Finally tried the tacos from The Taco Truck… So good! And it was park just a couple blocks away from our apartment so we didn’t have to walk over to Hoboken. Crossing that off my summer bucket list!
Whenever we walk past this spot on the way to the park, Eva wants me to take her picture.
Last week we went to the park several days in a row, two times each day. Summer is the best!
Walked through a new park in Jersey City which had this gorgeous garden and fountain.
Last Thursday, we had a picnic on the river down in Tribeca. There was a little concert on Pier 25. Crossed a concert in the park off our summer bucket list too!
Lots of popsicles for me and Eva on hot summer days!
The view from Pier 25
Splash pads are Eva’s favorite now!
I french braided Eva’s hair last Sunday and am obsessed with it. So cute!
And how cute is Eva is this Sunday outfit with braids? What a cutie!
We are in DC right now celebrating Independence Day and seeing my baby nephew Spencer for the first time! Hope you have a great weekend!
Here’s an 11 year time portal for you:
2013
4th of July in Chincoteague, VA
2012
4th of July in Fort Thomas, KY then DC for the weekend to surprise TJ
2011
4th of July in Provo, UT, pregnant with Eva and fireworks with friends
2010
Newlyweds and camping on 4th of July weekend
2009
T.J. and I were dating and he was visiting me in Kentucky for the 4th.
2008
My family and I celebrated the 4th of July at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. Look how little Claire was and now Mary Beth just had her third!
2007-Seven years ago, I had just graduated High School and my parents and I were in DC visiting my sister Mary Beth before she was to have her baby a month a later. It was really special to visit the monuments during the 4th of July.
2006-Eight years ago… gosh, this is hard. I had just finished up my Junior year of school. I think I was just at home and took a shift at Snowie?
2005-I think it was nine years ago when my friend Katie Chichoni was in our ward for the summer and we went to the parade together with Blair.
2004-Ten years ago, who knows. I had finished up Freshman year so I was probably at the parade with Kelly and Blair and working a shift at Graeter’s Ice Cream.
2003-Eleven years ago, my parents and I went to San Francisco for the 4th of July. It was one of those last minute trips on Travelocity so it was really cheap and really spontaneous. I think it was the first time I went on a trip with my parents without the other siblings so it was awesome. Also, this hilarious and awful story happened.
Summer is my favorite. We go on a walk or to the park before Eva naps and then go on another walk or to another park after her nap. Then go to sleep and repeat it the next day. You can’t get much better than that. Picnics, beautiful weather, friends, and great views. I love it. Here are some snapshots from our recent local outings:
One night last week, Eva said she wanted pizza for dinner. So, I made a little braided pizza loaf from the Six Sisters’ Stuff with a side salad. It looked fancy, but the loaf was just from a pilsbury dough container. I made a copycat olive garden dressing for the salad. I’ll tell you what. Once you start making your own dressings, you can never go back to store bought. It was so delicious!
Oh and as a bonus photo, you get to see how proud Eva was when she got into my lipstick. I did scold her quite a bit, but then we had a pretty good laugh at how crazy she looked.
One of my favorite food blogs is howsweeteats.com. She’s always posting delicious recipes and her photos make everything look so appetizing. Her BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad with Grilled Garlic Croutons was no different.
I tried the recipe on Tuesday, ate the leftovers for lunch yesterday, and will probably make it again today for lunch with the extra BBQ chicken. That’s salad three days in a row. Probably a record for me. The homemade dressing is delicious. So, put this recipe on your meal plan next week!
PS-I made a lot of substitutes and cheats… I used a george foreman, cut out the croutons to cut calories, used bacon bits and canned corn. It was still delicious.
A month ago, we went to the NYC library again to show T.J. the children’s book exhibit. Eva kept saying she was scared. I had to laugh a bit because it reminded me of how in Ghostbusters, there are ghosts in the NYC library. She looks so concerned in this photo. Also, her ponytail… I love being able to put all of her hair back!
We got a new stroller this month! Well, new to us. It was a great find on craigslist! $150 off the new price and was in great condition! It even came with the car seat which attaches underneath, in the back, or in place of the toddler seat where Eva is sitting. Awesome! Overall, I like it more than my old stroller. It’s built to last and can withstand the constant use and wear we put our stroller through every day, although it’s much heavier and a little harder to steer with Eva than my older babytrend jogging stroller. But I am very excited about it and happy it has an option for two kids, if we ever need it one day. One day very far from now. Haha!
Our mall just put in this little Kidville play area in Sears. On rainy days, we go over there an play. It’s been so nice!
Summer days are the best! I love where we live… we have such great parks just a step away, including the Newport Green which includes this neat sandy beach right on the Hudson.
I try to get Eva out everyday to a park, if possible, and wear her out for a nap. Two year olds aren’t huge fans of naps, don’t you know? But one day, I must have worn her out. I found Eva laying on the ground at the nap playing with her little baby.
Eva does not like the splash pad! I’m hoping the more we go, the more she will want to play. But last week, all the water that would turn on and off kept scaring her. (We are in a “scared” phase.) Ugh. “No like splash pad!”
I met up with an old friend and classmate from BYU in the city! It was so fun to see her!
Pool days with this bug are the best! We love summer and can’t get enough of this weather!
Before I start telling you about our weekend, I want to share a little video of what Memorial Day is all about.
“It is well to set aside a day in their honor to reflect on the cost of the freedoms we enjoy.”
