Bonjour Montreal !

Ben and I had a great trip to Montreal this weekend for his annual
"Academy of Management" seminar. Every year they host it at a different city,
and this time it just happened to be in Montreal.

I had no idea what Montreal was like when Ben mentioned we should
both go there... but I came to find out I really like it a lot!

Some highlights of the trip included:

-Paying $2.50 for a toll bridge

-Relying on and figuring out a GPS for the first time

-Paying $4.11 per gallon for gas (converted price from liters to gallons)

-Subway, metro rides around the city

-Ben's credit/debit card being denied at the subway station and ATM

-Me figuring out Montreal on my own while Ben had classes in the mornings

-Cobblestone streets

-A tour from a friend who's a "local"

-Squeezing in the crowded Shwart's restaurant (smoked meat sandwiches and fries... YUM...obviously eaten quickly)

-Hiking up Parc Mont-Royal and the view of the city

-Montreal's bagels at St. Viateur's (chewier, sweeter, better)

-Being unsure whether to approach the people in English, or try using French

-Ben couldn't get enough of the BIXI bike rentals all around the city

-Oh yeah, and I liked them too

-Parc Jean-Drapeu's bike/car track and view

-Yummy restaurants with high prices for little portions

-Poutine at the restaurant Banquise... yes that is fries, gravy, cheese curds. Surprisingly good.

-Free outdoor music/performances at Parc LaFontaine

-Saturday night firework show in Old Montreal

-Trying to find the local LDS church and being unsuccessful... but going to the art museum instead

-and much more....

Ben stayed at the conference for the next two days but I had to get home to work and such. It was cloudy/rainy Sunday afternoon... so I decided to hit the road and head back to New York. I was a bit worried about the drive in Canada and across the border alone... but I made it just fine (with the help of an apple, cheezits, tootsie rolls, bagel, cheese popcorn, and granola bar of course)

TIL WE MEET AGAIN MONTREAL... A REVOIR!

The Big BirthDAY

This is the first year I have not been with my family on my birthday. I have always had such great birthday celebrations because it is in the middle of the summer. Countless Utah birthdays, one in St. Louis, California, Sedona, etc... But this one, was my first married birthday with my sweet husband. It couldn't have been better... a Saturday, no work, Ben home, and a sunny day.

There were a few things I thought I would never experience being at "home" on my birthday...

-Being cold at night
-70 degree weather during the day
-Going to a farm for fun
-Seeing a waterfall in my neighborhood
-Living in New York
-Go to someone else's party


The day started with sleeping in and then waffles from Ben. I then stopped by a "going away" get together for a girl in our branch. Afterward Ben and I went to play tennis. Right by the tennis courts is this beautiful waterfall..


After tennis Ben had the fun idea to go blueberry picking at Grisamore Farms. We had a fun time eating and picking them together.



We had barely missed raspberry season...but managed to find a few good ones and ate them there!


We came home from picking berries and then headed to dinner at "Just a Taste." It's a restaurant that has a lot of little appetizer-like small dishes... very fresh and very tasty :)

We came home from dinner and got to open presents and have cake/ice cream. This would be the "shrine." Whenever there is a birthday or holiday, the presents get lined up somewhere on display. After they are opened they are then usually displayed there as well. Just how it was in the Christensen home growing up... traditions never die.


Yay ... a cute raincoat. Since moving to Ithaca I have realized the frequency of it raining... so I thought it would be a great investment to have a nice raincoat. My mom somehow got this cute Betsy Johnson one from Nordstrom that was sold out online.


Hm.. what could be in this big box. No, not a soccer ball in it's box. It was a blanket with a soccer ball wrapped inside it. haha. He "didn't want it rolling around."


Ben was very excited about making his very first cake. He even did it in the bundt pan like my mom did. He bought the cute candles... even though we already had some, and wanted to do MOST of it by himself


Ben was so worried the wax from the candles would fall on his masterpiece that he FORGOT to sing happy birthday to me, and told me to hurry and blow out the candles! HAHA It took him a little while to realize why I was looking at him weird and why I wouldn't blow them out. He finally got it :)


Post present opening shrine...


Overall it was a great birthday!! I didn't realize it was not over until late the next night, on Sunday. A girl in our branch, Dani, invited Ben and I over to her house... We drove over there, not knowing that Ben had told a bunch of people from our branch to go over there. We knocked on her door and I saw this sign, and suddenly people came from all directions yelling "Happy Birthday!" I was very surprised and we had a fun game night!




Oh how I love birthdays... it sure is great to be 22! :)

The End of July

Oh how I love the month of July ... especially the end. It used to always be a great time because of my birthday on July 31st, but since last year it has even more special memories. Last year on July 30th, the day before my birthday, Ben surprised me and proposed while we were in Sedona, AZ with my family. I thought maybe he would propose to me on my actual birthday, but the day before was a big surprise. I also knew the ring wasn't done so I was not quite sure how he would do it. While we were in Sedona on July 30th my family, Ben and I were having a great time swimming and hangin' out. My dad told us that we were going to dinner a bit earlier that night because there was some "special" going on before 5 o'clock. Perfect. It made sense because we do things like that all the time. (nice one dad) But the plot behind that line was so my family (aka Ben and I) could go to dinner before the restaurant opened to the rest of the public.

So we got ready for dinner. My mom said that maybe I should try and look nice since it was a nice restaurant (good thing I didn't go with the wet hair/scrubby look). So we headed to the restaurant with my mom, dad, Steven, Ben, and me. As we're pulling into the restaurant/resort, my dad "pretends" to get a text from my brother Michael saying that he is almost to where we're staying in Sedona (he was working that day and drove up later.... only to find out he wasn't coming 'til much later that night). My dad said he was going to quickly pick him up from our place, my mom and Steven said they would go play croquet, and Ben and I could go check in for us in the restaurant. (good one guys... totally fooled me). So Ben and I walk into the restaurant and we checked in with the hostess and she started to walk us in... with a smile. We walked right past a piano and Ben said.. "Oh look, a piano.. could I maybe play that?" I was thinking, what is he doing?? I was getting a bit embarrassed when he sat down at the piano and started playing a song and singing... It didn't finally click until I recognized the song and words. ****Ben and I went to New York City and saw The Little Mermaid. After the musical we started coming up with new words to the song "Part of Your World." These lyrics included something about Ithaca and being part of his world there****. ..... The song he was playing on the piano was this song, and he finished changing the lyrics to it. I was embarrassed/excited/surprised all at once.

We then sat at our table and I wondered when my parents/family were coming. I clearly wasn't getting it that it was just us and that it was a special occasion. Ben handed me a present... it was a calendar. Not only was it just any calendar, it was one with pictures of us on each month... and handwritten notes on specific days we did somethings together (such as first date... kiss, etc) I got to the month of July and saw that "Trip to Sedona"... then on July 30th it said "Ben proposes to Paige... Paige says ________" At that point Ben had got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes. It was a very exciting evening as we talked about our future together.

We finished dinner and walked outside to find my family smiling and waiting to see what I had said. It was a great trip to Sedona and a fabulous birthday with my fiance and family. Oh how i LOVE the end of July !