Memorial Day Weekend

We had a low-key yet delightful holiday weekend!  We just hung out together and took care of our friend Brock's dog Mack.  Matt made the decision to take a complete break from research & that made such a difference!  We kicked the weekend off Friday evening at Ma’s Suds with two rolls of quarters and $5 footlongs from Subway.  As many of you know, we don’t have a washer/dryer connection so we usually spend time at the laundry mat on Friday nights.  Though it’s a bit of a hassle & not particularly clean, we’ve been able to get up to 7 loads completely washed & dried in just 90 minutes.  Can’t beat that!  

Saturday we took care of Mack the dog, grabbed an early lunch from Chick-Fil-A, stopped at Wal-Mart to buy sun-block, then headed out to a friend’s neighborhood pool for the afternoon.  (Thank you Mark & Julie for lending us your key!)  I had a great time reading in the sun & Matt had a great time reading in the shade.  We then drove to Baylor to conquer the Bear Trail (path around campus) in the 95 degree weather.  I barely completed my walk, but Matt duked it out & ran!  Yikes.  After a brief recovery from that we had supper at home followed by our new favorite indulgence… milkshakes from Health Camp!

Sunday morning we skipped out on church and got ready to drive up to the Dallas Zoo!  But before getting on the road we went over to feed Mack then stopped at Rudy’s BBQ for breakfast burritos, Matt’s absolute favorite.  It was a beautiful & easy hour or so drive.  Our favorite animal was the White Cheeked Gibbon.  They were hilarious & attracted a big crowd as they swung around playing tag.  At the lion habitat I was thinking in my head, as any true Auburn fan would, "War Eagle," just as I saw Matt do a double take at the guy next to us & yell "War Eagle!" at him.  He had on an AU hat!  Unfortunately he wasn't as excited as we were & I don't think he even returned the friendly battle cry.  It was pretty neat... running into a fellow AU fan in the Dallas Zoo while watching a live Tiger!  Oh well if he didn't want to be too friendly back.  I'm sad to say there are some collegiate party poopers out there.   After gawking at the animals for 4 hours, we headed home.

At the Tiger Habitat

Monday was yet ANOTHER day of play... and taking care of Mack.  We ate blueberry muffins for breakfast on the front porch, piddled around, then armed with smoothies, sun-block and reading material headed out to the pool again.  I had a good time in the sun & swimming laps and, once again, Matt had a good time reading in the shade :o)  We concluded the weekend with a cajun dinner on the river at Buzzard Billy's.  

Thank you to all veterans & active duty people who have so faithfully & diligently done your job!  I can not imagine all the challenges you have and will face.  It's worth celebrating every day.  

No More Bee's... and Stuff

I should let it be known that the bee issue was taken care of last week & no one got stung!  The exterminator came while we were at work/school the next day & we haven't seen one since.  Thank goodness!  

The new issue, however, is the ever penetrating cigarette smoke smell coming from our new neighbors in the apartment next to ours.  We & other tenants have filed complaints with the realtor, but they can not/do not want to do anything about it.  Time will tell how this issue pans out.

Tonight we had a great visit with good friend Kayla Moyer over supper at Pei Wei.  She was in one of Matt's first physics labs he taught at BU & is now graduating and moving to Houston.  They became friends at the same time Matt was getting to know a guy named Thomas Saadeh... long story short, Kayla & Thomas are getting married in December!  We're looking forward to that celebration!  

The month of May marks the potential "one-year-left" countdown for our time in Waco, so we've been thinking more seriously about where we want to live & what type of work atmosphere Matt may prefer.  We have always leaned toward the SE region of the US, but will be very flexible & follow the source of a paycheck wherever it leads us!  However, we recently found great potential in the Knoxville, TN area.  Who knows what will happen, but it's exciting to begin thinking about the next phase.  I have to be careful not to let the excitement interfere with my loyalty to dear Spenco too soon though :)  

Speaking of Spenco... I came back from lunch today to find a Bath & Body Works gift card on my desk from my supervisor!  No particular reason she said.  Just a little token of appreciation & thanks.  How sweet is that?  Sitting at a desk daily isn't always the best, but little gestures like that can boost company morale so much.  It doesn't necessarily need to be done through gift cards, but to know you've been thought of and are doing a good job makes a huge difference in the daily grind.  

5-K & Bees

This past Saturday I did the Central Texas Race for the Cure 5-K here in downtown Waco.  Spenco sponsored a team so I signed up!  Never before had I done anything like that & after it warmed up from a sunny 50 to an even sunnier 55 degrees it was a blast!  Our friends Brock & Stefanie did it too and we had a good ole time walking/jogging down by the river.  It was a treat to eat the free snacks afterward too.  I planned on walking the whole time, but that's hard to do when adrenaline kicks in as you go past 50 motorcycles revving their engines or when you pass a military band playing the Rocky theme song!  I was sore down to my toes the next few days, but it was worth it.  I found these pictures on the Waco Tribune Herald website:

(Girl I met that morning, Boy I met that morning, Brock, Stefanie, Moi)

Random side note... Matt just discovered & killed a swarm of bees in our kitchen.  They appeared within a couple hours.  We just went outside to discover a hole in the side of the brick with a billion bees swarming around it!  We left a message on our realtor's emergency phone line.  I wish we had a door to close off the kitchen.  Oh dear, he said 5 more just came in through the exhaust vent.  I'm hiding in the other room. 

