Family Visit!

My family went on a trip to visit my brother's mission in Canada. At the end of their trip they took some time to come to visit us! They came 2 weekends ago, and were here for about 4 days. It was so fun to see them! I may insert pictures stolen from their facebook pages later, or maybe not.

Some things we did:

Thursday- I met my family at their hotel in Times Square after I got off of work. We decided by request of my sister to head up near our apartment to go to Malecon (a Dominican restaurant in Washington Heights. Scott met up with us at the restaurant. We ate lots of chicken, rice and beans, beef, bread, flan, and tres leches cake. My dad was amazed at how cheap it was there! Scott and I can eat there for under $10.00 for the two of us. We then went to our apartment so my brother Cam could see where we lived.

Friday-Met at Central park by the Bethesda fountain. My brother Cody was amused by the saxophone performer. We rented rowboats and rode around in them for a while. It was really fun! We raced each other a bit, and just relaxed. After the rowboats as we were walking through the park, we ran into an area where there were a lot of tents set up. We soon realized that we had come upon a Korean festival. We heard some Korean music, and sampled Korean food. Most of it was good. We joked with Scott that he had planned going to it all along, and made it seem like an accident when we stumbled upon it. It really was an accident though which made it all the more fun. We walked by the Manhattan Temple and ate lunch nearby. We went to the MOMA which was fun. I love to see all the art, and also the crazy pieces people come up with. We then went to Times Square where my family was staying. We decided to get Ice Cream, so we picked up some custard from Shake Shack, yum. That night we went to "In the Heights," which is one of my favorite shows! If you don't live around here, and haven't heard of this broadway show... it's about Washington Heights which is the neighborhood we live in. It's a show about community, and has amazing music, dancing, and is very all around entertaining and funny. I was nervous about what they were going to think of the show. I really wanted them to like it since I did so much. It was a success! They loved it! I'm so glad. If you are ever in NYC and have a chance to see it, get tickets.

Saturday-We met down at Battery Park. We just walked around and watched performers. There was this one guy that was doing some sort of ritual before his show. Then he did all weird sorts of contortions with his body and eventually put himself into a small box. I thought it was disturbing, but he had a lot of spectators. We then walked through the financial district. We eventually rode the subway to the West Village where we went to "A Salt and Battery" which is an amazing fish and chips place. We bought the food and then ate at a park nearby. After that we walked to where there was shopping. We went to Macy's and just wandered around the store, going up each level to show my family how large it was. We found the furniture level which was nice because we were able to rest by "testing" out a lot of couches and chairs. My brothers split off to go to other stores and back to the hotel while me, Court, Mom, Dad and Scott walked around some more. We went to H&M and found some cute things there. Scott and Dad were good sports while waiting for us to be done shopping. We were then wandering back to the hotel where we ran into another street festival! This one was just a bunch of random stuff. We found yummy smoothies, and kettle corn. Later we tried to take my brothers back to the festival but it was already closing down. We found somewhere to sit, and hung out until dinner. That night we went to Virgil's BBQ, which was really good, and a lot of meat! It was my brother David's birthday so they brought out a dessert and sang to him.

Sunday-My family came over to our apartment in the morning for Crepes. We filled them with all sorts of things. We rode the subway to church. Then, we came home and had dinner. We enjoyed talking to each other and hanging out until my family had to go back to their hotel for the night.

Monday-I had to work on Monday, so I didn't get to hang out with my family the morning before they left.

It was very fun having them here! I love when family visits, come again soon!

A few pounds of potatoes...

I went to Target last night with a friend while she went to Costco and was excited to find that the new Target has more of a selection of food than the one I usually go to. I was shopping, and walked past where they had potatoes, and I thought, "Oh we need some red potatoes, I'll buy a 5 pound bag." I was excited when I got home that I was able to buy potatoes at Target. When Scott got home I showed him all of the stuff I bought, and showed him the potatoes. He looks at me and says,"but we already have potatoes." Then I said, "No we don't, remember we were at Costco and decided that the 10 pound bag of potatoes was too much...." Then Scott opened up the pantry and there was the 10 pound bag of red potatoes... I came to a realization that now we had 15 pounds of potatoes. I was not so excited about my find anymore... What are we going to do with 15 pounds of potatoes? Do you need any?

I don't know what to blog about...

