So, this is a little past due...

But, as they say, better late than never right? I am finally posting some pictures of our wedding. I hope you will enjoy them. It was such a special day. Thank you to all who made it so wonderful and special for us. We appreciate you!!! Hope you'll enjoy these pictures!

Update from Ben

Well, I am finally on Thanksgiving break. This semester has been going pretty fast. I am taking four classes now that I dropped thermodynamics. They are Numerical Methods, Kinematics, Physics 220 (electricity and magnetism), and engineering statistics. It has been a busy semester with all these major classes but I think I'll make it. I have been trying to find an internship for the winter semester but haven't turned up anything yet. Marcie Austin helped get me in contact with Lockheed Martin and I am waiting to hear back from them.

It has been a real mild fall here in Rexburg this year. The weather has been so beautiful and we have really enjoyed it.

Well, we wanted to catch up on some activities we have been having lately. We dressed up as Ninjas for Halloween, and Angie dressed up as Hermione for a company party and she looked really authentic. She even made a Griffendor tie from scratch just to play the part. Angie carved an amazing cat pumpkin for Halloween. It took here forever but it was worth the effort. I took the easy way out and carved a more traditional visage from my pumpkin.

I also got to go mountain biking in Harriman state park. The school took a trip. I hadn't been in a long time and had a blast. I cut my leg on my big chain ring and Keith broke his derailer hanger in spectacular fashion. Sorry, no picture of that.

We also were able to make a trip to Mesa falls a couple months ago with Neil and Diane. Here are some of the pictures we took.

I finally made it out to Big Juds to try their amazingly huge hamburgers. I was a little sceptical but they turned out to be huge. I took the pictures with my phone camera so they aren't really great quality, but you can still get an idea of how huge these things are. We purchase one burger and shared it between the two of us.

So we have been really blessed lately and have enjoyed a lot of fun activeties lately. Things are going well and we with you all the best.

I almost forgot...

HOW COULD I FORGET? Oh yes, I ran a half marathon in Pocatello on August 30th. It was my first ever. I ran it in 2 hours 22 min. It was a blast! I am thinking about doing a marathon, but I might do more half-marathons first. It really kept me in shape and I felt really good about my time. I finished 6th in my division. I ran the half with my Mom and I couldn't have done it without her! She really kept me going. Dad and Keith ran the full marathon and Keith even got first place in his division. Running is fun! I am really getting into it!

What's New with the Hodge Family

Ben and I thought we would finally put some pictures on our blog. We have been married almost six months now, so we are surprised when people call us newlyweds.

We both have new callings. I am the ward organist/chorister (yikes!). In case you are wondering...No, I have never had an organ lesson in my life. The closest thing to an organ lesson I had was a quick glance through a church organ manual written in Spanish just before a Panamanian sacrament meeting. So, I am trying to learn how to control all four appendages and still read the music and look at the chorister. Ben is the assistant clerk in the ward. Luckily, he has had some experience with that calling already, so he doesn't seem too nervous about it.

We just got a laptop due to the new BYU-Idaho laptop initiative (they strongly suggest that every student have his/her own laptop) and are finding it very fun to try out our new "toy". Ben is taking a full load (15 credits this semester) and I am working full time at the Standard Journal. We are getting very excited about having a little nephew (Ben's and my first). We hope everyone is doing great!

Well, our internet really hasn't been working, so I haven't been able to update my blog with pictures yet. Still, Ben and I are enjoying being in Rexburg. It is warm up here (if you can believe that) and Ben is finishing up with the Summer semester. We will both be very excited for him to be out of school. I am working at the Standard Journal (the local newspaper) as the Classified Sales Representative*. We have both been swamped trying to keep up and still get to see each other. We ran the Sawtooth Relay in early June and really had a great time, although we both came out looking like a couple of lobsters. I was so burned that Ben actually had to pick me up and lift me over the little entrance flap on the tent door. I couldn't pick my leg up high enough to get over it.

For some strange reason, unbeknownst to me, I signed up to run a half marathon in Pocatello on August 30th. For those of you who are marathon runners, this may seem like no big deal, but trust me, for me this is big. I only have about 9 weeks to get ready, so we'll see how it goes. Maybe we'll do some progressive photos so you can see me get leaner and "buff-er" as I go along.

Ben and I both have bikes now (he bought me one not too long after we got married) so we ride to work/school on our bikes to save gas and to stay in shape. We have taken some fun bike rides together. One of my favorites lately though was our Saturday night date. Ben rode his bike and I went on my long run. He rode beside me the whole way. I ran for about an hour and we had fun talking and laughing all the way.

We are stake missionaries right now, so we actually attend the Spanish branch. That has been a huge blessing for us because we have been able to touch up on our Spanish and be involved in missionary work. Ben goes out with the missionaries pretty frequently and really has a great time.

Well, hopefully that gives you all an idea what we are up to now. Take care everyone!

*Classified Sales Representative: A very nice euphemism for telephone answerer, ad builder, grunt laborer, copy machine fixer, joke-maker, and front office goo-roo in charge of Classified billing mess-ups. Hee hee!

A New Family

Well, as you all know, Ben and I got married on March 22nd. We are living in Rexburg.