Vegas Vacation 2011

  Friday, January 28th, John and I left for Vegas to meet up with my parents and my brother who is currently temporarily deployed there from his home base in Germany.  We hadn't seen him since Christmas 2009 so it was great to spend time with him.  We spent our days off the strip and our nights on the strip.  Most of our pictures are from our daytime adventures. 

When we landed we met my parents, picked up our rental car and went out to the base to meet my brother. 

After we met up with my brother, he took us to the where the jets take off to head out into the desert to do drills.  We were able to watch jet after jet take off for an hour.  Here are some pics that I got as they were taking off. 

Friday night we walked around on the strip.  I failed to take pictures at night of the sights on the strip.

Saturday we got up early and off we went to explore the sights outside of Vegas. 

First Stop:  Hoover Dam

We went on the Dam tour which led us into the middle of the dam.  At one point we were able to look out the side of the dam out down the river.  I am glad that we spent the extra money for the dam tour versus the visitor's center tour.  Our guide was awesome! 

Recently, this bridge behind us was built for vehicle traffic so that cars, trucks and semi's wouldn't have to drive over the top of the dam.  I believe it was just finished in October 2010.  This bridge is about 900 feet above the Colorado River.  Not only do cars drive across but you can walk across it as well. 

 (See pics below)

Lake Mead--the difference between the dark and light is where the lake normally is.  Right now it is like 70 feet lower than normal, which worries many people in the area.

This plaque marks the division between Nevada and Arizona.  Bonnie is in Nevada and Craig is in Arizona.

The picture below is from when we walked out onto the bridge.  It was sooo high!  But you can get a good picture of the dam from this view. 

After Hoover Dam we set off on another adventure.  Derick told about this place he saw on the History Channel called Pioneer Saloon.  He said it was this really cool place that had a lot of history to it.  He said it was a bar that people go to when they want to leave the strip and go somewhere interesting.  I can tell you it sure was interesting.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of this place, however, I don't need them to remember this place.  Thanks again Derick for the recommendation :)

On Sunday we visited Red Rock Canyon not too far from Vegas (about 30 minutes).  It was the coldest day of the trip and really windy.  Unfortunately, we did not dress for the elements so we mostly had a auto tour of the canyon. 

Burros are run wild in the canyon.  This one was along the side of the road.

Sunday night John and I decided to try Eifel Tower Ride where you ride an elevator up to the top.  As I am afraid of heights, I was a little nervous about the experience but it was awesome!  The view was amazing.  While we were up there, the Belaggio played one of thier water shows and it was so much better looking at it from up above!  Here are so views of Vegas from the top!

We left on Monday.  Our original flight was set to arrive back in Des Moines around 4: 30.  I was excited to be able to get home, unpack, start laundry and relax before heading back to work the next day.  Well those plans changed when our flight from vegas to denver was cancelled.  We were rerouted on a later flight that went to Chicago instead.  That flight was set to land in Des Moines 9:21 pm.  Well when we were getting ready for decent into Des Moines the pilot got one to tell us that we were put in a holding pattern until the ground crew could see if they could de-ice the taxi and runways.  The flight attendants started talking to eachother about how they thought we were going to be diverted to Kansas City.  Fortunately, the were able to de-ice and land in Des Moines around 10:30 PM.  I can tell you that it was one of the worst landings I have ever experienced.  We were just grateful to make it home before the blizzard really hit.  Besides our air travel on Monday we had a wonderful vacation!  It was great to see my brother and spend time with the family! 

LHI 100 Day Challenge Week 3

Well Week two was kind of a bust.  With spending Fri-Monday in Vegas and then Tues-Wed in Nevada at John's parents I didn't get too many workouts in betfor Friday.  I logged some time for the extra walking we did in Vegas and then a workout for Wed night and Thursday night but that was pretty much it!  I have however gone two whole weeks without a pop.  Before this I would challenge myself to limit myself to a pop every other day and would struggle with that goal but so how I did this and how easy it was I don't know. 
Friday on our drive up to MN I was so craving a pop but I was able to pass on it (Hi-C orange isn't pop right ;). 

WEEK THREE GOALS
1.  Get back into the routine of working out.  If I can get in a workout 5 out of 7 days this week I will be happy. 

