Baby and Mommy are well

Blurry picture of Jane's profile

On the 9th of September we had another dr. appointment. Everything went well until the doctor measured me and decided that I was measuring way too high for 33 weeks. The story of this pregnancy! :) He said that measuring 1 or 2 cm more would be ok but according to him I was measuring 5 cm over, which would put me at 37 weeks. So, he recommended that we have another ultrasound to make sure that everything was ok. On the 14 the we had the ultrasound. I was really nervous not knowing what they were going to say. The technician measured a few things in a hurry and gave me a blurry picture after which the doctor showed up and took almost 45 min measuring everything in great detail. It wasn't because he was concerned, but because he thought that the pictures he was able to take were really good and he could use them for his re-certification exam. So, we got the thoroughest exam we will probably ever get. The doctor said that Jane is fine, just measuring a bit bigger than other babies. She is in the 67 percentile weighting approximately 5 lbs 3 oz at 33 weeks (what she would have measured if she were a little over 34 weeks). Her body together with the placenta and the amniotic fluid make for a bigger uterus size for me but nothing of concern. So, baby's well and mom is well and possibly bringing the baby into this world a little earlier than expected.

Romanian BBQ and Baby Shower Fun

At the beginning of August a few of us got together and had a little Romanian BBQ. The Geambasu's brought delicious mici, and we also had other really good food. It was fun to see Irina, Fred and their baby Ashley, Maria, Tayler and bebe Luca who is not a bebe anymore but a cute toddler, and some of the friends who still live around in Utah but we don't get to meet too often. Ever since they found out that I was pregnant, Cristina and Eni decided to organize a baby shower for me. After weeks of preparation Cristina was able to come to Utah from DC and together with Eni they put together the shower. It took place in Pleasant Grove, at Lia's apartment and it was tons of fun. So, who came to the shower? Here's the list: Cristina Boey, Eni Hawkins with her kids Aren and Adam, my sister-in-law Charity and cousin Sara, Claudine Hatch, sora Miron Zenovia from Brasov, Lia Nielson, Eve Jaynes, Ioana Goodwin, Karina Clement, Summer Kaufman, Holly Moore and Mariana Palade. Unfortunately Irina and her sister Ioana couldn't be there but they had shown their support before the shower and I know that their hearts were there with me. We played games, had yummy treats, took pictures and of course I got to open lots of cool gifts. Thank you so much to the organizers and to everyone who came. I was really happy to have you all there.

Doing well

Hello everyone! Heaven't posted much in a while and that's because even though things have happened they were kind of normal pregnancy developments or work-related. Today I decided that it's about time to post an update on how we're doing, knowing that more things will happen in the next few weeks that I will want to write about as well.

So, life's been ok for us. David switched jobs within Simply Mac once again. He was initially hired part time to teach computer programs and usage to customers. Then, after doing really good in the sales department they made him full time but also asked him if he would be a sales guy. He doesn't like selling all that much but given the opportunity to work full time he accepted the challenge. After only a month of working hard doing sales a new position opened up. It was a full time teaching position, exactly what he wanted and enjoys doing so he asked the management if he could get that and they okayed it. So, starting August he works as a full time SA guy which he enjoys much more and also fits his career goals and personality. He continues working at Borders part time and puts really long days every week. I wish I could say that all his hard work is paying off financially... Things are better for us and improving slowly but there's still a long way to financial freedom and lack of major worries. We're still trying to find one job that would be both rewarding and financially stable. All this hard work and long days away from home puts a lot of stress on David and me. We don't get to spend time together and do much other than say good morning to each other in the morning and greet each other with a warm hug and a nice home-made meal (when I have the energy to make it) at night. It's hard and I really hope that his schedule will change before our little girl arrives in November because I know how much he wants to be around to love her and see her grow.

