The Big Apple

Well, for the second time in my life, I visited the Big Apple - New York City.  And I have to say, this experience was definitely better than my first time when I was in high school.

First, let's go over the cruddy parts of the trip, and then I'll review the best parts!  Probably the cruddiest part of the trip was my flight out there - it was with American Airlines, and after arriving at the airport a whopping 4 hours before my flight, a huge storm apparently struck a bunch of planes with lightning, and all the flight schedules got thrown off.

So my 7:50 pm flight didn't end up taking off until 9:30 pm.  That was awful.

The second cruddiest part of the trip was the musical we saw on Friday night - Cats.  It was a definite let-down.  Did you know it's JUST songs & dancing?  There's no actual dialogue or distinguishable plot.

The costumes were pretty cool, though.

ANYWAY, on to the best parts of the trip!  My flight back to Orlando, I flew with Delta AND I got to volunteer to sit on the Emergency Exit row next to the window.  It was awesome!  Just look at all the foot room I had:

Aren't my shoes so attractive?  And I may or may not have drank (have drunk?) 2 mini-bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream with Ginger Ale on the plane.  So I was pretty happy when I got home.  haha

Second awesome thing - I saw a celebrity in New York in front of the Neil Simon theater!  I was just standing in line waiting to watch Cats, and I saw this woman walk by:

She obviously didn't look this celebrity-perfect when I saw her, but she looked pretty good!  Ten bonus points for you if you know what show she's from!  *Hint* It's on Netflix, and it has a woman's name in the title of the show.  It took me about 30 minutes to remember where I had seen her before, but I finally did.

And even though Cats wasn't the greatest, I still had fun sitting in between these two ladies:

On the left is Christina and on the right is Charesse.  They are two of my co-workers.  I had a blast getting to know them better during my time in New York.

Also, the few hours I had before I had to be at the airport on Saturday to fly home, I got to go hang out in Central park, because the hotel I stayed in - the Courtyard Marriott at Central Park, as pictured below - was only 6 blocks from Central Park!

Enjoy the pictures :)

The lobby of the hotel - isn't it swag-ilicious?

I totally wish I had taken this picture, but isn't it beautiful?!

I totally walked down this sidewalk, and I immediately recognized it from movies like "Maid in Manhattan" and that one movie with Ryan Reynolds where he tells his daughter how he met her mother.

I definitely stopped and watched some people playing volleyball.  It was so nice :)

Here I am, just chillin'. 

Anyway, so that's a little bit about my trip to NYC.  Have you ever been to New York?  What did you like about it?  What did you hate?  Would you go back again?  Let me know in the comments!

Grilling, DC & The Beach

Hello, faithful readers - AKA - Hannah.  Seriously, if you're name isn't Hannah and you read this blog, let me know by commenting, because I feel like I'm writing to an audience of one here ;)

ANYWAY, last week I had a beyond crazy week.  Obviously, Monday was Memorial Day, so my family and Tyler's family had a cookout at my mom's house.  I'm ashamed to say I didn't take any pictures, because my adorable niece, Lauren Priya, was there, and so were my other niece and nephew, Bella and Liam, and it was an awesomely crazy time!  Also, the food was phenomenal and I think I gained 5 lbs eating it all.  You think I'm kidding...but I'm not.  #fattiesunite

Tuesday was the only day last week I actually went to work, because Wednesday-Friday, my boss and I attended a financial conference in Washington DC.  So Tuesday was crazy busy with work, and then Wednesday-Friday was even crazier with the conference.  I went on a tour of DC Thursday afternoon, so I'd say that was the highlight.  (Favorite monuments from the tour - the White House, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial - pictured below.)  Oh, and eating Maryland crabcakes.  Soooo good.  #seriouslyfatties,letsgetthisgoing

I'm so glad I got to see this.  Lincoln is my favorite president.

Cheryl and me in front of the White House! (or in back...all depending on how you look at it)

The Washington Monument (soooo good.)

Friday night I flew home, and Saturday morning, Tyler and I drove to Englewood beach with his family.  We stayed the night and drove home on Sunday afternoon.  Due to the crazy weather, I spent maybe 2 hours on the actual beach. lol

Me & my wonderful hubby at the beach!

So, as you can see, I had a crazy week.  Told ya!  In the midst of all the busyness, working, traveling, and packing and unpacking, I had a chance to meet 5 pretty incredible individuals.

The first individual is Cheryl.  I met her while I was waiting for the shuttle to come pick me up for my tour of DC.  I noticed she was standing by herself, so I quickly befriended her, and we hung out for the whole 4 hour tour.  Luckily, she had her phone and was able to take pictures, because I definitely forgot mine!  She's from the UK (my first friend from there!) and she was the sweetest!

Me & Cheryl after our tour of DC!

