COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 386-390

Day 386: 4-3-21 (Saturday)

Today is Holy Saturday.

It is also 4-3-2-1

But best of all... it is General Conference! We watched both sessions and it was awesome! Sister Joy D. Jones was FIRE! I loved her talk. The second session...my favorite Elder Jeffery R. Holland was amazing! The whole day was fantastic! In between sessions we listened to the performance of Handel's Messiah. Beautiful!

Brynnie taking a mid-session snooze while listening to the beautiful music!

It was so cozy!

After Conference we went to the park with the girls and Beverly. The weather was perfect. No coats!! Tyler listened on his headphones to the Priesthood Session. I listened with him to the talk by President Nelson and loved it! It was kind of momentous that simultaneously my father, my husband, and my son were all tuned in live to the Priesthood session from 3 different cities. Crazy.

We talked to Judie and Joel today. They had their 2nd dose of Moderna. They had no major side effects. They were just tired and achy for about a day. That's good. It's crazy how random it is for everyone.

Day 387: 4-4-21 (Sunday)

Easter and Resurrection Sunday!!

We had a wonderful, meaningful, and spiritual Easter! We had a message from Kam early this morning and we talked to Reilly. Hopefully this is the last holiday that we have to spent apart from her.

The girls received new luggage for our upcoming travels! Reilly and Hunter came over yesterday and we were able to give them their Easter surprises. Kam got his Easter gift on time but we got a notice that his care package won't arrive until tomorrow. Bummer.

Tyler received some new luggage too (and some candy.) He loves the Cadbury Mini Eggs. The Cadbury Cream Eggs are my favorites! 

Tyler gave me these BEAUTIFUL sugar Easter Eggs. I have wanted these since I was a little girl! They are large too. Over 8 inches tall. One of my fellow vendors was selling them and I was so excited to find them!

I used to beg my mom to get me one of these sugar eggs for Easter but it never happened. Somehow I equated these with the Church (and seem to recall that my mother did too) ergo I never received one. I asked Tyler how in the world I would have connected these eggs with Utah church people. He said that the Relief Society used to make them and maybe that was what put my mom off of them. But they aren't an LDS thing. It's weird how we can connect unrelated things in our minds. 

We made crepes for our Easter/Conference breakfast and they were divine! My favorite filling is lemon curd, whipped cream, and strawberries. So good! We also had Nutella. Also good! Bryn's secret admirer struck again. There was a stuffed animal that looked like a blue peep and a note that said: "Bryn, you are one of the sweetest peeps I know!!! Your Secret Admirer." LOL. 

We had another fantastic 2nd day of General Conference! There were so many great talks and it was so perfect for Easter. In between sessions we played the Rob Gardiner Lamb of God video. That music is so powerful! Then we had a DELICIOUS Easter Feast! We had some traditional foods and some non-traditional and it was fantastic! 

Our menu:

Mississippi Roast (Tyler)

Quinoa (Tyler)

My Mom's Killer Mashed Potatoes (Me)

Homemade Rolls (Ailey)

Deviled Eggs (Bryn)

Jello Beans (Ailey)

Granny's Lemon Bars (Ailey)

Green Punch (Me)

Then we FINALLY started watching THE CHOSEN. People have been raving about it all year and even Kameron got to watch Season 1 on Christmas Day on his mission and has been begging us to watch it. Well...everyone was right. It is really good! We had such a great Easter this year...even if it was the first year we didn't dye Easter Eggs. Times they are a changin' as the kids get older.

I also got asked to be a group facilitator for our stake's 7 week Emotional Resiliency Life Skills Course for the youth. This is a pilot project that the Church is doing in various stakes. My dad is just finishing up the adult course in his stake. The course for the adults is a little different than the one for the youth.

The topics for the youth are: 

Healthy Thinking Patterns

Real Life Finances

Managing Stress and Anxiety

Career Prep

Understanding Sadness and Depression

Our Body and Emotions/Building Healthy Relationships

Providing Strength to Others

This isn't technically a calling. Names were recommended to be facilitators/moderators. I was like "I wonder who recommended me for this?" and Bryn piped up with "Anyone who knows you!" LOL. Too true. Stuff like this is my jam! Guess what lucky teens get to participate?! It should be interesting.

