Ketchup? No, catch-up.

I realized that I haven’t written a blog post in a while.  My first thought was that it must be that I don’t have much to say/update.  Then I realized that was far from the truth.  I always have a ton to say.  Judd isn’t even sure he can remember a time when I didn’t have a ton to say.  I guess I have just kind of got to that time when you are in the middle of school and suddenly you get into a schedule (mine is usually school, dance, pinterest/facebook, bed) and you think that you don’t have time for anything else.  But it would be so selfish of me to not make better use of time and express some gratitude.  Yes, I know that it is November and I am not just doing it because of Thanksgiving.  If anything, I am doing this because my birthday is in 10 days and I want everyone to remember.  Joke.  But really though.  My birthday is my favorite holiday.  Anyway, back to the whole sentimental, grateful stuff….  I was able to see my sister Shelby for the first time in over a year.  I didn’t realize how much I missed her until I saw her again.  Growing up it was the family joke that I had four moms instead of one.  That is what happens when you have three older sisters.  Either way, I love them all so much and am so blessed that they are in my life.  I mean, who else would have taught me “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” or how to spell Adidas?  I am a lucky one that is for sure. 

I also couldn’t help but be grateful for my hot husband.  And by hot I mean wonderful and amazing.  Guess who takes Nixon out to go potty when it is freezing outside?  Judd.  And guess who does the dishes when I don’t want to?  Judd.  And guess who lets me buy a box of grasshoppers when I really shouldn’t?  Judd.  All of that and a great personality. 

So even though school seems a little daunting right now I know that I am beyond blessed and I am grateful for that every day.  Hopefully I will do better in updating everyone about me life!

Beach Boys are my life.

First of all I need to apologize.  I am so sorry Mom for calling you practically everyday while I was in California telling you how much I missed Utah and my family. You were right. It was not the end of world and I would miss it once I moved back. Yup. I am missing it now. School has started for me and Judd and it is so nice to see him all the time! It is like we are finally married! I am surprised that we are not sick of each other yet. Speaking of getting sick of each other, tomorrow is our 5 month anniversary! Time flies when you’re having fun. But really. Favorite moments in California:

1. Getting Nixon (duh)

 2. THE BEACH!

3. Going on adventures

4. San Francisco almost every weekend


5. Mom visiting me!

 
 Yes I know that all of these picture have Nixon in them. What can I say? With a face like his how can I not have him in every single picture I own?

Happy Independence Day!

I love the 4th of July. It is by far my most favorite holiday. You are the in the heat of summer, there is excitement in the air, fireworks are being set off, and you spend a lot of family time at barbeques eating food. Lots and lots of food. Maybe all of the food is the reason why it is my favorite holiday. Although I usually spend every 4th of July looking for as many veterans and active duty soldiers as I can and cry as I thank them. Two years ago I spent the summer in Washington DC and came across some WWII vets that were checking out the monuments made for them. I finally managed to corner one and started bawling as I told him how grateful I was for his service. I was crying so much that he assumed I had lost someone in the military and sent his condolences. I had to correct and let him know that everyone I knew in the military was healthy and well. That was when he gave me a strange look and told me to have a nice day as he walked away. I am such a baby when it comes to the military. Maybe it has to do with having a father as a retired military officer who proudly served this country for 23 years or two amazing brothers-in-law who are still in the service. Either way, I love the 4th of July. So yesterday being the 4th of July I wanted to have some kind of celebration. Judd was taking a half day but would still be at work until 4pm so I went on a search for some 4th of July festivities on my own. It turns out that Pleasanton does a really cool America presentation in one of their parks on the 4th of July. I showed up with Nixon and found people in lawn chairs and blankets listening to speakers pretending to be different characters from history. There was also a brass band that played patriotic songs in the background as they spoke. It was my kind of celebration. A cute old man handed me a program and a mini flag and I went to find a good place to sit myself and my puppy. That is when I realized two things: 1. Californians love dogs. 2. Nixon is a totally ham. You can’t really blame him. I mean, with a face like his who couldn’t love him? I also had tied a red bandana around his neck for the occasion so he looked especially cute. But seriously though. I couldn’t walk 10 feet without someone saying, “Oh! What a cute puppy!” Nixon was eating it up. He would let them walk up to him and stretch out his neck so that they would give him a good scratch under there. He would be so gently with the kids and lick their hands without trying to chew on them. The kids would squeal and giggle and the parents would just smile. This one mom went and grabbed her three other kids that were sitting on lawn chairs to come see the puppy. He was a hit to say the least. There was an ice cream stand and after ordering a cone, I asked the guy if I could get a water cup. He told me it was going to be 50 cents but when he saw Nixon he said he would give it to me for free. I was still in a little bit of shock after seeing how much Nixon loved the spotlight. And of course as soon as we got home he completely ignored me and fell asleep. What a silly goose.

