I'm 31 -- AHHHHH!!

So I wasn't planning on doing anything for my birthday cause to be honest I really wasn't too excited about turning 31. Anyway my roommate found out and so we all decided to do something. It turned out to be a really good day and it was fun too. First Julie (my roommate) made me breakfast then we just hung out at home for a while then some friends and I went out to walk around the Financial district and Battery Park where you can see Lady Liberty, Staten Island, and some pretty parts of the city.

Then we went to find the "Bull" (the first pic) you see it in Hitch and quite a few other movies and acted the tourist and took pic's of ourselves acting crazy. Then they bought me dinner at this cool restaurant called Big Daddy's and then caught a Stake FHE activity and mingled with the people there. Then we caught a late movie and after that we decided to catch the 1:30 ferry to Staten Island which was only a half hour one-way. Its a great chance to see the city all lit up as well as Lady Liberty. Anyway I couldn't get my camera to take good pics so you will just have to take my word for it as it was beautiful. Then we finally got home around 3:30 (just trying to stay as young as possible). Overall it was a really great day!

Here are some pics that I took today... this first one is pretty cool. It's an actual piece that fell off one of the twin towers.

I live with a girl who loves broadway and she has other broadway friends-- so this is me trying to be creative. It was so cold with the wind--I couldn't feel my face or fingers. It's a good thing I was from AK cause my friends from Cali thought they were dying. Well ok just Cyndi thought she was but it was really cold.
I would imagine that you know who this is. The sun was going down and it was really pretty outside.
This is right outside or part of Battery Park. On the left side you can see these concrete slabs those have names of soldiers on them.
This one is the same park and it was really cool cause you can see the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.
Ok well there you go!

Little Russia

Saturday I went to Brighton Beach with a girl from my ward. I had heard that this area of Brooklyn was filled with so many Russians that it was like a "Little Russia." So we decided to go there and see if I could find some Russians to talk to. So we left around 3 pm and had no idea how to get there and were not certain of the route, but there are maps in all the stations and we were pretty sure we could figure it out. As it turns out, there was construction on almost every train line in the city this weekend (as is frequently the case on weekends). This construction means lots of re-routing and the occasional shuttle bus instead of a train. It also means that trains are sometimes stopped, started, or have their routes changed while you are on the train or while you are waiting for the train. Anyway, we finally got to Brighton Beach sometime after 5 pm--it took us forever, but we got to walk around China Town and Canal Street (where all the illegal purse selling goes on) in the process of transferring trains.

As we got off the final train in Brighton Beach I knew we were in the right place because all the signs I could see were in Russian--It was great! We walked around and looked at different shops. Almost everyone I saw looked Russian it was like I was back in St. Petersberg--we almost anyway. We looked around at some restaurants but all were pretty spendy and then we found this bazaar--store and they had a lot of prepared food there so we just got some things to go. It was amazing to see all these foods that I had been missing and so I loaded up. Most of the brands there were Russian brands--almost everything in the store was Russian. It was a lot of fun and I think Cindi even had fun.

Well we returned to my place and heated up some of our food and shared dinner. There was so much food that I have had a couple more meals from it. It was a great day. It definitly brought back some memories. I even got to speak with one of the ladies working at the store and we had a small conversation in Russian. I hate how much of the lang. I have lost but am happy to know I can still carry a conversation with someone and they still understand me. I am putting a picture on here that shows you how far I went to get there. On a regular day when the trains are running like normal it would have only taken an hour to get there but it's still far away. And I should tell you that I was a spacecadet and forgot my camera so--I just have this one that my friend took for me. She didn't have that much space on her camera or else I would have more. So thats that!

We really did have a great day and had quite the time getting there. Later!

No Place Like NYC!

So I have been getting requests for more pics so here you go...

Well I can't say I like this format but I don't want to do it over again. The one of the apt. is mine and the statue guy is REAL! It was pretty creep when I walked past and he turned towards me and smiled. Anyway I couldn't help but take a picture once I walked past. I put a pic of the park in there so you can see that we do have greenery here and it's even better in the summer time.

Anyway just thought I would post these pics and hope you enjoy!

Hey All

So just thought I would say hi to one and all...ok I'm in a weird mood. Anyway I am just hanging out waiting for the Office to come on--for those of you who don't appreciate the Office for it's hilariousness then I don't expect you to understand, but for those of us who do are way excited!!

Things are going pretty well. I don't have anything really to say and I wish I did, but I don't. Church today was really good and a really good testimony in a singles ward is pretty hard to come by. Anyway everyone's testimony was really great except for this one guy's who really shouldn't have gotten up. So he gets up there and it starts out pretty good then he started telling us about how he has been using the internet to find a wife--thats right thats what I said--looking for a wife. So he goes on to tell us that he has found one from Russia of all places and that we should try facebook to find someone to love--I am being serious!!! Someone should really tell him that most likely she's just looking for a green card--but hey I suppose he will find out soon enough. I could not believe he was actually saying these things anyway he finally sat down and then several others saved the meeting from loosing the spirit all together and bore their testimonies. I really like my ward--the members are really nice and welcoming. Anyway thats my funny story for today. Ciao!