mohonk mountain

Last weekend was the first nice weekend we've had in a long time, so we decided it was time for a road trip, and took a little ride.  Jason loves Anthony Bourdain, in a recent episode he explored the Hudson River Valley and one of his stops was Mohonk Mountain.  After learning that this is the resort where Steven King frequently stayed and got his inspiration for The Shinning, Jason had to see it. 

It is a magnificent resort tucked away in the beautiful mountains of the Hudson Valley with everything you can imagine.  We explored the grounds and saw everything from cross country skiing and ice skating to snow shoeing.  Right when we walked into the main entrance we were welcomed with the smell of wood burning fireplaces and we were in love.  We walked around the castle and then walked out on the veranda overlooking the lake and relaxed in rocking chairs while enjoying the view.  While it was just a quick day visit we have definitely added Mohonk Mountain to our list. 

bagel day

Last week I took a new position at KPMG and my group hosted a bagel party at my desk so everyone could come and say goodbye before I moved to the 38th floor.  I can't believe how quickly time flies.  Four weeks after moving to the city I started working at KPMG and have worked in the same group for 3 1/2 years.  I have loved getting to know all of the wonderful people in the FS group.  I started as the country girl from Utah and they quickly helped me adjust to big city life.  They joked that before no time I would be a mean NYer and in some ways I feel like my experience at KPMG has helped me discover who I really am.  I've had to work with many different personalities and in doing so have seen what type of person I want to be and how others see me.  Before KPMG my work experience had always been amongst family members and it was definitely an adjustment not having them by my side everyday, but because of this, I feel like many of my colleagues have become my second family.  I am now working in the Risk Management group as an Engagement Setup Administrator, and while it's been very busy and a lot to learn, I am looking forward to a new challenge..

happy valentine's day

I hope you had a lovely day with your special someone! 

The red velvet heart cake I shared with mine.

snowpocalypse

It seems like every winter we get warnings of a huge storm that is going to hit the city - you would think the end of the world is coming the way people talk.  Well yesterday snowpocalypse hit the city, and we survived.  Emails were sent out at work the night before telling us that if it was unsafe, to not come to work and that our safety was more important than our jobs.  The news on every channel updated us on the severe weather alerts and after all of that, we got a measly 8 inches.

Walking down Park Avenue

However, I will admit 8 inches in the city is not the same as 8 inches in rural UT.  Millions of people plus millions of taxi cabs and buses with 20 mph winds and snow equals one big mess.  Pretty much all the white stuff gets sloshed around, creating huge puddles that make it impossible to walk in (which is what everyone has to do in the city).  I'm not complaining.  I made it to work (one of the 5 in my group that did show up) and at noon they sent out an email telling us they would be closing the office at 1pm.  So I got to trudge back through the messy stuff and read all afternoon.  Even as I get older I still look forward to a good snow day!!

The view from our apartment

highline

A couple of weekends ago we had a warm Saturday so we headed down to the Meatpacking District for brunch at Vento and some shopping at Chelsea Market.  It was such a nice day that we decided to walk around the Highline and people watch while we soaked up the sun. 

swearing in

Yesterday Jason was sworn in and can now officially practice law in the state of NY.  I keep posting these "It's official"  (he is done with school, he graduated, he took the bar, he started work, he passed the bar) posts but I believe this will be the last of the officials.  His signature on his work email has read "Law Clerk" but today he gets to change it to "Associate" and call himself an attorney! 

He was sworn in at the Appellate court house on 25th and Madison and the courtroom was stunning.  All the furnishings were a rich mahogany with gold platted moldings throughout and a green stain glass dome in the ceiling.  After my jury duty experience I was worried the courtroom would be similar to the civil courtrooms I was in but it was nothing like that.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the courtroom but I was able to find this one from google images.

He was sworn in with 101 new attorneys so it was a little crowded and I was able to snag a seat on the front row so I could see him.  Just imagine 100 young men and women dressed in their suits, standing in a beautiful court room, all raising their right arms and swearing to be good, honest attorneys.  It was quite the sight and I was so proud that my husband was one of them.  After the swearing in the judge shared a few remarks, quoting Job and his patience and ending with a few words from Bob Dylan.