An In-Law Visit!

Last month Matt's parents flew out for a visit (April 17-23) and as usual we had a great time!  Both of us comment frequently how grateful we are that we truly enjoy visits with both his parents and my mom and we always look forward to spending time with them.  It's too bad we only see them about 3 times a year right now, but we'll take what we can get.  

One evening we went to a BU Men's Tennis match.  The weather was fabulous & the original Robinson trio enjoyed reminiscing on the many years Matt played tennis.   

 

  

On Saturday we drove down to College Station (1.5 hours away) to visit the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library.  But first, we took a drive around Texas A & M University (might I say that campus is in no way whatsoever pretty like our beloved Auburn, or even Baylor for that matter...) and then to eat at Matt's favorite burrito restaurant, Freebird's.  Having never been to a presidential library, it was much better than I expected.  The museum did a great job of documenting the Bush family & his presidency.  We even got to have our picture taken in the Oval Office!  I think the pre-presidency history was my favorite though.  

The night before they left we went out to eat at a local restaurant overlooking the river downtown and then to a play Baylor Theater put on called "Picasso at the Lapine Agile."  It was written by Steve Martin (yes, the "wild & crazy guy" Steve Martin, who happens to be from Waco) and it was hilarious!  It is about Picasso & Einstein meeting in a French cafe at the turn of the century.  Afterward we went to get shaved ice & milkshakes at Coco's.  To be frank, on the right night going to Coco's is reminiscent of taking a trip to coastal Mexico.  The people, the music, the decorations...  a mini-vacation right in the middle of Waco.  

We did some other fun things... Matt cooked shrimp for us one night, we went out to eat with good friends Brock & Stefani after church, had soda fountain Coke's & MoonPie's at the Dr. Pepper Museum, saw The Bucket List at the Dollar Theater on 50 cent Tuesday, discovered a neat antique/gift shop downtown, got a paper shredder, looked at the bluebonnets & wildflowers, Matt studied, Lucy got lots of extra attention, and Peg got a brand new camera!  (Hence why there are plenty of pictures to document all the adventures!)

 

A good time was had by all!

Colorado Road Trip

A month ago (March 10-15) we went on a semi-last minute, yet long awaited, road trip with our good buddies Hillary & Jeremy Smith and her very cool parents, Karen & Joe Griffin. (Matt & Jeremy lived together for a time in Waco before we got married, as did Hillary and I.  As fate would have it, by the end of 2006 they were married as well!  Since then they have moved between China/Waco/Dallas & back again.  Despite their busy lives, they're still on our A-list and that's why I'll stop talking about them now b/c I'm sure I'll brag on them more another day.)  Anywho... before they started the process of moving BACK to China we got to spend some quality road trip time with them.  I used vacation time to escape work and Matt had the week off for Spring Break so we all drove out to Pagosa Springs, CO and skied at Wolf Creek 30 min away.   We also celebrated our 2nd Anniversary that week!

The trip there was long, but neat.  West TX roads are long, straight and flat (that's also how I feel about my hair sometimes).  We drove through Amarillo, saw the crazy Cadillac's buried in the ground out there, took a look at downtown Santa FE, NM (in all its tan-colored adobe splendor) and ascended into the southern mountains of CO.  

Once there our skiing was cut short by some minor and major setbacks (illnesses, car trouble, multiple car rentals, skunk smooshing... call me if you want the numerous details), but all-in-all we enjoyed ourselves.  Below is a great 5 minute slideshow with music Jeremy put together.  Long live the tradition of spring breaking!  But may our next vacation lack a certain element of adventure this one had :o)

Joining the Blogger World

Frankly, I prefer more one-on-one communication whether it be in person, over the phone, or via email.   However, distance prevents the first, my lack of motivation to pick up a phone puts a damper on the second, and thirdly (though I love doing it) I should probably cut back on my personal emails from work.   With that said, I don't love the idea of making a blog.  But, since I'm motivated by the neat stories & pictures I see on others pages... here's my effort toward keeping people informed on the activities of the Robinson's.  I am joining the masses in order to "keep in touch."  My only real hesitation is that I will waste too much time in front of the computer trying to figure out just the right words to type or waiting on our very slow upload speed when adding pictures.  So far both of these things have proven true.

Nonetheless, welcome to Manna's World.  The land where a five point star can be spotted on demand, where shoe insoles put supper on the table, and where physics books receive a lot of attention.  We're glad you're here :o)

Texas Capitol in Austin, Summer 2007

For those that never got the scoop, or just need a re-cap... 

Matt moved to Waco after graduation in 2004 (War Eagle).  I moved to Waco after graduation in 2005 (War Eagle). We got married in 2006 (War Eagle).  Matt has been pursuing a Ph.D in physics at Baylor and I have been working in the Sales & Marketing department at Spenco Medical Corporation.  We rent an apartment, I drive the same car I bought when I was 16, and we have a boy cat named Lucy (determining gender can be tricky).   

Also, we have lazy mouths so we decided long ago that it is much easier (and fun) to refer to two people that are commonly grouped together by a combined name like "Villary" rather than "Valerie and Hillary" or "Patrah" rather than "Patrick and Sarah."  Hence the title "Manna's World."  Ironically manna means "what is it."  So, what are we?  I dunno.  Just two twenty-somethings transplanted from AL & SC plodding along in TX...