Love a Good Quote

This is a quote that I got from one of my friends and it's something Ben always tells me when I'm stressed or have a problem. I thought after I read it how true it really is.

"There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them."Denis Waitley

Sometimes it's good to have reminders :)

Yay for 2010!

This post is a little late, but to recap the last couple months in a few words......

The holidays were spent with both our families and we enjoyed some yummy food! We both had taken a lot of time off from to work during the holidays to rest and relax and it was a very nice long break! Now up to speed, we brought the New Year’s in with some of our friends. This was probably the 2nd year we've done this because most New Year’s eve we were always asleep by midnight. We must be getting old :) I wish I would have taken some pictures, but once again I always forget to have the camera handy. Other than that, we keep busy with work and more work. I would have said school, but Ben decided to take this semester off from school to work. It will be nice for him to not have to worry about juggling both right now. However the end is in sight for him. We figure he has about 2 semesters left so hopefully next spring he will graduate. Hooray! Anyhow, I'm just hoping for some warmer weather and for a Green Air Day! It's been so crappy lately that this weekend we had to escape from it. We left for Park City and can I just say, it was so beautiful up there. It may have only been about 10 degrees warmer, but that 10 degrees made all the difference. The sun was out, our jackets were off and there was no inversion whatsoever. I didn't want to come back. For those of you that want to get away from this, that's the place to be. Well to finish off we had one of my good friends take some updated pictures of us. We haven't had our pictures done probably since we got married. Since that's been almost 6 years now, we thought we'd better do it. Here are a few of them.

Tis the Season

Yay for the Holiday Season! I love this time of year. I love being with family, listening to christmas music, the snow, christmas decor and of course the tree. I also can't wait to go see the lights at temple square and maybe do some shopping...ahem....ben if your reading this. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with both of our families and hope ya'all did too. But what I really enjoy this time of year is taking the time to remember the Saviors birth and all that he did for us and the many blessing we have received. It makes the holidays that much better.

Finally...our cruise!

We are still here! We've been so busy that we can't keep up on this blog. Our summer consisted of both of us working and saving up for our big trip this October. As some of you may have read from our past post that for our anniversary we were going on a cruise which was the highlight of our summer (although it wasn't till Oct when we went). Working up to that we had a lot happen. Ben got Lasik and so glad he did. He loves that he can wake up and see and I can finally get rid of his 10 year old glasses. There was also a wedding, new job transition and a couple funerals. Ben's grandpa passed away in August and then his younger brother got married in September. Then just recently my uncle passed away so we were quite busy keeping up with both our families. I was able to see some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen in a long time. To bad we didn't have more to time to catch up with them though. Now to the fun part...our cruise. We went on a 7-day cruise to Cozumel Mexico, the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica. I can tell you right now that I was a bit skeptical about staying/traveling on a ship let alone for 7 days, but the entire trip totally exceeded my expectations. I'm sure those of you that have been on a cruise may agree. We both absolutely loved it! It took a day or so for my body to adjust but when it came time to come home, I didn't want to leave. The weather was beautiful.

There was so much we did and went to that I apologize now for all the pics :)

Us leaving Miami, FL

Beach outside Miami..Oh how I would of loved to just chill there...so beautiful
The stewards make towel animals for you each night...first night it was a puppy.

This is the ship at the port in Cozumel
Ben likes this pic..not sure why, but no..the donkey is not real.
Highlight in Cozumel was para sailing. Here we are.


This was awesome!!

Just some shops in Cozumel.

The pirate was actually a real person. It scared me at first.

Still in Cozumel

I think this was a stingray
Crab (I think)

This pic is arriving in Grand Cayman.
Turtle Farm (they were so cute)

Small beach in the Cayman Islands

This place is called "Hell"

Swimming with the Stingrays (I was to scared but ben loved it)

Pic of the sandbar where the stingrays were...the water was so gorgeous.

Shops in Grand Cayman. Yes we did a lot while we were there.

Not sure which animal this was.

This is Jamaica. (Ocho Rios)

Dunns River Falls

Some of the Locals...they didn't seem happy to be working!

We were on a sky lift and this is the island of Jamaica from up high.

Monkey towel animal. (cute!)

