Posts w/ Pics

Sorry I've been a little silent recently. I lost the cord to connect my computer to my camera. I just can't post w/o pictures. Enjoy a few mew posts!

Gas Prices

Honestly...I purchased at this price the other day in Orlando, Fl. WOW!

$4.49 a gallon for regular

Seats for Soldiers

Several nights ago was the fourth annual Seats for Soldiers event at the Dallas Mav's Game. The front row season ticket holders donate their tickets to soldiers for one night. Most of the soldiers had spent multiple years in Iraq and many with serious injury. It was a pretty touching night. Here are a few photos...

This is a video of the crowd cheering on the soldiers. It was pretty cool!

Bellagio

This week is the Luxury Travel Show in Las Vegas. Nothing says luxury like Southwest Vacations, right? We promoted our packages to Travel Agents that book Vacation Packages. For me that meant another trip to Vegas and I got to stay at the Bellagio.

WOW...my new fav hotel. I was so bummed I forgot my real camera so these photos are a little burry since they cam from my camera phone. They had just decorated for Christmas. Here are a few pics...

Photos from Japan

So I thought I would have more time to blog while in Japan. The jetlag kinda got me down. I plan to work on a recap blog on the flight home. We are now waiting at the airport for our flight back to the US. (Thankfully we are at the airport four hours early...my parents were concerned that we might run into a few problems. I guess the good thing to arriving four hours early is we were able to secure exit row seats.)

I have posted all our pics online. You can check them out at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/hollee.ford/Japan07

Japan 07

(I am also not sure why I have a uk web address. I believe it is b/c I am using English in Japan. :D

Also I thought I might leave you with a little Japanese although I have no idea what any of it means...

ほっぇえふぉじゃアウロイクアア　ホッェエ　エリュイオ

Photos from Japan

We have had a good time so far. We've seen a temple, Osaka, Japanese shopping, Kyoto and one of the world's largest ferris wheels. The food is a big adjustment. Besides edamame, who says lets go out for Japanese food. (Please don't confuse with Chinese which is very different and does included fried rice. Also Benihana (or Japanese steakhouse) is an American version of Japanese and doesn't actually exist here. Lastly sushi lovers, I do agree that Japan provides a great dish to you....but I don't like fish...so I'm out).

So here are the pics... (which are in no real order thanks to Blogger's confusing picture application)

Just like in New Orleans...Cafe Du Monde in Osaka, Japan.

Japanese Lunch (we did have fried rice)

Some of you asked for pics of my dad in Japan. You can see him heads above the rest.

jellyfish at Osaka aquariumone of the world's largest ferris wheels - 112.5 meters (or 370 feet) in height

the Japanese sometimes struggle with correct English...I thought this was funny
(but they do MUCH better at English than I do with Japanese)

many little kids were visiting the aquarium when we were...they were these hats to keep them organized by class or something

the Japanese love English...they like to wear shirts with English but usually they make no sense...I guess it related to how many Americans have tattoos with Chinese or Japanese characters. Do you really think those tattoo artist know the language?

when we visited the Kiyomizu temple all the rocks had bibs...not sure why

In Kyoto we ran into a group of geisha girls. I was super excited! Have you see the movie Memoirs of a Geisha?

the vending machines in Japan are a little different...Japanese doesn't have a 'l' sound so cola is cora

check out the Merry Xmas wreath

this is in front of the Kiyomizu Temple

eastern toilets - most are like ours at home but I thought th

Hello from Japan

I made it to Japan on Sunday night around 7:00pm. (Both of my flights on United had mechanical problems that delayed both flights.) I started my stop watch on take off from Dallas and at touch down in Osaka it was 20 hours and 7 minutes. That includes the three hour layover in San Fran and the two mechanical errors. Anyway...

When I called Chad from the Osaka lobby...they were on the way to get me. Since my flight was so late...they figured they would meet me at the airport instead of the train station. So my fears of figuring out the Osaka train station were for nothing.

I was a little dazed from the flight and all so I forgot to take pictures yesterday. We do have a great view from the hotel so I am posting those below. Once Chad wakes up (he sleeps pretty late) we are going to head to Kyoto.

Also Blogger must read the IP address and know that I am in Japan. All of the wording in Japanese.

Konnichiwa Japan

I am in the single digit day countdown until my trip to Japan. I'm going to visit my little brother who has been living in Osaka, Japan since March. I leave on Saturday (10/27) from DFW at 7:55am for a quick flight over to San Fran (SFO), CA. I then leave SFO at 1:21 PM and arrive Osaka on Sunday (10/28) at 4:40PM. The flight is 11hours and 19 minutes with a 14 hour time difference (16 from California). For my trip back...I'll travel in time. I leave on Monday (11/5) at 6:55PM and arrive at SFO Monday at 11:11AM.

I think I should be able to post pictures from Japan so check back often next week. My initial plans include multiple sites in Osaka, a day in Tokyo (including a quick look at Mt. Fugi) and a day or two in Kyoto...maybe dinner in Kobe to try the beef.

Trip to San Fran and Vegas...

Well a promised pictures...about a month ago. In the start of September, I had a week long trip to San Fran and Vegas...here are a few pics...

(this is at the San Fran airport the day Southwest started service!)

(a hotdog at the Giants game)

(this is a photo of a co-worker with Gene Simmons...I took the pic)

(Sam & I in Vegas)

The links are back...

So I was trying to create a really cool look with a customized blog design. Then I realized that I don't even have time to update my blog. Why would I have time to create a custom look.

So I'm back to Blogger Basic. Until I actually have a few hours to post.

What do you do on Saturdays?

So I believe this is the first Saturday that Sam and I have been at home in six months or so. I woke up this morning wondering what I should do this Saturday.

