Day Five: How can I keep from eating?

We went out to brunch this morning... what did we have you might ask? Well, let me tell you:
Bacon cheddar bread rolls, rosemary bread, bouillabaisse, gnocchi, ravioli, pasta alfredo, risotto, saffron rice with peas and carrots, scalloped potatoes, rosemary potatoes, 2 kinds of mashed potatoes, crepes, gouda, meunster, havarti, chevre, 6 or 7 kinds of olives, artichoke hearts, roasted roma tomatoes with mozzerella, creamed spinach, coq a vin, curried cauliflower, broccoli, seafood soup, breaded fish with cream sauce, prawns, sausage and kraut, quiche, marinated vegetables....
cannoli, fudge brownie, creme brulee, apricot tart, pumpkin chocolate pie, pain au chocolat, croissant, bananas foster & flan
CAN YOU SAY BUFFET?

Day Four: Of Blizzards and Broken things...

So, we started out the day pretty much the same... slow start. We weren't sure what weather to prepare for. It had snowed a bit on Sunday, rained a lot on Monday, sunny/cold on Tuesday... it was a little unclear. So we figured we would dress for cold. There wasn't a lot we had planned. We were going to hang with David for a while, go to the Rio and check out the Venetian. We didn't really have anything set in stone. we were going to try to meet up with some friends from a while ago and whatever... lazy day, lazy plans. David came up and said that he might have a couple of ideas on what we could do. There was a ghost town somewhere out there... or we could go to Lake Havasu Azirona (yes I misspelled that on purpose) and see his hometown. That sounded like fun. I hadn't been back to Arizona since I was about 5 (unless you count passing through it on the way here) so I was up for it. We all agreed that we were Lake Havasu bound. As we got our things together and went downstairs, we discovered that David had lost his keys. He couldn't find them anywhere. He checked his room, his bag... everywhere. We finally decided that they had to have gotten locked in his car somehow. We checked out in the parking garage and, sure enough, his key was sitting perkily on the back seat, laughing at us. Oh crud. We spent two hours in that garage trying to get his car open. He pulled at the door to his car, stuck a wire hanger down the window and basically did everything he could think of to open that door. We had two security guys helping and there was nothing any of us could do. We listened to music, sang, took pictures. Generally we just had fun. Finally, C and D went inside and rode the glass elevator to the top of the hotel while mom and I went to get 'hot chocolate' from the coffee place inside. (I am using sarcastic quotes because we did not know until we were almost done drinking it that Starbucks puts espresso in their signature hot chocolate. That right there on top of the missing key should have warned us... but we just didn't see) As we got our drinks and D and C finished their elevator joy ride, david and the security officer got the car open. Yay! We were on our way. We stopped at in and out and got food, stopped at terrible herbst and got gas and then went on our merry way towards sunny Arizona. Or so we thought. C, D and I followed Uncle David and Mom along the freeway. As we drove things got brighter and brighter. Not because of the sun, no, because of the snow that was surrounding us. It was not long before we found ourselves in the middle of a FREAKING BLIZZARD. IN FREAKING NEVADA! We were calling back and forth between the cars deciding what to do. We decided to stop by the side of the road somewhere, get Mom in our car and say goodbye to David. He could continue on home and we would go back to Vegas. Without warning, David crossed two lanes of traffic and turned into a casino parking lot. We couldn't get across those lanes fast enough to make the same turn, so Mom and Uncle David told us to keep going until we could turn around, they would wait for us in the casino. We went 5 miles and a half hour further. Traffic was NOT moving. Finally, we turned around. We were having fun. We ate Smarties from Canada and opened the windows to the horizontal snow, turning the car into a snow globe. We took pictures of everything and blasted music. It was great. We got to the casino parking lot and watched as the reader board our front blasted