new song

Thanks to Josh for sending me this song. I just wish I would have heard it earlier for the Christmas season. But in my book, Christmas music is just fine until New Years. So have a listen. Listen to the words, kinda cool. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!! We decided at the last minute to come out to Utah and surprise my fam and after a crazy Christmas Eve of traveling we made it here at 1 in the morning and had a funny surprise story with my parents that I will write more about soon.

nailed

whoa. if you’ve seen the news this last weekend you’ll know what I am talking about. One of the biggest storms ever in December wailed on the East Coast this last weekend. DC got hit especially hard. It is seriously a winter wonderland out there. The whole city seems to be shut down. The schools just threw in the towel an cancelled school all the way through til Christmas (they were supposed to be going though Wednesday. For the actual storm on Saturday we were in NYC. Noah surprised Kristi and took her on a birthday trip, so Julie and I got to go up there and take care of McKay and Lyla for the weekend. We had a lot of fun with those kids. They are awesome. Julie has my camera with all the pics of the weekend and the storm in her purse so I am just putting up a couple pictures from my iphone. Life with two kids in NYC is nuts. Kristi and Noah – you get some serious props. We had a blast doing it for the weekend, but I can see how it could be touch, especially when you are slipping all over the place trying to push two kids in a stroller through a foot of snow. But serious, look how cute these kids are.

I forgot how much I used to love doing this as a kid. McKay kept disappearing at H&M when we stopped to return something. Something about going inside of there is just fun as a kid. It would probably be fun as an adult too, except you’d have to find a really tall rack, cause you’d just look funny in the normal size racks.

Getting ready to go out and brave the storm and experience the craziness of FAO Schwartz at Christmas (maybe not the best idea, the place was rammed).

Nailed. Nothing like getting snowplowed in when there is 5 inches in front and in back of you. Noah helped me dig it out though and we made it back to DC safe and sound. There is even more snow here. I will post some pics along with the ones of the strorm in NY soon. Only a couple days tile Christmas!!! I hope your halls are decked and that you have the music playing non stop.

Last thing. We got a real tree here in the city. And surprising after 3 weeks it is still drinking and lively. Here is is in all it’s grandeur looking out onto First Street along with the art deco version of it. There’s something about a Christmas tree, that is indescribable. The way a house feels when the only lights on are those of the Christmas tree, or breaking off a needle and smelling it. Doesn’t matter the day or the mood, it automatically makes me smile and brings back memories...you know what I mean?  Let’s face it, Christmas rules. Merry Christmas!!!

thanksgiving a little late…

i wanted to put these pictures up before it gets too late and it never happens. We had a great time over Thanksgiving in the greatest city there is. We met up with Julie’s brother and his wife (Bryan and Lis) and stayed at Noah’s place…he and his fam were in Houston for the weekend, so they were nice enough to let us stay at his place. I’m not sure there is a nicer couple on earth than Noah and Kristi. We are digging the fact that we are only a bus ride away from those guys.

So we met up there and had a great time. There is a Costco in Manhattan now! Just like a 10 minute bus ride from Noah’s place, so we headed up there to check it out. It was an unusual Costco experience, the employees were so helpful and so excited to have us there (pretty sure the idea of Costco is a brand new concept to them), and they spoke English. At the Costco in Arlington close by us here, most the people aren’t super fluent when it comes to English. Anyway, we found a turkey and all the fixins and made our first attempt at cooking a turkey. So I spent a lot of time on the phone with my mom trying to figure out how exactly to do it. I have a gag reflex problem sometimes, so I consider it quite a feat. Let’s face it, that raw turkey is NASTY. And I loved that they left the giblets and the neck in there just in case we wanted to eat them. Who the heck eats giblets? But I must say, with the help of everyone, we put together quite a feast…the turkey was actually really good too.

Before we ate we headed down with the masses to see the Macy’s Parade, which was awesome. It’s always cool to see something in real life that you’ve seen on TV every year. There were so many people there, that by the time we squirmed our way up to where you could actually see stuff, we only got to see the last 30 minutes or so. But that was good for us. We saw papa smurf and the pillsbury doughboy, and Santa on his huge old sleigh. Pretty sure it was the real Santa.

