Let the roller-coaster begin

May 9, 2016 By

Last week was a non-stop roller-coaster and my body literally felt like it was shutting down from exhaustion. But we’re coming up for air, mostly because we have no choice. A brief synopsis:

Put our house on the market last Wednesday.

Freaked out for two days over lack of response.

Cleaned and fixed up the house around the clock.

Hired a cleaning crew from Groupon to come deep clean the kitchen and bathrooms the day before our first showing.

Jamie called to confirm. They canceled but promised to come the next day.

No-show for the second day in a row at the very last minute.  Nightmare last-minute clean hack job.

Weather was the worst: snow and rain. People were in hibernation mode and I didn’t blame them.

Had five showings over the weekend, not great in this insane market.

Rehomed Fat Kitty multiple times. That’s a blog post for another day that involved hiding under beds and stairs, security alarms and cops.

Miraculously got one offer.

Cried when reading the letter this sweet family wrote to us.

House went under contract.

Spent hours pouring through and signing documents.

Work? What’s that? So far behind on emails and campaigns.

Jamie commissions one of his staff to fix a longstanding problem on Mile High Mamas. Crashes site; widgets still not functioning properly.

Weekend forecast finally looked nice so opted to do a garage sale (in my insanity).

Garage sale traffic on Friday (usually the busiest) was sub-par; Saturday got rained out. Made only $200; not worth the time and effort.

Saturday morning after setting up the garage sale, found out from realtor the buyer pulled out due to the family’s job situation changing.

The father called the realtor in tears; he wasn’t the only one.

Relisted the house with a driveway and garage full of C-R-A-P.

Spent afternoon and evening cleaning and hauling C-R-A-P to thrift store to get house ready to show again.

Busiest week of the year ahead of us with assessment testing, two field trips, field day, piano recital, parent-teacher conferences, make-up soccer games, volleyball, on the planning committee for our ward Summer Olympics party on Saturday and more.

First showing: today.

And tomorrow, we die (or at least really want to).

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 8, 2016 By

I’m feeling extremely grateful for all the wonderful moms in my life. I was born to the most wonderful, dynamic mom who was always the life of the party and whose light and laughter drew people to her.

Then, I married a man whose mom was so selfless and sacrificing–who taught me to put people first.

I’m so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful women who are amazing moms, sisters and friends. Moms comes in many shapes and sizes and some aren’t even moms…but I’m humbled to call them friends.

And to my beloved children who call me Mom. I can’t think of a higher honor. 

“You will never be this loved again. So on those days when you are feeling stressed out, touched and depleted, just remember that you will never be this loved again. One day you will long for their affection. So choose a soft voice, choose gentle hands, choose love.” -A.K.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Bears Today, Webelos Tomorrow

May 4, 2016 By

Bode continues to love Cub Scouts and why wouldn’t he? The boy has the best leader ever (ME!) and it’s been fun to see him thrive. This is the first time I’ve taught him in a formal setting and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it–he’s fun and silly when appropriate but also a tremendous leader and sets the tone when it’s time to buckle down and work. He made me super proud to be his mom.

We’ve had a great group of boys who were not without their challenges but overall it’s been a great time. And it will be even greater to be released when we move. :-) A few of our recent adventures:

Hiking Ralston Creek

Majestic View Nature Center

Last week at our Pack meeting,  Bode was presented with his Bear award. A parent needs to go up there in order to be “pinned.” I’ve done it the last two years when he earned his Wolf and Bobcat so I suggested Jamie take a turn.

“No way, that’s a mother thing.”

“It is not. It’s your turn to go up there. How about we rock-paper-scissors over it?”

Now, something you should know about this challenge is I win almost every time, likely due to my stealth psychotic psychic skills.

Jamie lost.

And yes, we are the worst parents ever.

Congratulations on earning your Bear, Bode!

Filed Under: Bode, Humor

Learning manners from a neanderthal

May 3, 2016 By

We generally eat out about once a week–sometimes less when we’re at home and definitely more when we’re traveling. Since our house has been on the market, we’ve been eating at restaurants a lot more for the sole purpose that I don’t want to mess up our immaculate kitchen.