Thank you to all those who have put their lives on the line for us, for our country, and for our beliefs.
——
Memorial Day Weekend started off with lots of rain, which was kind of disappointing. We just walked around the mall Friday night while there was a HUGE storm. Eva learned the phrase, “A big storm’s coming.” And now whenever she sees ANY clouds she says that. It’s pretty funny, but is getting quite repetitive.
On Saturday, we had a slow morning and eventually went into the city right around Eva’s nap time. I convinced myself it would be okay, but it was not. She was a major grump the rest of the afternoon and was very strong-willed, to say the least. Also, as soon as we finished at the playground at Madison Square, “A big storm’s coming,” as Eva would say. Yeah. It POURED on us. We had umbrellas and a stroller cover, but our feet and pants got soaked. We were going to go to an AIGA graphic design exhibit nearby, but once we got there, we realized it wasn’t open on Saturdays. Really? So dumb. So we headed down in the pouring rain to The Container Store. I love that place so much. I just got a couple of small plastic containers for Eva’s toys, but it sure made me happy.
On Sunday, we had a different day than usual. I had a cousin come in town for work and since we rarely see family, especially these guys, we went into the city to meet up with them for lunch. Afterwards, we took their youngest to the park while they went to see a show. Later I took my little cousin back to nap at the hotel, Trump Tower on Central Park West. Wow… I never wanted to leave. Such an awesome hotel. Very swanky.
When my cousins got back from the show, we walked through Central Park together and caught up some more. It was so nice having some family in town!
On Monday, we couldn’t have asked for better Summer weather! Our friends who have a pool at their apartment building invited us over to swim. The water was heated so it was actually pleasurable to be in the water early in the season! There’s a huge wading area, so we got to relax while Eva splashed in the pool. So much fun! I can’t wait for more summer days!
To end the weekend, I scored a new shirt at the Loft for six bucks while Eva napped. And then we had Family Home Evening at the park, with a little picnic. What a great weekend! Of course, now we’ve had clouds and strange weather for the rest of the week, but it’ll be the weekend before we know it!
I’ve been reading, and rereading, The Happiness Project for more than a year now. I’ve read it a couple of times and just really like the motivation it continually gives me. Plus, it gives me a lot to think about and makes for good conversation with T.J.
One of my favorite parts talks about how we should figure out what makes us most happy in our spare time and do those things. And then cut out the extra stuff when possible. Simple enough, right? But you’d be surprised when you think about it a lot. How are we spending our time? If I have extra time, money, and a babysitter, what do I do? What should I really be doing to maximize my everyday happiness?
I instantly thought about eating out. FOOD. I love food, my hips don’t lie! But then I dug deeper. I’m just as happy eating from a taco truck as I am at a fine restaurant in NYC. In fact, I’m happier eating at a taco truck because it doesn’t cost as much money and I don’t feel so full at the end of the night. I also like trying new things, but often times feel overwhelmed in NYC because there are SO many choices. We end up going to the same places over and over. So, to maximize my happiness, I need to do a little work beforehand to find a casual, yet new spot that is good on the budget and doesn’t have a heavy menu.
There are a couple other things that I thoroughly enjoy and feel like I’m happy when I’m doing (other than the obvious churchy/family stuff… no judging, okay?).
- Bargain shopping, I love getting great deals! I can’t remember when I bought something at the mall for full price. Just today, I was walking around the mall and found my favorite sweater from this past Winter on sale for $4! Soooo, I bought three more in all different colors because IT IS MY FAVORITE SWEATER SO WHY THE HECK NOT? And then I had a 20% off coupon on top of that! Next Winter is going to be awesome.
- Seeing a great movie. I say great because movies out here are about $15 a ticket and so we don’t see them often, but when we do, it’s got to be a good one and we always enjoy it!
- Exploring. Sometimes I’m reluctant to go explore in the city, but after an outing, I’m always SO happy I went out and had fun! Sometimes it seems like it’s a lot of work, for example, it took about an hour to get to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, but I’m so glad I went because it was a new adventure, a fun memory with Eva, and a great FREE activity!
- Going along with that, just being outside. After such a horrible Winter, I’m really trying to take advantage of every warm day outside! In Jersey, it tends to be overcast quite often so I think, oh it’s a gross day, can’t go out. But then I make myself take Eva out to the park anyway and it turns out we have a wonderful time! If it’s not raining, it doesn’t matter what it looks like! Being outside and enjoying all of the nature (though there’s not as much out here in the city) makes me happy!
- Finally, going to concerts and Broadway shows. When we were at Piano Guys, I literally cried out of happiness. I’m ridiculous. But I just enjoyed the concert so much. And then when we’ve seen Broadway shows, I can’t stop thinking about it for days! Those are my MOST favorite dates! And fortunately, my husband loves it just as much as me so we get on these happiness highs together. So, after seeing Piano Guys, we decided we would start saving up to see more shows and concerts because we’re in New York and need to do it right! We just saw Les Mis… Matilda, Newsies, and Rocky are on our list for the next couple of months!
So, what makes you happy? Are you doing those things? Sometimes the things that make us the happiest in our spare time take a lot of effort or money, but it really can be worth it. It’s easy to fall in a rut, be lazy, or make excuses, but I when we figure out those activities we enjoy the most and start doing them… it makes all the difference in our overall happiness!
And since we are talking about things that make us happy, this video falls into that category! Such a cute proposal!
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