Monday, September 2, 2013

Labor Day Weekend

September is here, which means my Birthday month is here, which means we have a month of celebrating ahead!  So far, we have had quite a busy weekend! Here's a recap:
On Friday my parents stopped by for dinner at none other than Dewey's. After their departure Alex and I met some friends for an evening of bowling! Alex won (I came in last, but I did get a strike)! 

Saturday was our long run day, so we thought going out to jog at noon was a good idea....it was approximately 100 degrees, give or take a few. Needless to say it was hot. We didn't beat any record times, but we got it done. Alex took to the couch for the rest of the day while I made good use of my "shopping" envelope and went shopping! I was the ultimate Maxxinista  and got a pair of jeans,leggings, a sweater and a very chic top all for under $50! Go me! 

On Sunday morning we got to hang out with the 5 and up's of Trailhead and we learned about Solomon. After church we played a rousing game of tennis with our friends Kraig & Stephanie and then we took our competitive spirit to the pool in a game or two of water volleyball. We had a very good and active afternoon. For dinner Stephanie (&Kraig) made Greek nacho's. They were delicious! The fun doesn't stop there either... We played wii and then consumed a s'more concoction that was fantastic...we may invite ourselves over to dinner every night... 

Finally on Monday, a holiday for relaxation and leaving work for Tuesday.... Alex and I decided we should tackle our basement, today. We (I) scoured Pinterest for some ideas and we talked through our options, keeping in mind our budget, we settled on a plan and went to Lowes. The project is underway and I promise there will be pictures as soon as it is more presentable. The phrase "It gets worse before it gets better" comes to mind... That leaves us to where we are now...in bed worn out and with paint in our hair. Good night and happy Labor Day! 

P.S. - More exciting basement details to come...eventually. 

Thursday, August 22, 2013

St. Louis Rock & Roll Marathon


Alex and I are officially registered for the St. Louis Rock and Roll (half) Marathon! It is on Alex's 25th Birthday in October! Get excited to hear/read all about our training! Wish us luck!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

New York City Adventures...Part II



Yesterday I shared our adventure in words...a lot of words. Today, I'll share in pictures. I narrowed down my 273 pictures to 12 of my favorites.
 Enjoy!


Empire State Building at dusk
Mom & Dad at the Top of the Rock!

Top of the Rock

Rockefeller Plaza

Central Park
Central Park Shenanigans

World Trade Center Memorial (It was pouring down rain...so no fantastic pictures. But, it was a sobering experience.)

Lady Liberty

Enjoying the Statue of Liberty
NBC Studio Tour

"The Voice" Chairs at NBC

Of course Gnome went everywhere we went!

Monday, August 12, 2013

New York City Adventures...Part I

About six weeks ago my parents invited Alex and I to join them for a trip to  New York City, of course we said yes! We flew out early on Wednesday morning and as soon as we landed we hit the ground running. We took a whirlwind tour of Manhattan by bus, walked through Times Square (yes, we saw the naked cowboy) and then we went to the top of the Rockefeller building.

The next day we took a walking/bus tour of the city and got to see a lot! We walked through Central Park, saw Museum Mile, longed to shop on 5th Avenue, walked though the very overwhelming and crowed Chinatown, and made our last stop at the World Trade Center Memorial. We covered a lot of ground, saw a lot and smelled a lot! It was a busy day, but don't worry we're not done yet. After dinner we headed to Broadway to see Motown. It chronicles the life and rise to fame of Berry Gordy and was very well written and performed, two thumbs up!

On Friday, we woke up and hopped aboard the subway to head to Liberty Island. (With a crew of 50 people, the subway is not an easy task.) When we got there we toured the Island and then climbed the 270+ stairs to the pedestal level. Unfortunately the crown level was sold out, so we didn't get to go allll the way up and Ellis Island is under renovation so, we missed out on both. Maybe next time. After visiting Lady Liberty we headed to the famous John's Pizzeria, it was a yummy slice of pie. Our original plan for Friday evening was to head to the Yankees game, but there was a strong chance of rain and an hour subway ride to and from the game so we nixed that and started looking for a show to see. We decided to go off Broadway to see Peter and the Starcatcher. It was an absolutely phenomenal show and I highly recommend it, four thumbs way, way up (Alex's thumbs were included in that count)!

We left Saturday afternoon, but we crammed in one more tour before leaving, the NBC Studio Tour. It was very good and informative. It's crazy how much actually goes into a news production and how much work that the anchors do, we saw the set of Nightly News and Brian Williams and has a lot of weight on his shoulders...and make up on his face. The Page (not Kenneth from 30 Rock) explained that Brian Williams has to be in full make up the entire time he's in the studio, which is usually from 9am to 9pm, just in case there is breaking news. She told us that he writes 80% of his content and is the big cheese at NBC news among other stuff. That's all that I remember- for more information, ask my dad...he's an encyclopedia. We toured the set of SNL and then I got to pretend to be a news anchor and read from a teleprompter, while another girl got to deliver the weather. It was fun, but not a job that I aspire to, to much scrutiny.

Sadly, we had to leave our adventure in the Big Apple, but we were ready to come home and breathe fresh air. We had a great trip and we are both very grateful that my parents invited us. They're the best and we will gladly travel with them again and hopefully they'll travel with us again too!

Thanks Mom & Dad!

Pictures to come tomorrow- same time, same place. 
I'm sure I left something out, we did a lot, but that's most of it...I think.