the words 'Poor Weather Conditions Ahead, free coffee inside' to the poor people stuck in traffic. We called Mom when we got there and tried to decide if she was coming out or if we were going in. Finally, we just decided to go in. It was freezing, slippery and slushy outside. We went in and met up with mom, when we found out that David was missing again. We looked around, couldn't find him. His phone went straight to voicemail. Nothing. We were trying to decide whether we should just leave without saying goodbye when mom came rushing over to tell us that we needed to find security or something. David had just fallen in the parking lot... and broken his leg. Yes, that is what I said, broken his leg. We rushed outside, careful of the slushy snow that covered everything, and found David sitting on the ground. His leg was stretched out in front of him and he was shaking pretty badly. We got security over, along with about 10 other people. Everyone was trying to decide what to do. We saw cars spinning out everywhere in the street and the parking lot. The ambulance said that they would be a while. We waited outside with him. They casino personnel covered David with blankets, coats... anything that they could to keep him warm. I tried to lighten the situation with humor... he didn't appreciate that much. We surreptitiously snuck photos that he also wouldn't appreciate. It took the ambulance an hour to get there. It wasn't until we got to the hospital that we discovered that they came from less than 5 miles away. The traffic was just that bad. Mom drove David's car to the hospital while D, C and I drove Sid, my car. We waited in that hospital for 7 hours. After 4 hours they determined that the leg was broken in two places. You know how they figured it out? They took him in for a CAT scan. Morons... a simple X-ray wouldn't do. C D and I had to go to an auto place to get chains for my tires and a new headlight. We also replaced David's windshield wiper, as the one he had was cracked in half. We tried to get dinner for all of us, but ended up with nasty crap that cost way too much and tasted like chemical cardfood. In the end, they wouldn't let David eat anything anyway in case they had to take him in for surgery. I would be afraid of surgery from that hospital... The techs that took him in for the CT lay him on the gurney with his feet sticking out the end and pushed him through doorways feet first... using his feet to open the doors... yeah he did have a broken leg thanks for asking. They apparently didn't care. they put him on some sort of psychotic drug that had him freaking out, then another drug to calm him down. They also said that their 'bone doctor' wasn't in, so they would splint it tonight and we could come back tomorrow to get it cast. Come back tomorrow? What pills are they taking? D, C and I finally came back to Vegas (on clear roads, by the way) to wait at the hotel room for Mom and David to come back from Henderson. Yeah, did I mention that we only made it 20 miles outside of Vegas. This whole thing happened within spitting distance of our hotel practically. What the heck?
I should say, though, that through this whole thing I know our Father in Heaven has been watching out for us. I am not sure that what happened here was His design or a result of our bad choices, but I am sure that He has not left us alone in this. There were many other things that could have gone wrong, many worse things that could have happened. We had good people around us that helped us through it all, and we had angel to bear us up. I only hope that they are okay being with us in Vegas. This town still makes me uneasy, but I no longer fear it. I wouldn't want to live here, but I like it much, much better than I ever thought i would.
As for Uncle David... well... it is 230 am here, and he has been at the hospital for 10 hours. Mom should be bringing him here very soon, and we are waiting for them. (Well, I am, D and C have passed out on the bed)He is not in the best of moods, and he is very drugged. I know that he is not happy with this day, and I fear that he regrets coming to see us. I regret only that he is hurt. I think that this day ended up with a much more interesting story than any of us could have planned. I wonder what tomorrow holds...