May your hands always be busy

May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young

100 skills everyone should master

It being the new year, for the first time, I have sat down and put a lot of thought into my 2010 resolutions.  I have made family goals, personal goals, work goals, and things I want to do goals.  Many have posted their lists, which is very brave, but I have chosen to keep mine to myself.  However, I saw this list of 100 skills everyone should master on Design Mom from Kirtsy and thought I would share it.  I love them all; some are obvious, some are practical, some are funny, and some really made me think about what I want to accomplish in my life.  Just thought I would pass it on to help you think about what skills you want to master in the new decade.

christmas

We had a wonderful time in Utah this year for Christmas.  I went home a little early and spent time with friends and family and Jason flew home and surprised his family the day before Christmas eve - it was a Christmas Miracle!  We enjoyed going back and forth between families and it was so nice to visit with everyone.

We met our new nephew, Dylan, while we were home and he was the best baby.  We all fought over who got to hold him next while Shae kept us entertained.  She showed us her dollies, we colored, and she even busted out the tutu and showed us her dance routine to Lady Gaga.  She became my little buddy while we were home and it was sad to have to say goodbye.  She's getting older and remembers us now and she hadn't forgotten me from when she came out to see us.  She is the best little story teller and once she starts talking she doesn't stop.  But our favorite was the excitement of Santa coming.  We got out my dad's sleigh bells and told her that Prancer left them behind and she believed every word.

I only took pictures on Christmas Eve of Shae and Dylan in their Christmas pj's.

It was so nice seeing everyone while we were in UT and we are so sorry if we missed seeing you.

Shae cheesing it

Jason and baby Dylan

Santa's little helper and his little elf

welcome 2010

First off, let me say that I finally have an iPhone and a New York number and I am very excited about it. Jason, on the other hand, isn't loving all of the time I am devoting to my new little friend. Seriously, I didn't know what I was missing.

After the craziness of traveling over the holidays we decided to take it easy and have a low key New Years. We have been dying to see Avatar and since Lincoln Center has the only Imax in the city, almost every show was sold out but the time that overlapped the new year. So while millions were crowded in Times Square freezing, we were enjoying a little 3D on the big screen. I don't even know how to describe Avatar, so I'm not going to try, but I loved it! And I loved Jason in his HUGE 3D glasses. And I love the camerabag app, too.

After the movie we hurried home and went straight to bed so we could be up bright and early the next morning to catch the first bus to Boston. We were very excited about our hotel. A few years ago we went to Boston and stayed at the Intercontinental and since then Jason hasn't stopped talking about how amazing it was. You see, each room has a huge soaking tub that you can slide open the glass windows that separate the bathroom from the bedroom and see the flat screen. This way he could do his two favorite things, soak and watch TV, all at the same time.

So we made it to Boston, did a lot of soaking, walking up and down the quaint little snow covered streets and eating fresh seafood. We have always wanted to go to one of those authentic seafood places where you tie on the bib and crack some crab and that's exactly what we got at the Barking Crab. It was quite the experience, and I would like to point out that I am a much better cracker than Jason, I can crack my crabs and pull out the meat in one whole piece in half the time that he can:)

We had a great time in Boston, it snowed most of the time and the wind was wicked but we were happy. We are strong believers in eating the local cuisine so that is just what we do. When in Philly we eat cheese steaks, when in NY we eat pizza and when in Boston we eat clam chowda! And a we both agreed that there is nothing better than a bowl of Boston clam chowder in a homemade sourdough bread bowl on a snowy New England afternoon. Happy New Year!!

a night with the girls

We had a great time in UT for Christmas this year.  I flew out on Friday and met my beautiful high school friends in SLC for a girls night out.  It was so good to chat about the good old days and talk about our lives and families and how much they've changed.  Two of them have children and it is still so crazy to me that they are mothers.  I've always known them as silly single girls but it only took me a minute to realize we are no longer in high school.  It's funny to think that at one point our lives revolved completely around each other and now our lives are completely separate - a side from the one night a year we get together and completely forget about our husbands and children and go back to our high school days:)

The next morning we went and visited our friend Julie and her lovely family.  She and her husband had breakfast on the table and once again it was so neat to see her interacting with her kids and how amazing she is as a mother.  Her 1 month old, Austin, was so precious and her 3 year old, Brooklynn, was very excited to tell us what she was going to get from Santa.  It was so nice to get together with old friends and I am so grateful for all of the memories we have shared.