During one of our dinner outings, we were starving and our order was taking forever. When it finally arrived, we were ready to eat…except Hadley had not yet received her chicken pot pie.

Bode started to dive in when I reprimanded him [while also grabbing a wonton from my salad].

“Bode, what’s the polite thing to do? We wait to eat until everyone has been served.”

“Mom, but YOU took a bite.”

“I never said I was polite.”

Filed Under: Bode, Humor

House (and Sanity) for Sale

April 28, 2016 By

Our house is officially on the market!

We spent last weekend fixing up some final projects, most of which fell on Jamie because my DIY skills are nil. I did attempt to paint the front gate of our fence, a 20-minute job that took me two hours because cutting around the hinges is pretty much my worst nightmare. Hadley has recently taken up acrylic painting and loves spending hours on the minute details; maybe I should have passed it off to her!

My busyness will come Friday when it comes to deep cleaning the house to prep for the showings this weekend.

Last week when I was picking the kids up from the bus stop, I noticed a For Sale sign on the next street over. I walked up to investigate and our exact same model of house with our exact colors was up for sale. What are the odds?!

I freaked out, raced back to Jamie and reported my findings. We certainly did not want to compete with our exact same house that is comparable in every way except they added an extra (fifth) bedroom upstairs and an extra bathroom in the basement. The good news is they were asking $10,000 more than our very top dollar price and we heard they accepted an offer for $5,000 above that.

This prompted Jamie to up our price a bit higher, causing me to have major panic attacks. You see, with this crazy Denver market, if a house sits too long (more than a couple of weeks), you’ve missed your window and people start wondering what is wrong with the place. I’d rather have a bunch of people bidding it up than over-pricing and hearing nothing.

He keeps telling me to be patient, which is like telling Gandi to start World War III.

Here are a few of my other joys.

  • I haven’t slept more than a few hours all week (see above stresses).
  • The $#&* MLS published a disconnected number to our listing. Thankfully, Jamie caught it fairly early on but it took them 16 hours to correct it.
  • The cleaning crew that was supposed to arrive today canceled. The only reason we found out is when Jamie called them to confirm they casually mentioned their cleaning gal had called in sick. Welcome to the world of purchasing a Groupon. He raised a fuss about it and they rescheduled for Friday afternoon when we were planning to start showings. And wouldn’t you know it, the one call we received wanted to come at that exact time and they haven’t called back. I’ve since been cleaning like a madwoman bracing myself for the likelihood they won’t show tomorrow.
  • The weather is insanely bad and is supposed to snow for four days. Good thing we bought a bunch of flowers that are waiting to be planted.

Takeaway? I guess that means our house is officially on the market.

Filed Under: Colorado

Welcome to the Real World

April 27, 2016 By

Dear people who can eat anything they want and never gain a pound: what a world you must live in!

I’ve inherited many wonderful attributes from my family but a stellar metabolism is not one of them. It’s funny to look at our wedding pictures because Jamie’s side of the family is all long and lean while my side is short and stout. Sure, I love great food but I work out constantly, eat healthy most of the time and yet…yet…I’ve been gaining and losing the same 25 pounds my entire life.

I recently rejoined boot camp and love getting my butt whipped into shape but the weight is so much tougher to lose, particularly as I age. I have zero aspirations to be in a size 6 but maintaining a weight that I’m comfortable with is a tough cookie.

Darn the food reference.

At the beginning of the month, Jamie and I both started on a healthier regimen and this week, he expressed his frustrations.

“I don’t get it. I’ve been eating kind of healthy and exercising and usually I’m able to easily lose weight but it’s just not falling off like it usually does.”

Welcome to the world the rest of us have always lived in, James.

Filed Under: Jamie

We have movement!

April 25, 2016 By

It’s a big week Chez Johnson. Not only is our beloved house going on the market (awk!) but we have movement on our Midway property. We wired a sizable down payment to our home builder last week (awk!) and Big Bertha showed up on our lot today to start digging.

