Christmas Fun

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. I hope it was Merry for everyone!! :) Andy and I were very excited that we both had Christmas Eve and Christmas day off, that's unusual with my job! Christmas Eve was spent down in Brady at my Aunt and Uncle's house with my extended family on my dad's side. Even with all the snow, we all made it down safely for a fun day. We opened presents, played a fun game where we passed a present around, along with a cup of dice and when we rolled doubles had to put on a hat, scarf and gloves and attempt to unwrap the present as the dice went around the circle and the next person attempted to roll doubles. It was very entertaining, especially when the guys had the pink hat and purple scarf on!! After presents we enjoyed a delicious dinner of crab salad, clam chowder and also a choice of ham with potatoes! :) As usual there was plenty of food, as well as plenty of goodies to follow up with! Unfortunately we weren't able to stay long after dinner as we had another party to try to get to.

After leaving my Aunt and Uncle's house, we stopped by Nancy and Kenny's (my stepdads parents) for some more socializing with the extended family. It was nice to see a lot of family we hadn't seen all year and catch up! We had planned to go to church at 11 pm Christmas Eve, but after so much driving and visiting, we were so exhausted by 9 pm that I didn't think I could even stay awake that long!! So we just came home and let Maverick out before getting to bed and waiting for Santa to come!! :)

Christmas Day was pretty low-key. Andy and I woke up and opened presents together, which was very nice (and he was COMPLETELY suprised that I got him the I-pod touch). Then my mom and Dean came over and we opened a couple presents with them and ate breakfast together. Then we just relaxed for a bit before meeting Todd (Dean's brother) up in Bonney Lake to see the movie Marley and Me. Which was a great movie, although I spent the last 30 mins bawling :(. If you haven't seen it, be sure to bring plenty of tissues! I was somewhat prepared though, as I had read the book.

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas and I hope yours was the same!! Now on to New Years!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Last Wednesday Andy and I went to the Nutcracker to continue the holiday season. We had a good time, although we were getting pretty tired by the end of it. I'm not sure how much Andy like it, but I had so much fun and loved seeing all the little girls dressed up and there with there moms and grandmas, I hope to start that tradition someday with my future daughters (if I have them!) And luckily we went to the show on Wednesday, because our crazy winter weather started the next day...

It all started Thursday night with about an inch or so of snow at our house, unfortunately it continued throughout the weekend until today! The accumulation is at about 8-10 inches now..I haven't seen this much snow since living in Pullman a few years ago. And I don't know if I've ever seen it this side of the mountains! :) Although it's beautiful, it sure sucks having to drive in without 4 wheel drive or snow tires.

The last 24 hours was a real adventure in the snow. Leaving work yesterday (Sunday) around noon I got stuck just outside our gate at work, I had to have a supervisor come help dig my car out and he eventually got it up to the top of the hill and I was able to get home just fine after that. After getting home and making cookies with Andy it started dumping snow again and they said we were supposed to get another 3-7 inches, so I decided I wouldn't make it in at 2 am and I left for work. I got there and got an aerobed all set up in the training room and slept there...which definitely wasn't the best sleep..but better than being stuck in the snow in the middle of the night!! After a long 10 hours at work I went out to the parking lot and dug my car out of the snow, then after about 5 trys up and down the hill of the parking lot I finally got to the exit, where I proceeded to get stuck, this time I couldn't get out of it without a push though. Thankfully some good samaritans stopped and gave me a push, and I was on my way! Unfortunately I got stuck again at the intersection of 108/Kent Kangley...I had to back down the hill and turn sideways in the lane and eventually turn around..there were about 4 other cars doing the same thing..what a mess!!! Needless to say..it took me a long time to get home! But I made a stop and Les Schwab on the way home and got some studded tires..they make such a difference, it's great! :) I'm sure there won't be anymore snow now that I bought them, but oh well..it'll be worth it when there is. I hope everyone is surviving the snow ok and not going too stir crazy at home!

