A Floridian Christmas

Ben and I went to Florida to be with my family for Christmas. We had lots of fun. Here are the highlights of our trip.

• We got to go to Ba's (nickname for my nephew) birthday party! He turned 5. CRAZY
• I had my birthday. Ben took my shopping for it which is exactly what I wanted! My mom got my sister and me a cake so we celebrated our birthday together that evening.
  
• We went to Busch Gardens and I decided I am getting too old for some of the rides. I was getting very dizzy after some of the rides and am a little sad that I can't run around like I used to.
  
• We went to a family friend's house on Christmas Eve which we have been doing since I was 4! We had dinner and went Christmas caroling at an assisted living home. A lady that we go caroling to every year was spending her first Christmas there so we went there instead of to a neighborhood. She was so happy to see us and she especially liked hugging Ben. She didn't want to let go because she is a little taller and said it felt good to hug him. She said he was just the right size! We got to see Alicia who we haven't seen in a couple of years so that was fun. Also Ben loved the Lego temple that the older man, whose house we were at, built with the primary kids.

• We had Christmas at my mom's house. My sister and her family came over and my brother and his family were there. My mom made a yummy dinner and we opened our presents. We got to talk to Ben's family and are looking forward to being there in person with them next year.

Ben was very excited for his shredder. He has been bothering me to get one for awhile!

• My niece and nephew stayed for a sleepover. They insisted that we sleep on the airbed with them. It started out with all four of us. I left first and went to the couch. When I woke up in the middle of the night Ben was gone and was sleeping in another room. These 2 are not very good at sharing their space!

• I got together with some high school friends. Ben and my family came along but they all left because I talked for too long. My mom was a trooper and stayed so we could go to the mall afterward. :P
  

• I was able to also visit some church friends that I grew up with. Ben stayed behind...too many girls and Alyson needed him to babysit so she could come along. He is very good to me and watches my niece and nephew without complaining so that I can spend more time with my sister.
  

• Ben, my mom, and I went to the Orlando Temple!

• We went to the Manatee Viewing Center. http://www.tampaelectric.com/manatee/ When it gets cold Manatee's go looking for warmer water. They gather by the water from a Tampa power plant because the power plant pushes out warmer water. I tried to get a good picture but it was hard because they always stay a little bit under the water.

Snow Day!

My Christmas Break started early because we had a decent snow storm on Thursday which means everything closes down. If we had been in Utah we would have still been in school and going about our daily lives.

Ben and I drove Kurt to the airport while it was still snowing. We made it there and back safely but there were many people on the side of the rode who had slid into the ditch. The whole ride I kept pointing out the smart drivers from the stupid drivers. The drivers here are ridiculous no matter what the weather is apparently. I thought they would want to drive a little bit better because of the snow but I was wrong!

Brrr....

This last week was freezing! I don't think I have ever been this cold before. It doesn't matter how many layers you put on. Humidity makes the summer hotter and the winter colder, and it messes up your hair no matter what season. You just can't win!

We've been having lots of Christmas fun for the last couple of weeks. Last weekend was our ward Christmas Party! Ben and I were put in charge of finding Santa. We got our friend Evan to do it. I took a picture of him and posted it in my last post. At the party we were able to sneak a picture with Santa in between all the little ones who wanted to see him!

We had our first snow last weekend and to me that means Christmas. It wasn't much which is my kind of snow! Even though I grew up in Florida, when I think of snow, it still makes me think of the Holidays. :) I'm pretty sure it's because of all those Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies I couldn't get enough of while I was growing up.

This weekend we went on a date to see a bunch of amazingly lit up houses. We went to 6 or 7 different houses that were on the Tacky Lights Christmas Tour which is all across the U.S. We obviously didn't go further than 4 or 5 miles away. It made me excited to find out it is everywhere because I plan on looking for some in Florida when I go home. If you want to find out if there are any near you go to tackylighttour.com and put in your zip code.

I thought this one looked like a ginger bread house!

My favorite time of year!

I love the Christmas season. I love the lights, the music, and the cheeriness of it. December has always been a crazy, yet fun, month for my family. My brother starts off the craziness with his birthday on Dec. 6. Then my nephew's birthday is Dec. 17. My sister and I are next with a birthday on Dec. 21st and then my brother-in-law's is Dec. 23. Of course, Christmas comes next. Today I was getting some blood drawn and the lady asked me my birthday. We started talking about the craziness that it brings. She said we should just have a celebration the whole month of December and I agreed! I decided I would want to stretch our December celebration out a little bit to include Ben's birthday on Jan. 6.

