Christmas in NYC

A few weeks ago, Aaron and I left Kansas to see just what Christmastime in New York City was all about.  Upon our arrival, we checked in at our Times Square hotel and then headed out to explore.

We started the evening by going to Top of the Rock for a beautiful view of New York City and Central Park.  It was a little hazy, but our view was still magnificent.

We then made our way to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and it did not disappoint.  There were tons of people there, but the tree itself was just what I had imagined.

Since we had planned our trip over Aaron's birthday, he picked Del Frisco's for dinner and we enjoyed a fabulous meal of steak, scallops, lobster mac & cheese, and asparagus.   After dinner, we made our way back to our hotel where we had a some unexpected excitement.  I was just on the verge of sleep around 11:00pm when I heard someone trying to get into our room.  I immediately jumped out of bed and looked out the peep hole in our door to see a rather unkempt man with an animal stocking hat and rather busy pajama shirt attempting to gain access to our tiny room.  After a call to the front desk and some investigating by the hotel employees, it turned out that the man's room was next to ours and he was very intoxicated/confused.  That being said, it was still difficult for both of us to get a good night's sleep.

Friday morning, we left our little Times Square hotel room for the infamous Plaza Hotel.  We dropped off our bags and headed to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes.  The show did not disappoint!

 

During the show, Aaron received a call that our room was ready so when the show was over, we decided to walk back to the hotel to see our room.  Little did we know that Donald Trump was meeting with the Pennsylvania GOP at the Plaza and the security would be in full force.  Thankfully they still allowed guests in!

We spent time taking in our gorgeous hotel room and then walked the short distance to Serendipity 3 to enjoy lunch and their famous frozen hot chocolate.  After being seated by the host, he informed us we were sitting at the same table John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale sat at in the movie Serendipity!

After lunch, we spent the afternoon walking around Central Park until it was time to head to Little Italy for dinner.

Saturday morning we took a cab all the way downtown to see the Statue of Liberty and work our way slowly back uptown.  We walked to the New York Stock Exchange, Brooklyn Bridge, and One World Trade Center.  Word of advice-get tickets to the memorial museum ahead of time and get there plenty early.  The line was way too long so we missed out this time.  We ate lunch at Beecher's (after having eaten there in Seattle, we knew we had to have some more of their mac & cheese) and then continued our walk uptown stopping at Macy's and the New York Public Library.

 

Later that evening, our concierge (so fancy!) made dinner reservations at Cafe Un Deux Trois for us before we went to The Lion King on Broadway.  The show was fabulous!  

Until next time New York!

The Story I Will Keep Telling

April 12th and August 2nd both started out as very normal mornings.  Prior to both dates, I had been experiencing various symptoms that made me question whether I was expecting so I decided to take a pregnancy test.  On both mornings, the test was positive.  April 18th and September 2nd would become days I would never forget.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, "10-25% of all clinically recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriage."  My first miscarriage occurred at 6 weeks after having been told that I may have an ectopic pregnancy.  My second miscarriage occurred at 9 weeks after having seen and heard a heartbeat.  Both times I felt more alone than I ever have in my life.

Why don't people talk about miscarriage?  I've asked myself this question over and over again and while I know firsthand it's a heartbreaking time for the parents, I also think that it needs to be talked about.  No one in my immediate family or circle of friends was able to understand my grief, anger, and pain and I needed to be able to talk to someone who knew what I was going through.  My hope is this post finds a woman out there that is grieving alone and it provides what little bit of solace and comfort it can.

October is known for being breast cancer awareness month and domestic violence awareness month, but it is also pregnancy and infant loss awareness month.  In an effort to make everyone more aware, I'd like to share a few things I have learned throughout both of my experiences.

1. Do not ask people when they are going to have kids or why they are waiting to have kids.  I have been asked this numerous times and 99% of those times, I want to seriously injure the individuals and say "I promise I'm not waiting, I am just physically incapable of carrying a pregnancy to term."  You don't know if the individual you are asking has just suffered a miscarriage, is dealing with infertility, or simply does not want children.  I know the intent is not malicious, but it is none of your business.

2. After having one miscarriage, you lose the ability to get excited about subsequent pregnancies and you tend to worry more about the health of your baby.

3. Having to return to your obstetrician's office for blood draws to ensure your hcg levels drop to normal is a sick form of torture.  I believe they should have a separate waiting room so I don't have to stare at happy pregnant people.

4. Do not push your friends and family away.  They are your biggest support system.  I am so grateful for my husband, parents, siblings, in-laws, and friends and everything they have done for us.