(Usually we are either traveling out of town or at the lake house.)

I so woke up and worked out for over an hour. Now I'm home updating iTunes. On Wednesday, I am expecting the delivery of my new iPod nano.



Along with the nano, I'm expecting the Nike + iPod. My co-worker Kim has it and loves it. It charts your run, identifies which miles were faster or slower and basically helps you train for running. I'm not really training for anything big (like a marathon) but I just need a little encouragement to run more. I figure looking about how slow I run will be a good encouragement to get better!

Back to a unschedule Saturday...YIPPEE! (I'll be watching college football.)

I love Jenn

So I've been a little quiet on the blog recently...mostly due to travel. (More posts to come with stories and pics.)

Our good friend Jenn was able to hook me and my friend Kim up with excellent seats to JT in Las Vegas. (So excellent that I got a wave from JT.)

The concert was great! The three of us brought sexy back. Here are few pics of the excellent seats.

Dolphin Stadium

This weekend the family and I traveled to Ft. Lauderdale for another weekend baseball trip. I added one more ballpark in my quest to see them all (or at least many of them).

Honestly I was very surprised at the quality of beaches in South Florida. Everyone seems to be traveling to Mexico or the Caribbean for beach vacations but South Florida has a few great beaches!

Welcome Charlie...

Our dear friends Amie and Bradley just brought home the most beautiful baby boy.

She has pictures to share at www.pregnantonpaper.blogspot.com.

Hawaii Photos

A few of my favorite photos from our Hawaii Trip...

 

 

 

 

If you want to see them all visit http://picasaweb.google.com/hollee.ford. Also check out Chad's blog as he comments on his trip to Hawaii after months in Japan.

July 21

So I'm currently stuck in the LAX airport with a four layover before our flight to Hawaii. I'm not real big on layovers...I usually always fly standby on the next flight out (one of my favorite benefits of an airline employee).

Sam & I have been really busy so I'd like to fill you in on the last few weeks.

We've both become better at the wakeboard. Sam takes lots of video of our wicked tricks so I'll try to post them soon. Most weekends we head out to my parent's lakehouse after work on Friday and then head back home on Sunday evening. We've become regular visitors to the Azle Church of Christ.

Last weekend we had a great time in Chicago with Sam's cousin Carrie and her husband Wes. On Saturday morning, Carrie and I headed to the Miracle Mile for a visit to our favorite store H&M. After about an hour and a half later we left with full shopping bags and a somewhat frustrated Sam. Following H&M...we made our way on the L to Wrigleyville. This was the first visit for myself, Sam and Wes. WOW! There are few things I appreciate more than a passionate sports fan and the Cubbie Fans are passionate. It was a great day and SO much fun. Plus the Cubbies won!!

Following the game we met up with Sam's college friend Preston and his wife. It was great to see them. Sam wanted to eat Mexician food in Chicago (remember we traveled from Texas to Chicago...to eat Mexician?). Anyway...following dinner we enjoyed laughs at Second City. Second City is known as the comedy university and many great comics get their start at Second City. The 11:00pm show was hard for us to stay awake but our laughter kept us awake.

I have some great pictures to post but I'm on my little brother's laptop so I'll have to post another time.

I'm about to board a flight for Hawaii. We are all excited to meet up with Chad. (We are meeting in Hawaii since it is somewhat a half-way point between Dallas and Japan.) We'll be on the island of Kauai. We've never been to this island before so we are excited to explore.

One more quick note...any one buy the Deathly Hollows book? Funny thing...like half the plane has the book. I will admit that I bought it...I became addicated to Harry thanks to my college roommate Laurie. I've read the other six and I'm anxious to find out the ending to the story. (I haven't finished yet so don't tell me.)

Digital Pictures

Don't you all just love the convience of digital photography? You take all the pictures you want. Only print the ones you need. You can also reprint later, right?

Well my good friend's Adam and Doodle had a computer crash and they have lost very valuable pictures. (They are currently searching for help recovering information from a hard drive...if you know anyone let me know.) Which reminded me to back up my pictures. I lost all the pictures from my personal camera from my wedding and honeymoon...thanks to a computer virus.

I thought I'd share my tips for backing up information including pictures. I have an external hard drive which is connected desktop computer. I save all important documents including pictures on both. So how do I compare and make sure that the same information is on both? Good Sync. It is an awesome little program. It looks at two folders and analyzes them. Following the analyzation it will tell you which files are missing from each folder. Then you can chose to synchronize. It will then copy the missing files from both folders so both folders will contain all the information. The best news...it is free! For a large number of files, it will cost you but after the first synchronization...your files will be much smaller.

Any other tips for backing up and/or protecting information?

Bikram Yoga - Hot Yoga

So my dad has recently started the practice of Hot Yoga. He just raves about it...so I figured I would try. For those who haven't heard of Bikram/Hot Yoga...I'll explain. The room is heated to 105 degrees. Then for the next 90 minutes, you work your way through 26 asana (postures).

So I've practiced Yoga at a few different fitness locations but this was intense. Honestly about twenty minutes into it, I sat down and tried to find a way to duck out. (They lock the outer doors once the class starts...to protect everyone's personal stuff. So if I left the hot room, I would have been waiting by myself for the next hour until they unlock the door.) I was sitting down because my head was spinning and I was seeing spots. So after what felt like twenty minutes (they don't have a clock on the wall and I didn't bring a watch) of sitting down...I got back up and actually got really into it. The next hour or so was much better.

So in the end I bought eleven additional visits. I'm not sure I can keep up with my dad...but I'm going to try for at least the next eleven visits. I highly encourage everyone to try it...at least for the experience.