He was passed out until Judd got home and we began getting ready for our 4th of July barbeque. I had a little surprise for Judd. Lizzie and I had bought matching 4th of July shirts the four of us. We were so excited and had spent the day before running around California looking for shirts on such short notice. I was just glad that she was just as excited as I was to match and didn’t think I was a freak in the store when I begged her to let us match. But when I showed Judd the shirt the first thing out of his mouth was, “No.” Here is the thing with Judd that I have noticed. He hates matching anyone. Even getting remotely close to matching someone. I first noticed it when we were dating and we each had a coat that was army green. We both ended up wearing it one night while we were on a date and he took it off and spent the rest of the night coat-less and freezing. I have never seen him wear that coat since. I was worried that the matching shirts were going to be a problem but after some convincing and some threatened tears he agreed to wear it. We all went to the park, wore matching shirts, took family pictures, and had a great time. It went really well and it was a great way to spend the 4th of July.

Puppy Love

It was overcast this morning when I woke up. I must be my mother’s daughter because whenever is it overcast outside I tend to feel a little down. As Judd was getting ready to leave this morning I couldn’t help but feel sad and a little lonely. He works so hard and I really am so proud of him but he leaves every morning at 9am and doesn’t get back until 11pm. It is crazy that I never see him. I expected us to see each other so much once we were married that we would be sick of each other. I have quickly found out that it is really hard to get sick of someone that you never see. Anyway, I started sniffling a little as he was leaving. I couldn’t help it. I knew that it would only make him sad that I was sad but I was seriously bummed. So he did what any rational man would do. He grabbed our puppy Nixon and threw him on the bed with me. I guess the real reason we got Nixon was to keep me company while Judd was gone all day. Now just a little information about Nixon. He is your typical puppy. He will be super hyper and want to explore and chew and sniff EVERYTHING and then fifteen minutes later he is passed out on the floor. So when Judd put him on the bed this morning I was expecting Nixon to run around and make me chase him and get more upset. But instead of running around and chewing on everything, Nixon just looked at me. He came over to me and cuddled up right next to me. I think he knew that I was upset and not in the mood to play with him. He is such a sweetheart. After Judd left he and I just cuddled in bed until I finally felt well enough to get up. I love him. That is puppy love right there.

I Saw My First Nudist Today.

