28!

As you all can probably guess, my birthday wasn't so bad after all. I don't feel much older...age is just a number, right? So I just keep telling myself that I'm 24 (which makes me younger than Spencer since he's about to turn 25!) Spencer gave me a great day! My mom sent me some money to get my hair done and Spence made me an appointment and set everything up for me. They aren't the best pictures because it was soooo windy outside, but here's me with my new 'do (in front of our new apartment I might add):

He was also very sweet and let me pick our lunch destination...I of course picked our favorite...Taco Bell! :) After that we did some shopping (more patience from Spencer) and I got some new earrings to go with my new hair. We also discovered that our apartment complex is near some train tracks...and for whatever reason, nobody wants to build roads that cross these train tracks, so you have to go all the way around them to get anywhere which means driving way out of your way. We also discovered that around rush hour in the evening, these train tracks move trains through about every 10 minutes backing traffic on a major road up for miles...and by the time the train goes through and traffic can start moving again, another train comes. This made us attempt to go any other route we could find, but no other road crossed the tracks. So we got lost. But managed to make it home in just enough time to get dressed and ready for my birthday date! Whew!

The evening's festivities included a show and dinner. We saw a show at the Sahara called Fab Four Mania...the best Beatles impersonators EVER! It was really cute and we both had a lot of fun.

After the show we went to the Wynn and ate sushi (my favorite!) at Okada. Well I ate sushi...Spencer had a different Japanese dish. It was tasty and the restaurant was very nice. A little birdie even told them it was my birthday and they gave me a nice desert on the house! :)
Such a handsome date!

Making a wish

Happy Birthday to me (and a better picture of my hair)

What a lucky girl I am to have received so many wonderful birthday wishes and cards from all of my friends and family and to have such a fantastic day and perfect guy to share it with (who also happened to write the sweetest blog ever!) Thanks to everyone for making my birthday extra special! :)

My Girl

So today's blog comes from Me, Spencer, the Significant Other,

Today happens to be Heathers birthday, and over the last few weeks she has made it abundantly clear that she is NOT at all excited about it. I suppose this is understandable, in some ways, but the biggest complaint I hear is that she doesn't feel that enough has been accomplished to date, or that she has not made any significant contributions to the world yet.
Now this may be true on a global scale, but it's important to me that everyone understands that, in the short year and some change we have been together, she has made a significant impact on MY life and changed my world for the better.
Its not always easy putting up with me, I work late, often forget the little things in life, don't communicate extremely well, and often may seem like I take things for granted. However she manages to love me even still, help me remember the little things, prod me in the right direction when I need it, and open my eyes to the world around me quite frequently.
She is quite an amazing individual, she has helped raise money for so many different animal causes I can't name them all, she is quite adamant about recycling and conserving the natural resources and environment we live in, (even the desert, even if she would rather not live here...) She is always there for her family, dedicated and sympathetic, caring and informative, not just her immediate family but the extended family as well. Everyone is important to her, and she communicates so well with others, and very important to me, she has adopted my family and friends, and really enjoys them and their company and friendship.
We have struggled a bit to survive here in Las Vegas, it certainly hasn't been easy, but Heather has always had a smile for me when I needed it, a wink when I least expect it, and a passion for adventure that I find extremely refreshing.
I'm not a very eloquent writer I suppose, I certainly don't have the hours of "blog" time that she does, but the fact of the matter is, I've spent many years moving around various parts of the globe, trying different jobs, different worlds, different cultures, and did not ever really think that there was someone who could make me aware of my life and what it was missing. I am so happy now, to have such comfort, such joy, such happiness in my life, and I hope everyone can join me in letting her know that no matter how small her part seems some days, no matter how tiny some contributions are, each time she talks, or smiles, or gets involved in a project, it affects someone somewhere, and it truly means something.

Please help me tell the woman I love, Happy Birthday!

-Spence

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my 28th birthday. I'm not excited about turning 28. That means only 2 years until I'm 30. :( (No offense to those of you who are 30 or older...its a long personal story as to why 30 is such a big deal to me!) Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that since Spencer has already infiltrated my mass email updates regarding my birthday, he will now be infiltrating my blog tomorrow as a guest blogger ON my birthday~since of course, I don't really have many nice things to say about turning another year closer to 30! ;) So, we shall see what he writes...and hopefully I won't regret giving him my password! ;) Until tomorrow....

Canada!

Last night we were fortunate to get a visit from Spencer's new brother-in-law Blaine. He was in town for a conference all the way from Winnipeg and in between his meetings he made time for drinks with us! We had a great time and the only thing that could have made it better was if Chelsea (Spencer's sister) could have had all of her citizenship paperwork so that she could leave Canada and visit us too! Next time I hope! :) Thanks for quality time Blaine! We had a blast!

