In Other Related News...Clark County Museum Jaunt & 3 Year Anniversary Today!!!

Okay, so I got my cheeseburger lovin' fest over with! I'm past it, I've moved on--time for me to hop back on the train to vegetarian town!

But, speaking of trains, last night, before the cheeseburgers, Colin and I saw quite a few. We went to the Clark County Museum out in Henderson, Nevada and it was truly awesome! It was the grand re-opening of the Candlelight Wedding Chapel and a celebration of Clark County's Centennial (which means, Clark County has been a county for a 100 years now)! To celebrate, they opened the museum up for one night only with free admission (Admission is normally only $2.00, but hey, free is always nice! We saved $4.00!) and a live jazz band and cookies, wedding cake and champagne! Oh my goodness (apparently that's my phrase for today) it was delicious too! I did take ONE sip of the champagne, and it was so good I had to hand it to immediately hand it over to my husband so I wouldn't keep drinking and get smashed---because even though I really don't drink, yeah, that champagne was quite good! The wedding cake was good too, but not great. The cookies, oh my, the cookies at each house from a different era--so much fun! I love history, I love food and what a better way to mark history than with food from that time period. Clark County Museum is an actual museum, but it's also a few tiny streets lined with houses from different eras dating back to 1906. We saw original (and obviously refurbished) houses that were part of the Clark County/Las Vegas/Goldfield/Southern Nevada landscape during that past 103 years! We saw houses from 1906, 1912, 1923, 1933, 1941, 1944, 1952 and 1958....I could've stayed in each house for at least thirty minutes--but I didn't (tons of people, Small houses, crowded), what I did see was so cool though! In each house, there was furniture, clothing, appliance and decorations from that time period--the 1906 house was pretty much a one room house with NO indoor plumbing (can you imagine?!) and a HUGE megaphone record player. So beautiful though, that record player was cobalt blue and looked like a budding morning glory flower--so neat! The 1912 and 1923 house had indoor plumbing, and gorgeous clothing. The 1912 house had only one bedroom but a really neat under the staircase closet! The kids apparently slept upstairs back then, or in the basement, in this Vegas heat? I'm surprised they lived! The 1923 house was cool, LOVE the clothing from there, but I can't remember much else--very sparse. I noticed as the houses went up in years, the more stuff that was in them. The 1941 and 1944 houses had WWII memorabilia, Army Coats and Navy Uniforms. And newspapers with headlines declaring that Pearl Harbor had happened and then that V Day was here and we'd won the war! I actually got pretty emotional in those homes because it made me think about how hard everyone fought back then, how many sacrifices the families/mommies/wives made, the women that went into the Army, the factories and the colleges (for the first time) to fill the jobs of men that were sent away. Rosie the Riveter was in the 1940s' houses too! And she is so very cool! It made me realize that even though it's over sixty years later, and the technology, appliances and way that houses are built are really different--some things never change. We're still at war, there's still men and women fighting for our freedom and still so many sacrifices being made in the name of freedom! I paused in those houses and thank God for my freedom and all of those who made it possible! The 1952 house was kind of odd, it was painted a screaming pink inside (I like pink, but not on my walls) with very retro furniture. It was the first of the houses to have a TV--so in the "history" room (each house had a room converted to a museum room w/ history from that time period), there were about ten TV's--those things were huge back then, but the screens were small. So cool! The clothing was very proper and smooth, and neat! I could imagine my mother growing up in a house like that, with a HUGE dining room and smaller bedroom. Although the houses back then had WAY bigger bedrooms than the houses today; and actually, if you asked me, I'd rather have a house (with the addition of closets of course because there weren't too many of those back then) built back then than one built today. They were so much more cool and efficient, in my opinion. Anyway, the surprise of the evening was that my favorite house was the 1933 house. THAT thing was SO neat! The kitchen was medium size--big enough to work in, but small enough not to get lost in. Electric appliances (oven, stove) had just come out and the stainless steel little dials on the stove, and the small little oven--so cute! I could picture my Grandmother's grandma cooking up a storm in there--canning, making fresh bread, frying bacon and onions in a cast iron skillet. I could see it so well! It was awesome! The bedroom was actually pretty large and had a TINY little closet, but still, it had a closet. The dinning room was small, but quaint--you know, the kind that only holds a 4 person table, with four chairs, so you're kind of forced to sit close and talk to one another at mealtime--the way it should be. The living room was spacious enough with a fireplace. And the bathroom was HUGE! Sincerely, a claw foot tub, stand alone square sink, a toilet in between--I wanted to pick up the bathroom and bring it home because it was bigger than mine! Behind the kitchen was also a small little laundry room that held the first electric washing machines--no dryers back then. It was sincerely one of the cutest, most wonderful little houses I've ever seen and I could totally picture living there--even now! So cool! After our tour of the houses, we went into the actual museum, it was so neat! I learned a lot about Washoe County and Northern Nevada History when I was growing up--it was pretty much shoved down our throats at school--but last night, standing in the Clark County Museum--it hit me "I love my home state. This is really the only place I've ever lived, and while I would indeed love to travel the world, and see things, I love living here! We have such a rich history, such a different culture, it's just fascinating!" It felt good to learn more about Clark County's History, see the Native American Tribes and archaic people that first inhabited Southern Nevada, thousands and thousands of years ago! Then the pioneer settlement and auctioning of land that NO ONE thought would be worth anything--as the sign itself said at one exhibit--they were mistaken! Yes, I would agree! Nevada is nicknamed the Silver State, but us Native Nevadans also know it's the Battle Born State, and it's fitting--Nevada has battled the elements, the Native Americans, the wishy-washy weather, the changing times, the government, and even itself SO many times throughout our 165 history--it's so NEAT! :) I'm really, really proud to be a Nevada Native and I had the most fun I've had in a long time, touring the local county museum! :)

I need to go get ready for mine's and Colin quick get away, though! Happy 3rd Anniversary to us--my longest relationship yet--very cool! I love you, babe, thanks for hanging out and sticking it out with me for three years! And thanks for a great night last night, it was truly so much fun! Time to go get all dolled up for my man--I think I'll curl my hair and put on a pretty dress!

Thank you, Lord, for Colin's presence in my life, the lessons that he taught me and the stronger woman he's helped make me! Thank You, for a fabulous night, here's prayers for another one tonight, and and overall, terrific life! It's all because of You!

In Light N' Love,
-Sarah Liz :)