The rest of Christmas and New Years to follow.

the nutcraker

I went to The Nutcraker with these lovely ladies last night at the Lincoln Center and had a wonderful time.  I love Christmas time, to bad it doesn't last a little longer.  Thanks, Lizzie!

i'll be home

Since moving to New York there is something about this time of year that always makes me miss Utah.  I don't know if it's the Christmas memories or how different growing up in a small town is to living in a big city but I always get teary eyed when I hear the song I'll Be Home for Christmas.  I love the version by Rascal Flatts but I love watching the video even more.  It shows all of my favorite Christmas spots in the city (Saks' snowflakes and the stars in Time Warner) and while I'm missing Utah it makes me realize just how much I love this amazing city and that it is my home.  So while I love calling NY my home, my parents home will always be the place were so many Christmas memories were created. 

some turkey and a little 311

Jason and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year we decided that it wasn't worth it to go to a restaurant and we could make a much better meal at home. So Jason told me he would help, we put together a menu of all of our favorites, and started cooking. It did help that my parents sent us a smoked turkey again so we didn't have to fuss over trying to figure that one out. But I have to say, I was very impressed with how everything turned out and that we were able to have it hot and ready to eat all at the same time. It was so nice to just sleep in, enjoy the parade on TV, watch Christmas movies and enjoy this wonderful holiday as a family of two. That evening we went to our friends for some amazing homemade pie and enjoyed spending time with some of our NY friends.

We went to the parade our first year in NY and swore we would never go again, but I really wanted to see them blowing up the balloons the night before and since we are within walking distance, we decided to go have a look. They line the balloons up around the Museum of Natural History and then they line up the crowds and you can walk around the block and see all of the balloons almost fully inflated. We thought if we went late that we might avoid the crowds but I am finally realizing that avoiding the crowds around the holidays is not possible. In fact, there were so many people that we were getting claustrophobic and ended up jumping the line after one block. But it was fun to see just how massive the balloons are up close and we even got to see the return of Spiderman.

The day after Thanksgiving we did a little shopping later in the afternoon and then prepared for another crazy evening with 311. This is now the 6th time I have seen them in concert and according to Jason, won't be the last. They played in Central Park this summer but it was the day before Jason took the bar so he couldn't go. So you can imagine how excited he was when I called and told him that 311 was playing at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

The last time we were at the Hammerstein Ballroom was to hear Elder Holland speak to our stake so I knew this experience would be slightly different then the first go around, to say the least. I actually preferred seeing 311 in an enclosed smaller space. We were on the front row and it made the experience so much more enjoyable then last time. If you don't remember, last year I was in the middle of several mosh pits and kept getting slammed and stepped on by a bunch of drunk/high kids. This year all of that was going on behind me and I was able to just hang on to the fence that stood between me and the stage, and enjoy the music. Every once in a while there would be a crowd surfer that would have to get out of the crowd but I had my little protector (Jason) to graciously lift them over my head so I wouldn't get smashed.

This was by far my favorite 311 concert and I will say the only way to see 311 is from the front row. I was so close that I even got my hand touched by Peanut (the base player). So I guess it's finally official - I am a fan, and Jason couldn't be more proud:)

in the spirit of thanksgiving

What are you thankful for?  Mormon Messages hit the streets of NY.

halloween

I'm a little late on posting about our Halloween, but we've had a few other exciting announcements so Halloween had to wait.

Because Halloween was on a Saturday this year we decided we wanted to rent a car and get out of the city.  Last year we visited the ESP in Philly and Jason was determined to find a haunted house to top it.  He thought for sure there had to be some great ones around the NY area, so he did a little research and found that one of the top haunted houses in the country was just a short 2 hour drive outside of the city.  After learning this we then saw the Headless Horseman Hayride on the Travel Channels top 10 haunted houses and after seeing that, we knew we had to go.  So we loaded up on Saturday morning and headed for the tiny town of Ulster Park, NY.

Well, before heading straight to Ulster Park we drove through West Point, NY and got a glance of the academy, stopped in New Paltz and did some apple picking (well we bought apples, cider and donuts at least) and then we headed up to the Catskills for a nice foliage drive.  Once again, we enjoyed the open road with all the beautiful fall leaves while Vicky told us where to go.
The haunted house said they would have to close if it was raining and it had been a drizzly morning so we were worried we had gone all that way for nothing, but the rain went away just long enough for us to get a good scare.  The Headless Horseman Hayride was located in the middle of nowhere and after going through it we knew why.  The scream park, as they call it, was complete with a hayride, corn maze and three haunted houses.  At first I thought they were going to be cheesy but once we loaded the hayride with our feet dangling over the trailer we knew we were in for a real treat.  The one thing we loved about this haunted house was that everything was big.  The props, the characters, the houses and they even had a huge horse with a headless man on top that ran up to us when we were on the hayride.  Most haunted houses use a lot of props but all of the venues at this park were filled with characters that come up and scared us.  Jason was in heaven, of course, and it was so nice to get out of the city and see the beautiful New England trees.

