Another Thursday To Be Thankful For

I am back from my vacation (and blog-cation.) I spent Memorial Day weekend with Dave and a big group of our friends in Las Vegas! It wasn't the most relaxing of trips... there was some MAJOR DRAMA with two of our friends. Dave's best friend and his girlfriend have been together for four years, but they have some issues and I think we all knew they were going to call it quits sometime soon. Unfortunately for all of us, it happened the first night of our trip! Dave and I and his friend Eric and his gf got into town later than the rest of the group. When we got there we found out that J had been dating someone else and A had just found out about it. YIKES! It was so crazy! I never thought she would do something like that! She slept in the room that first night and we all went out without her. Friday was a really fun night! We went out on the strip, had a few drinks and went dancing at Coyote Ugly! In honor of Thoughtless Thursdays here are some of our pictures:We went to a breakfast buffet Saturday morning and I had the most delicious breakfast pizza. Then we crashed in the hotel for a little while and we we woke up we went to the pool. Dave and I spent a lot of time Saturday trying to keep J and A apart so they wouldn't get angry and cause a scene. Everyone was ignoring J because she cheated, so Dave and I were really the only people she had who would talk to her and just be nice. Yes, she made a mistake, but I am not the kind of person to be nasty to someone I have known for three years because of something like that. Everyone left Sunday morning except Dave, Eric, Sam-his girlfriend, and me, so we had at least one day that was drama free! We went to the shark exhibit at Mandalay Bay which was smaller than I expected, but still fun. We also hit up the premium outlets- which has a great Coach outlet. Dave bought me some new Coach sunglasses- Gingers in black and green. He is so stinking sweet and I LOVE them!!
We also spent Tuesday night out with Ben before he had to go back to the Midwest. We went to Dave & Busters and played some games. My favorites were a trivia game (which I got the bonus for getting all the answers right one round!) and the basketball game. Here is Dave and his Trivia ticket winnings ( : We also went bowling together that night and had a blast. Ben is such a fun and sweet guy and I can't wait until he is back in town for Labor Day and our trip to Cali!
To play along head on over to Life in the Fulmer Lane and link up!

For Thankful Thursday Five at MannLand5 here are five things that
I am thankful for this week:
1. Delicious Cold Drinks On A Hot Day
Nothing is better than an ice cold drink on one of the many hot days here in the southwest. Lately I have been making my own smoothies a lot. I used to work at a smoothie shop and I make some pretty delish frozen treats. Here is a simple recipe in case you are interested in making your own:
1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana, 2 scoops frozen yogurt, fruit juice (I like pineapple, but you can use whatever you like) Blend until smooth and enjoy!

2. Long Weekends With Friends
Vegas was still a great get-away even with all the DRAMA! My favorite things were dancing at Coyote Ugly and all the buffets!

3. My New Sunglasses
(see above) They were on sale and they are pretty timeless! I will be wearing these beauties for a while!

4. My DVR
Sometimes after a big trip you just need a few nights of watching TV and relaxing at home, or at least I do! I love having all my shows recorded and getting to skip all the commercials!

5. My Pup
There is nothing better than coming home to a loyal little guy who has been missing me and is super excited to have me back home!

Share all the things you're thankful for over at Mannland5!

Thanks for stopping by! I always love all the sweet comments! Have a great Thursday!

Fossil Creek

I know how blessed I am, but lately I feel like I have been complaining a lot! I know life is never going to be perfect and I need to start focusing on what is right in my life instead of what's wrong.

This is a great quote about how counting your blessings can make you happier and healthier from Time magazine:

"At the University of California at Riverside, psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky is using grant money from the National Institutes of Health to study different kinds of happiness boosters. One is the gratitude journal--a diary in which subjects write down things for which they are thankful. She has found that taking the time to conscientiously count their blessings once a week significantly increased subjects' overall satisfaction with life over a period of six weeks, whereas a control group that did not keep journals had no such gain.

Gratitude exercises can do more than lift one's mood. At the University of California at Davis, psychologist Robert Emmons found they improve physical health, raise energy levels and, for patients with neuromuscular disease, relieve pain and fatigue. "The ones who benefited most tended to elaborate more and have a wider span of things they're grateful for," he notes."
Read more: @Time.com

I thought it was perfect for Thankful Thursday Five over at Mannland and I am really going to try to come up with a great list every week!

1. We finally got our air conditioning unit fixed. It is starting to get hot here in AZ and it was starting to get pretty miserable without it!
2. Going on a long walk with my dad. He is trying to lose a few pounds and we went on a long walk this week together. It was really nice spending some time together just the two of us and I think it was good motivation for him to start getting active.
3. Having a great doctor. I had a little bit of a health scare and had to have some biopsies taken this week, but my doctor is really nice and definitely knows what to say to make me feel better about everything.
4. Great friends. I am looking forward to a girls only weekend! My bff is dog siting for her brother and I am going to spend the weekend hanging out with her at his house. I am baby sitting Sunday for my other good friend, and I am so happy to be able to help her out when she needs. It feels great to have a few really good friends in my life right now!
5. An amazing day trip to Fossil Creek with Dave yesterday. I had never been and it was so beautiful! I love that we had the time off to go on a weekday and it wasn't crowded. We also found this amazing mom and pop cafe in Strawberry, AZ for some ribs and pie- YUM! He is my best friend and we had a great day together.

For Thoughtless Thursday and Shoot Me this week, I will share our pictures from Fossil Creek yesterday. I couldn't go in the water because I had just had the biopsies taken yesterday, but it was still a lot of fun and I am hoping we can go back soon with some of our friends!

We even saw a deer on the way home! It was a great trip and seeing all that natural beauty and being with my best friend made me realize how blessed I truly am!

To play along head on over and link up! Happy Thursday Everyone

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