Cathedrals & Fire Trucks

One thing that wouldn't be all that noteworthy in any other city but New York were fire trucks. I saw the one above first and thought it was cool that it said "Midtown Mob" - they gave themselves a nickname!

And the picture below was interesting to me because I saw another fire truck coming toward us and it had a stuffed Batman attached to the front of the truck!

Then we walked another couple blocks and I saw the truck's 'home' - The Engine 26 garage - which proudly displayed it's batman logo on the front of the garage door!

And when they drove by us, I looked in the truck and the firefighters fit the stereotype that I had of what a NYC firefighter would look like - stone-faced, wearing Yankees hats and very Italian-looking. I know, I know - it's a stereotype, but that's exactly what I saw!

Gotta have respect for the men and women who protect this great city and who lived through that horrible day on 9/11.

OK, off to touristy sightings! Near Rockefeller Center is 5th Avenue with all of the swanky shopping, as well as an important Catholic Church. Below is St. Patrick's Cathedral....

I knew it sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure why. Turns out that this is where all of the Kennedy weddings and funerals happen (and we all know there are a lot of those). I'm sure a lot more celebrity weddings/funerals happen here, but it's especially known as the Kennedy's home base for those occasions.

When we walked in, it took me back to my days in Europe - a VERY beautiful church.

It was gorgeous and majestic - very weird to think that the Kennedy's were married right where I was standing!

New York, New York!

On March 11th, Mayce and I began our New York City adventure with a group of theater students from her brother's school where he teaches in San Antonio. Mayce's Mom and niece also came along. It was a total group of about 45 adults and students.

We had to be at the airport at 4am at the latest in order to get on the plane to Newark and start the whirlwind of a trip in the Big Apple!

It was totally worth the pain of getting up that early - basically getting about 2 hours of sleep on the floor at David's apartment since our flight to San Antonio the night before was delayed 2 hours and we didn't even get to his place until midnight! UGH!

After a good flight into Newark, NJ and checking into the hotel, we hit the ground running. All of our adventures over 4.5 days were spread out across Manhattan and were kind of random, so I tried to group the posts for this trip in a logical way, but they aren't necessarily in chronological order.

OK, here goes!

This first picture is from our bus - it's kind of blurry because it was raining. In fact, it was about 40-45 degrees and raining the WHOLE time we were there except the last morning before we went to the airport. Oh well - we rolled with it.

Here's Ed Sullivan Theater where the Late Show with David Letterman is taped:

Here's NBC studios - it was here that we saw a line around the block in the rain outside one of the days. We asked what they were filming and they said that it was auditions for The Biggest Loser.

Rockefeller Center!


Radio City Music Hall! This was across the street from the NBC studios....

Here's Rockefeller Plaza - right where Radio City Music Hall and NBC studios is:

Ha - 30 Rock!

And our tour guide, Christina, wasn't sure if the ice skating rink would still be up since it was the middle of March, but it was! People were still skating around - it was freezing! I wish they still had the Christmas tree up. I also didn't realize that it was down below street level.

Men At Work......Errrrr.........

OK, the other day, my boss and I were talking at my desk about something and he looks up at the window (which is behind me) and goes "Hey - check that out!"

It was a maintenance worker SLEEPING on the roof/awning outside my window! He had been up there doing some sort of touch-up painting and then just decided to pull his ladder up and take a nap in the sun.

I thought this was awful bold, considering there are people who work right against the windows! But anyway, I thought the grossest/most disturbing part was the fact that he was laying right next to the dead bird that has been slowly decomposing outside of my window for the last 9-12 months! NASTY!!! (see below)

My boss Twittered the picture, saying "Our office rent expense at work". Funny!

Oh, and here's a random work picture......my team went out to lunch at a place called Cadillac Ranch in Las Colinas and they had a huge fork stuck in the ground outside the doors! WHAT?! So, being the ridiculous tourist that I am, I had to stop for a photo op!

Thankful Thursday

1. Car in the garage during hail/tornado season - Soon the tornado season will be upon us in north Texas and I am SO THANKFUL that I have a garage to park my car in. I had some hail damage when I first moved down here (before I had my house) - oh, and I also left my sunroof open during one of those rain/thunder/hail storms too. YUCK. I heart garages!!


2. Wheels on suitcases - Whoever invented the whole wheels on a suitcase thing is a freaking genius! Remember the suitcases when you were a kid and you had to just pick it up and lug it around?? I LOVE LOVE LOVE my luggage - one big suitcase and one smaller one and they have a connector thing so that I can hook them together and then pull them both in a stack with one handle. BRILLIANT and chiropractor-friendly!

