October 16, 2012

NYC Reprise

Jay had to take a trip to NYC for work, so I bought my own plane ticket and joined him.  It was a short trip, and I spent a lot of time exploring the city alone while Jay was in meetings, but it was super fun anyway!  The weather was gorgeous too.

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

On the Staten Island Ferry

Times Square

Brooklyn Bridge at night


Historic South Seaport District
View from our hotel window (Wall Street Inn) in the financial district
Mary Poppins on Broadway!  So fun!


In the New Amsterdam Theatre waiting for the show to start

I can't wait to go back!

The last time we were in NYC was back in 1998 (pre-parenthood) when Jay won two tickets (on the radio!) to fly anywhere in the continental US.  We had NO money so we picked the farthest place where we knew someone who would let us mooch off them stay with them.  My college friend, Kathryn, and her husband graciously put us up for a few days in their darling Tudor-style home in Stamford, CT, and we had an absolute blast!  Wanna see?  I found the photos!

On the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island


Rock Center

It's fun to have this photo of the former skyline - Ellis Island

Times Square was just as crazy then

October 07, 2012

Today I'm grateful for/that....

A couple of months ago I taught a Family Home Evening lesson about Gratitude.  I want our family to remember to feel gratitude daily (not just around Thanksgiving time) because people who remember their blessings on a regular basis are generally happier people.  And because it's a commandment to be grateful.  :)

So, we started a new "thing" in our family.  I gave everyone a small notebook as a "Gratitude Journal" (this is NOT an original idea... people have been doing this for years) which we take a few minutes to write in and then share with the rest of the family what we wrote.  We are supposed to write 3-5 things each time, at least once a week.  We usually do it just before reading the scriptures together. 

After hearing President Monson's talk in General Conference this morning in which he gave us all the challenge to count our blessings, I felt grateful we had already decided to do so.  Then I decided to take it a step further and start sharing what I write in my "Gratitude Journal" here in my blog.  So, here goes:

Today I'm grateful for/that....

... General Conference Traditions.
... opportunities to serve.
... the blessings of paying tithing.
... a prophet of God.
... another Temple has been announced for Arizona (Tucson).  [6 Temples for Arizona!  Wow!]

October 03, 2012

Catching up on the last several months....

Once again I got SO far behind that I just stopped blogging.  BUT since this is my journal I feel obligated to catch up.  So, I did.  But I back-dated everything to be in chronological order so it wouldn't be confusing.  If you are interested in an updated, here are links to those posts:

May in Review

June in Review

July in Review

August in Review

September in Review