Goin' to the temple, gonna get married....

     One of my dearest friends got married last Friday, 11/12/10!  I flew out to Oregon to take part in the beautifully low key event and the whole time I kept thinking about how happy I was that I was able to make it out there and be with her that day.
     Lindsay Hinmon and I go way back.  I remember meeting her (in the 6th grade) and wondering if she was the substitute teacher for the day.  I was a very scrawny 6th grader and Lindsay was a very mature 6th grader :)  I soon came to find out that she was not our substitute teacher, but a new student and friend :)  She and her family moved up to Frazier Park and I've loved her and the rest of the bunch (her family) ever since.
     Lindsay and I spent much of our precious sleep time growing up talking on the phone into the wee hours of the night. We could analyze and philosophize for hours on end! We would dissect our teenage experiences and discuss the meaning of life from 10pm until 3am on a regular basis.  (Yes, our parents were mad that we were not sleeping and tried to put a stop to this many a time.)  Today, Lindsay and I can still talk for an insane amount of time about the intricacies and beauty of life, love, and the gospel. 
     I love that girl with all my heart and I am so glad that she found the love of her life and married him in God's temple.  Lindsay is such a beautiful person and a wonderful example to all those around her.  Her husband, Andrew, has a passion and love for life (and Lindsay) that is truly awesome.  So, cheers to Mr. and Mrs. Shields-- hip hip hooray!!!                                                                         

                                                                                                                        Last minute errands!                                                                                              Hair done in finger waves.  Very "Linz."          

They were so, so cute the whole day.  It was a wonderful wedding with just family and closest friends at the temple and then to Lindsay's favorite restaurant/ cafe for dinner.  Very intimate and meaningful-- we all loved it.

I'll update with more pictures soon!  I am the worst at taking them!  My attention is always so stretched everywhere!

I should be studying for an exam...

But instead I'm thinking about happy Fall memories of times long past.  This funny memory keeps popping up in my head.  When Johnny and I lived in Rain Tree Apartments he was friends with me and all of my roommies (Clarisa, Heather, Melanie, and Claire) .  He would always come and visit and entertain us.  One October evening he called to ask who was home because he had a delicious treat that he wanted to drop by.  This was not really out of the ordinary because he worked at Tropical Snow for a while and would bring us snow cones in all the different flavors to try.  I believe most of us were home that evening and we were totally excited for Johnny's treat.  He came over with an oven pan full of perfectly pefect caramel apples!  They were beautiful and layered thickly with golden caramel.  We were all very pleased with the lovely gesture.  Johnny encouraged us girls to hurry and try one and tell him what we thought.  So, we all grabbed one and were ready to dig in.  As I brought the gorgeous caramel apple to my lips I had a strange feeling.  It was do to an interesting and familiar non-apple-like aroma coming from my caramel apple.  I was very reluctant to say anything as to not offend our thoughtful friend.  However, the bewildering scent was just too strong and so I asked, "did you cook these caramel apples by some meat balls or something?" (The smell reminded me of when I used to work at this Italian deli and I would make thousands of meat balls as prep work.)  Johnny B just laughed and said, "I made them at my sisters and she was cooking dinner, so maybe."  I looked back down at my apple ready to take a bite despite the funny smell. Just before I bit in I heard my roommate scream in horror.  Claire and Clarisa  had eagerly taken huge bites out of their "caramel apples" and  had both gotten a mouth full of raw onion.
I love my husband.  Probably one of the best pranks ever pulled.  Just glad that I have a very keen sense of smell.  

Happy Halloween!

"The Brothers" (that's what Johnny and his little brother Shane (who has Downs) call themselves, they are quite the duo) were once again blissfully reunited the weekend of the 10th.  Babe (Kathy), Daddio (Monte), Mare and Shane came up and we all attended the Sacramento Temple to witness the sealing (marriage for all time and eternity-- more about LDS Temples and sealings: here) of Zach Martin, Johnny's cousin, to his beautiful bride, Lauren.  We got a little restless waiting for all the pictures to be done with, but we found ways to keep ourselves occupied!

      We went and visited the wild Turkeys! I introduced Shane to my iphone and they beacame friends quickly. There he is watching the Dean Martin Variety Show on YouTube. He was quite amazed with this mini TV that played all of his very favorite shows.

Since we were already in Santa Cruz we went to the beach for about an hour.  We saw this cool Seagull guy and of course all of these happy go lucky Sea Lions.  They just float and play their days away!  Santa Cruz is so fun beacause there is always lots to keep you entertained.  We all tried hot links (a spicy hot dog) from a stand owned buy a guy that was a "5th generation californian." Johnny and I are planning a date to go fishing off the pier and then rent beach cruisers and roam around for a while.  I really like the bay area.  Housing is expensive, but it sure is a neat place to live.  Someday I'll have to tell you how AMAZING Monteray is!  Lovin' livin' in the bay area :)

Easter, Sister and Wedding

We've had an exciting last few weeks :)

                                My sister, Leah came to visit us over her spring break!