3. Compatible travel companions - We have all gone on roadtrips that were super fun and everyone has a similar traveling style and a great time was had by all. And then there are the roadtrips where you want to kill people because they have travel habits that make you nuts!

I am so incredibly thankful that I had Jamie to travel through Europe with in college. We studied in Spain for a semester and we just happened to have great travel compatibility.

You don't realize how important that is until you have a bad travel experience with someone you may otherwise really enjoy spending time with. I have come to the conclusion that there are just people you can travel with and people you CANNOT travel with. I am very thankful for the people I travel well with!

4. Getting a coupon in the mail for a store you needed to buy something at very soon! - I have become quite the deal girl - I love coupons and great deals. I will definitely go to a store when I have a "$15 off a purchase of $75" when I know I need some items from that store. I have taken advantage of many deals that just happen to arrive at the right moment.

I also have an Entertainment book (in Minneapolis, it's called a "Happenings" book) and I use those coupons all the time - by using 2 coupons out of that massive book, the whole book is already paid for. How could you not get one?? I just hate paying full price for things, when with a little effort and research, you can save a ton of money and still get the same good/service you wanted in the first place. I think it's pure laziness if you don't use those opportunities.

5. The joy of helping someone else who really needs you - This one is kind of broad, but I just LOVE the feeling of truly helping someone out when they need it. I don't believe in accidents and I think God puts people in your life at specific times either so they can help you or so that you can help them.

I know that the friends I made in Ohio were handpicked by God - they were EXACTLY what I needed and I hope that I am that friend to someone else and that God handpicked me to help another person. Right now, I have several friends who are going through some health issues, marital issues and other struggles and it feels amazing to help out where you are needed. God truly blesses the giver as much or more than the recipient!

I Might Be Dating Brett Favre..........

A couple weeks ago, the company I work for put on an employee Dallas Stars event and we could bring a guest. Chris was able to come with me and we went to see the Stars take on the Los Angeles Kings.

I love hockey games and so I knew I would have fun! We had some snacks and enjoyed the game with my co-workers, even though the Stars lost 5-1. BOO!

BUT - they did my favorite thing when they introduced the players - a BIG star comes down from the ceiling and opens up and the players jump through the star onto the ice. I LOVE THAT! They didn't do it at the last game Mayce and I went to, so I was happy to see that they used it for this game. It's the little things, right?!

OK, here's where the Brett Favre reference comes in. I was trying to take a cute picture of Chris, but he was being a pain and only scowling for the camera. But when I looked at one of the pictures, he looked JUST LIKE Brett Favre! (see below) Holy crap - I think the resemblance is uncanny!!

Anyway, a good time was had by all. I liked this banner - "Dallas Til I Die" - I definitely appreciate passion!

Green Thumb After All!

My Mom has always been a "Green Thumb" and has loved growing plants, flowers, vegetables, really ANYTHING. She has a fascination with things that grow and transform themselves. Maybe that comes from growing up on a farm, maybe it's just how she is as a person.

With that said, I did NOT inherit that gene from her. I do alright if all I have to do is water a simple plant (see the plant above that I have had FOREVER and has moved with me several times - very easy to keep alive, thankfully!), but I'm not so good at nurturing outdoor plants, giving them the right combination of sun/water/plant food/etc. It just isn't something I have been overly interested in.

Well, now that I own a home and paid a bunch of money for a landscaping guy to come over and plant some shrubs, I feel I need to make sure I take care of them to protect my investment. I have been pretty good about watering them and re-mulching in the spring.

I even bought a huge pot for my back patio and planted 3 kinds of flowers in it last spring (when Mom was visiting - I needed her help and advice, after all!). By the fall, only 1 variety survived in the pot. Oh well - 1 out of 3 ain't bad, right? (Sorry, Meatloaf - didn't make it to "2 out of 3 ain't bad").

Well, I just need to take this opportunity to pat myself on the back for keeping a few plants alive for YEARS and one of them is kind of a special plant.

The plant below is one that my co-workers/employer gave me when my Dad died in January 2003. I casually watered it and amazingly kept it alive quite easily! I didn't really think of it as symbolic until recently - I was watering it and realized that I had had the plant for 7 YEARS! WOW! I think that's a record for me! And now I kind of like the fact that I have it because it reminds me of Dad and it's kind of a way for me to 'keep him alive'.

