Day 4 (part 2)

*promise these are almost over.

We went to a football game that afternoon (Saturday) at Michie Stadium. By some miracle, we were able to watch West Point win a football game!! I am pretty sure that Corky wanted to cry because he was so happy. I mean it in the nicest way ever possible because we are true and loyal to the army football team, but they don't win a lot.


After the game, we did a little bit more walking around, trying to take it all in one last time before we said our official goodbye to West Point.

If anybody ever has the opportunity to visit that place, I highly encourage it. There is so much of our nations history that started there. It has been an academy since 1802. It schooled folks like Robert E. Lee, Dwight Eisenhower, Buzz Aldrin, Stonewall Jackson, and Ulysses S. Grant, just to name a few! I am no history buff whatsoever, but it is pretty cool to walk the same grounds as many of those men.

Day 4 (part 1)

Saturday was another a fun-filled day at West Point. This time we got there early because the graduated alumni were supposed to stand in designated spots for the parade.

[Side-note Story interjection] When Corky and I met over 7 years ago, my group of friends were meeting up with his group of cadets to go watch a "parade." I was a little confused once the parade started because I only thought that "parades" consisted of giant floats and throwing candy. These are not those kind of parades.

Continuing on...

I sat in the stands taking pictures before it all got started while Corky stood with fellow alumni. All of the sudden Corky yells my name and points to me in the stands. I look and am pretty sure I screamed out loud. He was standing next to one of mine and Corky's best friends from college. I had seen him (Jermaine) and his wife (Zabel) twice in the last 5 years thanks to living just off of a major highway in California, but Corky hadn't seen him since college. It was such a nice suprise.

This is Corky and Jermaine.



Finally the parade began and it is always such a sight to see a couple of thousand young cadets marching in such a historic place, all in unison.


There's that flaming tree again...I told you I couldn't get enough of it.


And of course a picture of me and Corky. (Jermaine, in true "Jermaine-like" fashion, said that the picture catches me being translated on high!)


After the parade, we went to the mess hall. If you can only imagine this place, my pictures don't do it justice. It is MASSIVE and it reminds me of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. It has a few different wings. (google West Point Mess Hall images and you can get a feel for it.) We ate a typical cadet lunch of some kind of hot dog (???), sauerkraut, broccoli, milk, and gatorade. Not the tastiest lunch but it was the experience that counts.


Corky and I standing in front of a wing of a mess hall.


Jermaine and Zabel hanging out in another.


I told you this place was big!


And here we are saying our goodbyes to Jermaine and Zabel. It was a blast being able to spend a few hours with them.

The day before, Corky and I were talking about what a great experience we had living back there and how it is always bittersweet to go back to something you loved so much. As much as you prepare yourself, it is always kind of difficult to go back and realize that you will never relive those times again. It really just makes the memories of those days even more precious. That day though, hanging out with Jermaine and Zabel (they were engaged at the same time as us!) I realized that there are definitely some things that never change. Spending time with them, and laughing HYSTERICALLY at Jermaine, I was grateful again to have been able to relive a little piece of mine and Corky's life, before life really started.

And my nostalgia for the night is definitely spent.

Actually, one more thing. Remember this post and picture? (scroll to the very bottom of it) We had to get another one. A more older, wiser, mature version.

Day 3, Part 2

Friday afternoon we set aside to golf. Let me correct myself...Corky golfed and I had a day of just hitting a ball. I was quite disappointed because I was doing so well last summer but I didn't go at all this summer. I suppose NOT practicing just makes one suck. Corky was so excited to golf. He brought his golf clubs all the way from AZ to golf on this course. You would have thought it was a dream come true he was so excited to golf on the West Point golf course.

Anyway, before our tee time we had a while to kill so we took another scenic drive and drove to a look out that we used to go to. (Don't worry mom, we almost always had company with us so it didn't turn into "one of those" kind of look-outs when we were dating!) It was gorgeous and you can see the bend in the Hudson River, ALL of West Point, and also a cute little town across the river. I always think of this town being like one those giant puzzles pictures.

We set our camera on the car and took a self portrait. We joked that it looks like we are standing in front of a green screen and the background looks fake.


It was finally our tee-time and it was such a pretty course.

Corky was so happy to be golfing.

But I was sad because I wasn't playing well.

But it was still a blast! How could it not be when surrounded by all those pretty trees and the perfect weather?