Tonight we went to a Grand Illumination celebration downtown where they had a big, lit up Christmas tree and lots of lights around. Many of the buildings were set up nicely with Christmas decorations for people to see. After that we headed down to the First Friday Night Art Walk that is held every month. It was my second time going and I enjoyed it a lot. There are always so many interesting things and PEOPLE to see. My favorite tonight was the boys dancing on the median in the middle of the street.

I couldn't figure out which picture to post because one shows the lights better but the other shows us better so you get both. You're welcome! Ben and Evan decided they shouldn't have added the Grand in front of Grand Illumination because it wasn't spectacular enough to deserve the grand but I thought it was great.

I have to include a picture of our friend Evan who will be Santa tomorrow at our ward Christmas party. Ben was originally going to do it but he couldn't get the suit on! You would think the suit would be made big enough for him because it is Santa but sadly it wasn't! I would have loved to get a picture of it on him :)

Blog Post...finally.

Once again...too much to write about and I actually want people to want to read my posts so I will try to keep this short and sweet. Here are pictures and captions to describe some recent events :)

Ben finally got me to play Killer Bunnies again. There are several games I am not a fan of and this is one of them. I won the game and now Ben can't keep complaining that I won't play!

We went to the Med Ball with some other people in Ben's classes. We danced a little. Mostly I wanted to dance and Ben wanted to be goofy. My favorite part was getting dressed up and going out with my husband. He's a keeper.

***Somehow I didn't get a picture of my family while we were home for Thanksgiving. This is where that picture would be :) We drove to Florida on Wednesday and drove back on Sat night/Sunday.

Some highlights of Florida were....

• Lauren Clough (Ben's friend from BYU) came along! I had fun getting to know her better and Ben and her got to talk med school talk (A LOT).
  
• My mom cooked us a GREAT Thanksgiving meal. I hadn't been home for Thanksgiving in 3 years.
• We went to see Harry Potter #7 Part 1 to get ready for the Park.
• All of the girls (plus my brother-in-law) got up at 4 to go Black Friday shopping while Ben slept in and played the Wii with my niece and nephew.
• Went to lunch with Sarah to catch up.
• Went to the beach and saw a sand snowman!
• I got to see Reina and her new little baby. She is soo cute!
  
• We went to St. Armands for ice cream with some high school friends.
• And last, but not least, went to Islands of Adventure and got to see the new Harry Potter Park. After we had finished for the day we went to dinner at the largest Hard Rock Cafe in the world and then said good-bye to my mom. We'll see my family again in 3 and 1/2 weeks for Christmas!

Brockbank Update...

Life is going well and we are getting busier and busier. Ben is doing very well in his classes. He got a card from the lady who interviewed him for med school. The card congratulated him on getting Honors on his first med school course. She also said she knew he had a bright future ahead of him. I'm very proud of him!

Working has been great for me. I'm having many opportunities to teach and I am working with some AWESOME kids. I'm doing what I love and kind of enjoying the fact that I get to come home and be done for the day. As a teacher I got used to coming home and always having something else to do. I never felt done. Now, I really don't have anything else I can do :)

This last weekend we went to D.C. The Olson's were planning on going and invited us along. We went to the temple for a session and then went to the zoo. We saw some really fun things and enjoyed our time there. It was kinda chilly out. The boys didn't bring sweaters and Paige and I had light sweaters. Everyone else was walking around with snow clothes on! They had BIG jackets on, leg warmers, and beanies. It was making me laugh. That would have been me if I never moved to Utah!

Checking in

Ben finished his 2nd and 3rd class of med school about a week ago. He is now working on anatomy. He is studying harder than he has had to so far in med school and he is learning a lot. He has come home smelling like the gross anatomy lab a couple of times which is pretty nasty. Also, they have taped people being dissected and Ben has left the videos up on the computer for me to see. I definitely don't appreciate that!

Work is going very well for me. I am enjoying BOTH my jobs a ton. I've been given many opportunities to teach and am enjoying not having the lesson planning and grading part that go along with it. Being in other teachers' classrooms makes me really wish I had my own but being with the kids is the part I love most about teaching so it's okay for now.

Life is Changing and We Like it.

