A Committed Relationship

In the past three weeks I have received many calls, texts and messages wondering if I have died or fallen of the face of the earth because I have stopped blogging. Well, I haven't died, nor have I fallen. I have entered into a committed relationship. In fact it is long-term realtionship I have been carring on for quite some time, but in the past few weeks it has gotten a bit more "serious." But I feel the relationship has run its course and it is about time to call it quits. So this Friday I will be ending my relationship with.... William Merritt Chase.

My Not So Beautiful Day...

I just have to share this befuddling and agravating incident that occured today.

This past weekend I went to Utah to visit my sister and my dear friend Megan. It was a very nice visit and the end of my trip came upon me more quickly than I expected. Being in a rush to complete my check list before my departure, I was left to go to the Distribution Center on my way to the airport. After my brief stop I threw my wallet on the front seat of the car so I wouldn't forget it or lock it in the trunk as I had almost done with the keys. Well, little did I know the wallet had bounced off the front seat to the floor. So when I rushed to get all of my belongings out of the car my wallet was left behind.

It was no more than five minutes later, when I was standing at the ticket counter, that I realized my wallet was gone. Afraid I was going to miss my flight I ran back to the rental agency to get my wallet but the car was gone. I found the agent who helped me return the car who then instructed me to talk to another agent. Time elapsed 10 minutes.

This agent radioed the remote location where the car was being cleaned and asked them to look for the wallet and return it. He then informed me that they were coming back with the wallet.

Elapsed time 15 minutes.

When the wallet returned to our location the agent handed it to me and asked if it looked okay. I was rather befuddled and panicked by the question considering the wallet had been out of my presence no more than 15 minutes and had only been in the rental vehical - and I was about to miss my flight. But when I looked at the wallet I immediately noticed something was wrong. My wallet was open and ALL of my money was gone! Literally all of it. Even my old and rare $10 and $20 bills that I had hidden in my wallet were gone. The only thing that was left was a $10 bill that was mixed in with my receipts.

I just can't believe this happened. The only saving grace is that I think Enterprise is going to refund me the money. I hope they do!

The big O!

I few years ago my friend Brianna was in a car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down but since that time she has done some pretty amazing things. She has performed at the VMA's, written a book and now she is the new O girl for Overstock.com. She is even featured in her own Overstock.com commercial. Talk about not letting life get you down!

My Motto, My Life

If you are wondering how my life is going, this says it all!
Thank Heaven for the HBLL!

Drop it like its Yacht!

Here is a little taste of heaven for all of you who didn't get to experience it first hand.

The boat...

Fun Times!

We pause for a quick commercial break


Sunrise

This is a special treat because being on the west coast you rarely get spectacular sunrises!

But some of us needed post sunrise naps!



It was so ghetto-fabulous the paparazzi came...


Good thing we were a bunch of poseurs!

But they did manage to get a couple contraband shots! :)



But really it was just a Ridiculously good time with friends and family!

Boom Dee Ah Duh, Boom Dee Ah Duh..

I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills

I love the fireflies, I love the daffodils

I love the fireside when all the lights are low,

Boom-dee-ah-duh, Boom-dee-ah-duh, Boom-dee-ah-duh, Boom-dee-ah-duh

Fire in the Sky

I witnessed the most incredible event from my airplane window a few weeks ago as I returned to New York from Grandkids Retreat. Flying over Pennsylvania we passed the torrential storm that shut down New York for a day. These pictures do not come remotely close to capturing what I saw.

Mini Madness

I love driving! It is in my blood. After our trip to Palmyra I realized my need to get out of the every once in awhile so I signed up for ZipCar. As soon as I hit the confirm button I started to have buyers remorse and wondered if I would ever use it. Today all of my concerns were wiped away. Mark and I rented a Mini Cooper to take Juleen to the airport. It was a great adventure - all documented by Mark, our fabulous personal photographer - and one I am planning to recreated again and again.

What Good is Life if You can't Share it with Your Friends?

For the past month and a half (at least) I have been itching to get out of the city. New York is a great place and all, but it is nice to see grass, trees, clouds and stars every once in awhile. So just when I thought I was going to burst from being trapped in a world of cement a white knight came gallopping in upon his steed. Okay, well that might be a bit of an overstatement, but last week at the Shake Shack, when Courtnie leaned over to me and said,"Hey, want to go to Palmyra?" My whole being shouted "YES!" before she had even finished her question.

I have to take a moment to thank Courtnie to thank for this blessed event. If it wasn't for her starting up a conversation with a relative stranger this never would have happened!



So,Saturday morning at the crack of dawn we made our way down Wall St. and began our trip with a bang.

Literally.

We weren't even two blocks down the road before I hit the pavement. Me, falling and shouting, "Don't stop! Turn around! Don't look at me! Keep walking!" while laughing hysterically pretty much set the tone for the rest of the trip.

