Friday, January 22, 2010

Las Vegas Birthday Weekend

Since I turned 29 this year I thought I should live it up the last year of my twenties, you know, before I get really old and turn 30! HA!!  So I started my 29th year off right - IN VEGAS!!  I haven't been since I was 16 (and what fun is Vegas if your not 21!) and Rolland had never been so when a 3 day weekend on my birthday came up, it was perfect.  Rolland is a student now and I am a teacher so this was a trip on a budget.  We stayed at Circus! Circus!  Which is older, smokier, on the edge of the strip, but WAY cheaper! And really, the room was fine.  With the money we saved in hotel cost we were able to go to two shows: The Comedy Stop and Cirque du Soleil's LOVE. (more on that later)

We had so much fun just looking at the amazing hotels.  The Encore, The Wynn, and The Aria are these amazing modern hotels that are beautiful! And we really felt that we were in Italy with The Venetian, The Bellagio, The Pallazo, and of course Caesar's Palace! We walked up and down the strip so many times - our legs were soooo sore! We gambled a little, nickel poker, but I won 50.00! In nickels that's a pretty big win!  So with our winnings we went to a dinner buffet at the Flamingo.











Our last night we went to Cirque du Soleil's LOVE.  This show is AMAZING!! The original producers of The Beatles remixed the songs and used studio tracks of The Beatle's talking so it really made it sound like they were there.  I can't even describe this show.  There was so much going on and for the full two hours we were amazed at what we were seeing.  If you go to Vegas you HAVE to see this show!! I have included a little preview that I found on You Tube, its 10 min but worth it to watch!!




The day we left (Monday) was rainy so it was a good time to leave since all these crazy storms hit right after!  The weekend was great, and it was so much fun to get away for some alone time with my hubby!! Happy Birthday to me!!!




































* Picture Disclaimer - They don't allow cameras into the LOVE theater so all the pictures of the production our borrowed from google images

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Back on the Map

WOW!!! It has been forever since I entered in my last post. The reason: I am a working woman now. I say that with partial enthusiasm because my heart is at home with my princesses, but I am so grateful to have a great job with GREAT benefits.


So in case you are not part of the Snowflake rumor chain and haven't heard; I am the (not so) new English teacher at Snowflake High School. I can say that I survived my first semester, and I think I did OK. I mean the kids seemed to have learned something! HA! This next semester I hope to thrive. Its going to be crazy because I am going to be going back to school as well. I have some really great co-workers and I love being back with a lot of my old teachers - I appreciate them so much more now!! In addition to teaching English I am FINALLY back to teaching dance. I teach hip-hop to a great bunch of young girls at Raising the Barre in Snowflake. Its more hours but is so worth it. Besides, dancing is like vacation. Now we'll see if I will be saying that come recital time!!

Rolland is doing great and is enjoying being a stay-at-home Dad for awhile. He says its harder than he thought - uh...yeah!!!! I have been telling him that. But his break is soon over and he will be taking 18 credits this semester. Mostly online and in the evening, so the girls will see him, but I will not. :(

The girls both started preschool this year and I am so excited to announce that Aubrey is reading and writing!! And in true Aubrey fashion she went from simple words like "Cat", "Sat", "It" to more important words like "nail polish". Hilarious!! Rebekah loves school as well and is still her ........unique self. But she is officially a "Big Girl" and is potty trained. Which is great because I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind!!

We are so blessed! This year has brought about so many changes and new ways of life. We miss our friends in Virginia and New York TERRIBLY. No I really mean TERRRRRRRIBBLLY!!! These families were OUR family and I am really grieving their absence. However, we are close to our family and that is priceless. I love that the kids are able to rwally get to know all their family on both sides. I guess I just have to keep working to afford plane fare to get to everyone I love!!

My New Year's Resolution is to blog at least once a month so hopefully I stick to it. Enjoy some picture from the last 6 months though! HA!!!

They love their Christmas Present from Grandma & Papa (please ignore the finger in the nose)
Loving their new princess dresses

First trip to the ballet to see The Nutcracker. Posing with the Sugarplum Fairy


Fun in the Mud!

Halloween Fun - Princess Jasmine and The Octopus

Beautiful Fall Day...Beautiful Girls
Rainy Sweet Corn Festival

Camping trip with Grandma & Papa
First Day of Preschool