An update from Paradise:

Ok everyone, I am going to prepare you now...this next post may sound like I am bragging but I am not....for those of you that fear you may be too jealous to continue to be my friend stop reading now and I will downplay the details for you later.

So. We are here in Phuket(aka the most beautiful place in the world) with all of our closest friends(family excluded)
having the time of our life, staying at one of the most exclusive resorts in the country(and possibly the world) free of charge(Doug had a meeting here...actually he is in meetings most of the day, but not me!)
This place is a dream! Doug and I have our own Villa and Mick and Nat have their own. We have 3-4 butler/cooks/maids at our service 24 hours a day(which is kind of hard to take but I am trying to enjoy the experience) Our swimming pool overlooks the ocean,

we have our own private beach(where they bring you drinks and fix your umbrella when the sun changes)

there are a fleet of mercadies to take you wherever you would like to go......I can hardly believe this is real(see previous post: Is the real) It is hard to describe the experience here but let's just say that the king of Abu Dabi is staying in our Villa next week and it is Bono's favorite(Kate Moss has stayed here twice!)---it is that awesome!
Each night we return from dinner to find candles lit in our courtyard leaeding to our Villa and freshly picked Jasmine on our bed. Our laundry is taken care of, you order your meals and eat them at a beautiful table overlooking the ocean while listening to thai music.
I can't stress enough that the service here is out of this world. I mentioned that I don't like chicken....boom they remember, I say I like tea with breakfast no sugar, no milk-done it just comes every morning without me saying a word. The people here are so gracious and friendly....they take pride in their work something that is refreshing since sometimes in the US that is hard to come by.

So far on our trip we have:
Been scuba diving,
learned to cut fruit(an art in itself)

sat on the beach and pondered the meaning of life
gone shopping in Phuket town

The next few days there are a few more activities.....

I could go on and on but a picture is worth a thousand what: that's right:

Doug + Mickelle 5 years ago today

5 years ago today we were married, we became husband and wife, Mr and Mrs Weber.


I have enough to say about the past 5 years being married to the most generous, kind and lets' face it-hot man in the world, but right now, inspired by Les and Tom's blog I want to tell you my cherished memories of our wedding day.



Many of my memories aren't just from the day of. Most of them come from planning. It all started by me announcing to my mom that we were getting married, in two and a half months, while Doug talked to my dad. My parents were their normal, supportive selves and my mom's only thought was exactly HOW I thought we could throw together such a celebration in such short notice!

Doug proposed at the sight of our first kiss(on the A at Utah State) and with the help of Tom and Les(who weren't married yet but have always been there for us whenever we need even today) I was so shocked when the fire lanterns surrounding the A were meant for me!

We told Doug's parents and they were excited for us! Then we proceeded to call each and every member of our extended family....everyone told us how excited they were-that meant so much to us both!

Now it was time for the flurry of planning, registering, shower attending and well-mayhem! I was living in Logan and starting my senior year at USU at the time so my mom was my master planner! She really did make everything possible!

Through the whole planning process Doug and I had budgeted out each item and carefully decided how much we were willing to spend. We were pretty successful but when it came time for the dress I found "the one" and it was WAY out of the budget. I called Doug and he responded simply: "if that is the dress then get it--I want it to be perfect!" I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by his response-I felt like the luckiest girl in the world!

As the day grew closer there were showers to be attended hosted by my wonderfully talented sister Leslie and my best friend Jen. Both were amazing and I felt so lucky to be surrounded by those that I love most!

The night before the wedding we had our rehearsal dinner hosted by Wayd and Alice(Doug's parents) it was so much fun! Once we finished Doug took me back to my parents house and we talked for awhile with Rosie and Kevin and my family....it all seemed so surreal and I couldn't believe my wedding day was actually here!

The next morning everything was calm-dad made breakfast while mom did my nails and we just hung out and talked. As I was finishing last minute touches Mom and Les got their hair done and I headed to the mall. I know it is against the rules to be alone on your wedding day but I was and it felt right-it gave me time to realize what was going on and to think and to be happy and excited!

I went to get my hair done, came home and my mom and Les loaded my dress in the truck(all the while freaking out that it might get dirty) and I remember that my Dad insisted that he be the one that drive me, while Mom, Les and Mike came over in the car.

As we drove over to the reception center I don't remember anything we said but I remember that my dad did what he always does: he gave me some advice, made some small talk and told me that I would figure anything out that came my way. You see that is how my parents are-they tell you the theory or lesson and then throw you in to learn the reality all on your own- the wisdom in it is too magnificent for words.



Then it was time to get ready. Most things are a blur but the important parts are still there:
Les making sure everything was perfect, mom trying not to cry, Doug arriving late because he was too busy averting disaster with the tuxes and rental car, and giving each of my bridesmaids a gift and letting each one know what they meant to me.(this was the only time that I cried at my wedding, which seems weird, but if you know me it makes sense)

Then it was time to go! I met my dad, walked through the sea of faces representing my past, present and future to Doug, who's tears mixed with a BIG grin reminded me of exactly why I was so lucky to be marring him.

We toasted, talked, danced we sang happy b'day to my Grandpa Bench(it really was his birthday)and finally left on our honeymoon, beginning a life that I can only describe so far as rich, full and while always changing-is always complete.

