City Center

I am officially a new employee at the City Center.  There are four properties (in one), and I'll be working at The Aria Resort & Casino.  Check the website out, it's really quite amazing!  http://www.citycenter.com/.  I start training on December 2nd and start work on December 16th.  I'll be working as a casino accountant.  I feel really blessed to have been hired.  I was watching the news last night and they reported that there were over 160,000 applicants, 50,000 interviews, and 12,000 people hired.  I'm really excited to go back to work.

The downfall is that I have back problems from my accident and it gets painful for me to sit for long periods of time.  I've recently come out of the closet with this back thing.  I've never let on to anyone about the agony of it.  Mostly because I don't want anyone's sympathy and also because I'm a tough chick and don't want to be thought of as a decrepit... which I am not!  I'm fine as long as I don't have to sit for a long time!  I'll still kick your butt in the gym, he he.  I must say that it feels good to be completely honest though.  Anyway, I worked at home for a while doing bookkeeping part-time but I'm really needing to get out of the house and have interaction with others.  I feel like Heavenly Father will bless me to have the strength if this is what I'm supposed to be doing.  He knows that I NEED to do this so I'm going to be as strong in my faith as I can be!

I would love for anyone to come on down and see me!  I'll give you a tour of the property.  Oh ya... this is really cool... I get paid for an hour over lunch AND they feed me.  It's a buffet, and so with that said, it's going to be really tempting to be out of control with the food.  I have a great shift... 7:30 am - 3:30 pm which means that I'll miss out on the rush hour traffic.  MGM is a great company to work for.  They go above and beyond with thier benefits and treat thier employees really good from what I've heard.  Good times, I'm excited!

Highlights of Summer 2009

I had a really good summer this year. I'll pick up from my previous "Stadium of Fire" post which is also a part of my highlights for the summer.

I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but Sadie and I had the great opportunity of going to girls camp with the church. I had the privelege of being a mom to 19 teenage girls for almost a week, what a job!  Sadie is not a member but she still had a really good time.  All the girls were very warm and welcoming to her and we both had a real blast and really amazing spiritual experiences. News update: I am no longer in the Young Women's Presidency as the presidency was released before I went back up to Canada at the end of July.  We were due to be released as we served for more than 2.5 years but man did it fly by!  Just a quick note:  Thanks to all you beautiful, dynamic leaders who I served with, you ladies are amazing in every way!  I really enjoyed my calling and was very sad to not be a part of it anymore. It's amazing how attached you can get to those girls... even if they are crazy, annoying teenagers!

At girls camp... me on the right.

The other leaders and I looking like Charlie's Angels.

Sadie hanging out in her tent with her group of friends.

For mine and Sadie's birthdays, Chad surprised us with tickets to the Lion King Broadway at the Mandalay Bay - how appropriate for two Leo's birthdays! I'm actually a cusp which means that I was born on the borderline day (Aug 23rd) where the horoscopes change making me a Leo and a Virgo. I really don't follow horoscopes and all that jazz, but I truly am a Leo at heart (with Virgo tendencies). Just ask Chad... all I can say is thank goodness I have some of the Virgo tendencies because we know how lion's can be... mostly in the dominating department. (Tangent #1 - I'll explain later.) Anyway, it was a really good show, and the music was phenomenal! We also got spoiled going out for dinner at Magianno's. We are frequents there. Good Italian food in a nice restaurant with a great view of the strip, what more can you ask for? Forget about it!!! (Said with an Italian accent.)

Chad had to leave for Texas at the end of July for his officer training so Sadie and I drove up to Canada... yes, drove. It was a long way but we made it fun by making it longer (I know, right?). What I mean is that we went on a very slow, but very beautiful route. We went up through Montana through Whitefish, into British Columbia through the mountains, and stayed in hotels along the way. We spent a couple of nights in Banff (which is one of my most favourite places in the world). My mom, sister, and her kids met us there where we all hung out and just... hung out and had fun. It was nice to just relax after all that driving. We did an average of 5 hours a day for 5 days.  It was really not that bad but when you're the only one driving with a 14 year old as a travel companion it can get long. Sorry Sadie... I'm really just kidding, she was great and we had a blast travelling all that way together. She was my little d.j., gps navigator, and was great company.

It was great to be in Canada for a month. I got to be a part of things I otherwise wouldn't have been a part of had I not gone for that long. This includes watching my nieces at dance camp, watching my niece and nephew in swim camp, making apple butter with my mom with apples from her tree, hanging out at the beach and eating ice cream and other good frozen treats with family, holding my dads hand as he is going through a difficult time, being my sisters date at her high school reunion (her hubby couldn't go), seeing friends I hardly get to see, hanging out with teenagers (Sadie's friends who also call me aunty), taking the Zodiak down the river with my mom and her friends, running into old friends/schoolmates that I haven't seen in years which seemed like every time I'd leave the house.Rocky is not a very big place, and everyone pretty much knows who everyone else is... that is one thing I miss about living in a town. It was funny when I ran into a girl in the grocery store I haven't seen since high school and she said "oh ya, I heard you were in town". You've gotta love it! I guess that's my way of feeling like a celebrity.

