"I'm In Such Great Walking Shape"

I love my dad for many reasons, but mainly for how much he loves life and how excited he gets about little things (even when the rest of the family doesn't quite share his same excitement). Two years ago my entire family came to visit me in NYC, and in preparation for Cody's first trip to the big apple my dad was trying to explain to him about the subway system. He would go on and on about how public transportation works, how fast the trains move, how many people ride it, and how the whole network of tracks is underground a city of more than 6 million people. He said, "Cody, it's like a whole 'nother world down there!"

Unfortunately for Cody, my dad was so enthusiastic about the subway system that once in NYC he had to point out every subway entrance and say, "Cody, it's a whole 'nother world down there." It became our running joke during the trip.

Two years later my family comes to visit NYC again, and my dad hasn't changed a bit. Although, this time it wasn't about the subway system, it was about walking. I have to give my old man some props. We walked A LOT while they were here; I mean, even I was tired, and I live here! So my dad complained the first day, but he was totally amazed at how quickly his body adjusted and thus was born the phrase, "I just can't believe I'm in such great walking shape!" He must have told us at least five times a day (for the next seven days)! In fact, I think he even mentioned it multiple times once they got back to Wyoming.

I let my parents take most of the pictures on the trip, but here are a few from the day we went to the Natural History Museum and did the paddle boats in Central Park.

And yes, we did spend at least ten minutes staring and laughing at the weiner on this dude. My dad titled this exhibit "Granny and Grandpa leave for their Honeymoon". Only my family would be so immature as to take a picture of what everyone else calls "science"and "evolution".

Jeff really enjoyed the dinosaurs exhibits, especially once we told him they were "Little Foot" and "Three-Horns" from the Land Before Time.

I love Central Park and NYC in the summer!

After a few days in NYC, we went on an east coast roadtrip down the coast to Delaware and Virginia and then came back through Washington DC and Pennsylvania. Here are a few highlights from our day in the nation's capitol.

This picture is classic: my dad with his reading glasses on looking at a map, my mom trying to text a picture of the white house to her mom and sisters, Jeffery brushing his hair, and me and Cody apparently had seen enough of the white house and were ready to move on!

Such a beautiful afternoon to take a walking tour of the monuments.

Jeff was apparently not happy about the picture and the hug my mom was giving him...and Cody is especially happy cause Greg just grabbed his butt right before the shot!

And once again, why I love my dad. He loves to stop at places along the road to take pictures. But he won't get just any shot; no, he will squat down on the ground for the perfect shot!

We had such a great vacation. And even though I'm 28 and married, I still cry every time I have to say goodbye to my family. We're already counting down the days to Thanksgiving! Sure do love and miss you guys! Thanks for coming all the way across the country to spend time with us.

Weekend With My Love

This past month marked one of the best changes in our married life. I'm no longer working full-time. And as a nurse, what does that mean? No more working nights or weekends or holidays...and more time to spend with the man I love!

So how did we spend our first entire weekend together? A fun Broadway show and a lazy Sunday afternoon in Central Park. Love and Love!

Does life get any better than this? I don't think so!

Oh Canada

It's Memorial weekend, and we finally see the first signs of summer in NYC...and what do we do??? We head north to Canada!!! We couldn't not take advantage of the long weekend, time off of work and the fact that Jon and Leah have a car and invited us to go on a roadtrip with them, so while people in Manhattan were enjoying the beach and the sunshine, we were struggling to stay warm and dry as we explored a new country. Even though it rained the ENTIRE weekend (except for the morning we had to head home), we loved touring the French part of Canada. We had a great time eating good French cuisine and exploring Montreal and Quebec City and their streets and architecture. Leah said the old part of Quebec City was just like being in France. So charming!

We stopped at this little Patisserie in Montreal. The quiche was amazing, and the croissants were pretty good too.

We spent most of our time exploring the old part of Quebec City. Quebec was first settled in 1608 and is actually one of the oldest settlements in North America. It is unique because of its location right at the narrowing of the St. Lawrence River and is the only "walled city" that still exists north of Mexico. We could not get enough of the Citadelle...so majestic and beautiful!

The streets in Quebec were so charming. We felt like we had walked right into a page out of a history book.

We hiked up on top of the city wall and walked around, admiring the views of the rooftops and the Citadelle.

We tried to get a self-portrait but didn't realize the camera was on zoom! OOPS, no one wants a picture of themselves that close (but it is kind of funny, so I thought I would include)!

We had dinner at this cute little authentic Quebecoise restaurant...meat pies and poutine - you've got to try it at least once in your life!

And of course the sun came out just as we had to say au revoir! We loved these city streets.

Pretty Clever

We saw the funniest sign the other evening as we got off the subway. On the corner 72nd street is a famous little NY hot dog place called Gray's Papaya. Famous for the recession special (2 hot dogs and a drink for a few bucks), the quote outside says "When you're hungry, or broke, or just in a hurry."

This night, however, we had to laugh at the huge MURDER sign in the front window. Pretty clever if you ask me...

We still love you Gray's Papaya!

So We Like to Eat...

April 22nd was my and Greg's half-anniversary. I had intended to do a blog post about how wonderful it is being married to my best friend and include a few pictures of how we celebrated - Jacques Torres chocolates, dinner at a cute little French bistro and ending with a slice of Junior's carrot cake cheesecake...

BUT...as I was thumbing through the images to add to the post, I noticed how many pictures we had taken of the food we eat! Not even joking, we probably have more pictures of meals then we do of ourselves. We do enjoy eating good food, however, I haven't figured out the obsession with the pictures...

Maybe because we appreciate the artistic talent that goes into a well-plated dish...

Or maybe because the food is just so amazing we don't want to forget it (I can taste that Stand burger and shake right now)...

Or I guess just to connect with each other. Eating is a common love we share. Not a lie, these are true text message pictures Greg sent me while I was working: one of a burrito he picked up from the Chinese/Mexican place downstairs and another of a nearly-devoured dessert from a work lunch meeting.

And unfortunately these are just a handful of the pictures we have. The majority will never get posted on this blog or shared with anyone else, but what memories we have of 6-months of good food as husband and wife!