After picking myself up off the ground and our car up from Penn Station NJ we hit the road.

Our first stop....

Burger King, Scranton PA!

After lunch we tried to take "The Office" tour of Scranton but we missed the bus.So we had to make our own tour. We found the old train station and Mifflin Ave.












We thought Dunder Mifflin had to be around there somewhere! :) But our search for The Office and the "Scranton Welcomes You" sign was to no avail.

We even stopped in a gas station thinking the citizens of Scranton could lead us in the right direction...we were wrong. No one had any clue what we were talking about. Apparently no one in Scranton watches The Office. I wonder if it is banned from the airwaves there...

From Scranton we made our way to Palmyra. We had a few hours to kill before the Pagent started so went to the Sacred Grove and the Palmyra temple. The peacefulness of these sites is like no where elses. Even in the midst of crowds the spirit can be felt there. It was so nice to take the time to wander and enjoy the beauty and the spirit of these sites.

Even after being at the Sacred Grove and the Temple for a couple of hours we still had time on our hands, so dinner was the next thing on the agenda. After driving around the thriving metroplolis of Palmyra/Manchester, New York we decided to place our bets on Buffalo Bills. It was good meal, fun times and I, I did my daddy proud! :)

The pagent was a very fun experience. There were definitely some very cool "special effects" but the best effects were the brilliant stars shining over head.

Catch up!

So I promised some posts a couple of weeks ago and I am just now living up to my word.

About a month ago I was a bit down, struggling to sort somethings out and not quite my normal happy self. But thankfully there were quite a few blessed events that helped pull me out of it and made my days brighter. The first was Target's Children's Day - a fun filled Saturday that culminated with a fantastic FIREWORK show at the South Street Seaport. That night, the thrill of seeing huge bursts of color in the sky was almost more than I could handle. I stood there, gazing in wonderment at the fantastic spectical giggling with joy, and thinking "can life get any better?"

It was especially great because I got to share the joy and joyness with my wonderful roommate Juleen!



The second great event, an adventurous trip to the Guggenheim, I also shared with Juleen. She and I got stuck walking up Fifth Ave in the middle of a torrential rainstorm. And really the highlight of the trip was sharing it with Juleen.


Third and lastly was spending a week touring around New York with my sister and her friend Heidi then spending a going week in Washington D.C. with my family

Low Hi!

I have been terrible at blogging lately. I am fully aware of it. But anytime I go to blog I get this guilty feeling in my stomache, like I am wasting time, and turn to a book on William Merritt Chase instead.
So, in honor of things I am really bad at and thing I shouldn't be doing I am posting a fun little game my roommate Courtnie likes to play. Low High! But I am going to play it my way! Instead of giving one low and one high I am listing all my Lows and Highs for today.

High - waking to the sound of an intense rainstorm
High - eating McDonald's hotcakes in the middle of a rainstorm
High - reading Atlas Shrugged while eating hotcakes
Low - realizing my phone was missing
Low - searching for lost phone
High - phone call from Ashley Pinney with info about lost phone
High - getting my phone back
High - MapQuesting my upcoming trip to the Hill Cumorah!
Low - being unmotivated to work on my thesis
High - taking a hot shower in the middle of a rainy day

Preview

I have been slacking a little with my posts. Part of it...well actually the whole reason is because there has been a lot going on in my life. But here is a little preview of what is going to come. 1. Fireworks! 2. A trip to the museum 3. CLAIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Beautiful Moment

When I decided to use The Holiday as the inspiration for my blog I never realized how closely my life would mirror that of Kate Winslet's character. Yesterday I had an experience that could almost be taken straight from the movie. It is the scene where the transformation that has taken place in Kate Winslet's comes to its culmination. In a moment of awakening she comes to an awareness of who she really is and who she has become. She becomes strong and even more beautiful than she was before. It is a great moment.

I am not saying that I am either strong or beautiful. It is just a beautiful thing to be able to see who you really are.

Daddy Daughter Day

My dad came into town this weekend but Saturday was really the only Daddy-Daughter Day! It was really a great day. We went to breakfast, walked through Central Park, took the Circle Line to the Statue of Liberty, went to the Financial District and Ground Zero and saw Spamalot. I love my dad! It was a great weekend.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

Okay, not really when Daddy comes home but when Daddy comes to my home! My dad called about a week ago to tell me he was coming to the city this weekend. I was so excited I almost burst out of my skin! Now I only need to wait a few more hours and I get to see my dad!

What a beautiful day!

Zion in Babylon

I love making new friends and learning new things!

Saturday morning I went on a church history tour of lower Manhattan. The information was facinating but the sites were a bit underwhelming (no original structures still exist) except for a super-cool secret park we found on top of a parking garage. It is my new favorite hangout! I have been back three times already!