Today I went to babysit the Snodgrass girls, we had a lot of fun playing out in the snow and building a snow man :) And I finally got to make my snow angel I've been wanting to make since it first snowed! The girls definitely wore me out though! After we came inside they had some hot cocoa and we watched The Polar Express :) What a great way to spend the day before Christmas Eve!! :)

Deck the halls...

Well...December is officially under way, and I've been LOVING the Holiday season this year :) I'm not too sure what's gotten me so into it..but I've pretty much finished all my shopping already, got the house and tree decorated and even started some baking today (which I've never done before!) My first day of Christmas baking involved making some pretzels with chocolate, snickerdoodles and fudge :) mmm...I'll probably do a few more things next week and am hoping to deliver some to our neighbors and friends!

Other than shopping and decorating, not much has changed here. Andy and I are still trying to get used to my new schedule (ok, mostly me!), but honestly it isn't as awful as I thought it'd be.

Yesterday I met my friend Brad and his daughter Avery for some shopping and visiting at The Commons mall, we had fun and it sure beat sitting at home alone all day!! Then, last night Andy and I went to Pacific Place in Seattle where we met Katie and Phil and Joy for dinner at Gordon Biersch, which was pretty tasty...it was also fun to catch up with them since we don't have nearly enough time together anymore! And the Christmas Decorations in Seattle were pretty...especially the SNOW that falls at 6 pm inside Pacific Place each night :)

Speaking of snow...apparently this weekend is supposed to be COLD with a chance of snow!! But we'll be in Spokane/Pullman for Andy's brother's graduation and an early Christmas, so I'm sure we'll see plenty of snow over there!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Well the Holiday Season is officially here! I love this time of year...even though all the stores are crowded I love holiday shopping and all the decorations :) I got most of our decorations up today, we just have to go get a tree, hopefully this week!

Thanksgiving came and went on Thursday. We had a good time up in Shoreline at my Aunt and Uncle's house with my dad's whole side of the family. All of us cousins were there, which was nice since that generally only happens once a year on Christmas Eve. We had a lot of delicious food of course and good company. After dinner Andy and I headed back South since I had to work at 2 am Friday morning. On the way home we stopped at my Step-grandparents house to say hello, then headed home so I could try to get some sleep.

The rest of the weekend was mostly un-eventful, just work and sleep with a bit of Christmas shopping and decorating thrown in there! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and remembered to celebrate your blessings and remember what you are thankful for.

Here's a few of the things I am thankful for this year:

1. Andy and both have steady jobs in an unstable economy!

2. We are able to keep on top of our bills and not get into debt

3. My relationship with Andy and how understanding he is of me

4. God's grace and forgiveness

5. The love of my family and friends

6. The resources to help others this holiday season

7. My crazy dog

8. My doctor that's helped me get to the root of some of my problems

9. The good health of most of my family

10. Pumpkin Spice and Egg Nog Lattes from Starbucks :) yumm...

Fun times

I figured it was time to post a new blog..or at least something more upbeat! Not much has changed the past couple weeks. Just plugging along trying to get used to my new schedule at work (which I'm pretty sure is impossible) and trying to find time for a social life! Which is pretty hard to do as well. Although I feel like I've been doing pretty good at that the past couple of weeks. I've learned that it's a lot easier for me to stay positive and not feel sorry for myself when I'm out doing stuff and hanging out with friends.

On Monday I finally met up with my friend Amanda to catch up, as it had been WAY too long! It was a nice day so we went up to Bradley Lake Park and walked and talked for a couple laps :) Tuesday night Andy and I went over to Keren and Steves where we had some tasty enchiladas I made and had a fun time playing with the little ones and then playing Phase 10 when they went to sleep. As usual we had a blast and agreed that we definitely need to try to get together more often. Yesterday I spent most of the day out in the yard raking up the endless amount of leaves in our back yard..ugh...wasn't my favorite way to spend my day off, but it has to be done! Then I picked Andy up at the train station and we went over to Brad and Katie's house for some pizza and more games. This time we played Man Laws/Women's Rules and Apples to Apples. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them also!