Day Three: Then things started to go south...

We woke up late again yesterday. We took a long time getting out and about. It didn't help that we were trying to resolve our hotel room mixup. They were chargin us for all kinds of crap and we were not happy. Add that to the fact that the ice machine kept waking us up throughout the night and blah blah blah we were getting a different room. We were supposed to check out of our current room, then check into the new one. as a courtesy to us (I think that they need to really learn what the word courtesy means) they were going to let us stay in our room until our next room was ready, but they didn't let us know if our room was ready or not. And they didn't let us know... and they didn't... you get the pic. So we sat around waiting for them to call, then finally decided that we needed to get out and do something. So we left the room around one o'clock. We drove out to the Las Vegas temple. The difference between the strip and the temple is laughable. There is a peace and a wonderful feeling that comes just from standing on the ground outside the temple. We took pictures and wandered. When we left the temple we went to Ross and each bought something. We got a cooler for our Whole Foods food and a couple of other things. Then we followed the Stratosphere back to our hotel. We were waiting for Uncle David to come so that we could hang out with him, so we went to get our new rooms situated until he came out. Yeah, that was wierd. They didn't have any record of our new arrangements, so mom had to arrange again. We got our stuff out of our room and up to our new room with no help from the hotel staff thank you very much. then we decided that rather than wait for David, we would get a couple of other things on our list out of the way. We knew that David wanted to take us to Freemont St., so we decided to go to NYNY and MGM before he got there. When we got to MGM, we went to Emerils and got some 'banana creme pie' that tasted really good but I would probably never crave. Then we went to see the lions. We felt really really bad for the lions, because I would hate to be stuck in a huge fake plastic habitat all day while people pointed and stared at me. David called and said he would meet us there, so we sat around and waited for him. And waited and waited and... finally he got there, right as we found out that the lions are actually not stuck in the habitat all day, they actually come from a farm on the edge of town, where they live with the other 25 lions. They are traded out every 5 hours and only come to the casino 2 or 3 times a week. I felt better. Uncle David joined us as we wandered (for a very short amount of time) around NYNY and took pictures with us as we walked on the fake brooklyn bridge. He was a good sport about it, though he didn't really like having his pic taken. Then we went to Freemont St. It was cool. I considered, as I had been considering all week, whether or not I should just drop a quarter in the slot machine (I decided against it in the end). We bought postcards really really cheap and saw the music show on the ceiling. C and I were on TV for a short amount of time as we talked to the most awkward host guy ever. We had fried twinkies (which I didn't even try) and fried oreos (which were surprisingly delicious) and got mardi gras beads. It was loads of fun, in spite of the lack of smashed penny machines. We headed back to the car, back tot he hotel and said good night. We didn't crash as quickly, but crash we did eventually... the best is yet to come and babe won't it be fine...

Day Two: Everything we wanted and more...

So, when we were at the hotel room we made a list of everything we wanted to do in Vegas:
See a Show of some sort
See the
--Bellagio(water show, pastry shop, blown glass, Christmas decorations)
--New York New York (brooklyn bridge)
--Venetian (gondolas, opera singers, rialto bridge)
--Mirage (volcano, tigers, Beatles tribute)
--MGM Grand (Lions, Emerils)
--Paris (everything)
Show at the Rio
Whole Foods
M&M Store
Carnegie Deli
Etc. Etc. Etc.
So we planned each day out, and Monday we had a lot to do. We were to go to breakfast, go to Whole Foods, go to the M&M Store early to get 1/2 price tickets and then go to the Bellagio and the Mirage. Things didn't quite go as planned in the beginning. We didn't make it to the M&M Store as early as we thought we would, so D and C were in line for a while. Mom and I wandered around the store itself while they stood in line and tried to decide on a show. We weren't allowed to know which one, but they did want us to decide between Mamma Mia and Cirque Du Soliel's Mystere. We couldn't decide, so they did. We got tickets for 'a show' at Treasure Island, which was perfect because it was right next to the other two hotels we were looking at. We also discovered that, contrary to what would make sense, the Carnegie Deli was at Caesar's Palace rather than New York New York. Caesar's was also right next to the other hotels. So after going (back to the hotel room to get coats and money) to Whole Foods (barely missing a fire alarm there, then meeting our new best friend whose name I do not know but who loved us for our deep and extensive knowledge of cheese) and eating an AMA-zing lunch, we parked the car and walked around Vegas... and walked... and walked. We walk a lot on vacation I have noticed. I should go on vacation more often, I might lose weight. Of course, we eat a lot on vacation too, so that probably wouldn't work well. After parking as TI (or treasure Island) we walked to the Bellagio. Wow. We saw all of their nasty gaudy Christmas decorations, as well as this huge-ungous blown glass ceiling design of flowers. We went to that one pastry shop and saw the worlds largest chocolate fountain that pours three different kinds of chocolate down from the ceiling to the floor. They also had amazing chocolate designs like Elvis and a Ratatouille cake. We decided that we had to get a culinary confection of some sort, so we settled on a choclate Nutella thingy that was oh-so-good and a Dulce De Leche bread thingy that was even better! We sat and demolished those, then headed out for the light show. The first light show that we caught most of was to the song "She's the One" It was great. We made it to the other side of the water and waited for the next one, which started about twenty minutes later. It was to the Alleluia Chorus from the Messiah. It was astounding. As we were leaving, they did another, this to the song My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. Wow. We crossed the street and went to Paris. We walked around looking at everything, tried to find water that wasn't purified or $4, settled for tap water and a huge crepe. The crepe was stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, mozzerella and boursin (though I couldn't actually taste the boursin). It was yummy deliciousness. after the crepe and the agua, we went out to Caesar's Palace and wandered looking at all the amazingness (we also found out that Carnegie was not there either, but was at the Mirage)When we went to the Mirage, we discovered that it was $15 each to see the tigers, no ta. So we went to the large psychadelic hallways and took pictures with the Beatles cutouts. That was groovy. Yes, the day is still going. We found our way from the Mirage to Treasure Island, where we wandered around a couple of stores and found the line for Mystere. We waited in line for a long long long time, then found our seats. Wow, our seats were good. We were right up alongside the stage. We could see everything and everything could see us. I am going to let D or C blog about the show, because now, three days later, I am still speechless. It was... There were... And the... yeah. After the show we had all pretty much hit a wall. It was made of brick and gave us instant dreams of pillows and sleepiness. Except Casey, she was pretty wired. We weren't quite done either. Even though it was now midnight, we had to go to Carnegie Deli for a sandwich. We got Fries, Corned beef hash and a Reuben. Wait, did I say Reuben? No, I meant ten pounds of meat on top of two slices of rye bread, covered in five pounds of saurkraut and swiss cheese. We split it between the four of us, ate seconds of it, and took the rest in a to go box. huge. We skipped and jumped our merry way back to the car and went back to the hotel, where we crashed yet again... more to come...

