Carter's working! :)

In November last year Carter got his first "official" job working for a local photography company called Fotofly. They take amazing pictures and they do Santa photos over the holidays. I managed to get Carter an interview to help with the holiday photos since the owner is an old friend of Chan's (and I knew him as well from when I was on the PTA board at Sunrise). He LOVED that job and made great money, but it was a seasonal position, so when January rolled around it was time to job hunt again! He went out an applied at several places but with no calls. Finally in February he got a call from Pizza Hut and he got started! He's been working there for a while now and is enjoying it. He certainly doesn't make the money he was, but at least it's something to help put gas in his car and get him out having fun on the weekends! We ordered some pizzas from there a few weeks back and I managed to snap a few pictures! :)

Way to go Carter! Glad your out in the big world making some "dough"! Haha!!

New York Fun! Days five & six...

Day five began in our hotel room packing our bags and preparing for our trip home. We had until about 11am to check out so we took our time getting ready. Once we had everything ready to go we took our bags down to the lobby to see if they could hold them for us. Tammy talked to the front desk, checked out, and had them take care of our bags for us. We had about 2 hours before Hector was going to pick us up, so we figured we'd go get some breakfast. We left the hotel and walked to Times Square to eat at McDonald's. At this point we weren't picky and it was close by. We get in and are ordering our food when Tammy comes over to me and says, "I think I left my wallet at the hotel at the front desk!" She was panicked and said she was running back to get it. I got my food and found a table and was anxious for the few minutes it took her her to get back there and see if it was still there. She called me as soon as she got there and said that the man who got our bags noticed she left it and put it in the safe! THANK HEAVEN'S!! That was scary! She returned a few minutes later, ordered her food, and we sat and visited for a bit while we ate. We were both pretty pooped so we decided to hang out at the lounge in the hotel. It was nice and we were able to charge our phones again before heading out. Hector texted me to make me aware he'd be a bit early so we went down, collected our bags, and by that time he was there. We loaded up and visited again with Hector, hearing all about his divorce this time, all the way to the airport. Again, it was interesting to look out the windows and see the city and how people live there. Checking in at the airport was interesting! We knew there may be an issue given Tammy had come out with 2 bags and was going home with 3 due to purchases! Thankfully the skycap's were very helpful and we managed to figure it out. Our only oops was forgetting some items in Tammy carry on that were liquids and couldn't go through security. One of them she had JUST purchased and was brand new... oops! Oh well! In the trash they went and we went to sit at the gate. This flight was a little more stressful given we had a layover in Chicago. The layover was SHORT and we were worried about making it. We literally barely made that flight! We were fast walking from one gate to the other and didn't even have time to use the restroom! But we made it! On to Las Vegas we went and while waiting for our bags we hear Tammy's name called out over the PA system to go to the Lost Baggage office. C..R..A..P! Chan was worried about that all along and sure enough all our bags didn't make it. Thankfully they assured us it would be delivered to St George by 3pm the next day. SO we left there without our bags, got in Stace's car and hit the road to St George. I was so grateful they drove us to and from because we were so tired! We didn't arrive to her house till 1 o'clock in the morning. I was SPENT! I borrowed some PJ's from Tammy and hit the sack. I slept like a log and enjoyed spending the day with Tammy before heading home to my family. We told her Dad all about our trip, the baggage showed up safe and earlier than they had said, and I was able to shower before heading to the airport.

As I reflected on the week while waiting at the airport I was in awe of what I was given. To have a friend give you such a gift is AMAZING! I am truly blessed! We had so much fun together and that trip will be forever etched in our friendship for the rest of our lives. Every moment was a treasure and I hope that she knows the gratitude I have for what she gave me!

 Thanks Tammy for such an amazing time! I LOVE YOU!! Best Birthday present EVER!!

New York Fun! Day four...

Day four was JAM packed! Our list of things was huge and funny enough the majority of the things on the list revolved around FOOD! First on the list was going to get an authentic bagel! Tammy found a place online and had mapped our first stop via the subway to get a bagel. When we got off on the stop we weren't paying great attention to the exit and we had to go up about 5 flights of stairs to get to street level!!! I was DYING!! Had we paid better attention we could have taken an escalator! Oh well! Serves us right for wanting to go to so many food places I guess! Anyway, this place was CRAZY busy and the owner was a funny old man! He was making fun of one of his employees for being slow at the register. He said, "He's like a snail...only not as fast as a snail!" (you have to say it using your best NY accent! It's FUNNY!) We bought our bagels and found a table near the subway to eat them. I am not a huge bagel person, but these were so fresh and soft that it was YUM!

