My surprise!

November 21, 2012 ~ Remember way back when I told you that I was working on a special project and I would let you all know around the first part of December? Remember how I told you that it's something I always wanted to do but never really had the time? Well my dream is turning into a reality! I wrote a children's book and it will be published in 2013! I should have my book (finished product) in my hands in late December and you can order/buy the book/e-book in January 2013!

A special thank you to Boone Electric and Jim Robertson for writing this story that came out in the Rural Missouri just 2 days ago! If you click on the link and go to page 3 you will see the awesome story.... Thanks Jim! 

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ruralmissouri/201212/index.php?dyn=Boone#/0


This is so exciting as my inspiration for this book was Tom Trabue. For those of you that don't know him, Tom is an amazing guy. He is the current chair of the Chamber Ambassadors and was diagnosed with cancer just before taking chair. He has completed his 12 chemo treatments and is currently going through radiation treatments but the doctors said his cancer is all gone! This 100 page (or so) children's chapter book is for ages 8-12 and is focused on paying it forward. I can't wait to share more details about the book as I get them and currently we are working on placement of the illustrations and text for young readers. I want to make sure the story is perfect when it goes to press!

I have been thinking about doing this for awhile but it wasn't until recently when we took a trip to Colorado that I actually had to get it out of my head and on to paper! I pretty much wrote the book during our trip and finished it up after we got home. I know, I know... how does one find time while you are on vacation? It was easy... Our friends, Paul and Whitnee have a 15 month old baby who goes to bed early which meant we came back to the hotel early! My little fingers went to work typing everything up. With Tom Trabue as my inspiration and Peggy A. Guest (a family friend and local artist) as my illustrator I was ready to move forward on this project!

 I had a couple of conversations with publishing companies and found one that would edit and publish my book. They will also help with marketing and setting up accounts for me at Barnes & Noble, ibook, Nook, etc. My only goal is to see my book on the shelves at Barnes & Noble... just one time.

This is really an exciting time for me and something I take great pride in.... I'll let you all know when I have copies in my hand!

Las Vegas 2012 ~ Day 5

November 18, 2012 ~ Well kids, all good things must come to an end. Las Vegas was a blast but it's time to head home! This trip was defiantly a trip to remember and out of the 4 other times we have been we still managed to see a ton of things we have never seen before! That's the best part about Vegas... it's so big and there is so much to do that you can't see it all in 1 or even 2 trips! We probably won't go back for a couple of years but I can't wait to book another trip! Oh and it helps that I came home with $1751.19 of their money! Until next time....

Las Vegas 2012 ~ Day 4

November 17, 2012 ~ Well kids, today's the day we have been waiting for! The Eagles Concert! Since we didn't have to be anywhere until 5:45 pm we decided to check out more of Vegas and see the Mob Museum. We took a taxi over to it and spent a good couple of hours going through the 3 story building which was really neat and interesting.

It was interesting reading all about these guys and seeing the different weapons, uniforms, etc. from that era. When you leave you walk through their gift shop....

These two look really fimiliar.... just sayin'! 

We walked over to Gold and Silver Pawn. You know... Pawn Stars from TV! (We had been there before but thought we would see if they had anything new to look at. 

It was fun... then again it's always fun where ever the Spry's end up! 

The time had come! We went to pick up our VIP & All Access passes for the Eagles concert!

Not only did we get 5th row tickets we were getting the opportunity to meet Joe Walsh!!!! 

We bought our tickets through VIP Nation and they had a pre-concert party including dinner and drinks before the show. They also held a raffle for Eagles items. We couldn't stay for that as we had to get back stage! 

This is Smokey, Joe Walsh's Tour Manager. What a super nice, easy to deal with guy! I can't tell you how we got these "all access passes" however I can tell you the several times I talked to Smokey he was so polite and friendly. Very professional and just all around a top notch guy! So while we were waiting to meet Joe we went to another area to wait. Who walks in the door .... Tony LaRussa! Shut the front door! Brandon leaned over to me to ask if "Do you know..." and by the 4th word I was already over there shaking his hand! Way cool! I am told he is friends with Joe.... Awesome! 