On a more positive note, our baby girl is growing fast and seems to be happy and full of energy. At the last doctor's appointment the doctor said that all the measurements are normal, including her heartbeat, which was at 140. I get so excited every time I hear her heartbeat and I thought that this time it sounded more like a heart than it did before, one more sign that she's growing and developing. On the 29th of July I had to have a mandatory glucose test (they do it sometime between the 24th and 28th week - mine was at 26 weeks) and unfortunately my glucose level was a little high so today I went in and had a three hour test, during which they have me a whole bottle of orangey, really sweet glucose drink and took blood from my arms four!!! times. Not fun. I couldn't eat for almost 16 hours and my arms are now purple and a little painful but what I really hope is that both baby and I will be ok and healthy.

One other thing that happened a couple of weeks ago is the fact that we found a cute two-bedroom apartment in Springville (just South of Provo) that we think will be great for us and our little girl. We signed the contract already and will be able to move in anytime after the first week of August when all the paining, cleaning and other work that the manager wanted to get done should be finished.

These past few weeks had been a little more fun for me thanks to my friends Eni and Lia as well. We went to see Eclipse together and just yesterday we had a great time at the Seven Peaks water park in Provo. Eclipse was awesome. It's so far my most favorite movie in the Twilight series. As I keep telling everyone, I love the books but the movies didn't impress me at all until I saw Eclipse, which was more dynamic and interesting (except for the part where the vampires break into pieces as if they were made of glass or marble). The day at Seven Peaks was fun too. The morning was hot and perfect but the afternoon brought lots of rain and thunderstorms which lingered through the night and half of today as well. Even with the rain I did manage to get a nice sunburn on my shoulders, which I kind of missed since back in Romania we used to go to the beach for a couple of weeks every summer and burn and be happy. :) So much fun. I miss those days and the Black Sea. Speaking of which, I can't believe that last time I visited Romania and my family was in 2006, before we got married and that last time I went to the beach in Mamaia was in 2004. Time flies when you're busy and I can't believe that I've been married for a little over three years, I graduated college and I'll be having a baby in about 13 weeks. I'm content with my life and with all the experiences I've been through these past years since I left. I am in love like I've never been before and I'm so happy to become a mommy. Little girl is kicking me in my ribs :) so I guess I'll go lie down for a few minutes but I just wanted to thank each and everyone of you my dear friends and family for being here for us and for loving us unconditionally. I love you too.

Our Love Story

I've been thinking about writing the story of how David and I met for a long time... actually since before we got married, but for some bizarre reason I never got around to doing it. I hope that I haven't forgotten the most important details of our relationship.

Let me start a few months before I met him because this does play a part in the story. It was towards the end of the fall semester 2005. The year's been good as far as school and work were concerned, but not as good as I wanted, especially in the "boys department". The year before, I dated Aric for a few weeks but apparently the impact had been greater than I realized. After stopping seeing each other I was left with a broken heart and a fear of trying. I didn't trust that I had anything to offer to any guy or that anyone would ever try to get close to me again. With that in mind, I heard a lot of talk at BYU about a challenge that the President of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley made to all the members. He promised that if one would read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year, he/she will receive the blessing of the Spirit and many other blessings. What I felt that I wanted and needed the most was to find a nice young man who would fall in love with me and who I would fall in love with, eventually getting married. So, with only a few weeks left until the end of the year I started listening to the book whenever I wasn't doing anything else. After putting quite a few hours into this activity I finally finished the book on December 31st at 10:06PM. I knew that I did my part. Now I could just wait for the promise to come true. And it started working... I started going out with different guys quite a bit. I was being liked by guys and I liked some back but not to the extent of possibly getting married. The winter semester kept me really busy. I applied and got accepted to go to France (Dunkirk) on an internship, I was doing well in school and I liked my computer lab assistant job. Everything was perfect, except I still hadn't met 'the one'. I eventually decided not to go to France because I needed to work full time during the summer so by the beginning of spring term I was being very busy working 40 hours a week. I was also getting tired and bored with doing only one thing all the time so I decided to look up folk dance classes. If I took one I could practice more, learn new stuff and have some fun. The only class that fit my work schedule was Beginning Irish taught by Jeanette Geslison. It was a class I had already attended before but since it was taught by someone different and I really didn't have any other class to choose from I decided to show up one day, about a week into the term. The students were already testing but I got to dance even though I couldn't remember everything very well. That day in May was the first time I met and danced with David. There were a couple more guys in the class but none as attractive as he was. Plus, I wasn't there for the guys. Jeanette said that she would approve me to stay in the class so I stayed and had fun. I would dance with David every class period and we would walk home together after class. I started to like him and I could tell that he liked me a little bit too. I remember that one time I invited him to the Krishna Temple festival and another time we went together to an Irish contest in Salt Lake. We had fun together and eventually our walks home became longer and longer and we also went on walks that were not after the Irish class; dates, sort of... We would talk about our life, our experiences, the things we like and the things we'd like to do.

