BYU B-Ball: That's Where it's At!

We're definitely Cougars & we bleed blue! That said, we wouldn't have missed last night's basketball game against the Utes for anything. Who doesn't love a good, long-standing rivalry and a chance to sit in a packed house & anticipate a really good game?

We had a blast, and even though our seats were closer to the rafters than the floor, the excitement & energy in the Marriott Center was awesome! There were plenty of dunks, fast breaks, 3-pointers, amazing plays, good fakes, some really lousy fouls, & plenty of banter between fans. Oh the joys of basketball, especially between the Cougars & the Utes!


So let the record show:

It's time to Rise & Shout...'cause the Cougars are Out!

Thanksgiving Feast

Somehow, I forgot to post about Thanksgiving. So instead of going back & trying to figure out how to put this in order with the rest of the posts we're just going to take a moment right now and recap our Thankfulness rather than skip over it completely.

It was a great holiday - we spent it here in Provo together and had pie with some of Benjamin's family in the evening, which was incredibly fun & delicious all at the same time.

Benjamin had to work that morning, but we took on the whole Thanksgiving feast between the two of us.

He took care of the turkey:

And I took care of side dishes & somehow we ended up with all of this for 2 of us (we ate Thanksgiving at least once each day until it was all gone too)!

We were both happy with how everything turned out (even if making the pomegranate jello took me 3 trys and 2 phone calls to my mom to say "it's not setting up, so tell me again". I'll be honest, it was almost more fun that way because I got to chat with my family in AZ throughout the morning while they were making dinner too). But most important it was a day filled with things to be thankful for - we're extremely lucky to have so much & after talking about it for a bit, we decided to get with it, and sit down & eat!

Going Gourmet

So Benjamin is an amazing cook. I'm not all that bad either, but I definitely stick to what I know - Mexican food and the basic "What My Mama Taught Me" fare. But Benjamin, he can whip up a mean Red Pepper Pasta and when you sit down...well, you feel like you've got your own little Italian Mama, a great meal complete with a crisp green salad, warm bread with that oil/vinegar combo to dip it in, & of course, that heavenly pasta as the main course. 


I on the other hand, am definitely the baker. I love making pies, breads, cakes & anything that comes out all warm and/or gooey after resting in the oven for a bit. **This is a total side note: Before I started dating Benjamin, there was only one thing that never seemed to turn out right for me when it came to baking - chocolate chip cookies. A total outrage I know, but I tried every recipe, asked my mom what her best kept secrets were one too, but it never seemed to turn out. They were too greasy, too hard, too flat, too everything...the only thing they weren't was good/perfect. (And yes, my mom has told me over and over again that those two words, good and perfect, are not the same thing.) Here's what I was aspiring to (it wasn't like I was asking to be Julia Child or anything, I just wanted a good cookie):

Now here's the catch about my cookie-making problem - every boy loves cookies. It's the staple treat a girl takes to a guy when she's interested right? Well with that said, you can see my problem...I needed amazing cookies and instead I was turning out something that could double as clay pigeons for target practice rather than something I could woo gentlemen with. Even though I had previously stayed away from the cookie disaster, I decided that I better give it one more shot after meeting Benjamin. He didn't know about my problem & that was a good thing too - that kid loves cookies & if I couldn't deliver I figured I better come up with a good alternative quick. 


So I tried one more time, using all the tricks I'd ever heard and hoping that maybe, just maybe something decent would magically appear when I opened the oven door. I don't know what it was, but it was definitely magic or I'd finally found the right special ingredient that I'd been missing... the right man. I'm kidding here, but I'm glad that I have a captive audience for my cookies now & even more grateful that my cooking making disaster days appear to be over.


So now that we're back from my cookie tangent - Benjamin is a gourmet. It's not just great pastas that this kid whips up. I feel like I've travelled the world since I met him. Indian, Japanese, Mexican, Italian, Greek, Thai - and the list goes on & on. I've learned to like fish (mostly), and have tried a bunch of things I probably wouldn't have without him around. 


I've even picked up the cooking fetish myself and have found some favorite new recipes (amazing orange rolls & "Cafe Rio-like" Sweet Pork) & great blogs to follow if you're looking for great cooking ideas for healthy eating. But to showcase the type of talent we've got hanging around our house, take a look at these beauties. 

The Salmon/ Sweet Potato/Broccoli Combo

Indian: Chickpeas & Rice/ Cucumber Salad

Lets go Greek: Souvlaki/ Pita & Tzatziki Sauce/Spinch Salad with Sun-dried Tomato Dressing

Yeah, he's even willing to grill in the snow

Thai Basil Chicken with Vegetables  

And this is only a small taste of what we've got going around here. Now that I think about it, this is probably the wrong post to finish up while trying to decide what to make for dinner tonight - there's just too many good options.

6 Months!

You can sum up 6 months quite a few ways:

• roughly 24 weeks
• 24 Friday nights
• 6 Fast Sundays
• 1/2 a year
• roughly 180 days
• approximately 4,320 hours
• 12 pay checks
• July 23 - Jan 23

But the best way to describe it is 6 months of total happiness & pure bliss. 

