Las Vegas: Day 2

 On day 2 we headed to Caesar's Palace. Wow! That place is amazing.

 Then we went over to the Venetian. I was very excited to see that.

 They had a cool set up for the Chinese New Year. It was beautiful.

 We went on a gondola ride. This was what I insisted on. Ben got Copperfield, I got the gondola ride. Our gondilier was from Italy and he was great. He sang to us.

 He said it is good luck to kiss under the bridge, so we thought we would give it a shot.

The Venetian itself was stunning. Here are some amazing crystal chandeliers that went on forever:

 And the art on the ceilings was stunning:

 I cheated on Ben just a little bit with Johnny Depp:

Here we are at the Mirage:

 We went to the animal sanctuary. We ended up being the last two people there so we got to watch a dolphin demonstration with just the two of us. That was pretty cool

 A couple random photos:

 The Bellagio fountains- amazing:

 Then, for our last hurrah, we went to the top of the Eifel Tower. While there, we both realized how scared of heights we are:

Walking back to the hotel, we were both exhausted! It was A LOT of walking. But, we got to cross the Brooklyn Bridge which we hadn't done yet, so we comforted our tired feet by saying it was worth the walk in order to do so.

I am very glad I chose to bring my comfortable shoes instead of my cute shoes! I will choose comfort over fashion pretty much every day of the week, and this was no exception!

Vegas Food Porn

A friend used the term "food porn" on FB and I thought it was hilarious. Ben did not- he hates the term. But, I like it and the terms fits with all the food we enjoyed while in Vegas, and since I am the one who writes the post I decided to use the term despite his protests.

Here is the food diary from our trip:

We got to the strip and got checked in around noon. We decided to just eat at the hotel- at Il Fornaio. 

Ben had never been to The Hard Rock Cafe. We decided Vegas was the perfect place for him to try it out! We went to the older one not on the strip. We were basically the only people there- there was one other couple. We realized that Vegas life doesn't really start until about 10 PM, which is right when we go to bed. It worked out well for us, though, as there were no lines anywhere. Perfect.

Ben ordered an unbelievably delicious chicken mac and cheese- it was divine! I ordered their cheeseburger.

We got a fruit tart to take back to our hotel. It was deceptive. The crust was super hard- it wasn't as good as it looked.
I suppose that is a metaphor for Vegas. But that is another topic altogether.

On day 2 we ate breakfast crepes at 48th and Crepe inside NY NY. We really LOVE crepes!

We ate lunch at The Venetian. Ben ordered a pizza, I ordered their meatball sandwich special.

For dinner we knew we had to go to a buffet. We actually did a good job, I think, of not being too gluttonous. The buffet was the one and only time we really did stuff ourselves. We went to Le Village Buffet in Paris. They had more crepes (nice!), crab legs, a carvery, delicious salmon, some great desserts (my favorites were the macaroons), and lots, and lots, and lots more. We had walked over 26,000 steps so we were tired and hungry. We took our time and enjoyed ourselves. It was nice.

Viva Las Vegas!

For our 10 year anniversary we decided to head to Vegas for a quick trip.

I know, I know. What are two Mormons going to do in Vegas? But, we found quite a bit to do. We have been planning this trip for almost a year. Back in July Ben sent me an itinerary of all the activities we wanted to do.; He was very stressed, however, because he didn't know what restaurants we should go to. I told him we had some time and he didn't need to worry about it so much.

Anyway, on Wednesday we flew out. You will have to excuse all of the very touristy pictures. We were very much tourists on our trip- but as we were told by the waiter at Hard Rock, "Everybody is a tourist here!"

 We stayed at the New York. We enjoyed it very much- even though Ben made me go on the roller coaster. I told him that was a once a marriage activity. I was so scared- the older I get, the more of a wuss I become. The guy selling tickets told us it was actually a kid ride and wasn't scary at all, so that helped- but mostly I was still scared. I kept my eyes closed pretty much the whole time.

Needless to say, I won't be doing another roller coaster ride for quite some time.

