Simple Pleasures

Every once in awhile, life can be a lot to handle. Luckily there are little things that get us through. Even if some of them are silly, and maybe its just me who gets excited about some things. Things like:

a new tube of mascara.

sugar snap peas.

a hard working husband.

having a pool in my back yard.

a new pack of socks.

cupcakes.

softball games on a summer night.

sunsets.

Harry Potter. It never gets old.

drive in movies.

chapstick.

video chats.

fireworks.

encouraging text messages.

clean towels.

a new book.

flip flops.

goldfish crackers.

otter pops.

recognizing your blessings.

Anyway. Those are just some of them. Sometimes I forget to take a minute and think about those things.
 Isn't life great?

Happy 2 Year Anniversary!!

It is still so weird to think that Ethan and I have been married for 2 years!! Time has never flown faster in my life than it has since I've been married. Which I must say worries me just a bit- I don't want the rest of my time with Ethan to just fly by! I want to enjoy it. So I will. It will just also fly, and there isn't really much I can do about it.
As promised, I am going to write about our little anniversary trip. Unfortunately, there really isn't a whole lot to write about. But I'll tell you anyway.
We knew we wanted to get away to somewhere for our anniversary. We also knew that to go anywhere it would require quite a lot of driving. We were all for Six Flags in Dallas until we realized that it was the first weekend school was out- we'd already missed slow-ish time of year to go. Ethan works so hard that we just needed a relaxing weekend, really. So, we found ourselves in Lajitas, Texas. This is a little (and I mean so little) resort town on the border of Texas and Mexico. All that is in this town is this tiny golf resort. It was great! It was almost completely deserted because who really wants to go to the hottest place in the world in the middle of June? We're not afraid. We went. And it was SO HOT. But there was some beautiful desert scenery, and we could literally throw a rock at Mexico. The resort was right on the Rio Grande. Which was really a misnomer, at least in Lajitas. More than anything, it was just nice to spend time together.

In those buildings ahead was our room.

On the boardwalk in the little resort. As you can see, Mexico is only 0.25 miles away.

A view of the golf course. Those mountains are Mexican! :)

It was a great, relaxing weekend. It was so nice to have 3 whole days to ourselves!  We swam in the pool, I got a massage, and we ate some yummy food.

He was hungry. Hence the look.

On the boardwalk, about to go to dinner.

This place wasn't much to look at during the day, but when the sun started setting the scenery was beautiful!

On Sunday, we decided to drive home through Big Bend National Park. It was cool to see the desert formations. We drove down to the mouth of Santa Elena Canyon, where one side of cliffs is Texas, the other side is Mexico. It was pretty cool!

So hot. So sweaty. Please don't judge.

Skipping rocks. He's very good.

Left side Mexico, right side Texas

Well, that was pretty much our little weekend! I'll post again soon! Chelsie is coming to visit in 2 days and I couldn't be more excited about it! Until next time... Happy anniversary to the best husband a girl could ask for! I love you, Ethan.

So here we are in Texas...

Well, we are getting off to a good start here in Texas for the summer. Ethan has had to adjust a lot to the temperature difference. He went from working in 50 degree weather on ice to 105 degree weather on artificial turf which raises the temperature even more. It is so hot here! Poor Ethan... but he is such a good, hard worker and he is getting used to it. We are living in our travel trailer in the back yard of Lynn and Sterling's house. We are so glad to have our own place to stay. Its a pretty sweet little set up- Ethan even put turf around our trailer so its like we have our own yard! :)

its put together from scraps of turf from other jobs, but it still looks pretty good!

Home sweet home!

that's my hard worker!

Luckily Ethan and Sterling are able to keep busy-probably busier than they can stand. We are secretly glad for no rain because it means Ethan and Sterling stay in business installing artificial turf.  I just got a part time job at a preschool down here. I teach music to the kids twice a week. Its only a few hours a week but it is something to do, and definitely something to put on my resume that is applicable to teaching, so that's good. Basically, I swim. A lot. It is definitely nice not to have to worry about lifeguarding anyone in the pool. Sometimes I might still reach for my whistle or fight back the urge to tell people not to run... but otherwise I'd say I'm making the transition nicely. :) Hopefully soon I'll get to start teaching swimming lessons here.

