New Yorkers

We made it back to Springville safe and sound after 35 hours of driving. Lenny even survived the trip and jumped out of the car and headed for the fields as soon as we parked. The mice around here are probably wishing we stayed in New York. Ha. What a trip! The USA really is huge with lots of beauty in all the states. But let me tell you, you know you're in the Midwest when you can stand on a box and look over into the next state. So flat!

We've been super busy moving back into our house (that I missed so much!), unpacking, getting our classes all figured out etc. I've accepted an internship with the Utah County Health Department in Provo. I'm going to help create a new program that they will be using in their volunteer health clinic. The people that come to the clinic are uninsured and at or below the poverty level. Right now they are only recieving treatment with no prevention education or resources. So as far as I know the plan is to educate them on various topics and also connect them with medical personnel and other sources to help them be successful in preventing disesases, injuries, addictions etc. That's the brief run down I got the other day...we'll see how it goes. This semester Jared is doing his clinicals in the Intensive Care Unit in a hospital in SLC and also in a psychriatic ward. He says he's learning lots but is already looking forward for the semester to be over.

The other day I was eating lunch on campus and this older man was asking me questions about which classes I've enjoyed at BYU. After talking a little while he asked me if I was from New York! AHHHH! Did I pick up the accent? I really hope not. Just to clarify what they are really like (granted not everyone is like this but it's pretty true) I thought it would be funny to put this list up:

You know you're from New York City when:

* You think Central Park is "nature."

* You're paying $1,200 for a studio the size of a walk-in closet and you think it's a "steal."

* You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the U.S. pay in rent.

* You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed.

* You have 27 different menus next to your telephone.

* America west of the Hudson is still theoretical to you.

* You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you. (this one I found especially true)

* You take a taxi to get to your health club to exercise.

* Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.

* $50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.

* You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that it means Manhattan.

* You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skills.

* You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.

* You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.

* The subway makes sense.

* The subway should never be called anything prissy, like the Metro.

* You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available.

* You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual. (they really are BIG into swearing, even little kids)

* You think $7.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price.

* Your door has more than three locks.

* Your favorite movie has DeNiro in it.

* The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.

* You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

* You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a yard. You complain about having to mow it.

* You cross the street anywhere but the corners and yell at cars for not respecting your right to do so.

So long New York

We leave for Utah Thursday! It's been fun but we can't wait to get home. What a crazy summer. Anybody want to pack for me?

The DUKE was in town

My brother Duke came to visit us last week! I kept him very busy with all the sight-seeing and I think I wore him out but I know he had a blast. The first night we went to the Yankees vs. Blue Jays game. The new stadium is right across the street from the old one and a lot bigger. Our seats were up way high in the grandstand but we could still see everything good. I really wish Jared would have come with us but he decided to work. (What a hard working, dedicated husband!) The Yankees creamed the Blue Jays 7-3. They scored most of their points at the bottom of the 8th which is actually just before we left to catch the long train back to our apartment. Ugh we should have stayed 5 minutes longer! I'll never hear the end of it from Jared's family. LOL

Ya I know, I know, where's my yankee fan gear? Back in Springville. Ha. Jared says I'm not fully invested, which might be true.


I had to put this picture up to show how crummy of a neighborhood the stadium is in. Project housing surrounding a multi-billion dollar stadium-welcome to the Bronx.


Derek Jeter up to bat!


Here we are on the tour bus...it rained a little bit but that didn't stop us from having a great time.

Our tour guide in front of the Flat Iron building-it's my favorite building in the city. So many of the buildings in NY have such unique architectural designs!

This is the beat up globe that used to be between the Twin Towers. It is now in Battery Park (a park on the harbor that overlooks the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island).
Statue of Liberty


While we were at Battery Park we had an artist draw cartoons of us. He was so fast-it took him a max of seven minutes and he did a great job!

The finished product.

The bull on Wall St.

Times Square

We also went to the Pahntom of the Opera on Broadway! Broadway is by far my favorite thing of New York and it was Duke's favorite thing too. The music is so powerful and almost make you cry! It was funny listening to the movie soundtrack the day after the show and realizing how horrible it sounds compared to the real thing.

This picture is blurry because of the poor lighting in the theater but we had awesome seats! Right in the front of the balcony, some of the best seats in the house. If you ever buy tickets for a broadway show get them from the TKTs booths around the city. They sell tickets for same day shows at up to 50% off and they are always great seats.

We also spent several days on the beach but I didn't take any pictures on my camera. Duke took lots though. It was fun watching his reaction after he swallowed some ocean water. It was his first time swimming in the ocean and he couldn't believe how salty it was! Yes its really gross and it burns if you get it up your nose =) We had fun hunting for sea shells and jogging on the beach too.

Thanks for coming Duke! It was great seeing you!

My Tennis Teacher

Jared tried teaching me how to play tennis the other day.
This is about how it went...
Here he is laughing at me...He's just good at every sport he plays.
It's a good thing he's so cute or I probably wouldn't play any sports with him. =)

Tourists

Jared and I rode a double-decker tour bus all around Manhattan. It was perfect for us--stress free and we got to see and learn about things we probably wouldn't have if we took the subway or just walked around. All we had to do was sit back and enjoy the sights, or hop off if we wanted to look around and then hop back onto the next bus. We saw so many things! Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan museum (this place is huge so we'll have to dedicate a different day to actually touring it), Central Park, Harlem, Times Square, China town, Canal street, Statue of Liberty, where John Lennon was shot, Wall street, NYU, site of the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, 5th Ave, you name it and we saw it.

One of our favorite parts of the tour was the Cathedral of St. John. We both were in shock and awe at the architecture and design of this building. It is the largest cathedral in the world and the pictures I took of it don't do it justice. That round stained glass window below has a 40 foot diameter.



Here are some shots inside the museum of natural history-all I could think of was the movie Night at the Museum. :) As you can see it was extremely crowded in there so we didn't stay for very long.

One highlight of the day was bartering with a Chinese man on Canal Street for a NY Fire Dept shirt. Jared had bought an identical shirt to it when he visited NYC in high school. He literally wore that shirt out, and I finally threw it out without Jared's permission a while back. So...I bought him a new one to make up for it. I'm sure it will be his "shirt of the month" now :).

I couldn't believe how expensive some of the apts were! Alex Rodriguez, a player for the Yankees and the highest paid baseball player, pays $28,000 a month for his apt that overlooks Central Park. Ridiculous.

Flat Iron building...

Empire State building...
My favorite part of NY: Broadway. Two years ago when we came to NYC we went to Phantom of the Opera. Loved it. I listen to the soundtrack all the time but its still not as good. I think it would be fun to see this one next...

Mr. and Mrs. Jorden Weishaar

Here are a few pictures from Jorden (Jared's bro) and Ariel's wedding. We had such a great time! The picture above is of Jared's parents and siblings (minus Dylan who is on his mission in Mexico).
Us in front of the Billings temple. It's really a beautiful temple. It's located near the Rimrocks that overlook the city. Makes for a stunning background.

This is our nephew Cade. He has gotten so chunky since the last time we saw him! He was the cutest during the reception. I put olives on his fingers and he was eating them and then he decided to feed Uncle Ryan some too.

Congratulations Jorden and Ariel!!

Montana here we come!!

We leave Friday for Jorden and Ariel's wedding in the Billings, MT temple!! Jared's whole family will be there. We are so excited for the happy couple! It will be a really quick trip but totally worth it.