Our First Christmas Together

Okay, I'm doing this late but I have to write about our first Christmas together. Christmas is such a great time of year, but it's even better as you're getting ready to celebrate with the love of your life. For the first time ever. And it turned out to be such a good Christmas. We got to see so many friends and spend time with our families. I loved it.

Here's a little calendar of the things we did:
December 3rd: We bought our first Christmas tree and decorated our apartment together. Ben documented most of it with our new camera then edited to make a video Christmas card.
December 10th: We ate Costa Vida at my work holiday party while watching my co-workers bowl at Fat Cats. Later we drove to Landon & Liesl's for the annual "Tea and Crumpets" party with the Wheelwrights, a family close to Ben's family. We had great appetizers and sang Christmas songs around the piano. Oh and who can forget caramel brownies with peppermint ice cream?
December 11th: Ben's great aunt Esther treats his family to dinner at the Lion House on Temple Square each year. We had a delicious dinner with Jane, Chelsea, Esther, and Ben's cousin Alex and her fiance, then walked around to see the lights. What a great tradition.
December 18th: My aunt Pat used to hold a Christmas party each year which has now been adopted by my cousin Circe. I hadn't been to the party for three years due to work and my mission, but it was so great to see my DeBry cousins.
December 19th: We woke up at 6:30am on a Sunday, braved a closed down freeway, long lines in rain and cold, all to see.... David Archuleta. Oh yeah, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir too :) We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Christmas Music and the Spoken Word and then got to watch the mini-concert after the taping. It was phenomenal- so beautiful and well done. It was worth the sacrifice.
That night we had a family party with my parents and brothers and sisters. Mark and Julia both came down with their families and we had a great time devouring the awesome food my mom makes, writing predictions, and opening presents from each other and my mom. Here are some fun photos.

Malinda, Mark & Makayla

Ben & I enjoying the appetizers

With my great mom

My dad and Grandma Freda

Laura and Eleanor. I think / hope she was just yawning.

On the 23rd we drove up to Ogden to visit Ben's dad and grandparents. It was so fun to see the small Christmas houses lit up in the park in Ogden, then eat stew and look at pictures with his Grandma. We then drove to stay the night with Jane in Mountain Green, although we didn't fall asleep until 2am because we couldn't stop talking. That may be a record for Jane :)
The 24th was wonderful. We woke up to a great breakfast (provided by Jane) with breakfast casserole, a berry drink, egg nog, and hot chocolate. Landon, Liesl, and Andelin even drove up to spend the morning. We played games, talked to Sammy in Guatemala, then opened gifts. Sammy even sent authentic headbands for all the girls. We then stayed the afternoon to play games with Jane and Chelsea (Ticket to Ride was a winner) then enjoy a Christmas ham. We drove home about 8pm to our little apartment to spend Christmas together.
Let me explain a little about our preparations for Christmas. I love to Christmas shop. Actually, I love to shop period, but Christmas is a great excuse. This year I decided to get Ben a lot of his clothes for his internship in Washington. I got collared shirts, dress pants, a good winter coat, new shoes, socks, etc. I started shopping in November and I was so excited. Ben, on the other hand, has a different approach to Christmas shopping. Mostly because he's in school and doesn't have time to think about Christmas until after finals. But who can blame him? I was the same when I was a student.

Trying to take pictures Christmas morning. Ben was not cooperating :)

But the preparation didn't matter, because Christmas morning was wonderful. We opened gifts from each other, then I made German pancakes. Later in the day we visited Laura and Gordon's family, watched the Christmas story together, and took naps. So basically, we did nothing. And it was a great day.

A Guatemalan Visit

One thing I've been grateful for lately is that the mission helps you make lifetime friends. One such friend and former mission companion, Karen, helped me meet my wonderful husband when she came to visit from Honduras last year. Just this week my other friend from Guatemala, Astrid, stopped by Provo on the way to see her sister in Dallas. Although Astrid and I were never companions, we were great friends in the mission. We served in Belize together and left the mission on the same day. She's always been dear to my heart.

