What happens here, stays here. . .Vegas, that is!

Ok, so I guess what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless you have a blog, then you share it with the whole world! Well, as you have probably guessed, we took a litte trip to V-Town! It was definitely a much needed vacation for the two of us, and we got to go with a couple of good friends, Matt and Melissa.
First off, let me introduce you to these crazy people. Matt is a member of the Army National Guard, along with Mike. They met in ROTC (officer training) at the U, so subsequently, and luckily, Melissa and I became good friends as a result. We love these two.

Our trip got off to quite and interesting start. I was driving in rush hour traffic to go pick up Melissa to head to the airport, and I pulled up on quite a peculiar sight. At first I couldn't figure out what the heck I was looking at, but as I got closer, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. What on earth are people thinking? And if any of you know these people, or people like them, could you please thank them for making me laugh, and let them know how incredibly ridiculous this is.

I had a feeling that our weekend was going to be quite the trip if this is how it started, and we weren't even out of Utah yet!

We left on a Friday, and we got to Vegas around 10pm, but no matter what the hour there was one thing we had to do, and no I am not talking about hitting the slots, we HAD to get our "animal style" cheeseburger from none other than the amazing In-N-Out. So straight from the airport, that is where we headed. And boy did it hit the spot.

Saturday morning came, and it was quite the special day. Happy Birthday to You! Mike turned 26! It is a tradition at our house that we have sweetrolls and bacon, and Happy Birthday is sung to you while you are still in bed. So when 6:00 came and I couldn't sleep anymore, I decided to head downstairs to the Starbucks to get a breakfast bread of some sort, and some makeshift candles, my choices were between matches and a lighter from the hotel giftshop (I went with the lighter) and headed upstairs warming up my voice the entire way, only to get to the room and have Mike gone. I guess he needed an early workout at the gym. So when he got back I sang and then asked him "where the HECK have you been?" Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!
For Mike's special day we decided to let him decide what he wanted to do, so after swimming in the pool, (I don't think he wanted to do anything else. If there is a pool, Mike is in it) with the weather barely in the 60's and the wind blowing. After a brisk run from the pool, back inside, we headed back upstairs to get ready and head to the State Line to ride the world's tallest roller coaster. Now, I love a good roller coaster, but 2 minutes and 43 seconds on a rickety old coaster is maybe a little more than we, or maybe just I, could handle. We walked around the casino for a minute to let our stomachs settle, then we got back in the car and headed back to the strip, still not sure what we wanted to do. . .except eat at the Harley Davidson Cafe, the only thing Mike had been looking forward to since we had decided to go to Vegas a few weeks earlier.
I thought this was quite fitting when we sat down at our table. The boys sat right in front of it, so it was a great backdrop for this pics was taking of them throughout the night. As I mentioned earlier, they are both in the Army, and this was a HUGE American Flag with this flag hanging dead center. I am so proud of the service Mike is doing for our country and I wanted to have a little tribute to the soldiers in this blog.
When dinner was over, we decided that we wanted to go see a show, maybe a variety show, or a comedian of some sort, then we saw a huge flashing sign "DAVID SPADE" March 15th at Planet Hollywood! Well, our random show, turned out to Joe Dirt himself! It was quite interesting and eye opening. I had never been to a stand up show before, and not so sure if I will go back, but it was quite the experience, one that I most likely wont' forget and it made for a memorable B-day for Mike.
On our way back, we had to take a stroll through the gardens at the Bellagio. It was so pretty. There were so many different kinds of flowers in bloom, tulips, roses, you name it, they were there. It was a great way to end the night, and Mike was such a good sport as I stopped and oohed and awwed over all the flowers, Thanks babe!

We got home on Sunday night at about 8:30-ish, only to turn around and head back to the airport for Mike to head out on another adventure to Costa Rica for the next week. No I didn't go, but it was an adventure all in itself that I heard about from afar, one that I am sure they won't forget. So, until next time. . .

The Love of my Life!

Ok, everyone. I know I haven't updated for a while, and I promise I am planning on it, but in the mean time, I just wanted to introduce you all to the cutest thing on this planet! This is my MOST WONDERFUL nephew, Brooks. He is my most favorite (little) person! I have a feeling he is going to become a permanent staple in my blogging efforts, so learn to love his cute litte face! I will update here shortly, but in the meantime, please enjoy a little Brooksy. . .

Fire and Ice

Ok, so apparently we all have a bit of an obsession. I would say we are all Edward freaks! There weren't alot of votes on my "Valentine" survey, but 100% would like to have Edward as their "secret valentine". I fell a little bad for Jacob, though. I am reading New Moon again, and I just have a special place in my heart for the cute little werewolf, but I completely agree with all of my friends.

