19. Spend at least 24 hours in 10 states (4/10) - Nevada

Last weekend we headed to Vegas... well at first it really didn't seem like we were going to make it at all... we arrived at the airport with 45 minutes to spare... booked in and then proceeded to wait in the security line for 30 minutes meaning we literally were the last ones to board the flight whereby Paul immediately gets upgraded to First Class and I have to remain in 'Coach'... I hadn't eaten a thing ALL day expecting to indulge in alligator bites and a glass of wine at the airport so got to enjoy the 3 hour flight with my tummy eating itself (US airlines don't serve meals to passengers) while Paul slept through his meal service and didn't eat a bite or think to send some of it, even a cookie, my way (US airlines don't serve meals to passengers UNLESS you're in the pointy end of the plane)... We finally arrive... and all I want to do is get my butt to an Inn-N-Out burger for a taste sensation before heading to the strip BUT we're sitting at the baggage carousel waiting... and waiting... and waiting for my bag... finally the evil truth sinks in... my bag isn't in Vegas... SO we head to the Continental Baggage claim office where I'm given a toiletries baggie and told that my bag isn't lost, merely delayed and will be delivered to the Hotel at around 2am... So now I'm in desert, its about 10 degrees and I'm in a summer dress with no change of clothes anywhere... GRRR!! Ok... its Ok... lets just head to Avis and collect our car.... WELL.. Avis are sweet, they upgrade us to a convertible and we're on our way... WRONG!! We get to the car, throw in our bags and get accosted by another couple stating that this was their car... Avis had given both of us the same vehicle... so back Paul goes to the counter to sort it out.. where he tosses a coin for the car and loses... He's given another car... this time a cute little convertible... a two seater... which really won't work for the four of us... so back we go again... by this time we've been at the airport for just over 2 hours and I think the sales assistant feels bad for us so he hooks us up with a brand new, all the bells and whistles, Ford Flex, a definite upgrade... NICE! So we're finally on our way... We arrive at Planet Hollywood (our home away from home for the next 3 nights) and are told that unfortunately they only have smoking rooms available.... YOU ARE KIDDING ME RIGHT?!?!? So after just about falling apart and considering just heading right back to the airport and jumping on a flight home, I convince the girl that I cannot possibly stay in a smoking room as I'm.. ahem.. asthmatic (a little white lie I know) and suddenly she manages to find us a non-smoking room... even if it happens to have two queen size beds... by this point we no longer care... say thank-you, grab the keys and head to our room hoping that this wasn't a sign of things to come!!

The rest of the trip was absolutely fantastic! Friday morning we jumped in our pimped out ride, and road tripped it out to the Grand Canyon, and the state of Arizona to check out the Grand Canyon and where we also accidentally stumbled across the amazing Bearizona - An American wildlife park styled after the wild game parks in Africa - bison, mountain goats, black bears... roaming free!!

Waving at each other across state lines - Me in Nevada, Kel in Arizona - Hoover Dam

Bernie and I at the Grand Canyon

Paul and I doing the touristy thing - Grand Canyon National Park

Playing with the Black Bears at Bearizona

Arriving back in Vegas at around 8pm it was time for beer and wings and so off we trotted to Hooters Hotel and Casino for a true authentic wings experience... it was fatty, it was sinful, it was delicious! Next stop.. the MGM Grand to see the lions, who were off loafing it up somewhere else, lazy buggers, a round of 4 drinks which almost required a mortgage payment, and then a quick trip to the Bellagio where the fountains also appeared to have the day off.. oh well at least we got to see a 1000lb pumpkin, the amazingly decorated foyer and a Chocolate Fountain... mmm... chocolate!! 

Saturday was a little more low key - There was time for a little bit of gambling in the morning... I was proud of myself for turning $2 into $14 on my first two spins playing Beaver Bucks and was, as far as I was concerned, done with gambling for the weekend (Yes I'm such a high roller). Then it was time for a little spot of lunch at the Venetian where we dined at Wolfgang Pucks Postrio Bar and Grill across from Wolfgang Puck himself!! The food was delicious - like, last meal on earth delicious, the wine went down a treat (probably a little too well in fact), and the company was entertaining as always! The perfect meal, in a magical setting... gotta love the Venetian!  

