Alaska Vacation

This has been an extremely eventful few weeks for our family. Some of it has been good and some not so good. Please keep our family in your prayers. I'll try to post about everything eventually, but this post will be devoted to....our Alaska Vacation! That's right, we went on an official vacation and it was terrific!

A few weeks ago, we went on a cruise with my family to Alaska. Most of my family has never been on a cruise so this was a very special trip because not only was it a new place for us but a new type of trip! We visited Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park, and Ketchican. Our cruise also stopped at Victoria, BC, Canada. We didn't actually get off the ship at Glacier Bay National Park. That park has many different glaciers and our ship was able to take us near 2 of them for close viewing. It was amazing! Jack and I highly recommend an Alaskan cruise to everyone! It's worth saving for and putting on your bucket list. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

This is the front of our ship. Imagine yourself saying, "I'm the king of the world!

We saw some wildlife. The Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, AKWe rode a train in Skagway, AK through the mountains. It was BEAUTIFUL!Glacier Bay National Park

It was an amazing and beautiful trip!

NYC, Birthdays, and Moving In

Much has happened in the past few weeks. Jack and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary by spending the night in our new home. Our bedroom furniture came in a few days before our anniversary and with some help we moved in just enough items that we could begin sleeping in the house. It's been good to start the moving process. After this weekend, we hope to get the last of the boxes and furniture out of our old home and be completely moved into our new home. It will probably take a while for all the boxes to be unpacked, but that is ok. It feels good to be in. Once I can get organized enough to take some pictures, I will post the before and afters (I know, I know, I've been saying that for a while.)

This past week I actually went on a little vacation. (Good timing, right?) Well, last winter my mom suggested that she and I go on a trip for my big 3-0 birthday this summer. She and I used to do alot of traveling together when I was in college so this was an opportunity to do something like that again. The idea was to go to New York for a long weekend. So, back in February we booked the plane tickets. By the time it was over with, the long weekend turned into almost a week because flying out on Thursday was cheaper than Friday and coming home on Tuesday was cheaper than Monday and we found a good deal on a hotel. Anyway, all of this happened way before we knew that Jack and I were going to buy a house and renovate and move in at the end of July. But that's what happened, so last week I packed up with my nerves shot and left for NYC. It was a great trip and a much needed break from reality.

Here are my recommendations for anyone going to NYC:
1. If you are going to stay at least 5 days get a City Pass. The pass is an advanced ticket to several museums/monuments and if you want to go see everything on the pass, it's a good deal. Plus you don't have to wait in any lines get tickets. This saved us a ton of time and helped us schedule our trip.

2. Save your money and plan to bring an extra bag home with items you purchase there. I have never seen so much stuff to buy in one place. There are stores, street vendors, souvenir shops, and markets everywhere. And most of them will reduce their prices when you start to walk away. This is a true test of self-control.

3. Get a really good map, especially if you plan to use the subway. New York subways can be tricky. We met one woman from Athens who said she had taken the wrong train three times. She had been to two other countries where she didn't speak the language and had been able to figure out the subway system but was having a very difficult time in New York.

4. If you are planning to see a Broadway show, get up the day of the show and go to TKTS in Time Square to buy your tickets. The line looks long but they move you through fast. If you are really counting on going to one particular show you may not want to do this (they don't sell tickets to everything) but if you are ok with two or three options, this is definitely your best deal. We got half-price tickets to 9-5 (Excellent show!) and ended up being 6 rows back from the stage. It could not have been better and there is no way we could have done that for that price had we bought them in advance.

So now I have returned and this is probably going to be my last time to post while I am still in my 20's. Looking back on the past decade, so much has happened in my life. I've done most of what I wanted to do and I have changed alot since I was 19 turning 20. If you had asked me then what my life would be like now I would have never guessed it would be like this. But that is the nature of life. I can't even imagine what I will be writing when I'm 39 turning 40. What a decade this will be...

Getting Away to the Gulf Coast

This past weekend Jack and I attended a conference in Panama City, FL. Gulf Coast Getaway has been happening in January for almost 20 years. In recent years, it has moved to the MLK weekend because there are so many students that travel great distances to be there, they wanted to allow an extra day for travel.

I've written before how much singing is an encouragement to me in worship and this weekend is the epitome of great singing. Imagine nearly 2000 college students praising God with more joy than when your favorite team wins the Superbowl. It's incredible. I'm thankful for having the opportunity to be there and witness it. Students are also blessed by great speakers and opportunities to give and serve. Lives were changed this weekend.

