Getting Back On The Horse.

Just in time for the New Year, we’re back!  I know it’s been a long time since last we wrote - I’m sorry about that - but, we’re here now and ready to catch up a bit!

First , let me just say thank you to those of you who actually read the blog {back when we maintained it better} and have reached out to me to ask when we would be writing/updating it, you are blessings to us! It’s heartwarming to know that people care about our family so much!  It is because of you, and because of our wish to leave a memento for Madison, that we decided to get back on the horse and start writing and posting more often. 

The last time I wrote was on February 22, 2013, the day before Madi’s 15^th Birthday. Yikes! And, even then, I wasn’t doing a very good job of writing/posting.  So, naturally, lots of things have happened within the past year.  It would be impossible to make up for lost time by going over all the things that happened, but I do want to touch on a few highlights quickly.  From here, the plan is to write as often as we can to avoid more “catch up posts”’ like this one.

Here's a few pictures from Madi's 15th Birthday...

We’ll start with my favorite girl ever… Madison.  Madi is in 10^th grade now and is almost 16. You can’t see me, but I promise, I’m wincing having to write that.  I’m trying really hard to not think about how little time we have before she graduates – or even worse, how little time we have before starts driving. Ugh!!!

9.27.13 – so grown looking and she’s wearing a little makeup these days. 

Madi continues to be a kind, respectful, companionate & loving kid. The teenage years, so far, have been kind to us; she hasn’t turned into the hormone raging, out of control teen that everyone warned us about. For that, we are thankful and acknowledge that we are truly blessed. It definitely can’t be solely based on our parenting skills!  

1

10.25.13 just before homecoming 

She’s doing great in school.  Currently she’s on Christmas break, which means we’re already halfway into the school year.  Another shining example of how quickly time flies! And, although the season is over, she ran Cross Country for the third year in a row.  She improved on her 5k time and I think overall she had a fun season and enjoyed spending the long hot hours running with her friends and new coaches.

Jack switched jobs about 9 months ago and continues to work very hard for our family.  He left the company he had worked for for just over 10 years to peruse a totally different career path.  And, although he was traveling a lot in the beginning, he is now working from home most of the time. It’s nice. Real nice! Not just for Madi and I, but for him too. He likes what he does and is, for the most part, very pleased with the switch. I continue to be impressed with his work ethic and his ability to do pretty much anything that his is tasked with.  He’s one smart, smart dude. 

Jack – on his Birthday back in April last year. 

As for me, I decided a year ago that I wouldn’t be going back to school.  I wanted – needed (for my sanity and happiness) to get a job.  Thankfully, Jack was open to me finding work in something I enjoyed, something I was passionate about.  And, it’s a long story of God opening doors for me at just the right time, but I am now a certified-Yoga Instructor and a baker at a bakery.  They are both passions of mine. Y’all know I love to cook and fitness has always been important to me. So, both jobs are a perfect fit for me. Doing things that I would do anyway - working out and baking –but getting paid for it…how awesome is that?!?!  

Bella is still our four legged baby!  She is spoiled rotten and is lovin’ every sweet moment of life.  Unfortunately, she tore her ACL and meniscus right before Christmas and had surgery to repair them on Friday of last week.  But, she is doing great with no issues or problems so far. She seems to be heading toward a really fast recovery!  

Old Tex is still with us. He is the best cat! Such a sweet little gentleman!  Jack adopted him before we were married and can’t remember exactly how old he is, but we are figuring he’s about 15.  He’s our little buddy!  

 

Sadly, Cassie passed away on June 11, 2012. It was so sad and so hard to let her go. She had been a part of our family for 11 years.  She was my very first cat so she will always be really special to me.  

She sure was a beauty!

And! We are excited to announce that we have a new addition to the Johnston family! 