Waiting in the hallway to go into dressing room 4!

Oh my gosh! Joe was so polite and friendly! He was soft spoken and very respectful. I asked him what is his favorite song to play and his answer was Hotel California. (I was surprised because he makes a guitar scream as he plays "Life's Been Good") His 65th Birthday is November 20th so I took him a few birthday cards to celebrate a little early! Super, super nice guy and such a great experience to meet him! 

Concert time! Not really sure why the dude behind us has his shoe off but hopefully the concert will be starting soon! 

It was an amazing concert (as always) and those guys, even in their 40th year together, still sound just like popping a CD in your car! This is the 4th time we have seen them and it never gets old! Truly an awesome band! 

 This is what we got with each ticket... a 2012 tour book, white t-shirt and a black t-shirt plus our VIP lanyards and a Eagles bag.

As we were walking back to our hotel (which was a long walk) we saw this guy on the street. We watched him get kicked and for $20 this dude is nuts! Hope he never wants to reproduce! Geez! 

All in all it was certainly a fun trip! We didn't sleep much but how could you in a city that never sleeps? 

Las Vegas 2012 ~ Day 3

November 16, 2012 ~ Today we decided to go to the Neon Boneyard on Las Vegas Blvd. I heard about this place on one of the Storage Auction shows and didn't know a place like this existed. I loved the thought of seeing some of the old vintage things from casinos that are long gone or have been updated.

So I'm not going to show you all of the pictures but if you are ever in Las Vegas you should spend the $15.00 to get a walking tour and learn some interesting history of this place. Really is impressive and would be awesome to do a photo shoot here! 

So we decided to walk to Freemont Street to check it out. During the day it's pretty calm around there. There were people but certainly not as many as the evenings. 

Apparently there was a fitness show in town...

Boys calm down... there is a lady in this picture. See her on the right?

All the other girls still had robes on so this is all I got!

We walked around down here and then headed back up to our hotel. We had to get ready to go see Garth Brooks tonight at 10:30 pm! 

But before we headed to the show.... We went back to the hotel and as we were walking out we heard all kinds of screaming... "Oh my God! No Way!"

The screams were coming from this young lady! It appears that Sharon won $111,000+ dollars on a dollar progressive machine! She was so sweet and found out that she had owned an electrical contracting company for 25 years! Pretty cool!

We went to see another Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity. This show was the "Sensual side of Cirque du Soleil". It was funny during the intro but not my favorite one. 

Finally it was time to go see a good show! We were super excited to see the Garth Brooks show as this was his final weekend in Las Vegas. The show was perfect! Just him and his guitar. He took us on a journey through his life growing up and told us about his inspirations along the way. He said out of 6 kids he was the last and his daddy had a fine line of music... Haggard and Jones. He really was great to listen to and laugh with and at the end he brought his wife, Tricia Yearwood out to sing. I really like these kind of shows because you get to see a little into their life. He played for a lot longer since he didn't have a show after this one.

Las Vegas 2012 ~ Day 2

November 15, 2012 ~ So we decided that we wanted to do something fun today. So we took a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon! We signed up for the Wind Dancer Tour which says "Experience an exhilarating flight as you ascend out of Las Vegas and over Hoover Dam and the country's largest man made lake, Lake Mead. Enjoy amazing views of Temple Rock, Iceberg Canyon and fortification Hill, which is an extinct volcano. Keep an eye open for wildlife along the way as big horn sheep, mountain lions and wild horses roam free. You will then fly through the Grand Canyon, descend upon and land 3,500 feet below the rim at a private landing area on Hualapai Indian Territory. Champagne, beverages and a light snack will be served some 300 feet above the mighty Colorado River. While flying back through the Grand Canyon, you will observe the stunning red rock formations of the Bowl of Fire and Wild Pinto Wash. Conclude your adventure with a breathtaking flight over the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas. Total trip was about 4 hours total.