We are feeling EXTREMELY blessed these days. On Monday I started a job as an instructional assistant at Fair Oaks Elementary. I get to work with kindergarten, 2nd, and 3rd grade students. I am loving it so far. This next Monday, I am starting another job as a a tutor for Sylvan Learning Center. I will head there after I work Monday through Thursday. I will be tutoring in 2 different elementary schools so between both jobs I will working at 3 different schools. I am hoping this is just what I need to get a teaching job next school year.

Highlights from the last 2 weeks...

• Chesterfield Berry Farm. It was decent but I went expecting it to be like Hunsader's Farm. I grew up going there every October with my family. It wasn't as fun and now I am missing Hunsader's big time. Some things we did there were shooting corn at a target. I was the closest. :) We looked at all the animals, looked at their small selection of Fall crafts, and ate some yummy BBQ food.
• We went to a Folk Festival that I was also a little disappointed in. Everyone had a beer, cigarette, or both in their hand. We decided those might have made it more fun for us...NOT!
• I finished another book. It was called Change of Heart and written by Jodi Picoult. It was about a man sentenced to death for killing a woman's husband and child. He wants to give his heart to the woman's other daughter because she needs a new one. The story has a cool twist to it that you can figure out on your own before the author tells you it but I really enjoyed it anyway.
• We got to watch Benson all day today! His parent's (Paige and Kurt) went to Busch Gardens to celebrate Paige's Birthday so we convinced them to let us have him. He's such an awesomely GOOD baby and we enjoyed it. We went to the store and two old ladies behind us were whispering that he looked like his mom for sure. I didn't have the heart to turn around and say, "Actually he isn't ours!" HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAIGE!
• I've been cooking/baking some more and am really starting to enjoy it. Some things I tried for the first time were chicken noodle soup, chicken enchiladas, and banana chocolate chip muffins. I'm going to be a pro before you know it!

We really like him :)

2 month anniversary in Richmod AND 5 month anniversary for being married!

Yup. I'm the slacker. I've waited so long to post that I don't even remember all of the things we have done and it has been a lot. That means you get bullet points for all of the things I actually remember.

• Camping with the Tracys and the Olsons at Pocahontas State Park. (Ben said it wasn't real camping because they had pretty decent bathrooms, showers, and electrical outlets.)
• Lots of shopping with the girls here. I've become the tag along...NO I don't buy. I just wish I could.
• A trip to the Yorktown Beach with all the M1 (first year Med students) wives. Our husbands were studying all day Saturday (we hate Monday tests!) so we came back from the beach and had dinner for them. Our friend Lara did most of the work this time!
• I subbed...for one day :(. I am going to keep searching for sub jobs but I am back on the job hunt sort of. I'm getting frustrated that we have been here for 2 months and I still don't have things figured out. I've never gone this long without working so it is getting to be worrisome and a pain.
• I've started cooking. Sometimes... For the last 6 years I've been on my own and in college I never made meals for just me. I've also never really liked cooking...my twin must have stolen that good quality from me! Lately I've been trying and it is getting more enjoyable...especially when Ben tells me it's good.
• I finished another book. The title is The Lucky One and it is by Nicholas Sparks. It is about a man who was a marine and went to Iraq 3 times. While he was in Iraq he found a picture of a woman he didn't know but it became his lucky charm. After the war something tragic happens to a friend and that makes him go in search of his lucky charm because he feels he owes her something. It was a good read!
  

Our tent is on the left :)

The Olsons!Jack is such a cutie. I think he is slowly but steadily warming
up to Ben which excites Ben to no end!

The girls :)

Loving Life

I am absolutely loving the area we are living in. There are so many different things to do. Monday I went with some girls in the ward to pick some apples. We walked through the rows of apple trees and got many comments. Can you guess what they were about?

Hint...What does everyone else have that I do not?

I love the Brockbank boys because...

So we share a doorstep with our neighbors. When you go up the steps, to the left is our door and to the right is our neighbor's door. Ben walked up the steps last night and went to the right. I was freaking out because I thought he forgot which door was ours. I was terrified he was going to walk into the neighbor's house. He didn't though. He knocked and offered them help to move some big furniture they had outside in their truck. I am constantly reminded by the Brockbank boys what service is and how to help others. I am ashamed to say that I would have never offered my help to the neighbors I didn't even know. Not because I am mean...I hope...I just get in my own world and forget. Ben's parents have taught their boys, and I can't forget Gwen, the importance of service and love for others around them. They don't just serve their family. They serve everyone. Whether it is going to a neighbors house to keep them company, cleaning the church building, or helping their brother move they are continually being a good example to me of how I should be.

Love you guys!

