2019 // Recap

2019 was another year filled with GREAT memories! I had 10 things on my bucket list for this year and I only crossed off two and a half of them of them...oops!

Brought in the New Year!

January 1, 2019 // Beech Mountain, North Carolina

Civil Axe Double Dates

February 10, 2019 // Huntsville, AL 

Spring Break Trip

March 28, 2019 // New York City, New York

Easter

April 21, 2019 // Moulton, AL

Summer

May 28, 2019 // Panama City Beach, Florida

4th Annual Summer Girls Trip

June 4, 2019 // Disney Land + Los Angeles, California

Memphis Mac

June 3, 2019 // Florence, Alabama

Weekend Family Getaway

June 30, 2019 // Louisville, Kentucky + Santa Claus, Indiana 

4th of July Adventures

July 4, 2019 // Bear Creek, Alabama

WE'RE ENGAGED!

July 12, 2019 // Chicago, Illinois

Lake Days

September 2, 2019 // Smith Lake, Alabama

I said YES to the DRESS!

September 7, 2019 // Jasper, Alabama

Pumpkin Patch

September 22, 2019 // Athens, Alabama

New Car

October 24, 2019 // Decatur, Alabama

Halloween

October 31, 2019 // Moulton, Alabama

Snow Day

December 11, 2019 // Moulton, Alabama

Girls Trip

December 15, 2019 // Dahlonega + Helen, Georgia

Merry Christmas

December 24, 2019 // Moulton, Alabama

2020 is going to bring lots of new things my way! New adventures, new states, a NEW LAST NAME!!!

becoming mrs. johnson | wedding update 1

The countdown is on!! 228 days from today I will get a new last name and ride away with my HUSBAND! I am so excited/ready/happy!!!

At this point, most of the major details have been finalized.

Date: May 29, 2020

Location: Mom + Dad's house

Honeymoon: BOOKED!! (Can you guess where??)

Photographer: Heather Sherrill | Create

Videographer: Al Hammond | Awaken Films

Hair + Makeup: my girl Amber McCaig

Caterer: April Davis | Southern Skillet Catering

DJ: Triple J Jones

My Dress: FOUND + ordered from Diane's Formal Affair

The only major details that we have left to decide on is a florist and a baker, and we have appointments set up with both of those in the next few weeks. I have told mama and meme that the rest of the little details like decorations and that stuff is their decision!

We have asked all of our bridal party and we have already been dress shopping and picked out the bridesmaids dresses! I asked my bridesmaids to be apart of my big day using personalized cookies from Alison's Cookies. She did a great job and far exceeded my expectations.

I was able to ask the majority of my bridesmaids on the same day and Micah got it on video and I am SO glad because Libby's reaction is priceless. Keep your eye on her in the video.

Ahhh. So precious!

Then, the dress shopping! I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Janice at Diane's Formal Affair helped me find the perfect dress and she helped my bridesmaids find a dress that they loved. And then, she found us all wedding dresses so we could remake the FRIENDS picture where Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe were all on the couch in the wedding dresses. We have been wanting to do this for years and it finally happened! Then we all got to put on dresses and have some fun!

Stay tuned for more updates!

25 things at 25

This birthday has been another one for the books. Thursday, we celebrated at Elamar with one of Elaine's delicious cakes. On my actual birthday night, some of my people went to TopGolf. The next day, all the family got together and Micah planned a surprise birthday lunch after church.

Here are 25 thoughts from 25 years...

1. God's timing is always perfect.

2. There is nothing better than spending time with family and friends.

3. You can't take money or things with you when you die. Spend it wisely. Collect beautiful moments. Take the trips, be adventurous, make the memories.

4. Speak truth. I have found in the past year that my filter really doesn't work. Apparently I have been like this for awhile, but I am realizing it more now. But in my opinion, it is always best to speak the truth, the good, the bad, and the ugly. People will always know where they stand with you. They will always know they can count on me to tell them the truth. And calling people out on their crap and bad attitude makes them take a step back to reevaluate.

