Sorry for the lack of posting the past few weeks-- I've been busy! In addition to the normal stuff, I've spent a weekend in DC and had family here for a weekend. Plus, class work picked up and I had my first presentation two weeks ago, a test this past week and this week I've got another test and then our final project is due next week! Sounds like a lot, but I've enjoyed it and it's all be pretty easy- I think I've got 100% so far! I don't know the grade on the presentation yet, though, but when my partner and I finished all the teacher said was "Excellent!", so I think that's a good sign.
So, on to DC and I'll blog about my aunt/cousins trip up later this week!
I took the Chinatown bus down to DC again…it’s quite a deal at only $35 round/trip. My parents were down in that area for the week so I went to spend the weekend with them. You may remember I was less than impressed on my last trip to DC. This time around was better. Mom and I got up early on Saturday morning and went to stand in line to get tickets to the Semi-Annual Garden Tour at the White House. We were sooo excited to get to do this. You can’t really tour the White House like you used to be able to before 9/11, so this was our chance to at least be on the grounds of the White House. It was beautiful. Everything is perfectly landscaped and the flowers and trees are so pretty right now. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of George or Laura, but no such luck. Between getting our tickets and actually taking the tour, we went to breakfast at a French restaurant in The Willard Hotel (mom says it’s very famous). It was a great place to go for breakfast.
After the Garden Tour, we met up with my dad in Georgetown. We just walked around the shops and neighborhood and ate lunch there. It’s a very nice area. Actually, all of DC is very nice…so clean and quiet and peaceful.
From Georgetown, we headed to Arlington Cemetery. I wanted to go there because I hadn’t been since 4th grade and I felt like it’s something you’re “supposed” to do. It was gorgeous out there because all the trees have flowers blooming. The Cherry Blossoms were all gone, but there were plenty of other beautiful trees to look at. We saw JFK’s grave and the eternal flame and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. It was a neat place.
After that, we were exhausted so we just grabbed a quick bite for dinner and went on back to the hotel.
Sunday we started out at the Air & Space Museum because they have a special exhibit from the National History Museum. I tried to go to this last fall, but it wasn’t ready yet. The History Museum is closed until 2008, so they have their very best stuff on display at Air & Space. This was the best way to see the History Museum! We didn’t have to spend a bunch of time looking at things we didn’t really care about—just got to see the best parts! They had a lot of pop culture items as well as historical items.
From there, we headed to the Spy Museum, which my mom heard was cool. My mom and I hated it. It was very boring to us, but my dad seemed to enjoy it and was in there quite a bit longer than we were. The first part was cool and very interactive, then it just got overwhelming with a lot of things to read.
We went to the top of the tower at the Old Post Office to see the view of DC from there, so that was cool to see the city from a different perspective.
We went to see the “Peacock Room” which is temporarily on display at a museum. It is an old room that used to be in a mansion in London. The man who owned the room had a Whistler painting and when Whistler visited and saw the atmosphere his painting was in, he didn’t think it fit well. So, Whistler painted the room with yellow peacock feathers all over it. The walls are lined with shelves with blue & white pottery. It was pretty—my mom loved it!
Finally, we went to Chinatown where I would catch my bus back home. My bus ended up being about 2.5 hours late, so we spent some time shopping in the area—it’s not AT ALL like NYC Chinatown. It’s very clean and has nice stores…no cheap purses or bargaining! We ate dinner at a Mongolian Barbeque restaurant my dad had been to years ago. It was funny because he was talking about that restaurant all weekend, but he didn’t really know where it was. Turned out it was right next door to where my bus was picking me up, so we just happened upon it!
So, I like DC better now than I did on my last trip up. It’s a very beautiful place. I just don’t have much interest in the historical stuff, that’s all!
You can see pics and narrative from my DC trip, here!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
One-Year Blessings
I cannot believe that one year has gone by since I boarded a plane headed to New York City with my two overweight suitcases and a backpack. The time has flown by. I told myself that I had to stay here a year, even if I hated it. Well, I definitely have not hated it. Of course, there are definitely things I miss about Dallas- especially the people. I definitely have not experienced the number or depth of friendships I had in Dallas here in NYC. But, in spite of that, I have not experienced much loneliness at all. So, as I reflect back on my first year in the big city, I have to count my top blessings (in no particular order):
--God has definitely blessed me with friendships from The Journey in Joy and Kristin. They are not only girls I can get together to explore the city with, but also girls I know I can count on in a time of need and that’s a nice thing to have when you’re all alone in the big city.
--My apartment. Sure, I have my complaints, especially when it comes to my roommates, but all-in-all, God really came through for me on a great place to live. I remember the stress and anxiety I had in searching for a place to live those first 6 weeks in the city, coupled with a peace that He would provide the perfect spot (another obvious HUGE blessing was that of the use of my parent’s friend’s apartment for the first few weeks). Finding a place to live in this city is HARD and not enjoyable. But, I ended up with a place in a great location….I’ve been able to walk to BOTH the jobs I’ve had. Our space is nice for a NYC apartment. We have a real living room and kitchen and that’s not always the case here. My bedroom is cozy and feels homey.
