New York state of mind

I did something pretty scary last week. Well, scary for my extremely sheltered life. I left the boys home with daddy and headed to New York City by myself. I mean I met up two of my best friends there but there was probably about 5 hours where I was traveling all alone. The thought of this naive girl going to NY by myself, going through the airport, getting a cab at 10:00 at night, and making it to my friend, Beth's place almost made me go into a fetal position and cry. That sounded WAY too grown up for me to handle. Back when Beth lived in Dallas, it felt like 'country comin' to town,' much less NYC!

But seriously, I even surprised myself. I was envisioning being mugged right outside the airport or the cabbie taking me to a dark alley and dropping me off...too much tv, I know. The cab ride wasn't dark alley kind of scary but it was holy-smokes-put-on your-seat-belt-and-say-a-prayer-scary for sure. 

Beth and I have known each other since 5th grade church camp. We bonded instantly. Later we were in the same youth group in high school, we went to TCU together our freshman year. Then, we still couldn't get enough of each other and we worked at Pier 1 together for 6 years. In high school, she introduced me to Courtney and because she and Beth got along so perfectly, how could I not love Courtney as well?

Beth's husband swapped places with us and flew to Texas for a wedding while we visited her and her precious daughter Lilly Anna. Yes, it was our own version of Sex and the City. Lilly Anna was definitely Carrie since she was in charge of us. This is our closest rendition of the girls.

Our adventure started out at Rockefeller Plaza. You know the famous ice rink? 

Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick's Cathedral...




Within 30 minutes of touring NY, I was afraid I might just not have enough memory on my camera to capture it all. Beth and Lilly Anna ventured home to take a nap. Oh, did I mention that Beth is due with her second in a month and is such a trooper taking us all over her city.

Courtney and I ventured off by ourselves with stops at FAO Schwarz...

 
One of Courtney's other friends moved to NYC as well and was running in the New York marathon while we were there. She was able to invite her to a luncheon which meant me by myself again in New York. But I was on Broadway and it was 3:00 in the afternoon and I loved every minute of it. It was so much fun to stop and shop and just take it all in.

And you can't go to NY without going to a show. We went to the Broadway show Memphis. I watched it with such awe and admiration and it took everything in me to not want to jump on that stage and dance and sing with them. But that is coming from a girl who was so obsessed with the movie and musical Annie as a little girl that when my record broke, there were some serious tears and drama in our house that night. Meanwhile my mother rejoiced and did the happy dance that she didn't have to hear that record one more time.

Day two in the city...picture the most perfect fall day where you're bundled up in a sweater and cozy jacket with leaves turning the perfect shades of auburn, gold, and the wind blowing your hair so gently that you feel like maybe you're on movie set and you just might be the star. Yep, that was exactly how it was like.

I can't believe that we could top the day before but we did...we really did. Something about New York makes you want to buy a hat. Yes, partly because of the cool weather but mostly because you just think they're all so darn cute! Lilly Anna was definitely the cutest though as we made her model all the hats.


And we joined in on the fun too. I think we look like some New York misfits...either that or some characters from the Wiggles.

For living in a concrete jungle, New York has definitely figured out how to do a park the right way. Beth lives right smack dab in the middle of Central Park and Riverside Park.

First park visit of the day...Riverside Park right along the Hudson River.
 
It was just chilly enough for a hot chocolate stop with gobs of whipped cream.

Next park stop? Central Park, of course!

My mom, a 1st grade teacher, had only one request from my trip and that was to get her leaves from Central Park to show her students. Not a problem, there was an abundance.

 
So this is what fall is like. See here in Texas, fall is about a week long. We go from wearing shorts one week to the leaves changing and suddenly they've been blown to someplace like Louisiana and then the following week ice comes. But New York does fall right. No wonder so many movies are filmed there. 


And fate was definitely on our side that day. So we walk to the New York marathon with NO problem which we find out later is extremely hard to do and 20 minutes later just happen to see Courtney's friend running in the marathon. Seriously, how many million people are in New York City during the marathon?

Final stop before leaving back to Texas the next morning. I needed a full dose of Times Square.

 
This was probably our scariest part of the entire trip. We hadn't even stepped into Times Square from the subway when we saw a man passed out from either a seizure, intoxication, or a drug overdose. Not really sure but since he was handcuffed and the cops were rather nonchalant about it, I don't think it was a seizure. Wow, not exactly something you see everyday.

Talk about sensory overload. I feel like I like to stand on every street corner and just stand there for 10 minutes just to take everything in.

There truly is something magical about New York. I'm so amazed that Beth lives there was her family and handles the city so well. And I'm so thankful that I have two amazing friends that we just pick up right where we left off like we saw each other yesterday even though we live in three different cities. This is a trip that I will never forget. I'm already hooked and I'm still in my New York state of mind.

Promise it's the last one

Ok, I'm sorry to make you suffer through one more Halloween post. But I spent hours (literally) editing these photos. So like it or not, you'll have to suck it up and suffer. But really how much are you suffering when you're looking at this?

Oh my CUTENESS. My best friend of over 20 years, Angi, came over to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. She has boy/girl twins. There was some serious love going on between her daughter, Reese, and Campbell.  Angi and I are just alike...scrapbookers, bloggers, and she even coordinates her kids Halloween outfits. See, I'm not the only crazy out there. Tucker and Reese were sporting the cutest Grease Lightnin' outfits I've ever seen.

