Laura Vegas

day one of our utah trip. I think we were both up by about 3:00am. with just a few hours of sleep. on the road by 4:00am. and at the airport by 5:00am. got the baggage checked super quick. and went to get in line for the security checks. unloaded laptop, ipods, cell phones, keys, purses, and shoes onto the belt. and went through the detectors. apparently i looked fairly suspicious (could have been the big baggie sweatshirt i was wearing). so they stuck me on the side and sent a lady over to pat me down. lol! we only had about 10 minutes to wait. before we boarded this plane here. and you can see us, right? deneen is taking the picture, and that's me next to her.

packed into a very tiny row of seats. with no room to move. people watched and chatted until it was time for take-off. then i closed my eyes. and prayed that everything would be ok. i couldn’t look out the window. we were right by the big wing. mind you, i haven’t flown in about 15 years. lol! finally took off and got up in the air. above the clouds, right about when daylight hit.

an hour and 45 minutes later, we were in salt lake city, utah. although utah is an hour ahead of our time, so instead of it being 7:45am, it was 8:45am. made our way out to the baggage claim. by the time we got there, our bags were the only ones left. grabbed them and found the rental car spot. got a car, and found our way to the hotel. were a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to check in yet, since it was 9:30am. and check-in time wasn’t until 3:00pm. but they were cool and let us in.

super nice room, but a super small bathroom. also expensive. parking cost us $15 a day for valet parking. it would have cost us $12 a day if we parked it ourselves. so we decided it was worth the extra $3 to have them do it for us. stopped off for some starbucks. I’m thinking they cost more here in the hotel, and it didn’t take off my gold card discount. but it did hit the spot and help get me going a little. we took just enough time to freshen up, actually do our hair, and put our “for-real” clothes on. then we headed out to the “gateway” to find some breakfast/lunch. apparently you have to pay to park there too. i think you have to pay to park anywhere in this town. lol! finally just settled on McDonalds.

then we headed out towards this place.

i figured if we came all the way to utah, we couldn’t NOT go to making memories! and luckily, they were happy to have us stop by for a little tour. jenny was super nice to show us all around the offices and introduce us to everyone. she kept saying that it wasn’t that interesting. but i think i could have spend forever there, just taking it all in. i find it quite fascinating how they go through the entire process. of getting ideas and products from the thinking stages, all the way to the final product and packaging. i honestly loved getting a small peek inside their creative world. and kind of neat to see some of my projects hanging around the office or on the wall!

and we ran into margie while we were walking out. perfect timing. it was so fun to meet everyone and see the people behind the emails and phone calls. and both margie and jenny were so sweet. and jenny totally made deneen’s day when she gave her the coveted puffy alphabets that she has been looking for. lol! she is totally grateful! and totally ignore my goofy looks. i'm not usually in front of the camera … and i was going off no sleep. lol!

on the way back, we found a fun scrapbook store to check out. neither of us bought too much. but found some fun things that we’d been looking for. then stopped at michaels, just because it was there. headed back to salt lake city and stopped for some snacks and sodas at 7-eleven. then spent forever trying to find somewhere to eat. like somewhere familiar. and not fast food. we needed something good, since we were super tired and hungry and had been up for hours. and we drove and drove and drove. finally stumbled upon macaroni grill, and had the most delicious pasta ever. so good, and totally hit the spot.

and then back to the hotel. at 6:00pm. which is really 5:00pm in our world. super early and yet we’re super tired. just relaxed some. got pictures uploaded and ready to share, typed up this post. and we’re watching gray’s anatomy. just paid $9.95 for the next 24 hours of internet. lol! i could have gone down to the lobby and used my wireless connection. but i'm too tired and lazy right now. then i think we’re going to head to bed early. tomorrow is our meeting with creating keepsakes. and then a few other plans. so stay tuned for more tomorrow!

and i havn't even read my emails yet from today. or read everyone's comments on my post from last night. i'm sure they were all sweet and supportive … and i will be reading them after i'm done posting. so i thank you all now! but i will say that my girls are doing fine. they miss me lots … and i have some emails from them. but we're all doing ok!