Vegas vacation

Our second year of marriage wasn't always an easy one. We faced some unexpected challenges and things weren't always rosy. Determined to start off year 3 on a better note, B entirely planned an anniversary vacation on his own (the first time he'd done such a thing). To celebrate our second anniversary we spent 3 nights and 4 days at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Somehow we scored a GREAT deal in the mail ($299 for 3 nights, plus 2 tickets to Le Reve), and we had a fantastic time.

We started off the trip with me scoring us an upgrade to first class. Although the flight isn't long, the snacks and free alcohol were nice :)

The room was beautiful:



We wandered around in the sun, and enjoyed bare legs and arms for the first time all year, since Portland hasn't yet gotten warm. We posed in goofy ways using the hotel props.



We made wishes in the hotel fountains:



We took cheesy photos in the casino:


We spent the second night getting all fancy, going to the Wynn buffet, and seeing Le Reve. The show was fantastic, and it was fun to dress up and look like grown-ups for a night.




While Vegas is a ton of fun, we both agree that it can get overwhelming. B had smartly arranged for a rental car for a day so we could go check out the Red Rock area. It was beautiful, although a bit chilly compared to the Strip. Of course, being the fatty food lovers that we are, the day trip began with lunch at In-and-Out. We don't have those here in Oregon, so it was something we had looked forward to. It was pretty good, although Burgerville gives it a run for its money - especially in terms of the novelty food since In and Out only has burgers and fries.




We're total cheapskates, so we each had only budgeted $80 for gambling (money we'd made by selling a camera we rarely used on Craiglist before we left). We tend to like the penny machines and bet the lower end of the bets (9 cents-25 cents depending on the machine). We found this fun fishing game that we played several times over the trip. B accidentally hit the max bet button on one spin, which was $3. Luck was on his side, because that was the winning spin where he got to "go fishing." At this point we were both about even in our winnings, but he had the chance to actually win some real money. He ended up catching fish worth $118, which was pretty exciting on an accidental spin! All in all, that put us up about $60 for the trip right before we were leaving. Despite not losing any money, we earned enough points for a free buffet each (worth $38) right before left. Winning on the slots and a free buffet was a nice way to end the trip.
Us at the buffet:

Winner, winner, chicken dinner:


We had a fantastic trip and really needed that time to reconnect as a couple. Our daily lives can be very busy and stressful, and we both enjoy time away from life to just enjoy each other. I'm confident that year 3 is going to be much better, and this was a perfect start to it.

Stretching the truth

Admittedly I'm someone who stretches the truth for emphasis, even when I don't need to. My commute home might have been an hour and five minutes, but I might say an hour and twelve minutes, as if the real number wasn't already super long. Or I might say I emailed someone 4 times with the same request, when it was really only 3 (still excessive). I have no idea why I do it, but I do know I never do it in a time where the exaggeration is harmful.

Yesterday I was caught in a truth stretch before I even knew it.

We are selling our house. Yes, we've only owned it since September, but with my new job I have to commute an hour. B is also thinking of going back to school, so having less debt would be great. We've also realized we really would rather use our money to travel.

I went to the paint store to get some touch-up paint for our walls. I was chatting with the guy and told him I needed the paint since we were selling. He asked why we were selling such a new house, and I told him we decided we wanted to travel the world. While not a true lie, he clearly took it as "sell everything and backpack across Europe for a year." He asked where all we were going to travel, and rather than correct him, I said "oh, parts of Europe, maybe Taiwan and Singapore, definitely S. America." Sure, we'd love to see those places, but the likelihood of making it to all of them in the near future is slim to none. I have no idea why I was stretching the truth with the paint guy, but it was harmless, and fun to dream about where we would go if we had no debt, no kitties to worry about, and money wasn't an object. Does it really matter if the paint guy thinks I'm actually going to live a free-wheeling life? :)

Watching what you say

The blog world is such an interesting place. A blog sort of feels like a diary. It's easy to forget that the world is reading. It's especially easy to forget that people might be reading that you have NO IDEA are reading. It feels like you're spilling out thoughts to strangers in the blog world, but then you hear from someone who knows you in real life that they were upset about something you said. WHAT? How did you find my blog?

I know that most bloggers struggle with anon/known and how much to say if they blog as themselves. After finding out I'd upset many people, I've done some editing. Here is a public apology to my old co-workers. I don't feel badly about expressing my sadness that they weren't there when I needed them. We were very close, and I felt completely abandonded when I needed some support. I DO feel badly that I said some things on my blog out of anger that I didn't entirely mean. Thankfully at least one co-worker had the balls to call me out, allowed me to apologize, and we moved on.

The parts I haven't edited include the behavior of my nephew and some of the struggles with my in-laws. I stated nothing that wasn't the truth, and I'm okay with people knowing I think my nephew is a spoiled brat. I'm not the only one that thinks that, and I feel badly that this poor child is going to have to enter the world thinking that it revolves around him. Telling your child "no" actually helps them. Really, it does.

We'll see how often I can blog, but I certainly have lots to catch up on. Thanks for hanging in there while I took a break and cleaned house a little bit!

