Meet me in .....Vegas!!!!

When my sister called a few weeks ago to let me know she would be in Vegas this month with her husband and they wanted us to meet them, I jumped at the chance to see her! Trav quickly called work and within 15 minutes he had the weekend off and our plans were set to head out there. Leanna and her family moved to St. Louis a few years ago. While it's hard not having them live just a few minutes away, it's really fun visiting a new place and seeing new things! And whenever we see each other, it feels as if it had only been 5 minutes since the last time!



Lea and Jon spent most of the week in Vegas for the conference and than we drove out on Friday after I was done with school. As soon as we walked into the villa we were staying in, Jon and Trav were joking as if 6 months hadn't passed in between our visits. We decided just to walk around the first night and see what was going on. Our first stop was Coyote Ugly....we just had too. Lea and I used to watch the movie when it came on ( on VHS mind you!) over and over. It was fun going to the real one with her! I still think we should have jumped in on the hula hoop contest that was going on. Next time! We grabbed some pizza....or should I say " Pepperoni Pie" and walked around one end of the strip. Jon and Trav tried their luck at blackjack...it wasn't a lucky night.



The next day Jon has a conference so Lea and I hit the outlet mall! Trav headed back to the Luxor and won back what he had lost the night before...whew! After getting sucked into a Lifetime movie and basketball games we headed back down to the strip for Saturday night. Hawaiin Tropic Zone was the spot for dinner...how can you pass a buy one entree get one free?!?! The food was delicious! We decided to see a show and than walk around a few hotels.



Lea and Jon left the next morning bright and early. I have a super sweet Hubby who surprised me with another night there...just us! We checked out of one hotel and into another! We spent the day walking through all the different hotels! I had only been in three before so it was off to the Venetian, Wynn, Bellagio, Paris, and so on. I love mini vacations with Trav. It is so nice to step back from work, school, bills, and our crazy schedule to just spend time together...away from it all! Unfortunately, I had a term paper due on Sunday and was putting it off so I had to write it while we were there. It's ok though because it gave Trav an excuse to gamble...and win big!!! Dinner was at Cheesecake Factory at Ceasar's Palace...delicious! After I showed Trav how the slots are played....and we won! Around 11 we decided we couldn't resist all the music we were hearing and had to bring out our dance moves! We headed to club Pure and memories from Concordia came flooding back as we danced the night away! :)

The 6 Best Friends....

.....that anyone could have! If you have seen the movie "The Hangover", you may recognize this song that Al sang in the backseat while driving through the desert of Nevada. He would also be the same guy who gave one fine speech about his wolf pack. Well, here is our "wolf pack!!"



From left to right you have: Nate and Ashley Klitzing, Trav and I, and Levi and Ashley Luster. The guys all went to Concordia Irvine together, played basketball, and were roommates. Does it get any better than that? Us girls came into the picture a little later and became friends just as fast! We all were married in 2008...and who knows, maybe one day we will all be prego at the same time! ;)





Some of our greatest memories our with our wolf pack.From Dollar Theater movies, to walks to downtown Fullerton, sleepovers, couple's bible study, housewarmings, weddings, and the list could go on and on. What makes our relationships even stronger is the fact that we all have one common bond: Jesus. I love when it comes around to eating a meal and the guys take turns blessing the food. I can already imagine the same scenario years down the road as our kids stand there with us. Last year we were able to head up to Big Bear for the weekend and vacationing with this group is fantastic! When our husbands are together they are like little kids and I just love it! The girls were busy grocery shopping, cooking, and chatting away. It was a wonderful weekend! I know there are many more vacations in our future!



Last weekend, the Luster's packed up and moved to Arizona as they followed where the Lord was guiding them next. It was a tearful weekend but thankfully we got to spend it all together. For their last night in California we all hung out at their empty house. The 6 of us were standing in a circle as goodbyes were beginning and I looked around to savor the moment. I couldn't help but think, " When will the 6 of us be in the same place together again?" But I quick snapped out of it because this is a lifelong group we have and it doesn't matter where we all live...I know we will make it a priotity to all be together. Trav and I already miss the Lusters like crazy....but are so proud of them for taking this giant leap and trusting that it's His plan. We know AZ holds great things for them! We are thankful to have the Klitzings still close by and a new tradition of "Bachelor" and "24" Mondays has begun!

