Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The First Week in New York

Monday came and we were on the move! Literally, bright and early we started moving in. By the time all our missionaries showed up we were practically done unloading the truck so I rounded up one of the sets of elders, along with the sisters and we decided to grab some Dunkin Donuts for everyone.... which by the way DUNKIN DONUTS RUNS NEW YORK, there is seriously one on every corner! 

So when Travis told me just to walk and find one I thought it'd be easy enough; however, when I googled the nearest one it said it was 4 miles away, so we decided to drive. And then from there it routed us the most WRONG way possible. Needless to say, we ended up at one that was like 10 miles away which takes seriously 30-40 minutes to travel. On the way home we passed TWO Dunkin Donuts just around the corner from my house... LIKE .2miles! :) The missionaries said to think of it as service time and getting to know the neighborhood. ha ha.

So we got all the boxes in, and lots of them unpacked and then enjoyed some Chinese Takeout on the floor! What a way to break in the new apartment. 

I wish the weather could have been better while everyone was here. It was SO DANG COLD! Like negatives with inches and inches of snow, but that didn't stop everyone from running around. And we even accompanied them on some of the days. We got to see the Natural History Museum (a small part of it, which was Maddix's FAVORITE part), Time Square, The Jimmy Fallon Studio, ate at Magnolia Bakery, China Town, Little Italy, and my favorite, Carnegie Hall for the Piano Guys Concert; throw in running around with two boys who were freezing, taking the subway back all by ourselves, trying to settle in to our new home, Vaughn's birthday, a movie night/homework night with everyone, and Travis getting the weekend off, you really have our first week here in a nutshell!

Now enjoy some photos while I enjoy a movie with my Husband that I have back now :) 



Could it get more New Yorkist than this?

donuts with the elders

View on the way to Ikea











Magnolia Pecan Cheesecake








Carnegie Hall







She wasn't impressed

Little Italy deserts

Saturday Morning Cartoons


Goodbye Familia! Thank you so much for accompanying us on this crazy adventure; we are going through withdrawals of thinking you guys are still going to be here each evening. Aaron kept yelling out, "Gwampa... Gwampa!!" All day. 

Friday, March 6, 2015

THE DRIVE

Prep for the trip: I cooked up two things of meat- one for taco salad, and another for sloppy joes. I packed all the food and snacks we could fit in my cooler/car. This way we could avoid as much fast food as possible. Didn't need bloated tummies and hyper children:)
DAY ONE:
Me, the boys, our Nala, and my life long/good as a brother Cameron set off with my in laws in the moving truck behind us at the crack of dawn. The first day we drove into Wyoming and stopped to change into day clothes, let the boys stretch their legs, and relax for a minute; it was cold.

We later stopped in Nebraska for another break. The boys played in the arcade that was in the gas station while I made PB and J's in the car. Has anyone tried doing that? Well on top of that trickiness, add your PB being frozen... and trying to spread it with a flimsy little knife and you'll have my situation; it was an experience. Nebraska was HECKA COLD! We spent the night in Lincoln, NB. I have to say I was surprised and grateful and proud at how well my boys did that first day. We drove 14hrs that first day and those boys were total troopers. They didn't start their first movie until around 1:30ish and only watched two movies total. CAN'T express how good they were!




Day Two:
We set out early the next morning and continued another 10hrs ish through Iowa and Illinois before ending the night in South Bend, Indiana. They boys were so good this day as well. Maddix's highlight was when we had to pull off on the freeway edge so he could pee and he got to turn the snow yellow ha ha. Nala even enjoyed the ride and basking in the sun. All I really remember from this day was lots and lots of fields. That night was really fun though... COLD once again, but fun. We went and roamed around Notre Dame Campus and their stadium before wrapping up the night.







Day Three:
The next morning rolled around bright and early and I couldn't be too surprised when the boys were a little less than pleasant on this 8 1/2hr drive; that being said, they were still good boys, but even Nala was feeling a bit ancy. We stayed the night in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. While Cam and my in-laws went out to dinner, the boys insisted in staying in the HOTEL to take a bath; you can tell we didn't have a bathtub for the past forever! That was their highlight :)


The LAST DAY OF DRIVING:
Oh this was a Glorious Day; this day was only to be a 4hr drive! We slept in and then headed over to the Hershey factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This was definitely worth a stop over too. I'm not the world's biggest chocolate fan, but the factory was so cool, and the little amusement ride got my boys pretty jazzed. After that, we were pumped and reenergized for the last bit of our drive. This day was pleasantly warm (like low teens and sunny) compared to the other days, but I'm not complaining by any means. There were some monstrous storms along the way and we seriously drove just behind them, and just in front of the ones that followed; we were so blessed. So the day moved on and we finally made it to our realtor/new family friend, Carol's house where she invited us to stay until Monday when we'd have the keys to begin moving in. And that was the journey. We made it to Carol's where her wonderful family made us feel so at home, we watched Big Hero 6 and waited.... then finally.... FINALLY after a couple of hours Travis arrived at the house and everything was worth it. And it has continued to be worth it each and every day since then. We are happy. We are content.
Life is Good








 So SO happy to see his Daddy; he instantly took his hat and wouldn't give it up all night.
 This little one won't stop saying, "Daddy," now that he has his back:)

Thursday, March 5, 2015

~Final Farewells~

Our time in Utah has come to an end and we are currently enjoying our new place in New York. 
Before I get into life here in Queens, I need to recap on all our final farewells!
I was able to get all the packing done (thanks to everyone who helped)
Took my last run around the PG area and really enjoyed it as 
it started to lightly snow and I found myself 
listening to Apocalyptica as I ended
my run at the temple :) 
It was peace. 
I was also lucky enough to catch one last girls night with my Chuck Girls, a really fun farewell Chuck-a-rama party (where they surprised me with present that made me tear up, and then ended up at Denny's at 1:00am and leaving at 2:00am without ever even receiving our food), a last girls/my boys day with my mom and sisters. 
We were able to have Maddix catch a last playdate with his preschool buddies, take Tayla around
on some last errands, prepare snacks and have the family over to finish the packing, cleaning, 
and loading of the moving truck before we hit the road!



Goofballs



Goofballs Continued

My sweet co-workers made me
this compilation book from our years
together. 


Maddix, Caitlyn, and Daxton
~The Trio~

I ran into these two beloved customers while buying
my sisters temple clothes... what a blessing to get to see them goodbye