Spring Break- Day 5

So our day started out late. We didn't leave Sarah's place until 10:00 or 10:30. We took the bus, then the Metro into DC. There, we decided to go to the zoo (since it's free and Rick and I love animals). The only problem was that it started raining. I am too much of a wimp, so I voted we did something indoors. We decided to go to the Natural History Museum instead. Now, Sarah and I really don't like museums. We could really care less about them. But, we went along with Rick to make him happy. Here are some of the pictures that we took at the museum, and then on the mall.



This is me in front of a Stegosaurus. I love dinosaurs, especially the stegosaurus.

Rick joining me in front of "Steggie".

Sarah in front of the raptor.

Sarah and I in front of the raptor.

Rick and I in the cold, on the mall.

We then went to Pentagon City Mall. We had lunch in the food court (Taco Bell!) and we found DC souvenirs in the mall for Rick's familia. We were so tired after that we took the bus back toward Sarah's place, stopped at the library to print our boarding passes for the next morning, and then we left to go home. After we got to Sarah's apartment, we made arrangements to meet for dinner with our cousins, Dawn and Jared, and Jared's wife Claudia. We met at Shirlington, at a restaurant called "Capitol City Brewing Company". I had a fun time talking and spending time with my cousins, because I don't see them very often.

This restaurant we went to was really good. I got the best salad I've ever had before called "Pear Pentagon Chicken Salad" It had salad (duh!), blue cheese, craisins, pears, grapes, almonds, and this blueberry-pomengranate dressing, and of course, chicken. It was the best salad I've ever had! So yummy!

We went back to Sarah's place and packed. We had to leave to get to the Baltimore Airport by 3:30. So, we really didn't get that much sleep. We had a fun time for Spring Break! So, now I am waiting in LAX, at the end of a 4 hour layover before I take a plane to Sky Harbor. We have a great time! Thanks Sarah and Christina for letting us stay with you guys and showing us around!

Spring Break- Day 4

We said good-bye to New York as we traveled down to rejoin Sarah in good old Washington DC.
We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, which Rick enjoyed tremendously. Sarah and I aren't big museum people, so we just went to make Rick happy. Here are some pictures that we took at the museum.
Rick in front of the B2- Bomber model/replica. This one is for Dad.
This is me in front of the B2 Bomber replica/model. This one is also for Dad.
Another Northrop Grumman plane that we found for him. But, I think this one is before his time. (Like when the dinosaurs ruled the earth)

Sarah and I in front of an old WWI plane.
Sarah and I in front of the Star Trek Enterprise. This picture is for Mom!

After the museum, I was so tired, we went back to Sarah's place and relaxed for a while. And then Sarah, Christina, Rick and I went to Lonestar Restaurant. (I was wanting steak). It was really good. Especially the salad and the steak. After that, we made cupcakes! Yummy. Sarah made them and then Rick and I iced and decorated them. That was a lot of fun. We went to bed pretty early because we were tired. Actually, I fell asleep really quickly, but I think it took Rick a bit longer.

Spring Break- Day 3

We were still in New York. And, instead of writing things down, I thought that I would mainly post pictures to show where we went on Tuesday. It was a busy day, and the real question is, what didn't we do?
Statue of Liberty-- it cost too much money to take the ferry, so I just focused the camera, and we took this picture.

Rick and I at Battery Park (where you take the ferry to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty). Behind us is a memorial to the world towers. Apparently, this sculpture was in one of the lobbies and it survived the attack, so they put it here and lit a flame that never stops burning, in honor of those people that were killed.

Our next stop was ground zero where to two world trade centers stood. You can't see the hole in the ground, because there is a huge fence surrounding it, and they are building a memorial there.
China town--- it was huge. And it was so different than what I am used to. Here is an example of that. The fish sellers. These shops stunk the most out of any other places.



Rick trying to find Little Italy. We couldn't find it, so we're pretty sure the Chinese took that over as well.

The LDS Manhattan Temple.

We were both starved after we went to the temple, so the security guard there gave us directions to "Rigoletto's" for some New York style pizza.. umm.. thin crust. Here I am with my Hawaiian pizza.

We were walking in Manhattan and we saw this little restaurant. I took the picture because my 5 month old nephew is named Ollie.

After pizza, we decided to check out Central Park. I really liked Central Park. Even though all the trees were bare, it was still beautiful. We sat by one of the lakes and just relaxed for awhile and let our feet rest. Especially since we were walking all day long.


There was a John Lennon "Strawberry Fields" memorial for him, so I paused so Rick could take a picture of me by it.

On the way to Gershwin Theater I met SpongeBob. We took this picture mainly for my nephew Casey.


We went to Gershwin Theater to see if we could get in to see "Wicked". They have this thing called a lottery, and you show up 2 1/2 hours before the show begins, and you put your name in for a lottery with the amount of tickets that you want (1 or 2). Then 30 minutes later, they pick 28 seats (in the front). So, they picked like 14 people. The tickets cost $26.25 each and you have to pay with cash. I was so disappointed that I wasn't picked. And then, someone didn't have cash. So then he called my name, totally mispronouncing my name (he said Chapel). But Rick and I were so freaking excited! "Wicked" was awesome. We got to sit two rows from the front. We could even see the actors spit and the crazy music conductor! We are so glad that we got to see that. It was definitely the climax of our exciting New York adventure. We got back to the hotel around 11:00 that night and we were completely drained of all energy! It was totally worth it though!

