Bringing the Essentials 1.6.26

What do you bring when you leave the house? Is it the same every time? Do you have a bag ready to go? Do you just leave and hope for the best? I have a lot of anxiety around leaving my house, so I try my best to be prepared. It doesn’t always go my way.

My preparedness has a lot to do with the destination. I hate not knowing what the plan is. How am I supposed to be ready if I don’t know what we’re doing? My items would vary severely depending on if we are making a quick run to the grocery store versus sitting in a waiting room for three hours. It may not always work out, but I try my best to have what I need.

If I’m going grocery shopping, I usually just need to grab my bag and go. My phone and my wallet are most important for a trip like that. Luckily, I keep my shopping list on my phone so that helps me keep better track of it. Over the past decade, we’ve gotten pretty good at preparing for long waits. As many times as we’ve been in and out of hospitals, we have learned to bring stuff to keep us busy. Last time, I filled up my tote bag. I brought my purse, a notebook and pencils, my laptop and headphones, and a smaller bag with crocheting supplies. We were there for about 10 hours that day, so I’m glad I planned ahead.

Holiday Bucket List 12.5.25

The holiday season is here and there are so many things we do every year. Personally, I’m quite the grinch. I don’t love Christmas and I don’t get very much holiday spirit. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the traditions my family loves to do.

In our family, the most prevalent thing we do is put stockings through our entire living room. The house has beams that go across the ceiling and there are a dozen hooks on each beam. On Christmas Eve, one household hosts our Family Christmas gathering. Everyone usually brings a dish to share. Now that our generation is getting older, there aren’t many little kids in our family, so it’s become a quieter event. Things have changed a lot.

I’m at the age where I’d like to start making my own traditions with the family I’m creating. My brothers and I started wrapping presents together on Christmas Eve Eve. Even though I don’t have children, I have a partner, pets, and a full household to make memories with. Here are some of the things I’d like to try:

  1. Advent calendars – I’ve never had one before and they look so fun. I could find some super cool themes, or event make them for my family members! We all know I love a craft.
  2. Secret Santa – now that the kids have grown up, I think it would be lots of fun (and cheaper) to do a family gift exchange, rather than spending a bunch on money on every single person.
  3. Holiday baking – I’m not the person who spends a whole lot of time in the kitchen. Tommas is the chef of our household. But I would love to bake a bunch of goodies and give them to friends.
  4. Matching PJs – My mother-in-law did this for us once. At first, I thought it was annoying but it made us all laugh and brought us a lot of joy.
  5. Drive to see the Christmas lights – we do this sometimes, but I wouldn’t call it a tradition. I’d like to find more spots in our area that have great displays.
  6. Letters to Santa – even though our family has older kids, this would be a fun way to find out what folks actually want for Christmas.

This whole year has been pretty hard on my family. Even though I’m not the most festive, I still enjoy the time spend together and hopefully this season will bring us some joy. Please, feel free to share some of your favorite holiday activities!

Fake Birthdays 10.01.25

At work, I’ve been tasked with making posters each month for employee birthdays. As new hire’s come in or folks leave, they do need to be updated every now and then. I decided to change it up completely with a new design.

*Names have been changed for the privacy of my workplace*

I print these on card stock and slice them in half and hang them up around the building. It’s a nice way to make the employees feel noticed! This design is one of my favorites, because I love the muted browns mixed with the bright orange. As the months go on at this job, hopefully I will get the chance to share some more work designs.

Jobs, Music, Dad, Oh My! 11.10.25

“I’m my father. Oh my God, this is horrible. I’ve been trying so hard not to be my mother. I did not see this coming.” Rachel Green 10.19.2000

This quote makes me laugh because the older I get, the truer it gets. Growing up, I was always told how much I look like my mother, which is still true. However, I see how much I am becoming more and more like my father.

Not only do we share a love of traveling, rage cleaning, and sticking our tongues out in photos. But now, we have the same job: teaching elementary school kids. Who would’ve thought that these two grumpy SOBs would be imparting knowledge onto the impressional minds of today’s youth. Who allowed this? My dad has been an English teacher in Spain for many years now. I’m really exciting to be starting my new position as a music teacher here in Maine.

When I didn’t end up going to college, I figured that was the universe telling me I wouldn’t ever become a teacher, I don’t have any degrees or certificates. However, I do have a solid foundation of music knowledge and the love for sharing it. This is an exciting new chapter for me and it’s really special that I get to have such an important part of my life line up with my dad. I’m glad we get to go on this journey together, even though we live so far away.

Work Bio

As many of you probably already know, I got a new job recently! They asked me to submit a bio to put on their website. I figured I could add it here as well, as a way for folks to see some more of my experiences!

Phoebe Johnston (PJ)

has been passionate about music for as long as she can remember. She began performing in church and local theater at a young age and quickly developed a love for both vocal and instrumental music. PJ plays a wide variety of instruments including violin, guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, piccolo, trombone, trumpet, and French horn.

She studied voice and violin, gaining a strong foundation in both classical and contemporary styles. PJ has been part of numerous theater productions such as The Secret Garden and Annie Get Your Gun at Schoolhouse Arts Center, as well as The Music Man, Anything Goes, and Footloose at Gorham High School. She has also sung with ensembles including Musica de Felia, the Schoolhouse Arts Children’s Choir, and the Faith Lutheran Church Choir.

In 2013, PJ toured Europe as part of the John Philip Sousa National Honors Band, representing young American musicians on an international stage. She has performed regularly with Faith Lutheran Church since 2005 and continues to share her music through community performances and teaching. She also participated in Maine’s District and All State choir three years in a row. 

PJ has also taught elementary band for two years and loves helping students discover their own musical voices. Her goal as an educator is to make music accessible, engaging, and joyful for every learner who walks through her door.

Calm before Chaos 8.26.25

I was prompted to make a design that “represents the feeling of calm after chaos.” I did this a little bit backwards, as I wanted to feel escalated. I knew how I wanted the design to go, but I couldn’t get the same feeling with a digital program. Out of the ordinary for me, I decided to do it by hand. This was not a planned design, besides the prompt. I just grabbed some random markers and pens from the bucket and went with how I was feeling. This is basically the opposite of how I typically choose to be creative, but it was fun to try. I know I’m no where close to a physical artist, but maybe I should do it more often. It was fun to just doodle.