More Vegas and a Fountain Show

Hopefully you had the chance to check out some of my pictures from Las Vegas yesterday. I promised some more pictures and at least one video today. So here goes!

There are seriously too many things to do in Vegas. It can be a bit overwhelming. You cannot possibly do everything all in one trip, so don't even try it. (Unless maybe you're staying for a month or something.) There are tons of great shows, stores, restaurants, bars, hotels, casinos, etc. My husband and I don't really gamble, but we do enjoy a show now and then. We've seen three of Cirque du Soleil's shows: Mystére, The Beatles LOVE, and 'O'. We still love Mystére the best out of those three, but they're all great though! Another fun thing to do in Las Vegas is just walk around and enjoy the sights. The casinos/resorts are incredible, and there are so many fun things to see at each and every one of them. Just about every casino has some sort of attraction, and quite a few have free things to enjoy too!

I came armed with a camera!

After four visits to Vegas, the Bellagio fountains (which are free to view) are still one of my very favorite things to see in Sin City. It obviously doesn't take much to please me. Out of everything to do in Vegas, I just want to watch the free fountain show at Bellagio.

* There's a bar called the Fontana inside the Bellagio, and it has an incredible view of the fountains... try and get a seat outside there at night to watch the fountain shows.

The Bellagio fountains in action:


* sorry it's cut a little short, but you get the idea. (:

We stayed at the Bellagio on a past trip to Vegas, and it's a great property with wonderful rooms. The pool is nice but pretty quiet due to the amount of older people who seem to stay there. A major downside to the Bellagio is the price to stay there and the limited price options when it comes to dining on the property.

* we had a view of the airport, how appropriate *

We stayed at the MGM Grand on this trip, and we were really pleased with the price of food and drinks (minus the pool bar prices). Even room service was reasonably priced. The one major downside to the MGM was its location at the far southern end of The Strip. If you wanted to walk and see the resorts and casinos at the north end, it's quite a hike! 

Either way, we occupied ourselves with plenty of activities at the southern end of the Vegas Strip. The New York, New York has a great dueling piano bar which entertained us for most of our first night in town. The roller coaster there was fun too. (Nothing like Cedar Point, but not bad.) Overall, the MGM was nice but we would prefer something a little closer to the middle of The Strip. Maybe next time we'll stay at the Venetian... has anyone stayed there before?

On this trip to Vegas we also met up with John and his wife Christy. John will be joining my husband as a pilot new hire in their training this month, and it was really nice to meet him and his wife! The four of us walked The Strip, watched the Bellagio fountains, and ended our night with a couple of drinks at the MGM. I look forward to seeing more of them and possibly getting together in Vegas again soon. (:

We had a fun time in Las Vegas but still want to go back with a group of people and rent a pool cabana sometime!
Who's in?! (:

Viva Las Vegas!

Goodbye snowy Colorado...

... hello Las Vegas!

Just last week my husband and I spent a couple of nights in Las Vegas. Long story short, my husband had planned on attending an aviation job fair in Vegas but was hired at an airline in the meantime. We kept our plans to head to Vegas anyway though, because for my birthday a couple months ago he bought me tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's 'O' at Bellagio. Even though he was no longer going to attend the job fair, we had fun and celebrated him getting a position at another airline. Either way, the trip worked out for us and was a chance for us to spend time together before my husband heads off for 6 weeks of training for his new job. (Yes you read that correctly... 6 weeks apart, yuck!)

Since we flew standby, we aimed for the very first Frontier flight to LV. The first flight is usually the best chance when 'non-reving'. Fortunately there were tons of open seats, and we managed to land a couple of seats together rather easily. This early flight put us in Vegas far in advance of our check in time at the MGM Grand, so we just checked our bags with the bell hop and explored 'The Strip'. I never get sick of walking around The Strip and seeing everything that Vegas has to offer. I've been to Vegas 4 times now, and I always see something new. While waiting for our check-in, we walked through City Center, the Bellagio, and Caesar's Palace. The weather was perfect for walking around, because it was not too hot but warm enough for a comfortable dress and sandals. Yay!

I hope you enjoy this picture tour of our first day in Vegas!

There is never a shortage of things to do or see in Las Vegas, but I could imagine it might get a little old if you lived there. Have you been to Vegas and visited any of the places in these pictures?