Then we were on the subway again to go back to the SOHO area near NYU to try Peanut Butter & Co! This is a place that one of Tammy's friends recommended. They make their own peanut better, some with flavors like chocolate, and also make the best PB&J's in town.... or so we heard!

It really was YUMMY! We both ordered a PB&J Shake (since we had just ate a bagel not that much earlier) and it was crazy good! I have NEVER had one that literally tastes exactly like a PB&J sandwich! It was so good! We also both purchased some things to take home to the family :) We left here and headed to the battery park area to buy tickets and take the boat out to Lady Liberty. This was the thing I was THE MOST excited about! I have wanted to go and see the Statue of Liberty ever since I was in 6th grade and sent money to NY for her renovation. I knew that someday I would see what my money helped do.

We were doing awesome so far navigating our subway rides. Tammy had taken screen shots of the subway routes on her phone from the metro website that told us how to get to each place we were going. It was awesome! So off to Battery Park we went! We got off at a stop and needed to walk for a bit. By this time we were needing to find a restroom.... and fast...

We were in a very busy part of the city and where we were walking there was a TON of construction going on! We were keeping our eyes out for a possible restroom site when we stopped at a crosswalk. There was a NYC police officer directing traffic and when the light turned he suddenly yelled, "Let's go people!" He was talking to all of us pedestrians that apparently were not going fast enough! It was awesome! Not long after that Tammy noticed a deli and we went in to use their bathroom. There was a sign on the front door that said it was for paying customers only, but we were desperate at this point! We got back to the restroom and it had a coin operated device on it! NO WAY! We had to pay .25 to use it! Of course Tammy didn't have any cash, this was another reoccurring theme throughout our trip, anyway I got out a quarter and insisted if I was paying I was going in with her! So in we went... two ladies (who aren't small people) into a very small bathroom! Like I said, it was a busy area, and within a few seconds others were trying to get into the bathroom. We kept yelling, "Hold On" and "Someones in here" but I don't think  they could hear us. Anyway, we finally get done and open the door and start walking out when we walk by a construction worker waiting to use the restroom who says aloud (now imagine your best NY accent), "There was two of them in there?" We were dying laughing! It was one of the funniest moments of our trip! CLASSIC! Anyway.... moving on! We kept walking until we reached Battery Park where we purchased our boat tickets, walked through security and boarded. I was so excited!

Riding over on the boat it was overcast and chilly. But we sat on the top because we HAD to snap some photos! We literally were laughing and having fun the whole time!

I snapped this photo right before the boat docked for us to hop off and check out the island. Notice the sky....

We got off the boat and went in the visitors area to use the bathroom (yes again) and to check out the store. I LOVED the handles on the doors to the building! So cool! We both made some purchases, which took some time because it was crazy busy and by the time we came out we were able to get these pictures!

See the difference! The sun came out and the sky was amazing! I was so glad! We walked around Lady Liberty and admired the amazing view from the island before waiting in line again to board the boat. Another native was running the show and letting everyone know who was waiting in line how they were to board and what to do. Our favorite part was when he said, "Be a leader, not a follower!" Too many people wouldn't pay attention and apparently it bugged him! Too funny! We finally got back on the boat and we decided that due to our long list of places to see we wouldn't be getting off at Ellis Island. So we rode it back to Battery Park and had to find another potty... yup it was that kind of day! We went into a Starbucks that was right across the street and, no joke, had to wait about 20 minutes to use their restroom that had NO toilet paper. YUP! Crazy! And also, we needed to recharge our phones again too!! So I managed to find a corner with a plug and we sat and had a drink and charged our phones for a bit. I found it funny that there was a guy sitting near us that was TOTALLY asleep! It was funny! After about 20 minutes, we left and caught our subway back into the city to go to Gray's Papaya hot dog! This was a MUST! We will admit that it was in BIG part to the movie "Fools Rush In" but we also new it would be a true NY hot dog!

