*What Happens In Vegas...Ends Up On the Blog*

Here is PROOF what a blog slacker I have become! I started this post in April, the event happened in January, and now it is November!!! But as the cliche goes, "Better Late Than Never!" Well, in this case, that is most definitely true. I simply cannot pass up an opportunity to do a post about Donny Osmond on my blog! That would be bloggy blasphemy...

So here's the scoop...
My amazing parents gave us tickets to The Donny and Marie Show in Las Vegas for our Christmas present last year! They really did! I was in shock....good shock...but shock. There wasn't a better gift that anyone could have given me. Eva... Even Dave was excited...okay, he was probably faking it at first, but after all was said and done, he also LOVED it! The reasons for that are below. They also gave tickets to my brother and his wife for the same night. I was almost more excited that we got to go with them than for the tickets. My bro is a riot to hang out with and so I was looking forward to that as well.

The trip didn't start off so well. Maybe that's why I didn't get around to blogging about this. (uh-hem).

I got our airline tickets for us and a room at the Flamingo which is where they perform. All was good to go. At least until the day before when Dave went to print out the boarding passes. He called at me from the computer room asking WHY there was only ONE ticket on the itinerary. I replied back, that there were two. He called me in the room. I looked at the computer screen. He was right. There was only one. GULP. BIG gulp. Oopsie...

I had made the reservations for the room and airline tickets through Orbit in a package deal, but somehow they didn't ask me before I clicked submit HOW MANY tickets. I realized this of course while I was starring at the big number UNO on the computer screen. It hadn't even crossed my mind until then. You would think they would at least ask you HOW MANY? Um, no.

Fail.

Okay... EPIC fail.

Not good.

Not good at all. To get Dave a ticket at this point in the game was going to cost $350! Just to Vegas! So we decided to rent a car and just drive down together and eat what we paid for my ticket. That is until the rental car company informed us that the cost of the car would be almost $800 round trip! Unreal! Really. Really unreal!

Sooooooo.... we were in quite a bind. Luckily Dave thought about asking our good friend who is a pilot for South West if he had any suggestions. Great idea. He saved the day! Actually the weekend. Well, the truth is, the marriage! He said we could use a buddy pass and hopefully all would work out well. We were so thankful to have a friend like that! The only problem was we weren't going to be on the same flight. I had to leave quite a bit earlier and wait for him at the airport. But that beats all the other alternatives! Coming home, we weren't so lucky. My flight left on Sunday and there was no room on any flights for him using the buddy pass so he ended up staying an extra night....gulp - again. But it worked out well since he has a sister that lives in Vegas and she put him up for the night. He did end up taking off work, but he wasn't too mad at me. I think he is used it by now... (uh-hem)
We had a wonderful time but I have since been fired as the family travel agent.

Here are the photos of the fun trip ↓






























Me in our room at the Flamingo. It had a PURPLE couch!































At the M&M store.

Watching the 3-D movie at the M&M store. Check out the kid behind me! Everyone is so happy. You would think we were at the happiest place on earth instead of sin city.

Ah.... LOVE the green M&M!

LOOK! Captain Jack Sparrow! I swear this guy looked exactly like Johnny Depp and sounded just like him too! And I only thought I would see Elvis.































The night of the show. My parents gave us VIP tickets!!! That means we had the best seats in the house and got to go to the Meet and Greet after! Soooooooo excited!!!

LOOK where we were sitting! I had thee best seat in the house by far!!!

Here we are with my sister in law Allie and my bro.













Um, no I'm not excited. Autographed photos!


















Jerry was kinda liking that picture of Marie.

Waiting - waiting!!!

Still waiting for the show to start! See how close I am to the stage!

Oh my gosh I can't wait!


















When I say I had the best seat, I mean I had thee BEST seat! I could reach out and grab Donny! Luckily he reached out for ME first! He winked at me a few times and sang a few lines right to ME!!!! Felt like a 12 year old girl! Oh-oh-oh! You can be sure I would have had a photo of that, but taking pictures during the show was prohibited! DANG! Did I mention, we had great seats!!!

♫♪And they called it PUPPY LOVE....♫♪
YES DONNY OSMOND touched me!!! I even got his sweat on me!!! I will never shower again!

However I GOT RIPPED OFF! BIG TIME RIPPED OFF as you can tell by this photo of Dave.













WHO do those RED LIP PRINTS belong to you ask? Well, NOT Donny!













