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!

An Ode to Dan

I know that this is completely unrelated to anything on my blog, but some things just need to be said. One of the best ways for me to get my emotions out is to write it out and after hearing about how much support there was for Hatch at the Davis county republican caucuses as compared to Dan Liljenquist, I knew I had to let my voice be heard. So here it is. My ode to Dan.
I remember my first time meeting Orrin Hatch. I was a senior in high school and was fortunate enough to fly to Washington DC with the Bountiful City Youth Council. DC was a beautiful city and I was intrigued by everything about it. I was there with the Utah League of Cities and Towns convention and one of the meetings on our agenda was to have breakfast with the Congressman from Utah. Seriously? I was going to be able to meet our state representatives and have the opportunity to eat breakfast with them. This was a dream come true! For the past seven months in school we had been studying the US government in my AP Gov class. I had been taught about how our National and State government worked and all about our Federal Senators and Representatives. I couldn’t wait for my return home to brag to my teacher and our class about meeting all of them—especially the prestigious Orrin Hatch. He was so cool! He had been in for 33 years and had fought his way to the top to become a senior senator and was in all of the best committees in Congress. He had some powerful influence in DC. To say the least, I was proud to claim that he represented me from the state of Utah.
So there I was: a seventeen year old kid just waiting for the opportunity to shake his hand. Maybe he would compliment me on my interest in politics. Maybe he would congratulate me for being so ambitious. Maybe he would even ask me to become an intern for him once I graduated. Maybe when I turned 30 he would endorse me when I ran for a seat in the Senate. I felt like I had waited for this moment my whole life and I was finally getting the chance.
Hatch and the other congressmen were sitting in the banquet room when we entered. We listened to a “question and answer” that was followed by a breakfast. I scarfed down my food and anxiously waited for my chance to meet Hatch. As soon as I noticed others moving to his table I jumped up and took my chance. The butterflies in my stomach were enormous as I extended my hand to Hatch. Then something happened that I didn’t expect. Hatch also extended his hand, shook it, and began to speak to another man. Hatch did not even make eye contact with me. I was shocked. I hesitated for a second before walking away because I thought that he may turn his attention to me once he had finished with this other man but he didn’t. I left feeling extremely put off and very disappointed. I respected this man so much and he did not even acknowledge my presence.
Looking back years later after this experience, I am proud to say that I support Dan in his campaign against Hatch. And to clarify, my support is no longer with Hatch just because of what happened when I was seventeen, but it is because I believe that 36 years in the senate is too long. I strongly believe in the grass roots movement—I am not necessarily a tea-partier, but I believe that a senator should know who he is representing. And to me, Hatch no longer knows who he is representing.
My sister and brother-in-law moved to DC the summer after I graduated from high school. I loved that city so much that I moved in with them for a month. During my time there I was constantly amazed by the beauty of the city. Don’t get me wrong, I believe SLC is beautiful too, but compared to DC, I could see why Hatch could forget about SLC for the grandeur of DC. The capitol truly is the closest thing that America will have to a castle. If you worked in a castle, it would be easy to see yourself “above” others and thinking that you know best for them. I believe that Orin Hatch sees himself in that way and if Hatch is representing me and thinking like that, he just transformed from my Senator into my King. And if Hatch is my King, I no longer believe that he can truly represent me and should no longer be in office.
The republican caucus meetings recently were interesting. My mother and father are both active members in politics and didn’t just vote, but also ran as delegates. Since I am away at Brigham Young University, my mother reported from my hometown of Bountiful that the majority of delegates were older and were supporting Hatch. Why Hatch? Looking around at my peers, there are so many of us that support Dan. Comparing that to Hatch, I am not seeing hardly any support for him from people my age. If people are claiming that they want what is best for the youth, why aren’t they listening to us? We want Dan! We want someone who represents us! Who connects with us! Who listens to us! Who truly wants what is best for us!
My first time meeting Dan was an excellent experience. It was long before his candidacy for US Senate. I was a junior in high school and was attending Day with the Legislation with the Bountiful City Youth Council. Dan took time from his busy schedule to meet up with our group and shake each of our hands individually. When it was my turn to shake his hand, he looked me in the eyes and told me that he was glad for the opportunity to meet me. Those few simple words speak wonders to me. They let me know that there are still some legislatures out there who care for their people—especially their youth.
Dan is someone that you can trust. I believe that he is true to his word when he says that if elected he will go into Congress, fix what he promised and then come home to Utah. I believe that the whole time he is in DC he will be carrying a picture of his people in Utah close to his heart. I don’t believe that he will ever forget about us.
The delegates of Utah: you want to do what is best for the future? Then listen to the youth. The youth want Dan. The youth want someone to believe in—not someone who won’t even look us in the eye. Dan Liljenquist is what is best for the youth. Dan has my support and I would love to see him in office.

