Kristin's Blog

P.F. Chang's Half Marathon

2012-02-01T17:40:00.006-07:00

On January 13, 2012 I ran the P.F. Chang's Half Marathon in Phoenix. I had been thinking of doing this run before I moved to NYC, but never got around to it. I like to have something that I am training for because it gets me to the gym better when I am on a training schedule. After doing the half in NYC last spring, I knew I wanted to do another half.

I was in corral 10 to start. Nice shot of KPMG in the background.

Kathryn, Lauren, Lindsay and Me...it made it more fun knowing that others that I know were running as well.

Almost to the finish!

There goes Kathryn - she didn't even notice us standing there.

Finished! My official time was 1:55:34 which is an 8:49/min pace. I was happy to break 2 hours, but I didn't think I would break it by almost 5 minutes. At the 8-mile marker I thought that I might be at a 2-hour pace, but decided that was a little early to really start pushing it. So, I waited until I got to the 10-mile marker and then tried to pick up the pace a bit.

I love the feeling of finishing these half marathons, but they are hard on my legs/knees so I don't know how many more I want to do. I definitely want to do the Disney half!

Harry Connick Jr. On Broadway

2012-01-29T18:04:00.005-07:00

Today I saw On A Clear Day You Can See Forever on Broadway. Harry Connick, Jr. was in the lead role, and today was his last day of performing. It was a good show - I am happy that I decided to go see it.

Mom's New Year's Trip to NYC

2012-01-22T16:19:00.014-07:00

After being home for Christmas for two weeks, Mom and I (and Otis and Sam) flew back to NYC on December 29th. The cats were PERFECT on the trip back - our plane was delayed about an hour due to mechanical difficulties, and then we flew into Newark and it took us an hour and a half to get from the airport to my apartment (traffic). Otis and Sam were quiet the entire time - they have gotten to be good travelers.

On Friday night we saw the Radio City Rockettes. The show had a lot of new scenes added this year, as well as some of the same.

We stopped by the Rockefeller Center tree. It is not as exciting as it was my first time seeing it.

On Saturday we went to Gaga's Workshop at Barney's...Mom's idea of course.

Everything in there was so strange.

We also went to the 9/11 Memorial.

For New Year's Eve, I was so happy to NOT be in Times Square this year. We did the New York Roadrunners Emerald Nuts Midnight Run.

It was a 4-mile run around the inner loop of Central Park. The fireworks in the park were awesome. Champagne (sparkling cider, actually) was served at mile 2.

I ran it, and then walked back to find Mom and walked with her to the finish.

On Sunday we went to church and then to see Follies on Broadway. Not one of my favorite Broadway shows.

On Monday we took Amtrack to Philadelphia for the day. Mom had never been before and she has been wanting to go for a while.

This is Congress Hall, The House of Representatives Chamber

Congress Hall - John Adams took the Oath of Office here.

Congress Hall - George Washington took the Oath of Office for his second term here. He took the oath for his first term in NYC (Wall Street).

A red, white and blue Christmas tree

The Betsy Ross House

Ben Franklin's grave

Historic Philadelphia

Signer's Hall - all the Signer's of the Declaration

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

We were on a 6pm train and back at my apartment by about 8pm.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-21T14:45:00.008-07:00

Pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...

Kyle, Kellyn and I on Christmas Eve.

The Horton Grandkids (who were at Christmas Eve this year) with Grandma Lois.

Grandma Lois and Kellyn with Grandma's window glass cake that Kellyn made.

Christmas Eve Dinner at Kevin & Jocelyn's.

White Elephant gift exchange.

Christmas tree at Mom & Dad's on Christmas Eve.

Annual Christmas morning picture.

Coby

Mom

Kyle

Dad

Kellyn

Merry Christmas!!!

2011 By City

2011-12-31T23:00:00.006-07:00

Each of the below cities includes a one-night stay in 2011. Cities denoted by an asterisk include multiple visits.

Philadelphia, PA
Scottsdale, AZ*
Ludington, MI
Whitehouse, OH
Dalian, China

See where I was in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

Dad's December Trip to NYC 2011

2011-12-15T15:49:00.010-07:00

Dad was in NYC from December 9th through December 14th. Here are some highlights of what we did.

Friday night - Dinner at Bareburger in the Village and then walked to Washington Square Park because Dad had never seen this arch.

Dad also wanted rice pudding so we walked to Rice to Riches from the park. We made a stop at The Tea Spot as well.

Saturday night we saw a Broadway show. We went down to Times Square around 3pm to get in line at the TKTS booth to get tickets. We had a couple of hours so we came back to my apartment for dinner. I thought this picture was funny...I don't really have a table in my apartment so this is how dad ate most of his meals.

This was a fun show...not at the top of my list of Broadway shows, but not on the bottom of my list either.

Monday night we went ice skating at Citi Pond. I had never been ice skating at any of the rinks in NYC.

I don't think Dad really enjoyed it too much, and I thought it was ok.

Tuesday night we saw Spiderman Turn Off the Dark - GREAT show!

Wednesday morning we went to the 9/11 Memorial. On September 11th of this year they opened the two memorial pools. Each pool is in the footprint of the North and South WTC tower, and the names of everyone killed on 9/11 are inscripted around the pools.

This is the new Freedom Tower in the background.

How Did I Do On My Bucket List For 31?

2011-12-03T16:30:00.008-07:00

Last year I created a "Bucket List for 31." Here is a review of how I did.

1. Run a timed 10k. I completed numerous runs while I was 31, including a 10k.

More/Fitness Half-Marathon - April 3, 2011
NYRR 4 Mile - April 23, 2011 (I walked this (time of 1:03.38) because I injured my leg doing the half-marathon and could not run at this point in time. No pictures posted.)
Boomer's Run to Breathe (10k) - July 9, 2011
Fitness Mind, Body and Spirit Run (4-mile) - September 17, 2011
NYRR Dash to the Finish Line (5k) - November 5, 2011

2. New Year's Eve in Times Square. Mom was in NYC for NYE last year, and we did spend it in Times Square. I never blogged about it, so here are some pictures.

We left my apartment at about noon, and arrived in Times Square by 12:45pm. We got to what we thought was our spot, and this was the time on the countdown clock (10 hours and 40 minutes). After a couple of hours of standing in what was a pretty decent spot (we could actually see a stage), we were forced by the NYPD to move an entire block north. This took forever, and we ended up in a spot which was not as good as our original location.

This is the crowd we stood in for about 12 hours. We couldn't move...and no, there were no bathrooms. We were not drinking anything.

FINALLY...it was midnight. It was a long time of standing there...you could barely hear the singers, and they did not project any of the broadcasters through Times Square.

Decked out in our gear. I am glad I can say I did this, but would NEVER do it again.

3. Ride in the 5-borough bike ride. Fail...didn't happen.

4. Scrapbook 2009 and 2010. I really thought I would be more efficient doing digital scrapbooking, but I was a little over-zealous in this goal. 2009 is almost done, and 2010 will be up next.

5. Walk every street in the 80s from the East River to the Hudson. Nope, didn't happen. I walked a lot of Manhattan, but not specifically these streets.

6. Learn all the features on my camera. I upgraded to a Sony Nex 5 in April. Kellyn and Coby bought this camera for Christmas last year, and I really liked it because it had a small body but was a DSLR. I have learned quite a bit about photography this year, mostly from my friend Mike Anderson. I also signed up for a Grand Central Walking Tour photography class through Adorama, but was not impressed with this class. The instructor didn't do any instructing...he just told us to go take pictures so I don't really know what the point of the class was.

7. Focus on living my life rather than building my life. I have definitely had a lot more time on my hands this last year given the change in jobs so I was able to have more of a "life." I am looking forward to 2012 when I will hopefully be returning to AZ and can live life with the people I love most.

charity: water 10k 2011

2011-11-28T18:07:00.009-07:00

Last year's charity: water 10k was such a success that we decided to plan another one. Jessica Joy took the lead last year, but she had a lot on her plate this year so I took the lead in planning the event. We had a total of 26 people participate in this year's event. It was a perfect morning in Central Park, and everyone did a great job!

