It's Christmastime in the City

Well as you already know Reza was in NYC for 2 weeks for work, and once I finished my finals and school work I went out to meet him!

Here are some highlights from the trip:

Seeing my cousins Libby and Tracy who I haven't seen in forever and now live in Brooklyn.
Hanging out with the Hardie's--Reza's old roommate/good friends from the BYU days.
Seeing my bff's Wendy and Hayley who came from DC and Philly to play with me.
Going to see Mary Poppins! It was a surprise early Christmas present--and it was Supercalifragilisticexpiladocious!
Seeing lots of other friends like Clinton and Doug and Kristen.
Watching the Today Show being filmed.
Seeing Jacob.
Shopping in NYC, and in Chinatown.
Eating burgers everyday.
Having breakfast at Norma's--apparently it's the best breakfast in the city.
Going to F.A.O Schwartz to see the Big Piano!
Just hanging out in the city with my husband and feeling the energy of the city.
Seeing the Rockefeller Christmas tree!
Going to the MOMA--and getting into the Van Gogh exhibit and taking an illegal pictures of Starry Starry Night which is Reza's favorite painting.

A Christmas Miracle

So Reza has been in NYC for two weeks for training, once I finished my finals I came up to meet him in the city for a long weekend. I got in Thursday night and we came home on Monday evening. Jacob knew Reza was going to be in NYC, and Reza was planning on going to "stop by" at the church Jacob goes on Sunday. But before he had a chance to go to church there, Jacob emailed Reza asking him not to drop by because he felt like it would be breaking the rules/guidelines. Obviously, Reza complied and we stayed away. I also feel it important to mention that 1.5 weeks ago when Reza was coming back to Ohio for the weekend, he ran into a bunch of missionaries at the JFK airport who were going back home from their missions in Russia---he bought them dinner.

Fast foward to last Friday. Reza had finished training, and I was in the city. We wandered around the city, met up with some friends and had planned to go to Time Square. Our friend who works in Manahattan was kind enough to let us store our luggage at his office at Rockafeller Center while we were tourists. We had talked about staying in the city later and going to Time Square etc...but we decided we were tired and just to go back to our friends for the evening. (This was small/insignificant decision number 1).

Small/insignificant decision number 2: Things were pretty insane at Rockafeller Center, and we were trying to drag around our luggage, plus it's kind of cumbersome to drag suitcases all over the subway. Along with our friends the Hardies, we decided just to take the subway instead of taking a cab.

So we get down to the train platform and I notice 2 missionaries. I realize we are in Manhattan, so therefore we are in Jacob's mission so I thought I would ask them if they know Jacob. I wave them over and ask if they know Elder Frost. Their faces light up--and that's when I noticed that their nametags say "American Sign Language". These two elder's LIVE with Jacob! I am like freaking out and ask if I can write a note that they can give to Jacob. They say sure, and we are thinking, wow what are the chances?

This is where it gets good....

So the Uptown Train arrives, I am writing a note and I walk unto the train, someone with us go "more missionaries" I look up and Jacob is LITERALLY right in front of me. We meet eyes, I am crying/laughing and everyone we are with are just blown away at the chances of that happening. It turns out they had spent their Friday night at the church watching movies with investigators and were headed home. We were on the train for a good 10-15 minutes today. Jacob hugged me, and he told me "Isn't Mahanttan the best city ever?" He also said "I used to think that 2 years was a very long time to serve, but now that I am so dedicated to the work I don't think 2 years is long enough." It was a very touching experience which truely was a miracle.

We feel as though we were all being blessed for serving missionaries and obeying the rules. It was a truly wonderful experience.

Above the Christmas at "the Rock"

Last week was the annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller center. I had the opportunity watch the "lighting" 21 floors above the action. My good friend Carl office over looks Rockefeller center. He let some of us watch from his office, we watched the NBC broadcast "live" on TV and from above.

Getting to Rockefeller center that night was half the adventure. The NYPD closed off many of the streets around the area. There was police vans with P.A. systems advising people to stay away from the area as all the viewing pens are full, and that the Jonas Brothers are NOT performing live...

I was stopped at a police checkpoint...Carl had to vouch for me and I had to give my scouts honor to the Police not to go to near the tree, that I would watch from a Building.

Below is a video that one of Carl's friend Reagan took:


Lighting the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center

A long way from the Shire...

I am in New York taking a two week training class for work. I have spent the last five days here in New York. I came in early to see my good friend and former roommate Carl and his wife Becca. Having never been to New York, I decided to explore the city by getting lost. I accompanied Carl to His office at Rockefeller Center, and from there I wondered the city from the far south tip to 110th street in Harlem.

I saw the filming of the today show first. From there I meant to walk from Rockefeller center to Times square and ended up walking the wrong way. As a result I found some cool buildings and wandered in to Grand Central Station.

I found Times Square, I was way, way, to early for TRL. Disappointed- I Boarded the next Subway train. Seemingly random I got on a train that was going to the south end of Manhattan. I took the subway until it ended at South Ferry. From there I walked all over the Financial district.

I walked and walked and walked, I knew the NYSE did not allow visitors. So I went to the AMEX, I asked the guy at the door if I could go in to check it out. I was told I couldn't.

For Lunch I met my friend Helen (a former ski buddy). She was moving to Harlem, so she suggested "soul food." We ate at this diner in Harlem that was amazing. So Amazing I can't remember the name. I had this BBQ chicken that was so sweet and juicy it fell off the bone. I thought to myself that our friend Zachy would love this place and could write pages and pages of commentary about it. I also thought of S. Jones who would be the guy who picked up and read old copies of Ebony Magazine. I thought of Christy who would have ordered a piece of the homemade pie.

Since my adventure in the city I have been camping out in Long Island. Our NYC office across the Jamaica bay from JFK airport. I am in an intensive training program to learn about Ocean Export products...

to be continued...

P.S. the Los Angeles Lakers are 15-2.