A Camie/Judd Day

Friday was probably my most favorite day of the year so far. Why? Because it was a “Camie/Judd” day. A Camie/Judd day is exactly how it sounds. Judd and I spent the whole day together. It is amazing that we didn’t get sick of each other  My day started out with a phone call from Judd at 6:20am waking me up. I wasn’t mad that he called so early, I was actually very grateful. We were supposed to go to the temple at 6:00am but it looked as if the night before I set my alarm without actually turning it on. Oops. Good thing Judd wasn’t mad and that I was able to sleep in for an extra half hour. We finally made it to the temple at 6:40am and had a great experience there.
Afterwards, Judd came over to my apartment and we made French toast with Nutella on it. I don’t know if anyone has ever tried it but it is DIVINE. My good friend Hannah Broom Stewart introduced it to me in high school and I have basically been hooked ever since. After taking the French toast off the pan, you immediately smother it in Nutella and let the chocolately-hazelnut yumminess sink in. Just writing about it is making my mouth water. It really is so good.
After breakfast was Arrested Development time. Judd and I are obsessed with that show. I am pretty sure that we watch at least one episode a day. We are almost done with it though and I have no idea what we are going to do when we do finish it. Everyone keeps telling us to just start another TV sitcom. Big Bang Theory anyone??? I’ve seen quite a few episodes and I am pretty sure that Judd will love it.
Anyway, after three hours of Arrested Development and a slow recovery from our Nutella coma, Judd and I went our separate ways for a few hours to shower, get ready for the day, and prepare to spend the rest of our time together studying in the library. However, “studying in the library” turned into “let’s talk for another three hours about nothing in particular.” Although I would like to say (and I know my mother would too) that I am upset about the “wasted time,” I really am not. In fact, I cherish the moments when Judd and I spend time together doing the little things in life. It seems like Judd and I have talked about everything in the world, but at the same time I feel like we always have new things to discuss. It really is so special to me and it is one of the reasons why I always get anxious to see him. I know that whenever I have a little story or piece of information he takes it in and really responds. I guess that is just another reason why he is my best friend.
Back to my Camie/Judd day, we eventually made it to the library to find it empty. I mean who really wants to spend their Friday night in the library—especially when there is a basketball game over in the Marriott. Do I feel like a loser when I spend my weekends in the library? Nope. This is what I did all last year too. But to defend my popularity bar, I will say that we left at 10:30pm. Of course, then I went home and went to bed so I guess that doesn’t really help my case. Good thing Judd still thinks I’m cool. And he is the only one that really matters, right? I sure hope so because it seems like he will be sticking around for quite some time and we will have a few more Camie/Judd days in the future.

Soccer Games, Swollen Eyes, and Valentine's Day

Growing up, my parents came to EVERYTHING that I was a part of. Seriously though. Every football or basketball game that I was cheering at, every time that I was performing at a half-time show, every dance recital, and every assembly that I was in even if I only had one line. Looking back, I realize how blest I am to have such supportive parents but I have come to notice that their influence has rubbed off on me. So naturally, when Judd started to tell me about his soccer games, I just assumed that I would be going to all of them to watch him. However, I quickly came to realize that soccer games are not dance recitals. Never before have I been so lost at a sporting event. My first game I had a friend explain to me what was going on the whole time. I grew up with three older sisters and although one played soccer for a few years, I don’t remember much of her games. Yet, I am proud to announce that I am slowly starting to figure out the world of soccer much to Judd’s (and mine’s) amazement. It has been really fun going to his games and hanging out with the soccer kids. I have always imagined them with the stereotype of the cool and collected jocks who knew that they were really good but didn’t have to brag about it like football or basketball players. So just imagine how “cool and collected” I felt when Judd introduced me to all of his soccer buddies. To say the least, my popularity bar that only exists in my head sky-rocketed.