--My new church, Apostles. My growth group is great and I’m enjoying the girls I’m still just getting to know and recognize that they are an answer to a very specific prayer I had for relationships with Christian girls my age. I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn’t find a church in NYC that I loved as much as PCBC. I knew even before I took the job at the Journey that the teaching there would never rival that of Dr. Denison’s. But, my new church comes pretty darn close. JR is an amazing teacher and reminds me a lot of Dr. Denison. He is very wise and knowledgeable about not only the Bible, but other facts and things going on at the time those events took place. He doesn’t do his sermons from complete memory like Dr. Denison did, but he relies very little on his notes which tells me he is smart, prepared, and has great understanding. He is also extremely kind and obviously a lover of all people, which I admire. The second time I visited there, he remembered my name from my first visit, almost a month prior, and he has remembered it ever since. That is extremely impressive to me.
--My job at The Journey. It was a blessing in disguise, maybe. It was the thing that gave me the confidence to make a move I’d dreamt of making for years. It provided me with immediate Christian friendships in a city where I knew no one. I learned a lot about myself, about discretion, about honesty, about love and kindness and patience and attitudes, about being bold and always choosing to seek God and trust Him above all else.
--My time off. I was blessed with more time off last year than I’ve had in years. I’ve always gone from job to job with no break. Even in my transition from Winstead in Dallas to The Journey here, I only took 1 day off! During the time when I was first starting to make a decision about The Journey, I had about 5 relaxing days off work spent with Michelle and Melanie in Sun Valley (coincidentally, these girls were also the ones visiting me in NYC when I made my decision to leave The Journey). I was blessed with a week off last June to go back home, finish up my move, and attend my cousin’s wedding. The Journey was good about giving time off and also gave me several single days off when I had friends or family in town. I had an entire 4 weeks off as I transitioned from The Journey to the NHL. This afforded me the opportunity to spend time exploring more sites in the city and also to take short trips to The Jersey Shore and DC. Spending my first 6 weeks at the NHL as a contractor allowed me to decide my schedule and take 5 days off at Thanksgiving, another day off to go to Niagara Falls, and almost 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Years. Wow—I wish that was my life every year!!
--My job at the NHL. Wow!! Within two weeks of quitting The Journey, I had acquired a great head-hunter and had two interviews and two job offers. I’m still not too excited about doing accounting every day, but the job at the NHL has been great otherwise. The people have been nice to get to know, the atmosphere is extremely laid-back, and the work isn’t as boring as it could be!
--Financial blessings galore. I’m not sure I have ever seen God as evident in my life as I have in my financial situation over the past year. I’m not sure that I have shared much about this in any other blog post, but God was extremely faithful in providing for me during my six months at The Journey. I don’t like to talk about my salary (or yours, for that matter) and won’t give you specific numbers, but in order to explain God’s provision, I will tell you some facts about my income/expenses during that time. When I took the job at The Journey, I took a 27% decrease in pay from my job in Dallas. I knew that my rent in NYC would be approximately 50% higher than my rent in Dallas and that other expenses would increase as well. Knowing these things made taking the job at The Journey possibly the scariest decision I have ever made, but I felt the Lord leading me to that place and had numerous people assure me that when I was in His will, He would provide. He provided abundantly in ways that I cannot even mathematically explain. During those six months, I remember being aware of the fact that I needed to be careful where I spent my money, but I don’t really remember having to give up much at all. I recently went back and took a look at my savings account and my credit card statements during those months to see how I had survived. I realized I was debt-free and had more savings than I’ve ever had in my life. How is that possible? I believe that it was only through the grace of God. It is a great reminder of the blessings He bestows on us when we are obedient to His calling. It’s also a great example of how He provides for us and how He can take little and turn it into much….remember the 5 loaves and 2 fishes that were shared among thousands?!?! I am blessed to have experienced something like that first-hand.
--New experiences. I have been lucky to experience so much of New York City…shows, restaurants, walks through different neighborhoods, museums, red-carpet celebrity sightings, etc... It has been all I hoped for and more! As the year has gone on, my list of “things to do in NYC” has grown longer, rather than shorter. Everytime I do something new, I learn about 3 more things I need to try!
--Visitors!!! I have loved all of my visitors…from family to high school friends to Dallas friends; they have all been a delight!! I have more visitors already scheduled to come in the coming weeks and months and look forward to those as well!
--The winter weather. I was extremely frightened about experiencing a Northeast winter. I never liked winter, even in Dallas, so I was imagining the worst. I really thought that once I experienced winter here, I would begin making plans to move back home because I wouldn’t be able to make it through another. God really had mercy on me with the very mild winter we had. I was also blessed with a real fall-season which I hadn’t experienced in years and fell in love with! I always thought summer was my favorite, but last fall was the most perfect season I’ve ever experienced and I’m looking forward to this next one.
