Condensing E-Mail Addresses!

I started to realize that we have WAY TOO MANY e-mail addresses. I have a gmail, 2 hotmails, a yahoo, an excite, a roadrunner, 2 work addresses, and I think there is a school one still active as well! Mara has about 6 more on top of that, some with her maiden name as well. We figured 66 e-mail addresses between 2 people is a little much.
When we move our roadrunner one will be disabled, which was our main one, so we have to pick a new, main address that will be able to travel with us. We both chose our Google accounts because of the space they allow us to have, the organizational features, chat function, and we can use Outlook to check them so we don't have to open Internet explorer & sign in to check them.
We are also hoping to still communicate with family & friends with our webcam, which we usually did through Windows/MSN Messenger. Google Talk is Google's version of realtime chatting. It doesn't have video yet, but they will implement that pretty soon. If you want to chat with us on that, just send us an invite and we'll add you to our contact list. It does require a GMAIL account, but most of you have one already. When you do have one, download Google Talk and we can be sure to keep in touch!
Any and all addresses for us can be deleted! We will try to put an automatic response on our e-mails reminding you, but eventually they will be deleted due to lack of use (usually takes about 6 months). For those who do not have our GMAIL accounts I posted them phonetically below so spammer programs don't grab them...:)
Michael - MLSyring At Gmail Dot Com
Mara - MBSyring At Gmail Dot Com

Back To Reality...

Well Mara & I are back. We had an ABSOLUTE BLAST in Mexico. The weather was gorgeous, the water was perfect, and the waves were HUGE! We went snorkeling, played volleyball, ate great food, took lots of walks all over 5 campuses, and most importantly, relaxed! Mara found time to run & read in the sun, and I found time to hit the driving range & smoke a Cuban cigar with the guys.
We'll find some time to sift through our pictures and get some on here. We just got our underwater camera developed and we are still waiting for pictures from friends, but we'll load a few here and there.

85 & Sunny!

Mara and I just wanted to say Hello to everyone back in the States. We´ve had an AWESOME first day. The temp when we flew out of Chicago was 5 degrees, and it was 85 when we got here! An 80 degree swing was a REALLY nice bonus.
Everyone is very nice here, and the enviroment is spectacular! Everything is so green and lush. I think we put about 8 miles of walking in today, through the 4 hotels on our resort. We didn´t hit the beach yet, but tomorrow promises a lot of hammock time and plenty of Mojitos!
We´ll be sure to put pictures up when we get back.

Mi Familia Viaja A México!

Translation: My Family Is Traveling To México! We are REALLY excited about this trip. We have been working EXTRA hard the last few months, so it will be a much deserved vacation. We are heading to O'Hare tomorrow to pick up some friends at the airport, then staying the night in Chicago. We fly out at 8am on Wednesday, and coming back around 10pm on Sunday, but not back to Milwaukee until almost midnight. We'll be sure to post plenty of pictures online (most will be on SnapFish). Chris & Michelle are watching our dogs for us. It worked out pretty good that Shell had a meeting down in Pewaukee Tuesday and they could pick the dogs up.
Hope everyone enjoys the snow we just got! Milwaukee got about 4", but I heard IA got hammered! Cedar Rapids made the news up here with all the snow they got. México is only supposed to be 85 & sunny with a few showers in the AM. Just had to rub it in... :)

Thirty degrees...

But we're still smiling.

Linus didn't think much of being outside and nearly in the water but he seemed to do fine after being wrapped up in my coat for half an hour.

Lucy on the other hand had to be kept out of the water. We threw her stick a few times and each time she came back in slower. The near freezing temp and the waves knocking her around didn't seem to be bothering her but she'd chase the stick until her heart gave out. Once we made her stay on the pier she seemed content to chase the waves that crashed over the end.

We were able to get one quick family photo before I froze. Okay, I didn't freeze but it was a good excuse to warm up with Alterra!

Good morning, Sunshine!

This is what had us up at 0530...of course, the sun didn't actually rise until 0730 but it was worth the wait.

The sunrise over Lake Michigan is awesome and Lucy loves the water, no matter what temperature. I'll add more pictures in another post, as blogger took 5 minutes to add this one.

Wisconsin Makes The News Again...

I thought this picture was pretty entertaining. It appears to be a rather astute man sitting on a dead horse...:)
Here is the caption:
This photo provided by the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center shows a man sitting on a dead horse. The picture taken in Sheboygan sometime between 1876 and 1884 has sparked curiosity, speculation and jokes from people throughout the country, thanks to some newspaper publicity, the Internet and blogging. No one knows who the gentleman is, his occupation, or the exact circumstances surrounding it, said Beth Dipple, director of the Center. "It is a great picture and every time I see it I just laugh," she said. "But this time the novelty is everybody else is seeing it for the first time. The whole world is seeing it now." (AP Photo/Sheboygan County Historical Research Center)