The Green Women

^^^That was Andrew's idea

Here is our Green Woman of the Morning... the Statue of Liberty 

or otherwise known as the Green Lady.

The first thing we did our second day in NYC was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I wanted to do this at the
beginning of the day because I didn't want it to be so crowded and wait in lines. Guys, that is the time to go!
Our ferry was not that crowded and when we leaving the islands you could see how the number of people coming
had significantly increased. 

^It was not free, we just had already paid for it with our City Pass^

This is at Ellis Island in the upstairs room where immigrants came through and filled out their paper work.
So crazy to imagine and think that some of my ancestors were probably in this exact same room. The
history in that building! And if those walls could talk I would probably have never left the island. 

I was reading about the artifacts and the stories behind them and Andrew had long before left me. He comes back and I say,
"I'm trying to hurry!" I think I was only 2 or 3 exhibits in and he had already toured the whole thing. He was shocked with
how far I got... or didn't get. He just cruised through that museum just like the Met. But for me I was in awe! 

Our next few stops were quick- just a see and go (with a picture). 

We went to the famous bull. It's up for sale if you want it, for $5 million and it needs to stay 

where it is, and you need to pay for cleaning and security. Just in case you were interested.

^George Washington planned the Revolutionary War in that pub behind us.^

^And this is where he was inaugurated as president.^

The churches we saw in New York were beautiful. And this man came and wanted a 

selfie with us. Sometimes I just really love people. 

^Alexander Hamilton is buried at the Trinity Church cemetery.^

One thing that I really enjoyed was walking down Canal Street (a.k.a. China Town)

It was such a unique place that I really loved.

^The food at the Dumpling House was so good. Those dumplings... my mouth is currently watering.

The plus side was the food was really cheap (and it has an A grade for cleanliness).^

And boba is one of our favorite things ever and Utah's boba is just not up to par. 

New York's boba is definitely a do again thing. 

One of my favorite things of NY was going to the top of the Rock. Not the tallest building 

in the city but I loved how we could be outside, visit different levels, see Central Park, and 

it wasn't too crowded. 

Ah, this place was so beautiful!

Our Green Woman of the Night was Elphaba from WICKED! 

Seeing this musical has been one of the top things on my bucket list

 FOOORREEVVVEEERRR!

I would have been happy seeing it anywhere it was available but in NYC was the top choice. 

It actually happened in my dream location!

Wicked was soooo good. Before I saw the play I would ask anyone who had seen it to tell me the plot, what the songs 

meant, etc.  so I had envisioned a pretty good idea of what it would be but honestly, it was so different from what 

my imagination had come up with. Such a magnificent story and a talented cast, it was a dream come true.

(and did you get my green women references?)

Welcome to NEW YORK!

We started off our day by going to the 9/11 memorial and museum.

It is such a beautiful place and exhibit.

To reflect back and remember the events that happened on the very location where we were standing was heartbreaking. Knowing how many people were lost and seeing the missing person flyers that their families put around looking for them, it hurt. 

The museum is directly below where the towers were and you are still able to see the original foundations of both of them. Knowing how much fear, pain, shock, heartache, and faith took place there 16 years ago was a lot to take in. Andrew and I spent 3 hours in the museum and it was like going back to 2001 and seeing it on the news and hearing about the acts of heroism again, but this time it was up close. I remember that day and even though I was across the country I remember how those events brought our country closer together. I think it happens there again in that museum.

This is the Freedom Tower that stands on the Twin Tower Plaza. 

It's 1776 feet high because we claimed our independence in the year of 1776. 

It is also currently the biggest tower in the U.S. They built the Freedom Tower taller 

than the Twin Towers to show that we are going to 

keep growing.

that we are not afraid 

and that we will be better than we were before. 

This is the Survivor Tree that is located on the plaza. 

It was the only tree that remained after the towers collapsed. 

They took it away for awhile to help it gain its strength back and then was brought back to the memorial site. 

This tree says a lot. Despite what we have gone through we can continue to grow. 

This tree is bigger than it was before. 

^When a name has a white rose, it marks that it's their birthday. It made those names more real.^

If you ever plan to visit the memorial here are a few tips:

+ Go in the morning. We arrived early and were able to tour the grounds and when the museum opened
we walked right in and did not need to wait in a big line.

+ We bought a City Pass which also helps skip the line but if you don't do that I heard it's better to buy your tickets
online because you miss the line to simply buy tickets (there's a line after to enter). 

