Date Night In: January

Happy New Year! We hope you and your loved ones are off to a positive and productive new year.

We decided to start a new project this year. Our project.....a date-night-in basket! We plan to each take turns planning a date night in for us to do together. We got the idea after reviewing the many subscription boxes for date nights. After much consideration I decided it would be more fun to plan the activities ourselves and take turns surprising each other. 

For January's date-night-in basket, I planned a game night. I found a basket that reminded me of my wife while shopping at Home Goods. It is white with natural wood. We both love the look of white with natural or dark finished wood. I am sure there will be many uses for the basket next year (cat toy basket for Leo, cosmetics basket, candle basket...). I also picked up some blue plastic wine glasses, a heart shaped platter, and some "English fudge" while at Home Goods. 

I quickly ran into Michael's to find a way to add a sign for our date night basket and was off to Target. I spent quite sometime in the game section at Target, and finally decided on the board game Clue, which was my favorite game as a child. 

Tracy fell in love with some mint cookies we bought at Target during her first summer here in Arizona and we haven't been able to locate it since. I crossed my fingers and looked for them again with no luck so I settled on peanut butter cookies and a bottle of wine. My mom actually picked the wine as I was taking forever and we had dinner plans. She actually picked a really great bottle considering that she doesn't drink at all and made her decision based on the color of the bottle and the cheap price. I quickly threw the basket together before heading off to dinner with my mom. 

When Tracey and I got home after picking her up from work, I surprised her with our first date-night-in basket. We opened the bottle of wine, I put the treats on the heart dish, lit some candles, and opened the game. 

"I am just walking around trying to assess the situation"- Tracey while losing at Clue 

We played the game Clue a couple times and enjoyed catching up. Tracey and I are working very opposite schedules right now so it was great having an opportunity to just talk to each other. For so much of our relationship we connected by calling, texting, skypeing, emailing and writing letters. I would never want to spend time apart again, but I do miss the communication. In someways we communicated more apart. It is so easy to get lost in talking about the grocery list, or cat food. However, those more meaningful conversations are so easily lost in the hustle and bustle of life. We enjoyed our date-night-in on the 14th of January. 

We enjoyed our date-night-in on the 14th of January. Our anniversary from when we started dating is October 14th, and we like to do something small each month to celebrate. Our date-night-in basket worked perfectly was a way to celebrate our 27th month anniversary. 

We loved our first date-night-in and are already looking forward to next month's date. 

January's Date-Night-In Basket:

• The board game Clue
• A bottle of wine
• Turquoise plastic wine cups- they will be reused at the pool this summer
• A blue heart pillow 
• A heart shaped dish
• English fudge 
• Peanut butter cookies
• Tea candles
• A scented candle

We hope our project inspires you to find fun ways to stay connected to the people most important to you. Do you have any suggestions for a date-night-in? We would love to hear from you! 

- Shannae 

2016 Highlights Part 2

2016 Highlights Part 2- The year we became Mrs. & Mrs. 

July 2016

July is my birthday month and my favorite month of the year. As a teacher, I get to celebrate my birthday with a whole month off of work. This year was extra special. My mom took Tracey and I to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my siblings for my birthday. This was after she threw a wedding for us in her backyard. I sure am spoiled by my mom. I had an amazing time. I grew up with  Harry Potter as a central part of my existence. Visiting the park was absolutely magical. Having the summer to spend time together was very helpful in Tracey's adjustment to life in America. One of the benefits of being a teacher... summer vacation!

 

August 2016

I went back to work in early August leaving Tracey at home waiting on her work authorization. It was a long and very hot month. We were able to get away to Sedona for a weekend to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday. We even found a rainbow bench to take a photo. We also drove up to Flagstaff to maximize our time in the cooler weather.  

September 2016

We became a family of three in September. After much consideration we decided to adopt a cat as we live in a small one bedroom apartment far too small for a dog. My sister works at a Animal Clinic and connected us with a local woman who rescues abandoned cats. We set up a time to meet a group of cats and fell absolutely in love with Leo. We did not pick him, he clearly picked us. He was smitten with Tracey from the second they met. It was love at first sight for Leo. Tracey tends to have that affect on people and cats apparently. 