Overall I've had a good 'weekend' so far. It was nice to actually have plans, that way I felt motivated to get some other stuff done around here..now the house is clean and the yard is partially done! My goal today was to finish the yard, so hopefully the rain stops soon so I can do that, but that's unlikely..oh well, I guess I'll need to find another way to spend my day..hmm...I really need some hobbies!!

Infertility Hurts...

On the road of infertility, some days are easy and some are hard. I know I have only been struggling with this for 13 months and many people endure months and years longer trying to conceive and facing difficult fertility decisions, but this has definitely been one of the hardest years of my life. All I can do is pray and hope that we will overcome this struggle sooner rather than later. Unfortunately we found out that my coverage on Andy's insurance doesn't start until January...so we have a couple more months until we can begin fertility treatments.

As many of you know I haven't had a period since last October that wasn't induced by medication (which has been our reason for not getting pregnant). I tried 2 different oral medication prescriptions to make me ovulate, but neither of those worked, which means we have to move onto injectible medications, which will be 80% covered on Andy's insurance and is very expensive, so that is why we are waiting to start that.

I am actually kind of relieved that we are waiting until January, this is a HUGE step and I'm not sure if I'm ready to get this far into fertility treatments. One of the huge downfalls that may happen with injectible medications and our situation, is the high chance of multiples (twins or triplets)...I'm just not sure how my body would handle this stress and it really makes me wonder if we should go through with these treatments.


It's been a tough day today and I've been doing a lot of thinking about my infertility troubles and my life. I just had to get some of it out of me, so I thought I'd write a blog. Thanks to all of you reading and all my friends for your support in these difficult times for us. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that God will lead us to make the right decisions with treatment for our lives.

I will end this with a poem I found that explains another woman's perspective on infertility:

God answers so many of my little prayers,so why not the big ones too?

I just can't understand it

Why does He do the things he decides to do?

My deepest desire lies unfullfilled

I feel so hopeless insideI know I should be thankful

and not so full of pride.

I ask God every dayfor this or that, you know, little things.

And when He answers so clearly my heart just really sings.

But in those deep, pondering moments

When I ask for the desire of my heart,I get no clear answerand then my tears start,

Oh God, I want a baby to hold and kiss and love

I know that You alone can give methat blessing from above.

I keep waiting, waiting, waiting and my patience grows to despair.

Oh why can't I have a baby? For nothing else I truly care.

I know You haven't forgotten me for better things to

because You answer all my little prayers,

I just wish You'd fulfill my big one, too.

By Stephanie Marottek9/25/01

My celebrity Look-alikes

So...I'm not feeling good and haven't been able to sleep since about 2:3o a.m....so here I am online attempting to waste time..

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Vintage pictures - Descendants

I'm officially done with training!!

Last Thursday and Friday I finally had my Phase IV for fire dispatch training. Which means I had a different trainer sit with me and evaluate my performance and make sure I am ready to be on my own. I passed with flying colors and was released with about 4 hours of my shift left. So I sat "Fire 1" for four hours on my own...which actually got somewhat busy. I then had Saturday off and started my new shift Sunday morning at 2 am. Unfortunately I had a rough start to this shift when my alarm didn't go off...Andy woke up at 1:50 and I hopped out of bed, threw on my clothes and was out the door! Unfortunately I was still about 15 minutes late..but not too bad considering when I woke up!

After work I went to bed for a couple hours to try to re-energize for our Halloween Party that night. I woke up around 4 and Andy and I got all dressed up to go out! :) Our costumes turned out great! He was the Tinman and I was Dorothy. We went over to my friend Tara's house and had a good time with a group of co-workers singing Karaoke, playing Beer Pong and just hanging out! And everyone had some pretty good costumes as well!!