And it was! A true NY style dog and it was delish! And of course it was cash only and Tammy was caught unprepared yet again! Hahaha! Actually it was surprising how many places in NY were cash only! Live and learn! We enjoyed our dogs and cheese fries before hitting the subway again to take us to Dylan's Candy bar! By this time my feet were starting to hurt from the day (and the days prior) but I was not going to give in! We got off on our stop and realized we had a bit of a walk to get there. We took a wrong turn and ended up going through a neighborhood. It was AMAZING! The buildings were brownstones with beautiful architecture and you could tell these people had MONEY! My feet didn't love the detour, but the rest of me loved it! We made it to Dylan's candy bar a few minutes later and this place was HOPPIN'! There was every kind of candy imaginable at this place! It was three levels of nothing but candy! I picked out several things for my family and Tammy did as well.

I should have taken more photos, but these were all I got! Once we made our purchases it was time to hit the subway again to head to the Temple. I couldn't come to NY and not see the temple! We made some quick adjustments to our subway ride, since there was a subway station right outside the door of Dylan's, and off we went again. We arrived at the stop and once we made street level quickly realized exactly where we were! We were right near that area with the park bench where we waited to catch the bus to the museum! It's too bad we hadn't just added this on to that day! Oh well! Anyway, we pull out our phones to try and pull up the walking directions and quickly discover our phones are almost dead again and it is getting late. We are losing daylight. Rather than wander around looking for it Tammy finds a cab and we jump in. This driver was a real character. His name was Pete and he told us he, "lived in the PJ's in Brooklyn" which to you and I is the projects. We asked if he was joking but he insisted he was telling us the truth. He also said we were his first ever Mormons! We had him take us to the temple and had him wait for us as we quickly jumped out and took a couple pictures. We jumped back in and he took us back to our hotel. The ENTIRE ride back he asked us questions! Questions about our state, Las Vegas, our religion and all sorts of things. He was funny and fun to talk to. We gave him a big tip and told him to enjoy his trip west in a few weeks. He almost didn't accept it, but we insisted. He was cool!

Once back at our hotel we were officially wiped out! We had truly made the best out of every moment in the city and hit every place we wanted to see! So going out to dinner was NOT an option! TOO TIRED! In our planning the night before I had asked a person at our hotel's front desk if they knew a good place to order Chinese food that delivered. She got so excited to tell me about this place she loved and even printed out their information for me! So that's what we did! We ordered Chinese and it was super good! (all except for that hot pepper that about killed me!)

We ate our dinner in our PJ's and prepared our luggage to fit our purchases so we'd be ready to leave the next morning. I couldn't believe the trip was almost over, but it was time to text Hector to pick us up tomorrow around noon for our flight back home :(

New York Fun! Day three...

Day three and our last day of having the bus passes. So we knew that we would use the bus to get us all the way over to Rockefeller Center, fifth avenue and Central Park area. We had not made it over to that area at all yet and on this day the temperature dropped quite a bit, so we layered up and kept our fingers crossed that we wouldn't have to sit on the top level of the bus! Breakfast needed to be quick so we just hit the McDonald's in Times Square! After we filled our bellies it was off to the bus! Thankfully they changed buses and they had a double decker bus that has a plexi-glass top! Yay! We still sat on the lower portion until we got over to an area we hadn't seen yet. The tour guide on this day was awesome! His name was Dave and he was an old man who I swear knew everything their was to know about the city! It was incredible the things he was telling us! And his personality was CLASSIC! At one point during our tour we were checking the bus routes and trying to figure out which one to take to get us to the Natural History Museum.  At one point we asked Dave if we could walk there from this bus and he said, "Well we aren't over there yet but when we get there I'll let you know. It's not a secret!" It was awesome! We jumped off once we arrived at Rockefeller Center and went right into the NBC Experience- an NBC store. We walked through the entire place enjoying the many things you could purchase including things with the "Friends" logo on it! We LOVE that show! We walked around in that building for a bit before heading out to where the ice rink and gold statue is. When we were leaving that building for some reason I went into the turn style door in the same section as Tammy and we got stuck for a second! It was hilarious! I have NO idea why I did that! We had gone through TONS of those doors this whole trip including one at our hotel and I had never done that! Oh well! It was FUNNY!!

