Doing Life - Vacation in Vegas

Hello my sisters and brothers in Christ!

I pray you and yours are doing well. I am doing awesome, thanks be to God! Although my work schedule has been very busy the past couple months, which has prevented me from blogging a lot, I prioritized going on a vacation last month! I went by myself. I had never been to Las Vegas and since I moved to Nevada last September, I thought it's imperative to make that (almost) 7 hours drive down south of the Silver State as soon as I can. Prior to going, I asked lots of folks that have been there questions on fun things to do, places to visit and most important question for me: best restaurants and places to eat! I had a few things scheduled but also had flexibility on my schedule knowing the social butterfly I am and that I'd make new friends and discover more exciting things to do.

Day 1

Upon arriving in Las Vegas, I checked out an awesome exhibit by women artists titled "A Room of One's Own" at the Left of Center Art Gallery; exhibit is based on the essay by Virginia Woolf - one of my all-time favorite books. In a time when women were given no consideration for education, much less their own space to create, Virginia Woolf argued that a woman must have her own room in order to write. The women in this exhibit are all professional artists who have chosen the artistic path as their career in some form. Having the luxury of their own spaces, something denied to women during Woolf’s time, they have brought to life through different mediums, the concepts that only time and undisturbed introspection bring.  

Afterwards, I checked out the Museum of African Art Collection upstairs, so many cool things from west Africa and beyond in the collection. I really feasted my eyes.

Day 2

While on vacation, I enjoy eating good food at local restaurants and truly enjoy the cuisine of the place. I believe for three days in a row I had really delicious, finger-licking good barbecue ribs! Being that I walked long distances at the Strip and didn't use any public transportation, I made sure to eat well at all times.

I was amazed by the architecture of the buildings and attractions. There was so much to see and do! The place is packed full of tourists and so much going on continuously, day and night!

Something that a lot of folks recommended I check out while down in Vegas was The Bellagio's Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The theme for the current season display is Chinese New Year. Each season, the enormously talented horticulturalists and designers who make up the Bellagio Conservatory team transform this 14,000-square-foot floral playground into a showcase of the distinctive sights and colors of spring, summer, fall and winter. When the seasons turn and the displays rotate, 90 percent of the trees, flowers and plants in the conservatory are recycled, to further celebrate their commitment to the earth. According to the Chinese, this is the year of the rooster - hence the rooster display seen behind me in the photo below.

What's up, Lady Liberty?!
New York in Las Vegas

When chocolate meets chocolate
P.S. Kit Kat is still my favorite

Excalibur Hotel and Casino

I've always enjoyed going on vacations by myself and as a single woman, I believe it's important to learn to have fun by yourself in this season of my life. I'm thankful for the outgoing personality God blessed me with because it comes in handy when going to a new place and not knowing anyone there. I've always been an advocate of going on vacations and exploring the world and I highly encourage folks to make time for it - whether you choose to do it alone, with friends, family, spouse, etc. Also, don't be nervous that traveling will cost you an arm or leg along with your firstborn, because that's never my intention when I vacation - I'm all about "ballin' on a budget." The biggest way I spent smart was getting Groupon vouchers for a lot of things, such as: things to do, places to go, as well as places to eat. Something else that helped me with smart spending was having a Nevada driver's license - this helped me get a lot of things with the locals's discount!

64th floor of Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino

Day 3

Halfway to EDC Pool Party

Egypt-themed Luxor Hotel and Casino

Day 4

I did the Eiffel Tower experience - one step closer to the real deal in Paris. The 541-foot tall replica of the Eiffel Tower is half the size of the real one. Beautiful place to get a great view of the entire city of Las Vegas.

So after doing the Eiffel Tower experience and walking around the Paris Las Vegas hotel for somewhere to eat brunch, I casually bumped into the talented singer, Anthony Evans. He's the brother of my favorite Bible teacher and my #goals - Priscilla Shirer. He was so nice. I was telling him that I've been longing to go to their fervent tour and he said they'll be doing a show in Vegas soon. Y'all, I'm getting so close to meeting Priscilla in person. It's going to happen in 2017

On my last day, I did a sunset hike at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area; my first time there. It was beautiful. Red Rock Canyon showcases a set of large red rock formations: a set of sandstone peaks and walls called the Keystone Thrust. Typical mining engineer move - I took a couple rocks for myself! The walls are up to 3,000 feet high, which are great for hiking and rock climbing. The highest point is La Madre Mountain, at 8,154 feet. Driving through the one-way loop road, which is 13 miles long, was wonderful to soak in the beauty of the area. My new home state of Nevada continues to impress me.

Coincidentally, I planned my vacation to Vegas in the midst of me moving to my new house as well as moving to a new office building. February was a roller coaster of adventures personally and professionally for me, but I'm so thankful to God that I was able to take a few days off and rest and just do life!

“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6:24-26

God bless you.

Jesus loves you.

Restored woman living for God's Glory,

Ruby B. Johnson.

Have you given your heart to God? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior? If you die today, will you make it to Heaven? If no or you are unsure, do not waste any more time and receive salvation now.

March 2017 - Life Update!

Hello my sisters and brothers in Christ!