Our fur baby Leo 

October 2016

In October we took a trip on my fall break to Disneyland with my sister and her girlfriend. Our first night at the part we noticed a lot of same sex couples. We asked around and learned that Disneyland was celebrating the unofficial "Gay Days  at Disneyland". We had a wonderful time enjoying the park with other LGBT individuals, couples, and families. We even saw a couple of proposals!  

In October, we also went to a pumpkin patch. We (Shannae) ate everything pumpkin in sight. Tracey carved her very first pumpkin. Both of our pumpkins were cat themed inspired by Leo. We had planned to use our Disney shirts as an excuse to dress up as Minnie but never got around to finding ears so we spend Halloween handing out candy at my mom's house. 

At the end of October, I surprised Tracey by taking a day off of work and driving up north to see fall colors. We spent the day in Flagstaff having a picnic in a park and exploring in the trees. The best part was the cooler weather. It was still way to warm at home so a day in the cool norther air was exactly what we both needed. 

We entered Leo in a pet Halloween costume competition at his Animal Clinic, and he won! He was dressed up as Leonardo DiCATrio. In less than a month Leo turned us into crazy lesbian cat moms. We spend two nights taking hundreds of photos and these were the best photos we could get. We learned that Leo is not a fan of taking photos but does enjoy wearing a bow tie if the occasion warrants it. We also dressed him up in a shirt that said "I love my mummy". It was perfect as he is absolutely obsessed with his mum. 

November 2016

Tracey started working in November at a grocery store next to our home. Of course with the holiday season she worked exact opposite hours as me leaving very little time for us together. We celebrated Thanksgiving at my moms house. Tracey had to work for most of the day, but we saved her lots of Turkey and ended the night with puppy snuggles (with my mom's new puppy Dixie aka Dixie Doodle). We spent the month of November working a ton and preparing for the holidays. We bought our first Christmas tree, took Christmas card pictures, and started shopping for presents. 

December 2016 

What a beautiful end of the year. It inspired our blog because we (Shannae) were again accused of over posting on other social media sites. We attended the Nutcracker with my mom, Shaylee, and Grandma Jean. 

We attended a light festival in town and made our second annual trip to the Phoenix Zoo Lights. Christmas day was family filled. Our family decided to celebrate with Christmas crackers this year so Tracey and I took a photo with my sister Shaylee just as we took one with her sister Sarah last year. We are so incredibly blessed!  

We rang in NYE together once again, this time at home with Netflix, and snuggles with Leo. 

So excited to see what 2017 has in store for us! Happy New Year! 

- Mrs. Shannae Johnson 

2016 Highlights Part 1

2016 Highlights Part 1- The year we became Mrs. & Mrs. 

2016 was a hard year for a lot of people. Both our countries made some very surprising and heart wrenching decisions (Brexit, Trump.... need I continue). Beyond the political losses, we lost an outrageous number idols. Personally, the loss of Alan Rickman seems extra fresh this time of year with Love Actually and Harry Potter on the TV. Yet, none of those losses were as painful as the Orlando Pulse shooting. Although I am a member of the LGBT community, I have always considered myself a passionate ally of the community. I have many LGBT family members who I feel an automatic, protective need to advocate for.  This horrific event reminded me of the importance of visibility in the LGBT community for those of us able to be safely visible.

2016 was a life altering year for us. It certainly had its challenges, but the good by far outweighed the bad. We closed the 5,000 mile gap between us, adopted our son Leo, and became Mrs. & Mrs. 

Here are some of the highlights of our year. 

January 2016

We rang in the NYE 2016 together in a hotel in London. I had an early flight back home to Arizona in the morning on New Years Day, so after a tearful good-bye at London Heathrow we began the longest stretch of time apart since our first meeting.

Tracey created this photo collage for me after leaving me in the airport that morning. You can tell in the top right photo that I had been crying.

I am so thankful we were able to ring in the year together. Starting the year together filled me with hope that 2016 would be a year of more time spent together, than time spent apart. January was really a fog for me with the combination of jet lag, separation pains, and the reality that we were planning a wedding, 5,000 miles apart, without knowing the wedding date. We also were faced with the reality of sharing the news of our engagement to many of our family and friends while apart. We spent much of the month of January waiting for notifications on Tracey's visa status from USCIS. It was the beginning of a the longest wait of our lives.