We had such a great time reminiscing about Orange Walk and Belize, touring Provo, shopping, etc. This week was Ben's last week of classes so he was at school and work nearly all day, every day. Therefore, it was great to have a friend to hang out with.

One of the highlights was having a Belize mission reunion party with one of the senior couples we served with, the Dunford's. I called Sister Dunford the Thursday before Astrid was going to arrive and we quickly threw a party together. I invited mission friends from Facebook and by email and Sister Dunford offered to do the food. When the night arrived, we had a great turnout. 10 former missionaries plus the Dunford's!

While we ate dinner we each had to go around and tell a mission story about Belize. These are some of the highlights:
- Elder Dunford was approached by police after he turned the wrong way on a one way bridge. After arguing with them so he wouldn't have to pay a $150 ticket, they offered to take a bribe if he would pay for their lunch.
- One elder had a women high on drugs try to steal his bike while he was riding it. She then pulled the water bottle out of his backpack and hit him over the head with it until it bounced out of her hands.
- When my companion was hit by a car, we had to take her to the hospital in Belmopan. Shortly after arriving, a man walked in who had cut off all his fingers with a saw. Later, we were waiting in the hallway and saw as a nurse walked out of the ER and dropped bloodied gauze in the garbage can. When we examined it we saw... the man's fingers. Needless to say, my companion did not want to stay for treatment.
- Another elder was arrested for "improper documents" on the island of San Pedro. Six police men surrounded him with machine guns for six hours until a significant mob of people gathered and protested, telling the police to let him go.
- Two elders offered to help cut a woodpile for a member. Little did they know, they cut down the che che negro tree and carried it on their shoulders. In Mayan legend even standing underneath the tree causes a rash. The next morning one elder awoke to a hugely swollen face, neck and hands with "fingers like hot dogs". It took a week for the swelling to go away.
- Three of the elders in Belize City were all mugged by the same man, a shabby black gentleman who referred to himself as "Prince Charles".

Those are just a few of the Belize stories that were told. That gives you a view into the kind of mission we all served in. Maybe that's why we all became so close- it was a huge adjustment for all of us. As for the party though, we had a great time and for the rest of the week it was so great to have Astrid here. Mission friends are friends for life.

Mr. & Mrs. Petersen are going to Washington

Last Tuesday Ben announced to me that one of his professors had pulled him into his office to talk to him. He seemed a little nervous, so I wondered what had happened, until Ben told me that he had been offered a video production internship for winter semester in Washington D.C. with the Department of Homeland Security. He was nervous to tell me, wondering what I would think.

I guess what happened is the internship was offered to BYU and ended up in the Communications department. Once there, three of Ben's professors talked to decide which student was best qualified. Since Ben is a film minor (and broadcast journalism major) with film editing experience they decided he would be the best candidate. I think my husband is very talented, but when someone else thinks the same thing, it's gratifying. :)

Anyway, when he told me, I was all for it. We're going to Washington!! What an adventure! Ben will be participating with the BYU Washington Seminar, so we'll be living in the Barlow Center in Foggy Bottom.

We're super excited, mostly because Washington is such a fun city and Ben will have the opportunity to build his resume. Although his internship is paid, I've already applied to do agency nursing in DC. That means that if hospitals are short nurses they hire from a temporary pool of nurses. I'm hoping to get a chance to work at Georgetown, but we'll see.

Our living arrangements will be a little interesting, but worth it. All the married rooms in the building are already full, so we'll be in a room with two single beds we'll push together. We'll have our own bathroom fridge, but we'll share a kitchen with two single people. Kind of funny. It's all part of the adventure, right?

So we leave January 7th and will be back sometime toward the end of April. We can't take a car, so we'll just be packing two suitcases around. It'll be like the mission all over again, except for the parasites. Did I already say we're so excited?

