On Vacation!

Hi friends!

Sorry for the delay in my updates! Last week I had a final exam on Monday (and a final paper due the same day) - and so I should have been able to update on Wed... except that I was at my friends' house in San Antonio...... and they have... (wait for it).... dial-up. So now I'm at my parent's house in Phx and they have really fast cable-internet.

Over the last couple weeks, I attended a number of Christmas parties. I sang Karaoke, at a LOT of dessert and chips with dip, discovered Raspberry Ginger Ale (good!) and finished making Christmas presents for my family. I will post pictures of the presents soon... but my mom is sitting here with me and so she might see them if I wasn't careful.

Yesterday was a particular treat... but first, let me tell you something amazing!

I heard that D-Rob (from Greenville) was going to be in Phx visiting Lee Thompson and Erin O'Hara. I was also going to try and get to visit Lee and Erin while I was in town, but it turned out that the day I was arriving (the 19th) was the same day Derek was leaving. We joked about me changing my flight... but it was going to cost $86 to buy a new flight (and then I'd just have one leg of a flight used later to be credited to me). It was too expensive for me to do it. But when I joked about it with my parents they said, "we'll buy it." - so I decided to look into moving my flight up 3 days. When I went to the Southwest Airlines website, I decided to see what it would cost to change my current itinerary - just in case it ended up being less than $87....

What I found was really neat. I only wanted to change one leg of the trip, so I picked the new day, found the flight I was interested in (still listed at $86) and pressed "next" to see the new price..... and they said they owed ME $23.

Yep. Apparently with Southwest you can change your itinerary and they (first of all) don't charge you a fee and (second of all) if the new flight is cheaper than the flight you originally purchased... they give you the extra $$ (from your original flight) as a credit toward a future flight. Now, friends, I changed this flight less than 2 weeks prior to the date I wanted to fly... and STILL they didn't charge me a fee!!!

Fly Southwest Airlines. I called the company on the phone to make sure that I was really understanding it correctly. The woman was the nicest (and that is typical of my experience with her) and wished me a merry Christmas and hoped I enjoyed the extra time with my family. Seriously... fly Southwest! Lets reward them for how great they are!

OK, So... back to the story. Yesterday I got to have lunch with Lee, Derek and Erin! Lee took a long lunch and we met out by his office. It was great to hang out with those three who I enjoyed so much as undergrads (though Erin still is). We went to Applebee's and had a fun time getting caught up and laughing with each other.

Other news: WOW. My parents did some (secret) remodeling! It was a surprise for me (and will be also, for my grandparents this weekend) when I got in on Saturday night. They got the popcorn off the ceiling, added 5 skylights (three in the great room, two in the office), put hardwood floor in the three bedrooms, painted their bedroom and all the main rooms, and put beautiful tile throughout the rest of the house. Its amazing! I'm putting up pictures so you can see them. :) The only problem is that I didn't bring any slippers and the floors are kind of cold. But its beautiful - the colors are so warm and southwestern. Its really neat.

Since arriving home it hasn't been all photos and lunches... I helped my folks put up all the outside lights (and there are a lot) and tonight we hope to decorate the tree and put up stockings. I also attended a really fantastic concert with my parents; the Phoenix Bach Choir put on a holiday concert (conveniently located at my parent's church on night) and it was excellent! And Wed night my dad and I are attending a concert of Baroque music, which he performed last winter, but instead this year he performed the Messiah. My grandparents arrive on Saturday and leave next Tuesday morning - its nice because they haven't been able to stay that long in a number of years. I'm looking forward to a couple mornings of the whole family sitting around and doing crossword puzzles. The house remodel is doubly good because it means that there is a bed for me to sleep in once my grandparents come and I get evicted from the guest suite - usually I end up on the couch, so this is better. :)

While I was at the Fergason's I helped the homeschool co-op put on a nativity play. It was really cute and I may try to upload part of it to the blog so you can see how cute they are!

I had a great time there, watching Christmas movies, playing with kids, enjoying the new baby and talking and praying with Karen.

More updates to come in the upcoming days. Keep your eyes poste to this site!

Love and Merry Christmas!
Tiffani