White vs. Off-white

Since Ben and I are still technically newlyweds I still get a kick out of the differences between men and women. I knew men were different but until I got married I had no idea how different. This week brought up a funny example.

When Ben and I got married I bought an off-white cardigan to wear to our open house and wedding breakfast. After I discovered how much I loved it, I kicked myself for not having bought a white one as well. I returned to Nordstrom to discover they were all sold out and for months I looked for a plain white cardigan to no avail.

Then finally right before my birthday I found them on the web but the price was higher and when I showed Ben, he asked, "Isn't the sweater you already have white?" I tried to explain that off-white and white are different and go with different outfits, etc., but that's difficult to explain to a man who still wears the same shoes he wore in high school :) Anyway, in the course of the conversation I felt silly for wanting another and very similar cardigan and so I let the opportunity go for the second time.

But then this week I went to the mall here in Pentagon City and I found... the same white cardigan I've been looking for. Woo hoo! And I bought it without any regrets. When I came home I made sure it was a different color than the one I already have, then showed Ben when he got home. He's such a good husband; he just laughed and didn't comment.

Can you see a difference?

But now that I look at the picture, maybe Ben (the man) was right all along. Except that I'm already imagining great spring outfits that will go perfect with the white cardigan, which would never have worked with the off-white one. :)

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.

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?

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.

Newlyweds at 3 months

Everyone says that the first year of marriage is difficult, but does that really ever deter anyone from getting married? I sure hope not. Ben and I recently celebrated our 3 month anniversary, and our discovery has been that the first 25% of the first 1.0 year of marriage is actually pretty amazing. How's that for a statistic? As a side note, statisticians say that 98% of statistics are made up... so let's just say we're madly in love.