Day One Vegas: We're Driving, We're Driving

So... it is my turn to blog... prepare yourself because a lot has happened and I am going to tell you ALL of it! Casey and I left Rexburg in the afternoon on Saturday. We were headed to SLC to meet up with my mom and sister. Then we were all heading to VEGAS! Yippee. To tell you the truth, I was not totally excited about the trip. I mean, I was happy to spend time with my mom and sisters, but Vegas has never really been on my wishlist, but whatever... it was an adventure. We drove FOREVER! We got into SLC while Mom and D were out to dinner, so Casey and I walked around temple square for an hour or so. Then we went to a little place called the OBT or Off Broadway Theatre, and met up with Mom and Danita to watch the play Its a Wondrous Life. Yes, I got the title right. OBT is a spoof/improv theatre that specializes in wierd. The play was great. It was funny and strange. After the play we went and crashed at Russ' house, then headed to Vegas the next day. We stopped over in St. George and visited the vistor's venter at the temple there. It was SO beautiful! Then we continued our squished little journey towards Vegas. It was a long car ride, and it was just getting dark when we got there. We first went to our hotel, dropped off all of our stuff and went to get something to eat. We were trying to keep it simple, so we went to in-and-out burger, where their chocolate shakes are 'light colored' (aka vanilla) and their burgers have a secret ingredient (grilled onions, yum!) Then we drove up and down the strip looking at all of the ginormous buildings and trying not to get in a car wreck as we couldn't really keep our eyes on the road. We finally went back to the hotel and crashed again (not the car, just ourselves) in our dinky little hotel room with the ice machine outside that, in my mother's words, sounded like a jet engine.... not even close to being finished...

Happy Birthday To ME!!!

Several years ago my sisters and I went to Canada for my birthday. We only had one night to spend and it's one our favorite memories!

So it has become one of our traditions to go to Canada for my birthday, this year (as with the first) it happened to fall on Thanksgiving Day. While many of you were stuffing yourselves with turkey and ham and sweet potatoes -- J,C and I were playing in Canadia!!

We started our adventure in Seattle on Wednesday. My sistas picked me up from school and we headed out. Our destination was a place called Costas Opa! a greek restaurant that came highly recommended. We're greek, we love food, we love greek food and this place was YUMMY!!!! We took pics of all of the food we consumed on this trip. I guess we could rename this blog "All the food we ate and LOVED!" anyway, after a quick visit to the Seattle Troll, we had the most delicious tyropitakia. I also got free birthday baklava. We then met Aunt Debi, Sunny and Dakota for a second chance at TWILIGHT!

tyropitakia





I LOVED IT!!!!! it really was better the second time.

