gap in the first paragraph on this post really bugs me but I can't figure out how to change it.  Advice??

Yoga anyone?

So... I'm not so good at blogging.  I don't do it often enough to remember what I've learned.  It took me a while this morning just to figure out how to change the background again!  ugh!  So, I've decided to try to start small.  I just want to blog a little here and a little there. 

Here's my little post for today.  If anyone is reading this, and if you also like yoga, you may be interested in a website that a friend told me about.  Yogatoday.com provides a new 60 minute yoga workout DAILY for FREE.  It's awesome.  You can pick the workout you want to do (different levels available) and do it wherever and whenever you want to!  I've loved it.  

57th Ward Dinner at the Barn

Darin has had a great time serving as a counselor in the bishopric of a BYU singles ward. (Yeah, after only being married for seven months we were back in a singles ward!) We've really enjoyed getting to know the members of the ward and have learned a lot from their dedicated service to each other and others in the community. Time and time again, they surprise us with incredible attendence to FHE and ward activities. Recently the ward put on a formal dinner at a Barn in Mapleton. Despite the tricky location of the barn and the first big snowstorm, we managed to have such a turn-out that we didn't have enough tables and chairs to seat everyone. One of the highlights of the evening was when a set of chimes was dispersed and everyone tried to play Christmas songs by watching for their note to play which was written on a poster board in front of the group. We laughed so hard...watch the video!

Mandy Valora (a family friend who lived across the street from me when I lived in Orem--she's the second girl from the right) just happened to be in the singles ward where we've been called. I've had a lot of fun hanging out with her and her roommates!

Simple pleasures...

Last year we were pretty lame when it came to holidays. We were just trying to keep up with planning a wedding, moving into a place of our own and keeping up with school. Halloween came and went and decorating for Christmas was not a high priority! But this year was different. We were very excited to have our first Christmas tree and outdoor decorations! Our little 5' tree with white lights and homemade ornaments really lit up the place this holiday season. I really looked forward to coming home each day and completing my homework in our cozy home lit only by the lights on the tree. We even got to hang garland and tie red bows on the railing of our porch! I still feel like I'm playing house, but I love it! We love Christmas in Wymount!

BYU vs. UNLV

We got to go to our first game this year--I know, I know...almost the last game of the season! It was so fun to watch such a close game and especially to see one of Darin's friends from high school intercept the ball that saved the game at the last second! It was so funny to listen to Mary Jo and Hays scream "Get 'em get 'em get 'em get 'em!" throughout the game. The weather was beautiful! even in the shade. :) Thanks Lauri for the Sports Pass!