Ben and Natalie- High School Musical Style

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My feelings right now...

I feel like I would be so ungrateful if I didn't share my feelings right now. I also feel like sometimes I have a wonderful realization or experience, and it just kinda fades away over time until I don't really think about it anymore or remember those feelings. Therefore I want to document them...

My experiences lately have made me so completely thankful to my Father in Heaven. Over and over again I am blown away by His continuous and watchful care. Every single time I am in need of answers or a blessing I receive an answer. It's just crazy how unconditionally He loves me, and how I can receive comfort and the exact blessing I need at that exact point in my life. People who have no idea what I am going through will answer my prayers through something they say or do, and I know that it is from my Heavenly Father. Wow. I am just so overwhelmed and so very thankful!

There is just no other way to be truly happy but through God and Jesus Christ and following the principles that they have taught and still teach. They know the path to true happiness and what I need to do to get there. I am known individually and my prayers are listened to. That knowledge fills me with peace and gives me the motivation to be a better person :)

YAY BEN!!!

Ben was interviewed Tuesday for a promotion and HE GOT IT!!!
I am soooo proud of Ben and what a hard worker he is! He was up against 4 or 5 other people, and he is also one of the youngest to apply for the job! He has moved up a lot faster in the company than most people, and I am just beaming with pride! Ben has always worked so hard at what he does, and people at work just love him. Ben just impresses everyone! I love him tons. :) :)

Some Pics from Nicole's Party...

So Ben and I went to Nicole's rockin Halloween party and here are some pics of me and Ben and our sweet looking pumpkins!

Here is Ben and I before the carving begins

Aren't we cute?? haha

Here's me getting Preston to do the dirty work! haha

Ben is such a hard worker!

DONE! (It's a ghost, but you could tell that right?)

Here are the finished products! Ben's is a bat.

Oh and seeing how I look major prego in all these pics let me just set the record straight! Not prego- just a massive shirt! K.

Ben and I had a great time at Nicole's party! Check out her blog to see more pics! (shout out)

What I've been reading...

So lately I have been really into reading, and the books that I have been reading are memoirs. It all started when I read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This book was so interesting I couldn't stop reading it. I was even kinda sad when I got to the end. It is a true story of one woman who grew up in the craziest family with many hard times! It's almost hard to believe that it is a true story because some of the things she lived through were so crazy. Although she had a very rough life she still talks about her parents in such a loving way. Very good book.

I have read a few other memoirs but another one that meant a lot to me was Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. This book is written through a father's point of view who is dealing with his son's drug addiction. I honestly feel that anyone who is ever considering doing drugs should read this book! This book shows the horrible effects that drugs have not only on the person taking them but the whole family! Complete devastation. I cannot even imagine what it must have been like for that father. It does however have a lot of the F word which really annoyed me but other than that it was wonderful!

I am currently reading another memoir and we'll see how that goes. It's hard to find a book that will keep me reading all the way through so these books must be good! I just feel like when I read memoirs I'm not wasting my time. I feel like I learn alot from other people's experiences. Both of these authors' lives are so different from mine, and I think it is eye opening to read about those differences.

Attempt #2

My friend Crystal said she would model for me in my second attempt at taking good pictures. I acutally learned a lot this time, and we had a lot of fun! So thank you Crystal! Here are some....

Tagged by Kendal

I got tagged by Kendal so here it is...(sorry it took so long, heh)

here are the rules for this tag:

1: Each player starts with 8 random habits/facts about themselves.

2: People who are tagged need to write a post on their blog about their eight things and post these rules.

3: At the end of the post you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.

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1. I love old movies! Watching a good Doris Day,Carey Grant, or Katherine Hepburn...etc. movie really makes my day. They are just so good and clean. Love them. I also have acquired quite a crush on carey grant!

2. I am afraid of the dark...heh. I've always had a great imagination and I can scare myself pretty easily. Its not as bad as when I was little but its still there!


3. I used to be on a competitive dance team. I did almost every type but tap dancing. I loved Jazz the best and wasn't to fond of ballet. We would travel (usually dallas) and compete for awards. I miss those days...


4. I try to read every night before I go to bed. Right now I am really into memoirs. However I get bored easily so it has to be really good for me to finish it or ill just stop reading the book halfway through.