College students are the future of our world. Their lives are turbulent, changing, and forming during these difficult years. It is our responsibility to guide them into becoming who they will be for the rest of their lives. Events like Gulf Coast Getaway can impact those students in ways that mold and shape them. Praise God for people who understand how important those college-age years are and who work to provide for those students. I'm thankful for those who created weekends like this past one and the ministers and volunteers who agreed to take students to it.

Christmas & New Years

Well it's Saturday, Jan 3th at 11:30 PM. My vacation for all intensive purposes is over. My employer gave us 2 weeks off this holiday season in order to try to save some money in energy costs, and also to give the employees a small token of a gift since we didn't give cost of living pay raises this year.

I personally really enjoyed the time off. To say that it's been a extremely stressful semester would be an understatement. Anyone who has moved, had both spouses start new jobs with huge projects demanding your time in the first 2 months of employment, a death in the family, and another family member having major health issues would totally understand. But please understand I'm not trying to complain or seek sympathy from anyone, but pointing out how stressful the last half of 2008 had been. However like I said, I was sure glad that I got the time off.

Since Fran also had the time off we used the time to visit old friends, spend some time with family, and just lay around the house and relax. Here are some of the stories of what we did.

Dinner out - we took the opportunity to eat dinner with some old friends (Michael & Lacy) from a town that we previously lived in. We went and ate at a popular restaurant that is famous for a special meat dish. This restaurant also has their complex decorated to the nines with Christmas lights. This is also the place where I asked Francie to marry me. It was nice to get to spend some time with old friends and celebrate personal accomplishments with each family. The accomplished that were celebrated were: Francie & I celebrated Christmas, Fran's graduation, both of us getting jobs, our 5 year anniversary, and us moving to the town we live in now. Michael & Lacy were celebrating both of them graduating, their 5 year wedding anniversary, them buying a house, and both of them starting new jobs. We had a wonderful time and miss spending time with them like we use to. Hopefully now that we live 1 hour away instead of 5 hours away we can get together more often.

Shopping - Francie did some shopping during the break as well. This actually was a huge blessing because we didn't have all of our Christmas shopping done. Two FULL days later and several hundreds of dollars, the she was able to finish up the Christmas shopping and also spend some quality time with her mom, aunt, and grandmother.

Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve can be a stressful time for the two of us. Both sides of the family celebrate Christmas on the same day and usually at the same time. We have been blessed since we have been married that both families have been flexible to adjust the time so that we can spend more time with each side. However it's still a very busy evening and makes us feel rushed in trying to get everything crammed into 3 hours or so per family. Things may change in the future regarding this as the families get older and bigger and certain members pass on, however for now it is a very busy night.

This year we started with my family first. My mom's family gets together and everyone eats a pot-luck meal (as good, if not better, than a country church pot-luck meal). After dinner presents are usually opened. We didn't get to stay for most of the presents being opened, however did manage to stay for the big present for Granny H. The cousins went together and got Granny a 15" digital picture frame for Christmas. She had been using her laptop (Christmas present last year from her kids) as a glorified digital picture frame, so this year in trying to keep her laptop working as long as possible; the cousins went in together and got her the real thing. She really likes the present and I hope that is provides her hours and hours of joy. Another present that Granny got was a popcorn popper. Back in the mid-70's several of Granny's kids were getting married. One summer three out of the six kids were married within 6 months of each other. Shortly after that Poppy (mom's dad) said that kids were going to start popping up like popcorn, and sure enough it happened. 30 years later a lot of the next generation is starting to have kids. So one of my cousins got Granny a popcorn popper. It was a very touching tribute and gesture by my cousin and I hope that Granny enjoys.

After spending time with my family we drove the 15 minutes to Francie's aunt's house for Christmas with Fran's family. They had already eaten dinner so once we got there we opened presents. We are a very blessed family and really fooled Santa this year by the amount of gifts that we both received.

Christmas Day - Christmas day we also have to split the time with each family. However unlike years past when we drove in for Christmas, this year we were able to sleep in our OWN BED!!! It was soooo nice to be able to get a good night's sleep in your own bed during the Christmas rush. We started Christmas morning with my parents opening presents with my parents, my sister, and us. After all of the presents were opened we enjoyed a full breakfast that mom, my sister, and Francie cooked. We were able to get Granny D (dad's mom) to come up for the opening of the presents, however due to not feeling good she wasn't able to stay for breakfast. Again we are a very blessed family and really fooled Santa this year by the amount of gifts that we both received.

After opening presents and breakfast we went to Fran's grandmother's for lunch. No presents were exchanged but apparently Santa made a stop by Nana's house and left something for us on their tree. :)

Doctor's appts - we also was able to take care of some medical stuff during the break. Both Francie & I had some tests ran (nothing major just making sure a couple of things are the way they are suppose to be), and I had a follow up visit with an allergy doctor. All in all we are in good health and pray that God will help us continue to be this way for many, many, many more decades.

