Blossoming Tulips and Growing Bellies

Springtime has finally arrived, and THANK GOODNESS! You'd think by now I'd be used to the crazy changing weather around here, where one morning you wake up to sunshine and by afternoon it's blustery and raining (or worse, Snowing!). But I shouldn't complain on a beautiful day like this, when I've been spoiled enough to sit out on the swings and soak in the sun for as long as my heart desires.

One of my favorite things about this time of year is all the tulips! Brick and I decided that we are going to have to plant those cheerful flowers in our new garden because, even though they don't last too long, when those tulips pop up, you know it's SPRINGTIME!

Speaking of our new garden, we finally closed on our house and will be moving in on the 12th of May at the latest. I am going stir-crazy thinking about making the house homey, and all the things I want to adorn the walls with and all that fun stuff, that two-and-a-half weeks seems like an eternity! I even went out and photographed all the tulips to frame them for living room (or baby room, if it's a girl like Brick insists it is!).

I have my 16 week appointment in two days, and I always get a little anxious as my appointments approach, but I'm sure that all is well, especially since my belly seems to be growing (maybe I'll get brave and post the obligatory baby bump pics soon). We will find out the sex of the baby around the end of May!

Now for my embarrassing moment: the other day I was shopping for house decor at a little ma and pop store, and as I was standing in line to make my purchases, I suddenly felt very light-headed and hot. I've fainted five or six times before, so I knew that's what was coming on, and all I could do is sit down on the floor, right there in the store. The ladies at the register looked at me funny, so I told them I was just feeling light headed, and just like a couple of mother hens, they swooped me up, sat me down, and started bringing out all kinds of food and drinks for me. They guessed I was pregnant, and sat down with me to tell me all their war stories, keeping a keen eye on me to make sure I ate everything they sat down in front of me. I was dying to get out of there and, well, die of embarrassment once I was out of their sight, but they wouldn't let me leave until they were sure I was ok. I think my mom would be glad to know I am being taken care of while she's away, but man I must have been bright red in the face. I've been in the store a couple of times since, and they recognize me every time, and call me their "little pregnant girl."

And so it starts.

Anyway, happy springtime everyone, and here are some more of my tulip pictures to get you all in the mood for happy weather (and hopefully help you forget my embarrassing moment).

Big News!

I promised we would have some news within the week about a house, and we do! We got our first pick, an adorable house in Foxboro, UT, right in between where we are now and SLC! I will post pictures as soon as we have some, but first...



Even better news...

One Last Look at the City

I know this is a little late, but I promised pictures, and we all know that nobody really looks at this blog to read the novels I sometimes tend to get carried away writing! Our last week or two in NYC was perhaps the busiest, and we had no qualms about leaving the city because we definately felt like we took advantage of the food amazing sites and food, not to mention the fact that Madison Square Garden was right down the street the whole time.

One of my favorite places in the city was Little Italy (when the weather was right), where we ate the best Italian food we could ever imagine. Seriously, HEAVEN. This particular night, the weather was beautiful, and so I met Brick at his work and we walked until we ended up finding Little Italy. The streets were lined with lights, vendors were displaying their scarves and sunglasses, and the restaurants had their fronts openned up to the sidewalks so that the conversations and the smell of food filled the streets. It was one of those nights that you wish you could take with you and remember every little thing. Really, though, I mostly just wish I could take that restaurant with me back to Utah.

The most beautiful parts of the city, as gloomy as it sounds, were the cemeteries. All the cathedrals had these old cemeteries where the graves were so crowded and so old that the names were worn off the headstones. There was something really entriguing about them, and I always had to stop for a few moments to admire them.

Brick was so excited to finally be inside The Garden, and the game between the Knicks and the Nuggets was actually a really good game. Before we got there he even bought himself a NYC style hotdog from a vendor, just to feel legit.

A week or so before we left the city we were blessed with a beautiful SUNNY day, and we took advantage of it by going to the boardwalk on Coney Island. If I had to vote, this would be my favorite place we visited while in NY, but that may just have been my homesickness coming out. It was the first place we went since being in the city where you could see and feel the sunshine coming from all directions, and the openness was so refreshing!

One really funny part of Coney Island was the "Shoot the Freak" show. The freak was on vacation, I guess, because we couldn't see him anywhere, but the sign was really funny so we took a picture.