Day 388: 4-5-21 (Monday)

Spring Break is going strong. Sleeping in and staying up late! We did a bunch of yard work today. Woohoo. Nothing says fun spring break like yard work but it felt great (to me!) to be out working in the yard. It is finally starting to come alive. Pansies! Daffodils! I also put away all of our Easter décor.

We video chatted with Kameron today. His new companion is from good old Rexburg, Idaho. Kam says he is a little different but much easier to get along with. Apparently this kid LOVES to clean and organize. Like SUPER DEEP CLEANING. Kameron can NOT relate! In Kam's words... "He is Mom on steroids!" It was really fun to hear his insights on General Conference. He had notes and everything and was super enthusiastic! Such a change! LOL. It was really good to talk and laugh with him. I sure love that kid!

Gonzaga was in the NCAA Finals and lost to Baylor tonight. Sadness. They had a great season. Proud of our Zags!

Day 389: 4-6-21 (Tuesday)

We did more yard work today! LOL. Yes, there has been some mighty complaining around here DESPITE the fact that we will be taking a trip in just a couple of weeks. We aren't too sympathetic to their complaints. We finally took the girls to Chik-fil-a as a treat! We also got all of the details about Bryn's track season. She starts on THURSDAY and she is stoked!

Our governor is now saying that we may return to Phase 2. Are you kidding me?!

Day 390: 4-7-21 (Wednesday)

We are vaccinated!! 

Tyler and I got our second Moderna shot today. THANK GOODNESS. It wasn't without some excitement though. After we got our shots and were sitting there waiting our allotted 15 minutes to make sure that we didn't keel over... someone actually did! It was extremely traumatizing to all of us sitting there! Two teenage boys were there with their dad and had just gotten their second doses. All of the sudden one of the teenagers started having a seizure. His brother was like, "Knock it off! That's not funny!" But then the dad started calling for help and while the kid was seizing two EpiPens (clearly some health issues here) fell out of his pocket. The nurses called for the rapid response team which was not that rapid. They got him down on the ground and were bringing him around. The doctor came and checked him out. He didn't have a reaction to the immunization. He had a vasovagal syncope which is a kind of seizure that can happen when you faint because your body overreacts to certain triggers...like the sight of blood, needles, extreme emotional distress etc...it causes your blood pressure and your heart rate to drop suddenly. You faint and have a seizure like episode. We are unfortunately familiar with these because they happen to Reilly with needles. It has happened to her twice. Both times were when she was getting an IV. It is disturbing to see even though you know it isn't anything serious. BUT...IT IS 10,000 TIMES MORE DISTURBING...when you are waiting to see that you don't...you know...drop dead...after your immunization! Good grief. The kid was fine and was back to his normal self by the time our 15 minutes were up. I would say that it took me a good hour to bring MY heart rate back to normal!! 

On a happier note... we stopped and got take out on the way home. We didn't know if/when we would start to feel crappy so we wanted some food on hand for the next two days and decided to eat early. We also had plenty of things for the girls to make should they need to nurse us back to health. We were prepared. We were told to stay SUPER hydrated. Before and after the immunization. So we were guzzling down the Gatorade and water like crazy...all day and all night. We ended up having an 80's movie marathon with the girls: Back to the Future and Pretty in Pink. We both felt fine all night!

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 381-385

Day 381: 3-29-21 (Monday)

Today is Holy Monday. Jesus Cleansed the Temple.

Bryn only goes to school half day this entire week or should I say for the two days that she does go to school. It is Parent/Teacher Conference. Conferences will be held online this year. We heard that 5th and 6th graders *might* go back to school full-time in April. I sure hope so.

We were able to video chat with Kameron today for an hour. He's waiting to find out if he will be transferred. He is really hoping that his companion will be the one to go. They are teaching a lot of people right now that he would like to continue teaching.

I got the nicest surprise in the mail today. I got a very sweet and thoughtful card from Tyler's mom. She had written some very nice things that meant a great deal to me. I will save that card. It was unexpected and out of the blue and very special. 

Tyler and I went shopping for Easter things for the kids. I discovered caffeinated sparkling water!

Game changer! 

Day 382: 3-30-21 (Tuesday)

Today is Holy Tuesday.

It is sunny once again! Thank goodness! Not much to report today. Ailey scheduled her driving test.