Thanks to Mike Anderson and John Nelson for taking all the pictures.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2011

2011-11-26T17:14:00.027-07:00

On Thanksgiving morning, I went to my second "live" Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I asked a few friends in the city if they were interested in going, but no one wanted to go given the early start. So...I was excited when Vu emailed me saying his family was going and did I want to hang out with them at all on Thanksgiving day. I said I would love to go to the parade with them if that was ok.

We met around 6:45am at 68th and Lex, and walked across the park to Central Park West. We found a pretty good spot at about 67th and Central Park West. It was a beautiful, sunny day, probably around 50 degrees. The pictures turned out great by having the colorful park in the background.

NYC Marathon Weekend

2011-11-06T16:39:00.005-07:00

Today was the ING NYC Marathon. The marathon goes right by my apartment (up 1st Ave) and I watched it for a bit last year. This year, though, I was a lot more into the marathon for 2 reasons: 1) my friend Joanna from church was running and 2) I have been running a lot more this past year so that made it more fun to watch.

Yesterday, New York Road Runners held a 5k "Dash to the Finish Line." It started on 1st Ave. at the UN, headed west on 42nd Street to Ave of the Americas, and then to Central Park West and into the park across the marathon finish line. I decided to sign up and run that.

The run started at 8:30am and it was 37 degrees out when I left my apartment. I didn't take a coat or anything with me because I would have had nowhere to leave it while I was running. It was cold getting down there and waiting.

This was a group from Japan. I am sure they were running the marathon and decided to do the dash for fun.

The start - the narrow building on the left is the United Nations.

Running west on 42nd Street - this is almost to Grand Central Station.

Running to the finish line in Central Park. It is blurry because I didn't want to stop running to get a good, clear picture.

Finished! My clock time was 27:55, which is 9:01/mile.

Today after church, Mike, Adam, Lauren and I headed to about 67th Street and 1st Ave to wait for Joanna. You could follow runners on a website so you knew exactly what mile they were at and therefore when to expect them. She is in the purple tank right about in the middle of the picture.

After we saw her on 1st, we walked to Central Park because we had tickets for the grand stand. We got there, but could barely see anything from the bleachers, so we headed back to mile 25 to wait for her there.

She was on the opposite side, but we were screaming her name so she saw us.

We then ran to mile 26 so we could see her close to the finish line. This was the best picture I got from that angle.

Mike took a bunch of pictures at the end so will wait for those to post. It was a fun day and definitely motivating (especially since tomorrow is my official start day for training for the P.F. Chang's Rock N Roll half-marathon in January). I also wouldn't mind running the NYC marathon someday!

Congrats Joanna!!!

New York Botanical Garden

2011-10-30T17:02:00.002-07:00

Today I went to the New York Botanical Garden again. It was another Pfizer corporate day, so I decided to take advantage of the free tickets. We debated as to whether or not to go, since we had the October blizzard in the northeast yesterday. But, today was in the mid-40s and sunny, so it ended up being a nice day (compared to yesterday - I would have preferred it to be about 30 degrees warmer).

This is a real pumpkin...grown in Pennsylvania.

One of the huge pumpkins cut in half.

I thought this one was neat.

A pumpkin caterpillar - kind of weird seeing pumpkins and snow.

A little pumpkin house - I went with two friends from church - Jennifer and Dina.

The special event was "Fall Flowers of Japan" and the remaining pictures were taken in that exhibit.

Cold Spring Hike

2011-10-23T14:07:00.009-07:00

Yesterday I went with some friends to hike near Cold Spring which is in the Hudson River Valley. It is about an hour ride on Metro North to get there. We arrived there at 11am, but we had to walk about a mile (most of it along a highway with a narrow shoulder) to get to the trail start.

The path we did was called Breakneck Ridge. This is the most difficult trail (and there were parts where it felt like you were scaling the side of a mountain).

The views were amazing...much better than Camelback.

It was also perfect weather yesterday for hiking - about 60 degrees and sunny.

Zach - a friend from church.

We were along the Hudson River and could see the Hudson most of the time.

This is the highway we hiked...fortunately we did not have to walk the highway back. We met a nice older couple and they offered to give us a ride back to the train station.

This is the Breakneck Ridge lookout point.

We climbed this to get to the second lookout, Sunset Point.

The leaves were all changing.

We climbed this as well.

On the way back, we were looking for another trail but we couldn't find it. We found this old building instead.

I love hiking...I would do this mountain every Saturday if it was a little closer.

Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut and Ginger

2011-10-16T19:01:00.004-07:00

Tonight I decided to attempt making soup from scratch. It turned out pretty good so I wanted to put the recipe/link here for future reference. Here is the link to the recipe, and I also posted it below. Love this fall soup (actually, I think I like cooking with fall foods the best).

The ingredients I used...the leek and shallot were purchases from the farm yesterday.

The finished product. I forgot about using the unsweetened coconut as a garnish, but sprinkled thyme, salt & pepper on top instead.

2 large butternut squash - halved lengthwise, peeled and seeded

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 leek, white and tender green part only, thinly sliced

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 cup dry white wine

6 cups water

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 thyme sprig

Coconut shavings for garnish, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Set the squash, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Fill each cavity with 1/2 tablespoon of the butter; season with salt and pepper. Roast the squash for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, until tender. Cut into large pieces.

2. Meanwhile, in a large soup pot, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the olive oil. Add the onion, leek, shallot, ginger and curry powder and cook over moderate heat until lightly browned. Add the wine and cook until evaporated.

3. Add the cooked squash, water, coconut milk and thyme sprig. Simmer over moderately low heat for 15 minutes.

4. Discard the thyme sprig. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with the coconut shavings and serve.

Staten Island Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-15T18:56:00.009-07:00

Today I went with some TGC friends to a pumpkin farm on Staten Island. It was a nice day and a fun fall activity. I will let the pictures tell the story.

Apple Picking 2011

2011-10-08T17:27:00.008-07:00

Today was my 3rd annual apple picking trip with TGC. The past 2 years the weather has been cold and rainy, but today it was an absolutely gorgeous day. It was in the high 70s, so a perfect day to spend outside. We went to the farm a couple of weeks earlier than in previous years, so there was not as much fall foliage, but I think I prefer the warmer weather.

Riding the cow train.

Ben, Bryan, Jennifer and Laurie out in the apple orchards.

Joe and Jessica Joy...with yummy apple cider donuts (that I currently can't eat).

Suzanne and I...Suzanne is in Investor Relations at Pfizer, so we have gotten to know each other over the past year or so.

Sweet Noah.

The corn maze.

A.J., Evie, and Ella in the corn maze.

My group that I hung around with most of the day. Suzanne and the Hoover family. I know Vu from KPMG (we started together) and he just transferred to KPMG's National Office which is in NYC. He and Amy have 5 kids (Addie, Savannah, Ella, A.J. and Evie) so I invited them to come along for the day too.

Joah and I. This was the end of the day and Joah was so tired. I still wanted a picture with him because I love this little guy.

Mike Anderson and John Nelson.

In the van on the way to the mall. We always make a stop at the mall on the way home - this year everyone went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

Today was such a fun day. Days like today make leaving NYC a tough decision because I love this community of people.

Dalian, China

2011-09-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

Last week I made a trip to China for work. Our Accounting Policy group conducts various trainings at selected international locations throughout the year. A colleague in that group recently left the company, and since I had instructing background from KPMG, they asked if I would be willing to help with this training.

We flew out of JFK on Monday, September 19 at 4:50pm. After about a 13-hour flight, we landed in Beijing at 6:30pm on Tuesday, September 20. China is 12 hours ahead of EST, so it was really 6:30am. It was a long flight, but fortunately we were in Business Class which was wonderful. As soon as the plane took off, they served a pretty decent dinner (for plane food). After dinner, they gave everyone a pillow and a comforter. I had my own TV, so I watched a movie and then went to sleep for the night - my chair reclined almost completely flat. I slept until about 5am, when the flight attendants were back serving another meal. I thought the flight actually went by pretty quickly - I am sure I would have thought differently if I were in coach.

