Dam....er Darn Bridge ;)

First of all...A Happy Halloween to all!! This pic was taken by my friend Kjerstina Salmon. Isn't this so cool? There is this huge pumpkin activity in New York called the blaze. I loved this, very Halloweeny. :) If that's not a word, then I just made it up. Hope you don't mind KJ!

My Lake Mead, I really should go there again before it dries up.

The Dam Bridge!!! It is the longest suspension bridge on western hemisphere! Now I need to go park and walk it...some awesome picture taking in store.

Today, I spent serving others. In one way or another. Always nice to help if I can. My friends and I ran around town, getting applications for a friend who will hopefully rejoin the working force. After, I decided I wanted to take a little trip. This is the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge, or the Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge I think. I drive in to Boulder City often, to visit my Mom and Dad, but oh my gosh. I haven't been to Lake Mead in YEARS. Its so low. Quite sad. But loved the drive. And believe me, it is not scary at all. Sad to say, you really can't even see over the bridge, you can only see the moutains. Well, I have been known to say that I love spur of the moment roadtrips, and this is no exception. Except I didn't realize how long my little trip would be. I couldn't turn around at all. There's construction going around...and we missed the turn off. I asked my friend who went here before "Is this it?" "I don't know" she replied....AAAGH!! There are some places I haven't been yet. Like Kingman, Lake Havasu, GRAND CANYON, Northern Nevada. Yup...I'm just sad. I've lived here all my life and went to other places, just not the ones in my backyard . But I will. And it was fun, and we went home. All for now!

Christina Perri ~ "Jar of Hearts"- Bite of Las Vegas

Bite of las vegas 2010- Hey there Delilah, one of my faves!

My Weekend

I'm out of order, oh well. Saturday I clocked my 2 miles, just in time for......

Where I saw Ryan Starr, and my Favorite Band of the moment, Plain White T's!!

I tried the frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity for the first time, among other things...see I needed to prepare! ;)

Friday night, I decided to be adventerous and try to attend this without a ticket. They were sold out. It was a gamble for Time Out

I found a line at Cashman similar to this one, LOL. It didn't look good at first, and then I went from no tickets to three tickets. But I took the one from Sister Langkilde. THANK YOU!!

Dallyan Bayes, he has toured with Phantom of the Opera. He was on the Time Out

tour, just amazing.


Ardeth Kapp's talk gave me some hope and joy!

This is John Bytheway and Brad Wilcox

And I sat three rows in back of these guys!!!! Oh, yes I did..... AAAGH! :) Me and Alison were up in the balcony, I was just happy to be inside. All of a sudden, I see people waiving, I didn't know who they were waiving to...then I waived me?? Thank you Sister Bergstrom and Sister Lupton!Yup... My friends from the Palmhurst Ward were on the second row!! They had two seats. I'm one lucky girl. John Bytheway spoke on Friday, and he talked about being delightful. And it was delightful.

And lastly, I made a DINNER IN A PUMPKIN!

And you can too, here's the recipe.

What you need-

A medium pumpkin

1/2 a large or 1 sm onion chopped
1 pkg celery chopped
1 sm can mushrooms

1 can water chestnuts sliced or chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups of cooked rice

1 pkg of hamburger

2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp brown sugar. ( I didn't have this, I used terriyaki sauce instead 2tbsp. If you do this, omit brown sugar.

A pumpkin scraper would be handy!

What you do-

Cut a lid in the pumpkin. Then clean out your pumpkin, don't forget to save the seeds! This was the worst part for me, I had no pumpkin scraper, I used a fork. Eventually I got the hang of it. Now that your pumpkin is nice and clean...In large skillet combine your veggies. Saute in a little bit of oil for 2-3 minutes. Next add your hamburger, add salt and pepper or whatever seasoning you usually use. After meat is browned, drain fat. Next add your rice, soup and soy sauce and brown sugar. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Ladle into pumpkin, top with lid and bake for 350 for an hour. Enjoy!

