season's greetings from imagine learning!

I happen to think that I have the greatest job. As in ever.

I get asked a lot who I work for and what my company does. Let me explain, because, as mentioned, I have the best job. Imagine Learning is an educational software company headquarted in Provo, Utah. The software we develop (I’m not a developer or programmer—I’m in marketing)  is used primarily in elementary schools to help teach English to English learners, struggling readers, students with disabilities, and early childhood education students. We have an incredibly talented team of people that we work with, we’re a company making a difference in the lives of thousands of children, and we manage to have a lot of fun in the process. Like I said, I love everything about my job.

If you’ve never checked out Imagine Learning’s website, you should look at it sometime. Click here to see this year’s holiday e-card we created and released today. Enjoy! (And it’s possible that I’m one of the five carolers recorded. Sorry.)

christmas music!

One of my coworkers sings with the Utah Chamber Artists. A few of us from work went up to see their Christmas concert this week at the U. 

i L-O-V-E christmas music 

(Can't even being to tell you how excited I am for the MOTAB / David Archuleta concert next week.)

Yes, I love the secular, cocktail party-ish music. But what I really love is to hear an orchestra and choir perform songs about Christ's birth. It's one of those things that makes me feel like my heart is going to burst and makes me cry every time.

[Me and Lace at the concert.]

byu alumna

I graduated from school almost exactly one year ago. Since middle-of-the-year graduates aren't qualified enough to merit their own commencement and convocation ceremonies, I had to have mine 4 months later in the spring. The only thing that annoyed me about that was that the free tee my alma mater gave me says "BYU 2010 Graduate." Get it right, cougars... 2009.

Major: Biology

Minor: English

Current profession: Marketing

love:

Did anyone else fall in love with fall when they saw these pictures (found here and here)?

travels to here

I have a fun job. They sent me here last week:

Then after I left there I was able to fly here for the weekend:

But now I'm back here:

[I will have you know that that's an aerial shot from a hot air balloon ride.]

too soon?

Save the Date: December 18

If you didn't attend our annual Christmas Wrap party in '09, you're in for a treat this year. I promise you won't want to miss it. If you are traveling from out of state, start looking for airfare now. More deets to follow.

happy halloween

Celebrating early this year.

families are forever

Phone conversation with my mom, Carlyn, last night:

C: I've been thinking about Joyce. I want you take her dinner.

A: I've tried. She won't let me.

C: I don't care. Make her some soup and take it over tomorrow.

After I barged into Joyce and Owen's house tonight, I was able to sit down and talk with them for a little bit. Joyce is my great-great aunt. She, in one word, is lovely. She is my grandma Gloria's aunt. Gloria is my dad's mom. My dad's parents died when I was three, but I have a number of memories of them.

Conversation with Joyce as soon as I walked in and sat down:

J: Look at how beautiful you are!

A: Hi, Joyce!

L: I mean it. Isn't she just something to look at, Owen?

O: Yes, she is.

A: No, no, but thank you.

J: No really, how'd you get a face like that?

A: [I'm extremely embarrassed.] Oh, Joyce.

J: I wish Gloria could see you.

A: Me too.

J: Really. If only she could see you. She'd be so proud.

After I said goodbye, I got in my car, drove down the mountain, and thought about a lot of things. I thought of how much goodness that woman has in her. I thought of how much I'd love to talk to Gloria and Aaron and have them get to know me, to tell them what I've been doing and what I want to do. I thought of how, 20 years later, my dad still gets teared up when he talks about them. How my uncle Stuart's laugh is what I imagine Aaron's to be like. How much I loved hearing people tell me all weekend, "You have Gloria's eyes." How I hope to carry their name well. How fun it will be to be with them again some day. 

What a blessing to know that families can be forever.

Grandma Gloria, Ryan and me taking a little train ride.

laura's wedding

You know it's love when you go through the trouble of legally changing your last name from Johnson to Jensen.

My sister, Laura, got married this past weekend to Steve Jensen. Our whole family was here (minus Ryan of course) and we had a great time! It was so fun to have a lot of our extended family out here as well and to also be able to get to know the Jensens. They're a great family and we loved spending time with them.

This was just outside of the Oquirrh Mountain temple (pronounced OH-kur) where L&S were sealed. Keith at this point was mentioning how she's run him dry when it comes to the moneys. She laughs but it's true.

L and Carlyn. Mom's looking fab as always.

 Who needs Ryan anyway? 

(Yeah right, who am I kidding? Miss him like crazy.)

Steve-O enjoying the luncheon. I apologize that this was one of the only pictures I have of the two of them together. 