There are a few more cases of COVID at the high school and a family in our ward has it. :(

I think that the next room in our house that we are tackling will be the bathroom. We need new flooring and a new vanity. Tyler and I went tonight to look around and see what's available. We found some great options.

Day 383: 3-31-21 (Wednesday)

Silent Wednesday. Kind of apropos that we are still waiting to hear if Kam is getting transferred.

Today is another half day for Bryn due to parent/teacher conferences. She is out at 1pm. I feel like we are barely in school as is...and with half days and Spring Break coming up... it feels like we are just getting further behind.

We got some great news! Kirk, Meki, and Kaiya all got their first doses of the vaccine. They got the Pfizer. Our Governor said today that everyone over the age of 16 can be vaccinated after April 15th. Meanwhile people in Tyler's category are STILL waiting. I talked to my friend Marianne today and she told me that she got the crazy COVID arm too! Luckily I had warned her about it!!

Reilly had a big scare today. Someone broke into their storage unit in their apartment complex and stole things. She thought she had lost the luggage that my mom gave her for her graduation and all of her special ornaments. She was sobbing. Tyler had her look around all the storage units and see if someone dumped them. She found her luggage crammed into a corner and she found all of her ornaments in a bin in her closet! THANK GOODNESS she never put them in the storage unit! It is sentimental things like these that matter!

Nightly chats with these two are never dull! It seems like every night we all end up piled on the bed talking and laughing. A gift from COVID quarantine for sure!

Tonight we also tried these. Weird and not in a good way. Well... two liked them and two of us did not. 

Day 384: 4-1-21 (Thursday)

Today is Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday.

We found out this morning that Kam is staying in Princeton and his companion got transferred. Sweet! Kam's new companion is from Rexburg, Idaho. We hurried and sent off his Easter care package to him and expressed it. We couldn't send it until we knew where he was going to be.

Tyler got contacted by WA State today to say that he FINALLY qualifies to receive the vaccine. What utter @#$% !! 

Ailey danced at half-time at the football game tonight and they got new sparkly sequined outfits! Woohoo! Fancy!

Day 385: 4-2-21 (Friday)

Today is Good Friday.

Spring Break has officially begun for the Johnson girls. We aren't going anywhere since we aren't fully vaccinated yet. That will happen on Wednesday! So we are having a bit of a low-key Spring Break.

Tyler took the day off and ran the girls to CDA to get our favorite donuts early this morning! How's that for some festivity!! We got some for tomorrow morning too. We can eat them while we watch General Conference. I cannot wait for General Conference!

We went to the park as a family and brought Beverly. It felt great to be out in the sunshine. We had our parent/teacher conference with Bryn's teacher via a Teams video chat. Bryn is doing great and a pleasure to have in class. Great!

Tyler and I had a really fun date night! We had a lakeside picnic in CDA. We got the best Mexican food from a new-to-us place that we discovered on a bike ride then we split a shake from Roger's for our dessert. We had so much fun!

One thing that COVID has given us is a lot of outside dates and I love them! I am here for all the hikes, bike rides, walks, picnics, boating, exploring... I love it all!

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 376-380

Day 376: 3-24-21 (Wednesday)

Another crappy rainy day...having decorated for Easter helps. Time keeps marching on even when COVID doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

The company that Tyler works for said today that all of their employees who live in Idaho can get vaccinated through their office but not the employees that live in Washington? WTH is our state doing? We haven't moved at all to a new phase with new groups of people eligible to be vaccinated and we were the first state with a case of COVID!! Most other states are now open to anyone who wants a vaccine can get one. Meanwhile in WA State we still have heart patients, diabetics, and all kinds of other people who have health conditions that put them at high risk that are STILL WAITING!! Tyler is the ministering brother to a woman who is a professor at Gonzaga and she still doesn't qualify to get the vaccine because the eligibility for our state was only for teachers of daycare/preschool/school through grade 12... not college professors. This is complete BS. 

Day 377: 3-25-21 (Thursday)

Today's is Beverly's 2nd Birthday! 

She got a special dinner and everything! LOL.

Another kid at Ailey's school tested positive for COVID. Can we just get our family vaccinated already? After my rant yesterday, WA State moved to Phase 1B of Tier 2 AND Tyler STILL wouldn't have qualified to be vaccinated and I definitely would not have. Governor Inslee is GARBAGE!

I think I need one of these hoodies.

