Thinking Aloud

Two thoughts I read this week that I liked.

The first:

"Women are angels...and when someone breaks our wings,

we continue to fly...on broomsticks...we're flexible that way."

A post on my sister-in-law's facebook page.

***

The second:

"Age is an issue of mind over matter.

If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”

Mark Twain

***

The first one just made me laugh out loud and I've thought a lot about the second one this week. Especially since today is my birthday. I woke up with a stiff neck wondering to myself, is this what I get for getting older?!?! Aside from this it's been a great day! This morning a friend took me to breakfast at Village Inn (thanks again! I know you'll likely read this), I've done some shopping, read a book, watched part of one of my favorite movies Stardust and that's all before the party tonight! I have a few friends coming over for games. Birthdays are awesome! Especially if you don't think about the getting older part. That's all for now.

Oh, the memories!

Tonight I've had fun reading through some of my old journals. An event triggered the reading but I won't bore you with details here...I'll leave those safe within the covers of my journal. Sorry, you'll have to talk with me in person if you want to know more. A friend also recently inspired me to do more journal writing (thanks! You know who you are because I told you how your writing got me to start writing again!)
Anyway, I was reminded again of the importance of journal writing today. I love having a blog but I don't want to post the personal details of my life here for all to read. I'll only give you the highlights here. I don't know who will actually read my ramblings in the future or the volumes of journals I've written but I'm recording my history and that's what matters. If nothing else it helps trigger my memory when details become fuzzy. It's fun to look back and see how I've changed over the years. If you currently don't write in a journal I challenge you to try. You might thank yourself someday!

I like this quote I found about journal writing:

***

"A journal isn’t just for people in the future;

it also has value now, for you.

Your journal can be one of your best friends.

When there’s no one else you can talk to,

you can tell it to your journal.

Share with your journal all your joys, hopes, and successes.

But also share with it your frustrations, problems, and failures.

Writing about your problems can help you

come up with solutions as you think through them.

As you express your thoughts in writing,

your journal can also help you make difficult decisions,

get rid of anger, think clearly when you’re confused,

and understand yourself better. As you read your journal,

you can be reminded of blessings you may have forgotten.

And your faith and testimony can be strengthened

as you read again and again of sacred

personal experiences you have recorded over the years."

***

A Journal for Today and Tomorrow

By Jeffrey S. McClellan

--Find it on LDS.org in the gospel library,

he gives great ideas for journal writing--

No Place Like Home

I arrived home from NYC late last night. I'm totally exhausted and I'm glad I have an extra day off work to relax a little. Yesterday was our last day in the city. We had a slow start because my sister wasn't feeling very well and we were all tired. So yesterday we just went in to Manhattan and walked around Central Park. We got of the subway at 5th Ave and enjoyed looking in windows of stores like Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Vera Wang, Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, and so many more! All of which had doormen determining who could enter or not. We actually went in Tiffany's and were dazzled by all the diamonds!
When we arrived at the park we first saw Wollman Rink which was crowded with ice skaters enjoying a sunny holiday in the park.

Then we walked over a few blocks from the park where we saw the Manhattan Temple.

Such a beautiful site, especially in a big city!

Then we headed back into the park and saw Strawberry Fields,

the Angel of the Waters Fountain at Bethesda Terrace,

the Loeb Boathouse,

strolled through the Ramble, and saw Belvedere Castle.

We didn't even make it half way up the park.

The park is huge

(it is a rectangle roughly 2.6 miles by 0.5 miles)

and beautiful!

After exploring a small part of the park we caught the subway back to Wollman Rink. Then we found a place to eat before heading back to the hotel.
We hit a few delays on the way to the airport including several train transfers, train traffic, and the bus making us get off over a mile from the hotel saying it was the end of the line! It must have been a change due to the holiday. We walked fast to the hotel and still made the 6pm hotel shuttle to JFK. Arriving at the airport we were told we were too late to check our luggage (even though there was still an hour until departure!) and would have to buy another ticket home on the next available flight! I contested this and was finally able to talk with a supervisor who expedited our bags onto the plane, we quickly got through security, and thankfully sat down on the plane. It was so nice to make it home to my own bed last night. I had a fun vacation but I'm happy to be home again!

Step in Time

It's been a cold, rainy day in NYC which has been a little disappointing since it's our last night here. We relaxed a little today and didn't do as much since it is Sunday. The highlight of the day was seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway! The show was amazingly fun! When Bert started tap dancing on the ceiling during the song "Step in Time" (yes, it's true!) I realized my mouth was hanging open in amazement...I had to laugh at myself. The sets, special effects, actors, and everything were fascinating! Wicked is still a favorite but Mary Poppins is right up there very close to it!

.

After the show we had an early dinner. Then our plan had been to go to Central Park but it was too wet outside. We decided to try the Museum of Natural History only to arrive there 10 minutes before closing. So, my sister and niece went into the Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium. It wasn't appealing to me (I'm not into getting freaked out like the advertisement for it said) so I wandered around and saw some of the sites of Times Square. There is so much to see!

We called it an early night and packed up our bags. We're hoping for better weather tomorrow so we can finish some of the things we didn't get to do before our flight leaves tomorrow night.