However, I am pretty sure that two weeks ago that bar crashed and burned. Judd had a soccer game for his BYU intramural soccer team that I went to. As I was sitting there and imagining that I knew what was going on, my eyes started to itch. Not just one, both. It wasn’t a big deal and I assumed that if I went to the bathroom and washed them out that I would be fine. After looking in the bathroom mirror, I also noticed a hive on my neck and that my eyes were swelling. I panicked (which I am sure only made it worse) and debated on if I should go home or not. Judd only had a few minutes left in his game so I decided to stick it out until the end. Little did I know, my eyes were basically like a balloon and I would soon have a marshmallow face with slits for eyes. When the game ended I was getting plenty of strange looks from Judd’s teammates and many of them asking me if I was okay. That is when Judd saw me. I saw him muffle a gasp but his jaw still dropped. When he asked me if I was okay I knew I looked pretty bad. Everyone had been planning on going to Costa Vida after that game but Judd was determined to get me some Benadryl instead. I still didn’t believe it was that bad until we got into his car and I looked in the mirror. It was then my turn to gasp and have my jaw drop. Yeah. It was that bad. We rushed to the nearest Walgreens where Judd spent the next 15 minutes speaking to his dad on the phone of whether he should get me Children’s Liquid Benadryl or the regular pills. After coming to the consensus of the Children’s Benadryl (and me scratching my eyes out the whole time) I downed the bottle. Okay. Not really. And I am in no way endorsing OD-ing on Children’s Benadryl but I did take more than Judd and his dad suggested. I should’ve listened to them. I was passed out within the hour. Good thing Judd drove that day or else I would not have made it home. It was quite the adventure and I am very glad that I survived to tell the tale.

Switching gears completely now, two days ago was Valentine’s Day! For starters, I need to give my big sister Chelsea a shout out and wish her a happy 22nd birthday. Hope it was fantastic, big sis! Well my Valentine’s Day was fantastic. Like I was mentioning earlier about the supportive parents, every year before this one, they have been my Valentines. For instance, I have never been dating someone on the actually Valentine’s day before so I would wake up every morning on Valentine’s Day with a card and box of chocolates from my mom and dad (aren’t they the best?). This being said, I was pretty excited to have an actually Valentine (yes, I still got a phone call from my dad telling me that he had a card for me when I next saw him. He is such a sweetheart).

Anyway, Judd picked me up, blindfolded me, and took me to the car. We drove around for a while taking lots of twists and turns to get me lost (I have an internal GPS) and ended up parking. He got the door and led me still blindfolded to some stairs and then realized that he needed his keys to get in the “restaurant.” After opening it and leading me in, he took off the blindfold and I stood in his apartment with a home cooked meal and a candlelit dinner. Did I also mention that there were roses and chocolates on the table as well? It was perfect. We had yummy homemade chicken Alfredo (Mom is very impressed that he can cook) with parmesan bread and cut up strawberries we could dip in chocolate. It was very yummy.

However, there was one downfall from the evening and it was not Judd’s fault in any way. We had both gotten a little stomach bug over the weekend and although Judd was fully recovered, I wasn’t. I realized a little too late that I probably shouldn’t have eaten as much as I did and ran to his bathroom because I, unfortunately, couldn’t keep it down. I felt terrible but as soon as I exited the bathroom Judd had some mouthwash, gum, blankets, and Tangled waiting for me. The guy is a keeper for sure. We ended up cuddling and watching Tangled for the rest of the night (I am surprised he still wanted to be around me) and then took me home. It was a perfect evening and I am so grateful that he is in my life!