Well, it's been awhile. See, we don't have any children. Without children, blog posts are just about me and Joe (and probably our dog). Too many posts about just the two of us, and we become the Utah County couple (no offense) that shares every second of every day, explaining why the cereal we ate for breakfast tastes SOOOOO much better because we're SOOOOO in love. Nobody wants that, especially not me. However, a few things have happened in the last 6 months that I feel are worth mentioning.
Back in October I surprised Joe with a trip to Denver to watch his beloved Broncos play their rivals, the Oakland Raiders. When I say I surprised him, I mean I really surprised him. He had no idea where we were going until we got to our departure gate at the airport. Here are the highlights: The stars aligned and one of my favorite mission friends had her reception in Denver the weekend we were there, our hotel location was perfect, we ate at some fantastic restaurants (my favorite being Crepes and Crepes), our seats were fantastico, and the weather was perfect for watching football. The Broncos got KILLED by the Raiders (I don't love the Broncos, so it wasn't nearly as painful for me as it was Joe) but it was still so fun to be there and see our first NFL (regular season) game. Joe may or may not have choked up during the National Anthem, I'm just sayin.
On a completely unrelated note, last week I ate what I believe to be the best tasting orange I've had in my near 30 years of living. So delicious.
My main reason for writing is to post about Easter. Somehow I convinced Joe to pack up and head to Blanding so that we could see family and help brand calves. I spent a lot of Spring days branding so I wanted Joe to experience it at least once. Joe is straight "city", so this whole thing was completely new to him. I tried to explain exactly what would happen so that there wouldn't be any surprises (although I doubt one can ever be completely prepared to witness the poor boy cows losing their manhood in front of everyone). I was nervous for Joe, but had already talked to everyone in my family telling them that we were just going to watch, and that maybe I'd sit on a cow. I should have known that wouldn't fly with my brother Steve. He was very nice, but kept encouraging Joe to get in there and sit on a cow. Well friends, my sweet city boy was very brave and sat on a calf while it was attended to (to ease some of the concern, I held the calf's leg in case it flipped out and tried to get up). He did so good, and remained very calm even when that awful smell of singed hair and burning flesh was blowing straight in his face. In that moment as we sat there with that calf I think i witnessed Joe being completely and fully accepted into the Bennett clan. They were so proud of him for being willing to get dirty and try something they truly love.
He also got the privilege of actually branding a cow. I'll admit it, I had my doubts but he did a great job with that too and made a near perfect mark on the cow.
So so proud of Joe for being such a great sport, and so thankful he was willing to share something that's just a part of our country livin. :)