The first time David held my hand was one day after Irish class. He was walking me to work, as he's done other times before and as we walked out of the RB, going up a long flight of stairs, he grabbed my hand. Neither one of us said anything about it. It was a little awkward and I was pretty shy and probably red in my cheeks but I didn't pull my hand away. After that, holding hands became natural and something we did all the time. Others started to notice us holding hands and my roommates kept asking me if he's kissed me already.

The kissing came a few weeks later. We went to Salt Lake and it was evening and we were walking at the Gateway. And I don't really remember why we went to Salt Lake or what we did. All I remember is that we sat on some rocks by a little river at the Gateway and he took my face and kissed me on the mouth. I was sooooooooo nervous, I was shaking really bad. The kiss was pretty short but I loved it. I was so happy and I knew then that we might end up married. I think this happened in July but I don't remember if it was before or after Independence Day. We spent Independence Day with David's family who were visiting Utah from Japan for the summer. I remember being nervous to meet them but it turned out fine. Unfortunately the only other time I met them that summer was when we took them to the airport. Oh, there's one detail that I just remembered about the kissing episode. One of my roommates was friends with one of David's roommates and would visit their apartment all the time. She knew that David and I were dating and asked me several times if he'd kissed me. I would keep telling her that he hadn't but that I really wanted him to. So, one day soon after we'd actually kissed, she asked me again and I triumphantly said 'yes'! :) To that she was like: 'Finally he did it. I told him that he should do it but he kept putting it aside saying that he wasn't sure if it was too early to do it." I was like: 'What?' We laughed and I was so thankful that she talked to David even though I felt a little embarrassed too.

The summer was almost ending and a new semester was going to start soon. Another thing to remember happened at the beginning of October. It was Homecoming night and we went up on a hill by the Y Mountain to watch the fireworks. On the way to the car we decided to just walk around a little longer and look at the pretty houses that were up there since it was a very nice evening. It was during that walk that I knew that we were going to get married. I had no doubt in my mind and I kind of said it out loud at one point as we were looking at some house and I said something like 'I'd like OUR house to be...'. I quickly said something else hoping that he didn't get what I said the first time and I was lucky, as he didn't seem to have noticed and kept talking.

The semester was progressing. David and I had only one class together, clogging. Not my favorite but one of his. And he was doing pretty good in it too. I was doing allright but seeing him succeed so easily started getting to me and soon enough I became jealous of him. I couldn't stand it and would frequently get upset and even cry when he would tell me how do dance better and I didn't want to be around him in that class anymore. I eventually started getting upset and thinking over everything he did or said and I started considering him as a competitor. I loved dancing but he was the one succeeding and I was being slow at making progress. Plus, he was always such a show off! I decided I didn't want us to see each other for a while. I didn't know for how long or if I ever wanted to see him again but I stopped talking to him completely. I wasn't happy and I would watch him when he wasn't looking but I was scared and afraid. Everything was happening so quickly and I felt threatened and unimportant. After one of the happiest summers of my life I was deciding if I was ever going to see David again. All the letters and messages he sent apologizing and asking me what he could do to make things better, made me even more sad and confused. All this went on for about a month, until one night when, even though I was really tired, I decided to say hi to Chris Chan, one of my friends and a guy who liked me for sometime. He knew about David and he asked me why I was so determined to end the relationship. I realized right then that I was wrong; that my reasons were, most of them wrong and that I loved him and wanted to be with him. At the end of our next clogging class I went and sat across from David. Rosie, one of our classmates gave him an invitation to some activity and when she left I suggested if he would maybe like to take someone on a date for the event. We left together and decided to meet again later that evening. He came and we talked outside, in front of my apartment at the Avenues for hours but what made that evening perfect was our make-up kiss and hug. I wanted so desperately to kiss him and it was one of our most passionate kisses we've ever had. Of course that we got back together but even now, almost four years after David still reminds me of how much sadness I inflicted upon him and how he would cry himself to sleep many nights. He said that he knew that getting back together was the right thing to do but it wasn't easy for him to just forgive and forget.