We had a couple hour layover in Beijing, and then we had about a 1-hour flight directly east to Dalian. We arrived in Dalian at about 9:30pm local time, and our driver picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel, the Shangri-La.

The rooms were actually quite nice.

On Tuesday night, I didn't have much trouble going to sleep when I got there, but I did wake up at about 3am. This happened every night, and I would just read for an hour and then go back to sleep until about 6am.

On Wednesday morning, I got up at headed to the gym. I then met my co-worker, Joe, for breakfast at the hotel. Thank goodness for the hotel breakfasts...they are pretty much what tided me over for the trip. I would eat a bunch of fruit and a big omelette. Given that there were a lot of western business people staying at the hotel, they had a pretty good American breakfast. After breakfast, Joe and I did some prepping for the training the next day, and then we walked around Dalian for the afternoon. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch (it had english words on the outside) so we thought someone might speak English. No one really spoke English, and they gave us an iPad to look at pictures to pick our meal. I was trying to just order a bowl of white rice, and they could not understand me. So, I got up and went and pointed at someone else's white rice to show them what I wanted. In other instances, my Blackberry came in handy - I would just pull up a picture from Google to show what I was trying to say.

This is a bank...there were A LOT of banks in Dalian.

There seemed to be a lot of money in Dalian...all of the malls had very high-end stores.

Public transportation.

The Asians do not like the sun on their skin.

Dalian is a port city. The orange cranes in the background are used to unload the metal crates from ships and put them onto trains.

An apartment building in Dalian.

Lots of card playing was happening in the afternoon.

This was the view from my room.

The middle building is Pfizer's office. For lunch on Thursday, they took us to a traditional Japanese restaurant. We had to take our shoes off and sit on the floor. I ordered shrimp as it seemed to be somewhat safe there. And by safe I mean that it was just the shrimp...the WHOLE shrimp. I had to cut off the head, pull off the skin and rip off the feet. Once I did all that, I then de-veined the shrimp before eating it. Needless to say, it took me quite a while to eat a piece of shrimp, and usually by the time I was done with all the work to make it edible I was not really that hungry anymore.

Behind me is the restaurant where we had dinner on Thursday night after training.

The Controller and Assistant Controller of the Dalian Pfizer location took us to dinner. The hostess seated us, and then they said we needed to go pick out our food. I thought that was strange, and then we come to this aquarium to pick the food that we wanted. I really had no idea what anything was, so we let the locals pick the fish for us.

And yes, some of it was still alive.

This was our table for dinner. We were supposed to have more people, but they could not come, so the restaurant spread us all out around this huge table.

This is what is called a sea cucumber. I did not eat it. I actually didn't eat a whole lot at dinner that night. Supposedly it was a very nice restaurant, but I had no clue what a lot of the food was. Also, the fish that they brought us fortunately did not have a head, but it did have the tail and all the skin on it. I tried my best to de-bone and eat it, but it just didn't look or taste that good.

Outside the restaurant after dinner.

On Friday, we did not have any responsibilities for work, so we took a taxi to the coast and walked around the boardwalk for a while. In order to tell the taxi drive where we wanted to go, the hotel gave us taxi cards with the name of the place we wanted to go written in Chinese. We just showed the card to the driver, and they got us to where we wanted to go.

As soon as we got out of the cab, we were standing by this shell taking some pictures. I had my camera out as I was going to have Joe take a picture of me. This lady comes up and grabs me, and I thought she was asking if I wanted her to take a picture of me. I wasn't going to give her my camera, and so I shook my head no. Well, she doesn't let go, and she drags me closer to the shell. She then turns around, and then I figured out she wanted a picture with me. Fortunately I had already given Joe my camera, so he took a picture of her and I, and that is her husband taking a picture of us. We did get a lot of stares as we were walking around and this city is not at all a tourist area.

Some kids were on the beach flying kites.

Catching their fish. Fishing is a huge industry there...and I think all they eat is seafood.

I saw a lot of these...don't know for sure what they mean.

We stopped at a mall, as Joe wanted to buy his two girls those traditional red Chinese dresses. We could not find them anywhere.

All of the malls were pretty "American" as seen by the Starbucks.

Lots of colors.

There were numerous lion sculptures...I don't know what they represent.

On Friday night we decided to go check out the night life in Dalian. We went to a place called The Banana Club about a block from our hotel. We got there about 9:30 and stayed about an hour. It was interesting, but just starting to get busy when we left.

Our flight out of Dalian was on Saturday morning, and we arrived at JFK on Saturday afternoon (since we gained 12 hours). It was a good experience, but I was happy to be back to American food. Also, international travel makes you appreciate the USA that much more. When we were walking off the plane Joe said "God Bless the USA" and I couldn't agree more.

4-mile Run and Aunt Karen & Uncle Woody's Manhattan Visit

2011-09-24T19:43:00.007-07:00

Last Saturday (September 17th), I completed my first 4-mile distance run/race with New York Roadrunners. I finished in 35:44, which is an 8:56 minute/mile. Given the short distance, I was happy to be able to break the 9 minute mile pace.

It was a nice, cool September morning for running.

Finished...I forgot my workout headband, so my hair was a disaster.

After my run, I came back to my apartment and quickly got ready to go to midtown to meet up with my Aunt Karen & Uncle Woody. They were in the middle of a cross-country road trip, which included a weekend in NYC. Woody was in NYC years ago, and Karen had never been before.

This picture is actually from Friday night. I met them at their hotel, and we walked to Bryant Park Grill for dinner. We then walked to Times Square (see picture), Rockefeller Center and back to their hotel.

On Saturday morning, we headed straight to Grand Central to take the subway downtown. They did great on the subway...just like seasoned New Yorkers.

Our first stop was St. Paul's Chapel. There were still white ribbons on the fence around the church from 9-11.

This is at St. Paul's...a listing of the events of September 11, 2001.

We then walked to South Street Seaport to buy discount Broadway Show tickets, and from there got a good view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

We then walked to Wall Street, but that was a disappointment because the street was closed due to a protest. We could only see it from a distance. After Wall Street, we walked to Battery Park, which is the best view of the Statue of Liberty without getting on a boat. From there, we walked through Battery Park City to Ground Zero.

This is the new Freedom Tower at 1 WTC. As you can see in the picture, the base is completely built of concrete and steel. This is due to the tower being so close to the street, so if anyone tries to drive a car with a bomb it will not take down the building.

After Ground Zero, we got back on the subway and headed to the Murray Hill area to go to lunch. This was the view of the Empire State Building when we came out of the subway.

Lunch was at Bareburger...all organic products and grass-fed beef.

After lunch, we took 2 buses to get to Central Park. We spent about an hour walking through the park.

From the park, we walked to the 1 train to get to Times Square for our Broadway show...

...which was The Addams Family.

I never watched The Addams Family TV show (however, I did know the characters). This was an excellent Broadway show, and Brooke Shields was playing the role of Morticia.

It was a great day, and Uncle Woody and Aunt Karen were definitely troopers with ALL the walking we did.

Post-Production Photo

2011-09-12T16:26:00.001-07:00

My friend John Nelson did some post-production on one of my photos from last night and created the below. He also created me my own photo logo (see bottom right-hand corner). LOVE IT!!!

9/11 - Ten Years Later

2011-09-11T18:43:00.009-07:00

On September 11, 2001 I was just starting my senior year of college. I woke up early that morning to the phone ringing numerous times. I still lived at home at the time, and I thought something was wrong with one of my Grandma's. I went inside the house (my bedroom was in the guest house) and all the TVs were on. I don't remember exactly what time I started watching. I know that both planes had hit each of the WTC towers, but I can't remember if one or both towers were still standing. I do know at least one was still standing. At that point in time I had never been to NYC, so I had no reference point. I knew of New York City, but I didn't really know the boroughs, let alone what they meant when they were talking about Lower Manhattan on the news. I do remember watching the news most of that day. I think I went to the Hudgens' that morning, and then I had classes in the afternoon. All of my classes were cancelled, so I spent the afternoon in the MU watching the news (along with the rest of ASU).

