Autumn in NYC!

The MR and I just recently took a trip to NYC to visit friends and see the city...and we couldn't have picked a more beautiful time of year.

We hit the ground running the moment our plane landed at 5:30am. We went straight from the airport to breakfast with our NYC friends and my brother and his wife who got there around the same time from AZ. We were all so excited to be there that we couldn't wait to go explore. After breakfast we visited the 9/11 memorial. Although i didn't lose anyone on that tragic day, the memorial left me speechless, teary-eyed and completely heart- broken. It was a beautiful way to pay tribute everyone affected by that day.

As the day progressed we saw more and more; the Statue of Liberty, rode Staten Island Ferry, saw Times Square, and rode the Subway all over! Until 4pm...zZZZzzzZzZZZZzz.

We slept for an hour or two then were back at it again. No more time to sleep!

Our friends took us all over the city and were amazing hosts!

Here is a list of everything we did / saw:

Statue of Liberty, 9/11 memorial, Staten Island Ferry, Top of the Rock (amazing!), Serendipity (Can't say no sundae, to die for!), Battery Park, Ate water dogs, Times Square, Ice Skating in Central Park (so fun!), Grand Central Station, Brooklyn pizza, Shopping (a little), ate super delicious food, and randomly connected with an old Navy buddy of the MR's (love when that happens!) I'm sure there's more but I can always make changes later on.

We had an amazing time and are so grateful that our friends opened their door for us.

Xo - CW

The MR and I at Rockefeller Center

9/11 Memorial

My beautiful sister-in-law

Dinner at Pinto, an amazing Thai restaurant in So ho

One of our great "Navy" friends that just so happened to be in NYC at the same time.

The MR looking handsome as always :)

In case you didn't know...

Yes, I had the "Can't Say No Sundae" and it was TDF! (TDF = To Die For)

Thank you to my sister-in-law for getting this amazing shot of the MR and me at the Top of the Rock. <3

Cartwheels in Central Park...no big deal.

The guys waiting for us ladies to get off the ice rink in Central Park. 

A little 12 o'clock booze to get us started for the day.

Ground Zero

Subway entrance.

Just hanging out under this magical tree in Central Park.

Autumn in NYC!!

HAD to visit the Apple store :)

The Statue of Liberty.

The guys at the Top of the Rock.

Hold me tight because we're goin' to Grand Central Station.

Saw it with my own eyes.

View from the Top of the Rock.

Grand Central Station (Choo Chooo)

9/11 Memorial Reflection

My brother being his funny self.

9/11 Memorial - In case you haven't been, this waterfall is a huge square with a square hole in the center that you can't see down. My interpretation was that it represents infinity. Really neat. A bitter sweet moment.

Flags in Rockefeller Center

Ice Skating in Rockefeller Center. Where's Al?!

My sister-in-law, her beautiful sister and me.

Times Square - Lit up as always :)

NYC Church

View from the back of the Staten Island Ferry. Did you notice the bird?

Photo shoot in Central Park, irresistible.

Two loves just being loves.

The Top of the Rock -- Rockefeller Building

Today is...drum roll please...

MY BIRTHDAY!!!

I've had so many calls and messages today so thank you, thank you, thank you <3

Several people have asked if I have any special plans today and I think they might have been a bit shocked when I told them I didn't.

First of all, I am SO grateful for all of my family and friends. I have a lot of people that love me and I have so much love in my heart for all of them; I feel extremely lucky and fortunate to have them in my life. Second of all, February has been an all around awesome month for me/us! I've been completely spoiled and let me tell you why...

Three weeks ago I passed real estate school and now I belong to a real estate company here in town. My sister-in-law and I decided to become a team which is nice because we're both new to the business. I am so excited to get the ball running. You may think I'm crazy for going into real estate right now, but I think there's no better time than NOW!

Valentine's Day was wonderful! Dave and I went to dinner, drank wine and really enjoyed each other's company. We had our celebration early because I was out of town for the actual day.

After our Valentine's Day I flew to California to visit my family. My brother, his wife, their two kids and my Nana met me at my Mom's house. We had an awesome and much needed time together! I ended up getting sick a couple days into my trip but what's new?! I am guaranteed to get sick every time I travel...every time. It's really pathetic. We spend most of our days at the beach. We took a trip to the Americana in Glendale, CA which is beautiful and I recommend you see it too. My Mom, sister and I drove to San Diego to have happy hour with my old work peeps. I loved seeing everyone, especially my Mom. She is so special to me and I just think the world of her. If you've met her, you understand what I mean :) Sadly, I had to leave everyone but I was so excited to see the MR! So I jumped on a plane and 7hrs later I was jumping into his arms (ahhhh).

Our puppy was born while I was in California. We are going to meet her on Saturday but we can't bring her home for another month. The breeder has been sending us pictures and video footage. We feel like adoptive parents...well, we kinda are. When we finally bring her home, don't worry, you'll see PLENTY of photos and video. It will be a joyous event as long as she doesn't peeuoop everywhere.

On Monday night, 10 of us piled into a limo and we went to the Black Eyed Peas concert. It was the boom boom pow and had an absolute blast! A great night with lots of dancing...and drinks!

And, last but not least...(are you ready for this???)
On Saturday, we're leaving for 7 days on a cruise ship to the Bahamas!

What an amazing end to the month!!!

I'll keep you posted! Lots of exciting news to come.

