Los Cabos

Friday morning we finally jetted off to our much anticipated vacation. Rebecca, Cody, Mike & I were so excited to get out of town and leave the real world behind...and to celebrate our 30th birthdays.

My mom drove us to the airport at what felt like the crack of dawn. We made it through security, through the Starbucks line and on to the plane with no problems...tired, but excited. Mike and I skipped our actual vacation last year in order to save money to buy the new house. I think it was the longest stretch in my adult life without a week long (plus) vacation (and no, I'm not counting Christmas with 30+ people). Our last "big" vacation was our honeymoon...so we were very excited about getting out of town!!

We were lucky enough to be offered a week at my co-worker's timeshare in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The price tag was too good to turn down, and cruise prices were a bit high because of the season. The room my friend owns as part of her timeshare is a two-bedroom...with a hot tub on the balcony...that faces the Sea of Cortez (and technically we can see the Pacific from our balcony).

We knew the first night would be spent in a "lesser" room because timeshare weeks begin on Saturday or Sunday, but we needed to start our vacation on a Friday. However, when we arrived, the hotel staff wasn't expecting us...at all...not until Sunday!! Somehow (still not sure how) the reservation got screwed up and we had no room...not even a "lesser" one. I tried not to panic, and called Candice (my awesome co-worker) to see if she had the confirmation e-mail somewhere. Funny...until that very moment, I hadn't even thought to ask her for it.

Candice was on her way to work, so she said she would look for it when she got there. I could tell she was NOT happy with the hotel's screw-up, but it obviously was not HER fault...and we were all fine and happy to NOT be in Phoenix. The reservations people took me to a small room and explained they had no record of our dates being 02/26/10-03/05/10...only a reservation from 02/28/10-03/05/10. Uh...not so much.

The next fun bit was when the (very nice) reservations lady explained the pricing for the two options we had for the next two nights. The price for two nights...in a "lesser" room than we had already paid for was MORE than we paid for seven nights in Candice's room. I refused the offers...even though the continued to drop in price...until they randomly exclaimed the problem was no more and we miraculously had a room. It would be a two bedroom, but no hot tub. And it would be for two nights, not one...but it was not going to cost us any more money. We were all happy with that. (It took nearly two hours to get resolved...and we still have NO idea what happened. We are assuming they found our correct reservation.)

The room wasn't ready, so we headed to the beach for lunch. We sat down and ordered something to drink and guacamole and chips. Holy crap- the guacamole was fan-freaking-tastic!! We've had it with nearly every meal since....well, at least the meals we have eaten at the hotel/beach. Cody & I both ate shrimp tacos for lunch...they were so good!! A short time later, our room was finally ready. It was a nice room..very big & both bedrooms were nice. After we got into the room, we took a short cab ride to the local Walmart to pick up some snacks & water bottles. Friday was very low key...we went to bed before 10pm (how lame are we?) and slept late Saturday morning. We woke up...had guacamole at the beach...and then walked around the marina shopping area.
After a relaxing day at the beach, we got cleaned up and headed to dinner. We ate a place named "Alexander's". The food was fabulous!! Mike and I shared steak of some kind that was flambeed at our table. The flavor was delicious!! After a very filling, very yummy meal, we walked to Cabo Wabo.

I, of course, was hoping to see Sammy Hagar...this was my second visit to Cabo Wabo...and my second hope of seeing Sammy Hagar there. Unfortunately, we were not that lucky. There was a great cover band playing...so we stayed and enjoyed the live music and cool atmosphere for a couple of hours.

We took a cab back to the hotel and headed to bed...knowing Sunday would be an early morning.

Bon Jovi Baby!!

We wait and wait and wait for Bon Jovi to release their new album...then we sing and sing and sing until we have the songs memorized...then we are back to the waiting game. We wait and wait and wait until the concert date is announced...buy our tickets...nearly pee our pants with excitement and then we are back to the waiting game until the concert date arrives.

This is about a 2-3 year process of waiting, purchasing, and nearly peeing our pants until we get to see our beloved Bon Jovi perform an even better show than the last.

Mike asks me every time we buy tickets WHY we do this EVERY time...There is no way to describe WHY and the pictures never do it all justice. This year was no different...

