Crazy days indeed...

I haven't posted in a while and honestly have a ton to talk about...I just need to start finding the time to write more often.

In early September (over Labor Day weekend), Justin and I went to Vegas for a long weekend together. We had tickets for a Puddle of Mudd concert along with tickets to a Nickelback concert while we were out there. After landing in Vegas after a very LONG plane ride and realizing our luggage was still in Houston, TX; we realized we had left both sets of concert tickets at home in our firesafe. Wow, what a way to start out the trip. It was late and I was tired and I know Justin was, too. And I was just down right angry! Angry at our flight from Birmingham to Houston because it was delayed and our luggage therefore didn't make it on the plane to Vegas. Angry at myself because I had made a list of things to pack and the concert tickets were close to the top of the list! And they were still forgotten. And just overall mad because I thought this trip was going to be a wonderful time. Well, after I calmed down and we made it to the hotel, things got better. We woke up Friday morning, with no luggage, and so I made myself a salon appointment to get my hair colored and cut. And Justin planned to get his tattoo at Hart & Huntington. So off we went...

The luggage arrived around lunch time so we were able to shower and get changed and everything. It was so nice! We didn't even leave the hotel Friday, we played at the casino there (Hard Rock Hotel & Casino) and just waited around for the poolside Puddle of Mudd concert to start. Yes, we did get to the concert. When we checked in, they told us that since we were staying with them, we would have gotten into the concert for free. WONDERFUL! So that one was taken care of. We rented a cabana by the pool and had a good time that night. Saturday, I was ready to go to the Grand Canyon! Yep, I figured we were that close, I wasn't going to miss it! So we took a cab to Dream Car Rentals on the strip, got into what we thought was going to be a GREAT car (2003 Porsche convertible) and took off into the sun. The car wasn't that great and soon we realized that the 100 degree heat of Vegas and the desert was no match for a convertible that had black leather seats. So sitting in traffic going through the Hoover Dam, the top came up and we were so totally over the convertible. And it honestly wasn't in the greatest shape any way. But still, we were going to the Grand Canyon. The closest side of the Canyon to us was the West Rim. We were told specifically by the rental car people NOT TO GO TO THE WEST RIM in their car. Eh, so what if it's 21 miles of unpaved, rocky, dusty, dirt road to the actual Canyon. And so we were rebels and took that little car all the way on it. We were just waiting for a voice to come over the radio and say "Excuse me Mr. Collins, but do you realize you aren't on a paved road any more?". That never happened but it was making us laugh anyway! The drive was nice and bumpy and making us a bit nervous about the car but we came this far, we weren't going back.

The Grand Canyon was gorgeous. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be but am very happy to say that I have seen it. I found it in incredible that there were no power lines, everything was charged by solar panels. It was just really neat. But I really figured out that I'm terrified of heights. After being on the edge of a canyon that is hundreds/thousands of feet down with no fence or anything to keep you from falling...I had enough. I'm scared of heights and now I can admit it. No thanks, not again. One stop we made, we got off, I snapped one or two photos and I told Justin I was ready to go!

Sunday night was the Nickelback concert. Friday morning when I woke up, I reordered tickets to this concert because Justin was super pumped about it...as was I. So I reordered 2 tickets. Luckily they still had some but they weren't great seats. So Sunday afternoon, we hopped in a limo and off to MGM we went for the concert. We got there and had to do the will call thing since it was last minute ordering and we just started talking to a line attendant and she told us they could look up our old tickets for us. Well what do you know! We ended up with 4 tickets to the concert!! So we took the two that weren't the greatest seats, sold them for half price and went about our merry way to the ticket gate. Most AMAZING concert! It started with Saving Abel. They were good. Then it moved into Papa Roach...and wow! They were outstanding!!! Hinder was up next and I'm not a huge Hinder fan but they were good as well. And then on came Nickelback. They were great. Overall, best concert I've ever been to.

Monday, we flew home. While sitting in the airport, we were people watching and caught up in some situation where this little girl didn't want to get on the plane back home to her moms. And this couple sitting behind us were wondering what was happening so we told them our theory and got to talking to them. Come to find out, they live about 5 minutes away from us, in a neighborhood that we had found our dream house but it sold before we could get it! We have a lot of similarities and well, guess what, we found us some new friends!! So David and Kacey, if you are reading, SO glad we all found each other in the Las Vegas airport. Crazy stuff!

Ok. So that's Vegas. I will be writing another blog later about our most recent trip to Tampa. I swear, we just can't stay home. But we are for a while now...catch you kiddos later!