I know this isn’t exciting to anyone but my family but one of my regrets when we built our current home is we didn’t document its progress. And thanks to my snitch (a.k.a. neighbor Ellen), I’ll have regular updates.

For the first time ever, I totally get the excitement of the critically acclaimed book and movie, Holes. 

Filed Under: Utah

A Walk (and Trip) to Remember in Midway

April 21, 2016 By

Do you know those parents who take their high school seniors on a campus tour to extol the virtues of attending their Alma Mater? That’s exactly what our trip to Midway was during Spring Break. We figured if we were asking the kids to uproot their lives they love for a place completely unknown to them, we’d better make it look good. Really good. The funny thing is that when I first received my impression to look for real estate in Soldier Hollow, I had only ever visited Midway once or twice while Jamie had never been. That, my friends, is called faith. Or lunacy.

During my initial investigations, I talked to a few moms from Midway. One, in in particular, was a stand-out when I asked her about the demographic of this tiny mountain hamlet.

“There are people who’ve lived here for generations dating back to the Mormon pioneers from Switzerland. Some people have second homes here, others come to retire. We have General Authorities and young families who want an active lifestyle for their kids. In recent years, there has been an influx of people moving in who have no idea why they’re doing it but just feel compelled to be here.”

 Cue the goosebumps. That was one of many answers to prayers and perfectly described why we’re uprooting our lives for the unknown. We may be moving for one big reason or a million little ones. Who’s to say?

The timing of our visit over Spring Break could have been better. Late- March in the mountains is “shoulder season,” which is just a really way of saying it’s a transitional period between snow and green to the tune of mud. Midway’s famed Ice Castles were at the top of our bucket list but they were already melted. That didn’t stop us from exploring!

Tubing

We were fortunate to tube at Soldier Hollow in Wasatch Mountain State Park on closing day. This venue was made famous during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games as host to the cross country and biathlon events and has since added the longest tubing hills in Utah. We arrived wearing our winter layers of clothing and quickly started unlayering when we felt a blast of warm air. Spring skiing is one of the most fun times to ski because of cooperative temperatures and soft snow; spring tubing is equally as desirable!

The hill has lengthy 1,200-foot sliding lanes with lift service for towing people up the hill. Over and over again, we did laps up and down the mountain. The snow was soft but first; when the sun went down, it became slick and the tubers started crashing through barriers at the bottom, warning us to start braking with our feet half-way down. We ignored them, choosing to slow down at the bottom to up the element of excitement.

The Homestead

We stayed for a couple of nights at The Homestead Resort, a throwback to Victorian times with 19 separate buildings of cottages, rooms and condos connected by scenic walkways through lush gardens and lawns overlooking an 18-hold golf course. We slept in the spacious bunkroom, a building with a long history of hospitality but in need of some updating, as was much of the resort. Regardless, as the kids fed the kids sampled fudge in the gift shop and fed ducks before breakfast at Fanny’s, it’s impossible not to feel charmed by this historic property.

In the summer, the Activity Center offers a full slate of fun and a year-round option is The Homestead’s famous 65-foot crater, a geothermally heated pool. The crater is housed inside a limestone dome and we climbed the steep steps to catch a view from above before accessing it via a murky tunnel below. As we entered the crater, the sunlight filtering from the top cast the whole cave in an intense cobalt hue that made it look like an LED disco room–talk about mood lighting! Small stalactites clung from the ceiling above us, creating an otherworldly feel.

Life jackets are mandatory for swimmers, a fact I belittled until I leisurely floated in the 92-degree water that was warmer than your average pool but not too toasty that we were uncomfortable after our hour-long swim. The crater unbelievably offers scuba certification courses. We brought our snorkeling gear but our life jackets prevented us from producing them because we were unable to go deeper. The only evidences of the divers in the clear, deep waters were their bubbles at the surface and their lights illuminating the water’s deep below.  We’ll go deep another time but for that day, it felt luxurious just to soak.

