CJ and Tania

I guess my soon to be sister-in-law was a little offended that she was not included in my blog entry about my trip to Las Vegas and Halloween. So, here I include a picture of her and my brother who just recently got engaged. They are getting married on Feb. 9th and I am really excited for them. Congratulations CJ and Tania!

Sunday Snow Day

Who ever heard of having a snow day from church? I don't think I have ever had one, but last sunday was a great time! We had a big snow storm in MA and as a result they cancelled church and I was able to play outside in the snow instead. It was so much fun. We made a big pile of snow and my cousins and I jumped off the treehouse into the pile of snow. Here are some videos of the jumping. I can't figure out how to get the videos to be right side up, sorry about that.

Keaton trying a flip

Bentley hesitated a little but finally jumped

Cutler gives it a go

My sweet front flip

Ice, what about a blizzard!

Okay, I thought the ice storm was pretty crazy. Well how about a blizzard. I walked out the door today to take my last final of the semester, which I was not as prepared as I needed to be for it, and that is when the craziness of today began. It started snowing. Every school in the state including all the colleges and many businesses closed early due to the bad forcast. My school however decided to be brave and make us all come in and take our last test (at least it's done). Once I got out of my final I knew it was gonna be a bad night. The traffic in Worcester was horrific! I had to go to a home teaching assignment that was 3 blocks from my school and maybe 4 blocks from the parking garage. Any guesses on how long that little drive took? Well, it took almost 50 minutes! Not fun. I tried to get out of the appointment cause I knew the storm would only get worse and the roads would only get worse. I was right. I flew through the visit and was back on the road. Now, usually it takes me about 20 minutes to get home from school. Today it only took 1 hour and 1/2! In a standard! With a foot of snow on the highway in some places! I guess with a mass exodus from the city they couldn't even get the trucks in to plow the highway. There were cars everywhere and the traffic guy on the radio commented, "The road conditions today are as bad as the blizzard of '78." He also said that he was in boston and it had taken him several hours to go 8 blocks! Insane. I guess the MassPike was causing delays of 3-4 hours. The country roads were no better. I was slippin and slidin all over the place in that mix of slush and snow. I have never been more grateful to just be home and not have to leave for awhile. I'm a little grouchy about the winter weather tonight. Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and appreciate it a little more.

Finally finals

Why is it that I always like to blog during finals week??? I wish I could stay focused and just study, but it is nearly impossible. I only have one more test left and then I am done for the semester and I can relax for the holidays. This also means that I am halfway done with my program and only two more semesters left in the classroom with tests. Each day is getting better and better for me!

Ice storm

I have lived in MA for over year now and I have had the opportunity to see an ice storm of two before but never have I appreciated one as I did the other day. I walked out of the house on monday morning at noon to go take my final. I thought that some of the ice would have melted by then. No such luck for me. In fact the moment I took one step on the ice covered driveway I knew I was in for some fun. I slid the whole way down to my car occasionally just saving myself from doing the splits. Once I got to my car, I turned it on and turned on the defrost full-blast and got out my trusty scraper. There was no way I was gonna be scraping this off, it was a thick sheet of ice that covered my entire car! Crazy! I sat in my car for twenty minutes and studied my notes before I tried to scrape again. Scraping was still not an option. But I did discover that I could slowly chip away pieces to clear my windows. Quite a process that I will be prepared for next time. Today I went out there and I found that the ice sheet was slowly coming off the back of my car but its still too cold for it to melt. The result was a sweet wing of ice on the trunk of my car. Maybe it will help me go faster??

Priceless

So this happened a few weeks ago, but I thought I would blog about it anyways cause it makes me laugh. Some friends and I were studying at the hospital across the street from our school in the atrium (a big open room with lots of people walking around and tables where people eat and a small fake garden on one side). We see this lady start taking all these "glamour shots" as if she is a model. But remember this is in the middle of the hospital. She is wearing spandex pants and it is very clear to see that she is wearing silver go-go boots. I was laughing my head off! I had to get a picture of it. Little did she know she would become famous on my blog...

