MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEXT?

Answer: I don't really know, yet. I've been interviewing in Orange County and have an offer in Sacramento. Right now it's out of my hands. I feel like I did well in some of those interviews, so we just have to wait and see if the fit is right!

Until then, I'm hanging out up here in Sac and working on the inaugural committee. I use the word "working" very loosely. : ) Actually, it's quite bittersweet because all of the people who I became close with are leaving or have already left. So, I'm using this time to really enjoy their company and be thankful for all the wonderful opportunities I've had so far!

Sarah's Going Away Party

I'm very proud of my friend Sarah. She's been picked up by the McCain campaign already and is going to be their Deputy Director of Strategy. She is brilliant and will be the next Karl Rove! She proved to be my sanity on many ocassions here on the campaign and I miss her already.

We did a going away happy hour for her on Thursday night. Lots of fun people came and toasted her farewell.

Sarah is tall. Much taller than STJ and Clarke.

My friend Sarah.

The four amigos.

Yosemite Trip!

A couple of weeks ago, some friends from work and I traveled up to Yosemite for a long weekend. As shameful as this is, I as a lifelong Californian, had never been, so I was anxious for the trip. Bismarck, a coworker and friend, planned the whole trip and we called him the Camp Director all weekend. He made sure we did a bunch of hikes, went on tours, and had a fancy dress up dinner at the Ahwanhee Hotel.

When we first arrived, we had lunch, then went on a walk to Mirror Lake. It was really a nice and quiet hike/walk. The lake really gives a great reflection and it looks like the mountains are coming out of the water. This is our group. Bismarck, Sarah, Jennifer Clarke, Matt and Lisa Page, Julie, and I. Yes, I know how to set the timer on my camera! : )

Sarah, Clarke, and I. The three amigos!

On Day 2, we decided to take a hike to a waterfall. I wanted to kill everyone on it. It was a 1.8 mile hike each way and throughout those 1.8 miles, we went 1000 feet straight up. This is 3/4 of the way up looking at the bottom of the falls.

My success photo!

The girls at dinner. The Ahwanhee was beautiful and the food was amazing!

We played board games and drank wine at night. On our last night, Bismarck and Sarah had a racoon on their balcony that wanted to play, too. Or maybe he just wanted the licorice.

We woke up to snow on Sunday, and lots of it. It was really beautiful and we enjoyed seeing Clarke run around in it in her PJs. Guess they don't get a lot of snow in Texas where she's from. : ) It was coming down really hard, though, so we left right after breakfast and took the long way home. Thank God we were able to find an In & Out on the trip back!

Lisa's Birthday

Lisa celebrated her 30th birthday in early December, even though her birthday came and went in October. I drove up to LA to visit with she and Steven and it was really fun!

Lisa and Jenny - still celebrating birthdays together 25 years later!

Mr. and Mrs. Fox were there, too!

The birthday girl and her party-planning hubby!

Go Horned Frogs!

While in CO, my dad heard that TCU was playing Colorado State, so we all jumped in the truck and drove three hours north to sit in the freezing cold and watch the Horned Frogs kick some major butt. We bought five dollar tickets and stayed through the third quarter, but we didn't leave until we got some great pics with Superfrog!!!

The girls sporting three versions of Ann Taylor purple.
Horned Frog spirit is alive and well in our family!

Yes, this is me and Superfrog. It is RIDICULOUS.

Me and my beautiful sister, Missie.

Me and my cute daddy!

Danny and Missie only wish that they had the Horned Frog in them...

Thanksgiving in CO!

We went to Castle Rock for Thanksgiving to see Danny and Shannon's new house! It was a blast!!! I loved the community they lived in and spending time with my big little brother was awesome. It's so weird for me to see Danny and Missie as adults. I love thinking about Missie turning the doll heads around at night so they wouldn't watch her sleep and Danny playing Nintendo until he slipped and said "damn" (that put an end to his video game career in the Johnson household!).

Some things never change. Although Danny now cooks, he is still a retard.

I made my traditional sweet potatoes. I was obsessed with them. I don't think that my family and the Bockhackers truly appreciated the sweet sweet goodness of the sweet potatoes. I know for sure that I was the only one who had them for left overs thirteen times a day...

We helped Dan and Shan get a few things for the baby. They needed to turn in the stroller they got for the right color. Shan put together the stroller "system" while Dan and Dad put up the Christmas lights. Look how skinny she is for someone in her eighth month! I'm pretty sure her belly is smaller than mine. Grrrrrrr.

The Johnson Kids

Election Night!

What a celebration we had on November 7!!! The last few days of the campaign were a whirlwind for me because I was traveling up and down the state, doing events with the Gov. I was glad to make so cal my home base for a few days there at the end. We ended up having our victory celebration at the Beverly Hilton, which was super fun. We had a big ass party with a balloon drop and confetti canons, too. When the Governor was called up on stage and the music was blaring and the balloon drop and confetti canons were a go, I had a moment where I almost got choked up. It was so exciting to see everything come to fruition...the months of hard work, the crazy coworkers, the stress, the lack of sleep...it all became worth it.


