NYC Birthday Trip Day 2

Have I mentioned recently that I love NYC?!  Well I do.  First thing Saturday morning Melinda and I (the two birthday girls) made our way to lower Manhattan where we took the Staten Island Ferry so that we could see the Statue of Liberty from afar. We would have gone to it but it was closed due to the government shutdown.  (Kara and Stephanie were awesome and waited in line (while we went to the ferry) to get matinee tickets for that day for all of us.)  

   

I liked this building near the entrance of Staten Island Ferry. 

Lady Liberty!

 Melinda and I on the ferry!

View of Manhattan from the ferry.

Manhattan!

If you look closely you can see the Statue of Liberty in the background.

 We had a bit of time after the ferry ride before we had to meet up with Kara and Stephanie, so we went to Battery Park, which is super close to the ferry landing. I really liked the park! We didn't get to see it all, but the part we did see was pretty cool! In the picture above is the Navy memorial. The walls on the sides have names of Navy men killed in action.

I have never seen a statue like this before. It's the American Merchant Mariner's Memorial dedicated to those American merchant marines who lost their lives at sea.

 Battery Park!

Our matinee show this day was Once with Arthur Darvill and Joanna Christie.  (Another blogpost to come later about the shows we saw while there.)

I also love Central Park! On this trip we went to a different part of the park than I have been to before and I loved that part too.

We saw Belvedere Castle in Central Park.

The view from the castle!

Central Park!

Still Central Park!

Look how large that bubble is!

To end our awesome second day in NYC, we saw Newsies, which I absolutely loved! What a lovely end to another day in the Big Apple.

NYC Birthday Trip Day One!

I turned 30 this month. I wanted to do something big to celebrate my birthday. So a couple of weeks before my birthday three of my friends and I traveled to New York City to celebrate my birthday as well as one of the other girl's birthday. I love NYC! 

We took Friday off of work and took the bus or train up to NYC and got there late Friday morning. 

We went to Union Square and walked through the market there.

We looked at the statues in the park.

We went to Strand bookstore, which is a very large bookstore with tons and tons of used and new books in the area of Union Square.

 We saw the Flat Iron building which as you can tell is very skinny from this angle and gets bigger as you go back like an iron, hence the name.

 I liked this shot Kara took!

I liked this cool sculpture... it's a building in the shape of an O.

We ate at Ellen's Stardust Diner where there are singing waiters. The waiters would take our orders then take turns entertaining us. Apparently some now Broadway stars were discovered while working there.  It was pretty much awesome!

You can see the waiters up on the balcony in the blue and green shirts singing for us.

We went to FAO Schwartz to fill up some time and let's just say it was awesome! (I will do a whole post just on our time there.)

Me, Melinda, Stephanie, and Kara waiting for the train.

We saw First Date with Zachary Levi and Christa Rodriguez and can I just say it was hilarious?! (I will do another post just about the shows we saw while there.)

After the show, Kara, Stephanie and I went and sat on the steps at Times Square. We just sat there and soaked up the scene and talked. I  was amazed by how many people were out at 11 pm.  (I guess there's quite the night life and people coming out of shows.)

On the steps at Times Square.

The end of awesome day one.  Day two coming up next...

It's my birthday...

for another 10 minutes!  Today has been a lovely day!  I feel loved!

I have so many things to write about but it will have to wait for another post or two. :)

The Spider!

I didn't drive my car for one full day and this is what welcomes me back to my driver's side door...

That is one large spider and spider web. 

 Spiders sure do work quickly. One day. 

 Since I did not want to touch that thing with my hands, I found a big stick and took it off with that.  (Don't worry no humans or spiders were harmed in the process of moving the spider;)  

Goodness!

On Saturday was a day of service in the Virginia/Maryland/D.C. area. Our ward has been collecting non perishable food items and toiletries for the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless.  One of the ways we've been collecting food is by standing outside grocery stores and telling people before they go into the store about the canned food drive so that they can go in and buy some of the items on the list and bring them to us on their way out.  I was so happy with how many people bought things for the food drive. Sometimes it was just one thing and sometimes it was 5 bags of items and sometimes it was a dollar or two but no matter the size or the amount that anyone brought to us, it made my heart swell inside.

