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!

In Mourning

It is a very sad, sad, day for Denver. As I am sure you know, the Broncos lost yesterday- thus putting a nail in the coffin of what should have been a fabulous season. The stage was set for a perfect Disney movie: Manning coming back at the age of 38 to defeat his three great nemesis': The Colts, Tom Brady, and the Seahawks.

Unfortunately, the script was not given to the Broncos.

Instead, they refused to even show up for the game.

I think the Broncos problem is that they have no grit. If you look at the other play-off teams, all of them FIGHT for everything they have. They play with a chip on their shoulder.

When Seattle played Carolina, they didn't look very good for the first half. But I told Ben, "don't worry. They are the best when the pressure is on. They don't get flustered- they get angry. If they get punched in the face, they punch right back."

Sure enough, Seattle came back and easily won the game.

In the Patriots game, they were down by 14 points and muscled their way back not once, but twice. Then, they got behind again- but still found a way to win.

Green Bay won with a QB who could hardly walk.

But the Broncos...they don't have it. If they get behind, or if something bad happens to them, they crumble. They can't recover.

We saw it in the SuperBowl last year, and we saw it yesterday. The chips were down, and instead of fighting back, they rolled over and gave up.

It's weird. And sad.

They are such a talented team- but they lack guts. And as we saw this weekend, you can't win in the play-offs without guts.

So now we shift our attention to the Seahawks.

Go Hawks!

Kids Are Awesome!

Sometimes it's really cool to be a mom!

The other day the girls had a simple assignment of narrating a past experience for an audience (the audience was Ben). We are studying ancient Greece and it has to do with introducing drama to the kids. It was a very simple assignment- Audra's presentation was about 1 minute long, Claire's about 30 seconds. No big deal.

But, boy, for these girls- it was a HUGE deal! They spent over an hour preparing their "stage." They came up with costumes. They made signs with arrows directing Ben to the stage. It was really neat to see how involved they got. That is one of the bonuses of homeschool- if the kids get really engrossed in something (which I did not expect!), they can spend however much time on it as they want without a bell interrupting them.

It was also great for Claire- who gets very nervous in front of an audience. In fact, I asked them if they wanted to do their presentations in front of Grandma and Grandpa, and Claire declined- she was too scared. But, in front of Ben she did fantastic. I drew pictures for her of what she wanted to say and she "read" her script. It was awesome.

Review: Unbroken

Last night I went with a friend to see the movie "Unbroken."

I read the book a couple of years and LOVED it- I really think it should be required reading for high school students. I knew the movie couldn't possibly live up to the book, and unfortunately I was right. If I had not read the book, the movie would have been good- but having read the book, it simply couldn't compete.

Here's my ratings (out of 10):

Book: 10

Movie- having read the book: 6.5

Movie- if I had not read the book: 7.5

**Spoiler Alert**

I very highly recommend the book. It is incredibly depressing, but such an unbelievable true story of survival, heartache, forgiveness, and redemption. You read it and keep thinking, "It can not possibly get worse!" But then, it keeps getting worse.

When watching a movie based off a book, I understand that many elements must be left out. But there were so many poignant pieces of the book that I found changed the entire premise of the book and were missing, and that was depressing.

For example:

-Louis actually shook Hitler's hand at the Olympics, Hitler was so impressed by Louis' last lap that he asked for Louis to come over and shake his hand. Knowing that Louis would then go on to fight against this evil man whose hand he shook was powerful.

-In the movie, we don't get to see just how heinous the Bird was to Louis. It was actually a daily beating that Louis got from him, for absolutely no reason other than the Bird had some sort of sick fascination with him.

-As they are going to crash in the plane, we don't get a sense of the fear that the men had- they all thought they would die, and yet they appear pretty calm in the movie. Perhaps the fear of death is difficult to act out.

-The most important piece of the entire book was the last few chapters- and this was only barely hinted at in the movie. When Louis came home he had severe PTSD. He had horrific nightmares every night- waking up shaking, sweating, disoriented, and in complete fear. He turned to alcohol and quickly became an alcoholic to try and get rid of the pain. He did get married, and his wife was about to leave him.

But, then one night his wife went and saw a traveling preacher speak. His name was Billy Graham. He was in town for two weeks, and she told Louis he needed to go and hear him speak or she was leaving him. He begrudgingly went, and this changed his life.

After hearing Graham, he decided to accept Christ in his life. He quit drinking cold turkey. He learned to forgive those who had tortured him. He found peace, and he went on to live a wonderful life with his wife.

You see, the importance of this book- and why it is so sad that Angelina Jolie completely missed the point- is that Louis Zamperini WAS broken. He was beyond broken- he was a shell of a man who could not function in the world. But, Christ healed him. Christ made him unbroken.

That was missed in the movie- the very point of the whole story. And so, I recommend the book. It's definitely worth the read! But not the movie.

Funny Story

The other day I was watching some football (which, by the way, is pretty much all I will be doing starting on Saturday and going for 72 hours), and Claire and Camille grabbed a blanket, curled up on the couch, and started watching with me instead of playing.

I said, "Why are you watching this? You don't even like football."

Claire quickly replied, "Yes, I do. I like it when they hurt each other."

Yup, that sounds like my Claire.