5. The vision in my right eye is horrible but my left eye is 20/20. I have glasses but only wear them to avoid massive headaches. I can see perfectly without them unless my left eye is blocked or closed.


6.I have an obsession with pens. I love getting new ones and love when people give me free ones. Ben brought me home a cool pink one last week. He sure knows the way to my heart. Haha.


7. Since I have internet and unlimited texting on my phone its really hard to listen in class...


8. I put a lot of thought and time into decorating my music cds. I want all of them to be labeled and look good. They are all very colorful!

The eight people I tag are...Nicole, Katie, Laura, Lori, Megan R, Mindy, Chelsea, and Jen. And those are pretty much the only people I can tag since my list of people that read my blog is short. haha. O well! Have fun!!

My Very First Attempt

So I've always loved photography and I LOVE fun pictures so the other day I thought "Why shouldn't I try and take some great pictures!?" I've always kinda wanted to....So I grabbed Roxanne and one of her friends and started snapping! I also really love editing pictures to make them cool and different! I don't have the best camera, and I really didn't know what I was doing but we sure had a good time! Hopefully I can practice and get better! I just don't know that I have time to be REALLY good. We'll see. I want to continue trying....Anyways, here is what I came up with! I think this one is really fun...

Isn't Roxanne gorgeous?? wow.

I love the colors in this one!

Lovely Blue eyes....

This is the doorway Gayleen used with Ben and I...I kinda stole the idea from her...she is amazing

I think this one is so fun! This blue was some random building I saw the other day on 50th.

I really liked this colorful wall!

She is a good poser.

So let me know what you think! Do I have a shot at this?? I took a ton of pictures so there was bound to be a few good ones, but I sure took a lot that I will definitely learn from! haha. Good 'what not to dos.' That's how you learn though!

Picture...

This is my favorite one right now :)We love eachother...

Tennis...

So I have mentioned the list before (the one of stuff I want to do before I die) and it just so happens that 'be a good tennis player' is one of those things on the list. I have never played tennis before, and I will admit that I only put this on my list so I could wear the cute tennis outfits....but now I actually want to learn how to play. Well the other day I'm talking about how much I want to play tennis and how Ben should play with me, and it turns out that Ben has a good tennis racket. (He used to play with his friends)
So we went out and bought some tennis balls and I got a racket :)...and its pink :) and we ended up playing!! We went to a court at some park and besides the swarms of mosquitoes we had a lot of fun! I'm excited because this is something Ben and I can do together that is not the normal "going out to eat and a movie" thing. Plus maybe some day I can cross being a good tennis player off my list...if my crazy backhand gets a little work. haha. So yay for tennis!

Ben wouldn't let me take any pictures of him but here's me and my new racket!

ooooo check out those details! haha

Charlie was happy too because we gave him one of the tennis balls. He carries that thing everywhere now and is very protective of it!

Love and Hate...

A while back one of my friends did this on her website and I thought it was very interesting. It helped me get to know her a little better. So here's mine:

MY FAVORITE THINGS
blasting music and dancing around, sour jolly rancher gummies, greys anatomy, cheesecake ice cream, my blackberry, my scriptures, pictures, cuddling with my puppy, reading a good book, inside jokes, my purple ipod shuffle, making someone laugh, changing my hair, whataburger fries, singing at the top of my lungs, dance parties with ben, running, scarves, good music, mug rootbeer, looking up baby names, knowing i'm loved, texting, my temple marriage, alias, austin powers movies, my orange stethascope, blue powerade, polka dots, my vans sneakers, pearl earrings, apples dipped in caramel, turquoise, cool pens and highlighters, headbands, red high heels, sunglasses, drawing and coloring, t shirts, having yummy leftovers, bright colors, rosas salsa and queso, fun ringtones, having a good comeback.