The Walk to Remember

As we’d driven into town I’d noticed a walking trail and vowed to explore it the next morning. I slipped out before dawn as my family still slept and hung out in the lobby by the fireplace until the sun made its appearance. And then I was off! I walked down Homestead Drive past gorgeous Swiss-themed mansions, turning off onto the trail that slithered past Snake Creek. Five minutes later, it ran out. Disappointed at ending my walk prematurely, I turned onto Pine Canyon Road and decided to do a large loop before returning.

Deer curiously watched me, ruminating on the grass from a large plot of land for sale. I kept heading north and then west toward Wasatch Mountain State Park, eventually connecting with a road that would lead me back. Off to my left was a small forested area and steam was rising. I stopped. Midway is a hot pocket of hot springs but could there be something in a hidden grove?  There was a small wooden fence but I didn’t see a “no trespassing sign” so went for it.  I carefully traversed two rickety logs over a creek, pausing briefly to reflect if Jamie would be able to find my dead lifeless body there (such are the thoughts of someone who’s doing something that may not be such a swell idea).

What greeted me was a thousand times worth it. I didn’t find geothermal springs but rather, the sunrise was blazing on a collection of ponds that appeared to be shooting out cotton candy pink and blue puffs of steam. Sun-bleached reeds blew  shaggily in this forest that was so serene and untouched I felt like I was the first to discover it. I wanted to live forever in that moment.

I reluctantly crossed another questionable bridge back to a dirt path that I followed through Shire-like wooded groves and just when I thought my adventure was over, I stumbled upon a Swiss-themed castle playhouse. “What is this place?” I breathed, utterly bewitched.

I raced back to The Homestead to find the kids still sleeping. Jamie and I walked around the property as I downloaded my morning’s adventures.

“You know, Amber. You were probably on private property.”
“I didn’t see any signs.”
“Yes, but there was a fence.”
“But it was a small, unfortified fence. Anyway, how do you explain the castle I found?”
“That was probably someone’s backyard playhouse.”

The man needs more magic in his life. Fortunately, Midway has plenty of it to spare.

Filed Under: Family travel, Utah

Girl’s Night Out (+ boy)

April 15, 2016 By

We’ve been working around-the-clock with all the (not so) fun things involved with selling our house. The kids have been real rock stars through all the drudgery; little do they know the worst is yet to come with packing and the actual move. I convinced Jamie to push our intended sell date back seven days to give us a bit more time. I’ll be in Florida for a conference next week and his intention was to put it on the market three days later. After my kids had the run of the house for four days without their whip-cracking mom. Like that was going to happen.

A few things going down around here besides house stress:

Butt kicking. My favorite trainer in the entire universe, Lori, started her own gym, Power Peak Fitness, with boot camp-style and spin classes. I quit my previous gym around this time last year due to injuries and burnout. Though I hike and bike regularly, I struggled with strength training and tried two cheap gyms (seriously, how do people do uninspired/boring treadmill and weight machine workouts day after day?) I really need to get my butt back into shape and that’s exactly what she’s doing. I was so sore I could barely walk last week but it’s amazing what a difference a few days can make! I’m still out of shape but at least I’m no-longer-sore-and-out-of-shape.

Outdoor Lab. I’m doing the happy dance! Hadley had the time of her life with her sixth grade class at Outdoor Lab a few months ago and will be going to week-long Outdoor Lab’s High Potential Week in the mountains this summer. Basically, top students in various subjects get nominated from schools all around Jefferson County (the largest in Colorado) and her teachers nominated her for art. I honestly wasn’t going to follow through on the nomination because money is tight but when Jamie’s mom heard about the opportunity, she offered to pay her tuition because she didn’t want to see Hadley pass it up.  Even better is two of Hadley’s besties, Maeve and Alex, will be there as well. What a tremendous send-off before our move!

General Conference. Two weekends ago was the LDS Church’s semi-annual General Conference where we listen to our leaders via satellite from the comfort of  our home. In our PJs. With a lot of food. We have a longstanding tradition to invite our friends the Carroll over for gingerbread pancakes with fresh apple marmalade, cinnamon rolls, fruit and sausage. There’s not a lot of reverence but it’s certainly fun and not without its funny moments like when we busted Isaac for smuggling light sabers and a sundry of weapons in his panda PJs to the basement. All fun aside, we always leave conference weekend inspired and my favorite talk this year that brought me to tears was Bonnie Oscarson’s “Do I Believe?” Power.