5. Always make time for self care. I have at least one night a week that is dedicated to self care. Bubble baths, face masks, Netflix binging.

6. There is something really special about sitting down at the table with your significant other for dinner every night. With no phones, no tv, no distractions. Just that one on one time enjoying dinner together.

7. I really am a dog person. I love my two fur babies and they are very spoiled.

8. Yoga is not only a great form of exercise, but self care too!

9. I really don't know how people make it through life without planners or to do lists. I have to write everything down or I will forget.

10. Now that I live in my own house and we are planning to build in the future, Pinterest is my best friend. (And probably Micah's worst nightmare! LOL) Whoever invented this website is a genius.

11. Write everything down. I love looking back on past blogs or journal entries and reliving memories.

12. There are 168 hours in a week. Learn how to manage your time. (Read 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam)

13. Do not pray for patience unless you want your patience to be tested daily.

14. Have a savings plan. Stick to it.

15. Set goals! I set yearly goals, I have a 30 before 30 list, and I set weekly/monthly goals.

16. Find a partner who can cook. (No, seriously! Micah does most of our cooking. He is way better at it than me.)

17. Space out cleaning and other household chores throughout the week so you don't spend your whole weekend catching up. (Wise words from Mrs. Caroline!)

18. Lululemon is hands down the best. Ever.

19. Having a hair color and style that is low maintenance is probably the best thing I have ever done.

20. There are some people who will always be glass half-empty kind of people. You can't change them. Don't try.

21. In addition to #20, don't let negative people rub off their bad vibes onto you. Stay positive, my friend!

22. Coffee should be poured first thing every morning.

23. Dry shampoo is a gift from the heavens above and washing your hair everyday is for the birds.

24. All seasons are great in their own way, but fall is best of all. The weather, the scents, the colors.

25. Dream big. Be kind. Love hard!

25 is going to be the best year! I'm getting a new last name and an absolutely amazing hubby! Thanks to everyone for a great birthday!

The Proposal

I knew early on in my relationship with Micah that he was the man I wanted to spend forever with. Throughout our relationship, we grew closer and our relationship became stronger. Of course, we have fought and we have had to work on things as a couple, but I believe that is why our relationship is so strong. Micah spoils me for sure, so I knew that when he did propose, it would be nothing short of amazing. But man did he do it right! His proposal was way more than I could have ever expected.

We planned this trip to Chicago several months ago planning to go to the Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Wrigley Field was on Micah's bucket list, so when he took a big interest in planning this trip, I thought nothing of it.

[Disclaimer: about three weeks prior to our trip, I found an envelope with the Jamie Hood Jeweler sticker on the front. When I picked it up, Micah's face went blank and all he could say was for me to stop being nosey. So, I just put it right back where it came from. Oops!!]

Our first day in Chicago, we went to eat breakfast at Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe. Which was delicious!! When breakfast was over, Micah had planned to go to the Adler Plantetarium. I kept asking him what the Adler Planetarium actually was and he would say, "It's a space museum about all the planets! It looks really cool!" Umm...okay?! Since when have you been into space? But I rolled with it because he acted so excited about it. We get there and this boy is flying through the parking lot like a crazy person. (I later found out it was because he was afraid we were going to be late!) We park and get out and he told me that we didn't need to take anything in so I could just leave my purse. As we were walking in, Micah was stopping taking pictures of the weird, random statue in front of the planetarium (Which I later found out was because he was looking for our setup!) He kept walking away from the entrance of the museum, around the side of the building. The side of the building had the most beautiful view of the skyline, so I was taking pictures and looking out across the water at how pretty everything was. Then, Micah is like 5 steps ahead of me...still walking away from the entrance of the planetarium. I kept asking where he was going but he never answered. As we were walking, I noticed the blanket covered with rose petals but there was a guy and girl standing by it so I assumed it was theirs. That is, until I got close enough to see our pictures sitting on the blanket.