Enjoying our lunch..

Right next to Wolfgang Puck himself!

After lunch it was time for a little bit of oxygen and a massage at an oxygen bar which was soooo relaxing and dare I say it orgasmic, that we all needed a glass of red in the casino immediately afterwards! Next stop, O'Sheas Casino where Kelly and Nick bought into a poker tournament - and Nick won!! The Flamingo, to see, what else, Flamingos.. and then home to the hotel to relax before cocktails and rollercoasters in the evening.

Cocktails at Koi for my Baby's 32nd Birthday

So in the end, a bad start to a perfectly wonderful weekend in Las Vegas... I'm looking forward to heading back sometime soon.. perhaps next time we'll even make it to a show!! 

91. Read and Review 100 Books (24/100) The Passage - Justin Cronin

' “It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.” 

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun. '

There are these special kind of books, you know the ones... they're the ones that you absolutely devour.. that you cannot wait to find out what happens next, and so you turn the pages with reckless abandon.. you become so engaged in the world of the story and the characters and then suddenly you realise.. at some point this book has to end.. the plot pulling you forward yet your yearning for more holding you back... its a delicious feeling!! This book is without a doubt one of those books!!

The first book in what is planned to be a trilogy... another novel all about vampires (although these vampires are the result of a military experiment gone wrong and not because of some bat bite or seductive and pleasurable sharing of blood) however you'll hardly be 'Team such and such' at the end of this thrilling ride.. far from soft and cuddly.. these vampires are scary, evil, and set on consuming everything in the world that has a pulse... This is a story spanning over 800 pages and 100 years... and in the end.. it left me desperately wanting more... and just a tiny bit scared of the dark...

Get your hands on this book... devour it.... make sure your imagination has the chance to conjure up its own version of this terrifying future... before Hollywood undoubtedly gets their hands on it...

91. Read and Review 100 Books (23/100) Red Hook Road - Ayelet Waldman

'Set on the coast of Maine over the course of four summers, Red Hook Road tells the story of two families, the Tetherlys and the Copakens, and of the ways in which their lives are unraveled and stitched together by misfortune, by good intentions and failure, and by love and calamity. 

A marriage collapses under the strain of a daughter’s death; two bereaved siblings find comfort in one another; and an adopted young girl breathes new life into her family with her prodigious talent for the violin. As she writes with obvious affection for these unforgettable characters, Ayelet Waldman skillfully interweaves life’s finer pleasures—music and literature—with the more mundane joys of living. Within these resonant pages, a vase filled with wildflowers or a cold beer on a hot summer day serve as constant reminders that it’s often the little things that make life so precious.'

This novel was a little hit and miss for me... it seemed to reel me in, then lose me, then reel me back in, then lose me... until I finally just decided, you know what? I'm already half way through lets just finish what I've started. The scariest thing about this novel is the fact it made me think about my own life and the decisions my, and my husbands family would have to make if, god forbid, something were to happen to us as the Tetherlys and the Copakens arranged separate funerals for the newly weds because of religious requirements and traditions (The bride, Becca, was Jewish, the groom, John, Catholic) Yes, reading this novel prompted a number of macabre conversations in my household (but ultimately very important conversations to have.... to ensure that it really isn't until death do us part...). 

This book illustrates that there really is no quick fix for grief, that no set number of days, prayers, or distractions can take away the pain, and that family tragedies can forever scar those who are left behind. 

30. Visit 5 countries other than the US and Australia (4/5) - Honduras

Earlier this month the hubby and I jumped on a plane and made our way, as fast as we could, out of hot and stinky Houston, to the gorgeously white shore and turquoise bays of Central America - or more specifically Roatan, Honduras - for seven glorious days of diving, lazing on the beach, exploring and just good old recharge, relaxation time!!

We've arrived... and already found the Cerveza Fria (that's cold beer to you know Spanish speakers)

So what was Honduras like? Well, what can I say since all we really ended up doing was a whole heap of scuba diving and drinking (what an oxy-moron!!). Well I guess I could talk about the diving since Roatan lies on the edge of the second largest barrier reef in the world (second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland), the same barrier reef that you dive when in Cozumel and Belize!! However, since a previous post pretty much covered that.... I guess all I have to talk about is lots of drinking, eating and general all around relaxing...