MY LEAST FAVORITE THINGS
mosquitoes, slow drivers, mustard, allergies, the feeling after waking up from a long nap, dirty dishes, tests, olives, plucking my eyebrows, when favorite jeans are finally unwearable, swearing, tripping, headaches, reba, screamo and bluegrass music, waking up earlier than 8, beans, feeling stupid, when rappers grab their crotch while rapping, football commentator voices, cigarette smoke, when people make judgments without really knowing, misunderstandings, gas lights on, feet touching me, smacking while eating, stupid questions, attendance policies, being bored, that legs grow hair, smeared makeup, unknown number phone calls, when no one tells you that you have something in your teeth, bobby pins all over the house, grocery shopping, not knowing what to say, mixing sweet and salty foods on your plate.

Benavides Update...

So today I am avoiding studying as much as possible so I figured I would update our blog!

Sorry Charlie
1. Lately I have this horrible habit of closing Charlie (our doggie) into random rooms. Ben and I like to keep the doors in our house shut as much as possible so that he doesn't get into trouble, and usually everywhere I go Charlie follows me. So Charlie will follow me into a room, I wont know that he is there, I will leave and turn off the light and shut the door, and the poor puppy will be locked in. Its so sad cause when I finally realize that he isn't following me anymore I find him laying by the door of the room hes stuck in. He doesn't even bark to let me know he's stuck. Sad right? Last night I got all ready for bed and was reading for a while before Ben started wondering where Charlie was, and he found him in the dark closet. :( I feel so bad when I do that! Hopefully this doesn't happen when we have kids. haha.


Trial Number 3
2. So I have this list of things I want to do before I die and one of them is to run a half marathon. Now I didn't decide on a real marathon because I don't think I have the commitment skills for that but maybe some day a half marathon?? I love exercising but I'm not very good at just running. I usually get pretty bored after a while and try something else. So...I am again (for the third time) committing to run a half marathon!! I seriously have to do it! The other times I have tried I only get up to 5 miles and then I decide I want to do something else! (are you seeing the commitment issues??) But I ran yesterday and now I'm really sore. Its funny when you think you are so in shape and then you run outside and it kicks your butt!! So wish me luck...

It's Official!
3. The other day I heard Ben utter the words that made me love him even more! To preface this I will say that since we have been married (a little more than 2 years) I have been in school. I am always super busy and I am always studying or wanting to just relax. Therefore, I haven't always been the chef of his dreams. In fact I usually don't cook anything at all! But for the past month or so I have been trying to cook at least twice a week. (which is good for me) Yet I always feel pressure from certain people that I should be cooking for my husband more often. However, when I was expressing this to Ben the other day he stated, "Babe I love the stuff you cook. You always make good food! I know your busy and I appreciate you." Awwww. So take that you people who judge!

Other than those things there isn't all that much going on!! Ben has been very busy with work and I have been very busy with school/work. The most exciting things we have done lately has been finding time to just be together, and I am so thankful for those times. Ben and I both LOVE music and we are always looking for good jams, so I will close this post with one of our favorites right now! I think its just the beat behind it! ....(good to run to) ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBrTP2VqTl0

Aren't we cute??

So Ben and I got our picture taken by Gaylene [http://ge-photography.blogspot.com/] last Friday and I'm really glad we did. We needed some updated pictures...last time we did that we were getting married 2 years ago! So I'm excited to show them off. Here are some of my favorites...


There were a lot more I liked but I will probably post those later...yay for cute pictures!

Oh, and by the way! I told Ben I was going to post these pictures on our blog and he was like "Oh, for the two people who actually read it?" RUDE. I am a new blogger and have yet to find very many friends that blog, therefore if you happen to be reading this leave a comment and hopefully I can show Ben that more than two people read this. :(

Nursing School Fun??

So right now I am in the OB rotation for nursing school and so far I have enjoyed it. Before we went to the hospital though we had to learn how to surgical scrub and then sterile gown and glove. While in the process my friend Megan and I decided we looked more like lunch ladies, and decided to model it up in our new hot outfits....

That glove thing is harder than it looks...haha

Successful! Watch out OR!

Megan scrubs it up and looks good while doing it!

All in all, we had a pretty fun time....for once. haha.

On Wednesday I was able to use these skills to watch a c-section. (which by the way, I will avoid at all costs when I'm having a baby) I was also able to watch two vaginal births so that was a good learning experience. Next week I'm in the nursery so that will be fun. I can tell I am going to learn A LOT this semester. Good Times.