We were sad that we didn't get a chance to dress up this year and missed having the Larsen's Halloween party.   Jason had planned if we did have a party to go as Jon & Kate plus 8 but after seeing many Jon & Kate's around we realized that idea wasn't too original.  I guess we'll just have to think of something good for next year.

the results are in ...

And he PASSED!!  Jason just called and reported that he passed the bar. Apparently he knew yesterday that the results would be posted today but he was to nervous to tell me.  He snuck out at work and checked the results and when he called me he was so nervous on the phone I thought for sure someone had died.

I am so proud of Jason, it has been a long road and the anticipation of waiting for the results has been hard.  I knew he would pass and I am so proud of him, all of his hard work has finally paid off!

first day on the job

The day we have been waiting over 3 years for has finally come.  This morning, for the first time ever, Jason and I got to ride the subway to work together.  I've always seen those couples that ride the subway and then kiss and go their seperate ways once the have arrived at their desintation and this morning, I finally got to experience this.  I will say he was really nervous to begin his first day of work in the real world but he looked like a lawyer in his new suit and I was so proud as we said our goodbyes and I sent him on his way.  After more years than I want to think off, school is finally over and Jason has started his career.  Now, I guess you could say, our adult lives have officially begun:)

nyc marathon

My beautiful, amazing friend Megan ran the NYC marathon yesterday and we went to see her in action.  We saw her around mile 24 and she looked AMAZING!  I didn't really know what to expect and the anticipation of seeing her running up one of the many hills in Central Park made us so nervous.  We didn't want to miss her and we were so excited to see her.  Once we finally spotted her she looked incredible.  Some runners were about to die but Megan was her same old peppy self.  She stopped long enough for a hug and a photo but by just looking at her, you would never think she had just ran 24 miles.  It was very inspiring to watch the runners pass and we loved cheering them on.  It was such a fun NYC event and I am so glad I got to see Megan experience it.  Way to go, Megan!!

the blaze

Two weeks ago we visited the Van Corlandt Manor for "The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze" where we saw more than 4,000 jack o'lanterns.  It was quite the site, and a must if you live in the area, but we were a little disappointed and felt a little cheated when we looked closely and noticed several of the jack o'lanterns were in fact - plastic.  This observation didn't ruin the evening and we were still amazed by all the many pumpkins and the creative scenes they created with them.  It more than made up for missing out on the Cache Valley Pumpkin Walk and it put us in the Halloween spirit to help us get ready for this weekend - I can't wait!!

you can take the girl out of the country ...

I know sometimes we say we have it all here in the big city, but the one thing we are missing out on is country music.  Did you know that there is not a single country station that can be picked up on public radio here?  So the seldom times I do hear a random country song playing in the background I am always reminded of Utah.  Honestly, whenever I hear a country song come on it takes me back to summertime in Lewiston, 4th of July, the Cache County fair and working at the store (where country is always playing).  I don't know if it's because I never hear it anymore, so I immediately think of Utah, but I love when a song comes on and I am suddenly thinking of good old Cache Valley.

We love taking advantage of being so close to Madison Square Garden and Jason always surprises me with a good concert.  As an early birthday present this year he gave me tickets to none other than the hotest man in country music, Mr. Keith Urban.  It also helped that Sugarland was opening for them and I love their lead singer (and her accent).

Thursday night was the big night and it did not disapoint.  Sugarland was incredible and after seeing them live I love them even more.  Jason was enjoying the music but wasn't completely satisfied until after they sang "Stay".  I usually don't really like the opening act, but I must say, Sugarland was almost better than Keith.

Then Keith came out and I was mesmerized.  Okay, I wasn't really liking him at first because the music was so loud I could barely hear him singing.  But then he sat down with his guitar and sang all the good old songs I love.  I also like that he's not too twangy and that pretty much all of his songs are about love.  Jason wasn't really feeling it like I was, but I enjoyed swaying back and forth (by myself) to the music while Keith serenaded me.  My favorite part of the night was when Keith announced that his beautiful wife had accompanied him to the concert and that this was the first time on his tour that he would be singing his new song "Thank you".  He wrote it for Nicole and I just discovered it a few days before the concert and had been listening to it non stop.  I was hoping Nicole would come out on stage and grace us with her presence, but she chose to stay in the back while Keith sang to her.  I was a little disappointed that I only got a quick shot of her on the jumbo tron; but I will say, the smartest thing she ever did was get rid of crazy Tom and marry Keith.

Thank you for the early present, babe - even though you didn't enjoy it as much as I did:)

Here is his new song Thank You (sorry for the cheesy video)