While away, I plan to post pics along the way here on the blog and on my Facebook account.  So if your one of the few people that still come around these parts, you’ll be able to check out the pics here and on facebook.  I’m excited about seeing some mountains and just get away from the heat.

Now, I just have to get packed and wake up for a 5am flight!

In my usual attempt to find flights, I hit up Orbitz.  But Orbitz doesn’t search airlines like Southwest Airlines so I headed over to their site to see if they had flights going to both my arrival and departure cities.  (Since we’re driving once on the west coast, I’m arriving and departing from different cities.)  I was able to get round trip airfare for a little under $350.  I couldn’t believe it.  I’m excited about the upcoming trip to say the least.  I’ll have to fill you in on my experience with Southwest after the trip in July.

It’s still hard to be believe though that this will be my first flight EVERY on Southwest Airlines.

If you haven’t read by now, the US has successfully landed on Mars. After a 10 month, 422 million mile journey to the red planted, the Mars Phoenix landed on the planet for a 90 day mission. NASA has stated that they are looking for signs of past, present or future ability for the planet to substain life. The Phoenix landed closer to the planets north pole, the Red Planet’s arctic plains, where winter is quickly approaching. The Phoenix relies on solar power in order to power up it’s camera, robotic arm and other instruments while on the planet.

When I was a kid I was always fascinated with the idea of space and what all is out there. The idea that there might be other galaxy’s just like ours with another “Earth” somewhere out there. Reading the stories and keeping up with the images coming in from the Phoenix is amazing to me. The fact that we can communicate with a device so far away blows me away. It’s hard to believe that NASA is able to retrieve images, control and communicate with an object 422 million miles away.

The Phoenix was originally scheduled to depart back in 2001 but was postponed due to a crash of the rover Polar back in 1999. Other explorations in 1997 and 2004 were successful and allowed NASA views of the terrain in order to better locate ice and water for this mission. In 2004, the rover Opportunity found evidence that a salty sea once lapped the shores of an area near Mars’ equator called Meridiani Planum. Astrobiologists generally agree that it’s best to look for life in wet places.

All this said, it still amazes me that we are not only able to reach planets millions of miles away, but we can communicate with these objects and explore for the future.

Recently back from a much needed vacation, I have posted some new pics in my photoblog.  It was an amazing time in Guanajuato, Mexico.  It was nice to be able to put on a fleece and enjoy some much cooler weather. We even missed the huricane. 

It’s been awhile since the ol’ photoblog got some attention but I finally got around to getting some new pics up.  I have it set to post a new pic a day rather than overloading the site with a bunch of new pics.  So you’ll have to come back to check out the other pics each day.

I didn’t realize it, but my photoblog has been offline for some time. I just reposted it and have started making regular updates again. Hopefully this will also force me to get back out and work with my camera again. Check it out here.

The only time that I have seen my mom and step-dad in a church was at the death of my grandfather. And I haven’t seen them in one since. My mom has talked about going to church before but hasn’t ever made anything of it since talking about it. This Easter was no different. I always ask my parents and my brothers if they want to come, but I get the same answer every year. My brother Mike is one of those guys that knows he should go, feels like he should go and even talks about why we get together as a family for Easter. But he never goes.

I’m not saying you have to go to church to know what Easter is about it. I’m just saying that being at church on Easter Sunday, for me, is a huge reminder of what Christ did for our sins. The fact that he rose from the dead. The candy, baskets, bunnies, and colored eggs are in no way the meaning of Easter. (although I look forward to the peanut butter cup eggs EVERY year).

So this year was just like all the others. I go to church in the morning and then the rest of the family gets together at my parents house for lunch and we hang out and laugh and enjoy the company of each other. Has it become just another reason for us together each year? I hope not.

It’s all in the life of Dallas Winter Conference I guess. Back off to editing more footage for our last night.

As soon as I arrived and checked in, I was quickly put to work. It’s non-stop action and work until the conference ends on January 8th. I am hoping to meet up with a few friends while in town this week. I’ll post some picture of our setup and the team as we get closer to the conference start.