Fast forward to 10 years later, and I have lived in NYC for about 3 years. After this last week of all the news coverage, I feel like this re-living of the 9/11 attacks are almost more real to me than 10 years ago.

I went to church this morning, and our pastor stopped the service at 9:59am and 10:29am for a moment of silence for the collapse of the South and North Towers, respectively. He also asked how many people lived in NYC in 2001, and only about 3 people raised their hand (out of about 100). After church I decided to go walk around the City and see the 9/11 events and memorials.

This is the fire station in my neighborhood (on 85th and Lex). They lost 9 firefighters on 9/11/01.

Then I went to the fire station at 48th and 8th Ave, known as the "Pride of Midtown." This fire station was the hardest hit station on 9/11/01 - it lost 15 firefighters (the entire crew that was on duty that morning).

All of the flags were at half mast.

This was in Times Square.

This was on 42nd between 6th and 7th. They were searching every car before entering Times Square.

My next stop was Bryant Park. This sign explains the pictures that follow.

Grand Central Station had extra security today (as it has had all week).

Next I decided to go down to Ground Zero. I wasn't planning to go all the way to Lower Manhattan, but I was on the train to Union Square and this was only 2 stops further. This is St. Paul's Church...the towers were across the street from this church (to the left of the picture).

Inside the church they were handing out white ribbons to tie on the fence. After 9/11, these fences were covered with pictures of people missing after the attacks.

At dusk tonight I went with one of my friends from church over to Jersey City to take some pictures of the Tribute in Light. He has a car, so we were able to avoid public transportation and get to a good location for viewing. He is also a professional photographer, so he was able to give me some good tips.

It has been a memorable day to see these memorials and events.

Juror #2

2011-09-03T07:27:00.002-07:00

I received a summons in the mail for Jury Duty back in March, but you could postpone for 2-6 months so I took advantage of that. Last Monday, August 22nd, was my re-summons date for jury duty at the NY Supreme Court. I spent most of the day sitting in the jury room and my name was never called...which was fine with me. I had my computer with me, and now that I do online scrapbooking I was able to work on my scrapbook - not a bad gig for a Monday :) About 3pm, the juror clerk stated that they just received a request for 66 jurors for a criminal trial. My name was one of the last called. Once we were all seated in the courtroom, my name was the third called to go into the jury box for questioning (the official term for this I learned is voir dire). There were 20 of us in the jury box at that time for questioning, which took up the remainder of the afternoon. We were told to report back at 10am the next day.

The next morning, I was sworn in as juror #2 for this criminal case. The trial didn't actually start until Thursday morning, as they still had to go through the jury selection process.

It was actually a short trial, lasting only from Tuesday through the next Wednesday (with Monday off due to Hurricane Irene). Also, some days we were only in the courtroom for an hour or two - a lot of the day was just spent waiting. As I stated above, it was a criminal trial for domestic violence and harassment. The couple had met in college back in 2005, and were in a dating relationship for 3 years. Things went downhill, and ultimately they broke up. However, the guy would not stop contacting this woman to the point of calling her multiple times per day (sometimes 60 calls in 2 hours), sending emails stating that he was going to kill her, and waiting outside of her apartment for her. He would go back and forth from harrasing her to apologizing. Anyway, he had already been on trial back in December 2009 and was found guilty on 6 counts.

On the day of his verdict (12/9/09), he signed an order of protection stating that he was not to contact his woman at all. The very next day, he called her at work 3 times and asked her to meet him at the courthouse to ask the judge for leniency. That is what he was on trial for this time - the phone calls to her on December 10th. During the course of the trial we had the court police officer testify that he saw this man sign the order of protection, we had the NYPD testify that he arrested this man on December 10th after the phone calls were made, the woman testified, the court clerk testified regarding the order of protection and the Verizon Wireless representative testified that the phone calls were made.

Throughout the trial I had no idea why we were even going through this trial as the defense counsel was admitting that the phone calls were made and the defendant had even sent a letter to previous judge stating that he had violated the order of protection. However, once the judge gave us the indictments and went through the areas where we need to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt it got a little more tricky.

The 4 areas were:

1) That there was a duly signed order of protection in place.

2) That the defendant violated that order of protection.

3) That the defendant did not contact the person protected for any other purpose than legitimate communication.

4) That the intent of the defendant was not to harrass, assault, threaten or alarm the protected person.

When we went to deliberations, there were 7 of us saying guilty and 5 saying not guilty. Everyone agreed that he was guilty on the first 2 points, but the second 2 points is where we were divided. I was arguing guilty as I stated asking for leniency was not legitimate communication, especially since this woman just testified in court against him 2 days prior. Also, I stated that intent had to be measured by actions. This guy had to have known he was going to alarm her if he called her.

Deliberations went on Tuesday afternoon, and the judge told us it was time to leave and we would continue in the morning. The next morning, we decided to ask the judge what was meant by "purpose of legitimate communication" and what the legal definition of intent was. The judge stated that legitimate communication was any communication that was not threatening. We then asked to hear the woman's testimony re-read to us, and she was asked a question by the defense attorney: "Was there anything threatening in those phone calls?" Answer: "No." Based on that we could not find this guy guilty on the third point, and we all came to a verdict of not guilty.

I still think this guy is a creep and I wish that we could have found that he was guilty. I then started thinking that this girl has not made the best choices either, and why did I spend over a week of my time trying to figure out these people's problems. Also, there was so much government spending on this trial - the judge, the defense attorney, the district attorney, 3 police officers since this guy was currently in jail from his previous trial, the court reporter, 2 court officers and the bailiff. No wonder the U.S. is in so much debt!

Anyway, it was an interesting experience and now I don't have to be called for jury duty for about 6 years.

Earthquakes and Hurricanes and Tornadoes, Oh My!

2011-08-28T18:49:00.002-07:00

Earthquake - On Tuesday, August 23rd there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia, and its effects were felt in NYC. I was in the subway when the earthquake happened, so I didn't actually feel any of the tremors but I was still here in NYC for it and was part of the evacuations that followed. I also experienced the lack of cell service that was discussed in the news.

Hurricane - Early this morning, Hurricane Irene hit NYC. I already blogged about the preparations, but Irene ended up being a non-event in most of Manhattan. There was some flooding in Battery Park, but in my neighborhood there were just a lot of leaves on the ground as well as some branches. I woke up every couple of hours and turned the TV on throughout the night last night, but I didn't hear the wind at all. I did sleep on my futon and closed my bedroom door so I was not near any windows so that could be the reason. There are some areas in New York and along the east coast that are experiencing significant flooding from Irene. Tonight I am thankful to have power.

Tornado - there was no tornado touchdown in NYC, but we were under a tornado watch from about 9pm last night until 5am this morning. I guess tornadoes are not uncommon with hurricanes.

Hunker Down (Hurricane Speak for "Bring It")

2011-08-27T12:49:00.012-07:00

It is about 5pm right now in NYC and I am hunkered down in my apartment. I just learned the term "hunker down" yesterday from my cool friends, but today on CNN I have heard the term quite a bit. Hunker down means you are prepared and at the location where you are ready to ride out the storm.

Irene is currently heading straight towards NYC, and the meteorologists are predicting that we will start seeing harsh effects from Hurricane Irene at about midnight tonight. Right now it is on path to potentially be a direct hit.

Fortunately I am not in an evacuation zone - that means that I am not at risk for flooding from a storm surge. Also, it is good that I live on the second floor and have only one window in my apartment. They said the biggest risk for windows shattering are those on the 10th floor and above. Since the window is in my bedroom, tonight I am planning to sleep on my futon and closing my bedroom doors just to stay away from the window.

