Last Thursday we left for Vegas. We stopped in St. George for gas and to grab some lunch. We ate at Iceberg. While we were eating, I thought I saw my cousin who goes down to school in St. George. I just saw her out of the corner of my eye. After we finished eating, I went up to the counter and asked if Natalie worked there. Lo and behold, she did! Of all the places to stop at, we pick where she works! I still think it's funny.

After lunch we headed out for the hour and a half trip to Vegas from St. George. They are widening their freeways down in Vegas, so traffic was stop and go for about 15 minutes or so. We finally got to our hotel, and checked in at about4 Vegas time. We relaxed for a bit before we headed out on the strip.

We stayed at Excalibur, and it was nice because we weren't too far from some good casinos and other attractions. I think we gambled a little bit the first night, but we took it easy too.

Friday we walked over to the Luxor and Mandalay Bay. We gambled a bit there, and I won $90 off of $7. I was excited! LOL. We then walked the strip. I think we walked about 12 miles or so that day, and boy was I exhausted when we got back. We set out to see the lions or tigers at the Mirage, but they didn't have them for us to see for free anymore, so we started walking back to our hotel. We stopped for lunch at McD's, and we shopped a bit on the way back. I got 2 new wraps that you can use as skirts, shirts or dresses. They are pretty interesting and cute.

Brian's friends who he worked with at Subway a few years back joined us in Vegas on Friday (well technically early Saturday). We had breakfast with them at the Sherwood Forest Cafe in the hotel. They treated us to tickets to The Tournament of Kings at Excalibur for my birthday. I thought that was very nice of them! Brian and I have never seen it, and I was pretty interested in it when we got there, but I thought it was too expensive. After we got the tickets we went to Mandalay Bay to see the Aquarium. Pretty interesting. I've never seen sharks up close before... We then went to a bar at Mandalay Bay. Their service wasn't the greatest, so we left to Excalibur's bar.

Chris and Lisa wanted to go see Criss Angel's show that night, and both Brian and I weren't very interested in seeing it, so we told them to go and have fun. They went and bought their tickets, and we killed some time before The Tournament of Kings dinner. It was such a good show! And the dinner was pretty good. A whole chicken! Haha. I enjoyed it all. After that, Chris and Lisa went to the Criss Angel show, and Brian and I went to our room to relax before we were going to go on the Roller Coaster at New York New York. I've never been on it, and I wanted to go on it at night, so we got on the last ride for the night. It was fun, although I was extrememly tired.

Chris and Lisa had to leave on Sunday to get back to work and their wedding planning. So in the morning, we had breakfast with them, and then we went and saw the Bodies exhibit. That was pretty cool....and weird. They then headed off for Salt Lake, and I'm sure they got better weather than we did on Monday! After a while we had lunch at In-N-Out burger. Brian's never been there, so I hope he liked it! It was a mad rush though. After lunch we went and did some shopping, and then we went back to the hotel and gambled a bit. We then called it a night.

Monday we left about noon Salt Lake time. I think we should have left a little earlier, although I don't know if that would've helped much with the horrible snow storm. We stopped in Mesquite for lunch at Popeye's and then a beer run. We checked on the price of gas in Mesquite, but they're a lot higher than Utah. So I told Brian we should wait til St. George. We made it to Cedar City though. After that we hit rain, and then snow. Brian was getting a little bit worried about the snow pack on the freeway (it was getting icy and there was so much snow), so we got off on the Mona exit. Their's practically nothing there, and I had to go to the bathroom. We tried to get service on our phones, but barely could. We were trying to access the internet to see if there were any back roads he could take. There really weren't. I called my dad, and he told us to get back on the freeway and that the roads should be clearer the more north we go because the plows would be out nearer to the more populated cities. I turned Brian's hazards on, and we set out for at least Payson. We stopped at a WalMart so we could have a pit stop. The roads were a lot better there, but still some snow on them. People drove way to fast for the conditions. We then finally made it home about 7:30/8. It was a scary drive.

On Saturday, Erika called me and told me that Nathan and Jessica had Bailey. I was so sad that I couldn't be there to see her right away, so I had Erika send me a picture of her. She is such a cute little baby! She seems to be really healthy =). I saw her last night, and she was just sleeping away. She's so tiny! I can't believe how beautiful she is. She's so perfect! I already love my niece so much! She is such a miracle.

Reflection

A friend of mine posted this as a bulletin on MySpace. I really like it. It's also made me think:

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).


I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.


I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.


I would have talked less and listened more.


I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.


I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.


I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.


I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.


I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.


I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.


I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.


I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.


Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.



When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's' More 'I'm sorry's'

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute.look at it and really see it . . live it and never give it back.

STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

For the past couple of months I've been feeling a bit regretful for what I had done a few years back. I know what I did was the right thing, but it doesn't change the way that I feel. When people in your family feel as if the accuser isn't believable, it makes you think twice about what you've done. Why would someone make up something so asinine?! Why would someone accuse someone of something of such magnitude? Why would I want to ruin a family? I've ruined a relationship within my family, and I'm not proud of that at all. I was sent into a deep depression for many years, not exposing a single thing to my family. I got to a point where I felt like my life wasn't worth anything anymore, and I was hurting myself on a daily basis.

I don't want to go into any details on here, but I just feel like I need to get this out. I never meant for relationships to be ruined. I never meant for people to resent me. I was just trying to protect the innocent that were in that person's presence. I didn't want anyone else to go through the pain that I have gone through since I was 10 years old. No 10 year old should have bouts of severe depression. No 10 year old should feel as if her life is worthless. No 10 year old should have to feel that she needs to hide something so painful from her parents. No 10 year old should have gone through it alone. My parents have told me on numerous occasions that they wish they would have known. Not to write off "the cat scratched me" excuse time and time again. But then again, I was good at hiding it most of the time.

Someone else talked to me about something that could have happened to them in the same situation. I'm glad they didn't have to go through what I did, but now they are uncomfortable with that part of the family. If I had said something about it sooner, instead of when I was 16, nothing would have been attempted. Maybe some family members would believe me. And maybe I wouldn't be left with so many scars to remind me of the horrible things I went through by myself for so long. But I can only speculate what could/couldn't have happened. I can't change the past, so I have to live with the ruined relationships, and never be able to speak to the ones that I care about again.

Saturday night we went to the Huka Bar with some cousins. We had an ok time. We're both kinda shy when it comes to new people, so we didn't move around much. I saw a couple of people I haven't seen in years! (Jon, Golden, Steve). It was crazy! Hopefully we'll go a bit more often and I'll get to know people better! We had a few drinks, but I was really tired at about 11. Sad, I know! So we left.

It's really funny having my I.D. checked! Everyone had to look at their watches to make sure of the date! At Club Allure on Friday, I got checked at the door...then a couple of cops came in, put a flashlight in my face, and demanded my I.D. again! I gave it to them, and they kept looking back and forth from my I.D. to my face, and then the other cop looked at his watch and says "2 weeks in a row!". Well, hmmm, what do most 21 year old's do for their birthday if they drink, huh?! At the Huka, I didn't have a problem at all, except when they checked it at the door. Got my birthday wishes though...lol. Then last night we went to Red Robin. I ordered a beer, and the waiter asked for my I.D. of course. He kept looking at my birthdate, and not the "Under 21 until 02/26/2009". He's like "Well, I guess my sister turned 21 last year, and she was born in '87, so that makes you 21"! NO DUH! Brian thinks I need to have them reissue me a license that's horizontal instead of vertical so I don't get questioned for the next 5 years.

Yesterday, Brian and I just had a lazy day. Partying 2 nights in a row can get to ya!