Sunday Morning Coffee: Oh Marie!

26 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by Stefanie Van Aken (RSMLVTravel) in Archive It

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This February my grandmother turned 90. It’s not so much that we are shocked that she made it to this age, we are more in shock that she actually told us how old she is! For years, she would never tell anyone her age. In fact, she lied about it all the way up until last year, when her and my mom where at a doctor’s appointment and my mom finally made her come clean. At that point, though, she had been believing her own lie long enough, that she couldn’t remember if she was telling the truth or not! Now that I think about it, maybe that is the key to her longevity.

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A few months shy of turning 90

If you know my family, we are always taking advantage of reasons to celebrate with family and friends, and my grandma turning 90 seemed to be a reasonable occasion. This year is also a significant year for me because my husband and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary. So many cool things have been coming up in relation to that. My girlfriend is getting married in Bali this year, where we honeymooned. And, my grandmother chose to wear the same lavender knit suit as she wore to my wedding to her big party! Boy, did she look fabulous.

Grandma with all her favorite guys! (or at least some of them!)

Time changes things. Ten years ago, my grandfather was alive and well. As were my Great-Aunts and Uncles, many of them attended my wedding. Those memories are priceless to me. It was the last time the people that I loved my whole life, and knew when I was a little girl, were all present in the same room, doing what we all do best…dancing, drinking, singing, laughing, hugging…no matter what the circumstances of our families, when it was time to celebrate, we put on our dancing shoes and let the party begin. It is the one thing I am most proud of as our family legacy. My family knows how to party. We know how to love life. When people talk about whether or not they should have just taken the money spent on a wedding and put it into a house or savings, I always disagree. For me, my wedding was more than a beautiful dress and a fancy hotel, it was memories. Memories I am so glad I have now, no house or college savings fund would ever in a billion years be worth the dividends my wedding returned for me.

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My family, 10 years ago at my wedding. Grandma wearing her birthday outfit.

As I looked around the room that night at all the people who had travelled from all over the country to be there with her, I got all choked up. It didn’t seem right that my grandfather wasn’t there, but the love and joy and comfort that filled that room made up for it. I thought, this is a changing of the guards. My own children and nephews are taking over for the grandkids, while the grandkids are taking over for the parents, and the parents taking over for the grandparents, and so on and so on. And, there, leading the pack, looking over us all, was my 90 year old grandmother. What else was amazing to me, is that even though my grandfather is no longer with us, his side of the family had a strong showing at the party. I know they are reading this and saying, of course, it’s Aunt Marie! But, you know, I don’t know how many families would think otherwise. It’s just a given in our family, and I wonder, will we (my siblings and cousins) continue that tradition, that unconditional love, that legacy with our own kids and future generations?

The new generation of our family...

While all this emotion and thought was flooding over me, I was watching my grandmother analyze the room. She was so happy. The happiest I had seen her since my grandfather had passed away. A smile never left her face. She wanted to take pictures with every person in that room, and I’m pretty sure she did. The great grandkids said the dinner prayer, my brother and mom and uncle toasted her, and we had a video montage of her life playing in the background with all her favorite songs. She had special song requests, and she danced! I’m not kidding, if I live as long as she does, I certainly hope I am blessed with her spirit for life.

A few days later, she was still talking about the birthday celebration. Her only living sibling, our Auntie Ev, flew all the way from Rhode Island to celebrate, along with several of my grandma’s nieces and nephews. As a special surprise, my grandfather’s nieces and nephews and their kids came in for the party as well. She had a glow about her for days, thinking about the party and the company. The other night she was visiting me and the kids and said, “I told everyone I wasn’t going to dance. I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t think I could, you know? But then, I thought of your grandfather coming up to me at every song (he LOVED to dance) when we would go out and he would have that look on his face and he would be bouncing to the music. And my feet would start tapping, and I would start moving, and I couldn’t help it! I had to get up and dance!”

Oh! And we danced! My grandmother’s side is Italian, so there were many traditional Italian song and dances played, like the Tarantella. The kids were impressing us with their break dancing moves, and lots of Electric Slides were going on.

Dancing the Tarantella

After the toasts had been made and we were thanking the guests, she was looking out into the crowd, and she turned to me and said, “Can you believe what your grandfather and I did here? We did a pretty good job of creating a nice, big family.” Yes, May, yes you did. And, we are so grateful to you.