I started preparing for the hurricane about 48 hours ago. I bought 4 gallons of water on Thursday night, and then last night I went to Trader Joe's to pick up some non-perishable food. I went to the Trader Joe's on the Upper West Side, and had to wait in a line just to get in the grocery store. I tried to buy a flashlight and batteries last night, but I waited too long to do that. Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond both had signs up that said no flashlights or batteries. I do have some Yankee Candles that I can burn (I do have matches) and a crank flashlight that does work.

Otis and Sam are both sleeping and have no idea what is coming. I have moved their carriers from the top of my refrigerator to the ground so I can easily get to them if I need to. They have plenty of food on hand. I am also going to fill up both my bathtub and kitchen sink before I go to bed tonight just in case.

This morning I got up early and went to the gym, and then I walked around the Upper East Side and took some pictures of the hurricane preparations.

This picture was actually taken last night, but most stores had a sign similar to this on their door.

The calm before my storm outside the window of my apartment. I do like the fact that the building to the right sticks out further than my building, and there are buildings directly across the way. That should block some of the wind.

This is what I have been doing most of the day. Switching between CNN and the local NBC news.

My food rations if needed.

This is how Otis is preparing for Irene.

Biscuits & Bath is ready to put some sandbags out.

Some of the stores had duct tape on their windows.

I did not duct tape or board my window...I read that it really didn't do much and it was not suggested.

H&H was still open and had a long line...bagels must be a good hurricane food.

The little deli's were putting out their winter glass protectors.

I saw duct tape on a lot of these things...maybe to keep water from going in the cracks?

Lots of water.

Starbucks was closed already.

This is Morton Williams on my corner. It is never busy, but today it was packed!

Another window with duct tape.

Sam is nervous about the impending hurricane.

She was also looking out the window at the rain.

Their cat post is moved out from my bedroom because they like to sleep on this.

So all I do now is wait. Please join me in praying for God's mercy on NYC!

The Big Day

2011-08-25T14:47:00.008-07:00

The Wednesday at the reunions are always called "The Big Day." The Austin Family usually cooks breakfast, we take our group pictures, and we have an afternoon meal and an auction to raise money for the next reunion. This year we also organized a volleyball tournament...we got it started, but it ended up getting rained out and we didn't have another day to finish it.

At breakfast with Brian, Sun and Eva

Third cousins...Megan, Courtney and Laci

With Grandma Hazel at the group pictures

Ashley and Austin

Both Grandma's

Our volleyball sign-up sheet - Kellyn organized this

Our immediate family with the Grandma's

Beginning of the volleyball tournament

Tournament bracket

Grandma Lois on her way out to the tent for the afternoon meal

Kelli and I (she is a second cousin)

Megan

After we ate, Allen organized The Newleywed Game - Kellyn and Coby participated

The girls - Katie, Kellyn, Ashley, Amber and Tara

The "Oldywed" Game

Side by Side

2011-08-21T10:12:00.002-07:00

Here is a side by side of the then and now reenactment. Since I don't have any photo editing programs, I asked my Uncle Kevin to do this for me...thank you :)

That Was Then, This Is Now

2011-08-20T04:47:00.004-07:00

In 1988 we had a family reunion at Jellystone Park (which was right near the sand dunes where we rented the Jeeps). On the way back we drove by and Yogi Bear was still standing there, so we decided to do a reenactment picture.

This is 1988...

and this is 2011.

I guess none of us had good memory of the original picture, because Kyle and I should have switched sides and Mom should have been in the picture as well.

The Cone of Shame

2011-08-18T17:46:00.003-07:00

Sam is in the cone of shame for the next 10-14 days. She has had a sore on her stomach for the past month and a half, and it keeps getting somewhat better but then I will notice it bleeding again. So, I took her to the vet this morning to get it checked out.

The vet diagnosed it as an eosinophilic plaque. Here is a good website describing the Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex.

I have to put medicine on it 3 times a day and Sam HATES it...my neighbors probably think I am killing her or something. I think it is kind of funny when she makes so much noise :)

Jeeps!

2011-08-15T16:27:00.006-07:00

On Tuesday we did a little Horton Hiatus to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. We rented three jeeps between everyone and had a blast!

7 Mile Hike - Reunion Day 2

2011-08-02T15:51:00.011-07:00

We started the first day of the reunion with an awesome hike. I had checked out hiking trails online before I left NYC...and some of my cousins had also checked out trails. I got up early and did a 3-mile run, and when I got back to the resort Allen was trying to figure out a plan for the day. I mentioned hiking, and we ended up getting a fun group together.

Allen (third cousin), Tara (wife of third cousin), Kyle, Me, Marc (third cousin), Katie (Marc's wife), Amber (third cousin), Coby and Kellyn.

Crossing the river.

The girls.

The guys.

Allen and I.

The guys were the in charge of figuring out where we were going.

We found this old shack (or original house of James Monroe) and we all decided to get on top of it for a picture. It took us a while to get the camera set up - it was on the ground with some major zoom action. Kyle pressed the timer button and quickly jumped on the roof - lots of work for this picture but we were all having fun.

We first hiked along a lake, then through the woods, then through the sand dunes and finally along Lake Michigan.

We couldn't resist utilizing the sand dunes to do some jumping pictures. Tara used to be a cheerleader.

Allen has no cheerleading background but still pretty good middle splits.

Kellyn and I decided to jump together. It was tough climbing those sand dunes.

We didn't even attempt the middle splits.

Made it to the lighthouse. This is what we were ultimately hiking to see.

A little illusion.

This is Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington State Park.

Sibling pic.

Finished. 7 miles in about 5 hours.

We stopped at Dairy Creme (not Queen) on the way back to the campground. We ran into some other family members. I felt bad for Alex...he is allergic to dairy, so he couldn't have ice cream. He was happy with his bag of chips though.

I couldn't have ice cream either...but I don't mind. It's the healthier choice :)

Rust Renion - Sunday, June 12 - Day 1

2011-07-31T05:43:00.006-07:00

I started blogging about the reunion a few weeks ago, so I decided I should blog the rest of the trip. I left NYC for Grand Rapids, Michigan early on Sunday morning, June 12. I had a short layover in the Cincinnati airport (which I learned is not actually in Cincinnati, OH - rather, it is in northern Kentucky). This was my little plane for the short flight from CIN to GRR.

The rest of my family arrived in Michigan on Saturday night, so Mom and Dad picked me up from the airport. We made a stop at Costco in Grand Rapids to stock up on food for the week, and then we drove through Dad's old stomping grounds of Muskegon on our way to Ludington.

This was the house on Creston where Dad grew up. I had been here before...definitely in 1988 and maybe in 1994.

My Grandpa Lyle was in the TV business and built that antenna...I think everyone is surprised it is still standing.

Dad's high school.

Our first night at the reunion...the nightly volleyball has begun!

Surfing!

2011-07-23T16:45:00.003-07:00

Since we are in the middle of a massive heat wave (it was 104 in Central Park yesterday, the second hottest day ever in NYC), we decided to go to the beach. I thought it was just going to be me, Joe and Jessica Joy, but when we got there we found out there was a group of people there from the Chelsea and LIC TGC locations. A few of them had rented surfboards and so Joe and I borrowed two of them and went out surfing for a bit. I am good at catching the wave, standing up is another story. It was still fun though :)

10k and Rockaway Beach

2011-07-17T08:55:00.008-07:00

Last Saturday (July 9), I had signed up to run a 10k in Central Park with New York Road Runners. I was hoping to get more running in than I did prior to the race, but I ended up finishing with a time of 1 hour and 23 seconds, which is a 9:45/mile pace. This was a little faster than my half-marathon pace, so I was happy with the run.

After the run, I was just going to hang out at my apartment for the afternoon, but Jillian called and said that they were headed to Rockaway Beach if I wanted to go. I quickly got my beach stuff together and met the Nelson's at the 86th and Lex train station. Rockaway Beach is in Queens, almost at the end of the A train. For a portion of the ride, the train tracks are completely over the water.

At the beach...Joah fell asleep on the long subway ride.

