many moons ago.

a while back now my older brother and mother both wrote up their "where i'm from" poems and posted them on their blogs and i decided i would write one and post it too. well, i wrote it that same week and then … somehow i forgot about it until i just found it right now. so although its been a long time coming, and doesn't have as many beautiful photos as mamas or as many unique anecdotes as jarons, here is my poem just the same:

where i'm from
by janaya l. johnson

i am from the smell of rain, from super glue and hot dogs after bedtime.

I am from the big backyard, sunny, prickly, it sounded like squeaky swings and trampoline springs.

i am from the aloe vera plant, the summer tomatoes, warm, firm and juicy.

i'm from the nightly dinners and laughter, from time spent with jayce and overwhelming love for the grandpa i never met.

i'm from no singing at the dinner table, and i can't wait til' daddy gets home! from "i left the key in the dryer" and "you can have it if you can open it".

i'm from helaman 5:12. from "but if not", and Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

i'm from provo to the desert, and "our hearts are tied to the land". from fry bread and beans, and ice cream on porches.

from the regret of not hugging grandma johnson the last time i saw her, and the stubborn ingenuity of maureen, not maurene.

from pictures and projects all packed up in boxes, memories saved for another day.

i am from the scar you can't see and the Father that healed me. from baby blanky and cartwheels and love that's eternal.


welp, i hope that was worth the wait. haha.

healthy wealthy and wise …

     when i got back up to school this semester i knew i was in need of finding a second job. my hours at idaho pacific were getting cut way back because sarina was returning to scales while she was in school and so there was one more person we had to split the night hours with. i was pretty relieved when my bishop told me i could work for him at deseret industries during the first week of school. however, almost a month after that, and still not having started working yet i was getting a little ancy. then, last thursday night i received an email about a job on campus i had applied for at the end of last semester, it said that if i was still interested then i should go to this certain building and talk to them. so, after a night of trying to figure out what i should do i decided to go and talk to them. there was no interview process at all, it was just a, "are you still interested?" to which i said yes. then they asked, "can you start monday?" and i said YES! it was amazing to see the difference in hiring processes. i've been working with and doing things with DO for over a month now and was still waiting to start working, and on campus I walked in on friday and was told i could start working monday, it was glorious! the only catch is, the job i applied for was an early morning janitorial position on campus. and they are not joking when they say early, i work the 4-7am shift in the hart building, which, if you know me, is a funny thought, because i am about as far from a morning person as you can get. it would probably be easier for me to stay up until 4 am to go to work than to try and go to bed early and get up before work, but, life isn't really meant to be easy i suppose. last night i pretty much had to force myself into bed at 930pm and i woke up this morning at 3am. it wasn't that bad, but then again, it was only the first day. i just keeping hoping that the saying, "early to bed and early to rise, makes a (wo)man healthy wealthy and wise" comes true for me! so far i like the job, i cleaned bathrooms today which i thought was fun because i got to make a mess while i cleaned (which is my favorite part of life, making messes) because there are drains under all the sinks in the hart bathrooms and so cleaning them consisted of spraying the cleaner on them, rubbing them with a sponge and then dumping buckets of water on top to rinse them off and just letting everything run down the drain below. i could really get used to cleaning like that! i think i might have drains installed underneath all my sinks in my future house some day, haha. so, all in all, i'm very grateful to be working and i hope that i made the right job choice in the end!

scripture of the day:
D&C 88: 124 Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.

today i am thankful for:
* roommates who leave me happy notes on the bathroom mirror.
* another source of income.
* the patience of others.
* early morning (8am) face time calls from shad that don't seem as early morning as they used to.
* music.
* a loving Heavenly Father.
* family.