After this incident things started looking much better and in November we started looking for engagement rings. Didn't buy one, as we wanted it to be a surprise for me but he still needed to know what I like and what my size was. At the end of December we went to Romania together. It was so much fun to spend Christmas with my family and have David there with us too. Little did I know that I was going to have the happiest Christmas of my life. After wrapping up the gifts David told everyone, except my dad to leave the living room. We left and a few minutes after my dad came out and told me to go in. I was so nervous. I went in and we sat on the couch and David asked me in Romanian: "Vrei sa te casatoresti cu mine?" - meaning 'will you marry me". I said "yes" and he slipped a beautiful ring on my finger. I was so happy. We kissed and then told everyone. My parents already knew, as he asked for their permission first, in Romanian still. Everything went well after that and we got married on March 3rd, 2007 at the Manti, UT temple. Our marriage wasn't easy for the first couple of years but I'll leave that for another story. Suffices to say that I love David with all my heart and I never regret the decision to marry him. He is the one man in this world who makes me happy and loves me. I know that we'll be together for the rest of our lives and that we are a 'match made in heaven'. :) I love you David, with all my heart!

We're having the cutest baby girl!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's about time for some updates from the Johansens. Life's been stressful and good all of the same time. Stressful because David is still looking for a job that would provide for us. He still works his two jobs but as more loan payments, doctors appointments and ultrasounds keep piling up, our money keeps disappearing. I know that money tends to do that but in our case it just comes and goes and we don't even get to look at it and feel better about all the long hours David puts into earning this hard worked for money. And I don't know if it's pregnancy or what but I keep thinking that I'd love to be able to buy diapers, a crib, bedding, clothes and bottles for our little baby but there's no money for it. I've been trying to find some work online but wasn't very successful there and it just kills me to bring this baby into our family and not be able to provide for her.

Speaking of HER... Yes, we are now 99% sure that our baby is a little girl! he 20 weeks ultrasound confirmed, more or less the fact and we'd like to believe that it was right. Why aren't we 100 % sure? It seems that our little girl is pretty stubborn. Every time we tried to look at her she would keep her legs really tight. We only got a couple sneak peeks, which was apparently enough for the tech and doctor to declare that they're very positive that this is a girl. We do have a picture to prove it but what do we know? She would not show us a profile either so we got pictures of her bum, feet, legs and back of her head but no cute little face. Shy little thing! LOL Anyway, as far as we could tell she looked great and she seems to be strong and healthy... and moving a lot! She moved all the time, which made us laugh but got the ultrasound tech a bit frustrated. :) So, no reason for me to be worried that baby is not moving, even though I still can't seem to feel her a whole lot. After going to the doctor, a few days before the ultrasound I was still a little concerned. We did hear her heartbeat again but the doctor kept asking me "So, would you say you feel her move three times a day? Or how many?" And I was like "Well, can't really say that I ever felt her move..." And then she finds the heartbeat and the baby moves as we were listening and the doctor was like "Did you feel that?" and I was like "Ummm... noooo?". Anyway, it turns out that all those ticklings, like gas bubbles that I feel sometimes in my tummy are actually the baby and I swear that a couple of times she went all the way at the lowest part of my tummy and was just laying there, cause I felt this heaviness and when I touched it it was like a little bump that moved away after a second or so. So, I know that she's fine even though I only feel her every once in a while and not even every day.

