james taylor said it best...

Since Wednesday nights are generally "Girls Night", and I received this forward today, I thought it was worth re-posting. The author is unknown. My own little comments are in pink. :-)

When I was little, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend,
And then I started to become a woman.
I found out that if you allow your heart to open up, God would show you the best in many friends.
One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man. (Problems with Chad? Never!)
Another friend is needed when you're going through things with your mom. (Problems with your mom? That's unheard of!)
Another will sit beside you in the bleachers (or on the couch) as you delight in your children and their activities.
Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be.
One friend will say, 'Let's cry together,'
Another, 'Let's fight together,'
Another, 'Let's walk away together.'
One friend will meet your spiritual need,
Another your shoe (or scrapbooking!) fetish,
Another your love for movies (well, more like Netflix),
Another will be with you in your season of confusion,
Another will be your clarifier,
Another the wind beneath your wings.
But whatever their assignment in your life,
On whatever the occasion,
On whatever the day,
Or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back (to paint!),
Or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself. (Wait....have you done that yet?).
Those are your best friends.
It may all be wrapped up in one woman (not for me!),
But for many, it's wrapped up in several.
One from 7th grade,
A few from high school,
Several from the college years,
Many from church (and TEC),
A couple from old (and current) jobs,
On some (every) days your mother,
On some days your neighbour,
On others, your (Phi Beta Chi) sisters,
And on some (every) days, your daughter.

So whether you've been my friend for 20 minutes or 20 years, I thank God for each of you!

say cheese...or not

So, I have been super busy with work and family the past two weeks, but I have had the urge to blog a bit this morning. First of all....Spring, where are you?? I thought that when these guys (below) were born at the Manor, we would be wearing capris and eating outside lunches in no time, but alas, it's a mystery every day as to what the weather entails.
Brooklyn has been great. She is becoming quite the little diva...the latest being her insistence on getting her fingernails painted pink. So, with the deal that she would stop biting her nails (sorry, girl, you got that bad habit from me), I painted her nails last night.
After painting, I said "Hey, guess what comes on TV tonight?"
Brooklyn: "What?"
Me: "American Idol."
Brooklyn: "Great! Ryan is going to LOVE my pink fingernails!"

LAWD!

This morning was school picture day. Now, Brooklyn gets her pictures taken at Portrait Innovations (LOVE THEM!) every 4 months or so, so we have plenty of pictures of her, but since they are right there at the school I always say "hey, why not?" And I always leave pissed off. This morning was no different. I cannot STAND that women who they send to take the pictures. She is the most UN-KID-FRIENDLY person I have ever met. Brooklyn has had 5 sets of pictures taken at her school, and I have not liked ANY of them. Brooklyn does awesome at PI because they let her run around and be herself, so obviously, they get natural smiles. This lady forces her to stand or sit in uncomfortable, unnatural poses, and REPRIMANDS her when she moves a hand or a toe. I usually stand back, seething, just so I don't scare all the other kids in line with my rage. Last fall, she actually got MAD at a BABY for crying in the hallway because she was afraid he would upset the other kids...no lady, that's YOU who upsets the kids. I got so mad on behalf of the baby (and his mother who had to leave to go to work) that I told the administration they needed to step in. Well, unfortunately they continue to use that company (maybe they are the only one that makes house calls), but I doubt I will ever buy any pictures. Not that I need any, when I can take sweet ones like this at home:

So, anyways, it was a crazy morning, but Brooklyn wasn't damaged. (She would have been more upset if she were the only kid to NOT get pictures done, so I just bite my tongue and let her do it.)

Oh, and I am late on a few shout-outs...

1. Congratulations to Chrissy and Tani on their baby girl Chloe!

2. Congratulations to Loryn and Lee on the purchase of their 1st home!

And finally...

Happy Birthday today to one of my dearest and oldest friends, Katie. I hope your day is great! Come home soon!

brendan james update

From Brendan:

Hi! Just wanted to let you know that a video of me performing "Early April Morning" was the Video of the Day on PopEater. com!Check it out here: http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnBvcGVhdGVyLmNvbS8yMDA4LzA0LzA5L2JyZW5kYW4tamFtZXMtZWFybHktYXByaWwtbW9ybmluZy12aWRlby1vZi10aGUtZGF5Lw==Please check it out and be sure to leave a comment, who knows what it could lead to!Thanks everyone, talk soon.- b.

happy birthday to me...