After checking out the ice rink and the gold man we wanted to go have lunch! We had noticed a TGI-Fridays on the bus tour that wasn't far from where we stopped so we walked that direction to have lunch. Thankfully it wasn't busy and we were able to have a yummy lunch. This area of the city had a whole different vibe. It really felt more corporate than it did over in the Times Square area. Lots of business people and more residential for sure. After eating we were basically in the thick of 5th Avenue! Shopping heaven! We knew we had other places to see (and we don't have unlimited $$ to spend) so we chose a Michael Kors store! I was so impressed with his stuff and Tammy was already a huge fan! She helped me choose a little something for myself! Happy Birthday to me!

After our short shopping adventure we jumped on our bus again and headed for Central Park. It wasn't too far from where we were, but we knew we wanted to hop to another bus to get to the Natural History Museum. (dang it.... we forgot to ask Dave before we got off! oh well) We jumped on and rode until we got to Central Park, and after asking the new tour guide, we jumped off to walk a few blocks to the other bus stop. HOLY CRAP IT WAS COLD!!!! Our faces were freezing as we walked the edge of Central Park and we reached the other stop which was right across from Trump Tower. We found a park bench and relaxed a bit while attempting to stay warm!

That is Central Park behind us! I'm sure it's much prettier in the summer!

It wasn't too long before the next bus arrived and we hopped on and thawed out on our short ride to the museum. We were told to enter through the Planetarium so we went around the corner to the entrance. By this time our phone batteries were almost dead and we HAD to find a place to recharge. This was an occurring theme throughout our trip! We were always looking for places to plug in! We were using them so much between GPS, photos, social media, texting family etc that our batteries would die pretty fast! Anyway, thankfully there was a beautiful foyer area that had a plug so we plopped down on the floor and charged for a bit! Then we were off to see the museum...

There was some pretty amazing things in this place! First of all, its HUGE with TONS of exhibits. Everything from what you see here to the planetarium, a sea exhibit, animals and more. It was where the film "Night at the Museum" was filmed. We enjoyed it but were in a bit of a rush. We got there with only a little over a hour to see it all. And some of the exhibits were closed due to a private event they were putting on! They had tables set up for food and caterers etc were there. Anyway, we knew we needed to leave before dark because we were going to take the subway home, so we found another area to rest and charge our phones again before hitting the subway. The subway is really amazing- it's $2.75 a ride- and was quick and easy! This time there was two boys right by us that I am pretty sure were the same age as Brianne and they were all by themselves! Crazy!

We were pretty tired and didn't really know where we were going to eat. We figured we'd watch for something on our way back home. As we got off the subway and were walking back to Times Square we came across Guy Fieri's restaurant that we had noticed a couple days earlier! It looked great and the aromas coming from it were even better! So in we went!

We had a lovely dinner, and I'm not gonna lie, we were tired! It was another long day of fun in the city! We really didn't want it to end! After our meal we went back to the hotel to plan our last day. Since the bus passes were done we knew we needed to plan our next days adventures! We spent over an hour planning what we wanted to see and how we would get there. we were going to do it ALL via the subway! I was super excited because I was FINALLY going to see Lady Liberty!! :)

New York Fun! Day two...

Day two started a little later than we had anticipated! We slept in a bit because we were REALLY tired! We didn't get out of our hotel until around 10:30am. We decided that a quick breakfast was probably the way to go so we just stopped at the Starbucks across the street and grabbed a drink and a sweet roll (thanks to a sweet gift card that Chan had secretly stuck in my suitcase- that sweet guy!) We headed straight to our tour bus and jumped on. On this morning we went through the city on our way to the SOHO, Chinatown, Little Italy area. The person conducting the tour on this day was a woman with a VERY thick accent! At one point I turned to Tammy and said, "This lady sounds like Fran Drescher!" Tammy agreed and we got quite a laugh from her! When we got off the bus we wanted to get a bite to eat before doing some shopping. Again, thanks to Tammy's wonderful preparedness, we knew we wanted to go to Lombardi's. It's a New York style pizza place that has been there since the early 1900's! When we found it we were so excited! The smell in there was YUMMY! They sat us at a table in the rear of the place that was close to the kitchen. It was fun to see the locals there and partake in one of the BEST pizza's I've ever had! I've never been a big fan of thin crust pizza, but this place made me a FAN!