We had fun shopping and hanging out.  This is a picture of us at a little cafe at Santana Row where we got a frothy hot cocoa and a hazelnut chocolate cake.  Note:  Can you see the insernumerable amount of acne scars or "hyper pigmentation" as they call it  all over my face?  Ya, that's from a little miracle skin care regimen called the "Oil Cleansing Method."  I'd NEVER had more than 2 zits at a time in my life until my try and find new and NATURAL skin care regimen experiment went all wrong.  Look it up,  it's very convincing!  It did work miracles with my skin for about 3 weeks, and then it all went to pot.  As a result, I'm left with these terrible scars. The dermatologist told me to quit wearing make-up and only wash my face with water.  I no longer have acne, just the scars.  Does anyone know how to get rid of acne scars?  Booooo :(

We went to the MYSTERY SPOT in Santa Cruz. Pretty cool. It's a mysterious phenomenon that occurs in this particular area in Santa Cruz. Apparently, numerous studies have been conducted and nobody can figure out what's up with the funky gravity in this area. I imagined a 45 degree lean before we went, but it turned out to be a slightly disappointing, but still cool 17 degree angle lean. Definitely worth five bucks. Plus, the mystery spot is located in a beautiful forest- like setting. We even went on a little hike before our tour. Gorgeous surroundings and fun fun to hike non-hard hikes (I’m lazy when it comes to excercise, but I really enjoy being out and about in nature, so non-hard about hikes are ideal)!

Johnny finds the look of suspicion on my face in not one, but all of the photos taken of me during our Mystery Spot tour hilarious.  What can I say?  I felt very suspicious of the "unexplainable" phenomenon of leaning abnormally far out without falling. I also thought that maybe it was a big hoax for a while, but was later convinced that it was indeed, real--and in fact, a mystery.

Late Valentine's Day Post

Since Valentine's Day was on Sunday, we celebrated more so the day b4.  We went to the San Jose Tech Museum (everyone out here talks about it as a must see).  The museum was a tad bit lame, but we had fun together : )  We ate out at Macaroni Grill for dinner and shared a delicious dessert.  I'm glad that Johnny and I were friends for so long before we started dating and got married.  He really is my best friend.   Together we have such a good time no matter what we are doing.     

Where is Paula Abdul anyway?

This article from CNN pretty much sums up my feelings toward American Idol this season:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/03/04/american.idol.season.nine/index.html?hpt=C2

Paula was the light of the show!  No, two women can not replace what Paula brought to American Idol.  Her comments were hugely more accurate and insightful than Kara's and Ellen's put together.  She just started sounding a little drunk there at the end when she said them lol.  P.S.  I love Ellen, just not on AI.  Kara, on the other hand, drives me insane!!!!!!  What a weirdo.  I'm sure she's a good person, but I hate her on AI.  I feel like she ruined the show.   Does anyone else fee like she is a phoney/trying to be cool and insightful, but not pulling it off at all/non-personalitly or doesn't know how to be and so she just acts weird/her presence on the show just seems totally and utterly unecessary?!    PLEASE give me back the good old American Idol days with the Randy, Paula and Simon trio!

Artsy Fartsy

We went to the Mission City Opera last night and saw: 

I love going to see operas, plays, musicals you name it.  I absolutley  love "the arts."  One of my favorite things about attending school at BYU was all of the awesome productions you could see for such little cost.  I saw "Oaklahoma" the musical for like 5 or 10 bucks and it was spectacular (remember Larkie)!  I also loved  watching the ballroom dance team productions.  Oh my goodness; what a show!  My husband prefers the cinema arts; also known as going to the movies over all of the other arts, but will attend other shows with me when encouraged.   My friend Lacie and I are quite a team at convincing our husbands to go to various shows with us.  We all went to see the mucical "Wicked" and to some Christams concert together and we had a good time.  However, we could not convince them to go to an upcoming ballet with us.  So, we're leaving them behind to play non-violent video games together and we're off to the ballet!    

It's not just a game

Johnny and his team won their Softball tournament :) I love how happy he looks. Trust me he does not look very happy when he or one of his teams (The Lakers etc.) loses. I always think it's kinda funny how mad men get when their sports team is doing poorly or they lose.  But hey let's face it; who doesn't like to win? Welp, here are three hurrahs for the champion: Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah for Johnny!

Mom came to visit!

My mom came to visit last week!  It was nice to see her and do some fun things together. She stayed three days and this is what we did...

My mom and I shopped till we dropped (although we only actually bought about 3 things) on President's Day and got some great deals on jeans from Gap. Always a pleasure. I took her to some of my favorite places to eat, "White Shallot" and "The Counter" during her stay. We also saw the movie Valentine's Day--it was kinda sorta cute.

