Vegas 2015

If you read my last post, you know what the weather was like from Texas to Vegas. Snowing and school cancellations, to sunny skies in the desert. Once I arrived off of the plane in Vegas, Jearen picked me up and we drove out to the race track where he was working. I dropped him off, drove to get lunch, made a pit stop at Wal Mart, and made my way to the hotel. People usually assume that because we go to Vegas, that our hotel is one the strip. That is not the case. The racetrack is about 30 minutes away from the strip, and so we usually stay at a Holiday Inn Express for the week. Nothing fancy over here :). I had been trying to think of things for us to do for what felt like forever (because I like to plan), but I just wasn't set on anything in particular. Usually, our schedule includes Jearen working all day at the track while I hang out with him, then change into different clothes, and drive over to the strip to get a bite to eat, and for entertainment. Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

Dinner at Gallager's in New York, New York..

Food was great. I would go back.

Walking around New York, New York and Monte Carlo Hotels.

Biggest game of connect four we've ever seen.

Freemont Street (that we were only at for an hour to get cheaper tickets for some shows). The highlight was one guy doing improv as people were walking by. He basically was making celebrity look a like jokes, which was super funny!

The Neon Museum.

Illusions Magic Show & The Laugh Factory.

The carpets in The Tropicana hotel. Kind of over the top, but matched my dress, so it was a win. Ha!

They upgraded our seats for free & I was so nervous that one of us was going to be called up on stage. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

Cute little restaurant in the Tropicana that we ate at in between shows. Unfortunately, the food was bland and I wouldn't return here for dinner. 

Again, we were put in the very front. The show was funny and the comedians were great, and just by our luck, we never were the butt of any jokes (unlike several couples around us).

Pink Overload. Yikes! At least my date was hot!

At the racetrack while my sweetie works.

Thank you selfie stick for this great photo!

Please don't mind the grown adult in the background who ruined this photo for me, hahaha!

On the drive back to Texas, we were able to stop in Arizona to have lunch with my oldest brother. It was a great pit stop, especially when family is involved!

Always a good time with Jearbear. I'm glad I get the opportunity to go on this trip with him! 

xoxo-

becky

Snow Days in Texas

Usually once a year, Texas experiences a cold front that leaves us with a few snow days. Mind you, we know that it is actually just ice, but it is worth cancelling school and playing around in nonetheless ;). My husband and I had the privilege of being in our friend's (Kent & Lindsay) wedding, and the day of their rehearsal ended up being one of those snow days. Plans were changed for the evening, and we had the chance to go sledding at our in laws. I am an embarrassingly worried person when it comes to the weather, so after being sent home early from work, driving slow on the roads to avoid any accidents, and watching hours upon hours of news reports saying "If you don't have to get out in this, don't.", I was anxious. So of course, the minute my husband gets home and tells me he wants to drive over to our in laws (less than 10 mins away), I start crying and panicking. Embarrassing, I know. I somehow pulled myself together, put on bundles of clothes, and allow Jearen to drive us in the ice. This is were I tell you how much of a fool I am for being such a worry wort. Jearen drove us there just fine and I'm so glad he did. We carried our cookie sheets & pizza pan just like we do every year to the top of the hill, and began to slide down. So much fun. So much laughter. So much snow!

The next day we had to drive over to Keller for our friend's rehearsal and lunch. The roads were slick, but once again, I have the best person driving me around that it made it less stressful. The wedding was planned for outside, and on the day of, the bride and groom got their wishes granted. I will say, that being in an outdoor wedding, near a lake, with no jacket, in weather conditions right above freezing is quite memorable. There aren't too many people that I would have done that for, but The Scroggins were with it! :)

The following day, Jearen had to drive out to Vegas for work, and I was going to fly out Wednesday night to join him like I have done the past two years. Tuesday night, I am all packed and ready for work the next day, when the only thing on the news was how another cold front was coming our way, with the possibility of 2-4 inches of snow. Trying to be mindful of everything, and not stress out, I prayed that God would give me wisdom in this situation (with me being a person who worries about the weather) and I knew what to do. I called the airline and had them change my flight from 8pm the following evening, to 9 am the next morning. I am thankful that at 11 pm that night, my boss was available for me to talk with, and was understanding about me having to take off work and fly out early. My father in law picked me up bright and early Wednesday morning, and I had a good 45 minute before flying out to relax and trust that I just made the right decision.

