There are so many beautiful trees around our neighborhood that are in full bloom and every year I say I'm going to take pictures and then they all fall off before I get around to it. So to help me remember Mercer and Bleecker streets in the spring time I went out last night and took a few shots.
The trees in our buildings courtyard
This is my favorite little row of trees that I walk by on my way to the grocery store everynight.
Mark Mabry's exhibit "Reflections of Christ" was on display at our church last weekend and we had the pleasure of seeing his incredible art work. My mother-in-law gave us the book for Christmas and I love all the photos but it was amazing to watch the documentary and learn of his inspiration for each photo and to see them in person. I loved hearing the story of the man who played Christ and how he prepared himself for the shot in the Garden of Gethsemane so that we could all feel his pain and be touched by his sacrifice.
For any of you in the NY area, I would highly recommend seeing the exhibit on display at the Stake Center this weekend. And for those of you who can't, here is a clip of his beautiful photos set to my favorite hymn. The accompaniment of this version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" was written for his exhibit.
This was one of our favorite photos from the exhibit
**Thanks for telling me about the video, Kimber**
Has anyone ever seen/heard of the movie North & South from the Elizabeth Gaskell collection? I just finished watching it and now I am obsessed. Mr. Thornton is to die for and I'm still trying to decide who is the bigger hunk, he or Mr. Darcy. I have always been a HUGE fan of Jane Austen's stories and I have seen Pride & Prejudice at least 50 times and I still love it as if it were my first time watching it. I never thought I would love anything more than P&P but I believe it has met it's match. I can't believe I've never heard of Elizabeth Gaskell until now. If you love Jane Austen you have to watch North & South (the BBC version) and tell me what you think.
to the West side. To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Jason and I have officially signed our lease and will soon get to call the Upper West Side our new home. It's a little sad to think that I will be leaving my 500 square foot home/room of almost 3 years. I can't believe our studio is the place we have called home for more than half of our marriage. In Utah we never lived in one place for more than 9 months at a time, so it was nice to have been settled in one place for a little longer.
There are definitely a few things I will miss about good old Mercer. I will miss having Jason right there by my side every minute of every day. I will miss seeing him laying on our bed/couch as he studied while I cooked in the kitchen 10 feet away. I will miss living in the Village, it has been so fun trying all the wonderful restaurants and discovering so many amazing gems. I will miss running around Washington Square Park in the mornings. I will miss Mike, our friendly doorman and I will miss riding our bikes to church every Sunday up 5th Avenue. But most of all, I think I will miss always being in the same room with Jason. I know you think we would lose our minds never being apart but it has truly brought us together and helped us really get to know one another.
But there are even more things I won't be missing. I won't miss having to watch tv with headphones. I won't miss not being able to do things while I'm watching tv because the headphone extension only allows me to go 3 ft away from the tv (and heaven forbid I miss part of my show). I won't miss having to go out in the hall and sit in front of the elevators while I talked on the phone so Jason couldn't listen in on my entire conversation. I won't miss having only the bathroom as my place to go when I was mad and didn't want to talk and just needed a door to slam. I won't miss living on the 2nd floor on the busiest street in NY. I won't miss having to open my window every night because it's boiling hot in my apartment in the middle of winter. I won't miss having to turn the tv volume up to 50 so I can hear it over the honking on the street because I have to have the window open because it's too hot in our apartment (if I go blind and deaf at a young age we will know why). I won't miss our dorm-style furniture, comfy lounge chairs and matchy matchy wood furniture, and I won't be missing my kitchenette and 6"x6" counter space. But more than anything I definitely won't miss washing the dishes by hand everynight - I will never live without a dishwasher again.
But all in all we have enjoyed our time in Mercer and will remember it as being the place we lived during one of the scariest, craziest and happiest time of our lives. We have so many memories in our studio and I know in 10 years I will look back and wonder how I ever lived in that much space for that long without going crazy. But I am also very excited to begin this new chapter of our lives in our new apartment we will call home.
The one thing I miss about not having a car is listening to Dr. Laura on the AM everyday. Her talk show was by far our favorite program and we loved when a road trip was planned around the time of her show (Yes, Jason is a HUGE fan).
I love her straight forward approach to every situation and how she is not afraid to tell someone when they are being an idiot, but most of all I love her views on stay-at-home-moms, so I was very excited when I saw her promoting her new book on Larry King the other night. I am not one myself but hope to be someday and I hate that I have to defend that choice when coworkers ask me about my future career goals.
I just thought some of you SAHMs out their might appreciate her new book In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms.
They number in the millions and they are incredibly important to families and to our society, yet they are underappreciated, little respected, and even controversial.
Who are they?
They are the stay-at-home moms.
These are women who know in their hearts that staying home to raise their children is the right choice for the whole family. Some do it from the outset of their marriages, while others make the difficult transition from career-driven women to homemakers. Either way, it is a choice that is incredibly rich and rewarding, not to mention challenging.
Now Dr. Laura, building on principles developed during her long career as a licensed marriage and family therapist, provides a wealth of advice and support, as well as compassion and inspiration, to women as they navigate the wonders and struggles of being stay-at-home moms.
Learn how:
to hold your head high and deal with naysayers;
to see the benefits of being home not only for your children but also for your marriage;
to understand the changes you see in yourself;
to realize that the sacrifices you endure now will make for lasting bonds and a stronger family, in addition to a more cohesive community.
In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms is a special book, a profound and unique understanding of how important it is for mothers to raise their own children.
