Tunica: You've Got to Know When to Hold Em...

This past weekend G and I accompanied some friends of ours to Tunica, Mississippi to test our luck at the casino and see Ron White perform.  This is where we spent a great deal of our time:

Isn't it pretty?  We arrived well after dark and when I awoke from my car nap, this is what I saw in the middle of a field.  

I'll just go ahead and let you know that the extent of my gambling experience involves dollar scratch-off tickets...and I don't know that I've ever really won at those.  I also really hate wasting money so I was interested to see how this experience was going to go.  I loved it!  I did what everyone tells you to do when you go to a casino, "Only take a set amount of cash and when it's gone, it's gone."  I didn't even play with all that I brought.  Responsibility at its finest!  

I really liked the slot machines!  I won about $20 twice on the penny slots...but then I lost it again on the penny slots.  G stayed saddled up to the blackjack table for the majority of his casino time.  He didn't do too badly either!

They had delicious food too.  We had breakfast/brunch/lunch at the Paula Deen Buffet....SO good.  They had an Eggs Benedict (that was new for me as well) on a fried green tomato.  Delish!  We also had the best steaks I've ever had in my entire life for supper.

My apologies for the blurry pictures/red-eye.  I forgot my camera.

We were also lucky enough to see Ron White perform.  You would recognize him from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour as "the man with the cigar and scotch on stage."  He was great! Fun Fact:  We saw him at the steakhouse before the show...he was wearing a satchel.  I found that odd.

Mini-Bethany-Tale:
After the show we went back into the casino to play a few more games.  While the boys were holding strong at the blackjack table, we ladies decided we'd cruise the casino and see if ole Ron was gambling too.  We did not find Ron but we did find a man in a suit who tried to teach us how to play craps.  I still do not know what he was talking about but he let us roll the dice for him a few times.  When it was my turn to roll I scooped up the dice with both hands which is obviously against the rules of craps as the entire table yelled "NOOOOO!"  They must have sensed my scratch-off only experience and let me try again.  I let go of the dice and proceeded to bounce one of them off of a dealer's belly and back onto the table.  I did not win this man a dime.  He looked at the two of us and said "Okay, well you girls can go away now."  We kindly understood.

A big thanks to our great friends for inviting us to tag-along!

Beach Trip!

I apologize that I've been MIA on the blog here lately.  I've had a pretty full plate and am just now getting to sit down and write anything.  But don't worry, I've been doing lots of fun things to keep you all entertained!

I will start by saying that I, like the rest of the world, extend my thoughts and prayers to those in the Aurora/Denver, Colorado community.  As we pray for those who were victims in this tragedy, remember also to pray for this very, very lost soul as he has ruined many lives as well as the peace of mind of countless others.

 "⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This Wednesday I will be departing on the Senior Trip I never had with 3 of my best friends.  Our Senior year of high school we decided that we wanted to go on a beach trip together.  *Backstory: we were the complete opposite of troublemakers or party girls.  We had every intention of having ourselves some good, clean fun.*  However, our plans were foiled by our mothers who insisted that we could not drive to Florida by ourselves and that they would caravan along behind us and go too.  Only we "wouldn't know they were there."  They said they would stay on different floors of the condo, eat at different restaurants...my mom even said we could call them and tell them not to go somewhere because we were going to go there.  Ultimately we thought that was super lame and didn't even book the trip.  

So here we are, seven years later, and we are going to the beach together!  In honor of this momentous occasion I am linking up with my BFF Lindsay at Simple & Chic and sharing some of my favorite beach trip must haves!

Beach Towel

Most people will probably find this weird, but I LOVE beach towels!  They come in such fun and bright colors, it's hard not to.  I'm loving this one!

Bathing Suit
Granted I wish I looked like this in the bathing suit...I don't!  But I love the top!  I would pair it with a different colored bottom, like black or something.

This Chair

I typically have trouble trying to load up all of my beach goodies and am quite clumsy when it comes to actually getting to my spot in the sand.  This year I bought this chair at TJ Maxx for $10 less than I had seen it on Amazon (woo!).  It has a backpack-like set of straps to help you make it to the beach with one less thing in your hands.  I'm sure I will look like Screech Powers but frankly I do not care.

The Cooler Tote

Is it just me or is this quilted cooler tote precious?  Plus it looks enormous so you could fit all sorts of snacks, drinks and ice in there!

Hat

I love big floppy hats, but I am just not that glamorous while sitting at the beach.  I feel like I really would spend more time chasing the big, beautiful hat down than I would relaxing.  So, while that would be entertaining for other beach-goers, I choose a good ole ball cap!  This is one of my favorite hats from Volunteer Traditions...I have the mint green one!

Don't forget the sunscreen!