The season

It's after thanksgiving and we are already in the month of December and the first snow has fallen in MA. It is officially the Christmas season by all criteria!! Yeah! I love the Christmas season. I love going downstairs and seeing the Christmas tree and stockings and other decorations. I really like christmas music, although I haven't yet found a radio station that has started to play christmas songs full time yet, so that's a little dissappointing, but I'll get over it. I just like this time of year, that's all

Halloween

So, I guess a halloween party in Utah the week before halloween was just not enough for me. I had to dress up some more cause my costume was so totally wicked!!! I reverted back to my teenage years and I went trick-or-treating with my cousins and my aunt. Don't misunderstand here, I really went trick-or-treating. I did not merely go and watch my cousins collect candy, I went with the full desire to get myself lots of candy and have a fun time! I went to every door and grabbed my candy as my cousins laughed at how old I was to be out trick-or-treating with them. One lady at a door said to me, "Are you the dad?" She examined further and said, "no, you're not, before I had time to respond." I replied, "no, I'm their cousin," and we all went away laughing. It was rather amusing. If you think it is a little childish that I was out there, then you will definately think that it was childish of my aunt, who just turned forty, to be out there in her mask also collecting all the candy she could. It was hilarious! She is the size of the kids, so she almost fit in. To further fit in, she would say "thank you" to the people in a very high pitched squeel to conceal her own voice. Occasionally the kids would say something to her and call her mom right as she was collecting the candy and she would hurry and turn around and run along to the next house. In an attempt to also conceal my voice, which is a little harder, I would say "thank you" in the lowest/deepest voice I could manage. I am now eating the rewards of my childishness and I think it feels pretty good. It was a classic night of fun and it sometimes feels good to act a little childish!!! Thats all

Fun times in Salt Lake

I guess I better take this time to blog cause it doesn't look like I'm gonna be doing much of it in the next little while. I have been back in MA for a week now and I have been overloaded with homework to the point that I really miss working full time and having no class. The real work in pharmacy school begins and it shows no signs of letting up until once again I am on rotations next fall. I know that there are people out there who are very studious and always do their homework before class and stay on top of everything all the time. I am NOT one of those people and to be told that I will have to spend five hours a day doing homework just doesn't sit well with me. Usually I would just think this was advise, the advice of the overacheiver but I have come to realize that five hours a day is now my life and that five hours is just enough to get by. Even more would be required if I wanted to reach overacheiver status. I read case after case of made up patients with problems and I read the literature to figure out what is wrong with them and find solutions to help them. All this in an attempt to help me learn and make associations so that in my future career I can remember these bogus cases and apply them. Will it work? I don't know, but I guess it's better than reading a text book. Anyway, that's pretty much the story of my life right now, boring. So, let me show you some of the pics I took while I was in Utah for the past two months...


I went to Las Vegas. Viva Las Vegas

I saw the Bodies exhibit at the Tropicana Casino, which was absolutely incredible!!

Sarah and I posing by the ship at Treasure Island in Las Vegas

I saw my nephews and neice, who are fun and awesome

I dressed up for halloween like a guy from the seventies and Sarah found the greatest costume at Savers so that we could be a rockin couple, retro

I saw a crazy biker on LV BLVD, maybe he was drunk, who knows why he was wearing a costume when it wasn't halloween

Margaritaville was the place to go in LV and people everywhere were dressed in grass skirts and coconuts

I saw mountains again! These are along the drive to Las Vegas

I went to Paris! I only wish!! I guess this is as close as it gets for me until June of 2009!

I saw my mom who dressed up as a pirate for halloween. I love my mom, she's the greatest

Good thing my brother is back from his mission to add some hilariousness to our family. Nacho is doing his delicate pose, hahaha

My sister hosted a halloween party

Even though it's hard to see, this is my little bro and his wife

This is my big bro reading something on our way to LV.

I got to see all my family and some of my closest friends. It was so great! I can't believe how fast it went. I hope the next year can go by just as fast! Love ya all back in Utah and can't wait to visit you again. For those of you in MA, I am glad to be back. I love both my homes!

Welcome Home Shayne

My brother is home from his mission. I'm so happy to have him home. He is the youngest kid, so we have no more missionaries and our family is all home for a little while. I can't believe it's been four years since I got home from my mission! I miss it a lot and I hope I get to go back and visit again soon. It makes me sad everytime I try to speak french and can't remember anything. I also wish that I could somehow make it back to the spiritual level that I had attained while I was there. There is really nothing like a mission!