As soon as I arrived in Vegas, it was sunny and in the high 60's. All flights that were scheduled that night out of DFW were grounded, and the metroplex got over 6 inches of snow in some places. School was canceled Thursday, and I knew I made the right choice in bumping up my flight. Without someone telling me to, or having my husband do it for me. I felt proud to make a big decision instead of getting discouraged and fearful and anxious. Glory to God!

Stay tuned for the blog about our Vegas trip :)

Becky

DALLAS BIG Scavenger Hunt : Valentine's '15

Love this one!

In the years past, our Valentine's Day consisted of a home cooked meal, a decorated & cleaned house, and a surprise or two throughout the day. Of course there would also be sweet love notes, texts, and emails between my husband and I too. This year, things were a little different, and to be honest, I wish Valentine's Day ALWAYS fell on a Saturday, because having the whole day together without work was pretty sweet. Jearen had told me mid-January that he had made plans for us for Valentine's Day, that would include another couple and that would last all day. I was pretty thrilled to know that he had something up his sleeve for us, and that the pressure was taken off of me to plan anything. (Not that I don't LOVE to plan a date, but you know what I mean :)!) I eventually found out that we would be with our friends Caleb & Rachel, but I had no idea what we would be doing.

Saturday morning we drove out to Dallas, and met up with our friends. We pilled into one car, and off we went. We arrived at an unfamiliar area to me, with nothing but a closed off field and a run down neighborhood. Then the boys get out of the car, told us to stay put, and walked away. Talk about freak out moment! We had no idea what was going on, but found out later that there was suppose to be one of those BG signs there. GPS was wrong. As the day moved on, we made several pit stops around Dallas, and after the second stop, I realized what was going on.

This is how our date started: stranded in the car haha

And there they go, just walking away

We were on a scavenger hunt! In Dallas, there are 14 signs (more like statues) of the letters BG, where you stand in the middle to form the letter I, to stand for Dallas Big. (You know the saying, everything is bigger in Texas!)  I'm not exactly sure the significance of it, or how it got started, but here is a map (incase you want to do the hunt yourself!) http://www.visitdallas.com/big/b-g-locations-map/

To be honest, any time I had seen the BG sign, I didn't want a picture with it. I guess in my head, a "big girl" standing in a sign that spelled out big was a 'no thank you' in my eyes haha. But I got over it quickly, and let me just say, it was SO MUCH FUN! We were able to explore a lot of Dallas that we had not been to before, we ate a delicious brunch at Oddfellows in Bishop Arts, and it as the perfect sunny day. Seriously, the weather was amazing!

Brunch @ Oddfellows

The Rustic

Klyde Warren Park

Klyde Warren Park

Winspera Opera House

After we completed our little BG hunt, we went to our house to change and get ready for a night out. Again, I didn't know what was planned, but I had just bought a long black dress for $10 (thanks Goodwill) and was ready in no time. We drove down to my favorite date night place, Sundance Square. The traffic was awful & parking was a nightmare, but what else would you expect on this day. The guys surprised Rachel & I by taking us to The Petroleum Club (no not like a dancing club, but more like a you have to be on the list kinda place). There was a live jazz band playing current hits, a yummy buffet of fish & rib eye, and a dessert bar. It kind of felt like we were attending a fancy wedding, only we were the youngest people there, and had a good laugh about it. After dinner, we walked over to Four Day Weekend, where the guys surprised us with tickets to the improv comedy show, and it was the icing on the cake of a perfect date day. We laughed so hard, and Jearen's picture of the day he cut his beard off before church made it into the second act. What a fun & memorable time.

40th floor of the Petroleum Club 

Dinner @ The Petroleum Club

Dinner @ The Petroleum Club

Sundance Square- Ft Worth

Sundance Square- Ft. Worth

Four Day Weekend

Four Day Weekend

-Becky