Day 3 of our trip. Part 1

I have been so overwhelmed with all the pictures from our vacation to New York, not to mention I have been in a blogger-funk, that is taking me forever to post. I really need to get our trip blogs out of the way so I can finally start posting about fun things we have been doing since we have been home.

So here it goes!

That Friday, Corky and I drove from Connecticut to West Point. We took one of the many scenic routes that we would take when we lived there and I just started snapping away. I love all the small towns back there that are so old. Charming is the only word I can think of right now to describe them. They have downtown avenues and shops, and tree just surround the roads. We drove through the historic town of Sleepy Hollow. The roads back there are like driving through a tunnel of forest. You can imagine when I moved there how cool I thought that was, coming from the desert and all.

Does this picture look familiar?

I had Corky pull over so I could take my own picture of the Bear Mountain Bridge. I swear I was standing in the exact spot as the person who took the MSN picturethat I posted a few weeks ago. I just need a wide angle lens to duplicate it. Gorgeous, gorgeous view!!

Less than 10 minutes later we arrived at West Point.


It was so exciting to be back and walk around again after so long. The weather could not have been more perfect.

Take note of this tree. It was love at first sight for me. I took lot of pictures of it throughout our weekend.


This is a picture of Corky's class crest.



Here is that tree again.


This was Corky's room his senior year. It was fun to see that again. I remember driving up for the weekend and pulling right up to the curb and seeing his window open. I was always afraid I would get in trouble if I threw something, but Corky was usually expecting me so he was normally sitting by the window waiting.


We had a lot of fun times at West Point when we were dating. It was fun to re-visit and be reminded of them.

Praise the man....

That I now call my dentist!!!!!

Let's take a tiny break from my vacation postings, shall we? And speak of something that is definitely not as important or exciting.

I have had a toothache for a couple of months now but it was nothing in comparison to the tooth that needed a root canal only 3 days after having Emily. (I swear, I was taking percocet more for my tooth than I was for my c-section!) Anyway, so I have put seeing the dentist off since the past few months have been extremely busy. Not to mention, new place, new dentist....I haven't been in the mood to do my research for a good dentist here in town. Then on Monday, I decided to just go for it and I researched some dentists in the area and found one that had a website and looked pretty nice and modern. I was SO HAPPY to hear they had an appointment open for today, only two days later. My last dentist(in St. George) is a super good dentist but it takes sometimes weeks to get in to see him.

Let's back up a little. I have been getting headaches quite regularly the past few months. Before this, I RARELY got headaches and if I did they weren't too bad. I could totally deal with them, often times without the use of drugs. Which by the way, I rarely take. I hate pills. Not the taking the pill part, just the fact that I am putting chemicals in my body. I stay away if I can. Even after having kids, I always have plenty of pain killers that I end up flushing down the toilet because I don't even like them in my possession. Anyway, the last few months I am pretty sure that even though the economy sucks, the makers of Excedrin are doing just fine, thanks to me. It started only happening at that "time of the month" but then I started getting them all the time.

Just last night, I asked Corky if I should be concerned from all the headaches I have been getting.

Back to the dentist. They x-ray my tooth and tell me it is the tooth that had the root canal done. I was ticked and confused. Ticked because that root canal cost a lot of money, even with good insurance....and confused because I totally thought that once you have a root canal that the tooth is dead and can't feel anything. The doctor assured me that the tooth still looked really good so he had me bite down on the bite strips. It showed that my teeth didn't exactly line up and so that is what was hurting the tooth. He drilled the porcelain down a bit and it felt so good. Compare it to this; Have you ever had a day where you didn't realize your feet hurt but as soon as you take your shoes off, you feel so good and then you realize your feet are tired? That is what it was like in my mouth.

The doctor said "Have you been getting headaches recently?" I answer yes. He says this will more than likely help those. Thank you very much. He asked if I have been having stress lately. I answer yes. (2 kids, new town, new house, new calling, etc. etc.) He thinks I clench my teeth during stressful times. I know I do...and it hurts.

I will more than likely be getting a clench guard in the next little while but we are going to wait to see if just having the tooth filed down a bit will do the trick.

Boring post for you all, but super happy day for me!!!! Now if I can somehow get rid of this sinus infection that was pointed out to me from my x-ray...things will be smooth sailing. I guess it's back to the neti-pot for me.

NYC Day 2/Part 2

It's a small, small world. Let me tell you why....

