My Going Away Fiesta - Jan. 11

Leaving Sacramento was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be. I was so fortunate to have made some true friends during the craziness of the campaign. As folks would pack up and start to head out, we frequently threw going away lunches or happy hours. I wanted to do a dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant and then head to Simon's, a pretty popular political bar, one where we all started going when we became friends. It was really neat to see so many friends there and people who I will really miss and hope to keep in touch with for a long time...

Julie, the press secretary. She and I traveled together to most of the events. She kept me sane most times that I wanted to go nuts. She is brilliant and has a huge career ahead of her. I am so thankful to have met her, especially because she is a Christian, too, and we were able to really be there for one another.

Ani, Jennifer, and I.

I love this couple. Lisa and Matt Page are a wonderful and fun-loving couple. From hanging with them in Yosemite, to goofing off at dinners and lunches, to New Year's, they are always up for a fun time and have such amazing capacities for friendship. I'm looking forward to seeing them in February when I head up to Sacramento for a visit!

My pal Schmidty. I was really suprised that he came out because he's a bit on the cantankerous side, but having him there meant a lot to me. I miss his craziness, for sure!

My roommate Erin. She was in true "single and ready to mingle" form that night! HA!

The picture brings joy to my heart. Macedo and the Bizzer.

Josh and Christy Get Married! - Jan. 7

Two of my pals from Fuel got married a couple of weeks ago and I was so happy to have been there to witness it. They are good friends of mine and I couldn't be happier that they found love and are creating a life together!

Waiting for his bride with Justin, our pastor. They did this cool balloon release thing during the ceremony, which was really sweet. Especially in light of the fact that Josh proposed during a hot air balloon ride!

Yeah, they're Mr. and Mrs. Underwood!

Rebekah and I. All of our friends have pretty much left Fuel. They've gotten married and we've graduated on. : )

Inaugural Ball

After the election, the majority of the staff stayed on to help plan the inaugural activities. It was a very wonderful month and a half. It gave us all the opportunity to slow down, relax, and process after the campaign. There were a number of activities over two days with the culmination being the Celebrating the California Dream Gala on Friday, January 5. Clare and Jennifer were both in Sac for it, so we got to boogie together! We even ended up on the stage at one point - shocker, I know! All my girlfriends and I from the campaign went on major crash diets and I was so pumped to get to wear my favorite dress again (the one I wore to the President's inaugural ball in 2005). Donna Summer and Paul Anka provided the entertainment, then there was a sweet ass DJ playing tunes until late into the night. I had a blast and will post more pics as soon as I get them!

How fun to have my best girls from OC there with me!!! Clare and I and another friend ended up at Denny's late that night. Finally, we were able to eat and let the gut go! : )

Donna Summer rocking her tunes and Maria and her girlfriends on the stage being the backup dancers.

Me and Monica. My roommate from the campaign.

Me and Genevieve, my roommate during the inaugural committee. So glad that she lives around the corner from me in Tustin Ranch!

I HAVE ANGER IN MY HEART

The Office was a re-run last night. Boooo.

CONGRATS ROBIN AND JONATHAN!

On Friday morning, Robin and Jonathan welcomed Travis Walker Ayers into the world! He was 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 20” long. Here are some of his first photos!

Looks like he's going to be a little blondie!

Mackenzie (my God-daughter) is going to be such a wonderful big sister!!! Here she is getting to hold her baby brother (with help from Robin!).

I'm so proud of Robin. She's a WONDERFUL mother. She's patient, loving and supportive, and a strong woman. She knows what she wants in a family and she and Jonathan are creating it every day. She's a great partner to Jonathan and supports him in achieving his dreams. She works very hard, even when it's not fun, so that she can have the home life that she deserves. She teaches her children love and respect and values, but most importantly, she teaches them to love the Lord. I can't wait to go and visit and see her and meet little Travis. I know he'll grow up to be a wonderful man someday and that he'll appreciate everything he has in this world because of things he'll learn from his mother and father.

I am a plumber - a little job update

For the time being, I'm working for my dad. I have had a ton of interviews, but no offers yet. I'm not in full-fledged freak-out mode, yet. That's next week. Pray for me to have patience and perspective.

So far, this has afforded me the opportunity to make enough money to pay my mortgage and have some down time. My dad is so wonderful to me. I can't do this forever, though, because I would go crazy with the quiet... I know, you're thinking "Darrol, quiet?!?!" But at work, he's all business! Insane!

NYE

Celebrated NYE in Sacramento this year. We went to Streets of London, a british pub, that hosted a party at 4pm, so we could party with folks in Great Britain. It was loads of fun, and nice to have the celebration done with in the afternoon! TV cameras were in the bar, and just before 4pm, the place got packed! It was really fun and a different way to celebrate the new year.

Me and Matt Green getting ready for the toast.

My roommate Erin. I love this pic!

It's mock-midnight! Yeah!

A few of us at Streets.

After Streets, a few of us went to dinner and then to a party at Lisa's friend's house. Lisa is one of my fav coworkers. We had a great time and I love the date stamp on this pic.

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!