canceled

My trip to Israel was canceled. I have mixed emotions about this. Part of me is relieved to have all the money back. The other part of me is just plain sad that I am not going on this amazing trip. Anyone want to go anywhere? I need an adventure. International? US? I am up for anything. Well, almost anything. I really want to go back to Europe. Any takers?

I may be dying

For the second time this week I had a weird medical experience.  I don't really know how to describe what happened in a way that you will fully appreciate what occurred.  Both Monday and again today I have suddenly developed a wide-spread rash.  We're talking, all over my legs and arms and back.  Red, itchy, raised rash.  Today I looked down and my legs were bright red/purple.  Along with the rash comes an intense itch.  Horribly itchy.  It is so bad that I cannot stop itching, literally.  On Monday all I could do was take a benadryl, take an oatmeal bath and then sleep it off.  Today I didn't have that option.  All I could do today was keep on keepin' on.  As in, I was at my Condo painting with my dad.  I told him that I wasn't sure what was happening, but that I might be having an allergic reaction to something.  He told me to stop talking and keep painting.  I said that I might stop breathing if it was an anaphylactic reaction.  He said to stop talking and keep painting.  I told him that I couldn't handle the itch.  He told me to stop talking and keep painting.  He is good like that.  He later said that if I had collapsed he would have just pushed me out of the way and kept painting.  The compassion is amazing.  We Johnsons are known for our compassion and caring.  I can't think of anything that was the same about the two experiences that would have been a trigger.  However, being the medically-minded person that I am, my mind immediately focused on all the horrible things that could be happening.  So, hopefully I am okay after the next spell (if there is a next time).  Otherwise, I will let you know how the hospital stay was.

South Bend and Chicago

I got back last week from my trip to visit my brother, sister (in-law) and nephew.  It was so much fun.  I took about 6.8 million pictures.  So, I will share with you some of my favorites. And, I uploaded them in no particular order, so enjoy the randomness.  I threw in a couple of funny ones to show that it really is straight-up luck that I get any good ones.

Most of these are of my adorable nephew.  There are more posted on The Book of Armaments (sorry if you can't see them because you are not an invited member.  I am elitist like that.

This one, as with all of them, is much better in full size.

He thinks he is funny.  So do I.

The basilica at Notre Dame.  It is gorgeous, and has a giant gold-leafed Mary on top.  Very cool.

I was supposed to get some good "family photos".  I like this one.

One of my faves.  He almost has the "who is this lady who won't stop taking my picture" look.

I don't know why, but this one speaks to me.

Although naturally very cute, this picture proves that I am not always able to capture that cuteness.  It is still good, just with funny eyes.

Check out those eyes.  I wish my eyes were bright like that.

More proof that I am not that good.  Or, maybe I am really good since I caught a face like this.  I fully expect to use this as blackmail at a later date.

Loving the slides.

This was about 30 minutes after they picked me up at the airport.  He still isn't sure what to think of me and my camera.

Good sun exposure.

Chicago was so great.  The weather was surprisingly mild.  And, as much as I love the boy, it was really nice to just have us girls and no stroller.

Since no one is allowed to touch my camera, especially random strangers, we have separate pictures at Wicked.

I let my sister-in-law touch my camera for this one.  She can count herself very lucky.  That is her coat, too.  I chose not to bring mine.  I almost chose to take this one home with me.

So, there it is.

And, by way of really simple review: Wicked in Chicago is excellent, but a slight step down from Wicked in NYC.

my estimated age is quickly decreasing

On the flight home from Chicago I had a great seat, aisle with an empty chair beside me.  The conversation that followed went something like this:

Flight Attendant: "Are you travelling alone?"

Me: "yes"

F.A.: "Would you like to sit in the exit row"

Me: "sure" (you usually get more leg room in the exit row)

F.A.:"Wait, how old are you?"

Me:"25"

F.A.:"Okay, great.  Follow me."

At which point I followed the flight attendant to the exit row.  And this other guy joined us on the exit row, and he took the aisle, so I had the middle seat.  And the seat was excrutiatingly uncomfortable.  So much so that I had to lean forward during the whole 4 hour flight.

While sitting in the exit row, I grabbed the little booklet to see how old you had to be to sit in the exit row.  15.  Not 18, or 21 or anything even remotely close to my age.  The flight attendant lady seriously thought I was quite possibly younger than 15.  Yikes. I was dressed well, minding my own business.  I was not acting like a teenager or a pre-teen.  Yet, even at my best, I look younger than 15.  Awesome.