Cafe Rio Dinner Night

On Saturday many of the husbands of the couples we live around left us early to head to the library. They stayed all day because they have a big test coming up on Monday. SOO Erin and I cooked dinner! We had NO CLUE what we were getting ourselves into when we said we would cook a Cafe Rio Dinner. Preparations started at 10 am and didn't end until 6:30! We made roast beef, chicken, and pork salads. We spent a lot of money, made a mess, dirtied a lot of dishes, had a lot of laughs, and filled a lot of empty tummies. We had enough to feed 10 families and then had some great left overs for Sunday dinner!!

I think my hubby liked it :)

Lots and lots of reading.

My 2 latest books were very enjoyable and worthy of a blog post. Last week I read the third book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. It is called the Mockingjay and written by Suzanne Collins. It was much like the second where it built up the characters and the plot for the first 2/3s of the book and the last 1/3 of the book had all the good action. My favorite was by far the first in the trilogy but I would definitely recommend this one also.

This week I read Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. It's a book that is supposed to go along with The Giver. I read The Giver so long ago that I thought I might have trouble understanding this book but that wasn't the case at all. I wasn't lost and I really liked it a lot. It was a really easy read...probably because it was meant for teens. I felt like the book taught a good lesson.

Labor Day

We had a great, fun-filled Labor Day. We started it off by celebrating with our ward. We had pancakes and bacon!
Then we headed to the Flying Squirrels baseball game. We snuck in with the Mormon Missionaries. It even says it on our tickets. Our friends, The Andersons, invited us to go tailgate with the missionaries and also had some extra tickets so we thought it would be fun. The missionaries got to lead the stadium in Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
To end the day we had FHE with The Andersons and Tracys. I gave a lesson about strengthening families by watching them and helping them grow so we thought it was appropriate to play the bean game after! :)

All play and no work :)

Friday night Ben went to play xbox with Eric so Cindy and I decided we would go do girl things. We called Sarah and made her come with us :) Girl things included going to downtown Richmond for Richmond's First Fridays Art Walk. It was really cool. We saw a lot of cool pieces of art, we heard lots of different types of music, and my favorite was seeing all the DIFFERENT types of people. :) We also went to Applebees and shared an appetizer because we didn't want to get home too early. It was nice to have some girl time.

Yup...I'm short.

Saturday included sleeping in WAY late and going to the the Johnston's for some homemade pizza with several of our friends from the ward. We're now watching the BYU game. You can tell how much I am paying attention to it...I'm blogging instead!

Seriously, bugs are EVERYWHERE. Big, creepy, jumpy ones.
At least this one wasn't in my house!

Florida :(

Today I went to the DMV to get registered in Virginia which meant I finally said goodbye to my awesome Florida plates. SAD DAY. I may be smiling in the picture but inside it hurts!

We went grocery shopping at Sam's Club and found the perfect chair
for the guys in the Brockbank family. Notice how my feet don't touch the
ground and I am not even sitting all the way back in the chair.

*****I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Great story but there were some parts that needed to be skipped over because I did not feel comfortable reading them. I saw many people reading it on our plane rides this summer so I thought I would give it a try. The author kept me hooked which is why I skipped over parts rather than putting the book down.*****

Quality Time

After a ridiculously long week where Ben studied all the time and I was bored out of my mind we were able to enjoy a great weekend! Friday evening we had a BBQ with some couples from the ward to celebrate some of the boys being able to relax a little. After the BBQ we had root beer floats (ick root beer....I had a Dr. Pepper float instead) and played games. Saturday we went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with the Badgers and the Andersons. It was a great museum. Before this I told Ben I wanted to do something new every Saturday so we could 1. Spend time together 2. See all the cool stuff around and 3. Know what there is to do when we have people visit. I definitely think the museum was worthy of a visit :)

By the way, Ben started The Mockingjay on Friday night and finished it Saturday night! I haven't read it yet but I am very excited to.

The whole group at the VMFA. The Badgers are in the
middle and the Andersons are on the right.

Ben has surprised me here. I've never been around him when babies are in the room. That is definitely not the case here because EVERYONE has babies. We hang out with the Badgers a lot and as soon as Ben sees Noah he goes right for him. He wanted to hold him the whole time we were at the museum. I don't blame him. Noah is a cutie and a really good kid :)

When looking at this piece of art Evan said,"That's what the chair
looks like after I sit in it." Made me laugh because Ben is always
worried about breaking chairs...

We were walking around for a while and Ben was holding Noah so
Cindy decided to take advantage of the empty seat.