Word

Word to all my friends in Massachusetts. I miss you and can't wait to hang out again! I will be back just in time for all the halloween parties, so include me in the invites:)

Utah

Besides that it snowed in the mountains yesterday, Utah is fantastic! I've been working hard at my internship and finally feel somewhat proficient at the Walgreens way of life. My parents went to pick up my brother from his mission in Russia and the rest of the family decided to remodel our bathrooms. It has been a huge undertaking and has worn us all out, but it was a great project and it looks great! My brother is home from Russia and he is still the same great kid. I am happy that my family is all at home, at least for a little while and we are having some good times. To welcome Shayne home, we went shooting the tube the next day. It is my favorite activity in Salt Lake, the funnest thing ever!!! I've spent lots of time with Sarah and she is great. So, all-in-all, Utah is treating me quite well.

New Start

My first day at Walgreen's Pharmacy in Taylorsville Utah is officially over. It went okay, I guess. I am reminded how much I hate feeling like I can't do anything. I am pretty good at my job as an intern at CVS and I have six years of experience in the pharmacy, but that doesn't mean much when you go into a new environment. I pretty much felt like an idiot the entire day. I don't know how to use their computer system nor their registers, so I was left to count pills all day (which I am already wicked fast at). I attempted to answer the phone once but I couldn't help the lady cause I had no idea how to navigate the system. I love learning to do things and I especially love knowing that I can do things. Hopefully they will start to teach me a little more or I may go crazy! That is why I think education is so important. If you don't learn how to do things, you are helpless and depend on others for everything. The more you know and the more you can do on your own the better off you are in life. "Only the educated are free!" Educate yourselves!

There's no place like home...

(CLICK, CLICK)...And in a flash I was home. Well, now quite. My day started at 3:00 in the morning, so it was a really long day and several plane rides and then I was home! I love the feeling of getting close to Salt Lake and being totally at peace, knowing that you are home. I love seeing the mountains again! Sarah picked me up at the airport and we went to lunch, which was great. Then we spent the day with my family, hanging out and watching the BYU game and playing lego's with my nephews (I love lego's, its a genious toy). We all went to dinner and then my family went to a session afterwards. What an awesome day. I am so excited to be home for 2 months! It comes at a price, because I will really miss some things about Mass. I start my internship on tuesday and I am really excited to see how it goes with Walgreen's. I am also really excited to catch up with all my friends, its gonna be a fun two months. There is no place like home, and that is the truth.

The cutest

I just love these kids! Look how cute they are, all little Harry Potters!

Scared?!

Is it bad that I am twenty five years old and I still get scared at night when I am home alone? So, the last few nights I have been in this house all by myself. I get scared every night. Not so much scared that I can't move or that I do hide under my covers in my bed (this is what I did when I was younger) but just a little bit edgy. Usually when the whole family is home, we all just go to sleep and no one ever thinks about locking the doors. But, I walk around checking them all several times to make sure that they are locked before I go to bed. I lock all the windows as well. I even fixed one of the doors that has never locked, all in an effort to feel safe. I think that I may have watched too many scarry movies. I know that the murders and sick people of the world wander in the woods and only come out at night when they know their prey is home alone. Well this house happens to be surrounded by woods which produce some freaky noices. At times I can just feel eyes watching me from outside. Freaky.

Halleluja!!!

I don't even know how to spell that, but I am so glad to be done with class work and tests for 3 months that it doesn't matter if I can spell it correctly or not!!! I came home yesterday after taking my last two finals and I slept from like 5 in the afternoon until 10 this morning. All it takes is one really good nights sleep and life is beautiful again. La vie est belle

Last day of July

So, I went to my last class of the school year today and it felt so good to walk out and be one step closer to a month off school and one step closer to graduation in only 2 years. I only have to get through finals and then I will be having my short (1 month) summer that I have been waiting for. My aunt and uncle and cousins are leaving soon for England, so I will be all alone for 1 month. I will be taking care of the dog, cleaning the pool so that I can have many pool parties, mowing the lawn, watching tv, reading great books (the Bourne novels), working a little bit more and playing with my new laptop that I bought (don't tell my dad, he doesn't like it when I buy things. sshh). I can't wait! I have worked my butt off this year and I feel like I deserve a good break. I am also excited because I don't actually have to go back to class until the end of october. I have been approved to do a rotation in SLC for 2 months and I could not be more happy. It's always good to have some time away from the blasted pharmacy books and have a good time, right? That's what I thought too. Guess I better get studying.