The other 4 people I met were 2 couples - the first couple I talked to while we were in the DC airport waiting for the plane to take us home.  The guy was covered in tattoos, and his girlfriend had the more moderate smattering of smaller tattoos (sounds like me and Tyler - though, hopefully, he won't end up COVERED in tattoos).  The next couple I met was on the plane.  It was definitely a God-thing.  I was listening to music on my phone and, sitting in the seat next to the aisle, I was able to see this couple to my right and one row back.  They looked about my age, and they were each reading a book.  The guy was reading a book on worship and the girl was reading one on personalities.  Needless to say, I was intrigued.  So I struck up a conversation.  Turns out they were newly married (less than one year!), and he was a former worship leader in NY who had moved to DC, where his wife was from, in order to serve in ministry there and hopefully find a job in the world of finances.  After a few minutes of getting to know each other, he leaned over and asked me point blank, "Christina, how can we pray for you?"  I was astounded.  That's not really a question I get asked a lot, unless I'm in a Bible study or Sunday School.  I was seriously touched by their kindness and apparent love for the Lord.

All that to say, I had a great week :)  And, on Monday, I got new glasses!  #selfiephotoshoot

This is the first time I've had sunglasses to wear since I got glasses in 11th grade!  Yay!!!!

So, what about you?  Ever been to Washington DC?  What was your favorite landmark?  Who is your favorite president?  Have you ever been asked by a virtual stranger how they can pray for you?

Busy Busy Bee

I just want to take a moment out of my day to share with you how busy my schedule is going to be this weekend and next week.

First of all, I'm going to Tampa tonight and tomorrow morning/afternoon to attend Living Proof Live with Beth Moore.  Well, I'm not going with Beth Moore of course, because we're not at that level of our friendship yet.  I'm going with my BEST FRIEND Hannah :)  And some other people. haha

Then, tomorrow night, I get to have to go grocery shopping, do laundry and clean the apartment.  Knowing my husband, I will probably need to do some deep cleaning of the cats' litter boxes at some point as well.

On Sunday, Tyler and I are attending LIFE CHURCH (seriously, I love that church so much) and spending some QT together the rest of the day, because I'm going to be out of town ALL WEEK next week for work :/

Monday morning, I get to have to wake up at 3:30 AM (just shoot me - maybe I shouldn't even go to sleep Sunday night) so that my boss can pick me up by 4:15 AM and we can get to the airport in time to make our 6:30 AM flight to Dallas, TX.

I'M FINALLY GOING TO TEXAS, Y'ALL!  I mean, I've been in the Dallas airport before, waiting for a connecting flight, and I've driven through Texas before on my way to New Mexico, but I've never actually been ALL UP IN Texas, if you know what I mean.  I'm seriously gonna be all up in Texas's grill.  It'll be great.

Tuesday - Thursday, I'll be attending workshops and seminars about investments, how to be a better administrative assistant, and marketing at the HD Vest Connect2015 Conference.  By Thursday night, I predict my brain will be the consistency of porridge.  Just wait.

Then, Friday, we're flying back to good ole Florida where I will probably face plant on my own bed in my own apartment, make my husband cook me dinner, and make sheet angels in my sheets (it's like making snow angels, but in a bed. Duh.)

Saturday morning is my friend, Ashley's, baby shower!  Yayyyyyy! Hopefully I will make time to get her a gift before the shower, and hopefully I will remember to go to the shower after the aforementioned week has turned my brain into mush.

So that's my week.  Jealous, anyone?

Oh, and at the conference in Dallas, I get to see President Bush & Eric Whitacre.  Guess which one I'm more excited about!

I'm home!!!!

So yesterday was one of the longest days of my life.

I woke up at 3:30 am to get ready to go to the airport in Hannover. I was already tired. Good start, right? ;) We (Alwina, Wilhelm, and I) left the house a little after 4 am, and arrived at the airport at about 5:30. I checked my bag (only 21.3 kg, thank you very much) and ate a little breakfast. At 6:00 am, I went through security, which is always a fun adventure. Got patted down to check if I was carrying my glock. Which, of course, I left at home. haha The flight boarded on time and took off on time - yesss. Got into Brussels at 8:15 am. Rushed around to change my euros into USD and get my boarding pass in time to board the plane. Except...the plane, which was supposed to take off at 10 am, did not take off until 4 pm. That's right. It was delayed for SIX WHOLE hours!!!!! Argh! Long story short, my bag got lost (as in, never left Europe) and I had to rebook my flight from Newark to Tampa (which was supposed to get in to Tampa at 5:30 pm, but ended up getting in at 11 pm). When I got off the plane, I was exhausted. But it was good to see Hannah, Amy, Dakota, and my mom who had waited for me at the airport for 6 hours!!!! They had made a sign to welcome me, Hannah had made snickerdoodles, and Dakota had made her 7-layer dip and brought chips. Soooo good :)
We got back to Hannah's house and dropped off the girls. I saw Hannah's new apartment (so cute!) and Mom and I drove home. It's so good to be home. Let me tell you!

I went to sleep at 1:30 am, and got up this morning at 7:30 am with no alarm. Ugh. So mom and I had breakfast together (American pancakes and scrambled eggs....soooo lecker!) Then I reactivated my phone, and now I'm updating you on my life whilst Skyping this raven beauty and her gorgeous mother :)

More later from the American girl back in her native land (finally!) <3

PS: Got your cookies. Tastyyyy!

PSS: Get on Skype, foo! :)

Fellow ck-er: Why aren't you in the US yet? Seriously!!!