The Beauty of Oklahoma?

Well Oklahoma does not compare to Utah as far as the out doorsy stuff to do but about 30 miles away there is this place called Quartz Mountain. A lot of people have told us to check it out. So we thought we'd take an afternoon and go. It is by no means a mountain, Ryan and Jordan got to the top and back down in a half hour. I got half way up and figured I should head back down so I didn't quite make it. It was pretty but in all we spent about an hour there and saw everything. It was a fun mini trip but didn't take up our afternoon like we thought it would....

It's A....

Girl!!! We found out today that it is a she. We are really excited, but it is really weird. The whole pregnancy thus far hasn't seemed too real at all, minus my growing gut...But today seeing her moving around and finding out she is a she has made reality set in a little more. It's still weird to think that in 4 months we will be responsible for this little girl but we are so excited. My only fear is that she is gonna be a big brat...the odds are stacked against her with me as her mom and with Ryan as the dad. I was a HUGE brat growing up and can still be at times, and Ryan has a hard time telling me no so I can only imagine how much worse he will be with her...We have picked out a name already...Embree Wynell Bench. We love the name Embree and Wynell is my Mom's first name, and also a family name. Which we love the idea of passing on a family name to each kid. So four more months and she will be here. It is nice to know now so we can do some planning and get things going!

Attitude

So this started as a rant the other day.. it has now evolved into a much shorter gentler version... Here is what seems to be something I have dealt with a LOT lately. Mean and negative people and it seems like they are everywhere. It's not to say there are not a lot of positive happy people too but the negative mean ones have been really driving me nuts. I tend to think the reason this is so annoying to me is that I really try to be positive and always look at the situation I am given in the best light. I really feel like if your life sucks than there is always something you can do to make it better other than complain. I hate when people just complain and have a poor me, my life is harder than everyone else's attitude. So what I am trying to say I guess is suck it up and mean people suck and Karma will get you everytime.

I am grateful I don't have a bad attitude, that I can see the good in any situation and that I have so many wonderful people in my life. I really believe we choose how things turn out sometimes just by how we choose to handle the situation. So for those that aren't good at handeling things it sucks to be you. But the fact of the matter is that life is beautiful and it can be that way for everyone that so chooses. For all those people that are not very nice I am truly sorry you feel the need to be the way you are and it's no wonder your so unhappy. You deserve it..I know that isn't the nicest thing to say but I truly feel that way! I am very blest to have a very good life and many wonderful people and blessings in it. Which isn't to say bad tough things never happen cuz trust me they do, I just choose to not let them knock me down. So just in case you were wondering what I have been thinking about a lot lately there it is! Love all of you who are in my life and make it better!

January

Dinner at this Awesome Sushi place in Dallas, and the OKC bombing memorial.

Well last month was a busy month for us and I can't believe we are already half way through February! I got a job at a staffing company as the receptionist, so answering phones and making sales calls and other random office stuff. It gives me something to do everyday besides watch tv and I am grateful for it seeing as it is hard to find a job in a town this small. Did I mention Altus is in the middle of no where? I am adjusting but I am NOT a country girl and we are in the country. The biggest thing here is the base..oh and there is a wal-mart. Thats pretty much it...I can handle it til May though...at least I hope. We had a HUGE ice storm on the 28th, craziest thing I have ever seen. It was raining and freezing as it rained. If that makes any sense. EVERYTHING was covered in ice, power was out for a week and it was an experience I won't soon forget. We got evacuated to Okalhoma city for 4 days which was fun because the military paid for our hotel and gave us $80 a day for per diem. We went to the cemetary to find the graves of my great grandparents on my mom's side and to the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial, did some shopping and enjoyed having an impromptu mini vacation. So all in all it wasn't too bad. But next month starts Tornado season...so it could get more interesting real quick...Ryan FINALLY started class this month so we are one step closer to getting to Washington! He has his first flight on Thursday, after 8 months in the Air Force he is finally going to be on the plane. Needless to say he is pretty excited for that. Everything is still going well with baby Bench. We find out the end of the month what it is. We probably could find out now but the military only pays for an ultrasound at 20 weeks. So we wait very impatiently. And we also went to Dallas with some friends in January, ate a lot and did a tour of the Cowboys Stadium which was pretty cool. So as usual we are keeping busy and enjoying the tiny bit that life has settled down at least for the moment!

One of the pictures from the ice storm, and the boys pretending to be Cowboys Cheerleaders

Ready or not...here we go!

Well as always our life is constantly changing and gets more exciting every minute! This last month has been lots of fun I went and saw Princess and the Frog with my Mom, sister in law Tori and my cute nieces Audrey, Trina, and Kyleigh. It was a lot of fun and a good girls night out. I drove up to Spokane to see Ryan for Thanksgiving which is where he was to do his POW and MIA training which was really intense. I didn't take very many pictures but we went to a Hockey game lots of movies, and had Thanksgiving Dinner at the Ramada. We also went and saw some gorgeous waterfalls in the middle of downtown.
AND last but not least....We are having a baby! We are really excited and are super excited the baby will have a cousin one month older and lots of our friends are due around the same time as us also. Even though we will be out of state we will be visiting lots. I have been REALLY nauseous and thrown up several times and am super tired but am almost done with the yucky part. I am due July 19. We can't wait til we are in Washington and life is a little normal.

We are home for the Holidays, finally together. Then the second we head to Altus Oklahoma til March or April. We are almost done with this stretch of craziness and are excited about everything to come.

On to the next thing!

Well I am back in Utah until Christmas. Ryan is currently in Spokane until the 30th of this month. He is doing survival training, pretty much he has to spend six days in the cold snowy mountains finding his own food, shelter, water and in the process avoid being captured. The National Weather Service issued a warning for this weekend saying that there will be "potentially life threatening conditions" Yes he left Saturday and won't be back til Thursday. Then it doesn't stop there he will have POW training also where he will get beaten pretty bad and then interagated. After that he has water survival school in Florida for three days, then Oklahoma for two weeks...then FINALLY home to Utah for two weeks for Christmas. Then we both will go to Oklahoma until April. Then in May we will be moving to McChord AFB in Washington!! We are really excited about the next few months and that there is a point in time that our lives might settle down a little bit! We had a ton of fun in Texas, we went to Corpus Christi, Sea World, Ryan graduated Tech School and we enjoyed getting to be together again.

Update

Sorry no pictures but here is an update on the craziness that we call life...After Ryans graduation we found out his tech school would be 4 months instead of the 2 we were originallly told. The plan was for me to come visit on weekends. Well after two weekend trips and spending over 500 bucks each trip we decided to take a leap of faith and have me move down. So I am now in Texas we found an apartment for 345 a month and my wonderful father in law drove down with me with a car full of stuff to be able to survive with. I am on week two and couldn't be happier anywhere but here. So your wondering what about school and work?? Well I called my boss who has always been so good to me told her my plans...she says...when do you want your last day to be? I'll take care of it...School? They are awesome too...I have about three weeks left and Ryan has SERE traing for three weeks in the wilderness that I cant be with him for so...I will be back in Utah finishing up during that. So now we get to see each other everyday and all weekend. So life is good. We still have no idea where we are getting stationed or even where the rest of Ryans tech school will be after our month here in Texas ends...but we are enjoying every miute of the madness, as long as we are together :) Cheesey I know but you would be too after two months with out your husband! Thanks EVERYONE for all the love and support!!