God Bless the USA!!!

This song speaks for itself. Nothing gives me more pride than singing this at the top of my lungs!!

It is finally time...

To say good bye to my long hair. It nearly made me cry to cut it all off, but I woke up this morning and new that I wanted short hair again. My aunt cut it and she was having a great time doing it (as you can tell by the pics)! The kids also enjoyed it. Looking at these pics, I do admit it is quite humorous to see my hair at different stages of the cut. I am so happy to have short hair again, but I'm not making any promises that it will never be long again.

You can see her having a great time!
Definately the new trend in hairstyles
cuttin away...
Tada! I am back to my old self
Yeah, it's been nine months since I cut my hair the last time. It is so great to not have hair going everywhere. I like it.

Pool Party

I have to say that I have a pretty good life out here in the countryside of MA. I am so grateful for it! I love living with my aunt and uncle and it is a huge blessing for me. One of the awesome benefits of living with them is their swimming pool and being able to invite my friends over to spend the day enjoying the pool. My pool party last weekend was a blast! Thanks to those who attended. I really hope I can do it again soon.

Bryce and Erica
Marci and Erica
Enjoying the sun
Hanging out
We had a great time :)

Laughing...

I can't believe it is midterm for my summer semester! With this, brings a lot of tests and added stress. I have not been sleeping well and last night was one of the many that I rolled around in my bed wishing I was asleep. When finally I had drifted off... I was in a hotel/conference center in a big centrum that opened to the entire facility. I was attending a pharmacy conference for school and I needed to get up to another floor of the building. So, myself and another student get into an elevator that has no walls and no ceiling and functions only by a huge hydrolic system underneath. I thought, "this is a cool elevator," but that was all. As it started to go up, it also started to fall forward a little. Just enough to get me a little uneasy. Then it would move back to its vertical position. Soon, however, it was moving quite wildly, as if I was at a theme park on some wild ride. It was moving so fast and violently that I had to hold onto the little edge just at the foot of the elevator. It was a CRAZY ride! (Picture a mechanical bull, only it was an elevator many stories above ground). Everyone in the centrum could see what was going on, because it was an open area to the entire building. They were all gasping at such a horrific site. I just held on, until finally, the elevator swooped down and threw me off about 5 feet from the ground. I did a James Bond roll as it flipped me off and I came to a safe halt. I was LAUGHING my head off, partly because I was so shocked by the elevator and partly cause it was a fun ride. I looked up to see everyone with their mouths wide open staring at me. I laughed even harder. My laugh echoed in the big open space... I woke up laughing and it was 3:00 in the morning! It's been a good day every since. I have never had a dream in which I woke up laughing, but I sure hope I have another one, it was fun!

Lake Powell

Well, its not quite summer here in New England (not to my standards anyway), but in a few weeks my family will embark on our biennial trip down to Lake Powell. Most of you know that I love France, but Lake Powell has to be my second favorite place in the world. So, as I think of my family all going down to the lake for a week without me, it makes me kind of sad that I can't go bask in the glory of nature. Real beauty, sleeping under the stars, hiking, playing in 80 degree water all day long, sleeping on the top of a houseboat and listening to the bats fly by! There really is nothing better. I found some old pics, so we can all enjoy Lake Powell!

Why do I live in MA?

Mike, Christie and Rian at the Fire Station in the North End




Well, on occasion I ask myself why it is that I decided to move across the country to New England. Besides the fact that I only got into 1 pharmacy school (which happened to be in MA) and Pharmacy school has been my life long goal, Why do I live in Massachusetts?

The last few weeks have given me one really good answer: I live in New England because I LOVE it out here. Otherwise I may have already moved home. What do I love about the East? I love that I can go on midnight walks through downtown Boston with my friends visiting for the weekend. I love that I can have a 'Tea Party' on Boston harbor. I love the incredible people I have met. I love having a pool in my backyard. I love being in Pharmacy school. I love driving down the highways and seeing nothing but green trees! I love that I left Utah for a time. So many great things have happened to me since I moved here. Things have worked out like I could have never imagined. "La vie est belle"

worst blogger ever!!!!