Monday and Tuesday I spent over at Brad and Katie's babysitting their girls and hanging out with Katie. Monday I decided to get some cookie dough and cookie cutters and we made Halloween cookies, I think they had a lot of fun doing something different (and eating the cookie dough!) Andy went with me Monday as well and he had a lot of fun with the kids too..plus they love it when he's there with me!

Now it's off to 'enjoy' the rest of my 'weekend' by working out, cleaning and running errands..I guess I better quit procrastinating and get started! Until next time...enjoy some pics!!

A little bit of excitement

Well, my fire dispatch training is nearing it's end..which is exciting since I'll be done with all my training at Valley Com, but not so exciting at the same time since I have to go to my crappy new shift (2am-noon) and won't have weekends off anymore :( My 'Phase 4' is scheduled for October 23rd and 24th from 14-24...so keep me in your thoughts those days that I pass with flying colors and get released on my own!!

I also enjoyed one of my last weekends..we had a BBQ on Saturday with a lot of friends, which turned out to be pretty fun..it's always good to see people since I don't get to very often with my job! The BBQ was going great and we were all having fun chatting and hanging out until we heard a blood-curdling scream from the garage where Andy, Dan and Brad and Katie's daughter's Avery and Maddy were. It turned out that Maddy had jumped off Andy's dirtbike that she was sitting on and caught her leg on the peg slicing it open from the knee down to the ankle. The boys carried her in and as soon as I looked at it, I knew she was going to need stiches. So we called Brad at work and he left to meet us up at Good Sam. We took her up there and they got her in pretty quickly. After a couple hours she came out with 35 stiches :( I felt soooo bad that it happened at our house...but as everyone says 'Kids will be kids' and 'accidents happen.' We went and saw her Sunday and then babysat again on Monday and she seems to be doing pretty good now which is good :)

So in the last post I mentioned that I finally got added to Andy's insurance...we were so excited and thought this meant we could finally get started on some treatments...unfortunately we found out that my coverage won't actually begin until January 2009...so we have to wait a few more months again. I am so frustrated and sick of waiting, but I just need to remember this is not in my hands and God has a plan for me and Andy and our marriage and family. I just need to be at peace that children is not in our immediate future and pray and hope that it will be somewhere down the road.

One last request from anyone reading this who is a Christian.. my friend Brie who is pregnant with twins and has been on bed rest with complications started having a lot of bleeding today and had to go into the hospital. She is only 24 weeks along and although she did have steroid shots to help with the development of the babies' lungs, they would still be very fragile if they were born at this time. Please keep Brie, her husband Mike and their 2 precious babies in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time in their lives.

Tagged...Andy's Favorites

My friend, Keren, tagged me with the task of telling you about 10 of Andy's favorite things. I know I won't get them in the right order, but I hope I am close....

1o. The Office....he's recently become addicted to this show..he bought a few of the seasons on DVD and watches them every day!

9. Craigslist..even if he doesn't NEED anything he's constantly checking out the 'good deals' and what he thinks we might want or need!

8. Beer....he's always up for a nice cold refreshing beer...especially after a long day at work!

7. Sleeping...he loves sleeping in on the weekends or his days off and could just lie in bed for hours..unlike me who has to jump up and do a thousand things in the mornings!!

6. Movies...Andy is definitely big into movies..much more so than I am!! But it gives him something to do when I'm at work.

5.Cars...along w/motorcycles Andy enjoys looking at and working on cars...even if he doesn't get to do it as much as he'd like anymore I'm sure.

4. Dirt Bikes...unfortunately this has become his new favorite hobby..as much as I hate motorcycles...I'm trying to at least be tolerant of him riding because I know how much he enjoys it!

