NYC 09

Two weeks ago JD and I spent a long four day weekend in NYC to celebrate our five year anniversary. What made it especially great was that Morgan stayed behind with Grandpa and Grandma Schlueter (thanks Dad & Mom) and did wonderfully (so now we know we can do this again!). JD had visited NYC on a few previous occasions, but it was my inaugural trip. And choosing to visit in the spring was a good choice.

There is just SO much to see in this city. We tried to scratch the surface by hitting the "must-see's", but even still we know there is so much more we would've liked to do. Our feet definitely told us each evening that we had seen a lot -- we did a ton of walking! I won't go through all the places we visited. Like I said if it's on your "must-see" list, we probably saw it. One exception: The Met. We're not big museum folk, and we couldn't justify the expense of time it would've taken away from other things we wanted to see.

We did see the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry (which is free and also offers great views of the lower Manhattan skyline). Next trip I think we'd add a boat trip out to the island to see Lady Liberty up close and personal ... and take the side tour to Ellis Island as well.

And, of course, I had the obligatory slab of New York style pizza and a Gray's Papaya hotdog (Ness, remember those from "Fools Rush In"?) :)

One of our favorite experiences was seeing "Wicked" on Broadway - a truly fun twist on the story of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. However, it was in purchasing our tickets for this show that we learned our credit card information had been stolen and used with out our permission. This was a definite downer. Thankfully, our bank caught it and cancelled our cards to protect us from further theft.

We experienced a few other disappointments along the way as well. One included not being able to see into the construction site where the WTCs once stood. Obviously the construction is due to erection of the 9/11 Memorial. We were just bummed it was completely walled off from view.

Deficient customer service was another bruise on the Big Apple. With very limited exceptions, we were treated poorly. It often seemed that servers at restaurants existed merely to take your order and bring you your initial drink -- and then they expected a good tip for this! Even our hotel management when told that someone on their staff may have stolen our credit card information seemed to act like "So? What do you want us to do about it?" Honestly, I've been treated better in France -- and they are openly rude to Americans -- than I was by New Yorkers. For real.

So all in all, it was a good trip with a few blemishes. Jonathan and I really enjoyed our chance to get away as a couple. Even after having Morgan in our lives for just 19 months, we realize how much we need to get away and just be us. And I'm glad to have checked NYC off my list of "Places to Go." To all my Midwestern friends, don't worry - Chicago is still my favorive U.S. city :)

Central Park

Strawberry Fields, Tribute to John Lennon.
I wouldn't be a good Beatles fan if I didn't include this.
But no, I didn't leave the flowers ... I'm not that weird.

A view of the cement jungle (as Jonathan called it)
from Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center).
The depth to the layers upon layers of buildings is amazing.

One of only three pictures taken of us together on this trip.

View of Central Park (all 5o blocks of it) from Top of the Rock.

Atlas

The hub-bub of Grand Central Station.

One of Jonathan's favorite pics taken at Grand Central Station.
He was the cameraman for the majority of the trip.

View of Our Lady from the Staten Island Ferry.

Like I said, JD had the camera most of the time
so there are a lot of shots of me.

Brooklyn Bridge

Yep, it's still New Year's Eve 2009 in Times Square.

My recent favorite pic

We just got some of the digital images from Kel & Jess' wedding, and so far, this is one of my favorites. The photographer, a friend of Jess', snagged this shot of Morgan and JD as they arrived. And here's a pic of the happy couple for good measure...

The Golf Pro

But which one is it?

Nothing Like The Feeling...

...of the wind in your hair. One of Morgan's newest thrills. Love it. Love her. Love the smiles and giggles that accompany it.

Look at that tornado of hair!

Strategery

As usual, I'm a bit behind in my blogging. Easter for us was a bit of blur of a weekend as we had a lot going on. I helped host my fourth baby/bridal shower in five months the Saturday before. Then Easter Sunday morning our church held its service at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the property that we are in the process of purchasing. It was an awesome service and cool glimpse of what things will be like in the future! From church, we made a quick trip up to Fredericksburg to celebrate with Jonathan's family. At Great Grandpa and Grandma Schlueter's, we set up Morgan's first egg hunt in their back yard. We thought this would be a better location than out at the ranch house where Morgan may have picked up sheep poop instead :) I was a bit skeptical that Morgan would catch onto the gist of the egg hunt, but the girl got it from the get-go and wasn't ready for it to end ... until she discovered that there were treats inside the eggs! Thankfully, this year she was satisfied with animal crackers, goldfish, and raisins as her treats. I get the feeling next year she'll be demanding candy :) Daddy was already disappointed that there wasn't candy in her eggs ... poor guy wanted a part of the action!

After that, I had three days to get the three of us packed up - for Morgan to head to Grandpa and Grandma Schlueter's and for Jonathan and I to head to NYC to celebrate our fifth anniversary. More on that to come...

Our Little Easter Bunny

Before the Easter holiday passes, I'd better post Morgan's Easter pictures. I went with my friend Kristi and her kids, Audrey and Connor. Morgan and Audrey had matching dresses, a by-product of one of our previous shopping trips together. Naturally, Kristi and I couldn't resist getting a few pics of the girls together. Overall, this was one of Morgan's better professional photo shoots of late. How can I tell? Well, frankly, she's smiling in the majority of her pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Here are a few pics from Easters past. The first is Morgan's picture from last Easter, her first Easter. As you can see, the bunny ears have become something of a tradition - mostly because I think they are stinkin' adorable on the girl. One day she'll really hate me! The other two come from a treasure trove of old pictures I received at Kel's wedding. I'll post more soon; they're just so funny.

2008

1987
How I hated this haircut. I was never meant to be cool...

1985
Okay, so after reading Mom's caption to this picture,
it wasn't taken at Easter after all.
Oh well, it's already uploaded so you're getting it anyway.

I do love this man...

Family Pic from Kel's wedding last weekend.

Five years. Today Jonathan and I celebrate a half decade of marital bliss. It's so hard to believe because it has gone so fast! We've been blessed with many great times together over these past years ... and what's even better is that I feel equally blessed for just having his partnership and presence through the everyday mundane times.

Here are a few things I love about my man:

• The boy has enough A&M t-shirts that he could wear a new one every day for two weeks straight - often though, it is limited to about five days a week.
• He loves to eat my baked confections even though he is (mostly) committed to his no-carb diet.
• He makes a mad homemade pizza and is the grill master.
• He likes things clean - even cleaner than I like them.
• He hasn't given up the military crew cut that was mandated in the Corps of Cadets, even though it's been ten years since he was part of the Corps.
• He loves to spend money like I love to horde it; it makes us a good pair ... and lends to some nice "discussions".
• We both place a high importance on family - our's individually as well as our parents, siblings, and grandparents. And we each genuinely love each other's family.
• He's a great dad who enjoys making Morgan laugh and smile.
  
• He is an awesome provider for our family and has supported me unconditionally in my role as a stay at home mom.
• He asks for my opinion and advice because he honestly wants to know. And he even tolerates my unsolicited opinions (often tirades)!
• He laughs at my goofy jokes and sense of humor. Praise God for that.
• We can talk "legalese" and enjoy ourselves.
• We both love his parents' ranch and my family's farmland.
• He still thinks I'm beautiful and tells me so.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I tell you I am a darn lucky lady ... though sometimes I need to be reminded of it!

Love you Babe! Here's to another five years of "bliss"!

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