Late Night Ponderings

I saw my favorite movie on the big screen tonight."Doe, a deer a female deer....'

Amen Maxine, Amen.

Las Vegas Mormon Fort.....Love this Place!!

It might have looked this tonight, thunderstorms...WAHOO!!!

Hey Bloggers. Its 230 in the morning, and I am trying to stay up. So...I thought maybe I will update what has been going on since October is almost over. I don't have alot of pics. This is not supposed to be profound thoughts or anything serious like that at all! So here goes. I am loving that Fall is FINALLY here! :) Goodbye 100's! Although, working nightshift I am not liking it so much, I start going in the dark to work...boohoo! It seems like that October is Conferences month. First we got to hear from Church leaders at General Conference. It was so amazing. I had some friends over on Saturday, and we had a Conference feast...lots of fun and laughs. But it was great having people over and enjoying conference together. Unfortunately I did have to work on Sunday, but I was thankful to be able to watch on Saturday. Future blog might be coming with my thoughts on conference, I should work on that. But for now...Conference was great, great messages...and the best part, IT RAINED!! Just loved it!! And, after General Conference, this last weekend I attended a first annual Mid Singles Conference here in Vegas! It was so much fun. It was so great to see old friends, and meet new ones. Highlight for me was the program Saturday Night. We got to hear from two great speakers, President Hansen and LaVell Edwards!! I was super excited to hear from both . I have known President Hansen for so long, back in my Bonanza Seminary days up until I graduated from Institute, great guy. He tied in the theme of our Conference which was On to Victory, and tied in our heritage with the Las Vegas Mormon Fort and the Pioneer Trek. He attended his mothers California ward back in 1997, where a returned missionary was sharing his story of how he was serving in Nebraska at the time. And he got released, came home for two months and then the Church authorities had asked him to be a team captain in Nebraska for the Sesiquintennial Pionner Trek back to the Salt Lake Valley. The highlight for him was walking through Parley Canyon heading over the hill to the This is the Place Monument and seeing 1000 people in white waiting for them, waving white handkerchiefs and welcoming them home. It brought some tears to my eyes. 1997 was a big blurr for me, I don't remember everything. It was the year my Dad had passed away, a hard time, but I think back then as a 19 yr old. I thought the world would pause when my parent died..but the world keeps turning. Kind of ties in with the title of my blog :). But you know what? As I was listening to President Hansen I could picture these people as those we do temple work for. Now in reference to this story, they were to represent the 1000 saints that didn't survive the trek. And LaVell Edwards! BYU football fan here...I've been so excited to hear from Brother Edwards, he tied in stories from the field, and one of my favorite stories did in fact, come from President Hansen. An old man was in the hospital dying...and the nurses were trying to make him comfortable and he wanted to meet with his Bishop and Stake President, because his temple reccomend was to expire and he wanted to have a current temple reccomend in his possession when he passed away. Another story that was shared that night came from Elder Holland. Pls excuse me for not knowing the details of names, but the story goes like this. There was a earthquake in Chile, I think. A father and son were separated. The father had been trapped in a building and was able to free himself. And he went to look for his son. He went to the school that his son attended. He started to lift brick by brick. The police and firefighters were trying to pry him away, telling him it wasn't safe. But he paid no attention, and kept digging. He heard is son saying Dad! I'm down here, I told my friends that you would find us. You wouldn't stop looking. I knew that if you were ok, we would be too. (im paraphrasing here) The Father said to his son come on lets get you out. And the son said, no...help my friends out. I know you will come for me. After hearing this story , I had a lump in my throat. Our Father will come for us too!

