Family Time

I am so excited that I went to WV to be with family over the holiday weekend.  I loved having a long weekend and being able to get away from everything for a little while.  You can't quite relax in the city like you can outside of the city.  West Virginia was so beautiful and green.  The weather was great and we were able to enjoy some time outside.  Eating lunch on the porch with Mom and Dad...catching up on everything.

I always value being able to spend time with family - even though sometimes it can be crazy and hectic.  This visit was very special because I met my niece, Emma, for the first time!  She was so sweet and adorable and I loved her immediately.  I'm so glad I was able to spend time with her and get to know her a little bit.  I know she'll be a totally different little person the next time I see her. I wish I lived closer to my nieces and nephew so I could be a bigger part of their lives, but I cherish the time that I do get.  It is so amazing how little babies grow and develop their own personalities!  I remember the first time I saw Joel.  He was already 6 months old.  They are so different when they are first born than they are at 6 months.  I can't want to see what Emma will be like in a few more months.  Right now I love how she gets the pouty lip and sticks her little tongue out.  She also makes some incredible faces.  If she maintains control over those expressions as she grows up I could see quite an acting career in her future.

On the other end of the spectrum, I was able to spend good time with my two grandmothers.  They are also very special to me and I love being around them.  They always have great stories to share. I think I have a good chance at turning into a pretty cool and feisty lady in my later years.  As they say "I got it honest."

At our July 4 (on the 3rd) cookout, I was able to snap a picture of 4 generations:  Jared with his daughter, his parents, his Mama and Mama Honey.  I guess that's a Kodak moment if ever there was one.  Too bad Ben wasn't there with Joel and his little Erin, who I have yet to meet!  That would have been perfect.  Except my arms would probably be pretty tired.  Emma loves to be held and bounced and it's a workout after a while!  I'm sure Erin would want to join in the fun.  I do believe we have a name for such behavior: One One Two Girls.

Red, White, and Blue

Just a moment before it's over, I have to say Happy 4th of July!  Happy Independence Day!  I had a wonderful holiday weekend and was so glad to be able to spend it with family in West Virginia.  I had to come back to New York today, so we did most of our celebrating yesterday.  We had a cookout, ate festive homemade cheesecake, and watched the fireworks in Charleston.  Today I caught a glimpse of the NYC fireworks, but it was through a peephole view down the street. Since I wasn't able to get all the way over to the river most of the fireworks were blocked by tall buildings. Too crazy!  But I heard the booms and it was exciting.

For some reason, which I am not sure of, the Coney Island hot dog eating contest is on July 4th too.  I heard some guy ate over 60 hot dogs in however many minutes it is.  Sounds pretty ridiculous to me.  I wonder if that guy really likes hot dogs.  I wonder if he will take some time off, or will he fire up the grill again tomorrow.... Well, I remember last year I was at Coney Island and saw the original Nathan's hot dog shop.  I ate one because you have to, right?  It was pretty good.  I rode my bike (moment of silence) to Coney Island and had a great time that day.  If you are curious as to what day it was, you can check out the clock on the picture that counts down to the next hot dog contest and do the math.

CHRISTMAS!

I know we are well into January now, but I do want to take a minute to say how nice my Christmas was this year...or this past year...2009. I am so glad I got to take a few days off work and get away to West Virginia. As I mentioned before, getting the entire family there during the wintery December days was a bit of a challenge, but eventually did work out. A few days late and many reroutes later, Ben and Jen made it from Montana with my new little nephew, Joel. Meeting him for the first time and being able to be around him on his first Christmas was an absolute delight. He is the cutest little thing. This is a picture of when I first met him at the airport. The poor little guy had just had quite a time with his trip, but he seemed to do pretty well. We even had to wait around for luggage to arrive on a different flight. He didn't even cry (he saved that for the car ride home! Yeah!) He spit up a bit on Stacy, but not on me, so I guess he liked me. Not that he didn't like her, but he just respected me more, right? I am the 'elder' sister and he may have learned to 'respect the elder' or something like that. Well anyway, I managed not to get spit up on and I don't mind that at all.

Besides baby fun, Christmas was really nice because of all the normal things...like making men with Stacy. That's always an enjoyable tradition. The stories we tell and quotes we come up with as we roll out, cut, create, and bake our guys get better with each passing year. Mom tried to give us some tips on how to help our men hold together when they started falling apart. She had some good ideas, but it ended up being quite a messy batch regardless. Maybe better luck next time...

Home for the Holidays

I have been trying to get back here for a long time! Things kept coming up and keeping me in New York. I thought I would be able to come back over the summer... didn't make it. I thought I would be able to come in for a weekend in the fall to get some winter clothes... didn't happen. I thought I would be here at the beginning of December... gigs showed up and I stayed around. I even had a load of things fall on me that kept me from leaving the day I was planning. We didn't have snow in New York until I wanted to load up the car and we got a storm! But I am finally here and enjoying the space and the quiet. I will also have more time and the capability to do a little better with the blog. This is great!

