Tuesday, January 30, 2007

planning a vacation...

One of the hard parts about Paul's job with InterVarsity and my job with the Office of Admissions at Texas Tech is that we often have to travel...not together. The plus side of that is the frequent flyer miles. At least once in a 12 month period we both receive free airline tickets which, needless to say, is very helpful when one who doesn't have a lot of money wants to go places they've never been. Last year, we got to go to Cabo San Lucas. This year, we are planning a trip to Washington DC. Neither one of us have ever been to our nations capitol. The absolute bonus of this is...we have friends who recently moved out there (here's a shout out to Seth and Kristen). SO, as any trip planner would do, I immediately got on the internet to research every aspect of our vacation from what to do, where to go, etc. I had this great idea (actually my mom had this great idea) that we should take a train to New York City for a few days of our vacation. Now, this trip is going to be relatively inexpensive...the whole reason we are taking it, so I had to find a cheap hotel in New York. Well, cheap in New York means a room with two beds that shares a bathroom down the hall...your typical college dorm room. Actually, they are called hostels. Now, if I were in Europe, I might be more inclined to participate in this type of hotel living. But, I am not. So, I am less than thrilled at the cheap options in New York. I selected every area that was a possible option on priceline, expedia, cheaptickets...you name it, I tried it. Cheap hotels do not exist - well, unless you want to share a bathroom with other people you don't know. I think we have decided to nix the New York idea and just spend our whole vacation in Washington DC.

I heard from a friend at work that if you contact your congressperson, you can get tours of places like the capitol, library of congress, and the state department. So, I filled out the form. I haven't heard anything, but I sure hope my congressman come through for me. I think we will have plenty to do in DC. I am really excited about this trip. If you have any suggestions of things that are "must sees", please let us know.

Lastly, Paul and I had the opportunity to work on the Urbana.org team while at Urbana this past December. My job was to edit and write pieces that would be posted on the the Urbana.org site at later dates. I just saw that a piece I edited (our friend Pete wrote it) is up on the site...you should check it out. http://www.urbana.org/_articles.cfm?RecordId=1033

Monday, January 22, 2007

fun in the snow


Well, we had our storm. It wasn't nearly as terrible as predicted (I could have told you that it wouldn't be). We got several inches of snow and lots of ice. We got to leave work at 1 pm on Friday...that was an excellent treat! It was a great weekend staying inside, drinking warm drinks, watching episodes of our favorite TV shows on dvd, and just hanging out. On Saturday, "stir-crazy" began to set in a bit. So, Paul and I ventured over to our park. After bundling up, we headed out to take pictures of the snow (you know you live in Texas when this kind of weather is a novelty). Here are a few of the faves...
the "you'll shoot your eye out!" movie

fun with icicles

more fun with icicles

our wicked tree...look how big those icicles are

Mr. & Mrs. Snow Angels

our real Lubbock snowman!
The next day, we noticed that someone had kicked him over...why are people so mean?


Friday, January 19, 2007

bananas?

If you have been watching the news, you know that we have a WINTER STORM coming! So, I thought that I would go to the grocery store and get a few things...just in case we did not want to get out in the snow. Well, that is what everyone must have thought. OR they are completely scared that we will be snowed in for days upon days and might starve to death. All I was aiming to pick up were things like milk, coffee and green beans. I thought as I was walking through the produce section, "I should get some bananas". Well, there were absolutely NO bananas to be found. In fact, even the broccoli shelf was pretty bare. I had to buy the really expensive milk, but there were plenty of green beans. I wondered at one point if the news was telling us that it was a snow storm when really Armageddon was coming...and some people had figured it out. I was quite proud of myself when I finished picking up the 12 things I needed and exited the store within about 35 minutes. I know I picked up 12 things because I went to an "express 10 items or less lane" at the side entrance of the store. Hardly anyone was in that line, and I didn't want to wait for an hour in the regular lines. I did apologize to the checker for having more than 10 items, and I hoped that the person behind me didn't notice. I think we are ready for the storm...we'll see if it is as bad as they say it will be.

Monday, January 15, 2007

movies, shopping, games, & Rich Mullins

that is how we spent our Martin Luther King Jr. day. It was a very relaxing day. While we played an exciting and competitive game of Skip-Bo, we listened to some Rich Mullins. I know, I know, he is really old school. But, have you listened to him lately? His lyrics are beautiful poetry with deep, real meaning. I believe that in his short life, he "got it". He got God's love not only for himself but for those around him. He got that money isn't everything. He got that Christians are called to speak up for the marginalized of our neighborhoods, our cities, our world. He got that life is about knowing God and bringing glory to him...in all that we do and say. Rich Mullins is just so fascinating.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

We've Succombed...

We (as a family, that is...Paul has done this for years now) have a blog. Welcome. We hope to update this often with lots of important information. Just an FYI, we also have a website...www.themaneys.net. Enjoy...