Nope! They belong to Marie! She had the hots for MY husband! First of all she winked at him a million times and then during the show she walked over and said, "Oh wow. You're cute! Do you know I'm single?" She carried on this long conversation with him! Then a bit later, she came over to the fan that was right in front of me, and held her head over it. She was only 12 inches away from me. She motioned for Donny to help her up, he wouldn't so she asked Dave to. He did (of course!) and she slowly planted a KISS right on his forehead. AFTER she told him how cute he was AGAIN! Donny saw the look on my face and so he started to come over to me like he was going to give me equal treatment. Just as he got there he turned to Dave like he was going to give him a kiss. Sooo funny! BUT I GOT GYPED!!!!


























These photos are from the program since we weren't allowed to take pictures during the show.




























They are AMAZING entertainers! They have so much energy and the level of talent is sickening. They do put on a GREAT show. I did NOT want it to end, but the anticipation of knowing I was going to get to meet them after made me okay with it getting over asap. Especially since I had a little bone to pick with Marie. haha

















At the MEET and GREET!



















Thanks to my parents we got to do the MEET AND GREET after the concert. Unfortunately Marie didn't make it. Donny told us she was sick the whole concert but didn't want to disappoint everyone so she still performed but didn't want to get everyone sick for the Meet and Greet. Hmm... I wonder if she thought about THAT when she was kissing my husband!
Either way I met Donny Osmond!
I am pointing to Marie's lipstick. Yeah, Dave is enjoying this just a little too much I'd say! As you can see, Donny is not very big.

He wrote: To Jodi...this is NOT a puppy love.

Oh-Oh-Oh!!!!!!! Be still my heart!♥♥♥

Looking at the pictures they take for you at the meet and greet. They cost an arm and a leg...

I told Dave they were worth at least one arm and one leg...

Yeah baby!!!

I found a CHOCOLATE store!!!






























At Bass Pro Shop

Practicing shooting a mountain lion in case I ever need too while on a run. We have one wandering our neighborhood, so I thought I better practice.

Oh scary! I better practice more!



























Notice the sign...









































What happens in Vegas STAYS in Vegas! Marie eat your heart out sista!!


At the Bellagio fountain show...gorgeous!

Felt like Europe....

Eating at the Bellagio

At the Venetian taking a Gondola ride. Notice the purple seats!



















How romantic! Our driver sang to us the whole ride. He had the most beautiful voice!

MORE chocolate!!! Gosh Donny Osmond AND chocolate! What more can a girl ask for?

We went to the Cirque de Solei show Mystere'

ROOM SERVICE! I could get used to this!

Here we are at Dave sister Julie's house.

Julie, Sara, and me chillin' after church.

We had a great time! Even with all the airline hassles. I highly recommend the show to anyone, but I would pay the extra and get the good seats. It made all the difference in the world!

THANKS MOM AND DAD!!! Almost a year late, but it was fun to do this after and relive it all!

The only problem is now I want to go AGAIN!

~Gratitude~ It Turns What We Have Into Enough~

I wrote this post a while ago but wanted to repost some of it. It was originally part of a 200th post give away I did. I have edited it but wanted to include it here since I didn't have time to write a current one and the principals are timeless. Thanks to my friend Audrey for reminding me about it. :o)

I would like to dedicate this post to the POWER of GRATITUDE.

WHY gratitude? Well mainly because I think it is such a powerful tool that doesn't get the attention it merits.

How often are you grateful? Most people only focus on being grateful when something great happens in their life, and maybe on Thanksgiving Day.

I have learned that something as simple as just being grateful for what you have, rather than focusing on what you don't, has an incredible, almost magical power of creating instant happiness. One of the fastest ways to improve your mood or outlook is to count your blessings. When challenging trials or problems come into your life, being grateful for the situation in some way - even when you don't like anything about it- allows you to get through it with a more optimistic attitude. It really is true that every dark cloud has a silver lining. Behind every problem lies an opportunity.

But remember being grateful is a CHOICE. Even though there is usually a downside to each situation, there is also a positive side. The one you choose to focus on is up to you. When something happens, either good or bad, pause for a moment, think it through, and then choose how you want to feel about it. The more you choose gratitude, the happier you will be, mainly because you won't be obsessing over the negatives anymore. You can learn to use gratitude to transform your life.

Most of us tend to be in the habit of negative thinking. When we experience something painful or hard it tends to throw us into a negative state of mind. We then experience feelings of anger, disappointment, hurt, resentment, etc., never realizing that it doesn't have to be that way! We allow ourselves to stay in our negative frame of mind, which ultimately means we are allowing our experiences to choose our mind-set. Not consciously choosing our mind-set, is a choice in and of itself. If we want gratitude to influence our lives then we need to choose it. It's not an automatic response for most people. It is a conscious choice that we must make many times each day. Instead of allowing outside circumstances to determine your attitude, stop and tell yourself, "I choose to be grateful for_______." Then allow yourself to feel grateful.

