Hey everybody,

Remember us?

…it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. If you’ve talked to us in the last month, you might have heard that there’s a lot going on in our lives right now. If you haven’t talked to us in the last month or so…well…here goes.

I got a job! It is a great opportunity and I’m really excited. I will start on March 1^st. I’ll tell you more about it when the start date gets closer.

In this transition, Lyndsay and I were able to arrange things during the month of February so that we have no jobs, no mortgage/rent, and no reason to be anywhere specific for any length of time.

So what will we do during this period before we settle in to the next few years of “real life?”

TRAVEL!!

Lyndsay has a few places she’d like to see before she dies, and we’ve heard it’s better to do these kinds of things when you’re young rather than later. So, we’re doing it.

Here is our trip:

Part 1: AUSTRALIA

Enough of this wintery weather…we’re going to the land down under! We’re going to visit Sydney first to see the city and culture. Then we’re going to a city called Cairns for a few days to see the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest.

I talked to our friends Katrina and Ruth Anne from Samford. They both lived in Australia and had a bunch of great advice about things to see and do. If you’ve been to Australia and have any additional sights/restaurants/advice…please, feel free to pass them along. We’ll be in Australia for nine days.

Part 2: NETHERLANDS

Yes, we’re flying from Cairns…to Sydney…to Amsterdam! (With stops in the US on our way…yeah, don’t get me started)

In Amsterdam we get to visit with our friends the Wolvertons. Tagg (Wolverton) was the youth pastor at my church while I was in high school. He was one of the pastors that married Lyndsay and I. He and his wife Susan picked up their family and moved over to Amsterdam a couple years ago to work with Greater Europe Mission. It’s a pretty neat thing. We’ve kept in touch over the last couple years and we’ve always talked about how much fun it would be to get to come visit them in the Netherlands. Now it’s going to happen!

If you have any recommendations on things to do in the Netherlands that I would actually enjoy (read: legal in America), please pass them on. Last night my Grandmother called and recommended a restaurant in Amsterdam that she ate at in the late 60’s and really enjoyed. Yes that’s right…about 45 years ago. If it still exists, I fully intend to eat there! (NOTE: Oddly enough, I’m not the only one hearing about it 40 some odd years later ) We’ll be in the Netherlands for 4 days.

Part 3: ITALY

Next we will be flying from Amsterdam to Milan. From there, we’re going to see Venice, Florence, Pompeii, and Rome.

Has anyone ever been to Italy before? I’d love some good travel advice. I’ve talked to a couple friends who have been before and each time I learn things that are really helpful. Your input is invited. We’ll be in Italy for 11 days.

So…that’s our trip! We’re supposed to be leaving tomorrow (weather permitting, of course). Be sure to check back over the next month for pictures and stories of our adventure.

PS-We’d like to take a quick moment to thank our friends Wes and Tera at Armosa Studios for hooking us up with a really cool camera for our trip of a lifetime. You should check out their pictures over at: http://armosastudios.com/blog/

I was looking over at Microsoft’s site for students to get Windows 7 for $30.

To qualify, you need an email address that ends with .edu. My Samford Email address worked just fine.

The terms and conditions say that this deal ends at the end of tomorrow (January 3rd, 2010).

If you have a computer that runs Windows and is less than 4 years old, you should probably be running Windows 7 on it. It is waaaaay better than Vista. It is a very different interface than Windows XP, but I think it’s pretty nice and pretty useful once you get used to it. Also, if you’re still running XP it’s a pretty safe bet that your computer is fairly ‘gunked up’ by daily use and could use an upgrade/reinstall just to make it run a little better.

Of course, you can always go to Best Buy and pay $119 if you’d rather do that.