The Big 3-0 in VEGAS!!!

Matt turned 30 last week! Weird. And for the first time I think ever, I was actually able to surprise him and do something big for him. His friend Mark's birthday is 3 days before his, so Mark's wife, Adria, and I have been planning this vegas trip since last year. 

I didn't realize how hard it would be to try to keep Matt from finding out about it. In the end he knew we were going to Vegas, but thought it was just us two. 

We flew in super duper early Friday morning and started vegas off right with some delicious crepes at the Paris Hotel, did some shopping, and went to the wax museum (which was awesome). We also went to the Pawn Stars pawn shop. We love watching that show. We were hoping Chum-lee would be there, but no such luck. They are all too cool now. 

 Mark and Adria weren't getting into town until around 3 so I had to stall until then. They showed up to our hotel room and Matt was in the bed watching tv while I was crouched down in the bathroom trying to record Matt's reaction when Mark walked in. Apparently Mark was a little freaked out walking into a room that had clothes and a phone sitting out and told Adria "We gotta get outta here!"

Adria said the boys stared at each other for quite a while before either of them said anything. I'm not sure if it was because of shock or because they weren't wearing their glasses. 

After some more shopping and WAY too much crab at the Bellagio buffet, we had another surprise for them.  At the botanical gardens, they were grabbed from behind by the Erbs, Todd & Kristin. Then the partying began. 

Adria apparently has some sweet hook-ups and got us into the Palms VIP for free Saturday night. So we danced the night away while surrounded by some crazy people. And lets not forget our elevator ride and exit with Ryan Cabrera. If you don't know who he is, don't feel bad. Google him. 

Our big B-Day surprise for the boys was their Exotic Racing experience at the Las Vegas Speedway. I knew after Matt was driving our rental Infinity G37 like a maniac, causing Adria to threaten to walk, that it would be PERFECT for him. They had some sweet cars and I think they had fun. He ended up driving the Audi R8. Maybe for his 40th we'll upgrade to the Lamborghini.

 It was so good seeing our friends for a weekend. (And my sister and her family that live in Henderson :) We really miss everyone. If anyone else wants to meet up in Vegas, just let us know and we're there!

Happy Birthday Matty. XOXOXOXO

They found us.

I thought we could get away with not talking in our new ward for just a little longer... guess not. We tried sitting in the back and laying low, but that didn't work. In fact it backfired on us because we are giving talks AND we still haven't really met anyone. I actually don't mind giving a talk, I just feel bad for everyone sitting in the congregation listening to be stutter and most likely cry. We're talking next week so i'm trying to start preparing my talk on Faith today. I read this quote in a conference talk and loved it. 

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day."

Elder Richard G Scott goes on to say, 

"Righteous character is a precious manifestation of what you are becoming. Righteous character is more valuable than any material object you own, any knowledge you have gained through study, or any goals you have attained no matter how well lauded by mankind. In the next life your righteous character will be evaluated to assess how well you used the privilege of mortality."

It made me realize that it doesn't matter how great my goals are, or how wonderful the person I want to become is, if i'm not consistently living my life according to those goals & according to my faith, I will get nowhere. 

I think I have some work to do and some changes to make  :) 

Yay For Visitors!

Our good ol' friends the Erbs paid us a little visit last weekend. A much needed visit :) Unfortunately us girls were told we wouldn't need our cameras for our first night together, so we don't have pictures of the AMAZING ice castles we visited in Midway, but i'm hoping to go back soon. We finished off that night in steam rooms, hot tubs and a pool at the Zermott Resort. Awesome.

We got a ton of snow that weekend. Not as much as we were supposed to, but still more than we've had since we've been here. I loved it. And so did the dogs.  I did realize that snow boots might be a good investment for me. 

Erbs: Thanks for visting!!Good times. Maybe next time our house will be done. Come again soon! xoxo

FROGTAPE

I like to think there are other people out there like me. People who have no talent whatsoever when it comes to decorating, especially painting. It literally took me a whole day and a half to paint one wall. It wasn't really even a huge wall. Granted, I did some texturing I learned from HGTV, and that took a little more time.
  

Still. HGTV also said you can do a whole room in a day... not me :)

(ps thats not me in the picture. I may be really blonde right now but I only WISH I had that tan, and a butt)

Our bedroom on the other hand still is not finished after over a week. I've decided stripes & blue tape are my enemies. 

But by day 8, after AT LEAST 8 (maybe 9) trips to Lowes, I've found a new best friend. So I thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone else is planning on painted stripes anytime soon. I wish I'd known about it before...

GENIUS. 

It's 1000 times better than the regular blue tape. My lines were pretty much perfect. I could have had the room done DAYS earlier had I known about it. 

*sigh*

I'll be done tomorrow. Finally. 

Thank You Frog Tape.