What are friends for!?

I feel like I start all my blogs out by apologizing...so why should I make this one any different!? Seriously though....this 30 day challenge is tough...I think I'm on track to finish it in 60 days...ha ha!!! I will get through all of it event if it takes me 6 months!
Day 9 is a picture of you and your best friend. I feel extremely fortunate because I have 4 best friends that have seen me at my best and at my worst, they know my deepest darkest secrets and know me better than I know myself. A lot of people consider the person they've known the longest as their best friend, but it's different for me. I moved around so much growing up that I don't have a best friend that I've known for forever.

Julie and I HATED each other when we fist met at Paychex in NY. I was the annoying southern girl with the horrible accent! My how the times have changed...Jules is now in NC!!!

Natty oh Natty! It is because of him that I found my husband (again)!. We all went to high school together and they played sports together. When I moved back to NC, Natty took me to a party and P was there...the rest is history!

I don't talk to Natty nearly enough, but I know that he would do anything for P or I in a heart beat and we would do the same for him! He's my Sporky!!!

No words to describe the amount of love I have for this man! He is my heart and soul and I would be lost without him. xoxoxox

I wasn't a huge fan of Stacie when I first met her, I thought she was a stuck up sorority girl...but clearly that all changed! She is the older sister than I never had and I know that she will always be there for me with words of wisdom and to help guide me in the right direction! 

I don't know if I would have made it through my senior year of college without her! She honestly saved me from a really horrible situation! 

Every lady in this picture stood up next to me on my wedding day because they all hold a very special place in my heart. I love every one of them and wish that we could all escape reality for a couple weeks and party!!!!

SAJ

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Where art thou - Day 8

Somewhere where I have traveled...I'm very fortunate that my parents started traveling with me at a very young age and I have never really stopped. I was born in Toronto and also lived in England for a few years. While we were in England we traveled a lot, just because it was so easy! We visited France a couple different times and also went to Spain. We never had a chance to go to Italy, but that is something that P and I plan on doing!
My most recent trip outside of the States was on out Honeymoon last year. We went to Playa del Carmen in Mexico, it was amazing! Everyone was all excited to hear about our trip and all the fun things we did but all we did was eat, sleep and drink! We did take one night (P's birthday) away from the resort and went to stay in Tulum (it was highly recommend from my friend Beth). There was no electricity and it was a gorgeous little hut on the side of a cliff! It was very rustic and I would not have been able to do more than a couple days there, but it is definitely something you should experience if you ever go there!
Here are a few snaps from our trip

We've arrived! On the way to the resort

Our room for the week

We could walk out to the beach

Tulum - our little hut's balcony

Inside our little hut

Rusty Rudder love all the way from Tulum

Relaxin in the tub on the balcony

Dinner in Tulum at this amazing little Mexican joint

Happy Monday!

SAJ

xoxoxoxox

Day 7...Which Movie to Watch!?

OK, so by now you realize that I'm not very good at blogging every day....but hey, I'M STILL HERE!!! It's been a busy week for us at the J household! We have been planning our one year anniversary trip to Europe for a couple months now. The original dates that we booked the trip aren't going to work so we called to switch the dates to a couple weeks later and it was going to cost $1700!!!! SAY WHAT!? We were heart broken :( We talked about it and decided that we will save Europe for when we have kiddies and they can appreciate it (or we go when they are under 2 so they fly for free!!)...TBD...in the future TBD, no time soon!
So we racked our brains for what we could do, we've already done the beach thing twice so didn't want to do that again, I really wanted to go somewhere that I could use my new passport (it's the little things in life people), but then we had a brain wave...let's go to California!!!! So ladies and gentleman, we switched our flights last night and we are now going to San Francisco and Sonoma!!! We cut our trip down from 14 days to 9 given our jobs and we couldn't stand to be away from our puppies for that long! (plus I don't think we could find someone to watch our hellions for 2 whole weeks..ha ha!) We're going to try to find a rental place in San Fran and Sonoma so we don't have to stay at a hotel. Any suggestions for fun things to  do while we're there!? Stay tuned for all the details as we try to figure them out!
Now...onto the challenge (sorry I got sidetracked but I HAD to share our fun news!)...Day 7 is your Favorite Movies...my husband is probably shocked that I even know what movies are...you see he thinks (as well as some other people in my life) that I have not seen any "good" movies...I beg to differ! He made me watch A Princess Bride...HOLY HORRIBLE...never again! Some of my favorites are (ranked in no particular order):
1) Pretty Woman
2) Toy Story
3) ELF
4) Marley and Me (I'm a sucker for this movie!)
5) Clueless (it's where I got my live for asparagus...ha ha)
6) Office Space
7) Dirty Dancing (nobody put baby in the corner)

I'm sure I could add to this list but I've only had one cup of coffee this morning and I'm running a little slow!

