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Monday, July 26, 2010

My (MIS)Adventures in Texas

In case you're curious about Costa Rica, don't worry. I shall blog soon about the wonderful time that I had there. I am waiting on some pictures, to really fulfill it's "blogworthiness". So in the mean time, I'll tell you about the most recent happenings in my life.

I took off several weeks from my job so that I could have some "me" time. So first was the trip to Costa Rica and now I have traveled down to Midland, TX to visit my fiance and get some work done on my thesis and uh hem, the wedding. They're both going at about an equal pace so far. Slow. However, it's Monday. I'm settled in. It's time to get to business!!


The drive down here wasn't too bad. I broke up the trip by going to Duncan and staying the night with Matt's parents. It was really nice to get to visit with them- even though Matt wasn't there! Pete (the Dog, more like the sibling) missed me. It was sweet!

My dad ran off with the iPod cord that connects to my car stereo (Actually it belongs to him, so it's more like he left for work before I got the chance to ask him if I could borrow it). I decided to improvise. I'm not quite the CD buyer that I was in high school. So I looked through my CDs and found some Marroon 5, a Perfect Circle, Tim McGraw and WOW 2004 Christian Music Hits. I started off with WOW because it had the most tracks. Like 35. I praised the Lord the whoooooooooooooole way down here. When Matt would call I would answer "Shanna's House of Worship, how can I help you?"

I made it to Midland. The house looks great! Matt really has been hard at work. We have a lawn now! Woo! Here's a before and after.










So we went to this play called "Summer Mummers" that is put on every year and is centered on the community of Midland. Basically everyone watches a show put on my unpaid volunteers, drinks enormous beers out of a straw, and people throw popcorn during the show. (The straw is necessary so popcorn doesn't get into your beer). The pictures are a little blurry, but you get the idea. For future reference, don't curl you hair for this event. It creates a nest for popcorn and you'll be finding it for DAYS!














The play was a good time. It's something I could do once a year. One thing that started to make me nervous was when the crowd ROARED at the mention of this being the birthplace of George Bush. How long did I sign up to live here again? We better be moving somewhere uber green next to make up for this. It's only fair.

Okay, I will give Texas it's due and say that their roads are nicer than in Oklahoma (This can be kind of a touchy subject because my dad works as an inspector for ODOT- but I am also open minded enough to realize that most people don't take their job as seriously as my dad does, and therefore there's a lot of issues with our roads in Oklahoma- anyway, that's besides the point). Here in Midland there is a "loop" around the city and you exit when you're close to your destination and take a service road to your place. We don't do this in Oklahoma. I agree that the Texas system is faster, but it's also confusing. For example: if you decide to stay on the service road to get to your destination instead of entering and exiting the loop (especially if you're not from around here and don't know where stuff is!) you have to yield to those that are exiting from the loop. I guess I haven't perfected this. I was just driving along. I THOUGHT I yielded, and before I know there's this enormous SUV behind me, excessively honking at me. They had me so flustered that I pulled over to make sure I didn't need to exchange insurance information. Hello! Oklahoma plates! I'm sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!!!!!!!!

Okay- one more story. It's been a while!

I have been doing a pretty good job of cooking so we don't eat out so often. It's better for us, and frankly, it's cheaper. I've bought tons of produce and have started collecting things for the composter (I think Matt secretly hates this endeavor, I think it has something to do with him kicking the pieces of the composter and me saying that I will put it together. Even though I did it wrong and have to start over). Last night we were so cute and went to the HEB (Holy cow these stores are ENORMOUS!) and we got some seasoned chicken to cook for dinner. Matt decided to help this time.



WHOOPS!










Poor guy! He tried! I was able to salvage it. We ended up having a nice grilled/baked chicken salad with home style mac n cheese.

It worked!
I am certain there is more to come! I'll be here for 3 weeks!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Hasta La Vista, Baby

Tomorrow is the big morning that I head out of the Good 'ol USA and embark on an adventure to Costa Rica!!!!!! It still hasn't quite hit me. I've been packing and then making a list of things as they come to me. It's like the energizer packing list, it just keeps growing and growing......

Kind of funny story about the McFeeters. We're a cute, special little bunch. Originally I was going to carry on because I think it's completely stupid that you have to pay to check your bag these days and I like to keep my bag with me if I can. I've been carrying on for about a year now and it has turned out to be a pretty successful system thus far. Well I got on continental.com and discovered that if you travel to Central America, you can check a bag for free. Well lets be honest with ourselves, I was never ever going to pack 15 days worth of clothes into a carry on, but it was a worth try! So I get out my big bag and I put all of my stuff in it, nice and neat. Then I pick it up. If it's over 50lbs, it's not gonna be free. So I go the living room and consult Joe. He lifts weights all the time so he can probably guess pretty well at the weight. So he picks it up, lifts it over his head, thinks about it and says, "I think it's about 35lbs". We're a "country" family so I tell him to compare the weight to a feed sack (50 lbs) and he says he thinks it's less. So then dad comes in and I ask him to guess. Once again, he picks it up, lifts it over his head, thinks about it, and he decides it's about 60 lbs. Before all of this has happened I've already tried to weigh this thing on the bathroom scale, even turning it upside down due to the wheels, getting unreliable results. Dad looks at me and says, "Shanna, why don't you just hold it, get on the scale, and subtract your weight?" Oh.... you're so smart dad! SO- verdict is, the bag is 40lbs and I'm good to go!

For someone who doesn't like to fly, I sure am doing it a lot lately. The bad news is that I have to go to the Houston airport and I HATE the Houston airport. The good news is that I generally meet some pretty cool people on airplanes. It's really rare that I travel with someone that I know.

Today is filled with wrapping up work stuff, having lunch with my fiance (so weird saying that!), hanging out w/Matt at work, then going to eat with my mom, then going to see Eclipse with my mom, Aimee, and Brandie. Then some last minute packing, a few hours sleep, then a trip to the greatest place on Earth. Costa Rica is better than Disney World.

Like I said, I'll try to update while I'm gone, but no promises. I'm certain that I'll have some great stories to tell when I get back though. Till then- Hasta La Vista, Baby

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