Join me tomorrow for more about our trip to Las Vegas. I'll be sharing more pictures and videos too. (:

Coming Up

Next week, I'll have more to show you from our quick trip to Vegas!

Things I hope to share next week:

• review of Cirque du Soleil's 'O' at Bellagio
• hopefully lots of fun pictures of the Strip, hotels, etc.
• maybe even a video or two

Hope you've had a great week!

Small Town Nebraska

Just last week I went to Nebraska with my husband. He had to work there for a few days, so I tagged along and, of course, took some pictures too.

Visiting a small town, and seeing that some things never seem to change, can be incredibly comforting. Every once in a while it's really refreshing to escape busy city life and see a little bit of the country. With the hectic nature of our life right now, it was a very welcome environment for us. Things seemed a little slower, and small town pace made us breathe a little easier. Here are some pictures from our time in Nebraska.

Nebraska is one of those states that many people dismiss, but we have visited some really great places there. This visit to Nebraska included a stop at Chimney Rock, and a little historical side trip is always welcome by us! The land is so vast, the pace relaxing, and the sky endless. Nebraska always reminds me to slow down a little, and slow is something I could use more of in life.

Have you seen any of these places before?

Simple Pleasures at Chick-fil-A

I always remind myself that life can often use some excitement brought about by the little things. Just last week, I found myself very excited over something that most people might find silly or trivial. However, it was the first time I had seen anything like this before, and I could not contain my excitement.

Chick-fil-A's food was not the only thing that had me excited. Although the food alone is sort of special, because we don't eat it very often. It's always a welcome treat when we're taking a little road trip and want some delicious fast food. (Did I seriously just use 'delicious' and 'fast food' in the same sentence?!) I normally don't like fast food, but Chick-fil-A is some pretty tasty stuff. I think it might even be real chicken. How can you not love the chicken sandwiches?! You can't pay me to eat a 'burger' from McDonald's. Sick! My life changed the day I experienced my first sandwich from Chick-fil-A, and that was not very long ago. I resisted for a while, because I had not idea it would taste so good for fast food. I digress, so the reason that I was really excited about our meal was actually the awesome little ketchup packets that I found at the bottom of our paper bag!

I mean, how did these little buggers not come into my life sooner? When I was a kid, I used to eat ketchup on almost everything. Once my dad got made at me for putting to much ketchup on my plate when we were eating fish sticks, so just to prove a point, I ate every last drop of it and even licked my plate. Needless to say, he didn't say much after that. Ketchup consumption ensued like it was my job. I probably just loved the colorful condiment because it is full of sugar, and I did not like very many foods that did not taste like sugar. That's probably why I covered most things with ketchup. Ha! Either way, do you have any idea how messy it sometimes is to squeeze ketchup onto fries from those flimsy little packets at most fast food joints? Especially while you're riding in a car. Imagine my amazement to find these cute little ketchup-bottle-shaped packets. Hungry ketchup lovers have the option to dip or squeeze! Plus... this is America, we're all about choices. For real. This little revolutionary ketchup packet made my day. Just so you know I chose to squeeze, and it was a ton of fun.

Sometimes it does not take much to brighten my day. Who would have thought that it was going to be ketchup that would put a smile on my face on that memorable visit to Chick-fil-A?

Have you seen these amazing little dip & squeeze ketchups yet?

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever

I had at least a couple of people express interest in the chocolate chip cookies I mentioned in a blog post from last week. Try not to overcook these, because they stay amazingly soft and chewy for days if you almost under cook them a little.

I promised that I would share the recipe so here goes:

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes about 18 large

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until just warm
• 1 cup packed (7 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips  * I use Ghirardelli semi sweet (use good chocolate chips)

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper, and lower, middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray (I like the parchment paper option... super easy cleanup).

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. (See illustration below) Be careful not to smooth the dough ball's uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart.

(click on image to enlarge)

Step 3 reads: Each half will have a jagged surface where it was ripped from the other. Rotate each piece 90 degrees so that the jagged surface faces up.

Step 4 reads: Jam the halves back together into one ball so that the top surface remains jagged.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown, the outer edges start to harden, and the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a wide metal spatula.

Enjoy!

I hope you love these as much as we do. They're especially tasty straight out of the oven with a glass of milk.