Softball League

Benton joined a softball team and had his 1st game on Thursday night. I decided to go to see how he did, I had never seen him play softball, ever. He started off as the catcher, but his knee started bothering him. He started limping, so I knew he was hurting from crouching down. They ended up having him pitch for the benefit of his knee, but it ended up benefiting his team. At the end of the night they won their 1st game by 1 point! I was really impressed, especially since last year the team they played never lost, so they started the season off on the right foot! Great job team DLA!
Here he is pitching...

Hitting...


Who knew Benton was good at softball? I should have known!

Trip to Dixie

This past weekend I had the opportunity for work to go down and train in St. George. I volunteered so that I could visit with my family. On Sunday my sister Chelsie was heading back up to their house, so I got to visit with them for a couple hours before they left. Spencer and I snuck off into the backyard, my parents have a pool~I didn't want to tell Spencer that he couldn't get in the pool, so we did. Yes, in his clothes, that's what aunt's are for. Here is a picture of us...

Chelsie found out, and joined the fun. She wasn't upset because she knew he'd fall sleep in the car, so I was actually helping, I was able to get all of his energy out before his long car ride home. He loves to go under water, which really surprised me, here's Chelsie dunking him in the water...

My mom and I were able to go on a hike in Zions, it's so pretty. I love to spend time in nature, next time I'd like to go all day, but I'll take what I can get.




On the last day I met my mom and brother at Great Harvest for lunch. Here is a cheesy picture of Thomas and I...

I love spending time with them, just wished they lived closer!

1 Year, No Sweets!

I did it! Yay, I can't believe it's been a year since I've had a piece of cake, a cookie or my favorite, a bowl of ice cream (Cold Stones-cake batter with brownie mixed in is the best!). It's a lot easier for me now than 6 months ago. I don't really struggle like I did before. I don't crave those foods since I haven't had them in so long, not saying I don't miss them. Over the past year my no sweets went a little bit too crazy. At first I said, no sweets as in obvious sweets like candy, cake, ice cream, the usual. Well after time went by I was like well I can't eat a cinnamon roll because of the frosting, or fiber one bars/granola bars with chocolate in it, hot chocolate (even the 0 calorie kind, because it still has chocolate in the title) and even frosted mini wheats cereal-since it has frosting. Oh gees, that's a little crazy, who thinks of frosted mini wheats as a sweet, no one...except those who are around me, "Are you going to really eat that?" as in a frosted mini wheat that I bought last week since they were on sale, I asked, "Why not?" their reply, "It has dried frosting." So here's the deal, I am still not eating "normal" sweets, but I will indulge myself with a frosted mini wheat-so for those of you who see me all the time, don't be surprised ;)

Yay!!! I rode 104 miles on my road bike!

Yesterday started at 5AM. I picked up my good friend Mandee and headed off to Wellsville, Utah for our annual Little Red Riding Hood Bike Ride. The ride consists of 2600 girls. You can choose from 6 different routes (15, 35, 45, 62, 80 & 104) we of course chose the 104 mile ride. Last year we did 80 so it was our goal to do the longest ride they had this year. Here is a picture of Mandee and I before the ride started (we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into)...

The weather was terrible again, it was really windy, rainy, and it was freezing cold. We had a lot of fun, there were some points in the ride I almost gave up from the pain in my lower back, you may have seen my post about how my vertebrae has slipped. The pain was excruciating. At times I was on the verge of having a break down. I kept telling myself that I could do it and would finish the ride. We rode all the way to Preston, Idaho which was our half way point. To get into Preston we had to go up this huge hill, I wasn't quite sure when I saw it if I could even make it up, but here we are in Preston, we made it up the hill...

I took a picture of the sky at lunch, you can see how cold it is just by how the clouds looked...

During the last 20 miles we finally saw the sun and I was able to take my sleeves off. It was still windy, but the warmth of the sun felt great...it was such a beautiful ride. That is the one thing I love about biking, how much I enjoy the earth, I appreciate it more every time I ride. We live by such beauty.


We finally finished the ride, it took us about 6 hours and 45 minutes of just biking...that doesn't include time that it took for us to stop to rest or eat lunch. It really was a long day, but well worth the pain. Along the road near the end there were families cheering all of us on, yelling words of encouragement...I had tears in my eyes because I was so greatful that even with a bad back I was able to accomplish something so great, I never would have dreamed a couple years ago that I would be able to do something like this. Thank you all for your words of encouragement before my ride, you had faith that I could do it, and I know that helped motivate me throughout the ride. I was thrilled to finally cross the finish line, they gave us lays and had a celebration of completion with music and food. Thanks Mandee for such a great ride!

5 Years!!!

Benton and I are celebrating our 5 year anniversary today! Holy smokes, how the time sure does fly. I love thinking back to 8th grade when we first met. We actually became good friends in 9th grade because he had a huge crush on my best friend at the time. Here is our first photo together...

 

After 9th grade, we ended up getting in a fight and were no longer friends. Out of the blue he asked me to our Junior year, Homecoming Dance. I agreed, even though we really weren't friends when he asked me, I of course was shocked. We went to the dance, and we were both miserable. I had just broken up with my boyfriend and had no interest in Benton at all. The funniest part about our first date (the dance) was that he didn't even walk me to the door. He just pulled up in front of my house and said "See ya at school, bye." Honestly I didn't care, it would have been awkward at the doorstep anyway. Here is our picture from the dance...