Ahh... Cold Beer, Sunset, Beach, Caribbean... what else do you need?? 

The trip was a wonderful success... and as I think I may of mentioned before, we've finally managed to visit somewhere and feel, by the end of the trip, that we covered more or less everything there is to see (of course, having said that I'd still like to visit mainland Honduras at some point so I guess we're not quite finished).. Our accommodation was excellent, the food was delicious, the diving, nothing more than first class, and the drinks were plentiful.. what more can you ask for on a vacation?? (oooo when did I turn into an American?!?!? with my vacation this, vacation that...)

Just two little fishes... swimming in Roatan

Roatan was a fantastic holiday, but would I recommend it to anyone other than divers... Probably not.. there seriously isn't anything else to do.. unless you like doing nothing more than sticking your toes in the sand with a cocktail in one hand and a book in the other for an entire week... hmmm actually now that I mention it that way I think could be convinced into that.... Occasionally!! 

91. Read and Review 100 Books (21/100) The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest - Stieg Larsson

'The exhilarating conclusion to bestseller Larsson's Millennium trilogy (after The Girl Who Played with Fire) finds Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant computer hacker who was shot in the head in the final pages of Fire, alive, though still the prime suspect in three murders in Stockholm. While she convalesces under armed guard, journalist Mikael Blomkvist works to unravel the decades-old coverup surrounding the man who shot Salander: her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector and longtime secret asset to Säpo, Sweden's security police. Estranged throughout Fire, Blomkvist and Salander communicate primarily online, but their lack of physical interaction in no way diminishes the intensity of their unconventional relationship. Though Larsson (1954–2004) tends toward narrative excess, his was an undeniably powerful voice in crime fiction that will be sorely missed.'

Excellent conclusion to the spellbinding, page turning, and yes sometimes disturbing trilogy! The final novel in the series concluded the story in a very fulfilling manner.. it successfully closed out each of the individual story lines... and although it kinda felt that the murder of the two journalists was nothing more than an excuse to move the reader in a certain direction at times it was still well addressed by the end of the book... I agree... Stieg Larsson will be sorely missed.

20. Scuba dive at 5 different locations around the world (3/5) - Roatan, Honduras

Diving in Roatan, Honduras provided a lot of 'first experiences' - my first night dive, my first wreck dive, my first multi-day dive experience, my first REAL current dive... While on the island I completed 13 dives (Paul completed one more than I did, 14, as I had some ear issues on one of our days and could only complete the first dive) as there really wasn't much else to do!! But then who really wants to do something else when the diving is so darn good?!?! 30 degree water, fantastic visibility, lots of marine life.. the perfect diving experience!! 

Paul teasing the Grouper

We dove Key Hole Reef, Blue Channel (super super cool with lots and lots of tight swim throughs), Hole in the Wall (anther super super cool dive, more tight swim throughs and I saw a massive massive pinchy crab), Overheat Reef (where I ended up floating right above a turtle for 5 minutes who was just hanging out munching on some seaweed), Turtle Crossing, Spooky Channel (awesome light effects in a cavern), Pablos Place (swimming against the current with a HUGE school of fishies), Infinity Bay Shore Dive (our night dive), El Aguila Wreck (where I ended up narc'ed), The Cave, Bear Den (more caves) and West End Wall... *PHEW* In fact about the only dive we didn't complete on the Island, is the one it is best known for, Mary's Place... but we can't complain!! 

Diving El Aguila Wreck

And finally for the first time in what feels like forever, we've finally spent enough time in a location that we can safely say that we can cross it off our list of places we need to visit... I think Paul's going to have a very hard time getting me back into that frigid Perth water after all of these glorious Caribbean experiences!!

Paul's crazy flippers

91. Read and Review 100 Books (22/100) Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

'Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.'

Yay! I've been waiting for the final chapter in the Hunger Games ever since I first started reading this trillogy! Yes, its easy reading, yes, you'll finish the book in about 4 hours, and yes, its yet another young adults novel but, darn it, its just sooo good!! A brilliant conclusion to the series.. my only regret? There wont be any more (boo!)