A perfect start to 2010

I can't believe I left that depressing post at the top for so long! The holidays passed pleasantly uneventful. Pre-holidays I had agreed to go to one of the 3 holidays with my in-laws (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years). My husband picked Thanksgiving, since my parents were going and my SIL's in-laws were also going. My nephew (SIL's son) was a crazy, spoiled brat as usual, and my MIL was as polite as she knows how to be, so it was fine. Of course, come Christmas I was going to look like a big a-hole if I didn't go. B didn't pressure me to go, just asked nicely if I would come.

2010 we were determined to start in a better way. 2009 was a bumpy year for us with 3 new jobs between us, a new house, in-law (and parent) issues, sickness, surgery, and general stress. For 2010 we decided to head out for a much-needed 3 day getaway to our favorite bed and breakfast 4 hours away.

Let me count the ways I love Cricketwood Bed and Breakfast:
1. Fresh baked chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies (as many as you want) each night at 7, accompanied by your beverage of choice, delivered to your room.
2. An entire PACKED menu for breakfast each day, and you can pick whatever you want. Baked apple pancakes, custom omelets, chocolate chip bread pudding with rum sauce, french toast, fresh fruit, eggs any style, homemade toast with 5 jelly choices, any breakfast meat imaginable, breakfast casserole.........and on and on.
3. Breakfast is at the time of your choice.
4. Hot tub outside, under the stars (it's in the country).
5. Jetted bathtub in the room.
6. Gas fireplace in the living room, perfect for snuggling up to.
7. Snacks available 24/7 (beer, wine, water, soda, popcorn, biscotti, chips and salsa, nuts, granola bars, mini candy bars, coffee, ice cream).
8. Beverage of your choice delivered to your room before breakfast (coffee, tea, chai, water, milk, oj, etc).
9. Massage tables and video in your room (yet we've never tried it!).
10. Huge TV with satellite cable.
11. An entire closet of DVDs - current ones!
12. A disc golf course on the property.
13. The most lovely couple that runs it.
14. HUGE rooms! Our favorite room has a king-sized bed, two double beds, a full recliner sofa, a dining table, and still has tons of room.
15. The owners put together a very through binder, with maps and reviews, of the best local restaurants.

I could go on forever. We LOVE it there! At $130 a night, it's pretty reasonable considering all that you get. This trip we decided to give snowshoeing a try at Mt. Bachelor (about 25 miles from the B&B). We ended up getting there 15 minutes before the free forestry snowshoeing tour (score!) so we got to try it for free and learn facts about the mountain. The weather was beautiful! Sun trying to peak through, not too cold, but 5 new inches of snow in the last day. We had such a great time, and it was a fantastic way to start 2010!

Joining the rest of the world

My new job is at a large organization, so we have an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP). For those of you unfamiliar with EAP, they allow for free counseling, drug and alcohol help, financial counseling, etc. After some brief marital strife, we decided we might as well take advantage of the free support.

Our meeting with the counselor was a week and a half ago. I'd never been to counseling, so I wasn't sure what to expect. My verdict? Meh. The guy didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. "You're a partnership now, so you have to consult each other and work together." Duh. Okay, so it was helpful that he told us everything we do that is important needs TWO votes. If you don't get 2 votes, you can't do it.

(rest of this post edited away)

Ouch!

I've been trying to post more regularly, but time flies so quickly! I also have a new job that doesn't give me as much "dick around on the internet" time, plus I have an hour commute each way, so I'm tired when I get home!

This week I had a minor surgery on my foot for an ingrown toenail. It seemed like no big deal and it was done in an office visit. HOLY HELL they didn't tell me how much it would hurt after. I couldn't sleep because of the pain, and they hadn't given me any pain meds. Thank goodness for Vicodin left over from Bryan's gallbladder surgery in August. I couldn't get a shoe on my foot, so I went to work with one shoe and Bryan's indoor/outdoor slipper on the other foot.

Today is a bit better and I have 2 shoes on (thankfully running shoes are fine at work on a Friday). I wish they would have warned me that I couldn't exercise for 2 weeks, wouldn't be able to walk well for several days, and would be dealing with pain for up to a month! Yikes! I choose to look at the bright side though..."foot pain" may just get me out of Christmas was the in-laws! In that case, hooray for surgeries!

I can't believe Christmas is next week already. I haven't felt very Christmasy this year, although I'm not completely sure why. This has been a period of a lot of transition, and I think it has left me worn out and too tired to celebrate. I'm looking foward to a calmer 2010 and some major traveling.

Saying goodbye to a rough week

This week was a really rough one for myriad of reasons. I think it's best to leave marital issues alone right now, especially since we're both committed to working on them right now. Suffice to say being married is really hard sometimes.

I also had a rude awakening about how quickly you can no longer be part of a group. I worked at my last job for 6 years, so I was very close with my co-workers. I've only been gone a month, and I already can't relate to them at all. We had our office Christmas Party on Friday, and I felt like such an outsider.

So in happier news, one of my new bosses came to me on Friday and told me he just wanted to let me know how happy he is to have me working with him and he thinks I'm doing a fantastic job. Not only did he tell me this, but he also told the head of the department. The woman who sits behind me overheard him, and chimed in that she thinks I'm super smart and it feels like I've been a part of the team for years. It feels really good to know I made the right move!

Now it's time to bake a bunch of cookies as part of the all-day party that is the Christmas Party at my new job. We have an oral and a silent auction (for charity), a talent show, a white elephant gift exchange, and breakfast/lunch provided by my employer. May THIS Christmas Party be the office fun I was expecting :)