Until Day 8...which will hopefully be tomorrow!!!

Oh yeah...HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!!

SAJ
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

What makes me happy? (Day 6)

Ok, so hopefully you're not counting because I'm missing a few days in between here, but I'm going to keep going anyways!
Day 6 is a picture that makes me happy...I honestly can't pick just one, so I'm going to include an assortment of pictures for you!

P, Darren, Audrey and Natty Jan '10 - Audrey and I completed the Disney Marathon and had the best cheering section!

Oh Carly!!! First night of my bachelorette...words won't even begin to describe this!

P and my Dad...my two favorite men in the whole wide world!

Jules and Beth...Rock Boat '10 - first drink (maybe!?)

My puppies

Girlfriends! I may not talk to them every week or every month, but I consider all of them near and dear to my heart and cherish every one of their friendships!

Family!

We're MARRIED!!!!!! Say what!?

Babies!!!! Can't wait to have our own...for now we borrow them!

My favorite picture from our wedding night

New friends and neighbors! I feel so blessed to have the C's in our lives!

Until next time!

SAJ

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Day 5...kind of

Ok, so apparently I'm not great at blogging everyday...sorry!
Yesterday kind of got away from me...we were busy at the store and by the time we got home and walked the puppies and ate dinner I was ready to crash (at 8pm mind you....what is wrong with me!?)
I'm only a day behind, so it won't be that hard to catch back up! Day 5 is a song to match the mood that I'm in...ummmm.....I'll have to go with a song that always gets me in the mood to do anything as I'm feeling like I need a little pick me up right now...
CYNDI LAUPER - GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN (I wish there was a way that I could stream it for you as you're reading this!) A You Tube video will just have to do
Yuppers...I'm an 80's child and proud of it, anytime an 80's song comes on this girl just starts moving in ways that don't look normal...ha ha!

Happy Monday!

SAJ
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Day 4...I'm catching up!

Two posts in one day...are you feeling lucky!?
I promised I would catch up to day 4 today, so here I am...catching up!

Day 4...your parents...where to start!? How about the beginning...the day they became my parents...the best day in the entire world was the day that I was born...DUH!!! Just kidding :)

My parents, they shall be named A and J are amazing...I know, everyone says that about their parents, but mine really are! I don't think ya'll understand the torture that I put them through...I won't even try to sit here and list it out, it would take way too long...BUT, if I didn't experience the things I did I wouldn't be the person that I am today...so thanks mom and dad for teaching me right from wrong and how to be a lady!

I hope that when P and I have children that I can be half the mom that my mom was to me and I really do pray for a girl (just one though....and hopefully she won't torture us) so that P can have the relationship with her that I do with my dad! I will always remember the dance with my dad on my wedding day...we were making each other laugh the entire time otherwise we would have just been swaying back and forth and crying!

I know that it says that Day 4 is about your parents, but I have to give my little sister a shout out as well! We haven't always gotten along, but just recently we have been and it's been great! She has an amazing heart and is willing to do almost anything for anyone...I just wish that she would expect the same in return from people, she deserves it!

I know that I also owe ya'll a recent picture of me, so this one will have to count (even though it's from 10 months ago...oops).
Here's my family from our wedding day