I almost killed that plant when I moved to Texas. Since movers won't move live plants, I had to take it with Maggie and I in the car. I moved it in and out of 2 different hotels and then into Tammy's house for a month, then into my new house. It almost died at Tammy's, but we nursed it back to health. It has made the move to Ohio and now Texas and still hung on. What a trooper!

Now, since I am treating it as "Dad's plant," every time I water it I think of him and that he's not that far away. What a great gift this plant has been and I walked past it for the last 7 years and really never thought about it at all until now!

Double Dog Dare

Some days you have to look life in the eyes and say I dare you.

I found that quote recently and I just love it. Right now I am at a stage of my life where things are relatively comfortable and easy, but it hasn't always been that way. There have been days where I didn't want to get up and face reality or what I had to deal with that day.

But fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), I was born to be a stubborn, feisty girl and I refuse to lay down and die when life gets hard. I may stumble, struggle, fall down, get trampled and feel defeated, but I always STAND BACK UP.

After having gone through a very devastating time in Ohio in late 2004/early 2005, I have found so much more respect for the people who keep getting out of bed each day and fighting for what they want and believe in when things are tough.

I never realized until my divorce how hard that can be - such a simple task, but it can be the hardest thing to do when you are struggling and are depressed.

Now that I have accomplished some big milestone goals (moving down to TX and buying my first house), I have regained my confidence, spunk and feistiness.

LIFE: BRING IT - I DARE YOU!

South Texas Oddities

There were, of course, a few oddities that I found in south Texas.....it's kind of funny because when you go to the island or Mexico down there, you will see more license plates from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, the Dakotas, etc. than you do in Dallas, or anywhere else in the south.

It's just so weird to be sitting on the border of Mexico and seeing all of the cars in the parking lot with northern plates!

At any rate, I saw this one and I had to take a picture.....UFF DA!!!!

And then this lady was on my flight and she got on the plane after me and I'm sure my eyes bugged out of my head when I saw her. She had a very short haircut and it was rainbow colored! And it didn't look spray painted, I'm almost positive it was real hair dye!

So being the opportunist that I am with a camera, I had to discretely take some pictures!!!

Thankful Thursday

Here we go!

1. Flash Drives - I just love these things! I have 3 of them and I'll be moving on to my 4th by summer or so. I have lived through a computer crashing several times and I ended up losing pictures and other documents - so NEVER AGAIN!

I keep all of my pictures on my computer as well as a flash drive, so they are portable AND there's virtually no chance I would ever lose them. Flash drives are compact, hold a LOT and are easy to travel with or stow away for backup! LOVE THEM!!

2. Unexpected hugs right when you need one - There's just nothing better than a hug RIGHT when you need one. And I personally think God knows just when I need one and provides a 'hugger'.

My friend Barbara at work is great with hugs and sometimes it is just what you need on a bad day. Such a simple thing can really brighten your spirits.

3. Finding out that something you thought was one price is actually a LOWER price once the cashier rings it up! - This happened to me the other day when buying a pair of sandals at Ross. They were mysteriously on sale and there was no indication of this on the tag! When the cashier scanned them, the price was about 25% less than what I thought it was going to be and I was a happy girl!

It's weird because I was happy about finding the pair of shoes and the price was really good, so I was pleased anyway, but then that little surprise discount just made me so giddy. I guess it's the little things!

4. Full-Service car washes for $5.49! - There's a place called Colonial Car Wash by my house and it looks kind of dumpy, but it's actually a GREAT car wash. I can get right in with no wait, and because they have coupons on their website (and they give you more every time you go), I can get a full-service car wash for $5.49!! WHAT?!

And this is NOT just the outside.....it includes vacuuming out your car's inside, washing all of the windows on the inside by hand, wiping down your dash/steering wheel/gear shifter/console, etc. It looks like it came off of the showroom floor! They wipe down the outside of the car with towels and clean off your hubcaps, etc. It's absolutely shining inside and out when they are done and it's only $5.49 and close to my house!

They even have a 24-hour "Rain Policy" - if it rains within 24 hours of the car being washed, you can come back for a free exterior wash!

5. Banking at the ATM and online - I can't even remember the last time I stepped foot in a bank! I love that you can do all of your banking either online or at an ATM! It still amazes me that you can pay bills online, make check deposits at an ATM - and now you can just slip the check in the slot and it scans it immediately and prints out the receipt with an image of the check and knows/deposits the correct amount in your account - no envelopes or entering a million numbers into the keypad. LOVE IT!

I also love online banking - transferring money around, paying bills, etc. It's just one of those things we are all used to now, but man, is it ever nice to have that convenience!