So, probably I am the worst blogger in the world. I haven't blogged in over a month, and yet this month has been full of great things to blog about. The real problem is that the internet at my house has been down for several weeks and I don't seem to want to stay at school long enough to blog all my thoughts on life. Don't get mad at me and know that I will blog as soon as I get a chance... Maybe even tomorrow, cause I don't have to work and I am so excited about that!!! yeah, for me.

Peace out

Patriot's Day

I was going to just keep writing away with the marathon, but I know that some people get discouraged when my entries are so long, so the way to get around this is to just pretend it's a seperate blog... Well, really it is. My aunt, uncle and cousins had the sister missionaries over for dinner and a single mother and her son. It was a delicious dinner and a really fun evening (Remember that I had been sleeping all afternoon, and only woke up for dinner). Well, once the guests were gone and it was just the family sitting around in the kitchen I was pretending to kick my cousin Rylee in the face. Normally I would not be so mean, but lately this girl has got a bug in her and she always punches me and it hurts... Then, the real genious came out in me and I said to her, "I can kick as high as the fridge." So, I prepared myself, got in my stance and kicked my right leg up as high as I could. Sometimes I just amaze myself with power. I kicked so hard that while my right leg was in the air, my left leg lifted off the ground as well. Because I am so athletic, this would not normally have presented a problem for me. However, as my left foot came back down, I realized that I was wearing socks and the kitchen has hardwood floors, I knew I was in for! My left leg slipped out from under me and the rest of my body proceeded to be flung to the ground in disgrace. Yes, the whole family had turned just in time to see me flying through the air as a graceful bird and crashig to the ground. J'etais mort de rire! (I died laughing)! Before I was even totally on the ground my cousins and my aunt were laughing their faces off at me! It was the funniest thing that has happened to me in several weeks. My aunt thanked me for providing the entertainment for the evening and I proceeded back to my room to go to bed before I hurt myself anymore. My right butt cheek is still very tender...hahaha

MARATHON MONDAY

Here in Massachusetts, there is a holiday called Patriot's Day. Every year on Patriot's Day is the annual Boston marathon. A friend of mine from school asked me about a month ago to go with some students and volunteer at the marathon. Of course I said yes, cause I have marathon on my mind, so I knew it would be a great experience to get me motivated! So, my day started when I woke up at 2:36AM. That has got to be the earliest I have ever woken up for reals. Not only was it very early, but we were in the middle of our BIG Noreaster, which had stared sunday morning. It poured and it poured and it poured. Coming from the desert, I just keep thinking in my mind that in 15 minutes it will just stop and the sun will come out. Nope, it kept raining. So, at 3:00 in the morning, and in torrential rains, I drove into Worcester to meet up with my friends. There was so much rain on the highway, that I kept almost hydroplaining, and I frequently had to drive between lanes to avoid the natural divits. We met up with the rest of our group in Boston at our main school campus (which is much nicer and cooler than the Worcester campus). Our job really started once they shipped us to the starting line, which is 26.2 miles west of Boston (imagine that!). Torrential rains continue. I was fortunate to ride on a school bus next to a man from New Hampshire, who had moved his family to SLC to work for a little less than a year. So, we had a really good talk about the church and about our different situations. Him moving out there and me moving out here. It was really cool. Anyway, Sup, Jane, Susan and I were assigned to a bus together. Our objective was to collect the bags of the runners and transport them to the finish line. We put signs up in the windows indicating to the runners which window to drop their bag off at. All attempting to keep things organized. We put the windows down and just before the race, the runners throw their bags at us and run off to the finish line. It was super fun. We were assined numbers 11,000-11,500 and the only problem we had was that for some reason there was no buses with the numbers 10,000-10,999, so all of those runners took it out on us. By the way, torrential rains continued... The runners were freezing, so much so that they could barely close up their bags before giving them to us. I felt so bad for them. But, miraculously, just after the race began, the rain finally let up and it turned out to be a nice day. I hear the wind was still a little strong for the runners (40 mph). We escorted the bags to the finish line via a police escort and we made it just in time to see the first female runners come in!! It was so inspirational!! It got me so pumped up, I just wanted to go back to the starting line and run it myself. (I would probably die, but I really wanted to...). Anyway, it was so much fun and a great experience to wish the runners luck before the commenced their long journey to the line. It was only 3:00 in the afternoon when I got home, which meant I had already been awake for over 12 hours, and once I laid down, I was out...

