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T.J.’s Special Weekend

The weekend of Father’s Day was followed by T.J.’s birthday on Monday, so we kind of celebrated T.J. all weekend long. On Saturday, I made donuts (the last time I did this was five years ago on T.J.’s birthday when we were dating), and then we went into the city for a walk along the river up to the meatpacking district. We tried a new a restaurant for lunch, walked along the high line, and then headed home. We have had a lot of beautiful days recently. Not too humid, not too hot, even with a little breeze. The weather is redeeming itself from that horrible Winter.

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On Sunday, we took it easy, went to church, and just gave T.J. some presents. He got a bunch of new summer clothes.

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Then on Monday, we met T.J. after work for dinner at Shake Shack. It was another gorgeous night and so fun to be in the park together as a family. I surprised T.J. with getting a babysitter so we could go see a movie! We saw the new Tom Cruise Movie, Edge of Tomorrow. It was sooooo good. Like Groundhog Day meets War of the Worlds, with a touch of romance. Loved it.

Happy Father’s Day and Birthday, Taylor Jay!

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LIVE with Kelly and Michael

A couple months ago, a friend of mine who recently moved out of Jersey City said she was coming into town for a week and had some extra Kelly & Michael tickets (Anderson Cooper was filling in for Michael that day). Unfortunately, her trip was cancelled because her baby has been sick, but she still, generously, let us have the tickets! We almost didn’t go because it said the tickets were non-transferable, but we decided to try anyway. Turns out, they didn’t even look at our ID so it worked out! We had to leave at 6 am, to get in line by 7. But it was totally worth it! Thanks for the tickets, Shayly! We sure missed you!

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Les Misérables

For our anniversary, T.J. and I went to see Les Mis! All I can say is, WOW! It was incredible. The only thing I had to compare it to was the Hugh Jackman version that came out a year ago, which I loved but knew the singing could have been better if they would have sacrificed the big names. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Hugh Jackman and surpringly loved Anne Hathaway in that film, but these Broadway singers and actors were AMAZING. Oh, and fun fact, Inspector Javert was played by the main guy in The Singles Ward. And that guy can SING, who would have known?

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One Year

A year ago today I wrote this post: My Farewell to Utah. Oh, Utah, you will always have a place in my heart and I certainly hope we get to have more memories together one day.

Last night, as T.J. and I laid in bed, we were talking about how fast and slow this year has been. In some ways, it feels like we just were eating at JCW’s for the last time with his family.

Photo-May-21-8-48-59-PM-1024x1024But we got on a plane and had faith we were doing the right thing. I remember those first couple of weeks of living out here so vividly. Trying to find a place. Having no money. Being stressed out of our minds. Even the smells of Spring in the city again has made me remember some random memories of when we first came here. It was so humid and sticky as we apartment hunted and frantically tried to find a place to live. T.J. and I agree that those first couple of weeks of living out here were the most stressful and difficult times we have had together. But once we signed for our apartment, our new life and adventure began and what a year it has been.

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It took a while to get used to being out here, but finally I was able to call it home. I met some good friends, we got callings in our ward, and have tried to really live it up this year since we’re unsure of how long we will be living out here. I just went back through all my old posts from the past year. We really have done a lot… and another summer means more exciting things to come!

A while ago, a member of the Stake gave a talk in our ward and talked about how everyone needs to act and serve in the ward as if this is our permanent home. In such a transitional area, where people are moving in and out so often, it’s easy to continually think of this part of our lives as temporary and always think about what life is going to be after we move away. But he reminded us to enjoy the now and fully dedicate our lives in the church no matter where we are. That talk REALLY impacted me. I stopped thinking about this time in our life as a short phase and adjusted my attitude so I wouldn’t miss out on the memories around me. We are here NOW so make the BEST of it!

And I really do love it out here now. It definitely has its quirks, but one day we will look back on this time here and think about how they were the good ol’ days! I don’t think I want to raise all of my children out here, so that certainly does put a shorter time limit on our Jersey life. But for now, we’re happy we are here and enjoy the life around us. Except for the Winter. The Winter was miserable! haha!

Cheers to us for making it one year!

