Viva Las Vegas

My mom decided that for her big milestone birthday she wanted for all of us women folk to descend upon Las Vegas and have a good time. She never really asks for anything and well, lets be honest going to Las Vegas to have a good time is not a hardship by any means. So me, my sister Jennifer, my sister-in-law Ramona, my aunt Pat, and my mom all went to Las Vegas last Friday and stayed for a few days. I just have to say, that this was one of the funnest trips I have ever had. We were all on our best behavior (yes, me and my sister did not argue or fight once-A world record!!)

There were a lot of funny moments that happened while we were there. I must have said, “Don’t worry, its a rental a thousand times.” Thankfully all of my travel companions thought it was pretty funny. Everyone got nicknames: Ramona was ‘Eye Candy’, Pat was ‘Moral Compass’, I was ‘Smartass’, Jennifer was ‘Cruise Director’, and Mom was ‘The Reason.’ I guess for this to be funny, you had to be there.

While we were in Vegas, my sister Jennifer planned a few activities: Tournament of the Kings at Excalibur, spa day at Mandalay Bay,Blue Man Group at the Venetian, shopping at several outlet malls, and hitting up a few special stores like Sephora and the M & M store on the strip.

On Friday night after walking up and down the strip for hours, we went to the Excalibur to watch “The Tournament of the Kings.” Not only is it a really fun show but you also get a dinner that you get to eat with your hands! It certainly doesn’t hurt that all of the performers are gorgeous. After the show, the actors come out and you can get your photo taken with them:

The next day was our Spa day at Mandalay Bay. I think this photo says it all:

Here’s a photo of all of us:

On Saturday night, we went to watch Blue Man Group at the Venetian which is a pretty cool show.

On Sunday, it was shopping, shopping, and more shopping. We hit up two outlet malls and The Fashion Show which is a mall on the strip. At the outlet malls, I was able to get some fantastic deals for both me and Andy. With help from a friendly guy from Brazil I was able to pick out a few nice dress shirts for Andy. (Those Brazilians sure have style!)

Although my mom is probably going to kill me for publishing this, she got a tattoo of a red chili on her hip.

I have so many photos of the trip and so many great memories, that I will probably update this post again or put the trip up on my website. I’ve got a ton of stuff to do, so enjoy the photos.

Dreamweaver Homework

I just finished my first assignment for my Dreamweaver class. Click on the link and take a look!

Blog Updates

It has come to my attention that several of the blogs listed in my blog roll are no longer maintaining their blogs or so it appears. If if has been over five months since you posted ANYTHING I will be forced to take you off the blog roll.

Also with the classes I have been taking lately: Dreamweaver and InDesign, I would like a blog redesign. I’ve added a Twitter feed but want something a bit more drastic. So expect to see some big changes!

Active Shooter Alert Drill

Due to the school shootings in recent years, colleges have had to come up with a plan if there is an ‘active shooter’ on campus. I was in the ladies room last week and noticed a large poster advertising that there was going to be a drill today.

Andy had explained to me what a student was supposed to do if the alarm was sounded: students are to gather at the back of the room, turn off the lights, and if possible cover the windows.

I completely forgot about the drill and was in the computer lab when the alarm sounded. The computer people told us all in very calm voices to gather in the middle of the lab and get down on the floor. They shut off the lights as many students listening to iPods stood up confused.

Knees popping, I slowly crouched on the floor staring at the other irritated students. Gathering in a group doesn’t make sense to me. I sat there thinking about Battleball aka Dodgeball. In playing Battleball as a middle schooler (trying to run away from Jackie Cain who had an arm like a NFL Quarterback) I soon realized that by huddling up with the other scared girls (seriously Jackie’s arm was amazing!) I was an easy target for one of those little hard balls that always seemed to find my left ear. Incidentally I still have a flinch and hold my left ear every time something is thrown at my face.

I found that by separating myself from the group, I had much better odds of survival. It seems that if an armed gunperson is looking for victims, a bunch of students huddled together on the floor makes an easy target. I think that hiding under my desk (much like the tornado drills of my childhood) would be a sound strategy.

What do you think?

School

This is the first week of school for both me and Andy. After looking at so many job descriptions that required specific software experience, I decided to take a few night classes (as to not interrupt my job search per the Employment Office) learning Dreamweaver and InDesign. I am really excited about both! A new cool website it on it’s way!

Andy is taking chemistry, microbiology, and calculus! I know-wow! We did go and visit Corvallis last week. It was a good visit that could have gone a bit smoother if we would have both prepared more. We didn’t eat breakfast so by the time lunchtime rolled around, I got pretty cranky. We finally got everything in order and were able to stop for a sandwich and beer at a pub by the campus. I believe it was called Clodfelters. The food, beer, and service was excellent.

Well, better run! I have homework!

Baba Ganoush Recipe

Eggplant was on sale at Food4Less. I couldn’t resist buying two small ones for fifty cents a piece. I love the way eggplant feels and looks. The beautiful smooth purple skin is taunt yet pliable. Andy isn’t a fan of eggplant so I figured that I would make baba ganoush with the eggplant. I looked up numerous recipes and it turns out that baba ganoush is one of those dishes that is made a little bit different from country to country region to region. I chose a recipe from Food Network that looks pretty good.

The baba ganoush turned out really well! We ate it with pita bread and veggies! Yum!