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!

D loves Vacations

I LOVE vacations. I really wish I could be on vacation ALL the time. Most recently I spent a week in LA. As I sit in physics class trying to understand how to find the sin of angle theta and the velocity of the rocket our teacher fired off in the parking lot next to the science building, I find myself daydreaming about the places I've been. I still have the tan lines from my San Diego sunburn, so I know that I don't have to think about physics forever. There are days that all I have to worry about is whether or not I remember my sunblock. Thank goodness for vacations!

I'm already planning the trips I'll take on the next school break. Looking forward to Canadia on my birthday/Thanksgiving. And a quick weekend to see NKOTB with my best friends for our 20th anniversary. And Vegas in December with my mom and sistas.

Stay tuned... but until then, enjoy some pics from my fun in the sun.

Santa Monica Pier

San Diego Wild Animal Park

me and my buddy David

Beluga Tail

the Budweiser Horse

Me and THE Mouse!

California Adventure

Teacups!

The posse with goofy

me and my pal Allyson

The Wubulous World of... BYU-Idaho

Hey! I have decided that it has been much too long since I have blogged here about anything! I am here at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, and there is just not a lot to say. School has been a blast so far, with C here and so many other C-siders. I have been meeting lots and lots of new people. Nearly everyone here is so friendly, and the teachers tend towards the cool. It is nice to be living a different life here than I had previously been able to live. I am still not sure what the future holds, but for now, I am content with the present. I guess the point of this little entry was to let everyone know that I am still alive! So, now you know. We will be having much more to write come November and December. I am looking forward to it all!