Rivers Decor

Here's a few quick pics of our decor this year...the only thing you aren't seeing is the stockings hung by the chimney. The tree is live, but only 3-4 feet. And there is evidence of our upcoming move in the nativity pic. Fear not, our things have a residence and so do we(temporary). Happy Christmas Season!!!

From Fall to Winter

Hello from the young Johnston family!

When we last wrote, we still had 4 extra cats in our house bringing us to a grand total of 6! We are now back down to our original 2 and that is plenty for us. Having the kittens in our house was a good teaching tool for Adelynn. They also made some great playmates for her and were a constant reminder as to why we love adult cats. Calm, declawed, quiet, adult cats.

We survived the Fair in September (Here’s my top ten favorite things post from the Fair.)

The girls were dressed as Little Bo Peep and her sheep for Halloween this year. Adelynn didn’t know what she wanted to be and my cousin had this lamb costume that her daughter wore. I knew she would let us borrow it and I knew Adelynn would be more than happy to wear a dress, so it made sense.

Dave and I made a quick trip up to KC to go to a friend’s wedding. The wedding ceremony was sweet but the dance was LAME. We were thankful that my long time friend Amee and her husband Nathan were there with us because we always have a good time together.

Adelynn recently started a one morning per week preschool class at Early Ed. We hadn’t really intended to send her for another year, but there’s long waiting lists now, so we were trying to prepare. We found out there was an option that they can start at any time during the year. She gets bored at home I think and this is very good structure for her. She’s doing very well. We have a church friend who is in her class as well.

In the last couple of weeks we have replaced our water heater and we are about done with our bathroom floor. YAY!

Ava has grown an incredible amount in the last month or so. She crawls, goes from crawling to sitting, pulls up, cruises on things, walks with her hands held, prefers to feed herself and can stand alone for a few seconds. She was having rash issues and wasn’t herself for the last couple of weeks. I believe she was teething. Yesterday she was back to being herself - as happy as can be! She loves patty cake and blowing the slobberiest raspberries you’ve ever felt seen! She watched Adelynn’s dance recital on Sunday and enjoyed it.

Speaking of her dance recital… here’s the video :) Adelynn is the fourth from the left. You’ll notice her, I promise! We are so proud of her!! We are looking forward to her big recital in May.

Playing together at Parents As Teachers play group.

The princess dancing with her bear.

This hat was given to Adelynn by Charles. Ava gets to benefit from it as well.



Ava can’t quite make it through church.

It’s so confusing when I say that it will be nice out and then I say that it’s too cold for a short skirt.

Stinker climbed into the laundry basket with the clean diapers.

Adelynn made sure Ava had her turn being the princess.



I made scarves and hair accessories for an event that was cancelled in November due to weather. We will have the event in the Spring, but for now, if you need anything, let me know! Kate has a scarf if you need a reference :)

We have been enjoying the weather while we can!



(Photo by Adelynn)

We are all decorated for Christmas! (Okay… I might still have some Fall stuff on the front porch…)
Adelynn has her own tree again.

Merry Christmas!

Introducing the Next Adventure

I would introduce this as being from Columbia, but that would be dishonest: I'm back home right now after a long train ride! (Not much to say about the trip actually, it was dark the whole time, so I spent most of it reading)

Unfortunately, I've been realizing just how little there is to say about how life in CoMo is going: work is either dull or frustrating, depending on the day, and the house has fallen into a comfortable routine of living together. Not much to say about that either.

On the days when it is really frustrating, I look for what I'm going to do next. As a result, I'm almost done with my grad school applications—though not as far along as I should be. This also means I've spent some time searching for campaigns I could work for; it's relevant to my interests in public policy and the ethical issues that go along with it, and the work is the demanding kind I prefer to the too-easy work I do at the school.