3. Cheeseburgers...definitely his favorite food group..hahah..no matter where he goes he has to test out their burger!!

2. Boxers! He loves our dog Maverick and I'm sure he can't imagine his life without a boxer in it!

1.Me!! He is a wonderful husband and is always worried about doing what is best for me and what he thinks I want :)

My turn to tag people to respond...I choose: Amberlyn Nemes, Amy Carlson, Christia Palizzi, Joy Smith...respond with you're hubby's 10 favorites!!

RE Update

Just a quick update on my medical situation. The last couple months the RE (reproductive encrinologist) had me on an estrogen patch to try to raise my estrogen levels and build up a lining on my uterus. After a couple months of that he started me on Prometrium and I FINALLY started my period (after 11 1/2 months without one). After this I started on Femara, which was supposed to make me ovulate (although I haven't had any luck with oral meds so far..) On day 12 of my cycle (last Wednesday) I went into the RE for an ultrasound to see if the Femara had done its job. Unfortunately it didn't work, which means our next step for trying to get pregnant is to move to injectible medications because with the way my ovaries and hormone levels are right now, I will not be able to build up a lining and ovulate on my own. I am pretty upset that we have to move to this invasive of a treatment, but trying to stay hopeful that we will finally be able to have a baby soon!!!

We've been waiting for October for the past few months..and it's finally here, so next week I should finally be added to Andy's insurance plan, which covers infertility and we can get started on all these meds. Please keep Andy and I in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this, it's been a rough year already and I'm hoping it gets better sooner than later!!

Stress...

Wow..I've really been slacking on my updates lately..it's been a stressful month..lets see..well my mom has been staying with us while she is having some problems, so that has been ok...at least we get some rent and cleaning and cooking!! haha...this past week my brother's been staying here off and on too...so needless to say our house has been way too full! More stress was added when I found out that a bunch more people are pregnant...I'm excited for them and their happiness..but it just sucks since we're coming up on 1 year of trying this week..ugh...

But on a plus note I started prometrium this month after being on an Estrogen patch to raise my levels and I FINALLY started my period...after 11 1/2 months without one!!! So that was a huge relief..I then took Femara to hopefully make me ovulate, we go back to the doctor on Wednesday to see if that worked! So...we're hoping now that we finally got something started iand that it will continue and not take too much longer before I get pregnant, but I know it's all in God's hands and we will see what happens.

Another good thing is I've had weekends off all month as I've been in Fire dispatch training, which is going really well. My trainer thinks it will probably only be a few more weeks until I'm ready to be released on my own! But I'm in now hurry since once that happens I will be stuck on my new shift (2am-12 with tues/weds/thurs off..ugh...) I've been really trying to enjoy all my weekends off though!

Last weekend we drove over to Pullman and spent Saturday at the Cougar game (they FINALLY won...even though it was against Portland State) After the game we drank and played Rock Band with Katie, Kyle, Jon, Joe and his girlfriend. It was a lot of fun, I think we will be getting that game soon! :) Sunday morning we woke up and drove up to Spokane. We spent the afternoon visiting Andy's grandparents up at the lake, then drove back down to his parents and had dinner with his parents, Katie, Kyle and Uncle Don and Aunt Diana. It was really good to finally get to see everyone, as usual it had been way too long! It really sucks that we live so far away from everyone.

This weekend we stuck around home, I got a lot of cleaning done and last night we went to Tokyo for Steve's birthday dinner..it was delicious, as always!! Then today we had church in the morning, ran some errands then went over to Keren and Steves where she made us some yummy baked mac and cheese and we played with the babies and then played some Phase 10, we had a blast with them like we always do and are hoping it's much shorter until the next time we have game night!!

Started the next step in my Valley Com Career!

Monday/labor day, Andy and I both had the day off, so we took to opportunity to finally get back up to Mount Rainier for some hiking!! We drove up to sunrise then hiked around near the glaciers and a lake, the scenery was beautiful and I can't wait to do it again!! We are supposed to head up there again to camp with Katie and Phil next weekend, so that should be fun!

