Vegas, Baby

Our adventure has begun! We are now in Honolulu. If this:

makes you want to start planning your next vacation, I have some great news. I'm about to tell you how to get there :)

Step 1. Have a birthday.

Step 0 (something you actually needed to do first, before that). Have a husband. Then, when you

{Step 1. Have a birthday.},

he will promise you a trip to Hawaii as your birthday present. And you will be allowed, at that point, to start planning and pinning and dreaming. It's a good idea to start planning and pinning and dreaming at least 6 months before your trip. In my opinion, the excitement leading up to it is one of the best parts.

Step 2. Get well-acquainted with Groupon. Also, the internet in general. Read reviews on Yelp and open up about forty tabs with different maps and things to help you plan the perfect vacation whenever you feel annoyed with what's going on around you.

Step 3. Pick a good couple friend to go with you. We picked these friends:

I work with Margot, and Gonzalo is her husband. 

Step 4. Start packing! You've got some flexibility here. I like to start packing two weeks before a trip. Stephen likes to start packing two hours before. We shared a suitcase. I packed all my stuff, and then let Stephen pack so I could see how much I needed to take out. Luckily, he only thought he needed 3 shirts and one pair of shorts. Um. He was wrong....but it meant I didn't need to take too much stuff out. More on that later.

*Sidenote - try not to run over your toe with your suitcase while you are weighing it for the 14th time. Your toenail might crack in half down the middle and start bleeding and then you might find yourself irrationally flopping on the bed and crying to your husband about how you won't be beautiful in Hawaii now, and can he please get you Neosporin BUT BE GENTLE, because it really hurts, even though you're trying to be tough.

Step 5. Pack up the car to travel to Vegas for your flight. I've heard a lot of negative things about Allegiant....but honestly, I would recommend them to anyone. Since we got our tickets so early, they were suuuuper-cheap. Everything from buying the tickets to adding a bag to checking in on the app to the flight was a breeze. Anyway, they don't fly to Honolulu from SLC, so we had to drive down to Vegas.

Step 5b: Say goodbye to crappy weather!

*Shoutout to Sara and Russ who let us crash their BBQ before we left! And use Sara's gel nail stuff. And wash off the cat pee on Gonzalo's backpack in the bathtub.

Step 6. Stop off in St. George for a night with the sweetest family you can think of, in the most beautiful house you can think of.

Step 7. Stand around talking about the time difference between St. George and Vegas for like 10 minutes. It's really hard, guys. 

Step 8. Drive the rest of the way to Vegas. Say goodbye to Margot and Gonzalo!

Step 9. Hang out with the cutest kids in Vegas, and the people who made them. We love Jonny and Tiff. 

This is Underbite, a metal robot dinosaur who is terrorizing a museum and is possibly a Decepticon. 

Step 10. Camp in Red Rock for a few days! I would recommend bringing climbing stuff with you, if your plan is to go climbing. But if it's not, or if you, sayyyyy, forgot the climbing stuff at home, then you have a few options.

-You can rent a mat and shoes and go bouldering.
-You can drive around, finding WiFi in different restaurants or Barnes and Noble's and using it to study for the DAT.
-You can go shopping and buy your poor husband some clothes for your real vacation. All of which must fit in the personal items you brought, since carry-ons cost extra and the suitcase is at exactly 39.5 lbs and can't exceed 40, so yeah. Those new clothes will need to get squoze in with a laptop and some bio notes.
-You can attend a timeshare presentation.

(I mean, why not.)

Step 11. Stay a night with some other adorable people in Vegas, who I didn't get a picture with :/ Kim, your family is adorable and I hope when we have 4 kids that Stephen and I are as put-together and fun as you and Travis are!

Step 12. Go to the airport!! You are ready to leave for your trip! It's finally here!!! So many exclamation marks.

Btw that is my personal item. Not my 40-lb suitcase :)