Thanksgiving

We survived our first Thanksgiving! It was quite an experience since we volunteered our turkey for the ward Thanksgiving dinner. We woke up on the morning of and put our turkey in the microwave to defrost. It took about an hour and then we attempted to season our turkey with most of the inside still being frozen. Fred is not a fan of touching dead raw animals so I shoved my hands inside of the turkey and grabbed out the useless things we were supposed too. We finally got the turkey in at about 9:15. It was only supposed to take 3-3.5 hours to cook so we figured we had plenty of time. As the turkey was cooking we decided to walk down the street (literally!) to watch some of the Macy's Day Parade. It was actually really cool to be able to see some of the huge floats that were there. We weren't there long before we headed back to check on the turkey and finish making the stuffing. We pulled out the turkey a little before noon to check it out and it didn't look good in the fact that it was still really pink in most areas. Not good. We put the turkey back in to cook and started making the stuffing. We made 6 boxes worth and cooked it in the biggest pot we had. Unfortunately when we added the stuffing it proved to be almost not big enough. We were so nervous it wasn't going to fit, but luckily we were able to keep everything in there. 12:30 rolled around and the turkey should have been done. It wasn't which made me so nervous. Fred went ahead and took the stuffing to the church while I stayed at home fretting about the turkey. At one point I took the turkey out and accidentally burnt myself on the pan and spilled some of the juices on the door. I ran my finger under what I thought was cold water, but was actually hot water. Needless to say I was muttering nonsense under my breath. Fred came back home to help me take the turkey up to the church and sadly it still wasn't done! When we got up to the church we let the turkey cook for another hour. While we were there we enjoyed the food and company that was present. For our first Thanksgiving away from home, it was really nice! As we were ready to go we realized the turkey was finally done! So we now have a full turkey carved up and in our fridge for later eating. I did taste some of it before putting it away and I have to say, for our first turkey we did quite well!
Not much else has been going on. I am starting my nannying next week and am so excited! It'll be nice to earn some money and get out of the house and keep busy! I am really really hoping this turns into a permanent position for the new year! We have less than 3 weeks before we're home for the Christmas and we're both so excited! We'll be back on New Years Eve day and walk over to Times Square to bring in the New Year! It's so nice to live where we are and being able to be so close that we can head over whenever we want and not have to fight the crowds so much to get home.
Well that's it from our end. We hope that the holidays find everyone happy and well!

What happens in NYC is too juicy to stay in NYC

I keep thinking that I can do a blog each week and it seems like for one reason or another, I seem to go about 2-3 weeks. The good thing about that is that when I update I have a lot to talk about! The downfall is sometimes I forget things....
This past 2 weeks have been eventful. About a week ago we had a few friends come into town and stay with us. A few of them stayed for only 1 night, but our friend Whitney stayed with us for a week. It was crazy fun! I'm not sure if it was Whitney being here or the fact that I went out and explored the city in more depth. Either way it was a week of interesting stories!
One day Whitney and I went out to start exploring when we ran across "Mustafa". He put a cd in my hand and got me to stop and talk to him. Though that's not difficult to do it proved to be funny. He started talking to Whitney who was 10 feet away from us, trying to get her to come back. Apparently he was worried she was staying far away because he smelled badly and assured her he showered that morning and used Zest. She came over and we talked to him when he said "You two make such a cute couple, let's see you hold hands." We looked at each other and realized what he was talking about. Whitney responded quickly assuring him that we weren't dating and I assured him I was happily married to my husband. It was really funny! After we left Mustafa we went up to Harlem to meet Fred. It was a good story to relate to him.
The next day we went down to Battery Park to check out the deal with the Statue of Liberty and if it was possible to go up to the crown. After we realized they were sold out for the day we went to the WTC site and walked around the Financial District. We stopped by Tiffany & Co. and looked at their jewelery. I almost passed out at some of the prices! We found things that were way over $100,000. We saw the Bull from Hitch and then tasted the food from a local vendor. Delicious! We also went to the Rockefeller Center later that night. The next outing day we went to Chinatown and Coney Island. We were able to see a Buddha Temple and go inside which was really cool. After we left the temple we were standing on a street corner when we saw a taxi coming towards us. It went right across the street and came up on the sidewalk we were standing on. We looked at the driver and passenger trying to figure out what was happening when we realized they were cops. As they passed us Whitney said "Tricky!" and the cops smiled at us and one told us they were undercover. As we were walking around Chinatown we were able to see one of the locals cleaning out his teeth. Or should I more accurately say dentures. It was a good thing we hadn't had lunch or I may have lost all of it when I saw that. After we were done we jumped back on the subway and headed down to Coney Island. There I went crazy finding seashells and watching the ocean. After we were done there I got some cotton candy (it seemed fitting!) and then we headed back to the city.
Thursday Whitney got on the train and headed back home. It was weird to not have a guest at our house last night! After our outing to Coney Island, Fred and I decided that on Saturday we're going to head down there. I'm so excited!!
Good news on the job front, the family I babysat for want me to temporarily fill in for their nanny for a week and need me a few extra days! This is so exciting and gives us hope that they'll offer me the position once their current nanny leaves. I really hope so!
Well I think that is about it for me. I could be updating again soon in case I forgot something so we'll see!!