Marriage Lesson #25: Men give great gifts, if they get enough hints :)

Ben and I recently went to the grocery store. As we finished checking out, I noticed there were beautiful potted flowers near the door. We neared the display, and the dialogue went something like this..
Me: Wow these flowers are so pretty!
Ben (picking up a nearby newspaper and beginning to read): Uh huh
Me: Oh my gosh Ben, look, orchids!
Ben (mumbling, engrossed in the paper): Uh huh
Me: They're so pretty. I've always really wanted an orchid.
Ben (deeper engrossed in the paper): Uh huh
Me (grabbing Ben's arm and making sure I have eye contact): I've always really wanted an orchid Ben.
Ben (now making eye contact like a child being disciplined): Ok.

After a few weeks, I thought Ben had forgotten the whole thing. Probably because the last and only time he has gotten me flowers is the day he proposed to me, and those came with a card that said, "Please accept our deepest sympathies". Needless to say, my expectations weren't high.

Then one night I had an awful night at work. I did a 12 hour shift from 5pm to 5am and came home exhausted. As I walked in the door, this is what I found.Ben had bought me an orchid as well as placed his computer open on the counter with a note telling me to push play. A sappy love song came on and I began to cry. It was more than I could have ever expected at 5am. It was spontaneous. It was kind. It was wonderful.

Ben outdid himself. He surprised me with flowers, a love song and a warm bed to crawl into after a long night at work. And all I had to do was hint at the grocery store. It makes me think, what else could I hint about?

Sewing Projects

Since Ben is working part-time and in school full-time, he's often gone in the day and sometimes at night. I, on the other hand, only work 3 nights a week so I am often home alone. A few months ago I decided I had had enough of sitting around; I was going to learn how to sew. My mom bought me a sewing machine for my birthday earlier this year so I pulled it out of the closet and set to work. I found some great flannel on sale at Wal-Mart for $1.99 a yard, so I decided I would start out by making a baby quilt. I didn't want to worry about getting it exact so I made it into a rag quilt. It took a couple of days, but I think it turned out cute.
My second project I finished just last week. I had always wanted to sew a scrub top, so after a coworker told me of an easy pattern I bought some fun fabric and started. I was proud because I only got frustrated once! After a night and an afternoon, it was done.
After I finished, I kind of regretted using the fabric to make a scrub top. But I guess it turned out cute. My next project: a skirt. But I think I'll give it a few weeks. I can only enjoy sewing so much. :)

Our Apartment

This last week Ben and I purchased a new headboard so I thought I'd publish some pictures of our apartment. We love living where we do. We're off Freedom Blvd in south Provo so it was hard to get used to the trains at first, however it's been a great place to live.

Our great table we got off KSL.com

The kitchen

The living room. The leather couch was my splurge purchase
when we got married. It's not striped- that's just the lighting.
I'm not into the safari look :)

The bathroom. I couldn't get myself out of the top picture. Oh well :)
This is what I look like on my day off.

Our laundry, food storage, sewing, cleaning and camping corner.

The hallway. I got the window on top of the bookshelf at IKEA for $2 as a
reject cabinet door. I put some pictures in it and now it's a great frame.

The den/guest bedroom. We decorated it with mementos from our missions.
I told Ben that was the only excuse for having
a confederate flag hanging in our house.

The Bedroom

I'm so happy to have a headboard.
Now we have something besides the window to sit and read against :)

October: A Month of Anniversaries

This month Ben & I will get to celebrate some important anniversaries, namely the day we met and our first date. Since it's a humorous and interesting story, I thought I'd put it in here.

October 7, 2009- I had been home from my mission about 3 weeks. My mission companion, Karen, came from Honduras with her mom for a visit. On Wednesday we decided to go to the Spanish TRC in the MTC, where you pretend to be investigators and the missionaries practice teaching you. When we arrived they had to split us up, so Karen and her mom were in one room while I was in another. Two sisters came to teach me, and although they were doing a great job, my attention was drawn to their teacher. He was a tall, handsome young man with glasses and popped in periodically to hear the lesson. When they finished, he came to talk to me. The first time Ben and I met we didn't speak any English to each other. We never even said our names, only where we served, who we taught, etc. The conversation lasted maybe 60 seconds and then he was gone.
I remember feeling silly; I'd been way to excited to be talking to a boy and felt I overwhelmed him. He, on the other hand (and as he later informed me), had been impressed with my Spanish as well as my rock-star guitar shirt. Who knew? :)
Ben knew my friend Cassidy and during the next few weeks figured out that she knew me. He asked her for my phone number and later called to set up a date. I was super excited.