Well, we slept for a couple of hours and woke up to Aunt Debi cooking us delicious breakfast, including a small birthday cake!

We drove to Canadia. Mr. Grumpy was at the gate, but let us into Canada for the night. After checking in, we went to Granville Island for lunch. I think it was the best lunch we ever had. We found bits and bites from the different stands in the market. Some greek olives, feta cheese, hummus, rosemary bread and cheese and pepperoni... I am hungry just thinking about it!






We took a drive through Stanley Park on our way to Grouse Mountain. They have this really great gondola/cable car that takes you a mile up to the top of the mountain. Once there, we took advantage of the offerings at the chalet. Meaning, we watched a couple movies on their "IMAX style" theater. yeah, not IMAX... not even close... anyway, it is right before ski season and if it weren't for the convention going on, i think we would have been the only ones there. They have 2 grizzly bears that live on the mountain and we were sooooooo excited to see them. They said it was only a 5 minute walk... we went on the bear hunt and came up empty handed. Well, not completely... we found some MONSTER large statues of sports guys overlooking the ski resort. We wandered until we could wander no more and then C and I went ICE SKATING!!!! It had been FOREVER since either of us had gone. True confession-- I used what I call the "ice walker" for the first few rounds. There was nothing else to hold onto. We held hands and skated like we were kids again. Then headed in for some hot chocolate and spiced cider. We had an extra treat of a gospel choir to serenade us.


After out mountain adventure, we headed to dinner. Our choice was a Malaysian place called the Banana Leaf. YUM! fried bananas and ice cream for birthday/thanksgiving.



After our usual toasting time when we got back to the hotel, We CRASHED hard. I totally forgot to open my birthday presents.

We headed home the next morning and we planned on NOT going to Seattle, but as we were driving through, there was an accident and looooong delays, so we went to Pike's Market for a bit. SO FUN!!!


I love the adventures that I get to take, especially the ones that I take with my sistas!

NKOTB Obsession!!!

SISTAS!

20 Years BABY!!


We all heard the the New Kids were back. After hearing about the reunion tour, I debated on getting some tickets. I know someone that could get me some tix to the Rose Garden and thought I would try that connection to get some seats. I couldn't afford much, so if that didn't work out I wasn't gonna cry about it. But about a month or so ago my friend Jill went to the NKOTB concert in New Jersey. Immediately after the concert, she bought floor seats to the D.C. show! After hearing how AWESOME the show was, I made an effort to find some tix.

Jen and Breezy and I are celebrating our 20th Anniversary! We have been best friends for 20 years and I don't know what I would do without them. We decided we had to do something BIG to celebrate. Caribbean cruise was the decision, but as is the way of life... other more important things came up, like foot surgery and car repairs. I convinced Breezy and Jen that NKOTB would be THE PERFECT 20th celebration. They weren't quite as convinced as I was, but they love me and we found $20 tix, so they relented. And boy are they SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad they did. B flew in from Houston and I flew from Oregon and we met Jen in SLC for the weekend.

There are no words to describe what happened at the concert. But I'll try to put a few together for you. It was like my 30 year old somewhat mature self was overcome by a SCREAMING 15 year old girl. I found myself jumping up and down screaming at the top of my lungs. At one point I thought I was gonna pass out, I had to sit down. It was so great to just react and be and not worry about the person next to you thinking you are a TOTAL FREAK... because they are doing the SAME THING!

I am a really lucky girl, cause not only was I there with my bff's, My sisters were there too! J converted C to the NKOTB fan base and they got tix with us. I got to sit in the middle, so MY GIRLS were on my right and MY SISTAS were on my left. IT WAS AMAZAZING! A perfect way to celebrate our BFF anniversary and a magnificent sister memory!


addendum ---- this concert was SO AMAZING that I went 2 more times!! I drove to Vancouver BC with a friend of a friend. We were in row 27 on the FLOOR!!!! I touched Donnie and Jonathan!!! *sigh* and toward the end of the show, I snuck up to the eighth row!!

I also went to the show in Tacoma with my girls from the 'Couve. I snuck onto the floor for the B stage show and touched Donnie and Joey AGAIN!!!!!

Enjoy the pics, and remember to breathe!