Our group was mostly the same united few- Richelle, Carol and myself...plus we added Sydney and Peggy to the excitement, but sadly we lost Shanna.

We also added a fun twist with Jon's RED guitar and Richie's red hat and red shirt. This (sadly) was one of my favorite parts.

All the music was good...actually it was excellent.

This year we also got the CRAZY LADY special addition to the concert. She was a fun treat...for all of us. This is just one fun example.

We had a great time...there was one casualty- my favorite purse. The drunk morons behind us kicked over their beer...causing it to drown my very cute, very favorite, very expensive black purse...now smells like cheap beer. Ugh. I tried not to freak out...and hopefully it will be taken care of soon. Too bad the drunk idiots left BEFORE I knew about my super cute purse...*sigh*

Great concert...great company...great way to justify buying yourself a new purse for your 30th birthday when you are in California. Hopefully I can find one to justify my justification (and hopefully my super cute purse won't smell like cheap beer for too much longer...)

A Surprise Celebration

Carol & I have been really missing each other lately...well everyday since we moved in September. Our schedules have been CRAZY lately, so we have struggled to figure out how and when and where we can spend some time together. Carol sent an e-mail a few weeks ago asking if Mountain Ridge High School was close to my house....Emma had a dance thingy there on Friday 02/19...so maybe if the high school was close, we could hang out for a bit...maybe get some dessert. I was super excited because Mountain Ridge is SO close that our kids will go there someday!! Yay!! I looked forward to spending some time with Carol (and Richelle too) EVERY single day from the second I received the e-mail, until the day arrived.

When the day arrived, I was exhausted and STRESSED. Work has been ridiculously overwhelming lately...and I was really starting to feel the pressure to have my case load a t a stopping point before leaving for vacation the following Friday (02/26). Richelle called me at some point during the day to tell me she thought we should surprise Carol and take her to our new West Side Melting Pot for our favorite Chocolate Fondue. I remember her telling me that idea and I remember thinking it sounded like a great idea...but then I just remember feeling lucky to leave work in enough time to get home before Richelle and Carol were picking me up.

I walked in the door about 10 minutes before they showed up...which is sad because I think they picked me up a few minutes for 8pm. I looked like hell and was exhausted...I had planned on at least looking in the mirror, but I had barely set my stuff and then the door bell rang. **sigh**

I opened the door and there were Richelle and Carol...pretty as ever. All dressed up, cute hair, cute make-up, cute jewelry, etc...and then there was me...jeans, tennis shoes, 15 hour old make-up, etc. I was a lot more discouraged AFTER I opened the door.

We drove to the Melting Pot and after Richelle nearly choked me out with her braking erratically in the parking lot...we walked into the restaurant. I was slightly embarrassed with my tennis shoes and the black circles under my eyes, but was excited to spend some girl time with Carol & Richelle.

While Richelle checked on our reservation, someone tapped me on the shoulder...I turned around to see my girlfriend Rebecca standing there. She was on the phone with someone, so I hugged her and thought to myself how funny that she was there (presumably with her husband, Cody) too. After I turned back around towards Richelle and Carol, I heard Rebecca say she was "at the Melting Pot to celebrate Randi's birthday." I spun around to see a huge smile on her face...then spun back around to see a puzzled look on Carol's face.

I then followed Carol and Richelle...and Rebecca to our table. I was SHOCKED to turn the corner and see my sister's, my mom...(almost) all of the most important females in my life...Carlys, Wendy, Robyn, Regina, Richelle, Raelynn, Shanna, Carol, Rebecca & Sydney. I was so excited...and so MAD that I looked like CRAP at my own 30th birthday party!!

I got over it quickly and enjoyed my favorite meal- cheese and chocolate with some of my favorite ladies. We had a great time together...laughing and talking. Wendy's birthday is a about a week before mine, so it was fun to celebrate her special day too.

After opening some fun gifts, and eating a lot of calories...we had to say goodbye. It was a great start to the celebration of 30 years on this amazing Earth.

Quick Trip

Several months ago we found out Grammy (my mother's mother) had colon cancer. I was never given specifics...and I'm not sure my dad was told any specifics either...only that she was having surgery to remove the tumors in her colon. We heard random updates that she was doing better/fine (recovering...) and that was that...until I got a phone call from my cousin Jenni.

