Well, it's been over a month since the last post....that's crazy to me. I just have to say that my best friend from high school, Jodi, had her first baby, a boy, yesterday. Yay! I hope to be able to fly out to visit her soon!
To backtrack and cover the last month, we loved Mexico, however, we really didn't feel like we "needed" a vacation once we were down there. I mean, we LOVED our trip and plan to return next December because it was so empty at that time of the year, however, with neither of us working at the time we took the trip, we weren't stressed out and in need of R&R. I had to remind myself that I had booked the trip when I was working in New Zealand and looking forward to having a break. It was our third time to this resort (Excellence Riviera) and overall they have made positive changes since changing management last year.
The trip to Mexico started and ended crazily. We were scheduled to fly out of Little Rock to Dallas on December 11 at 9:00 or so. However, the fog was ridiculous so our plane, which was coming in from the west, had to divert and land in Memphis. Well, that delayed us in Little Rock although, apparently, flights can DEPART when it's foggy, they just can't land (who knew?). So that meant that everyone on the 10:00 flight from Little Rock to Dallas could fly out because their plane was already at the Little Rock Airport. It was so sad watching all those people getting to leave while we were still waiting for our plane to arrive and the fog to lift.
Eventually, our plane did fly into Little Rock and we were about 2 hours behind schedule. We missed the 12:50 connection by about 15-20 minutes (why couldn't that flight be delayed?). Josh and I hung out in the Dallas airport and tried to make the best of the situation. We just hoped the last flight out of Dallas to Cancun would not be canceled that night. We finally caught a break and were out on the 8:00 flight.
That flight was so great, too! It was mostly empty so Josh took the Emergency Exit row and I took 3 seats for myself to lay down. This was our fourth time to Cancun (the only time we didn't stay at the Excellence was for our honeymoon at the El Dorado Royale) and it was the first time we were landing at night. The sky was clear and watching the stars and the city lights as we landed in Cancun was really cool.
They've updated the Cancun Airport since the last time we were there in May 2006. Good changes. Josh got the red light going through customs so they had to go through his bag. However, we'd only carried on, so we were still the first people out of the airport. Other than losing a day of fun in the sun, I highly recommend taking the late flight into Cancun. It's cooler outside and way less crowded/chaotic. Because we were originally scheduled to land at 2 pm, I'd booked us private transportation rather than sharing a shuttle. We used USA Transfers and our driver, Marcos, was excellent. I plan to use this company again. It's only $20 more total to book a private driver rather than sharing a ride in a shuttle van.
Mexico pictures:
We also had an adventure returning from Mexico. When we arrived in Dallas on December 19, we learned that they had overbooked our flight to Little Rock by over 10 people and they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats. They were offering $250/person, hotel, and meal vouchers. I asked the ticket agent if they would up the offer but he said no. Josh and I agreed to accept the offer since we were not in a hurry to return to Little Rock.
We sat at the gate while they boarded other people and when they called us up to the counter again, we thought we were going to get our free stuff but the guy told us that we had to get on the flight because we had confirmed tickets and that the other people were only on standby status. We were so upset because we were prepared to stay in Dallas and get our vouchers. We told the guy that we didn't want to leave (in front of a family of four with two small boys who wanted to get home but were listed as standby) and that really made those people upset. I see their point because we were okay to stay (if we were compensated) and they wanted to leave. The agent told us we had to get on the plane because the airline wasn't going to give us anything to stay behind.
So, we left. That plane was at capacity. Bumpy flight and it was so foggy as we landed in Little Rock that we didn't see that runway until right before touch down. But, at least we made it.
We spent Christmas Break with Josh's parents in Cabot before returning to Fayetteville on December 30. We knew we had to find a place of our own to live. Well, we thought we lucked into finding a great deal on a big house on 2.63 acres in Fayetteville that was in pre-forclosure. We got as far as being under contract on the house before getting cold feet and realizing we should play it safe financially seeing as I am currently unemployed. So, we got an apartment and we're highly motivated to move out and buy a house as soon as possible i.e. as soon as we're both working.