I still did not think this was the engagement. I mean while we were packing he wanted to pack our clothes in the same suitcase...so if he was planning on proposing here, where in the world was he going to hide a ring? AND as we were getting ready, I never noticed him put anything into his pocket. AND I always thought that I would know the day that he planned on doing it because I figured he would act all awkward and nervous prior to proposing.

As we got closer the guy standing nearby started walking towards us playing the guitar and singing From the Ground Up by Dan + Shay, which is one of our favorite songs. Micah turned to me and took both of my hands in his and I was just thinking that he was going to dance with me. It was definitely not unlike him to plan something like this to just be romantic. Then, he started talking to me and I was like OHH THIS IS IT!!!!!

Holding both my hands, he told me that he loved me more than anything and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I was so shocked and feeling all of the emotions that I couldn't even remember what I said! He told me later that I said "of course!" After I said yes, we took pictures with the photographer he had set up (see video below) and enjoyed our chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling apple cider, and started FaceTiming our families.

I could not have asked for a better proposal! Micah went above and beyond anything that I could have ever imagined! And major props to him for pulling all this off because I am super nosey!! But really, look at how perfect!! Look at that view! He did so good!!

Here is to forever!

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Chicago, Illinois

Micah and I planned this trip to Chicago for several months. One of Micah's bucketlist things is to watch a game in every MLB stadium. So, we decided to knock one of those stadiums off the list this year. However, I had no idea what all Micah had planned for this trip and that Chicago would become one of my most favorite places. 

We flew in on Thursday night and checked into our hotel, Raffaello Hotel. This hotel was more than I could have imagined. We had a large living area that closed off to our room. After checking in to our hotel and unloading our luggage, we walked across the street and had dinner at Southern Cut Barbecue. This restaurant had a very intimate feel, with dimmed lights, comfortable couch seating, and some delicious barbecue! 

Our first morning, we ate breakfast at Wildberry Pancakes & Cafe. This was our favorite breakfast spot of the whole trip. After breakfast, we headed to Adler Planetarium. I was real confused as to why Micah wanted to go to a planetarium, but to my surprise, Micah had planned the sweetest proposal here. He chose the Adler Planetarium because it had the best view of the Chicago skyline and of Lake Michigan. I could not have asked for a better proposal. (Check out the full story here.) Complete with a guitarist singing 'From the Ground Up', a perfect picnic with chocolate strawberries and sparkling grape juice, and a photographer. It was a dream!!

We called and FaceTimed all of the family, we went to the Chicago Riverwalk and took a boat tour. There are several options for boat tours in Chicago, but we decided on the Urban Adventure River and Lake tour. This tour took us through the river and all the architecture and then out into Lake Michigan. We had lunch at Chicago Brewhouse Riverwalk and then had to go back to the hotel for me to take the comprehensive exam for my masters. Which took me four hours!! But once I finished the test, we got ready and went to The Signature Lounge. The Signature Lounge had great views of the skyline and we got there right at sunset. The views were ahhh-mazing! The best views, though, were from the girls restroom. After dinner, we walked to Navy Pier and explored before they shut down for the night. 

We slept in the next morning and went to a late breakfast at Brunch and then made the drive to the Chicago mural (pictured above). After a short photo sessions at the mural, we drove to Wrigley Field to the Cubs vs Pirates game. It was HOT but it was so much fun! 

After the game, we drove to North Avenue Beach and then on to the hotel to park the car. We spent the rest of the night walking around the Magnificent Mile and then ate dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe. 

Sunday morning, we woke up early to finish all of our sight seeing before flying back home that night. Our first stop was breakfast. We decided on Bakin' and Eggs for a quick and easy breakfast and then headed off to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It is a free zoo, but parking is pretty expensive. I will say, I love seeing different zoo's around the world, but this one did not impress me very much. My favorite part was seeing the gorillas and the elephants! We decided on The Hampton Social for a quick appetizer lunch. Then, I made Micah walk with me to a bridge over the river for a quick picture.

After lunch, we checked off all of the other sightseeing, tourist-y things! 

The Flamingo Wall.

The Bean and the Crown Fountain at Millennium Park. 

Buckingham Fountain.