Once our bellies were full we were ready to shop! We were basically already in Little Italy but walked through the rest of it and passed some other yummy looking restaurants. We made it to Chinatown! We were SO excited to check this place out! Everyone we talked to said we HAD to go there and shop! Tammy was on the lookout for a cheap knock off purse, but I was just looking for things I could buy my kids! We ended up being VERY surprised at what was there. I was expecting it to be more "authentic" Chinese stuff, like Kimono's or whatever! And Tammy was expecting to see rows of stores with knock-off stuff! But what we really saw was just a TON of souvenir stores with cheap NY items. It worked out great for gifts though! Tammy purchased most of her family gifts there! I only ended up purchasing a ring, but it looks real good for $15! I thought it was a great buy! While walking through there these Chinese women would approach us saying things and lean into you trying to get your attention. I literally could not understand them! It took me a while but I figured out that they were trying to sell me "knock-off" stuff! Apparently NY is trying to clamp down on this behavior and you have to go into "back rooms" to see it! I never acknowledged I knew what they were saying because doing that sounded a bit freaky to me! 

Once we saw Chinatown and Tammy bought some treats we were headed to the SOHO area. There were other stores there that we wanted to check out. One of the things that's tough in NY is trying to find a restroom! Thankfully we were able to find one while we were shopping that area! It was not easy! We loved the walk through this part of the city. The buildings were cool!

 Tammy found a Pandora store once we got there and purchased a bracelet with NY charms. She said she's going to add to it as she travels. I thought that was awesome! We hit a few others as well but we knew we needed to head back to our hotel because on this night we were heading to Broadway!

Because time was getting short we opted to not catch the bus back. It would have taken too long and we needed to get all dressed up for the show. We made a last minute decision to take the subway since it's cheaper than cab fare. We headed down to the stairs and purchased our tickets and asked the lady behind the glass which trains to take to get us back to Times Square. We went through the ticket area and quickly realized we weren't really "sure" about what we were doing! Thankfully I saw a woman holding a metro pass and I asked her if she could help us. She was obviously a local (because of her accent) and was very willing to help. Everyone thus far that we had encountered had been incredible! She looked at Tammy's cell phone that had the subway line info to which she said, "shit I need my glasses"! We laughed about that for the rest of the night! She did finally help us and we made it back to Times Square, but that ride made Tammy VERY nervous! She told me later that she was impressed that I wasn't scared and the only reason she felt that way was because it wasn't planned as well as she wanted. She was afraid we'd end up in Queens or something! Thankfully, that didn't happen!

Our first subway ride!!

We got back to the hotel and only had a little over 2 hours before we needed to head out to our show. Unfortunately the weather took a turn and it was raining pretty good that night. I am kicking myself that I didn't get a picture of us all dressed up for the show, but I really feel that's why I didn't. We were running late getting there, the traffic was thick, and we literally got there just in time to sit and see the show! The theatre was beautiful! Really high ceilings with a stunning chandelier! The stage was large and we could tell right away from the set that this show was going to be amazing. We saw Cinderella and the people playing the characters were wonderful! When the stepmother stepped on stage the whole audience applauded right away and were excited. I was wondering who it was until I heard her speak.... it was Fran Drescher!!!! It was unbelievable that I had JUST talked about her that VERY day! Crazy!! It was also funny that Carly Rae Jepson was Cinderella! She did a great job though! We loved the show! It was truly stunning from the people to the costumes and set! So glad we got to see it!

When we came out of the theatre it was still raining and we had NO PLAN on where we were going to eat or how we were going to get there! Our plan was to just grab a cab, but it was the same plan as MANY that night! So we just began walking hoping that we would be able to hail a cab. Unfortunately Tammy had worn these SUPER high heels and was struggling to keep up with me in the rain as I was trying to find a cab. Every cab that I attempted to hail already had people in it! It was so frustrating! but FINALLY a Lincoln Town car stopped and said he could take us, but it was a flat rate. At this point we didn't care! We wanted OUT of the rain, so in we went! This guy was a CRAZY NY driver! Wholly Moly! I was holding on as he flew down alleyways and streets, but we got back to our hotel fast and I was grateful to get in our room and out of my pantyhose! :) We got out of our wet clothes and put on some comfy ones and tried to decide where to eat. There was another diner nearby we had seen in Times Square so we called to see how late they were open and we literally had MINUTES to get there before they closed the kitchen. This place was called Brooklyn Diner and it looked like a diner, but I'm sure the prices certainly don't reflect any diner that's actually IN Brooklyn! Just saying! But Tammy swears it was the BEST Reuben sandwich she's ever had and I opted for a yummy salad. It was a great ending to another fantastic day! We headed back to our room and decided to hit the sack so we could start the next day earlier! We didn't want to sleep away our time in this amazing city!