Rough Month

Just less than a month ago, shortly after returning home from his visit here, my brother Jason went to the emergency room for some random pains and then was admitted to and stayed at the hospital for almost 2 weeks as they ran several different tests related to the pains he was having. Although we basically knew what it was by the time he left the hospital over a week ago, the final test results came back today and he has been officially diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a very frustrating and confusing disease that my extended family is already unfortunately familiar with. Please keep him in your thoughts and/or prayers as he adjusts to the day to day changes involved in this condition. Spencer and I have also committed to participating in and raising as much money as we can for the Las Vegas MS Walk on May 10th. If you are able to support us and this cause and can donate any amount of money, please visit our fundraising website and make a donation online: http://walknvl.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=4355202&pg=personal&fr_id=8491
or send us a check to our address made out to National Multiple Sclerosis Society. (If you don't know our new address, please shoot me an email and I will pass it along to you.) If you can't help out right now, its ok...the walk isn't until May! Either way, we appreciate anything you can offer...every little bit helps of course!
Also, please keep my other brother Jeff in your thoughts and prayers. The same day that Jason was released from the hospital, my other brother Jeff went to the emergency room with chest pains. I don't have much information on what the doctor's have been telling him or even how he is feeling at this point, but I do know that they are treating him for severe acid reflux (which hopefully is all it is), but they are also testing him for tumors and cancer (which is very scary!).

We are all ready for some good news!

Across Town

We're free! We have spent the past two days driving back and forth 4 times and moving our stuff from one side of town to another and now our stuff is finally all in our new home and the keys have been returned to the old one. While I will never forget our previous apartment because it was our first home together and because of all the problems we had with the management, maintenance and neighbors, Spencer and I will definitely not miss it! (I laughed hysterically and made some nasty comments out loud when the ladies in the office told us to come back anytime if we were ever looking for a home again.) While driving back and forth we realized how different these two sides of town are...literally like night and day. I feel very lucky, not to mention very safe, living here and I think we're both already so much happier than we were before! Even the pets seem happier here (although it took Layla a day to stop crying and wandering aimlessly around the new place). So without further ado, here is your virtual tour:

Living room:


Dining room and Kitchen:


The guest bathroom:


The computer/spare room:


Our bedroom:


Our bathroom:


Some great things about our apartment not pictured: reclining tubs great for baths, a fitness room (in which my key works), a heated (and always clean!) pool, a business center in the office in case the internet is ever down, tons of closet space and cabinet space, a cute little porch that we can sit on the 2 months of the year that Las Vegas weather is bearable, and it is in an underdevelopment area with no bus lines which makes for a very quiet neighborhood! We are ecstatic to say the least! If you want our new address, just email me and let me know! :) Thanks to everyone who wished us well on our move!

In Case You're Wondering...

Spencer and I are very happy to say that we are finally moving out of this ghetto side of town, this horrible apartment and on to a better side of town to a bigger, better, nicer apartment! So if you're wondering why I haven't blogged in awhile, its because I've been busy busy busy packing everything! And trying to get some sleep. It sure has been quite the last week in this wretched apartment complex. On Tuesday morning (my day off!) at around 8:00AM, I was awakened by what I thought was the traditional Wednesday morning leaf blowing at the crack of dawn, but what turned out to be some Spanish speaking fellas cutting down two tress right outside my bedroom window. Not only were they sawing and wood chipping, but they were in some cherry picker type thing only it wasn't attached to a crane-type apparatus like normal, but to some ropes and the guys were swinging the guy in the bucket back and forth to pull the tree limbs down, only he kept hitting the side of the building...my bedroom wall. And of course they were screaming at each other...in Spanish...and screaming is always more obnoxious when it is in a language you don't understand. Needless to say I was very upset that the apartment complex didn't at least warn us so we could have slept in the room on the other side of the apartment or something! So I threw my clothes on and stomped over to the office, who I didn't expect to be helpful, complained to the lady who I'm sure laughed at me when I left because she didn't care, and then stomped back to my wretched apartment crying in frustration that the only day I had to sleep in, I actually got up earlier than I would on a work day! Just when I thought that was the worst thing to happen before I move, Thursday morning...my first morning back to work, I was awakened at 7:30AM by a man right below my window breaking up the concrete from the sidewalk path that was uprooted by the now non-existent trees. I didn't think anything could be louder than the tree removal from two days before, but I was wrong. This was a different kind of loud. And I closed that door and moved to sleep on a couch 2 rooms over with that door closed as well and could still hear the racket loud and clear. So what did I do with all that spare time I had before I had to get ready for work? Well, I guess it was a good thing those apartment people woke me up early for the second time in three days because that gave me plenty of time and motivation to file a complaint about them to the Better Business Bureau and give them bad reviews on every apartment website I could find. This may sound dramatic, but let me tell you, I have lived in some bad places, but this place is by far the worst. Since the day we moved in we've had all sorts of problems that they do nothing about. They are so disrespectful to their tenants it is unreal! They should have been paying me to live here! So they had this coming, and I'm sure I'm not the first person to do it!

So, needless to say, even though we both hate packing and moving, we are absolutely honored to pack up our stuff and remove it from this place and move on to what we hope to be a great home! I'm also hoping that living in a place where I feel comfortable and safe whether I'm home with Spencer or home alone, and a place that I can be proud to live in, will make me like living in Las Vegas a little better too. Now, I just need to find a new job... ;)

Ok, back to packing! I'll post a blog with pictures of our new place as soon as we get settled in!