Until Vegas

I had never been to Las Vegas. I had never wanted to go. It was never a place that seemed to garner my attention. In June, that changed. A lot of things changed.

The start of 2016 and the years immediately before that weren't exactly the best times of my life. Work, as it has always been, has consistently been my "saving grace." Whenever I needed a good cry or a place to get angry, I didn't. I went to work. Anyone that knows me well enough knows that my comfort zone and place I feel most confident in this world is work. So while Godzilla-like antics were crushing small towns and towers of dreams in every other aspect of my life, I was showing up to work in four-inch houndstooth heels. And though I would like to think that no one caught on, I know that many did. Like my best friend, Danielle.

We've been friends since we were teenagers in high school. She's someone who gets me and loves me - every bit of me - no matter what. She'd call in from time to time to check on me and for the last few years, honestly, I'm surprised she's remained my friend. When someone you care about is going through hell and they can't - and won't - get out of it, it's torture. Phone call after phone call of ridiculous tears and hurt...looking back, I can't believe what I, as a friend, actually put her through. She'd invite me to stay with her a while - just to get away - but I could never find the time or the money to make the plans, that was, of course, until Vegas.

As she was gearing up for a trip to Las Vegas with her family, her husband, whom was supposed to accompany her, was called in for mandatory training with the military. So when Danielle called to offer me up his spot, I was caught a little off guard. What would entice me to go? I don't gamble. I haven't really "partied" in a very long time...what's in this for me? I guess when it came down to it, the time away from my heavy workload with my friend was the selling point. So, I bought my ticket and agreed to go.

As the planning period had begun, I looked at the dates in my work schedule and realized that this was graduation time; a time that I dreaded more than any other time in the year. I'm sorry, but I hate graduations. I know what a celebration it is to work that hard and achieve something, but as a "T" (at the end of the alphabet), who has always been hanging out with the Wilsons and Zinkowskis, the waiting struggle at ceremonies like that is so real. As an adult, having to photograph so many for each of the communities I've covered has also become a moment I've dreaded. Parents are the worst. Strike that. FAMILIES are the worst. As I am leaning in for that memorable moment a la Breakfast Club with her fist in the air, Dad with his pocket-sized point and shoot steps in front of me. Or when Aunt Stephanie gives me the hairy eyeball as she points to her flip phone as if I'm the problem. Or my latest favorite in technology is when Grandma whips out her iPad and tells me she's just going to get one quick shot and needs to cut in front of me and decides to photograph the whole class with her giant screen popping into every single one of my frames. To hear that I was missing all of that...I'm not going to say I was a little giddy. I actually cried.

As I was scheduling myself out months in advance for things in preparation of the trip, Danielle and I started to go crazy on Groupon searching for discounted adventures. Helicopter ride over the strip? Check. Open bar on the world's largest Ferris Wheel? Okay. Australian male strip show? Suuuuuuuure. Though we had merely started to pencil in how the 10-day stay was going to go, I'm not sure there was any possible way I could adequately prepare for what I was about to experience...