A Trip To Washington.....Happy Birthday Kari

This is totally late, but that seems to be my mo these days :)

A couple of weekends ago I flew home to Washington to surprise my sister, Kari, for her birthday! Mom and I had planned this for a several months and were just so excited! The plan was for Kari and I to spend the weekend in Downtown Portland in a nice hotel and live it up! And live it up we did! I'll follow up with some of our adventures later :)

The pictures below are of the hotel and the room that Mom and I decorated for the festivities.

Thanksgiving is over?!

I just can't believe how fast this year is going. Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas season is in full swing. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas season, but I just can't believe how fast this year has gone. Sigh. Oh, well. It's been a good year and I'm sure next year will be just as wonderful.

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at our house this year! Jeff cooked a lovely dinner. I helped a little, but let's face it, Jeff cooked most of it. I was on dish and table setting duty. It's not a noble job, but someone has to do it. The Buhl's joined us for our first Thanksgiving at home and I'm sure glad they did. They are such a great time!

Well, I know I'm late with this, but HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you all had a smashing good time yesterday!

Mormon Helping Hands: Keansburg, NJ

Jeff and I joined a few members of our ward on Saturday and served with Mormon Helping Hands cleaning out some of the houses that were effected by Sandy. We went to Keansburg, NJ which had significant flooding despite being almost a mile from the ocean. We went in and removed sheetrock, insulation, flooring, and kitchen cabinets. It's amazing the damage that water can do!

I walked around the neighborhood to take pictures and couldn't believe all of the possessions that people had to throw out due to water damage. There were several houses that had notices on them stating that they were not safe for occupation and had to be inspected before people could return.

There is just so much work to be done! Our Stake is volunteering with Mormon Helping Hands every Saturday until Christmas and I don't think that will be enough.

While enjoying pizza that the owner of the house we were clearing out gave us for lunch, two guys from the Baptist Association drove up with a big truck. They were from Indiana and were offering the same services we were. They joined us for a slice of pizza and shared a little bit about themselves. They both took off two weeks from work to come out to NJ to help clean up. 

I took the train into NYC on Monday for the first time since the storm. Since the New Jersey Transit Coastline is down and will be for a long time, the train going up central Jersey was packed! I had to stand the whole time (about an hour) in a hot, crowded train. I was totally annoyed and complaining with the other disgruntled passengers, but then realized how lucky I am that my biggest problem is that I have to stand on the train to go to work. There are people that lost their homes and possessions. I can spend the next couple of months standing on the train.

Central Park, Serendipity, and Wicked

Also old news.

While the fam was here we spent some quality time in NYC. We saw a couple of shows, visited Central Park, and did the traditional touristy things.

One of the days we went to Serendipity3. Dad had never been so we thought it was a must. He loved the frozen hot chocolate, but was a little disappointed that he had to share with mom. I knew better...I ordered my own! I don't mess around when it comes to Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate.

One of my favorite things to do in NYC is to people watch in Time Square. It's totally entertianing. The lady in the pictures below was ranting and raving about something. I think it was religious, but I totally couldn't understand her.

Of course we had to take pictures in Time Square

While walking up to Wicked (after eating at Virgil's BBQ) Jeff decided he wanted a treat. He wanted to walk over to Pink Berry, but totally got vetoed by the rest of the group. He spotted Scoops "R" Us in the Toys "R" Us and decided that was a suitable option. I will say that they had a nice array of treats, but it was totally overpriced for what it was. Sounds like NYC :)

TWO YEARS....

....we made it two years!

I can't believe Jeff and I have been married for two years. It feels like so much longer! hahaha.

Tonight we will be celebrating at the Modern in New York City. 

Not as exciting as a trip to London, but we will be going some place cool next year!

Let's Go Yankees!

This is totally old news...I'm just so behind on my blog!

While my family was here (BACK IN SEPTEMBER) we went to a Yankee game! I just LOVE Yankee games and wish that I got to go more often. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but the games are totally relaxing and there is seriously nothing like it when they start playing "New York ,New York" at the end of a Yankee game. It's just such a great atmosphere! Maybe I will be able to convince Jeff to take me next year :)

What to do the weekend before the storm of the century? Part 2

Did I go back home and start preparing the house for the storm (after my lovely hike with the Buhls)?

NO way!

I jumped in the car and picked up Ashley for our annual pumpkin picking outing. Usually we have the lovely Karen and Jen with us, but they left us for Texas and Utah. Why did they leave us? I have no idea...Ashley and I are a good time! 

Well, Ashley and I decided we would still go and enjoy our annual fall outing.

We went to DePiero's Farm in Montvale, New Jersey. Honestly, I didn't like it as much as the charming little place we visit in Connecticut in years past, but it was still fun trying the treats from the bakery and walking around with Ashley checking out the animals and festivities.

Of course we had to do a Target run after...It's tradition! It was totally packed due to the upcoming storm, but it didn't seem to phase us!

We then went out to PF Changs for dinner. It was a great night with Ashley!

Then did I go home and prepare the house? No. It wasn't until I was sitting in church the next day with Jeff that I leaned over and said, "Maybe we should go home and move in all our lawn furniture." Jeff said, "Oh, yeah...that might be a good idea."

What to do the weekend before the storm of the century?

Go hiking!

Yep, that's right...the Saturday before the storm hit Jeff and I went hiking with our good friends the Buhls. While others were at home"battening down the hatches,"we were outside enjoying the beautiful fall colors before the winds came and blew them all away!

"Sandy my darlin', you hurt me real bad"

Ok, so she didn't hurt me real bad, but I can't believe the damage that Sandy caused on the east coast. There are so many people that lost their homes and family members.

Jeff and I are fine. We had a few tops of trees break off but nothing hit our house or garage. Jeff and I were very blessed that the only problem we had during the storm was loss of power. We lost it early Monday evening and got it back three days later. We fortunately have a fire place and a gas stove so didn't suffer too much, but the house was starting to get very cold by the end of day three. I woke up on Thursday morning and could see my breath. We were about to head over to spend the night at a friends house when the power came back on.

Several people have come over to charge their phones/electronic devices and get warm. The house has been very crazy, but I'm glad we can help out a little.

Now, however, we are facing a new set of problems. There is a serious gas problem with everyone needing to run their generators and drive to work since a lot of the public transit is down. The lines at the gas stations are ridiculously long (a couple of miles) and now they are rationing it off. Also, there are some shortages at the grocery store. Some stores have blocked of the milk section with tape and only store employees can hand it out.

I took these pictures on Tuesday morning.