Its hard to complain too much when this is how I get to spend most of my time...

We got right into the ward too. Ethan was called to be a Sunday school teacher, and I'm now a ward missionary. In Texas, that means you actually have something to do. I guess that's what happens when your husband's uncle is the bishop. 

Ethan joined a softball league with his cousins and friends, so we have fun watching the games. We've loved being here- Ethan gets to see all of his people and I love getting to know them.

Don't you just love summer nights?? They are seriously the best.

Also, in case you couldn't tell, there are some amazing sunsets down here. I miss my Utah mountains SO much, but the sunsets almost make up for it. 

Last weekend was our 2 year anniversary. Soon I'll post about that and put up some more pics!

NEW YORK!!!

I kept trying to think of some super catchy title for this post but nothing looked good, so NEW YORK it is! Incidentally, I feel it really captures the essence of how I still feel about our trip. Shouty capitals because it was AWESOME. So there you go!

Its taken me awhile to put these up... I don't really know why. Probably because there were so many pictures to go through and edit and choose that it seemed daunting but I think I finally got it all figured out. I took so many pictures, and only decided to put less than half on the blog. The really good stuff, I guess you could say, (or at least the highlights.) I am so glad my parents let me come on this trip with them. It was just what I needed- some family time. I wish I would have had the internet at our hotel- I would have tried to blog one day at a time when I was there. So you'll probably get the reader's digest version.

Trip Highlights:

• World Trade Center Memorial
• Empire State Building
• Statue of Liberty
• Central Park
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The Museum of Natural History
• Newsies on Broadway
• Anything Goes on Broadway
• Philadelphia/Lancaster Pennsylvania
• Times Square
• Cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes. 

Basically all the touristy kind of things you have to do at least once. Next time I go, hopefully I can see a lot more of the not so obvious things. And just go to shows on Broadway. All day.

I'm just going to start putting up pictures. Lots of pictures.... (I suggest clicking the pictures and looking at the slide show, too. That way they are easier to see.)

Day 1:

The 9-11 memorial- one of the giant fountains.

one of the seven buildings being built at the memorial site.

The tree in the fence is called the "survivor tree" because it survived the attacks of 9-11.

NBC store

30 Rock

Ready for our first Broadway show of the trip- Anything Goes. It was spectacular!

After the show we decided to go a certain direction and accidentally found ourselves in Times Square!

 

M&M store

Can you say heaven?!?

Beginning of day 2.... Our crazy journey to find a hidden dumpling restaurant in China Town. We got lost several times, including a ride with a misled taxi driver, but we finally found it!! And let me tell you, it was worth the wait! I don't think I'll ever find a better Chinese place than Vanessa's Dumplings. It was so cheap too! 8 dumplings for a dollar. In NYC. Crazy, right?

China Town

mmmm....

We trekked our way up to Empire State Building... ok, ok. We took a taxi to it... It was so cloudy that day you couldn't see the top of the spire.

Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?

Me and Chels on the top!

Mom and Pa

The view to the south

I took this picture for Ethan. The NY Rangers were in the Stanley Cup playoffs when we were there. They were playing at Madison Square Garden when we passed by that night.

Times Square at night

Empire State- We never did figure out why it was green that night.

Day 3:

Waiting for the train in Hoboken, NJ

Once upon a time, it was a very, very rainy day in NYC. We decided, like the crazy people we are, to go out to see the Statue of Liberty. There would be less crowds, so of course it was a good idea. Well... we came  away completely soaked, but we accomplished our goal! It was very cool to see the statue up close. 

Yep. We were those nerdy tourists who wore ponchos. Cold and wet, but happy to be there!

Ellis Island

Then, we went to Little Italy for some delicious Italian food. BEST PASTA OF MY LIFE. The illusion was ruined when our waiter told us he was from Mexico... but it didn't make the food any less wonderful.

Love it! (I know its all a show for the tourists, but I just don't care...)

Central Park! I LOVE the park.

I hadn't seen this part of the park before. It was an awesome little theatre for Shakespearean Plays. Sounds like my kind of place..