--I hate friendships that come to an end (to a fault, really). I do not like losing track of people, not keeping up with them like I’d like, and facing the reality that things can’t always be like they were. I was terrified about losing the amazing friendships I had developed in Dallas during my 7 years there. Luckily they are friends who haven’t forgotten me! They still call or email to check-in and they grace me with their presence when I make return trips home.
--Hope for new opportunities. I love my first class at NYU and how it has broadened my knowledge and increased my hopes for a career in the event management industry.
I know I am probably forgetting gazillion blessings from the past year, but one thing is certain, I AM blessed. As I write this, I find myself praying that God would make me constantly aware of that so that I do not take it for granted and learn to use those blessings for His glory, cause otherwise they’re eternally worthless!
So, what’s to come in year #2 in NYC?? I am very content with where I am right now and with whatever is to come my way in the next year. I honestly have NO idea right now of how long I’ll be here or what my life will look like a year from now, but another blessing is that I’m not afraid of it either. Maybe, life will be pretty similar to what it is now. Maybe, I’ll be working in the events industry by then. Maybe, I’ll be back in Dallas. Maybe, I’ll be on an adventure to another entirely different city. Maybe there will be a boy (and I am open for that, so if you’ve got any options for me, send ‘em my way!). The options for this year are wide-open and I have no idea where life will take me, but I am excited to see!
--God has definitely blessed me with friendships from The Journey in Joy and Kristin. They are not only girls I can get together to explore the city with, but also girls I know I can count on in a time of need and that’s a nice thing to have when you’re all alone in the big city.
--My apartment. Sure, I have my complaints, especially when it comes to my roommates, but all-in-all, God really came through for me on a great place to live. I remember the stress and anxiety I had in searching for a place to live those first 6 weeks in the city, coupled with a peace that He would provide the perfect spot (another obvious HUGE blessing was that of the use of my parent’s friend’s apartment for the first few weeks). Finding a place to live in this city is HARD and not enjoyable. But, I ended up with a place in a great location….I’ve been able to walk to BOTH the jobs I’ve had. Our space is nice for a NYC apartment. We have a real living room and kitchen and that’s not always the case here. My bedroom is cozy and feels homey.
--My new church, Apostles. My growth group is great and I’m enjoying the girls I’m still just getting to know and recognize that they are an answer to a very specific prayer I had for relationships with Christian girls my age. I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn’t find a church in NYC that I loved as much as PCBC. I knew even before I took the job at the Journey that the teaching there would never rival that of Dr. Denison’s. But, my new church comes pretty darn close. JR is an amazing teacher and reminds me a lot of Dr. Denison. He is very wise and knowledgeable about not only the Bible, but other facts and things going on at the time those events took place. He doesn’t do his sermons from complete memory like Dr. Denison did, but he relies very little on his notes which tells me he is smart, prepared, and has great understanding. He is also extremely kind and obviously a lover of all people, which I admire. The second time I visited there, he remembered my name from my first visit, almost a month prior, and he has remembered it ever since. That is extremely impressive to me.
--My job at The Journey. It was a blessing in disguise, maybe. It was the thing that gave me the confidence to make a move I’d dreamt of making for years. It provided me with immediate Christian friendships in a city where I knew no one. I learned a lot about myself, about discretion, about honesty, about love and kindness and patience and attitudes, about being bold and always choosing to seek God and trust Him above all else.
--My time off. I was blessed with more time off last year than I’ve had in years. I’ve always gone from job to job with no break. Even in my transition from Winstead in Dallas to The Journey here, I only took 1 day off! During the time when I was first starting to make a decision about The Journey, I had about 5 relaxing days off work spent with Michelle and Melanie in Sun Valley (coincidentally, these girls were also the ones visiting me in NYC when I made my decision to leave The Journey). I was blessed with a week off last June to go back home, finish up my move, and attend my cousin’s wedding. The Journey was good about giving time off and also gave me several single days off when I had friends or family in town. I had an entire 4 weeks off as I transitioned from The Journey to the NHL. This afforded me the opportunity to spend time exploring more sites in the city and also to take short trips to The Jersey Shore and DC. Spending my first 6 weeks at the NHL as a contractor allowed me to decide my schedule and take 5 days off at Thanksgiving, another day off to go to Niagara Falls, and almost 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Years. Wow—I wish that was my life every year!!
--My job at the NHL. Wow!! Within two weeks of quitting The Journey, I had acquired a great head-hunter and had two interviews and two job offers. I’m still not too excited about doing accounting every day, but the job at the NHL has been great otherwise. The people have been nice to get to know, the atmosphere is extremely laid-back, and the work isn’t as boring as it could be!
