Céline Marie Claudette Dion

If you think you know me, then you know that I am overly obsessed with Celine Dion.

In 2007 Kristine got us tickets for the Celine Dion world tour that was coming to Salt Lake. After months and months of waiting, Celine became sick and cancelled. Tears were shed (actually a lot of tears were shed because it was supposed to be her last time performing, HA!).

Christmas break 2010: Brit, Kaycie, & I were snowed in one night blasting Celine Dion. We then spontaneously purchased tickets to go see her at Caesars Palace later that spring. Kristine will agree, it was the most unbelievable two hours we have ever experienced. We had waited so long for that. Ever since bringing our family's boom box into our room blasting my Mom's Let's Talk About Love album from '97.

Coming home and bragging to Shaun about the life changing event, I only hoped he could one day experience it with me. Fast forward a year-ish later, we were planning our honeymoon. Of course I managed to include going to Dion in Vegas. Here I was 4 years later from our last cancelation-breakdown and she did it again to me! Couldn't believe it.







Well we are a couple short months away from our 1 year anniversary and Shaun has a business trip in Vegas. Perfect right? RIGHT. So February 20th is the day! SJ finally gets to see what I have been talking about for years. Celine, please take care of your voice. I would hate to make this a 3rd disappointment. . .

Johnson Gangnam Style

I forgot to include one of the number one highlights of Christmas in Utah. The Johnson klan made this video to send to our missionary brother who is serving in Pittsburgh. It's one of his favorite songs. Shaun was pretty proud that it was all filmed with his iphone 5. Aren't my in-laws AMAZING?!

side note: please at least make it to 2:45 where my father in-law's 
boot totally comes off.
I died. died.

one more side note: do not be alarmed about my hair.

some people think the half high pony-tail was a serious thing.

I can assure you, it was not. 

Utah Highlighters

Had to get the klan together before everybody left for the break.

Early Christmas present: N64 (BEST EVER)

Spending time with the girls.

Attending the most favorite cousin's wedding. He found a good one!

Spending much needed time with my goofy family. (Minus Steven & Lindsay)

Yankee Swap

Temple Square pretty much everyday.

Time with Miss Shepherd: 3rd grade teacher-extroadinare

Lots & lots of nephew time

Missing Kev

New Years Eve cheers.

Johnson Juice Fast: Day 4

Shaun:


Well a lot has happened since our last post.  We have both moved out of the headache "detox" stage!  Which was a nice feeling.  However, for various reasons, I began to do a little more research about juice fasts and what to expect and not expect.  Basically I found a lot of people saying what I had read yesterday about fasts that last more than 3 days.  If you do more than 3 days, it's usually because you want to lose weight fast.  Nicole and I can't afford to lose too much wait and she already lost more than I thought.  So we decided that we would end it on day 4!!

I'm actually glad we originally committed to do a week.  If I had said 4 days or even 3 days from the start, it would have seemed impossible.  But we shot for 7 days, and landed on 4.  Still very cool experience and we will still juice regularly I think! (I mean, we bought the juicer right?)

We are definitely not experts on juicing now, but here are some tips that I wish I would have thought of before doing it:

1. A juice fast longer than three days is for weight loss.  The cleanse takes place in the first 3 days.
2. Find a farmers market or some place with affordable fruits and vegetables!  This was more expensive than I anticipated.
3. Try and choose some juice recipes and estimate the quantities you need of each thing so you're not shooting in the dark.
4. Bring extra juice to work or school!  Don't set yourself up to be hungry!
5. Think about starting on a Friday if you work.  It's nice to feel tired and groggy on the weekend and not have to go into work or school.
6. The worse you eat right now, the worse the detox will feel.  Set yourself up for the fast by eating vegetables and fruit a few days before for your meals.

Anyway, I'm glad we did it and I think it was a great accomplishment.  We felt great by the end, so we would recommend it to others.  But we were probably not as organized as we should have been with our juices and studying up beforehand.  Thanks for reading!

Nicole:

I'm so happy that we did this! Day 1 I was so bugged that I even mentioned this documentary to Shaun but I'm so happy that we accomplished it. 4 days, wow.  Like Shaun said, due to doctors orders, we had to end the fast early but we did it long enough to accomplish the goal that we had made. 

I feel like I have a lot more energy than I did. Like I have previously mentioned, my eyes have been opened to some of the foods that I was eating before and how they are putting our bodies through the ringer when we eat it. My phantom eating between bigger meals will also be changing. It wasn't the goal but of course it was great to lose a few pounds here and there. I think I will probably try this again in the future to clear out and cleanse my body. Although we are breaking our fast, we will continue to have juices with our meals. How could we not with this great change that our bodies have gone through? 

Also, I have learned that the body always needs to be drinking water even when it's not on the fast. So my water intake will definitely be going up. Feeling 100% hydrated feels amazing. I think more than anything I am so proud of myself. I was extremely worried when Shaun would go to work but I guess I got some amazing self control in me somewhere when it comes to food. Who knew? This was an incredible experience. EVERYBODY should do at least the detox portion. 

Johnson Juice Fast: Day 3

Shaun:

Day 3 comes to a close!!  I made a breakfast juice for Nicole and myself this morning.  Mango, orange, and carrot.  I also made a lunch juice to take with me.  I took a little more than I would normally drink just to be on the safe side.  It wasn't enough!  I downed all of it at about 11:30 and then when 2:30 rolled around I was hungry again but I had another 3 hours before I was home and could juice again.  So that was not a fun afternoon.

I started getting the headaches at work today.  Probably similar to what Nicole was feeling yesterday.  I did a lot of reading on juice fasts on my lunch break and that's a common side effect.  Also, throughout the day I have been having crazy hiccups!  I did some research on that and it turns out that's a common side effect of fasting and of sudden diet changes.

I'll have to bring more juice to work tomorrow.  Nicole and I have both lost more weight than we thought we would on this diet.  It has been surprising.  Especially Nicole.  I was reading up on it and I guess most people who just want a detox do a 3-day juice fast.  Anything beyond that is usually for weight loss.  That is something we did not realize when we decided to do this, so I was wishing I had done more research before.  Anyway, we'll just keep an eye on it.


Nicole:

Today was a GREAT day simply because I didn't have any headaches. I didn't have a ton of energy but I was okay. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel that says "big energy boost" so I hope I get there! It's ten times easier to choke drink juices down than it was the first day! I think I have sort of retrained my taste buds. As far as digestion goes, these juices have totally worked over my body. As far as I'm concerned, I'm totally cleaned out.

Being alone today while doing the juice fast was the hardest thing ever! If it wasn't for Shaun, I think I would have given up the first day. I just couldn't even walk into the kitchen, except for making my juice or I would have been too tempted. I'm glad that we can do things together, even if it is this :)

Today I think my eyes were opened to how bad certain foods are for our bodies. Much to my dismay, people continued to post their meals on social media and some were just ridiculous. It was just gross to look at. I honestly felt like Gollum from "Lord of The Rings" (SJ, be proud) during that time:

that is disgusting how can people put that in their bodies?

what? that looks amazing! a week ago I would have paid money to eat that.

once I can eat solids again, I will never put that in my mouth.

I know what I'm having when this is over..

I am proud to say that I think the Smeagol in me prevailed. I'm surprised how this is getting better. Day 3 = my mind is more clear when it comes to different foods. Like Shaun mentioned, the weight loss might be an issue. We'll see what tomorrow brings, cheers ladies and gentlemen!