Dangerously Close to Old

A few weeks ago I became alarmed when I realized I was about to turn 26. I can deal with being 25, but 26, on the downside of the 20's, seems dangerously close to being OLD. So, I did the logical thing and attempted to prove that I am still young by staying up wayyyy past my bedtime and going to a hip concert with young people, aka my little sisters. 

I proved what I needed to: I stayed for the whole show till 1 am, jumped up and down and screamed my lungs out with the best of them, drove back to STG getting in at 4am, and worked the next morning at 9am. Age is just a number, yo! I am henceforth embracing being 26. True, I'm not where I'd projected I'd be by this age in my 6th grade notebook (married to an italian count, working as brain surgeon, having two doberman pinschers, and driving a black mercedes convertible). And sometimes I'm tempted to get bogged down thinking about the years of my life i've "wasted" not becoming a neurosurgeon. But the years I've had have made me who I am, and I've enjoyed them. And is it so wrong to have your overarching life goal to simply be happy? I think not. So here's to kicking of year 26 with my new mantra: Do more of what makes you happy.

And thats just how I spent my birthday: being happy

Doing my favorite hike in Zions, Observation Point, with my parents. 

Eating at my favorite restaurant in Springdale: Oscar's. 

Getting awesome balloons and a custom minion flower arrangement at work from my Dad. He is rad. 

Going to see a new Tom Cruise movie

Opening presents, including the amazing donut pillow from my sister Anna. 

And ended the day by being in bed at 10pm reading a young adult novel. I mean really, does it get any happier than that?

Hashtags 5

#Ifeelreallyold

I always wondered when I'd finally not feel 17 anymore and  I think it may have happened. Seeing my sister graduate from college - that made me feel old. Also, it really proved the lengths of my love that I returned to Utah Valley to watch Kiersten walk across the UVU graduation stage. I abhor Utah Valley. I did however throughly enjoy the post ceremony dinner at Macaroni Grill. I also got a good laugh at the inscription on this empty wine bottle there. Congrats Kat. Job well done. 

#cutestthingever

For family home evening we went and visited my mom's friend's sister in law's puppies. They were silver labs and so cute I could die. There are not words to express adequately how much I love dogs. 

#birthdayseason

Birthday season at the Benson's has officially kicked off. (With the exception on my mother, we all have summer birthdays.) First with my Dad's. He is awesome, and seems to be getting awesomer every year.

And then two days later it was Otto's birthday. Of course we had a cake to celebrate my surrogate child's second year of life. Also the "Otto Curse" has struck again. Any time Dan leaves on military assignment something bad (read:expensive) happens to Otto. The day Dan flew out of country Otto tore his ACL. Yes, dog's have and tear their ACLs and require surgery. The first vet I went to recommended taking him to Vegas to an Orthopedic Vet Surgeon (who knew there was such a thing?!?!) to the tune of $5000. Oh. My. Gosh. Luckily I got a second opinion from a more down to earth vet who said he could do the surgery himself for a fraction of that. But seriously Otto, you are million dollar dog. 

#carbskill

As of late I've read two books explaining that carbs really aren't super good for us. I agree with the science behind it to a certain extent and decided to embark on my own "Whole 30" where you only eat whole foods: sans gluten, dairy, sugar, and legumes for 30 days. I made it 24 hours without diet coke and started shaking like a chihuahua. So I added DC back in but committed to keep eating right. On day 5 I tried to go for a 25 mile bike ride but was so carb depleted my peripheral vision kept coming in and out and seriously almost passed out on my bike. So I went home and ate a piece of bread. I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I know what's healthy. But I also know what tastes good and gives me enough energy for endurance cardio so... We'll see. As for the diet coke - we all gotta die sometime. 

#depressingbutgood

If you're looking for a book that doesn't make you hate your food, I highly recommend "The Fault in Our Stars." I generally only read non-fiction and shun chick flicks. However, I picked up this book on a whim and LOVED it. Its young adult fiction so it moves quickly and is kinda sappy but really well written - the dialogue is incredible. If you're looking for an amazing movie and are a bad person like me and watch rated R movies I highly recommend "Her." It is now in my top five movies of all time, which is very serious. I can't stop thinking about this movie and what it means. Maybe you can watch it on clear play? Do they even still make those? 

Everyday is a Special Occasion. Buy a bike.

I know I've been pretty heavy on life changing Pinterest quotes lately, but I have another one:

I really love this quote. The whole talk by President Monson is quite fabulous (find it here). President Monson's message about enjoying the present has been driven home to me as I work in the ER and see that we really never know (to use a Grandma Peggy euphemism) when we will be called home to our eternal reward. Do more of what makes you happy TODAY. Where am I going with this? 

I bought a bike.

I first decided I wanted a racing road bike 4.5 years ago when we were living in Monterey. I had been going to spin classes and many of my friends out there were road bikers. So I set up a little savings account and started stashing away money from my birthday and Christmas and work. Soon I had enough for the bike, but I couldn't do it. I really wanted one, but I was so worried that I would regret spending the money and wished I had saved it for something else - that I should save it for a more special occasion.

Enter Robyn. Her husband is on deployment with Dan and I basically think she is the coolest. Even though she has a six month old, her husband is deployed, and her family all lives in Florida - she's thrown herself wholeheartedly into training for Ironman triathalons. Watching her complete her first Ironman in an amazing time in St. George basically totally inspired me. If I keep waiting for a special occasion I'll be waiting my whole life. She got me to sign up for a fun race with her while she was here and after she left I finally went and bought my bike! 