As I was going through security in Phoenix, I noticed a girl that looked really familiar. Finally it hit me that she was my friend and fellow nanny about 6 years ago in Connecticut. She was about 50 feet ahead of me so I told myself that I would find her as soon as I went through security. Well I made it to security, found my gate and realized they were boarding my zone right then so I didn't get a chance to find her. Then with about a half hour left of my flight (I was on the very back row!) I was working on some primary stuff but looked up to see this girl walking away from the bathroom. I couldn't believe that my friend Terinawas on my flight. So I find her at baggage claim and we are both so SHOCKED and excited to see each other. She then tells me that she is vacationing with her husband and meeting another fellow nanny there. Who is meeting up with OTHER fellow nannies and members of our singles ward a long time ago. So we exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet for dinner the following night.

Thursday night comes around and we go to a place right by Union Square called Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald man. :) This place was so good and fun. I got a Cobb Salad and a chocolate pizza....in case you were wondering. Most importantly, it was a mini-reunion of people that never thought they would ever see each other again. There was a total of 12 of us in the party. 9 out of 12 of us were in the same ward together years ago. 6 of us just happened to be on vacation at the same time. This get together went together perfectly. Usually it is hard enough just coordinating schedules to have a party of 4-6. There were 12 of us and it was so easy and fun! Meant to be?? I think so. :) It opened up a whole new door for the blogging world and keeping in contact with old friends! Corky had to miss though because his flight wasn't coming in until later that night.

From left to right: Carol, Me, Brent and Terina, Nicole and Abe, Lamar and Amy, Azam and Amanda, Ted (taking picture), and Dan (married to Carol).

Here's another one that shows Ted and Azam's faces.


That night I went back to JFK airport to pick Corky up from his flight in from Georgia. My friend Heather just happened to be flying in at nearly the same time. Kind of funny that we live only 130 miles away from each other and yet we finally get to see each other clear out in New York City.

Between touring the city by myself, meeting up with old friends, taking the subway, and eating too much good food, it was a GREAT day. I am just so glad that the day before I rode the subway and saw other people's shoes. I remembered that nobody cares if you are wearing sneakers or anything else. If I wouldn't have remembered that, I would have worn my more cute/less comfortable brown shoes. Instead I wore my less cute/more comfy sneakers! Remember that for the future, folks.

New York/CT trip Day 1 and part of day 2

I have been home for over a week but have been a little overwhelmed by all the pictures I took and so I haven't posted any of them. Here they are though.

The first part of my trip to NYC was quite uneventful. I flew out of Phoenix and arrrived early afternoon. I knew I would have ALL DAY the next day by myself in NYC but I decided since I flew in early enough that I would go to the Manhattan LDS Temple immediately. I called to see if they would hold my luggage for me there and they would. So I hopped on the air train, then onto the subway and made my way to Columbus Circle. I was the only person around carrying a huge piece of luggage but I learned a long time ago that it is really difficult to stand out in NYC. I went into the Barnes and Noble that was next door, changed into my skirt, saw Munch from Law and Order: SVU, and walked on over to the temple. I was so excited because they had announced the temple when I was living in Connecticut a long time ago and missed the dedication of it by only one year. They converted part of the Lincoln Center, where members would go to church, to the temple and it was so great. It was really nice to walk into a place that was so peaceful and calm, and completely opposite of the busy-life that is New York City that is just outside.

I had a really funny experience with a man that was attending the temple, but I think I will save that story for later when I don't have anything else to blog about. (Sorry to keep you in suspense.)

After the temple, I took the subway back down to Grand Central Station where I hopped on a train to Greenwich, CT. Only about a 45 minute train ride to wear I used to work and live as a nanny.

I stayed up way too late catching up with my old boss and their son, Carter. (The oldest girl, Emily, was on her way home from college still).

I got up the next morning, took the train into the city and this is where the pictures begin.

For all the time I spent in NYC a long time ago, I never had been to Liberty/Ellis island. So it was fun to do that.



Walked around Ellis Island. (glad I did it but probably won't do it again...a little boring, especially by yourself and with no ancestry that had gone through there.)

I walked past the fools on Wall Street, spent some time at Herald Square (that had the most charming carousel), went to the NYC library, and then went to Grand Central Station.

Guess what??

Next week....I will be HERE!!!

And here...

And here...

Corky and I are taking a little get-away to our old stomping grounds and we are dying with excitement! We will be attending Corky's 5 year class reunion at West Point, NY. It will be busy with events but we are definitely going to enjoy ourselves. It is the best time of year to go to see all the gorgeous leaves and feel the crisp, cool air that I am seriously longing for right now. My lovely sister-in-law Candice is taking our girls for 5 days.

