Trip....part dos

As we made our way to South Dakota I was amazed at how beautiful Wyoming was. There was very little in Wyoming but the landscape itself was beautiful! We arrived in South Dakota and couldnt wait to get to our hotel and plan the next few days. We drove the route where we got a sneak peak at Crazy Horse, Bear Country and a few other places. We drove into Rapid City and were excited to see that our hotel wasn't a complete dump this time. We got settled into our hotel room, fed Gidget and fell asleep.....boy does driving tire you out!!!! I convinced Andrew to give Taco John's a try, being as he had never eaten there before....he really enjoyed the potato ole's and that is more than I an ask for! I was very excited to eat at Taco John's :) The next morning we got up early to see a bunch of different place....we started out at crazy horse...I was amazed to see the progress that had been made since I had last been there in 92. We took a lot of pictures and enjoyed seeing all of the old artifacts from the architect's house.

Me at crazy horse :)

the wall of change over the years since this project started

a view driving into crazy horse monument

a close up...the face is done and now they are working on the horse and arm streching out

After Crazy Horse we headed to Mount Rushmore...as my second graders called it last year Rount Mushrore :)

Here the afternoon got a little HOT! We started out up top looking at all of the flags and getting some sweet pictures of the monument...

I am going to try to set up a slideshow link where you can click on it and see all of our pictures...we shall see how this works on..

more later :)

The trip.... part uno

Well, I know I should have been doing this along our trip, but it was just too hard to try and keep up! I cant believe we were gone for an entire month and are already back here dreading the beginning of the school year :(

Our plan was to leave at 4 am on June 25th, this was to beat the morning traffic as well as arrive in Denver at a decent hour. Andrew and I got ready and headed to bed around 9. After another wonderful episode of Jon and Kate plus eight, if you dont watch this you SHOULD we tried to go to sleep. After laying around until about midnight, we both looked at each other and decided to just get ready to go and leave. We had everything unplugged and ready for the month we would be gone by 1 am. We hopped in the car and took off!!!!!

The drive started off just fine we were both wide awake and totally enjoying ourselves. Somewhere along the way I got sleepy...... I took a nap and then we switched drivers...I am telling you NEVER again will I drive through t hose mountains EVER! When we made it abour 4 hours out of Denver we were both EXHAUSTED and didn't know if we would make it! We finally arrived to find out what a dump our hotel room was! It was around 3 and we decided to let Gidget eat and drink and we would take a nap. Denver was not that amazing, maybe we were both just tired and we knew we wouldnt be there long, but I could haave done without. We went out for dinner, not great and drove past Coors Field, that was pretty cool! Headed back to the hotel room and went back to sleep! Knowing we would have traffic to deal with we got up early the next morning to head on our journey to South Dakota!

Here are some of the pictures along the way.............

insomnia

As i am currently wide awake in excitement of tomorrrows activites I realize that in approximately 24 hours Andrew and I will be on our travel adventure! There is a bunch of stuff that MUST be done tomorrow in order for us to leave feeling complete. Hopefully I will be awake before 12, but with the complete awakeness I am feeling that does not look possible! We are starting our trip en route to Denver...this should be a LONG but fun drive! Andrew has never really got to experience the Rocky Mountains which are absolutely stunning! I am excited just to partake in this amazing experience with my AMAZING boyfriend! After one night in Denver we are headed to the Black Hills, where we will be doing A LOT of sight seeing in a few days! We are spending to days in Rapid City so we can leave the peanut at a hotel during the day so we can head out and explore the wonderful places there are to see in the Black Hills. After two nights in Rapid City we are heading to Keystone to CAMP! This should be fun!! We went out one night looking at tents, finding a 6 person tent that supposedly has two rooms (We will find out when we set it up) for half price! We could not turn this offer down, so we continued on our camping adventure buying a lantern, some roaster sticks for smores and hot dogs and some other camping necessities! ALready having an air mattress it shouldnt be so bad to camp!! I am REALLY EXCITED!

There have been so many trip preparations ever since school got out! packing....cleaning..organizing...planning it has been never ending! I will be glad that is all over with!

stay tuned...i will be updating as much as i possibly can on here our adventures of our trip!

We will be in MN next sunday..then off to Chicago and Ohio!! :)

Summer Vacation

Well having been out of scchool for a week now I am begiining to enjoy this relaxing time more and more! We are getting ready for our trip each and everyday and cannot wait until we are finally headed on the road! We are leaving June 25th from Las Vegas and should be arriving in Minnesota Saturday June 28th! I can't believe that the trip we have been talking about since March is finally just around the corner! Spending 24 hours a day together has also been fun! Each morning Andrew gets up first, because let's face it I LOVE TO SLEEP! He makes some breakfast and we hang out and watch EuroCup Soccer....I tend to head to the pool for a few hours while he relaxes at home. Later on in the day we do something together with Gidget who is comepletely tired all the time from us being home everyday! She is really an adorable puppy! Andrew and I have begun to really get into teaching her tricks. She has learned the down command and is doing AMAZING with it! This week we hope to move onto another command...maybe give roll over a try?!