Our first spot. We moved about 4 times throughout the afternoon because the waves kept getting too close.

The Nelson family - Jillian, John and Joah.

I love this kid!

The Cohen's also met up with us.

Joah and Azariah...two sweaty beach babies.

Their matching hats were so cute.

Joah loved climbing on my cooler.

Mike and John after we moved into a shady spot.

Beach days are always great. I came home from the beach, put in Blue Crush and called it an early night.

Kellyn's Trip to NYC

2011-07-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Kellyn came to NYC to visit me from June 29th to July 6th. We had a packed and fun-filled schedule while she was here, which included the following:

Mamma Mia on Broadway on Wednesday night. This was my third time seeing this show, and it was just as fun as the first.

On Thursday I left work a little early. We went to the Chelsea/West Village area, and our first stop was the Chelsea Market.

We also went in the Apple store.

And we walked on the High Line. This was a new part of the High Line...you could cool off and get your feet wet.

A good shot of the Empire State Building.

This was a new portion of the High Line that opened in the last year (it wasn't open at the end of last summer, which was the last time I was there).

On Friday morning, we woke up early to go to see Beyonce in the Good Morning America concert series. But, our 5:30am arrival time wasn't early enough. We stood in the overflow line for a little over an hour and we realized we weren't getting in. We heard that people started lining up 24 hours early for this concert. If I wanted to see Beyonce that bad, I would just buy a ticket to her concert. We came home and watched the concert on TV, and took a nap.

On Friday afternoon, we went down to Soho and walked around there, Washington Square Park and Union Square.

This is Washington Square Park.

On Friday night we went to the Mets-Yankees game at Citi Field with Lauren and Adam Midkiff, and Adam's brother, Drew.

Since Dave Hudgens is the hitting coach for the Mets, we get to pick up Mets player tickets.

Kellyn and I in our great seats.

Unfortunately, the Mets lost, but it was still a fun game. Below is Kellyn and I with Dave.

In order to go wait for Dave after the game in the Family Room, we had to wear bracelets that said No Photos, No Autographs - just so people wouldn't ask us :)

On Saturday we went with a group of friends from Trinity Grace to Long Beach on Long Island.

We played a best of 3 volleyball game...this team won the first game, my team won the second game, and then we got beat in the third.

Yeah team!

On Sunday morning we went to church. It was a rainy day so we decided to come home and take a nap. Otis didn't mind.

On Sunday afternoon, Kellyn was nice and went to Costco with me. We bought two bags of cat litter...a total of 84 pounds. Usually I will just buy one at a time, but with two people, it is easy to lift the cart on the bus and down the stairs of my apartment. So, I bought two bags to save me a trip. Those will last for about 5 months! Since it was still raining on Sunday night, we saw Larry Crowne at Lincon Center Theater. It was a good rainy day movie, but not one I would see again.

On Monday morning we went to the gym, and then walked around Central Park for a while.

Monday afternoon we headed down to the West Side Highway (we were at 41st Street) to see the Macy's Fireworks. This was my third year doing this.

A nice sunset while we were waiting for fireworks.

I really needed a tri-pod to get good pictures of the fireworks.

On Tuesday night we went to Athena Nails for a manicure and pedicure, and then Kellyn flew out on Wednesday morning.

Rust Reunion 2011

2011-06-21T18:21:00.010-07:00

I spent last week (June 12-19) in Ludington, MI, at the 2011 Rust Family Reunion. My Grandma Lois (my dad's mom) is one of 11 kids and her maiden name is Rust. The first reunion was held back in 1978, and this year's was the 9th reunion. More pictures will come, but for now I wanted to get the group pictures on my blog.

This is the overall group picture of all reunion attendees. There are 175 people in this picture, and the total reunion count was 186. Currently, there are 284 living Rust family members (beginning with my great-grandmother Eva Rust).

These are the originals...all children of Virgil and Eva Rust. Out of the 11, 8 are still living. My Grandma Lois is currently the oldest living child, and she is in the green on the right.

These are the grandchildren of Virgil and Eva Rust. There are a total of 45 grandchildren.

These are the great-grandchildren of Virgil and Eva Rust. There are a total of 97 of us, and I am #21 in the line-up.

And these are the great-great grandchildren, with the current count being 56. This picture was fun to try to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time. As you can see, I was not successful (and this was the best out of about 10 shots).

#1 - The Maxine Austin Family

#2 - The Bonnie Horton Family

#3 - The Lois Horton Family

#4 - The Leah Cooper Family

#5 - The Robert Rust Family

#6 - The Barb Evans Family

#7 - The Shirley Happeny Family (Aunt Shirley was the only attendee)

#8 - The Pat Boozer Family

#9 - The Jerry Rust Family

#10 - The Karen Traudt Family

#11 - The Chuck Rust Family

I love these reunions and I feel so blessed to be a part of this family!

* Credit goes to my Uncle Kevin for all of the statistics.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2011-05-14T18:26:00.009-07:00

I decided I better get back to catching up - otherwise it is going to be Christmas 2011 before I finish 2010. We celebrated Christmas Eve with the Horton side of the family at Kevin & Jocelyn's, and then Christmas Day with the Balmer side of the family at Grandma Hazel's.

Shane, Eric, Jocelyn, Betty & Roger

Leila and Colby

Alex, Alex's brother, Colleen and Bryan

Brittany, Barry Jason, Brett and Barry

Dad, Kevin, Todd & Jen

Grandma Lois and I

Kellyn and I

Me, Grandma Lois and Kellyn

On Christmas morning, I got up and went for a short run around the canal bank. Kellyn and Coby then came over for our immediate family Christmas. Kyle spent this Christmas in Honduras again.

Sam with her Christmas flair.

And Otis his flair. I tried taking a picture holding both of them, but that turned into a hissing disaster.

Me and Kellyn

Mom and Dad

A blanket that Mom and Dad gave me

Cruzer opening his presents.

Skyping with Kyle

Kellyn and Coby got luggage...so they can come to NYC :)

Leslie

Grandma Hazel

A panoramic picture I took with Kellyn's new camera.

Decorating Cruzer with bows.

A Lovely Cheese Pizza, Just For Me!

2011-04-22T17:56:00.004-07:00

Since I bought tomato sauce at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make pizza for dinner tonight. I used the recipe for John's Pizza. It was easy to make and amazingly good - tasted even better than Papa John's, Dominos, Pizza Hut, etc. I will definitely be making this again in the future!

Recipe:

CRUST

1/2 cup almond flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

TOPPINGS (I did not use "John's" suggested toppings)

Tomato sauce

Shredded cheddar cheese

Oregano

Parsley

New York Botanical Garden

2011-04-16T14:58:00.007-07:00

Today was corporate day at the New York Botanical Garden and I had free tickets through Pfizer.

I went with two friends from church, Sarah and Joy, who I have gotten to know through my 6:30am Friday morning Bible study.

Unfortunately, my tickets were only good for today and it was a cold, rainy day here in the northeast.

The special event going on right now at the NYBG is The Orchid Show on Broadway.

Fortunately, this event was all inside...

because orchids only grow in warmer climates.

I never realized how many different kinds of orchids there are.

About 60% of orchids are "miniature" orchids and can only be seen with a magnifying glass.

I am so tired of wearing pants and thick coats/sweaters/layers.

At least seeing all these flowers makes it look like spring.

I had fun with my new DSLR camera today.

I am happy we decided to go even though it was raining. I do want to go back on a warm, sunny day as there are 250 acres in this garden.

Camelback Mountain

2011-04-12T16:33:00.005-07:00

When I was home for Christmas, I think I hiked Camelback Mountain more than half of the days that I was there. I love that mountain, and it is such a good hike. Whenever Jenn and I hike together, we always say that there is nothing like it in NYC.

This mesquite tree at the top was decorated for Christmas.

There was also a Christmas tree.

Dad ACTUALLY made it to the top!

I can never get jumping pictures quite right.

I hiked with the Millsaps the day after Christmas.

Alexi, Mack and Mikalie.