My awesome friend Shar.

 Shar's darling little girl and her cute new baby .

Brooklyn at dance camp.

And Megan (modelling her new glasses)...

Dawson

Sadie & Benson.

My sister and I going to her reunion.

Brooklyn basking in the sun.

Our hotel in Banff.

The weather in Alberta was amazing, as it always is. I love the variety of temperatures and weather where it can range anywhere from negative fourty to positive fourty degrees Celsius. The seasons there are so obvious that it's hard not to be embraced by the beauty of them. The sting of the cold as the winter approaches eludes you as the snow falls, and where the frost unequivocally takes over covering everything in sight with absolutely no prejudice. There is nothing more peaceful than a white, snowy day where everything falls silent as though in awe of the beauty it's suddenly surrounded with. The summers are capable of storms that are so volatile that it's never known what beautiful wonder will become of them. Whether it be a quick shower that simply kisses the foliage or an introduction to a rainstorm abundant with lightning, thunder, haunting clouds, and warm winds which can last for hours before the rain is finally given permission to grace the earth. The empowerment of being one with an awe-inspiring lightning and thunderstorm is a reminder of the worth each of us has been given, how very much a part of nature and a powerful existence we are. The fall arrives, and the trees shed their outer beauty so they can prepare for the cold winter to be welcomed. Before the leaves fall they reveal the beautiful colours of their spirits born to them by a loving God, who through the beauty of His creations, shows us how much He loves us. The spring can be somewhat of a conundrum. Mother nature seems to sometimes test our patience to see if we are worthy of an early spring season. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, she decides to send a beautiful day that promises that the wrath of winter has left, and that we will be blessed with a regeneration of beauty and life. (Tangent #2)

I don't mean to go on tangents, but that's what happens when I write. Hence, I have problems sitting down and writing a simple entry. There's a lot I have to control. You wouldn't want to trade me brains for a day, there are a lot of complexities going on in there... and it never ends.

Now that you have a taste of how mother nature is in Alberta, I'll continue...

We mustn't forget the day that I picked Chad up from the airport after not seeing him for an entire month! Let's just say that we ran into each other's arms and didn't let go for approximately two days after. We hung out in Calgary the next day and had fun just being together. Afterwards we went to Rocky, and everyone in my family was happy to see Chad, as always. Even though he didn't have much time there before we had to drive back to Vegas we still managed to have lots of fun in our remaining week.

We took my mom and Terry's quads out for a couple of days and rode around on trails in the forest which Chad loved... including getting stuck dozens of times! I've never gotten so many mosquito bites as I did the first day we went quadding. (For the Americans reading, quadding means four-wheeling). We didn't bring insect repellent which wasn't a good idea because it was marshy which essentially amounts to major mosquito breeding grounds!  We did some other fun stuff, mostly hung out with the family.  Chad made a cake with my niece and nephew which was really cute.  My niece Brooklyn told me how she was going to sprinkle some love and a little laughter and smiles in the cake so when everyone ate it they would laugh and smile the whole time.  We surely did laugh and smile the whole time we all ate it.  She is truly a little gem. 

Chad trying to rescue me out of the big mud puddle I thought I was tough enough to get through. 

Chad winching himself out of a very deep mud hole.

Chad and I had a long but good trip driving home. We bought some heavy metal cd's for the ride (which I loved listening to when I was a teenager), and rocked out almost the entire way home. We had a wicked time! I'm think I turned Chad into a Metallica fan, or maybe he already became one from Guitar Hero. We also went a long way home and drove through the beautiful mountains.  We stopped at the Chateau in Lake Louise and had lunch with a view of le Lac Louise which is absolutely breathtaking!  Chad ordered a gourmet hamburger and he swears it's the best he's ever had.  The below picture I took on our way through Banff National Park... that's a glacier.

Like I said, it was a great summer and I love creating memories. I try to make the most of my time when I'm there and try to see everyone but sometimes it seems impossible. I've come to accept that there's a good portion of peeps I won't get to see until I move back. There's never enough time to do everything in the short time I'm there. You wouldn't think a month is a short time but it is when you haven't been home much in over 5 years. I love my life (yes, in Vegas too) despite the rantings you may have heard about that. I'm going to savour every moment here because we don't have much time left in smokin' hot Vegas. 1.5 years is going to go by really fast as it already has! I'm really proud to tell people I live here. Its been a really great adventure so far. But, I couldn't be here for much longer than what is necessary. I'm a winter girl, and I need my seasons!