Long Overdue

Good day my blogger friends- This is a long overdue update on the life of Vegas Girl! Our life has been very hectic the past week and I did not want my friend to think I have forgotten you- because in reality I have not! As a matter of fact- I pray for many of you daily!

So- you are probably wondering what has been going on to keep us so busy???? Well- let me start!

My sister Elizabeth came to visit us for a week. I was able to take a few days off to spend some time with her- some really fun and exhausting time.

Elizabeth arrived on Sunday night. Monday we spent out and about with Trinity- ( a friend of mine had to work so we watched her daughter) We got pedicures while she got a manicure. It was really cute to watch her sit there still while they massaged her hands, filed her nails and painted her nails. She picked this NEON green color- WOW- she practically glowed in the dark.

Then we took her CICI'S pizza for lunch! That was YUMMY.

Then did some shopping around different stores- just trying to stay away from home since Paul was doing homework and working on a big school project- and he definitely did not need the distractions of 3 ladies!

After we were done watching Trinity Elizabeth and I went to dinner and a movie. We went to an awful Mexican restaurant (new to me) and to watch a movie that we both thought would be cute but ended up being a waste of time! (she is just not that into you)

Tuesday was an exhausting day! We started our morning off rushed- We ran Paul to his stop for the car pool and realized we missed the car pool so we ended up making the trip to California to drop him off. The remainder of that day is somewhat a blurr to me-

Wednesday we had a major workout! We woke up at 5:00 am- ran Paul to his stop (made it this time Praise the Lord for this) by 10:00 am we were at Pastor Mario and Gabby's home ready to help them with the donations that they receive monthly. The truck arrived FULL of goodies. It is amazing how God blesses them with these things. We helped unload the truck, then sort the items since they come in a mess- nothing is sorted it is just boxed and given. Once we had everything sorted we started making bags for the church members- we were responsible for the toilet paper and paper towels. Each bag got 6 rolls of toilet paper and 2 rolls of paper towels. After we prepared approximately 50 bags we then got the lovely task of sorting the diapers by size. We worked hard and were sore the next day! It is a blessing that God blesses the church with these donations. We even got to take some home goodies ourselves!

Thursday was back to work for me- I had piles of work to do.

Friday work again and then dinner and a movie with Elizabeth. We went with a dear friend of mine. It was supposed to be a girls night out but Paul really wanted to join us. (I think he thought he might miss out on something) We ate at RE tapas which is a favorite of mine and then we watched confessions of a shopaholic. It was a cute movie.

Saturday I took Elizabeth to get her hair cut and styled- since we were going to a show (I got an awesome deal for 3 tickets). The show we went to was O by Cirque de Soleil. Really good show.
Saturday was our last hectic day-

Sunday was an actual day of rest for all of us.

Monday morning Elizabeth left me to go back home- I was sad to see her go but I know that Mike was anxiously waiting for her.

That about wraps up my long week. I know that practically a whole week has gone by but it has been busy and uneventful- just the regular rat race-

Signing off for now... I need to post many pictures but will call it a night for now.

I am actually having some blog withdrawal! HA- never thought I would say that!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day my blogger friends.

Paul and I decided to have our "special" dinner last night to avoid the crazy madness on Valentines day in Las Vegas.

Paul took me to Pannevino an Italian restaurant. Then after dinner he took me to buy some clothes- yes I said clothes! Paul helped me pick them out!

I am so Thankful for a wonderful husband.

Valentines Day Flowers

Look at what my FABULOUS girls did for me!!!! They bought me these wonderful flowers for Valentines Day. They came in today and I was totally surprised! Thank you!

Friends

It never ceases to amaze me how my friends are so good to me. Since Paul is out of town I have had so many offers from my friends to have me come over and stay with them until Paul gets back. And then today Brandon and LouAnne wanted to take me out to dinner with them- they want to make sure that I am taking care of myself while Paul is not here. They are very sweet- almost every time Paul travels they either have me over for dinner or take me out. I know that God sends them my way- Thank you GOD.
So, like I said, today they invited me to go to dinner with them. They took me to Stuart Andersons Black Angus. I had a delicious piece of steak with veggies and mashed potatoes. Friends are so special to me!
Thank you LouAnne and Brandon for a wonderful time out-

Empanda day

Finally a break - no work with me tonight- what a nice little break. I just got off the phone with Paul. It is so hard to be away from each other. He is enjoying the snow of Denver. I am anxious for his return Thursday.

