Paul and Ashley

Ashley and Reeses first Wheeling Trip

2009-03-03T11:48:00.002-05:00

We went offroading this last weekend. It was about 15 degrees with the windchill. It was snowing lightly off and on.

The trail we were on is called Bobcat. It is located in Blacksburg, VA, near Virginian Tech University.

I had a ton of fun driving and Ashley was riding (although i did try and get her to drive). This was not a really technical trail, but we had a ton of fun. There was one area of the trail that i did not think that my jeep would make, but it suprised me. I wish we had taken more pictures, but the following are the only ones we have.

[IMG]http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb26/flash2pablo/Bobcat3022209.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb26/flash2pablo/Bobcat4022209.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb26/flash2pablo/Bobcat1022209.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb26/flash2pablo/Bobcat2022209.jpg[/IMG]

If You Lie Can You Still Win And Will People Care???

2009-01-20T09:00:00.004-05:00

Do we know right from wrong? After reading about the recent admission by the newly elected Mayor for the City of Portland I have come to one conclusion.

Personally I believe that it is irrational to allow a person who personally admits to have lied to the public and instruct others to lie to the public to keep his seat in public office. Mayor Sam Adams had admitted that he lied because he thought the rumors that might come about because of his relationships MIGHT harm his chances of being elected.

Clearly he has violated the Ethical standards that are expected and should be required for any person who is to hold elected office.

I believe it is our responsibility to make sure that those who we elect follow high ethical standards. I believe in this case Mayor Sam Adams has not only violated high ethical standards, but in most cases has VIOLATED ALL ETHICAL STANDARDS.

We must take a stand and make sure we are informed about the decisions our political leaders make. We are also responsible for making our opinions heard by those in leadership.
I ask that at the very minimum each one of you write an email to Governor Kulongoski and your House of Representative for the Oregon Congress, and let them know that they need to take action against Mayor Sam Adams.

This is not about the fact that he is openly gay, but because of his Ethics Violation.

One way to think about it is, If you lied about something in your background and had someone else lie in order to get a job, and then your boss finds out about it, DO YOU THINK THEY WON'T FIRE YOU????

Take a stand for Ethics and Morality!!! Do your part today!

Read up and be informed:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/20/portland-mayor-says-past-relationship-teen/

Current Economy "How did we get here?"

2009-01-13T18:27:00.002-05:00

Today I watched this video and I thought it was a great reflection on the current financial situation and how we got here.
If you don't understand what has happened or what is continuing to happen, I think this is understandable for anyone who is interested.
Check it out and let me know what you think about it. I will post up my thoughts when I have a little more time.

http://online.wsj.com/video-center/the-end-of-wall-street.html

Paul

2009-01-13T13:35:00.005-05:00

NOVEMBER & DECEMBER

Both November and December were busy and eventful which could be why they flew by so fast. Let me try to update you on the past two months. We had an amazing second Thanksgiving in VA, we hosted it at our new house and three amazing couples joined us. A couple weeks after Thanksgiving our parents came to visit, which was AMAZING!! You never realize how much you love and miss family until you live on the other side of the country! While they were here we cut down our Christmas tree. This was the first time I had ever done this. You would think being from Idaho I would have but nope. We also took them to some of our local historical sites and to the Law School. As fun as it was to have them come it was harder to have them leave, especially right before the holidays.

This was our first Christmas in VA, and a hard one. Not only did we miss our family but we were extremely jealous of all their snow. As much as we both wish we would have been home I think that this Christmas will be engraved in our memories for the rest of our lives. It was our first Christmas on our own and a growing experience.
Now its 2009 and we are both looking forward to a promising new year. God has great things in store and we are excited!!

Halloween in Bedford

2008-11-03T14:09:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween!!

I hope everyone had as awesome of a Halloween as we did! :). I was a little disappointed that we didn't get any trick or treaters but Reeses sure had fun! I know I know we look like horrible pet owners, and I never thought I would dress my dog up like anything but when we saw the Princess Layla wig we had to... (and another puppy came over to play who was dressed up like a piggy and we didn't want Reeses to feel left out).

2008-10-31T13:53:00.002-04:00

So there has been a new addition to the Benton Family....Reeses!! The newest Ms. Benton is a 2 1/2 month year old boxer puppy and we have already had so much fun with her. She is still at that awkward state were she runs into walls, glass doors, slides when she runs, hops and is afraid to walk down the basement stairs... its hilarious. Anyways, I just thought I would introduce you to our Baby!

2008-10-04T22:10:00.002-04:00

As most of you know in the beginning of August 2007 Paul and I moved to Lynchburg, VA so Paul could attend Liberty University School of Law. Since then we have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams. Now don’t get me wrong there have been many hard times, for example when our house got broken into after only being in Lynchburg for a month. But none of those hard moments fall into comparison to the amazing ones. I consider myself the most blessed because even when times are not the easiest I have a wonderful man who I am getting to know better everyday. We are creating this blog to keep our family and friends more informed on how we are doing. With the time difference and also our hectic schedules we have found it difficult to communicate with everyone as we would like, so this seemed like the best and simplest answer. We love and miss you all!!!