What was once roommates, teammates, and "girlfriends", soon became friends, and has now turned into family. We love our wolfpack!!!!!

Triplets???

When it was time for my sister and her three kids to head home after Christmas, Trav was planning on driving them to the airport. I was trying to figure out how this would work since he drives an Altima and there was no way all the carseats would fit. But no, I was wrong. As I was touring the countryside and wineries of Temecula with my high school girlfriends I received a super cute picture on my cell phone. All three of her kids were in their car seats in the back of his car! His caption said," We can fit 3 kids in here!"

It's funny how we talk about how we can't do this until this time or until we own this but than something as simple as squeezing in carseats reminds us that everything doesn't always have to be set in place before you move ahead in the next step in life. We don't have to have the perfect "kid" car before the kids start coming. Granted, this still won't be in our near future, but it reminds us that you are never fully ready for what life has to offer you...but the best part of it is that we have a Saviour who doesn't give us more than we can handle and knows what is best for us at each moment!

Back to Bloggin!

Has it really been a year since I have blogged about the current happenings in our lives? Granted I had a blog rolling when I journeyed to Kenya last April....but my goodness, a whole year since I signed on to a blog just to blog. Well, at the start of a new decade...ok, ok kinda a New Year's Resolution as well, I'm going to try my best to keep up with this thing!

Another New Year's Resolution is to find time to do things I have always wanted too! I have a list on my computer of projects to work on....the key is finding the time, but I am going to start making it a priority! From homemade home decor....to things for my nieces and nephews....to opening up my own page on Etsy....I am bound and determined to get them all going.

Hmmm... you are probably thinking " Enough with the New Year's resolutions...on with what you and Trav are up too." so here is a short and sweet recap.

Trav has been employed by Target for over a year now and loves it. We couldn't be more blessed because this job certainly was dropped into his lap when he was least expecting it. Gotta love how our God works like that! He is currently the Exceutive Team Leader- Assest Protection. (I hope I got that right...he always rattles off Target lingo in a bunch of letters and I try to follow as best as I can) This position has been a great fit for Trav and I love watching him excel. I had the opportunity to shop in his store ( which is over 30 miles from our home) and it brought me such joy to hear all of the employees ( executives and on floor team members) praise him. While the hours are long and somewhat crazy and the drive is filled with hours of traffic, He definetely is where the Lord wants him to be. In his "free" time he plays in a few men's league basketball teams with teammates from college, loves stopping by his parents to take their chocolate lab for a run, working out, skateboarding or watching Wow Wow Wubbzy with the Van Man and is turning into a pretty good handyman!

I have been working for an Ophthamology surgeon for a little over a year and within the past few months was moved to Surgery Scheduling. I though I would miss the constant interaction with patients but it has been a great learning experience for me as well as I get some great one on one time with my pre-op patients. I am currently working towards my RN and will be finished in exactly a year! Woo! While the road to receiving my RN has been challenging ( and long!) I can see how thru each wait, set back, or delay God has taught me something new and I have grown, so in the end it is totally worth it. It's His plan after all....I just have to keep reminding myself as the months pass on! In what I can consider "free" time I love to cook/bake, read a no thinker book, do anything that involves any of our nieces and nephews, and shop....window shop that is. ;)

Together we still love our Disneyland dates and just recently re-invested into passes so we can go more often. There seems to always be a show we are addicted too and once we are hooked...we are hooked untill every season on DVD is watched. We love spending time with our families and are so thankful that we have some that live close by. We are currently renting a home in Fullerton and Trav's sister lives right up the street! It seems like every year in the past 6 years we have had a niece/nephew born....as of right now who knows what 2010 holds but we are crossing our fingers for another one! God has recently called us into youth ministry and we serve as counselors for the High School Youth Group at our church. Neither of us could forget the little kids though, so one Sunday a month you will find us teaching Kindergarten Sunday School! The kids just love Trav! He somehow always seems to tie cartoons into the lesson...and they not only love it, but get something out of it! It's amazing what we learn about our faith from the high schoolers and the lil kids.

Well, so much for short and sweet! ;) Trav and I have had so much to be thankful for and our first year+ of marriage has been a great journey and it is only the beginning!