Happy Thanksgiving!

So still not much here, still looking for a job (a real one) but I'm grateful for the part time job I do have. I am excited for the Holiday's, especially to see the nephews. Of course it goes without saying that I can't wait for Julie's baby to get here so I can go visit. Um that is really all for now, Nathan will be here Saturday so maybe I'll have some funny baby stories to post later. Love ya all!

Blah, Blah, Blah

So I don't really think I have anything to say, but I keep catching grief for having so long between posts, so for those of you who really want to read boring stuff, here it is. If you look up boring in the dictionary you would see a description of my life right now. I go to work (about 15 hours a week at the "Gymboree Outlet"-a baby store) and go to church and any ward activities I can fit in around work (I typically work 4:30-9:30, right during prime fun time). The rest of my time I spend with exciting things like, watching my mom prepare for seminary (she is really dedicated she spends like 6 hours a day!), laundry, cleaning or trying to convince myself that those things are more exciting than just taking a nap for a few hours. I did manage to make Nathan (my sister Jenny's baby) a sleeper, though at first it was just me and the instructions- not terribly instructive. By the time I offically decided that something was freakishly weird about it, i had sewn the legs together (like right leg to left leg together) and the zipper went from the neck to the ankle. Yeah, I put that on hold until my mom could look at it and tell me what the problem was-I couldn't tell! Luckily for my nephew-who is not a one leg mutant- it was totaly fixable and just required unpicking-lots of unpicking. But once I had the secret instructions to go with the written ones, it went together quite quickly and easily. I plan to make another to redeem the presentation of my sewing skills. In my defense the existance of unwritten instructions is very common for my mom. She uses recipes and patterns as a reminder of what she really does, kind of like a secret code. I should probably be greatful for that as it provided the only real entertainment of the last week.

Fairwell NY!

So by my last day I had seen almost everything on my must see list, except the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. As I read around though the Empire didn't have a better view than the Top of the Rockefeller, plus the Rock had MUCH shorter wait times. I decided (especially since it was the day after the fourth and I figured there would be lots of tourists) to see the skyline from the Top of the Rock. I went there first but the rain storm from the previous night (see last post) was still around and the guy at the entrance was telling people they could pay and go up, but the visibility was zero and they didn't give refunds. So I elected to head to Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty. After talking with lots of people I had decided to forgo the traditional ferry ride to Liberty Island and Ellis Island- it cost money, took a minimum of three hours and the best view of the Statue was from the Ferry anyway. By that week-with all the tourists, when I went to get tickets there were none that included the museum at the Statue anyway. So again on the advice of others I decided to catch the Staten Island Ferry from Battery Park. This is a free ferry that runs every half hour and goes right by the Statue. I got my tons of pictures and then on Staten Island rushed around to catch the same ferry going back. It worked out great, I got all the pictures I wanted and only spent an hour. I had a list of shopping that I wouldn't go home without- knock off sunglasses, purses for me, Jenny and Steph (mom and Jules declined but after seeing ours wished they had put in an order :), a charm for my bracelet and any cute clothes that I couldn't pass up. So I went to Chinatown and bargained some great deals on two Gucci purses. Then I shopped my way back uptown and by that point there was a brief clearing in the weather so I decided to go to the Rock and see the skyline. It was cloudy, but Hello! From Washington! cloudy is no big deal to me. I got some fun pictures and completed the last thing on my list. There’s still lots of things in NYC that I would love to go back and do again, do better, or do at all (lol) but for the time I had I feel that I was able to see and do everything I really wanted. Going to NYC was a great experience for me and I am grateful for the opportunity and all the many things I learned while I was there. To all the amazing friends I made out their, I love you and thanks for your great friendship. While I am no longer in NY and so the address of my blog is no longer accurate, I’ve decided I don’t care and will continue to use this blog as a way to keep friends and family updated on my life.Statue of Liberty Mimes in Battery Park
Ground Zero
Staten Island Ferry
Statue of Liberty
Me with Statue of Liberty
Central Park as seen from the Top of the Rock
Empire State Building-notice the colors for 4th of July
Chrysler Building behind MetLife Bldg
Fabulous view, even with poor visibility

Fourth of July

So the Fourth of July was my next to last day in the City. I went with my friends Kayla and Rachel. we spent part of the morning trying to find where a concert we heard about would be playing. We walked from Grand Central up to Times Square, then to the Rockefeller Center, and then all the way down to about 10th street and FDR drive, that is a lot of walking. We never did find the concert but we had fun seeing the city. We found a place on FDR to watch the fireworks (the city blocked off the road for the evening) and started to wait. It ended up raining off and on, then pouring but at that point we were already soaked so a little more didn't matter. Despite the rain there were tons of people-duh, NY! The display was frankly not the best I've ever seen,- though they did have some cool shapes, but the point was the experience, which I've now had. It was lots of fun just being with my friends.