Mack and Mikalie made it to the top with me. Lexi and Diahann...not so much.

This is not Camelback, but Squaw Peak. Jenn and I hiked this early one morning.

Can't wait to get back and do some more hiking. Might be a little too hot at Memorial Day and the snakes will be out then too!

I Love the Farmer's Market

2011-04-09T16:12:00.004-07:00

Today I went to the Union Square Farmer's Market. I didn't get there until about 4:30pm so a lot of the farmer's had already packed up or were packing up for the day. But, I did score a few items.

I bought 3 jars of tomato sauce, honey and womanchego cheese. The tomato sauce in stores (including Whole Foods and Trader Joe's) usually has sugar added or some other ingredient I cannot eat. I have been wanting to make pizza, and have been holding off doing so because making your own marinara sauce sounds very labor intensive. I saw this tomato sauce, and the ingredients are just tomatoes, onions, garlic, vegetable oil, oregano and salt. I bought 3 jars. I also bought a spaghetti squash at Whole Foods so I can eat that with some marinara sauce and parmesan cheese.

All of the vendors at the farmer's market had pictures of their farms and the animals were running around the pasture's like they should be. All of the vendors are local too - mostly from New York and New Jersey, and some from Connecticut.

Here are a couple of other pictures from today...

Otis and Sam earlier in the day. It ended up being a nice day here and they were enjoying the sunshine.

This is sand art in Washington Square Park. I was walking around Soho and walked through the park to get to Union Square.

Traning Schedule For the Half Marathon

2011-04-07T11:01:00.003-07:00

In the event that I do run a half-marathon again, I wanted to document my traning schedule for the Central Park half.

January 24 - 3 miles - 29:44

January 26 - 3 miles - 29:34

January 27 - 3 miles - 29:35

January 29 - 4 miles - 40:20

January 31 - 3 miles - 29:45

February 2 - 4 miles - 39:38

February 3 - 3 miles - 29:25

February 5 - 5 miles - 50:40 (Central Park Lower Loop)

February 7 - 3 miles - Did not write down time

February 10 - 4 miles - 39:39

February 11 - 3 miles - 29:24

February 12 - 6 miles - 58:22 (Central Park Loop)

February 14 - 3 miles - 29:29

February 16 - 5 miles - 49:30

February 17 - 3 miles - 29:20

February 20 - 8 miles - 1:15:30 (2 Laps Central Park Inner Loop)

February 21 - 3 miles - 29:20

February 23 - 5 miles - 48:53

February 25 - 3 miles - 29:03

February 27 - 10 miles - 1:37:42 (2 Laps Central Park Lower Loop)

February 28 - 4 miles - 39:46

March 2 - 5 miles - 48:23

March 3 - 4 miles - 38:30

March 5 - 11 miles - 1:55:14 (1 Lap Central Park Loop, 1 Lap Central Park Lower Loop)

March 7 - 4 miles - 38:36

March 9 - 6 miles - 58:14

March 10 - 4 miles - 38:29

March 12 - 12 miles - 1:56:27 (2 Laps Central Park Loop)

March 14 - 4 miles - 38:47

March 16 - 5 miles - 48:16

March 17 - 4 miles - 38:26

March 19 - 9 miles - 1:27:26 (1 Lap Central Park Lower Loop, 1 Lap Central Park Inner Loop)

March 21 - 3 miles - 28:47

March 23 - 4 miles - 38:58

March 25 - 3 miles - 28:33

March 27 - 8 miles - 1:15:21 (2 Laps Central Park Inner Loop)

March 29 - 3 miles - 29:55

March 31 - 31 miles - 29:59

April 3 - HALF

Half Marathon!

2011-04-05T18:58:00.002-07:00

This last Sunday, April 3, I ran (and finished) my first half-marathon. After running the charity:water 10-k last November, I was motivated to do a half. So...in early January I signed up for a half with New York Road Runners and started training in mid-January. I generally ran three times per week on the treadmill, with distances ranging from 3-6 miles per day. On the weekends, I did one long run in Central Park, ranging anywhere from 5 to 12 miles.

This was the finish line. I took this picture before I even started running.

Waiting for the race to begin.

I was at the back of the pack. I entered with a really slow pace time, since I really had no idea what my pace would be for 13 miles.

The race was a little over two laps of the loop in Central Park. Fortunately, this was where I did my long training runs each weekend, and we ran the same direction as I usually did on my training runs. The first 3 miles were difficult because I was passing people (since I started at the back - but it did feel good to pass so many people). There are two killer hills on the loop - Heartbreak Hill and Cat Hill. These hills were approximately at miles 2, 4, 8 and 10 - I ended up walking up the last hill at mile 10. After that hill though I knew the end was close - only 3 more miles. After mile 12 I tried to really push it to the end, but the I didn't think that 13th mile was ever going to end.

My goal was to finish in 2 and a half hours, and my official time was 2.08:26. I was happy with that time. I don't think I would want to do half-marathon's often, but I could see myself potentially doing another one. It is a good feeling to cross that finish line :)

Christmas Trip to AZ

2011-03-25T14:52:00.004-07:00

I was in AZ for Christmas from December 17th-29th. It was a nice long trip home - although my trips there always go by too fast. Here are some highlights...

Colby and Otis. Since I was home for a good length of time, I brought Otis and Sam with me.

Dinner with the Greens. Kellyn and I had them over for dinner at her house. Such a good night of catching up.

Caitlin and Kellyn.

Aaryn, Nikki and I.

I visited with Mikele one night. No pictures with her, but I did get one with Miles and Kate.

I drove the Grandma's around Scottsdale/Phoenix one night to look at Christmas lights.

Cruzer, Mom and Kellyn came too.

I had brunch with Jaime and Blake at La Grande Orange.

I took the cats outside every once in a while - they don't get to sit outside in NYC so I figured some fresh air and sun would be good for them.

I had dinner with Scott, Julie and Brady at True Foods at Scottsdale Quarter. We attempted to go to Railroad Park to ride the train but the line was way too long.

Dinner with Montana and Aubrey at True Foods at the Biltmore.

And dinner at True Foods with Lauren followed by a "slumber party" since Jason was out of town.

UES MC Christmas Dinner 2010

2011-03-20T17:30:00.004-07:00

Yes, I am going backwards...trying to get caught up to my Philadelphia trip. Back on December 15, 2010, we had our annual (my 2nd annual) Upper East Side Missional Community dinner. We went to Sotto Cinque, the same restaurant we went to last year.

This was everyone who attended.

Part of my current Lifegroup at the time - Me, Megan, Jessica Joy and Tina.

Ben and Laurie.

Me, Steve and John.

Tom and Grace.

Dina, Veena, Eric and Zach.

Joanna and Mike.

Jessica Joy and Joe.

Dad and I. Dad was in town for this dinner, so I just had him come along. I think he enjoyed it.

The City of Brotherly Love

2011-03-19T18:08:00.008-07:00

I had a pharmaceutical conference for work in Philadelphia last Monday and Tuesday. I decided to take an early train to Philly on Sunday morning so I could take advantage of a day in Philadelphia since I had never been there before.

This was the cute little Starbucks I stopped at in the morning.

The Liberty Bell.

In the 1790s, when Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the United States, this was the site of the executive offices and the residence of the first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams.

Independence Hall. This is where both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were signed.

This is the old courthouse in Philadelphia. The judges sat in the front of the room, the prosecution and defense lawyers sat together at the round table, and the accused stood in the cage.

The room where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were signed. The furniture is all original. Ben Franklin sat in the chair by the end of the table.

They are unsure if this is exactly how the room was set up. They have set it up to the best of their knowledge based on historical documents.

This is the courtyard where John Nixon read the Declaration to the public for the first time on July 8, 1776.

Carpenter's Hall. In 1774, the First Continental Congress met here, and this building also served as home for the Library Company of Philadelphia and as a meeting place for groups including the American Philosophical Society.

Franklin Court. This is the outline of Ben Franklin's house as his home was torn down in the early 1800s.