After the Gov gave his remarks, senior staff went upstairs to the penthouse floor where we let loose and par-tayed. We had a ridiculous food and drink minimum, so basically all night we ended up drinking champagne. At 2am when I wanted to order more, I tried to get the cheapest bottle, but someone came up and got me two bottles of Cristal. So, I was walking around with a bottle of Cristal in my hand the rest of the night. I think I went to bed at 4am.

In the bar - we basically took over the place!

Conyers, Eddie, Ron, and I. Ron was our beloved photographer and on election night, we decided to turn the camera on him!

Me and my boys!

Laura and I. We planned the events together.

I AM OLD!

On November 5, I turned 30 - YIKES! And obviously, because the campaign was two days away from being over, we didn't get to celebrate like I would have wanted, but my wonderful friends and family threw me a big party the week after. Here are some pics from the awesome wine and casino night party!

Clare getting all the candles ready. Yikes, too many!!!

Me and my beautiful sister!

Mom, Dad, and Carlee ruling the craps table!

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Post-Debate Rally

After the Debate on the 7th, we planned a rally for about 500 people. This pic is of Laura and I. Laura is like the event coordinator whereas I basically plan for the Governor's involvement. We have a pretty good system. Laura did the decor and was obsessed with her balloon trees. Too funny. : )

True Friendship/Goodbye to Sam

For the last six months, my beloved Sammy boy has lived with Amy and Christy, two dear friends from church. When I was in a bind to move to Sacramento in less than two weeks, they graciously opened their home to my kitty that I wasn't ready to part with permanently. They loved him and scratched him and put up with his bad litterbox management and in doing so, showed true friendship to me. Knowing that he was shown such love by these girls has made it much easier for me to part with him again...

Aunty Amy O'Donnell (soon-to-be Burcaw) and Sammy-boy.

Aunty Christy and Sammy in their spot on the couch. Apparently, that's where Sammy liked to be best in order to get some good scratches.

As you can see, Sammy really is the world's fattest cat. Hopefully, his new brother and sister will keep him energized and it will help him to lose some weight!

It's a sad sad, but happy day.

Just found out this morning that my mom found a new home for my Sammy-boy. The girls who have been watching him are both getting married and Saturday is their moving day, so I really had to cram to find someone to either give him a temporary home or a permanent home. Since I don't know what I'm doing next, I decided to see if there was someone out there who could love him a lot and give him a happy life. We found her! She's the hostess at my parents local restaurant and she has two other kitties. She loves fat cats and is excited for Sammy to come and live with her. I'm just glad that she'll be able to give a lot of love and affection for my little guy. It's bittersweet, but for the best...

Cute pic of me and my sissy

Just found this pic of my grown-up sister and I at a recent wedding. She's so pretty!

Went to the USC game last night!

Went to my first USC football game last night and got hooked up with some ridiculous tickets. A coworker and I sat with Mike Salmon (brother of former Angel, Tim Salmon) and his wife in the 8th row between the 40 and 50 yard lines. During the third quarter they gave us their field passes and we watched from the sideline. It was pretty AMAZING!

CRP Convention in LA

Last weekend was the CRP Convention in LA. It was fun because I was there working all weekend, but still got to see my CWLA girls! The Gov had three appearances on Saturday, so I was running around like a crazy person, somewhat, but then on Sunday, we did an event at the First AME black church in LA, and it was so awesome and so energizing!!!

Me and Jennifer on Friday at a CWLA meeting. Such a sweet friend who I miss very very much when I'm away in Sac!

The Freyerettes in action once again!

Best girlfriends!

Me at work on Friday in the CFS staff room. We had two staff rooms up and running at convention that were staffed all weekend long. Fortunately, I was able to be mobile and still get work done. All weekend, I kept thinking how crazy and weird my life has become. I'm having an amazing time, though, and I'll never forget these times!!!

Bus Tour

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the big green bus traveled through southern CA recently and Aunt Corinne brought Grandma and Grandpa to a stop in Temecula. Because the event was so crazy, they skipped out and came and saw the bus for a few minutes. It was so neat to show them what I get to do...sorta. : )

My cute Grandpa Wally and Grandma June on the bus with me!

and Aunt Corinne, too!

Lake Powell - 06

Haven't had much time for the photo blog, but I do have a smattering of new photos to share with the world!!! Below are some fun pics from the Johnson Family Houseboat Trip.

My cute Dad!

He'd probably tell you that this is his favorite place in the world -- in the driver's seat of the boat with his kids in tow. : )

Rooster Tail!

For those of you non-skiiers, getting a good spray isn't that easy, you have to cut hard and get a good lean, which is tricky. I try to out-do myself every time I get out behind the boat and am pretty proud of this one! : )

Daddy's Girl!

Me and my lil bro (hard to believe that he'll be a dad in the winter!)