February 2016 

Tracey and I were apart in February.  We celebrated Valentine's Day via Skype. We both made home-made lasagna and had dinner together to celebrate the day.  Tracey sent me the most adorable ring dish which is still one of my most prized possessions. It reads "future Mrs. Johnson".

We are often asked how we decided to take Johnson as our family/last name. My last name was a long and unique name. As a teacher, I had always hoped to marry someone with a more common and simple last name. When I learned Tracey's last name was Johnson, it was absolutely considered a bonus. In addition, Tracey's father passed away nearly 10 years ago. Keeping his last name was important to Tracey. Taking on his last name was a honor for me and helps me feel connected to the man I never met who raised my wife.

March 2016

For the majority of spring this year, I worked on wedding plans and preparations. I started creating crafts for our wedding in March and sent Tracey frequent photos of my progress. We wanted our wedding to have a vintage travel theme. I found maps of the UK and US in a used book store and used them to create much of our wedding decorations. It was very important to both of us that our wedding was an intimate and personal ceremony. All of the decorations were made by Tracey, me and our families. There were many trips with coupons to the craft store. My fingertips hurt all spring from hot glue gun burns. 

April 2016

By April I was really ready to get my, at the time, fiancee home. Tracey had her visa interview at the US embassy in London and was approved to immigrate to the US. Tracey also celebrated her birthday in England with her family and friends. Many of her birthday celebrations also served as good-bye parties. Tracey decided to stay in England until mid May so she could properly celebrate with her friends before moving to another country.  I am always in awe of the sacrifice Tracey made in moving 5,000 miles to be with me. This adorable pug cake was made by one of her colleges and is the cutest cake I have ever seen. We really could have had this as our wedding cake and I would have been thrilled. 

May 2016 
May was by far the highlight of our year and the highlight of my life. In May Tracey moved to Arizona, we had our bridal shower, and we got married!!! Getting married outside was important to both of us, so we got married as quickly as possible to avoid the harsh Arizona summer heat.

My sister threw us an UP themed bridal shower which went perfectly with our travel themed wedding. The love and support we received from our family and friends was tremendous and completely overwhelming. I was very uncertain of the reactions from my extended family and friends who had not met Tracey prior to our engagement. Fortunately, everyone was just as thrilled as I was to finally have Tracey home.

We were married on May 28 in my Mother's backyard or back garden as Tracey calls it. It was the best day of my life. Our Wedding photos were actually shared on my favorite blog A Bicycle Built for Two. I was actually reading this blog when I received my very first email from Tracey. Having our wedding featured on a Bicycle Built for Two, was something extra special to me. I had hoped and dreamed that someday I would find my forever, and fortunately she was just around the corner (5,000 mile corner that is). My mom and step-dad spent months preparing the yard for our wedding. We were married by my brother Mark. Two of my other siblings did readings in the ceremony and letters from Tracey's family were shared as they were unable to attend our wedding. The day was even better than I planned for. I love that the wedding was held at my moms home. Sometimes, I go and sit in my mom and step dad's backyard, and remember the day I married my favorite person.

June 2016 

We started the month of June on our Honeymoon. We went to California for a week. We made stops in Santa Barbra, Big Bear Lake, and Encinitas. We stayed in an Airbnb each time.We has previous experience staying in an Airbnb in London when we booked a flat for several days and fell in love with Airbnb. I can easily spend an evening on the Airbnb website exploring fabulous places to explore and stay. 

Prior to returning home we made one last stop in San Diego at an English restaurant, Shakespeare's Pub & Grille, and an English market,Shakespeare's Corner Shoppe. Conveniently they are located right next-door to each other.  We had a full English breakfast and stocked up on some English necessities (Milky Bars, Bisto Gravy, Union Jack stickers, HP Sauce...). We have since been back to Shakespeare's Pub & Grille for lunch and highly recommend it to any Brit who is feeling a bit homesick.  Shakespeare's Corner Shoppe has been well stocked on chocolate both times we stopped by, and the chocolate tastes way fresher than any English chocolate we can buy in Arizona. 

See 2016 Highlights Part 2 for the second half of the year. We hope you have a very Happy New Year! 

- Mrs. Shannae Johnson