Love to be in Love

Anthony spoiled me for Valentine's Day as every man should spoil his woman! After 2 years of marriage and almost 5 years of dating, we are still madly in love and a little crazy together. Marriage is not easy. It is real hard and requires a lot of work which includes being selfless, putting your ego aside, working together, and having to compromise but every second of it is worth it. 

So Anthony, when you read this please know that I will always keep falling in love with you. You are the man I have always dreamed of, the handsome prince I get to show off, and better than any Disney fairy tale out there. I love you.

I got roses! For dinner, we went to Indian food and then came home for a night in front of the tv.

A fire in the fireplace - so romantic!

And the bulb from Aunt Margie blossomed all at the same time. 

Dog Gone Fun

Looking at pictures from 2013 looks like we have had some dog gone fun! So after going out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes in Orange Park, I saw the dog track and decided let's stop in. So we placed a couple of bets and won close to $17!!! With raking in that big dough, we decided to play it safe and head for home where...

...you can see we ended up snuggling on the couch and watching The Lady and the Tramp. I'd like to say Thelma picked the movie but it was just on Disney and we thought it was funny how Thelma reacted to it.

Lap dog much? She's too lazy to even walk a track but her knee is all healed so if she wanted to, she could.

Lady and The Tramp (our lady tramp watching the movie)

Hot January?

We had some unseasonably warm weather this January so when Anthony needed new running shoes, we headed toward the beach for some great prices at Academy Sports and then a fun day in the sun. It wasn't warm enough to swim or even just wear our suits but we did snag a few photos.

I literally had to stare directly into the sun but it was nice to see it!

He is so good looking but never wants to pose for pictures! Glad when I can get some.

Beach Wedding - They looked like they dropped some serious cash on their duds!

Web.com Christmas Party

This was the first year that we sent Christmas Cards and the family response was great! Everyone seemed to love the personal touch in the digital age and I included a link to the blog which I have done a horrible job of keeping updated so I will be posting quite a few in quick secession here.

The following picture are from Anthony's work Christmas Party with Web.com. They sponsor a mini league golf tour which used to be the Nationwide Tour. The food was great, entertainment was rockin', the giveways were amazing, and it was overall a wonderful time!

In front of the house before we left... no photographer but you can see the Christmas lights on the house.

Just imagine all of the famous golfers that walked under those lights. Pretty cool!

I had to get my pose on!

They took our pictures by those trees when we walked in and had them printed out for when we left. 

Only bummer was that they were giving away Flat Screen TVs, I-pads, Kindles, X-Box 360s, Laptops, Tablets, Cruises with PTO, and Trips to Europe with PTO but it sure was fun to watch the winners. Who knows!? Maybe we will win something wonderful next year!

Baby Fever

So one of the Bennetts has baby fever and it isn't the Mrs. Oh no! He's got it bad too. In 2012, we babysat the best and cutest kids. We had Paisley (age 3) over at the house with her little brother Sawyer (age 1 or so). Paisley sweetly asked me, "Sister Bennett, where are your babies?" To which I responded, "we don't have any babies Paisley." And I am sure you could guess what follows? "Why not?" asked the very thoughtful girl. Anthony swiftly replied in a very straight forward manner, "it wouldn't be fiscally responsible right now." This just made me laugh so hard! She had no idea what he was saying.

Mr. Bennett circa my birth (I married an older man)

Anthony and Abbey 

Anthony and the preemie Andrea

Baby Dena's 1st Birthday Party! She had us all laughing!

Someday Anthony and when that day comes, you will be the best dad because you love our future kid's mom and you are so eager and excited to do a great job. You do such a good job with Thelma too and she isn't even human! :)

Together Since 2008

My Aunt Julie and Uncle Pete have been married for a long time (30ish years or so) and I really love this framed set of photos in their house with a picture from each year of marriage. Anthony and I have only been married for 2 years now but I still think that is a great accomplishment so I wanted to post my favorite picture of the two of us for each of the years we have been an item. Here it goes!

2008

Right when we started dating early May 2008

2009

After we returned from England in Summer 2009

2010

Our Wedding - December 27, 2010

2011

Thanksgiving 2011 - A week before our big move

2012

2012 Christmas Card Pictures

Isn't it wild to see how much we have both changed over the past 5 years? I look forward to the next 5 years together and think that Anthony will be a dashing 30 year when we arrive! A trip down memory lane is always a fun trip. Happy New Year!

Food Nanny

Anthony and I have been budget crazy this year so I definitely jumped on the chance to meet BYU Channel's The Food Nanny. Learn more about her and the plan here.

Me with the Food Nanny, Liz Edmunds

Anyway, Liz was super helpful in talking about how to simplify meal plans for your family making meals that are both affordable and healthy. So we have been trying to plans meals 2 weeks in advance. So far we have cut our groccery budget by almost $75. It is great! Anthony has even been experimenting with yeast and baking breads which can be totally fun and... interesting.