Last weekend we headed to Las Vegas for an Elite football tournament for my son Elijah (NLA Elite 7v7 Passing Tournament.) He joined the Gridiron Academy team recently with his high school quarterback. It was a great opportunity to play with top players from around the country showcasing their talent for the media & college scouts.
Elijah played great! He caught everything that was thrown to him (5 passes in 1 game) & his new teammates were very surprised & impressed at how good he was. They started calling him Wes Welker (a great NFL receiver) which he loved of course!
His team won every game Saturday & went into Sunday's single elimination round with a bye the first game. Unfortunately, they ended up losing their game on Sunday (Elijah didn't get any passes thrown to him, but started & played the whole game.) It was great to see he earned a spot in the big game.
This weekend we're headed to the Nike Combine 2012 in Long Beach, CA. Hoping that he turns out some great numbers. He's been diligent in maintaining a high GPA & has trained hard in both football & track...he wants a scholarship!!
Last week I went to change my blog photo & was met with a surprise notice...I'd met my "maximum picture" quota on Picasa (the storage site Blogspot uses when you upload pictures to your blog.) What? I didn't know there was a maximum number of photo's you're allowed on your blog? Did any of you long time Blogspot bloggers have this happen to you?
I usually like to add a lot of photo's to my posts, but I never knew I'd have to pay for more (ugh.) The reason I love to Blog is because it's FREE and I use it as a sort of journal. When I'm gone one day, my kids can read about my life and daily happenings/thoughts/pictures.
So I went through a few old blog posts and deleted some pictures to make immediate room for my main blog photo. Then of course I had to give in & pay the $5.00 for additional room for future post pics. I know it wont last very long and I'll need to upgrade to the higher $$ amount, but it's okay for now. Just thought I'd give my blogger friends a heads up...you too may soon meet your FREE PHOTO max-so don't be surprised.
Well it's official...I own a brand new 2012 Nissan Altima! I've never owned a BRAND NEW car and I feel like a little kid at Christmas. It wasn't exactly an easy process, we were upside down on our Lincoln Navigator (aka the gas guzzler.) So trying to trade it in with the current gas prices was a joke. We were out ALL day Saturday, ALL day Sunday (after church), and finally on Monday we were totally blessed to find a place through a friend of a friend who knew the GM of the dealership (thank you Facebook!)
I picked out the color, interior and was surprised to see that it also had a built in blue tooth, along with the key-less entry & push button start (=no more digging through my bottomless pit of a purse.) The car just "reads" that I have my key on me & I just push the button to get in AND start the car...SO COOL! So what do ya think?
When my sister, Stacy & I were driving home from Utah, she wanted to stay in Vegas so we wouldn't have to drive straight through. I found a great deal at the Palms Hotel on CheapTickets.com and for $20.00 more you could upgrade to a suite, so she told me to book it.
We pulled into the Palms around 8:00 p.m., pretty worn out from driving through a severe snow and rain storm.
We valeted the car & had the bell hop take our bags, (my sister likes the special extra's), me on the other hand, I just usually park myself & carry my bags in to save money...lucky for me she was treating. Once inside we were told that our suite was about 100 yards away from the casino in the adjacent building & we'd have to get our bags, get back in our car & drive over there. My sister wasn't too happy & she doesn't hide her feelings very well. The girl at the desk tried to assure her that it was VERY nice & she'd love it. She wasn't too sure but said, "Whatever."
Once we got over there, she still was pretty irritated because we were so far from the casino. But I told her that I was confident this room was actually a lot nicer. We went downstairs to head over to the casino when we walked right past Travis Barker (from the band Blink 182) and his kids, heading up the elevator to his room in the same building. I said, "SEE, I told you! Travis Barker wouldn't be staying here if the rooms weren't better...he has money to stay anywhere." She said, "Okay, I guess you're right, I thought you were just saying that to try and make me feel better."
The Palms Hotel Suite
Full Kitchen
Loved the bathroom w/jacuzzi tub
Once we got to the main Hotel, we heard a great band playing in the Lounge. We started to head in to sit down when a man in a suit stopped us & said, "Do you have tickets?" Surprised and feeling a little stupid I said, "Oh sorry, I thought it was free." He said, "No but follow me, I'll see what I can do." We followed him to the very front where he sat us at a table for free. The band, Santa Fe & the Fat City Horns was an incredible mixture of amazingly talented musicians. There were also a lot of famous musicians in the audience that they called up.
Guest singer-Michael Grimm
After they finished, we decided to headed up to the exclusive penthouse nightclub, "Moon" at the top of the hotel. We were able to get in for free (which seemed to be the theme of the night) & always makes things better. It was nice to have some sister time to unwind and let go of all the pent up stress. So all in all, it turned out perfect...thanks Stace, love you!