We walked across the street to get ice cream at Scoops on the lake and then had the famous Lou Maltnatis Pizza. It was delicious and definitely a must when in Chicago!

Chicago is definitely a city that will forever hold a special place in my heart. If you have ever been, what are some things we should do next time? 

Southern California Girls Trip

If you know MEH, you know that we love to travel. We always take at least one trip that we call our 'Girls Trip' every summer, just the three of us. This year was year number four of our annual girls trip and we decided on Southern Cali.

(Our first year we cruised from New Orleans on Carnival Triumph to Progresso and Cozumel, our second year we cruised from Charleston on Carnival Ecstasy to Nassau and Half Moon Cay, and our third year we went to Key West.)

We flew in early Friday morning and dropped our luggage off at our hotel, Anaheim Portofino Inn & Suites. The first stop on our list was the Hollywood sign! We took an uber from our hotel to the closest drop off point near the sign. (PS: No matter what your uber driver says, there is NOT a bathroom at the entrance to the hike. At least not at the entrance he took us to!) We walked up just far enough to get a good picture and then found the nearest bathroom! From the Hollywood sign, we checked off the rest of the tourist must-do's. We went to In-and-Out Burger and had a delicious cheeseburger before going to Hollywood Boulevard. We walked around and found all of the stars that we wanted to take pictures with and then hopped on a bus tour. The tour took us to all the major sight seeing areas, but we ditched the tour halfway through in Beverly Hills. We walked around Rodeo drive for a little bit window shopping and then took an uber to the Santa Monica Pier. We walked around Pacific Pier and then ate dinner at Mariasol Cocina Mexicana at the very end of the pier while the sun set.

The next two days were Disney days!!! YAY!! We went to Disneyland the first day and the first ride we hit up was Splash Mountain which was a bad idea. The ride was great, however getting soaking wet first thing in the morning was not great. The rest of the day was spent riding all the rides and eating all of the Mickey shaped foods. The second day we went to California Adventure. Our favorite ride was the spinning ferris wheel!! (At least it was mine and Emily's favorite, Heather's not so much.) We finished most of the park rides by lunch time, so we went to Downtown Disney to shop for a little while and had supper. Before the night ended, we made our way back into California Adventure park to see the World of Color light and water show. I never thought anything could top Disney World's firework show, but the World of Color light and water show was AMAZING!!! It is definitely a close second to the firework show at Disney World. (Watch the video below to hear just how much we loved it...Emily loved it the most! LOL)

On our last full day, we rented a car from Enterprise and drove to San Diego to the zoo. We walked around the zoo until lunch and then drove to La Jolla beach to see the seals on the beach. We had a late lunch at Beach House and then went to Hammond's for a flight of ice cream. Before we headed back towards our hotel, we wanted to see the border. We drove to a part of the beach where we could see Mexico from the beach, but we wanted to get a little bit closer. You see, in our minds, we thought the border would look similar to the border that was in the movie "We're the Millers". Well, we were wrong! We were driving along and all of a sudden we see a sign that the last US exit was on the right in 500 feet. We were over seven lanes of traffic in the far left lane. So Heather handled things in true Heather form and completely panicked...almost wrecking into a car less than 500 feet from the border of Mexico. We made it over to the 'last US exit', that was quite sketchy because it was spray painted in orange paint on a piece of plywood. (insert wide eyed emoji here) We were still not completely convinced we hadn't accidentally crossed into Mexico, but after asking a few questions, we determined that we were in fact still in the US. Luckily, I captured all of this on video, so scroll to the bottom and watch for your own amusement.

New York City // Adventures with MEH

New York City is so much fun! We flew in on Southwest Tuesday morning. We were on the same flight as LoCash, so we snagged a picture with them before we started our adventures. We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott New York Downtown Manhattan, and it did not disappoint. We had two queen beds, a living area with a sofa sleeper, a kitchen, and one large bathroom. It was so cute and cozy for the five of us.