 At the reception at White Willow in Provo. It was lovely. 

This is my mom's fav pic... I seemed to have found L's boobs more exciting than the camera.

The pretty blonde in the middle of our family picture is my friend Lacey. I've asked her to wait for Ryan and marry him. (She thinks I'm crazy.) I also asked her to come to the reception to meet the family and see if she'd be able to put up with all of us. Aaron wasn't shy about showing his approval.

it's breast cancer awareness month

The summer after my sophomore year of college, I had to go to a doctor for some tests. Part of these tests included a breast exam, something I'd never before experienced. My doctor found a lump in my left breast. I had to go in for a biopsy. I was 20. My then-boyfriend came to Ohio to visit me during this same week. I remember sitting at our kitchen table eating breakfast with my family. Someone mentioned how I was awaiting test results. My boyfriend had no idea. I brushed it off and said, "I'm sure it's nothing." Luckily, I was right. My doctor did, however, encourage me to perform a self breast exam each month. I've done it. I'd encourage everyone to do the same, even if you're young like me.

I know some truly exceptional women who are breast cancer survivors. One of those incredible women is Laurie McGuire. She was like my second mom while I grew up with this little terror of a best friend (bestie pictured below in gold):

The McGuires: Jim, Brooke, Laurie

The Johnsons: Keith, Amanda, Carlyn

[Senior Prom 2004]

(I was really just kidding, Brooke-E. You're the greatest.)

Mrs. McGuire is now cancer free and doing great. I couldn't be happier. Thank you, Mrs. McGuire, for being such an inspiration of optimism and faith during your time of trial. I don't think I've ever seen you without that beautiful smile on your face. Love you!

my flight with noah

The flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Santiago, Chile is 9.5 hours.

I was in the window seat. My friend Abby was right behind me. Just about everyone had gotten on the plane and the seat next to mine was empty. I was happy. Then a younger man with his hair in a ponytail down to his waist walked in the aisle toward me. He looked at the seat at my side. I regretfully wished in my head that he would keep walking. He did not. He began talking to me. I do not like talking to strangers on planes.

He asked me why I was going to Santiago. I told him I was going for vacation. He asked why there of all places. I told him I had lived there before. He asked why. I told him I’d been a missionary for my church for a year and a half in Santiago. He looked at me differently.

He continued to make small talk with me. I was surprised. Due to my own slight lack of comfort, I tried to find an opportunity to end the conversation. He kept talking to me about his life. Finally I realized there was something he wanted to talk to me about. I felt ashamed for not having listened to his words unspoken as well as I should have been.

“Tell me more about you being a missionary.”

He was sincere. So I told him. I told him what church I’m part of. I told him why I went. I told him how much I loved it and how deeply I miss that part of my life. Then I stopped talking so he could continue.

“I think I’ve been to one of your churches before in Bolivia a long time ago. I went in one day. I just walked by and went in.”

I kept listening.

“I went in because I was searching for something at that point in my life.”

I gave him a faint smile.

“I think I’m still searching actually.”

He paused and pondered for a little bit the next words he wanted to say. “See, when you mentioned you had been a missionary when I first sat down, I knew I couldn’t have been sitting by you by accident.”

I asked him what he believed in. I listened to his response and I told him what I knew—that God knows him, that God has never left him alone. He asked me some more questions. I told him that we all have a purpose here on earth and that we are here to be tested. I told him that before he came to earth he knew these things and had just forgotten them. I told him a lot of other things. He asked me how I knew all of this. I told him about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ through a prophet—the very same church Christ had established while He lived on the earth. I told him about a book that’s the most correct of any book on earth, a book that contains the fullness of the gospel and is another testament of Jesus Christ. I told him that God is his Heavenly Father and that He wants him to find happiness. He listened. He nodded. I invited him to come to church with me if he was going to be in Santiago that following Sunday. He said he would try.

A few hours later we landed in Santiago. He asked me for my email address. He thanked me. I told him how happy I’d been to meet him. We got off the plane, stood in line at customs, and he waved to me as he left the airport.

I feel bad that I had not been the one to start the conversation with Noah. I would have been perfectly fine had I not said a single word to him that whole time on the plane. How did that happen to me? I used to leave my apartment every day excited to talk to as many people as I could to tell them what I know, whether they wanted to hear it or not. In the same amount of time that I flew from Atlanta to Santiago, I used to talk to 100 people (literally), testifying of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. Yet I almost missed an opportunity to tell someone about something he’s been sincerely searching for for years.

