4 Years!

I have to interrupt my California trip recap for our 4th Anniversary.  We made it!  Haha!  Being married has been the craziest adventure, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love my guy so much, even if he drives me absolutely insane sometimes (and I know I do the same to him).  Here's a tribute to my handsome hubby for the past 4 years.

Aren't you jealous?  =]

Way Past Due!

So, I'm way past due for a blog post.  I mean, we live in Canada...I need to make a record of our adventure up here!  Anyway, here's my catch up.  It might take a couple posts.  

Ben made it through Semester 1.  He studied...a lot.  And was gone...a lot.  But it was OK, since I was working and gone a lot too.  Yes, my job was at the Walmart Portrait Studio (I will never live that down), but it helped pay the bills, and made life WAY less stressful, so I can't complain.

Once Ben was on break, we headed to California for Christmas.  I went down a week early in hopes to be less of a bother to Ben while he took finals (which was a bust, since he finished finals a week early anyway) and to allow me time to go crazy with my mom and not feel bad about it...and I did just that.  By the end of the week, I missed Ben way too much, but got my full dose of the crazy, obnoxious, stress-less Ben within a few hours of him arriving, and felt like I needed a break from him!  Haha.  Oh husbands.

Anyway, on to our trip.  I think we had just about all of the problems we could have had while traveling to and fro.  To start, my checked baggage didn't make it onto my plane, so I was stuck without ANY of my clothes until 11 o'clock that night (and I got in around noon).  After waking up at 4 (midnight - Cali time), spending all day traveling (with no makeup), trying to get some snoozing in, and running through the airport to catch my connection, I definitely felt gross by the time I got to Cali.  And not being able to shower and put fresh clothes on just about pushed me over the edge.  I have OCD when it comes to being and feeling clean, and taking a shower just to put dirty clothes back on is one of the most disgusting things to me, so I was pretty much out of luck.  I still managed to go out and eat with Jennette (she was pregnant, so I had to make an exception), where we got some Japanese food.  

The next night, most of the family got together to eat at Vince's (a tradition), followed by seeing some Christmas lights.  It was fun to walk around and see all the houses, and especially watch all the kids enjoying it.  And only having to wear one sweater/jacket was a pretty huge bonus also!

The next day was Matthew's 1st Birthday party.  And Errin (and Danny) went all out!  Here are some pictures of the cuteness (and craziness) =]

Here are some other funny/random pictures of the week before Ben arrived.

 Sammy dweebing.  It's genetic.

Jo. El.  As Ben likes to call him.

Matthew.  Always doing something.

He loved the huge tree that we got.  And it was a process getting that thing.  Dad wasn't settling for anything less that 10 feet.  Crazy man.

My favorite picture.  

These boys don't know how to keep their clothes on, so I told them they had to swing their jackets around if they wanted to strip for us.  Annnnnd they did.  It was hilarious.  

Well, there's plenty more to share from our trip (and everything since then), so I'll just keep you in suspense until I decide to write again.  Ben is currently asleep in the next room (he's been sleeping since I got home from work at 7:30..it's now 10:30) and I should probably check on him/put dinner away.  Haha.  Oh, husbands.  

Lazy Sunday

Today was such a relaxing day, I thought I'd share.  Because it was pretty awesome.  And I want to remember how peaceful a day can be (even at the Zike house).  Oh and to make you jealous.  =]

I woke up for church around 8:15 (after I had snoozed my alarm about 4 times - I promise I'm not usually that bad) and found an email saying church was cancelled due to the weather (it was snowy).  So, like any normal person, I yelled this information to Ben so he could hear me through his earplugs, then went back to sleep.  For 3 hours.  At least.

When we both finally woke up, I made pancakes.  Blueberry for Ben and chocolate chip for me.  Added Bonus: the dishes were done the night before by my beloved husband (rare instance, but I'll take what I can get), so I had a clean kitchen.

The day consisted mostly of a lot of laying around and being lazy.  I finally got around to making dinner (we sorta skipped lunch...) where I made Stuffed Bell Peppers.  *Flashback to my childhood, where I would pretty much beg my neighbors to have me over for dinner when they were having Stuffed Bell Peppers.  It was a favorite of mine, and Amal sure knew how to cook em!*

Anyway, before I started dinner, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies (it was a chocolate chip kind of day, apparently - and let's be honest, when am I NOT thinking about dessert?).  So, we had some delicious cookies for dessert.  And we ate all 12 of them in less than an hour.  Good thing I only made 12...?  Sometimes I don't question why Ben has to make me eat healthy. =/

To finish off the night, I convinced Ben to let me use this homemade scrub on his hands and feet.  We had a church activity on Saturday where we used this scrub to make our hands super soft, so I wanted him to feel just how soft his hands and feet could be.  I even offered to rub his feet afterwards as a bribe.  He then counter-bribed me, and told me we could watch Frozen if I rubbed his feet for 10 minutes each.  Being the sucker I am, I totally gave in.  And it was worth it.  Frozen was hilarious.  (Ben asked me if I was 5 years old because I enjoyed it so much - so what if I am..)  Olaf is definitely my favorite.

