Big Apple... Take 2!

We FINALLY made it to NYC last weekend. It was a whirlwind trip. I know I always say our trips are fast since we make so many short trips but this one was over in a flash! Most importantly we got to see my newest niece who is just so adorable!! And don't you LOVE her bib? Hehehe

We were busy in the city. We crammed in as much as we could in 2 days. We ate traditional NY style pizza, something we CRAVE in Cleveland though we do have great pizza shops. We watched March Madness, where my bracket is currently in 3rd!!! so far which is just crazy!

We cheered on Dad via text and phone messages while he ran the National Half Marathon race Saturday morning in DC. Go Daddy!

We took cab rides around the city and I proceeded to spill an entire Starbucks drink all over myself. We spent the afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History looking at dinosaur bones and...

we all thought Uncle Jared looked so cute carrying Madison! 

We saw stuffed" animals, remains of "Lucy" (first fossil evidence of bipedal hominids which was a visiting exhibit from Ethiopia!!), tons of rock and meteors. We saw how Madison makes faces just like her Daddy!

We ate a late lunch at Shake Shack... can you say YUM?!

We tried to go swimming together so baby girl could show us her skills from her swimming class but they closed the pool literally a minute after we were all in... slightly freezing and probably best that it didn't work out.

We heard about a missing cobra at the Bronx zoo.

We ate at a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant in Spanish Harlem where the food was good but we froze sitting by the front door. We cooked homemade Stromboli and monkey cake. We met up with an old friend of Jared's from medical school for a great dinner at Arturo's. We  organized some of the apartment. "We" (the girls) got mani/pedis and surprise massages at the nail salon while they (the boys) watched the baby aka drinking while playing play station and baby sleeps since Mom already put her to bed.

We left way too early on Monday morning and went right into work. Oh how I wish I lived in that city with my sister... WE would have so much fun!!

JELL-O Mousse

I love food. I can't help it. It is how I was raised. This is already evident in my previous blog posts, discussions about food, photos of food I have eaten, etc.... 

Anyway, lately I think I've been brain washed by the JELL-O commercials. I think they are hilarious. It must be the whole sick part of me that laughs when people get scared or fall and hurt themselves.

And while I was at the store the other day I decided to try the JELL-O Mousse. Fantastic!

146

That was my bowling score on Saturday night. Best ever. It was unfortunate that the longer the night went on the worse I got. But hey, I won the highest score of the night in the first game!

American Girl

My oldest niece loves American Girl dolls and it just so happens, I do too. So for my niece's belated birthday we made a trip to Chicago to The American Girl Store. Little did we know the city would be crowded with one million people and a sparkling green river. That's right, it was the Chicago St. Patrick's Day parade happening on the same day!

It turned out just fine though. With the girls in one car, and the boys in another, we spent the day travelling, eating, shopping and enjoying special time together. Me with my sister-in-law and two nieces, Jared with his brother-in-law (sorry! no photo of you Chris!) and two nephews.

I wish we lived closer we all had such a nice time together. And who knew you could spend nearly four hours in a doll store?  

Texas

All last week I was in Houston for work. Specifically at the Johnson Space Center where I train astronauts. I never get use to it. I am literally smiling the whole time I am there, like an 8 year old kid. Anyway, on this trip, not only did I get to work with the astronauts and meet the crew of STS-134

I also got to play in the simulators! I'm in here...

Hi!

431 East Roanoke Street

That was our address. 431 East Roanoke Street Apartment E... somewhere back in time, 12 years ago in Blacksburg, Virginia... Where the four of us girls met and began what I know will be a lifelong friendship.

And this is us today... or a month ago when we met for a girl's weekend just the four of us. Old roomies, and somehow old friends now instead of new. How the time flies! With one of us (Alissa!) having a baby on the way. :)

My girls from college. We don't talk every day, but when we do it is like not a second has gone by. It is as if we are still hanging around planning our fun for a night out at VT or just hanging out together 'till all hours of the night. It is tough to have girl friends. And somehow we are different enough, similar enough that it just works. I love these girls. I don't know what I would do without them. And through all of the changes in our lives, whether it is moving far away, dealing with spouses overseas, breakups, work problems, parent issues and now babies on the way, we are still so much like the same girls we were 12 years ago and at the same time so different.

This weekend is the baby shower for Alissa but because of work I am unable to attend. Our  group of four will be joined by a little boy sometime in late April/early May. I am so sorry to miss your special day but I will be thinking of you, Liss. 

Love and miss you ladies, always.

Grumpy

And not the good kind.
The good kind of Grumpy would be the Disney character, you know, that cute little dwarf. Well, not really cute but still...

That would mean we would have been in Florida to see the last launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on February 24th, which I had special passes to attend. 
That would mean we would have also spent a few days at "the happiest place on Earth" while I made Jared go on every ride with me and act like I was 8 years old.
But, no. This is a different grumpy.

This grumpy is a feeling. I am stuck feeling grumpy over the last few weeks. I don't like it.
This isn't me. Yet every day it seems like there is more worrisome news at work. I feel stuck.
In limbo. Not sure what is going to happen on any particular day.

I know it could be worse. That worrying, being grumpy, isn't going to help anything. But I just can't help it. I need to feel better. I need to not worry about losing my job every day. I need to know things will work out with J's fellowship.

I just can't seem to shake it though... and it just makes me grumpy. That and the pretty snow has just turned to cold rain with gloomy skies. Maybe it isn't grumpy... perhaps I am just Eeyore and can't seem to shake this rain cloud over my head.