New York City & 25th Birthday!!!!

As you know from my previous post, we just got back from NYC on Monday night!  It was an AMAZING trip!!!!  It was so nice to get away because Jerrod and I haven't spent much time together because of his basketball season so it came at the perfect time!!  Sunday was also my 25th birthday so it was fun to be on vacation for my birthday...that's the first!

Here's the rundown of everything about our trip: visited my friend Joanna, tapas restaurant, our hotel at 5th Ave and 51st (perfect location!), hot dog stands, pizza, boat tour around Manhattan (thanks Jessica for surprising me with that!), Lion King on broadway (a must see!), times square, m&m store, starbucks daily because we were so cold, ground zero (that was surreal), the church across from ground zero, wall street, the bull, battery park, China town, lunch in Little Italy, bought a purse from someone on Canal St. (that has its own story), riding subways, crazy taxi drivers, walking, walking, walking, dinner at the Top of the World with amazing views, steaks and wine for my birthday, Empire State building/observatory, cheesecake at Carnegie deli, Central Park, snow, snow, snow, shopping on 5th Ave, FAO Schwartz, Apple, Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, H&M, NBA store, Cartier, Dior (8 stories), Versace, Chanel, just to name a few, MACY's (holy cow!), NBC tour, Top of the Rock observatory (highly recommend), Rockefeller center, iceskating, Radio City, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Columbia University, Food Network, Jersey city, NJ, famous people's homes (Beyonce, Rockets owner, Hinz house, Leonardo Di Caprio, Trump, Richard Grier, just to name a few), cathedrals, stock exchange..... I think that's all....yes we fit all of that in, in only 3 days :)  It was an awesome time together!!!  Here are some pics from the trip...there are lots more on facebook!

Birthday dinner with my best girlfriends in Houston the night before we left :)

Dinner at the Tapas restaurant with Joanna, my New Yorker friend :)

Boat cruise going by the Statue of Liberty

There she is .....

Jerrod in front of the Brooklyn Bridge

View of "downtown"

On our way to the Lion King, passing through Times Square!

 It was about 5 degrees that night....these Texans were FREEZING!!!!

 Ground zero....

The church across the street from the twin towers.  This is where all the workers, firemen, etc came to take naps, eat, pray, read encouraging notes, etc.  This is also where George Washington was inaugurated.

At the corner of Broadway and Wall street!

NY Stock Exchange....

Battery Park...this was when I stopped having feeling in my toes!

This was in Battery park, and it's hard to tell, but this is the only thing left of the statue because of 9/11.

Literally across from our hotel, we walked out to this every day :)

View from the restaurant where we ate for my birthday dinner!  Jerrod did a great job picking it out for us!!!

After dinner on my bday!  2 years ago on my 23rd birthday we became "official" and married 8 1/2 months later :)

Empire State building observatory

Pretty bridge in Central Park

All the snow!!!!

Empire State building :)

View from the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center)

View of Central Park!  Notice all the frozen lakes...

That's all!  I hope we get to go back one day, but probably in the summer next time :)

The Big Apple

I couldn't be more excited because Jerrod and I are leaving tomorrow morning for NYC!!!  Jerrod and I decided that we wouldn't do birthday gifts this year (Jerrod's is 12/29 and mine is 1/23) and instead take our last little getaway for a very long time because we know we wont be traveling once we are full time missionaries!!  It's my first time EVER, and Jerrod's second time to go.  Today I'm going to run some errands and buy a hat, gloves, scarves, etc. because the highs are around 20 degrees right now and it will probably be snowing when we fly in.  I'll definitely post pictures next week when we get back!  We are also getting to stay with one of my good friends Joanna Johnson who moved there in October from Houston.  I can't wait to see her new life in the big city :)  Have a great weekend!!!

Kyleigh Came to Visit!

My awesome friend Kyleigh came to visit me the first week of January!  She was on my Africa team when I went 3 years ago and we have kept in touch but hadn't seen each other since Swaziland.  Lots has changed for both of us in 3 years, but we had no problem just picking up where we left off.  It's amazing how much you can bond with someone in 3 months, once you take bucket baths together, share a bunk, and experience some of the heaviest struggles in your life.  I think that is what is so special about our friendship.  She is a senior at Wheaton, outside of Chicago.  She was glad to get away from the snow for a couple of days :)  While she was here we went shopping, visited Jerrod's 5th grade class, had dinner with my Houston friends, went to Austin, met my sister and Layton in Gruene, and had lots of fun together.  It was so weird dropping her off at the airport because I have no idea when I'll see her again, but I know we will be life long friends.  Here are a few pictures of her 1st visit to TEXAS!!!

Kyleigh and I in the lobby of our hotel in Austin...The Driskill :)

At our table for dinner at the Oasis on Lake Travis.

Sun setting over the Tx Hill Country :)

Kyleigh learning how to two step for the first time ever!!!

Our hotel at night....absolutely beautiful!

Amy & Layton at the river in Gruene.  We had lunch at the Gristmill of course!!

Thanks for coming Ky!  I had so much fun and I'm so glad you were able to make the trip!  I can't wait till our next adventure!!!!!

Happy 27th Birthday Jerrod!!!

Jerrod turned 27 last Wednesday but I'm just now posting this :) oops!  Anyway, on Tuesday night several of his friends came over to play the xbox kinect so I thought I'd surprise him with a cake and balloons while his friends were there.  It was totally last minute...as you can see in the pics I had just finished running lol.

Lighting the candles in the parking garage :)

He was surprised :)

German chocolate = his favorite!

Happy Birthday babe!!

At the Houston Zoo they just opened up this huge new park called African Safari and we've been dying to go.  So...I planned on taking him to the new African Safari, then to his favorite Asian restaurant.  Well, it rained over an inch that day so there was no way we were going. :(  I was so bummed but promised him we'll do it next weekend.  So instead we opted for Pappasitos fajita night ($16.95 for two) which is becoming pretty regular for us LOL.  I'll let ya know how the new zoo exhibit is!!!