I know that my Savior Loves Me.

Heavenly Father sure does have a sense of humor, because guess what? Brother and Sister Chambers got called to PRIMARY. Now, anyone who knows me knows that i really struggle with large groups of kids that are all the same age. They feed off of each other for entertainment and they love making adults mad! :) Well, three weeks ago we substituted the 9 year old girls--kill me now (that's my little sister's age and there were TWO of them) they were super giggly and wanted to play hangman (ben's idea) and of course, they wanted to think of the words instead of guess the letters. So Ben and I guessed letters for 30 minutes while the girls tried to spell "Nehemiah" and "Ecclesiastes." It was bearable--but the giggles were what almost killed me. (they're really high pitched too) Anyway, the next week when we got a call to come meet with the 2nd counselor, we knew it was going to be a call to primary... after Ben accepted (I just smiled and nodded, which apparently is saying yes..) ;) my first thought was, for real? are you kidding me? are you trying to kill these kids by putting them in my care? I'm going inactive... but after that first Sunday i thought, ok... 7 & 8 year olds wont be too bad.. And the primary program is in a few weeks so we wont have to prepare a lesson for about a month (sweet!).. then today, i realized we have the 6 & 7 year olds and that the counselor told us the wrong thing.. So, after getting really excited to have all these well-behaved 8 year olds (b/c it's the end of the year and everyone is almost 8) I was a little worried about having 6/7 year olds.. I soon realized that because our ward struggles with inactivity, we only had three little boys (who were really calm after they got separated from their 8 year old friends.. (but they don't sing at all..) So i thought, ok.. i can handle this... Then as we started to practice for the primary program, the kids sang this song and my heart just melted. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm still not a huge fan of certain kids because their parents are not able to (or just don't care to) dicipline them so they actually are able to learn in primary... but when the kids sing this song. AHH. I love them and want them to learn and grow so much. And when I tear up every time they sing it i realize that it's because I know that My Savior really does love me and he has put me and my children-hating self in this calling for a reason. Ben is really out of his element as well, but it's good for both of us.

this little kid is super precious singing this song. (i found him on YouTube) Just picture about 40 kids singing this song of all ages. They make this whole Primary business not so bad afterall... (when we have to teach lessons i might change my mind.. but for now--while it's ALL singing--I'll have a smile ON and tissue READY. :)

recently in the life of benalie. :)

Lots has been going on in the life of ben and natalie... here are just a few of the things we've been doing. :)

Chris and Rob helped Ben build a bed frame for our new king size bed!Proud boys after a successful finish!THANKS BOYS!! I love my new frame and the huge amount of storage space underneath! I've also been very domestic recently and tried to plan and cook meals so we only have to go shopping every two weeks. it's been really fun to eat a home cooked meal each night. What's nice is that ben likes to help me in the kitchen (and it usually tastes better when he helps--he sneaks in random spices and stuff when I'm not looking) haha.

this is my homemade chicken pot pie. We made one and a half pies and I pretty much ate the one pie all by myself while Ben and i split the 1/2 pie..

finished product.. DE. LISH. (this is the only meal i've taken pictures of, but we also LOVE the croc-pot and the cook book that has ALL croc-pot recipes. We use it like twice a week!

Ben also put shelves up next to our bed.. but this is the only picture i took of it.. You can see the finished product when i post pictures of our house.. they will come soon. promise. :)

Ben looks weird in this picture, (sorry hun), but he lucked out when he married a former jamba girl.. b/c we had delicious smoothies over conference weekend. we also cooked lil' smokeys for conference too. they were great. Also, i took a gift someone gave us and changed the picture to one i liked better.. so now we have this cute family proclamation to hang in our house. That's all for now.. I'll take more pictures of the rest of the house this weekend hopefully.. just depends on when i get the place cleaned. :)

honeymoon... finally.

So I'm finally getting some pictures up here...

These are a few from our honeymoon. We went to Anaheim, CA for 6 days and stayed in a beautiful timeshare and had such a great time wandering around the city. Our room had a sweet balcony that faced Disneyland/California Adventure and we got to watch the fireworks EVERY NIGHT! it was so awesome. By the end of the week we were making sure we got home to watch the fireworks. :) they were SO AWESOME.

The place also had a sweet pool and huge hot tubs that we were able to relax in in the evening.

We didn't go to all the amusement parks but we did have a chance to visit Universal Studios (it was Ben's first time) and Six Flags Magic Mountain.
these are at the Universal Studios "Water World" show.

Sorry these pictures look so the-same... that's what you get when there's only two of you and you each have crazy hair that "has a good side" haha.

After the Jurassic Park water ride we were looking at each other and how wet we were and it was about then we realized that our outfits were opposite of each other. we had a good laugh about it. :)

This is just a pretty picture of the sun behind the sign. and the palm trees were pretty too. but my camera wasn't the best at getting a good picture.

The next day we went to be beach and watched the sun set. it was pretty chilly, but still a good time. good think I keep blankets in my car b/c i get cold on road trips. We were also able to use our new camping chairs that someone bought us for a wedding present. We were happy we didn't send those with the rest of the gifts back to Utah. :)

Then two days later we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain and this is the only picture we got because it was such a busy day full of riding roller coasters.. and you don't want to lose your camera on those things so we left it in the lockers.
After six flags we drove to Henderson and I got to meet Ben's aunt and uncle and their super cute little kids. It was great. thanks Aunt Deana and Uncle David for letting us stay with you! then we came home and moved into our new (well, new to us) apartment. :) I'll post pictures next time... we're still decorating and such. probably will be for a long time. haha
Thanks for listening to me talk about my life. i'll try to be funny again sometime soon. key word: TRY. adios.

its good to be loved.

I absolutely love this song/video. Being that I just got married, it came out at the perfect time. I also love carrie underwood's music and her story. ahh!!.. just watch/listen to the video. try not to cry like i do every time i see this. Both her husband and mother are in this video, which makes it even more precious. :] i love country music and the stories that come from it.

I love my mom and dad and how supportive they are of Ben and me. It's the greatest feeling ever to know you are loved by so many people and to know that you love them back.

make sure someone knows they're loved today.

Dear Self...

Dear Self,

What were you thinking when you told Ben you'd be happy to help him with his math? Helping with his homework won't make yours go away. Suck it up and do your own homework.
Love, Natalie
p.s. if Ben ever reads this: dear Ben, it's not the math, it's the guilt i feel afterwards for letting myself be a good wife and help you. I should be a bad wife and just do my own homework. ugh. reality is setting in... i'd better go to sleep. 1 am never did treat me very well. love you.

Counting the days..

Days I've lived not married to Ben: 7,943.
Days I've lived knowing Ben: 622
Days I've lived Ben knowing me: 615
Days I've lived since my first date with Ben: 557
Days I've lived since my first kiss with Ben: 547
Days I've lived since Ben put a ring on it: 146
Days I've lived married to Ben: 32.

I'm hoping one day the last number will be bigger than the first. :)

♥ Happy 1 month to Ben and I ♥
(2 days late)

p.s. i'm trying to post about our new place but other things keep coming up. that's my goal this week (along with doing 3 weeks of reading and homework). we'll see. :/

I'm Moving...

for anyone who checks this blog... starting wednesday, this blog will be moving to benalie.blogspot.com

that's all.. i'll post better stuff later.. :)