What I really learned from the search, however, is how ridiculously easy it is to begin a campaign yourself. I've told myself that I'm applying for grad schools with the intent of one day running for office, but when I learned this, I realized I could also just keep telling myself that I would run one day because it was easier and safer than running now. So...I'm working with the Reno County Democrats for their nomination against my State Representative for the 102nd District. If all goes well, the campaign begins in earnest in May (though I'm already happily busy with it now).

The reasons I want to run are better than just the relative ease of doing so and the thrill of a challenge. I find what I'm doing now deeply dissatisfying, and cannot imagine myself becoming happy in any kind of similar office environment. I thus have a personal reason for seeking out the kind of unpredictable and demanding workplace that are political institutions; I also do better where I am responsible to myself for doing my job, but have had that job defined by something external to me (such as the voters of the 102nd District). I do not do well with the traditional kind of "boss." Personally, I also desperately want to avoid doing work that is not significant. My work at the school fails this, for I am almost completely assured that the school's mismanagement, poor leadership, and lack of vision will negate anything that I do accomplish.

I also have political reasons for wanting to run. Jan Pauls is not exactly popular within the District. She came out on the wrong side of an issue in 2012, and had problems with redistricting (incidentally, that redistricting also moved the majority of District into the areas of Hutchinson that didn't agree with her). She's politically vulnerable, and has done little to combat the perception that she doesn't actually listen to her voters. She rarely has an opponent, meaning that a truly competitive election has good odds. In 2012 she won the primary election by only 8 votes, against an opponent who is roughly my own age and which was only her third contested election in her 20 years of service. This will be an even better introduction to elected office for me than an election which was uncontested.

Finally, besides these personal and political reasons, there are nobler ones for wanting to run. First, I believe Jan Pauls is failing in her main responsibility: she is not representing her constituents as they should be represented. The lines of communication from her office to her voters appear broken, or at least neglected. I believe that at the state level, politics can be more responsive to voters than it currently is, and especially with the abilities given by new technology. Second, Kansas is in an odd spot right now, as the partisanship that has been the standard in our legislature for many years has made its way onto much larger stages: there is room here for exciting changes that can benefit everybody as we adapt to the future. Third, despite having lived in Missouri for the past 4ish years, I still think of Kansas, and Hutchinson especially, as home. My first allegiance is to this place, and I'm motivated to serve it.

Of course, the campaign won't be easy. There'll be questions about my age, about the wisdom of replacing Pauls when she has cushy spots on at least one important committee; there'll be pressure to run as more liberal than her until the primary and then turn and run as more moderate than any potential Republican challengers; if it looks like I'm going to win against Pauls, a Republican challenger might be attracted to the race since I could be easier to run against in the general election; my schedule will be unpredictable and possibly constant, etc, etc.

I have some experience with this, both from my work for Senator Chappelle-Nadal last spring and from coordinating the efforts of the Westminster Sustainability Coalition at the same time. (To give some context to that, I was responsible for the coordination of 20 students as we got 511 signatures in a student body of only 1,084 students, as well as working with SGA, the administration, faculty/staff, planning arguments etc. This is even more important when you take into consideration that Pauls won her 2012 primary with 428 votes to Erich Bishop's 420 votes). I'm also talking some veterans of the Sustainability Coalition and who now run The What If LLC, a startup of their making, into coming back with me to help get started. We're close, communicate well, and are efficient. I have from now until who knows to make strategies and prepare, which will help reduce the work needed to be done moment-to-moment when the contest actually rolls around.

And while your help and support will be appreciated, I promise you that I'm going to do my best that this remains a positive experience for all of us and that it won't involve you unless you want it to. Other than that, who knows....it's an adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is this Thursday and we have so much to be thankful for.
I decided to look back on some pictures of family times just as a reminder.

Pam & Vicki's Birthday

Trick or Treat

State Fair

Janssen Reunion

Kinast Reunion

Kinast Reunion

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July 4th Breakfast

Christmas 2012

Happy Thanksgiving, Love Grandma & Grandpa