After checking in to our hotel, our first stop was Starbucks, as always! On day 1, we visited China Town and Little Italy. In Little Italy, we had lunch at Caffe Napoli where we had some delicious alfredo and cannolis. After lunch, we took and uber to the 9/11 museum and memorial. On Tuesdays, admission is free after 5:00 p.m., so I definitely recommend working this into your day to save money. You cannot come to New York and not see the 9/11 museum. We did a self guided tour through the museum and memorial and it is one of the most humbling experiences of my life. After our tour, we went to the Empire State Building to see the sunset on the skyline, had dinner at Heartland Brewery, then took a limo to see the Statue of Liberty from the water and back to the hotel.

On Wednesday, we ate breakfast at the hotel, then made the morning trip to Starbucks. We walked to see the Bull and then on to Battery Park. From there, we hopped on a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We bought pedestal tickets in advance, which was really cool. We spent several hours exploring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had lunch at Shake Shack, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, visited Grand Central Station, and then St. Patricks Cathedral. We did some shopping at, literally, the biggest Victorias Secret I have ever seen. While we were there, one of the sweet workers showed us the dressing room where all the angels try on their outfits. After exploring all three floors of VS, we stopped at Bill's Bar & Burgers for milkshakes. Then, it was on to Radio City and Rockefeller Center before ending our night.

Thursday morning came early! We woke up before the sun to hit up Starbucks before going to the live recording of Good Morning America. We applied for tickets weeks in advance and landed general admission tickets. The night before the show, our tickets were upgraded to priority!! We were front and center for most of the recording, and then we got to meet Robin Roberts. When our time on GMA ended, we stopped for breakfast at Brooklyn Diner. After breakfast, we picked up our rental car and drove to Hoboken, New Jersey. We spent the day walking around the area of Hoboken, seeing Carlo's Bake Shop, and munching on Insomnia Cookies. We had lunch at Grimaldi's, then went to explore Times Square. We spent awhile shopping around before seeing Aladdin on Broadway. And ya'll...Aladdin was AMAZING!!! I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a broadway show. After the show, we stopped for dinner at Carmine's where we all split the biggest bowl of lasagna.

Friday was our road trip day! We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel before heading to New Haven, Connecticut. New Haven was about a two hour drive from our hotel. While in New Haven, we visited the Yale University campus which was historically beautiful. After spending about an hour touring the campus, we drove about two hours to Newport, Rhode Island where we had lunch at Anthony's Seafood. We walked along the (very chilly) beach for a little while and then spent the rest of out time in Newport driving around seeing all of the beautiful mansions. Our next stop was Salem, Massachusetts, the home of Hocus Pocus, which was another hour and forty five minute drive. We spent an hour driving around finding all of the houses from Hocus Pocus. We used a list that we found on Pinterest to find all of the houses and the cemetery. Then it was on to Boston, Massachusetts for dinner at the Cheers restaurant. We tried the clam chowder, which we did not love, and the Boston cream pie! Then we had a long four hour drive back to our hotel, which was an adventure in itself with Heather driving in NYC! (see video below)

On our last day in NYC, we had breakfast at Sarabeths. After breakfast, we rode in a cart and bike tour around Central Park. The weather was absolutely perfect!! Inside Central Park, we saw the fountain from Friends, the tunnel where Chuck and Blair got married in Gossip Girl, and Bethesda fountain. When our bike tour was over, we walked to the MET to sit on the steps and pretend to be Blair and Serena. We had lunch at Serendipity, then took the tram to Roosevelt Island. The tram ride over to Roosevelt Island had some of the most beautiful views of the city. After seeing Aladdin, we bought tickets to see Frozen on broadway, too! Our Disney-loving hearts enjoyed every minute of it!! (But Aladdin still is at the top of the list.) We ended our night having cheesecake at Juniors before heading to the hotel to pack up for our early flight home.

Our trip was one for the books! We got to see everything that we wanted to see and more, but mostly we enjoyed our time together making memories! Watch the video recap of our whole trip to get the full experience. If you have been to NYC, what are some of your favorite places to go, things to do, places to eat?