January & February Recap!

Happy March! I hope everyone is having a wonderful time in this pre-spring sunshiny weather!

This year seems to be FLYING by.  (More of that to follow.)  I’m sorry for the tardiness, but I still thought it would be fun to give a quick January & February 2011 recap of the things I haven’t yet shared, and to share a few pics of me & my sweet Matt too!

In late January, Matt & I were invited by our dear friends to a “Burn’s Night” dinner, a Scottish tradition to honor the great Scottish poet Robert Burns (he wrote “Auld Lang Syne” amongst other amazing things).  It was so much fun!  We got to taste haggis for the first time, listened to AMAZING bagpipe music (I cried when they played “Amazing Grace”…so beautiful!), and had such a wonderful time with their family celebrating their Scottish heritage…and Matt’s too!

With our sweet (and Scottish!) friend, L!

With the VERY Scottish Mr. S!


The month of love came in with cold, cold, cold! I guess Mother Nature wanted everybody to cuddle with each other to stay warm! We were forecast to have snow one day...

The desktop forecast on my computer.  SNOW!!!  But...no.  :0(
(Note the desktop background from the (in)courage website.
They post a new one each month with a beautiful picture
and Bible verse.  Check it out on the right side of their top links bar.)

...but it never materialized and instead ended up VERY icy.  Our town isn’t accustomed to icy weather, so the whole town essentially shut down!  And it was on a Friday, too, so…3-day weekend!  Matt & I stayed warm and cozy inside, with big mugs of coffee and hot chocolate and lots of daytime tv.  It…was…wonderful.

Temperature one morning on my car.  Brrrrrr!!!

Ice/frost on our bushes

Icicles on our bushes

The extra Friday also helped us get ready for our Super Bowl party!  We decided just to do a small gathering this year with just a few of our closest friends and family (so it would be more laid back and so we could see more of the game).  It was fun!!!  I was cheering for the commercials!  Go Clydesdales!  :0)

Friends cheering at our Super Bowl party

Probably the most exciting part of 2011 so far (and hence the “flying” comment earlier), is that Matt & I went to Vegas for a week in mid-February!!!  Matt had a work conference there, and I got to tag along.  I was THRILLED!!!  Vegas is such a special place to me and Matt, and it was PERFECT that we got to spend some quality Matt-and-Jill time there together…and on Valentine’s Day too!  The joke was that Matt worked and gambled, and I shopped and ate.  It…was…wonderful.  Vegas, baby!!!

Matt & I on the plane to Vegas!  Yummy snack plate, and my first time with airplane DirectTV!
(Matt's a seasoned pro.)



Welcome to Las Vegas!!!
(First time we saw this sign.  Classic!)



Me & Vegas sign.  Can you tell I'm excited?!!!

Me & my sweetie in the Bellagio Conservatory.
It, as well as many of the hotels, were decorated for Chinese New Year.

Me in Bellagio Conservatory by the Chinese red bridge and rabbits!
The rabbits were for the Year of the Rabbit for Chinese New Year, but I just LOVED them!!!

Matt in Bellagio Conservatory



Me in a noodle restaurant in Caesar's Place.  The food was yummy,
and Matt said it looked like we were inside a present.  :0)

To enter the restaurant, you walked through walls of fish aquariums FULL of goldfish.
The colors were BEAUTIFUL!!!

We stayed at Caesar's Palace (the site of Matt's conference).
The funniest thing happened while we were checking out...
A group of very "happy" barely-21 guys came up to the check-out desk
and asked, "Is this the REAL Caesar's Palace?"
just like in the movie "The Hangover".
And the lady at the desk TOTALLY guessed
that THAT it what they were going to ask.
So funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :0)



Chinese lanterns hanging in The Bellagio for Chinese New Year

The BEAUTIFUL Bellagio glass-flowered ceiling  :0)

Year of the Rabbit!  So cute!!!

Largest chocolate fountain in the WORLD!

By the Eiffel Tower...the LAS VEGAS Paris Eiffel Tower

My favorite coffee shop...in The Bellagio

Darth Vader wielding a light saber standing next to a Scotsman playing bagpipes.
ONLY IN VEGAS!!!

Me in one of the new Aria hotels.  So fancy!!!

While we were there, Celine Dion returned to Caesar's Palace
(after taking a break to have her twins)
for a press conference and to start rehearsing.  Shows begin again March 15th.
We saw the commotion, but
didn't wait the 3+ hours to try to see her.  But still...so exciting!

Signs everywhere along the strip said, "Welcome Home Celine".

Me & my sweetie

Matt on the "streets" of The Forum Shops

We ate such yummy food, including hand-stretched noodles, urban butcher sandwiches,
banana donuts, and delicious gelato.
The last night, we ate at Mario Batali's restaurant where we dined
on various meats and cheeses with recommended flavor-pairings
of honey, apricots, and cherries.  It sounded weird, but it was
TRULY SO DELICIOUS!
Oh, and we ate Mario's pizza too.  Mmmmmm.
When in Italy...I mean, Rome...I mean, Vegas.  :0)

Bye, bye, Vegas!

Matt on the plane coming home eating his yummy cheeseburger.

And finally, the last weekend of February was my sweet cousin’s 8th birthday.  Happy Birthday, A!!!  She and her brother are so special to me, and I was THRILLED that Matt & I got to attend her kitty cat birthday party this year.  My sweet niece, Miss J, was there to celebrate as well.  I know I’m biased, but isn’t she just PURR-FECT! :0)

Adorable Miss J at sweet Miss A's PURR-FECT kitty cat b-day party!



Oh how she LOVES HER MOMMA!!!

It was wonderful being there for A’s special day and amazing to spend time with my AWESOME and AMAZING family!!!

So, fast and furious…but wonderful too!  So many great memories to start our 2011 great!  And throughout each moment, the Lord was with me...blessing me so greatly, giving me strength and safety and protection, and showering me with His everlasting and amazing love.  Praise You, Lord!

Fun and friends and family

Lots of laughter and love

Trips and travel and time with my honey

All blessings from God above!