I don’t know what it is about this city but I love it! I spent a total of 2 ½ days (over 2 separate weekends) in NYC helping a friend move and it was exhausting but it was also a lot of fun!

Here are some things that we did in our 2 ½ days:

Weekend #1:

• Took the Vamoose Bus to the city and arrived by 11:30 a.m.
• Ate lunch at a Farmer’s Market across from the temple

• Took pictures of the Manhattan Temple and the cute newlyweds

• Met two Canadian Missionaries (Apparently they are the only 2 Canadian missionaries in the NYC mission and they are also companions!) They were also nice enough to give us their cell phone number in case we got lost.
  

• Look at an apartment in Spanish Harlem
• Caught a bus to our next appointment on the upper Eastside

• Took a subway to the financial district for our finally appointment which was a “loft”. It wasn’t as exciting as it sounded.
• Met some amazing people on our journey.
• Caught the last bus and headed back home.

Weekend #2:

• Drove to NYC with a car packed with my friend’s belongings.
• Arrived to the apartment (the upper Eastside apartment) by 11:45 a.m.
• Unpacked the car
• Cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and organized the apartment.
• Headed to the coolest Costco. It is a huge complex that looks like a mall but the first floor is Petco, the second floor is Costco, the third floor is Target, the fourth floor is Marshall’s, Old Navy and some other smaller stores. When we got to Costco we saw a huge line of people with the carts full of food waiting outside. It wasn’t until we watched for a few minutes that we realized that the people in line were waiting for taxis. Only in NYC.

• Unpacked the car for the second time.
• Showered. Headed to Papaya King for a hot dog.
• Took the subway to Broadway and ate chocolate shakes at Ellen’s Stardust Diner.

• Slept very soundly.
  
• The next morning as we headed to church, we saw the lead female runners running the NYC Marathon.

• Attended 3 great hours of church.
• Ate lunch, grabbed a bus, took a subway and ran to make my bus back to Bethesda.
  

Did I mention it was exhausting??? It was an interesting experience helping someone move to a new city because I heard myself saying things that had been said to me so many times before.

When I was in college, my mom always helped me move into my new apartments and she made sure before she headed back home that my space was organized, clean and that I had food in my refrigerator. I hope I was grateful at the time for her hard work and her dedication to making sure that I had as smooth as a transition as possible. I really tried all weekend to have a positive attitude even when things were bleak (all the cleaning and my friend was struggling to not just give-up.)

So, thank you MOM, DAD and all those who have ever helped me move into a new place. Thank you for being positive and helping me have many smooth transitions. I know I will be moving in the next few months (don’t know where) so if any of you are up to it, you can come help ME move.

So, NYC was wonderful. There was so much more I wanted to do like see Mark & Kathryn’s new little one but that will have to wait for my next bus trip to the big city.

A Good Stretch

Last Thanksgiving, my sister, her husband, four of their six children and I went to my Uncle and Aunt's house for dinner. It was actually the day before Thanksgiving but who would ever turn down a Thanksgiving dinner. As we gathered to say the blessing on our Thanksgiving feast, my Uncle thanked everyone for coming and for being so flexible with their schedules to come the day before Thanksgiving. As he said this, my nephew Eric who had just barely turned five, started commenting quietly but out loud to himself. He said, "I, I'm not flexible. Now, Jenna (Eric's sister who was 8 years old at the time) Jenna is flexible. She can do the splits. I can't do the splits. I'm not flexible but I can do the arm splits." At that point he held up his arms in the arm splits. I could not help giggling over his statement and when I pointed out Eric doing the arm splits, we all had a good laugh.


I, I'm not that flexible. Even after years of what has felt that huge bouts of stretching in my life, maybe even being put on the rack (and I do mean this more metaphorically), I still do not like being stretched. 2009 was a hard year for me. I struggled with just getting through the year. 2010 started off with great promise. I met someone new, someone wonderful and we started dating. However, as good as 2010 started, it quickly became a year of stretching. I experienced heartaches that are very private but never the less, have caused me to question some core beliefs about who I am. I got a new job. A job which I love and I feel blessed to have but that doesn't mean that it doesn't challenge me almost daily and I do miss my old friends that I left at the other bank. I turned 35 years old. I have never been good at big birthdays and I just felt older and I felt that some of my life goals and plans were slipping away. My house sold (which is awesome) but the sale resulted in losing my roommate, changing homes, changing states, changing wards and changing callings (So far, I have lost one calling and yet to gain another). I met a wonderful lady at church a few Sundays ago. As she introduced herself to me, and I told her that I was new, she nicely said, "Now, don't think we aren't an accepting bunch but it just takes about a year to get acclimated." I told her I completed understood but to be honest, it just made me feel more alone. I feel so distant from my old life and I miss not getting lost and knowing all the shortcuts. My boyfriend and I have had many more ups than downs but lately it seems that even that relationship has caused me to stretch. Please don't mistake my lack of flexibility for ingratitude. I am blessed and so grateful for all I have. I am just sore and tired of all this stretching and I am wondering that maybe, just maybe if I hang in there, I can at least learn to do the arm splits.

Adieu To The Cottage

"..she could not quit the mansion-house,
or look an adieu to the cottage...
without a sadden heart.
-Scences had passed in Uppercross (North Potomac),
which made it precious.
It stood the record of many sensations of pain, once severe,
but now softened; and of some instances of relenting feeling,
some breathings of friendship and reconciliation
which could never be looked for again,
and which could never cease to be dear.
She left it all behind her,
all but the recollection that such things had been."

Persuasion

Moving Tip #1

Here is one of the best tips I have ever received about moving. (Thanks Craig & Susan!)

Use Rubbermaid containers instead of boxes. They are a bit more expensive but they are more durable, waterproof, and reusable. What Craig & Susan did was they labeled the boxes, A, B, C...and then when she finished the alphabet she started on AA, BB, CC... They kept a list of what was contained in each box for easy reference. So, Christmas decorations might be in A, B, and C and Easter decorations might be in box D. The beauty of this plan is that if they ever decide to put Christmas decorations in box D and move Easter decorations to box E then they just change the master list and not the label on the box. GENIUS! I have shared this idea with many of my friends and family and they have used the tip with great success.


I guess the obvious part of my Target purchase is that I am planning to move soon. (as soon as my house sells). I don't like to move because it is so much work but I always love the fresh start!

Here are some of my boxes in my basement, labeled and ready to go!