Spring Break- Day 2

We woke up early, the both of us. Around 5 Arlington time, so around 2, Phoenix time. Then we, couldn't fall back asleep for the next two hours, when we were planning on waking up. So, I decided to change, and get ready. Then I jumped into bed, and read the book Sarah lent me, "Teacher's Pet" (it's a great thriller for young adults). Sarah made us eat breakfast (Lucky Charms for Sarah and I, Captain Crunch for Rick), and we walked down to the Metro bus station. We took the bus to the Metro station located at the Pentagon, paid to get on, and we got to our bus stop for the Bolt Bus, Express to New York about an hour early. A word about DC metros. They are so clean and well kept and smooth. So, she left us, we took a couple of pictures, went to Starbucks to use the restroom and buy our sandwiches for lunch, and waited about 15 minutes until the bus came. We had a four hour trip to New York City.



The east coast is beautiful. I love Virginia, there are trees area, and I love the old style architecture with the brick buildings. If I could just up and leave Phoenix, and move to Arlington, Virginia, I would. Part of my heart is there because of the natural beauty of the state. I mean, it's still winter there, but it's completely gorgeous, even if all the leaves have fallen off their trees. On our trip to New York, the rest of states we went through, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, all had that same landscape of old trees. When we got to New York, however, it was a bit different.



So, at first, I am going to admit, I didn't like New York. We arrived in Manhattan, and the streets were so littered and dirty, it was gross. People were smoking like crazy, so I had a hard time walking by them without feeling sick to my stomach. (The smell of cigarette smoke really bothers me for some reason). However, we started walking around, and it wasn't so bad. We arrived in our bus about 1 block from the Empire State Building, so we decided to just walk around. I just really wanted to see what it looked like. And, it's massive. Anyways, so we went inside, took this picture, and left.

The Empire State Building picture inside of the Empire State Building. They are doing construction on the building, so it was too hard for me to get a good picture of the actual building.

We then went over to the Subway, so we could check into our hotel room. A quick note about the subways. The subway made me sick. It was VERY DIRTY, VERY BUMPY, and VERY CROWDED. The bumpiness bothered me quite a bit, since I am used to the smooth tracks in the DC metros.We were staying in the Pan American Hotel. I was so tired from the lack of sleep, the trip and quite nauseated from my subway trip, so I just rested for awhile in the hotel room while Rick and I decided what we were going to do.



Sarah told us about the lottery that they have for broadway shows, so we went to see if we could get in to see "Wicked". On the way to the theater, we passed by someone and did a double take. Rick just asked me, "Was that Nicholas Cage?" I missed it completely, but this girl was like "YEAH, THAT'S HIM!!!" She was pretty enthusiastic and she was running toward him quickly. Well, there was no "Wicked" show this evening, so we'll be going back tomorrow. We ended walking around Times Square to check out the billboards. We went inside the humongous Toys R Us, and had fun taking entertaining pictures in there.

The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building made of Legos in the fun toy store.

Times Square was massive, bright and just full of a ton of people.

Then Rick and I wanted to see if Shea Stadium was still up. Why Shea Stadium and not Yankee's stadium? Well, I'll tell you. I love David Wright. He's my favorite baseball player, so since he's my favorite baseball player, my favorite baseball team is the Mets. Anyways, on the subway, we saw a huge pile of rubble (RIP Shea Stadium), so we decided to go to Flushing to a restaurant that Rick liked called "Joe's BestBurger". The burger was pretty good. The fries were really yummy. Not a big fan of the way Flushing streets smell though. That was pretty gross.

We took the subway back to our hotel, and completely crashed. Tomorrow we're planning on seeing the Statue of Liberty, going to Chinatown, go to see Wicked (if we can get in) and anything else we can think of in the mean time.

SPRING BREAK TRIP-- Day 1

We flew into Baltimore from Phoenix on Saturday afternoon. Sarah and her roommate Christina picked us up. We relaxed with Sarah and just talked with her. We woke up at around 11:00 on Sunday. Went to church with Sarah's ward for 1:00. It was rainy and cold in Arlington, so I wasn't too happy about wearing a dress to church. After church, we snacked on some food, watched "Princess Bride" and just tried our best to stay warm. That was hard to do though, since it was so cold to Rick and I. Sarah made gnocchi pasta with peas and salad for dinner. We watched "The Amazing Race" on TV, read some books, and just relaxed. Then Rick and I decided that we should pack for our New York trip. So we both decided to take a backpack each, that way we didn't have to lug anything around too much. Of course, it was uber hard for me to do that, since I'm a girl, but I somehow managed. Here are some pictures of our relaxing day with Sarah.
Rick trying to get warm while watching "The Princess Bride"

Me, goofing around with the camera.
Sarah's table and chairs. Her chairs are the cute blue ones.
Sarah's living room. Very comfy couches and plenty of throws and blankies to help keep us warm.
Nice place setting. It looks so pretty :)
Sarah and Rick sitting down to eat.