So..another topic, Facebook. Something bizarre and scary happened to me this morning. As a caution for my Facebook peeps. I had gotten home from work and was dinking around on facebook. All of a sudden, a cousin of mine that was my moms age, who I dont hear from pops in on me, which is called pop up chat. She basically was telling me that her family was on vacation in London and they were stranded, and was asking me for money to get back. I felt, something isn't right here. So I had been talking to a friend on the phone, and I dug a little bit deeper. I told her that I was sorry I couldn't help. And I asked who could I contact for her? And then, she says who? And then I said go to the mission home...and better yet, (this is where it gets good) I said whats the name of your bishop and I will contact him for you. Then I didn't hear anything. Then I saw her type OMG ..this is awful. OMG? Doesn't sound like Lida...then I asked again, then she said your mama, and got offline. As my friend said this morning, I was a victim without being victimized, LOL. I reported it to facebook, who disabled her profile..or Lida did herself. Hopefully I will get to tlk to her this wknd at stake conference and talk to her! So be careful friends. Well thats it for now! :)

Instructions for Freedom

I think I found the picture for my room!!! What do you think? The Iao Valley Needle in Maui.

The following is an excerpt from Eat Pray Love. Yeah, I'm still trudging through it. Yes its good. I'm just slow reading it. The movie left this scene out...I wish they didn't. But I will share it with you :

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FREEDOM

1 Life's metaphors are God's instructions.

2. You have just climbed up and above the roof. There in nothing between you and the Infinite. Now, let go.

3. The day is ending. It's time for something that was beautiful to turn into something else that is beautiful. Now, let go.

4. Your wish for resolution was a prayer. Your being here is God's response. Let go, and watch the stars come out-on the outside and the inside.

5. With all your heart ask for grace, and let go.

6. With all your heart , forgive him, FORGIVE YOURSELF, and let him go.

7. Let your intention be freedom from useless suffering. Then, let go.

8. Watch the heat of day pass into cool night. Let go.

9. When the karma of a relationship is done, only love remains. It's safe. Let go.

10. When the past has passed from you at last, let go. Then climb down and begin the rest of your life. With great joy.

A Step Forward

With a last trip here. Where we walked....and walked! Just making sure I didn't miss anything.

This place was after The District...I hate this place, or I used to. Sorry Kohls fans

A must to stop inside here. Love looking around. My mom and I loved kitchen stores like this, another thing I haven't done in a really long time. I did pick up some pumpkin waffle mix! :) Now, onto the important stuff like......

A trip to Pottery Barn. I can't afford the stuff in here in a million years. But they do have some awesome bedroom decor, to help get me a feel. For what I want. I found what I would like to call the Princess and the Pea bed. The douvet weighed like 10 lbs. Then, the sales associate told me their secret, they stuff like 3 of them into the cover for the effect. Dang...and I can't afford even one, oh well.

The District at Green Valley, for some inspiration And this is what I picked out! I thought it was really cute. And you will never guess where I got this at...KOHL'S! I will now eat my own words, LOL. KOHL'S , I don't hate you anymore. ;) I will post a pic soon of my progress!!