So, now that we got used to the idea that it's a girl and not a boy, as almost everyone I know predicted, including ourselves, we are really excited and talk to her and about her all the time. We just love her so much! We don't have a name picked yet but hopefully that will happen soon.

Here are a few pictures of our little girl, the best that we can come up with as of right now. My most favorite is the one of her foot. :) I really hope that we'll get to see her one more time before she's born and that we'll actually get a clearer view of her gender and of her cute little face just so that there won't be any gender-related surprises. LOL Enjoy!

We're not shopping at Smith's... At least for a while...

The title might sound weird but we have a pretty good reason to make that statement.

Last Saturday evening, after spending a few hours enjoying our evening, we decided that we wanted to buy a few things from Smith's before going home. We went to the store, got the stuff we needed and went to the checkout. We were a little frustrated that all the registers were pretty full and we had to wait in line but eventually chose one of the registers and started waiting. You know how when you stand in line all the other lines seem to move faster than yours? That's what happened this time and to make things worse, our cashier leaves the register unattended and disappears in a room behind the Customer Service desk. It's an understatement to say that we got even more frustrated but soon the cashier's place was taken by another cashier. She checked out the two people in front of me and starts scanning my stuff but stops in the middle of the job to make a phone call! I looked at her not believing my eyes and without trying too hard I got to listen in the conversation. She was calling 911 to report a robbery that apparently just happened in the store. She looked pretty shaken up when she asked the dispatcher to send the police immediately because they believed that the suspect was carrying a gun. This definitely got my attention. I looked at David, who was on the other side of the cart, on my left but didn't really think too much about what she said. As she scanned a couple more of my things, we see two police officers walk into the store and go to the room behind the Customer Service desk. After some seconds we hear someone shout a few times "Put your gun down!" At that point we kind of freaked out and as all the cashiers instructed everyone to get down, we crouched down and hid behind the checkout stands. As everyone in the store got to the ground we heard several gun shots followed by a few more. The cashier behind me started crying and screaming which, to tell you the truth didn't help the situation. I was already scared but hearing her panic brought me to tears. All I could think about was that I was right in front of the Customer Service desk and the very first person in line and if the guy with the gun decided to come out and shoot anything or anyone I would be a pretty easy target. That didn't happen, fortunately, and after a few more minutes we were all safely evacuated from the store. Outside there were about 10 police cars, a couple ambulances and a fire truck and lots of people. As I said before, the store was pretty busy so there were lots of people in the parking lot as we exited. We didn't really know what the outcome of the situation was but after a few more minutes police blocked all the entrances to the parking lot and the area in front of the entrance. We waited around for about an hour and eventually decided that there was no reason to wait for our groceries since the store wasn't going to open any time soon.

The next day at church we met another person who happened to be in the store at the same time we were and he told us that he found out that the robber was killed by the police. We had my WIC documents to pick up from Smith's so we needed to return there to get them but it was such an eerie feeling walking back there and going through the check out again. The room where the whole thing happened was still blocked off and it looked like all the stuff inside had been taken out.

It's such a weird experience to be in a situation where your life could be threatened. Everything happens so fast. I'm guessing that people who loose their lives in such situations don't even realize what just happened to them immediately after they die. I don't know... But I can tell you that I now know that I don't like the sound of gun shots.