Baby visiting - Over the last month we know of four couples (yes FOUR couples) who had babies. Three of the four were babies of my cousin's and we were able to visit two of them during the break. The fourth was a child of some friends from church. We were also able to see him while still in the hospital. All parties involved are happy, healthy, and doing well.

Birthday celebrations - we were able to take the opportunity during the break to celebrate Fran's step-grandfather's b-day. He and Fran's grandmother will have been married 8 years (on 1/8/09) and I know that the family is happy that he is in our lives.

New Year's Eve - This year we really didn't have any major plans for New Year's Eve. In years past we would go downtown to a festival that was held in the town that we lived in. The town that we now live in doesn't have any of these celebrations so it's an every-man-for-himself type situation. The church that we attend did end up having services NYE (New Year's Eve) and after attending that we had a late dinner with the campus minister and some friends. Afterwards we went back to the campus house and played games till the ball dropped. After watching two stupid morons perform Evil Knievel type stunts and watching the ball drop, we continued to play games until about 2 AM.

Work - Yes, even though I was off from work I did have to work some. However, the work that I had to do was regarding my private consulting work. There were a few issues at the church that we attend that I had to take care of, and another issue at the campus ministry house that the church supports. I also did some work on a computer that Fran's mom gave us since she wasn't using it any longer. I was also able to use some money I got for Christmas to upgrade the computer slightly, however that stuff hasn't come in yet. :S

Rest - Believe it or not we did get some much needed rest. Both weekends in the break Francie & I spent the day in the house, in our pajamas, and enjoying the avoidance of the stressful life outside the four walls of the house. It was nice to get some much needed rest and sleep for both of us.

Fun times - Francie & I also did some fun things during the break. We were able to go to have a date (we saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, went out to eat, and then went grocery shopping). This was our typical date nights where we lived previously while Fran was getting her PhD. Having a "Jack and Fran date night" was really nice because it brought back some good memories of our previous lives in another town. We also bought a board game and have been playing that. We got the idea from Nana & Bob as they love to play Scrabble. However because I can't spell AT ALL, we decided to go with a game that didn't require spelling but did present some mental thought.....MONOPOLY!!! So far we have played 4 games and I'm ahead 3-1, but whose counting.....right! ;) HAHAHA

Overall it has been a very busy break, but at the same time a very relaxing break. Monday will start the new year for the two of us from any employment sense, and the list of things to do at work are long. However with God's help and some patience on our part we will get everything done.

I hope that each and everyone of you had a wonderful holiday break (no matter how long it was) and that you were able to rest, relax, spend some time with family and friends, and take care of some personal issues just like Francie & I were blessed to have the opportunity to do.

Love to all,

Jack

Sunny San Diego

Yesterday (Monday) in the wee hours of the morning, Jack and I returned from a wonderful work/vacation trip to San Diego. I thought I'd share a little bit of our trip today, which will continue the tradition we have unwittingly started of blogging on Tuesdays. :) Also, this post will include our first photographs (which has now caused this post to actually go up on Wednesday).

San Diego has long been one of my favorite places to vacation. There are wonderful things to do, the weather is always beautiful, and it reminds me of Hawaii without having to cross the ocean on a plane. (I hate to fly.) Since my national conference was in San Diego this year, I convinced Jack to take a day off work and come with me. Here are some of the highlights.

One of the great things about this trip was getting to see some of our friends that we rarely see anymore. We spent Friday with one of them and took a break from the conference. Since all of us had been to San Diego before, we decided not to rent a car and instead we went to things we could walk to which began with a trip to Horton Plaza (a shopping mall). At Horton Plaza we learned the reason why Cinnabons are so good:

Yes, that yellow ball in the middle of the dough is butter. All butter. Paula Deen would be proud.

Another interesting site we saw while at Horton Plaza was the outdoor ice skating rink. Yes, I said outdoor ice skating in San Diego. It was a beautiful, and rather warm, 74 degrees when I took the picture of these people ice skating:

I taught them how to do that.

After Horton Plaza, we went to Petco Park and got a behind the scenes tour of the park. It was actually very interesting. We sat in luxury boxes and seats worth $43,000 for the season-- something we will never do again unless we pay another $9 each for a tour.

The rest of the weekend, we still got to see friends and I spent some time working. Sunday we packed up to come home. I think we could have both stayed another week and not complained. On the plane flight home we met a nice man our age who works at a gun store in Las Vegas. We spent some time talking to him about almost everything and before we parted company he gave us his phone number and said if we were ever in Vegas we could come by the store and he'd teach me how to use a machine gun. Those of you who know me are probably laughing out loud right now. :)