+ Make sure you have plenty of time to go through the museum.
You don't want to rush past anything because you're hungry or you have to be someplace else. 

One of my favorite things from the day (and part of the whole NYC experience) was walking the Brooklyn Bridge. 

It was rainy, wet, and my hair went semi crazy but it was amazing to see the cars driving below, 

the views, and the Statue of Liberty off in the distance. If I were to do it again I would do it at night 

and I would do it walking towards Manhattan, not Brooklyn. 

That bridge is beautiful and nothing like what we have in Utah. 

We walked to Juliana's Pizza which is very similar to MidiCi's. We got a small and we had leftovers

(which is saying something after all that walking!) 

Because of the rain we were trying to do a lot of the inside activities so we headed over to Grand Central. 

That place is hoppin!

^And do you see that black rectangle? It's meant to be there... kinda. Workers were cleaning the ceiling and that 

gray rectangle was left to show how dirty it was. It was caused by cigarette, cigars, and  pipe smoke.

Before it was cleaned people didn't know the ceiling was blue.^

The food in NY is so good. We went to Tal Bagels and I almost died. I wasn't really into it at first and I 

told Andrew  I would only take a bite but I ended up eating half of the bagel, it was that good. We got

 scallion cream  cheese with  salmon (and I am not a fish person, hence I will only  have one bite) but it 

was probably my favorite food while in NY. 

We headed over to the Met which was also included on our City Pass. While we were there we  found

out that it is a pay as you wish  with recommended prices. We are not art people so we kinda just

cruised around that museum real quick and then we headed to Times Square which is always a site! 

 ^And that is a wooden escalator in the Macey's. I'm all into into that original stuff.^

We ended our day with Vietnamese food. Andrew's favorite. 

And the price was actually not crazy overpriced. Same as it is here. 

and... i'm really trying to avoid the gym right now. 

i want to do everything but that. 

like sleep, cleaning, watch netflix, 

(and all have been done).

but i think i better go. 

i'll regret it later. 

byyyyeeee. 

Manti Pageant Weekend + Family Photos

One of my favorite annual traditions is the Manti Pageant and it may be a little corny but it makes my heart 

so happy! At first we would just camp in the local campgrounds but later my parents bought a cabin

close to the area and we stay there instead. Glamping has its benefits.

We were able to sit second row which has never happened before in all our years of going and the people 

in front of us did not even sit in their seats but on the grass so we kinda had the first row advantage :) 

Guys, I kid you not. I do this every year. I love the cast! 

It is on my bucket list to be in the pageant and I am determined to make it happen. 

And while we had the whole family together we decided it would be a good time for some photos. 

Taken with a tripod because that is just how we decided to roll. 

I love all these humans of mine. 

And weekends like this are needed more. 

♥ 1 Year ♥

Our anniversary was so special. 

We planned it together but Andrew did so many surprises that caught me completely off guard. 

We started our anniversary weekend by attending a wedding at the Payson Temple 

(which is where we were married 364 days previous). It was wonderful to be back there again.

We headed off to Park City for our anniversary celebration. 

Our hotel room was more of a hotel suite with it's own personal hot tub {win!}

Andrew made dinner, bought cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, and brought snacks galore.

We shopped, stayed up late watching the Office (Andrew got me addicted a few weeks ago and it's a good thing that it's summer), 

we fell asleep, then got back into the hot tub before officially going to bed just because we could. 

The next morning we hot tubed again.

And went on a hike to Battle Creek

I have lived in Utah my entire life, and this hike is probably 30 minutes from my house

and I've never done it. If you're in the Utah County area it's a must do! 

I can't believe that a year has gone by. 

Life happens way too fast. 

One year ago we became an eternal family.

Life is pretty wonderful when you are married to someone who loves you so much 

and he happens to be your best friend. 

We'll Meet Again

At the beginning of May my Grandpa (mom's dad) passed away and my first emotion wasn't sadness but more regret. 

Regret because I had been trying to call him for the past month but for multiple reasons I was never able to talk to him.
Regret because I wanted to know more about him. 

He had a distinctive laugh.

He loved to fish and golf.

He was in the military and served in the Korean and Vietnam war. 

He loved to travel. 

This picture was taken during our family reunion trip in 2015 and also the last time I saw him.

It does have a funny story though. See how I am by far the youngest in that picture? Besides my Grandpa, all those other boys are my first cousins. Kinda crazy right? This picture was for all the first generation of grandkids (no great-grandkids). Someone told me to get out of the picture because they thought I was a great-grandkid. Nope. But let's be real, I only a couple of years older than some of my cousins' kids so I look like I am one of the great-grandkids. You can see how that mistake is made. 

