Birthdays and MCATs in Vegas!

One of the best vacations Stephen and I have been on together was when we took our first little road trip to Vegas the first June we knew each other. Stephen needed to go to take the MCAT which was on my birthday so I decided to tag along. I stayed at the fancy Paris hotel while Stephen stayed at his sisters house. We left on the 19th stocking up on way to many sweets and treats. We listened to great music, had awesome conversation, and were newly in love and obsessed with each other. The first night in Vegas we relaxed with Marilee, Colby, and little Clay. I was just getting to know them at the time and loved how kind they were to me. Marilee and Clay made me a cake and decorated with balloons for my birthday. They made me feel so welcomed. The next day on the 20th Stephen studied a little in the morning and then we headed for the strip. We just explored the city and did a little shopping at Kohles which later became a tradition to shop at that Kohles every time we make it back to Vegas. That night we ate at one of the casino buffets. Towards the end of dinner it hit Stephen that he was taking a very important test the next morning. He crashed right there in the booth and went into a bit of a daze for the rest of the night. So we cut dinner pretty short and called it a night early so he could get plenty of sleep.

The next morning was the test...and my birthday! Stephen surprised me with roses on his way to take the exam. He was a little upset I had locked the dead bolt on the door. He wanted to put the flowers by my bed so when I woke up I would see them. Instead he had to knock waking me up so I could let him in. I tend to ruin lots of surprises. The roses were beautiful and later he gave me a necklace with an Eiffel Tower charm on it so I can always remember our first trip together. After delivering the roses he rushed off to take his test and while he was gone I headed out to buy our tickets to the show we were going to see that night. I had to walk from one end of the strip to buy the tickets, then walk to the other end of the strip to get our seats figured out in the crazy heat. It was an intense morning for both of us. When he got done with his test we spent the day hanging out and then got dressed up for an amazing dinner at Benihanas. Later we went to the cirque du soleil show Ka.

We spent the rest of the trip spending a lot of time with Marilee and Clay. One night we took Clay to get some panda chicken (panda express) and he was so excited to get some spicy (rootbeer) to drink. Then we took him to Walmart to pick out his very own nascar toy.

On one of our last mornings in Vegas we went to the sugar factory outside of my hotel and had the most amazing breakfast. It was incredibly delicious. Then we spent the afternoon at the pool getting some relax time in. It was a perfect birthday and a vacation we won't ever forget.

First road trip and vacation together

Arriving in Vegas

We just couldn't get a good picture while at dinner.

Pool time

Summertime Lovin

On the night that Stephen told me he loved me we were at lava hot springs in Idaho. Pretty last minute we decided to grab some firewood, blankets, and hot dogs and head to lave hot springs. We drove all around town going to the fast food restaurants looking for ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish packets to use on our hot dogs. Then we packed up the car and headed out. Coming up with conversation has never been hard for us and we always enjoy being together. Never once did I get tired of spending time with Stephen or think I wanted to see him less. When we very first met we watched movies in his grandmas basement almost every night for over a week. One night after the movie was over we just started talking. Without realizing it the movie had restarted and we had through the entire movie. Another night we downloaded palm reading apps and read each others palms. I thought that it was incredibly accurate for both of us. We had such a fun time working at olive garden together. Our fellow employees are partly the reason we became a couple so fast. Everyone couldn't stop talking to us about our relationship.

So we left for lava hot springs in the early evening and once there we found a little camp area right by the train tracks and set up a fire. We ate half the pack of hot dogs and then left our things there and went to the springs. We stayed until they closed talking about life, school, the future, everything and anything. After the springs had closed we headed back to our little campsite and started the fire again. We finished the rest of the hot dogs and had some yummy treats. Stephen had an idea to go on a walk but it didn't last more than a couple minutes because I got cold. So we headed back to the fire. That night Stephen told me he loved me. He was the first person (besides family of course) to tell me that he loved me. It was such a special night. The next day I remember the both of us had lunch with my very good friends Brandon and Whitney. It was an amazing weekend.
One year later just a few weeks after getting married and around the same time we went back to the springs and camped for the weekend.