I'm probably the lamest Las Vegan ever...

Or so I thought until I got to work today and found out that I was not the only one that preferred to stay in and do absolutely nothing in one of the craziest cities in the world on New Year's Eve.

Last year I did it up right. A bunch of my girlfriends and I got a hotel room at Caesar's, we hung out on the strip all night, counted down with thousands of people, watched the fireworks explode off the casinos, had an assortment of alcoholic beverages, and kissed a random boy standing next to me at midnight (no need to mention it was the worst kiss of my life -- it was midnight and I wasn't about to be picky)...

But this year.. I've just returned from eight days of vacation. Eight days that have entirely whiped me out. Eight days where I never consecutively slept in the same bed for more than two nights. And honestly, only had one really good night's sleep because I was totally exhausted from traveling the first day, bridesmaid dress shopping, and the calm of the winter blizzard that hit the second after I landed.

So I think instead of spending a lot of money at a nightclub I'm too tired to enjoy or going to the strip with some of my insane friends that plan to be there passed out on the curbs until the wee hours of the morning, I'm really excited to go with my roommate to our friend Brooke's for appetizers and then dinner with them and a few friends. Brooke is an amazing cook so even apps at her house will make me happy. And turning in early is A-ok with me.

I have such a big week ahead, and I'm already only operating on 50% steam. I don't need to go out, be out all night, and be operating at 35% for the rest of the week.

And yes, as I write this, I'm trying to convince myself that this is the right decision. Hence my having to reiterate it to my friend, my mom, my roommate, my blog readers, etc. Part of my brain is saying, "You idiot.. You live in LAS VEGAS. How can you not go to the strip?? You're not going to live here forever!!" But I'm just really trying to tell that part of my brain to go to sleep first and let me have a little R&R.

I hope everyone has an amazingly safe and wonderful New Year! And congrats to my beautiful cousin, Julia, and her now fiance' Tom, after just getting engaged a few hours ago!!! What an amazing way to end a great year :-)

Sayonara 2007!

I just returned from a great 8 day vacation back in Iowa, and I am completely exhausted. However, I wanted to get some thoughts out for my memories before I fall into my bed, avoiding unpacking for a couple more days :-)

I really do love Christmas. It's just such an appreciative time. Iowa was so so very cold, but I will admit it was pretty to have a white holiday. I of course loved spending time with my family. A few highlights were definitely hanging out with my cousin Brett's two little girls who I absolutely adore. It was also great to play games at the Monaghan Xmas and bond with my girl cousins at the Andrew Xmas. I have an awesome family, and I am always so happy to get to spend more time with them.

On another note, I rarely leave Iowa without a swollen heart after spending amazing times with my friends back there. I am so truly blessed to be able to go home and see such wonderful people and know that no matter what, they will be there to support me. The first night I stayed at Jess and Steph's place, and we looked through Jessica's photo albums from when we were little. It was hilarious looking at pictures of all of us at birthday parties when we were 5 and 6.. To realize that we've been friends for that long, remained so close despite 1500 miles between us, it just makes me feel so incredibly lucky to have these people in my life.

So all that mushiness aside, this has been a pretty incredible year.. To recap, I found this survey I did back in 2003, and figured I would just update it. Hope you all have a fantastic New Year's and that 2008 is wonderful for you!



MOST ANTICIPATED MOMENT OF 2007: My summer trips.. I was so homesick, and to get to spend time with my dad in San Francisco, my mom in Kansas City and my best friend in Phoenix, it was enough to get me through a couple more months before getting to go home.

BEST PARTY OF 2007: This is a toss-up between my dad's 60th birthday party which was a lot of fun or Shaun & Julie Moylan's wedding.. I mean, you can't really beat an Irish wedding reception :) But it was great to plan such a big surprise for my dad as well.

BEST PURCHASE OF 2007: Hmm.. thats a tough one. Probably my new cell phone. I'm still a big fan especially since it has lasted many drops :)

BEST SUPPORT GROUP OF 2007: My mom has especially been a rockstar this year through all my troubles with work, being homesick, family issues.

BEST SUMMER HOUSE GUESTS OF 2007: It wasn't really summer, but I loved Jessica and Stephanie coming to visit in April. Mostly because Steph had never been here before and we got to do lots of fun things together.

BEST SPONTANEOUS VACATION OF 2007: The trip to LA for the Notre Dame vs. UCLA game with Brad and Tiff. We literally decided at 9:30 am on Friday that we would leave at 8 pm that night. We seriously had so much fun and Notre Dame actually won!!!

BEST MOMENT OF 2007: How can you pick one moment... Getting my new job offer, working my first big event, all my crazy travels this summer and fall, my birthday celebrations, San Francisco with dad, Kansas City with mom, visiting Kelly in Phoenix, finally getting to go back to Iowa to see Devan play after being away for 6 months and battling some bad homesickness, trips to the OG with my Vegas girls, college football Saturdays... seriously -- it's been a good year.

BEST TV SHOW OF 2007: Gossip Girls.. Penn Badgley, I heart you.

