new york looks a little lonely when you speed it up

christmas 2010

We had a wonderful time in Utah for Christmas this year.  We were only there for a few days but we were able to see almost all of our friends and family while we were there and it was so fun catching up with everyone.  I love the city at Christmas, but there is something about the rush of fighting the crowds at the airport and the anticipation of not knowing if we are actually going to get there that makes going to Utah so special.  And when we finally pull in to Lewiston, I know it was all worth it.  I know I say this all the time, but after being gone for a few years, I truly love Lewiston and I am so grateful I was able to grow up in such a great small town.

As always, our Christmas was filled with a lot of back and forth with families but I am so glad we are able to see everyone at this time of the year.  One night we had a sleepover with Shea and the next day Jason got to experience the joy of making his first gingerbread house.  Shea was a big help; however she was very serious when it came to the gingerbread house and we were warned several times to not even think about eating the candy because it was all for the gingerbread house:)

The finished product (check out Jason's awesome icicles)

It was very entertaining to have Christmas with Shea and Dylan this year.  Of course Shea believes everything you tell her about Santa and the Elf on the Shelf was a big hit with her this year and she was constantly reminding us that the Elf was watching us.  Dylan loved Jason.  He was a little hesitant at first and wondered who the big guy was, but he quickly warmed up to him and soon became his new friend.  Every time, without fail, Dylan saw Jason he would point at him.  We could all walk into the room and Dylan would only point when he saw Jason.  He was fascinated by him and I think Jason was secretly glad he had a new buddy.

Christmas PJ's

Dylan, the macho man

 Dylan pointing at his buddy

Shea performing for us with her new Barbie karaoke machine after several wardrobe and hair changes (note the socks used as gloves)

I didn't get any pictures, but we had some much fun at Jason's grandmas.  Jason's cousins always get the funnest games for Chrismas and this year they brought their Wii and the game Just Dance.  Let's just say there were several dance performances and even a shirtless robot performance by Brent.  Some were okay with being beat by their component and others, not so much (Jodie!)

We were both spoiled for Christmas and we are so grateful for our wonderful families.  I know when we come to visit we expect them to stop what they are doing and entertain us, and it really means a lot and we always feel so loved when we come to visit.

For New Years Eve we went to our friends Scott and MaryLynn's apartment where they have a perfect view of Times Square.  We thought we were going to have to fight the crowds getting to their apartment but we went early enough that we didn't have any problem getting their.  However, on the way home there were no cabs to be had and the buses weren't running so we walked home, along with a million other New Yorkers.  We had so much fun hanging out with Scott and MaryLynn, we made homemade pizzas and played games all night (well the boys did) and even unwound a few rolls of toilet paper on the crowd below:)  Thank you for a fun night!!

View from their window when the ball dropped

100 years of the NY subway

The NY Times did an amazing photo feature of the last 100 years of the NY subway system (this would make a great coffee table book).  While I am very thankful that the city is much cleaner then it was back in the 70s and 80s, it would be fun to go back and see, as some say, the true NY.

Yes, we are still alive.  I will get back to regular posting eventually.

scuba certified

Jason and I have always wanted to get scuba certified but we always said we didn't have the time; first it was school and he was always studying, then it was work and there was never time.  In August I finally decided that if we didn't just commit and do it we never would.  I found a dive shop in the city that offered an extensive weekend course and we signed up.  If I had really known what I was getting myself into I probably wouldn't have done it, but once we signed up, there was no turning back.  Deep down I was super nervous that I was going to freakout once I got under water, and then I found out there was a test involved and was sure I would fail it - do you know how long it's been since I've taken a test?

So we studied our book and watched our video for two nights leading up to the class and it turns out - we LOVED it!!  Other than a little issue with my ears and taking in a little too much water when I was trying to equalize, I really enjoyed being under the water and that was just the swimming pool.  We couldn't wait to get in the ocean and start exploring.

We had a trip booked to the Dominican Republic and set up all the arrangements to finalize our certifications while we were there - and away we went!! 

Our first set of dives were a little rough due to a hurricane brewing further south.  After our first day of dives were weren't too sure about it.  On our second day of dives we went on a little adventure to the other side of the country and the waters were perfectly calm.  Our first dive of the day was a wall and it was so fun to follow the wall down as we got deeper and deeper.  The corral was beautiful and I couldn't believe how calming it was to just swim around and check out the wild life - and don't worry, there were no shark encounters.  Although we were fully aware of what we needed to do just in case we came face to face with Jaws, thanks to Shark week!