We went to Alcatraz and thought the whole experience was fascinating.  We took this 1 hr. long audio cell house tour and got to explore the prison cells and prison grounds.  We listened to quotes with the actual voices of the correctional officers and inmates about what it was like being in Alcatraz. 

"If you disobey the rules of society, they send you to prison; if you disobey the rules of the prison, they send you to Alcatraz."

Alcatraz and history go hand in hand. Once home to some of America's most notorious criminals, the federal penitentiary that operated here from 1934 to 1963 brought a dark mystique to the Rock. The presence of infamous inmates like Al "Scarface" Capone, and the "Birdman" Robert Stroud helped to establish the island's notoriety. To this day, Alcatraz is best known as one of the world's most legendary prisons.

After the tour we walked around Pier 39 and each got a bread bowl clam chowder soup.  Delicious.  San Francisco is so much fun with soooo so so much to do!  I wish we could have spent more time there, but there just aren't enough hours in a day.  I'm just glad we didn't get lost and found a place to park (reasonably priced).  Those have been my biggest worries since moving out here lol :)  It helps to have a GPS.  The parking is just sheer luck a lot of the time.

Johnny and I tried to get my mom hooked on watching the T.V. show Frasier, but she thought it was a bore and fell asleep like clock work every time we put it on haha.  It's an aquired taste I guess-- I used to think it terribly boring as well, but pressed forward watching because of Johnny's loyalty to it and then something clicked and now I truly adore that show-- it's so funny. 

I forgot about my camera the whole time!  My mom forgot hers too of course :)  I wanted to bring it to Alcatraz especially.  However,I am my mother's daughter and I'm much more of the live and experience with out worrying about holding things and capturing the moment with a camera type girl.  I seem to forget my camera half of the time when we do something fun, or I'll have it, but not take any pictures because I am too caught up in the fun to actually pull it out and take a stinkin' picture! If I ever have a buch of pictures of some event or party it's because someone else took them.  What a shame :( I need to work on that because I'm a firm believer in the saying, "a picture tells a thousand words."  Blast.  Anyway, I love my momma and we had a good time. 

Happy Birthday Johnny!

Yesterday was my sweet husband’s birthday. To celebrate his 28th birthday he and I went out to eat at Wing Stop for dinner, one of his very favorite places to eat. The first time I was introduced to Wing Stop I thought it was gross, but I'm growing to love those uber zesty/flavorful chicken wings.

We also had a birthday gathering last night with some friends. Johnny loves his birthday and his friends so it was fun to see him have such a great time. About 20 of our friends squeezed into our tiny apartment and enjoyed root beer floats, socializing and the famous McKeon family game "Who Sir Me Sir." We also played a few rounds of catch phrase--guys vs. girls. Girls won 2 out of 3 (Muwahahaa :)

We are so blessed to have lots of FUN friends here in San Jose. We do all sorts of things with them and we're as happy as clams. A few weeks ago for example, we went to this AWESOMEST trampoline jumping place with our friends Lucas and Lacie! It's a place with trampolines EVERYWHERE. You can jump off the trampoline walls and jump into a giant foam pit! There are also super intense dodge ball competitions that you play while jumping. It's very fun and competitive. Johnny and I were in heaven. I never knew I liked dodge ball so much. You play with a whole bunch of people you don't even know, and a guy that works there just divides us up on different sides and then blows a whistle. Johnny was always the last one left dominating everybody. I'm continually amazed at his athleticism. He is a SUCH a good athlete and people are sometimes surprised including me by the absolute force, precision and power that comes from this skinny man's body. He is truly amazing and I love him. I love him not only because he is an awesome athlete, but for other reasons too. Here are 10 (sorry, not 28) reasons, in no particular order, (in honor of his birthday--sorry, I went on a tangent about the trampoline place) we're glad Johnny was born:
1. His corky sense of humor

2. The great love and loyalty he has for his family and friends

3. His baby chick fluffy blonde hair :)

4. He is the best prayer giver ever

5. He's an incredible missionary and because of his example and efforts everyday several people want to find out more about The Church of Jesus Christ of LDS.

6. In the words of Hank off of Father of the Bride, "He is a genius of the mind." He is very, very, very smart and loves to learn. He also has a gift for explaining complex subjects with simplicity so others can easily understand. I love it.

7. He is a hard worker and loves a challenge. These qualities in particular have blessed our lives in many aspects.

8. His totally unique laugh.

9. He gives great advice. I've seen many people come to him for council and advice.

10. And finally, the love he has for Pink Bubble Gum Ice Cream. What a guy. Who the heck asks for pink bubble gum ice cream in place of a birthday cake? The one and only- John Timothy McKeon.