Ms. Grumperton

I met with my good friend "M" yesterday morning at a coffee shop. We were having such a nice time catching up when a woman came and sat down next to us. She interrupted us and said to M, "are you sick because you have a cough?" M said, "I'm getting over a little cold but I'm fine and it's not the H1N1." For the record, M had a slight cough, not a hack. The woman preceded to tell us how the government says that anyone with any cold symptoms should stay home, how selfish and uneducated M is for being out in public with a cough and that it wasn't all about her. We were so caught off guard and who was this woman anyway?! Our lovely meeting over coffee suddenly went sour because of this grumpy woman who decided to butt in to our conversation instead of minding her own business OR, moving tables for that matter. M decided she was done dealing with this woman and got up to leave, I followed her. Sadly, at Ms. Grumperton's age, she hasn't learned that she can't control what others do or say but she CAN control herself...by staying at home. In my opinion, Americans constantly live in fear and that includes me. The flu is the flu and it's been going around for years. We don't need to squabble around as if everyone with a cough or a sneeze is an H1N1 dispenser. Just sayin'.

Update

It's been a while so I thought I'd give you an update. Dave has been out to sea since Tuesday last week. I've been keeping busy with work, Pilate's, piano lessons, a baby shower and hanging with Nana.

For the last three months I have really gotten into Pilate's. I love the way it makes me feel and look. I am seeing a great improvement in my body. I hope there's a studio where we're moving on the east coast.

Nana and I have been playing a lot of gin, eating tasty meals, laughing, visiting with friends and drinking wine. We really have an awesome time together! We have always been really close and have a great relationship. There is something that Nana, my Mom and I love to do together; we love to stand in the greeting card section of a store, read greeting cards, pass the funny ones around and laugh hysterically. It is so fun and it's something that I have been doing with them for years. And it works because the three of us all have the same sense of humor. Some of the cards actually almost bring us to tears from laughing so hard. I'm sure we've disturbed 100's of shoppers.

My Mom is coming to visit Nana and I tonight. We're going to have dinner with our good friends which I'm sure will be a blast. Tomorrow we're going up to see Julian. I've never been and I don't know what to expect, but I'm excited to explore.

I'm missing Dave so much! It's comforting to know that this will be one of the last times he will have to go out to sea...hopefully for life. He's been emailing me every now and then but I just can't wait to see him!

It's getting to be that time. My last day of work is on the 19th. Now I've left jobs before and never thought twice about it but leaving the place I work now is going to be the hardest. I really love the people I work with and have grown very close to them. They have been my family for over two years now and I'm so sad to leave them. I started training my replacement last week. She is great and is catching on to the job quickly but that doesn't mean it's easy for me to hand it over to her.

I'll do my best to keep you posted on everything that's happening in my life but just know, I'm going to be very busy over the next few weeks. A lot of change is on the way and you'll be the first to know all the details!

Until next time,
Cw

Short but sweet

I had an awesome weekend in Arizona! The trip was short but sweet! I really enjoyed being with my family and visiting our friends. What a fun weekend!?

CW

Bad habits

I've created a habit over the last few years that I want to throw out the window! Ever since the MR and I began dating, he has been going out to sea or on deployment and I've had this bad habit of wishing the time away until he would return home. Now that we're moving away from our friends, my family and he's getting out of the military I no longer want to wish the time away. I feel like I can relax for the first time in a long time. I am going to stop this bad habit and enjoy all the time I have with my family and friends. Life is too short to wish it away!

Do you have a bad habit you want to throw out the window? Remember, any input is welcome here and it's easy to do; just click "comment" at the bottom of my post!

On another note, we have a very fun weekend coming up so don't be shy!

Cereal Writer

All About The S'mores!

There's nothing better than lying in bed with my husband when I should be at work. Luckily I work for wonderful people who are very kind to me.

I got off work at one o'clock today when I normally get off at five o'clock. There's something so exciting about being off work when everyone else is still working. It doesn't happen too often but it feels very liberating when it does. I couldn't wait to get home to be with my love. We had a very nice nap, of course I couldn't sleep much, but it was relaxing.

After our nap we decided to coordinate a bonfire with a few of our friends and everyone was to bring specific items. To be honest, my main concern were the s'mores. I wasn't even really concerned if we had wood for our fire >:-) I wanted those damn s'mores! We could have cooked them in the microwave, I didn't care. Of course, the guys were more interested in having enough alcohol. You know, the key things men need to have fun; fire, alcohol, food and a lot of rambunctiousness. We finally had our supplies and were headed to the bonfire. We were at a stop light next to this lady who we thought was listening to "Scrubs" by TLC. I'm still not sure if she was but we started singing it ourselves not realizing we were getting so carried away. About 3/4 of the way through the song, rapping, harmonizing and doing solo performances in the Nissan Frontier, it hit us. We stopped our performance, looked at each other and I said "were we really just singing "scrubs"?" We laughed hysterically!

The bonfire was fun. I got my s'mores :) No one really understood why I like my marshmallows burnt, but what is it to them?! We shared some good stories and when the guys started talking about their nerd gadgets or work, us ladies made sure they knew how boring it was.

I'm so happy it's the weekend! We're going to try and cram as many fun and exciting things into our schedule as possible.

For me, life is about smiling, love and laughter. Life is being yourself, creating yourself and loving yourself. It starts with you! Who cares if others think you're weird. I love being at home with my husband because there is no holding back. I am 100% me; goofy, un-ladylike (at times), immature, emotional and he still thinks I'm beautiful, so he says. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. Enjoy every moment!

Have a wonderful weekend and do something fun that you wouldn't normally do. Step outside your regular routine - You may enjoy it!

Quote: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them." - Maya Angelou

Cereal Writer-