The resort where we stayed was beautiful. Our room was perfect with a jacuzzi tub and all (Jason was in heaven)!!  It was a very peaceful trip and we were able to spend most of our time relaxing at the beach or by the pool.  We were very grateful for Jason's Spanish on this trip.  We had read that a lot of the waiters couldn't speak very good English and we were very surprised how true this was.  At first Jason would start out speaking in English but would eventually have to switch to Spanish when they couldn't really understand what we were saying.  By the end of the trip Jason didn't even try to speak in English.  Everyone loved when Jason would bust out the Spanish and I will say that everyone was much more friendly when Jason started speaking to them in Spanish.  However, the best part was when they would try talking to me and Jason would have to tell them I didn't speak Spanish.  For some reason everyone of them thought it was so funny that I had no idea what they were saying about me.


Surprisingly there weren't very many Americans in the DR.  Everyone we ran into was either Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian, German, French or Russian.  It was crazy to come back to America and actually understand what the person next to me was saying.

We had a wonderful time in the DR and now that we are officially scuba certified (wahoo!!) we can't wait to plan our next diving trip. 

** We dove with a Frenchman who had an underwater camera who was going to send us pictures but we never received them so I don't really have any great pictures to document our trip.

Oh and I forgot to mention - Michael Jackson even came back from the dead to perform for us:)

labor day weekend

Can I just start by saying we had the BEST Labor Day weekend! Back in July we talked about going somewhere for the long weekend and luckily Megan was on the ball and found us a great little house to rent in Westhampton - such a great idea!

After working out the logistics of everything we were ready to go on Friday. We had a few scares with train delays due to Hurricane Earl but we weren't going to let him ruin our weekend. Luckily it only stormed on Friday night and the rest of the weekend was beautiful. The house had a great back yard with a pool, hot tub and grill and that is where we spent most of our time.

There was nothing better than waking up and walking out back to the pool. Jason was up at the crack of dawn each morning testing out the hot tub, making sure the temperature was just right. My favorite part was hearing the pitter-patter of little feet running around each morning waiting for the rest of the house to wake up.

Our days consisted of lounging around the pool, one morning at the beach, checking out the quaint little town of Westhampton, rotating dinner with the guys and girls so we could each go out while the others stayed with the kids, music and ice cream on main street, and the boys favorite - grilling. You should have seen them all gathered around the grill making sure their steaks turned out just right.

But overall, our favorite part of the trip was definitely the company. We could have stayed in a hole and still had a great time with this group. We enjoyed many laughs and more than one prank was played during the weekend. Late nights were spent screaming while playing PIT, arguing over Catch Phrase, watching everyone's favorite YouTube videos and even a fully clothed cannon ball into the pool by Jason. Our friends have the best kids and we loved fighting over who got to hold baby Chloe, who got to sit in the hot tub with Ashton (without the Jets on) and who was pulling the kids in the radio flyer.

We were all sad to see the weekend come to an end and can't wait for more weekend getaways with the Porter's, Granum's and Walker's!!

The House

A mean game of water basketball

The Kids

Gotta love the goggles

The guys

The girls

The cannon ball

governors island

After two years we finally made it to Governors Island.  They opened the island to the public a few years ago and we have been wanting to take our bikes on the ferry and ride around the island and two weeks ago we finally did. 

Governors Island is a little creepy.  It was used as an army base during WWI and WWII and then transferred to the Coast Guard in the 60's and in 2003 was sold by the US Government to the State of New York for $1.  It's a 172 acre island with everything from schools, hospital, churches and Castle Williams - that was once used as a prison.  Most of the Island has been preserved and is now open to the public during the summer months.  They are currently working on redeveloping the island but for now they offer a free ferry and the public is able to go over and enjoy the beautiful space.  As we were riding around Jason kept commenting how some of the buildings would be the perfect setting for a scary movie.

We were feeling ambitious and thought it would be fun to ride our bikes from the UWS down to lower Manhattan, take the ferry over to the island, ride around all afternoon and then come back on the ferry and ride all the way back home again.  It was very fun, but I will admit, I was having a hard time sitting on my seat on the ride back home:)

We weren't sure what to expect before we went, or if there would even be anything to do on the Island, but we were pleasantly surprised once we arrived.  Everyone rents bikes and rides around the island and it was so fun to ride around the perimeter and see the downtown skyline and lady liberty.  They had a ton of free events going on while we were there; free badminton day, miniature golf and we sat and ate our picnic while we watched people test out their skills on the free trapeze.  The weather was perfect and we loved exploring the little island. 