I pray you and yours are doing well. I have been very busy with work and just life in general, but I give God all the glory. 2017 has been very adventurous so far and I'm doing my best to keep up with it - I hope. The month of February involved a lot of traveling for work and going to a lot of new places. Upon returning from Maryland over the holidays, I started attending a new Church. As I had mentioned some months ago since I moved to Nevada, I had been prayerful about being planted in a Church home as well as serving in whatever ministry God leads me to. So far I've been blessed at the new Church I've been attending in town - worship is great, the Word is spirit-filled, and the people are loving. But due to my busy travel schedule for work over the past couple months, I missed several services on Sundays and opportunities to be poured into spiritually but I still love the Lord and talk with Him. I'll post an upcoming blog about where I have been with my walk with God. God has remained faithful and I'm never letting go of my Jesus but I will be honest and say that this second year has been tough and I have really been struggling. So what have I been up since my last post? Get a little glimpse of my life over the past couple months.

In the past couple months, I moved to a new house as well as moved to a new building for work. The photo above was my final photo in the last office, and I miss my office space already but I'm sure I'll adjust to my cubicle space in the new office building.

Jesus' Girl
After Sunday Service

One Saturday afternoon in late January, I volunteered with a new organization started by Jennifer Morreale called Days for Girls. This first gathering of the group involved sewing kits that'll be given to girls in India, Cambodia, and Nepal. How awesome to know that our little towns of Spring Creek/Elko in Nevada is doing good for girls in other little towns in Asia and hopefully Africa soon. Since I'm a boss at ironing, that was my task for the event. Days for Girls International empowers girls and women around the globe by providing sustainable feminine hygiene solutions and health education. I look forward to working with the amazing women in this group and see the amazing things God does in our endeavors for these girls/women worldwide.

Later that same day, in honor of it being Chinese New Year, my friend Pei-Wen taught me how to make dumplings. It was really cool to learn how to make healthy dumplings from scratch and by boiling rather than pan fry. I enjoy hanging out with her because she's originally from Georgia and moved to little ol' Spring Creek 5 years ago, so we got to bond over our east coast memories. As some of you may know I'm a proud Virginia Tech Hokie, she and her husband attended the other Tech (GA Tech).

In late January, I went ice fishing with some folks. I drilled 2 holes with the auger behind me for the first time, even though I almost got sucked in when I reached below the ice. Unfortunately we didn't catch any trout but we had a blast chatting and eating sausages for lunch while out there. I guess the fish weren't hungry for the worms we used as bait. It was -9 degrees, so I had on 2 winter jackets and a total of 5 layers for my upper body. Legs were sufficient with 2 layers plus my smart wool socks and snow boots. Basically I was 5lbs heavier to conquer this cold! Hand warmers inside my ski gloves came in handy towards the end.

Doing inspections at a mill that's currently being demolished, one of the reclamation stages of a mine. Most of the major equipment had already been taken out, such as the crushers and ball mills. The mill was used for the material taken from what used to be an underground silver mine that was in production in the 80s-90s. The drivers for the contractor doing the demolition teased me for wearing my PPE on the site and saying I'm making them look bad. My mentality is: do the right thing even when no one is watching (integrity) or pictures aren't being taken. I'm a mining engineer that puts safety first!

Wild Wild West

When home is now cowboy country, you get the full experience. The week of February 23rd was the 33rd National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and I volunteered a couple days for some of the events, as well as attended a few events and dances. Thousands of cowboys from across the country as well as Australia and Canada were in my little ol' town of Elko! How cool wss that! I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I absolutely loved every moment of it. I'm already looking forward to next year's Gathering.

Hey, Cowgirl!

Future NvMA President?

Last month I attended the Elko County Republican Party 2017 Lincoln Day Dinner and Fundraiser with keynote speakers Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt and Elko Commissioner Demar Dahl. It was wonderful to get to meet my Nevada representatives from local to federal level like Senior Senator Dean Heller in person. Also, I won an oil change from the raffle drawing - first time winning from a raffle!

Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt

Out on the field doing inspections with my career mentor in white hard hat (mining engineer), supervisor in black jacket (geologist), and coworker (geologist). So grateful to work and learn together with these folks for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest minerals and geology team!

With my crazy travel schedule for work, it's tough for me to eat healthily since I don't have the option to cook and prepare my own meals. However, I'm thankful for the gym in hotels so I can stay fit and healthy.

Gun-loving, coffee-drinking, coal-supporting American Mining Engineer

Few weeks ago while driving to a meeting regarding a mining project in Bridgeport (California), I pulled over to enjoy the view in this cute little town of Bridgeport in photo below; a little bit of the Sawtooth Mountains can be seen as well. This happened to have been International Women's Day. The theme for this year's IWDay was "Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030." To be a woman in the mining industry, an industry comprised predominantly of men, I enjoy being a mining engineer and I'm thankful for God's grace and the strides made by women who have come before me in this industry, STEM, and all works of life. On that day and always, I salute all the women of this world and pray God uses you in your areas of influence - home, work, and/community.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:9-12

God bless you.

Jesus loves you.

Restored woman living for God's Glory,

Ruby B. Johnson.

Have you given your heart to God? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior? If you die today, will you make it to Heaven? If no or you are unsure, do not waste any more time and receive salvation now.