Christmas

Well this Christmas was very unique. David and I celebrated Christmas with the Bibiloni's the evening of the 23rd by attending an AWESOME service @ LCBC, followed by dinner at Symposium. All was lovely, and it was nice to enjoy the family in such a quiet, special way. On the 24th we traveled to Linesville, to spend the remainder of the holiday with the Acklin's. Christmas eve is my FAVORITE day of the year; my parents always have a dinner and then we attend church, and the highlight is always O Holy Night. And we were not disappointed. Christmas morning we awoke early, though weren't allowed to see the tree/gifts until 3pm...It was already getting dark. LOL. By the time we finished (5:30pm), it was dinner time... MMMM Mamma and Papa Acklin never fail in this category!!! We plumped up with a feast fit for royalty.

Since then... family time has been extra special this holiday season. David and I are blessed with a long holiday break this year, and are taking advantage of every minute. By that let me provide examples.... David and Jarrett discover the Xbox, play, play, play, play, eat, play, play. Hours later...

Jordyn & David go to the mall for returns with Mom and Dad Acklin, while Jarrett continues... play play play... We return home, eat, Jarrett and

David stay up until 4am getting to the last level in Call of Duty 5. Wake up this morning; David and Jordyn discover Little Big Planet for the PS3, play, play, eat, play Call of Duty for the PS3, visit family... We return.. and so far it looks like I hear the sounds "David, are you

ready for some unfinished business?" Looks like Jarrett is ready to hit up the Xbox with hopes of beating the game entirely.... Ahh, what else would we do with our time? Ha Ha Ha... we are having a great Christmas holiday and loving having family all in the same house, honestly!!!

From our family to yours; Merry Christmas,

enjoy your family, and peace on earth

(as we attempt to conquer the video game world).

Staying Green

Not many things are left green in Pennsylvania right now with the wonderful change of seasons and sprinkling of snow. But we are trying to stay green with our living styles and wanted to share how.

1. Traveling Eco-Friendly. Book your flights, hotel, and/or car rental with a travel agent such as Better World Travel (betterworldclub.com), which donates a portion of each fare to environmental cleanup. Carbon offsets are also available.
2. Using real dinnerware. Yes, paper & plastic is easier, but its been a good feeling knowing we are diminishing the amount of waste we contribute to our landfills. This includes cloth napkins too!
3. Down to one vehicle. We have no choice but to plan trips around our one car, and its been a great team building practice. While it sometimes means creative scheduling, and not doing everything possible each day, its been a joy scheming together.
4. Recycling. I know it sounds silly, but in some places (like Linesville, where Jordyn grew up) not everyone has a recycling program. Here in Lancaster we make sure to put anything recyclable in the correct receptacles.
5. Dishwasher. Suprisingly enough, it is more efficient to use the dishwasher than hand washing. So we try to fill up the Bosch before running a load at night (its less expensive at night, did you know that).
   
6. Washing Clothing. Using cold water instead of hot when at all possible. To put in perspective how wasteful hot water is, washing your clothes in hot instead of cold for a year, uses more electricity than leaving the refrigerator door open 24 hours a day for a year.
7. Web Presence. Well here you read, and we wasted no carbon on that. Sure, a little running of your laptop or computer, but much less fuel for your pleasure. Plus, it is much nicer to update the site at will than have to mail constant updates. So, read, enjoy, and save a little patch of green earth!

We are all trying to save money with the economic state of the country, upcoming holiday, and just life in general. We are not only living by the above ideals to save the environment, but to save money, too! Have a Happy, Eco-Friendly Holiday!

Love,
David y Jordyn

What's Up @ Waverly?

Well life has changed soooo much this fall. Jordyn is taking 2 graduate classes, coaching softball, and teaching. David is detailing cars, putting in extra time at school, designing websites, taping football games, and organizing the new house. New house you say? YUP!! We moved!!

We are amid transition and life just seems to be flying by. We hardly believe it was a short month ago that we were relaxing in Spain!! Where's the relaxation now? Well we are trying to maintain sanity with everything going on! The excitement just keeps us moving: the wedding, a new school year, a new house, and our LOVE! Its amazing!

We will upload some pics soon, so you can see the new pad! And if you want to come check it out - lets make a date!!!!!

Above all: please check out the website RSVP. We really want to secure the 15 staying at the villa, and know if others need to make separate accommodations. Even if you are responding with a "no, sorry we can't come" please do so!!