Jenni let me know the cancer had spread to other organs and she wasn't well. She had very minimal information, but nobody else had a chance to call and let us know. I was thankful for the information. As soon as we hung up, I called my dad and asked if he had heard anything. I knew the answer was no...he would have let each of us know if there had any updates.

Long story short, I thought we should make the drive to St. George for a quick visit with Grammy. So off we drove...Richelle, Regina, Raelynn & Carlys...with Ryan's family joining us as well.

We left Friday afternoon and got to Vegas around dinner time. Ryan's family met us in Vegas for dinner before they continued on to St. George for the night. Our car headed to the outlet mall and then to the Bellagio...then to our hotel. We of course made our *normal* Coach Factory Store visit...and walked around a bit. We took Carlys to see the beauty of the Bellagio flower gardens and then we stood outside near the fountain to see the water show and hear the beautiful music.

Before heading to our hotel, we stopped off for Gelato...even Raelynn agreed to walk all the way through the Bellagio casino and down through the mall area to get our treat. I LOVE Gelato...Richelle and I both got blackberry cheesecake. Yum!!

We thought we could get by with one hotel room...we just needed a roll-away bed for Raelynn. That idea would have worked perfectly...if the hotel actually had roll-away beds. We found a Walmart in area I would compare to South Phoenix...and Carlys was inside FOREVER. We were honestly at a place I wouldn't hang out without back-up. It was a LONG 30 minutes...yes, she was inside for THIRTY minutes!! We needed some sort of air mattress for Raelynn...I wish I would have taken pictures of what she bought!! It worked perfectly, but it was hilarious. A child-sized pink Disney Princess air mattress!! It was a long as Raelynn, but I'm not sure if it was as wide. Like I said, it ended up being perfect, but she was NOT happy with it the first night. Too funny.

After the Walmart parking-lot experience, we headed to the hotel. We were all exhausted on the ride back to the hotel...Raelynn even told us "Don't talk to me...it's past my bedtime."

Saturday morning we woke up and headed for St. George. I was the lucky driver and it dumped rain nearly the entire way. I kept thinking we would outrun the storm, but we didn't. We were slightly confused on the time changes from Arizona to Nevada to Utah...so we were a bit later than expected when we finally arrived at my cousin Becca's house.

We spent the afternoon catching up and looking at old family pictures. A year or two ago I asked my Grammy if she had any pictures of my mother when she was younger. My Uncle Alan has worked very hard scanning in hundreds of family pictures dating all the way back to the 30's. It was so fun to see pictures of my mom and her family. It was also fun to see pictures of my Uncle David and Aunt Sandy. We spent soooo much time at their house growing up. I love them so much and all of their children too. We were once so close...it makes me sad it has been so long since those fun filled Summer days.


Uncle David and Aunt Sandy have both passed away. I thought losing my mother was hard, but the thought of losing both my parents...ugh. It breaks my heart.


It was so great to see that side of the family...it's been years. Grammy came for the wedding, but before that I hadn't seen her in 3-4 years. I think the last time I saw my cousins was at Jenni's wedding 10 years ago...or maybe Kyle's funeral (nearing the decade mark)...but I don't remember. I hope we continue to have contact with them...and not just for funerals.



I have so much to say about the whole cancer issue, but I don' think this is the right forum for it. Maybe when it's not so fresh I will be able to say something without anger about certain things... (p.s. raw food diets don't cure colon cancer. ...I'm just sayin')


We left Becca's and headed back to Vegas. We stopped for dinner in St. George with Ryan's family. I love those little girls!! I wish they lived closer...I hate not being a part if their everday life!! We didn't get back to Vegas until late and we were all exhausted (again). I didn't sleep well with so much on my mind, but felt rested when I was the first one up and ready. After brunch at Mimi's, we headed for home.

I am so thankful for my family. I am truly blessed to have had two loving parents that raised us to be good people, hard workers, etc. We are so lucky to have Carlys in our family...she adds so much. There aren't words. I love her so much and truly feel like I was lucky enough to be raised by the most wonderful woman in the world and now I get to have an equally wonderful woman help guide me through these years of my life. I don't know what we'd do without her sweet spirit in our everyday lives.