Viva Las Vegas!

View from Hotel Room

Last weekend we took advantage of the long weekend/Valentine's Day and ran off to Vegas.  It started off as a surprise trip as my gift to Jason.  I reserved the hotel room and bought tickets for one show, figuring we could easily fill in the rest of the time once we got there.  Only trouble was that I was so excited that I couldn't keep the secret long.  But letting the cat out of the bag turned out good too because we were able to plan more together and had something to look forward to.

So we set off on our adventure Friday morning.  We got there, checked into our hotel then set off to find a show to go to that evening.  We found a half price ticket stand, but weren't able to get the tickets we'd been hoping for (Tournament of Kings) because it was sold out.  So Jason convinced me to put out a bit more money and splurge to see The Blue Man Group.

But it was the late show that we had tickets for, so we had some time to kill.  We spent it just walking around the Strip.  We walked through The Venetian, The Mirage, and watched The Bellagio fountain show before I was hungry so we went back to The Venetian food court for some dinner before the show. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the show!  Much more than I thought it would.  It helped that we only paid halfprice, but it was still extremely creative and well done.  I would highly recommend it (though not for full price...$100 a pop is too high for just about any show).

On Saturday we took our time getting up and going, but once we were, we made our way to the Las Vegas Temple.  We did a session and then took some time to walk around and enjoy the grounds.  It was incredible to feel the difference in spirit between such a sacred place and downtown Las Vegas even though they aren't that far apart physically.  Definitely glad we took the time to do this!

Then it was back to the hotel to change and freshen up before heading back to the Strip.  This time we killed time by walking towards the other end in search of the M&M World.  I had heard greaet things about this place from noe of my co-workers so we set off with high expectations.  So we were somewhat disappointed when we finally found it (after a much further walk than anticipated) and it consisted of a 4 story store with solely M&M products and merchandise.  Plus it was crowded, warm, and the A/C didn't seem to be working quite right.  We stayed long enough to catch the 3D movie and snap a couple pictures, but then we were outta there!

Once again we were heading back to The Venetian.  This time because we had tickets to see Phantom of the Opera.  I can pretty much sum this performance up in one word...EXTRAVAGANT!!!  I have seen a production of this play before, but I was still completely blown away.  The theater, the sets, the costuming were all intricate and exquisite.  I loved it!

Sunday morning we got up and going pretty early because we had an appointment to sit through a timeshare presentation in order to get some free tickets to various events.  We went in feeling pretty good about our decision.  I mean, we knew we weren't interested in a timeshare so all we had to do was sit through three hours of talk and then we would get to see two more things during our trip.  Not bad, right?  Well, by the time it was all said and done, we had talked to four different salesmen, received several different offers (some of which may have actually been tempting if we had the money), and had spent FIVE hours of our day there.  But, we walked out with our free tickets.

So now we were once again off to see a show.  This time it was The Lion King at Mandalay Bay.  Yet another fun, fabulous production.  This was actually something both Jason and I had wanted to see in Hawaii but neither had found anyone who wanted to go with them.  It was fun to rectify that one small regret together!

After the show we had dinner at the Luxor buffet and then decided to put a couple of our free tickets to use.  We went through the BODIES exposition.  This is a museum-like expo whose displays are real human corpses who have been preserved using an almost plasticy substance.  VERY CREEPY at first when you walk in and see a skinless human body on display in front of you, but it grew on me and I found learning more about the human body via a very visual method rather intriguing.

The next day dawned with us knowing that our vacation was quickly coming to and end, but we still had 2 free tickets to put to use.  So we went back to Mandalay Bay so that we could walk through the Shark's Reef Aquarium.  This was fun to do for free, but I don't think it would have been worth the ticket price, unless you REALLY like watching fish.  There were some unique tank settings and a large variety of fish.  A good note to leave on.  And a very successful vacation! :)

The Joys of Being Social

I know I started slacking again.  But believe it or not these past few weeks have been rather entertaining.  While I was teaching, I didn't have time for much else besides schoolwork and Jason, so I allowed myself to become a social hermit for a time.  That all changed these last couple weeks. 

Since I last wrote I have eaten dinner with one of Jason's missionary buddies and his little family, attended a bridal shower for my almost sister, had a sleepover with my two youngest siblings and an old roomie from Hawaii, had a family dinner, enjoyed a dinner/game night with my best friend growing up, went with another old roomie from Hawaii to pick up her wedding dress, had a charming lunch with my roomie from my short time at BYU-Provo, and threw a Super Bowl dinner party and game night with a couple of Hawaii buddies.  Phew!  What a list!  Sadly, I didn't pick up my camera once to visually capture the good times.  But at least I ventured out!

Spending all of this time with people who have been sorely missed in my life of late reminded me of just how blessed I am to have such good family and friends.  And I don't just mean those who are here in Utah and up for the occasional play date.  There are many others across the nation (and even worldwide).  To all y'all, thanks for being a part of my life!