Life Is What Happens To You....

…when you’re making other plans.  -  John Lennon

So, for those who have been following us (really…you’re still here?) you may remember that our plans were to relocate from Liberty Lake to Las Vegas, stay in a temporary housing location until we scout the city and decide where to live, find a nice house, and start our lives in Las Vegas.

Here’s what actually happened to us, while planning those things…

We relocated to Las Vegas, stayed in some temporary housing (Sienna Suites on Boulder Highway…and that’s a whole ‘nother blog post that I’ll leave for August!), scouted the city, decided we wanted to be somewhere in/near the Silverado Ranch area, found a nice house in the Silverado Ranch area, and started our lives in Las Vegas.

Oh…I guess we’ve done everything we planned to do so far…

Oops…we neglected the little “blog update” thing…

So, here I am at 9:30am on January 13th. By pretty much anyone’s (in the northern hemisphere) standards, it’s the middle of winter. I’m sitting on my back porch in high-40’s/low-50’s temperatures, enjoying a cup of coffee and a nice morning cigar. I’m also, somewhat shamefully, updating our friends and family via our blog.

I seem to remember my last post mentioning something about visiting the Forums and Caesar’s Palace. Yes, we went there; it’s really cool. In fact, everything about this city is pretty cool. Keep in mind, we’re the kind of people who love restaurants, shows, and other city stuff. With that in mind, you’ll understand why Las Vegas strikes us as a sort of Mecca.

I’ve found a group of really great folks who love cigars; we meet once a week at various cigar-friendly locations in the area.

August has hooked up with a group of Jane Austen fans and meets with them once a week at varous Jane Austen-friendly locations in the area. Oh…one of those “locations” (in both cases) will be our home here in the Silverado Ranch area. I guess I should get into that, yes?

As a result of my lovely bride doing all kinds of tireless research on the Internet, we looked at a goodly number of houses that met our needs. What were our needs? Well, we wanted at least 3 (preferably 4) bedrooms, a two-car garage, covered outdoor living area, lots of stuff nearby, and a relatively easy commute.

What we actually found was a 4-bedroom home that has a two-car garage, really nice covered outdoor living space with basically EVERYTHING within a half mile. The commute for me? Well, it’s about 8-10 minutes depending on traffic.

Yeah…August is awesome. She found what would have to be just about the PERFECT place for us!

Why did we need a four-bedroom home? Well, one of the bedrooms had to be suitable for use as an office. This place has one of the four bedrooms on the ground floor off the kitchen. It’s one of the larger rooms, has a walk-in closet, and fits our new desks quite nicely. In addition, we plan on adding a nice convertible sofa to make it a last-resort guest room. There is, of course, a very nice master suite; nothing needs to be said about that. The other two bedrooms? Well, we’re in Vegas, baby! We are aware of the fact that we’re likely to have guests now and again; in fact, we’re looking forward to it!

August, my own personal Craigslist hero, has found all kinds of awesome deals on furniture to make our house a wonderful home in the Desert Southwest. I’m going to let her post all of the awesome stuff she’s found and updated. Let's just leave it at this: we’re just about ready for a non-stop stream of friends and family to come hang with us and enjoy the awesomeness that is Las Vegas!

I’ll stop here for now; because my lovely bride has MUCH more to do with where we are now than I do; I’ll leave room for her to post the cool stuff we have in our new home. (Hint: wait until you see what she’s done for our dining area!)

Anyway, sorry about the long hiatus. I think we’re back now. We’ve gotten pretty much moved in and our schedule is starting to take shape. The only big change in the future is when I finish training at work and move to my permanent days off.

More to come….and we hope you come visit!

The Forums

Today I somewhat impulsively suggested that we jump in the car and go check out Caesar's Palace. We both want to see all of the big resorts while we're here in Las Vegas. August agreed and we headed out. We had brunch at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. Check THAT one off of our list!

One of the big features of Caesar's Palace is the shopping mall known as The Forums. There are all kinds of high-end stores, a few big-name restaurants, fountains and a Greek Statue theme. At one end of the Forums is a little placed called Casa Fuente, a cigar bar famous for its mojitos. We sat in the lounge area, which is actually roped off area outside the shop proper in that corner of the mall. Sipping my drink and enjoying my cigar, it was a great people-watching opportunity.

All in all, it was a great afternoon spent with my lovely co-author!

Hotel Living

I love staying in hotels when we travel or we're on vacation. It's been about a month now, since we arrived in Las Vegas and that's how long we have been staying at Siena Suites. I am tired of hotel living! I'm so glad we finally found a house and I can't wait to move in.

One of the positive thing about living in a hotel is dining out. DH and I have been trying out different places to eat. I'm planning to post  some of our dining experiences especially the "fine dining". The first on my lists is Mario Batali's steakhouse, Carnevino. We've also plan to play tourist on The Strip at least, a couple times a month. I'm really looking forward to checking out the 5 Star hotel and casino in the city. Let's not forget all the shows. So many things to do... not enough moolah to do it!

Maybe if we are staying at Bellagio I wouldn't be tired of hotel living. What do you think?

 Bellagio versus Siena

A Fresh Start

As the year 2010 winds down and 2011 prepares to burst forth, I am reminded of Lamentations 3:22-23..."Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

It's the fresh start of a new day, a new week, or a new year that is always so encouraging to me. I'm even more encouraged and excited about starting fresh! Moving to Las Vegas, a new house, new people to meet and places to discover. So, why not a new blog?!?

I'm not a prolific blogger as some of you may know from my old blog. That's why I'm doubly excited that my husband, (who I will simply refer to as DH or Dear Husband) is joining me as my co-blogger in this project. Between the two of us, this blog should be updated more frequently. I can't promise to write every day, but I intend to write more often than I have been in the past.

So, I invite you to visit and join us on our new adventures!

About Us

Dear Husband
I was born in Florida, raised in the US Army and spent much of my adult life in Alaska. Moving around many times during my childhood instilled in me a bit of wanderlust and I find myself getting a bit restless after being in the same place for more than a few years. I really enjoy seeing new places and meeting new people. I’ve been blessed with a great career serving as an air traffic controller, and have the indescribable privilege of being married to the one person with whom I never tire of spending time. I enjoy cooking, road trips, fine wine and premium tobacco. Nothing gives me more pleasure than a wonderful evening with my lovely bride at an awesome restaurant in a new location; and ending the evening with a nice cognac and a truly fine cigar. My dreams revolve around retiring into a Class “A” motorhome and touring the country with my wife and our doggies; exploring the highways and byways of this great nation; meeting all kinds of people; and generally going wherever will ’o the wisp leads!  ~Doug

Dear Wife
Info coming soon!

Darling Daugther
Info coming soon!

Brutus and Bella - Puppy Love
Info coming soon!