BLOGTOBERFEST:

Arizona Bloggers will be gathering for Blogtoberfest on October 7th, and I would love the opportunity to meet more bloggers from our area! Vox is organizing this event, so go check out the latest at her place.

The Basics:

Date: October 7
Time: 3:00 PM to...?
Place: Sonoran Brewing Company,
322 E. Camelback, Phoenix

Vox has a list of attendees on her site. Go add your name and come meet bloggers from all over the Valley.

Sidenote: If you don’t have a blog, but just enjoy reading them, you are invited too! Come meet those you read, at this year’s Blogertoberfest.

Special “Thank-you’s” regarding my Birthday week

Thank you to Jade and OhGirl for taking me out to lunch, and gifting me with some cool new sunglasses and personalized coasters from the Wine Valley in California. Oh Girl, I never publicly thanked you for the Coach hand bag you gave me a while back. I love it! And appreciate your generosity. And of course, Rachel, whose talent and generosity never ceases to amaze me. A special thank you to the rest of my internet friends for the birthday wishes in the form of posts and emails. I love all of you!

To my husband’s siblings who remembered my birthday with cards and gifts. Jim and Barb, I was very touched by what you wrote in the card (I’m saving this one for times when I’m depressed) And a Starbucks gift card is always the perfect gift! Thank you.  Margie and Mike, thank you so much for the card and the “mad money” to spend gambling in Laughlin! You two are always so thoughtful.  And Mike, thank you for the card. You are always so thoughtful and sending your brother and me cards throughout the year. They are very much appreciated, and never fail to touch our hearts.

Gin and Rishel, my homegirls, who managed to track me down in Laughlin to wish me a Happy Birthday. I love you both dearly! I know this wasn’t an easy task, since we were supposed to stay at the Colorado Belle and instead changed hotels after one night. Long story short, I didn’t get my balcony room, as promised. As spoiled as this may sound, I was willing to try and make the best of it. That is until I realized there was NO. ROOM. SERVICE. other than a continental breakfast in the mornings. I’m sorry, but HOTEL ROOM = ROOM SERVICE to me. Otherwise I classify the hotel as camping out.

And of course, a big thank you to my family, who always remembers birthdays. Mom and Dad, I know you lead very busy lives, and always appreciate the time you take out to make my birthday special. Tawni and Tara, thank you for the email and phone calls! It is nice to be remembered, even though we now live over a thousand miles apart.

From writing out these Thank-you’s I see very clearly how blessed I am with wonderful family and friends.

A special thank you to my husband, who got me the Coach bag I have been drooling over for months and months! You know I love it!

Our trip went well. Although gambling winnings were not in the cards this time around, we found new and special ways to make this trip unique and treasured. I know I’ve said it before, but to all couples out there, get away with your mate alone. As often as you can!

I know money and finances seem to play a role in this for most of us. It takes some ingenuity and creativity to put together special weekends or weeks together. But it is possible if you search out ways that fit into your budget.

For us, Laughlin became our place, due to the usually cheap hotel rooms and inexpensive food. Every dollar spent gambling is accounted for by getting the Player’s Cards, that are always free at the casinos. With card in hand, they know what we spend on gambling,(which really doesn’t add up to that much) and usually send us free hotel room deals, and free meal money that adds up with the points on the Player cards. We had a lovely steak dinner on the hotel we stayed at this trip!

This just affords us the opportunity to step outside of our daily routines, relax and concentrate on “us.” Those with kids know how difficult it can be to carve out time for just husband and wife. It is just as important to us as, say, spending quality time with the kids. You want insurance on your marriage?  Find time to play with your spouse, doing things you both enjoy doing, together. Don’t ever give up dating your spouse.

The kids will be back in a couple of hours, ending our alone time for now. But we take these memories with us, until we can break away again. We start out in the daily rountine, refreshed and ready to take on the world!

Hope everyone’s weekend was a good one!

Love,

3T