"He Came for Me"

So, I know that I have been telling people this blog would be up a long time ago, I just haven't had the time to figure out how to blog with video. This is the song that I sang in sacrament for Easter sunday. Melba was nice enough to accompany me, Thanks Melba! I really love music! If I have one passion in life it is music and singing. I have always loved music. My mom and dad both sing very well and taught us how to sing and how to enjoy singing. When I was very young, my mom and her friend started a singing group for kids, "The Quarter Time Kids." Ever since then, I have been singing. Hopefully I will sing until the day I die. I don't think any thing would be harder for me to deal with than losing my physical ability to sing. It has been a huge help and success in my life. What would it be like to drive in my car and not sing at the top of my lungs? What would it be like to not be able to sing in a choir where you can just feel the power of the music? I just can't even imagine... The week leading up to the performance, I was wicked busy with school and super stressed out. So, instead of doing my homework, I would practice this song and it would make me feel more relaxed. Music is the best anecdote for almost any problem! I was really thankful for the opportunity to share what I love with others.

Ooops.... "He Came for Me"

I know that some people will appreciate this. Besides music, I like to laugh and have a good time! Have you ever been ready to say something and it is on the tip of your tongue, but it just doesn't come out like it should? Well, this is that situation, except I happened to be singing and not speaking. The line is "It'd been dark for many days, the storms had taken all we owned..." Well, I wanted to say 'days' but it just wouldn't come out. I had a split-second decision to make. 'hour' 'minute' 'seconds' 'weeks' 'months' and 'years' were all prepared to come out, but not 'days', it was being stubborn. So, logical as I am, I picked the next best thing (obviously years) and tried to keep singing as if nothing was different. It was only when I saw Melba's shoulders bouncing up and down that I could not control myself any longer and the laughter began. Times like these make life so much less complicated...

When did life get so complicated?

I had to write an essay for school 'cause I conditionally passed an essay test, but apparently I need practice. Whatever... Anyway, this thought has been on my mind so I decided to write my essay on it. (Note: don't read this and expect a good essay, just read it for its ideas and content)

When did life get so complicated?

As I got home from a long day at school, I was rushing to my room to put all my things down and relax for a minute. I noticed as I walked past the window that my cousins, whom I live with, were all gathered outside. It was a beautiful spring day and the sun was shining down pure happiness after a long winter. The kids had decided that it was time for a little home-made baseball game, 2-on-2. I looked on, watching them as they hit the ball and ran the bases. They laughed, they fought a little, but they were definitely having a good, carefree time.
I couldn’t help but reminisce of the times in my youth when I would come home from school around 3:00 and have hours to play with my friends. We played baseball, soccer, steal-the-flag and football. We jumped on the tramp, made ramps and rode our bikes off of them. We went to the “Rolos” for some adventurous bike riding. We shot at cans in the backyard. Occasionally, we found ourselves in trouble, but it never took long and we were back at it.
Life has changed so much since then. I go to school all day, I work at CVS, I volunteer tutoring French, I intern at Great Brook Valley Pharmacy, I teach a gospel doctrine class at church, I have choir practice, I have home teaching to do each month and FHE to attend each week. Much of the little spare time I have, I am trying to catch up on my homework that piles up because I have had 47 tests in the last 2 semesters. As if that is not enough, making and keeping friends along with dating can really make things difficult. Bad days, sleepless nights, anxiety, lack of exercise and bad nutrition (mostly just drinking too much Coca-Cola) all start to get to me. The days of the week are never long enough, and the weeks never go by fast enough…
So, as I watched them play baseball, I wondered whether I will ever make it back to those long days of youth: carefree, happy and easy. I dream of such days. Maybe when I am done with school, found my wife, started a family and found the perfect job, I will be in such a dream.

Spring Break

Spring Break 2007

So, last week was my Spring Break, and break I did not do! Everything else I did do... It was an awesome time. After working my butt off for the first 3 days of the week, I drove to the airport to pick-up Sarah for the long awaited "Tour of the East Coast."






















