The Big 3-0

I always figured that I would be like my mother and age gracefully, not giving much concern to the meaninglessness of numbers as they slipped by. But as I found myself approaching thirty, I realized that I was a creature of a different flavor. I don't think it would be accurate to use the words "freaking out," but "slightly bother and concerned" seem appropriate. But as I reflected on it, most people do eventually turn 30; most people in the world already have, and really it is much more tragic to NOT hit that milestone.

Also, it helps if when that birthday appears you have a special fella in your life.

After bringing it up in a what-shall-I-do-for-my-birthday brainstorming session, I was surprised and pleased when Michael volunteered to take a day off of work and spend it with me in Las Vegas.

Since I always like to blog report about how I spend my birthdays (see 28 here and 29 here) I have prepared a "Top 11" list about my favorite things about my Vegas birthday vacation.

1. My birthday dress

Upon arriving in Vegas one of the first things we did was take a picture of us by the famous "Welcome to Fabulour Las Vegas" sign.
When we got back in the car and I looked at the picture, I was shocked by the sheer, blantant loudness of my dress. I had seen in a store several days earlier and knew that it had to be mine to be worn on my 30th birthday. I tried in on in the store to make sure it fit, but wasn't paying attention to the colors. And since I didn't have a full-length mirror in my house at that point, I had not actually seen myself in the full get-up. I still love the dress, but was surprised to see just how bold it was.
(Michael has since personally seen to it that I have a full-length mirror in my house.)

2. This response from every single person who heard we were going (including, I believe, Michael's mother): "Are you eloping?"

It made me laugh.

3. Staying with the Stays

I will confess that when I first planned the trip to Vegas, I thought of my wonderful ex-New York roommate Megan as an afterthought. I felt guilty using her for a free place to stay in her her brand new and totally gorgeous house in Henderson. But after a reassuring "get your butt down here and stay in my house" email, I felt okay about it. And seeing Megan and her husband Luke turned out to be a major highlight. She even baked me a birthday cake!
(Megan, if you're reading this, please know that I have written you a lovely thank you note, but I haven't been able to send it yet because all my stamps got lost in the move. I'll get that out soon. Please feel appreciated.)

4. After only 3 or 4 hours of driving from our snow-encrusted homes we arrived in St. George where it was so nice and sunnyshiney and warm we were able to eat our lunch outside. (Michael looks unhappy here, but he's not. It's just because the sun is in his eyes. There was seriously THAT MUCH sun.)


5. The Stratosphere.

Since we were a couple of wild and crazy people with disponsible incomes and no small children we decided to live dangerous and buy the all-access tickets to the thrill rides on top of the Stratosphere. For the sake of brevity, I will not go into detail here, except to say that when you're on the elevator ride on the top of the Stratosphere it is impossible to be anywhere higher on a building west of the Mississippi.

6. There was a yummy hole-in-the-wall Mexican place where we ate dinner both nights we were there. I love me some good Mexican food.

7. Falling asleep in the car to the sound of my man singing along to Garth Brooks.

In his online post where I first became of his existence, Michael caught my attention by saying that he was musically "a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll" but this was the first indication I had had of that fact. It was was a really pleasant, memorable moment.

8. At the end of a hectic, action-packed, and throughly exhausting second day, by sheer happenstance (AKA divine intervention) we walked in front of the Bellagio hotel's famous water show at exactly the moment they were starting The Hallelujiah Chorus. It was awesome and made me glad that everything that entire day (even my car window breaking) had perfectly lead us up to that point. It was especially nice having just seen Michael perform that piece several days earlier.
(
this video courtesy of youtube)

9. Hoover Dam

We decided to fork out the $30 each and go into the belly of the beast. It was worth it. Even before we went inside, it took my breath away. And I"m not even an engineer.

Turbines in the power plant. Very cool.


Us on the inside


The view from inside

This box cracked me the heck up. I'm not sure why.

And of course the highlight of any trip to any dam is the great excuse for all the dam jokes. You know the drill: "My dam boyfriend and I took a dam tour. We had a dam good time. The dam traffic was pretty bad though." After several hours of peppering "dam" in front of just about every noun I said, I asked Michael, "What? Don't you like making dam jokes?" To which he replied that he would like to, but I was too quick with all of them.

10. On the way home we stopped in southern Utah to visit Michael's cousin who was staying with her in-laws. A quick stop-by turned into a three hour political discuss with her Obama-supporting mother-in-law. I was surprised by how calmly and reasonably Michael discussed this topic that he is very passionate about. But I must confess after about two and a half hours, my patience for tranquility wore thin, the gloves came off a tiny bit and Michael had to politely pull me off the woman and drag me to the door. (Don't worry, I made nice with her before we left.) I wouldn't have guessed I would be the one to start being a bit aggressive in that situation.

11. All the crazy, random things that are Vegas

My man looks a lot like Harrison Ford, don't you think?


My favorite sage made a visit in honor of my special day

Whoopie was there too

Totally shutting down Rocky Balboa


All told, it was a super great birthday. And I'm excited to be 30, flirty, and fabulous.

A Little of This, A Little of That

Since today is the one month anniverary of my birthday, I was determined to blog report about my trip to Las Vegas, but I just don't feel like it. So instead I"m going to share some other random going-ons from my life.


*I would never have guessed that something like this would happen to me, but it seems that Rexburg, Idaho has become a premiere vacation destination for me. Since arriving in Utah I have been there three times. While the very idea of this seems odd to my Manhattan sensibilities, I do have to say that it is a lovely spot. I was there this weekend and was liberated from my life-long misunderstanding that I don't like fish. Turns out I LOVE fish. Now I just have to convince Michael to go fishing more often (shouldn't be hard) and figure out how to cook them up so yummy myself (could be a bit more difficult)


* after five weeks in my new place (but only being home one of those weekends), I am happy to announce that I have finally hung up all my clothes and organized my underwear. This should make getting ready in the morning a fair shake easier. My bedroom is still a disater though. Good thing I sleep in the living room. (Just FYI, the kitchen has been done for weeks. I love love love love love love love having my own kitchen.)


* Upon arriving home from my Christmas trip to Michigan I realized that in five months since I left New York, I have driven across the country FIVE times. I've put more than 12,000 miles on my car the six months I've owned it and keep it mind that it was stolen for one of those months. I've decided that I"m ready to just be at home for a little while. At least that was the plan, but I was in Idaho last weekend and I'll be in Provo next weekend. Maybe in February I'll be able to have a little bit of time without traveling. But who am I kidding-- if a good offer comes up, I'll take it.



*I love my iPhone. I don't know what I'd do without it. I can't figure out how so many of you go about your day-to-day lives without one.

* Michael recently told me that he likes me more than his guns. If you know Michael (which I guess none of you do) you would understand that this was quite a compliment. (now that I think about it, he might have said gun singular, not guns plural. either way, i think this is a major development for him.)


*I used to be confused and slighly annoyed by people who hated snow. Now I understand. I"m sorry for being so hard-hearted before. Because now I know that its not just the snow, its the salt. Also, snow that stays on the ground for more than 3 days is just plain lame.

* In case you were wondering, my job is going great! I love it and I love my co-workers and I super love all the great stuff I"m learning. I feel so blessed in this aspect of my life. My new church congregation also seems really great.