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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Christmas Advent Calendar

Well....I was wanting to actually post something crafty, but I didn't want the wedding details to be out of order, so I had to throw some virtually empty posts in there. Hope that's acceptable.lol.

Anyway....before we left for Vegas, Ned bought this advent calendar set for me to put together. I was so excited because the boxes are nice and big to actually get things into.  Ned, Caitlyn & Sara are going to take turns opening the boxes each day.


This project took quite a bit longer than I had originally thought. Before opening the package, I assumed the boxes would fit together somehow with tabs or something...but alas they didn't. They had to be glued together and held for at least 5 minutes. The boxes are out of thick chip board, so the 5 minute hold was a must or I would look over and see the edges starting to pull apart. Also cutting 100 little squares and the notch out to be glued on the chipboard took quite a bit of time. I did end up doing it in stages over a couple days time, but by golly I did get it done before the 1st.lol. Busy time of year, and we added a wedding to November, and Ned's birthday is Dec 1st. So it's been a whirlwind actually. Really hoping that the new year brings a little more peace and quiet so I can craft a wee bit. :)


Well...it's all set...filled up with individual little surprises for each person...things they will enjoy. :)

Vegas 11-11-11 Departure Day 11-14-11

 Details to follow. One more drink for the road....and on the plane ready to ready to head home.
Literally the most fabulous trip I have ever been on :)

Vegas 11-11-11 The fifth day 11-13-11

 Details to follow. The beautiful Bellagio ceiling and the view of the fountain from the top of the Eiffel Tower :)

Vegas 11-11-11 The fourth day 11-12-11

 Details to follow :) Breakfast with my mom and the girls followed by a quick trip to the M&M factory with Sara :)

Vegas 11-11-11 The Wedding Day


 Details to follow :)





Saturday, December 17, 2011

Vegas 11-11-11 The second day 11-10-11


Well....Remember...it was a late night last night...I have a cold...and I wasn't feeling fabulous, but it's Vegas...and we're getting married, so suck it up and enjoy the trip. :) We were up pretty early and got ready. Sara had actually spent the night up in Natalie and Jason's suite, so while Caitlyn was still sleeping, Ned and I got ready to head out for some breakfast. :) We had a delicious breakfast actually in the Miracle Mall at a little cafe called "Aromi d' Italia" We had fresh squeezed orange juice and sausage croissants. Delicious. :) After that we headed back up to the room and grabbed Caitlyn and headed out to do some errands. We had to take back our rental car and then get the marriage license over to Paris. After that we would be heading down to New York New York to meet up with Sara so the girls could ride the roller coaster. Taking back the rental car was a lot harder than it should have been. We were supposed to take it back up to the 8th floor of the Planet Hollywood parking garage and leave it where it was marked, however.....the 8th floor was closed for remodel, and no such signage on the 7th floor. I made a call to Hertz, and they said "Oh we thought it was marked better....well just leave it on the 7th floor in section B against the solid concrete wall." Guess what...no solid  concrete wall in section B...only section A.lol. Oh well...that's where we left it....and no extra charges...so it must have been ok.lol. Then we headed over to Paris where we checked out the Wedding Chapel and gave them the marriage license. It was amazing....so much better than the pictures online. :) I was so thrilled. Next it was off to New York, New York.



We met up with Natalie, Jason, Kylie, Sara, Ed & Valerie for the roller coaster at New York New York. :) Everyone loved it. Following that the girls spent a little time in the arcade where Sara and Kylie went on another fun little ride as you see here. :) We then started back to explore some more of Vegas. Like I said in the beginning...I was sick while in Vegas and the week before we left, but on the way back from New York, New York, I was wheezing so badly I could barely breathe, and ended up going into CVS pharmacy to the Minute Clinic. After about 60 minutes.lol.....I had some cough medicine and an inhaler, and I felt much better.

We then got a call from Melissa and Ray who were going down to the Stratosphere to go on the rides 1000 feet in the air, so we met up with them and rode the bus down to the Stratosphere.


The girls and Ray went on all the rides at the top of the Stratosphere. One of them was a free fall ride, another like a teeter totter off the side of the hotel, and the third was a claw like ride that extended off the side and spun. They were all terrifying to me just to watch, but the girls had a blast. :)


The view off the top of the stratosphere was amazing especially at night with all the lights. After the fun up in the sky, we headed back to Paris where my Mom and Julie had chosen a little restaurant for us to have a make shift rehearsal dinner. lol. We didn't really have a rehearsal, but a few of us got together and had dinner together.

We went to Le Cafe in Paris. We had a most fabulous dinner there. I had a spinach salad that was perfect. I even tried some escargot that my dad had there. It was actually delicious as well. Everyone that joined us is pictured below. Ned and Sara, Natalie and Caitlyn, Julie and Linda, Judy and Gary, Mike and Cindy, and Ed and Valerie. It was really nice to sit with everyone. I couldn't have asked it to be any better. Another perfect evening. :)






What another wonderful day....thus far. lol :) I did forget to tell you that while on top of the Stratosphere, I got a call from the place that had my dress and was steaming it and the bridesmaids dresses. The message was that it was 6:00p.m. and they were closing and the didn't know if I was in town and whether or not to deliver the dresses.....WHAT?????????????????????  I had talked to them that morning...and they knew we were in town...because I called to find out when they would bring the dress and wondered if I needed to be there. It was 6:20, but I called them back and they answered. They stated that they would deliver it now, as soon as the delivery guy came back. No big deal....right??? WRONG!!!!!! After we had dinner, we were heading out to gamble a little after getting the girls back to the room. Arriving in the room no dresses were found...and it's now 10:00p.m. What were we supposed to do???? Called the front desk...nope not there, the bell hop...nope not there....Planet Hollywood by mistake???...nope not there. :( Freak out time!!!!!!!!!!!! Balling crying, trying to figure what to do.  All of a sudden...I thought...absolutely nothing I can do tonight...so Ned helped me pull it together and we went to gamble. I did check the bell hop downstairs when we left, but alas it wasn't there. We then headed over to Planet Hollywood to meet up with my mom and gamble. I stopped at the valet desk there...and voila there they were. Wrong hotel...and no one knew where to take it. Aaaaah the mile trip back to our room carrying 30lbs of dresses.lol. But the feeling that we had them....ahhhhhhh. Then back down to the casino and gambled. That was the beginning of the addiction for Ned to the "Hangover" slot machine. It was just the beginning. :) Soooo fun.

It's after midnight now....and we are getting married tomorrow....back to the room for our beauty sleep...tomorrow morning would be the beginning of a perfect day. :)


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Vegas 11-11-11 The first day 11-9-11

Well we did it!!! We got married on 11-11-11 in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel. We had the most fabulous time ever the whole entire time.

We don't want to forget one single detail so I'm going to try and get as many details down as possible. We've been married abuot 1 1/2 weeks right now.

Wednesday Nov 9, 2011 : We woke at about 5am and got up and showered. My good friend Renee was coming to pick us up at 7a.m. to get us to the airport.  Renee was right on time and off to the portland airport we went. Ned, Caitlyn, Sara and I were so excited to be on our way. After checking some bags and getting through security we headed to our gate and then to grab a Starbucks coffee and snack. Our flight was on time and overbooked. We were able to check the girls carry on's for free at that time so that's what we did. Because of being overbooked, the girls were not sitting together. Caitlyn sat between 2 people that appeared to be a couple and talked around poor Caitlyn who sat in the middle seat. She also wondered if they became part of the mile high club as they stepped to the back of the plane for quite awhile.lol. Sara on the other hand was offered the window seat by an older couple. They watched over her nicely and Sara chatted with the couple for a good amount of the trip. Ned and I sat together wondering how the week would turn out for us. We were full of anticipation.
Our flight was great and after landing we headed to get our baggage and then off to the car rental so that we could run errands. We picked up a Mitsubishi Endeavor from Hertz rental car. Then it was off to get our marriage license downtown. We had previously done the marriage license info online that we found was a huge help. We only waited in line for 5 minutes to get our paperwork. Then it was off to grab a bite to eat and we did so at Carls Jr. I think we all ended up having some sort of hand breaded chicken and it was delicious. Next...off to get the tux. After a few wrong turns we found Mens Warehouse and spent a little more time there than expected as the girl in portland had measured Ned two sizes too big. So after choosing another coat that would actually fit him correctly and not be hanging off his shoulders we headed to find our hotel and check in. What can I say about our room....it was amazing!!! Kinda like our whole trip. :)

