Christmas in Florida

Brad and I fled the "cold" Nevada temperatures for warm sunny Florida for Christmas. We stayed with my family and enjoyed a quiet and relaxing vacation filled with good food, story telling, and laughter.

We golfed at Bardmoor for 3 days. Brad got to try out his new wedges, and I got to use my new driver (how did I ever live without this club in my bag?). The course was extremely challenging, though it was hard to get too frustrated golfing in 70-degree weather in shorts on Christmas day.

On Saturday night, we drove across the bay to Tampa to eat at Bern's Steakhouse. We stayed at the Sheraton downtown which overlooked the Hillsborough river and the University of Tampa and its spires (which were unfortunately not lit up).

Bern's is a legendary steakhouse in Tampa (Wine Spectator Grand Award winner for every year they've handed out the award). The inside looks like a bordello, but that adds to the history and character of the place. We split a delicious porterhouse that was cooked just perfectly. We also had an amazing Bordeaux at an unbeatable price. This restaurant is a gem if you can focus on the steak and wine and overlook the rest of the food (bland French onion soup, julienned carrots of a questionable fragrance, uncooked soufflé).

Bern's is known for its extensive wine collection with 6,800 labels and 500,000 bottles (largest in the world?), and a tour through the wine cellar did not disappoint.

Only in Florida...

UNC Friends Run the Las Vegas Marathon

Stephanie and Lesha (with John for support) came to town to run the Las Vegas Marathon. Running a marathon is the last thing I'd ever want to do, but I was so proud of how hard these girls trained and the mental and physical challenges they overcame to not only finish all 26.2 miles, but to do it well-under their goal time.

I was able to steal John for a day and take him golfing at Siena, where the weather was much too perfect for December.

We even found time to dress up and hit the town, seeing Cirque du Soleil's KÀ and enjoying dinner at Wolfgang Puck's at the MGM Grand.

Moving to Summerlin

After two long months of waiting for the bank to sign off on the short sale, I finally closed on my house at the end of September. It was such a relief, and now I can hardly remember all of the drama and the episodes that caused me to panic and cry. Well, I can think of a few (e.g., UPS losing my closing documents). I know the home buying process is never easy, and I'm glad to be finished with it for quite a while.

I flew Dad out to help me move. It was much harder than I anticipated. I don't feel like I own much stuff, but it sure does add up. We rented a Budget truck, that I managed to drive around town without killing anyone, and we transferred all of the big stuff in one day.

I kept Dad too busy and wore him out too much, so we weren't able to do the typical Vegas activities like the Strip and Red Rock. But, we did manage to play a round of golf at Siena...

(It rained as we were getting to the course, and there was a complete rainbow, though this is all I managed to photograph)

And have lunch and a quick hike at Mt. Charleston...

(Mom and Dad, don't tell me that I never take pictures of people. I managed to squeeze Dad into this one.)
I'm completely settled in now, save for a few lingering boxes. I am immensely happy on this side of town and in this neighborhood. I feel like I live on Wisteria Lane, without all of the backstabbing and cheating. My neighbors are some of the friendliest people, and I feel very safe and content here.

The dogs have found some good napping places in the house, for while I'm watching TV...
And for while I'm working in my office downstairs...

Weather, Golf, and House

Today, the high was 87 degrees, and I just had to take advantage of the "cool" weather by playing a round of golf. The forecast called for thunderstorms and flash floods, but I figured I would chance it. I played at Desert Willow, the executive course in Henderson that I play at most often. After 10am, it's $25, and there were very few people on the course. It was blustery, and my ball was left up to the discretion of the wind. It rained for a few holes, and otherwise there were sprinkles here and there. But there were no flash floods, and the temperature was 78 degrees when I finished, so I enjoyed the cool July day despite my horrible score.

I'm starting to get a little nervous about my house, and this Las Vegas Review Journal article didn't do anything to calm my anxiety. The house I'm buying is a short sale, which means that it is owned by an individual who wants to sell it for less than is owed on the house. The bank must approve the sale, and this can be a very long process. I had been avoiding short sales when house hunting, but the listing agent said that this price was already approved by the bank and the paperwork had been expedited, whatever that means. Everything is moving along as planned, but we're waiting on the bank to give final approval of the sale price. I'm not necessarily worried about this, especially because the appraisal came in pretty close to the sales price, but I'm just concerned about timing. Earlier this week, I locked in a 40-day loan at 5.5%, which is a phenomenal rate. But, if we don't close in 40 days, I lose that loan and must secure another. No matter how on the ball my real estate agent and mortgage broker are, they can't do anything to make the process with the bank any faster. I can go month-to-month at my current place, so that's not a problem, but I just don't want to lose my loan and risk paying a much higher fee for my great interest rate.