1st stop: New York City- I have never been to New York, so this was very exciting for me. It was freezing cold, so we just kept walking around, not really stopping unless it was in a warm building, like Virgin Megastor, the Empire State Building and the Bread Factory (which we visited twice the same day, delicious)! Since we had not planned anything in particular, we just looked at a tourist map, found the things we wanted to see and navigated to them. Time Square, The Manhattan Temple, Grand Central, Trump Int. Tower, Central Park, The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Ed Sullivan Theater were some of the stops along the way. Most the time I think I am a genius and of course I know everything. So, as we neared the Empire State Building, I was sure to recognize which building it was. The secret is out, I am a total retard. We walked several times passed it until Sarah convinced me that "this" building was indeed it. It turned out to be one of my favorite spots. We rode to the top in awesome elevators that go up 10 floors in 0 seconds and got to look out on the city just after the sun went down. It was cool (in more than one way). After taking a few blurry pics, my fingers were frozen and it was time to get back inside. I surprised Sarah with tickets to 'Les Mis' and it was so amazing. Just makes you want to be a better person and get up sing as loud as you can too! Then it was one more trip through Time Square, which has to be my favorite spot, especially at night when it is so lit up. The next day, we decided to drive in and park in upper Manhattan because the train ride the previous day had proved to be expensive and annoying. This day was dedicated to the sites of the lower portion of the City. We looked on at the World Trade Center site, which was a little dissappointing to me. (For those of you who know me, I have a really hard time with this, cause I was in the MTC during 9/11 and I still feel like I never got to experience it- Thanks to the MTC which pretended it never happened). Anyway, lots of it is blocked off and they have guards up so you can't really get a good view of the pit. The best view I got was from Burger King across the street, where I could look down into it. Its a weird place. We stopped in at Century 21, a massive discount clothing store (totally crowded to the max with people like me who want a good deal). Our last stop was batter park to get a view of the statue of liberty and then our journey to New York was over.





















The next day, we decided to drive in and park in upper Manhattan because the train ride the previous day had proved to be expensive and annoying. This day was dedicated to the sites of the lower portion of the City. We looked on at the World Trade Center site, which was a little dissappointing to me. (For those of you who know me, I have a really hard time with this, cause I was in the MTC during 9/11 and I still feel like I never got to experience it- Thanks to the MTC which pretended it never happened). Anyway, lots of it is blocked off and they have guards up so you can't really get a good view of the pit. The best view I got was from Burger King across the street, where I could look down into it. Its a weird place. We stopped in at Century 21, a massive discount clothing store (totally crowded to the max with people like me who want a good deal). Our last stop was batter park to get a view of the statue of liberty and then our journey to New York was over.

2nd stop: Boston After having a delicious bread bowl of New England Clam Chowder at Quincy Marker, we headed out on the freedom trail to see the sites of the revolutionary war. It was a beautiful day, so we stroled down the streets and did some shopping and just had a fun time! ***** READ THIS: This is my favorite story of the whole weekend. The beautiful saturday walking the streets of Boston was over. We had seen lots of great things, bought some cool souvenirs for Sarah's family and friends. We had the best clam chowder ever in a delightful bread bowl. And now we were on the T (the subway) going back to where I had parked the car, so we could go shopping for a few more things and then get back to my house and relax. We were both exhausted from our travels, but happy none the less and pleased at our vacation. Sarah put her head on my shoulder and we enjoyed the rest of the ride to Alewife, the last stop. When the doors opened, she stood up before me and I could see a big tear on her face that she quickly wiped off, of course. I didn't think anything of it until we were completely off the train and I realized that she was totally crying on the subway. Me, being the sweet guy that I am, says, "Are you crying?" She being the now completely embarassed girl that was when I brought attention to it, says, "No, I'm just wiping my eyes cause I am tired." I almost believed her, but I looked again and it was clear that she had something leaking out of her eyes and from my experience those are usually called tears, associated with crying. Again, I am so sweet, that I said loudly, "Why are you crying?!" "I'm not crying" she replied as she laughed due to her embarassement and as I laughed my head off and continually asked her, "Who does that? Who crys on the Subway?" Now, I will probably never know or understand why she was crying, but clearly it was hilarious that she spontaneously combusted on the subway of all places on the most calm, beautiful, relaxed day there ever was. Finally, about 4 hours later I got her to admit that indeed she did leak a few tears while riding on the subway.






















Thanks for coming to visit me Sarah, it was the best! (Don't cry, it'll be okay)