Oh, how I love & admire this boy! Smiles are frequent, laughter is constant, and life couldn't be any better when he's around. I'm a lucky girl & the only way I'd be luckier is if I get to keep him forever - oh wait, I do!

The Birthday Boy !

November 6 - that's the day my favorite person ever was born & I'm happy that he was! I wouldn't trade this guy for anything - he's the best thing that's ever happened and I'm planning to keep him for lots more birthdays to come!

We celebrated this first birthday together and of course school had to be crazy busy for me that day as well as the week leading up to it. Lucky for me, Benjamin wasn't put off by it, instead he readily agreed to my suggestion to make his birthday celebration a series of events rather than just a single party.

 Event #1 of Birthday Week: Escape to Park City. We enjoyed the chance to get out and relax, but the getaway definitely wasn't long enough. Next time we'll be sure to have more than 1 day to vacation! However, we did go to an awesome restaurant while we were there - Grub Steak House. I know what you're thinking, that's a terrible name, and I'll admit it's probably not the most "marketable" option, but it was super good food so we didn't really care about the crazy name!

Event #2 of Birthday Week: The Birthday Wall. This is not to be confused with other famous walls in history, but rather added to the list. The "birthday wall" is a long-standing Dorny family tradition, which I've loved since I was little. Essentially, the birthday boy or girl is honored with a birthday wall, which contains a few balloons & streamers, a banner, and a bunch of pictures of the birthday boy/girl throughout the years. I got up early the morning before Benjamin's birthday with the excuse that I needed to study and put the birthday wall up. I loved looking through and picking out the pictures and it was soooo fun to see his face when he got up that morning and came into the kitchen to find the birthday wall waiting for him.

Event #3 of Birthday Week: The Birthday Box Arrival. So all the stuff on the table in the picture above - that's loot from the birthday box. My mom started doing this when her kids went away to school or weren't around on their birthdays. She still put up the birthday wall at home and she, my dad & whoever else was there would celebrate, but the birthday box was always sent out. The best part, Benjamin's birthday box this year was themed for the big 3-0! Every prize had 30 pieces - there were 30 balloons, 30 salt water taffies, 30 mints, and so on.

Event #4 of the Birthday Week: The Birthday Dinner & Picking Up the Cake. I had a BPC event scheduled for late afternoon on Benjamin's birthday, so as soon as I could escape we headed off to dinner at Burger Supreme and then to get a slice of German Chocolate Cheesecake  and Carrot Cake from The Cheesecake Factory in South Salt Lake. (We had sampled the carrot cake while we were in Vegas this summer and we were more than excited to get another chance to enjoy this little piece of heaven!)

Event #5 of Birthday Week: The Present Opening. We finished off the day with presents. He got lots of fun calls throughout the day from family, a cool pair of space pajamas, the last Indiana Jones movie to complete the set, the Hugh Nibley book that talks about the Joseph Smith Papyri, and a specific type of New Testament to use for his Greek study.


Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Colored Walls & Other House Projects

So this past fall brought the beginning of my second and final semester in my grad program, secondary med school applications for Benjamin, a trip or two down to Arizona, and of course... finally getting all moved in to our new place!

We've had fun moving in and have even gotten a chance to try our hand at some basic maintenance projects - like a new shower head and some basic bathroom plumbing stuff. Additionally, we decided to be bold and embrace the freedom we have to paint - something entirely new to us seeing that we're used to the "no paint" rule that seems to go with most apartments around Provo. So...

The kitchen got a new coat of white and 2 yellow accent walls:

The bathroom also got a new coat of paint, although more white walls aren't really that exciting & finally (I think this may secretly be my favorite, even though I really like the others too) we painted a wall gray in our bedroom!

The Adventure Begins

So much has happened since the best day on earth - July 23, 2009! We are loving life and enjoying this crazy adventure with our best friend in tow - who knew that it would be this much fun!?

That said, we've finally stopped dragging our feet and started a blog in efforts to better keep in touch with our family and friends. Feel free to skim, read intently, or just browse the pictures - but we'll hit you with a rapid fire succession of all the last few months have held and then try to keep up from there!

July 23, 2009 was in fact the best day on earth - we got married in the Provo Temple!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day - the ceremony was amazing, and we had so many family members and friends there to celebrate with us - we love you!

The following few weeks included a road trip to California with a stop in Las Vegas so we could catch Phantom of the Opera (we had killer seats, right under the chandelier and a great story about making it to the theater!)

Once we got to California, we enjoyed a great hotel with a view of the ocean, Thai and Greek restaurants, Seal Beach, and a visit to Mount Soledad as well as an adventure aboard the USS Midway (probably one of our favorite activities on the trip).

We ended up in Arizona a week later for yet another celebration - and it was so fun to spend time with family and introduce Benjamin to more family and friends!

Then of course we had to head back to Provo - time to start school, get back to work,  unpack, and "officially" move in to our new place!