New York Fun! Day one...

Last fall my best friend of almost 20 years texted me and said she wanted to take me on a trip. When I saw it I immediately said I AM IN! And I didn't even know where we were going yet! I called her later that day and asked her about it and said, "Where would we be going?" She responded saying she hadn't totally decided yet but was considering New York. I lost it! I got VERY excited and after talking it over for just a few minutes the decision was made! Over the next several months she REALLY did her homework! She spent HOURS online mapping out what we could see, where we would stay, subway routes to get everywhere etc etc etc! So when the time actually arrived I could hardly breathe I was so excited to go! But BEFORE that could happen I had to prepare my family for my absence! I will admit I went a bit overboard in preparation, but I didn't want anything to ruin my fun trip! I bought all the food for the week, made a list of dinners and how to prepare them so the kids could cook, made arrangements for car pool, paid all the bills yada yada yada! I even cleaned the entire house and did every stitch of laundry! I was READY! So on Monday morning I had Chan drop me at the airport for my flight to St George to meet up with Tammy. I was still in disbelief that I was ACTUALLY going to New York! Tammy picked me up and we went back to her place to finish her packing before heading to Vegas for our red eye flight. Her sister Stace took us and we hit California Pizza Kitchen for dinner before heading to the airport. I took pictures of the gate we sat at because it said JFK- I was still having a hard time believing we were actually going there!

We boarded our red eye and we were pooped! We both attempted to sleep on the plane and were sort of successful, sleeping for short stints, for the 4 hour flight. It felt like forever! But we arrived early morning in NY and grabbed our bags and headed for the curb to catch a cab. Once outside we hadn't gone far when a man approached us asking if we needed a ride. We said we did and he pointed at his VERY nice Cadillac Escalade and said he could drive us. We were going to say no until he said it was the same price as a cab. Yeah, we were IN! It was the best decision too! His name was Hector and he was HILARIOUS! We literally laughed the entire way into the city, which was a long drive due to the morning commuters. Some of the things he said were NOT politically correct to say the least, but it's stuff we'll never forget! The drive was amazing too! We saw parts of Brooklyn, the space ship towers that were in the Men In Black movies and some unreal cemetery's. When we got into the city we were both stuck to our windows just looking and checking out EVERYTHING! We made it to our hotel and checked in and went up to our room to drop our stuff. Every now and then Tammy would say, "We are in NY!!" Even though we were totally exhausted from our travel we got cleaned up, grabbed our cameras and headed out! We knew we wanted breakfast and because of Tammy's GREAT homework we knew exactly where we wanted to go- Evergreen Diner. So we were following the GPS on her phone when we turned the corner and saw this...

Yeah... that's Time Square! I wish so badly someone would have had a video of the two of us walking into this area that morning. I am sure we looked like total idiots! Neither of us could stop smiling or saying WOW! We only had to walk a couple of blocks through here before finding our cute little Diner.

This place was authentic! Exactly what I expected to see in NY! It was covered with pictures all over the walls of famous people who have eaten there. It was literally a hole in the wall place, not fancy AT ALL! Our waitress was awesome! When Tammy asked her what was good she literally said everything! And MEANT it! She was so cute and did an amazing job and the food was incredible! Just your basic diner breakfast fare but literally cooked perfectly!

On our way to this diner we noticed the double decker buses that do the city tours. My in-laws had told me about these and how wonderful they were so we grabbed a brochure and was checking it out while we ate. We decided that the tour was next on the list. So off we went to buy our three day pass for the tours. We chose the green line because it hit all the places we really wanted to see. But we could go onto the others as well. We left the restaurant and bought our tickets and jumped on the bus! It was a bit chilly that day and was overcast but we didn't care! We went up top and couldn't wait to see more of the city!

We went through times square, through the Fashion District, did a drive by of Madison Square Garden (which is really ugly), went by Macey's department store on our way to the Empire State Building! That was where we were getting off! We HAD to go there!

