As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I recently began a new job as a nanny for good friends of Dusty and I who have an ADORABLE baby girl that is 4 months old. One of the early "perks" of nannying was that the family has an iPad, which they were adament about letting me know I could use. Who could pass up playing around with an iPad? Well... I got so attached that I decided to BUY MY OWN. And I almost feel like that is what has kept me from all that writing... It even feels weird right now typing on a keyboard! So yes, I am now an iPad owner. It has kind of changed my life. Like right now... I have my laptop in hand, and the iPad set up with last weeks episode of Dancing With the Stars to get me through. Amazing (unless you aren't a DWTS fan... which most likely, you aren't.)
Moving on.. Another thing that has kept me away from the internet was a fantastic vacation to Phoenix and... LAS VEGAS! To be honest, I don't even really know where to start. I had my reservations about Vegas before we left... "Sin City" "Gambling capital of the world"... I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to like it and that the city was just going to be way too busy for me. Well, I was all wrong. I had an absolute blast in Las Vegas and know that it was mostly because of the company we kept while visiting. We are super lucky to have great friends, Steph and Danny, from Bethel, who now live in LA (which is MUCH too far for my liking) but we have now established an annual Easter get together since we had great times with them last year spending Easter in Arizona. I was the only one of the bunch who had never before experienced Las Vegas and we had some good times. It was more of a "take in everything you can" in three days type trip, but it did not disappoint. Some of the highlights in picture form...
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| The guys at Caesar's Palace |
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| And the girls! |
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| Vegas by night |
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| Danny, Steph, and Danny's Pencil 'Stache |
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| After winning $20 on slots, I felt like the queen of Vegas. Later that night, however, I felt like a Vegas fool, when I not only lost those winnings, but also gave up $20 more. No more slots for me. |
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| We'll be back! |
Last Sunday was our last day in Vegas, and we were all pretty bummed out to be heading out and saying goodbye. After a stop at Yogurtland just outside of the Strip, Danny gave a marvelous suggestion- why not head back to Arizona, all four of us?! How could we pass that up? So they drove the 4+ hours back to Surprise, AZ and spent Sunday night and all of Monday with us in the sun. It was great! We even got to introduce them to Cayden and Micah, Dusty's nephews, who I think were pretty excited to have another couple of "big kids" around to entertain them.
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| This was also the day I decided not to wear sunscreen for an hour in the sun- I am still paying for that mistake. I woke up this morning just shedding like a snake. SPF is always best, lesson learned. |
Alright, so, I can cross the Vegas recap off my list. What's next you ask? Well how about a little update on our honeymoon?
I am pretty happy to report that Dusty and I have officially figured out two very important aspects to our upcoming marriage:
1~ APARTMENT!
2~ HONEYMOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
So.. an update on housing! When Dusty and I started dating in 2008, he was living with two good friends in downtown St. Paul in the most amazing apartment building EVER! It was close to the action, but still tucked away in the quietness of downtown St. Paul. When Dust had to move out, it was a sad, sad day. We were also disappointed to hear that recently, good friends of ours tried to rent an apartment there and were never contacted back by the property manager, who had a pretty poor track record with follow up. Our dream since getting engaged was to find a more modern (but affordable) condo to buy in downtown St. Paul. We were pretty bummed about a month ago when we realized that that option was not going to work out. Well, on St. Patrick's Day, we drove by the apartment building just for fun and noticed that they were advertising for renters. Dust got his phone out IMMEDIATELY and called the building to leave a voice-mail, but expecting not to hear back since obviously our friends had pretty bad luck attempting to get in touch with the property manager. We were shocked when two days later, on Monday, not only did we get a call, but were suggested an apartment on the top floor with a 180 degree view of the city skyline. We were also asked if we were interested in getting a tour. Um... yes?! We were there by that Friday, fell in LOVE with the apartment, filled out an application, and were accepted last week while we were vacationing in AZ! Not only that, but as it turns out, the old property manager is gone and we have been working with two amazingly helpful landlords who return our calls and are there to help with any questions! :) Can't argue with that! What we are really excited about is living out our dream of being in the city while still living in an affordable, comfortable living space. Definitely an answer to our prayers.
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| Just a little preview of where we will be living- top unit! Of course we will post more pictures as we get to move in (Dust at the beginning of June, and me obviously after) Can't wait to make it our home. |
In other news, I have been keeping busy with wedding plans, reading, and looking forward to my birthday on Wednesday, and Dusty's on Thursday! It has also been great picking up some hours at EagleCrest in the main office doing reception work and hanging out with those old people :) I just love 'em. It's amazing how refreshing they can be after spending seven weeks with teenagers and all day with a four month old!
And what have I been reading, you ask? I got through the second Hunger Games book after seeing the movie (which was amazing) and I am currently on the third. After that, I plan on moving back to good ol' John Grisham since I recently bought two of his novels at Half-Price Books for less than 2 dollars.
OH! I almost forgot about the second half to our trip in Arizona- it was, in a word, RELAXING. Great to spend time with Dusty's mom and step-dad and just kick back and take in the RAYS. We played lots of Dominoes, rented a few movies (The Kids are Alright, which was actually a really good movie, and The Descendants, which I fell asleep during) and figured out a lot of small details for the wedding with Char. As always, we are beyond grateful for their hospitality all the time and can't wait for them to get up to MN as the days wind down to the big day that we have been waiting for! Our trip ended with a smooth flight home sitting behind a rather tall athletic looking man who I soon learned goes by the name of Donovan McNabb. There were two things that I was quite curious about having a former NFL quarterback (of course most recently with the Vikings) on the plane ride home... one, what is Donovan McNabb doing flying coach on Southwest Airlines, and two, what is Donovan McNabb doing flying coach on Southwest Airlines to MINNEAPOLIS?! Should we be expecting some kind of comeback move? I like Donovan McNabb about as much as the next guy, but please, say it ain't so. I felt kinda bad for the guy truthfully when we landed because he hung out by the pop machines alone trying not to be noticed and literally everyone at baggage claim was whispering, "Hey, look, it's Donovan McNabb!" Poor guy.
I think that about does it- see you again in another month for a hopefully just as interesting recap....? Kidding. I will definitely try to post updates more frequently from now on :)
1 comment:
The apartment looks amazing! So fun to be living in downtown St. Paul... maybe a little jealous. Can't wait to see what you do with the inside and that million dollar view!
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