Mrs and Mrs Johnson: 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!