fast time goes

Wow. Time is flying. We’ve been quite busy these past few months. I have a bunch of photos on my camera to put on here, but I don’t have my camera right now, so my iPhone photos are going to provide the story.

We went up to to New York for the first time in way too long to see Tal and Anita. That city is awesome. You can’t really compare it to anywhere else: it just is its own place. We just had a few days, but made it to some of our favorite spots. The Guggenheim has entirely changed since we last went there a year or so ago. My favorite part about that place is the architecture – and how cool it looks with people in it. The guy above was outside the Met, painting on t-shirts. He painted this thing in like 5 minutes. It was so amazing to watch.

This painting was at the Met. How cool is that. A painting of a window with a view – they had an exhibit of these types of paintings going on there. It is like the type of photography you see nowadays with kind of an artsy appeal – and here it is in a painting.

I mentioned the iPhone app Photosynth in a previous post. Check it out, it is awesome to take pictures like this. On the phone you can actually swipe around the photo for a 360 degree view, but this one looks pretty cool too.

Julie’s brother Matt came in town from Hawaii (he is a professor there) for a conference. It was great to spend some time with him and get out and see the city. We’ve lived in DC for two years now and I am still always just blown away by the majesty of the monuments and the feelings I get when I am there – except for when there are tour groups of thousands of annoying teenagers. Those parents that volunteer to chaperone kids on those trips are crazy – that sounds like the worst job ever.

We went up to the National Cathedral with Matt. Beauty spot.

My parents came in town for a speech, just as Julie was leaving to California – but it was so fun to spend some time with just me and my parents. Not sure the last time that happened. My mom and I went to the National Gallery of Art and found this funky exhibit in the East Gallery.

We went out to California for Julie’s family reunion. It was so fun to see everyone. We camped on the beach in San Diego for the reunion with everyone and then the boys took a sailing trip out to Catalina Island for a few days. It was so cool to finally make it out there after Julie’s dad had got me excited about going out there over the past few years. Julie’s brother Dan and I scuba dove which was awesome. Totally unlike other dives I have done as it was a cold water dive. We were wet-suited from head to toe – but seeing the kelp forests and the cold water wildlife was comparable to being in Avatar land – whatever that place is called. 

We moored at Emerlad Bay.  A beauty spot.

One of Julie’s best friends from Jersusalem and her husband are here for an internship this summer. We spent Saturday enjoying the city with them and learning what it is going to be like to have an 18 month old.

I have been traveling here and there for work, from Orlando, to Denver, to Miami, to Delaware, to Philly where I am today for a conference. This is a great city.

Thanks iPhone. The camera is getting better, but they’ve got a ways to go as far as the light sensor goes. Next week we are heading to Bear Lake for my family reunion. I am so excited to see some wide open spaces and be in one of my favorite spots on earth. Julie is too…though she isn’t too excited about the four straight 13 hour shifts she is working this weekend (and on the 4th of July) in order to get some time off to come to Bear Lake, but it will be worth it when she sees the Bear Lake sunsets, the starry sky, skies on the glass, and gets invaded by 20 some odd nieces and nephews. That’s all for now.