Alive and Well

Well, we made it to New York. We took a redeye flight from Salt Lake to JFK last Tuesday (Holy cow… has it already been a week?) and Eva slept for just about the entire time although we didn’t get much rest. We kept saying, “Boy, this is the way to fly… no entertaining your toddler and a direct flight!” Right? Sounds perfect. Until the next day when major exhaustion sets in. It took a couple days to get over it, but finally we are getting enough sleep for our busy days walking around the city.

We saw an apartment on Roosevelt Island the first day we got in town and immediately fell in love with the area. We applied for an apartment there, so if we don’t get that place (we should find out today or tomorrow) then we want to live SOMEWHERE on the island because it’s absolutely perfect for a family in NYC. It’s so quaint, lots of parks, kids, families, little shops, so clean, and very safe. Pretty much an escape from the city but just a stop away. Hopefully next time I write, I’ll tell you we got the amazing apartment we were hoping for (still a one bedroom because everything is so expensive… yikes) or at least have a plan if it doesn’t work out.

The weather has been all over the place. The first couple days were so humid that I took cold showers at night just to cool down. The next two days or so were cold and rainy… I even ordered hot chocolate once because I was so cold. The wind almost tipped Eva’s stroller over, and it broke our cheap umbrellas as soon as we opened them. The past two days though have been very pleasant and really helped my mood. The days when it was so cold and wet, it made me really miss Utah and question what we were doing out here.

Riding the subway hasn’t been too bad with Eva. I was worried about doing it with her stroller. If there isn’t an elevator, T.J. and I just carry the stroller down the steps… we’re practically experts at it now. At rush hour, it is very tight and probably wouldn’t work without T.J. helping me, but it still has been manageable and I feel like I’m getting a hang of the system. It really helps that T.J. was here last summer because he is used to being here and knows how the subways work. He always talks me out of wanting to get a cab so we save money.

Something I’m pretty shocked about is that Eva has been able to take naps in her stroller almost every day. I think the only day she took a nap in the hotel room since we’ve been here was on Sunday. But the rest of the time, she’s been amazing and napped for an hour or two while we are walking around the city. It’s been such a huge blessing because we have had a lot to do and not too much time to do it since T.J. started his job today.

I’m getting very sick of eating out and cannot wait to have a kitchen again to cook! It’s been hard not to even have a mini-fridge or microwave in the hotel room with us. I hate spending all of our money on so much eating out, but there’s not much we can do except find cheaper places.

Our first hotel ended last Saturday. We thought about extending our stay but it was pretty far away from the subway. So instead, we found a different hotel (last minute special) and it was totally worth the move! There’s so much more space here and is a lot easier with Eva. When T.J. was a little kid, his parents took him and his brother to a hotel (nothing fancy) and T.J. said, “We are living like kings!” Isn’t that the cutest thing ever? But really. After being in the tiniest hotel room ever, we feel like we’re living like kings over here at the Holiday Inn.

On Sunday morning, someone called us back about an apartment in Brooklyn finally. Because of the holiday weekend, no one was answering when we called! Anyway, we decided we needed to take a look at the apartment, which meant missing church. Well, we got to the apartment and the neighborhood seemed nice enough. Nothing great, but I didn’t feel like I’d be R-ed walking around by myself. While we were waiting outside for the landlord to let us in, a tenant saw us waiting and asked if we were looking to move in. She said they just moved in a week ago and were already broken in to, found out the apartment has bedbugs, and the building has rats. It didn’t take me more than five seconds to get the heck out of there. We found an LDS church nearby and made it to Sacrament meeting instead. Looks like we should have just gone to church in the first place!

T.J. started work today. He seemed excited but a little nervous. I’m sure he’ll do great!

There you have it. Our first week in a nutshell. Thanks for all of your prayers, thoughts, notes, messages, and calls! Pictures are on their way… the internet at our hotel is so slow!