day 2....

We left Vegas Saturday morning and made our way towards the Grand Canyon. Along the way, we stopped to see the Hoover Dam. It was quiet amazing!

Kaz and I are in different states...Arizona and Nevada! [I had another picture in mind BUT NO ONE was around to take it:(]

Day 2 was my FAVORITE day of the whole trip. Kaz and I had such a fun time on the drive and walking around the Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon. Sometimes Kaz wonders about me....We rented a car that had this nifty little ipod plug in it. I tried for awhile to charge my iPhone in it but that didn't work so then I thought well surely you must be able to listen to your music on the ipod through the car speakers. I have an iPod on my phone so I tried it out...I didn't hear anything so then I pressed play on the iPod[on my phone] and the music started. I said, "WOW, that's really cool!" Kaz just looked at me....He said "Amy, you're hearing the music from your phone not through the speakers!" Silly me:) That's just 1 of the CRAZY things I said on the drive...It's amazing how little I know about history and geography...Put me in the dessert and I'm bound to show just how dumb I can be:)

The Grand Canyon was amazing! It honestly didn't look real. I took so many pictures...While it looks so different in person, it all looks the same in pictures:( Words can't even describe the beauty, nor the mind grasp the width and depth of the canyons...It was beautiful! Kaz of course, had to be a boy and tried to get as close to the tips as he could! I told him if he accidentally fell he would cause 2 deaths because I would jump off...I hoped that would be his motivation to stay away from the edges BUT no such luck[more pictures of his mischievousness next week!]

Here are a few pictures from our first day in the Grand Canyon! We even saw snow:) It was beautiful!

the flight & day 1....

Our flight going to Vegas was just PLAIN AWFUL! There are honestly no other words to describe it! We left Charleston at 1030am, flew to DC, then to LA, then to Vegas...We arrived there at 930pm[vegas time], 1230am SC time! SOOOO, it was a LONG day! I have never gotten sick on a plane before BUT I did on the flight from DC to LA. We went through HORRIBLE turbulence for almost an hour. I literally had the blue bag in my lap opened. I thought for sure I was going to be using it:(

my reading material:)

Our flight from DC to LA to Vegas was very long and short lay overs so we had no time to eat dinner WHICH left us starving by the time we actually arrived to Vegas! We decided we would get our luggage and car, and then find somewhere to eat on the way to the Trump. I was completely at a loss for words as we walked through the airport. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it! Show signs were up everywhere along with slot machines covering every possible space you can imagine. Kaz’s bag came through time the conveyer belt started BUT mine was NO WHERE to be found. We literally waited for close to 25 minutes for my bag. I thought it had not made it to Vegas...To say I was worried is an understatement! BUT FINALLY it came through, AND I was SOOOO HAPPY! On the way to the hotel, we stopped and ate at Panda Express. That was one of our favorite meals of the trip! We were starving and it was SO SO GOOD!

We checked into Trump and went to bed! Saturday morning we woke up around 530. I had a very hard time sleeping most of the trip because I was so excited:) SO, we decided to put on our exercise gear and go for a walk on the strip. We had a lot of fun exploring the scenery and all the different hotels. I honestly didn’t know what to expect of Vegas....I’ve heard things but I went into it completely open. I was/am still stocked at the amount of “open porn” in Vegas. It’s EVERYWHERE. Men and women stand on the street corners during the day and night trying to pass out business size cards of naked women. Those cards of course get thrown on the ground so they are everywhere. It really is very sad...We were walking around by 630am and some people were still out from the night...gambling, drunk as could be...It’s very sad.

BUT I enjoyed walking around! The inside of most hotels are unbelievable. The closest that I came to a celebrity was seeing the ROCK[who by the way is my favorite:)] outside the wax museum. When Kaz saw it was him, he just rolled his eyes because he knows I love the Rock. 

Saturday afternoon, I went to the spa at Trump for a classic Trump massage. It was amazing and so relaxing! I also had scheduled for a makeup artist to apply my makeup that night since we had big dinner plans! I LOVED everything she did except 2 things....She made my face really shinny AND put on fake eye lashes. There wasn’t enough time for me to take the makeup off and start over once I got to my room so I tried to “fix it” the best I could....BUT I didn’t like it:( We had dinner reservations at N9NE at The Palms for 815. Whenever I go on vacation, I try to “fit in” to that scene so I made later dinner reservations than we would normally make...I have learned my lesson NEVER to do that again. We finished eating at 1030. I was so tired my eyes were completely bloodshot. I ate 1 tiny piece of steak and struggled to enjoy the whole meal because I was so tired. LESSON LEARNED! We did take 2 pictures BUT I MUST SAY, I HATE THEM....They show how tired I was and I hate the makeup:(

After dinner, we went back to the trump and went to bed to get rested for our trip to the Grand Canyon....more tomorrow!

exhausted....

We are BACK! We had such a fun trip...I honestly hated to see it end...BUT I say that with every vacation:) Our flight going and coming back were awful...We took the redeye this morning at 12:15am[Las Vegas time] and got back to Charleston around 9. We were/are SO TIRED! I was so tired at the airport, I even laid on the floor[VERY unusual for me]. SO, I'm off to take a nap:) But until then a small preview.....

see ya next week...

