It's a Beautiful Day!

Happy belated Saint Patricks's Day! Pop quiz: What would be the best St. Patrick's Day ever?  Would seeing U2 live on the Brooklyn Bridge be in your top five?

Kiss us, we're Irish

What about seeing a U2 cover band on the Brooklyn Bridge of New York, New York in Las Vegas? 

Still pretty awesome

This weekend, Robert and I headed to Vegas to see his law partner's U2 cover band, Rattle and Hum. My presence at the event is a testament to what an amazing wife I am because I had a huge event at work on Monday and Tuesday for which I was extremely committed to being fresh, alert, and prepared. Usually, weekend trips to Vegas do not equate to optimal Monday morning performance.

I do, however, love my husband tremendously, and he rarely says to me, "Rebekah, I would really like to go to this." He really wanted to go to see his best friend and partner in Vegas.

Lawyer by day, the Edge by night

You often hear the cliche that marriage is a series of compromises, and, although that is so true, to me that doesn't mean either party has to give up ground that means a lot to them. It just means you have to talk. I agreed to go to the concert under the conditions that I get to fly to Vegas, be in bed at a reasonable hour (by Vegas standards), and that Robert drive home. He agreed to these conditions as long as I agreed to show up and be my usual fun self. Admittedly, our agreements usually work to my advantage.

Everyone's happy

Robert and Phil, The Salt Lake Lawyers

Phil, Joelle (of book club fame and also Phil's sister), and Robert

A couple other things happened when I was in Vegas that made the trip even more worthwhile. First, I found out the day before the trip that my dad and brother were going to be in town while I was there! In case you don't know, I miss my family so much and this was a great chance to get a quick family fix before heading back to Utah. My brother Johnny picked me up from the airport and we had three hours of uninterrupted fun before I had to go get ready for the concert. Could not have planned it any better.

Dad, me, and Johnny at Sam's Town 

Me after two hours of grooming. See the difference? 

The other funny thing on our trip was that I saw the most Mormon-y thing I've seen since moving to Utah. It is very common to see ward houses (Mormon churches) in every community in Utah because of the large LDS population, but St. George treated me to my first sighting of SIDE-BY-SIDE ward houses. They were literally right next door to one another.

See the two steeples rising up on the left? 

Ward #1

Ward #2

That's not something you would see in California. That is pure St. George awesomeness.

All in all, I had a fabulous trip to Vegas and experienced the joy of another successful compromise in my marriage. It's easy for me to imagine an alternate scenario where Robert and I both dug in our heels over what we wanted and ended up angry, unsatisfied, and divided. Instead, we talked, we negotiated, and we came to a conclusion that made both of us extremely happy. Some people say that being married to a lawyer means that you will lose every argument and constantly find yourself in adversarial situations.

This book says that

I have not found that to be the case at all. When you're married to a lawyer like Robert it means working with someone skilled at reaching mutually advantageous solutions. Robert also has a great long view which he calls, "Happy wife, happy life." On my end, I am just thrilled to have a husband that I love coming home to every night and with whom I love dancing in Vegas.

I just hope my next trip to Vegas involves dancing to this...

Britney, anyone?