Be suspicious of empty subway cars....

Here is a survival tip if you ever come to New York City....

Yesterday morning, I was waiting for the A train to come to take me to work. Of course during peak commuting times the subway cars are usually full. I saw the train approaching and noticed that there was one that was pretty empty. I ran to get into that car, and it took me only 1 second to realize why there was no one on the train. There was a homeless guy with all of his stuff, and he stunk soooo bad! I ran out of the car along with probably 30 other people to get into another subway car. Thankfully I made it and enjoyed my commute with minimal bad smells. I was thinking about it and I felt bad for that guy and the reaction I'm sure he gets all day, but I just couldn't imagine sitting for 20 minutes with that strong odor. I just about gagged being in there for 2 seconds. This has happened a few times, and I always think, maybe it's just an empty car....but lesson learned, it never is.

New Goal: Meal Planning

On Saturday when we were at Target, I saw a little whiteboard just like this one here on sale for 2 dollars. I decided that this would be perfect to get back into meal planning. I've been very bad at meal planning lately, and would often get home from work without any idea of what I would make for dinner. So after making this purchase I got set on meal planning...

• Saturday was Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and Naan
• Sunday was Enchiladas with Cilantro Lime Rice and Black Beans
• Monday was Meatball Sandwiches.

I planned out all these meals, and we made exactly what was planned.

• Tonight is whatever each of us can find because Scott will be at the homeless clinic when I get home
• Wednesday is Oven "Fried" Drumsticks with Potato Wedges and whatever vegetable we have
• Thursday is Lemon Pepper Fettuccine with Chicken and Asparagus
• Friday is another whatever night because we work at the temple on Friday nights so I just meet Scott there after work

Another one of my goals in meal planning is to try new recipes. So I'm hoping to include a few new recipes every week. If I make any really good ones I'll post them. Please share any good/new recipes that you make too :)

It's almost 3:00 and I'm ready to call it a day...

Laundry Blitz on 5 different floors in our building---Check
Grocery Shopping at Target, carrying everything back with us---Check

I'm tired....

P.S. Today was a realization that we are indeed back to the city life

Our Trip to Utah!

I haven't blogged in a really long time, so it's my chance to catch up. I will have to add in pictures later.

We were able to take a trip back home to see our family. Scott went a few days before me to do the Ragnar so I had to navigate to the airport alone. I would say that I am pretty good about getting myself around the city on my own, but the airport is always a different story. I left directly from work and was feeling good getting on the right trains, and making it to the airtrain. While I was on the airtrain I got distracted while texting Scott asking about his race, and I missed my stop. The airtrain loops around to the different terminals at the airport so I decided to just stay on and make the loop again. It took about 20 minutes to get around the loop again and come to find out I could have gotten off the train I was on and gotten on another to save myself some time. After getting through security I still managed to get to the airport 1 1/2 early. Other than that little trip up, I would say I was successful getting to the airport.

When I got to Utah on Friday June 18th, my Dad, Mom, and little sister Courtney came to pick me up. They were so nice to come get me even though I didn't fly in until after 11:00 pm. I of course had to go to sleep shortly after since it was after 1:00 my time. I got excited while in the car that I could see the stars. I haven't seen a sky full of stars in a long time. Of course waking up in the mornings during our trip I rarely slept past 6:00 am. I decided I was going to try to stay close to New York time if possible so I wouldn't have so much of an adjustment.

Then we just hung out on Saturday until Scott was back from his race and then I went with him to his celebratory BBQ.

On Sunday, it was Father's Day. We went to church with my family. It was a little strange being back in my home ward. Our ward in NYC is just so different. After church Scott's brother Brad and his wife Kate were going to be leaving to go back to California so we had lunch with Scott's family to say goodbye. Then we went back to my house for dinner. My sister was sick, so my brother in law brought their kids, and my grandparents were also there. It was fun to see everyone.

Monday to Wednesday Scott helped his Mom with Elementary Science camp for the Davis School District during the day. I hung out and helped my family with getting things ready for my brother Cam getting home from his mission on that Thursday. On Monday my mom took me to her circuit training class that was a killer. I went once and died... I don't know how my mom does it.