Halloween and more!

SO I have a bit of catching up to do! I hope I can remember everything that I want to say so we'll see how it goes! The week of Halloween was one of fun and gaining wisdom! A week and a half ago I decided that I was going to go and do our grocery shopping. I had picked the rainiest day of the week to go and that proved to make my first trip of grocery shopping alone a lot more interesting. I walked to the store without an umbrella and was soaked by the time I got there. First mistake. I honestly thought it would let up or not be that bad! The rain here is a constant drizzle that will get you soaked in no time. I knew that, but still thought that I'd be just fine. I had my little cart to carry all the groceries back with me, but for the life of me, couldn't figure out how to get it on the front of the shopping cart correctly so I walked around the store with the smaller cart hanging off sideways. I ran into more people and objects than I care to admit! When I finally got done I checked out and realized that the amount of groceries that I had was more than my cart could handle. A big "Uh oh" crossed my mind and apparently my face. The kind cashier helped me to tie the extra onto the cart so I didn't have to carry anything. Realizing the rain wasn't letting up I felt my best choice was to go and catch the subway that was just a few blocks away and had an elevator. I booked it as fast as I could go in wet clothes and a full overflowing basket and made it to the subway station. If there has been anytime that I have had "Hey everyone! Look at me! I'm new and have no idea what I'm doing!" this was definitely it. People stared at me on the subway and when I got off at the Port Authority it proved to be quite a lesson. The place is big enough that getting turned around in that place takes almost no effort and I was looking for a way to get out which meant I was walking back and forth in the same place. Thankfully a very kind man took it upon himself to help me out. As I left the Port Authority after the man graciously led me out I have never felt so thankful for a stranger helping another complete stranger out. He laughed and made the comment he has never seen anyone pushing a cart around in there with groceries. I laughed and replied with "Is it obvious I am new to the city?"
Last Friday our ward did a Fall Fest which consisted of a variety of food and us being able to decorate a door and have little trick or treaters come by. We weren't really sure how everything worked so we decided to come with our own supplies and idea. Well Fred had the idea I just nodded in agreement. The outcome is the picture above. We felt pretty cool when everyone kept raving about how cool it was. Needless to say a lot more people know who we are now! After the Fall Fest we left with some friends to go downtown and catch the Halloween parade. We waited around for about 30-45 minutes and as the parade was going it started raining.... Again.. Of course Fred and I had changed out of warm clothes to something less warm because it seemed too warm earlier. Thanks psycho weather! Anyway we were soaked by the end, but we loved it! At the end of our blog is a video I took at the parade of a group doing the dance to Thriller. I couldn't resist!!
Now on to this week.... I had the chance to meet with a girl to talk about possibly taking over for her as a nanny! I know, I know.. I swore I'd never do that, but after striking out so many times I need something! After talking to her about the family and how she too didn't want to nanny, but now loves it, I got so excited! On Saturday I met the family and got to babysit the two cute boys! It proved to be crazier than I thought it would be, but I loved it! The family is so amazing and nice. The boys are too cute and love reading. They responded really well to me which helps out so much! It felt good to be working and doing something plus making some money! I talked with the mom more about the position and what I was looking for and things look very promising. The job wouldn't start until January, but that would be perfect for us! We are now able to go home for Christmas and really want too! If I were to get a job that started beforehand, we wouldn't be able to go. I am hoping and praying so much that this position works out!
That's about it from our side. Nothing too exciting planned in the next week, but maybe that'll change!