There are people all around us who are searching for something. Peace. Happiness. Direction. Comfort. Purpose. Love. The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us how we can find these things. We have a great role to play in helping people come unto Jesus Christ.

“And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.” Doctrine & Covenants 24:12

chile: viña del mar & valparaíso

Viña del Mar and Valparaíso are two cities located on the coast of Chile. They're only about an hour away from Santiago and we took a Greyhound-type bus there and back just for the day. This was my first time there and I loved it. These cities are very touristy and very adorable. There's the beach, there are all these colorful houses on the hills, there's an incline you can ride up the mountain, there are little shops and markets, there are lots of foreigners.

 We took a boat ride to view the coast of Valparaíso. Gorgeous.

Me, Carolina Villagran (she also served her mission in Santiago and now lives there), Tomás and Valentina on the boat going around Valpo.

 A view from the incline.

 Another view from the top of the hill. These houses are so fun.

 The incline.

Viña del Mar at night. Definitely didn't get in the water.


viña del mar en la noche from Amanda Johnson on Vimeo.


la playa from Amanda Johnson on Vimeo.

chile: la comida

Yes, that's right. Food. Basically every American I've ever talked to about Chilean food thinks that it's spicy. We'll blame it on the fact that both Chile and Mexico speak Spanish, but nothing could be farther from the truth. (I took a box of Hot Tamales down with me for people to try... 0 for infinity on people liking them.) The food down there isn't spicy, it isn't crazy, it isn't complicated, it's just good. Because I was there during the week of Fiestas Patrias, we ate a lot of the best, typical food Chile has to offer.

 Cazuela. Soup with meat, potatoes, corn, green beans and rice. You drink the soup first and then eat the meat and veggies.

 CocaCola (or Biltz... the red soda) and ensalada (cut up lettuce mixed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt). I don't quite know why but I assure you that the Coke down there tastes what I would expect liquid gold to taste like.

 Empanadas de pino (meat empanadas). These bigger ones are baked in the oven (rather than the smaller fried ones). They're stuffed with ground beef mixed with onion and cilantro (that's what's called pino), a large olive and half of a hard-boiled egg.

 Asado (barbeque). Meat, pan (bread), lettuce ensalada, ensalada rusa (russian salad which = potato salad), ensalada chilena (chilean salad which = cut up tomatoes, julienned onions and cilantro) and Pap (the Papayan flavored soda). Delish.

Completo. A chilean hot dog on homemade bread topped with diced tomatoes, mashed up avocado and mayo. They may look disgusting, I'll give you that, but they are a dream. This one was the length of my forearm and that's what was left of it after I was done eating lunch.

chile: dieciocho activities

Dieciocho = Chile's Independence Day = September 18th = A Lot Of Days Off To Party

{When you see the flag raised at every imaginable place possible, you think 'My, how patriotic these people are.' Then you remember that if they don't have it up, they'll be fined.}

This year was their bicentennial. I was told that the Chilean congress made it a national law that everyone would have 1...2...3...4! days off to celebrate. I'm glad I could participate.

Tomás, Abby and I joined 59,997 other people at la Moneda (Chile's governmental building) in el Centro on Thursday night to see a light show they projected onto the front of the building. It was both a lot of fun and a lot of pushing.


el show de luces from Amanda Johnson on Vimeo.


On Friday we went to this park that had something similar to a fair going on. There was a rodeo  (see below) but it wasn't like an American rodeo. It was mostly dancing. But people were riding horses... I guess that's why it's still called a rodeo:

I also went to a ward activity on Friday night where there was more dancing. La cueca is Chile's national dance. It involves a handkerchief, fun dresses and suits called trajes de huaso, and a lot of footwork.

la cueca from Amanda Johnson on Vimeo.

chile: acoustic nights

Last week I went back to Santiago, Chile.                  

                                         It.was.a.dream.

I'm going to post some pictures and videos. I'm sorry, but I can't post the excitement that I felt to be there. I also can't put everything in just one post.

Pia Martinez and Tomas Hernandez. This family is one of my favorites from when I lived down there. I adore them. My friend Abby and I stayed at their house for the week. Every night around 11p, we'd all sit in their family room and have an acoustic night. Take a little looksie:


mi canción preferida from Amanda Johnson on Vimeo.

september first

I love September, October, November. I am obsessed with the fall. Basically just everything about it. I know it hasn't started yet, but it's coming soon. I do miss these trees and colors, though:

[Downtown Hudson, Ohio... you know, the hometown.]