Well, if you check stepheniemeyer.com daily like I do, you already know that there are big things in the works with the movie. If you don't I will tell you now that they have cast the Cullen clan! Check out the website and tell me what you think. I have the link listed in my faves. I am actually pleased with the choices. I am glad they have picked actors and actresses who are relatively unknown. It makes the characters more endearing if you haven't seen them in a bunch of other things. Anyway, just thought I would put this out there.

K, so I had to put in a plug for my friend Chelsea. She makes the cutest little hairclips, the pink one is my fave! and you can buy them at children's boutiques all over the valley, from Bountiful to Sandy (at the new shildren's store "Kinderwinkel"). You can look at the blog page , tatertothairclips.blogspot.com, and see all the different varieties that she makes and if you want a specific one, just ask. Chels is very accomodating. I just thought I would put this out there for all of my friends with baby girls, or with girls maybe on the way. I have to get my baby shopping fix somehow, since I can't do it for myself, I will live vicariously through you! Love you all, and congrats to those with special deliveries this year!

http://tatertothairclips.blogspot.com

For the Football Lovin' Appetite!

So at work, one of my co-workers has a sister, who has a friend, who has a cousin, who also had a friend, blah blah blah, you know the drill, that worked at cafe rio or something, anyway, she (my co-worker) has in her recipe file, the pork and rice recipe, so if anyone is looking for superbowl ideas, or just dinner, here you go...

Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork

2 LB Pork Roast

12 oz can of Coke (the secret)

1 C ketchup

1/2 C Brown Sugar, or more if you like it super sweet

cumin to taste

garlic powder to taste

Cook in crock pot for 5-6 hours

remove roasts and shred

return to crock pot and cook for 1 hour

Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice

6 cups of cooked white rice

1 oz salsa verde

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

juice of 2 limes

cumin and garlic powder to taste

mix and serve hot

Hope you all enjoy, and Happy Super Bowl

GO PATRIOTS/GIANTS!?

"I know that it's me they've been comin' to see, to forget about life for a while". . .

So there is a lot that has happened in the last little while. I guess I need to fill everyone in. I recently quit both Babinski's and Duerdens and started a new job. Before I left Babinski's, there were kind enough to let me make a few purchases with my discount, no announcements or anything, but I now am the proud owner of a crib, a stroller and a carseat.

I am now working as a receptionist at a Dental Supply Office, Patterson Dental. It is located out in Salt Lake. So far I am liking it, but I have only been here for four days.

Well, now that we are coming upon February, I guess I can talk about the holidays. We had a great time this year. This is the first year in almost 8 years that I have not had to work Christmas Eve or New Years Day. Yeah! It was great to have the time to just hang out. As is normal tradition we spent Christmas Eve night at my parents house, followed by a not so eventful Christmas morning. My sister and her husband and my nephew, Brooks, were there. We all spent the entire morning watching him open his presents. Brooks' birthday was a couple of weeks before Christmas, so he actually had the right idea in his little mind that opening presents meant it was a birthday. He kept wanting to the sing the "Happy Day" song! :) We go a new camera, and it has definitely come in handy with taking pics of our house during the LONG remodel process.

Speaking of which, we are actually getting to the point where you can see progress and it doesn't just look like we are living in a hole. Now it is a hole with cabinets. Countere tops are next, then tile, then paint. I can't wait! I will try to get some pics up, but since I am writing this from work, it will have to be a later time.

Another exiting tidbit of news, sister and her husband moved back to Utah about a week ago, and we are all so excited to have them back. They bought a darling house up in Sugarhouse, and are currently unpacking boxes and making plans for what changes they want to make inside the house. Welcome back, guys!

Ok, so now time for the explanation of the title of this song, for our anniversary this year Mike gave me the greatest present! He got tickets to the Billy Joel concert and took me for our special day. It was the greatest thing ever! I don't think I stopped smiling the entire night. I sang and sang and sang. And the best part is that I think Mike actually enjoyed himself, too. Either that or he was laughing at me the entire night. I kept having flashbacks to being, oh I don't know, maybe 7 or-8 years old, singing "Uptown Girl" as loud as I could into a wooden spoon, dressed in one of my mom's old prom dresses, dancing up on the fireplace. These are some of my fave memories!

UPDATE!!!

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that I had my surgery, finally, and that all is well. All the tests came back benign and the doctor says that I won't even have to be on medication. Yay! My other thyroid will do all the work. (By the way, I had a lump growing on my thyroid so they took it out, the right one, for those of you wondering.) I am back to work after having a week off, and life is back to normal. I am a little hoarse and will be for a while. One of my vocal cords was damaged during the surgery, so I will have to go to a speech therapist to jump start it. Kind of funny. So anyway, that is what is going on in my life. Hope all is well with everyone, and I love you all.