Taking Monday Back

Jared and I had a fun day today. We decided to have "Saturday on Monday". The main reason for this is that Monday is his day off for his internship. He wants to do something fun on Monday because he has to work the rest of the week. Me, well, I always want to do something fun! We laughed that while most people are groaning about Monday arriving and the weekend ending, he was excited that it was Monday morning!

The poor weather this morning halted our plans of hiking, but we made a list of other things we needed to do and went on our way. We met up with Mark and did a little shopping and grabbed some lunch. After Mark split, Jared and I checked the list and headed over to the mall so I could get a lens cap for my camera. You know you are having a good day when:


Somebody left a bunch of time on the meter! All right!!! We did a quick swoop into the mall and were able to leave some time on the meter for somebody else!

With our shopping was finished, we did a little exploring around Charleston. We saw a pretty wild road sign. One of the great thing about our curvy roads in West Virginia is some of the road signs they come up with. This one caught our attention so much that we put the car in reverse to go back and figure out what it was telling us. You always want to know what is waiting around the curve and with signs like this you are prepared!

After all this running around, we were in desperate need for a cup of coffee, so we stopped into the Bridge Street Bistro in Charleston. We had never been there and thought it looked like a nice place, so in we went! The cup of coffee extended into coffee and desert. We just had to try this Mexicali Chocolate ice cream that our server recommended. And what a treat it was! Mexican chocolate is chocolate that is spiced up a bit with flavors like cinnamon and vanilla. This was a chocolate base ice cream, but it had all kinds of other flavors in it with a kick at the end! The description we came up with was: "Chocolate Chai, followed by Andes Mint, finished with a Red Hot to provide a kick of lingering heat." Paired with a strawberry and a cup of coffee - loved it. We have taken Monday back.

colors of fall

MIA?

I am still here - I just haven't blogged much lately. Fall is passing by and I try to get the most out of every day. A few weeks ago I found my way over to the New River Gorge Bridge and it's Bridge Day festivities. The weather was beautiful and the sights were amazing. The leaves were not as fully colored as I had hoped, but they were still something to see...especially for someone who has a "fall deficiency" as I had!
Here is a picture of the hills taken from the bridge. We actually walked all the way across (and back, of course). People were jumping off from a station set up in the middle of the bridge. I enjoyed watching the jumpers, but I know that is something I could never do. Each time someone jumped I would hold my breath and watch, amazed, until the parachutes would come out and the person would be safely floating to the ground. I wanted to "interview" someone just before they jumped. What does a person think about those minutes before he jumps off a bridge 876 ft. in the air? What kind of heart rate are we talking about here? Do you look before you jump or just take a run for it? I suppose it takes all kinds - the jumpers did seem to have different approaches. Some looked calm, almost prayer-like (can you blame them??? I'd be praying more than ever!), while others were getting pumped up and ready to go! Several people had interesting accessories, such as Santa hats or stuffed animals. Or how about this guy, the Barbie guy?
I guess if you are going to put something on your helmet, it might as well be a Barbie doll! Barbie has been everywhere else - now she's been over the bridge on Bridge Day!
I also thought it was interesting that several jumpers had video cameras on their hats. I would be afraid I was recording my own death, but I guess those guys have a little more confidence than me. My favorite was watching a pair jump: the first would jump backwards, with a camera on his head and the next person would jump forwards over him - that would be a neat video to watch. Here is a photo of that: this guy is just hangin' out on air before he decides to take the plunge.
I had a great time and I'm glad I saw this West Virginia tradition - but don't ever expect to see me doing anything like jumping off that bridge!

White Water Rafting

Well - I have discovered that I am already getting in trouble for not posting enough on my blog! There is no rest around here! So I am taking this opportunity (during a practice break) to write a little bit about my summer. I guess this is a good time to reflect on the summer since it is also the last day of August and I always associate the start of September as the beginning of fall (regardless of the ACTUAL start of fall... of course, the hot temperatures around here show no signs of fall..hmmm...)
Anyway, I really had a great summer. I was fortunate to be able to travel to several places around the country, including California and Alaska. I was able to visit new places and see new things. Have new adventures, I could say.

One adventure I had this summer was something that I have been around my whole life and it happens practically in my backyard, but I never ever imagined myself doing it. Yes - I went white water rafting on the New River! I was sort of talked into it, and sort of volunteered to go. I was horrified when I learned I had been misled and the Lower New was not the floating family cruise that I thought, but filled with Category 5 rapids!!! And when I was told how the water would suck me under when I fell out of the raft - I didn't know about this after all. BUT - I gathered up my nerves, grabbed a life vest, a paddle, and a helmet and in I went!And you know what... I loved it! I held on for dear life over those rapids and screamed a few times, but I had fun! With all that adrenaline going I even jumped off a rock. Girl gone wild for sure!