BIRTHDAY BENSON BESNON BIRTHDAY

November 10th is an important day (Its also a day that was about a month ago..sorry about the delay).

Benson turned 23 on November 10th. He was lucky enough for it to land on a Saturday this year so I got to plan a whole day of partying!!! And party we did.

I had a lot to live up to this birthday since last year I surprised Benson with tickets to go see one of his idols, Bill Cosby in Vegas.

Our buddy Bill was sooooooooo funny. He was a lot older than I remembered him ever being. He should be stuck at the age he was on the Cosby show right?? lame. Anyways, needless to say I had to make Benson's birthday and especially his birthday present REALLY great or he would probably leave me.... haha KIDDING. Honestly Benson is so easy to please. He is so gracious about whatever he gets. :D
LOVE HIM.

 So here is how it went down:

Houston (Benson's best friend) and I had been orchestrating a plan to get Houston to Provo to surprise Benson for his bday. I realize from this experience I am not super skilled at being sneaky. At one point I left my cell phone next to Benson when Houston and I were texting and he saw the text. BOOO! Then I had to hide the key so Houston could get in and I didn't know how to do it smoothly so while we were watching TV I jumped up and said "DID YOU HEAR THAT?" and ran to the door, slipped the key under the mat, and then came back inside and said "Hmm that was weird". Benson looked at me like I was crazy. Which I am pretty sure I was at that point. :D

So Thursday night after our shift at the temple we came home to Houston washing our dishes. Benson was super surprised and really excited. Until we realized his car was getting towed. Luckily Benson was really nice to the tow guys and they ended up letting us go without the typically RIDICULOUS fee. TEMPLE BLESSINGS!!

Then on Saturday Benson went to work and teach the missionaries Korean. Then he came home and I gave him his gifts!! :D I was so excited. So I got him some Ferrari cologne and told him that although he can't have a Ferrari at least he could smell like someone who should. Then he unrolled the papers you see rolled above, read its contents and jumped up and down and giggle like a girl!

What the Groupon says is "1 Hour Ferrari F430 Experience"  So he gets to drive a really fast car. Pretty much his favorite thing. Other than me of course! :D He is so happy he can't even keep his eyes open. 

Then we had lunch with my brother Jason, his wife Brittany and our nephew Janson. Benson asked me to make Cafe Rio style pork salads. This is quite a feat for those of you who have never done it because you have to make all of the following: 

• The pork
• Pico de Gallo
• Tomatillo Dressing
• Cilantro Lime rice 

 And you have to warm the tortillas and build the salad. The best part was that I had to wake up early to put the Pork in the crock pot and because Houston was sleeping on our couch (yea we only really have two rooms in our apartment) I had to be really quiet as I cooked. So at one point I took the marinade I was putting together into our bathroom with a hand mixer and plugged it in where I typically plug in my blow dryer so I wouldn't wake him up. Weird I know.. but it worked.

Sadly this meal ended up being more eventful for some of us then I wanted it to be (more to come later in story).

Then Brittany and Jason took us out to get cupcakes at the CoCo Bean Cafe. Love that place.

Here are Janson and Benson bonding. :D Two very cute boys! :D

Then a little bit later we tried to go out to eat at one of Benson's favorite places to eat: PF Changs but the line was too long so we just walked around the mall together. 

Then we had some of Benson's friends over for cake and ice cream. I brought out my BlenderBottle Box that I get to give away to friends and family and let everyone pick a bottle. Nothing like going to a birthday party and getting a present instead of giving one! LOVE IT! 

 Anyways it was a great day and Benson is sooo excited to go drive the Ferrari when we go to Vegas over Christmas Break.

Sunday evening however me, and my brother and his wife got MAJOR food poisoning. I felt really bad because I think it might have been the dang Pork Salads I slaved over. I've never poisoned someone before. Guess there is a first time for everything. However just to ease anyone's fears of ever eating my food we shared another meal with them Sunday night and so it could have been something from there or a bug because half of the other people who at my Pork Salad did not get sick at all. *SIGH* whatever it was I will not be eating Cafe Rio for a really long time. There is nothing like sitting on the toilet while tossing your cookies into a garbage can in your arms.


And on that lovely note I will leave you! UNTIL OUR NEXT ADVENTURE!!

Kaitlyn!

Were married! Howd that happen?

Well wonder no longer! 