Outdoor Adventures. In between juggling work and getting the house ready, I’ve been spending every spare moment with friends in the great outdoors. We’ve hiked Aldfer/Three Sisters and dined at Blue Cow Eatery, had a girl’s night hiking Red Rocks and overeating at Olive Garden while the boys were at the Priesthood Session for General Conference, I attempted to mountain bike North Table Mountain in its entirety (not pretty) and this week, Jenn, Lisa and I hiked the Apex Trail. Our home is in an incredible location above an extensive soccer complex with playgrounds, Van Bibber Creek, a pond and parks where our city’s 4th of July fireworks are staged every year. Another favorite event is the annual Kite Festival, which we enjoyed with our friends the Phillips (despite our long-documented ineptitude at flying kites).

Apex Trail

Sports. Our busy spring sports season is underway…or is it? We’ve had an incredibly wet, snowy spring and 90 percent of Bode’s games and practices have been canceled, with a colossal snow storm happening this weekend. Hadley started volleyball with Maeve and Alex at the YMCA. With her transitioning back to our public school this year, I was fine with limiting her activities but wanted to have one last go-around with friends. Plus, she’s really really good at volleyball and loves it when she’s on the court…but claims otherwise when she’s off (looks like we have a tween). The kid is mastering her overhand serve and is leaps and bounds ahead of where I was at her age.

Bears R Us. I’m wrapping my two-year stint as the Cub Scout Bear leader in our ward. I’d like to say I’ve loved this calling but I’d be exaggerating. I enjoy most of our weekly den meetings with the boys and we had a fun adventure walking Ralston Creek Trail yesterday but I despise mounds of paperwork and committee meetings. The best thing is being able to teach Bode and I’m happy he’ll be receiving his rank advancement next month. And equally as happy I’ll be moving on from this calling!

Girl’s Night Out. I skipped out a bit early from Hadley’s volleyball game last night to go to Girl’s Night Out with some friends. Usually our get togethers revolve around our kids and it was a breath of fresh air to enjoy each other’s company. Jamie is the least controlling husband ever (a good thing, too because this shrew is rather untameable) but I started to tell him why I needed to go to Girl’s Night Out.

And then I remembered I’m leaving him for Florida tomorrow where he’ll be stuck for four days with kids. In a snow storm. Finishing taxes.

Me thinks Jamie needs a girl’s night out waaaaay more than I.

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

Clean House, Rinse, Lather, Repeat

April 12, 2016 By

Life is heating up chez nous as we get our house ready to sell (translation: posting will be sporadic). Our Utah home is stalled in the permit stage (pray, pray, pray the house will be ready in time for school).

Yesterday, our realtor friend came by to take measurements and walk us through the process. If you know of anyone moving, Stan Dalton is one of the top realtors in Colorado Springs, which is really saying something because there are a gazillion of them. Honest. Hard-working. Funny. And so much integrity. He was the best man at our wedding and he and Jamie have childhood history, which means there are a lot of stories I’m not allowed to share because they’d probably be arrested.

Our family has been cleaning and fixing up the house around-the-clock so the photographer could take pictures of our house yesterday (another shout-out to Rob Larsen Photography who was a real pro).  We’re hoping to have our house on the market in the next 2-3 weeks and then the real fun of keeping it clean begins. We are waiting upon our ginormously gorgeous maple tree in the backyard to blossom. Because wouldn’t you know that it is the only tree in our yard without leaves and the most important one. Have you ever prayed for a tree? I guess this means I’m an official tree hugger.

Jamie commented that it’s a pity we’re selling our house because we’ve finally fixed it up to look really nice, which makes the process that much more bittersweet.

But then our soon-to-be neighbor Ellen in Midway sent me this picture last week from our backyard.

And I just keep reminding myself it will all be worth it.

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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