Me and Rach



Three of the launch barges
Smiley Faces
Cubes

Central Park

So I have tons to catch up on! My time in NY was ended sooner than expected and so I had six months of stuff to do in like 3 weeks!
I made it to Central Park and saw lots of cool stuff. I walked up 5th avenue on the way and drooled into Tiffany's. Before Central Park I went to Hell's Kitchen to browse at the flea market that they have there. After all that walking I was so tired and had huge blisters and did I mention it poured a few times. I'd get soaked then dry out, then it would rain again and I was soaked. I had mud splashed all the way up the back of my legs and (white) skirt. In short, I was tired. So I decided that was the perfect opportunity to take my first taxi ride. That was the best decision I ever made! Anyway it was a great day in the city and I made it home to recover and go back the next day.

Violining Indian


Balto the Sled dog


5th Avenue

Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend I had some good fun. Saturday I was window shopping and passed a bookstore that was having a book signing by Gail Carson Levine! For those of you who are culturally lacking, she is the author of a number of great books, the most famous of which is Ella Enchanted. Anyway I really like her so that was a great surprise, she did a little interview for about 45 minutes before and answered a bunch of questions. It was lots of fun. On Monday some friends and I went into the city for dinner. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, it was a really neat experience. The last picture is of the Empire State Building with red, white, and blue lights for the holiday (the building is decorated with colored lights for like every holiday, especially the obscure ones).

Cute boy

The best part about the trip was seeing my family, especially my gorgeous nephew Josh (Julie's little boy). In these pictures he is almost 11 mo and not very happy about being stuck in his car seat-again! The trip from Idaho Falls to Ephraim might not take 18 hours, but it is way to long for him, especially with all the traveling around the state we did in Utah. Poor guy, I started with a smiling picture to show his real nature, then the grumpy ones, personally his mom has given me that same expression many times :)

Trip to Utah

Sorry it's been so long, but I lost my camera cord! So here is a bunch of stuff.

It was my Grandma Adams 80th birthday so the family had a big party for her. Of course I had to go out and participate. The whole trip out from my house to my uncles in Salt Lake took 18 hours-ridiculous, I know but that's what you get for flying cheap and refusing to spend extra money on taxi's and stuff. So while I had some time to kill I took some pictures of the entrance to Grand Central Station, the Chrysler building, the New York Library (me take a picture of a library, weird, I know), and some weird but cool looking building that was black and gold.

Fun in the City

Well I've now been into the City several times and have some fun pictures, so here is a couple of the best, to see more check out my facebook album-it's lots easier to load pictures!

Valentine's Day Fun

So for someone who loves flowers as much as I do, this Valentine's was the best ever! First Celeste (my employer) brought home a dozen peach roses and some fabulous handmade chocolates for me. Then my sister Julie sent me a gorgeous arrangement from her, Robert and Josh. It was so fun! I just love to see all the variety of beauty that Heavenly Father created and I am so glad that I get to enjoy them.

My wild visitors

I thought it was really cool that they came this close to the house. In the one picture you can see they're like a couple feet from the porch.

oops!

There was opperator error, I loaded the video's backward, so to see the tour as if from the front door, go from the bottom video up. If you start from the top, just know that it is the upstairs.

I have arrived

After a day and a half settling in I have finally found time to post. So far I have had a tour of some of the cities around me and got an idea of how to get arround. I still think it will take getting lost a few times before I really get it, but that's all part of the adventure. I don't expect to get into the city till at least next weekend, but I promise pictures when I do. I did a video tour of the house and I'll post those along with a picture of me with the girls and the previous nanny, Kaeli.

Art

My parents enrolled me in an oil painting class for Christmas (this was the second one, they did another one in November) and it was today. I thought since it turns out I am such a fabulous artist I would post pictures of my first and second paintings. The ocean one was first then the forest. For those of you who are really impressed, don't be, they walk you through step by step, everyone does the same picture-supposedly, in reality they all turn out very different. Anyway it was really fun. I am really excited to go to NY on Monday. I'll keep it updated.

The Adventure Begins

Well Monday I head off to New York to work as a nanny for the Russell family. The kids are Devin and Kate (11 and 10), and they are great girls. The family lives outside of Manhattan about 20 minutes. I am really excited to have a fun adventure and to see a new part of the world. I'll keep updates about what I experience and learn. Wish me luck!