Viva Las Vegas!

I have always been pretty vocal about the fact that I am the kind of person who could go her whole life without ever going to Vegas and be perfectly fine.  I'm not big on either drinking or gambling, so I didn't really see the point in going.

But when two of my co-workers proposed a quick trip over Spring Break, I found it impossible to say no.  Not because it was Vegas, but because it was a chance to get away.  And by the time Spring Break rolls around, I feel the itch to go somewhere, just for a bit.

And so, we headed for Vegas!

We got checked into our hotel, The Palms, and the first thing we did was take a nap.  I wish I was lying, but that actually happened.  We were exhausted.

We eventually woke up and got ourselves ready to go out.

We gambled for a bit before heading to Cirque de Solei.

Pretty amazing show.

A show that was not very amazing was the show at Treasure Island that we watched after we left the Cirque de Solei theater.  Very cheesy.

After that, we went back to our hotel.  I was in bed by midnight.  Yes, I am a party animal.

The next morning, we slept in a bit, then got up to walk the Strip and to go shopping

First, we watched people getting married on the ship at Treasure Island.  Not exactly the most classy of occasions, but whatever works for the couple, I suppose!

There is so much to see along the Strip!

There are also, well, some interesting people to watch along the Strip...

After walking and shopping and walking some more, we decided to go lay out by our hotel's pool.  Unfortunately, we returned to a hotel that was being transformed in preparation for MTV filming their Spring Break.

So, instead, we took a nap.  A really long nap.  Are you sensing a theme of this trip?

Then, we got up to get ready to go out again.  Our plan was to go back to the Strip to see the water show at the Bellagio and to then go to the old downtown - Fremont Street.  The Strip looks completely different at night!

The water show was awesome!  The bus ride to Fremont Street was not.  Somebody threw up on our bus, so we had to evacuate it, wait on the sidewalk for what seemed like hours, and then get on a later bus.  It ended up being a ridiculously long process, but we did make it!

By this time in our trip, I had gambled away all of $6.00.  Yes, I am quite the high roller.  In this building, I sat down at yet another penny slot machine and watched my twenty dollar bill waste away, one penny at a time.

To spice things up a bit, I hit a button that said "MAX BET," and crazy things happened.  Yin Yangs and pandas all lined up in the best kind of way, and I ended up winning 176 free games!

So, I sat back and watched as the video machine played for me 176 times.  Although boring, I will not complain about leaving $86 whole dollars richer than when I walked in.

And on that note, my Vegas gambling was finished.  I just couldn't wrap my head around throwing money away and having nothing to show for it.  Also, Courtney randomly developed hives while this whole free game thing was happening, so we had to leave to go get that taken care of.

And that was pretty much our trip!  We went to bed, woke up, and got on a plane.  It is worth noting that one of the first people we saw once we left the Omaha airport to head back home to Lincoln was this guy:

Good ol' Nebraska.

The Thankful Post

I love the season of Thanksgiving.

I love reading blog posts and facebook statuses and tweets listing all the many things my real friends, cyber friends, and acquaintences are thankful for.  It is a welcome change from reading the ever-present statuses and posts about all that is going wrong with boyfriends, reality television, families, school, work, and politics.  I, personally, am a fan of keeping negativity and personal problems out of social networking spaces.

Earlier this week, one of my dearest friends and co-workers informed me that it had been nearly three months since I last wrote a blog post.  The past three months have been incredibly busy and have been filled with the things I love most.

Church
I have become increasingly more active in my church, and I have formed some amazing friendships with the people there.


Back in August, I took the Confirmation kids on a retreat.  We enjoyed team-building activities, getting to know each other, and growing in faith...

The week of Halloween, my Crossroads group hosted a car for Trunk or Treat.  These people have become such great friends of mine!

Our youth group, which I sponsor, meets every other week.  Most recently, we went bowling.

I am so thankful to have such an amazing church family, and I feel blessed to learn and serve with such wonderful people.


Friends
I've had many opportunities to celebrate with friends recently.  There have been:


Weddings:

Halloween:

Olivia had the most adorable way of telling us all that she and Trevor are expecting!

The 11.11.11 Party:

Birthdays:

And just plain hanging out:

Family
I can't even express how much my family means to me.  I am one of the lucky ones, you see.  My family has always been loving, supportive, positive... together.  As a teacher, I am often made aware of less-than-ideal family situations, and there are moments each and every day when I think of my family and how fortunate I have been.

Though I don't get to see them as much as I would like, our most recent get-together was in celebration of my brother's last college football game of his senior season.  They had a lovely ceremony before the game.  My parents were escorted onto the field by a cheerleader as my brother ran through a lineup of his teammates.

Prior to the game, my mom expressed to me that she doesn't know what they will do with their Saturdays now.  Football has been such a major part of their weekends for the past nine years of my brother's schooling, and now, it's just... done.  I'm sure they'll find a new hobby soon enough.

I am so proud of my brother for sticking with college and sticking with football even when it was hard or boring.  This boy kept a positive attitude and a brave face every day.  Even when his football coaches changed his position and changed it back again.  Even when he had a concussion which took him out of playing for a few weeks.  Even when his coaches were shady.  In all of the circumstances where I would not have been able to keep my mouth shut, he held his tongue.  He's a much better person than I am.

Despite his countdown to the finish and excitement as he went through his last practice and his last game, this face says a lot:

I think he'll miss it.


My goodness, I have much to be thankful for.