--Financial blessings galore. I’m not sure I have ever seen God as evident in my life as I have in my financial situation over the past year. I’m not sure that I have shared much about this in any other blog post, but God was extremely faithful in providing for me during my six months at The Journey. I don’t like to talk about my salary (or yours, for that matter) and won’t give you specific numbers, but in order to explain God’s provision, I will tell you some facts about my income/expenses during that time. When I took the job at The Journey, I took a 27% decrease in pay from my job in Dallas. I knew that my rent in NYC would be approximately 50% higher than my rent in Dallas and that other expenses would increase as well. Knowing these things made taking the job at The Journey possibly the scariest decision I have ever made, but I felt the Lord leading me to that place and had numerous people assure me that when I was in His will, He would provide. He provided abundantly in ways that I cannot even mathematically explain. During those six months, I remember being aware of the fact that I needed to be careful where I spent my money, but I don’t really remember having to give up much at all. I recently went back and took a look at my savings account and my credit card statements during those months to see how I had survived. I realized I was debt-free and had more savings than I’ve ever had in my life. How is that possible? I believe that it was only through the grace of God. It is a great reminder of the blessings He bestows on us when we are obedient to His calling. It’s also a great example of how He provides for us and how He can take little and turn it into much….remember the 5 loaves and 2 fishes that were shared among thousands?!?! I am blessed to have experienced something like that first-hand.
--New experiences. I have been lucky to experience so much of New York City…shows, restaurants, walks through different neighborhoods, museums, red-carpet celebrity sightings, etc... It has been all I hoped for and more! As the year has gone on, my list of “things to do in NYC” has grown longer, rather than shorter. Everytime I do something new, I learn about 3 more things I need to try!
--Visitors!!! I have loved all of my visitors…from family to high school friends to Dallas friends; they have all been a delight!! I have more visitors already scheduled to come in the coming weeks and months and look forward to those as well!
--The winter weather. I was extremely frightened about experiencing a Northeast winter. I never liked winter, even in Dallas, so I was imagining the worst. I really thought that once I experienced winter here, I would begin making plans to move back home because I wouldn’t be able to make it through another. God really had mercy on me with the very mild winter we had. I was also blessed with a real fall-season which I hadn’t experienced in years and fell in love with! I always thought summer was my favorite, but last fall was the most perfect season I’ve ever experienced and I’m looking forward to this next one.
--I hate friendships that come to an end (to a fault, really). I do not like losing track of people, not keeping up with them like I’d like, and facing the reality that things can’t always be like they were. I was terrified about losing the amazing friendships I had developed in Dallas during my 7 years there. Luckily they are friends who haven’t forgotten me! They still call or email to check-in and they grace me with their presence when I make return trips home.
--Hope for new opportunities. I love my first class at NYU and how it has broadened my knowledge and increased my hopes for a career in the event management industry.
I know I am probably forgetting gazillion blessings from the past year, but one thing is certain, I AM blessed. As I write this, I find myself praying that God would make me constantly aware of that so that I do not take it for granted and learn to use those blessings for His glory, cause otherwise they’re eternally worthless!
So, what’s to come in year #2 in NYC?? I am very content with where I am right now and with whatever is to come my way in the next year. I honestly have NO idea right now of how long I’ll be here or what my life will look like a year from now, but another blessing is that I’m not afraid of it either. Maybe, life will be pretty similar to what it is now. Maybe, I’ll be working in the events industry by then. Maybe, I’ll be back in Dallas. Maybe, I’ll be on an adventure to another entirely different city. Maybe there will be a boy (and I am open for that, so if you’ve got any options for me, send ‘em my way!). The options for this year are wide-open and I have no idea where life will take me, but I am excited to see!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Another weekend update...
I had another fun weekend full of activities. Joy and I went to see the opening night of a new Broadway musical, 110 in the Shade. Definitely not one of my favorites, but it was still good and the singing was very good. It was at Studio 54, so that was cool to go there. The theatre was very pretty, but it was SOOoo hot! I had a headache by the time the show was over. I guess they wanted us to feel the effects of it being 110 degrees as well!
Saturday I went to my first NYC sporting event...a Mets game at Shea Stadium. I hope to see each of the major New York teams play at least once while I'm here. The weather was perfect for a day at the ballpark. We had fun picking our "favorite" players so we can go back and have someone to cheer for!
Saturday night, my church had a coffee house so I went to that. I was very excited that Kristin was there! She came because her good friend, Brennan, goes to my church and was in charge of putting the coffee house together. I hadn't met Brennan, but have been hearing about her for months through not only Kristin, but also Courtney who I used to work with at The Journey and who used to be Brennan's roommate and is one of her closest friends. Brennan is also a Baylor grad, so we have that in common. At the coffee house, there was live music, desserts, free prizes, and coffee and other drinks. I won a $50 gift certificate to a fancy restaurant in town. When JR handed it out to me, he jokingly said there was one stipulation...I have to take his son with me. Now, I hadn't met his son, but knew he's 3-years-old so I was like, "no problem"!