On Thursday we did the final things getting ready for Cameron to get home from his mission. We went to the airport with our signs, and greeted the missionaries as they came in. There were a bunch of missionaries from Canada flying home together so there were a lot of people waiting. It was emotional for me to see my brother, because I hadn't seen him in 2 years. A lot has happened since then. Since he left on his mission, Scott and I got married, we both graduated from College, and then we moved to NYC and Scott finished his first year of medical school. It also made me sad to think that now he's home, and we are living away, so I had limited time to see him. I got over my emotions, and enjoyed being able to see him! After the airport we went home and had dinner with all my siblings, parents, Scott, sister's family, and grandparents. We had one of Cameron's favorite dinners and desserts, then he was off to get released as a missionary at the Stake President's office. When he got home we all went swimming, which was very fun!

Friday and Saturday we prepared for family coming over on Sunday to hear Cameron speak. I can't remember what else we did.

On Sunday we went to church with my family, and heard Cameron speak in Sacrament. Afterwards our family came over to have lunch at my parents house. It was fun to see extended family that I hadn't seen in a while. I was amazed at how many people could fit in my parents house and backyard. I'm used to hosting people in a tiny apartment.

Wow, this post is getting really long! I'll stop boring you with the details because now my mind is blanking at what else we did. It was just a lot of fun relaxing in Utah and hanging out with family.

Some of my things in Utah that are different than NYC:
Driving!
Grocery Shopping with a car to take home the groceries
Cheap groceries
No Humidity
Staying in a house with carpet
A Yard
Grass
Dishwasher
Disposal
Washer/Dryer
And best of all.... Family!

I'm sure there were more, but these are some of the things I really appreciated while we were in Utah. It was very relaxing to be out of the city for a bit. My stresses went away for 12 days which I enjoyed. I can't wait for the next time we get to go to Utah!

Off to Utah!

Tonight I'll be heading to Utah and I couldn't be any more excited! Scott has been there since Wednesday so it has been very hard for me to go to work these past 2 days. Looking forward to going home, but now looking forward to the long flight... and dealing with JFK. I am hoping that my experience is not like Scott's. He sat on the runway for an hour waiting to take off, multiple babies were screaming, and a little kid was kicking his seat the entire time:( I hope I can just read, sleep, and have an enjoyable flight. See you soon family and friends!

While I am waiting to finish work, and fly home... Scott is running! He is running the Ragnar with members of his family, and some of their friends. I tried to post pictures of the route, but blogger wouldn't let me. Refer to the link It's a relay race from Logan to Park City. Each member of their team runs 3 legs of the race. That's what he'll be doing for today and tomorrow. I'll have him make a post of his experience.

1 year down... 3 to go

Today Scott officially finished his 1st year of Medical School! I am so proud of him for working so hard. It's crazy that we now have one year down... it has gone by so fast!

I asked Scott to share some highlights of his first year. This is what he said:

• White Coat Ceremony - Even though I don't know what I'm doing, at least now I look like I know what I'm doing.
• Anatomy lab - dissecting my cadaver, aka my "first patient." My mind's view of the body will forever be changed, and it is imprinted with the delicate nerves and vessels of my cadaver's flesh.
• Shadowing in the OR - scrubbing in on a heart surgery and touching a live heart, seeing it stop . . . and start again, and seeing a full hip replacement, complete with power tools and all.
• Columbia-Harlem Homeless Medical Partnership (CHHMP) - Each Tuesday night from 5:30 to 10:00, providing healthcare to street-homeless individuals in Harlem. As you might imagine, I've met people here in the city looking for help who have life stories I couldn't make up even if I tried. All types of drug addicts, dealing drugs, stealing cars, prostitution as a means of staying alive, sleeping on trains, etc. At times I wish I could do more than give them allergy and blood pressure medication, advice on how to keep their infected feet both clean and in-grown toenail-free, and a new pair of socks...but I hope that what we do do makes a difference.
• Assisting a lung transplant - "harvesting" the donor's lungs at 3:00am - then racing back to our hospital with siren's blaring to put them in the recipient whose lungs have failed them from years of cystic fibrosis damage.
• Being a witness to both life (delivering a baby in the hospital) and death (in the ER)

This summer Scott will be busy doing research with a Urologist. The research he is doing is comparing patients who've had both cryotherapy (freezing) on their prostate cancer and organ transplants.

Cody's Graduation!

