Add another to the list...

I love animals. I really do, even though my list of roadkill that I have contributed to the highways would indicate otherwise.

Over MLK weekend, my family and some family friends decided to take a road trip to Antelope Canyon and Las Vegas. Being the excellent driver that I am, I did a lot of the driving.

As we were heading south towards Antelope Canyon, a small grey bunny darted out from the shrubs and in front of my car. I saw him before he dashed out and in a split second, deciding between to slam on the brakes and potentially swerving the car into a ditch or....to run over the bunny.

I ran over the bunny.

I'm not proud of it, but I did it without even flinching.

Anyways, here are some photos.

We may have taken a detour to Bryce Canyon....just to do an early morning hike so we could watch the sunrise. And by detour, I mean a 4 hour divergent.

BUT we finally made it to Antelope Canyon just for the last few hours of sunlight. And I got this awesome shot using my cellphone! Needless to say, it was breathtaking.

Me. Entrance of the canyon.

Happy campers. Seriously though, it was way too early to be on top of a canyon ridge.

If you have not heard or been to Antelope Canyon, I would highly recommend it. The canyon is not a State Park and is privately owned by the members living in the Reservoir. And every year the inside of the canyon changes so go before it disappears!

Vegas was the usual -- food and shopping. For such a short and simple road trip, it was such a welcome break from work and being in Utah (ahem inversion).

Teaser: I'm planning a trip....THE trip of the year. So stay tuned!

Short and Sweet

Vegas trip with the family and family friends. Lots of yummy food, more food and some more food. 

Short and sweet trip with the family. Just the way I like it. 

My umpteenth time in Vegas

This picture wasn't from Vegas, it was from New Year's Eve. This is how long it has been since I've posted.
New Year's Eve always turns out to be pretty surprising in all sorts of ways. Some good, some bad, some fun, some boring. But every year, without fail, I always marvel at the fact that I've made it another year and anticipate for all the unexpected things that are to happen in the coming year!

K's friend, M, wanted to travel down to Vegas for a temple sealing with a family she knew. Obviously, this called for a road trip and when Vegas is involved, I'm there. We left at the crack of butt on Saturday morning and arrived in St. George for brunch.

Now, Utah for the past few weeks and that week had turned into a tundra. Records for lowest temperatures were broken and sunlight seemed like a myth. So 27 degree weather in St. George was like Heaven. We basked in the double digit weather.



 It was my first time in the Las Vegas temple and it always fascinates me how temples can be so similar and so different at the same time. Growing up in Utah, I was also use to the way the Provo temple operated. But the Las Vegas temple was beautiful and it is definitely one of my favorite temples.

We were starving after attending the temple and immediately grabbed some food at the PH hotel. After such a delicious meal, we ended up walking the strip to burn it off. On our walk, we encountered a club promoter. 

Now, on every single one of my many, many visits to Vegas I have never once stopped to talk to or listen to the sales people and promoters that dot the strip. I was always taught that they were liars and swindlers. But for some reason, maybe I was feeling particularly relaxed so I let my guard down or maybe Robert seemed honest and nice, we stopped to hear what he had to say. 

He ended up getting us into a club for free! Not just any club, but LAX. It is one of the largest clubs in Vegas. And not only did we get in for free, but we were guaranteed free drinks (which would have been nice...I guess, if we wanted that). At first we were pretty skeptical but thought, why not? So we got to the club around 11 pm and, like Robert said, our name was on the list and we strolled past the people waiting in line to be stamped up and entered the red and black club. What a night!

Once again, we were just loving the sun. The thought of going home to the freezing weather and snow was awful.

We had originally planned to see a show when we were in Vegas, but due to the lack of shows/show times and the pricing, we skipped that idea. Instead, we treated ourselves to a lovely dinner at the Paris Hotel.

Nutella crepes. Man, oh man. It was love at first sight.

Right before we left, we got to see Karah! I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to become such good friends with her before she decided to return to Vegas to continue the rest of her schooling.

I honestly love Vegas...maybe I'll go to law school there? :)

Pumpkins & Vegas

With the frequency that I am posting, every post is a weekly update. Here are some of the fun fall-like things that I did this week. 

I'm not worried about the size of knife my cousin chose to use, are you? 

Before...and after. 

I'm very proud of my devilish looking pumpkin! 

And what is pumpkin carving unless you have pumpkin fried rice? My mom got this idea from a friend and it's not only yummy but really festive! 

And of course, apple pie is a must. 

Without intending on it, I have gone to Vegas almost every October. It's probably because Vegas is the perfect get-away for Utah's already-too-cold weather. 

We went down to visit our friend, K, but being the worst photographer ever we don't have a single picture of all of us. I do, however, have loads of pictures of her pup. 

This is Jack. 

And her chickens. K is the proud owner of nine chickens. Fresh eggs anyone? 

Vegas is NEVER complete for me unless sushi is involved. Boy, was it good. 

Before you go judging me as a bad friend for cutting J out, I want to be clear and say it wasn't my fault. The nice old lady in front of us had a difficult time operating my camera. Since she had been so kind {not} to take our picture, we decided not to ask her for a re-do.
Voila 

But Thriller was awesome. Especially since we made it from Vegas to St. George in less than an hour and a half just to make it in time for the show...

... and because we made a new friend. 

In other news, law school applications are going and will hopefully be ending. I also applied for a volunteer program and was accepted. If everything works out with the sponsors, I will be heading to Thailand this summer!