5. I am stronger than I ever imagined possible.

I opted to have a D&C after both of my miscarriages as my body was unable to fully miscarry on its' own and I didn't want to endure the pain any longer than I had to.  I'm slowly grieving less, but I don't believe I will ever feel completely whole.  Fortunately, I do have a good support system and an obstetrician who has referred me on to a pregnancy loss specialist.  I'm hopeful that we will have the family we dream of someday, but I am also fearful that my hopes will continue to be dashed.  

The pictures below show double rainbows that appeared at our family farm here in Kansas shortly after my second miscarriage and then again after my niece was born in Colorado.  I believe my two angels were visiting us and then visiting their newborn cousin.

Seattle: Part II

As promised, Part II of our Seattle anniversary adventure is up for your viewing pleasure :).

Thursday we headed to Pike Place Market bright and early!  If you plan on visiting Seattle anytime in the near future, I would recommend doing exactly as we did.  We were able to walk through the market without the crowds of people and got a table at Lowell's (a restaurant in the market) without any problem.

After breakfast, we walked through the market some more and then headed to the EMP museum and the Space Needle.  The EMP museum was interesting, to say the least.  We saw exhibits on Nirvana, horror movies, and the Seahawks.  

Of course I had to take a picture of the Wizard of Oz costumes on display at the EMP museum :)

Quick fact we learned after we went up the Space Needle: a local man was talking to us about our trip and suggested we go to Columbia Tower.  Evidently, it allows for an even better view than the Space Needle and is half the price!

After our bird's eye view of the city, we headed back to the market to try some of Beecher's famous mac & cheese and oh my was it delicious!

Thursday evening, we had scheduled a boat ride to Blake Island for dinner at Tillicum Village and Native American stories and dancing.  It was so much fun!

Smoked salmon for dinner=yum.

Friday morning, we walked to the market again to try Piroshky Piroshky and it was just as yummy as we had read.  We then made our way back to Pioneer Square for Bill Speidel's Underground Tour.  It was fascinating to learn all about Seattle's history and see the underground streets that were built upon after the fire in the 1800s.

That afternoon, we had a tour scheduled at the Boeing factory to see all of the planes and then we made our way to Safeco Park for a Mariners game.

Our trip was so much fun and the weather sure beat this Kansas heat!  I cannot wait for our next adventure together!

Seattle: Part I

We just returned from our anniversary adventure to Seattle on Saturday and I couldn't wait to share our trip with you all!

We arrived last Sunday around 10:30 or so, which gave us most of the day to explore.  Our hotel was conveniently located near the pier, so we ventured down towards the water for some lunch and settled on seafood of course!  After eating, we visited the Seattle Aquarium and then headed to Pike Place Market where we tried some treats from Three Girls Bakery.

Had to snap a picture of Nemo at the aquarium :)

My delicious cookie from Three Girls Bakery

Dinner that evening was at a WONDERFUL little Italian restaurant by the name of Al Boccalino.  I would highly recommend this amazing place and would encourage you to get "The Italian Table."  You pick how much you want to pay and the chef brings out an assortment of the items on their menu.  It was fabulous!

On Monday, we took the Clipper from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia.  It was a beautiful little town, but I think we were both tired from the time change and the three hour boat ride.  Plus, my Fitbit informed me we walked over 20,000 steps that day!

The Chinese School in Victoria.  Our tour guide told us that Chinese children go to public school during the day and Chinese school in the evening. Long day!

Craigdarroch Castle

The Parliament building.  Parliament was sitting that day and we were able to go in and quietly observe.

Our view when we returned that evening.  If you look closely, you can see Mt. Rainier in the background on the right.

Tuesday took us south of Seattle to Mount St. Helen's.  It was a bit of a drive, but completely worth it to learn all about volcanoes, see the hardened lava formations, and see the volcano up close.  If you plan on going someday, I would recommend going to the Visitor's Center first and then driving up towards Spirit Lake.  That evening, we indulged in some more seafood at Elliott's Oyster House on the pier and it was delicious!

A stream that the 1980 eruption created.

The suspension bridge we walked across that was at least 150 feet off the ground.

Lava formations created by the eruption.

Mount St. Helen's

The next day, we traveled south again to Mt. Rainier National Park and drove from the southwest corner to the northeast corner.  The drive was beautiful and once the clouds dissipated, we were able to get a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier.  We then drove to Snoqualmie Falls and then on to Kerry Park for what we had heard was the best view of downtown.

