New Blog!!

Well I'm not really sure if anyone reads this besides my mom and my sister, but in the case that any others do, I just thought I'd let you know that I started a new blog. I realized long ago that the URL that I created two and a half years ago is pretty lame and decided that now was as good a time as any purge myself of it and start a new one...hopefully not quite as lame. So, if you have this linked somewhere, change it to my new blog address because I'll be posting on there from now on. Hope you enjoy!

My new blog: stacieandbennett.blogspot.com

Pre Wedding Week

Last weekend my mom, Andrea, Allie and I took a little girls trip getaway up to our beloved Sun Valley for one last trip before I get married. It was the perfect weekend and it made me even more excited than I already was for our annual family reunion up there in just a few weeks. We stayed at the Lodge, read our books, played cards, swam, and ate a lot of delicious food. It was so fun to spend a little alone time with my mom and sisters for a weekend. Andrea is the designated photographer in our family and because of that I, unfortunately only got two pictures of the whole trip:

Playing cards at the duck pond

On Tuesday, Bennett and I, with the help of my mom and Andrea, started to move things into our new apartment. It was so fun to unpack things and make it our home. It is still a work in progress, but we got a big head start. I can't wait to decorate it and make it feel more homey!

Eating our first meal together at our new apartment

Two Weeks!!

We're getting married in two weeks from today!!

Go ahead and ask me just how excited I am.

(mini golfing with my siblings last weekend)

Engagements

Bennett and I got our engagement pictures back a few weeks ago. I am so happy with how they turned out! I love them. Here are just a few of my favorites:

My Fiance is one Hot Dog

Last night, Bennett and I went to the Salt Lake Bee's game with his family. By about the second inning one of the Bee's cheerleaders came up to us and asked us if we wanted to help out with the on-field entertainment after the 7th inning. It took a lot of convincing, but somehow Bennett, his sister-in-law, and brother-in-law all agreed to be in the Boondocks Race. What is the Boondocks Race, you may ask? There were three giant blow up costumes: a hot dog, an ice cream cone, and a pizza. Each person puts on one of the previously mentioned giant inflatable food items and runs around the perimeter of the baseball field until they reach the finish line. The winner of the race receives two tickets to the Boondocks Fun Center. Bennett dressed up as the hot dog, and about 10 feet into the race he deflated and fell far behind. A miracle took place and he somehow got the hot dog to re-inflate and made the comeback of a lifetime. First he pulled ahead of the ice cream cone and then the pizza until he rounded left field and up to home plate, breaking through the finish line first! Meanwhile, I was sitting on the sidelines filming the race on his phone and laughing one of those gut-wrenching laughs. It was one of the funniest things I've seen- primarily because it was so uncharacteristic for those three to participate in an on-field entertainment race wearing giant blow up foods. I have never been so proud of my little hot dog. Every time I think about it or look at a picture from last night I can't help but laugh a little once again. I thought I'd share the goods with you all and hopefully give each of you a little chuckle:

(sorry for the poor quality and that some are small-

all we had was a phone to take the pictures with)

Bennett and Bryan getting strapped in and ready for the big race

There he is- my hot dog

Go, hot dog, go!

Monumental first place finish!

My Last 9:00 Appointment

For the past eight months Bennett and I have been doing the long distance thing. I have spent every weekday night for the past two semesters talking to Bennett at promptly 9:00 pm. In fact, it's so routine that my roommates all joke that I am off limits to do anything after 9:00 because I have my "nightly appointment." While I've looked forward to our 9:00 appointments for the past eight months, I've never been more excited for something to end. Come tomorrow, I will be able to have face to face conversations with Bennett every day from here on out. No more of these long phone calls. My roommate and I were talking yesterday and realized that Bennett and I have racked up quite the number of phone minutes over the months. This inspired us to do a little calculating. The results were shocking. Over the past two semesters we have spent approximately:

10,800 minutes

or

180 hours

or

7.5 days

talking on the phone

As good as it's been, I am not sad to see this stage of our relationship end. I would say it's bitter-sweet, but there really isn't a whole lot of bitter in the fact that our last 9:00 appointment is taking place just 1.5 hours from now. It only means that I'm that much closer to going home to stay. And boy, am I excited!

We're Engaged!!

It's official!!

On Friday Bennett asked me to marry him and I, of course, said yes! I've never been so happy and I can't wait to marry him! My dad has always said that deciding who I am going to marry should be the most important, but the easiest decision I ever make. And it was. It was a no brainer deciding to marry Bennett.

He's everything I've ever dreamed of.

He's the best thing that's ever happened to me.

We're perfect for each other.

And a million other reasons.

So, save the date:

June 22, 2011

We're so in love and can't wait to start the rest of our lives together.

Happy 2011

I just recently decided that since my last post was about my Halloween weekend, I was probably due for another one. Remember back when I set up my blog exactly two years ago and I wrote on it at least twice a week? Oh, how the tables have turned. Well, life since Halloween has been great. Thanksgiving was full of family, delicious food, and gave me a little taste of what Christmas break would be like. I somehow finished up the semester on a strong note and finally moved home for two and a half weeks. Arguably two of the best weeks of my life up to this point. I have never been so sad to return to Provo. By the way, I've been wondering today, who thought it was a good idea to put BYU in Provo? Didn't they know that someday a girl would want to live about an hour north of here to be a little closer to a boy she really likes? Seriously. And better yet, why doesn't the BYU Salt Lake Center offer any Elementary Education courses? Maybe I should write President Samuelson a letter. Well, enough of my ranting.

Needless to say, Christmas break was perfect. I spent the entire time with my family and Bennett and it flew by way too fast. We ate tons of food, played new games, watched far too many episodes of Psych, spent who knows how many hours playing the X Box Kinect with Bennett's family, celebrated Christmas and New Years and just genuinely enjoyed every second of those two and a half weeks.

While I'm sad to be back in Provo, I am glad to be in school again with some structure in my life. It was good to have a schedule today and to feel like I'm being productive again. I always love the start of a new year: setting new goals, looking back at the past year and looking forward to the new one.

Here's a run down of the major events in my life during 2010:

• Studied abroad in Jerusalem for 4 months and had the most life-changing experiences that I still think about everyday
• Attended a spring term in Provo for the first time
• Finished all my generals
• Moved home for the summer and spent quality time with the fam
• Traveled to Boston and Sun Valley
• Turned 20 years old
• A pretty awesome guy came into my life
• Had my favorite job I've ever had as a secretary for the University Advisement Center
• Finished up my first semester of the Elementary Ed program at BYU and loved it

It was a big year. It was a great year. Here's to 2011...I have a feeling it's going to be another big and another great one.

And so, while I'm going to miss seeing this face every day, it's good to be back to a routine and starting a new year. Just cross your fingers that the next four months go by as quickly as the break did...

(Bennett and I on a carriage ride around Salt Lake)