 

 

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Instagram Update

Here are some more random instagrams from the past couple weeks:

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I told Eva to smile and she made this face.

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Eva and her new boyfriend, Grayson, on a date playing Hungry Hippos.

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Jenny and I went to an Earth Day market in Jersey City.

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Doesn’t she look adorable? I can’t get over this outfit. Thanks to my MIL!

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We went to the Liberty Science Center one afternoon… it had been a while since we had been so it was a huge hit!

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Eva went to her first big birthday party! Big as in, she actually knew what was going on.

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The view of Jersey City from the other side of the river in Manhattan.

Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 8.11.30 PMBack across the river on a walk with Ashley (get back to town, already… I miss you!).

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A Couple Outings with Friends

One reason I am grateful for our church is the fellowshipping aspect. No matter where you move in the world, you will be greeted by other Mormon families. We are so lucky here in the Jersey City area to have a great group of women who have come together and become friends. But as new people move in so often, people are always leaving too, especially in our ward where the turnover is great. A friend of mine just moved away (not too far… just out to the ‘burbs), so we had a little get-together one night at Grimaldi’s.

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Another night I was walking through the mall when my friend called and said she was at the mall too… so we treated ourself to pedicure (which turns out is the best thing to do with a friend… how come I’ve never done that before?). I was so tired that night but she was going to go into the city afterward for a movie with another girlfriend. Jenny convinced me to channel “college Katie” and to forget about “mom Katie” for the night. So, since “college Katie” used to do spur of the moment things all the time and stay out late, I went for it! I was dead by the time I got home (1:30 am… yikes! And don’t worry mom, I took a cab home from the train so I wouldn’t get raped/murdered). But what a fun night!

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Park Days

Since the weather has warmed up, we’ve gone to parks almost everyday. It’s been amazing. I was getting awfully sick of being cooped up in my apartment all Winter and it’s just so fun to see Eva run around and play for hours outside. She’s finally to the age where I don’t have to chase after her the whole time… so the park is actually quite relaxing for me and I even bring a book!

My goal for the summer is to visit as many different parks as possible. So far, we’ve gone to Hamilton Park, Newport Green, Rockefeller Park, Union Square Park, one other park by Exchange Place, and Central Park. I can’t wait to explore new areas this summer with Eva!

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A New Friend in the City

When I was a Junior at BYU, I had an awesome Relief Society president over my singles ward, Ashlee. I was engaged at the time so I wasn’t too social with everyone, but she was just the best! Well, wouldn’t you know it… Ashlee recently got married and just moved to NYC! We’ve kept up through the years on social media so we met up one afternoon in the city and caught up! Who would have thought five years ago we would be walking around in Manhattan together! Crazy world!

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The Day Before Easter

Wow, what a great weekend. First of all, this weather! Incredible. Today was a little chillier, but yesterday was perfect and we’ve had sun all weekend. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer Spring weekend!

On Friday night, we had some family time. Just painted easter eggs, ate popcorn, did some Easter Bunny prep, and watched Shark Tank.

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Then on Saturday we went to a church activity in the morning for the primary children. Since we are teachers in the primary, we helped out at one station and dressed up like we were living in Jesus’ day. Some of the kids were really confused who we were, it was too funny. And a little two year old kept pointing to T.J. saying he was Jesus. So, you can’t get much funnier/perfect than that! I don’t recall Jesus wearing red skinny jeans and boots, but hey… ya never know?

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We went straight into the city after the egg hunt at church and ate lunch in Bryant Park. Eva immediately remembered that there was a carousel at the park… can’t pull one past that girl! She also splashed a bunch in the fountain, and then we literally ran into our buddies Ashley, Dan, and Brooks! All of us headed over to Rock Center to see the Fabergé eggs. It was ridiculously crowded, but so awesome! Click through the link to read more about it.

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Flower Show at Macy’s

This was so neat! Inside of Macy’s was decorated with flowers EVERYWHERE! It smelled amazing and felt like a botanical garden. But inside a store. So creative and so beautiful! It was overwhelmingly packed inside with people, so we didn’t stay long. But it was definitely worth the trip. Plus, we got a couple of pies for lunch at Pie Face afterwards.
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