25ish

The missionaries came over today.  They wanted to ask the bishop (dad) about people in the ward to visit.  So, I sat in for the discussion.  At the end we had a little do-you-know... fun.  As in, oh, you lived in Riverside, so did we, do you know ___?  It went well, as it always does.  Then one of the missionaries asked me how old I am.  I said 25 (my birthday was last Monday, p.s.).  He was very surprised, and with the tact of a 19 year old boy, said "really, I thought you were in the last year or two of high school, like 16-18".  Hmm.  No.  Off by almost a decade.  Thanks though.  I am not sure if he was trying to test out his chances with me after the mission, or what.  I think I managed a "yeah, people usually think I am younger than I actually am".  So, if anyone knows any nice 19-year-olds, send them my way.  Apparently that is the age group I am attracting.

speed racer

I went here and did the typing test.  My results:

You type 385 characters per minute

You have 69 correct words

You have 2 wrong words

I type 69 words per minute

I know that really isn't that great, but it is better than I expected.  What can I say, I just don't type that quickly, especially under pressure.  Typing from my head is much quicker than copying words on the computer screen.

What about you?

Giving in

A: Attached or single: Single, so very very single 

B: Best Friend: I have lots of "BFF"s.  But not really one Best Friend.

C: Cake or Pie: I am not really into dessert.  I do like rainbow chip cake with rainbow chip frosting, though.

D: Day of Choice: I like most days.  I guess mid May is pretty nice.

E: Essential Item: Underwear

F: Favorite Color: It used to be pink, but I have gotten past that.  I like green.  And a lot of other colors.

G: Gummi Bears or Worms: Sour Gummy Worms.  Those are the best.

H: Hometown: Murray, UT.  I used to claim Riverside, CA, but stopped claiming it when I was about 15.  I lived in Provo, UT, but have never claimed that as my home or hometown.

I: Indulgence(s): Hmm, traveling.  It is an expensive indulgence, but an indulgence nonetheless.

J: January or July: May or September.

K: Kids: None to speak of, but I feel like I have hundreds of kids because of work.

L: Life is incomplete without: friends

M: Marriage Date: May 23, 2010

N: Number of Siblings: 4 brothers, 2 sisters-in-law

O: Oranges or Apples: Oranges, except they are so darn messy and sticky.  You can eat an apple without getting covered with sticky juice, but it is very difficult to do so with an orange.

P: Phobias or Fears: I hate hate hate hate spiders.  And I am afraid of dogs.  Especially big dogs.  Weirdly, I am very okay with jumping out of airplanes, but little 8-legged creatures make me flee the room.

Q: Quote(s): I can't think of a good quote right now, so I will use the quote of the day on my iGoogle page: I know a lot about cars.  I can look at a car's headlights and tell you exactly which way it's coming. Mitch Hedberg.

R: Reason To Smile: Breathing.

S: Season: Spring.  And I really like oregano, in case this question was about that.

T: Tag Six: Nope.  Won't do it.  I have a general rule that I don't do things like this, and now I am, but I will not be compelled to "tag" anyone else.  If you want to do it, feel free.

U: Unknown Fact about Me: My life is generally an open book.

V: Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: I wish I was a vegetarian, it would be a lot more healthy.  Instead, I eat lots of meat.  Last night I had a dream that I needed to get out of bed to let the cat out (I don't have a cat), and instead of getting out of bed to let the cat out I just kept hitting snooze on my alarm. So, I guess I am an oppressor of animals.

W: Worst Habit: Computer time.

X: X-Rays or Ultrasounds: X-rays never hurt, whereas ultrasounds can be rather uncomfortable.  I guess for that reason I am going to have to go with X-rays.

Y: Your Favorite Food: This is apparently a problem I have.  I don't know what my favorite food is.  I couldn't even think of something I really wanted for my birthday dinner.  I am cool like that.

Z: Zodiac: Pisces.  My horoscope (from astrology.com): "Teamwork is the word of the day and wherever you find yourself, there should be give and take between you and the people you work with.  You are an incredibly valuable member, even if your efforts are low-key"  I think that just said I am a slacker.  Hmm.

explorations in photography

I took a bunch of random pictures with my camera today.  I am no expert, I just played around with it.  Here are some of the best pics I got.  They are really rather stunning full size.  My camera is great, I am hoping to figure out how to use it well soon.

This first one is of dead sunflowers from last summer that are on the side of the house.  I really enjoy taking close ups.

I was playing with the contrast of focusing the foreground and blurring the background.  It makes for an interesting shot.

This picture looks a lot better full size.  My mom claims that the fruit on this tree used to be apples.  They look like berries to me.  Little wrinkly berries.

I just plain got lucky with this one.  I just love that the background is so muted and the branch is so vivid.  I honestly got lucky with every one of my photos today.  When it comes down to it, I have no idea what I am doing, but I am having fun pretending.

crazy me

I unfortunately really have no idea how to use my new computer or camera.  However, with the help of my brother, James, I have learned to do a few very important things.  For instance, I now have all my music on my computer, I can upload my movies (if I want) onto my computer to be viewed in FrontRow, and I can take pictures with my icamera.  That is the most important thing.  I can actually spend quite a bit of time taking crazy pictures of myself with the camera.  Here are a few of the recent pics.