Reese's grandma and my mom helped make costumes this year. Do our mom's have serious talent, or what?

The love fest continued through the rest of the evening. Reese McDonald...has a great ring to it. Glad I'm not the one paying for the wedding!

 
Nolan's tank was a hit and everyone asked where we got it. Justin was beaming with pride when he could say that he made it with a 2 liter coke bottle and a visit to Home Depot.


 
 Angi was impressed with our neighborhood and how jam packed it was. There is some serious decorating going on. My favorite quote of Nolan the entire evening was, "That guy is wearing a scary mask, but I'm being very brave." It was too cute and my oh my how things have changed. I still remember the night terrors from last year on Halloween night.

It was so much fun knowing that 20 years ago Angi and I were trick-or-treating together and here we are taking our kids. It's one of those dreams you talk about when you're 13 and then you realize it's come true. It was so much fun, that I hope we can do it again.



I have no idea who this little spider girl is but she sure is stinkin' cute and it looks like Campbell thought the same thing.

Ok, promise last costume post! I know what you're thinking...ALRIGHT, enough already with the Halloween pictures. Thanks for putting up with me!

Carving out the good times

I'm trying to decide when it all started. What began my love for fall?  Was it going to football games in high school and college and that chill in the air and sitting in the stands with a blanket? Was it just being a native Texan and being so ridiculously thankful that for the first time in 5 months that I didn't have back sweat from checking the mail? Or even something as simple as my love for all things green, red, and orange?

I can't really pinpoint it but I know that all those feelings have just been building up every so softly without me really noticing. But since I've had the boys, I can't help but notice it. I'm not sure if I love it so much because they love it so much or if they love fall because they see their hyper hypo mom going nuts for it, so they just follow suit. It's that whole, "What came first...the chicken or the egg?" question.

But more than anything I think it's knowing that my favorite memories of my childhood all seemed to revolve around the holidays and there's such a desire within me to fill my boys' hearts with those same memories.

What better fall memory than to carve us some pumpkins? It was decided that Nolan would sketch out what exactly our pumpkin would look like this year.

In years past, we start the pumpkin carving but then we all realize how much work it is and let Daddy finish it...that's me. I have all the ideas, but Justin gets it done. But last year on a whim, I bought one of the pumpkin carving kits for $1.00. Let me tell ya, those suckers really do work! I'm talking it saved at least 45 minutes off our carving time instead of having to use a spoon. Best dollar spent. The boys actually stayed interested in it...well except for Campbell off and on, but c'mon he's 2 after all.



If there's one thing that really gets me going, it's a good excited. There's nothing worse than telling a hilarious story or giving an awesome present and watching ZERO reaction. Ugh...pet peeve, sorry. But if there's one thing that my children have got down, it's a good excited. What's a good excited you ask?

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:



Who knew a gourd could keep them so entranced.

Who knew it could keep them so entertained? The pumpkin hat joke just never gets old in this house.

And neither does chasing them with pumpkin guts...
 

I think the transformation just blew their minds.



My favorite photo of the pumpkin carving didn't even have a pumpkin...well, unless you count the one on Cam's head.

I think Justin did a great job following the sketch. I did realize that Nolan is growing up. Hard to believe that it was just a couple of years ago when he screamed with terror when we put a candle inside our jack-o-lantern.

Fall, you gotta love it.

Trunk or Treat squared

Remember the days of putting on your costume Halloween night going trick-or-treating THAT night and that pretty much summed up the holiday? Yea, not so much these days. Now by the time Halloween actually rolls around, you're missing parts of your costume, it's filthy with chocolate stains and there are remnants of pixie stick dust found in the tiniest crevices of the seams of your costumes. That's because Halloween has now turned into at least 3 days of festivities especially when it falls on a weekend.

School costume parade...check. Next up? Trunk or Treat at church.

And no I didn't go as a Playboy bunny to church! See my duster? Yep, I was a dust bunny! Don't be jealous that I spent $5 on my costume and won the costume contest for the adults.

Guess who won the costume contest for the toddlers?



But there was so some serious competition.



Guess who DIDN'T win the trunk decorating contest? Hey, we were pretty worn out with all the effort put in to make our costumes. How do you like our "ghost?"

Times like this remind me why I love going to a smaller church. It's one those kind of churches that says, "Hey I missed you last Sunday, hope you're feeling better." But one of the top reasons I love my church? Because who can say that they're minister looks identical to Where's Waldo and who's wife looks like her day job just might actually be a gypsy.



I'm savoring every exhausting minute of this time. It's one of those can-I-bottle-this-up-in-a-jar-and-keep-it-forever moments.

Grand total of times costumes were worn this weekend? Two? Not even close...try FOUR!

Next up? Trunk or Treat at Grandma and Granddad's church, of course!

More candy and in this case, more sweating!



Guess we know why the kids say, "Trick or treat, smell my feet," at least in Texas when it's 83 on Halloween!



Best news this week? Tonya's scans came back and her lungs are clear after 12 long grueling weeks of chemo. Mastectomy is scheduled in a couple of weeks. Praise God!

Ok, if you can stand it, there's one more post for Halloween and then after that I'll stop...well, until next year.