NYC Day 3

Wednesday, Day 3 of our New York City Extravaganza, was a busy one that included visiting two museums, witnessing the parade balloon inflation, our first New York pizza, and Brad's very favorite event of the trip, Wicked on Broadway!

But the whole day started off with a quick move. We were able to get a great deal on a fancy schmancy hotel in Midtown for the first two days, but then transferred to a cheaper (bigger!) hotel in SOHO for the rest of the week. We actually liked this one better than the boutique hotel, even though it was just a Holiday Inn. It had much more space, was conveniently located near a Subway Station, and still had a great view of the city outside of our window. The hotel switch did, however, require our first cab ride. I was actually very nervous. (Too many crime shows have put the fear in me. You willingly jump into the back of a car in a city you know nothing about and trust the driver to take you where you ask instead of dumping your body in a back alley??) Even though I was spooked, Bradley handled it like a champ.

Once we settled into our hotel, we headed toward our first intellectual museum experiences at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Let me just be honest with you here, this was a little too sophisticated for our liking. We spent the better part of our morning walking around and trying to hide our faces of confusion. We would come upon something that other people clearly found fascinating, and just look at each other and stealthily go, "Huh?? I don't get it... What is that even supposed to be??" Finally, when we got up on about the fourth floor they did have some Vincent van Gogh displays, and we both found those legitimately interesting. But after that, we decided to drop the hoity toity facade and call that museum a bust. We subsequently dropped the Metropolitan Museum of Art unceremoniously from our schedule for the day. At least Brad and I both felt the same way. Good riddance to "art" we just don't get. It was time to move on to more fun things.

 

Did you know that the day before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, you can go watch them inflate all of the balloons?? I was like a little kid walking around the block surrounding the Museum of Natural History (our next stop) and trying to figure out what each float was going to be before it had fully taken its form. If we couldn't tell, we just consulted the sign that accompanied each one indicating its name and the year of its first flight alongside a photo. Even only partially inflated, I could already tell they were going to be larger than I realized from tv!  Dispersed within the balloons were semi trucks hauling giant tanks of helium. It was awesome.

 

By then, the Dunkin' Donuts we ate in the subway that morning (there is an entire city underground!) had worn off, and we were starving. So for lunch, we tasted our very first authentic New York Style Pizza at Patsy's Pizzeria! Patsy's claims to be the city's very first pizzeria, opening in 1933. I don't know if the legend is true, but I do know that the pizza was delicious!

 

 

Once our bellies were filled, we headed to Museum Numero Deux for the day, The Natural History Museum. This bit of learning was much more our cup of tea. The majority of the museum was like a zoo of every kind of animal in the history of the whole world. I especially enjoyed the life size elephants that you could go right up to. But our favorite part of the whole place was the dinosaur exhibit, with fossil skeletons as big as an entire room!

When we walked back outside, we re-entered Balloon Inflation territory. Not only had the floats grown in size, but so had the crowd! It was now an official, organized tour around the block. It was so cool to be experiencing a tradition with native New Yorkers who participate in this activity every year! Not as cool, however, was walking against the huge crowd to make it to the Subway entrance we needed...

 

But fight the crowd we did, because we had a schedule to follow! We rushed back to our hotel room to change clothes for our Broadway Musical! I even exchanged my comfy tennies for some fancy heeled boots! (You better believe my feet were screaming after two museums, but I figured we'd be sitting most of the evening, and it was worth it. You can't dress like a hoodlum for such a classy event.)

 

Ohmygoodness, you guys! Wicked was soooo good! Brad and took great care to not let the show get spoiled for us beforehand. We knew nothing about the story and had heard none of the songs prior arriving on the scene. We wanted it all to be brand new and enjoy it with fresh eyes. We each ordered a novelty cocktail in souvenir cups (Brad chose the Ozmopolitan, and I drank the Flying Monkey Punch.), and then we took our seat right in the center of the Gershwin Theatre. It was overwhelming and amazing. My skin broke out in goosebumps when the lights went down, and I'm not ashamed to admit that a couple tears fell out of my eyes during the "Defying Gravity" number. I've never experienced anything like it in my whole life. We must go back and soak up as much Broadway as we can stand ASAP! (Because of this one performance, the Broadway-focused trip to NYC is already in the works for May, 2013.)