The day my bike came in was the day I left for Texas to go see Dan. So by the time I got home I had 3 weeks between getting my bike and the 100 mile race I had signed up for. I was a bit nervous. But the time came and I headed up to SLC. Being that I am now a full fledged St. Georgian, I only brought warm weather clothing. We showed up to the start line and it was 45 degrees with a cold wind and a hint of rain. So we quickly bought matching windbreakers :)

We decided to ride the first 60 miles with a triathlon team that Robyn worked out with when she first moved to Utah. They were so sweet and supportive - they even put our names on the team poster! It was so refreshing to be around happy, positive, women who were more focused on what their bodies could do (bike) then what they're bodies looked like (non of them were 100 lb perfectly hard bodied gym rats!) Seriously awesome.

What was not awesome? The weather! It got colder. And windier. To the point it was dangerous - 27 mph wind gusts while riding next to a highway of cars? No thanks! So we bailed with her 60 mile friends. I didn't ride my first 100 miles or century as its called, but I had a blast. 

The Goldilocks ride we did was so well organized. It was decorated darling and was a really supportive all women's ride. Too bad about the weather - it had so much potential. 

When we got back to her house we had a total "Can we do this without men?" moment. My car battery was dead, and neither of us had ever used jumper cables... But one youtube video later, my car was back to life and no one was electrocuted. We got this.

When I got back to STG I tried to find a women's cycling group down here and was totally disappointed when I found nothing. It seemed like there were hundreds of groups at Goldilocks in SLC. The I realized I already have my own awesome cycling group: my dad. Though he may not want to get screen printed pink jerseys with me, he's done all my training rides with me and is endlessly entertaining. We even signed up to do a race together in a few weeks at the infamous Parowan Gap. 

Dan is doing well "in country". I'm already plotting how to get him to get into biking when he returns. I'm essentially a born again biking missionary - I think everyone should have a bike. It's so fun. Its great exercise. And its way more fun than running. Seriously. Don't wait for a special occasion. 

Go buy a bike. Now. 

Big. Green. Flat. Friendly. Proud. TEXAS.

From the moment I set foot foot in Austin I realized that Texas had several defining characteristics: it is big, green, flat, and friendly. 

Oh and covered in water towers. Seriously, driving through the country side I couldn't stop taking pictures of them. I've never seen anything like it.

And the Texan flags and stars are EVERYWHERE. I haven't seen a people who loves their land this much since ISREAL. (On a side note, I learned that Texas was briefly it's own country in the 1800's, they then entered into the union on a treaty that made several stipulations... and that's why they can fly their flag at the same height as the American flag.) 

{Greg and Sarah and Delicious food}

Anyway, Dan had a three day pass from FT Hood for Easter Weekend so I flew out to Austin. We had a really awesome weekend meeting up with one of Dan's good friends that he meet back in his initial army training, Greg, and his cute wife Sarah. They're both native Texans and definitely showed us some wonderful southern hospitality. 

They took us to awesome restaurants where I ate my body weight in fried food and blue bell ice cream. 

They got us tickets to an Old 97's show (a classic alternative country band), in a really sweet outdoor amphitheater. 

{Here we are in our easter finest before leaving the hotel. Dan got extra electric toothbrush heads from the Easter Bunny, hence the toothbrushes presence}

{This picture of the dessert table is the only picture I took while with Sarah's family A) because I really love dessert and B) I thought it might be creepy to snap pictures of people I just met while they try to enjoy easter}

And best of all, Sarah shared her family with us. We got to go to their family's weekly happy hour at her sisters gorgeous home and then on Easter Sunday they took us with them to their big celebration at a family winery. It was so beautiful, and every one of her 50 family members welcomed us with a hug, which I'm learning to appreciate (Bensons don't hug, ever, under any circumstances). 

On the way back from Sarah's sisters house we got pulled over in our rental car, Dan was driving and admittedly going to fast on a farm road. The cop went back to his car, wrote us up a ticket, then asked for a good phone number from Dan. Dan gave him his phone number but warned him it would only work for the next few days. "Where are you going, son?" The officer asked. "I'm going to be in Afghanistan." The officer suddenly seemed super sad, "Are you in the service?" He asked. Dan replied that yes, he is in the army. "Oh man, I wish would have told me that earlier and this whole thing would've gone different. Now that I've written the ticket, I can't take it back, but I wish I could." Dan assured him it was okay, that the ticket was justified, we were in the wrong - no worries, I'd pay the ticket by mail in 5 days for him. We went on our merry way when 30 minutes later Dan's phone rings. He was driving so I answered it. "Ma'am, this is the officer who pulled your husband over earlier. I got it worked out and I need you to rip up that ticket. Do not attempt to pay it, it does not exist. Ya'll have a good Easter and thank your husband for his service." I mean, if I wasn't already head over heels for Texas, that sealed the deal. 

Additionally, our hotel (which I booked for a steal on Hotwire) was gorgeous and modern and a 5 min drive from my mall nirvana: a Lululemon, Nordstrom, Madewell, J crew, and Sephora all in one spot!!!! Things could not get any better. 

It was hard dropping dan back off at ft hood, many a tear was shed. But driving back to Austin, surrounded by big sky and water towers I felt nothing but love toward and from the Lone Star State. Everything is bigger and better in TEXAS.