I made a long awaited decision today. Big, for me. I've finally picked my bedding! So what, right? Let me explain. After my mom passed away, I had to make some huge decisions fast. First, the house...did I want to stay, or move? Of course, I wanted to stay..so I made the plans as necessary. Then, the rennovations to the house that needed to be done, in case I needed a roomate. So, I got that done. And of course, now that the house is mine, I don't want to stay in my room....I'm moving into the master. Redid the carpeting, plumbing, with help...etc. The one thing I didn't do in this process...was this was my mom's room. Who spent the last 3 months bed ridden. Who had a hospital bed in the room. And I don't know what it was, I had friends who offered their "decluttering" expertise. And I just wasn't ready, I wasn't ready to move forward and make it my own, heck I hadn't even bought myself a bed yet. I was doing other things first. I thought, I've been sleeping on the couch, I'll continue with that for awhile. Awhile turned into over 1 yr, until I was taken my first time by ambulance to the ER...because I couldn't get up off the couch! Sleeping on one for so long can do that, I guess. But that FORCED ME to buy my bed, which I did. And I got off the couch. But the next year following, did I find linen that I liked? No. Nothing seemed right. So...I grabbed whatever linen I had from the closet, and whatever blanket I liked. It was comfortable. It didn't look right, but I was fine. I don't know what got into me to day. But today was finally the day. It was like, OK. I'm ready now. As you can read, I am TERRIBLE when it comes to change. My gosh, when I repainted the house, or got a new front door, I started tearing up. Because slowly, this house was becoming my own. And it was a little sad. So, I spent the first hour decluttering my headboard, its a beautiful headboard, once there isn't all that stuff on it. I'm still not done, but I'm getting there....and its good. I don't know for me if that was all apart of my grieving process, or its just me, I really don't know. But I do things at my own pace, always have. I enlisted help today, because I knew I couldn't do it alone...I would talk myself out of it. I had no theme, didn't know what I liked...except for the colors I liked and did not like. So we went to town. First to the District, with a stop inside Brookstone, for nothing to but gawk. And then a store called Brighton, they had a garment bag that I just loved. But, I will need to save up for that one. And really cute jewlery too. Next was Williams Sonoma. Me and mom loved going in here or any kitchen gadget store for that matter. Pricey though, mostly looked..although I picked up some pumpkin waffle mix! Then to Pottery Barn for some bedroom things. Their prices are outrageous...but the looking is free! I have champagne taste on a root beer budget. ;) I spotted something I liked at Kohl's, but then decided to just get my pajamas and move on to see if I spotted anything better at the Galleria Mall....six later, nope. We ate lunch at P.F Changs...and I went back to Kohls. I was laughing so much, because I have hated KOHLS. I never go in there. I am eating my words now. I still not sure abt the clothes, but I have a new appreciation, LOL. And thank you Joeleene for helping me finally do this. Its always nice to have company. I don't think I would have done it without your help, as the song goes "Thats What Friends Are For" . As I am typing this post, this song is playing right now. Seems right.

A movie review- Eat Pray Love

Two months later and I finally saw it! I broke my own rule, which was to see this movie AFTER I have read the book. Well, I'm half way though, i'm in India now. So not too much. I personally loved the movie. I loved the settings . And the food, um I was hungry after watching all the food being partaken of, LOL. I wanted to post my review on Flixster through Facebook. But Facebook messed up my stuff again! All my personal boxes are gone. I am not happy! But thankgoodness for my blog. As much as I enjoyed this film, I must not have enjoyed it as much as my friends did. I didn't find something funny, and they were both laughing so hard they had tears rolling down their eyes, LOL. I think it started in New York when she went to her boyfriends guru . I'm not sure. Have you ever felt like that. About the laughing I mean? It wasn't that I was in a bad mood or anything. But I had read the book up to a certain point and I guess I didn't find it funny or the need to laugh my brains out. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this though. And now I really want to finish the book. And the casting of Richard was just how I pictured him. I loved the premise in the movie that she first needed to discover to love herself before she could love anyone else. I love that. Sometimes I feel like that right now. Four stars from me! Now, its time for me to get to work....housework that is. Bye for now.

Ladies Night Out.....Again!

This is City Center at night....minus the fireworks!

Bellagio Fountains, my fav

Theo, Grandma and me

Cheesecake Factory

Golden China

Lilly, Alison and Missy....Lots of laughs

Joeleene......love my friends!

I know its blurry..but Andrea's face is priceless

Ant in the corner

Bellagio Conservatory

I didn't mean to match the mushroom!

T.C.B

ELVIS!

VIVA LAS VEGAS!




We had a goodbye party for Andrea, who moved back to Ohio! We sure will miss you. We had dinner at this great little chinese restaurant called Golden Dragon...we took over, LOL. A visit afterwards to the Las Vegas Strip of course had to happen. We sure had fun. We visited Bellagio, City Center...which is a little city within itself, walked around Aria, Crystals and of course the Mandarin Oriental bathroom, don't laugh till you been in there. If you haven't been into City Center yet, you really should. Very pricey, but fun to just walk around in and thats free!! We'll Miss You Drea....see you in Ohio next year! :)