Z-Man's Getaway

As some of you may have heard, I had the opportunity to take a little trip back to Marquette for a few days. My awesome uncle (even if he is a Cowboys fan) was gracious enough to take care of the expenses and after convincing my mom I could fly by myself, I was all set.

I left Albuquerque at 12 o'clock on the 6th of January headed for Chicago and then onto the U.P. Everything went smooth enough and I was picked up around 9 that night. My welcome party had some last minute issues so I was picked up by the Josh Hate Club. My ride consisted of complaints about Josh's non-committal attitude and questions about why I was wearing shorts. The night was spent hanging out at our good friends, the Newman's. We ended up playing Catch Phrase for about three hours. Then it was back to Marquette to Josh's house, where I was graciously welcomed to stay for most of my trip.

Since my trip was over multiple days and most of our posts span over one day, I'll just go over the highlights:

The next day I was able to have dinner with our friends the Janofskis and then went to watch the BCS National Championship with Kevin, Matt, Garret and Will. We also played some snow bball (I got killed) and football.

Friday consisted of my first viewing of the "MANcation" video with Kyle and Lara, some more football with the guys and a party at Josh's place. While there we had some guest appearances from Susan Pevensie, Rhino the Hamster and Taylor Lautner! Chocolate Eclair cake, Taboo and Telephone rounded out the night.

Saturday morning tasted a lot like home. After a delicious breakfast from Mrs. Michels, Josh, Ryan and I got a lesson in Snow Management 101 from Mr. Michels. In layman's terms that means shoveling. We then went to Krook's hill with Bekah, Lara and Laura. Krook's hill is a luge like sledding hill over in a neighboring town. Its completely ice which makes for some awesome sledding! Another late night party and some more Catch Phrase capped the day off.

Sunday morning we went to church. It was nice to be in a calmer atmosphere and see all of our friends there. Pastor Brian's sermon was very thought-provoking and it was great to see him and Pastor Hank again. We then went to the Newman's lake house to watch Ice Age 3, sample some pasties and eat Twizzlers! That night I went over to the Rapavis to watch the Packers....I won't go into the details. My bad mood didn't last long when I went back to the lake house to watch Enchanted with Lara, Laura, Hannah and Beth (please keep your comments to yourself).

I spent the night at the Newman's and left the next morning for Albuquerque. You all will be happy to know that I did arrive safe and sound, even if that was over two weeks ago. I had a great time hanging out with all of my friends. I even had fun chilling with the elders: the ever-gracious Mrs. Michels, the fun-loving Kosas and Mrs. Newman and the always-entertaining Mr. Michels and Ricky New (Mr. Newman).

Things hadn't changed much while I was gone. Dad picked me up with our bikes and we biked the nine miles back to our RV. Although he and I continue to argue about whether it was a vacation for me or a vacation for them, I still had a blast!

Z