Today I was crazy busy prepping for vendor night. While doing so I was listening to the best audiobook...Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline. Perfection! It has an awesome Spotify playlist too.

Tonight we ate Greek food lakeside after vendor night. It was pretty fabulous!

Day 378: 3-26-21 (Friday)

Finally we have a Friday with both girls in school. We had an early morning message from Kam with an email from his mission president saying that with COVID cases still on the rise in MN and WI they are planning to have all of the missionaries vaccinated (good!) but they aren't sure what that timeline will look like. 

Today I caught up with a good friend of mine via a day of texting and it did my heart a world of good!

I will never take lunch dates, hang outs, and girls nights for granted again!!

Ailey's dance team performed at half-time for our high school's first football game. It is a little weird to be watching HS football in March...and it was COLD...but it felt good to be back in the stands cheering.

It was also nice to have some time with Ailey by herself. We had a little Sonic date afterwards with her. She is getting so grown up. I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that next year she will be a Senior.

Blurry... but I love the feeling that this picture conveys.

Beverly Cleary died today. Sadness. She brought so much joy to my life and to my kids. We are big fans! One of the best things we did on a trip to Oregon was to go and see the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden, Klickitat Street, the school, and the neighborhood that her books were based on. It was a fun adventure!

Day 379: 3-27-21 (Saturday)

Today was a total work day around here. Tyler and I tackled the dreaded garage once more. Look what we found in an old journal of mine in some junk that we were sorting through:

This was from a journal when I was in college. It was written 6 months BEFORE I met Tyler! How crazy! And Kameron with a K too. His exact name. It's so bizarre because Kameron wasn't even in our top names when I was pregnant with him. We decided on it after having a rather special experience after his ultrasound and we didn't decide on his middle name until we were in the delivery room after he was born. We had another middle name that we were going to use but then I just told Tyler to pick whatever name he wanted as the middle name. I guess Kam's name was meant to be!

Beverly had a grooming appointment today and got the royal treatment as a birthday treat!! They said she was a little angel. LOL. We also ran out to the lake house to check on it. Good news! The ice has gone out. It does my heart good to see open water once more.

Look what Ailey learned to make in her ProStart class at school! She has perfected hollandaise sauce and it is FABULOUS! She made us the most delicious Eggs Benedict for dinner!

Day 380: 3-28-21 (Sunday)

Holy Week has begun. I love observing Holy Week. Today is Palm Sunday. The girls went to our ward. I attended another ward conference (the last of them) and Tyler watched the livestream.

There was another big windstorm headed our way today...ugh. Destructive wind speeds were predicted again. During sacrament meeting everyone's phones went off with the Amber Alert sound to warn us all about the coming windstorm. That was unsettling. We Spokanites have PTSD. All anyone could talk about at church was how nervous and worried they were. Should everyone be sent home? What should we do? Prayers were said. It was a whole THING.

The girls were at home with Tyler before the storm hit. I ended up driving home when it started kicking up. Tyler had everything prepped and ready in case the power went out. He had even precooked our Sunday dinner!! When I got home we ate our dinner early and headed down to our family room in the basement for the worst part of the storm. We have several giant Ponderosa Pines and Blue Spruces that we really don't want to take out our house! Thankfully we didn't lose power and the winds weren't nearly as bad as predicted. We had our FHE downstairs and then watched a movie as a family.

Kameron messaged us this morning about the state painting of Minnesota. It is called Grace. It represents "Survival in the midst of hardship." He was very excited about that since this painting has hung at my grandparents house my entire life. He asked who had it now. I do. My mom gave it to me when she revamped the lake house and said, "Here, take this. You're the only one in our family who is into praying." Okaaayyy. I totally forgot that I had inherited it but Tyler remembered and brought it up out of storage so that we could send a picture to Kam. It makes that picture even more meaningful to our family. I need to hang it up.

Email from Elder Johnson #21

3-8-21

 The Boonies💯👾

What's gooooooood?  I'm back with another very exciting email. Y'all were waiting for this weren't ya? ;) 

These last few weeks have been pretty cool to say the least! The work here in Princeton has been poppin off! We're teaching quite a few people and they are all super cool and willing to do whatever it takes to come closer to Jesus Christ! It is so cool to see the gospel of Jesus Christ change them for the better. Like it has for me! 