Below I have all the answers about when and where this love adventure began. (Sorry for those of you who saw it on my other blog that I used in my single days, but now that I am so much more mature and fabulous... I decided to get a blog upgrade!)

huh?

So at the start of Fall semester  last year, I moved into a new complex that I was less than happy about moving into... lol. But I felt like that is where I needed to go... so I did. I met some new people at the start of the semester. One of which was Megan Tanner, my next door neighbor whom I knew I would be friends with. We were buddies in no time. Then she introduced me to her brother, Benson, at church. I thought he was cute but figured I was too old for him and didn't think much of it.BUT THEN...
the next week or so he came over to play games with us and man... I fell right then and there for him. He was so attractive and so cute I could barely keep myself from asking him out myself. But I didn't... instead I told his sister that I thought he was adorable and I think he and I should get together. She liked the sound of that almost as much as I did.... YESSSSSSS!

So the next day I saw that Benson was doing homework over at Megan's apartment and I was like ... o man I really want to be here with him. So... I got my homework from my apartment and made up an excuse about my room mates being to loud or something so I just NEEDED to do my homework over where he was.So he and I along with Liz started on our homework party. I donno how much homework Benson got done but my "reading" was not very effective. We ended up giggling and enjoying each others company. The night got later and later and I was done with my homework but Benson was still there. (I even remember when the clock hit 11:11 I wished that he would ask for my number.) I didn't want to leave him alone with another girl so I tried to stay up as long as I could but soon I was too tired to take it any longer. So I gave up and said I was going home to sleep. Right as I said that Benson jumped up and was like. "Yea me too!" So as he followed me out I asked him if he wanted to see my new bike, and so he followed me the few steps to my door. Then after a few more random conversational questions he asked for my number!!! What??? O man I about died with excitement. I was so giddy that after he left I went back to the other apartment to tell Sara and Liz. Then before I went to bed I texted him this:    :)     Yep thats it. He text me back about how much fun he had had and so it all began with a :) (smile).

The very next day we text a fair amount and then we ended up hanging out again at Megan's apartment that night. Then to my excitement the same process that had happened the night previously occurred again. He left when I did and followed me to my door. This time however he asked me out on a date for Saturday night. Of course I said yes and then proceeded to jump for joy!! I even text my mom multiple times telling her about these experiences so ask her ... she has the proof.

So we saw each other everyday up until our date night and talked a lot. This happened to be Liz's birthday so we were going to dinner for her bday already and Benson tagged along. I told him that I would pay for him to come to dinner, since it wasn't technically part of his date plans. But in my head I really just wanted to pay for it so that from that point forward I could tell people that I took him on our first date. Once we were at the restaurant he realized this threat to his manhood and when the checks came he literally knocked me over to pay for it. It was pretty funny because one of Liz's bday cakes had one of my finger prints in it because of this. Anyways we watched the BYU football game with Liz and her bday crew and because space was limited Benson and I had to share a chair... O YEA! Already snuggling...!! Woot! So after that we finally got to go on our date. We went to Classic Skating. I was soo nervous because I knew that I liked him so much and I just wanted to be cool but me and skates... do NOT equal cool. The announcer at the rink said that the next song was a couples only song and that you could hold hands. I was really excited for this. It felt soooo good but I knew this wasn't real because it was just cuz we were at the skating rink. I was so nervous about the whole situation that I ended up giving myself a stomach ache. We took this picture in the arcade on our way out.

Attractive eh? 

I remember on the drive home even though I didn't feel good we were blasting something silly like Avril Lavigne and dancing and singing to it in the car. I just felt so happy and so good at that moment. I knew this was the start of something great. Later that night we watched a movie and held hands (in front of his sister and her boyfriend... no big deal)! I was so happy I thought I might die from the happiness.

After our date we saw each other everyday and kept in contact through mostly text the rest of the time. There was one day where things weren't quite as awesome as they had previously been and I was soooooooo nervous he had decided he didn't want to hang out with me anymore. I couldn't eat at all that day. Man I was FREAKING out! Then that night he brought me some leftover sushi to me at work and asked if he could pick me up. He did and that night we talked about what was going on and Benson told me that he wanted to be with me. What a relief. I was still a little shaken up but we decided to be "official" and not date anyone else. Then as he was leaving my apartment he gave me a big hug. I knew he was going to try to kiss me but I was not sure if I was ready for that yet. Then he grabbed my head and gave me the sweetest first kiss I have ever had. I was sooo glad that he had kissed me too!