Sunday was my second time to work with the Pre-K's at church. We had two boys and a girl this time and they were a delight. I had the pastors son, mentioned above, in my class. I'm not so sure about taking him to a fancy restaurant now!! Sweet kid, but a little too hyper for a quiet dinner out!
It rained ALL day on Sunday, so that put me in a funk all afternoon. I did make it back to church that night though and enjoyed worship as always. I ran into a guy I used to work with at The Journey...he was one of our Worship Leaders and left before I did to go to seminary in Phildelphia. JR has asked him to lead Worship for just 1 Sunday next month. I'm very excited about that because he is an awesome singer and guitar player. He seemed a little shocked to see me there...I think a lot of Journey people who I didn't keep in contact with probably think they ran me out of the city, not just the church. But, I didn't let them do that to me! In fact, tomorrow makes 1 year since I made my move up here!
Saturday I went to my first NYC sporting event...a Mets game at Shea Stadium. I hope to see each of the major New York teams play at least once while I'm here. The weather was perfect for a day at the ballpark. We had fun picking our "favorite" players so we can go back and have someone to cheer for!
Saturday night, my church had a coffee house so I went to that. I was very excited that Kristin was there! She came because her good friend, Brennan, goes to my church and was in charge of putting the coffee house together. I hadn't met Brennan, but have been hearing about her for months through not only Kristin, but also Courtney who I used to work with at The Journey and who used to be Brennan's roommate and is one of her closest friends. Brennan is also a Baylor grad, so we have that in common. At the coffee house, there was live music, desserts, free prizes, and coffee and other drinks. I won a $50 gift certificate to a fancy restaurant in town. When JR handed it out to me, he jokingly said there was one stipulation...I have to take his son with me. Now, I hadn't met his son, but knew he's 3-years-old so I was like, "no problem"!
Sunday was my second time to work with the Pre-K's at church. We had two boys and a girl this time and they were a delight. I had the pastors son, mentioned above, in my class. I'm not so sure about taking him to a fancy restaurant now!! Sweet kid, but a little too hyper for a quiet dinner out!
It rained ALL day on Sunday, so that put me in a funk all afternoon. I did make it back to church that night though and enjoyed worship as always. I ran into a guy I used to work with at The Journey...he was one of our Worship Leaders and left before I did to go to seminary in Phildelphia. JR has asked him to lead Worship for just 1 Sunday next month. I'm very excited about that because he is an awesome singer and guitar player. He seemed a little shocked to see me there...I think a lot of Journey people who I didn't keep in contact with probably think they ran me out of the city, not just the church. But, I didn't let them do that to me! In fact, tomorrow makes 1 year since I made my move up here!
Friday, April 13, 2007
Easter Trip to Dallas
Finally getting to my Easter blog! It was much too quick of a trip home! I left Thursday after work and came back Sunday night. My main purpose was to meet little Beau and spend some time with Ryder. I got to babysit them on Friday morning and Friday night. Friday morning gave me a true sense of what my sister is dealing with right now. Beth left before 9:00 to get her hair cut and then we were going to meet her at an Easter Egg Hunt at 11:00. So, that meant I was left to get myself and the boys ready. It was crazy! Feeding Beau alone took at least 30 minutes. Since Ryder gets into EVERYthing these days, I stuck him in his crib (with a TON of toys, mind you) while I took my shower. He started crying immediately. This kid's smart...he doesn't fuss when you put him down for a nap or at night, but he's no fool and knew it was NOT time to sleep. It was the fastest shower I had ever taken and the whole time I'm yelling "Ryder, it's okay. I'm just taking a shower. I'll be right out!" When I got out, Ryder was still crying and Beau (who had been sleeping) was in his bassinet in the living room screaming. It was a bit more of a chaotic morning than I am used to, to say the least! Worth it every bit, though!
My mom has a friend who puts on an Easter Egg Hunt for her grandkids and anyone else they know with little ones, so we all went to that on Friday morning. It was really chilly, but fun anyway. Ryder caught on to finding the eggs really quickly, but once he realized there was animal crackers, goldfish, and candy inside, it was all over. He sat on the ground and began making his way through each egg!
Friday night, I sent Beth and Brian on a date and stayed home with the boys. Five of my girlfriends came over to visit and we had a pizza party since that's Ryder's favorite food. Watching the boys at night is easy.
I met my friend Jennifer for lunch on Friday at Cretia's (home of the best chicken sandwich ever). It was great to see Jennifer and catch-up!