A pic of the top of the ship where I spent most of my time...laying out. Oh how I miss it!
These two were our waiters each night in the dining room. They were so nice.

It was an awesome trip. I loved that they made our beds everyday, I didn't have to cook, the shows were fun, loved the shopping and that ben spoiled me by buying all sorts of jewelery......all in all it was a nice, relaxing trip for both of us. I can't wait till we go again. (hint hint to ben if you are reading this)

WOW! Can't beat this...

So my awesome friend is doing a photo session giveaway. All you need to do to enter is go to her website http://sweetlillyphoto.com and follow the instructions. Its pretty simple!

I know its been awhile since my last posting. The only time I'm really on the internet is at work since our computer at home is so slow. Since my last post, things have been going pretty good. We're just enjoying this sweet, warm, sunny weather and trying to work on our yard. It sucks when weeds overtake everything...grrr! Also, I got a job promotion at my work. I'm the new scholarship counselor and enjoying it so far. I've been training for the past couple of weeks and I officially moved into my new office and working on my own today. It's crazy! I'm nervous and hope I can pick up on things here soon. Other than that, i hope ya'all are enjoying the nice summer weather and anything else you get to enjoy :)

We Made It! 5 Years!!

It’s finally here! It was 5 years ago today, that Ben and I were married and sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple. Aww...so young!These past years together were some of the best times we have had together. We have traveled to some fun places together and accomplished so much. I love that we have had such a long time to get to know one another. Honestly, it has not felt that long because the time just flew by so fast. I know at first the thought of marriage scared me and now after being married, I can’t imagine my life without him. This is a pic from when we went to New Zealand. It was one of my favorite vacations!
As I ponder on the past, it’s so weird and yet amazing how things have turned out. I believe the decisions me and Ben have made these past 5 years were the right ones for us and our future. All our hard work has brought us to where we are now. We were blessed with the means and ability to build a brand new home (that one day will be filled with our children), with good jobs and wonderful, loving families and friends. I am grateful to both my parents and the ways they have raised me to be. I am glad they taught me to work hard and go after my goals. I am also grateful for my in-laws for raising such a wonderful, well mannered, hard-working, and loving son. He truly is my everything! So here’s to the wonderful 5 years we have had together and many more to come!

Oh yeah….one more thing to top it all, Ben surprised me last night (well I kind of knew but he didn’t confirm till last night) that we are going on a Caribbean cruise for our Anniversary. It won’t be till probably September but I was so excited. I have never been on one and have always wanted to. Can't wait!

Truly blessed!

Before I start..... this week is finals week (hooray!) I can't believe how fast the last two semesters have gone by. I really thought that when Ben decided to go back to school that it would be a long couple of years, but knowing that he has already finished two semesters already, he'll be finished in no time (haha!) Good luck to anyone of you who have finals too!

So this past weekend was just awesome and I just have to let all that I am feeling out. First off, we headed down to University Hospital in Salt Lake to visit my sister Shena who had brain surgery to remove a tumor a couple of weeks ago. This has been quite a struggle for me to deal with. We had found this out over a month ago and that's where my family has been for the past while. It was definetly tough in the beginning because you (meaning me) think the worst in cases like this, but knew that I needed to be strong for my sister. She had one of the best doctors who had done this type of surgery over a thousand times and we all knew she was in the best care possible. Okay, so enough of the depressing part....i'll jump forward to the good news. It's been two almost three weeks since her last surgery and she is doing really well (considering the intensity of the surgery.) I know that it will take quite a bit of time for her to truly recover and gain her strength back. After the hospital we visited with my other sister Shayla for some lunch and a good visit then headed back home. It was a long drive but totally worth it. After all the fun in SLC, we spent the rest of the weekend with Ben's family to celebrate his mom's birthday. We didn't get to celebrate it last year so we went all out this year. It was full of yummy food, good company and some family pics (which i'll have to post later when we get them back.)

I know that alot of other people have or are going through similar situations or trials of their own and it's so important that we stay so close to the Lord in these times. This has made me think how precious life is and without the knowledge I have of the gospel, I probably would of gone crazy through all of this. My testimony has definetly grown so much through all of this and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband and family. Thanks to all for your many thoughts and prayers!