Rx: Take a vacation from your problems.

We are having a wonderful time here at Lowes Lake Las Vegas. I'm so glad that we decided to drive the extra 30 minutes to this resort rather than staying on the strip. There is no casino at this resort and therefore a lot less smoking. We've pretty much just been reading, watching movies and catching rays. Sun rays. Not stingrays. Yesterday I had a pina colada with banana by the pool. Lovely. We even did the early morning yoga class. If you actually look at the website, you will see people doing yoga...same same.

We brought a variety pack of DVDs with us and we watch a bedtime movie every night. The first two nights we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Steel Magnolias. Last night we decided to take a break from the chick flicks. We watched Batman Begins.

Which brings me to my next point.
The Las Vegas Strip = Gotham City= Sodom and Gomorrah

I have been to the strip before and yes I thought it was gross but we still managed to take lots of pictures and do the touristy thing. This time around, not the case. I dare say that Friday was my final trip to Las Vegas Blvd. I would come back to this resort...sometimes you just need a little sun and R&R and this is a great place to accomplish that, but I'm done with the strip.

We reserved Friday to spend the day shopping, seeing the sites, and we even thought about going to a Cirque du Soleil show in the evening (7:00pm show of course...we all know I wouldn't make it through the 9:30 show). We arrived on the strip at 11:00am, took a few pictures and then started walking towards H&M. We stopped in at the M&M factory because that's one place that I haven't been in and wanted to see. Lame. So so lame. It was nothing but a giant gift shop. Who wants M&M dishes and silverware? An M&M Elvis jacket? I think not. The worst part: the employees were shouting about the new pretzel M&Ms. We thought, "Hmm...I like chocolate covered pretzels. That could be really good. Let's try it." We go all the way up to the fourth floor on a mission to try the pretzel M&Ms only to find that they are packaged with an ugly blue M&M t-shirt. You can't buy just a small bag of them. You have to by the T-shirt/M&M combo for $20. No new flavor of M&Ms is worth $20. We did however buy small bags of the coconut M&Ms which are insanely delicious. I will give them that. Disheartened by our inability to sample the pretzel M&Ms, we carried on.

As we walked, we realized that our clothes made us look like we were dressed for the dead of winter compared to the other women passing by. I looked at Leslie and said, "Do I look like a soccer mom?" T-shirt and shorts to my knees with a large canvas bag that could double as a diaper bag = yes. Yes we did. The joke for the rest of the day was, "It's just so nice to have a weekend away. I mean, I miss the little dears, but we needed this time to relax." A guy on the street tried to get us to rent a Lamborghini for the day. We just laughed at the thought of the two of us riding up and down the strip in that car when we had arrived in a small SUV that would comfortably fit all of the kids and their soccer gear.

After stopping for some overpriced Mexican food, we finally reached our shopping Mecca. H&M. We were ready to do some serious damage, but we couldn't find one thing to buy. It was the sorriest excuse of an H&M I've ever seen. Apparently someone decided that it would be a good idea to bring the 80s back. If you are missing your favorite pair of stone washed jeans with the elastic waste, you can find them at H&M.

It was now about 1:30 and we decided that we were ready to head back to the car. We did make a pit stop at Tiffany and Co. on the way. 2:00 and we were relieved to be heading back to our hotel. We had a good laugh at the fact that we even entertained the idea of staying long enough to see the fountains at night and go to a show.

There is a Target near our hotel and we stopped on our way back to pick up some food for the rest of the weekend. Guess what they had in the candy isle. A big bag of pretzel M&Ms for $3.oo. They are medium good...not delicious. Not worth $20.

I don't mean to be Debby Downer, but the M&Ms example is a good metaphor for the entire culture of the strip. Everything is a scam. Overpriced, gotta have it now, overindulgence (people were walking around with giant tubes of alcohol strapped to their necks), filth, etc.

As a women, I was particularly sensitive of the way that women were objectifying themselves and how the divine role of women was literally being discarded and trodden underfoot (I made the mistake of looking down at one street corner). I read an article from the May Conference Ensign titled "Mothers and Daughters" by Elder M. Russell Ballard this morning and gained a greater insight from it having just seen a fresh take of the worlds view on the subject. The following quote is long, but so is this entire post, and if you've made it this far, you might as well finish the whole thing:

"It is, unfortunately, all too easy to illustrate the confusion and distortion of womanhood in contemporary society. Immodest, immoral, intemperate women jam the airwaves, monopolize magazines, and slink across movie screens--all while being celebrated by the world. The Apostle Paul spoke prophetically of "perilous times" that will come in the last days and specifically referenced something that may have seemed particularly perilous to him: 'silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts' (2 Timothy 3:1, 6). Popular culture today often makes women look silly, inconsequential, mindless, and powerless. It objectifies them and disrespects them and then suggests that they are able to leave their mark on mankind only by seduction--easily the most pervasively dangerous message the adversary sends to women about themselves.

And so, my dear young women, with all my heart I urge you not to look to contemporary culture for your role models and mentors. Please look to your faithful mothers for a pattern to follow. Model yourselves after them, not after celebrities whose standards are not the Lord's standards and whose values may not reflect an eternal perspective. Look to your mother. Learn from her strengths, her courage, and her faithfulness. Listen to her. She may not be a whiz at texting, she may not even have a Facebook page. But when it comes to matters of the heart and the things of the Lord, she has a wealth of knowledge."

I am so grateful to have the kind of mother, aunts, grandmothers, sister-in-law, cousins, friends that Elder Ballard described. I am thankful to have parents who lead by example and always encourage me to try my best and reach my fullest potential. I am thankful to be a member of a religion that celebrates the divinity of women. I'm grateful to know that I am a literal daughter of God with the ability to become like Him.