Looking Back and Moving Forward

2008 was a great year for my family and I! This has been a year of so many blessings! I am so grateful for all of them, including:
1) Marrying my best friend in the Mesa Temple. It was a wonderful day! I am so blessed to have Rick in my life! He's wonderful (especially when he picks up after himself) and my life would be so much duller without him.
2) Finishing my first year of teaching. It was HARD. I never knew how much strength you needed, both emotionally and physically, in order to be a teacher. This is what I have to say about my first year teaching: It was probably one of the toughest things I have done in my entire life (thus far). Teaching 7th grade Social Studies at Landmark Middle School in Glendale was extremely tough. I survived though, and that's the most important thing. I ended the school year, and I wanted to go back to teaching. I needed to prove to myself that I could be a good teacher, and that students could learn from me. I did not feel like I accomplished much last school year, and this school year has been a complete turn around for me.
3) A new family. I guess that this goes with marrying Rick, but I have become a member of a great family. The Chappells are great people and it's so nice to be close to them and have family around.
4) A great family ward. The Bethany Home Ward here in Phoenix is great. I have two callings, Webelos Den Leader and Valiant 9 Teacher. We have some good friends here in this ward, and I hope that we can become more active in our callings and better friends with others.
5) My two new nephews. Luke Bradley Layton was born in December and Oliver Ruben Smith was born in October. I am such a lucky auntie!

Now for 2009, I have so many things that I would like to accomplish in this upcoming year. I have to tell myself that I need to prioritize and do those things that are the most important first. So, here is a list of things that I would like to do in 2009.
1) Change my life around to eat healthier and exercise 3-4 times a week.
-My doctor told me that I needed to lose weight, and I told her that I agreed. I have joined Weight Watchers, and Pure Fitness Gym in an attempt to lose weight. It's going slow. I know that I have to stay consistent and that I need to be stubborn. I am not going to be perfect when it comes to losing weight, but that doesn't mean that I still can't achieve my goals. I just have to "endure to the end".
2) Budget our money and time better.
- The housing market isn't that great for people that own homes, but if you're looking into buying in the near future (us), then it's good. Rick and I want to try to save up as much money as possible this year to get some debts paid off so that we can focus on putting more money into savings. I would really like to save a lot of money this year also. My good friend Kara, on her blog, gave some good suggestions of things to do in order to save money, including a couple of websites (my favorite: couponmom.com).
-As for budgeting our time, I keep thinking of a talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks and I keep thinking about how I spend my time and how it could be spent better. Like, how I should make time to plan my Primary Lesson before Sunday so that way before noon church, I can read "The Holy Temple" and my scriptures and write in my journal.
3) Take a sewing class-- learn to sew
-This is something that I really want to do. I am so excited to be taking classes in the next couple of months. :) I need to learn to sew. And I am so happy that I will be taking classes this year.
4) Plan meals out every week.
-I would like to plan my meals out much, much better this year and take advantage of something that I haven't used in a year or two--- the crockpot. Our goal is to limit our eating out to 1 time a week together. I know that we can do that. It is simple and easy, it just takes planning and not being lazy.
5) See Rick graduate.
-February 27th. And get a good-paying job.

Here are a few things that I would like to accomplish this year. These are mostly would I would call my temporal goals. My spiritual goals are more like: Go to the temple at least once a month, go visiting teaching every month, read my scriptures every day, read "The Holy Temple" this year and do better in my callings.

Christmas!

So, it's been awhile. :) There's no reason that I haven't written in this blog for two months except for this... I am lazy! I've also been busy and I've had to prioritize. So, recap of December. We had a wonderful time in California with my family. We had a great Thanksgiving in the Gila Valley also. I really enjoyed the time that we spent with our families. It was sad to leave California, but it's okay, because it's not like they live that far away from us. So first of all: California Christmas!
Here are some pictures:
Rick and Oli. So cute. Oli would always fall asleep in Rick's arms. Aaron, Rick, Casey and I in front of the train ride.... This was probably around the time when Casey peed all over Rick's shirt. Ha Ha!

Casey on the race cars with Uncle Aaron. He's having a blast!
In front of Camp Snoopy-- Ray, me, Rick, Oli, Sarah, Casey, Aaron, Russ, and Bethany.
Me, Casey and Sarah around lunchtime... That's why Casey looks so crabby. I think it's because he's hungry.

Casey having a great time at Knott's Berry Farm. I think that he enjoyed it! Casey is in dismay. He looked at our gingerbread house, and then the directions and then at the house again and said, "That's not right".
Casey "helping" with the gingerbread house.
Casey surrounded by his toys and playing with the laptop that Aunt Sarah got for him!
Casey, Rick and Liam playing with the blocks.

Me holding Oli and feeding him. He's so cute. :)

Overall we had a great Christmas! It was so nice to be able to spend time with family. Rick had to go back to work the next week, but that was okay. It was nice to be able to relax at home and get some things organized and figured out for a while.