 

Brad touts that Wicked was easily the highlight of his entire week in the city. But mine didn't come until the following morning, bright and early. I have a feeling you can guess what it was. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

 

Check out the rest of our days in NYC!

Day 1, Day 2, Day 4, Day 5, and Day 6

 

[Entire NYC Day 3 Photo Album]

NYC Day 2

So remember a year ago when Brad and I took a week long trip to New York City for Thanksgiving? And remember how I began but never ever finished blogging about it even though it was the best time ever, ever?? Well, I got a little bit of fire lit under my rear since Thanksgiving 2012 is less than a week away, and I can't let an entire year lapse. So, without further adieu, let's move on to NYC Day 2!! 

 

 

On Day 2 in the Big Apple, our schedule consisted of consuming as much of the Downtown portion of the city as possible. (Did you know that in NYC, Downtown is called such because it's literally the bottom of the island? Then there is Midtown in the middle and Uptown at he top. Neat. I bet that's where it all started...) We woke up before the sun in order to make it onto the very first ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty in an effort to beat the crowd and squeeze as much into the day as possible. It was a cold and dreary day, but we made the best of it!

 

The Statue of Liberty was AWESOME! We had considered not actually sailing out to the island, and just seeing it from the shore instead, but I'm so glad that we did the whole thing. We felt incredibly patriotic as we drew closer to the monument, imagining how so many immigrants felt after weeks or months at sea coming to America, and finaly seeing Lady Liberty's glowing torch as a symbol of their long awaited freedom. It was much more moving than I anticipated, and we weren't even there yet!

 

We expected the Statue of Liberty to be pretty standardly cool, since it's a main tourist attraction, but we had no idea just how amazing it really would be. (Or how large it is up close!) We rocked some headsets as we simultaneously participated in a self-guided audio tour of the island that explained every aspect of the statue's history, symbolism, and implications for our country. By the time we made it around to the front to get a good, square view, I had tears in my eyes. What an experience. I was pleased to see that even visitors from other countries that were listening to the audio tour in their native languages were equally touched by the heart behind the Statue of Liberty. It made me realize how much of an honor it truly is to live here.

 

We hopped back on the ferry and rode it to the nearby Ellis Island, where all of those immigrants who passed the statue a century ago officially docked on American soil. We were in the immigration museum for hours and hours learning about the stories of so many people who chose the United States as their home. 

Once we got back on the mainland, we grabbed a couple hot dogs from a cart and ventured over to the World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial sites. There are two giant fountains in the places where the twin towers once stood, both with water flowing down the four walls into a pool which then dropped down farther, letting the water fall out of sight. Names of people killed as a result of the 2001 terrorist attacks were engraved in the stone all along the entire edge lines of both fountains. It was incredibly humbling to see name after name as far as you could see. And even more humbling to see people out there honoring those who died, even in the rain. So many names were commemorated by loved ones with flowers perched into the carved space created by the letters. So far, Tuesday had proved to be a pretty emotional day.

While we were downtown, we walked over to the Financial District. Brad's a kind of financial guru, so he was totally geeking out to literally be strolling down on Wall Street and to stand outside of the New York Stock Exchange. He couldn't resist posing for a picture with the Charging Bull, even though it was fenced off because of those pesky Occupy Wall Street protesters.

 

Brad and I were so tired from the early morning and chilled to the bone from walking in the cold drizzle for so long (and we were ahead of schedule), that we decided to spend a little while napping back at our hotel. We finally crawled back out of our warm cave to visit Little Italy for our only preplanned, nice dinner of the week. The authentic Italian restaurant that I can't remember the name of now was amazing. It was so authentic, in fact, that Brad and I were absolutely certain that it was run by the mob, and that they had a hidden room in the back with one light bulb dangling ominously from the ceiling where they threateningly interrogated people on a regular basis. Our very kind, very Italian speaking server, who we think was the owner, made strong suggestions for our menu items, and we willingly agreed with him simply because we wanted to leave our dinner with all ten fingers still intact. We didn't regret it; the pastas were delicious!