6 years & 8-9-10

On Saturday Jason and I celebrated our 6th anniversary with a relaxing day in the Hamptons.   That night over dinner we were talking about the day and how much we've changed and we realized we have now lived more than half of our married life in NYC.  When we were dating the idea of moving away for law school seemed so far away and now I still can't believe that, that part of our life is over.  It has definitely been an exciting 6 years and I can't wait for many more!

 
Today, 8-9-10, we are also celebrating Jason's 29th birthday!!  I love it because it always feels like a weekend full of celebrating with our anniversary and Jason's birthday so close.  Yesterday to celebrate we had a little BBQ with friends and I am hoping Jason will be able to leave work at a decent time tonight so we can squeeze in a birthday dinner. 

I am so proud of Jason for all of his hard work and for all he does for me.  I know as we get older birthdays just aren't as exciting as they used to be and it's not fun having to work all day on your special day.  If I could, I would celebrate Jason's day of birth all day.  But because I can't I just want him to know how much he means to me and how grateful I am that I get to spend everyday with him.  Love you, babe!

4th of july

For the first time since we moved to New York, we finally returned to Lewiston for the 4th of July festivities, and nothing has changed - I still felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. 

I was so excited for the fun to begin.  We went to Utah a few days before the 4th and enjoyed time with both of our families.  We made a trip to Bear Lake and enjoyed driving through the beautiful canyons.  As always, the water was freezing but it was nice to have a fresh water lake instead of salt water.  On our way back we stopped and grabbed a Bear Lake raspberry shake - a must when in Bear Lake.  The next day we floated the Onieda Narrows and loved just floating down the river and taking in the beautiful mountains.  After a few BBQ's with friends and family we were ready for the 4th (technically the 5th).

This is the first time I have been back in the summer and I can't believe I forgot how much I loved Utah summers.  While everyone in NY was dying from the humidity, we had to where our jackets at night when it cooled off.  However my body had a hard time adjusting to the dry heat and I got 3 bloody noses the first day I was there

On the morning of the 4th we woke up bright and early to the cannon salute and hurried and got ready for the Fireman's pancake breakfast.  After breakfast we walked over to the church just in time to see the runners finishing the race where our brother-in-law, Josh, came in second in the 10k.  Then it was on to the big parade.  The parade is a very big deal in Lewiston, so much, that many people park their cars and trailers along the parade route a week before.  Both of our parents live along the parade route and you wouldn't believe how many people not only sit right in front of their houses but some people even sit in the chairs we put out for our friends and family.  This year Jason's grandparents were the Grand Marshalls of the parade.  When explaining to the younger cousins what exactly the Grand Marshall was, Jason's uncle told them that Grandpa Larry was the president of the parade:)  Larry and Carolyn have done so much for Lewiston and definitley deserved the honor of being the Grand Marshalls. 

After the parade we went across the street to check out the activities in the park, watch the kids go on all the blow up rides and visit with friends.  Jason was very excited to finally get to go to the Lewiston rodeo, and it didn't disapoint.  After the rodeo we relaxed and visted with family, watched the softball tournament, played a mean game of volleyball at my parents and enjoyed a wonderful BBQ with Jason's family.

The firework display, all though nothing compared to Macy's, provided the perfect ending to a wonderful day.  We are so glad we were able to make the 4th this year and had so much fun seeing family and catching up with old friends.

Shae posing with her cousin Carter

Waiting for the parade to start

The Grand Marshalls

Dylan enjoying all of the attention

The Lewiston Rodeo

Dipping the red, white and blue strawberries - a McKnight family tradition

Fireworks

The Finale

newport, r.i.

Because I'm catching up . . . I will finally document our trip to Newport, R.I. that we took about two months ago.  We had heard great things about Newport so one Saturday in April we decided to take a drive.  Newport was stunning.  It was surrounded by water and we had to drive across a beautiful bridge to get there.  The thing to do in Newport is the cliff walk.  They have a paved path along the cliffs that takes you behind all of the old mansions along the cliffs.  After checking out the cliffs we drove along the water and explored the beautiful town.  Other than the cliff walk we heard the best part of Newport was the seafood.  After a little research we read that The Morring had the best seafood on the island.  So we walked around the town, enjoyed some scallop chowder and the bag of doughnuts (a variety of fried seafood).  Everything was wonderful and we had a great time in Rhode Island.