Another week gone by..and a busy one it was!! I started fire dispatch training last Tuesday (9/2/08) and it's going really well so far. We are doing a different format for training in the past where we mix in on the floor training and classroom training. So far I like it, it's just a lot of new info and different procedures, but it will definitely be a good change from police dispatch when I need it! So Tues-Friday was busy with work/training, then I got my first real 'weekend' off since police dispatch training!!

Saturday was a busy day, I got up and went to the gym and ran some errands while Andy was at work, then he got home and we got ready for my dad and sisters to come over for dinner. We had a good night eating some tasty dinner with them and playing the Wii/visiting. Sunday we slept in, then walked over to the Puyallup fair!! We walked around the booths, then went to the Rodeo where we saw the semi-finals, which was pretty fun...although I didn't realize how cruel to the animals they are...I didn't like seeing them hurting them by tying them up, etc. After the rodeo we met up with my friends Brad and Katie and their 3 daughters. We walked around and looked at some of the animals with them, then we went on a few rides. After we were done with rides they came over to our house where we had pizza for dinner and hung out for a bit. Overall it was a very fun day and fun to spend it with good friends! :)

Monday I just wanted to relax from my busy weekend...but I had a full day planned of running errands..it started with a dr. appointment at 9:45, I went straight from there to the gym, then home to shower before my massage. After my massage I headed up to Brad and Katie's in Federal Way where I went with Brad to learn how to pick up the girls from school and their afternoon routine because i will start that next week! I left Brad and Katie's and ran to the store, then came home and had tacos with my mom and Steve who came by to visit for a bit. It was good to see him since he hasn't been around much lately! That's my week in a nutshell...I'm tired from another long day of training and I have 3 more days ahead of me, so I'm off to get some rest!!

New York!!!

Our trip to New York started bright and early Sunday morning (August 24th). We got to the airport around 5 for our 6:30 flight. After getting through security we had breakfast at a little cafe in the aiport and we were off on the plane for the 4 hour flight. We arrived in New York at about 3pm (Eastern time). We caught a cab to the hotel and dropped off our stuff so we could begin seeing the sights! We spent the first night walking from our hotel down to Times Square where we stopped off at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. It was the biggest Hard Rock I've ever seen!! It had an awesome guitar wall and a ton of other cool memorabilia. After dinner we walked through Times Square, then over to Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, St Patrick's Cathedral, then made the trek back to our hotel for a somewhat early night.

Waiting in line for Letterman

Monday morning we woke up bright and early for a jam-packed day of sight-seeing. Started the day off with a quick breakfast at a nearby coffee shop, then we spent an hour or so at the Museum of Modern Art and walking around that area. We walked back towards Times Square and checked out some of the stores, then got in line at the Letterman Show to pick up our tickets for the taping. We had an hour to kill after that, so we caught a quick bite to eat before heading back to the show. We spent the next few hours in the audience of the Letterman Show, which was a blast!! The guests were Shawn Johnson (the olympic Gold medal gymnast), Tracy Morgan and Solange Knowles who sang "Sandcastle Disco." After the show we were pretty tired from clapping so much, but wanted to continue our sightseeing, so we headed over to the TKTS booth were they sell day of broadway and off-broadway tickets. We ended up buying tickets to see "Avenue Q." We had about an hour to kill so we went over to a BBQ restaurant where we had a tasty dinner. Then we headed to the show which was HILARIOUS!! If you don't mind crude humor and aren't offended by some tasteless jokes I would definitely recommend seeing this show if you ever have a chance! After the show we walked over to the Empire State Building and took the elevator up 80 floors to the top. We got up there around 11 pm and decided to stay until midnight so Andy could celebrate his 26th birthday at the top of the Empire State building!! We had an amazing view from up there too! We could see the Chrysler building, Times Square, The Brooklyn Bridge and a very distant view of the Statue of Liberty :)

