birthday!! and a shocking surprise.

yes, that's right.  this week {thursday} was my twenty-first birthday.  because the last year has sincerely taken me for a whirl, i'll be updating soon.  new profile.  new layout.  new life lists.  new goals {i do this by birthday more than by year...i think it makes them more personal}.  new pictures.  new-ish me. . . . but not really more grown-up.  i've officially decided i don't believe in growing up.  not that i'm throwing responsibility to the wind and joining the peter pan generations, here.  i'm just not growing up in the usual sense.. i'm growing up in the literal sense.

thanks mostly to the saintly natalie, my birthday celebration was an absolutely fabulous blast.  she made me breakfast, bought me a package of guilty pleasure veggie corndogs, planned, organized, decorated, and more.  a little group of close friends {natalie, sabrina, beth, genni, and me} went to dinner at happy sumo  - YUM sushi. so so great.  later that night, we played spit for hours, watched emperor's new groove, ate mountains of cupcakes, threw over a hundred yellow balloons around, played some kazoo, attempted an unsuccessful learning session of killer bunnies, and generally had a ball.  my birthday had really been kicked off the night before {starts at midnight!} with a thrilling, ear-splitting round of happy birthday by the general living room crowd.

mostly, i felt loved - which is what a birthday is all about.

sadly, the decorations came down yesterday in preparation for our vigorous cleaning checks {PASS}.

and now for my news...
this coming summer, i will not be blogging from little happy valley.  i won't be blogging from home-sweet-home-ivins, either.  i'll be blogging from seattle!
shocked?
i was, too.

remember that internship i applied for?  well, there are two branches: one in provo, one in seattle, washington.  i applied for the provo branch.  logically, i'd be close to home, wouldn't have to drive my car all over a huge city...it just made sense.  but guess what?  they offered me a spot in seattle.  and guess what?  i took it!  i'm nervous, anxious, eager, excited, scared, anticipatory, still shocked, horribly sad to be leaving my family for a solid four months, fabulously thrilled by the thought of such a huge adventure, and feeling so many different and contradictory things i don't know how to react. except for excited. i am that.  also nervous. i know i'm that, too.
did i say nervous?

satisfactorily, i can now say to my dear little future: i found you!

adventure, here i come!
i feel a little like buzz lightyear. see, for me, seattle is practically infinity.  i can't even imagine what beyond would look like!

i have the most amazing little sister.

hailey jo.
it's not really what her name is (my parents thought hailey jo johansen might be a little much), but it's what we've called her since she was born.  since the day she came home to us, we knew she was destined to be great, to be important, to be beautiful.  with dark curly crazy hair and wild green eyes to match, she stands the tallest of the johansen women - beating me by almost an inch and a half.  she loves cats and dogs just as much as i do, and gives our two a little extra love for me while i'm away from home.  she's slightly more than five years younger than me, but you wouldn't know it to look at us.

despite her age (most high school girls need a wakeup call, and i can say that because i was one of them once), hailey is cool.  really cool.  because of her early determination and stubborn nature, she's on her way to becoming a master pianist, already wowing us.  at every trip home, one of my favorite moments is lying on the couch and listening to her play.  i could do that for hours, and i miss hearing that everyday just as much as i miss my kitties.  you'd think a brilliant pianist would steer away from high school sports slightly, right?  not hailey.  not only does she decidedly not avoid crazy high school competition, she chose the most intense to participate in.  my sister's part of one of the first rugby teams in utah.  i can't wait to see her play.  add to the list a few more things: her passion for political discussion; love of education, literature, and history; her intense game of chess; and her strength of testimony in her Savior.  she makes incredible raspberry cornmeal pancakes and perfect buttercream frosting which is just the right compliment to my cupcake obsession phases.  she's willing to try just about anything - once at least, and because of that has a wide range of loves.  she owns rock climbing shoes and heels.  can beat me at spit and sprints {but not chess - yet}.  i help her with her math homework and she tells me all she knows about current political candidates.  she already knows what colleges she wants to attend, which degrees she's aiming for, and has a working oh, probably 20 year plan laid out.

this girl's got it figured out.

i love you, haimee.
and can't wait to see you in four days!