Las Vegas

So, went to Vegas awhile back and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. I was going to do a generic "Summer 2013" post but once I started talking about Vegas I realized too much happened to do that. So here we go...

At the end of June Nick and I headed out to Las Vegas for some sun and fun, oh and the National Athletic Trainer's Association Yearly Meeting. This was a trip we had been looking forward to for sometime. We had known it was going to be out for a couple years and had been planning the entire time to attend. Nick had never been to Vegas and I hadn't been since I was in high school. There was a lot we wanted to see and do but the things we wanted to make sure hit were Old Vegas (Freemont Street) and a show. 

On our second day we grabbed the bus with a couple of our friends and headed down to Old Vegas. The first stop was the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop from the History Channel's Pawn Stars. Overall the store was a lot smaller then we anticipated and smaller then it seems on TV. It was cool to walk around and see all the neat stuff they had. We'd just about made our way around when they announced that they were closing to film, so that was cool. Here's some pictures from the pawn shop:

Nick and me at the Gold and Silver Pawn shop.

One view of the pawn shop

Panoramic view of the pawn shop.

After that we headed to the older casinos to gamble and had a ton of fun. These tables were a lot less expensive and so Nick could play black jack longer and we could try more things. After we were done gambling our friends Matt and Sara decided to zip-line down the middle of the road that all the old casinos sit on. It was all a lot of fun and probably the best part of the trip for me. 

The zip lines and a view of the street and ceiling. 

           

 The next morning we went to a fantastic brunch buffet call the Wicked Spoon. It was in the Cosmopolitan Hotel and was so good. It was all individually plated items and everything was so good. I'd eat there again if I went back. Here's a picture in front of a really cool bar in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. 

 That night we headed out to the bar on top of our hotel. It had a great view of the strip but of course everything was insanely expensive. But it was fun to see the view and when you went to the bathroom you were even overlooking the strip from your stall. Weird but entertaining. 

From the bar at the top of our hotel.

So while on the West Coast we of COURSE had to to try In n Out burger. Nick had eaten before on trips out West with volleyball, I however had never had the experience. It was delicious. :) And we need some out here in the Midwest/South.

That night we bought tickets to go see David Copperfield and were not disappointed. It was an amazing show and is one that I would highly highly recommend to anyone. As my mom put it, it's just so Vegas. He was very very funny and is an amazing all-around entertainer. Since he doesn't really tour it's worth going to see him while you're out there. At dinner before I tried two beers that were off the beaten path for me. A wild blueberry and a banana bread. Both were SO good and I'd recommend to anyone. They weren't too strong and had just enough fruity flavor. Here's the beers and a picture of us after Copperfield. 

 Since it was our last night we decided to do a little walking around. We still needed a souviner for Henry (we had dumbly left the one we bought and other items sitting at a slot machine earlier in the day) and so we walked the strip a bit and ended up the Coke store. For under $10 you can sample different sodas from around the world. So as dorky as you may find it, that's what we did on Friday night in Vegas. We were exhausted from the week (it had been so hot) and this was something we couldn't do at home. Here's the sodas and labels that came with. The Beverly was the most disgusting. Most we finished but this one we barely sipped. 

Overall we had a ton of fun and I am so glad we were able to go. Thank you to my parents for watching Henry while we were gone. As much as were love him and were excited to get home, this wasn't a trip for a one year old.

Glad I finally found the time to blog about this. It was fun to look at all the pictures again and think about all we did.

Henry's Birthday Party

We are so fortunate to have so many people that came to celebrate Henry's first birthday with us. We'd really been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. It it always fun to get together with everyone and especially to celebrate our amazing little boy. 