Was it extremely strange not buying notepads, pens, $600 worth of textbooks, and walking to campus on Monday? Yes. School starting is like permission for Fall to start. Let me say that I loved my entire BYU experience. Think back 6 years to May 1. I had 4 days left to make my final decision of where I'd be attending college. I applied to 5 universities my senior year, got into 4 of them (the one that rejected me isn't one I like to talk about much), and received scholarships for 3. I was ready to sign the paper that would have allowed me to go here every fall when I felt I needed to change my mind. So, instead of being a Buckeye, I became a Cougar... sans scholarship. I never wanted to go to BYU. I applied only because that's what you do and didn't think twice about it until May 1. Deciding to go to BYU was one of the best decisions I've made. Like I said, loved [almost] every minute of it.

just a random picture

My hair smells good. It's because I went here and touched up this:

The Aveda line smells better than any other product. Minus Moroccan Oil hairspray. I've been using Aveda for years. Come October 9, though, it's back to the all over dark brown.

remembering

I wanted to write while I was thinking what I’m thinking and feeling what I’m feeling. My blog entries are mostly for my own benefit. A few nights ago I decided to read from one of my journals. I opened up to a date a few months before I finished my mission. I don’t have words to adequately say how I miss it. I remember thinking when I was done that I would never have done it over, knowing what I knew then. Tonight I thought, I’d give anything to be there again, doing those same things.

I remembered people that I love in a way so different than how I love anyone else. I remembered miracles every day. I pictured houses, street vendors, high-rise buildings, busses, dirty city streets, the feria, graffiti, mountains, smog, beautiful dark brown eyes. I heard the metro passing by, cars honking, rain clapping against tin roofs, children yelling, strangers making kissing noises, doors closing, heartfelt thank yous being exchanged. I remembered how it felt having someone tell you that you were like an angel to them. How I wanted to be a better person and how I set goals every day to try to do that. How I was asked to do things I never thought imaginable. I remembered feeling unbearably alone at times. I remembered how much help I received from unseen powers. How I looked to the examples of so many great people God put in my path. How I prayed. How the scriptures became essential to me. How my faith was beginning to grow unshakeable. How obedient I wanted to be and tried to be. How inadequate and imperfect I felt. How for the first time I’d ever done anything entirely for someone else. How I’d never before felt happier. I remembered the sound of Presidente Moran’s voice and what his powerful testimony looks like in action and how much I love him and his family—how they’ve helped mark my life. I thought of lessons learned that I’ve since forgotten and need to remember again.

I bought a ticket to go to Chile in September. I got teary eyed thinking about it. I'm so happy to go back.

new faves

Sometimes I'm a bit of an insomniac. One of those moments would be now. It's almost 2 am and my alarm is set for 4 hours from now. (That probably won't happen.) Here are a few things I'm recently obsessed with. And I give credit where credit is due.

Exhibit A

This is not something you will regret buying. My aunt Kristen (whom I recently told knows everything about everything) showed it to us. Smelt it. Bought it. In love with it.

Exhibit B

"Elaine was concerned that Gary was drinking too much soda, so she kept them by her feet at all times. To retaliate, Gary threatened to loosen the umbrella buoys."

Welcome to Catalog Living. I find this blog laugh-out-loud funny. Jenny blogged about it first and now here I am stealing her idea. It takes images from catalogs and writes about the people that live in them. I'm still laughing.

Exhibit C

Karma boutique. Darling. Bought a shirt there. Probably my favorite of all the hundred I frequented on Saturday. 85 S. Main St, Pleasant Grove, Utah. Again, the relative who could probably win Jeopardy introduced us.

Exhibit D

The new neighborhood. More room. More privacy. More new. More up on the mountain. More better.

sister day

My sister's name is Laura. I call her Elle. No one else does. She lives a few hours away and it's always nice when she comes down. She and her bf were newly engaged (as in, it happened on Friday), so it was fun to see her and take a little looksie at this:

We had a successful aunt slash cousin day, shopping at all of the local boutiques. We went to at least a hundred and I'm amazed that they knew about all of these, as I'd never heard of a one. Boutique shopping, in my opinion, is fun just for the pretty bag you get out of it when you make a (usually expensive) purchase.

[Steve and Elle. The only thing non-ridiculous about this picture is my new burnt orange heels that she's sporting.]

Next it was the in-laws' family bbq that I crashed. It was fun being able to meet Steve's family at their place and enjoy some great food.

Then came the real fun. Moving day for Amanda. While I had planned on packing all morning and moving in the afternoon, family time took precedence. We did not start packing or moving until 9 pm. We finished around 1 am. It's not quite done yet, but it feels homey.