I will post a pic when we get back home in a few weeks-we have changed A LOT in 5 years!

Pinch me.....is this real?

i consider myself to be pretty lucky in most ways and feel that all in all i lead what one might consider a full and rewarding life.
So today when I walked into our own private villa in Phuket and I turned to Doug and said "I can now die happy" it had to be pretty amazing
In case you are wondering, yes, we did make it all 26 hours of our travel through San Fransisco, to Hong Kong then to Singapore, then to Phuket today about 2 pm local time.

The trip, happily, was uneventful and even Fischer(mick and nat's 1 year old), who is by the way, the most amazing baby of all time, was in good spirits once we reached Amanpuri.



Here are just some quick pics from when we arrived





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Vancouver How I love thee-Let me count the ways:

Me: I love Vancouver....I don't want to leave
Doug: Yea, Vancouver kicks Salt Lake's ass

We spent our last weekend in Stanley Park. This has to be one of the most amazing places on earth. If we were to move here people might have to double take to see if I was a bum because I might just LIVE in the park. I am not joking, there is everything: The ocean(complete with beaches, restaurants, ect) Thick beautiful forest, a lake, a gigantic community swimming pool overlooking the ocean, kids water play area(complete with dryer...I am not even kidding) an off leash dog area....the list is endless. We just spend the entire weekend there. The first day we rented roller blades and skated around the perimeter of the "park" Then yesterday we spent the day exploring the center part and then finished off with a sunset walk on the seawall and some pizza near the beach. THIS is the place(I find myself wishing Brigham Young would have discovered Vancouver so my ancestors would have followed him here instead and I wouldn't be left trying to figure out ways to illegally immigrate here)

Cleo and I watching the float planes take off



watching the cruise ships take off



We kept finding these HUGE leaves....yep it is fall!


Lions Gate bridge that connects Vancouver to the N. Shore


Roller blading fools(let's just say that Cleo was her normal self since she had to keep track of two of us....the second time out was much more treacherous)



This was the scene on 2nd Beach at sunset....someone had made all of these....sculptures? it was surreal and so beautiful!

Roller blading-a west coast workout staple-Apparently

Seriously there are times when I'm pretty sure I could make it as a reality tv show star just by having a video camera taping my every adventure(think Mr Bean-meets sex in the city-meets reality). Evidently I have yet to acquire that oh so standard-in-everyone-else fear of public embarrassment thing I always hear about so:

Everyone roller blades here in Vancouver and I hadn't done it since about 5th grade. I remember the craze, got some for Christmas, used them exactly 3 times and then forgot about it. So instead of trying the obvious(easing into it) I went ahead and took my self(all decked out in rollerblading appropriate gear) my dog Cleo and some seriously misguided courage straight to the seawall(tons o people, lots of things to run into)

To get things started off right I forgot to bring a bag so I had to hide my shoes in the bushes-off to a great start. Then Cleo, in all of her wondrous ridiculousness, informed me that she is terrified of roller blades by-you guessed it-cowering and tripping me. Luckily she quickly figured out that they wouldn't eat/maim/or otherwise harm her and we were off!
We managed to make it from Richards street(from this beautiful little park with these beautiful yellow metal lawnchairs that overlook the bay.....just awesome) all the way to the Cambie Street Bridge along the seawall(a glorious 40 minutes or so of pure bliss)

All in all it went really well(I didn't do anything reality tv worthy...which is, by the way, a good thing) In fact I was so encouraged by my performance first time out after 12 years or so that I decided to just roller blade home.

One small problem: I had never learned to STOP(well other than grabbing on to something or just skating onto the grass)

This was not so much of a problem on the seawall because it is fairly flat and smooth. The sidewalk(and crosswalks, oncoming traffic etc) is an entirely different story(keep in mind that I still have my dog, who is crazy)

The way to our place on Robson is uphill mostly with a few severe downhills in between(a detail that escaped me on the walk there nearly everyday we have been here)and is in the middle of the city. There are about 20 stoplights from here to there so you can imagine me, not knowing how to stop grabbing onto ANYTHING appearing stable in order to avoid rolling into oncoming traffic, and not choke my uncharacteristically well behaved K-9 in the process.

When we made it through the front door Doug asked how it went in his usual sunny manner(with undertones of "surprised you are alive...this should be interesting") and I reported to him that our first outing had gone well( I should mention that he looked pretty surprised) "Now" I told him "I just needed to figure out how to stop"(and then proceeded to show him how I had tried to stop like you do on ice skates) He laughed, tried to explain ALL of the physical reasons that stopping like you do on ice skates would never work and then pointed down at my skate and said: just use your brake....."gasp! my what?" I made the same face at him that I do when he fixes my computer with a look of complete horror and disgust(why does he have to be so damn reasonable and calm all the time anyway :))

Needless to say next time out should be more fun for me and less scary for oncoming traffic(and oh yea Cleo)

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

China town(N. America's 2nd largest apparently) is not too far from our place so we decided to partake this past weekend.

Moyer video....sorry to be so serious but SOMEONE's gotta say it!

Watch these videos and tell me what you think(part I & II) This guy is saying what I have been feeling for awhile now....and I like how he slams both republicans and democrats...he puts the responsibility on us, the American people which I really think is the only real answer to our countries problems.

Video Part 1

Video Part 2

Thanks to PBS.org for this fabulous content