Last night we went and saw Danny Gans at the Mirage. He was absolutely hilarious. I thought he would do more stand up comedy, but he completely suprised us with a night filled with singing and various celebrity voices. Some of them were unreal at how much he sounded just like the person. He sure knows how to keep the audience interested!

Stay posted for more updates on Gidget and her training........

Birthday Weekend

us before we left for dinner
me with the ballon Andrew got me
awww me and my birthday cake..ready to blow out my candles
here is a close up of my YUMMY cake


I cant believe that I am already 24! Where does the time go? THis is a tough time of year for me and my family, but Andrew has made it so special and relaxing! For the past two months all I have been talking about is the Sex and the City movie, being that my boyfriend is the most fantastic person in the whole world he went with me to see the movie yesterday after we had brunch at the Red Rock Casino! Over two hours long and he did not complain once! He is the perfect boyfriend!!!!! After the movie we played a little Goldfish and then headed out to run errands. We had the best day! I wasnt feeling 100% so I came home and napped......when I woke up we spent the rest of the night hanging out watching t.v on the couch together cuddling! I love him sooo much! Today being my birthday we are going to relax, go out to dinner and then light sparklers! YES!

Only a few weeks until our trip and we keep getting more and more excited! Stay tuned for more updates!

PARENTS!

WOW! First of all we cant believe that there are only 2 1/2 days of school left!
A couple of weekends ago Andrew's parents and sister came out for a short visit! I was extremley nervous, but every was fantastic! He has such a great, caring family! We had sandwiches when they first got here, and proceeded to just sit around and chat gettings to know each other. Later that evening we went to the Tournament of Kings dinner show inthe Excalibur. It was really interesting! We ate food without utensils, yes we were ripping chickens apart! It was a pretty neat show! Andrew and I got sprayed with dirt, and had a really goooooood laugh! After the show we came home because everyone was super tired! THe next day we did a little shopping and of course watched the Cavs! It was nice to head to the pool later that day and have a nice barbeque! We plated some apples to apples, had ice cream and said goodbye! It was a very nice weekend and Andrew and I are excited to spend some more family time in July! :)

end of the year

Here is our wonderful puppy.....


welll as the end of the school year approaches...many emotions are being experienced....happiness, exhaustion, hopefulness, sadness, nervousness, and of course STRESS FOR NEXT YEAR! Only 12 days left of school and I cant believe how fast this year has gone! 9 months ago, Andrew and I didnt even know each other exsisted and now....we are so happy and excited to have a summer to spend together. As the year winds...our summer trip quickly sneaks up on us! We have begun the major planning and are enjoying finding things to do at each one of our stops! I decided that for the weeks following school I was going to sub...you can always use extra money, especially when you are saving to move home!





one week from today i will be home! Lisa and Matt are getting married and it is absolutely wonderful! There is a lot of preparation for going home, but I know it will be such an amazing time! Seeing all of my fabulous friends, experiencing a union that has been in the works for years and beginning the process of moving junk home! I am however, going to extremely miss Andrew and the little peanut Gidget! It will only be a few days, but it will be hard!





Officially, I will be done with school in July and am busy working on my final project. I have only two parts left, which means it is crunch time! Andrew is so supportive and really wants me to do a great job! In a year he will start his masters program and I may go for my second! YIKES





Well I am going to get back to my crazy Friday night...preparing for Andrew's family to come tomorrow!! Should be exciting...life is falling into place and is PERFECT! We couldnt be happier!

best night

So, last night Andrew decided to take me out and it was amazing! We went to a little Chinese place, which was amazing! THen we head to Red ROck for Made of Honor! I was so excited to see it, and was even more excited that we were going together. We bought the tickets and since we were a little early decided to sit down and play a little Gold Fish slots! I said in the car I was feeling lucky! We won 16 dollars!!! :)

The movie was fantastic! It was sweet and funny and romatic! I recommend that you go and see it! After the movie we sat down and played a little more GoldFIsh and won another 9 dollars!!! Who wouldve thought that we had a lucky streak!

All in all it was a fabulous night!

YIKES!

