Glad to be Home

We had such a great Christmas with all of you! It was so nice to take a break from everything and just play in the snow and spend time with the people we love most! Last night at Grandma and Grandpas party I was overwhelmed with the love I feel for all my family members. I think its a pretty amazing thing that so many capable, impressive and just plain awesome people ended up in the same family!

We were happy to get home today and were even more happy when all of our baggage arrived without delay, ha ha. Roxy was elated to have us home as well, I think she might have thought we had abandoned her, so she seemed pretty relieved when we showed up.

Love you all heaps! I hope you continue to have a fun time together out there!

P.S. Christian, sorry I said it was stupid to buy an IPhone, it was late, the end.

Marshal,

You are kidding right? Plus, your Natalie Wood haircut should have grown out by now....

Kinseybug

:[

I walked into 24 hr fitness today and walked up to the girl to check in and shes say's.
"congratulations, when are you expecting" you can imagine my shock. I was thinking do i know this person good enough for them to be making jokes about my weight. That was when i realized man this girl is serious. she looked me in the face and realized her error.
mom i curse you for giving me this natalie wood haircut :[

Uh oh!

They just put in a new Chipotle across the street from us. So if I'm ten pounds fatter the next time you see me, no, I'm not pregnant.

I know!

It's Steve Jobs, hint: he's holding an apple!

hmmm

can anybody guess who this is? besides being one fo my heroes. ill give mad props to whoever gets it. my only hint for you is that it is not tom cruise.

I Won a GPS!

Last night at my work Christmas party I won a Magellan Maestro 4040 GPS for our car! Its super nice, worth around $400, and we'd actually really been wanting one. It was a pretty good night. I'm falling more and more in love with my company every day that I work here.

My Heroes edition 1

this is self explanatory

Whoever wrote this

this was supposed to be on top but it got messed up

We Got an Apartment!

So we signed today for an apartment, here's the craigslist link: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/apa/506122103.html

Those pictures are of our actual apartment taken 2 days ago.

Santa Monica or bust!

Hey Family,

Sorry Emily and I have been so absent, we've been maxed out with everything we are trying to do. So I think all of you know that next Thursday we are shipping out to L.A. I am going to be writing music for 'Dance War' a new dance reality show on ABC. I'll be working around the clock for the next month up at Kevin Kiner's studio. We have been approved for one apartment and are just waiting to hear from another apartment before we sign the contract. They're all way too expensive! But Santa Monica is a really fun and nice place to be for a young married couple, we can walk to the beach! Emily is getting her hair cut and dyed and styled as I write this by her friend Candice who is graduating from the Paul Mitchell hair school here. Candice asked Emily to be her model so that means that Emily will also be attending Candice's graduation Friday where Candice will model her and talk about all the things she did to Emily's hair. Then Emily will begin her formal modeling career in L.A. : ) Not that she isn't sexy enough. So that's where we're at, we need to pack up all of our stuff and I need to pass finals and already be writing music and Emily needs to train her replacement and find an apartment to rent in one week. Sounds like fun to me!

Same ol, same ol

Life is pretty much business as usual for Ryan and I. Although we do manage do throw some fun in there as well. Things at work have been really busy for me lately. I've been working on a variety of tasks which keeps it interesting. Before working for AvalonBay I never thought I would have a job that I actually liked. Its quite refreshing to know that it is actually possible to like your work.

Ryan has his final exams coming up next week, but he told me last night that he is having a hard time getting stressed about it. He did so well on the last two sets that he could even fail these ones if he wanted and he would still pass overall (although I don't believe he will be going that route).

Roxy is pretty much the same as always, she sleeps, eats, poops, plays and makes us smile everytime we come home and she goes into excitement overdrive! It is nice to know that someone will always be that elated to see you.

I am having a Christmas party gift exchange tonight for the group of young wives in our ward who get together once a week, so I have been cooking up a storm. I am making Special K bars, Mrs. Sees cookies, Glug ( a Swedish variation on wassle), hummus and pita (although I am not making the hummus from scratch), whole wheat baguette with goat cheese. Sound like a good menu? On top of that I am also the new co-chair of the Medical Families club at GWU. I will be in charge of monthly activities with the wives and every couple of months larger activities for the whole families. I think it will be pretty fun as I always like planning activities and throwing parties.

But the most exciting part of our week is probably that they are showing It's a Wonderful Life at the old theatre in Old Town Alexandria. How incredibly charming! We were so excited when we saw that it was playing there, I've never seen it on the big screen after all. Mom and Kinsey, please proceed to be jealous!

I love you all so much and am so grateful to be blessed with the best family in the world!

i thought this was really cool, stretch

Snow Glorious Snow!

Its snowing for the first time here! We're pretty excited. Just wanted to share.

By the way Mom Dad and Parker, can't wait to see the pictures you took of your huge snowfall out there!

Marshal,

That is a fabulous essay! I did not realize that you have become such a great writer! I am glad you finished your applications and I will keep you in my prayers!! Good luck and I love you bro!! Please call me back:(

KINSEYBUG

BYU...hopefully!

I finished my application yesterday :p
I have a very good chance at Idaho, and a lucky chance at Provo. I convinced the guy to let me send him one of my videos. So thats the plan. Here is my essay after 4 hours of editing it between me, dad and the entire Johnston family. :p
---------

My father is a filmmaker. As a result my family has lived a nomadic lifestyle. For example, we lived for three months in Rarotonga while making a movie called “The Other Side of Heaven,” and spent four months in Israel making “Language of the Enemy.”


Living in foreign countries and becoming immersed in their cultures has given me an appreciation for how different and yet similar are all of God’s children. It seems we all want the same things but we go about getting them in different ways.


Watching my dad work has given me an appreciation for how much effort it takes to produce a film, but I have also witnessed the impact his movies have had on people throughout the world. This has inspired me and given me the desire to have a similar effect on people’s lives.


On my thirteenth birthday my parents gave me my first video editing software. I felt awesome when I finished my first movie, which consisted of a secret agent (my little brother) doing battle with a vicious canine (my dog, Penny).


A year or so later a regional film festival showcased a movie I made about homelessness called “Home Sweet Home.” Most recently I won a stake-sponsored film contest with “Strength of Youth Man,” which depicts the values of the Strength Of Youth pamphlet through the character of a superhero.


My travels have given me a desire to have a voice to speak to people the world over. Making my own movies has given me an idea how I might do so through the medium of film. By furthering my education at BYU, I hope to perfect my filmmaking skills at the same time I reinforce the message I want to convey.

In case I don't see you, good morning, good afternoon, and good night!! I had a totally rad weekend!! Me and my friend Jeff both went to this big BYU sponsored Christmas Party at seven peaks....many of you are probably wondering who Jeff is, mainly mom and dad. No, I am not interested in him, and yes he really is a friend. We have humanities together and his girlfriend just broke up with him so we had a night out to help him feel better. We enjoyed various activities: ice-skating, gingerbread house making, partying to bands, dancing, free hot chocolate&cookies, oh and we entered the "cheesy sweatshirt contest." I hope you all enjoy my pics. I love you all!!