Museum of Natural History

This picture shows many things- Macy's, of course, and the Empire State Building, the top of which was completely covered in clouds. May I draw your attention to the psychedelic sign in the corner? I didn't have to? I KNOW. It blinded us every night as we walked past on the way to the train. My eyes died a little more every time...

These are a tad out of order... This was the day we took a bus tour of the south part of Manhattan. Here's the back of Madison Square Garden

One of my favorites- the Flat Iron Building.

Trinity Church

Battery Park

South Street Market on the Harbor

Washington Bridge. You can see the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. Unfortunately we never had time to go over there.

Cloudy evening in Times Square. Notice the Hershey's store in the corner... mmmm

We never got to go inside, but here it is! Carlo's Bake Shop from Cake Boss. The line always wrapped around the street... so we just took a picture.

New York Pizza. Mom didn't realize you were supposed to fold it... What a tourist... :) My favorite pizza I'd ever had was at this store. It was mozzarella and ricotta, with NO SAUCE! Its like they knew I was coming...

We took a tour of North Manhattan today. This is Pete, the world's best tour guide. He was HILARIOUS. He joked around with everyone on the bus. When he found out we're Mormons, he promised us he'd show us our temple. "Hey, ya know that guy Angel Moroni? The guy on top of the temple? We'll go say hi to him." Basically- awesome. He knew we were going to the Newsies that day, so he made sure we got there on time, even if it meant not stopping to pick up some other tourists on the way... :)

Ready to start the tour

We had those smiles on our faces the whole tour- he was just that funny. Also- notice WICKED(!) at the Gershwin Theatre.  I totally wish we could have seen that too.

Another view of Central Park

Columbus Square. Doesn't that make you want to watch Enchanted?

Just like Pete promised! The LDS temple, right smack in the middle of the city. If you look closely, you can see Angel Moroni. Pete forgot to tell us until we were a bit past it. And unfortunately, my camera had died, so this crappy phone shot was all I could get. Either way, seeing such a wonderful place in the middle of a crazy city made me very happy. 

One of the very pretty cathedrals in the city.

Newsies at the Nederlander Theatre. It was AMAZING. It had 4 of my favorite dancers from So You Think You Can Dance. Chelsie was drooling. I had to bring her back to reality a few times. Its hard to blame her though... an entire play full of attractive men who are also excellent dancers and singers? Any girl in her right mind would have a hard time keeping their jaw from dropping every now and then.

Day 4: We spent our time in Pennsylvania today. We went to Philadelphia to see Independence Hall and eat a cheesesteak, then to Valley Forge (which was beautiful, but all the pictures are on my dad's camera) and Lancaster county, in the Amish Country. Amish Country was one of the most stunningly beautiful places I've ever seen. (pictures are also on my dad's camera.)

Independence hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

Sonny's cheesesteaks. SO. GOOD.

Nice look for us, I think. 

Day 5: Our Museum day

View of the park from inside of the Museum of Natural History

Foyer of the Museum of Natural History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

AW! So great. This is one of my favorite places in the world. I love the Met. This was the Greek/Roman section.

Gate of an ancient church. Also where I got in trouble for leaving my flash on.

An ancient Egyptian Temple. No big deal.

Not only are the artifacts amazing, but the building itself is beautiful!

Washington Crossing the Delaware. I had no idea this picture was so huge. It is very cool. My dad was very excited to see this.

Beautiful artwork. And so tired from walking all day.

Museum foyer.

Ding Dang Dong... the Plaza Hotel

FAO Schwartz. Yes, there was an entire Harry Potter section. Yes, I am wearing Professor McGonnagall's hat. Yes, I was in heaven. Thank you for asking.

They wouldn't let us play it. It was sad.

Somehow we got dragged into a bike/carriage ride. It was actually pretty sweet.

This was Johnny, our fearless leader. And the world's biggest flirt.

Waiting at a stop light.

These little beauties became our nightly tradition. We stumbled upon a place called Baked by Melissa, where there were bite size cupcakes. It was like a little cupcake shot. And they were so tasty. We each had 3 on the way to our train every night. MMM. I miss them already...

Well, folks. That about sums it up. Maybe I'll get some more pictures from my mom, dad or Chelsie and add them. Thanks to the parentals for taking me on such an amazing trip!

Needless to say....