Mt. Rainier

Narada Falls

A view of the glaciers from Sunrise Visitor's Center.

Snoqualmie Falls

A view of downtown Seattle from Kerry Park.

My post on the last half of our trip will be up next!

What's Up Wednesday

In order to give you a little update on what's going on in our neck of the woods, I decided to link up for What's Up Wednesday!

{What we're eating this week...}

I started my "normal" schedule two weeks ago and I love that I'm able to meal prep and go to the grocery store on a regular basis now!  Living a good distance away from a decent grocery store was an issue when I went into work at 3:30 and didn't get off until midnight, but now I can go right after work and come home in time to get dinner on the table.  This week we're having crispy baked lemon chicken, beef with snow peas, my dad's meatloaf, and brats.

{What I'm reminiscing about...}

Last year at this time, we were in the thick of getting everything ready for our wedding and now we have such wonderful memories from that day.

{What I'm loving...}

I can't say this enough, but I am loving working Monday through Friday and being home in the evening time!

{What we've been up to...}

We've been painting door frames, installing new doors, and starting to landscape!  When we moved into our home, the baseboards and door frames were a very dark wood.  We tore out all of the baseboards and replaced them with new white ones.  Now, we're painting the door frames white and installing white doors.  Our home also seriously lacked in the landscape department.  At the end of May, we had dirt brought in to level our ground around the house and we've just now gotten around to laying the landscaping stones.

{What I'm dreading...}

Finishing painting the closet door frames and the window frames.  We also have a company coming out to give us a quote on new siding and windows and I may faint at the cost :/.

{What I'm working on...}

Decorating our new bookshelves and finishing up the decor in our guest room/office.  I've also started my Christmas shopping!

{What I'm excited about...}

If you haven't heard, my younger sister is having a baby I'm going to be an aunt to a precious little girl in a few months and I can't wait!  I'm in the process of planning my sister's baby shower and I promise to share the details after we have it!

{What I'm watching/reading...}

I'm currently reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  I finished Defending Jacob by William Landay a few weeks ago and loved it!  Check out my 2015 Reading List!  The season finale of Game of Thrones was last weekend and was anyone else heartbroken!?  I won't spoil it for anyone, but I was very sad.  I've been watching the new show on ABC called The Whispers and it has reeled me in!

{What I'm listening to...}

The Disney's Tarzan station on Pandora is my go to right now!  I also love the new song Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon.  If you haven't seen the video below, you need to watch it!

{What I'm wearing...}

No more scrubs!

{What I'm doing this weekend...}

One of my very dear friends from KU is getting married this weekend and I can't wait for the festivities, dancing, and seeing all of my friends!  It just so happens she was also the one to catch my bouquet at our reception :).

{What I'm looking forward to next month...}

Our vacation to Seattle is next month and I cannot wait.  We have so many fun things planned that I'll share in a post when we get back.  Check out how we chose Seattle here!

{What else is new...}

Not a whole lot is going on in our neck of the woods that I haven't already shared :).

{What I'm doing for the 4th of July...}

This is still up in the air, but I'm sure we'll be watching lots of fireworks!

Our Big Day Part IV: Reception

I was going through my blog posts and realized I completely forgot to do a post on our wedding reception.   Nine months into our marriage and here you go!

Our reception was held at Heritage Hall in Topeka and it had just the feel I was looking for.  I loved the exposed stone and the windows, especially the sunflower stained glass.

While guests were waiting for us to arrive, there was music and a popcorn bar set up for snacking purposes.  When we arrived, we dove into the delicious food before playing a super fun game!

Aaron and I called out different couples and they had to kiss and then we reenacted the kiss. All of our friends and family members were super creative and it made the game that much more fun!

 

My mom and stepdad started the game off very creatively!

My sister and her boyfriend decided to challenge us a bit!

This picture was taken right as the cup cracked and the drink spilled all over Aaron and the floor.

After our game, we did the toasts and cake cutting before having our first dance and the father/daughter and mother/son dances.  The night went by so quickly and was so much fun!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Rather than a dollar dance, we had a little competition between KU and KSU since we have a divided household.  The winner of the competition had their fight song played during our reception.  Sadly, KSU won.

My fabulous Alpha Chi sisters!

Catching the bouquet worked for this lovely lady and she's getting married this month!

Our nephew was pretty excited he caught the garter!

That concludes the posts all about our big day.  We had a wonderful wedding and reception and cannot thank our family and friends enough for such a great and memorable night!