The drive was awesome and we were craning our necks looking up at all the amazing buildings! We jumped off at the Empire State building and headed for the observation deck. It's 86 floors up and the building is gorgeous! We loved all the shiny metal- especially on the elevator doors. As we winded our way through the lines to get up there we had the opportunity to snap a photo. The guy taking them was cracking us up! He would say, "Reeeeeaaaadddyyy" in the funniest voice! Needless to say it was something we repeated the rest of that day! He was one to remember! We finally got to the area where the observation deck was and they gave out these head sets and devices that would tell you all about the building. I will admit we didn't use those to their full potential! We were just too excited to get outside and see the city! So on we went! We finally made it outside and the tourists in us were out again! Only this time we were almost quiet with awe! The city is HUGE and beautiful!

It was so busy that morning that we actually went down about 6 flights of stairs vs waiting for the elevator! It was worth it! And all along the way we were meeting locals who were enjoying their jobs and even joking around with us here and there! They were really great!

After visiting the gift shop there we headed back to our bus and headed toward the 9/11 Memorial. This was another MUST DO and we figured we'd go there next. We took the bus as far as it would get us and then we walked a good 6 plus blocks to get to where we needed to check in and get a ticket. As soon as we got to that area there was A LOT of people standing in line and waiting and everyone was being respectful. There were signs to read along the way, we paid a donation for a ticket and in doing so got these bracelets.

We continued on, going through a security area and another bit of a walk, before entering the memorial. It's still not "complete" but we were able to see the pools, the building where the museum will be, as well as the surrounding areas. The reverence there is incredible. And the memorial itself was beautiful. As horrific as that day was, they are truly honoring those people well. When entering we noticed that there were white flowers sticking out of some of the names. We later saw a sign that said they put those flowers there on their birthdays. Incredible...

I was holding it together pretty well until I read a name that was followed by "and her unborn child" and that's when the tears came. But more than sadness I felt a sense of pride that no matter what may happen to us we will rise again and show whomever that they WILL NOT break us!

After walking the area for a while we went over to the store. This is where I made my favorite purchase- a "I love NY" sweatshirt. It's the iconic shirt but instead of a red heart it's a blue one. And it has a 9/11 Memorial emblem on the sleeve. I really love it! They also had some amazing books and objects from that day in there. Even a piece of twisted metal from the trade tower building. It was unreal to see. I am grateful to all those who work there, who answer questions daily about what happened, and who help people heal from what happened there. I want to go back when it's all complete so I can see the museum as well. It's going to be truly remarkable.

After leaving the store we quickly realized that we were starving! Thankfully right across the street on the corner was a hot dog vendor! It was another thing we needed to check off our list, so off we went! This guy was A TRIP! He was talking on his phone with ear buds speaking some strange language that Tammy later called Aladdin! Hahaha! But truly, it was a very strange language! He asked us where we were from and when we said Utah he asked us if it was in Africa! Ummmm... WHAT? We tried to explain where it was stating that it was closer to California and he had NO IDEA where that was either! This guy literally must have JUST arrived in the city! Thankfully he understood us enough for us to buy a hot dog & a pretzel and get change! Then we were off again! We had planned on catching our bus again but were tapped out, so we found the nearest cab and jumped in!

We ate our food, enjoying every bit, on the cab ride back to our hotel. We were both proud of ourselves and what we had managed to see in ONE day! But we were tired and we knew we needed to rest up before dinner. We got to our room and crashed! The time difference was hitting us, so we both took a small nap before getting cleaned up for dinner. We wanted to check out the stores in Times Square so we left early and ended up spending quite a bit of time sitting on the steps and people watching. It was unreal... Tammy kept saying, "I'm so happy right now" and I couldn't agree more. The perfect ending to that first day was our dinner at Carmine's. Tammy had made that reservation 2 months in advance and it was truly worth the wait. I decided that I had NOT had real Italian food until that night! The food literally melted in our mouth! (I could really go for one of those meatballs right now!) Even though we were stuffed to the gills we couldn't pass up a dessert opportunity! We HAD to go to Juniors and choose something yummy! Of course there was a line out the door, but it went fast and we each chose a superb dessert! I don't think I would change ANYTHING about that first day, in fact if it's all I had gotten to do, it would have been perfect! But we knew there was more to come!

So back we went to our hotel to rest up for Day 2! We got in our jammies and with me and my breathe right strip and her with her "cell phone fan app" we were ready to sleep! (oh the joys of sharing a bed with your BFF! Hahahaha!)