We are FINALLY leaving for vacation! I'll be in Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon the next couple days! Be back late next week:)

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lately....

lately I've been.....

EATING strawberries and kiwi every morning for breakfast ALONG with 100 calorie pack Mister Salty Choolate Pretzels:) VERY nutritious huh? 

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lately I've been....

WATCHING every season of Dawson's Creek on DVD. I was never allowed to watch this show growing up, but got hooked on it in college. My mom bought me every season on dvd and actually watched them all herself:) I've started watching them again and I can't stop:) This is one of my all time favorite shows! Partly because I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to live on a creek...wake up and see the marsh everyday! AND partly because I really like Joshua Jackson[Pacey!] I never wanted Joey to end up with Dawson because Pacey was always my favorite! NEEDLESS to say, I LOVED the finale:)

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lately I've been...

PREPARING for a women's bible study that I'm leading on Thursday nights...Leading a study isn't really my thing so we shall see what the Lord has in store, BUT I'm really excited! Some of the girls in our Sunday School class will be studying Beth Moore's Breaking Free. I did this study back in college so it's been interesting to see how different my responses are now from then...

lately I've been....

BORED without Miley here. It's CRAZY how much more work I can get done without her here, BUT then once the work is done I'm all alone...She's not here to play with outside or take on walks...I miss my little buddy. BUT she's having the best time at my parents house until we get back from vacation. She LOVES staying there[sometimes I think more than staying here]. My dad spoils her and plays with her all the time. My mom feeds her marshmallows every night. NO WONDER she likes it there! She was so happy last week when I took her out there. When my dad walked in the door, she started smiling, LITERALLY. She shows her teeth when she's happy[it looks just like she's smiling]. She smiled for a good 5 minutes!

lately I've been....

SHOPPING!!! Kaz told me I could buy a nice dress for Vegas. Instead of super nice, I decided I would rather buy 3 for the price of 1:) I'm not quite sure that's what he meant! HaHa

I'm so excited about these dresses! They will be perfect for our dinner reservations while in Vegas:)

Charlotte Russe [photo credit]

 Forever 21 [photo credit]

My dress looks just like this BUT has 3/4 sleeves...I bought some navy blue tights to go underneath:) VERY CUTE outfit!

YoPlait Yogurt!

I love eating strawberry YoPlait yogurt in the morning for breakfast along with whole wheat waffles:) YoPlait has so many delicious flavors of yogurt! 50% of the daily value of calcium is one cup of YoPlait yogurt! That’s a huge plus for me:)

MyBlogSpark recently promoted the YoPlait brand and sent me a wonderful prize pack including a duffel bag, coupon, water bottle, etc. I wanted to pass along a wonderful coupon for YoPlait yogurt! To print the coupon, click here. If you have trouble getting enough Calcium in your diet, you should definitely start including YoPlait into your daily eating habits...That’s just 1 of the benefits:)

"The coupon, prize pack, information and giveaway were all provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark."

CSN Product Review...

I recently purchased a Corner Wheeled Duffel bag[in Navy Blue] from CSN. Kaz and I have been short on luggage and this bag was perfect for us to travel with! The original purchase was a XL and when I got it in the mail, I realized it was way too big to travel with so I called a CSN representative to see if I could exchange it for a smaller size. The process was so easy and fast! The representative was very easy to work with, emailed me a return label, and placed the new order for me. I had the new order within 2 days! The duffel bag was great for our vacation! I love the fact that it is a duffel bag but also rolls. There is so much room and it’s made to be very sturdy! I’m in love with our new luggage BUT also with CSN. The whole process was very easy and the customer service that I received was top level! 

If you haven’t already visited CSN stores, PLEASE do so! They have everything you could possibly want:)

weekend fun...

It has been a LONG weekend! I went up to Columbia Friday afternoon to spend some time with my friends Anne and Dawn. They cooked a yummy Mexican dinner! It was great seeing them and catching up for a bit! 

Saturday, I had a wedding in Columbia! It was a very beautiful wedding[Preview here] BUT a LONG day! 

I got up early Sunday morning, came back to Charleston and started editing the wedding pictures! I worked on them for about 5 hours straight[my eyes were tired:)] before Liz got here! She came to visit because Kaz has been in Asheville for work and Miley is at my parents house. We had such a fun time together! We ate dinner at Taco Boy downtown, walked around for a bit and grabbed dessert at my favorite, Kaminsky's. 

  

Chocolate Cheesecake...

Tollhouse Cookie Pie[my fav!] 

It was an early night...We were both exaushted so we watched a little of the grammy's and hit the bed! Monday we did a little shopping at the outlets:) I bought a few tops BUT this is my NEW favorite top from the Gap! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

OH YEA, Liz introduced me to a song that I can't get out of my head! I LOVE it also:) Forget You by Cee-Lo! I'm constantly singing it...

It was a GREAT weekend, full of fun times and great friends!