Thursday, April 11, 2019

home again, home again!

Magnolias at Union Square Park

I had a wonderful welcome home last night with Winslow and all the kids picking me up,  signs on the door welcoming me home,  tulips in the front yard, and a delicious hot dinner from Kathie ready for us at the table! 

And Jordan and I had a really wonderful time in New York! The kids and I talked to Jordan for a few minutes as he walked back to his hotel from work yesterday (he has a couple more days till he'll head home) and I just loved so much the sights and sounds surrounding him as he walked through the city. 

I sure love our home here in Logan - our friends, our neighbors, our mountains... and I also love this great big city that we got to see this time just waking up to Springtime. 

"As for New York City, it is a place apart. There is not its match in any other country in the world." (Pearl S. Buck)

And it was so fun to spend this time with Jordan and have these adventures with him!

I have great plans to write more about our adventures, but here's a short (maybe not so short!) and sweet list for now: 

* Listening to General Conference from Central Park on Saturday and Sunday - with some biking, walking, wandering, watching, and resting. 
* A New York pizza school class (we're expert pizza chefs now :)
* Bike rides all around the city, traveling from place to place (I thought driving a mini-van in the city was adventurous years ago, but this was a new level of exploring!)
* Delicious choices from fun bakeries (here, here, here...) and other great food too (like this favorite!)
* Hotel breakfasts looking out the windows at the hotel we stayed in 14 years ago on our first trip to New York (not planned, but such a fun coincidence!)
* Little hints of Spring all around - especially bright yellow daffodils and beautiful magnolia trees
* A 2 Cellos concert at Radio City Music Hall (this was wild!)
* Biking the Brooklyn Bridge (harder than I thought though!)
* A Tai-chi class at the nearby Westside YMCA (with Jordan even!) that I loved so much
* A sight-seeing tour with a fun mix of new and familiar
* The 9/11 memorial and museum
* Our hotel room view of the city and the Hudson River below
* Finding rest for our (my) tired feet at a movie theater watching a 1970's Aretha Franklin gospel performance
* The 4th floor of the MoMA (with my favorite artists from my college humanities class :)
* A water aerobics class at the YMCA
* Bowling and pizza in Brooklyn with Jordan's team from work
* Listening to Michelle Obama's book while I traveled home

"I look out the window and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world's greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance." (Nora Ephron)