on the road again.

Greetings from the Casinos!  Last week, Jams and I had a little weekend get-away in Laughlin, Nevada to celebrate Chris and Lizzy's birthdays -fun!  We stayed at the Aquarius Resort and Casino... yes, this is where I won $1,000 on the Wizard of Oz Penny Slot last year (This year, not so lucky) there year we left with a measly 45 cents...!

We spent the entire weekend gambling, eating, playing caveman keno, drinking, more slot machines and of course, partying!  Yay!  My only gripe - it smells like rotten smoke - everywhere!  It's been a little under a year since I quit smoking and I swear, the scent of smoke just gets stronger and stronger.  When I was a smoker, I actually would get super excited when I could smoke in public!  Especially in casinos... I could sit at a table for hours, and regardless of how much anxiety I got from that way-too-big-of-a-bet rush, it was totally "acceptable" to light up and keep throwing my money across the table.  Now, I am the girl with my scarf over my nose, disgusted with that older person sitting next to me at the penny slots with a barely there cigarette hanging out of their mouth and another two packs of smokes stacked up next to the machine to keep the chain going.  Yikes, I might just turn into an old grump if I don't watch it...

With all this travelling we have been doing, I have had to get quite creative with my food choices.  It's not easy to eat healthy.  Fact.  It's even harder to eat healthy when you are not home.  Fact.  Aside from my brown rice cakes and seaweed strips that were packed in the back seat for the trip, I have been left with slim pickins when it comes to "dining" on-the-go.  When the salad bar looks questionable, I'm left with hash browns, toast and pasta.  I can feel the starch expanding my body, ew so gross.  This leaves me with my "detox" plan.  Water only.  Green tea if I'm feeling sleepy in the morning.  Granola for breakfast, salad for lunch and I'm only eating dinner if I am completely famished.  OK, yes, I'm joking!  But seriously, it's time to get super strict for a little bit on what goes into this body... at least until I don't feel like I need to "suck in" while buttoning my pants...

Anyway, we had a great time!  Sunday was a beautiful day to drive for four hours with the top down.  Despite my sunscreen attempt, my forehead is still pealing and my nose looks like Rudolph.  Oh, the gripes of driving a convertible.  I should really stop complaining, I know :)

remember when...

Every once in awhile I question life, what I am doing and the choices I make.  I think this pushes me to be stronger and helps keep me stimulated.  Some choices are easy, others take lots of thought.  Sometimes we have to weigh out the options before we make a final decision because every action we take will eventually have a reaction.   I am always a thinker and analyze many outcomes in my head... pretty much about everything.  Sometimes I wish I were not this way because I often over analyze a lot of things.

Whether we make the "right" choice or not, every experience plays a part in our journey and can be learned from.  I will sporadically think about what my life would be like if I had done things a little different.   As Jams would say to me, "Would of, should of and could of are the three worst things you can think about.  It doesn't matter what you could, should or would have done, it's what you did.  Keep looking forwards, not backwards."  Geez, so true!

Well, I think that sometimes we don't realize the importance of experience until afterwards.  It's kind of like when you were growing up and your parents would tell you, "Someday, you'll thank me for this.  I'm teaching you a lesson!"  Ugh, really.   Sad but true, they were right... (did you hear that Mom!)

People are awesome too.  We meet people all the time.  Interacting, chatting, doing business - we are constantly communicating.  Many people we encounter throughout our lives come and go.  But there are certain people who inspire us to be better and push ourselves.  People who believe in us in that moment that we don't believe in ourselves.   It's because of those feel-good people and feel-good experiences that we look back.  Memories are made and sometimes never forgotten.  This is why we take lots of pictures and meet up with old friends to reminisce about the good old times.  And I know it's not just me; we all have those moments where we wish we could go back and relive something again.

We can't though.  Each memory and experience builds on itself and if you think about it, without all of those things, we would not be the strong and amazing creatures we are today.  Each memory does serve a purpose.  That purpose is so we can reflect back and remember why we choose the path we are on :)