Time with my Girls and God

    I am so excited to have 3 of my favorite girls over tonight to talk about life and God! My Sarah decided we could all benefit from a Bible study, reunion group and I am with her on that. Isn't it the most amazing feeling to have a group of people who have your back and will drop everything to pray for you?! oh heck yeah it is!


    I love my husband and I tell him everything and I love having those intimate God talks with him.. where is our life going?.. will God lead us to adopt?... Where is God leading our marriage and life?.. I love those moments! Mike and I have a great relationship and I have to hand that to God in our lives.. we are on the same page and love letting God show us where to go!


    With that being said I cant wait to be able to sit down once a week with 3 people I love so much and talk about God. We are going to try to do a study on marriage considering we are all pretty much still newly weds! It is easy to say to someone "I am praying for you" but do we always follow up? If I say that I try to stop right there and pray for them, because if I say that I truly want God to bless them! By sitting with these girls in fellowship I know they will have my back.. they always have in the past, but now we can share our prayers and concerns for life with each other.  I am overjoyed to see where my spiritual journey is going to take me!!

Have a Blessed evening!!!
   

Fantasy Football

    So we are in the 5th round of our College Fantasy Football draft. I am currently hating this whole experience, again this year!! Last year I hated this draft thing, so why did I think it would be funner this year! I didn't even set up my line up once last year, it made me way too nervous and took too long. I thought this year would be different, I didn't necessarily prepare, but I felt like i could properly pick people just from sitting through so many college football games last year. But no, that isn't how this works. I am confused.. I have no idea who has been taken, who I want, or who will make my team better. And to top it off Mike has so much to keep up with he is being terribly unhelpful. He just keeps telling me to pick who I like.. I should have had a better strategy going in.

    So I just needed to vent about my horrible experience. I kept telling Mike I would rather do a NFL Fantasty Football League cause I knew who would be playing. When it comes to this college stuff you have to guess on who is going to be good this year. Mike wouldnt let me do a NFL team though... I dont know why, he never gave me a reason. So here I am on the back porch, burning up, and im grumpy! OH and im  listening to Dustin  ramble on.. YAY
  
     

Beer Can Chicken

   Beer Can Chicken is one of our favorite things to make. Works great for a lot of people and a fun alternative to burgers for a cookout. It is pretty easy. The spice mix that we put on it is fantastic, but I cant take credit for that, the recipe is from the Neelys. It works really great in many different applications, we have used it on chicken breasts and fish. Well here goes...

I usually like to start by making my dry rub for the chicken, so we will start there. This is what you will need, just combine ingredients in a small bowl (you can store extra mixture in an airtight container for up to 6 months, you will not use all of the mixture when making only 1 chicken)...

• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika                  
• 2 tablespoons onion powder  
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin   
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme       
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano   
• 2 teaspoons black pepper    
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder   

Ok now that the rub is ready cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil, this will help keep the mess down. Also clean the chicken off and get all of the extra stuff out of the cavity..

*I cant do this part cause it grosses me out, so Mike has to help.. He thought it would be funny to scare Raegan with it, so I included that pic too, even though it has nothing to do with the actual recipe... which makes me think, this recipe is so easy, there is really no need for all of these pictures, but heck they make this blogging experience much more fun!*

Now rub the chicken with vegetable oil, making sure they are covered inside and out. Then sprinkle the dry rub on and rub it in, again don't forget to put the rub inside!

Next take a 12 oz beer in a can and pour 1/4 of the beer out *you can pour it down the drain or in a cup to drink, this is up to you!* Insert the can in the cavity of the chicken so that the chicken will sit on its own. Make sure it is fairly stable..

Finally put the chicken on a medium-high preheated grill. Cook for and hour to an hour and a half. Grill temperature may need to be turned down slightly to avoid burning..

Make sure when you take the chicken off the grill and inside to not lay the chicken down until you get the beer can out, all the beer left in the can will spill all over your counter and make a huge mess.. Ive done it haha!!

There you have it... the best chicken recipe ever, it will be juicy and a little spicy!! I hope you Enjoy and have fun cooking out or tailgating with this recipe!!!

Christmas time in the Johnson House

    This weekend my mom brought Raegan home some cute costumes and a darling Christmas dress from my cousins house.

I really thought she would go for the Ballet costume or princess costume, but not Raegan she chose the Christmas dress and wore it for 2 days!

 

It really made me laugh.. she loved it, she even made all the dogs toys Christmas toys.. haha!

Posing for me!

So there you have it, Christmas is starting early around here!!

Just a few beautiful Photos I found

       Just wanted to share some photos I found on the Internet. I danced for  20 some years and I really miss it. I wish I could still move like I did when I danced, I also wish I was as flexible as I was. I still have the urge to put on my ballet shoes and do some bar work, but I don't have a bar or the time it seems like. I only did point for a few years, but didn't really appreciate the beauty until just recently. My sister did point in college, she was a beautiful dancer and much better than me at point. She grew so much in her dance as she got older and the flexibility that stood her apart as "weird" in middle and high school became the very thing that made her dance so gorgeous.

      Last year we taught a small class of 6th graders at the Coalition for Kids. It was a lot of fun to see their excitement about dance. I cant wait for it to start up again.

    I guess dance will always be a part of my life.

  This reminds me of Julia.. I wish I had some dance pics of us from back in the day!

Just thought this was pretty

Is this where Ballet is going?