Gratitude is a choice. Gratitude is an attitude. And gratitude is a habit. When we consciously practice being grateful for the people, situations, and circumstances around us we begin to experience more peace and happiness!!! So what are you grateful for right now?
Below were the requirements for entering the contest on the original post, but I left them on to challenge you on what you can do to increase your gratitude daily.

♥ Leave a comment about what you are grateful for today.

♥If you want an additional entry then just mention this contest on your blog along with a link to mine and tell me you did.

♥For a third entry... start a Gratitude Journal where you write down 5 things you are grateful for each day and then leave me another comment before (before Nov. 11th) telling me you started one. ☺ If you already have one, then you are automatically entered again! Just let me know!

And remember to...

BE GRATEFUL today!

I also wrote a post on helps on how to teach our children gratitude HERE.

~~~It's Who You Are~~~

If you have seen the movie Secretariat then I am sure you will agree it was a very inspiring movie. I LOVED the whole film. I felt like I could relate to that horse in so many ways. I laughed. I cried. I cheered that horse on and willed for him to win...to become who he truly was inside. Even though I didn't really want to see this in the first place (I was more in the mood for a comedy), this powerful film grabbed me from the beginning and carried me through to the end and pretty much wrung me out emotionally along the way. I think part of the reason for that was the fact that I could relate so well to how that horse was feeling after having run my first marathon just a few weeks before. All those emotions of the will to not give up, the will to NOT quit, the will to keep trying against all odds, re-surfaced during this film. I highly recommend it as a good family film. It is just a feel good movie.
Part of the true story that they don't even mention in the film is the fact that Secreariat had a very large heart. Meaning literally. When Secretariat was put down the autopsy showed that his heart weighed close to 22 pounds, the average Thoroughbred heart weighs 9 lbs. This was due to the X Factor. If his heart had been normal in size then it has been said he could not have done what he did physically.

I have to relate this to running or any other sport. I know of certain runners that are "born to run". One friend in fact, seems to be able to walk out her door any day of the week and run a marathon without even batting an eye. And she has never been injured OR sore, or even felt winded. And she is fast. Really fast. That is not normal. She has something going for her that the rest of us don't possess. I have found myself very envious of her at times. Especially when I am nursing an injury or running in a race feeling my heart is about to burst. But running has really taught me a lot about things being too hard or too easy. I have learned that it's not about who is fastest or who wins or who seems to make it all effortless. It's about WHO YOU ARE becoming inside simply BECAUSE it's NOT easy. If it were easy, there would be no satisfaction. No growth. No feeling that you overcame something difficult. That is what builds strength and what ultimatley makes you who you are.

I know Secretariat's heart most definitely gave him the advantage of having more stamina and the ability to do what he wouldn't have been able to do with a 9 lb. heart, but that horse also had the WILL to win. He knew he was special. He also knew he could just sit back and enjoy a lazy life of leisure and not push himself beyond what he knew he had inside. But, he chose to be who he knew he really was inside. A champion. A Triple Crown winner. Even without the Triple Crown title he would have still been a champion because a champion is not defined by what you win or accomplish but by what you overcome and discover along the way about yourself.

I fell in love with the song playing as they rolled the credits at the end because it is so relatable to running. Here is the video of it, but be sure and read the lyrics below. The message is powerful. You will have to scroll down to the bottom to my purple music playlist and hit the pause button first. It's the big symbol that looks like an 11 in the middle.

Oh and if you haven't already...
GO SEE THE MOVIE!

It’s not the price, it’s not the game
It’s not the score, it’s not the fame
Whenever road looks way too far
It’s not what you have, it’s who you are

It’s not how fast, it’s not how far
It’s not who cheers, it’s who you are
In darkest night you make your sun
Choose your race and then you run

It’s never the glory, it’s never the score
It’s not about seeing who’s less and who’s more
Cause when you found out how fast and how far
You’ll know it’s not how much you have
It’s who you are

You lose the moon then be a star
It’s not too soon, be who you are
Whenever road looks way too far
It’s not what you have, it’s who you are

It’s never the glory, it’s never the score
It’s not about seeing who’s less and who’s more
Cause when you found out how fast and how far
You’ll know it’s not how much you have
It’s who you are

When you have found how fast you can run
When you have found your place in the sun
It won’t be just you that you’ll find
Has made the run and the climb
It’s everyone

It’s never the glory, it’s never the score
It’s not about seeing who’s less and who’s more
Cause when you found out how fast and how far
You’ll know it’s not how much you have
It’s who you are, it’s who you are

Learning to bend and not to break
Living to give more than you take
Dying to live, living to try
Feet on the ground, dreams in the sky

It’s never how much you have
It’s who you are...