The White House: A Year in Review
Ryan wrote the following and gave a copy to each of his roommates. Memories from a fun year. I forwarded it on to all of the moms — who loved reading it!
The White House: A Year in Review
Ryan Johnson
This was a good year for the White House. This year, 6 kids with random connections, which we will not go into detail to explain, became true best friends. (Sorry guys, you’re basically stuck being my friends for life). This year, we lived in two places, D212 and the White House. We spent lots of time with Hayden, seeing him adjust to his new life like a champ. We love Hayden and the work he puts in and the love and consideration he shows each of us. We took some good classes, notably I had IS 110 with Michael and Spencer, and Eternal Families and Music with Hayden.
We hosted many a movie marathon. We watched the last Lord of the Rings, and all of the Bourne, MCU, Rocky, Harry Potter, Hobbit, AND Star Wars movies (a total of 56 movies). Wow. That is a pretty impressive list. While we were blessed with incredible conclusions to some of the greatest sagas of all time this year, we actually didn’t get to see Endgame or Rise of Skywalker together (or Toy Story 4, or Frozen 2, wow). We just prepared and got excited together. Good times.
We had fun with the Seven Sisters over winter semester, watching all of the Marvel Movies, visiting Hayden in the hospital, going to Pizza Pie Cafe and Magbleby’s Fresh, and taking advantage of ‘Spring Day’ in Cali. Michael made Panda Friday a thing, and we all jumped on the bandwagon. Then, we saw some of our sisters and friends head out on missions.
After everyone else left D212 for the summer, Charlie, Trevor, and I had a pretty good time. We did a bit of sledding when it was too snowy to hike. We went floating down the freezing Provo river with Spencer and Brinnley. We saw the Lion King in theaters. Trevor took “not engagement photos” with Ashley. And we took the shirt for intramural softball, TWICE. But on July 29th, 2019, Charlie and I found ourselves in the apartment and I had heard of this great show to watch, so... We watched the first episode of 24 and our lives would never be the same. At the end of this year, Charlie and I are 5 seasons in, and we will always love Jack Bauer, President Palmer, and Chloe O’Brian. It is just the best show.
Moving into the White House was a huge blessing and upgrade (despite the dreadful extra minute of walking to and from campus). Mike got us a new projector, and while there were some sound hiccups early on (the dishwasher and laundry machines were louder than the max volume -- yeah it was a problem), we got it taken care of and now have the best movie and game setup on this side of the Rockies. Hayden spent many nights cheering on Charlie, Michael, and Trevor, in their Rocket League campaign. Recently, Overcooked has been a fun addition for Michael, Hayden, Carson, and me to play. Playing as an iconic cast of Boxhead, Wheelchair Raccoon, Rudolph, and Frosty, we chopped, cooked, and cursed our way through many many levels. Because of our determination to 3-star every level, some levels had us cursing more than others, but we beat the main campaign and the Christmas-themed side quest. I’m proud of us.
The setup was also great for watching the daily Good Mythical Morning (Today we ask the age-old question: Will it ice-pop?) and the weekly Book of Mormon video. Sundays in the White House were a delight. Going to church (we especially loved Spencer’s lessons in priesthood) and being “in the ward but not of the ward.” I love that in a ward full of people, we just wanted to hang out with each other. And when Carson finally came around and stayed for weekends, we all walked up to church together. Ah, good times. We hosted many a ward prayer, and it was pretty fun to show off our wonderful Christmas decorations.
Of course, the greatest new tradition we made was our weekly post-church game of Dominion. It was so fun to go through each set in Dominion, and then the Seaside and Adventures expansions. And while Hayden had the most wins early on, and Spencer had the most wins later, we all know Michael deserved to win.
This year, Charlie, Carson, and Spencer started dating some very cute girls, so we’ll see where that takes them next year. (...I really need to get back into that whole dating thing too.) And Trevor is nearly gone already. Just a few more days and he’ll be a married man. We’re all super happy and excited for you, Trev. You and Ashley make the cutest couple. Really wish I could be at the wedding, but Spencer and Michael will give you our best on behalf of the White House.
Disney+ was a blessing this year. Together, we watched many Pixar shorts (What? No!) and seriously bonded over the Mandalorian. It’s such an epic show, and we collectively and completely fell in love with Baby Yaddle (i.e. Vader’s force brother from another mother). #socute #teamyaddle. This is the way.
Yes indeed, 2019 was a good year.
“Carson, Charlie, Hayden, Michael, and Spencer,
Merry Christmas boys! Thank you for all the great memories. I’m just super blessed to know you guys. Here’s to another year in the White House with my best friends. Let’s fill it with Skiing, Kung Fu Panda, Dominion and maybe some marriages along the way. I love you guys!
I have spoken.”