On Top of the World

Today I literally walked over 12 miles...no wonder my feet are tired! My sister has been wearing her pedometer every day. I joked about feeling like I walked 10 miles yesterday but today we really did (on a pedometer about 2000 steps equals 1 mile, we went over 25000!). We packed in a lot of fun in between all that walking. We started the day by going to Coney Island where we saw the New York Aquarium and ate Coney dogs. The walruses and otters were my favorite thing to watch at the aquarium. I was disappointed that the penguins were hiding because of the cold (they were South African Penguins) but I did manage to see 3 of them poke their heads out of their nest. We took a stroll on the boardwalk before heading north.

The next stop was Wall Street where we bought discount tickets to see Mary Poppins tomorrow afternoon. Then we went to the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Talk about visual overload! We saw so much wonderful art it was hard to take it all in. My favorites were the Van Gogh, Picasso and Rembrandt paintings we saw. You could spend a week in the Met and still not see everything!

We took a Taxi from the Met down to the Empire State Building just because we were so tired and so we could have the experience of a NYC taxi ride. At the Empire State Building we rode on the Sky Ride which is a helicopter simulation showing all of the main attractions and sites around NYC. It was narrated by Kevin Bacon and made me a little motion sick but it was still pretty entertaining. My favorite was actually seeing NYC at night from the observation deck on the 86th floor! It's so beautiful to look at!

We bought NYC style cheese cake in Grand Central Station where we got a train to head back to the hotel. We were blessed to have a bus waiting for us when we stepped out of the subway station. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here! I really have been blessed with so much! Today I gave a homeless man a banana and some trail mix, I've never seen a more grateful person dive into a banana. I hope we all take more time to help those around us.

Past the point of no Return...

Not sure who is reading this but I'm writing this mostly for me so I can remember the NYC experience. Still feel free to read my rambles. So today has been another packed day of fun. I'm so tired I can't sleep so I'm blogging at 1am...again. We started the day with a party at Madame Tussauds. So much fun! We saw realistic wax figures of TV, music, political, historical, sports stars and more! They had it set up in a party atmosphere and encouraged picture taking. I stood by Elvis, Superman, Nsync, George Clooney, Johnny Cash, Lucille Ball, Louie Armstrong, the Spice Girls, Rachael Ray, and so many more. What fun!

Today we also got a full tour of the Radio City Music Hall. We even met Emily, one of the 200 Rockettes. We also window shopped on 5th Ave, stopped in Build-a-Bear, went in the American Girl Store (can you tell I'm hanging out with a 9 year old??), saw Rockefeller Plaza, waved at NBC studios, walked 10 miles (not really, but it sure feels like it), ate chocolate at M&M World and the Hershey store, and played in Toys R Us.

The highlight of the day was seeing Phantom of the Opera. It's the longest running show ever on Broadway. I've seen it before but this was my first time seeing it on Broadway and I'm past the point of no return...I'm hooked on Broadway! The special effects were simply amazing.

Riding home on the train and bus gave me a lot of time to think, especially since we had some delays when the train kept stopping. I felt a little out of place when we boarded the bus at midnight in Queens after coming up out of the subway station, we were the only white people in sight. I've felt like that before, I remembered when I went to the emergency room in downtown LA, Cali in the middle of the night...but that's another story. My adventures here continue tomorrow!

I'm not in Kansas (oops, Utah) Anymore

I went walking after midnight in Queens, NY...not my smartest venture but there is so much to take in! Today was my first full day in New York. I came with my sister and niece. We arrived yesterday afternoon. The trip was uneventful, except for me wondering why airlines have forgotten the definition of complementary. Seriously, I asked for a pillow on the flight (yes, I was that desperate) only to be informed I could have an inflatable one for only $7! So I went without the pricey inflatable. Last night we ventured out into Manhattan to try out the subway system. We made it in to the city and ate dinner at Planet Hollywood which was tons of fun! I even saw actual outfits used in the movie Twilight, I took pictures for a certain friend
(you know who you are!)

After a few mistakes, several learning experiences, and a 2 hour train ride we arrived back at the hotel around 1:30am! We learned our lesson because today we used the city bus and it cut our travel time in half.

We've packed a lot in today. We rode a ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. At the Statue of Liberty we climbed 156 stairs (about 6 flights according to the guide) to the base of the statue. What an amazing view!

Today we also saw the Bodies Exhibition which was simply fascinating. Our bodies our truly amazing. We also walked on Wall street, did a little shopping in China town, and enjoyed the lights on Times Square. All leading up to the climax of the day which was seeing the musical Wicked at the Gershwin Theater! It was my third time seeing the show and I was still amazed by my trip into Oz!

Tonight I felt blessed. We didn't have to wait too long to get on a train headed to Queens and we were lucky enough to have it be an express train. Walking up out of the subway I'm sure we were a site...the only 3 white girls in sight, surrounded by several men offering taxi rides in questionable looking cars. We walked quickly to the bus stop a block away and got there as the bus pulled in! Only to realize we didn't know where to get off. Basically we got off way too early and enjoyed a walk after midnight (really closer to 1am) on a deserted street through Queens. I know we were protected by a loving Heavenly Father in more than one way.
I feel so blessed for all I have, especially seeing so many homeless people here. I felt bad when I woke a man up when I stepped on his "house", aka a cardboard box. I'm glad he just rolled over and didn't come after me. There is so much more I could write and I'm only on the first full day of my vacation!