Nyn's blog’s Neighborhood

  Aside from my current Francophile obsession, and of course my undying devotion to Italia - I must admit I have this increasingly growing crush on Spain.  Admittedly I have always had a thing for the Spanish hence my last name Garcia.  But with-in the last couple of years I have really felt this pull; with Spain's history, art and architecture coupled with the food...can anyone blame me. A quick disclaimer...don't confuse my current passion for all of these other countries when it comes to patriotism, politics and religion, I am very much convicted in these issues on a personal level separately form my love of food, art and travel.

The point of all this leading is to convey my adoration of a new series on PBS that I am completely into, "Spain, On the Road Again." The premise of the show is a gastronomic journey through Spain, yummy…with cleaver and funny commentary you get to travel vicariously with the collective hosts: Gwyneth Paltrow, Mario Batali, Mark Bittman and Claudia Bassols. If you enjoy food and travel, and appreciate a good escape this is a great show to watch.

I survived and conquered mid-terms and now finals loom above head! 

But before finals happen, I was able to register for spring 2009 yesterday. Does 16 hours sound a bit excessive to anyone else? In actuality I will be attending for 20 hours and accredited only 16. :-)  Why the torture? Well it's this or summer school, and with Schlitterbahn less than 5 miles away, my summer time is allotted for already. But 16?
Let me break it down...

1. Political Science, 2nd half, required 3 hours
2. British Literature, 1st half, required 3 hours, but Brit is an option
3. Computer Lit and Internet, required 3 hours, with a 1 hour lab
4. Basic Drawing, required for major, 3 hours, with a 3 hour lab
5. Italian 2, modern language requirement, 4 hours 

This next semester looks daunting, and I would be lying if I didn't admit my own serious trepidation.  But if I want to stick with the six year mommy plan to graduation I have mapped out, then 16 hours has to happen.  And this summer instead of class, I will bathe under the Texas sun and work on not being pale, of course with the proper and required sun block.

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion 
in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes 
to implement such a policy. Instead, Dave Ramsey submits the following three steps:

Dave Ramsey’s Common Sense Plan. 

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the sub prime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and 
backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

   1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.

      a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and 
allows them a chance to keep their homes.

      b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. 
In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this 
now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again 
limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

   2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as
 the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being
 paid when they don’t do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.

II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only sub prime Tier III bonds/mortgages. 
This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the 
underlying mortgages and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing 
banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.

III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of 
tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer 
nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the 
rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more 
stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time 
for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess. 

Although it is now officially fall, here in hill country deep in the heart of Texas we’re still in the 90’s. 

But for all of summers glitz and glamour, its season is over and I bib a du until next year.

Here is my farewell in photos...

sunrise

Texas Coast

beautiful beach bum

fun in the sun

sailing

sandcastles

too cool

my sun-kissed family

bronzed babies

We'll see you next year summer!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are almost out of time out here- only four weeks left. The time is going so fast and we are having a blast. We have done quite a bit since we last wrote.
A couple of weeks ago we spent the weekend in the Shenandoah Valley. We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast in a little town called Strasburg. We checked out the antique shops and a had a nice dinner at the old town hotel. The next day we drove through the valley to take in the fall colors. It was really pretty but not as colorful as usual because of the lack of rain and warmer temperatures in the area. We mainly did some hiking and the rest was just taking in the scenery.
Being out here for Veteran's Day was really neat- there were several ceremonies out here to honor the brave men and women who served and are serving our country. We went to the Holocaust Museum and also the Jefferson memorial. The museum was a really sobering- we would say we had a good time but that doesn't work. It was an emotional experience and makes you realize how much happened to such innocent people- it was a feeling we will never forget and we are grateful we got to experience it.
A couple of weeks ago Layne ate lunch with Senator Bennett and his wife inside the capitol. It was great. He met several politicians, including Jack Kemp who was Bob Dole's running mate in 1996. It was fun for him to feel like he was cool and important even if it was just for an hour!
We could go on but ya'll would probably get bored. We are looking forward to some fun things before we leave but we are also excited to go home. We are headed to Philadelphia this weekend for Thanksgiving which should be fun. Anyways, we hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We'll talk to you soon!

Hi everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since we last updated the blog. We have been super busy and we had no computer for a couple of weeks. No worries though, it is now back in action.
We are planning a trip up through Pennsylvania this weekend so we should have some good pictures for you then. We are hoping to get to go to some other places in the next month or so.
Work is going well for both of us. Tasha is having so much fun being back in retail. She's excited to be able to work in her field again when we are done out here.
Layne is still enjoying the internship even if it gets a little repetitive. The Senate has been kind of quiet the last couple of weeks so it hasn't been too exciting. Things should pick up a lot the next few weeks so it will be more exciting. He did, however, get to tour the White House with the other interns. It wasn't the grand tour but it was pretty cool. You will not see any pictures of the tour here because no cameras are allowed inside.
We toured the White House gardens together a couple of weeks ago, which only happens once a year so we are pretty lucky to be out here at this time.
We've also been to Arlington Cemetary, Georgetown (by way of a boat ride on the Patomac), Spy Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery. It's all been very fun and a learning experience. Arlington was awesome and it really gives you a greater appreciation for all of the men and women that have given their lives for our freedoms in this country.
We hope everyone is doing well. We'll try and keep this updated a little more often but no promises! Take care!

Hey all. Here's a little update for you because we know you all sit and wonder what we are up to every day :)
    Tasha started her job at World Market on Monday. It is a bit like Pier One but it has stuff imported from all over the world. She only has to work three days a week with no weekends so it works out great for us. It is really laid back which is a little hard for Tasha because she likes to work really hard!
    Layne is still loving his job. He has a lot of work but he is able to do some neat stuff. He sat in the Senate hearings with General Petraeus this week. And today he wrote his first ever press release. If you are bored and have nothing to do you can read it at bennett.senate.gov Just go to the bottom of the home page and their is a section of press releases. He wrote the one dated 9/14/07.
    We haven't had time to do a lot of fun stuff but we did go to the Performing Arts Festival at the Kennedy Center last Saturday. It was a lot of fun. The highlight was that it was all FREE- including an awesome concert by Ben Kweller. We had never heard of him before but we really liked it. He is an Indie Rock musician.You guys should check out some of his stuff.
    That's about it from here. Hope you are all doing well. Talk to ya later!

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