Mini Vacation

Last week, Josh and I were both feeling incredibly stressed. We have a new puppy who is soaking up every bit of attention we have. We are trying to get through the last month of our lease before we move. We are planning a wedding. Basically, life got in the way of us. We weren't really even talking to each other about anything other than those three things listed above. We needed to make a drastic change...quickly.

Out of nowhere, we decided to use a couple days of Josh's vacation time and go somewhere. We lined up my sister and my mom to watch Charlie for us and we headed out. We decided to go to Black Hawk and Cripple Creek, both of which are gambling towns here in Colorado. Neither of us had ever been gambling but we know lots of people who have and love it, so we decided for our mini vacation to give it a try. We took 200 bucks and found some cheap hotel rooms and started on our journey. Our first stop was Black Hawk; this is a newer, fancier town than Cripple Creek. We loved it here. We discovered about an hour into our gambling that drinks are free at casinos. Therefore, when we would lose some money, we would be sure to order more drinks. Somehow in our heads, this made up for the money lost. Our hotel room was SO nice and relaxing and it was already feeling so nice to just be away from reality. Apparently, the slot machines are too difficult of a concept for either Josh or myself...so we found video poker, the penny machines...and got addicted. At one point, Josh put a 5 dollar bill in and won $60!

The next day, we made the 3 hour drive to Cripple Creek. It was such a beautiful, sunny Colorado day and we both rejoiced to see spring coming. Our drive took us through historic Manitou Springs which is where there are tons of historic places to visit like the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and Cave of the Winds. We thought about visiting those places depending on how we did in Cripple Creek. When we got there, we were both a little awestruck. It is an old mining town and it really felt like we went back in time about 100 years. All the store fronts are the same on one main strip. It was older...and more worn. We were a little wary, because everything including the people seemed simpler here. :) It was actually really nice. Our hotel room was clean but it kinda gave me the creeps. We have been watching too much Ghost Adventures, obviously because my imagination was running rampant.

Although it was just a 3 day trip, it was exactly what we needed to get away from the stress and focus on each other for awhile. When we got to my mom's, we both were shocked because it seemed like our puppy had sprouted in size overnight! Maybe all "parents" go through this...they leave their kids for a couple days and then they seem bigger, but seriously. Charlie is now 3 months old, we have had him for a month and I cannot believe how much he has grown. My mom has a HUGE great pyrenees mix and Charlie was horsing around with him like he was the same size. Hilarious. All I have to say at the end of our mini vacation is it was much needed, but it is so nice to be home in our own bed.

PS- just got a call from the Bridal shop that my dress is in and they need me to come in for my first fitting. Umm...ya think they will hold it til I lose 10 pounds?!?!