My 26th Birthday

My birthday was Monday, but all weekend I had a terrible cough and fever. Finally I thought I was getting better to celebrate my birthday until Monday came and... Ben woke up with a fever of 101.5. So we slept and rested almost all day, although I was able to persuade Ben to take me out for lunch at a Thai restaurant here in the city. The payoff was this Saturday. Ben got up early and made me crepes for breakfast.

Ben's first day

Today was Ben's first day of his internship. This is what he looked like when he left this morning. Isn't he so cute? I just think he looked so great and I'm so excited for him. As I mentioned before, he's interning at Citizenship and Immigration Services, under the Department of Homeland Security. He'll be doing video production. He's such a good husband; I couldn't have married anyone more perfect for myself. So there he is, my hero. In a suit instead of a cape (although below you can see him in his alter-ego outfit).

Isn't he amazing?

We're in Washington! DC, not the state of course :)

Hello everyone! We're in Washington DC and having the time of our lives. Here's an update on the last three days.

Friday, January 7th: We woke up at 3:30am to finish packing and clean up the house, then Ben's brother Landon drove us to the airport. We flew to Denver then had a 3 hour layover while we waited to fly to Washington. While in Denver, my cousin Krissy DeBry called to let me know that she'd like to pick us up from the airport and that she and her husband Syn wanted to take us to dinner. We were really excited. I hadn't seen Krissy in maybe 15 years but she looks just the same- so kind and pretty. She took us to our apartment to drop off our bags then took us out to dinner downtown at a Creole restaurant. It was so fun to talk. Krissy is working as a lawyer here in the city and Syn works with a financial company. They have 3 kids that we have yet to meet. We were tired and in travel clothes, but we had a great time. I had such a fun time reconnecting with my cousin. That night, we spent our first night on the Men's floor of the Barlow Center, the church's central building in DC. It functions as offices, dorms, an institute building, etc. Anyway, we didn't sign up in time to get a married room so we pushed two single beds together and tried to avoid the crack in between all night.

Ben modeling our new bed

Our closets. The door to the bathroom is on the left.
Our dorm is very roomy and we really like it.

Saturday, January 8th: We awoke to find snow outside and decided to go and get needed items (food, toilet paper, shampoo, etc.). We live in the west end near Georgetown, in an area called Foggy Bottom. Our home is about a 4 minute walk from the Metro. It's beautiful here- very historic. It took us a 45 minute Metro ride to get to Target, then we went grocery shopping at Safeway in the basement of the Watergate complex. That's right... the Watergate complex. The deli man even pointed out the famous apartment to us. All the food is much more expensive than in Utah. Poor Ben is shell-shocked. We've begun to eat like missionaries again. Tortillas, sour cream and beans for every meal. Not really, but our diet is definitely controlled by what is on sale. Or cheap.

Later in the day we finished unpacking then walked toward Georgetown. There is a famous cupcake shop there named "Baked and Wired" so we stopped to get cupcakes for later. They may have cost $3.50 a piece but it was worth it. We then walked along the boardwalk of the Potomac river until we got to the Kennedy Center. By then I was pretty cold so we stayed inside and watched one of the free concerts they have every night at 6pm. It was a quartet from George Mason University that played beautifully. So beautifully we may have taken a nap :)

Anyway, we finished Saturday by walking back home (it freezes your ears off if you don't wear a hat), cooking dinner in our community kitchen (turns out it isn't so bad to share with guys because their diet consists of peanut butter and jelly, cereal, and microwaved burritos), and trying to figure out the bus route for church the next day. We fell asleep to the sound of a large group of singles playing games outside our door. I think we'll get used to it :)

Ben by some buildings in Georgetown.
This is about a minute walk from our dorm.

Sunday, January 9th: We awoke early to leave for church an hour before the meetings. Mostly because we had never taken the bus and still don't know the routes. The bus is cheaper than the subway, but you have to be willing to wait in the biting cold until the bus arrives. So we did that and realized you really do always have to carry a hat and gloves in the winter in DC. It took about 45 minutes to get to the church which is in Columbia Heights, near Target actually. It is an old baptist church that the church bought and put their sign on. Before Ben and I came to DC we decided we wanted to go to the Spanish branch. We called the branch president to ask if we could help and he was so excited to find out Ben played the piano. So Ben played the music in sacrament today and everyone was so excited that he'll be able to accompany the choir for branch conference in a few weeks.

Latins are so great and they are pretty much the same everywhere. They sing off tune, but with all their hearts. They greet you with such excitement when they first meet you. They love to tell you their full name (all 4 names actually) as fast as they can. But they're wonderful. Most are from El Salvador, which makes me feel right at home. During Sunday School, the branch president, who is a gringo living in the suburbs, called us into his office. He called Ben as the piano player for sacrament then gave us a joint calling to work with the young adults. We're to develop activities, FHE's, firesides, etc. to get them excited and help reactivate those who are inactive. And if they happen to get married to each other in the process, even better! :) We're excited about it.

After church we decided to take the Subway home, but the train we took broke down on the platform. So we walked the rest of the way, about 7 blocks. When the wind isn't blowing it's not too bad but when it blows.... whooo! Hold onto your hat! After taking a nap today we got to know some of the people doing internships with Ben and watched the CES fireside downstairs. And here we are letting all of you know that we're doing great! We're loving it and enjoying the experience. Tomorrow we'll walk to the White House, about 5 minutes from here, and the mall. Then Ben begins his internship Tuesday. It's such a blessing to be here and we feel this is such a tender mercy of the Lord.

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?