It was awesome to see the view of Vegas and Arizona as we flew over head. It seemed like we were moving so slow but we were cruising along at 125 mph. Going over the Hoover Dam was awesome! When we were there before and took the Dam Tour the highway wasn't complete yet so it was nice to see it all done!

The top picture is at the top of the Grand Canyon and where we would go after our tour at the bottom. The second picture is the Grand Canyon Skywalk.... yep we walked it! 4,000 feet above the Colorado River!

Heading to the bottom of the Grand Canyon! 

Of course Brandon thinks he needs his own helicopter! 

Such a beautiful view! 

The Spry's! 

After we had our champagne and snack at the base we flew up to the top. We arrived at the main terminal and took a bus to the couple other locations to look a the view.

This stop was called Eagle Point and the view was amazing!

We were excited to walk on the Skywalk which was a glass floor looking down into the Grand Canyon! Awesome! We aren't afraid of heights and seriously the pictures don't even do this place justice! Truly amazing!

They wouldn't let you take anything on the skywalk so of course we had to buy some of the photos they took to remember this trip! It was really a great view!

They had a couple of dances performed by the Native American Dancers of the Southwest.

They had several Tipi on this location and one Hopi (house).

 We then took the bus over to Guano Point where we would have lunch. They served chicken and Bar-B-Que.

The view of this place was beautiful too!

We met some amazing people while we took this tour and they were on the helicopter tour with us. (6 people plus the pilot) This is Lee & Wendy Markus! Super sweet people and it's always nice to go somewhere and have someone that you can connect with! 

Seriously, the pictures can't even touch how awesome this was! 

We headed up to Guano Point to see what this was all about. The sign read "During the 1930's a boater passing through the Canyon discovered a cave which later was found to be rich with "Guano", bat droppings. This material was rich with nitrogen and very useful as fertilizer. The U.S. Guano Corporation had purchased the mining rights in 1957 and began to construct the Tramway to extract the Guano from the mine. Utilizing cable that panned the Canyon at 7,500 feet and the use of cable car for both the Guano and miners it was mined until early 1960. A few months later the cable was damaged by an Air Force Jet's tail and never re-opened. The cable head house remains as well as some remnants at the cave and it's now a tourist destination at Grand Canyon West."

It was really neat and of course we had to leave our mark!

After we had a couple of hours to check things out it was time to hop back in our helicopter and head back! Such a neat view from up above and things don't seem so big from a birds eye view!

Vegas is back in our sights!

 This is Freemont Street... see the "tunnel" in the middle? That's where the big screens are that they play videos at night and you can now zipline under it! It's a great place to go to people watch!

A view of the strip! Gosh I love this town!

We went to the 7:00 pm David Copperfield show at the MGM Grand Hollywood Theater. I still can't figure out how in the world he did all the stuff he did. We sat 3rd row and you could see everything but how in the world he did it I'll never know! Really good show and interacted with the crowd well. I recommend seeing him if you get a chance too!

After that show we wanted to see another show. So at 9:30 pm we headed over to Planet Hollywood.  I had VIP tickets with a meet and greet for Holly Madison's Peepshow. Since she was preggers they cancelled that and had a replacement gal, Angel Porrino staring as "Bo Peep". We went to the 9:30 pm show and it was a good but the best part was they got a guy from the audience to find "Bo Peep" a man. Turns out he was part of the cast but you wouldn't have known it at all. The costumes and dances were choreographed well.

 In Vegas it's easy to loose track of time because there is always something going on! We decided to try a little gambling. I like to play on the penny slots because if you bet a dollar you have a chance to win a portion of that dollar back if not more. I had been playing for about 10 minutes at .60 per bet and got mad because I wasn't really winning so as I stood up I hit $1.00 and took a spin.... well I hit $1,000.00! (I started with $50 and cashed that baby out!) We decided to call it a night since we had a busy day tomorrow!