Well, I didnt keep my promise! I havent kept up on my posting... life has been VERY busy....trying to get organized to come home in May for Lisa's wedding! Excited about that!!!! Working on getting into shape for Amber's wedding in June 2009, I cant believe she is getting married it is soooo exciting! Buying baby clothes for Kristi's little peanut and getting junk ready to move home both in May and in the summer time!

Beyond that trying to finish up my final masters project and teach gidget some new tricks! If anyone has any pointers please help us out! We are trying to teach her to stay and maybe a few others!! Should be interesting and create some interesting blogs!

Only 23 days of school left....and 55 days until our big cross country trip! We cant wait to drive around and sight see as well as meet each other's families and friends! Should be an interesting summer!

It sure has been a while........

After a few weeks away from the blog.....trying to get life into order during some very crazy times! 41 days of elementary school left.....a month left of grad school......moving and preparing for Lisa's wedding! I feel like my life is running around in circles and I cannot control it!



All in all things are going very well! Andrew and I are close to celebrating our 7th months and cannot believe it has gone by so fast!
i will try to keep up.....writing on this thing..but with school winding down it may be hard!

6 months!

Andrew and I celebrated our 6 months this past saturday! Who knew time was going to fly so fast! These have been an amazing 6 months, I feel like our relationship gets better everyday! He is so caring and generous, I dont know what I would do without him! more to come later...but now i must do HOMEWORK

Spring Break- our week so far in review

Our spring break started last Friday.....we spent much of the first part of our break with my parents.... Friday night we went out to dinner then played some BINGO....Saturday we had a little lunch at Mimi's Cafe, where Andrew of course ate bread pudding! Then we went out to Old town Nevada....let me tellll you something that place is OLD and fallllling APART! For dinner we headed down to the Yardhouse's VIP opening with Michelle! We ate SOOOOOO MUCH! They brought so much food in appetizer form, and those small portions add up! I reccomend to anyone who lives by a yardhouse that you go, it was phenomenal! We also had free drinks, my parents were slurping down martinis, I was drinking Lindemans; which is delicious and Andrew had over 40 ounces of beer! We had SOOOOOO MUCH fun! After dinner we did a little gambling up in the Suncoast BINGO hall.......none of us won but we all enjoyed our time! Sunday mom and I started out shopping at Kohls, then since it was not that nice outside so we decided to head to Primm, NV where there are some nice outlets. We picked up Andrew and headed to a quick lunch.....to Supermex- a little Mexican restaurant......then we were on our way to Primm!!!!! We had a lot of fun.....my mom bought TWO Coach purses! I couldnt believe it! I only got one, but when you already have a lot, YIKES! We came back to LV and rested for a while, Andrew and I brought dinner up to my parents hotel before we decided to go to a comedy show! We laughed the entire time, my cheeks hurt so bad!!! After the comedy show we were allll soooo tired we just went home! Monday it was pretty nice outside so we decided to play the putt putt course at a local golf course! It was WINDY but we really had a gooooood time! After mini golf we needed a drink, so we headed to KOna! We got a few appetizers and some drinks, then headed to Olive Garden, mmmmmm delicious! After dinner....we decided to do a little gambling! We started by putting a two dollars into the lucky shamrock or some sort of machine, since I am Irish I thought we should try it...wellllll we won 7 dollars!!! Ha, I lost it all on Frog Prince....I AM DONE WITH THAT GAME! We moved around to a bunch of differnt machines......an overall fun time! THen we just had to play BINGO one last time before my parents left! Again, no winners but always an enjoyable time!

Tuesday didnt get up until like 1 pm.....then did some spring cleaning and a bunch of homework......

Wednesday we had dentist appointments so we went there.....then Andrew headed to do something for the doctor so I ended up at CVS and starbucks waiting for him....then it was free CHIPOTLE for teachers!! So we got some yummmmmmy foood and headed to play with gidget! We took her to Petsmart and then the dog park. We have realized that she does not enjoy the dog park and usually is hiding behind a trash can or running away from other dogs! What a crazy! Then I went shopping, got a dress for the wedding I am a part of in May and some food for Easter Sunday..we are going to have CORNED BEEF! YUM YUM

Today it looks like we will be hiking or something at Red Rock Canyon...and then hopefully relaxing because Spring Break is almost over!

parents in town

So Andrew met my parents last night for the very first time! We went to their hotel after a long day at school.....dinner was UNBELIEVABLE! Gordon Biersch Brewery is phenomenal.... It was going so well, I was so happy! After dinner we headed back to their hotel to hang out for a little while before we headed to Bingo!

Andrew fits right in! I love it! He was joking around with my dad and chatting it up with my mom! I LOVE HIM!