The weekend, however, did not start out well. I was supposed to have baseball games to cover Friday night, but after it rained most of the day they got cancelled. I was so happy to have the whole evening to prepare for the party. But the rain we thought was a blessing turned out to be a curse. When Nick and I arrived home from work we quickly (but not quickly enough) realized that the drain on our walkout was clogged and we had 1-2inches of standing water on it. This could only mean one thing, our basement was flooded as well. The water had leaked in through the door and our entire carpet was soaked. I mean soaked. When you stood on it the water came up between your toes. So Nick headed to Kroger to get a Rug Doctor and my good friend Mindy came over to watch Henry while we quickly moved everything to dry land. Nick spent the next 4 hours running the Rug Doctor with only a short break for dinner. Thankfully his parents came down with another fan and a de-humidifier. It was dry enough for my brother to sleep down there on Saturday night. Luckily we are only going to lose one bookshelf (shelf only no books) and the carpet is all dry now and there isn't ant smell. Needless, to say this not how we needed to spend the evening with 20+ people heading over the next day.

But the show must go on and we had decided on a baseball theme for our All-Star. Many would think this would cause some arguments in our house. In case you don't know Nick is an avid Reds fan and I a Cardinals. So which would we choose? I mean you can't have both. Well I guess you could. But what it came down to was the Reds/Cardinals themed decorations, plates, etc were twice as expensive at Party City. So generic baseball it was. We had a great time and enjoy the pictures below. Thanks you everyone that came from near and far to celebrate. We are so appreciative to have friends and family that love Henry so much. 

The shirt that I made for the birthday boy.

The birthday banner I made for Henry. 

Our "concession stand" that had sunflower seeds, peanuts, popcorn and cracker jacks. 

The awesome! cake made by our friend Stacey. 

Singing "Happy Birthday" He loved it. 

Henry is 1!

Ok, this happened yesterday, we know. But I wanted to wait to post until we had his one year "stats." We went to the doctor today and he is looking great! Growing like a weed no surprise there of course. He is healthy and happy and we couldn't be more pleased. He is very close to walking and has even taken a couple unassisted steps, but overall he isn't that interested and is more concerned with going places quickly and that means on all fours. He says "dada" all the time and has said "mama" occasionally. He babbles a ton but nothing that really is discernible. He loves to stack things and put things away or together. He loves his bear, Mickey, trucks and being outside. He is the sweetest little boy and gives us kisses all the time. The adjective that is used to describe him most often right now is "busy." He's on the move and shows no sign of slowing down. 

Yesterday I had softball games to cover but Nick and Henry came to visit. I am very lucky to have a job where that is possible. We went out to St. Louis Bread Co. (or Panera if you so choose) for dinner. We also, of course did the obligatory cupcake and let him get it all over himself. It was a great day and we are excited for Saturday when we get to celebrate our little All-Star with friends and family. 

Below are his one year stats. Like I said, he's off the charts on height but that's to be expected. There's also a couple cupcake pictures. 

HENRY JOSEPH MEYER

12 MONTHS!

32 inches (100%)

26.5lbs (75%)

Henry and His Bear

Henry's first week we took a picture of him with this bear:

For the next 51 weeks we took a picture every week. Some weeks it was at the end of the week and sometimes we couldn't get him to sit still. We missed only one week in all that time and we put them together a video. I've been trying to imbed the video in this post but it hasn't been working, so here's the link to Henry and His Bear. It's amazing seeing them altogether in one segment. He has grown so much and it such an amazing part of our lives. He truly is a blessing. Enjoy! 

New Orleans

A bit of a delay on this post but we wanted to share some pictures from the GREAT time we had in New Orleans at Lou and Christal's wedding. Back in April. 

This was an exciting trip for many reasons. I had never been to New Orleans and Nick had only been as a teenager. It was a great chance for us to get away and it would be my first time away from Henry. Needless to say, we were very anxious about leaving him, but still very excited for the trip. 

We headed out on Wednesday and stayed the night in Birmingham, AL. We planned on letting ourselves sleep in and waking up *whenever* and moving on to New Orleans in the morning. This plan was thwarted by the construction on the outside of our hotel at 7:30am.

