home in a song.

LOVE this song

very much a FAVE

so, therefore, it was a MUST share.

don't you just LOVE it too?!?!!

viva las vegas.

we had a BLAST in vegas. we did SO much in the time we had there- although it seemed like it just wasn't enough time, although i was very ready to get back to my baby- i was missing him terribly. the snow storm hit us hard, therefore we had to leave sooner than expected. we headed out saturday before dark and made our way to knoxville where it barely looked like it had even done anything, we ate dinner did some shopping and then decided that we should get a room about midnight when we had exhausted everything we had to do. we got about 2 hours of sleep, IF THAT before we had to be shuttled to the airport for our 5:30 a.m. flight to CHARLOTTE (for whatver reason). flying was just as great as i remember, although the little planes to and from knoxville were a bit more nerve racking than the bigger jets. we had a short layover there and then we boarded and headed to our destination. once we made it to vegas we had been awake a total of 23 hours- that did not in any way hinder our ability to hit the ground running...and that we did! in the two days time we were able to check off everything on my list (after elliminating a couple things that we opted to not do). it was an amazing trip and i LOVED going somewhere that i had not been to (that i could remember). here is some pictures, only highlighting some of our adventures- there are tons more- blogs are just a pain to upload to. we are looking forward to our other travels this year, extremely excited to start thinking and planning them, maybe another one even as soon as my twenty fifth birthday. this year has started off just right and i am loving it- cheers to many more travels.

waiting to board our first flight in knox-vegas.

the grand canyon, welcome to vegas, casinos right off the plane.

the pawn shop. ever seen pawn stars on t.v.? thats it!

THE famous vegas sign.

in.n.out burger (the hubby was EXCITED!)

fountains @ the bellagio...AMAZING!

paris, las vegas (my fave)

arc de' triomphe.

inside paris, LV

NY, NY (LV)

brooklyn bridge, inside NY.NY, NY style pizza (yum)

inside coyote ugly, the boys @ C.U. & the Statue of Liberty

the BLVD.

the strip & our hotel (the flamingo)

freemont st. experience

so MANY lights.

us on freemont.

living statue on strip/worlds largest light beam (luxor)

view from our room/us in our bathroom (yes thats a TV)

the lovely beds and awesome t.v.

caesars palace.

inside caesars.

shopping @ the forum shops (amazing)

the guys playing, shopping and dinner at planet hollywood.

caesars, again!

leaving vegas, lay-over & DELAY in Chicago (c.dog a MUST, DELISH!)

here, there and everywhere: all rolled into one.

so, two thousand eleven, to me is going to be the year of new travels- fingers crossed anyway. I have all intentions of that happening- unless of course life happens and something stands in my way. we are starting it off with a bang- only nine days in the the year and we are vegas bound. myself, the hubby and brother are flying out there for a few days- we are celebrating our five year anniversary (a little early- but we’ll be sure to celebrate again on the day) and his twenty-first birthday- anddd of course we are planning on having a “big” time. it was a surprise to both myself and brother that we were going and I have to admit that I have taken the fact that I will be away from my offspring rather hard- and the “rather” is a bit of an understatement. I am excited to travel and do something, thankful for the opportunity- don’t get me wrong…BUT, it’s easier said than done. the thought of it at times makes me sick to my stomach and I honestly don’t know how people do it like they do, that they WANT to do it- I (we) have no desire to make it a habit. we both (the hubs and I) have said this will more than likely be the first and last time that we leave him to travel until he leaves us, lol. we are just like that- we have no desire to not have him around all of the time- he makes like and experiences SO much better. with all that being said, I have to admit (although hard at times) that I am excited to be going on a trip to somewhere I haven’t been, at that. to be flying- I LOVE to fly (I cant believe it has been ten years since the last time I was on a plane- that is just unacceptable!!) I have made a list of all the things we want to do and see, places we want to eat and try. did you know that at paris, las vegas they have an exact replica (on a smaller scale of course) of the Eiffel tower (that you can go up in with a restaurant at the top, no we aren’t eating there- I am just TOO picky), the louvre, the arc de triomphe, the paris opera house, etc. not to mention all the little French bistros and the crepes- “vu (said voo)- la la”. the venetian resort - “little italy” (I guess you could say)- goodness, can you imagine the pastas there?! oh and the real Italian ice?! the pastries and for those of us who like ice cream (that would be the hubby)- gelato! it might just be a taste of heaven. **insert an OH MY GOSH here**- they have gondola’s how wonderful, a little river that goes along with little men (I don’t exactly know if they are little, I just assume) in a stripe shirt and a cute little hat strolling you along- ah “how romantic,” yea for myself, my hubby AND brother…can’t you just see us now- it’s painting quiet the picture of giggles. but if I can persuade the brother part of the equation to do it- I honestly don’t care how ridiculous we look, it will be done. another top destination- certainly not the least on the list that is a mile long is new york, new york (las vegas) where they have an exact replica of the statue of liberty (of course on a smaller scale)- but still yet. hot dog stands, soft pretzels, pizza bars with new york style slices, coyote ugly and SO much more. how amazing is it that they create different worlds right there on that one “strip” as they call it?!?! of course all of these places are on my list of places to see- but it’s still rather awesome to seemingly visit them- see them scaled of course, in one fell swoop. I guess it would be a shame to leave out the casinos being that is a huge part to las vegas, right?!?! well it is for the hubby and brother at least, so a girls gotta give a little if she wants to get a lil’ something in return, right?!? that’s my devious plan anyways- we shall see if it actually does work.

the shopping will be glorious, the lights fantastic, the pictures- perfect. one of my favorite parts will be bring back the souvenirs the the ones that are left behind, ESPECIALLY the boy. I will be worthless all this week due to the fact that I am excited and sad all at the same time. I did good just to get on here and share a bit with you- seeing as how I am obsessively soaking up all of my kid- but it was nap time so the schedule allowed- and just in case you were speculating, no I am not writing this in bed beside of him, and no I am not psycho, lol…I’m just a girl, a momma, who really REALLY loves her kid and really REALLY loves to be in his fun little world and who really loves to take that little boy and his little world everywhere with her.

and the best part is (it's no secret)...it’s only just begun, it’s off to a great start, if i do say so myself. we have a couple other thoughts (places) rolling around for the family, we will focus more on those when we return from this travel. boy, life is exciting, don't-cha think?!? a new year, a new opportunity to get it just right, to do all the things we didn’t do the year before- to get started checking off our list of to-do’s and to see all those places waiting for us to discover- to capture. happy travels, y’all.

kissing 2011, hello.

happy new year-(for real this time).

my perfect start to a brand new year.

the lil' mister made it all the way until 12:30
so i got what i had hoped for...

our three kiss and then a sweet kiss from my boy.

i wouldn't want to ring it in any other way-

with my precious boys and wonderful family...

it was a blast, indeed!

(and i cannot forget the BSB- how lovely it was to see them!

unfortunatley the NKOTB had to share the show, bleh! lol)