Baby It's Cold Outside

It's Christmas time, and it's Ben and I's first Christmas, therefor we are going to do Christmas cards! I've never really felt like a Christmas card person, but I wanna try it out at least once.
Kristine took them for us in her yard, I wasn't wanting anything super fancy, I just wanted it to be fun and I wanted to have a few more pictures of Ben and I. Here's a preview:

 

Our Humble Abode

It took Ben and I longer than expected to move into our own place. Gotta love paying tuition....
About a month ago we were able to move into thee perfect apartment. It's got everything we wanted and needed, I don't know how we got so lucky. Patience I guess.
It's a fourplex directly behind Outback, I mean RIGHT behind outback. Ben walks to work in 4 minutes, that's right, 4 exactly.
I really didn't want to post about the apartment until it was completely decorated and put together, but let's be honest...is ANYONE'S home completely decorated and put together? So let's do this.

 Welcome to the Jenkins' home, where most are welcome, especially if they bring treats.

Here's the view from the front door. Walls are still pretty dang bare, we aren't allowed to use nails or tape on the walls so it's been a little more difficult to hang things up.

This is most of our kitchen. The only parts you can't see are the fridge, I'm pretty sure everyone knows what one of those looks like, and our kitchen table. If any of you have ever been to my house in the last 20 years, then you know what our kitchen table looks like, we inherited my parent's old one. The kitchen was one of the biggest selling points with me. No hand washing dishes, and no going to the parent's house to do laundry! There is hardly ANY storage space though, we've been getting creative.

Our cozy living room. Two incredibly comfortable couches, a massive old school TV and a handmade afgan (The thing hanging over the blue chair. It was a wedding present).

The bathroom, it's super tiny...but it does the job.

Our bedroom is a bit of a joke right now. We're on a full mattress on the ground. All I want for Christmas is a king sized bed, and box springs.

Ugh...and here it is, my worst enemy right now. This was supposed to be the room filled with movie posters, all kinds of video game consoles and a futon!! This room right here was supposed to be the fun room, how much fun does that look like? Every time we try to clear it out I swear it only gets worse. When this finally gets done, I will show you just how much fun it is!

Well, there it is! Now a whole lot to it, but we sure love it. Did I mention we don't have any tv, what so ever? Our basic cable got cut apparently. We also didn't have internet until about a week ago. We mostly watch our tv shows online now or watch movies with the DVD player. We also never turn our heat on, so be sure to bring your winter coat with you if you ever come to visit...and a treat.

Not my Mom

Earlier this week my parents invited Ben and I to dinner and a Dexter party (our favorite show).

My parents called and said they would meet us at the restaurant, so Ben and I hopped in the car. When we got there, this is the first thing we saw:

Tell me that doesn't look like Shonagh Davis' back side?!? I thought it was her....until she stood up at a table across the room. Then my dad came to talk to us, and I told him that was NOT mom standing in front of us. He replied, "Woah, that really does look like her! Good thing I didn't grab her."
The best part was when she turned around. Her face looked much, much older than then rest of her. Quite a shocker.

I've been laughing about this picture all week.

p.s. one of these days we will unpack our apartment, but until then I cannot post about it. Patience.

Going to the Temple

I married Benjamin Giles Jenkins on August 10, 2012.
It was the best decision I've ever made, and I am reminded of that erry day.

It was a beautiful morning, the smoke from all the fires in the county had made the air a little smoggy, but it was still warm and happy. I arrived at the Temple on time, Ben arrived 20 minutes later. Thank you for the heart attack babe.
The sealing was so incredible, and I cannot wait to be able to go through with all my girlies when they get married. It was so special to be in there with all of our family.
We were a little rushed out of the Temple, which was pretty sad. We were able to get in all of our pictures with family and friends, but after only about 20 minutes of Ben and I getting our pictures together, it started to rain....which made for some fun pictures of us running away.

A little P.S.
My sister's friend did all of my bouquets, corsages and bouteneers. She made them out of all sorts of different kinds of fabric! It was such a great idea. I didn't have to worry about them wilting or getting crushed, and I can keep them forever!! They looked absolutely perfect, they couldn't have turned out any better. If you're interested in Jenny's mad skills, hit me up. Check it:

Our luncheon was the most perfect ever. I think it was my second favorite part of the entire day. It's always nice to hear people you care about say just how much they care about you too. The food was great and the company was even better. Holly (Ben's ma) did an excellent job putting it together.

After the luncheon I headed over to Bella Vista where we were having the reception. The first thing I noticed?

Thanks. Biggest pet peeve right there. The best part is that it was still 2 hours before the reception...and they couldn't fix it. Really?? Whatev's, as long as there isn't an "A" in it right?

I loved getting there in time to see everything come together. Heather (My friend who basically planned the whole thing for me) was not happy that I wasn't off relaxing somewhere before, but I knew if I didn't come see it then, I wouldn't have time to go and wander around and see everything once people showed up. I will never forget the way my reception looked. By the way, it looked freaking rad.My cake was one of my favorite parts, it was so different and fun. Mallory, one of my bridesmaids, made my cake topper and she did a fantastic job!

We got to see so many people. I was surprised not very many people showed up from my high school years. Maybe I'm just too early, they're all still too cool for that kind of scene. I was able to see so many people from my family that don't live here and old family friends as well as meeting SOO many new people.

Here's some things to make you laugh.
*Ben almost dropped me during our first dance. There's a fun story for the kids...

*I was so scared of the cake getting on my dress, that my face looks like this in every single picture of the cake cutting:

*My 8 year old Nephew caught the garter, and was totally psyched.

*My friends put profanity all over the outside, as well as the inside of our car. We spent the next morning washing our windows and untying coke cans from the bumper.

*And lastly, while I was going through my pictures, all of a sudden I see one of my dad with his arms around all of my ladies. I busted up.

I love, love. I love being in love. I can't wait til everyone else starts getting married. It was such a blast. And now begins married life.

Mooning Honey's

These posts will be a little backwards. I'll Quentin Tarantino it, start with the Honeymoon and circle back to the wedding, as soon as I get the wedding photo's. You can bet your bottom dollar I will blog it the day those photo's come in. 

Long story short, Ben and I procrastinated and got a wee bit too picky about the Honeymoon. Ben wanted to go to Canada....? and I really wanted to go to California, I've never even driven through there. I just wanted a change of scenery and a beach. Alas, we took too long to pick a resort and ended up in Vegas (not even on the strip because once again we were too picky, waiting for something better), in a time share that we couldn't even check into until Monday. We ended up staying in a random casino we found online that was about 3 miles from the strip. It ended up being pretty sweet. When we checked in they upgraded us to a way nicer room with an awesome view. The only downfall was that we had to live out of our suitcases because we'd just have to pack up and move locations again in a few days.
After all of the fiasco's were over and we were settled into our little condo, it was a really fun and relaxing trip. It's so exciting to go to the Las Vegas Strip for your first time or with someone who's never been. Ben is interested in so many things, so not only was he able to see new places, but I saw stuff I'd never even noticed before, like the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. I've been to vegas so many stinkin' times and I have NEVER seen this sign.

We spent an eternity in the Hard Rock Cafe. Probably the coolest thing I've ever seen. I just wanted to take pictures of everything, and kiss all of the Beatles. There are some seriously rad things in that place. I won't bore you with all of the photo's, because they honestly don't do justice. If you're ever in Vegas, go check out MC Hammer's getup, or the police report from Jim Morrison's arrest.

Ben had just turned 21 a couple weeks prior, so we made sure to get him into a casino at least once. I think he learned his lesson, or maybe not, I'm just glad he's an active LDS member or else we might be in debt by now. 

Ben and I did a lot of wondering and sat in on a lot of free shows. You'd be surprised how much stuff you can do there for zero dollars. We watched circus shows, street performers, the fountains etc. I loved loved LOVED spending time with my sweet new husband. It helped us to get to know each other even better than before. We are goof balls and we love being together so I think marriage looks good on us.

Playing at the pool

Jumping on the bed

Making faces at circus folk

We tried Cola from around the world, then we almost threw up