Yesterday, my real estate agent was kind enough to take me by my house to take another look at it and to take pictures. When I saw it the first time, I literally flew through the house because I wanted to get the paperwork prepared right away. It was so much fun to visit it, and I still love it. I especially liked that we went on a Saturday afternoon and the neighborhood was silent. There were no kids screaming in the street, dogs barking, or cars speeding though, as would be typical in my current neighborhood.

Here's a picture of the front of the house:

TPC Las Vegas

Brad got a great deal on summer golf at TPC Las Vegas, so we will be playing this course throughout the summer. The course is spectacular, with fairways nestled within the desert landscape and Red Rock canyon visible from nearly all holes. I didn't find it as difficult as the courses in Tucson, but that's probably because the greens are more forgiving. Still, I made only one par, and I picked up my ball several times as the heat started to wear me out.
More pictures here

Golf holiday in Tucson

Brad and I spent June 4-8 on a golf holiday in Tucson. We chose Tucson because we wanted a great golf destination, and neither of us had been there before. Tucson is about a seven hour drive from Las Vegas, and the trip took us over the Hoover Dam and through Kingman and Phoenix, and we spent hours and hours looking at yuccas and saguaro cacti.

We stayed at the Loews Ventana Canyon. We chose this resort because of its incredible golf rates (June is low season because of the heat) and its location nestled in the Catalina Foothills. I was nervous about this resort because it received mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, but it was everything that I imagined and better. I don't know how people could possibly give it a poor rating - the service was impeccable, the scenery was breathtaking, and the atmosphere was as relaxing as it can get. I would absolutely stay here again and recommend it to anyone looking for a golf vacation or just a place to unwind.

View driving into the foothills.View of the waterfall from our balcony.
A winding walking path on the back of the property led to this waterfall...
...and a view of the city (with the resort in the foreground).
We golfed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. There are two courses that the resort shares with the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, the Canyon Course (which we played twice) and the Mountain Course (which we played once). Both courses were challenging, despite having surprisingly wide fairways, but the greens on the Mountain Course were absolutely a killer. We were only paired with another twosome on Saturday, and the weather was perfect all three days. Although the highs were around 100, because we played in the morning, we were off the course before the temperature reached 90.

Lots of golf pictures follow. I love this one of the two of us with the 18th green and the Loews behind us.
The most picturesque hole on the course, the 3rd on the Mountain Course.We saw lots and lots of animals on the course, including ground squirrels...
...dragon-like lizards...
...and a road runner. We also saw hundreds of rabbits and quail. Thankfully, there were no snake sightings.
The resort is at the trailhead of the Ventana Canyon Trail. I was anxious to hike this trail, but there was limited time with our golfing. On Friday, I grabbed my pack and headed up the trail, trying to reach the Maiden Pools, about an hour and a half in. At about an hour in, I lost the trail and the cairns disappeared, so I decided it would be best to head back rather than getting lost in the dark. I still enjoyed my hike and was glad to take advantage of the proximity of the trail to the resort.
On Saturday, Brad and I skipped our post-golf nap to check out the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We were told that this is the second-most visited attraction in Arizona (the Grand Canyon is first, of course). It was about an hour drive from the resort, and the drive took us through town and over this beautiful mountain pass.
The museum is more like a zoo, with many animal exhibits. It is located in the middle of the desert and was quite hot, but we were able to zip through it in less than two sweaty hours.

Mountain lions.
Bobcats.
Sweet little margay.
Desert big horn sheep (Red Rock has lots of these, though the seem to hide every time I'm out hiking).
Bird in the aviary that kept dive-bombing Brad.
The hummingbird aviary was my favorite part.
In addition to the golf and site seeing, we ate many great meals. There were many restaurants on our list that we didn't get a chance to try. A brief run-down:

• Dinner at Vin Tabla - nice outdoor patio, good wine selection, and informative waiter who helped us choose our other dining locations
• Lunch at Wildflower - nice courtyard dining, absolutely fantastic food
• Guacamole and margaritas at the Flying V Bar and Grill at Loews- beautiful view of the 18th hole from the outdoor deck, delicious table-side guacamole
• Lunch at Armitage Wine Lounge and Cafe - probably should have just stopped in for a glass of wine, as the food was unremarkable
• Dinner at the Ventana Room at Loews - AAA 5 diamond restaurant overlooking the city, the service was impeccable, the food was amazing
• Dinner at Cafe Poco Coso downtown - unique Mexican food, loved the idea of the chef's selection where the chef surprises you with three different menu items for your plate

More pictures from our wonderful vacation here. I can't wait to return!