We are also going to be spending time in Connecticut at my old house, visiting my former employers and the children I was a nanny for. It has been 5 years since we have seen each other and I can't wait to catch up. Since we have seen each other, Corky and I have have gotten married, had 2 kids, and have grown a lot. And the kids that I worked with are so GROWN UP! I can't wait to see them!

Corky and I were going to be going there a few days before his reunion to spend some time in NYC but his work forced him to change some plans and he has to be in Georgia for a day or two. Instead of spending more money to change my flight plans, I will be spending the first day and a half by myself in the city! Surprisingly, I am totally excited. I wish Corky could be there with me of course, but I am definitely going to have fun. There is plenty for me to do in NYC by myself.

Anyway, the front page of MSN just had the very bridge (Bear Mountain Bridge) we will be driving over next week and I just got too excited and had to post something!

Funny conversations.

Story #1
Yesterday at the park, I was sitting on the bench thumbing through a magazine while my girls played on the slides and stuff. I saw a few younger kids show up and I hear Gracey say "hello!" Then I kept hearing "hello. hello. hello. Hey Boy, why are you not saying hello!?" I just kept my mouth shut as I listened to this one-sided conversation of my busy-body daughter and a shy little boy. Gracey then turns to me and asked why he wasn't saying hello back to her. I didn't want to embarrass the boy so I just responded "He doesn't have to say hello if he doesn't want to" with the full intention of talking to her later about how it is impolite to ignore someone.

A few minutes go by and Gracey and this boy are now playing together. Before, I gave the boy the benefit of the doubt and thought that maybe he was unable to speak. That of course was not the case and he was no longer shy and him and Gracey were having a grand ole time.

As we left the park to go home, Gracey turned back around and yelled to the boy. "HEY BOY! THANKS FOR PLAYING WITH ME! BYE!"

And he yelled back "See ya!"

Gracey....my little social butterfly.

Story #2
This morning we were out the door pretty early to make a run to WalMart. As we were loading up the car, we saw our neighbor that lives across the stress getting into her car. We exchanged our good mornings and drove off. Gracey then asks "Where is that lady going?" I told her that I didn't know.

Gracey said "Maybe she is going to church!"

I said, "I don't think so, its not Sunday! She is probably on her way to work!"

I then told her that some moms aren't always lucky enough to stay home and play (a.k.a. work) with their kids all day long like I can.

She thought about that for a minute then said "When I grow up and become a mommy, I am going to stay home with my baby while my baby's daddy goes to work!"

I just thought it was funny that she used the term "baby daddy!"

Story #3 (but not so much a story, more like topic)
If you can guess what Emily said to Corky last night, you earn major cool points. (extremely coveted by the way!)

"DAAAAD! Ee ee it me!"

Of course we knew exactly what she said and we both laughed, then groaned. So begins the rest of our lives....raising two females so close in age.

*You may have to say it out loud to get it.

Update!
My friend Janna wins the coveted cool points! Emily definitely was saying "Gracey hit me!" when Gracey was most certainly NOT hitting her. But like all sister's do (even at a young age apparently) they are constantly trying to get the other one into trouble.

Whoever thought that Emily would do okay with one of those "bottle suckers" is totally fired...or should be.
Okay.....it was me! I totally deserved the mess that I had to clean up, I should have known better.

Hopefully I made up for it with a little less messy activity, a bedtime reading of "Poky Little Puppy!"

The much anticipated event of their lifetime!

Last week was a fun-filled week of prep for the nuptials of Bailey and Skyler. The little girls and I were able to drive up a few days prior and have some fun with the family.

There are just way too many pictures that I want to show so please forgive the collage monstrosity!

Here is the happy couple walking out the door, last picture taken of them before the official "ball and chain" was intact.

Some pictures outside of the St. George LDS Temple...which by the way was a BEAUTIFUL day for weather. It was only about 81 degrees and clear. Perfect day for a wedding.

I love seeing kids be such "helpers" with the train of the dress. My sister in law Jessicawas just as patient with that as Bailey was.

The luncheon that followed the wedding was so yummy. I could eat Staheli Catering salad ALL DAY LONG. It would seriously be my dessert if I they weren't famous for their peach cobbler also.

