Count your many blessings...

This is a map of Altus, just in case you need a visual of how small it is...
Tis is City hall and the Statue out in front of city hall

This is the C-17 the aircraft that Ryan will be on

Well to be completely honest I have had somewhat of a bad attitude lately. Which has been really frustrating because I usually can see the good in everything and have a really positive outlook. My theory is that it has to do with my hormones being out of whack because of the baby and I think the MAIN reason is that I have been in Altus Oklahoma the last 4 months..According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.0 square miles of which, 16.8 square miles of it is land and 0.2 square miles of it is water.Population 21,447...There is nothing here it is flat flat flat, when the wind picks up it stinks, and the two biggest things here are Wal-Mart and the Base. Thre is nothing to do unless you drive an hour into the city. There are quite a few restaraunts but they are all just ok...not good. Let's just say we eat at home a lot. On top of it we mainly hang out with people that are also in the military and can't wait to get out of here either and also have a general dislike for this forsaken part of the country...Am I being a little dramatic...of course I am but you would too if you were here! We do love our ward though...we have had the missionaries over several times and they dislike it just as much but they have good stories about the hicks and druggies that make up this town. There are also a lot of famalies in the ward that are military and we have enjoyed getting to know them. It is not uncommon for people to be missing several teeth and an overall lack of hygeine. The drivers here are AWFUL, they don't know how to go the speed limit or how a four way stop works. Don't worry there will be pictures to come of this itty bitty town we are in.

Anyways...Ryan and I were talking today about how bad we hate it here...like we do almost everyday...and we were discussing why we think its so awful. Besides all of the reasons previously listed the main conclusion we came to was this....Ryan has been in training for his job for the last ten months, we are on the last leg of that training though. We know that after this month we will on our way to Washington and that there will be some normalcy and consistancy in our life. Which we have not had in the last ten months. So pretty much we are just sick of being in limbo and are ready to get on with things. Also we are done here in approximately 27 days..but who is counting right? Oh and Ryan's date that he was supposed to start class here got pushed back twice because that is just how the military works. Hurry up and wait...In all reality we would have been in washington in the next week or two had he started class when he was supoosed to. Enough complaining though....

As we were talking about being here and the time we have left it kind of got me thinking about all the good things in our life. The day has been a lot better just thinking about all of the things I am grateful for.

-We have an amazing family that does so much for us and that we love dearly. Not that we are biased but we have the cutest nieces and nephews, wonderful siblings, and parents that are a great strength and example to us.

-We are together!!! Which is something we maybe have been taking for granted lately. Ryan's training and my job have allowed us to be together every evening and all weekend, which is something that will change once he is doing his job.

-We have job security, good health insurance (Free) a roof over our heads, and food to eat.

-We have a baby girl coming that will thankfully not be born here :)

-We have the gospel in our lives to make us stronger and better people and to remind us that this too shall pass...

-We have a ton of fun together, we love each other, and we are each other's best friends...

-We are healthy and I haven't had any complications thus far with the prgnancy

-We get to move to Washington and be only a few short hours from where Ryan served his mission

-We have some of the best friends in the world both here and else where

-And when we are not in Altus we have a very good attitude about life!!!

So all in all we are grateful that we will be able to look back at this part in life and laugh and think about the good and entertaining parts of living here...until then we will just have a better attitude! (Or try to at least)

Thinking about baby

As my belly has gotten bigger and as things are falling into place for the next few months I have been thinking a lot about our little girls arrival. I have no clue if I will be as good as a mom as I hope but I sure have been thinking about it a lot. I feel lucky to have Ryan by my side and that we will be going through this together. I know he is gonna be such a good dad even though our kids will be spoiled rotten.I am truly grateful for the way we both were raised. That we come from homes that are very different and very much the same. I am grateful that we have had many conversations about how we want to raise our kids and what we expect from each other as parents. It is crazy to think about how much our lives will change in the next few months. We are very excited but are sure we have no clue of what exactly to expect. We are excited to see what traits she gets from each of us and what her personality will be like. There are a lot of uncertainties but we do know she will be well loved and that she will have a ton of wonderful people in her life. It is crazy how life turns out and where it takes us. We are very luck to be so blessed. We can't wait to see what life in Washington brings us and everything else that is ahead and uncertain.

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.