My bank account is crying

My bank called me a few hours ago. They wanted to make sure I was actually as crazy as my purchases indicate. Yes, I am.
Yesterday I bought this:

and this:

and this:

and four of these:
and this:
and this (it was free because I bought so much other stuff):
and a couple other random things. It was a busy and expensive day. And fun too.

nervous

I have not been nervous in a very long time. I don't get nervous to speak in front of people, I don't get nervous to sing in front of people (in small groups, of course), I don't get nervous on dates, I don't get nervous leading the music in sacrament meeting.
Yesterday, I decided to lead an additional verse for the sacrament hymn, since the sacrament was still being prepared. I had already talked to the organist, and we were on the same page. So, I just went for it. As we started singing the 4th verse (one of the extra verses), I realized that I was the only one singing and that everyone had already put their hymn books away. There wasn't anything to do, other than continue leading and hope that people would catch on quickly. Luckily, they did catch on. I am not sure why this made me nervous, but I was actually shaking and had the whole butterflies-in-my-stomach experience. It was horrible. I have looked like a fool on many occasions while leading the music. I have completely botched 9/8 time (as if anyone could lead 9/8 time), and just smiled the whole way through the song while waving my arm aimlessly. This did not make me uncomfortable in the slightest, I wasn't even embarrassed. I just laughed my way through the song, as did everyone in the congregation who paid the slightest attention to what I was doing. I have had people stand for the rest hymn at the same time as the verse was beginning, this didn't embarrass me in the slightest. I have even happily ruined time signature changes. So why was I so nervous when I was leading an extra verse? This makes no sense. I guess that means we are going to start singing a lot of extra verses in sacrament meeting so that people will catch on and I will not feel like a fool when we do sing extra verses. Or, it means that I should be released.

Dinner, the easy way

There are a lot of nights (pretty much every night) that I decide to have an easy dinner. You know, warm up the left-overs, eat a frozen burrito, make a sandwich, have some cereal. It is just so much quicker than making from scratch for yourself every night. However, when I go out to eat I expect my meal to be prepared for me. One could argue that a cooked meal is indeed what you are paying for. Of course, atmosphere and not doing the dishes are included in the price, but the meal is really the primary reason for going out to eat.
It is no surprise, then, that I was somewhat aghast when my dinner came looking like this:In case the picture does not do justice to my dish, I will describe what I ordered and what arrived. I ordered the "Pear Salad". Doesn't that sound good. A nice salad with fruit. I love salad, and I love pears, so it was a match made in heaven. However, what I got is not something I would ever describe as "salad," even in the most liberal sense of the word. The plate that came to me consisted of a head of iceberg lettuce (still in it's head form) with a slit cut in the top and three pear slices placed in the slit to give it a mohawk look, around which was sprinkled cranberries and almonds, with a bit of dressing drizzled throughout. Don't get me wrong, I am willing to work to eat food (i.e. I will cut my steak myself, I will even put the condiments on my hamburger), but seriously, I was there to order dinner, not ingredients to make dinner. I was at a restaurant, not a grocery store. I was tempted right then to ask if they could just box up my "salad" throw in some carrots and tomatoes and send me home so I could make a salad out of what they brought me. Instead, I laughed. I was still laughing when the waitress came back to ask how the food was. I was laughing so much that I couldn't even tell her what a joke of a dinner she brought me. And, I hate it when people complain about what the ordered and ask for something different. So, I cut up my head of lettuce with my fork and knife (how else would you eat it) and sparingly added toppings to my fork-fulls of lettuce. The amazing thing, I was as hungry when I left as when I arrived at the restaurant, because it turns out that iceberg lettuce is really just water with a lettuce shell. The sad thing is that I didn't even get good atmosphere for my money- they sat me in the aisle at the end of my table, and people kept bumping into me as they walked by because there was not enough room for me and foot traffic. The nice thing, my friend paid for my dinner for me. This was possibly because he felt bad because I started out the evening by crying. Oh well. A free meal is a free meal. Beggars can't be choosers, right.

Because I have never been to Canada

Yesterday I signed up to volunteer for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. I am super excited. We will see if I am accepted or not. I volunteered for Salt Lake 2002, and it was amazing! I wanted to do Torino 2006, but couldn't, as I was still in school. However, no reason to no do Vancouver 2010. So, if you need me, I will be away. As I plan to travel for the rest of my life. Things like volunteering for olympics merely give me an excuse (as if I need one).