Just to clarify some questions about accomodations for the Spain Wedding Week... For anyone who is planning on coming to Mallorca for June 20-27, 2009 please let us know if you are one of the "singles." Obviously your price is half that of a couple, but you will be sharing a bedroom (we will have 2 single beds in your room)... I already know my brother is one single, so a guy can stay with him, and there are others, so don´t worry... we will figure everything out... For those of you who are couples, there are no more than 2 bedrooms in close proximity so every couple will have their own privacy... For anyone who would like to stay on your own, you can search the internet for Port d`Alcudia for hotels at the bottom of the mountain... We can make a few suggestions: http://en.venere.com/hotels_port_d_alcudia_552672/

Hope this clears up some questions, if you still have any Q`s, please let us know and we will answer asap! Lots of Love!!!! D & J

Guess What We did Yesterday?

Well... who says you need to get the best snorkel gear to see in the ocean? Noone... I packed my swim goggles and we had a nice time looking in the ocean... until we saw some snorkel gear at El Corte Ingles (like Boscov´s but WAY better)... after 180€ and 5 hrs of deciding we were out of the store and ready to fully explore the Mediterranean... well let me just say IT WAS WORTH IT! (x100). We spent 6 hrs at the beach (the next day, of course because we lost all daylight in the stupid department store deciding whether or not to splurge the Target credit card to get the darn gear)... Anyways.. we spent our longest day at the beach having our BEST day in Mallorca... We swam for hours with the ultra-dry snorkel (a must), mid-range goggles, and fins...
WE SAW AN OCTOPUS!!! Not one in an aquarium... but a REAL one swimming in the bottom of the Sea!!! PRICELESS!!!! I give David accolades as he convinced me to get the higher priced gear rather than the 8€ sets at the beach-stores that let water seep in and don´t last over a day!

So for now, I had to share that the Mediterranean has been seen, captured, and my old swim goggles tossed to the side... SNORKEL GEAR ROCKS!! And so does the person out there in the water enjoying it with me!!! OXOX

ADIOS - Jordyn -

Mallorca Wedding Update 07.26.08

We just visited the villa and are set on this amazing place atop a moutain... views of 2 ports, jacuzzi, hot tub, pool, 2 houses within feet comprising 8 bedrooms (every couple gets their own private bdrm), 3 bath´s in each, 2 full kitchens, and so much more!! you won´t even want to leave to tour the rest of the island this place is so incredible!! And we´d love to share it with you so its time to get out your budgeting calendars and make some predictions for June 2009.

We created a package including lodging 8 days-7 nights (June 20-27). Also included are breakfast and either lunch or dinner at the villa... we can alternate with what meal we want to go out for each day as we tour the island with the Bibiloni tourguides :-) This package will also include car rental and gas... So what´s the price?
Good question... that´s where you come in.

15 people have made it clear they plan to come to mallorca for the trip - that puts our package at $650-700 Per Couple. Now to put a price out there, incase some people pull out, if only 12 people decide to come, the package ould be $900 Per Couple. This again, includes lodging, 2 meals a day at the villa, car rental and gas...

So check out the website: http://cs02.ewedding.com/setup/www.villaoscols.com

This of course doesn´t include airfare, one meal out a day, and entertainment.

Talk it over and get back to us as soon as you can. We don´t need any payment for your Mallorquine package until the first week of June 2009 but we are looking for a verbal confirmation as soon as you can get it to us.

ADIOS!! David and Jordyn

Fun in the sun and then some!

Well 1 full battery use of the ipod, 20 hours and 2 days of driving, 2 internet cafe's and a lot of note-taking and we feel like we hit some premium lodging options in Mallorca. For the full mallorquine experience as well as affordability, we are searching villas near some of the most beautiful towns with easy access to many island points of interest. Our two areas of choice are currently Alcudia-Pollenca and Santa Ponsa.
Meals will include breakfast in the villa, 3 days lunch in the villa (with dinners out) and 3 days dinner in the villa (with lunches out)...
We have also been budgeting rental cars. Each day we plan to tour an area on the island and enjoy a beach there.
We are flexible to those who would rather skip the tour and stay at the pool in our villa, or do your own thing... That's fine! No worries! Whatever you choose each day, we know you are really going to enjoy your trip to mallorca!

As for the wedding, we are doing much-needed research and contacing various wedding planners. We plan to have the reception at our villa and possibly the wedding as well. The villas are GORGEOUS, so why go anywhere else for our big event? Exactly!
We look forward to having friends and relatives from the USA and Spain attend our wedding festivities... so we are off for some more planning! ADIOS!
Thanks for tuning in!