One of the more exciting things about being in the boonies is everything is far apart so I get to drive a lot, which if you know me at all, I LIKE DRIVIN! Whether it's normal drivin or drivin sideways. ;) There's just something about the open road that makes me happy. It's the little things...haha.

Other than that, not much has happened in recent events. OH last Monday we met up as a district in St. Cloud which has an oddly familiar vibe to North Spokane...iykyk...but we went to a sushi place as a district and it was soooo hype. Y'all go have some sushi. It'll do you some good. 

That's about all I got for y'all, but before I go, a lil spiritual tidbit to chew on this week. I had a lesson with someone and we talked about forgiveness. Forgiveness is hard, so hard, especially forgiving those who truly hurt you. But forgiveness is a huge part of our journey in becoming like the Savior. He forgave those who betrayed him, despised him, persecuted him, and killed him. I promise you whatever quarrels you are in, or whatever things you need to forgive yourself for, do so now. They may seem like big things to over come...and they might be at the moment...but in the grand scheme of things you truly cannot move on until the dust has settled. If we can be forgiven day in and day out and mistake after mistake by the person we trespass against so often; we can forgive anyone.

Jefferey R. Holland said in a conference talk called, "The Ministry of Reconciliation",

"You who are letting miserable misunderstandings run on from year to year, meaning to clear them up some day; you who are keeping wretched quarrels alive because you cannot quite make up your mind that now is the day to sacrifice your pride and [settle] them; you who are passing men sullenly upon the street, not speaking to them out of some silly spite … ; you who are letting … [someone’s] heart ache for a word of appreciation or sympathy, which you mean to give … some day, … go instantly and do the thing which you might never have another chance to do....I testify of the tranquility to the soul that reconciliation with God and each other will bring if we are meek and courageous enough to pursue it. 'Cease to contend one with another,' the Savior pled. If you know of an old injury, repair it. Care for one another in love...My beloved friends, in our shared ministry of reconciliation, I ask us to be peacemakers—to love peace, to seek peace, to create peace, to cherish peace. I make that appeal in the name of the Prince of Peace, who knows everything about being 'wounded in the house of [His] friends' but who still found the strength to forgive and forget—and to heal—and be happy."

I freakin love you all. Have an amazing week. I love ya and so does your Heavenly Father and He is so dang proud of each one of you.

Love,

Ur favorite,

Elder Johnson<3❤

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 371-375

Day 371: 3-19-21 (Friday)

So I woke up today with a reaction to my vaccine. Apparently it's called COVID Arm or Vaccine Arm. It is a large red and itchy area around the vaccination site that appears about 8 days after the vaccination. It is also swollen. This reaction happens most often with Moderna. It isn't supposed to be serious or cause problems with the second dose. Thank goodness.

We spent all day waiting for our new refrigerator from Lowe's to be delivered only to find out that while they had it on the list for delivery they had never loaded it onto the truck. :(

Tonight for date night I wanted to find some vintage Easter décor for my own house. We went to Boulevard Mercantile in Spokane to shop in my several of my friends' booths. I really wanted a vintage rabbit that was in Kathy and Jennifer's booth but it had already sold. Sadness.

We decided to brave going to our town's new (and only) Chick-fil-a for dinner. It opened before Christmas but it has been crazy busy. You have to wait in line for over an hour at least...which is a good two hours less than when it first opened...but Reilly told us how to beat the line. She told us to order online and then do curbside pick-up. We did and only waited about 10 minutes. Chick-fil-a is good but I don't see what all the hype is about and I certainly wouldn't wait in line for hours to get it.

After that we went for a drive and explored a part of Spokane that we had never been to before. It's weird that there are still little out-of-the-way areas that we haven't check out yet but it is true. We also stopped in at Old Navy to look for some dresses that the girls wanted but our Old Navy didn't have them. Then we came home and watched the Mad About You reboot. It sucks that Paul Reiser looks distinguished but Helen Hunt looks really old. Unfair. Especially since he is 8 years older than she is. Ugh.

Day 372: 3-20-21 (Saturday)

Today is the first day of Spring. Our new refrigerator was supposed to be delivered today between 8-10 am to make up for not delivering it yesterday. Well...that didn't happen. Tyler called and raged. Now it is supposed to be delivered sometime today between 3-6pm. Now it's been two full days of waiting for this stupid fridge.