On one of our last nights in NYC, Brick brought me home a bouquet of flowers just for the heck of it. He's so funny, because he refuses to get flowers when I expect them, like Valentine's Day, because he says they mean more when they are a surprise. Such a romantic.

We're Back!

Well, we are back among the living (seriously, no more zombie city people!), and glad to be able to see the sun in all directions again! I apologize for the blog lag, but our computer's motherboard fried itself about a month ago, at which point I was really thankful I had just previously learned to crochet, otherwise I would have been bored to death! Anyway, we are so SO glad to be back in Utah! The other day I went grocery shopping at Walmart, which, everyone knows, is the most miserable place to shop, and yet, I had the thought multiple times that shopping in Utah is A PLEASURE! People smiled. There was an occasional "Excuse me," or "Thank you." And nobody scowled at me.

Brick started work at the Salt Lake office, and is really enjoying working there, especially since his good buddy, Brandon Homer, and his cousin's husband, Ryan Chase, work right there with him! He's really enjoying his work, and his hours haven't been too bad so far, which is rare, from what we hear, for Goldman Sachs! He's also excited to be back so he can play basketball again with his buddies!

In the week that we've been back we've been looking like crazy for a house before the end of April. Hopefully in the next week we will have exciting news!

We'll hopefully have some pictures posted soon!

Lady Liberty and other Touristy Attractions

Brick and I have been the worst tourists ever. We finally got around to seeing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island last Saturday, though, and I think we both kinda decided we're done with museums, because we get too tired to get our money's worth when it comes to these HUGE NYC museums. They seriously sap all your energy! Anyways, here are probably more pictures of the Statue of Liberty than you ever wanted to see!

Hope they make you feel very patriotic!

Ellis Island was really inspiring. We listened to voice recordings of actual immigrants who experienced the place first hand, saw old passports, and read accounts about the ones who had to be sent back or stick around on the island because of illness. The main building is really beautiful, and you can just feel all the history that has passed through it.

On the ferry ride over the Hudson we froze our faces off. It was so cold, but below the deck it reeked of B.O. and hotdogs, and we prefered not throwing up on the ride over, so we stuck it out above deck.

The Statue of Liberty really is beautiful, especially when you think about what it means, and meant to those coming over for the first time to make a new life for themselves.

Happy March Everyone, and look our for more adventures to come!

Celebrating the City

Our President's Day/Valentine's Day weekend was full of fun (and a whole lot of walking!). We walked everywhere, from China Town to the Brooklyn Bridge to Time Square and back to our apartment. We kept the chill off with the occasional cup of hot cocoa or apple cider, and had a really great time exploring the city.

This is what the streets of New York look like on a permanent basis: a million people trying to go in what seems like the opposite direction that you are trying to go in!

China Town was CRAZY! I've never seen so many people buying dried jellyfish and dried octopus in my life! I'm not kidding. The smell was indescribable. It was quite the adventure. We wanted to buy something to try, but all the prices and names were in Chinese.

We found a deck where we could gaze at the Brooklyn Bridge and sit and contemplate life and such. The birds were awesome, all lined up waiting to get their pictures taken. Very sweet of them.

We were so close to the Statue of Liberty, and we were planning on taking a ferry across to see it, but the line was out of this world long, so we just walked around the dock seeing the monuments and boats. This one is dedicated to the navy, and it overlooked the Hudson River and faced the Statue of Liberty.

The ferry we were gonna take (and see that tall building in the background, the one that towers over the rest? That's Brick's work).

On our Valentine's day adventures we happened upon the Rockefeller Center, which was actually really cool. I really wanted to do the outdoor iceskating, because it looked all romantic.

We decided this year that it was my turn to plan our Valentine's day, since Brick has done it every other year. I thought he would appreciate an oh-so-romantic outing to the NBA store, since it's his favorite. While there we figured out I am tall enough to play in the NBA! I could too, you know!

Brick is not quite as tall as Yoa Ming.

Our day also consisted of the ever-so adventurous first time trying Indian food. We were the only ones in the restaurant because it was a little early, and we ordered a three course meal. We had no idea what to do when they brought out this hard tortilla thing with spices in it, and this bright greenish stuff, I guess to dip it in. I'm sure the waiters were enjoying our cluelessness. We just laughed it off as we guessed which fork to use and all, and it was a good time. The experience really encompasses what our relationship has been all along...a whole lot of guessing and laughing and trying new things together. Brick has really helped me to step out of my comfort zone. I am so grateful for his companionship!

On that note...Happy late Valentine's Day everyone!