Yesterday, I went to the primary program in Lara and Glen's ward (which was awesome, by the way) and one of the children had a cast on one of his legs almost up to his hip. He was probably 6 years old and when it was his turn to go up and say his part in the program, his older brother, who was probably 7 or 8 went over and picked up/helped his younger brother to the microphone. You could tell it was hard for the older brother to hold him, because he wasn't that much older and the little brother was bigger, but he did it and it was a tender but kind of funny moment to watch.

I read an article the other day about this 10 year old boy who biked to a police station and poured out a bag of $10 in coins. The boy after hearing about the September 11, 2001 attacks and the sacrifices that many police officers and firemen went through to help out after the attacks that this little boy scrounged up all of the money he could and donated it to the police station.
http://www.today.com/news/police-id-mystery-boy-who-donated-savings-10-03-4B11180302

I have a point to telling you all of these seemingly random stories. I tell you all these things because recently I've realized how generous and kind people can be when we look and when we give them a chance. I know there are lots of acts of kindness and generosity that go on all the time behind the scenes, but I think I've just been reminded to look. Sometimes it's just a smile to a stranger or friend or someone giving up their seat on the bus or metro or a person telling someone when they've dropped something and that person didn't realize it or helping someone move or a person comforting another during a hard time etc. There are so many ways and if we look, we will see.

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."  (Mosiah 2:17)

Have you seen any good in the world today?

The Bench!

Do you have that special place? That place you go to be alone and think or write in your journal or read a book or whatever the reason may be? Well this bench might be my place. :)  I love it! I try to go there when I can, but it is hard to get there some weeks.

I love Meadowlark Gardens, which happens to be where the bench is located, and want to tell everyone about it! So I am telling you now, you all should visit Meadowlark at least once if you can. :) (Click here for more photos of Meadowlark from an earlier post.)

Isn't it beautiful?!

Montpelier- James and Dolley Madison's House!

Today I went to Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison in Orange, VA. I've been meaning to get myself there for a while now and it just turned out that today I could and I am glad I did!  I learned a lot about James Madison, some of which I will write about below. 

 This is the main door of the house, although it wasn't always.  The house has gone through a few phases. At first it was a duplex, then they made it into one big house, then after the Madison family sold it and the duPont family bought it, they made it a lot bigger.  But now they have it back to the original size as when the Madison's lived in it, trying to make it as authentic as possible.

 The view from the front porch!

 The front of the house!  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house, but it was beautiful!  They have a few original pieces of furniture and paintings that James and Dolley Madison owned which is pretty awesome! They have tried to make it look as authentic as possible.

 Me in the back of the house!

James Madison seemed like a genuinely good guy. He was a smart fellow who actually went to Princeton and was able to test out of his first year.  He learned 6 different languages while there.  He learned a 7th language later.  He read a lot and owned over 4000 books! He is known as the Father of the Constitution. It is said that he seemed a little reserved when in big crowds but when around people he knew he was more open.  He and Dolley entertained a lot of guests in their home at Montpelier and would often have 25 people sleeping over from 1 night up to 2 weeks.

 Madison's temple! He would sit here and contemplate and enjoy the view of the beautiful mountains in the distance!

 James and Dolley Madison! I must admit I did not know much about either of them before this tour. I learned that Dolley loved to entertain guests and everyone loved her. They sometimes had over 100 guests over for dinner and Dolley would remember each of their names and faces.

 I loved this butterfly!  Isn't it beautiful?!

 And this one?!

 I liked this lion in the Annie duPont garden!  It looks so sad.

 Look at that tree!

 The front stone is the grave of James and the back one is Dolley's grave.

On the grounds!

Today was  lovely day! The drive to the house, the tour of the house, the grounds, the weather were all just awesome!  I am glad that I was able to go and learn more about our 4th president and his wife.

I must say that I really like living in this area where I can go and visit the homes and buildings and sites that we read about in the history books and so much happened there. Going to Montpelier today made James and Dolley Madison more real.  They existed. They had personalities. They had imperfections.