Ailey took the written test for her drivers license and passed. She only missed one question. They told her that she had the high score of the week! Ailey celebrated with a Starbucks run! Chocolate frappuccino and a chocolate croissant. Ahh...youth.

We got our Universal Yum Box today. This month was GERMANY! It was so good! The best box so far! We tried:

Strawberry Rhubarb White Chocolate Bar: Delicious! We are rhubarb fans in this family. Even Tyler liked this bar and he hates white chocolate.

Cinnamon Almond Cream Wafer Cookies: Delicious! We loved these!

Cappuccino Milk Caramels: Delicious!

Puffed Rice and Creamy Milk Chocolate Bar: Weirdly delicious! These aren't like Krackle bars with rice krispies inside. This is legit puffed rice like the old-fashioned puffed rice cereal and they were good!

Cola Candy: Everyone liked these but me. I don't like Cola in any form. Tyler especially liked these because it has an end note of lemon and reminded him of Pepsi Light from the 80s that he grew up drinking and loved.

Ketchup Potato Sticks: Delicious! Looked like fries but were potato chips. The girls adored these!

Spring Onion Rings: Delicious! These look like Funyuns but are 1000% better. We all loved these!!

Dark Chocolate Marzipan Bar: Heaven! We are marzipan fans at our house!

Pulled Pork Crisps: Everyone loved these except for me. They were too meaty tasting for me.

Assorted Sour Fruit Candy: The flavors were grapefruit and pomegranate. So good and sour! We loved them!

Sour Cherry Cookies: These were soft thumbprint style cookies that had a delicious almond flavor with a sour cherry jam. They were amazing! We all loved them! The combo of almond cherry is one of my very favorite flavors!

Cookie Dough Milk Chocolate Bar: This blew us out of the water! I hate cookie dough flavored anything and did not have high hopes for this candy bar. But it was SO GOOD! It was the best thing in the box which is saying A LOT! Creamy European chocolate with a thick layer of what tastes exactly like HOMEMADE chocolate chip cookie dough. Not like chemicals. Wow! It was outstanding!!

Cocoa Dusted Marzipan Balls: Delicious! Again...we love marzipan!

We all agreed that this has been the very best box so far! Germany has some amazing snacks!!

Today was the Spring Open House at Midtown Market. I kicked butt today! It was awesome! I am so blessed to be a vendor here and to be able to keep my business going despite a pandemic! I also saw this on Instagram and it made my day:

I love hearing things like this from my customers!!

FYI--Our refrigerator showed up around 5pm.

Day 373: 3-21-21 (Sunday)

Today I had to attend two Stake Conferences. Luckily both of them were in the same building and one was right after the other. We did 4 sharing times. It was a lot. The highlight of visiting the different wards is seeing all of my friends in the stake. I was especially happy to have a good catch up with my friend Valynn! There are few people that I love to sit and obnoxiously cackle with more!

Today we had our family's St. Patrick's Day dinner. I almost nixed it this year. With Kameron gone and the fact that we are avoiding being around Reilly and Hunter...yet again...due to their work situations... while we wait to be fully immunized. I CANNOT wait to celebrate the holidays with our family again! So we almost didn't do our dinner but at the last minute I reconsidered and had to find a corned beef four days after St. Patrick's Day. No easy task. But celebrate we did and I am glad of it!

Ignore the wrinkled tablecloth...this was a last minute plan.

Everything was delicious and it was a fun night after all. Plus! Ailey made us BYU mint brownies! 

Day 374: 3-22-21 (Monday)

I had my weekly phone date with my Dad. He is very excited about our upcoming trip to see him. We are all really looking forward to it. This will be the first time that Ailey and Bryn will meet their grandfather. Sometimes it REALLY feels like I am living in a weird parallel universe.

Today WA State moved to Phase 3! Finally there can be 50% occupancy in most places. The best news of all is that our libraries have re-opened. As in... you can walk INTO the library and browse around! HAPPY DAY!

We video chatted with Kameron today. We were able to talk for the full hour but at another weird time in the afternoon. Things aren't great with his companion. They aren't getting along and it's been rough. The good news is that both of them are hard workers. The saving grace is that they are staying busy. They have four individuals that they have been teaching with one who has set a date for baptism and another one who looks like she will set a date soon. I am glad that despite being fairly miserable with his companion he is at least able to stay busy.

