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.

Moving Day

Today was a bitter sweet day. I went to my Grammy's house in SLC to help clean and get rid of her things. She moved into an assisted living home this past week. My mom, aunt, cousin and I were ciphering through her things, deciding whether it was trash, DI, or a keep item. My grandma lived in her home for more than 50 years, so there was a lot of stuff. For lunch, we went down to my grammy's new place. It seems like a great place for her, she has her own living area and is able to do a lot of fun things with the residents. (Karly, I took some photos for you to see her place!)




Afterward my mom and her siblings decided who got what. It turned out really well. All in all the day was a success. I really hope my Grammy is happy at her new place, we all love her so much.

After a long day, my mom and I met up with the Hansen's for dinner. We went to a yummy Mexican restaurant, La Cocina. It was free margarita night, so we all indulged!


Spencer for some reason loves to eat salsa-plain....here he is eating his salsa out of his bowl...

After dinner we went back to their house and hung out. We had a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday Mom Linda!

Today is my fabulous mother-in-law's birthday! We've decided that we don't like to use the term in-law because it sounds too formal...so my mom's birthday is today. Benton and I love her very much and are so glad she is in our lives, we don't know what we'd do without her. For me personally, she is the best! I am so glad I married Benton, so that I could become really close to her. I can call her up anytime and just talk to her. I am so lucky to be able to have such a close relationship where we hang out together, whether that's going to a movie, dinner or just hanging out at her house and talking. I always hear talk from others saying how they can't stand their "mother-in-law" and I always think of how blessed I was to end up with her, because we get along so well.
We celebrated her birthday last Saturday. All of us kids threw her a surprise birthday party. She was shocked, she thought us girls were taking her to get pedicures, and instead we had about 40 of her close friends and family celebrate her life. We made Cafe Rio salads, which were delicious and all just sat and talked with one another. It was a great surprise.
Mom and her kids.....

Here we are, me and the Birthday girl...

And some more fun pics....



We love you Mom, Happy Birthday!!!

I love Spencer!

Chelsie and Spencer came over for our weekly get together. While Chelsie went to go get her hubby, I spent some time with Spencer. We had just made some chocolate chip cookies, which Spencer really enjoyed. He is at such a fun age, tons of smiles and laughs. I love him so much!

Knee Update

Well it's been over a week and Benton is doing really well. He has been going to physical therapy twice a week and does exercises everyday from home. I know it's been hard for him to sit home all day, he's very active and always likes to be doing things. Here are some pictures of his knee; beware they are kinda yucky!