Today I went to San Francisco! For all of you who didn’t think that I would be able to find a theme song for San Fran like I did San Jose, you are wrong. “Save Me San Francisco” by Train saved the day! Unfortunately it isn’t as popular as “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” so people don’t sing it when you mention San Francisco. So maybe San Francisco isn’t as musical as San Jose, but I still liked it. Our hour long drive began with The Newsies. Billy had it on his iPod and it blasted through the car. It was a lot of fun to listen to, especially since we had Truman and Adam stuffed in the trunk singing their hearts out to it. Okay. It actually isn’t as bad as it sounds. Billy’s car is a hatchback so the trunk is open and connected to the rest of the car. But it was pretty funny watching them as they tried to wiggle their bodies into the most comfortable position. They were good sports about it though. As we drove through Oakland I couldn’t help but realize just how beautiful California is. I have only been to Disneyland and Southern California so living further up north has been a new experience for me. As we came to the bay and crossed the Oakland Bridge there were sailboats everywhere. If that didn’t make me home sick, I don’t know what would have. I would love to take my dad’s sailboat out sometime and go sailing in the bay (Mom? Dad? Want to pull the sailboat out when you two come visit me this summer?). It was beautiful. Once we made it to San Francisco and found parking (we ended up parking in an $18 dollar lot. Ouch), we started walking around the piers. There were street performers, stores, picture spots, and restaurants. Lots of restaurants. Restaurants everywhere of everything from pizza to seafood. For anyone who truly knows me, they will know that I am a sucker for food. I love food. On vacations I think the majority of my money goes to food because I would much rather buy a donut from the local shop than a souvenir. But back to the restaurants, I just want to go there on a day where I haven’t eaten anything and try them all out. Unfortunately we weren’t able to try any of them today but I will by the end of the summer. We kept walking around and eventually found a small beach. The first thing Lizzie did when she saw it was kicked off her flip flops and ran to the water’s edge. I followed suit and touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time in two years. It was COLD. I knew it would be, but it was freezing. I couldn’t get in past my feet because I was wearing skinny jeans and those things do not roll up over my calves, but that was all I needed. Maybe I am just a baby because there were swimmers out there and people who were playing on the beach. Even if it was freezing it was still beautiful. I have always loved the ocean. Probably because I have a mother who is a beach bum and took us to the ocean almost every day while we were growing up in Hawaii. Thanks Mom. I owe it all to you  We found our way back to the car and decided to take a quick trip over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. It was beautiful and the view of San Francisco from the bridge was breathtaking. It was pretty entertaining because there was a tunnel that we had to pass under and the entrance had a big rainbow painted around it. Gotta love San Fran, the gay capitol of the world. On our way back Lizzie’s GPS took us in probably the most roundabout way. I wasn’t complaining though because this meant we were able to see the rest of the city. And that is where I saw him. Everyone in the car was getting tired from a long day of being a tourist and we were all ready to take a nap. I just happened to glance out the window and see a naked man. What. Yeah. He was naked. Just a little side note really quick: Billy and Lizzie went to San Francisco our first weekend here and saw two nudists walking around. They later found out (and then passed the information on to us) that it is totally legal to walk around naked in San Francisco. Crazy, huh? Anyway, we had been making jokes all day about seeing a nudist but so far no one had. That is why I was so surprised to see him walking as we were leaving the city. He was just walking down the street with a backpack, hat and shoes on. That, of course, was it. At first I just sat there wide eyed but eventually was able to squeak out, “he is naked!” That woke everyone up really quick so that everyone turned and looked. We all just kind of watched him walk down the street and that was that. It was the perfect ending to a great day in San Francisco.