He’s name is Louis Nix III (if you’re a Notre Dame fan, you’ll recognize the name!) and he is about 8 months old.  We got him just over 2 months ago and like most kittens, he is crazy! He loves to play and sprint around the house attacking anything in his path.  Tex is not happy with this new, energetic cat that is constantly annoying him.  Louis is constantly grabbing on to his neck and taking him down. Tex, being too mature for his childishness, gets very angry with this!   

All dressed up for Halloween

Louie (our nickname for him) can also be very loving – purring loudly and rubbing his face on yours when he’s in his sweet-boy mood. 

He’s got a great personality really!  I’m pretty sure Jack is his favorite due to his willingness to play/fight whenever Louis is riled up.   

Well, that’s my update - in a nice little nutshell.  I hate that I missed posting so many pictures and events, but hopefully, I can waive some of them into future posts

From our family to yours, may you all have a wonderfully blessed New Year!    

Sorry for such a grainy picture {it was taken in a dimly lit restaurant with my cell),

 but it is, sadly, the only picture I have of all three of us taken anytime recently.

Today, the sun is shining...

Well, it snowed Thursday night and into Friday morning here in Central Texas.  I got up early Friday morning to see how much snow we had actually gotten.  It wasn't much (about an inch to an inch and a half), but it was enough to close the area schools.  For Madi, the cancellation of school Friday also meant the cancellation of her choir's Valentine's dance later that evening.  She was a little bummed about the dance being cancelled but, since she has two other dances scheduled over the next week, she was okay with the cancellation.  She's attending a friends Birthday party/dinner/dance later tonight and next Friday is the Middle School Valentine's dance.  So, she's gonna have plenty of time to get her groove on! :)

The day before it snowed, I was talking to my best friend, Eric, on the phone.  We were talking about the weather and the birds I've been photographing in our front yard recently.  Eric was commenting on how beautiful it would be to see the Cardinal in the snow and I agreed.  So, when I got up on Friday morning, the first thing I did was look out the window to see if the Cardinal was there, in the snow.  He was! As soon as I opened the blinds, I saw him on the bird feeder...

 ~ Eric was right.  Beautiful!

Madi and I were lazy, we didn't really care (not at first anyway) to go outside and check out the snow.  We kind of admired it from inside the house; which is what I prefer - I live in Texas for a reason you know.

Madi took advantage of her free morning. 

~She didn't even bother with brushing her hair.

~She's trying to hide her face

~This is suppose to be her giving me a mean look.  HA!

Bella dislikes snow and cold weather ~ sort of like her Momma. 


She was biting on her "dolly" just before I took this picture.  I told her to "be nice to dolly" and so she started licking it instead.

Momma Cass ~ on the prowl.

. 

Tex ~ super annoyed that I'm taking another picture of him.Just before noon I decided to go outside and get a few quick pictures of the snow before it started to melt.  

~Just outside our front door.  See, not a lot of snow.

One of the bird feeders



~Snow covering a flower bed and our little squirrel rain gauge.

~Our Oregano.  Not sure if it's going to make it.

My nephew, Jason and Madi's friend, Erin came by later in the morning to play in the snow with Madi; so that got her out of the house for a little while. 

While Madi, the pets and I enjoyed our snow day, poor Jack was having to drive home from Dallas after a very stressful attempt at flying home the day before. He had gone on travel to Arkansas on Wednesday morning and was suppose to be home Thursday night. However, due to ice and snowy conditions on Thursday, he couldn't get out of Dallas (which is a long story, but he didn't find out that he wasn't getting out until after 1am Friday morning) so he had to spent the night.  The next morning (Friday) after learning that his 10:40 am flight was canceled (along with all the other flights that morning), he and his co-worker/friend rented a car and pushed their luck on the roads.   His Mom and I were worried to death, but thankfully, he made it home safely yesterday afternoon. 

Today, the sun is shining, temperatures are in the 50's and the snow has just about completely melted away. We're thankful for all these things but especially thankful to be back together, safe and enjoying this beautiful Saturday!  

Furry Friends Friday!