October 24, 2009- Our first date
Ben has described me on our first date as "weird" :) In my defense, I'd only been home from my mission just over a month. When he came to pick me up from my parents house, he says I peeked out the door and after saying hello said, "You can't come in because no one else is home" (my parents were still on their mission). Anyway, we went to Macey's to pick out a pumpkin to carve, but all the decent ones were gone so we had to get a bumpy one. It seemed perfect to carve an old man's face in, so that's what we did. We went back to Ben's apartment and talked for 2 hours or so while we carved the pumpkin. Then, because I was just a missionary and missionaries take pictures of everything, I suggested we take a picture with our pumpkin. Ben, once again, thought I was weird but to be kind he pulled out his camera. So thanks to my weirdness we now have the following documentation of our first date. Anyway, we then accidentally set fire to the pumpkin when trying to put a flame in.
Ben was freaking out, and I just laughed and laughed. We finished by eating apples dipped in caramel, then Ben showed me his documentary "Dado" that he'd made at SUU. He ended up taking me home at 11 which I thought was a bad thing but I have since learned that Ben shuts down at 11. Good thing I wasn't too offended. :) Overall though, I think we both had a good time. Although, it did take Ben almost a month to ask me out again.




Ben describes his face in this picture as "Man, this girl is weird" and mine as "Hooray! I'm on a date with a boy!"

Marriage Lesson #16: Men are Men

Yesterday I went and cut 3 inches off my hair. It was getting too long, scraggly and hard to manage. I decided not to tell Ben though so I could put him to the test- Would he notice? I, like any other naive and innocent newlywed, thought "Of course he'll notice 3 inches gone!". Does anyone want to guess the end of the story? When I picked him up from school he didn't mention it so I finally asked if he noticed anything different. He looked at me, then began to guess. "Uh, you shaved your legs? That's a new shirt? You cut your hair? You dyed it? Oh, I know, highlights? Right?" Needless to say, I was a little put out and threatened to get a pixie cut next time just so that he'll notice instantly.
Although in the dog house for a few moments, he was quickly forgiven when my visiting teachers came later in the night and didn't say a word about it. Then before going to bed he said, "You know why I don't think I noticed your hair cut? Because it's the same length it was when we started dating." And he's right. Bottom line: Ben is a man, and I love him.

The End of the Summer of Dreams

The summer of 2010 is over. Last week Ben started school, ending our riotous (while righteous :) ) living. Knowing that we won't always be newlyweds and childless, we tried to take advantage of the summer months. They were short, but oh so sweet. Some of the highlights were:

• We had 3 great vacations to Belize & Honduras as well as Lake Powell and Montana. Getting to show Ben my mission was incredible, while spending time with our families was great too.
  
• Ben encouraged me to buy my first ever mountain bike off KSL.com, then regretted it after trying to teach me how to ride it. In my defense, it's hard to understand gears when you've never owned a bike with more than one speed. I told him on one of our rides, "You deserve a prize for trying to teach a DeBry woman to do something that she already wants to know how to do".
  
• We got to use the camping gear we got from our wedding or bought with wedding gift cards. According to Ben, that was the best use of the money :)
• We slept in some days, and stayed up late even more nights.
• Happy hour at Sonic was an appointment nearly twice a week. Those limeades can't be beat.