Anyway, that was our day.  Simple, yet pretty perfect.  So what if we're like an old married couple.  We've been married almost 4 years, so it definitely feels like it sometimes.  And that's OK with me =]


PS - Canada's spell check totally sucks.  It gets me all confused.  For example - neighbors vs "neighbours" and favorite vs. "favourite."  Ridiculous.  I just want to speak American.  Is that too hard to ask?

Oh Canada!

Our time up here in Halifax has been a whirlwind!  Ben started school, I got a job (not a "real" one, but one to keep me busy until I can do hygiene again), seen the sights, loved spending time with friends, and have just enjoyed life.  I can't speak for Ben (although I think we're thinking the same), but I love it here.  Most of it probably has to do with the awesome people we've met, and basically spend all our free time with, but Hey, that's what makes life fun right?  We were welcomed to the "Utah" dental student clan right when we got here, it's been great having people in the same situation, with the same problems (USA withdrawals =]).  It's been a while since I've met so many guys who are like Ben and just tease and tease and tease.  He fits right in, and I continue to be the brunt of many jokes (mostly started by Ben), and we both feel at home.  I think we're going to have 4 amazing years up here. Anyway, here are some pictures of some things we have done and seen.  It's definitely not everything, but it's what I've got for ya.

Shortly after we got here, we heard about berry picking, and we had to go.  A large group of us ended up going and getting lots of blueberries and raspberries.  They were amazing.  It was hot, and we were outside, but the berries were worth it.  We pounded through our raspberries and will probably finish up our blueberries soon, but there's always next year!

Afterwards, we stopped to get ice cream, and found this little gem of a place.  It had a small pond, some animals and a little playground area.  Here's Ben and Nate helping Brecklyn and Cam feed the animals.

And Nate, so graciously, took a picture of us on in the boat at the "park."  Yeah, we're kids.

Ben's school had like a million activities planned for their "orientation" week to help the students get to know each other and the area better.  While most of the activities involved drinking, clubbing and bar hopping, they did a Harbour Hopper tour and let the families go too.  Basically, we took a tour of downtown Halifax on this bus thing, which also turned into a boat.  It was pretty sweet.

Here's a view of Halifax from the water.  It was pretty awesome being on the water.

On the tour, we drove past our apartment building - here it is.  Harbour Ridge.  

The school also had a softball tournament during Orientation week for the students.  It was the first time I had ever seen Ben play (and maybe even his first time playing?) and I was impressed.  He was sexy.  No wonder I've always dated athletes.  Don't worry older brothers, Ben's an athlete even if he didn't play sports in high school =] 

A few weeks into school, Ben had his White Coat Ceremony.  When I was telling my mom about this, she asked "So.....is that like where he gets his lab coat?"  She wasn't very impressed, and when you put it like that, it does sound pretty lame.  But it was cool to see him walk across the stage, get a coat put on him (with his name, I might add), sign the pledge (or whatever it was), and be "officially" on his way to becoming a doctor.  I mean, look at that guy, don't you want him to be your dentist??

We have also had the pleasure of visiting the temple a couple times since we've been here.  It SUPER small, but still very pretty and I love going.  It's weird because it's only open certain times each day, so you can't just pop on over like we've been doing at the temples in Utah.  Yes, we are definitely not in Utah anymore =]  Here we are in front of it.

And Ryan and Janae, who we went with one of the times.  I don't think Ryan will ever let me live this trip down because I totally banged my knee super loud during a quiet moment.  Awkkkkward...

Last weekend was Canada's Thanksgiving, so we both had the day off.  Ben wanted to take me to a place he had breakfast at when he came up here for his interview, so we got up early and drove along the water for about an hour and had breakfast.  We then stopped by one of the beaches on our way home and walked along it for a while.  It was nice.  The weather was perfect for a Fall day and it was nice to be outside together.  Oh, and it doesn't hurt that the beach was gorgeous.  

Ben showing me a dead crab right before he threw it at me.  So sweet.

It was so peaceful walking along the sand and rocks with the small waves in the background.  Felt like I was back in California =]

As you can see, we've been enjoying our time up here these past 2 months.  I'm excited to see what the next 4 years brings us.  =]