Thankful

I have so many things to be thankful for. I have a handsome husband that is my best friend and loves me even with all my many flaws. We have four amazing sons that are each unique and talented righteous young men. My parents and siblings are some of the coolest people I know, and I get to see them on a fairly regular basis. I have so many wonderful friends near and far. I have had so many great education and career opportunities. I live in one of the most beautiful locales in the whole world. I am blessed to be a citizen of the greatest nation in the world that affords me all of the opportunity I can dream of. Best of all, I have my faith. I have been so blessed to have been raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so thankful that my husband is an honorable priesthood holder and that he is setting the example for our boys. Of course, there are bumps along the way, but my faith sustains me. It gives me hope. Thanks be to God!

I Heart New York

So in mid-October, I had run my course as a sub at the middle school. The first guy that I had partnered with ended up leaving very suddenly in September, and then they found another inexperienced person to work the afternoon. This second person was a young lady who again was not a teacher, but she certainly made up for it in enthusiasm. After she had been there a few weeks, I felt confident she could take over the whole day. I left without any feelings of guilt or abandonment at all. I was so relieved to be done. I also had the opportunity to present several times at both meetings and once at a conference attended by Navajo Nation big wigs. I am still working on a more permanent job situation.

Since I am in between jobs and fairly footloose, my sister Kim and I made plans to take a trip together. Kim has been working for Steve's bank for a while in the marketing department which affords her lots of chances to travel. We worked around her schedule to meet up in New York, and it was fantastic! We are well suited travel buddies.

We started out by catching a red eye flight from our respective cities. We figured this gave us a whole extra day in the city without getting a hotel. A friend of mine hooked us up with a great insider rate at a very nice hotel, and our trip had begun.

First on our itinerary was a visit to the Statue of Liberty. We did the budget trip riding the Staten Island Ferry. Next we hit the 9/11 Memorial. This is something I have wanted to do since the last time I was in New York back in 2007. At that time, the whole area was fenced off to the public as they cleaned up from 9/11 and then began building the memorial. After a nap in our hotel (remember we took a red eye) we had dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Factory and took in Times Square.

Day two we hit Canal St. and Brooklyn for the first half of the day. Kim was a boss getting us around on the subway. I have to mention that a Broadway show was on our to do list, but we hadn't bought tickets for a show. Rather, we kept going to the lottery for Wicked. You are allowed to put your name in a drawing and then if you are picked, you get to purchase front row seats dirt cheap!! That afternoon, we went back to the lottery for the fourth time, and Kim was drawn!

To kill time before the show, we decided to go eat an early dinner. In all of our back and forth to the theater, we kept seeing a diner that had a really long line outside. However, once we got our tickets to Wicked, we noted that the line had diminished. We figured we would try it out since it was close and seemed popular. The Stardust Diner turned out to be one of the funnest parts of our trip! It was full of singing dancing waiters. And man could they sing! It was awesome!

Wicked was nothing short of phenomenal. I am so glad we held out for that show since it was my top choice. And then to get front row bargain tickets was the icing! Fantastic!!

Day three was a rainy day in Rockefeller Center, Central Park and at the Met. We actually hooked up with my friend Otis from Page for lunch at the Shake Shack since he happened to be in town. Fun! Later in the day we checked out of our downtown hotel and moved out to a place Kim's work was footing the bill for since she would be working the following day. While we were traveling, I got a message from an old college friend who had seen some of my posts on Instagram. She was in New York too! We made plans to get together at Serendipity for dinner It was so much fun seeing someone I haven't seen in literally 20 years and feeling like we could pick up right where we left off. That is the best kind of friend!

The next morning, Kim dropped me at the airport and headed off to work while I winged my way home to Arizona. What a whilrwind it was. Until next time, I heart NYC!

Phoenix Temple Open House

Bowen and Rex had a cross-country meet down in Phoenix and it happened to be at the same time that the open house for the new Phoenix temple was running. Lisa had tagged along for the weekend to go visit Bri and to watch the boys. Before we left for home, we took in the open house. It was actually the very last evening on the very last day that it would be open before dedication. I am so glad we made the extra effort to go. It was beautiful. Lisa asked us lots of questions especially about the sealing rooms. We were glad to share that occasion with her. Good times indeed.