Those are the only things that come to mind, but I'm sure Ben will have some more memories. Either way it was, as Ben calls it, the summer of dreams. Now we just have to get through the Fall of "have opposite schedules with your spouse but attempt to see each other as much as possible anyway". Life is good :)

Wild Montana Skies

Last Wednesday Ben and I dropped work and all other worldly cares by the wayside and got in the car to drive to my family's cabin in Montana. It made for a fantastic vacation, but started out a bit rocky. We hit construction in Yellowstone Park so the drive that usually takes 8.5 hours took a long 11. However that's the great thing about being a newlywed- you just take things in stride and talk. It made a great opportunity to get to know each other better as we drove 35 mph and nearly hit a herd of buffalo, an elk, and a fox. Needless to say, we arrived safely at 2am.
Every year since I can remember my family has taken a week in the summer to travel to Cooke City, just a few minutes outside the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone. For both Ben and I, it was a new and memorable experience. Since we still haven't even known each other a year, it was Ben's first experience with my family at the cabin. It was new to have 15 kids running around each morning, but he took it in stride and loved it. We had a great time escaping from life and relaxing.
For me it was a sentimental experience since I have missed the last two Montana vacations due to my mission. What a sense of euphoria and excitement when we arrived and I smelled the trees, saw the mountains and heard... nothing. No cars, no ambulances, no train whistles, just the wind and the creek running below the cabin. That was a great feeling.
Some highlights of the vacation were:

• Ben dressing up like a real cowboy with my mom's DI "finds". He finally found his Morgan roots.
  
• Ben utilizing his film skills one afternoon to make a "Cowboys and Indians" movie with the kids. Good thing we're teaching the younger generation about political correctness :)
  
• Canoeing, just Ben and I, on the Broadwater. Trying to go upstream proved too much for my weak muscles.
• Horseback riding with the kids while we made fun of my brother Mark for getting knocked off his horse by a tree branch one year.
• Having my father tell of the B4 ranch and the sacrifice my grandparents made to make sure their children had the gospel.
  
• Going to the Top-of-the-World with Laura and Gordon and my dad. My dad is the world's best tour guide. The fire watch tower was also spectacular.
• Showing Ben my favorite places to play as a child.
• Church in the barn, only 2 hours long!
  
• Shooting BB guns and sling shots off the back porch. The men having shooting contests.
• The marshmallow gun war. Boys against girls never gets old.
• My mom's delicious cooking and homemade desserts.
• Ben filming the buffalo in the middle of the highway in Yellowstone. "I'm shooting, and driving, and shooting, and driving" etc.
  
• Riding up Lulu Pass to see the old miner's cabins where my grandpa used to mine and live.
  
• Late nights talking with my family with Ben asleep at my side. He's a lightweight at night :)
  
• Enjoying being together. Ben got to know my family so much better and it made me so grateful to have such great people to be with.
  

Monday morning we packed up the car and drove home, so sad to have left a piece of heaven on earth. However, because my parents had the foresight to build such a great place to stay,
we remind ourselves, "There's always next year".

Ben Gets Lasik!

Yesterday morning Ben and I woke up early (9am is early when you work the night before) so I could drive him to have eye surgery. There was no injury or problem- Ben was going to have Lasik. We'd been talking about Ben getting Lasik for months; I had the surgery done in 2007 and can't say enough good about it. Besides that, Ben's eyes haven't tolerated contacts for years so it seemed like the logical and convenient thing to do.
We arrived to a crowded waiting room where a television monitor showed a large and glazed blue eye. Soon we realized we were watching the current surgery as we saw the cornea pulled back, the lazer zapping, then the cornea folded back over and smoothed. Ben watched in astonishment and slight horror. At first I thought he might back out, but as the nurse came over to offer him a Valium he calmly refused it. What a man's man :)
We watched four more surgeries then Ben was called in. It was done quickly and Ben walked out a new man... or at least a new man without glasses. After a rough first day (hourly eye drops, plastic eye guards, pain, redness and blurred vision) Ben had had enough. Lucky for me, Ben awoke with much better vision and much less pain. I'm started to think it was worth it.

Goodbye to Ben's car

Today we put Ben's car up for sale on KSL.com and a few hours later we sold it. The moment was bittersweet- it was the car Ben picked me up in for our first date, where we sat when he first kissed me and what we rode in the night he proposed. So not only did we sell a car, we sold some memories too. But I guess that's better than donating your memories to the kidney foundation.

Our new 2005 Honda CR-V