Our room was at the Planet Hollywood Westgate Towers. We had a beautiful 1 bedroom suite with a pullout couch in the living room. The living room also had an 8 ft progression TV screen. The bedroom was filled with a king bed, lounge chair, and jacuzzi tub. We had just enough time to change and dress up for our scheduled Cirque de Soleil "KA" at MGM. I had been sick for the last week almost, thought I had been feeling better on Mon/Tues as I had been drinking water, taking Airborne, allergy medicine, DayQuil, NyQuil, zinc lozenges and anything else I could to speed up this cold. Well a nyway....even though MGM was close we took a taxi over there. We wandered around the MGM for a bit....glancing at the lions cage, and through the casino. We wandered over to the MGM buffet where we were going to have dinner. Sara and I stayed in line while Ned and Caitlyn went to get our tickets for KA. We had a pretty good dinner. :) The girls downed some crab legs that were pretty good and we had some delicious little desserts.









Then it was time to head to KA. What an amazing show!!! My cough was getting worse and Ned stepped out before it started to pick up a couple waters...at $6 a piece...YIKES...we realized then that this was gonna be an expensive trip. Oh well it's our wedding....right? RIGHT!! Well like I said....the show was amazing. Sara was overwhelmed with amazement...I had to keep telling her to be quiet because she was ooohing and aaahing so much. It was just a great show.  We stopped in the gift shop afterward and bought a few souvenirs, then headed back to our hotel. We did walk on the way back enjoying all the lights in the Vegas night. Caitlyn was looking so good we had to remind men that she was only 16 and keep them back with a stick. 

In Vegas...it's always a lot further of a walk then you think.lol. We finally got back to our room....the girls got ready for bed and snuggled in to their pullout couch and turned on the 8ft TV....yes I said 8 feet.lol. We were all pretty tired as we had been up since 5a.m. and it was now about 1030p.m., but I had gambling plans with my Mom....so I wasn't ready to call it a night. Ned stayed in with the girls and I met up with my mom.

We took a taxi over to the Flamingo where they supposedly had Ebay...(which actually doesn't exist in Vegas anymore :( ) It was at the Flamingo that I finally got to see that they really do give free drinks in Vegas while you are gambling. The waitress asked what I wanted, and I asked..what are my options? She replied...well honey..it's a full open bar. lol...ok.lol. I'll take a margarita...and so I did. Mom and I gambled for a bit...not winning much, but having a good time.

We met up with some friends who were staying at the Flamingo, Melissa and Ray. I had worked with Melissa at Adventist for years and they were kind enough to come enjoy our Vegas wedding with us. I showed Melissa the in's and out's of gambling.lol the slots. When to cash out and such. We also went up to their room to check it out as she had a big suite. :)




Then it was back down to the casino. I played a new game of Monopoly with bonuses. Won a quick $100 and cashed out. Ned woulda been proud. Met up with my mom again...gambled a little more with no luck and then got a taxi back to our place.

I asked the taxi guy to take mom and I the most direct route...and he took us through this back alley...lol. scared me. I thought that might be the end of us.lol. Alas it wasn't. Finally.....2a.m. back to my room and snuggled into bed with my fiance. :) What a first day in Vegas!!!!
Thursday, July 28, 2011

I'm back to crafting :)

Hi there. :) I got a day to finally craft a little. I do mean a little...but thought I would at least share the card that I made for my daughter. She has been at her grandma's house for a week. I'm missing her so much. She is so fun to be around...I miss laughing with her. It has also made me realize how helpful she is when she is home. Soooo...I made her this little card. :) She is "utterly amazing" :) I just got two of the My Pink Stamper stamp sets for my birthday :) I'll be posting more again soon.







Well :) I'm off for now. :) Have a lovely day :)

p.s....I'm getting married in 3 1/2 months....yikessss!!!!