Last night after work I went to Fashion Bug since they were having a HUGE 70% off sale. I found some really comfortable shoes for $6.00. I also got my sister (who comes out to visit on Sunday :-) and needs some clothes while she is here) a neat pair of jeans. I got a sweater for $5.00 and a nice shirt for work for $2.23- Can you believe those deals....

Today I made lunch for the office.

This is where it all begins. I make the mixture for the empanadas. It is a combination of ground beef, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, green olives, onions, garlic and spices. Some Argentine people put raisins in their mixture but I can never get past the fact that it reminds me of cockroaches and besides that I really do not care for raisins.

Then I stuff the tapas- I don't make these from scratch... it is too complicated and it is just as cheap to buy them pre-done.

Then I baked them at 350 for 45 minutes and tada.... lunch is ready!

Of course I could not make JUST empanadas for lunch. We also had a veggie platter, chips and angel food cake with berries and cool whip.

Lunch was a success. I even managed to entice Lou to stay for lunch- he usually does not eat with us but this time he was more than happy to join us!

Last, this is the bulletin board in our lunch room. I try to do something every month- This month I put everyone's Valentines gift in a bag and then hung it up along with the potluck sign up. We are having a Pita Pot luck. Everyone is bringing something that could be used to fill a pita. I will be making chicken salad and a dessert. I believe I will be doing snicker salad. I have not made this salad (dessert) for the office so I think they may enjoy it.

I will have to post the pictures of the process in making the snickers salad.

Well- gotta close for today... my eyes are getting heavy and I want to get a good nights sleep since tomorrow will be a BIG day.... lots to do!

only 5 days until Lizzie comes to visit! I am starting to get anxious!

Sleep

It is amazing what sleep or lack of sleep does to a person. Monday was a rough day. Between work and just feeling BLAH- sometimes a good night sleep is all I need. I have been putting in many hours with carpooling with Paul- Basically my schedule consists of- Get up at 4:15 am. Leave the house at 5:15 get to work at 5:30 (yes I only live 15 minutes from work!) then work until 5:30 or so... then home to a quick dinner and back to work- at home- I bring stacks of work to do- Not that I am complaining- because I am not- I was just giving the background to my tired state! So, to make a long story short- I set myself up at the computer and started on the first file I brought home... My eyes started to get heavy and before I know it I am sleeping.
I was out by 8:00 pm. I slept through the whole night and did not get up until the alarm went off. I guess my body finally said ENOUGH. I am rested but OH so looking forward to getting myself in bed tonight.... just 8 more files to finish before I put retire to bed.
12 days until my sister comes to visit! I am so anxious to some time off with her! HOORAY!
Well, work is calling me.... gotta go... TATA for now.

Week 5 Project 365

Today was a wonderful day at church. We had the Pottersfield visiting. The speaker molded a pot while he preached. He was very good and watching him make a pot was fabulous.
I wish I would have known that we could take pictures because I would have taken my camera and posted some pictures of the pot in making! It was awesome!

Here is my first picture for posting! This orchid was so pretty I just had to take a picture of it! I really thing orchids are pretty but I have not had much success with them- I tend to just kill them!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Poppie. She is just laying on me trying to sleep! She is a good dog! She is so loving and a very calm dog! I am so thankful that she is in a good home and that she has adjusted so well.

I know that this picture is not a recent one but I was just going through some of my pictures and I found a few that I really wanted to share with you since I really like the pictures. This is a bald eagle that we saw in Ketchikan Alaska. This was taken on one of vacations. Isn't he a beauty.

Here is another picture of us in Ketchikan- We truly enjoyed this trip! I would really like to take my parents to Alaska- I believe they would really enjoy seeing the beauty of Alaska.

Here is my darling niece. She has become a good traveler. She has been on cruises and many trips. Yesterday I was able to talk to her on the phone and I asked her if she wanted to come and visit me and Paul this summer for two weeks. She seemed like she really wanted to .... Let's see how she feels once the time comes up!

This is a picture that Paul took at Burchart Gardens in Victoria Canada. This picture is AWESOME. I am not sure how he took it so well but he captured a beautiful picture.

This is a picture of my parents- I have really missed them lately and I wanted all you bloggers to see what they look like. I am the farthest away from them and there are days which I really wish we lived closer! I miss them and the good times we all have together!

Well- blogging time is over... I have dishes to wash- we ate a yummy bbq chicken that we grilled out and I made this new root vegetable casserole. It was really good but I now have to make sure that the kitchen gets cleaned up!