Saturday was quite the long day.  But if you ask me, I will say it was worth it.

Saturday morning started off by driving over to my friends house as we were going to drive up to the airport together.  We got to Dallas Love Field around 12:15pm as we had to get through security.  Our Charter plane (by Southwest Airlines) took off about 2pm and it was a somewhat short flight and we got there about 3:45pm.

Once we hit the ground there were 3 tour buses ready to pick us up.  Once we all boarded we were off to Iowa State University.  I think we got to the stadium about 5pm (1 hour prior to kickoff) and walked around and took some pictures.  Of course the game started shortly after that and it was a good football game.  Go Aggies!  Texas A&M won 49-35.  After the game we headed back to the buses were we had to wait up to 45 minutes to get everyone back on board to make our way back to the Airport in Des Moines.  Once we arrived at the airport we had to all go through security again (which seemed to take forever) and once we were aboard the Southwest Pilots got us home in quick fashion.  We landed back in Dallas about 1:45am, and we drove back to my friends house, picked up my car and drove home.  I got to bed about 3:15am.

It was a very, very long day, but one I hope to remember forever.

Anything but work, lol.  But seriously I have been thinking about cruises.  I have always wanted to go on one.  Back in the day when I had my stint as a travel agent (only lasted 2 years) I have always wanted to experience a cruise.  Now one time in Seattle I was able to tour a cruise ship that was in port, but it never left, lol.  I just think it would be really fun.  See all the different places, and do various things on the ship, I think it would be a good vacation.

However my dream must come to an end.  As I have Celiac Disease, I can imagine that it would be tough for someone like me who has this disease to eat for 7 days on a ship and not get sick.  But it’s always good to dream.  Speaking of dreaming, it would be nice to not have any bills also…  =)

The drive down here today was pretty uneventful and really it was rather boring.  We stopped along the way as the head coach of the team (I was following them) had a niece playing a college soccer game so we watched the 2nd half about 50 miles from Austin. as

We got here around 5:30pm and did some relaxing.  I checked out the TV, then we were off to get the team registered at the host hotel, came back and grabbed 2 more people and we were off to the Outback for some awesome dinner.  ** Service was HORRIBLE **  (Outback, Round Rock – Be careful.. lol)

Came back and more team members were here and a few of us sat around the pool chatting for a bit and now its about time for bed.

Will update tomorrow after our 2 games..!!

Well tomorrow morning I’m heading down South a few hours to Austin, TX.  Our soccer team is going down there for a soccer tournament this weekend.  The team and coaches are pretty excited about this trip.  I’m sure we wont win the tournament, but as long as the girls have fun and we have a good weekend then that’s what counts.

Not to mention that I have never been to Austin, so it will be cool to see a new place in Texas I haven’t been yet.  One drawback though, the wife started teaching this week and is swamped so she can’t go..  =(  But I understand that the first few weeks and the last few weeks are always the busiest.

I will post some updates from Austin and if I get a chance and some photos from the trip throughout the weekend.

The holidays seem to be approaching pretty fast these days and it’s time to figure out what to do.  The last two years of holidays, Leslie and I have not been able to make it back to Seattle to spend it with my family.  So as the planning process is taking place, I think this year we are actually going to make it.

I hope we can fly non-stop, even if it costs more.  The non-stop version cuts a few hours of the total travel time.  Not to mention that when we fly back to Texas we lose 2 hours just in the time change alone.

Speaking of trips.  One of these days I would love to go see the East Coast.  Never been.  Maybe check out the Outer Banks close to the ocean and just hang out and relax..  Although the opposite way (west), Hawaii sounds awesome just like our honeymoon..!!!

I know it’s early but any of you out there making holiday travel plans? or just staying around home?

The other day I was talking to my cousin who lives in Vegas (She moved there for a teacher job) and we talked about how fun it would be to fly out there and visit her.  If we are lucky we only get to see each other maybe 1 time per year.  However the drawback is the cost of the flights.  We thought about just staying with her in her apartment but Leslie never really has experienced Vegas like I have.  So if we go I think we will check out the new las vegas hotels.

The last time I was there was years ago, probably at least 8 I would say, except to connect at the airport (where I won $100, lol).  There have been quite a few new hotels that have popped up since then and I would love to go check them out.  And it is such a huge place we better take some walking shoes too.  I think I will start planning a little trip maybe this winter or spring.

My wife and the entire group got back into town last Friday (couple days ago) after being in Xalapa, Mexico for 1 week.  There are plenty of stories I have heard about how wonderful this trip was and hopefully made an impact for the church they went down to help.  The group (about 40 including Next, and 2 other churches) talked with roughly 250 people in Xalapa and Coatepec, with 188 of those accepting Christ into their lives.  That is just Awesome!!!

I wanted to share a few pictures that my wife took of the area last week:

Xalapa Mexico

Xalapa Mexico

Governor's Palace, Xalapa Mexico

Before I get started, I think this is somewhat funny.  I have Google alerts set up for my name [tazdog] so I get this email that has [tazdog] tagged and I was like, weird, I haven’t posted anything.  So that Google alert led me to BioTeck’s site were he tagged me for this Four Things Meme..   SOOO this meme is about four things in various categories that you need to share and then tag a few others…

So here we go:

Four jobs I’ve had

1. IT Systems Administrator
2. Car Wash Attendant
3. Travel Agent
4. IT Desktop Support

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. The Transformers
2. Office Space
3. Breakfast Club
4. Black Hawk Down

Four places I’ve lived

1. Renton, Washington
2. Tacoma, Washington
3. Grand Prairie, Texas
4. Arlington, Texas

Four TV shows I love

1. So you think you can Dance
2. E.R.
3. Crime 360 and the First 48 (I know it probably counts for 2)
4. 24

Four places I’ve vacationed

1. Disneyland – California
2. Hawaii
3. Leavenworth, Washington
4. Oregon

Four of my favorite dishes

1. Steak
2. Pizza (except I can’t eat it anymore)
3. Spaghetti
4. Smoked Brisket (Beef)

Four sites I visit daily

1. Google
2. EntreCard
3. Various Tech Sites
4. Friend’s Blogs and RSS Feeds

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Mexico (on the mission trip with my wife and church)
2. Hawaii
3. New York
4. Sleeping (in my bed)

I’m going to go ahead and tag a few blogger peeps:

1. Everydayrandomness
2. Mysinglemomlife
3. Peak9
4. BrainFoggles
5. Mamaflosatx