View from the top of the Empire State Bldg

Tuesday was another pretty early morning. We started off by getting another quick breakfast and coffee then we headed to the subway station for our first attempt at the public transportation system! We took the walk to the subway station and got to see The Plaza Hotel on the way, so Andy was pretty excited about that, since Home Alone is his favorite movie!! We first rode the subway up to the Metropolitan Museum and spent a while looking through the four floors of modern art. There was some pretty interesting art..to say the least! Our plan was to head up to the Guggenheim next but when we went to the subway we accidentally went the wrong direction, so we changed our plan and headed South. We got off the subway near Ground Zero and walked down to that area. We didn't stay to take the tour, but we walked around the gated off construction site and saw the memorial they have set up, it was very heart wrenching and difficult to be in this area, just knowing the horror of 9/11. After that we walked down and saw the Wall Street bull, then headed to the Staten Island Ferry for a free ride past the Statue of Liberty. After the hour long ferry ride we were pretty hungry since we didn't eat much for breakfast, so we walked through Battery Park and found a hot dog stand where we both enjoyed some delicious New York sausage dogs! After that we headed to the subway station and went up to Canal Street for some shopping on the Black Market. This was Andy's favorite part of the trip I think. He loved going into the little shops and having them take him to the back rooms to show him the knock off purses, wallets and watches. I got a Gucci and Coach purse that are both super cute :) After our shopping expedition we took the subway back up to our hotel to drop off our purchases and rest before dinner. Since it was Andy's birthday, I wanted to take him to a fun dinner. We went to "Hawaiian Tropic" which was pretty much like a Hooters, except the food and drinks were more expensive..the girls were all in bikinis...but Andy wasn't too impressed! After dinner we walked through the giant Toys R Us then to a restaurant where we picked up a piece of cheesecake for dessert! We went back to the room and shared the cheesecake and watched the movie Chicago before bed.

Ground Zero behind the Fire truck

Wednesday was our last full day in New York. We woke up at 5:15 (the middle of the night our time!!) and got ready to head over to watch The Today Show. When we got there we realized we probably didn't have to get there that early since there wasn't much of a crowd. Oh well..we had a lot of fun watching Meredith and Al and got to shake hands with both of them..and we were on t.v. for about 2 seconds! lol..After the show we got a quick breakfast then walked down through Times Square and the Garment district where Andy got an awesome deal on some suits for work. We continued the walk until we got to our destination--The Museum of Sex--we spent about an hour looking through the museum...it was very interesting, lol...hard to believe they would put some of that stuff in a museum...I'll just leave it at that!! haha..After the museum we headed back to pick up Andy's suits and drop them off at the hotel before we went to the Guggenheim. The building was impressive, but the museum wasn't anything too special...I liked the art at the MET much better..oh well..it's one of those things you just have to do when you're in New York!! After the Guggenheim we went into Central Park for the first time...it is so beautiful!! I think it was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. We walked through the park for a while, then headed back to our hotel where we took a nap before having a late dinner. We went to dinner at Angelo's Italian restaurant where Andy had a delicious New York pizza and I had some pasta :) We were still pretty tired after dinner so we just walked around Times Square about an hour before heading back to the hotel to rest up for our last day!

The Today Show!

Thursday morning we got up around 8 again and got all checked out of the hotel. We bought another subway pass and took the subway up to the Museum of Natural History which was pretty cool. We got to see a space show in an imax type theater, then walked through the entire museum where we saw dinosaur skeletons, african animals, primates, birds and much more!! After the museum we took another walk through the opposite side of Central Park which was equally beautiful!! After a little bit of relaxing in the park we went over to FAO Schwartz and the Apple Store (2 stories!) We did one last swoop through Times Square and all the shops to make sure we got all the souveneirs we wanted before heading back to the hotel to catch a ride to the airport.

Laying down in Central Park

That concludes our trip to New York...sorry this turned out soo long!! I wanted to write this to remind me of all that we did too!! Here's a few pictures to enjoy from the trip as well! :)