Then at the end of May my Grandpa (dad's dad) passed away. At the beginning of this year I knew it was going to be his last. 
I thought he would leave in June, my guess was off by 3 days. 

He always read us the "Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve. 

You would always see him with a book in his hand and more by his chair.

Growing up we went to the library a lot. I think I got my love for books from him. 

He graduated high school as valedictorian at age 16 and got a masters in math and physics

 (a trait that I did not inherit). 

This was the last time I saw him and I wanted a picture. So glad I got it. 

I am so grateful for both of my Grandpa's. I often think of life and death. While we live on this earth we will not be known by large quantities of people who want our autograph. Instead we will be known by smaller numbers who want our time. 

I know that both of my grandparents' gave their time to make my life better. 

They gave their time to raise a family. They gave their time to make this country better. 

I love them so much and I'll miss them. They've been around my entire life so life without them will be different.

The GWG

aka the

Graduation Waiting Game 

I would be graduating today from Utah State, but I have to wait... till Fall of 2019. That seems like a long way away especially when I started college back in 2011. I knew my major since my 2nd semester of my freshman year. I don't really remember how I decided to do special education because at the beginning of my college career it was suggested to me by a friend and I said absolutely not. Somehow my Heavenly Father led me that career field and looking back I feel like I have always had that as my goal. It is something that I have grown to love so much. 

I had my school life planned and I knew that I would graduate in the perfect time frame. I finished all my pre-reqs so I could apply for my major. I left on my mission in the summer of 2013 knowing I would return and apply to the special education program in the Fall 2015 semester (the only time they accept applicants). When I returned home from my mission I learned that in my absence they added another math class that I needed to take before I could apply to the program. Frustrating, yes. Also meaning that I could not apply to the program for another year because the math class had to be completed before applying. And since I had not taken math for over a year I needed to go back a math class before taking the one I actually needed. Frustrating but all doable. 

After the 2015-2016 school year Andrew and I got married. We tried to make Logan work so I could finish my school. We even had an apartment to move in to but we strongly felt that we should stay in Provo and 3 days before moving to Logan we cancelled all moving plans and we stayed put. 

I had applied to BYU earlier in the year and I got in and I looked into their special education program but it did not feel like it was right for me. I really tried but it did not fit. Plus USU is #26 or something like that in the nation for their education program and BYU is lower but BYU was making me take extra tests and take extra classes to apply to their program and my graduation date would be in 2020. 

No thank you. 

I tried UVU. They had just added a special education program but did not have my emphasis. UVU was out. 

At the very last minute we found that USU had a distance education program in the Provo area and that they only accept applicants to the special education distance program every 2 years and 2016 was a year to apply! Can you talk about a miracle?! And even though I would be a part time student I would graduate at the same time if I were in Logan doing full time! (I don't know how that's possible but it works). 

The distance education adviser was so sweet and helped me every step of the way. My math score was one point lower on the ACT than they wanted but since I had done well in my previous math classes, had a good GPA, and it was just one point, they waived that (thank goodness). Seriously miracle after miracle. I applied to the program I was accepted! Yay! 

However I could not take classes in the Fall 2016 semester because none of the classes I needed were being offered at USU and the "equivalents" to the classes I needed would not transfer to USU from BYU or UVU so I took a semester off. I finally took classes this past semester and it was so nice to not be taking gen-eds for once! I was actually really interested in my classes. I would be graduating in May of 2019! Yes it is far off but there was a date! 

Then a month ago, the special education program cancelled their summer classes which means graduation was postponed for one more semester. Good and bad. I get my summers but another semester was added to my already long awaited graduation date. 

However after all this mess I have seen how God truly cares because of the miracles that have taken place and I know they will continue to. Also while I am in the distance education program my classes are at night so during the day I have the opportunity to gain experience in a special education classroom being an aide-- and I get paid to do it. I have learned so much doing that this past year and I am so grateful that I have been given that.

While most of my friends have graduated already or are accomplishing that this year, I'm still waiting for my turn. But that's ok because it's coming. I know that I have done everything that I can to move towards this goal. It will happen but in the meantime I get real life experience in a classroom, I get to work more hours = more money, and I am at USU and I know that is where I need to be. 

And because I was so uncertain of where my college life was taking me I decided to graduate with my associates degree last May (I had more than enough credits to graduate with) and they gave me a free cap and gown.  

v v v   See Below   v v v