 

From Little Italy, we had a pretty long walk in the rain back to the nearest Subway Station. (The rain didn't hinder me from talking Bradley into posing near a gigantic nutcracker for a photo op. A tourist is a tourist no matter the weather!) By this time, I was all but whining about my sore, soggy feet hurting so badly. Who knew you would walk so much when you visit the city?? Even though I had ditched my cuter tennis shoes from the day before for my straight-up running shoes in an effort to have more comfort, it was still pretty brutal. Brad estimates that we walked an averaged of at least five miles every day we were there. Ow.

 

So my sweet hubs had the bright idea to walk into some random massage parlor to take advantage of their advertised special for a back and foot massage. Good idea. Except it was torture! Turns out they specialized in deep tissue massages, and we both thought we were gunna die! I think each of us let out cries of pain at one point or another during the 20 minutes. When we got out of there, we both tried to play it cool until Brad finally admitted that it was super painful, and I laughed and let go of my pride to agree that it was some of the worst pain I've ever willingly allowed to happen to my body! We both just laughed as we limped the rest of the way back to the Subway Station.

And with that, NYC Day 2 was officially complete! It was rainy and dreary and emotional on a few levels, but it was absolutely wonderful! I will never forget the first time that we got to see some of the most iconic landmarks of the city (as well as the nation), or the time we cried and then laughed because we were crying and then laughed until we cried again about our painful first massage experience. :)

 

Stay tuned for NYC Days 3, 4, 5, and 6! And if you want a recap, here's NYC Day 1 that I actually posted in a timely manner a year ago.

[Entire NYC Day 2 Photo Album]

Happy Veterans Day 2012

Happy Election Day!

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I voted, did you?

What a privilege it is to live in a country that allows us, regular ol' citizens, to elect our leaders. Regardless of the outcome, it is always an honor to take part in the democratic process, and I try not to take it for granted. Have you taken advantage of this opportunity to help determine our nation's future?

"Begin Again"

Right after the release of "Red," Taylor delivered another gift to us! Here's her new video for the final track on her album, "Begin Again."

This is one of my favorites of the new set of songs. It's both about recovering from a heartbreak and the hope of a new relationship. It's a great example of the "old Swift," which shares the record with the "new Swift's" playful, dancey, pop-y songs. Of course, I enjoy both versions of her storytelling, but it's always nice to experience some of the fundamental reasons I fell in love with her in the first place with the slow, romantic ballads.

 

Also, this video makes me want to visit Paris, s’il vous plaît.

RED

Happy RED Day! Yahoo!!! Today is such a great day! Taylor's new album if finally released!

 

The iTunes album was released at midnight, and I couldn't help but download it ASAP. Thanks to some sneaky timezone tricks, I was able to get it earlier! I listened to the whole album through once before bed, then again as I fell asleep. I love it already!

 

But that didn't stop me from heading to Target right as it opened to purchase their deluxe edition with six additional bonus tracks! I want all the Taylor I can get! And I wasn't the only one there bright and early snagging my very own hardy copy of her fourth album. (Nor was I the only one posing for a picture near the already-emptying front display!) I had to wait in line to grab my 2-disc album.

 

 

Two years ago, for the Speak Now release, I was just barely able to refrain from purchasing a t-shirt that was displayed near the CDs. This year, not so much. That cute grey one was too tempting! And those Target employees sure know how to sing a siren's song! Of course, I couldn't wear it today. Today, RED Day, only my red shirt, red jewelry, and red lips would do! Yay for Taylor Holidays!

 

 

I've already listened to the album multiple times. I can't quite decide which is my favorite song. Maybe it's the big sound of "State of Grace." Maybe one the ballads like "All Too Well" or "Sad Beautiful Tragic" or "Begin Again." Or one of the duets like "The Last Time" with Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody or "Everything Has Changed" with my British fave, Ed Sheeran. Or the fun, dancey ones like "22" or "I Knew You Were Trouble." Yeah, obviously I can't make up my mind, yet. So far, I'm not wanting to skip over any of them, including the six bonus ones from Target, and that's a good sign!