Speaking of unemployed, I have two applications out for jobs at the UofA. I was even able to interview for one of them so far. Not working, even part-time, is a totally new sensation for me. I mean, I have a lot to do since we decided not to move into a house and instead moved into an apartment. Just getting unpacked and things set-up for living here has kept me busy for the last 5 days or so. I want to get back to work though. Yet, I feel like God is teaching me a lesson by my not immediately going back into work here. I really feel like I know God has a plan for my life but right now I don't know what that plan is. I feel like I've always had everything planned out two steps ahead of myself and now I'm like, what's next and I don't know. It's really weird.
Regarding unpacking, I'm really surprised at some of the things Josh and I kept in storage over the last year. Seriously, what were we thinking? I think we are taking more stuff to the Salvation Army now than we did when we were moving out. Josh's desk finally kicked the bucket and broke into several pieces as he and his brother were trying to move it. The broken futon frame has got to go (but we'll keep the mattress). There are lots of books, and cups, and clothes I didn't need to keep too. The best thing about getting our stuff back is looking at the pictures we took on trips before we had the digital camera and could put the images on our laptops. I've had some serious laughs looking a Josh's hair/beard on the roadtrips we took in 2000 and 2002.
So, that's life in Fayetteville in a nutshell. We moved into our apartment on January 10. I love Fayetteville and being back here but I'll write a new post about all the changes on being back stateside next. Also, an upcoming trip to Las Vegas is in the works for us and Josh's grandma known as "Ma" since she's always wanted to visit Vegas. Josh's parents might make the trip as well. We're looking at 4 nights in March/April and catching a couple of shows while we're out there. Still working on the details though.
We sat at the gate while they boarded other people and when they called us up to the counter again, we thought we were going to get our free stuff but the guy told us that we had to get on the flight because we had confirmed tickets and that the other people were only on standby status. We were so upset because we were prepared to stay in Dallas and get our vouchers. We told the guy that we didn't want to leave (in front of a family of four with two small boys who wanted to get home but were listed as standby) and that really made those people upset. I see their point because we were okay to stay (if we were compensated) and they wanted to leave. The agent told us we had to get on the plane because the airline wasn't going to give us anything to stay behind.
So, we left. That plane was at capacity. Bumpy flight and it was so foggy as we landed in Little Rock that we didn't see that runway until right before touch down. But, at least we made it.
We spent Christmas Break with Josh's parents in Cabot before returning to Fayetteville on December 30. We knew we had to find a place of our own to live. Well, we thought we lucked into finding a great deal on a big house on 2.63 acres in Fayetteville that was in pre-forclosure. We got as far as being under contract on the house before getting cold feet and realizing we should play it safe financially seeing as I am currently unemployed. So, we got an apartment and we're highly motivated to move out and buy a house as soon as possible i.e. as soon as we're both working.
Speaking of unemployed, I have two applications out for jobs at the UofA. I was even able to interview for one of them so far. Not working, even part-time, is a totally new sensation for me. I mean, I have a lot to do since we decided not to move into a house and instead moved into an apartment. Just getting unpacked and things set-up for living here has kept me busy for the last 5 days or so. I want to get back to work though. Yet, I feel like God is teaching me a lesson by my not immediately going back into work here. I really feel like I know God has a plan for my life but right now I don't know what that plan is. I feel like I've always had everything planned out two steps ahead of myself and now I'm like, what's next and I don't know. It's really weird.
Regarding unpacking, I'm really surprised at some of the things Josh and I kept in storage over the last year. Seriously, what were we thinking? I think we are taking more stuff to the Salvation Army now than we did when we were moving out. Josh's desk finally kicked the bucket and broke into several pieces as he and his brother were trying to move it. The broken futon frame has got to go (but we'll keep the mattress). There are lots of books, and cups, and clothes I didn't need to keep too. The best thing about getting our stuff back is looking at the pictures we took on trips before we had the digital camera and could put the images on our laptops. I've had some serious laughs looking a Josh's hair/beard on the roadtrips we took in 2000 and 2002.
So, that's life in Fayetteville in a nutshell. We moved into our apartment on January 10. I love Fayetteville and being back here but I'll write a new post about all the changes on being back stateside next. Also, an upcoming trip to Las Vegas is in the works for us and Josh's grandma known as "Ma" since she's always wanted to visit Vegas. Josh's parents might make the trip as well. We're looking at 4 nights in March/April and catching a couple of shows while we're out there. Still working on the details though.
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