We went back to Noah’s place after and started cooking. Turned out pretty nice.

We spent the rest of the weekend showing Bryx and Lis our favorite spot around the city, and eating at all of our favorite spots. Here are some pics of the stops. The Brooklyn Bridge: one of my favorite spots in the city.

The East Village for some Falafel and Frites and weird people.

The Met and the MoMA

Rockefeller – home of some of the best Christmas spirit around.

 

Staten Island Ferry

Bar Coastal for the best wings around and watching the Cougs pull it out against the U with some good Coors LIght.

and a walk on the High Line. This was our first time up there. Such a cool idea…an elevated park on an old freeway through Chelsea. We were there just in time for the sunset over the Hudson. Google it, it is really amazing.

and a walk past Madison Square Park and the Flatiron – one of the coolest buildings on this planet.

 

and lots of time in the subway – a welcome break from the cold wind.

Can’t beat a weekend in NYC. It was so fun to be there with Bryx and Lis. We made it home and took care of the next matter of business. The Christmas Tree! Can’t tell you how excited I was about this one. There’s nothing quite like when the only light in the room is the faint glow of the Christmas tree. It’s the most wonderful time of the year…there’s just this spirit about everyone everywhere. Hope you are having the Merriest of Christmas seasons!

Have you watched Elf yet? Please do if you haven’t.

And the choice is...

First, I found out how to invite myself to publish from this site. It helps when you know all of Eli's passwords. Now people will not think that Eli wrote a blog entry about feeling like the bachelor.

Second, two more times left at the hospital, one final assignment due today, one last final evaluation and I should be wrapping up my abnormally long college career.

Lastly, I made a decision. Boy it was hard. I thought something would just pop out at the last minute, but it didn't. The last hour may even have included some tears, but luckily Eli is the best person ever to take you through something when you are being slightly emotional. So I choose the hematology/oncology unit! It was hard because I love the heart and always thought I would choose that, but I knew I would always wonder if I didn't choose this one. I have felt very excited/nervous and have been singing nervous but excited ever since. (if you don't know what im talking about check this out).

CHRISTMAS IS HERE!! and snow.

Anybody who knows me, knows that I don’t mess around when it comes to Christmas. This is the best time of year. Everyone seems (regardless of their faith) to become a little bit more Christ-like as the spirit of joy and happiness fills the air. That combined with the excuse to listen to Rat Pack non-stop, watch Elf twice a week, put a tree in your house and decorate it with lights and ornaments, see the White House with its Halls literally Decked, scheme about how to really surprise Julie, and drink Egg-nog mixed with 7up…it’s just a fantastic time of year.

Julie’s older sister and her daughter are here visiting for a few days from San Diego, and they got here just in time for the first Snow of the year. The term snow is relative – it snowed for a while without much stickage, but that didn’t stop the snow plows from roaming the streets (it seems that even since we lived here when I was in 5th grade and school was cancelled literally 20 times cause of the snow; they still get frantic when there is snow in the forecast). 

Lot’s more to come but just wanted to get a MERRY CHRISTMAS out there!!! Tis the Season. Make it the best Christmas ever, get out there and make someone else’s day. Listen to the Louis Armstrong song that plays first on here. How awesome is it? We went to the temple last night to see the awesome Christmas lights and made it home in time to make the sugar cookies that Sadie asked about 39 times yesterday. They do a pretty amazing job with the lights, like the temple square of the East. It was so cool to see the variety and diversity of the people that were there. It was awesome to see all the missionaries there too. I always get pumped when I am around a big group of missionaries, they just have such a powerful spirit.

PS. Julie made a job decision and she is slow sauce about writing it on here. I need to get her to write more though. Her friends come out of the woodwork when she does, and you guys probably like hearing from her more than me anyway, so I will get her to write on here about that and more asap. Also pics from Thanksgiving in NYC coming soon too, so come on back.