 We walked, and walked, and walked. In a typical day, we walk about 7,000 steps. For both days we were there, we walked over 25,000- well over 8 miles. We are both very sore, but it was pretty awesome to see the different hotels and sights.

 We pretended to renew our vows at the Excaliber:

 On our first night we went to see David Copperfield. He was on Ben's bucket list- and he was worth every penny! He was unbelievable! We absolutely loved it.

 Copperfield performs at the MGM, which was pretty cool simply because the MGM is on so many movies.

MANY more pictures later...

Ten Years

It's hard to believe, but ten years ago today Ben and I got married! Ten years ago we were completely different people- not knowing how our family would look, how many kids or gender of kids, etc., or having any idea what a "stay at home wife lifestyle" would look. These last ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. In another 10 years, we will be in another completely different stage- with teenagers getting ready to go to college. It really does all pass so quickly, and I am so thankful for every day that I get to spend with Ben by my side.

But here we are. It has been glorious. I simply adore Ben. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could ever be this happy. With all the guys I was dating before him, I knew I wasn't in love or incredibly happy with any of them, and so I kind-of figured married life wouldn't be this great, deep love. Boy, am I glad I waited for Ben! He's my match in every way. I am blessed to be able to have the great love of my life- and I cherish every day with him.

Anyway, you will have to forgive me for waxing so nostalgic. It's the nature of the beast when you get to 10 years- with hopefully 50+ more to go in this life, and then after that forever. We've outlasted Katie and Tom, Brad and Jennifer, and Gwyneth and Chris. I'm feeling pretty good about that.

I was reading through my journal from our wedding day. I thought I would share. It starts before the ceremony and then picks up again afterwards (don't worry, it is G rated):

My wedding day! Yippee!

I didn't get any sleep last night except for maybe 4 or 5 hours. I woke up at 5 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. Crystal (my then roommate and also our hairdresser for the day) and her mom slept in my hotel room, too. Crystal said she didn't sleep, either. We woke up and went to the free continental breakfast. Then came back and Crystal did mine and all of my sister's hair. It looks good- I have lots of bobby pins.

Today is not a regular day! We are probably going to leave for the temple in a half hour. I feel good. Dad gave me a father's blessing this morning. He said the Lord was pleased with my decision to marry Ben and to be married in the temple. He blessed me that Ben and I would grow as husband and wife. It was very sweet.

And, for the first time in 33 years (since HIS wedding!) my dad shaved his mustache! He looks good- 20 years younger. I love it. I'm calm and ready- let's get it done.

Doesn't he look nice without a mustache? A few years before my
wedding he promised me he would shave it on my wedding day.
I don't think he actually thought I would ever get married, so
he figure he was safe- but he held up to his end of the bargain.

 4:30 pm: Ben and I are married! Yippee!!! My mom and I had to fight with everybody to leave the hotel. Finally we left and got to the temple at just the right time. Ben was 10 minutes late. I had to wait for him so we could go to records together.

He got there and we went to records. Then mom and I went to the brides room. Then Ben and I got talked to by the sealer about specific things about the sealing.

Then we went into the sealing room. It was wonderful. We had about 45 guests. It was awesome to see everybody. When I saw Dad, that's when I got teary eyed. It's all just so special.

The sealer gave us advice. He admonished us to be good citizens in our community. He said I was very beautiful but that I had problems because of Ben but I would help him along. He said people would look up to us and say, "if they could get sealed in the temple, we can." He reviewed the promises we have received thus far. Then he had Ben help me kneel and continued with the sealing. I got teary and my mascara smudged, but I didn't cry so that was good.

Then we took lots and lots of pictures. Mom got frustrated waiting because it took so long. But it was great because the weather was sunny (though cold). It was almost too bright and became a problem for Steve to take pictures.

Mostly I remember just being so happy all through the sealing.
How could I not be?

Then Ben and I went to lunch with my parents at the Arctic Circle. That was fun. Right now we're about to check into our hotel before we go to our reception.

Everything's great. I love it. We're married! The biggest problem so far: My veil keeps falling out. Oh, well.

Stephanie fixing my veil for the up-teenth time

Today's awesome- everything is great. Just the reception to go!