So we were up and out and on our way to New Orleans and got there in plenty of time to visit Jackson Square with drinks in hand. It was a beautiful day and it was wonderful to walk around and be touristy before the rest of our family arrived on Friday. Below are a few pictures from our walk around the square. 

St. Louis Cathedral

Friday we woke up and headed out for a walking tour with some family and wedding guests. Unfortunately it was in the rain but we did get to have our first beignets and my brother and dad arrived. That night the bride and groom hosted a cocktail hour and got the festivities started out on the right foot. We headed out to Bourbon Street after that and the rest, as they say, is history. Here's some Friday pictures: 

Our adorable tour guide in the rain.

Nick and I before the cocktail hour. 

Jimmy and I on Bourbon Street.

Finally it was the day of the wedding and we got to be a part of something SO cool. There is a New Orleans tradition called a "2nd Line". It started with funerals and has become a part of traditional New Orleans weddings. After the ceremony, they opened the doors and there was a small band that led us around the streets of New Orleans, even down Bourbon Street, in a dancing parade of sorts. It was something that I can't imagine I'll ever be part of again but it was so much fun! Here's pictures of that:

The marching band.

The Bride and Groom

Getting ready to go.

The Groom's Parents.

Nick and I during the 2nd Line

Band back at the reception hall.

It was such a great weekend and we are so glad we could be there to celebrate with Christal and Lou. :)

I'm moving on...

I am very very happy to announce that after 3.5 years at Valley High School, I've taken a position at Christian Academy of Louisville. I will be working with the same company, I'll just be changing high schools. I am very excited about this move but it was not a decision Nick and I came to easily. 

When it came time to tell the coaches I was leaving, it was something I dreaded. The move is happening mid-year and we had not yet hired my replacement. These were people that I considered to be good friends. We were in this together. We were here for these kids when their parents weren't. And now I was leaving. Luckily they all were supportive and understanding but sad. I was the first athletic trainer they'd ever had.

When I told the coaches I was leaving the first question everyone asked was "Why?" and this was the very question I had to ask myself when I heard about the position coming open this fall. The most obvious advantage is the proximity to home. I was driving nearly 50 miles round trip to Valley everyday and that certainly ate away at my time and money. CAL is a mere 11 miles from my house and I can even get there without getting on the highway. Then there the amazing parental support at CAL. At Valley there basically is none and this was something I struggled with everyday. It made it hard to get kids into the doctor for the care they needed and this was something that would weigh on me when I was at home with my own family. When I started to bring this all home with me I knew it was time for a change. I wanted to love my job and as a mother that's more important than ever. And finally there is the obvious financial advantage to working at a private Christian school as opposed to a poor public school. Enough cannot be said about having the resources available to do your job the best you can do. 

Even with all this in mind it was still hard because the unknown is scary. Would the coaches like me? Would I like the coaches? Would they support me? Could I handle all the sports that CAL has? Every athletic trainer knows it's very hard to get your footing in a new place and that can be even harder without the support of your AD and coaches. So was it worth leaving a place where I felt comfortable to be at a place that was in the end better? Nick and I agreed that it was. 

Although CAL will be a much larger undertaking with four times as many athletes and sports, it is something I am very excited for. I can't express how much Valley still means to me. It was a great place to get my footing, learn a lot and make great friends. I would not have lasted there as long as I did without the help of the amazing coaching staffs. They are truly great people that don't get enough credit for what they do and what they put up with. I tell people I'm not leaving because of Valley, I'm leaving because of CAL.

I am looking forward to the coming months and all the new sports and athletes. I am excited to make a new family and CAL and am grateful for the opportunity I've been given. 

Oh did I mention the best part about CAL? There's no wrestling... :) 

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!

So Henry has been dealing with his first time being sick this week. So our Valentine's Day post is a bit belated. But here he is in his Valentine's Day outfit: