Our Last Night in Las Vegas

Well...we finally made it! Everything is packed and we're ready to head out in the morning, but first I have to recap our evening. Our last night in LV is one that I will always remember thanks to my future father in law and our wonderful friends. For your amusement, I'll begin this recap from the very beginning of the day. We woke up early to pack the last few things into the trailer and to clean before the carpet cleaning people arrived. We worked super hard and were exhausted by noon (the time the carpet people were scheduled to arrive). So we're waiting and waiting and about 12:30 Jake called to see where they were. They were running behind and promised to be here within 30-45 minutes. Well that didn't happen so Jake called back and they said they could arrive between 3 & 4. That made us angry so after several phone calls Jake finally found someone that was available today. So they came, did their stuff, we went to Jake's hair appointment and then back home for a few minutes before we were supposed to meet Jake's dad for dinner at Paris. My friend Christina (bridesmaid/high school bff/invitation designer) happened to be in town for her brother's b-day so she made plans to join us as well. While walking through the parking garage we noticed my friend Kim driving her car and she stopped to talk to us. I jokingly asked if she was here to eat dinner with us and she said yes. I was a bit confused, but excited to see her. Well, come to find out, future father in law called Kim and Jake's BFF to get all of our good friends together for dinner! It was fabulous and we were so excited to see everybody one last time. It's time to rest up now for the long drive tomorrow, but check back soon...the blog will have a new name the next time I write!

Things I'm Looking Forward to:

lakecounty.com

The big move is quickly approaching and while I'm still nervous about not having a job, I'm still very excited to start out new life. Here are the things I'm most excited for:

*Being near my second family

*Being able to run more than 3 miles because of the ridiculous temperatures at 5:00 am (yes it's actually dropped to 3 miles...ugh)

*Having my future little sister over to watch movies and eat popcorn

*Being surrounded by beautiful-ness

*Being able to go shopping with my other future sister and cousins

*Learning how to wakeboard

*Going to wineries

*Being only 2 hours away from San Francisco

*Having easy access to my future mom's closet

*Having a nice place for my family to come and visit (they aren't the gambling type and I know Las Vegas is not their ideal vacation spot)

Things I'll (Kind of) Miss About Las Vegas:

Obviously, the people in the post below are the important things I'll miss about Las Vegas, but here are some of the less important things that I've enjoyed the past 2.5 years:

Most wonderful Mexican food EVER. I can't say enough about this place. It's on Spring Mt. and Rainbow. If you live here then you should go right now and if you plan a vacation to LV then be sure plan a meal here. It's worth the $30 cab ride from the strip.

Most wonderful sandwiches EVER. This is an east coast establishment that somehow made it's way to LV. You have to try the Bobby, the Cheese Steak and the Capastrami. Really, get all 3 and share. You won't be sorry.

I'll miss Waking up with the Wagners every day. They're a husband and wife team and they're dorky but I love them. Jake will miss Collete Wieland, a reporter that's on in the morning. He loves her more than me.

This is Town Square. We pretty much live here when it's not ridiculously hot outside. It's located just south of the strip. I recommend going here if you need a break from touristy Vegas things. Yes, it's just like every other Town Square in the country, but when you live in a place dominated by bright lights, gambling and shopping malls that are inside casinos, then this is a nice place that makes LV seem more "normal".

I'll especially miss our hikes at Mt. Charleston. I know the hiking in California will be a million times better, but Mt. Charleston will always hold a special place in my heart :)

What I'll Miss About Las Vegas:

When we found out we were moving to Las Vegas I was very disappointed. I REALLY did not want to come for multiple reasons. And although it definitely hasn't been my favorite places to live, I've made some wonderful friends and will be sad to leave them. I will miss them all very much, but I will especially miss Erin (the girl in the last picture). I met Erin when I worked at Old Navy and she made my time there slightly less miserable. Then, once I started working at Marsh, I recruited her to come keep me company :) She is such a wonderful friend and I don't know how I'll survive at a new job without her! I'm comforted by the fact that I will see her in September for the wedding. It's been a long time since I've had to move and leave friends. Moving away from high school friends was hard, but kind of a gradual process. We all went our separate ways for college, but were always able to return "home" and visit with each other so by the time I moved to Las Vegas I was already accustomed to not seeing them very often. In regards to college friends, they all graduated a semester before me (I switched majors and added on another few months of school) so that was kind of a gradual change as well. This seems different though because it's more of a final goodbye. I'll definitely call/facebook to keep in touch, but I know I won't be able to visit very often because most trips will be reserved for visits to Texas. I feel so lucky to have met some wonderful people here and they are the reason I survived the not so wonderful city of Las Vegas.

The Pilot!

