Vivaaaaa Las Vegas!!

Well, we just got back from Vegas yesterday. Our friends Glenn and Jenny got married at Mandalay Bay, which was beautiful. This was my first time to go to Vegas, and I had a BLAST! It was so different than I expected. I thought it was all about gambling and drinking (and it is), but there's also tons of other things to do that I didn't know about. So sit back and relax - this is going to be the motherload of blog pictures.

You know how when you get on an airplane, you always hope there won't be anyone sitting in the seat next to you - and if there is, that they'll at least be normal and not talk to you too much? No such luck. After we'd been seated for a good 10 minutes we thought we were in the clear. Next thing you know there's an old man with a long scraggly white beard coming towards us. I really thought he was homeless. Turns out after hearing his story (and smelling what can only be described as the worst breath ever) he had been hired by a mall in Sacremento to play Santa Clause for the next 45 days. Apparently a Santa with a real beard is a rarity. Who knew? Here's Logan taking a breather (from the man's breath). See Santa?

We stayed at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, which was gorgeous. Every room is a suite, so it was pretty big. My favorite part was the bathtub. It was so deep and relaxing, with a perfect view of the flatscreen TV on the wall. Aaahhhh. Anyway, our room had a view of the other side of Mandalay Bay, including the beach area which has sand, a wave pool, and a lazy river. We couldn't believe there were actually people in the water. I know its the desert, but it wasn't THAT hot. The next picture is of one of the chandeliers made from blown glass in the hotel lobby. I loved it.

After unpacking, we hit the slot machines! It only took ten minutes, and I'd already won $100!! The next day I won another $50, but was sucked into the trap of trying to win more and ended up losing it. (It was still fun though.) My favorite game ended up being the spinning money wheel. I have no idea what its actually called, but you basically just guess what dollar amount the wheel is going to land on, and if you're right, you win money! I won $88 on that one! Here's Logan and me playing the slots that first night. Well, I'm playing, Logan was... being Logan. :)

Later that night, we went to see Cirque Du Soleil's "O". This show was by FAR the most amazing thing I've seen in my entire life. It had tons of acrobatics, dancing, diving, synchronized swimming - you name it, it was a part of the show. Our seats were increadible. We were on the third row near the middle. On the ticket, it actually said "wet seats", and there were several times the people around us got splashed by the dancers or the diving during the show. We lucked out and only really got wet during the "storm" part. I dont' know how they did it, but it felt and sounded like we were in the middle of a thunder storm. Wind and everything.














Here's the celing of the "O" theatre. It was beautiful! And here it is again with a dancer twirling from the celing. After that, they said there were no more pictures allowed.














The night before the wedding, there was a get together for everyone that came to meet each other if they hadn't already. I have no idea what or why Patrick was wearing what he was, but he was excited about it, and it was the hit of the party. Especially the belt.





























The next day was the wedding day. The girls spent the afternoon at the spa. I had my first hot stone massage, which was great. We hung out in the jacuzzi for a while, and then headed back upstairs to get ready for the big event. The wedding was in one of the chappels at Mandalay Bay, and it was really pretty. Short and sweet - just my style. The wedding reception was at Border Grill where we all had a fantastic time.

Here's Glenn and Jenny, and then a picture of the ring! I didn't get a close up of Glenn's ring, but I know he's excited to finally get to wear it. I hear he'd wear it at home and beg Jenny to let him wear it in public for weeks before the wedding. :)

The girls at the reception, and then Logan and me.

I thought the celing at the reception was cute. So are Logan and McNolty. :)

After the reception, we all went up to Mix, which is the club at the top of THEhotel. We got to sit in the VIP area, and had bottle service - both of which I've decided I like. Haley and Chelsey always tell me I make really good drinks, so I played bartender all night. Forget the whole nursing thing, I think I've found my calling!

Here's the girls, and then Logan and me outside on the patio with a fantastic view of the strip behind us. (Pics of that to come later...)

Here's a close up of our bottle service being set up, and then Chelsey modeling it.

A few of Haley and me... as usual!

Chelsey and me, then Logan, Tony and McShann.

And now for the fantastic views from Mix! The first is the view you can see from practically anywhere in the bar through the wall of windows. After that, I zoomed in and took closer pics of some of my favorites. They're pretty self explanitory.

The next night, Logan and I had a date night at Rum Jungle. Its similar to Texas de Brazil in that they bring you skewer after skewer of different kinds of meat. Not only was the food amazing, the atmosphere was unlike anything I've ever seen. The entire center of the restaurant was a gorgeous floor to celing bar that had lights slowly changing colors behind all the bottles. Between each side of the bar was a catwalk with a platform on each end with a DJ booth. The place turns into a club after hours, and they have dancers all on the catwalk. There were also lots of clear walls with water flowing down them that were really pretty too.

See the DJ booth and catwalk?

Here's another wall I liked at Rum Jungle. Then is the bathroom celing. I know thats a weird thing to take a picture of, but it was so cool! There was only a half wall between the men's and women's bathroom, so when you look up you can see the stars in your bathroom and theirs.

We all spent the last day in the Sports Book, which is basically a man's heaven on earth. It is covered wall to wall (at least a couple of stories tall) with giant TV's showing just about every game being broadcast, and all the scores and odds of every game in the universe.

The end of the Steelers vs Chargers game was extremely suspenseful - if you saw the game, you know what I'm talking about, and you'll completely understand this picture of the boys jumping up and down, screaming and celebrating their victory. You'll also appreciate the picture of Logan looking happier than a kid on Christmas morning since he won that bet.

And FINALLY, the last picture of the trip: Logan and me on the way home. We. Are. Exhausted. But a good time was had by all!

Toby Gets All Snazzed Up

So last week my dad called and asked if I'd do him a favor. He hates the way the groomer cuts Toby's hair and wanted me to groom Toby for him. I took this as a huge compliment! I've been grooming Lucy for over 5 years now, and I think I do a pretty good job for a non-professional. The rescue lady I got Lucy from used to show dogs and currently runs a dog grooming school, so she took me under her wing and taught me how to groom schnauzers since it costs around $80 bucks a pop if I were to pay to have Lucy done. Anyway, I hate the way the groomers do Toby too, so I was more than happy to do him the "right" way. Keep in mind when you see the pictures that it had only been about 6 weeks or so since Toby had been groomed last (by the terrible people). He looks like a rag-a-muffin!

Before:

After:

Would you believe this little guy is 11 years old?? He is the BEST, most well behaved dog. I got Toby when I was 16 years old. I'd begged and begged my parents (well, really it was my dad I had to convince) for a dog for YEARS. After I wore him down, we went and got Toby when he was just a baby. I'll never forget him pooping on Ross on the way home from the breeder's. Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go! When I left for college, Toby obviously stayed with my parents (I like to say they stole him from me) and he's since become my dad's dog. My dad calls him his "little buddy". He likes to pretend that he'd still rather not have a dog, but one look at the two of them together and you know that's just not true.

Anyway, I enjoyed grooming Toby. He stays much more still than Lucy does and he's 1/8th the size of her so it didn't take long at all. We'll see if they liked my work and ask me back...

New Family Member??

Logan and I have been toying with the idea of getting a Great Dane for a while now. About 10 months ago I found a breeder that I just love. She has a great breeding program, fantastic looking dogs, and she's breeding for the right reasons. Well, about 4 weeks ago a new litter was born, and that's when I fell in love. His name right now is Orson (if we get him we may change it), but he is THE cutest puppy. We're seriously talking about getting him, so I need everyone's help (all 4 readers!) with convincing Logan it is a good decision. I've already talked to the breeder, and his personality would be great with Lucy's overbearing one. ;) Isn't he precious???

Life Is A Bowl of Cherries

This post will be short and sweet tonight. I just wanted to get a picture up of the first real piece of artwork I've ever bought! Logan and I have been looking at art for the condo, but we were having a hard time finding something that we liked at all until we ran across the cherries. They're so cheerful! I love them. I also found a great spice rack. I know, I know - I MUST be a real grown up if I'm excited about a spice rack, right? I also went today and finally got nightstands and lamps for the bedroom too. I think the only things left to buy are the rugs for the living room and bedroom, and things to hang over the bed and the couch. I'm not in a huge hurry for those things though. The place already feels like home, and I think its pretty cozy. Mike and Leanne came over to see the condo for the first time tonight before we went to studio movie grill. I think it passed their inspection, so I guess that means its ready for other people to come see it. Any takers? :) I'll take pictures of the living room and post them soon. I think that's just about the only room I haven't posted pictures of yet. Hopefully I will have found something to go on the wall over the couch by then.

Alright, I'm working tomorrow so I'm off to bed. I want to make the most out of this extra hour of sleep I get from daylight savings time tonight. Logan tried to play a really mean joke on me. He had me completely convinced that I was losing an hour of sleep tonight. If Mike and Leanne hadn't set me straight, I would have been waking up at 3 am and getting to work super early. Nice try, Lowry!

Home Sweet Home!

Well, I've been in the new condo for a week and a half now, and things are coming together nicely. I went to the store down the street tonight and got some flowers and a pumpkin for the front door to spruce it up for fall. I think it looks nice and inviting! The new dining room rug also came in, and I love it. I'm really ready for a new dining room table. Nothing against this one, but I got it from a friend's dad for free several years ago when he was moving, and I'm just ready to pick one out that is a little more my style. I'm only posting a few pictures of the condo tonight. I still have several thing I want to get in place before I show the rest of it! So for now, these will have to tide you (my three readers) over. Oh! Make that four readers! I just found out Whitney reads my blog. (Hi Whitney!!)