My little (but a lot taller) brother Cody graduated from High School on June 4th! I was sad that we couldn't be there... but so excited for him! He will be going to BYU in the Fall. Thanks Mom for posting pictures on Facebook! Sorry this is a late post too...

My little (but taller) sister Courtney in this picture just finished up Jr. High and will be heading to High School! Our family is growing up...

We went to Boston for memorial day weekend...

And ran a half marathon! I know that this is a late post, but better late than never. I have a bunch of pictures I wanted to post from our Boston trip but for some reason, this is the only picture blogger will let me post...so I have put off posted until I got it figured out, but I didn't. These are our friends in NYC that we ran with.

This race was the hardest thing I have ever done physically, I really didn't think I would finish. It was really hot, and it was humid, and the race didn't start until 8:00 am. I saw people passing out around me, saw a few people on stretchers and hoped that I wouldn't be one of them. I started getting dizzy and blacking out a few times during the race, so I'd slow down during those times. When I came up the final hill and started on the downhill I thought I was almost to the finish line, but it was further than I thought. Scott saw me during this time while he was waiting for me to finish, and ran up to help me finish. He was trying to give me encouraging words, but all I was saying was, "I can't do this, I'm going to die..." He kept me going, and helped me get to the finish, even though I was getting mad at him for being so perky. When I finished I told him to hold me up because I really thought I was going to pass out. I have never been good with heat and get very overheated easily.

I thought that I would love running after training for a half marathon or that it would get easy at some point. All I can say is that I don't hate running as much as I used too, and it still has not gotten easy. I'm glad that we ran the race, and that I finished. I proved to myself that I can do something if I put my mind to it. Never before would I have ever thought that I could complete 13.1 miles.

We had a great trip to Boston! It was mine and Scott's first time going there, and I loved the area. I was surprised at how different Boston was from New York. It had a sort of small town feel, but it wasn't a really small town. It was very calm, and relaxing being there. We went to a Red Sox game one night when we were there. Scott and I weren't planning on going because it was sort of expensive. Walking with our friends to Fenway Park, we decided that we wanted to go, and bought some tickets someone was selling. It was fun to experience a Red Sox game. We also went to some really good restaurants, and just had an overall good time with our friends. It was nice to get a break from the city for the weekend.

I'm going home....

I'm singing Chris Daughtry's song as I'm writing this... ("I'm going home, Back to the place where I belong...") 1 month from today I'll be in Utah! Scott will be there a few days before that. I'm so excited to be going home! It will have been 6 months since I've been home. That may not seem like a long time to some, but this is the longest I've been away from my family... I'm taking 8 days off of work, so it will be a 12 day trip-hurray!

My Prediction Was Correct

On April 20th I made, "My Prediction" for the top 3 of American Idol. I should have officially posted it sooner, because I really knew all along. But... I was right! Just wanted everyone to know that:)

Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding Copycat Recipe

For those of you that have been to Magnolia Bakery you know how good their banana pudding is. For those of you who haven't and won't be in NYC anytime soon, here's a copycat recipe to make it at home. I think it's pretty close to the real thing....mmmmmm. It's a really easy recipe, try it out!

1 1/2 packages instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups cold water
1-14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 box Nilla wafers
4 ripe bananas

Put vanilla pudding mix in a bowl. Whisk in water and sweetened condensed milk. Once it's whisked together, let it sit for 15 minutes: it'll thicken up. Whisk casually every few minutes until it's nice and thick.

Whip cream with an electric mixer until it gets soft peaks. Fold the cream into the pudding base.

Slice up bananas. Arrange1/3 of Nilla wafers along the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan, top with half of the bananas. Top with half of the pudding mixture. Top with another 3rd of your Nilla wafers and the rest of your bananas. Put the rest of the pudding on top and then crush the remaining Nilla wafers until they're a powder and sprinkle over the finished pudding.

Cover with plastic wrap, keep in the fridge (it should be in there for a few hours to meld; it gets better the next day).

Scotty got a haircut!

Both of us haven't gotten haircuts since we went home for Christmas. Scott's hair has been getting a little shaggy so on Sunday when he woke up he asked for a haircut. I was surprised because I've been asking him over and over. I thought he'd never let me cut his hair again after it took me 2 hours last time... This time it only took me 1 hour instead of 2, I'm getting better and better:)

Before:

After: