What happens in Vegas....

What an awesome trip we had! Thanks mom and dad for the fabulous time in Vegas...I think it should be a new tradition every year!

In the car on the way to the airport...all the excitement!

Turns out my drivers license was expired so I'm lucky they let me go. I just had to go through all the extra security. We arrived in sunny Las Vegas...I mean RAINY Las Vegas on Wednesday the 26th. We got checked in to our hotel room (at the Tuscany...SUPER nice place and just a block off the strip!) and proceeded to find a place to eat. We ended up at the Rio for the buffet and it was delicious! After dinner we decided to go check out Fremont Street in downtown Vegas. It was pretty fun with the light show on the ceiling but not much going on because of all the rain. After walking Fremont St. we headed back to the hotel for some Black Jack. I LOVE this game!! I think Blair gets a little worried when I walk into a casino. He's not a big fan of gambling so all my gambling balances us out. But I actually did pretty well and ended up coming home on top of what I started with.

Dad and Jenna enjoying the rain on Fremont Street.

On Thanksgiving Day we got up, hit the casino again, and then headed over to the Mandalay Bay for the Shark Reef. It was so fun. I was so excited to go because I was watching the Discovery Channel during Shark Week and they said that the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay had one of only two Hammer Head sharks in captivity. So I'm all excited to see this hammer head shark and what do you know...it died!! Bummer...but it was still really fun and I would recommend it to anyone hitting Vegas.

We stayed there at the Mandalay Bay for Thanksgiving Dinner and I swear I've never seen more crab legs eatin' in all my life! Dad, Chad and Blair did a number on those things! After dinner we went back to the hotel and changed so we could go to the show that I couldn't wait another minute to see....PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

Anyone that knows me well knows that I have a special place in my heart for this show. My Grandma Dalton took me to see it at the Capital Theater when it came out from Broadway and I've loved it ever since! Well, this show at the Venetian did not disappoint. Even though I'd already seen it before it was still AMAZING!!! I'm in awe of all the staging. It's beyond imagination. I haven't stopped listening to the soundtrack since I got home. So needless to say it was the HIGHLIGHT of the trip for me!

Friday morning we headed out to see the Hoover Dam. We took the "Dam tour" and spent lots of time looking over the "dam" side. Well, I don't like bridges very much and I did pretty well on this "dam" one for the most part. After a half hour looking down and hoping that some crazy didn't come throw me over the"dam" edge (being vulnerable like that makes you watch all the peeps around you to make sure they're not going to do something crazy!!) I was feeling the panic/anxiety attack coming on...so we took off to do some shopping at all the outlets. Ahh, shopping...it always seems to calm me down. :)

So we did a bit of shopping and then we went down to the Stratosphere to ride the big shot. I've done this before and thought it would be no big deal doing it again. Well, on my way up in the long elevator ride I was beginning to second guess this decision. Lucky for me we got to the top and waited in line for about 5 minutes when the ride was cancelled due to HIGH winds. I mean HIGH winds...I thought I might blow right through the fence and off the top of that thing. So they refunded our money and we headed to New York, New York to ride the roller coaster. Before we got there we ate and I wasn't feeling great so I decided to bypass the ride since I'd done it before anyway. So Dad and I went and hung out in the Harley Davidson shop so Dad could drool and say his prayers that he would get a motorcycle someday!! Basically we spent the rest of the evening bumming around the strip and hitting up the casino.

After flying back to SLC on Saturday we went to see the lights on Temple Square and they were beautiful as always. But there were way to many people so we made our way back to the hotel. We stayed at the Little America Towers and this is by far my favorite hotel! It's super fancy so it's fun to stay there every once in awhile. Sunday morning we ate way to much at the Sunday Brunch at Little America. Super good...although I vowed I was never eating again after this trip and I would be spending the rest of my life on a treadmill!

Viva Las Vegas

We're heading to Vegas baby! We fly out tomorrow morning with my family and hopefully we'll catch some sun and not just rain as the forecast predicts! It's going to be so nice to get out of town and take a break! Hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving.

Edward Junkie

Just needed my daily Edward fix...Thanks Jenna!!

This is also my favorite part of the movie...super hot!!

Once again...

So I just got home from my second viewing of Twilight. I'm already making plans to see it again Monday. I don't know if I'll be able to wait until the DVD comes out! It was fun the second time because I was over the unknown and I noticed more things. Like did anyone else notice that Stephanie Meyer made an appearance? I thought that was pretty cool. I also could study the other characters a little better because I wasn't just so focused on Edward...well okay, I was still focused on Edward! I really like Jasper for some reason...he just played out a little more for me this time. I'm just fascinated by all the Cullens. I wish I could pause the movie and just check them out! My favorite part is still when Edward drives Bella to school and they walk across the parking lot...the sunglasses are too much! I love it...

Anxiously awaiting midnight on Thursday!

All the ladies waiting for the much anticipated unveiling on Thursday night

And I actually couldn't help myself...I thought he was real!! :) It's a good thing that it was 2:30 am and the only people around were on the same page!

PS I bought the soundtrack on iTunes and it's AMAZING!! I love it, I haven't been able to stop listening to it. So I highly recommend it!

Where do I even begin.....

"That night was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen...."

Really, seriously...I got home at 3 am and couldn't sleep because I just kept thinking about EVERYTHING in the movie...and how irrevocably in LOVE I am with Edward!!! (wink!wink!)

There are about 3 things I am absolutly positive of....one, I loved every minute of it...two, I thought it was perfectly made...and three, I can't wait to see it again (SOON!!).

Last night I headed out to the Twilight midnight showing. I haven't stayed up that late in a LONG time...but it was very worth it. My very good friend Becky bought me tickets for my birthday (thanks Becky! How will I ever repay you for the time of my life!?) so we made our way through the theater and luckily got the best seats in the house. It was CRAZY...people were running all over the place trying to find seats. I won't write much here about specifics because I'm sure there are a lot of you out there that haven't seen it yet. But here are a few of my thoughts....

The Cullens...beautiful people. When I first saw pictures of who was playing Edward I was unsure if he would meet the expectations I've had in my head of Edward. But it quickly went away as he first entered the scene. He was the PERFECT Edward!! Totally how I imagined him. I also thought they did a great job at matching up the other Cullens. As each one entered, Becky and I kept leaning over to each other and saying "That's totally who I imagined!!" All the characters were pretty close to what I had envisioned. Really the only thing that was really different from how I imagined it while reading was the Cullen's home. It's very modern...not what I had pictured...but it still works. Some of the things that are said are word for word from the book. My favorite, favorite line is when Edward tells Bella "You're like my own personal brand of Heroin"...I loved it in the book and it sounds great in the movie!

Okay, without giving anything away....this was the most amazing scene in the movie!! It was super hot and I wanted it to keep going! Only, I wished it was me there playing Bella. Watch for this scene....you'll love it! So much tension!!

After watching this, I kept wondering how they would make the 4th book into a movie? But after seeing Bella and Edward together...I'm so excited for the 4th movie!!

Over all I give this two thumbs up times a million! There's no question...I WILL be seeing this again, possibly a few more times, before it leaves the theater. THEN...I'll be first in line to buy the DVD and spend the rest of my life watching it over and over and over!!! :) WOW...sounds obsessive but I can't help it....I'm so excited about this.....I can't get enough. All I can say is that movie two better be in the works because Twilighters won't be able to wait very long!

Picture Tag

Here's my picture tag....a canoe trip down the Big Springs in Island Park Summer of '07 with Blair, Garrett and Shelly. This was Gibson's first canoe trip, and he loved it! Except for the fact that he couldn't stand being that close to the water and not swimming. He jumped out twice in the beginning and I had to jump in and get him...luckily he only weighed about 50 lbs. then...now it would be quite a treat trying to get a 120 lb. dog to stay put in a canoe!

I can't believe he was that little...oh, my little baby! He's a monster now! We took a few breaks on the way down so he could get in and swim around. Once he gets in the water it's impossible to get him out...he loves it! We also take him in the fishing boat...but it's bigger and easier to keep him in. He usually just lays down and chills the whole time! Can ya tell he's kinda spoiled!?

I tag Jana, Shelly, Shamae and Kyra

Happy Birthday!!

27 years old....that SOUNDS old! Only 3 more years to 30!! That's the weirdest thing to wrap my head around. Blair did a smashing job making my day fabulous this year. I came home to find the living room decorated and a homemade (well, from a box) cake with 27 candles. To fun! Then he took me to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then he told me we could do anything I wanted to do. It didn't take much though...I wanted to go to Costco! (It just opened last week and I've already been twice!!) So we went to Costco and bummed around. It was fun to just spend some time together...it's been crazy lately and it seems like there just aren't enough hours in a day!

My good friend also stopped by with a birthday gift (which Ms. Hailey, you did not need to do!)...and I love my new ipod headphones and photo albums. I got some money from the folks...thanks mom and dad!! I got a mall gift card from the in-laws...thanks Bri and Lori! Shelly took me out for a girls afternoon complete with lunch at Chili's and pedicures. Shelly, you're a life saver...I needed a day of pampering! Blair got me a new Nikon Coolpix camera and I LOVE IT!! It's so nice! He also gave me a gift certificate (he also made that) good for one craft room! I'm so excited. He's going to fix up the room downstairs and turn it into a craft place for me! YAY!!!! I asked him how soon I could cash that in...I'm so pumped about it I don't know if I can wait! It was a great birthday...even if it did put me one year closer to 30! Thanks everyone!! I love you all!!