She ended the night with a resounding, “I will never forget this night. Ever. I will remember it my whole life.” And so will we.

A special thank you to my mom, dad, aunt, uncles, siblings, cousins and my cousins from Rhode Island and New York who helped pull this event off without a hitch! Thank you for making memories for our families to share for a lifetime.

Cox Digital Phone Service and Mobile Connect App

24 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by Stefanie Van Aken (RSMLVTravel) in Archive It

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Caller ID, Cox Communications, Cox Mobile Connect App, Digital Phone Service, Las Vegas, Phone Features, Phone Services

If you have lived in Las Vegas for some time now, you will know that not many cable companies have been able to achieve what Cox Communications has in Las Vegas. I, personally, have been a loyal customer since they first came into town, and always go Cox when managing my utilities. Initially, I chose them for their internet services finding that DSL was just way too slow and unreliable for me. Then, they came out with this awesome Bundle package…phone, cable and internet at one low price. Awesome. Sign me up!

Not too long ago I was watching TV in my room one night, the phone rang, and I noticed the name and phone number of the caller pop up on my TV screen. Could this seriously get any better? As a busy mom or four, I am often lucky to locate an actual telephone, let alone have the time to decipher which calls I should make a mad rush to the phone for. Caller ID is a must in my house because I find it to be a time efficient tool. If I cannot answer the phone for some reason, then at least being able to see who called force me to make a mental note to call them back. The problem I began running into is that my kids ages 8, 6 and 17 month old twins, love the phones! We have four throughout the house, and yet, they always seem to be lost. I put them on the charger base, next thing I know, I am finding them under the bed, shoved between couch cushions, in a doll house, the garbage…I think you get the picture. So, to have that feature pop up on my TV screen was ingenius! Now, the only problem was finding the phone so I could answer the important calls!

With the little ones putting my phones in odd places, my parents and in-laws complain about not being able to reach me. I swear, I’m not hiding, I truly am not able to find the actual phone, so I end up missing most of their calls. So, when Cox Communications reached out to me to help spread the word about their Caller ID features, I was obliged to participate and learn more about how their tools can help make my life a little easier and let my parents feel more in touch with my family’s busy schedule. They asked that both my parents and I sign up for the Cox Digital Phone Service with TV Caller ID. Done. That part was easy because we are both loyal Cox customers. But to make this task a little more interesting, I discovered the Cox Mobile Connect App for the iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets. Oh, my, goodness my world just got a whole lot brighter!

I personally get frustrated with the amount of time it takes me to set anything up. I want to have my own personal assistant walk me through, step by step, so I don’t waste any time troubleshooting on my own. I had only been on the Cox website once, and I wasn’t even sure if I knew my username and password. I requested help, and almost immediately a very kind and eager Cox Communications service rep sent me a Tweet asking how they could be of service. We took it off-line onto my email account where she walked me though the different options available for using my phone via the Cox Mobile Connect app. She also pointed out that I could manage my DVR schedule from there as well. Score!

The set-up was so super easy. Once I downloaded the app from the iPhone App Store, and figured out what my username and password was, the mobile app immediately connected to the information in my account. It knew all my land line numbers, I could manage my Call Waiting and Call Forwarding, but the best part was that it also kept a call log of all Outgoing and Incoming calls to any land line tied to my account.

I shared this information with my parents, and set the app up on their iPhones as well. My dad is a little more tech-savvy, but my mom is learning to work the app like a pro! Check back with me soon to see how we did! In the meantime, you can get started yourself. Right now through March 15th, Cox is offering a special promotion of $9.99 per month when you sign up for their Digital Phone Service. For more information on this service click here: Cox Digital Phone Promotion.

Visit the Cox Communications website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to get the latest tips, promotions and services available in your area!

About Cox Communications

Cox Communications is a broadband communications and entertainment company, providing advanced digital video, Internet, telephone and wireless services over its own nationwide IP network. The third-largest U.S. cable TV company, Cox serves more than 6 million residences and businesses. Cox Business is a facilities-based provider of voice, video and data solutions for commercial customers, and Cox Media is a full-service provider of national and local cable spot and new media advertising.

Cox is known for its pioneering efforts in cable telephone and commercial services, industry-leading customer care and its outstanding workplaces. For seven years, Cox has been recognized as the top operator for women by Women in Cable Telecommunications; for five years, Cox has ranked among DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity, and the company holds a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. More information about Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, is available at www.cox.com and www.coxmedia.com.