The reception was a lot of fun. The whole family saw lots of people that we hadn't seen in so long and it was great! There was a little issue with the cake that Albertson's had made. Luckily the flower bouquets and centerpieces were full enough that they didn't miss the fresh flowers that I stole from all of them to hide some imperfections of the cake.

Can you tell that my girls love their aunt Bailey? They sure do.

Here are some snapshots taken throughout the evening. Most of them were of Emily because Gracey was always off somewhere exploring.

And lastly, this will probably embarrass my sister but I am sure she will forgive me. She said this shirt was an "accident". She just wanted a comfy tshirt to wear since they were driving to Las Vegas that night. Uh huh!! Look closely. Is it just me and my dirty mind, or is that shirt a little suggestive??

Love her!

6 things.

In yet another tag, I am supposed to write 6 quirky things about myself.

Let's see....shouldn't be that difficult.

1- I CAN'T pack my bags for a trip unless all the laundry is finished, folded, and put away. Even if I know that I will be pulling something out of the drawer and putting it in my bag 30 seonds later, it HAS to go in the drawer first. It just does.

2- I can't commit to paint colors, therefore I always have white walls. The first wall I have ever painted in a house was our one bathroom wall 3 months ago. I just hate the thought of going to all the trouble and then it just being hideous.

3- I shred everything. I shred all my papers with names and addresses on it. Junk mail, newsletters, credit card and bank statements....to the shredder they go. I am petrified of having my identity stolen. And if it is any comfort to those who mail me letters, I shred your envelopes too that have your return address on them. You're welcome. :)

4- I have 3 back ups to my pictures. When I take pictures, I put them onto my snapfish account so I have them on the internet. I also back them up on discs but I burn two discs. One for my house and one to keep at my mom's house in case my house burns down!

5- The past 3 or 4 months I have been using cheap, generic conditioner as my shaving cream. I bought the conditioner on accident one day for my hair and I hated it on my hair. I didn't want to waste it so I thought I would try that out. I love it and it lasts so much longer than shaving cream.

6- I have an obsession with ribbon. I own more than I can handle but I love it. :)

Ode to the many tags that I have avoided....

Am I really doing all of these???

Tag #1- (courtesy of AnnaMarie)

The rules are this- you must take pictures of the following things, as is, no straightening up etc.

My fridge- We definitely have a condiment problem. I have about 5 different types of mustard, marinades, ketchup, mayo....well, you can see for yourself.

See that bag of chocolate chips in the freezer that is almost gone? I probably made one single batch of cookies with those, the rest were eaten by me grabbing a handful here and there! See the 3 cans of frosting in the fridge? That is Corky's favorite snack on graham crackers. They are thrown away now...we don't need that much frosting.

My toilet. Killing two birds with one stone here since another request is a picture of my pet.

My kitchen sink that is LONG overdue for an old fashion sink-shining. At the moment, serving as my defrosting platter. (this was just before lunch so I had just washed my hands...too bad I didn't take it right after. The girls put their own dishes in the sink and that gets messy!)

My favorite room in the house I suppose is the living room. It is the easiest to keep straightened up and the first thing people see as they walk in so there is the motivation. It is dire need of a valance and a rug though. Add that to the other gajillion projects that I have lined up.

My closet. So embarrassing. Did you know I used to color coordinate my closet? I loved it so much, it was beautiful. Now I just have a million shirts and I swear I only wear about 5 of them. About 20 pairs of jeans and I only wear 2...maybe 3 of those. Who wants to fund my new wardrobe????? HAHA And I just noticed something so stupid. Those are my clothes hanging up, but Corky's shoes underneath. His clothes are behind the door and can't be seen in the picture, but MY shoes are underneath them. Is that totally stupid or what??


My laundry room. It is just outside of my kitchen into the garage. Nothing spectacular which makes me sad. I think super cute laundry rooms are the best.



My kids are currently doing two different things at this moment. Emily is sleeping off her tantrum that she threw when I dropped Gracey off at school. This happens every time. Emily would love nothing more than to stay there and play too. And Gracey is at school. (this picture isn't of today, it was taken last week)

My dream vacation, and it has been for years, is to go to Machu Piccho, Peru. It is so gorgeous and fascinating.

My favorite shoes. My crocs that I wear only at my house because I am the first to say how ugly they are. Then my heels...which I have had for about 2 years but gave me monstrous blisters for the first time last weekend. That hurt my feelings, I thought that me and these shoes had an understanding.

And then the stupid self portrait....you know you want some of that!

And now let's see Abby, Candice, Sariah, Janna, and Stacey. Your turn!