Saturday, I spent most of the day at my parent's house. Mom and I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up the Bounce House I had ordered for Ryder. I wanted to get him a super-special big-brother gift and I think those are really cool!! But, it's probably going to have to count as his birthday gift as well. He came over late Saturday afternoon and we tried it out. It took a minute for him to catch on, but once he did, he loved it! Afterwards, the whole family went out to Mi Cocina for dinner. Ryder loves to pray now so as we waited for our food, he suddenly put his hands together and bowed his head. So, we went ahead and blessed our meal and at the end, Ryder gave a loud "AMEN!". Too cute. He also LOVES to sing now...or at least listen to songs and do actions. My mom has a great CD of Christian kids music and Ryder knows ALL the actions to go along with each song. If you ask him to sing when the music isn't playing, he'll sign the word for "Jesus", which means he's singing "Jesus Loves Me"...it's very cute. He doesn't know a lot of words yet, but sign language he's pretty good with. My sister has made some of his signs up and his sign for "hungry" is hysterical so I asked him about 20 times a day if he was hungry just so I could see him do the sign!
Easter Sunday was bitter-sweet....a great day, but also meant it was time to head back home. I met Michelle at PCBC for church and it was nice to be back. Then, I went up to my parents where we had lunch with a big group...my parents, Beth and the gang, Brian's brother John, my sister's old roommate Kristin, my uncle Don and his girlfriend Janis, my parents' mutual cousin Susie and her husband Ken, daughter Amanda, and grandkids Jake & Bella. It was a lot of fun! The kids went on an Easter Egg hunt in the backyard and had a lot of fun with it. They also bounced in the bounce house.
Here's some pics from the weekend!!
Ryder hunting eggs on Friday morning
Ryder after discovering Animal Crackers in one of the eggs!
Sweet boy!
Trying out the bounce house for the first time!
The boys dressed up for Easter Sunday church
Ryder kissing Beau
Ryder heading out for his second hunt...looking like an old pro
Bella looking for more eggs!
Also, when I was trying to get Ryder in the bounce house, my camera was accidentally set to video and I ended up with a short video of him jumping...check it out on youtube!
My mom has a friend who puts on an Easter Egg Hunt for her grandkids and anyone else they know with little ones, so we all went to that on Friday morning. It was really chilly, but fun anyway. Ryder caught on to finding the eggs really quickly, but once he realized there was animal crackers, goldfish, and candy inside, it was all over. He sat on the ground and began making his way through each egg!
Friday night, I sent Beth and Brian on a date and stayed home with the boys. Five of my girlfriends came over to visit and we had a pizza party since that's Ryder's favorite food. Watching the boys at night is easy.
I met my friend Jennifer for lunch on Friday at Cretia's (home of the best chicken sandwich ever). It was great to see Jennifer and catch-up!
Saturday, I spent most of the day at my parent's house. Mom and I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up the Bounce House I had ordered for Ryder. I wanted to get him a super-special big-brother gift and I think those are really cool!! But, it's probably going to have to count as his birthday gift as well. He came over late Saturday afternoon and we tried it out. It took a minute for him to catch on, but once he did, he loved it! Afterwards, the whole family went out to Mi Cocina for dinner. Ryder loves to pray now so as we waited for our food, he suddenly put his hands together and bowed his head. So, we went ahead and blessed our meal and at the end, Ryder gave a loud "AMEN!". Too cute. He also LOVES to sing now...or at least listen to songs and do actions. My mom has a great CD of Christian kids music and Ryder knows ALL the actions to go along with each song. If you ask him to sing when the music isn't playing, he'll sign the word for "Jesus", which means he's singing "Jesus Loves Me"...it's very cute. He doesn't know a lot of words yet, but sign language he's pretty good with. My sister has made some of his signs up and his sign for "hungry" is hysterical so I asked him about 20 times a day if he was hungry just so I could see him do the sign!
Easter Sunday was bitter-sweet....a great day, but also meant it was time to head back home. I met Michelle at PCBC for church and it was nice to be back. Then, I went up to my parents where we had lunch with a big group...my parents, Beth and the gang, Brian's brother John, my sister's old roommate Kristin, my uncle Don and his girlfriend Janis, my parents' mutual cousin Susie and her husband Ken, daughter Amanda, and grandkids Jake & Bella. It was a lot of fun! The kids went on an Easter Egg hunt in the backyard and had a lot of fun with it. They also bounced in the bounce house.
Here's some pics from the weekend!!
Ryder hunting eggs on Friday morning
Ryder after discovering Animal Crackers in one of the eggs!
Sweet boy!
Trying out the bounce house for the first time!
The boys dressed up for Easter Sunday church
Ryder kissing Beau
Ryder heading out for his second hunt...looking like an old pro
Bella looking for more eggs!
Also, when I was trying to get Ryder in the bounce house, my camera was accidentally set to video and I ended up with a short video of him jumping...check it out on youtube!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Addition to previous post
I just realized today, but the lady standing in front of Meryl Streep in the picture in the post below is Carol Kane. Didn't realize she was at the event and was so excited at seeing Meryl up close that I didn't pay attention to who she was with!