.2.  Bring my own healthy meal to work each day this week.

3.  No caffeine after noon. 

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy week!

LHI-100 Day Challenge Week 2

WEEK ONE REVIEW:
To review how week one went, to sum it up it did not go as planned.  For my workouts, I started out  strong last Thrusday with one of my running workouts and Friday with a 45 minute walk and 25 minute weights workout.  I got in one yoga session over the weekend and it went all down hill from there.  I ended up in so much pain in my back and ended up going to the Dr and the Chiropractor.  The chiropractor told me to hold back with the running and to walk slowly instead until my back starts feeling better.  So that put a little crimp in my plans.

As for the drinking water i did okay.  I know not every day did I drink my goal amount of water but I drank considerably more.

And breakfast, there were a few days that I ran out the door without eating.  I would grab something to eat when i got to work but then got caught   up in work.  But I would say more days than not I ate breakfast. 

WEEK TWO
I am posting about my week two goals late because we were in vegas.  So this week I have been trying to continue to drink more water and am really thinking about what I am eating.  One of the things that has happened without even realizing it is that since I have been drinking more water, I haven't been drinking pop.  Today will be day 9 without a pop.  I am proud of that because I was drinking at least one pop a day.  So I guess I am going to make that my goal-to not drink pop for two weeks-only 5 more days to go :).

Live Healthy Iowa-The 100 Day Challenge

So tomorrow begins the Live Healthy Iowa-I00 day challenge!  I am on a team of eight.  Each week we track our minutes and what not. Mostly, it is just an excuse to set goals and to exercise and develop healthy habits.  Tonight I got together with Amber and we set some goals that we want to achieve.  Here are my weekly goals.  I am planning to update this every week so I can track how I am doing with my goals.  Wish me luck.  Week One begins tomorrow.

Week One Goals:
1.  Drink More Water-At least 48 ounces a day.  I am terrible at drinking water.  I drink tons of coffee and I need to make sure I am staying hydrated.

2.  Eat Breakfast Everyday

3.  Run for at least 15 of my 45 minutes treadmill workouts 3 times a week and do 2 yoga sessions a week.

Christmas 2010-My Mom's Family

okay, this is my last Christmas posting.  Next year I will have to do better at taking pictures of all of our Christmas Celebrations! 

We spent Christmas Day with my mom's family.  There was a great turnout and we got to spend time with some family that we don't see very often.  That is what the holidays are all about!  That night we spent the night at my parents. 

My Cousin's little Girl!

My cousin Jake working hard on his homeade

Christmas Ornament for his girlfriend.

The finished products!

Family Pictures

We are looking forward to a very happy 2011!!!!!

Christmas 2010-My Dad's Family

Well I am still try to get updated on our holiday celebrations.  On December 18th, we celebrated Christmas with my dad's family!  We had a great time seeing family and catching up with what has been going on in everyone's lives.  This year we played bingo, ate food of course enjoyed the annual Christmas sing-a-long. In 2010, the family welcomed Esme Ruth, Kari and Thomas's baby girl. 2011 sounds like there is a lot to look forward to with all the babies on the way. Congratulations to the parents to be!   Here are some pictures of the celebration! 

Aunt Darcy and Grandma June leading the Christmas Carol Sing-a-long

Aunt Gay with her Grandson Chase

Aunt Julie and my cousin Dawn

My cousin Malisa with her two children Griffen and Aspen

Dawn with her husband Randy and daughter Shaylee

Proud parents to be:  Sherry and Ryan

Me and John with Grandma June

Me and Nicole

John and Derick having a good ole time

Allie cuddling up with her Unlce John

New Orleans and the Gulf Coast

In mid-December John and I took a vacation to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We had a great time in New Orleans walking around and checking out the area. Here are a few pics from our sightseeing.

In front of the Mississippi River

St. Louis Cathedral-Built in 1720, one of the oldest Catholic Cathedrals in the country.

John and his new lady.

Looks like I got a new guy too.  Gotta love the bow.

The infamous Bourbon Street.  I can tell you I would not want to be here on Mardi Gras.

Oak Alley Plantation-we couldn't believe how big the oak trees were. 

Finally, we made it to the beach.  Not too many people out as it was only in the 60's.