 

Six months after going to the dance together, we ended up hanging out with mutual friends and actually became friends. So we started hanging out with just each other and eventually became boyfriend/girlfriend. Here are a couple of pictures from when we were dating in High School...

 

 

If you would have told me in 8th grade that he was the man I'd later marry I would have not believed you. We had the prettiest wedding at Millcreek Inn, it was all outside and was such a beautiful day. I wish I could relive our wedding day, it was like being in heaven, it was perfect. Here is a picture from our wedding...

 

I cannot even describe in words how grateful I am for marrying Benton. I would never want to be without him in my life. We get along so well, we hardly ever fight and when we do it's normally about something really small. Benton has always been there for me throughout these past 9 years that we've been together, especially the last 5 since we've been married. He has loved me through it all and I know he'll be there for me in the years to come. I love all of the time we've spent together, just us. We are really excited to be parents in the next couple of years (no I'm not pregnant), but I am thankful that we have had our own time together. I couldn't ask for a better husband than Benton, I know he'd do anything for me. I love him with all my heart. Happy Anniversary Babe!

Trip to St. George

After work on Thursday night, I drove to St. George. It had been over 1 year since I went to visit my parents. I ended up going alone since Benton had school work and had to work at his 2nd job. My sister, Chelsie and her husband were also in St. George, because my brother, Thomas graduated from High School. On Friday we all went to lunch together, my dad and Thomas left on Saturday to go to NYC for his Senior Trip, I'm so jealous. Here is a picture of me with my parents.

My mom, Chelsie and I went to Las Vegas on Friday, we did a lot of shopping and walking around! I love going to all of the outlets, they had great deals!

After dinner, Chelsie and I walked the strip, my mom wasn't feeling very well so she went back to the hotel room to lay down. Here are some fun things I saw in Vegas....



I was able to bring my bike and go on some rides. I love how hilly it is, of course it makes it hard but it's so nice having that variety. Before I left today we got a final picture with the girls, I had so much fun and was really happy I went down to visit my family. I need to go more often!

Spondylolisthesis!?!

About a month ago I was diagnosed with Spondylolisthesis. This is when one vertebra slips forward over the vertebra below it. It's so frustrating, I noticed my lower back was hurting really bad while I was road biking. I have gone to a Chiropracter and a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor with the same diagnosis. The doctor I am currently seeing wants me to get an MRI. With health insurance we'll have to pay out of pocket about $600-. An MRI will help the doctor know if it was a new injury vs if I've had it my whole life, which will determine what treatment he does for me. It really is a sad thing, I'm preparing for Little Red Riding Hood which is in 3 weeks, I've been planning on doing 100 miles, I really hope I can!

Our trip to California!

Just our luck!

Benton scheduled an IBM training in New York City about 2 weeks ago, I decided to join him. I bought my plane ticket and had my days planned out to explore the big city. Well last week we found out that it got canceled and that his training was now in Sacramento, Ca. I was so bummed, I couldn't even call the airlines to cancel my flight. I had my co-worker Kimberli do it for me (thanks Kimberli!) I was just so stressed out. They charged us $180- to change flights from NYC to Sacramento. I was so upset, what was I suppose to do in Sacramento? So we flew to Sacramento on this past Sunday morning. We found an outlet mall not too far away from our hotel, and of course it was raining extremely hard...so we shopped in the rain. Later that day we went to downtown Sacramento and looked at the fun shops. All in all it was a fun day. This morning I took Benton to class, which was about a 25 minute drive...once I got back to our hotel, he called me. Guess what Melissa? My training has been CANCELED! I had so many mixed emotions, "Are you freaking kidding me?", "Now what are we suppose to do?", "We have the worst luck ever! This is not our year." "What about the lucky penny I found this morning, didn't that mean anything?" We had to make a decision, go back to Utah and pay a $200- fee to switch plane tickets to fly out tomorrow or stay in Cali til Saturday. Well my thinking is, no duh, let's stay here...but Benton being responsible didn't want to jeopardize his job since he has so much work to do back home. Also, we'd have to pay for the trip ourselves, we don't have money to pay for a hotel, car and food. I remembered Benton's aunt had a house in California, so I called her and asked if we could stay in her home till Saturday, and she said we could! Benton talked to his work, and they said it'd be ok if we stayed here, he'd just have to use his annual leave. YAY, so now we are here on vacation instead of Benton being here for business. I'm super excited, we're going to go explore San Fransisco, we leave Sacramento tomorrow. Maybe our luck is turning around! (I'll post pics when we get back!)

Happy Birthday Mammy!

Today is my mom's birthday! I really wished we lived closer, so we could celebrate together. I want everyone to know how wonderful my mom is. We talk on the phone about 3 times a week, about everything. She listens very well and gives great advise. My mother is the least selfish person that I know. She is always serving others. Growing up she was always there for me and my siblings, I hope when I have children that I will be the same way. My mom constantly makes me laugh, she loves playing jokes on others, listening to music really loud (when you are driving with her, with the windows down-I might add) she just has a great sense of humor. I love spending time with her. I know that I am blessed to have such a great mom, I hope she knows how much I love her.