Monday, April 09, 2007
The Oscars...almost
I'm postponing my blog of my Easter trip to Dallas for 2 reasons: 1)I'm waiting to receive some super cute pics of the boys from my sister and 2)I had a big night tonight and can't wait to blog about it!
I attended my first red carpet event tonight!! I managed to find some cheap tickets ($40!) to the Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual Gala Tribute and the honoree was none other than Diane Keaton. It was quite possibly the most exciting thing I've ever done and probably the closest thing to going to the Oscars (my dream) that I'll ever get to do! I convinced Joy to go along even though she is not obsessed with celebrities to the level that I am. It was black-tie and it was kind of fun to have a reason to get dressed up. The event consisted of a montage of Diane's films interspersed with speeches from people she has worked with. Tribute speeches were given by Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Kudrow, Martin Short, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Candace Bergen, and Meryl Streep. It was an amazing experience. All the speeches were so thoughtful and funny. Diane gave an acceptance speech at the end that brought her to tears. I loved, loved, loved it!! We didn't get to see most of the celebs up close and our seats weren't that great, but we could still see everyone okay...better than my pictures show. On the way out, I did get to see Meryl very close as she was coming out of the theatre on her way to the dinner (which we opted out of since it was going to cost us an extra $1,200....maybe next year, ha!). Here are my pics...you can see the celebs on the screen, but if you look closely, they're standing in front of the screen!
Sarah Jessica Parker
Woody Allen
Meryl Streep
Martin Short
Lisa Kudrow
Candace Bergen
Steve Martin, who was too animated to get a clear picture!
Diane Keaton, coming onstage to accept the award
Steve giving the award to Diane
Diane giving her acceptance speech
Seeing Meryl up-close (sorry, bad pic)
Joy & I at the event!.JPG)
I attended my first red carpet event tonight!! I managed to find some cheap tickets ($40!) to the Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual Gala Tribute and the honoree was none other than Diane Keaton. It was quite possibly the most exciting thing I've ever done and probably the closest thing to going to the Oscars (my dream) that I'll ever get to do! I convinced Joy to go along even though she is not obsessed with celebrities to the level that I am. It was black-tie and it was kind of fun to have a reason to get dressed up. The event consisted of a montage of Diane's films interspersed with speeches from people she has worked with. Tribute speeches were given by Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Kudrow, Martin Short, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Candace Bergen, and Meryl Streep. It was an amazing experience. All the speeches were so thoughtful and funny. Diane gave an acceptance speech at the end that brought her to tears. I loved, loved, loved it!! We didn't get to see most of the celebs up close and our seats weren't that great, but we could still see everyone okay...better than my pictures show. On the way out, I did get to see Meryl very close as she was coming out of the theatre on her way to the dinner (which we opted out of since it was going to cost us an extra $1,200....maybe next year, ha!). Here are my pics...you can see the celebs on the screen, but if you look closely, they're standing in front of the screen!
Sarah Jessica Parker
Woody Allen
Meryl Streep
Martin Short
Lisa Kudrow
Candace Bergen
Steve Martin, who was too animated to get a clear picture!
Diane Keaton, coming onstage to accept the award
Steve giving the award to Diane
Diane giving her acceptance speech
Seeing Meryl up-close (sorry, bad pic)
Joy & I at the event!
.JPG)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Andi & Worley’s Trip
Jennifer and Andi flew up from Dallas on Friday and stayed until Tuesday. I couldn’t take off work, but enjoyed my time with them on the weekend and in the evenings. This was both of their first trips to the big city. We did a lot of the regular things newbies like to do when they visit…Brooklyn, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty via Staten Island Ferry, Top of the Rock, Little Italy, cupcake tasting, etc…. We also did a couple of things that were new to even me—we saw the front of the house used in “The Cosby Show” as well as the outside of the apartment complex used in “Friends.” We saw the bull down by Wall Street that I had never found before. We also ate at “Tom’s Diner” from Seinfeld which I had done when I came to NYC the very first time back in 1999, but had not been there since. They suggested Coney Island and it just so happened to be the Opening Day for the season. We were some of the first people to ride the Cyclone roller coaster in 2007! It also happens to be the last season for Astroworld, the amusement park on Coney Island, so there were a lot of media there making a big deal of it. We also got to witness the “Polar Bear Club”. I had read about these guys around New Years. It’s a group of crazy people who go swimming in the ocean at Coney Island on holidays or other big events. This was one of those days. It was quite cold that day and I stuck my fingers in the water to see how cold it was—the water itself wasn’t terribly cold, but as soon as I pulled my hand out, my fingers turned to ice! I don’t know how they did it and they stayed in the water for quite a while! They had a leader who was having them do crazy chants…it was quite interesting to watch!
Monday night was uber-special for me! Completely by coincidence, Jennifer and Andi happened to be here for The Bachelor premiere. Last year, we had talked about them coming up for the finale of the last season and it did not work out, so the fact that they randomly picked this weekend before we even knew when the new season would premiere was very exciting to me!! We used to watch it together with some other girls back in Dallas and I miss those nights a lot! We also had Michelle calling in from Dallas to share her opinions with us. Fun times!