The last two pictures are of the guest room and the guest bathroom. I'm not quite finished deciding how I want to decorate those yet. I think ultimately the guest room will be a media room, so there will be a comfy couch in there instead of a bed, and then it'll have another wall mounted TV. So if you're gonna visit, do it while there's a place to sleep!

Alright, I'm cooking dinner for Logan tonight, so I'd better get busy. Hopefully its edible... Wish me luck!

All Moved In, And It Feels So Good!

Let me start by saying in advance that I realize there are a ridiculous number of pictures of my dog in the following blog. However in my defense, I've been without cable and internet for almost a week now, and I had to find some way to pass the time. Apparently that way was taking pictures of Lucy.

Anyway, I'm all moved in now! Logan was so sweet and when he got off work Friday he brought me some "Welcome Home" flowers. They're beautiful!

Ugh, I absolutely hate moving. It always feels like you'll never finish packing, and then when you do, you think you're all settled into the new place and can finally relax - but then you remember you still have to clean up the old place. Blah. I just finished that yesterday and turned in my keys. I always get all nostalgic when I leave an old apartment. I had a lot of good times at that apartment. A few bad ones too, but overall I think I grew a lot as a person while living there. Ultimately I rediscovered who I am, and what I'm looking for out of life. Ahh, and I'll miss living so close to Breadwinners, and Pastazios - even though I didn't eat there as often as I thought I would (which is a very good thing...). And I'll miss my bartender friends at Quarter Bar... but even though I don't live right behind it anymore, it can still be "my" bar.

So while packing up my old apartment, I never realized how much JUNK I had. I'm a very sentimental person (a.k.a. a pack rat), and poor Logan - God bless him - he was very patient with me while I carefully decided what "treasures" I needed to throw away and which I could keep. I think we ended up throwing away 8 GIANT garbage bags of just stuff. Not trash - but stuff! He kept saying he'd never seen anything like it. And I guess I have to agree. I still can't figure out where I put all that crap in a 679 sq ft apartment!!

I've also decided my new favorite thing is Craigslist. I sold so many things on there and made some serious cash for stuff I would have just thrown away. All together I've made about $600 so far, and there's still a few things that people are still interested in. So if you know any fellow packrats that need help getting rid of their treasures, just convince them to make money off it on Craigslist! I'm cured. Just trying to sell anything I can get my hands on!

As for Miss Lucy, she had her vet appointment on Monday. In addition to severe separation anxiety and hypothyroidism, she has now also been diagnosed with incontinence, which is pretty common in Giant Schnauzers. She wasn't having accidents all the time or anything, it was mostly when she was sleeping. She'd wake up and find she'd wet herself and she'd be so embarrassed, she'd get up and hide under the table. Its really sad because she knows she's not supposed to be doing that, but she just couldn't help it. I'm actually relieved its incontinence. The symptoms are very similar to those of diabetes, which is way more difficult and expensive to treat. For incontinence I just give her half a pill twice a day. I did have to take in a urine sample for the vet to analyze, and let's just say collecting that was quite interesting. I'm sure my new neighbors think I'm sick. So now for the pictures...

While the movers were here, I took Lucy to get groomed by none other than Deb Stover herself. If you'll refer to the pictures of Lucy from my last blog, you'll be able to see what a wooly mammoth she was! She was in desperate need of a haircut! So here she is, freshly shorn. Her ears always look twice as big when she's just gotten a haircut. :)

As I mentioned before, without cable, phone, or internet there isn't a lot to do. So I took several pictures of Lucy today. I thought these were funny.

The first one I tried to get an action shot of her begging for a goldfish. I guess she got tired of waiting, and she just went for the fish. No bueno.


This was the second attempt. Much better.

One of the things I sold on Craigslist was Lucy's old dog crate. This was the picture I posted for the online ad. Back when we were actually using the crate (years ago) she wanted nothing to do with it. She'd even bang her body against the crate door until it opened because she couldn't stand being in it. Well when I got it out to take a picture of it, I couldn't get her out of it! Weird. (And look at that shaggy dog! She looks much better post-groom.)


Yesterday I took Lucy to Petsmart, and her favorite part is going down the toy aisle to pick out which one she wants. Usually as she passes each toy bin, she takes a toy from each bin, squeaks it a couple of times, then throws it down and moves on to the next. Well yesterday she wouldn't play with anything except this ugly stuffed soccer ball with a knot chew coming out of it. I tried and tried to give her the cuter, more girly toys to play with. Even the ones that were twice as expensive! But she wouldn't put down this soccer ball toy. Since we brought it home, she carries it everywhere with her. If she goes into a different room, she brings it with her. Well, while I was getting ready today this is how I found her.

I woke her up taking the picture, so then she thought I wanted to play...

When she realized this wasn't the case and that I had woken her up merely to take pictures of her, she gave me the "attitude" face.

By the way, tomorrow is Lucy's 6th Birthday!!!