 

I love hearing Taylor's perspective of each song: 

 

This album is most certainly the most eclectic one TSwiz has compiled. I love how her voice adapts to every style and genre she fearlessly approaches. I can't wait to memorize every word to every song and belt them out in my car! I gotta go! It's time to listen again!

 

Have you listened to it yet? Did you buy the iTunes version or the hard copy? Do you pour over the lyrics like I do? What's your favorite song? Do you like hearing some of Tay's new sounds?

 

PS. Finding the hidden messages within the lyrics in her liner notes was just as fun this time as it was the three times before! Now, how to determine the subject of each song?? Let the speculating begin!

"Meant to be Together" by Emily Cowan

My best friend is famous!! Or at least she is bound to be after this!

 

Emily Cowan just released her first official music video!

 

Y'all, get ready, 'cause it's awesome!

 

Okay, right? What'd I tell you? It's amazing! EEEEEE!! I'm just so excited for her! (And for me! Yahoo for famous best friends!!)

Happy Counting Day!

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Yahoo! I love celebrating counting days every year!

 

They're like secret little holidays that people forget to acknowledge! Well, not this girl! (Not this year!) Because not only are they rare, but there's a limited supply of them! We're already in the double-digit counting days, so we don't have long before they are expired for good within my lifetime. What a sad counting-less future 2015 holds.

 

So, today, don't forget to honor what a special, sneaky, smart date it is! You won't get many more opportunities. Have fun counting!

Pitch Perfect Girls' Night

First things first: I have the best best friends in all the land. Alright, now that we got that out of the way...
 

 

The Emilys, Cristin and I had an impromptu, weekday girls' night last night, and it was wonderful!

[image source]

If y'all haven't gone to see "Pitch Perfect" yet, do it. Seriously, we laughed the entire time. Start to finish, even in the downtime when they weren't throwing jokes our way. It's awesome. And I'm pretty positive that guys will love it, too. We just so happened to use the opportunity to make it about the girls.

I'm so blessed to have such amazing friends that make boring Monday nights into wonderful memories!

Faith and Love. But no Hope?

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And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love.

But the greatest of these is Love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

It's another new month. But I don't mean October. This new month comes with a much heavier weight than the joy of autumn and the anticipation of Taylor Swift's fourth studio album. I mean another new cycle. The start of another new month after another failed month of trying to conceive. It's month 22 in a row of deliberately trying to get pregnant and not succeeding (not counting the year-worth of months we casually tried before that). It's month 22 of unfulfilled hope. It is month 12 of intervened, doctor and drug assisted attempts to conceive. Month 12 of unfulfilled medically assured hope.

 

That hope, it's a tricky thing. The hope is what makes it hurt. Every new cycle, like this one, it's the hope that "this could be the month." Every drug, it's the hope that "this one is going to do the trick." Every ovulation, it's the hope that "this egg is going to get fertilized and become my baby and be the first of my children to bless our home." Every two week wait filled with unusually strong smells or weird tastes or tender breasts or exhaustion or light pink spotting around possible implantation days, it's the hope that "these are symptoms of pregnancy, finally." And then every new menstruation, all of those fresh hopes die; are given up; are grieved. They must ultimately be replaced with new ones, again. But is that continually possible?

 

The death of that hope hurts.

 

Wouldn't it be better to just not hope anymore? Wouldn't it be less painful to not get hopes up just to be let down?

 

I wish I could respond to those rhetorical questions with a determined strength and scriptures to back it up about how God never lets us down and to just keep on truckin' along with that hope in full swing. (There are plenty of them.) But I can't. Not today. Not Cycle 22, Day 1.

 

I have love aplenty. I love my husband with all my heart. I love our families. I love our friends. I love our pup. I love my Lord and Savior with my entire existence. And I never, for one second, doubt God's love for me. After all, He loved me enough to sacrifice His only son for my salvation. That's a love that can't be questioned.