Anderson Dairy

21 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by Stefanie Van Aken (RSMLVTravel) in Fun

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Anderson Dairy, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Local, Vegas Tours

Did you know there is a dairy located smack dab in the middle of Downtown Las Vegas? That’s right, and it’s been there since the early 1900s. The word “Las Vegas” actually means, “The Meadows”. Not necessarily what you think of when you consider the city itself is located in the middle of a basin, surrounded by mountains and reaches temps of over 100 degrees in the summer. But back in the serious day, a man named Harry Anderson, saw an opportunity to provide fresh milk to the families living in the growing little railroad town, and took it. Over 100 years later, his dairy products are the most well known and purchased in Southern Nevada.

The dairy, which is actually a processing plant, (the real dairy is now located in Southern Utah just a few hundred miles outside of Las Vegas) offers tours to the public and field trips to the Clark County School District. I had the opportunity to attend with my daughter’s class this year. (See my video on the Travelling Moms site). Growing up in Vegas, there are several field trips we took…a tour of Siegfried and Roy’s home, the Omni-Max theater at Caeser’s Palace, the Las Vegas Zoo, and the Anderson Diary. That was growing up in Vegas. I also attended Siegfried and Roy’s Magic show back when they headlined at the Frontier Hotel (now the Trump Towers). All the private schools at the time were invited. When people ask what it was like growing up here, that is one of my favorite things to tell them. Lots of things have changed since then, now the kids actually get to experience some real educational stuff, like the Springs Preserve, but the Anderson Dairy remains a constant in the field tripping arena.

It was also her first ride on the yellow bus!

I don’t remember much from my first time, I was my daughter’s age then. Now it’s all fancied up with talking, mechanical animal characters like Calcie-Yum the Cow, Mr. Bright Eyes the Owl, Chicky the Chicken and Rudy the Rooster. There is also a brief tour where they take you down two long hallways to show you the processing plant and how it works. One side demonstrates how they carton the ice cream, and the other shows the freezer storage area. I had thought I remembered walking into the actual freezer when I went as a kid (maybe I’m confusing that with a Mc Donald’s field trip?), but of course, the most memorable part for both her class and mine, was the ice cream handed out in the end. Now that is one thing that has not changed.

After they passed out the ice cream to the over excited crowd, I was able to catch up with our tour guide. I had a few questions, as a discerning parent and a long time resident of Las Vegas…where does this milk come from. Ever since I can remember, Anderson Dairy has always been in the refrigerator of both my mother and grandmother. Pretty much, if you grew up here, you were raised on Anderson Dairy. But as society has begun to turn to a healthier lifestyle and asking more questions about where their food is coming from, I can’t help but wonder the same. There has been rumors about the quality of their milk, and how the cows were being raised, and I couldn’t leave there without learning the truth, at least, learning their side of the story. Were their cows really fed on pastures laden with nuclear waste? How were they remaining a presence in the market with all this talk of natural and organic products?

The young woman I spoke with, also happened to be the great-great grand-daughter of Kenny Searles. Her great-great grandfather purchased the dairy from Harry Anderson in the 1920’s, and it has been in the Searle’s family ever since. She responded without hesitation that the dairy cows are treated humanely, and they are fed all natural, organic grass. They are not injected with hormones or antibiotics, but the government makes it very difficult and expensive to get that Organic Certified seal, so they are currently in the process of changing all of their packaging to relay that information. She also felt confident that because the cows are raised on a private dairy farm, they had more control over how they were handled, treated and fed.

I felt somewhat satisfied that Anderson Dairy is working to keep up with the organic food trend. I, personally, only buy organic dairy products, and will purchase non-rBGH if no other option. Being a staunch supporter of my community and buying local, I would love to buy from Anderson Dairy again, so I hope they do follow through on their word.

I asked my daughter what her favorite part of the tour was, of course, she responded with, “The Ice Cream!!”. When my son went a few years ago, he actually enjoyed the talking animals and learning about the history of the diary, that’s no surprise. That was my favorite part, too. If you are visiting Las Vegas, or looking for something to do with your little entourage over the summer, the Anderson Dairy is worth looking into. They have some really neat pictures of Las Vegas being developed, a great short-film about the history of Las Vegas and the dairy, and some of the vintage neon signs. If you are a history buff, this is a great spot to learn a little something rather than being schooled at the 21 table.

Anderson Dairy is located at

801 Searles Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89101