Here's a link to the story as it was published on ksl 5. You can even see David and myself in the video.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10707188

4th of July

So, life is been interesting since we graduated. I'm working for a company called Western Standard, doing Romanian<>English translation and David still works at BYU because they let him work on campus. It's pretty complicated but it worked out for him and we're not complaining. Not too long ago we found out that David got accepted into the Ethnochoreology Graduate Program at the University of Limerick, Ireland and we've been getting ready to go there at the end of August. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be able to go. Why I say that? Well, it's been quite an adventure trying to get student loans. Not only is it hard to obtain loans if one goes to school in the States but it's even harder if one wants to study abroad. So, right now we're in the process of applying to Stafford Loans and other loans to help pay for out plane tickets and at least the first month's rent. I will be looking for a job once we get there but for now we have to rely on loans.

What else happened since the end of April... Well, we graduated and walked on the 24th of April, went to California at the end of May for Aunt Sheri's funeral, celebrated my birthday in California, worked a lot, got some dental work done and my wisdom teeth out (which cost almost $2,000 - yeah, that's where my salary went!) and had fun at the Highland Games at Thanksgiving Point and celebrating 4th of July in Provo watching the Stadium of Fire and in Midway having hamburgers and corn on the cob. So... a pretty busy summer so far. I only got to go to the pool twice this summer and I really want to go, but I went to the gym more and actually lost 10 lbs. since February. I'm pretty proud of this particular accomplishment. A couple other things we did were spending time with our friends Carl and Karina, going to baby Adam's blessing in Payson (Eni and Aric's baby boy), celebrating Romanian and Catholic Easter with Romanian friends and having a cool Romanian barbecue in the Rock Canyon Park in Provo. Oh, one other thing I'm happy about is my green bell pepper plants that I've been taking care since they were little babies and who are now all grown and are producing very tasty green peppers. :)

I'll give you a little more details on some of the stuff that we did. I told you that we went to aunt Sheri's funeral. Aunt Sheri is David's aunt and his mom's sister. She was very young and has three kids. She was engaged to be married and died in a car crash in California. Charity, David's sister was in the car when it happened but she was very lucky to only break her arm and get some scratches and bruises. Of course that is not lucky but it's better than dying... So, we went to the funeral and it was really sad but it was good to meet and see family that we only get to see once every couple of years.

The Barbecue with the Romanian and friends was really cool though. We had a wonderful time with Cristina and Brandon, Amy and Jeanene, Viorica, familia Geambasu, Maria-Taylor and bebe Luca, Eni-Aric-baby Adam and Aren, Eni's parents si Gaby creata. Fratele Geambasu cooked mici and sora Viorica brought branza si rosii, while Eni and het family brought some very tasty chicken drumsticks and cake. It was real fun especially watching the boys playing Bocci and enjoying each others company.

This is our summer so far. I'll try to post more in the future, once we get to Ireland. I'll also post a few pictures of the events I talked about above. Love and hugs to everyone!

Dahlee and David's Graduation Ceremony

Dahlee and David are finally graduating from Brigham Young University! Dahlee is graduating with a BA in Linguistics and David with a BS in Exercise Science.

If you'd like to come to the Graduation Ceremony, you'll find below the information you need.

The ceremonies will take place at the following times and locations, on the 24th
of April 2009:

- Dahlee's ceremony is at 8:00AM
- David's ceremony is at 2:00PM

- Dahlee's is at the Marriott Center, Provo, UT
- David's is in the Smith Fieldhouse, BYU Campus, Provo, UT

We hope that many will be there to celebrate with us.

Last Semester!

School has started about 7 weeks ago and we are now almost half way through. It feels good knowing that I'll be finishing all my major classes this semester. It's been a long journey at BYU but its almost over and I'm looking with much anticipation to the graduation day in April. David will be graduating at the same time so it will be fun to do that together. The experience at BYU was great. I had a wonderful time learning a lot of new and interesting things. I discovered more about myself and about life in general. My major in Linguistics made me really happy and learning how to teach English as a second language was a very rewarding experience. My work as a lab assistant in the Open Access Computer Labs has been a great experience and I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved working with other students, learning about computers and just helping students in the labs. It was the best job I've ever had and it taught me humility but also to be happy with who I am and to always strive to be better. As much as I want school to be over, I know that I'll miss being a student and I'll look for every opportunity I'll have to learn more in the future.