So we zoomed over to Bingo, Andrew had never played, my dad loves Bingo and my mom was pretty excited! I went up and got the cards for everyone as they got the dobbers! We got a few drinks and Bingo got started!!!

BINGO WAS A B LAST! My dad and Andrew were getting a little stressed out, being that there are so many different games and various bingo cards to stamp!!!! My dad got behind at one point, Andrew looked stressed out but it was so much fun! Nobody won money, :(

We were all soooo tired after that we went home and went to sleep! I wonder if my dad played Bingo this morning?!

The Peanut

We are trying to get Gidget used to the car, so we have been taking her for car rides. Of course i took pictures of her in the car! She looked like a little angel....see above :) !

Today we took her to Petsmart to check out a travel cage and some car pillows. SHE WAS THE MOST POPULAR DOG IN THE STORE! Everyone loves how small and cute she is! She was sliding all over the floor trying to get to all the people in the store! We decided to weigh her, and found out she is exactly 14 pounds, which is healthy for a female sheltie!!!!

After Petsmart, and a new toy thanks to ME we brought her home to give her a bath. She gets pretty stinky.......so instead of giving her a bath in the tub we decided to try the kitchen sink this time.........this was the greatest thing we have ever done! She was so much better...although she still looks like a wet rat...seeee below Blow her drying is also a task, she does not enjoy the blow dryer, but really who does?!

We are also going to try teaching Gidget to shake, and stay....we will see how that goes! Wish us luck!!! :)

Rascal FLattttttttts

Well...hands down they are my favorite group ever!! each time I see them in concert it gets better and better!!!!! Entertaining, exciting, heartfelt AMAZING

Kellie Pickler (spelling?!) opened for them....she was goooooood! I didnt think that i would like her as much as I did! I only wish Andrew would've come with! Maybe next time :)

I will load pictures a bit later!

Classes from Hell

So after one year of master classes....I wonder if i made the right decision on going back. Yes, I will be happy to be done in a matter of months....4 to be exact but there are moments when I want to quit! I have a prof this semester who seriously did drugs in the 60''s, she may even still do drugs! She can barely decide what she wants us to do each time we are in class and she cant decide what she expects for assignments.....she is KILLING me! I dont know how much more of this lady I can handle...I cant wait until I am done with the semester....BLAH

On a happy note parents are headed out here in a week!!! That will be fun...meeting Andrew for the first time...YIKES hopefully we will ge tto spend some quality time together doing fun relaxing things since it is on our spring break!

Summer time trip...

well people....we are planning a trip back to the midwest.....this should be a fantastic trip! We are going to drive so that we can experience what America has to offer.....we are going to head from Las Vegas..up through the treterous mountains through Colorado head to Nebraska...to stop and see some people and then straight to Minnesota...does anyone have some ideas for us to stop and see in Colorado? We will be heading through Denver...there is so much in travel books we just dont know where to start! We will be spending time in MN hanging out with family, Jules turning 50..kris having a baby.....I just cant wait for everyone to meet Andrew!!! From MN we are heading to OH to see his family.....on our way home we are going to take the southern route through Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and then up to the Grand Canyon....any ideas for that route of places to stop?!?!? This trip is going to be so much fun!! Oh by the way...Gidget willll be coming along...sooo get ready to meet her!!!! Let us know if you have any ideas of places to stop and seee!!!

Gidget- the poo meister

Here is our little peanut as a puppy!

Well our dog is a piece of work! She is the cutest little thing I have ever seen and boy do we love her! She is an attention hooker! We take to the dog park and she cowers in between our legs when other dogs come up to her, even if the dog is smaller than her.

I am sure you are all wondering what kind of dog she is?! She is a Shetland Sheepdog, or as we like to call her our minature Lassie! Gidget is about 15 pounds, and the doctors say she is full grown. Normal Shetlands are around 25-30 pounds! We have a peanut!

Gidget likes to bark at anything! reflections of light, people, trees, strangers, bugs, doors, parakeets! She enjoys chasing cars- but we have noticed it seems to only be luxury SUV's. One of her many fetish's is licking feet. She is also a female humper? She can't eat her food by her food bowl she has to take it another room. She only eats when we are home. Sometimes she enjoys pooing on the carpet! Gidget is a sock eater, look in Andrew's drawer ENOUGH SAID! I will keep you up to date on our little peanut! Here are some pictures of her!! :)

Thought this might be fun?!

As a way to keep up with constant communication between us and our friends I thought it might be fun to set up a blog to keep our happenings on! This way when we forget to call for weeks on end you can check this our and know what we are doing! Hopefully you can then also write to us and tell us how you are! I am going to make a few initial posts being that I just started!! Enjoy :)