BEST JOB OF 2007: Working Rock for the Cure.. It was such an insane rush to get to work such a huge event for an amazing cause. Plus the celeb sightings wasn't bad at all either ;-)

BEST THRILL OF 2007: Working the Ocean's 13 movie premiere red carpet

BEST DECISION OF 2007: Taking my new job position. I am so excited by what I'm doing every day, and I am truly very happy.

I'll be home for Christmas...

When I look back on past holidays, I always remember my favorite Christmas as the year my dad got me my own little tree for my bedroom. In reality, I now know that the bank Christmas tree was too tall and they had to cut off the top. This little "Charlie Brown tree" as my mom called it, was brought to my room where I decorated it with lights and ornaments and I thought it was the most incredibly beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I loved it so much, even though now looking back on it, it was probably a pitiful little dead piece of evergreen. It's something I've never forgotten.

I love Christmas. I always have. Ever since I was ten, I took over putting the lights outside our house. I was the 'Clark Griswold' of the family. This year I decorated my own house as best I could on an extremely tight budget. I had envisioned a beautiful gorgeous tree, but that was not possible with the balance in my checking account. So as I was at the grocery store on Sunday, I saw this little two foot fake tree. It reminded me of the tree I had as a little girl, and at $3.97 it was right in my budget. I took it home, decorated it with a string of lights, and now it makes me smile every time I walk into our living room.

The holidays are tough. It's hard to be so far from my family. It's also hard to think of my parents divorced during this time of year. I went to church on Sunday, the first week of Advent. I always think churches are so incredibly beautiful during this time of year and was excited to go and hear Christmas hymns. At the beginning of the service, a young family with a beautiful little blonde girl in a red velvet dress got up to read and light the first candle of Advent. I couldn't help but fight back tears thinking back to all the years my family stood at the front of the Presbyterian Church in Guthrie Center doing this exact same thing. I'm so happy to have those memories but it almost makes the reality of our family status even harder to face during this time of year.

I keep thinking this will get easier. It has gotten easier. But it will never be 'easy.'

Either way, I'm lucky to have two wonderful parents who both love me, whether they are together or apart. They are both incredibly supportive in my life, and I love them and appreciate them more now than I probably would ever have if we hadn't gone through this together.

So this week starts the Christmas parties. Saturday is an ugly sweater party at a friend's house. Next Friday is our company party out at Lake Las Vegas. Then next Saturday is another ugly sweater party. Then the 22nd I will be heading home for a week. Hopefully this trip/holiday goes better than Thanksgiving did.

Happy Holidays!

Exhaustion never tasted so sweet...

Talk about a marathon week at work! My main client had their annual fundraiser Rock for the Cure event on Thursday and the celebs really showed up to do their part. Paris Hilton, Criss Angel, Larry King, Sylvester Stallone, Kimberly and Sean Stewart, Tommy Lee, Miss USA & Miss Universe, Howie Mandel were all there. Rod Stewart performed, and I never knew I liked him music until I recognized almost all of the songs. I also got to meet him and his son Sean (who is hot but quite a mess at the same time) which was amazing. In reality, I talked to all of them when we had to work the red carpet and then ask permission for photos for our own coverage to service the news.

Not bad for a girl from Guthrie Center, Iowa!

My boss and I worked from 9 am on Thursday until 5 am on Friday non-stop.. I finally got home, collapsed in my bed, only to get up at 7:30 am to head in to work and start tracking all the coverage. We've had a lot of great reports - mostly from celebrity blogs about the Kim Stewart + Tommy Lee romance. Either way -- it's getting my client's name out there which is especially important because they are an amazing organization that I feel incredibly lucky to have some small role within.

I hit my breaking point of exhaustion last night when I got home at 6:30 pm after delivering one last tape to Extra's offices in town. I tried to last until 9 to watch Friday Night Lights, but I was in my bed and out of it by 7:30. One of my friends called me a little after 9, which I thought I dreamt until I saw we talked for 3 minutes in my call log. I bet I made absolutely no sense to him, and to be honest, I have no idea what we talked about - haha.

But it was all worth it to wake up this morning to an email from my boss telling me I kicked butt on this. Ultimately, my goal is just to prove myself within this agency that is made up of 30+ capable and amazing young publicists. I want to show that I'm willing to put in the extra effort to see my client come out on top, and I want to continue to grow here.

I know I had a rough battle with homesickness before going back. However, the drama of my hometown last trip made me realize first and foremost that there isn't a lot of change taking place in Iowa. That is both good and bad. Mostly it reminded me that no matter how long I'm away, my friends there will always remain my friends. I fell right back into place with my girls and truly had an amazing bonding experience with all of my boys that I look to as additional brothers. I think it was eye-opening to see that it's ok for me to be so far away but still know that my love and loyalty for all of those amazing people that took part in the first 22 years of my life remains constant.

I'm hoping it will give me the boost to really dive into Las Vegas and accept the future that I know is possible here.

It's truly one of the most exciting times of my life, and I am so blessed to have amazing friends, both far and near, the best family in the entire world, and God in my life to guide me through all of this.

Damn you, country music...