Day 375: 3-23-21 (Tuesday)

It is a rainy, cold, and dreary day. I decorated for Easter and that helped.

My arm that had the reaction to the vaccine is still itchy. The area has grown larger. But most of the redness and swelling is gone except for the borders of the large spot. So weird.

Not much going on today... the usual dance team practice and piano lessons. We found out that dance team can have parents attend the half-time performance this Friday night. We have now moved out of volleyball season and are onto football. LOL.

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 366-370

Day 366: 3-14-21 (Sunday)

The Johnson Originals: Lori, Brett, and Tyler

Today is Lori's birthday! She is an awesome big sister and I am so lucky to have this sister-in-law in my corner!! We miss her! DC seems extra far away. Especially during COVID.

Today was a busy day for me with two ward conferences and I sat in and helped with Bryn's YW lesson in our ward too. So I technically went to three wards. I had to book it from the last ward conference to get to Bryn's class in our building just in the nick of time. It was really fun to sit with her class of girls. They were all just my primary kids and it was so fun to be with them again. They are all so cute and enthusiastic!! I have also really enjoyed visiting different wards. They all have their own vibe and feel. It has been really interesting.

We got some yard work done today. We did a little spring cleaning in the backyard and had a good FHE.

Day 367: 3-15-21 (Monday)

Today was a good day! There was a lot going on! We got some resolution in an area that has been super stressful. This has been a long time coming and it was so nice to get. Baby steps.

Tyler had an appointment with his endocrinologist. His new looping system is doing amazing things for him! His doctor said to keep doing what he is doing. He had his lowest A1C ever!! His doctor is in Idaho and they, as of this week, are offering the vaccine to all of their patients. She was thrilled that Tyler had already received the first dose. She is incredulous at the way WA state is handling things. 

We had a good video chat with Kameron today. He is doing okay and staying busy. His companion continues to be a challenge but Kam said he is just trying to focus on the positive and is counting down the days until transfers.

Bryn's school was in lockdown today due to a bomb threat in the area. I have NOT missed this! It has been a relief not to have to worry about school shootings and lockdowns. We also got a notice of second case of COVID at the high school. Luckily no one near Ailey. It sucks that the second dose of the vaccine is still several weeks away!!

Day 368: 3-16-21 (Tuesday)

Not much happened today. The girls were very busy with homework on their off day. Yay. Finally.

I am busy prepping for the Spring Open House and Tyler was busy with work too.

Now that we are partially vaccinated and will have our 2nd dose in a few weeks; we started planning a family trip to Las Vegas to see my father. Just the idea of a trip is THRILLING!! We won't get our 2nd vaccinations until AFTER Spring Break...bummer... so we will do our family's Spring Break a few weeks later.

Day 369: 3-17-21 (Wednesday)

Today is St. Patrick's Day!! 

The girls left for school in varying levels of festivity: 

Zero 

to

Subtle

Those are Kam's socks! LOL. To his great sadness his Mission President doesn't allow wild socks and he had to leave his EXTENSIVE collection at home. :)

The girls requested Green Lunches and I was happy to comply. We also got our traditional McDonald's meal for dinner. Filet-O-Fish Meals with Shamrock Shakes. They loved it!

Bryn started her online "music club" which is how they are teaching band/orchestra now. Once the kids went back to in person school they were told that there would be no more band or strings classes for the rest of the year. They started a Zoom Music Club for the students once a week to keep learning their instruments. Sad. But I guess it is good that she still can continue to play in some way.

I had a stake meeting about a struggling primary presidency. My heart goes out to all of the Primary Presidents right now.

Day 370: 3-18-21 (Thursday)

We bought our plane tickets and booked our hotel for our upcoming trip to Las Vegas. Sweet! We cannot wait!! The girls are so excited.

I had a gigantic booth redo in CDA for the Spring Open House. It is this weekend. It took hours. But the booth looks fresh and spring-like and a Easter-y too! 

Reilly and Hunter saved the day. Ailey and the dance team performed at half-time and parents of dancers were finally allowed to go watch. Since Tyler and I had to be in CDA; they filled in for us and even took Ailey out for ice cream afterwards and brought some home to Brynnie too. They were great and we really appreciate their willingness to jump in and help out when needed!!

Go Ailey!!