My name is Bob

This is my new hair cut.  I like it a lot, except that I can't wear it back in a ponytail when I'm too lazy (which is quite frequently) to style it.  I was just getting so dang bored of my long hair so this is a nice change.  Johnny says he misses my long hair, but thinks my new style is pretty cute.  He says that I look like a mom haha!  That's okay, I was going for a more mature look :)  I keep telling him to just wait--soon it's going to be a pixie cut like Hali Berry's.  He has forbidden me and I just laugh at him.  Seriously though, that's next on my list in the hair department-- boy hair short.  So excited ;)  What do you think? 

CTR: Choose The Right

Today at church we taught the CTR 6's.  We were asked to subsitute for another couple in our ward that was going to be out of town.  I told Johnny that this sister in our ward had asked me if we could cover for them and I said that we'd love to.  Johnny was so worried at first and kept telling me that he had never taught little kids before.  I still find his anxiety quite humerous because he and I have a million nieces and nephews that worship the ground he walks on!  Kids absolutley LOVE Johnny.  He is great with them and they just think he is the most fun and exciting guy on the planet. 

We went to "Sharing Time"  first-- it was awesome.  I really admire all of our primary teachers and leaders--  they do such a great job catching the kid's interest and getting them excited to participate.  One of the leaders is a sister that I visit teach and it was fun seeing her in action : )  We learned a song about Jesus visiting the Americas and blessing all the little children.  Then we played a puzzle game with questions about the message of the song.
 
Next, we went to our classrooms and Johnny and I taught the lesson: "I am a child of God." We had three boys and three girls in attendance.  We had a ball!  It made me wish that we'd be called to team teach in primary together. We sang, we played a game of tossing "Cosmo" the stuffed Cougar around and answering questions about the lesson, we drew pictures of things that helped us to know that our Heavenly Father and Savior love us and then shared them with the class.   All shared a story about a time that they had lost something and prayed for help to find it and then miracously found it!  We concluded with a quick round of head, shoulders, knees and toes and a closing prayer. They totally forgot about the bathroom/water break they always take half way through class. Success!! P.S. Johnny was an excellent teacher and the kids thought he was the coolest guy they'd ever met.


From the whole experience, we were all entertained, uplifted and edified.  Teaching and interacting with these little ones warmed my heart so much because I got the same feeling that I'd get when teaching investigators of the LDS church on my mission.  That wonderful feeling is the pure love of God and of Christ .  You can feel how pleased our Heavenly Father and Savior are with these young learners.  They are coming to know the very basic and beautiful truths of our Heavenly Father's plan for us and the happiness that comes from following the gospel of Jesus Christ. When asked a gospel question, their replies are simple and pure.  It is a blessing to be able to witness their sweet and humble prayers and  feel of their growing testimonies.

Oh, and on the subject of teaching--who LOVEs the new Gospel Principles manual?! I DO! So simple and clear, yet engaging and profound.  This dandy little book makes teaching and learning in Reliefe Society a joy.  Love it.

Christmas 2009

                                                 

Our apt. in San Jose and our first little tree :)

 Christmas was wonderful.  Johnny and I had about 1 1/2 weeks off of work for the holidays and we spent that time with our families.  We drove down the day before Christmas Eve and stayed until the 3rd of Jan.  It was so nice-- we loved loved loved it :)  I also flew to UT and went to my good friend Jody's wedding!  This is what happened in a nutshell:

 Our nephews and nieces were adorable as always and so fun : D

Johnny and I hope that our babies are just like Chubs.  Fat and Jolly.  He is the cutest, most easy going and happy baby we've ever seen.  And he's a cuddler :) Oh so cute!  Here he is modeling his new jogging suit.           

             
                 Santa Came to town!  Christmas Eve:

Shane and Santa are BFFs.  He wouldn't stop talking about Santa and what he was doing at the North Pole these days--it's so hilarious and cute.


                             We got new jammies

We opened presents

It was Golden

We had a delicious Christmas ham and turkey dinner, and then my brother took us all to see the Sherlock Holmes the movie.  We had a a great time!

AND, a couple days after Christmas we visited with SEAN, ERIN and RILEY Williams!!! We haven't seen them in a while and had never met Riley so that was happy.  Riley is a beautiful and chubby baby. I'm sad that I didn't take a picture :(

I made a very quick trip to UT to be with this cute couple on their wedding day.  Congrats to the new Mr. and  Mrs. Sitati!!  They are adorable.

While in UT, I got to see Larkie! This is the day before she had her baby boy! 

It was so fun to see her and her family for a night :)

I got back from UT and we did more of the same.  We ate good food, played lots of games, drank hot cocoa, lounged around and talked with fam and saw 2 more movies... good times. 

It was a great break and we miss you all!!!

Cheers to 2010!  Woohoo!