What a busy birthday weekend! We never stopped moving (or driving) the entire weekend, but we did have a lot of fun as we were running around. Friday night, we drove up to Boone/Blowing Rock with Joe and Misty to see Drew's band, What's On Tap, play at Canyons. It was the first time in a looooong time that I stayed up until 2am (and now I remember why this doesn't usually happen!). After a much-too-short stay in a beautiful hotel room with a king-sized bed and yummy continental breakfast, we drove back to Greensboro to get our girls and set up the house for a showing.

The band...

Jaclyn, Misty, and Joe...

After a too short nap on Saturday (thanks a lot, Brooklyn!), we got showered and ready for my birthday dinner with friends. I chose J. Butler's because I would just about give my right arm for their chips and ranch dressing (sooo much better than Ham's), and I was so excited that 20 people came out for dinner. Thanks to my wonderful husband and baby girl, the Kinlaws, Bumps, Henzlers, Stevensons, Jenna, Heidi, Morrisons, and (soon to be) Weavers for making the trek to Butler's. Several people came back to the house to watch the oh so sad Carolina game but we got to eat probably the BEST Oreo ice cream cake I have ever eaten, so that was well worth another late night, a headache, and a devestating loss.

Jenna, McKenzie, Jon, Jennifer, and Jay...

The YUMMY cake...

My sassy star...

And finally, a congratulations to Jennifer and Jay, who closed on their house last week and started moving in on Saturday (again, thanks for coming out Saturday despite all your busyness!). Good luck with everything, and we are excited about that wedding coming up!

i heart fur baby

Wow. We have been so busy lately. Between work and the band and family, we have been going non-stop the past few weeks (and it's only getting crazier). First, Eric surprised us all by coming into town for a "Spring Break" last week, so we got some quality time with him, Caroline, and "fur baby," the CUTEST, yet strangest, kitty I have ever seen. Now, if you know me, you know I am not a cat lover, but I am a kitten cuddler, and I loved this sweet thing, extra toes and all. But alas, as soon as it grows up, my allergies will kick in, and my love affair with "fur baby" will be no more. Regardless, we had a great visit with my "little" brother and celebrated his and Caroline's birthdays.

My birthday snuck up on me Tuesday- thanks to everyone's emails, voicemails, and songs. I had the pleasure of not one "Happy Birthday" songs at work, but TWO, a coffee cake with candles at the staff meeting, a free Thai lunch, a wonderful dinner with all 4 parents, Chad, and Brooklyn (LOVED my Olive Garden salad!), and I am now listening to my new iPod on my new iTrip in my office. Life is good.

But back to the real world on Wednesday, and work was piling up. I am in charge of two fairly large events coming up at work within 2 weeks of each other, each bringing in about 100 people. So, between them and GRD, our weekends are booked from now until Memorial Day.

Speaking of GRD, we had a great show in Eden last weekend. It was good sound quality, good set up, and good people. We couldn't ask for any more. Our next gig for the public is going to be at iCoffee (formally Moby's) in Summerfield...so if you out and about on Saturday, April 26, come stop by and see us around 7pm. If you want more information, you can check our MySpace at www.myspace.com/gracereignsdown.

And finally, the house. Ahhh, the house. We are nearing the stage of "this isn't really fun anymore." But really, we have only had it on the market less than two months, and had a great amount of traffic, so we really can't complain, but once we get in our heads we want to move, we WANT TO MOVE. Patience is running thin in the Johnson house. Hopefully if this rain clears up and temperatures warm up, the offers will come pouring in. :-)

And finally, FINALLY, a Brooklyn update. Well, she is beautiful, smart, funny, and sassy- everything that we had hoped she would be at three years old. She is a blessing to have in our lives, and we just throughly enjoy being with her at this stage. The things she says and the actions that she mimics only reinforce further that we can only be blamed for her quirks- she is so our daughter.

We have big plans this weekend (surprise, surprise), but for once it does not involve work or GRD....we have a quick, quick trip up to Boone to see Drew (brother in law) and his band play a gig and then we have the whole gang getting together Saturday night for my birthday celebration- yay!