Roadtrip!

We had such a great weekend! Friday evening, after Bill's first final, we hauled a big suitcase and a few bags of snacks on the subway to pick up our rental car.

It took about a half an hour to get out of the city and we made it to Scranton PA and spent the night. Some of you may recognize the building above from the opening credits of the TV show, The Office. Scranton is a pretty cool town.

We left Saturday morning and headed up through northern PA on back roads to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and small towns. It was gorgeous! Below is a picture of the Susquehanna River.

Our next stop was Fayette NY and the Peter Whitmer Farm. This is where the LDS church was officially organized on 6 April 1830. There is a beautiful visitors' center and the Whitmer home has been rebuilt to look the same as it would have back then.

Then we were off to Palmyra. We first came to the Hill Cumorah. It is right off the main road and there is a beautiful drive up to the top. We spent a few minutes up there and then went in to the visitors' center. Just as we were walking through the glass doors I recognized one of my old institute teachers sitting at the main desk, Brother Ed Pinegar. He was such a great and funny teacher and I didn't know that he and his wife were serving a mission there. It was fun visiting with him for a few minutes.

We decided that we wanted to spend the night in Palmyra so we could go to church the next morning, so we jumped back in the car and drove up to Niagara Falls for a quick peek. We got there just as the sun was going down, but got a pretty good view. It's an amazing sight.

We woke up early Sunday morning so that we could see the Smith Home, Sacred Grove and Palmyra Temple before going to church. It was pretty cold, but such a neat experience to be able to see where Joseph Smith received the First Vision and where the Restoration of the Church began.

After a very nice church meeting, we got packed up and checked out of our room and drove into the town of Palmyra. I fell in love! It is such a peaceful, pretty town. We stopped at the printing shop where the first Book of Mormon was printed, the grave of Alvin Smith and the Martin Harris Farm. (I don't think the garages are originals?) ;)

Sadly, we had to start back for Manhattan to turn our car in. It turned out to be another beautiful, crisp autumn day and the drive was great. I'm so glad we were able to squeeze one more fun trip in before Bill's finals and the arrival of our little pumpkin. We're getting very excited for this upcoming adventure!

Girls Weekend!

What a fun weekend! My mom and sisters, Ann & Becky, came to visit. They arrived Thursday evening and we had a blast! Friday morning we started early with a walk and bike ride through Central Park. The weather was beautiful!

Riding a bike was a little awkward, but very fun.

We had lunch in Rockefeller Center and then went to get tickets to a show. We ended up seeing A Tale of Two Cities, which was very good.

Saturday morning we took a train up to Greenwich, CT. It is a very cute little town with a fun main street with shops and restaurants. We found a fun little french cafe and had delicious crepes. When we got back to the city, we went to Herald Square for a little shopping. Then we met Bill for dinner and dessert at Carnegie Deli. I had my usual chocolate fudge layer cake. It's to die for!

Sunday was church and then a stroll through the Financial District. We took the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Then we walked through Exchange Place and over to Ground Zero.

Bill was a sweet heart and made us a wonderful lasagna for dinner. It was very impressive!

My mom and sisters flight was early Monday morning, so I helped them to a cab and they were off. I was so sad to see them go. It was so fun hanging out with them all weekend!

Can you die of boredom?

I hope not, but if you can, I might be the next casualty. Monday morning I finally got a call around 8:45 am from one of the FOUR temp agencies that I've signed up with. The job was for that morning through Wednesday at an engineering firm. I was so excited to finally have a job that I jumped in the shower, got ready in a flash and headed to midtown.

I have been trying for a month now to get some kind of temporary work to keep me busy until our baby arrives and to provide me with some extra spending money. I was getting pretty discouraged, so I was very excited about this opportunity...until I got there. I hate to complain, since I really feel like it was an answer to many prayers, but I'm struggling to understand why this firm felt like they needed a temp while their regular assistant is out. During the 30 hours that I have been here, I've done a total of probably 3 hours of work for them. On Tuesday, the supervisor asked me if I could stay through Friday instead since now the girl won't be back until Monday. I said yes, but I feel slightly guilty because, at this moment, they are paying me to update my blog.

I'm still hoping for another couple of weeks worth of work to come along. I just hope it's a little more stimulating!

Fun Visit!

We were so excited to be able to hang out with my wonderful friend Lissy and her new husband, Mark this weekend. I was so sad that I missed their wedding in Utah by 2 1/2 weeks, but was thrilled when I learned that they would be spending part of their honeymoon in New York!

It was so great to see them! We went to dinner in Little Italy, dessert at Carnegie Deli and, of course, did a little shopping. Lissy is the best shopping partner since we both have very similar styles and tastes. It's almost dangerous! I was so sad to have to say goodbye last night!

Governors Island

I am really enjoying getting to know so many nice girls in our new ward. Every Friday, a group of us get together for "playgroup". One of the girls plans an activity and anyone is welcome. They try to gear it for the children, but I think it's really a good excuse for the mom's to get together with each other!

This week we went to Governors Island. It is a small island in New York Harbor about a 5 minute, free ferry ride away. It was first settled in the 1600's by the Dutch. Then in the mid- 1800's, it was used as an Army base and then by the Coast Guard. It was closed down several years ago, so there are all of these old Army buildings and colonial homes that are now just sitting empty. It has a weird "ghost town" feel, but is very cool.

There isn't much to do there. You can rent bicycles or take your own, or just walk the cobblestone roads and there are a couple of buildings open to walk through. We walked around a bit and then sat on a beautiful lawn for a little picnic and to let the kids play.

Now, New York City has a plan to develop the island over the next 10 to 20 years for tourists. It sounds like it will be a pretty fun place!

Buy me some peanuts...

Last night Bill and I went to see the Yankees play the White Sox. It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time complete with a hot dog for dinner!

This is a picture of the new Yankee Stadium where they will start next season.

Wicked Fun!

Last week Bill and I went to see Wicked. It was great! I've had the songs memorized for years, but realized I was missing a lot of the details of the story. It was really funny and even Bill laughed here and there! I think he enjoyed it. We had a great time!