I know I've said this before.. but.. country music makes me REALLY homesick. I don't know why -- it just has always reminded me of back home. Maybe because the story lines of most songs could be related to life in Iowa... I don't know.

The only problem... I am obsessed with country music right now. I can't stop listening to it. I play it every morning when I wake up, and I have been in a serious downloading frenzy with Rascal Flatts, Gary Allan, Carrie, Emerson Drive, etc right now..

I guess it's a good thing I'm going back to Iowa again this weekend. I was literally just there but I can't wait to get back. This is going to be such a fast trip though... I take the red-eye out on Friday night and get into Des Moines around 7:30 am on Saturday. My dad's *surprise* birthday is Saturday night and then I'm back to Vegas on Sunday night. I write openly about this because I had to break the news to my dad about his party since he had - OF COURSE - made plans to go out of town... He is impossible to plan a surprise for, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that he doesn't know about. I'm hoping it will be a really great party and a good night had by all.

After that, it's back to Vegas but only for two more weeks after that until Thanksgiving. And then I'll be back for about 8 days for Christmas.

I don't know what this homesick bug that has bitten me is all about... Maybe it's just because of fall and I love fall back home. By the time I have to deal with snow, I'm sure I'll get over it :-)

I think my best friend is planning a trip out here in January. Dad is thinking of coming for a golf tournament in February, and Mom had mentioned a trip after Valentine's Day is over. So I can't really complain.. For living so far away, I'm pretty lucky to get to touch base with the home land so often.

Some big things coming up this week at work. Hopefully it will be a good one but go quick so I can hop on that plane and be on my way!

I can't wait for this holiday to be over...

I've never been a big fan of Halloween. I think there is so much pressure to figure out a clever outfit or a funny one or a slutty one.. The girls in Vegas take slutty to a whole new level.. A friend of a friend last year actually pasted fake leaves over her nipples and vaginal region and went out as Eve (from Adam and Eve) to the nightclubs.. I guess she won a huge prize though worth like maybe $5k if not more.. So I suppose she's the smart one in the end..

Since I came up with nothing witty or slutty enough to head out, I stayed in and handled some of the trick-or-treaters that stopped by the house tonight.. They finally stopped ringing the doorbell around 9 pm. I went up to my room and opened my window to get ready for bed, and it smells like campfire, someone's burning something.. There aren't really leaves to burn so I'm not sure what it is, but it smells like heaven. A scent you never know you miss until you don't smell it enough...

Which reminds me... I think that the statement "don't know what you got until it's gone" is so true. Last weekend I was truly in awe of the amazing orange and yellow leaves back in Iowa. When I stopped in the ISU alumni office to pick up some decor for our events, I commented how great it is to see them. The woman helping me said, "Actually, they're not good at all this year.. I'm so disappointed." It took me about 30 seconds to pick my jaw up from the floor.

I can't wait to go home again. It's funny but I'm not sure what makes me more homesick, not going back forever or going, getting a taste and then having to leave. I'll be back so much in the next two months, but it makes me really happy. Hopefully the upcoming holidays will be a joyous event, everyone will get along, and everyone will have a good time.

Until then, work work work! :)

A funny thing happened on the way to McD's...

Close to the lunch hour today I was heading from a meeting back to my office when I decided to stop at McDonald's and get an ice cream cone to hold me over before I could actually eat lunch. I went through the drive-up window, handed the first girl my $1.79 (I know, right?? When did the prices skyrocket on frozen cream??) and then went to pick it up. This guy comes to the window -- he was foreign, I think maybe Russian but I'm not sure.. He smiles at me and says "So beautiful!" and I look at this great cone he's made that would make my mom proud and say "Oh yes, it is a great cone!"

At this point he looks at me funny and points at me.. "No, YOU so beautiful. Have a nice day!"

Has Vegas jaded me so much that I can't even see a compliment coming? That I immediately think the complimentor is talking about someone or something else... EVEN something as trivial as an ice cream cone???

I started to think about this on my drive home... This guy didn't want anything from me -- not my phone number, not to see me again. He just wanted to tell me that he thought I was beautiful and go on with his day. It was genuine -- again not something you see/hear of much out here -- and to be honest, it was close to the highlight of my day.

THE highlight of my day was getting to meet Lon Kruger -- head coach of men's basketball at UNLV. We're working with him on an event, and he was one of the nicest guys I think I've ever met. Again -- very genuine. When my dad asked me how the meeting went, I told him he seemed like the nicest coach I'd ever met -- even possibly nicer than Coach Callahan (UNL) who had offered to call my dad and tell him to take me to Ireland when I had to drive him around during my college internship in Kansas City -- and I don't say that about just anyone.

Today was my first day back in town from a long weekend back home. It was the first time I'd been to Iowa in 6 months, and believe me, I needed it. I'm going to be back 3 more times before the end of the year, and I'm hoping that will hold me over for a while. Hopefully no more staring out my window in bed, watching the lights of airplanes as they are on their way out of town, jealous of whoever is on that plane on their way back home to see family and friends.

I'll write more about home later -- great trip, great Iowa game.. No sleep but great times :) For now, I'm going to go catch up on that sleep though...