I HATE Flagyl

The following is a list of reasons that I hate flagyl. I have listed the many side effects I am having from this horrible antibiotic. If you are weak of heart, this may not be the post for you. If you are sick of mind, keep reading: (taken from http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/metronidaz_ad.htm)
1. Mouth: A sharp, unpleasant metallic taste is not unusual. Furry tongue; these may be associated with a sudden overgrowth of Candida which may occur during therapy.
2. Central Nervous System: irritability, weakness, and insomnia.
3. Hypersensitivity: flushing, nasal congestion, dryness of the mouth, and fever.
4. Renal: polyuria. Instances of darkened urine have been reported by approximately one patient in 100,000. Although the pigment which is probably responsible for this phenomenon has not been positively identified, it is almost certainly a metabolite of metronidazole and seems to have no clinical significance.
Additional symptoms listed in the Rite Aid Pharmacy pamphlet:
5. Stomach pain, loss of appetite, constipation, changes in taste, sore throat

Hence, I am a mess. I am a walking warning label for Flagyl. Oh, and it tastes horrid. We are talking, I nearly throw up every time I take it (every 8 hours). And the taste lasts and lasts. It is pretty great that way.

And the pharmacy pamphlet says I should tell my doctor immediately if I have a sore throat because it could be a serious side effect. Hmm, I have had the sore throat since Monday. Oops.

However, I have lost a bit of weight, if we are looking on the bright side.

I am a blond?

I got my hair cut on Monday. I love Betsy, she cuts my hair. She is the only one who has ever been able to cut my hair without destroying everything and ruing my life. And I am not even kidding. I found her when I was 18, and have followed her from salon to salon ever since. I will probably do that for the rest of my/her life no matter where I live. You could say I am codependent.
On Monday Betsy (who usually is quite sane) told me that I am a blond. Anyone who has known me in the last 10 years of my life would probably contest this, and with good reason. I was blond when I was a kid, but am now brown. I was in denial for several years in my teens when I still thought I was blond, but I have since come to my senses and embraced my hair color. So on Monday when Betsy told me that she considers me blond I almost laughed out loud. Her reasoning was such: there are very very few true adult blonds, and so as an adult lighter browns are actually blond. Hmm, not sure if I am jumping on this train, but it does explain a lot, doesn't it.

Adventures in Voting

This morning I voted. It doesn't matter who I voted for because I live in the state of Utah.
So, I get to the poles this morning and tell them my name and get the card for the machine. I tried to choose a middle machine, but they made me go to the end so that the machines get evenly used or something. I stick my card in the machine, begining the voting process. I choose my candidate, then it prints a little reciept for me to check, I push "Cast Ballot" and the machine goes black. So, my vote is still sitting there for the world to read. And my card is stuck in the machine (the card I am supposed to give back to the nice ladies at the registration desk.
I call for some help and a lady comes over who has no idea what to do. She makes sure everything is plugged in and then decides to restart the machine. I ask her if I need to revote, and she says that she is not sure. Then she says "you didn't vote for ___, did you?" Um, yeah, that is what my ballot shows, isn't it.
I am not sure if I actually voted today or not. And I think that I got put down for my choice of candidate. And, I thought the voter worker people were supposed to be non-partisan, and that my vote was supposed to be private. So much for all of that.

Thank You

President Hinckley, I am better because of you.
You will be missed.

Can't sleep

So I have been sick for a week or so. I am a horrible patient. You would think I would be better considering I am a nurse, but no, I am a miserable complainer when it comes to being sick. Anyway, the unfortunate part is that I slept all day. So now I am awake all night. Hooray. And, I have been wanting to go to the gym all week and haven't been able to go because I have been feeling so sick. I hate that. I miss the gym (I never thought I would say that).

My illness has two fronts: neurological and intestinal. We will not discuss the intestinal side of things, as I am sure you really don't want to know. Neurologically speaking, I usually only rarely have headaches, and when I have them it is usually a migraine. Sadly, I have been having headaches much more frequently. I do not want to know if I have something seriously wrong (people keep suggesting brain tumor as the possible diagnosis, thank you). So, I have been trying to stay well hydrated, and ignore the fact that my body is currently fighting against itself. This is what I get for working with sick kids all the time. I guess you could say I signed up for this, so I shouldn't complain.

It is 4:11am, and for the first time all day I feel okay. Not great, not even good, but okay. I will take that.

I need to be better before Tuesday when I have to go back to work, because I hate being sick at work.

I have a really good attitude right now, can you tell?

I need to get out

I have renewed my desire to flee the state. I really want to get out. Move away. Try to see if I can have a dating life anywhere in the country, because UT is not working for me. If not, I will move to Europe. I am okay with that option.

The major places I am looking at (in no particular order): Chicago, D.C., Boston, NYC, possibly So. Cal or AZ.

Essentially I need somewhere with single mormons who are actually motivated to do something with their lives.

Any ideas?

My life is over

Tonight I played High School Musical DVD Board Game with my sister-in-law. It was pretty much a given that I would win.

I lost.

Twice.