July 28, 2008 at 7:02 am (Love, Travel)
Tags: engagement, excalibur, Love, Vegas
Thursday night we arrived in Vegas and were more than excited to check in to our room at the Excalibur.
Simple and cheep the first night
We spent the night walking around the Luxor and Excalibur, gambled some, had a free steak dinner that was a delicious warm up for a few days of amazing food. We rode the “slantyvator” at the Luxor which travels diagonally up the side of the pyramid and admired the NYNY skyline and the piercing beam of the pyramid flanked by our fairy tale castle. The Excalibur was somewhere we both really wanted to stay and I’m so glad we got the chance although it was by far our least extravagant experience of the weekend. When Andy was young he would travel to Vegas for gymnastics competitions and while everyone else stayed at the Excalibur he and his father would bed down at the Circus Circus. He was glad to see what all the fuss was about.
The presentation of Excalibur to Arthur by the lady of the lake. Andy is a rather more lighthearted version of the great pendragon.
For my part, I of course was ecstatic to stay at the hotel with an Arthurian theme, especially to start off my fairy tale engagement trip.
The Lady of the Lake.
We didn't have anyone around to play Merlin. Where's my dad when you need him?
Because we arrived so late, the best part about our first night in Vegas was falling asleep in my love’s arms with a colorful castle watching over us. The remainder of the weekend was short on photos, unfortunately, and high on fun so I’ll try to piece it together the best I can. And there was evening, and there was morning… the first day.
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July 23, 2008 at 9:53 am (Fun Times/Distractions, Internet wonders, The Natural World)
Tags: Manatee
So I must admit that I have accomplished nothing tonight, not only because I wanted to post on here but because I discovered this:
Manatee watch
The live manatee cam form the Dallas World Aquarium! I’m hooked. They were eating right in front of me!
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July 23, 2008 at 7:39 am (Love, The Natural World, Travel)
Tags: Engagement Trip, Las Vegas, Love, National Parks, Nature, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, The environment, Travel
We began our journey shortly after school was released for summer.
Geting our luck Gambling glasses on and heading out the door
We spent the night in Albuquerque before making a late start Thursday morning on the road to sin city. Along the way we had to stop by Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park to check out the scenery. As a child nearly every vacation saw my family roaming around one or more national parks, historic areas, forests etc as my mother filled her National Parks Service Passport with stamps recording our visits. Its not surprising that my sister is a park ranger now and that the first thing I thought to do with the man I will spend my life with is to start a passport of our journey together.
Beginning our family together the right way, in the spirit of conservation.
Can you truly be considered a functioning adult until you own your own Passport to YOUR National Parks? You may notice that Andy looks slightly unkempt. This is a trend that is likely to be noted throughout this series of photos. Upon entering the park the rangers reccommend that you never open both doors of the car at once to avoid a wind tunnel of epic proportions, and that you not stand too close to the edge of cliffs (always good advice). This being a stop of romantic impulse neither of us was prepared for the whipping wind that is threatening to blow my skirt clean away in every picture and Andy’s hair away in this one.
We didn't get to trek across this petrified agate bridge like early pioneers because we didn't have the energy to enslave a native to show us the way.
Oh No it's just ice cream!
I can't believe he's still smiling
This flower was blooming so beautifully in the midst of a desert. Coupled with the stone, incomprehensibly ancient, it seems even more transient and vulnerable. A mircicle in the armpit of the organic world.
Walking a path in the park Andy and I began to feel like we were lost in inescapeable ruin in the desert. The dry wind zapped every bit of moisture out of your mouth and eyes and the sun makes everything surreal and wavering.
Andy can't take the stress of the journey any longer, he finds a "soft" spot to rest his head.
Throughout the park you can see the way the trees fell thousands of years before where they lay undisturbed.
The beautiful layers on the cliffs give the painted desert it's name
The National Parks Service deserves your support in preserving places like the petrified forest for both the unique formations of the past but also the living ecosystems of the present. Pick up a passport and begin collecting for yourselves. Mother’s day was a few days away so while we were at the park I picked up a beautiful archival leather-bound National Parks and National Historic and scenic route atlas for my mother to help give my parent’s scenic drives a bit more direction.
This slab of stone is completely disjointed from the rest of the cliff. For hundreds of years it has not plummeted to the ground and I can't figure out why. Although, while I was standing upon it I gave the matter serious consideration.
Although the park delayed us quite a bit we eventually moved on the rest of the way into Vegas. Tune in for Chapter 2: Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas
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July 22, 2008 at 1:38 pm (Debate)
Tags: Debate
Putnicki and I came out on top at NPDA with the help of an unbelievable number of wonderful people. I especially want to thank:
-Andy for being there to see it and for treating me like a champ before I ever was one.
-My mom and sister for following our progress and celebrating when it was over.
-Joe for running an amazing tournament and facilitating our success and bending to our every whim.
-Braz for being a best friend, a good laugh, and a decent coach :0).
-Jessica for being my female inspiration and the best prep coach ever.
-K-Gar the Horrible/Fierce for sacrificing so much to be here and for finally giving us the “how to be a champ” lecture.
-Brendo for providing the extra sauce to spice up our performance and for being the anti-braz.
-Blake for teaching us to debate with our hearts and to have a good time doing it
-Keith for teaching us everything we know about winning judges and strategy
-Vamsi for being the most comforting person in prep, for all the “tell me everything you know lectures,” for teaching us both how to argue, and for taking my side against Putt.
-Joffrion for not letting me quit.
-Ric for letting me debate even when I had no promise and for caring for us as people.
-All my wonderful friends in the community, because you are the reason I love this activity and I hope we’ll always see each other from time to time and continue the long tradition of trash talk and mutual admiration :0)
Very, very, very special thanks to Anthony Putnicki, for being the reason I came back, for teaching me skills and confidence, for being an amazing friend and sharing the same brain, for always making the right arguments fast enough so I don’t have to do any work, for being so amazing that even when you drop a disad it could hardly matter less and for giving me shit when I deserved it, and quite often when I didn’t… and especially for being the one who has seen me at my lowest and loving me anyways. There is nothing quite like the perfect debate partner to win your heart.
And now… pictures!
Final round against Ben and McCabe
Lindsey and I celebrate afterwards, although I didn't get to party as much as I would have liked because a certain Texas school kept us up until the wee hours the night before with ridiculousness. Still, I was surrounded by my best friends and had an amazing time with everyone.
Our lovely trophy! There aren't very many pictures of us with it but that is probably by design 
Filled with Vodka and something else... anyone remember?
The round in action... ask a sassy question, get a sassy answer.
Prep time assisted by the brightest minds in the nation.
Much more blogging coming soon I hope, until then check out the video of the final round: First Half
and Second Half
Also check out the first five seconds or so of this video… it’s hilarious!
Semifinals
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