Jacob earned his private pilot's license today! He's been working so hard an it's finally paid off. I'm so proud of him and can't wait to go flying with him. The instructor that administered his test was very impressed with his flying skills so I'm not worried at all. He plans to continue flying and eventually become a certified flight instructor so he can teach our kids to fly. He can teach them to fly, but I'm going to teach them to drive :)

In other awesome news....today we had a taco eating contest and I won. Taco Bell offers crunchy tacos for 39 cents on Sunday. I bought 30. Jake ate 7, but I ate 11! I took pictures of the event but my camera decided to die so they cannot be posted. And when I say "die" I don't mean that the batteries died, I mean the entire camera just stopped working. It's a sad day. The camera took wonderful pictures, but it just got old :(

It's been a very exciting day and we both just woke up from naps. Time to be productive!

The Fray

Last night I saw Jack's Mannequin and The Fray with my friend Kim. We had floor tickets and were super close. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure....

Jack's Mannequin
(I had no idea he was also the lead singer of Something Corporate until he mentioned it during the show)

The Fray

Me and Kim

The Big News-Revealed!

So now that pretty much everyone knows AND we've both given our notices at work, I can reveal that our big news is that we're moving to California! On July 31st (also my mom's b-day) we will be driving away from the 110+ degree weather here in middle of the desert. Jake is starting his own fire sprinkler business and I will...well that has yet to be determined. Let's just say that we're moving to a small area with very few jobs. To elaborate...even if the economy was spectacular, there STILL wouldn't be an abundance of jobs. I'm trying my hardest to remain positive that something will come along. Please cross your fingers for me! And if you happen to know of any openings in the Lake County area then let me know. This has been a dream of Jake's for years and so I'm happy that it's finally happening. We're also very excited to be near his family (and the location of our wedding). So I'm sure you're all just dying to know what the new name of the blog will be since "Life in Las Vegas" will no longer be applicable. The new name will be "Life in Lake County" and will debut on August 1st (or soon after when I have internet access and time). Stay tuned for a post about the few things in Las Vegas that I will actually miss :)

Getting Personal

I'm sure most of you have heard of this book turned movie:

It was a great movie. Really, it was, but I absolutely HATE the concept of this book. In case you're not familiar with it, it's basically about how guys show all these signs that they're not into you so you're supposed to recognize these signs and move on quickly to the next guy. Here's how my hatred of this book began. Back in the day, about 4 years ago, Jake and I went through a rough patch. Ok, "patch" is an understatement, it was like a year. We were juniors in college so I chalk most of this up to just being young and not really ready for a serious relationship. During the course of the year I had numerous friends try to get me to read this book. Actually, even JAKE told me to read this book...not very subtle, huh? I don't think that I ever read the entire thing, but I did read parts of it. I can definitely see where some people would benefit from the advice given in this book, and I might have benefited too, but I chose to not listen. And obviously that worked in my favor. I told numerous friends "You don't understand, we're meant to be together. I KNOW we're going to get married one day." They all basically replied with the same advice/insight that the book provides. Don't get me wrong, I know they were trying to help and they only wanted me to be happy, but here's my piece of advice for those trying to help a friend. DON'T GIVE THEM ADVICE. Let's them rant, let them cry, but then you must AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THEY SAY. Every relationship is different so nobody can know exactly what the couple is going through. Just be a good friend and listen. Let them talk it out so THEY can figure out what they need to do. That's all for now. But to the person for whom this post was written: I love you and I'm here to listen if you need me.

Let's Salsa

I love all food. Really, I do. But chips and salsa (and guacamole) have always been huge favorites. I keep telling my mom about a couple of brands that she must try and I thought I'd share them with all of you (and give her a visual reference for the next time she's at the store).

Here they are:

Sorry it's blurry, but I need to make sure you see the "salsa verde" flavor. There's another flavor in a similar color, but it's not as wonderful. This one isn't too spicy, but it has a bit of a kick and is completely different than any other salsa I've ever had.

Mmmm...this one makes my mouth water when I think about it. It's very SPICY. And trust me...when I say something is spicy then it's really burn your tongue spicy. I have a very high tolerance for spicy foods so if you don't then I wouldn't recommend this one.

I searched high and low for a picture of another favorite, but I was unable to locate it. My mom sends it to me from TX, but I believe it's a New Mexico brand. I'll take a picture the next time she sends me some.

And although it's not a salsa, it must be included in this post because it's so wonderful.


I hope these suggestions help spice up your life!

I really want one of these:

They're all from Pottery Barn.

My Next Race

Will be the San Francisco 1/2 marathon on November 1, 2009 AND Jake is going to run it too!! We are very excited. Ok, I'M very excited, but I'm sure Jake will be more excited once we get closer to the race. I don't plan on starting to train until next month because it's just too hot here and I can't run more than 4-5 miles with temperatures in the 90 degree range at 5:00 am. We'll be sure to post training updates as the race gets closer!