20th Anniversary

We hit the big two-oh!
And I just realized that I have been married for more than half my life!

During the summer we day dreamed about going on a cruise for our 20th anniversary but reality kept us ashore and we settled for Las Vegas. LeRoy was kaboozled into a 90 minute time share presentation that got us a free 3 day hotel stay and $150 cash and he couldn't think of a better place to blow $150 so Las Vegas it was.

Because of an early morning flight we went down to Utah one night early and got a hotel room in Salt Lake. After hearing that we were celebrating our 20th the clerk upgraded our room to a jacuzzi room (also for free) and that proved to be a great start to our 3 day trip. Hey, get your mind out of the gutter! The jacuzzi soak was just what LeRoy's back needed after a 4 hour drive.

Time in Vegas was . . . interesting. To be honest, I don't like Vegas. LeRoy loves it. He likes the excitement of the casinos, the glitter, the hype, the wow factor, the magicians and hypnotists. I like quiet places. I could have gone to the Redwood Forest, not seen one other human and been just as content with calling that a celebration. With that said, I found something in Vegas that I love, love, love. And now that I know the trick to getting around the strip with as little exposure to casinos as possible (always enter the valet entrance) I would go back this weekend just to see it again and again.



We went to see Mystere by Cirque du Soleil. Amazing talent! Breath taking live music! Gorgeous costumes! Unbelievable ab strength! Dynamic tumbling and acrobatics! Wow, wow, wow!! A camera cannot catch it all and after watching a PBS special about it I can honestly say it's worth the price of the ticket to see it live. I'm already saving for the next show. Anyone want to go with me?



LeRoy's favorite part of the whole trip was the David Copperfield Illusionist show. He was invited on stage for one of the tricks and he was blown away. Still is actually. If you ask him for the story he'll tell it with the same enthusiasm as the day he was there. It was a great show with stunts that left us wondering and imagining. Oh, and LeRoy walked up to Regis Philbin and introduced himself like Regis should have known him which he did because LeRoy had made such a Texan impression on the stage. LeRoy was in celebrity heaven. Regis and Copperfield in one day, what more could the guy hope for? Well, pictures maybe. They gave an announcement several times before the show started that there was to be absolutely NO pictures or recordings of anything. As soon as LeRoy was chosen to go on stage I had my phone ready to snap a quick shot assuming that the announcement had some "hey, my husband is up there with Copperfield" clause that would exclude me from corporal camera punishment but suddenly there was this security woman standing right next to my chair (and within my body bubble) making sure that I didn't snap so much as a blur for his on-stage experience. So, you all just have to believe LeRoy's version of the "Goose in the Bucket" story without any visual proof. You can believe him, it was really, really cool.




The place that we both compromised on and enjoyed like little kids was the M&M factory. Four stories of nothing but M&M contraband and you just have to feel young (which we really needed after walking the entire 4 mile strip). The short movie showing how M&M's are made is fun, all that chocolately color just forces you to feel happy and who doesn't want their picture taken with a life size M&M? I wanted to bring Red home with me. Of course, LeRoy would have brought Green home and you can tell from the looks of her and LeRoy's dimpled smile while standing next to her that I would have had jealousy issues. Our goal is to make it another 20 years so we left Red and Green in Vegas.

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Thank you, thank you to my momma who took care of all my responsibilities while I was traipsing around Sin City!