Mundane; adj: ordinary, commonplace, routine

Okay, so we've (I've) been bad about updating our posts. And apparently I'm getting some flack for it. I keep waiting for something news-worthy to happen, but alas that time still hasn't come. I was hoping the foreign service results would be that thing, but the funny thing about bad news is it's not that exciting to share. So to keep the masses happy, I will provide a mundane summary of our lives at the moment.

Ben's in his last real semester of being an undergrad (though he'll take a capstone class in the spring and end in June). He's still working at the MTC and starting to apply for full-time jobs. We've decided not to go the grad school route right away. Considering our situation and chosen field, it just seems to make more sense for him to get some work experience first. So we'll probably end up staying in Provo (hopefully Orem actually) for another little while. Hopefully this means we'll be in the position to travel more (I haven't been to Warrensburg in so long and I'm starting to feel it). New York City and The Grand Canyon are also on our list, not to mention the MacPherson family cruise in November.

I'm just working two jobs--at the Tahitian Noni call center during the day and transcribing at Utah Valley University in the evenings. Ben and I also work at the temple Saturday nights, which has been a great opportunity for both of us. I'm still in the market for another job (shhh) and I'm hoping to hear some responses soon. I know we're incredibly blessed that I can work so much, but it would be nice to work one job and be done at 5 every day instead of 8. It's amazing how something that is possible when you're single becomes exhausting when you're married. Maybe Ben just requires a lot of energy....

We were able to attend a sealing yesterday in Salt Lake. It was a great experience to see a live sealing (the first time for me since our own). It's amazing how much easier it is to pay attention when you're just sitting on the sidelines. We were also able to spend the weekend with Russell and Kim (and David and Kenneth) and see Sherrie and her kids. Family is another one of those added bonuses that has us wanting to stick around for a little while longer.

So there you have it. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to post some more exciting (job) news. Feel free to pray, cross your fingers, wish on a star, or whatever else might make a difference.

Cambodia

We had an amazing time in Cambodia this weekend. We spent Friday and Saturday in the city of Siem Reap. There we were able to see the Angkor ruins, which is the largest religious compound in the world. Every temple we saw was breathtaking in size and beauty.  Words can't do this place justice, so prepare yourself for a lot of your pictures (we took over 500 this weekend, so this is just the tip of the iceberg). I'm still working on getting our pictures online. When I do, you should see a link over on the right called "photos." Then you can peruse all of the other pictures we haven't been posting.

This temple is at the top of a hill and we hiked up here for a view of the sunset (which we never actually saw because it was overcast). We spent awhile on the roof enjoying the view.

We had our own personal tuk-tuk driver (kind of like a carriage hooked to the back of a motorbike) and he was great, usually singing or whistling as he drove us.

For dinner, we went to Pub Street and ate at a place that let us barbeque our own meat. This is me cooking the snake and crocodile (which we ate in addition to beef and shrimp that included, much to my disgust, the head, tail, and legs.

The food was good and the atmosphere was really fun--there were tv's all over that were showing the World Cup.

We got up at about 4:30 to see the sunrise behind Angkor Wat. As you can see, it was worth it.

Angkor Wat

Another shot of Angkor Wat

After the sun rose, we explored the temple. It was huge.

Another famous structure here is Ta Prohm, which is overgrown with giant trees.

This temple is called Bayon. If you look closely, you can see faces on all of the towers.

The temple walls were covered with carved murals. We each took turns making up stories.

This building was once a Buddhist monastery and university.

On our way to Phnom Penh we ate bugs. A great way to end such a cultural experience.

The Grand Palace

We went to the Grand Palace this weekend in downtown Thailand. People have been telling us all along that this was one place we needed to visit while in Bangkok. It was a fun day trip. I'm also working on putting all of our pictures on photobucket.com. I've been having a hard time deciding which pictures to post, and this way we can have them all up for everyone to see.

We rode a boat downtown with Lynette and Alaina, but it was just Ben, Alaina and I at the Grand Palace.

I didn't notice anyone else staring, so maybe this is normal. Alaina said he was probably fishing for trash. Not hard to find in this river.

Inside the compound of the Grand Palace.

These structures were all very ornate. This is Alaina demonstrating to me how people pull off the squares of gold.

The Emerald Buddha. He's actually made of jade and wears a different gold outfit depending on what season it is. This is his summer season attire. They didn't allow pictures inside the temple, this was taken through a window outside.

During most of our visit, Alaina was most interested in playing with the bees, which are supposed to have no stingers.  Buddhists believe this is because of the sacredness of the Emerald Buddha.  Alaina's theory is that "they were just born that way."

In front of the Grand Palace

The three of us leaving the compound

The temples behind us

Wedding Day!

We've been quite busy the past couple of weeks, so we have a few posts to catch up on. Most important of all the many events that have transpired would have to be our wedding on Monday. It was a great day, the weather in Nauvoo was perfect and everything ran smoothly.  We had quite a few people tell us that they had never been to a less stressful wedding. Our sealing was a wonderful experience, but we won't get into the details of who cried more than whom. We have some pictures from Megan's family to tide everyone over until we get our pictures back from our photographer.

With the parents

Both our families

Direct quote from Josh-- "Where can I grab her?!"

Ben's sisters had a bit more trouble

A view of the Nauvoo temple

Ben's siblings were nice enough to decorate our car

Marriage License

Yesterday we had the privilege of obtaining our marriage license at the Carthage, Illinois Courthouse (labeled as B on the map). On the way up, we drove by a car crash that included large flames and an impressive column of smoke. Plus we drove through Quincy, IL as Obama was arriving to give a speech. After getting our license and jump starting the car that mysteriously died, we drove down to St. Louis to do a session at the temple (C). By this time it was 7:00 pm, so we continued on our way home to Warrensburg. We had been hoping to stop in Columbia (D) for dinner and some shopping, but we rolled in at about 8:57. Just enough time to see all of the restaurants and stores closing up. So we cut our losses and got McDonald's. We finally got home a little after 11 pm, bringing our total miles and driving time (according to mapquest) to 614.25 miles in 10 hours and 19 minutes. Below is a map detailing our route, starting and ending in Warrensburg (or E).