So from that day forward we were together everyday any time we were not at school or work. So although we had technically only been dating for 4 months, it has been non-stop togetherness the whole time. So we got to know each other really well in a speedy matter.

A while into our relationship my parents were coming into town to do some shopping for my little brother Kevin who was leaving on his mission soon. So Benson got to meet my family. They all fell in love with him. They too could see that there was something truly special about this one. I remember one night we were playing the game Scene It on Jason's XBOX and it was my whole family, minus Kyle & Lauren and it just felt so right. Benson fit in so perfectly with my family. I have dated some interesting characters in the past and so I had been a little nervous to introduce them to my family but with Benson it wasn't scary at all. I was really just excited for them to see how wonderful he really was. That night we drove home from Lehi to drop Benson off back at home. We sat and talked for a little bit in the car. We had this little thing we would do when we were talking to each other where I would say "Tell me something" and he would tell me something about himself or his life that I didn't know. So that night I did just that and asked "Tell me something" and he kinda hesitated and so I added "The first thing that comes to your mind". Benson then got a really big smile on his face. He grabbed my head and put his mouth to my ear and whispered "I love you". I was both shocked and excited. Luckily he kissed me right away so I didn't have to respond yet but then I quickly told him I loved him too! It was a REALLLLLY REALLLY GOOD NIGHT!!!

We continued to date and see each other constantly. I found myself so happy. I just felt so good about our relationship. We made a couple trips to Vegas and to Boise so that we could get to know each other's families more. I loved his family so much. I felt so comfortable with them. I didn't feel judged or unwanted. I LOVED IT. It all just felt so right.

Right before my brother went into the MTC we all went to the temple together and Benson came too. It was such a pivotal and special day for Benson and I. I won't go into details because its so personal but long story short we knew we were going to get married. Now the waiting game began. We were both pretty poor so I didn't think we would be able to get engaged anytime soon. But I guess I was wrong. So when Christmas break came around Benson and I had to be apart for the first time really. This was a rough 9 days. We missed eachother soooo much. I was really excited to fly to Ogden to be with Benson and his family who were staying at their grandpas house. It was my birthday and I got way more than I expected that day!

So here is the story from Benson's perspective.


So.. Kaitlyn left for Vegas and I knew I had limited time to get all my ducks in a row to get this thing ready for her birthday. I know a jeweler that used to be in our ward, so I chatted with her and she hooked me up. I had Kaitlyn fly up and we met in Ogden and had dinner at this restaurant, similar to Texas Roadhouse. I had been sending “hints” that led her to believe that I hadn’t bought a ring and it would be another few weeks until I had… But I talked to the waitress, gave her the ring and had her bring it out with dessert. Kaitlyn thought they were coming to sing to her… little more than singing :D. Anyways. I was really nervous, like, the whole time. I remember enjoying the food, but I ate soooo fast because I wanted the waitress to hurry and bring our dessert.



Back to me:
I was pretty surprised. I didn't even know what to do with myself for probably an hour. But I must say this will go down in my personal history as the best birthday EVER! I could not be happier. I am going to marry the most amazing man EVER! He seriously makes me feel soo good about myself and feel so loved. I am so excited about our future together. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. For a long time I wondered if I would ever find a love like this and really be happy. Now I know it can! I am so excited for the next few months. ITS FINALLY MY TURN!!

(Just in case I have confused you, I wrote the previous paragraph when I originally posted this during our engagement.)

FLASH BACK TO NOW:

We got married on May 5th in the Las Vegas Temple. We were surrounded by our families and closest friends. I still get chills thinking about how strong the spirit was in that sealing room. I have no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father was smiling down upon us as we made the choice to be married for eternity. SIGH.... AREN'T WE JUST PRECIOUS?? :D

Yesterday marked our 6 month anniversary. Can that be called an anniversary?? I donno what you technically call these last 6 months but I call it HEAVEN THIS IS AWESOMENESS! There is nothing like being with your best friend all the time and sharing everything: the good, the bad, the ugly, the stinky, the awkward, the wonderful, the spiritual, the painful, the difficult and everything in between.

We are looking forward to the next 6 month and the next 6 million months together. 

MARRIAGE ROCKS!

-Kaitlyn