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Not only is the title of this blog post a song but it is also an invitation to anyone who know the way to San Jose to come visit us! But really though. It is beautiful here and I would love to see all of our friends and family out here at least once. Just to give you a heads up of what it is like living in San Jose, I will give you a list of my favorite things: 1. It is a requirement to sing “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” whenever anyone says San Jose. 2. The majority of the employees at the Wal-Mart across the street can only say, “Ummm… No English. Ask him” then points you in the furthest direction possible. 3. It is custom for your neighbors above you to find 3am to be the perfect time to watch TV, take showers, and stomp above your bedroom. 4. The office at our apartments ran out of keys for the pool so you have to jump the fence every time you want to go swimming and people stare. EVERY TIME. 5. No husband. So that basically sums up San Jose! Just kidding. Although that is a great description of part of San Jose, it does not cover all of it. First of all, it is great that I have a job. My first few days here I didn’t have one. I watched Judd get up every morning at 7am and leave dutifully for his job. I would go back to bed. Wake up in the late morning. Sit around the apartment. Go to the pool. Run around Pleasanton (the city where I actually live) and sleep. Then Judd would come home at 10pm and we would go to bed. To say the least, without my job I would feel like a bum and would probably go crazy. Plus Judd said that I anything I make this summer I get to keep so if that isn’t motivation to get a job then I don’t know what is. I work in the Alterra office and enter paper work all day. I actually don’t mind it since my coworkers are fantastic! There are four of us girls who work there and our two managers. To say the least, I haven’t been bored yet which is a first for me when it comes to work. When I am not at work, I have taken it upon myself to learn how to cook. And let me tell you, Judd has not been disappointed in anything I have made him yet. Considering that I make him breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, I would say that I am on a roll. Cooking is actually pretty fun it turns out. Sorry Mom, I should have trusted you when you said that years ago. It is like a little adventure picking out what I want to make every day and then going out to the grocery store to search valiantly for the items needed to create my concoction… Uh… I mean dinner. Maybe it isn’t as adventurous as it would seem, but I have fun with it. Another skill that I have been trying to learn is sewing. Thanks to my sisters for buying me my first sewing machine ever! I love it! And thanks to Billy for picking it up in Utah and bringing it out since I forgot to bring it when we first moved here. It turns out I really like sewing. Sometimes I wish Betsy Oborne, my achievement days leader, was here to help me but luckily I have older sisters who sew! I may or may not be in the process of making a baby blanket for one of them….. It is pretty funny that I am trying to be so “domestic” all of the sudden. I was talking to my mom one day and was telling her all about my new skills when she bluntly asked me, “What happened to you?” I laughed it off until my best friend Becca asked the same question and when Judd came home from work and asked me as well. The truth is, I have been asking myself the same question. I guess I needed to learn these skills sometime in my life so why not now while I am in a strange city and 748 miles away from my home, friends and family? At least when I don’t feel like being domestic I have Lizzie. Thank goodness for Lizzie! She has been keeping me sane and is always up for going on an adventure! It is nice to be able to say to someone, “hey let’s jump in the car in five minutes and go somewhere.” We haven’t been on too many adventures yet but we keep brainstorming and planning for days when we can go to places like Carmel, California to see a beach and John Muir Park to see some redwoods. And even on days that we don’t run somewhere out of the city it is still nice to have a pool buddy. I think that I have basically told her my whole life story by now. Thank goodness she is a good listener! Living here is different but I am learning more about myself every day. For example, I have learned just how lazy I am. But I have also learned that I love looking up recipes for homemade oreos. I still haven’t made any yet but I plan on it. It could be a problem that Judd doesn’t really like oreos but for some reason I am okay with that. That just means more for me! Anyway, I just want to say that seriously if anyone has any plans to come to San Jose or San Francisco please come visit! It would be great to have you. On a completely unrelated note, I will be blogging about my wedding soon. Until then, thanks so much for all of the help, love, and support we received! Our wedding day was a complete dream and it could not have been more perfect. On another completely unrelated note I found this article the other day http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2124246/Samantha-Brick-downsides-looking-pretty-Why-women-hate-beautiful.html. The woman in the story is saying that being beautiful is hard. This is basically how I feel every day. Just kidding. I had to beg Judd to marry me. He was sitting on the fence about it because he wanted pretty children and knew that his chances were extremely low if he mixed his genes with mine. Luckily my charm was able to convince him even if my looks couldn’t. Anyway, read the article if you get the chance. HILARIOUS.

Photos and 2 Days Left!

I am writing this blog post because I NEED to give a shout out to my big sister Brittany Bennion. She has always been there in my life and is one of those women that can basically do anything. And when I say she can basically do anything I mean it. For instance, she is being my photographer (if you haven’t checked out her blog it is britsphotos.blogspot.com), doing my make-up, altering some of the bridesmaids’ dresses, helping with my hair, and a little bit of everything else. Someone who is as talented as she is definitely needs to be recognized. So thanks Brit! You’re the best! And of course to not undermine my other sisters, thanks Shelby for always teaching me to be the best person I can be and for Chelsea for being my best friend as we grew up together. So Brittany has been taking time out of her hectic schedule (she has the two cutest kids and she is working) to do my engagements, bridals, and day-of pictures. We decided to go down to the Salt Lake City Temple yesterday to do most of day-of pictures since it is supposed to be raining on Friday. I am not really complaining since rain on your wedding day means good luck, however I thought it was a great idea to get some pictures a few days before so we don’t get rained out. We went down last evening around seven to nine and I woke up to a text message from Brit saying she already had some done and wanted to show me. Can I just say how impressive that is? So this morning I jumped on my computer and while on the phone with me she showed me. Wow…. That was basically all I could say. She is fantastic at what she does.

Also can I just say that I have two days left until I get married? It doesn’t even feel real. I am just so excited!