FHE at the EXIT/IN

The Exit/In is a little honkey tonk in Nashville where many famous people have performed and made their start in the music business.

The sign outside has names of some of the performers who have sung here before making it big. (This is just one of several signs.)

Jennifer Lynn was invited to perform there on Monday night. She was invited to perform for some top music executives. Uncle Alan sent us an e-mail inviting us to be there, and Aunt Jeri called us to be sure we were coming.

It was family night, they are family, the Exit/In is a honkey tonk bar in Nashville...but hey...no one knows us in this town anyway. Ever feel a little self conscious going into a place? It really was fine...we didn't have a problem with it at all. We just joked about it because it is a bar! Besides, no one we know in Nashville will be there. WRONG....a couple from our ward came up to us after the show and asked us what in the world we were doing in a bar in Nashville. We all had a good laugh about it. As it turns out, this friend of ours in our ward played volleyball at BYU with Jennifer's husband Adam. Wow...small world!

Jennifer's performance was a hit. Her audience loved her and wanted an encore. However, you don't get encore's at showcase performances. When it's over, it's over! She sang for a half an hour and that was it! The place was packed with her friends and probably other passers by who, if they stumbled on the place that night, were treated to an open bar and lots of catered food. Even Jeri's Bunko Club was there...evidently one of the members has a private jet that they all flew in on that day just so they could be there. Can I just say, I don't think the Exit/In looks quite that nice all the time. Evidently they had an event coordinator who helped coordinate the evening which was carried out in true "Johnson style".

One of the execs was overheard saying he really liked her performance but wondered how she'd feel about changing the color of her hair. (I guess they have an over-abundance of blondes right now.) They also wanted to see a more "edgy" look and performance. Oh to have such control!

After the show, Aunt Jeri treated us and about 40 others (including the band members) to dinner at a place called The Bound'ry. We had a great time with Jeri and Merlene catching up on all the Johnson news. It was fun! So what'd ya'll do for your family night??

I've Been Tagged!

So...as I am innocently catching up on some blogs, I see that I have been tagged by my own daughter to do a little blog about things that happened some ** years ago. Let's just say that it was long enough ago that I don't have my engagement picture downloaded onto my computer from my digital camera. Actually, I got so many remarks about my "Happiness is..." pin that I really hesitated putting the picture from our wedding announcement that vaguely resembles the Mod Squad. (Which only those of you who are remotely close to our age can even remember.) Now, in an effort to fulfill my dedication to my internets, I will rack my brain and try to remember the details...

• Where did you meet your husband?

We knew of each other since we were in junior high school, but didn't officially meet until we were in our high school biology class.

• What was the first thing you said to your husband?

I think we were talking about a dance that was coming up at another high school that he had been invited to by another girl.

• Where was your first date?

Our first date was with a bunch of his friends at a place called Bimbo's Pizza (how's that for a name) near the U of U. I wonder if it's still there.

• Where was your first kiss?

It was on my front porch after one of our dates...(no, I'm not blogging any details...let's just say the earth moved under my feet!)

• Did you have a long or short engagement?

Our engagement was long. We were engaged in late August and married the beginning of February. It's funny that we say 6 months is a long time when most people think a year is the minimum.

• Where did you get engaged?

Bob proposed to me up on Ensign Peak overlooking the city lights. He surprised me with an engagement ring and proposal the night I returned from a trip to Washington DC.

• Where were you married?

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

• How was the reception?

We had a fun reception. We had both grown up in the same area, so there were lots of guests. The only problem was that our invitation had been printed with the right name for the church it was at, but the printer put the wrong address. He put the address of the stake center he went to and where Bob's family went. He knew Bob's family and just assumed that's where we would have the reception. Luckily it was just down the street (something that would only happen in Utah) and people figured it out immediately. I still can't believe that happened and we still paid for the invitations! Oh well...that's water under the bridge. As you can see, I', completely over it!!!

• Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We went to Sweetwater Resort at Bear Lake. It was such a beautiful place. We both love the snow (good thing since it was February). We have had a lot of laughs over the years about our time there. We would walk as far out on the Lake as we dared to walk before cracking the ice. The room was really beautiful and had a big corner fireplace in it. We loved having a roaring fire blazing in the fireplace at night since it was so cold outside. There was a note in the room telling us that we were to use logs purchased from the resort in the fireplace. However, they were quite expensive. We decided one night, as we were driving back from Montpelier Idaho where we ate dinner in a bowling alley, (now that's romantic!) to stop at a little store and buy a cheaper pressed sawdust log for our fire. We got back to our condo and lit up the romantic fire. Things were going just fine until the log exploded and split apart sending burning chunks down by the glass surrounding the fireplace. Next thing we knew the glass EXPLODED everywhere!!! We had glass from one end of the room to the other. The only thing we could think about was that we were going to be in soooo much trouble for burning an "illegal log" in the fireplace. We cleaned up the evidence and took our smoldering log down the back steps and out into the frozen tundra where it could blend with nature. Needless to say, it was a rather uncomfortable night. We left the next morning and after much pondering decided to confess our plight when we checked out. Ready to take our punishment and pay for the damage, the desk clerk replied with "Oh...don't worry about it...this happens all the time!!!" We were relieved we didn't have to pay for the damages, but laughed about the fact that we spent the night with all that glass. We could have been moved to another room and could have enjoyed our last night with a nice roaring fire if we had decided to fess up earlier. We never did admit that it was us who melted their little garbage can in the bathroom.

Now to tag those of you who are dying to answer these questions....I tag Vivian, Tina, Patti (this will get you to update your blog) and Aimee