Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Today I...

A friend from college does something on her blog that I thought was very interesting...she lists short sentences about her day. I liked it. Simple, yet, informative. So, here goes.

Today I....

had coffee with fudge chocolate creamer

sat under a tree in my car with the sunroof open and did my bible study

suspected the guy sitting near me in his car was up to no good

spoke spanish

taught 3 new students the alphabet in english

regretted the thought that i might have to turn the heat on

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

This one's a doozy...but has all the details!


...I was going to post all these individually, but it was going to take a loooong time...sorry if its hard to make out what they are!

Friday

- flew out of GSP at 10:38A and landed in Newark, NJ at 12:30P.


- we checked in at our very simple, modest, safe, and clean hotel, Riverside Studios, in the upper west side next to the Hudson River and 2 blocks from Central Park http://www.riversidestudioshotel.com/.

- immediately after we got to the hotel to put our stuff away and get ready, we got all dressed up for the evening and went directly to the Empire State Building. (aside: the fabulous shoes I bought to go with my dress and other outfits had made my feet actually bleed by the time we were at the Empire State building...and while we waited in line, Chad (my hero) went all the way down to street level and bought band-aids in hopes of cushioning my feet a little)

- we had a wonderful dinner at Meli Melo and listened to old man play the clarinet! It was so romantic! (especially watching Chad so lovingly apply these band-aids to the inside of my shoes)


- Then, we went to the Majestic Theater on Broadway to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway from the front row!! I had been wanting to see this for about 12 years...(dorky maybe, BUT, our high school band won state competition playing the music from Phantom...and I went to many of the competitions)


Saturday (today we got up around 6:30)

- delicious breakfast at the quaint diner around the corner from our hotel

- early tour of NBC studios (saw the following studios: MSNBC, Brian William's desk, Conan O'Brein, SNL) sorry there are no pics of this, b/c the sets at NBC are all trademarked so no cameras are allowed. (oh, and neither are dangerous finger-nail clippers!)

- It was sprinkling now as we waited in line for the ferry to take us to Ellis Island and by the Statue of Liberty. But, by the time we got on the ferry...the clouds parted and we had beautiful weather!

- Then, we went sight seeing in Financial District: NY Stock Exchange, Ground Zero, Alexander Hamilton's grave, etc. We really couldn't see much of Ground Zero because the fencing around the entire block has a green mesh cloth that blocks any views. However, we did get a couple of pictures. It was really hard for me to grasp the enormity of it all b/c I hadn't seen it before the attack...

- We headed over to Chinatown in search of some yummy lunch. Chad asked a couple (maybe in their late 40's/50's) if they knew of a good place to go. They said "follow us!" So, the four of us walked around Chinatown and finally ended up at Shanghai Cuisine, put our names in to be seated, and discussed what we should have. They recommended the dumplings. When they called Patrick and Helen's names, they looked at us and asked us to join them! Chad did the ordering b/c I had been pre-occupied with all the street sights instead of looking at the menu. They brought more food than I could have ever imagined! So, we shared our food with Patrick and Helen (from California)...discussed work, their children, politics (and surprisingly we were on the same side of the fence) and had a wonderful time!

- It was getting later than we realized, so we had to abruptly leave our new friends and head back to the hotel for a little rest


- we rested for about an hour, then got ready for another night in the Big Apple.


- We went to Gotham Comedy Club. We managed to get the best seats in the house...second row, front and center (Chad was so excited!) The headliner (Dom Irrera) actually mentioned Columbia, SC! so, I had to give a little shout out...he stopped and said "seriously? I never get a shout out for Columbia, SC!" and then he proceeded to talk about the nickname for the Gamecocks and how ridiculous it was...I would have to agree with that! ha! (go Tigers)


- After the show, I was still hungry (b/c the Cesar salad was not so good) and we stopped at a little corner restaurant and had a yummy Gyro.


- We walked down to the Hudson River (right down the street from our hotel) and looked over at the lights of Jersey City. I was pretty scared though (you know, all those terrible things you hear about the parks at night in NYC) so, we only stayed a minute, and went to get some much needed shut-eye.


Sunday


Because we tarried a little on Saturday, we used Sunday to catch up on some of the sights we had missed.
-breakfast at the cool diner next to or hotel


- We went to the Planetarium inside the American Museum of Natural History & learned about the Big Bang Theory! the show was actually amazing though


- we took a brisk walk through Central Park in order to get to our next destination very quickly (b/c we're running short on time and had to get to the airport soon)

- Finally, we made it to La Maison du Chocolat and planned on tasting the best chocolate in NYC (b/c my hubby knows me so well...and I LOVE chocolate) But they didn't open for another hour! and we had a flight to catch! :( oh well...nice attempt...the good news is...you can order online!

- then we headed back to the Museum to get our bags out of coat check and started the 1 1/2 hour trek back to the airport (subway, train, and bus)

- running most of the way, we still only barley made it on the plane in time!

How did he do it?

If you are just checking my blog after a few days, please read the previous post "It's Monday and you might ask....."

Well, a few weeks ago, Chad made a list of the types of outfits I needed to bring: 1 dressy outfit as if I were going to a show, 1 trendy outfit, comfortable shoes, 1 outfit for a short hike/park visit. So, I packed everything accordingly into my little duffle bag with some hanging clothes out so they wouldn't get wrinkled in the bag.

As we got into the car, I hardly noticed the large suitcase in the back seat b/c we packed all our stuff into the very back of the car. We went on our way! After a few miles, Chad pulled out the file folder and talked me through page by page. He had to pull over the car b/c we were both too excited to be operating heavy equipment!

Once we parked the car in the airport parking lot, he pulled out the giant suitcase, and out of it, he got the small 'carry-on' sized rolling bag! So, I began to re-pack my clothes...taking out the shampoo, conditioner, nail polish remover, extra jacket, etc...and fit it all into this carry on bag!

He had done so well! He had left his hanging clothes out, was dressed for rafting, brought a silly had my dad gave him to wear on the water (that, by the way, said "Paddle Faster, I hear banjos"), and even made comments about the gel in his hair and how he'd have to wash it before going on the water b/c it would make his hat smell bad!

We printed our tickets and waited to board the plane. As we sat in the concourse, Chad pulled out my iPod, 2 sets of headphones, and the double connector so we could begin watching the movies he'd downloaded that take place in NYC! Isn't he amazing! He thought of everything!

You see, Chad has been dying to take me to NYC. I had been there once before during a long lay-over (after missing my flight to South America) but we only spent a few hours in the city. So, he had promised that one day he'd take me...but little did I know, that day would come sooner than later...

Sorry it's just words for now, I'll post some pictures soon...there are just so many and so much to say that I don't want to miss anything!

Monday, October 06, 2008

It's Monday and you might ask, "What did you do this weekend...?"

This past weekend, Chad had planned a weekend to celebrate our anniversary (9/23). He said we were going rafting in Charlotte at their man made raft course with his parents and that there were some surprises in store after that....

We packed our bags, went on our way Friday morning and headed out. A few minutes down the road, he hands me a file folder labeled "Clues" and tells me to read the clues and he prompted me to turn the pages. Here are the clues...


(ever seen National Treasure?)

x


at this point, he's pulled the car over, both of us are teary-eyed and I'm speechless...we weren't on our way to I-85, rafting, or even Charlotte....

.....more to come.....