 

And I don't waiver with faith. I truly believe that God is good, and He knows what is best for our future. I believe He wouldn't withhold something I desire so strongly unless it was for a great purpose I can't see. If He's willing to give even His own child for me, why would He keep anything else from me unless it was for some great reason?

 

But, today, the hope is a struggle. The definition in the above photo states that hope means "to look forward to with great confidence and expectation." Well, I simply can't claim that right now. Just yesterday I was doodling our future children's names on scrap paper at work, but today, I can't look at this new month with any confidence that we will conceive. I can't actually expect to see a positive pregnancy test anytime soon, if ever. Too many months of experience have taught me that it's simply not going to happen. Why would this month be any different? We're coming up on the third holiday season I hoped to celebrate with either a baby or a pregnancy. I can't imagine this one will be the one, either. Boo.

 

Hope is tricky, because we hope with our human perspective. I could passionately hope to win the lottery, but it'd be silly to blame God for not granting me my wish. Or I could have hoped desperately to marry some random dude, all the while God knew that Brad was the man for me. Or I can hope with every ounce of my being to conceive a child (or two or five), but God may know that my heart's desire isn't what our future holds. Maybe we are to adopt? Maybe we are not meant to be parents at all. (I'm not at all prepared to accept that one, yet.) That's why hope is tricky, because it's determined by what we hope for, which may or may not be right for us. So basically, I have hope for a future, and hope to serve God faithfully, and hope for an eternity spent with Him in Heaven, but right now this minute, I do not have hope to conceive, at least "naturally" or any time soon.

 

How in the world do you know what God wants for your life? Do you just wait and wait and wait and wait until something happens and then assume that it is His will since it came to pass? Do you continue trying in the meantime for what you want? Or do you just trust that if God wants it to happen, He'll make it happen regardless of the effort put in on your part? After all, Mary conceived without ever even having sex! If God wants us to get pregnant, He can achieve that regardless of whether or not we take drugs, endure invasive procedures, or pee on sticks. Trying desperately and pleading in prayer every month isn't going to accomplish anything if it's not His plan anyway, is it? So what's the point? When do you let go? When do you move on? How do you know what His will is and what it'll take, if anything, to achieve it?

 

I don't know...

 

I think this month is unique with unprecedented difficulty for me. For the last 22 months, I've been devastated every time I didn't conceive, but I never really doubted that I was eventually going to. This month, however, the non-conception came as no surprise. It's what I've come to expect from years of experience. Furthermore, what's changed this time, is now I'm doubting and questioning and confused. Doubting our future. Questioning God's will. Confused of what steps to take, if any. I've always been so confident that I would be a mom, and sure that God knew my life better than I do. I've never truly asked "Why?" before, because I didn't think that as a member of creation I had the right to question the Creator. But this month I can't seem to help it. A lot of "Why?'s" and "What's the point?'s" are swirling through my head right now. I've never crossed this bridge of doubt before, nor did I ever intend or desire to, and I don't know how to navigate this new terrain. And I'm not entirely sure I want to stay in this new hopeless land long-term anyway.

 

Is it possible to have strong faith and love but let go of some of the hope? Is it healthy? Is it okay? Because today, that is where I am.

But what do you do without hope? How do you keep going? How do you give up a dream and longing that God placed so deep within your soul? How do you let go of the hope that you'll one day join Him in creating life? Of the hope of feeling your baby's hiccups from inside your belly? Of hearing his or her heartbeat for the first time? Of seeing that sweet face and recognizing a perfect combination of you and your spouse? Of rocking an innocent child to sleep with a lullaby and a nightlight? Of caressing that soft cheek as he nurses? Of hearing precious coos filling your house? Of looking into her eyes and seeing your future? How?

I'm at a weird place right now. I don't know how to keep the hope alive, but I don't know how to let it go either.

 

I genuinely wish I could be strong and faithful and encouraging and end this blog post with passionate affirmations to never doubt and never lose hope. I love God with all that I am, but today, I can't encourage or affirm. Thank you for allowing me to admit my weaknesses, struggles, wounds, shortcomings, and vulnerabilities. Christian family (which I consider all of you to be) is such a blessing.