School is out and tour is at the door!

My dear friends, celebrate with me. I finished one more year at BYU, having only one more semester to go! On Wednesday, the 23 of April, I had my last final exam of the semester and now I'm FREE! :) Well, not quite actually but it feels good not having to worry about readings and homework. My SPAC tour will start on Monday, the 28th of April and I'm really excited and nervous at the same time. I had a lot of shopping to do and now I'm waiting with anticipation to start the tour. David is on the team as well but being a second year SPAC-er he doesn't feel as nervous as I am. That helps me relax a little bit. Because of being nervous and wanting to have the time pass faster, why I've been meeting with friends to keep me busy and help me forget. Yesterday, Gabi Creata and I went shopping and had a good time. I drove all over Provo in intense traffic and it felt great. Today the two of us and Eve will make cozonac and at midnight we'll go to Salt Lake to the Orthodox Church to celebrate the Orthodox Easter. I'm excited to be outside of the church tonight, carrying lit candles and singing "Hristos a inviat". Tomorrow we'll have a potluck dinner with our SPAC friends and we may even spend some time with Gabi again. Hopefully all this won't wear us out and we'll be ready at 7:30 AM on Monday for our first tour day! We've worked hard this semester and learned many dances that we're all excited to share with the kids around Utah and with the visitors that will be in Navoo in June this year. I'll keep you posted on how the tour is going and I'll share pictures as I'll have some. So, stay tuned!

2007 - A year of joy!

December 2007

Dear family and friends,

2007 is been a full year for us. We’ve been going to school full time at BYU and we also worked on campus while also being on a folk dance team. Here is a short review of our year. We hope that you’ll enjoy hearing from us.

In March David and Daliana decided to unite their lives and got married in Manti, Utah. They were happy to see so many family and friends who came to celebrate with them and they would like to thank everyone who sent presents for being so nice and thoughtful.

Daliana is a senior in College. She just decided to change her major to Humanities with a French language emphasis. Besides her major, Dali is working on a World Dance minor and a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) minor. As a result, she still has a few more semesters to go until she graduates. Dali still works at the Open Access Computer Lab on campus and starting January she became a Shift Supervisor. She enjoys her job very much.

David is a senior in college as well, majoring in Exercise Science and planning to go to Medical School afterwards. He is working on a World Dance minor as well. David works as a Lab Attendant in the MAC/PC Humanities Computer Lab and as a web programmer in the Humanities Department. In May 2007 David went on a one-month folk dance tour to all the Elementary Schools in the Utah Valley. He enjoyed his experience very much and is excited to be doing it again next year. He thinks that this time it will be an even better experience because he will get to do it with Daliana.

Together, Dali and David went on a trip to California where they had a wonderful time with their grandparents and other family members, and before that they went to the Arches National Park and other National Parks in Southern Utah.

As you can see, we had a great year. We hope that you and your family had a prosperous year as well.

Marry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

David and Daliana Johansen

Hello world!

Well, I'm new to this but I'm excited to share a bit of our life with you.

I'm Daliana, a senior at Brigham Young University, Utah. I'm a French Studies major and I have three minors: World Dance, Computers and the Humanities (CHum) and TESOL (Teaching English as a second language). I'll probably graduate in a year and might go to grad school to become a certified TESOL teacher. I love to dance, to travel and also to have fun. I love foreign languages like French and Spanish and other cultures too.

On March 3, 2007 I married David Johansen. He is a student at BYU as well, studying Exercise Science and planning to go to Med School. He loves Mac Computers, folk dance (clogging and Israeli in particular) and watching movies. He also plays computer games sometimes.

So, this is our little life in a nut shell. We love it. We live in Provo for now but would love to travel and live around the world. I was born in Bucharest, Romania and came to the United States on December 31st, 2002 to study at BYU and David, who was born in Provo, Utah has lived in Germany, Korea and Japan and visited many other countries. He's also been a missionary in the Philippines and speaks a language called Visayan (Cebuano).