Ballet shoes, piano, and red roses go together so well!

This is one crazy pose!

I loved this one.. so pretty!

Beautiful Sushi

This weekend we ventured to South Holston Lake for a "couples retreat" with the Babbs. We had so much fun relaxing in the water, fishing off the dock, the boys playing xbox, and playing board games. I cant imagine a more perfect way to spend time with people you love! We collectively caught 8-10 fish and a turtle. I havent fished in so long and it was amazing to just sit, talk and drown worms.

So Saturday night we went into Bristol and ate at Osaka. The sushi was fantastic and beautiful. I have craved sushi ever since. Sarah and I took pics of our fantastic food so I wanted to share the art of this food. I have never much thought of food as art. I just thought well thats pretty, but Im gonna eat it now.. but this food I almost didnt want to consume. I totally appriciate the effort and time spent making this food special!

Waiting

    In the last year and  a half Mike and I have been trying to conceive. For the last year we have seeked fertility help with no luck. Having a child of my own has always been a dream, but since I have been married to Mike and a part of Raegan's life that dream has escalated tremendously. At some points I have felt like the wish to have a baby has consumed our conversation, my thoughts, and our actions... even Raegan talks about us having babies soon. None of this is healthy and the emotional roller coaster was really starting to bother me, so a month ago we decided to take some time off.. not necessarily quit trying, but quit fertility treatments. I said that it was my decision, I need time and space from the situation. I have prayed for a baby for so long, putting it in God's hands, I would say... but not completely seeking God for the guidance, just telling him I was. Now that we have "given up" I have felt a little down about the whole mess and a disconnect from God, like he chose this pain for me. My head says it is his will, but my heart cant get on board. Until driving home today I heard a new song about God's choice to say no to a prayer. I feel like it has possibly changed my outlook on all of this and somehow showed me what I already knew about my Lord. The song is Waiting Room by Jonny Diaz. I wish everyday God could speak to me this loud.. It was like He knew I need to hear his message and I just wasn't listening.

Waiting Room -Jonny Diaz

Here in this waiting room yearning for You to say go

And though I’m convinced that a yes would be best

This time You’re telling me no

It’s not that I don’t have an answer

It’s just not the one that I’d like

But through this time Lord I must keep in mind

You’re always wiser than I

You have a much better purpose

And You have a far greater plan

And You have a bigger perspective

Cause You hold this world in your hands

The things that I seek are from You

Like the strong healing touch of your hand

But when You say no help me trust even though

There’s a reason I can’t understand

When that miracle comes cause Your answer is yes

I will praise you for all of my days

But when Your wisdom declares that a no is best

I will praise You just the same

Smokey the Bear

   So Raegan and I were driving home from school on Monday, all day at school she learned about fire safety. It was apparently Smokey the Bears birthday, so he came to help with the days lessons. Well she was very excited about everything she had learned and was talking my head off about fires and Smokey and how his birthday was right after mine.. although looking back I wonder if that is true or if they just told the kids it was his birthday to make all the learning more interesting, doesn't matter I guess it kept her attention. So she is rambling on and she says " And Laura, I am pretty sure it was the real Smokey, because I didn't see any zippers or anything" which I replied to with "Oh yeah?"trying not to laugh, "yeah, and he was nice, so I guess not all bears are mean and attack you". I agreed and let it go with that, but it absolutely cracked me up. Sometimes, because she is so smart, I forget she is only 6 and this conversation reminded me of just how little and precious she is. I realized she had sat in class and thought to herself," is that bear real? I don't see any fasteners, so that cant be a costume. Must be a really nice bear." She made me laugh that day and I just had to share!

My First Blog

    So, this is my very first blog! I am not quite specialized in anything, other than maybe hair, but I have ideas about a lot of things and a very funny family that provides plenty of blogable material!

    My husband, Mike, is hilarious.. I swear he could be a stand up comedian. He finds humor in the most unlikely of life situations, which makes my life much happier. We spend a lot of time together, unlike some couples we enjoy each others company. So the majority of television shows we follow, we watch together.. other than Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, SYTYCD, and anything Bachelor (yes we watch a ton of TV). We just finished Last Comic Standing and I was less than delighted. Our favorite guy made it to the final 2 and of course the guy we liked the least all season won. He was funny, just not my taste.. anyway couldnt stand him and Im not happy about it. Silver lining.. The 2nd place guy will probably get major jobs because of the show!
  Mike rocks my face off and we have so much fun together. He is honestly my best friend and my love. We are going away this weekend. A friend of the family has a house boat on South Holston and they are letting us use it for the weekend. It is going to be a relaxing, fun weekend with great friends. Cant wait to blog about it Monday!

       I also have a really awesome step daughter, Raegan. She is just like her daddy when she is with us. She is funny and so smart. She is learning quick just what pushes my buttons and how to get what she wants. It is amazing to see how big she has gotten. She is in 1st grade in Kingsport and she loves it.. loves her teacher, loves gym, loves to read.. I wasnt anything like her, I just wanted friends and to play, but she craves learning.(wow that sounded just like something a certain someone would say haha) She just started horseback riding lessons this summer.. OMG she is so in love with horses and she does so good riding them. Most of the time, when she is off playing, you can look up and she is being the best horse I have ever seen. She puts her little hands up in front of her like hooves I guess and she gallops around, making horse noises, man it is really great!


   Well those are 2 of my favorite people.. They make my life interesting and fun. God really blessed me and  I love them so much!