March 28, 2007

Las Vegas or Bust

Friday is a really big day for me. I’m leaving Atlanta alone for a five hour plane ride to Las Vegas where I’ll meet my sister in the airport there for a long girls weekend. I’ve been looking forward to this all month.

Most people who know me have been shocked to find out that I’m just taking off for four days to do whatever I want to do in Las Vegas. Most people know I don’t have an adventurous or spontaneous bone in my body. Well now I’m turning over a new leaf in life.

It all started a month ago when I turned 30. It was very depressing, and it had nothing to do with age. We should have been welcoming a new baby into our family that same week, but it didn’t work out that way. I had thought we would be busy, sleep deprived, and worn out from chasing a three year old and caring for an infant. We were looking forward to going through the baby days all over again. Instead we are well rested, relaxed, and enjoying Caleb who is very fun and low maintenance these days. Our life is good, but it’s just not what we were expecting this March to look like.

That’s when I decided to spice up my life a little. I’m dependable, responsible, safe, and boring. I’m tired of being the type of person who’s in bed by 9 pm every night and always has at least eight hours of sleep. I’m also tired of having every meal that we’ll eat planned out two weeks in advance. Organization is good, but I need adventure. I called my sister and we agreed to meet for a weekend in Las Vegas.

We aren’t just going to Vegas. We are going all out while we are there. We are staying at the Venetian. We hear it’s one of the nicest hotels on the strip. We have great dinner reservations every night where I’m going to branch out and try new things. We have great tickets to see the Cirque de Soleil show O at the Bellagio. The big adventure comes in on Sunday when we are picked up at our hotel by limo and taken to the helicopter pad for a four hour tour over the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. I’m nervous just thinking about it. We’ll descend 4,000 feet to eat a picnic lunch in the base of the Grand Canyon. Wow! Kayla and I have never been any further west than Texas, so this is really exciting.

We have planned a ton of other things while there. We figure we are only going once so we want to see it all. Even though we are Baptists, I’ll have to play at least a round or two of Blackjack in one of the casinos. A big thanks to my friend Jessica who taught me all of the rules and practiced with me while I was in Fort Worth last week. I’ll probably pull a slot machine once or twice too. After all this is about new experiences!

I really appreciate a husband who has been completely supportive of me taking off and willing to take care of Caleb in my absence.

Also I’m blessed to have my sister Kayla. There is nothing like having a sister. She represents every thing I’m not. She’s fun, spontaneous, a risk taker, a traveler, and creative. I can’t wait to have four days with her. Maybe she’ll rub off on me. How can two people from the same family turn out so differently?

I am a little nervous about the trip, but I’m sure the knot in my stomach will loosen up as the weekend progresses. And I’m going to try really hard to stay up past 10 pm every night we are there!