I guess because the weather has turned off cold, I haven’t really been interested in going outside and taking pictures of nature. Since cold weather and I are not friends, I avoid the relationship altogether. I like to be warm and therefore enjoy warm weather and the feel of the glorious sun.  We havent' seen much of the sun, which is really depressing to me, since December. So, I haven’t really taken many pictures of nature since before Christmas.  I have, however, been taking lots of pictures of food (some I have posted here and some I have not) and of our furry friends.

It wasn’t until yesterday when I was going through and organizing the pictures that I’ve taken over the last couple of months that I realized how many pictures I have of the family pets - not just ours but our parent's pets. There are tons! So, I made up “Furry Friends Friday” as an excuse to share these pictures. Plus, they deserve a post all about them from time to time.

Most of the pictures are outside sure, but taking picture of the animals is so much easier and less time consuming then getting the perfect macro shot of a tiny flower. I spend less time in the cold and I’m close to the house where I can run when the cold has gotten the best of me.

Also, most of the pictures are of Jack's Mom and Dad's sweet doggies; Max and Sammy.  I've been trying to take more pictures of them, because I really didn't, up until now, have any. 

So, without further ado, here are our furry friends...

~ This picture of Bella cracks me up.  When I look at it, I'm reminded of the movie, "Meet the Robinsons" when the T-Rex says, "I have a big head and little arms. I'm just not sure how well this plan was thought through".   I'm sure you have to see the movie to understand, but Bella does have a big head and little arms in this picture.  Funny and cute!



 

Tex with the tie to one of Madi's shirts.  He's always into something.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

"am I in trouble again?"

~Madi and Sammy playing through the fence.  It was driving Sammy crazy that she was outside of the fence and he was inside so he began to run in circles...

~Madi throwing leaves at Sammy.

~ Bella does not like this game!  In the middle picture she's looking at Madi like "Really?!"  Funny stuff!

~Bella actually running and playing with Sammy - a rare thing.

She's so stinkin' cute!  When Bella has her ears laying like they are in this picture, Jack refers to them as her "jester's" (like a jester hat). It always cracks us up.

~This picture of Cassie isn't real recent.  I took it back in October, but I feel bad because I don't have a recent picture of her and I really wanted to include her in this post since she is one of our furry friends.  Well, she's furry, but she's not friendly and she's as crazy as a mad hatter.

~This picture of Sammy and the ones that follow where taken on a different day than the ones above.  As you can see from both sets of pictures, he never stops running around!  And he's always carrying his ball, hoping someone will throw it for him.  Look at his hopeful expression - hopeful that I'll put my camera down and throw the ball.

~OK, this one really cracks me up!!  Sammy running with the ball in his month and his tongue hanging out, flappin' against the ball...hilarious!

"Throw it, I'm ready!"

~Big, sweet ol' Max,  Jack's Mom and Dad's German Shepherd.  Such a handsome fella.








 
~He's watching Sammy run around.  I picture him thinking - "What's wrong with that fool!"

~ I finally got him to look at me.  He doesn't hear so well, so I had to wave my arms around and do goofy facial expressions to hold his attention for this shot.   It's funny, dogs seem to like goofy faces just like babies do. 

~My Mom and Dad's Bichon Frise, Leo.  He prefers to be referred to as, "His Royal Cuteness".

 ~This is an old picture of Madi with Max and Sammy, but I had to include it here.  It's one of my favorites.  I love how Madi showing Maxie some major lovin'. 

And, I had to include Blue in this post.  He's not a "pet" per say and he's not "furry", but he's always hanging around.  I guess we can call him one of our "feathered friends" instead.  Every time I look at this picture, I start singing "Setting on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.  I love that!

We are so thankful for our furry friends; they make life so much more enjoyable.  Their love and devotion is something to be admired and modeled in our own relationships. 

"Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."

~Alfred A. Montapert

~My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.

~Author unknown.

 

I hope at least on of these pictures brought a smile to your face and that you have a fantastic Friday! :)