Some pics from the weekend:
Andi & I hanging at Top of the Rock
Worley and Andi with the Bull of Wall Street
The Cosby's house!
Aw, the home of Monica & Rachel
Last season for Astroland
Wait...is that Ariel? Oh, no, just Andi!
Those Polar Bears are pretty official
Crazy Polar Bears!
Monday night was uber-special for me! Completely by coincidence, Jennifer and Andi happened to be here for The Bachelor premiere. Last year, we had talked about them coming up for the finale of the last season and it did not work out, so the fact that they randomly picked this weekend before we even knew when the new season would premiere was very exciting to me!! We used to watch it together with some other girls back in Dallas and I miss those nights a lot! We also had Michelle calling in from Dallas to share her opinions with us. Fun times!
Some pics from the weekend:
Andi & I hanging at Top of the Rock
Worley and Andi with the Bull of Wall Street
The Cosby's house!
Aw, the home of Monica & Rachel
Last season for Astroland
Wait...is that Ariel? Oh, no, just Andi!
Those Polar Bears are pretty official
Crazy Polar Bears!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Bears in New York
When I wrote yesterday about last week’s events, I forgot to mention that I went to my first Baylor event. Thursday morning, I went to a breakfast at Sarabeth’s for Baylor alumni young professionals. A girl from my Bible Study helps put Baylor alumni events together so she had encouraged me to go. It was small- not many people. The night before there was a bigger dinner, but I was unable to attend due to class. The breakfast was nice, though. The Dean of the business school and a couple of other people from Waco were in town for the events...basically here to promote alumni involvement. Amazingly, I ran into my old next-door-neighbor from freshman year in the dorm, Ilka. I never knew her too well, but she was always really nice and was in the same sorority as the girls I lived with sophomore-senior year, so we always had some mutual friends. Ilka and I plan to get together later this month. She also told me that another girl from our hall who I didn’t really know at all lives here as well. So, she suggested we have a Collins Penthouse reunion in NYC! That would be funny!
The second Baylor connection I made this week was at work. We got an email last week listing a few recent new-hires and details of their background. One of the people listed was a Baylor grad. I’ve met him since then and it turns out we were the same class at Baylor, both in the business school, and both from Missouri! Weird!
Monday, April 02, 2007
A Gala and the Elephant Walk
I never got around to blogging about my events last week! On Monday night, I had my first “gig”. I helped out at an event my teacher’s company was working on. Usually, her company does entire events…from creation to production. However, for this event, they were doing décor only. The event was held at the Crowne Plaza Suites in Times Square and was the 10th Annual Gala for the National Business Travel Association. There were representatives there from all the major airlines, hotels, travel websites, etc… The main part of the décor was that all the tables and bars were illuminated in blue. It looked really cool once it was all put together. We had a lot of down-time during the event, but they had a cocktail reception room we helped set-up, as well as the main ballroom where they were served dinner. Then, while dinner was going on, we moved everything from the reception room to another area where they had dessert and drinks after dinner. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the work as well as the people who were there from my teacher’s company.
A "high-top" table at the Cocktail Reception
The bar at the Cocktail Reception
The main dining room
Flower centerpieces
Dinner Table
The appetizer
One of the bars in the dessert area
Another bar in the dessert area
More high-tops in the dessert area
On Tuesday night, the Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey circus came to town. The circus still travels everywhere by train, but since all our train stations are underground, the elephants can’t get out! So, they walk the elephants into town from a station in Queens. It’s a big deal every year to go watch the elephants march into town. I met Joy and a couple of other people to witness the event ourselves. We had to wait for quite a while and then it only took about a minute for the elephants to walk by—too quick! Also, they don’t get into Manhattan until after midnight, so it was a late night. But, it was still fun and I’m glad to be able to say I saw it!
My friends Andi and Jennifer (aka Worley) have been here the past few days...look for a blog about our adventures coming soon!
A "high-top" table at the Cocktail Reception
The bar at the Cocktail Reception
The main dining room
Flower centerpieces
Dinner Table
The appetizer
One of the bars in the dessert area
Another bar in the dessert area
More high-tops in the dessert area
On Tuesday night, the Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey circus came to town. The circus still travels everywhere by train, but since all our train stations are underground, the elephants can’t get out! So, they walk the elephants into town from a station in Queens. It’s a big deal every year to go watch the elephants march into town. I met Joy and a couple of other people to witness the event ourselves. We had to wait for quite a while and then it only took about a minute for the elephants to walk by—too quick! Also, they don’t get into Manhattan until after midnight, so it was a late night. But, it was still fun and I’m glad to be able to say I saw it!
My friends Andi and Jennifer (aka Worley) have been here the past few days...look for a blog about our adventures coming soon!
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