Top 7 things I'm glad I packed!
7. Both my mini exilim camera for nights out and our nice big digital camera for capturing the amazing views
6. hair ties!
5. a few sundresses - I rotate them more than anything!
4. sunglasses - I'm not even a big sunglass person, but I wear them 10hrs a day!
3.sunscreen SPF 30
2.aloe gel (yes, 3 weeks in and I thought I could go without sunscreen, too bad I got burned!)
1.SWIM Goggles (though snorkeling ones would have been better)

Top 7 things I probably should have packed
7. portable dvd player with dvd's - spanish news and tv gets really old when you don't understand ANY of it!
6. Shampoo & Conditioner (I spent like $10 on a medium-sized bottle)
5. UNO cards
4. lotion
3. hairwrap - everyone has them here, and I have a few in america - great for the mediterranean breeze blowing those little strands of hair around, and especially essential when driving with the window's down!!!
2. lighter clothing - even shorts seem too hot some days, I wish I'd only packed sun-dresses for daily touring!
1. USB converter for my camera card - so we could upload pics to you at an internet cafe!!!!
=Brought to you from Bibiloni's Blackberry=
David Bibiloni | 717.283.5946 | opshift.com

Makin' it in Mallorca

Though we've finally found the promised land of the internet via wi-fi, it's catch as catch can for now and we're still trying to find it more locally. While the web is indeed world wide, access to it is not so much....at least not for those that aren't willing or able to pay for 18 month contracts. :-) For example two nights ago we found some kick butt signal, but it was at a cafe where my hamburger and fry meal was 20 without a bevy! Needless to say, as I prepared to send our update, I hit the critical lowbattery signal and the dreaded 'no signal', at the same time! Our luck thus far, but it will improve. Now I'm coming to u via my blueBerry...I love this thing.
Yesterday we celebrated our first full week in Mallorca and we managed to spend 3 days on the beach, 2 days cleaning the house and figuring out our french, manual-less washing machine and other random things like hot-water, 2 days touring the island and multiple afternoons/mornings/nights with superior bowel and esophogal movements. Jordyn got sick on the 3rd morning b/c of the jetlag and overall extreme travelling, and on Saturday I ate some bad seafood which put David on his improper throne for 4 days! Good news is we both lost weight!!! We've even managed to run and bike some miles....very amazing! It was a bit of a pain with the bikes...but COMPLETELY WORTH IT!
We've managed to visit several relatives and friends and they are all very eexcited for the wedding. We've decided to wait till next week to begin seriously planning that out, so we ll keep everyone updated and stay tuned-- we have some really cool ideas.
In the mean time, I leave you with a detail to make you glad you still are paying a little over 4$ a gallon for petro: it cost me 48 euros to fill up our 98 VW Polo. I'll let you do some net research on the car and its petro capacity and the value of the euros to dollars today to figure out what that means $/gallon. Post it when you figure it out....should be AWESOME!
Love and respects- david and Jordyn "the Mallorcan Maven"
=Brought to you from Bibiloni's Blackberry=
David Bibiloni | 717.283.5946 | opshift.com

WAHOOO WIFI!!!!!

Well after a week and two hours of wi-fi searching.....we have reached the promised land of the world wide web! It is world wide indeed, but alas, I only have 13% battery life left tonight and it is nearly 1 am. The cafe is still hopping and the

The Announcing of a Wedding

Today was the first day that we completed a leg of our wedding plans: We mailed our announcement postcards! Jordyn and I rode our mountain bikes (in our second effort to make this a carbon neutral wedding and future for us)to the Lancaster Post Office around 2pm and mailed out the first 190 cards. I'm sure there are more people we are going to give them to (those we inevitably missed)...but the batch is out and with that the wedding is on its way.
We leave for Mallorca in about 72 hours and we couldn't be more excited. We are definitely a little bit nervous and the house is in a frenzy, but we are getting ready to go. Cameras, bathing suits, and sunglasses....what more can we need?! Well, apparently a lot. We're trying to finish up with the clothing and are considering whether the bikes go or not. There is a tremendous opportunity for bicycle tourism on the island and we'd love to take advantage of it, but we are weighing the option of drudging these bike cases through multiple airports.
Anyway, who cares! We'll spend most of the time on the beach or in the clubs anyway. In between, we'll be planning the trip for our wedding guests-- That means you! So stay tuned and tune in often.