Hope ya'll enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

SAJ

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Oops...day 2 and 3 in one

I feel like I have already failed you...sorry! Hopefully an early Saturday morning blog will make you forgive me! I've actually been up since 6:30, fed the dogs, made coffee, eggs and painted my nails! Nails on a Saturday morning before 9 you may ask...we have visitors this weekend that includes two young girls and they wanted to paint their nails, ands my toes were long overdue! Anyways...onto day 2...the meaning behind your blog name...it's easy...it's my new last name! When P and I got married we moved away from most of our family and friends, so I thought that a blog would be the easiest way for everyone to keep up with us...hence Keepin Up With The Johnstons! And to clarify, this has NOTHING to do with the big butt family, we are NOT trying to keep up with them! Day 3....your first love...this is a tricky one because as a female you feel like you've been in love so many times in your life. I think that the word love is thrown around a lot without really understanding the meaning of it. I mean in 6th grade you are so in love with your boyfriend, but is it really love!? I've been in relationships that I thought were love, but looking back at the love that I feel for my husband now...I can't believe that I thought I was in love then! I also believe that it's a reciprocal thing too, when you love someone so much and they love you back, unconditionally, it's the most amazing thing in the world! I hope that everyone that reads this has already or will at some point in their lives feel the love that I do in my life right now! I think I'm supposed to post a picture of myself too, I forgot to do it on day 1 (I'm so bad at this!) I will post a picture when I post later today for day 4 about my parents! I need to do it from my computer that has all our pictures on it (I'm still trying to learn how to do this on our iPad). I hope y'all enjoy your Saturday morning, I will be back later to tell you all about my parents! SAJ Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Day 1 with one hour to go!

Ha ha...you thought that you would have me beat on day one...WRONG! I may or may not have a couple drinks in me right now, BUT I am here on Day 1 and ready to take on the challenge...what is it!?
Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts


OK...Hi, I'm Sarah...I'm in my early 30's...who's kidding...I just turned 31 and I'm proud of it! I started using anti-aging cream last year and I'm proud of it...speaking of, I'm running out and need to reorder STAT! ha ha
I married the man of my dreams last May in a ceremony that my family was not all too happy about it, until it was over and they realized that it was everything that I had ever imagined and was PERFECT for me and P! 
We have 2 dogs who are our babies...pretty sure ya'll have already met them in a previous post, Kota and Fin...my puppies :) 
I think I might have introduced myself in my very first blog, so if I'm missing any details, you can go and scope that one out...in the mean time...15 interesting facts...
1) I'm Canadian...well technically I guess I'm American now, but I was born in Toronto and lived there until I was 9
2) When I was 9 we moved to England and we lived there until I was 12, then moved to upstate NY...I won't make that an interesting fact because it's not interesting
3) I was the first on my mom's side of the family to graduate from college...NNNNN CCCCC STATE...WOLFPACK in da house!!!!! (I know, we suck...just give me my moment)
4) As much as you all want to believe...I was not in a sorority in college
5) I'm OCD...kind of...my husband, P, would argue that it's bad, I think it's minor...I get it from my dad
6) I'm a daddy's girl...and I'm ok with it
7) I'm a natural blonde...just ask my friends...they can attest to it...I have WAY too many moments
8) I can't say that I'm 100% happy with the decisions that I've made in my life, but I also know that I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for the decisions I made...so that being said, I wouldn't change a thing about it!
9) I seriously feel SO blessed with the life that I have been given, I married a man who is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me, we are blessed that our families get along so well, I have been given an amazing opportunity with our store and I can not wait to see what  the future holds for us!
10) P and I are heading to Europe for our first wedding anniversary this May/June and I'm so excited to show him where my family is from!
11) P and I may or may not treat our dogs like our babies...don't judge!
12) I have a serious phobia of bugs...OF ANY KIND
13) I have an addiction to BAD reality TV...I try to limit it, but it's hard
14) I haven't missed a single episode of Grey's Anatomy...EVER
15) I have some of the BEST friends in the world...no matter how far away they live from me or how often we talk, I know that I can pick up the phone and call them and it's like no time has passed. Living away from them is hard, but I know that they would do anything for me and I think about them ALL the time!


Day 1...done with 50 minutes to spare....phew!


Until Day 2
SAJ


xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Am I REALLY going to do this!? Day 0

So I was going through all the blogs I follow last week and was having fun reading one by a friend I used to work with (DIY Davis Style) and started texting with her about her latest entries. She had my brain spinning, wondering if I could actually pull it off...30 days straight of blogging...WHAT!? She challenged me to it and I've been putting it off for a week...so in true Johnston style..here goes nothing! 


Today is Day 0...pretty sure you can read below to see what I'm going to be doing for the next 30 days...
Day 0: The 30 Day Challenge Explanation and Description
Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3: Your first love
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: A song to match your mood
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Favorite movies
Day 8: A place you've traveled to
Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: Favorite tv shows
Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed?
Day 15: Bible verse
Day 16: Dream house
Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?
Day 22: What's in your purse?
Day 23: Favorite Movie
Day 24: Something you've learned
Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding
Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: 3 Wishes
Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge


So, are you excited yet!? Are you ready to learn entirely too much about me!? Who thinks I can actually do it!?


Until tomorrow...


SAJ
xoxoxoxoxoxxoox