Standing in Ben Franklin's house.

Mr. Franklin.

The first bank of the United States. Secretary Alexander Hamilton was the force behind the creation of the First Bank of the U.S. The bank paid off the Revolutionary War debt and guided the new United States through unstable financial times. This building was built in 1795.

Betsy Ross house.

This was Betsy's bedroom. She did most of her sewing of the flags in her bedroom so she would not be seen by the British troops.

Elfreth's Alley. This is the oldest residential street in America.

Christ Church. Founded in 1695, this is where many of America's leaders worshiped.

I am sitting in George and Martha Washington's pew.

At the end of the day I did a 90-minute double decker bus tour. It was so cold, but I really wanted to sit on top.

Downtown Philly.

Philadelphia skyline.

I did not get off the bus here, but I really wanted to run up these stairs like Rocky!

It was a good day, but I feel like I need another couple of days in Philadelphia to see everything I missed.

Lent - A Bright Sadness

2011-03-09T21:38:00.003-07:00

Tonight was my second Ash Wednesday service - and no, I am not Catholic. Since most people do associate Ash Wednesday with Catholicism, I thought I would clarify. The following is from a postcard that was handed out tonight at Trinity Grace Church's Ash Wednesday service.

What is Lent?

Lent is the forty days preceding Easter, traditionally a period of mourning, fasting and self-examiniation. Lent is inspired, in part, by the forty days that Jesus spent alone in the desert, fasting and being tested by Satan. This season in the church calendar begins every year on Ash Wednesday and ends as Holy Saturday turns into Easter morning.

Why Lent?

We observe Lent as a community to help us identify with Jesus in His sufferings, and to prepare us for the great celebration of Easter. Any event is made more significant by preparation. We look forward more to Easter when we spend seven weeks changing our lifestyles, deliberately seeking God, and waiting for Easter to come.

Ways to Observe Lent:

Traditionally, Lent is a time to give something up, or to take something on. For example, someone might fast from sweets, meat, coffee, or something else that is important to them. Fasting is a way of identifying with Jesus in His life, since he gave up being God to live with us. Another way to observe Lent is to deliberately add a spiritual practice to increase our awareness of God: an extra hour of prayer, a Lenten devotional, reading through the Gospels more regularly. Be creative. Ask God how He wants to meet you this season.

Dad's December Trip to NYC

2011-01-29T08:11:00.007-07:00

Dad was in NYC from December 9 - 17. In order for me to be home the week and a half I was in AZ for Christmas, I had to transport my cats back and forth with me. Since they are a carry-on on the plane, I need another person to fly with me. So...Dad came to NYC before Christmas, and Mom came to NYC after Christmas. And Otis and Sam made it back and forth just fine, although I don't think they are big fans of traveling.

On the Saturday that Dad was here, we walked from my apartment down Madison Avenue to midtown to look at the windows. This is "The Mansion," aka Ralph Lauren. I had heard that it was decorated inside, so Dad and I walked through the store. We saw a sports coat for $5,000 so we knew we wouldn't be buying anything :)

The windows at Barney's.

More Barney's windows.

The Tiffany windows - these were my favorite.

Inside Tiffany.

Tiffany's.

The Trump Tower.

Columbus Circle.

One night after work, we went to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

We watched a proposal take place on the ice rink.

The Saks 5th Ave windows.

We saw Rain on Broadway.

And Memphis as well.

Thanksgivng Day 2010

2011-01-18T19:28:00.004-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving, I hung out with the Cool Family, otherwise known as the Corpus'. I slept in a bit before going to the gym and then watching the Macy's Parade on TV while baking a pumpkin pie and butternut squash and apple casserole.

This is how Sam spent her Thanksgiving morning.

And Otis too.

Eric and Laura getting dinner ready. They had recently moved to the Bronx and had brought their car up from Florida. So, Eric picked me up at my apartment and gave me a ride (along with Dina and Veena) to their apartment. It was so luxurious to be picked up in a car!

This was my Thanksgiving Dinner - chicken, green beans, butternut squash and apple casserole and cauliflower faux-tatoes. Laura is on a healthy, low-carb diet as well so she made the cauliflower faux-tatoes. So good!

Me, Veena, Eric, Noah, Laura, Micah and Dina. Happy Thanksgiving!

Micah is so cute :)

It was a great, relaxing, laid-back day spending time with good friends.

Macy's Balloon Inflation

2011-01-17T06:32:00.003-07:00

I decided to start blogging again after my little hiatus the last month. I have started scrapbooking again, and this blog has been a great tool in helping me remember details of certain events. So...later this year (hopefully) when I am scrapbooking 2010 I am going to be happy that I did this.

On the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we were supposed to have Lifegroup. It was just going to be me and Jessica Joy, and she called me that afternoon to see if I wanted to go to the balloon inflation. After last year, I said I would never go again. But, she had never been and it was not terribly cold out, so I said I would go. When I met up with her, Joe was with her (he was headed to the subway) but I told him that he should come to so he did.

Jessica Joy and Joe waiting in line. This year we went at about 8pm - last year we went at 5pm. I thought by going later it would be less busy but I was wrong. We waited in line for about an hour just to cross the street to get to the balloons.

The three of us in line.

There were so many people. We only walked through half of it, and then when we got to Central Park West we crossed the street and walked home through the park.

I am going to say again that I will never do this again :)

2010 By City

2010-12-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

2009. 2008. 2007. 2006. Each of the below cities include a one-night stay in 2010. Cities denoted by an asterisk include multiple visits.

Atlanta, GA*
Scottsdale, AZ*
Copan, Honduras
Ocotopeque, Honduras
Roatan, Honduras
San Pedro Sula, Honduras

These friends stayed at least one night at my apartment in 2010.

Dad - April/May
Paul and Kelly - May
Lauren - May
Mom and Dad - June
Dad - December
Mom - December

What did I eat for Thanksgiving???

2010-12-11T08:16:00.004-07:00

The first question I was usually asked when the subject of Thanksgiving came up - "What are you going to eat since you can't eat anything?" I actually had a delicious and very healthy Thanksgiving dinner - a picture of my plate of food will come in the next post. However, I did want to share the recipes for the two dishes I brought to share.

The first was an apple-butternut squash casserole, from this website. For 4 servings, the ingredients are 1/2 of a large butternut squash, 2 apples (I use organic since they are on the dirty dozen list), about 1/3 of a cup coconut oil, honey and cinnamon (I did not measure the honey or cinnamon). Cut the butternut squash into about 1/4 inch slices, and peel and core the apples. In a baking dish, put a layer of squash, a layer of apples, sprinkle a little cinnamon and drizzle a little honey. Continue repeating this process until the squash and apples are gone. The recipe said to use butter and put cubes of butter on the top layer, however, that is a lot of butter so I used coconut oil instead. I love the taste of coconut oil, and it contains numerous health benefits.

The finished product - I have made this dish twice since Thanksgiving - it is that good!

The second dish I made was a pumpkin pie. The recipe is as follows:

FILLING

1 15 oz can Pumpkin

1 tsp. coconut flour (I forgot to include this, but it turned out fine without it)

1/3 c. honey

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. mace (I could not find this anywhere so I did not use it)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. coconut milk

3 eggs

SHELL

2 1/2 cups of almond flour

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

1 egg

At our Thanksgiving dinner, there was "my" pumpkin pie, and a "regular" pumpkin pie. There were two of us who for sure were only having my pumpkin pie, and everyone else wanted the regular pumpkin pie, but wanted a small slice of my pumpkin pie just to taste it. Well, when people wanted seconds, guess which pie they went for - mine! They like the healthy sugar-free, dairy-free and wheat-free pie better than the one loaded with sugar. I was happy to know my pie was such a hit!

Also, I found out a week ago that all my efforts have been worthwhile. Before I started this diet back in September, I had some blood tests done. One that they did was called the CRP, which is a measure of inflammation in your body. Normal results are less than 5, and mine came back initially at 34.9 = not good. I have been fanatically adhering to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and taking loads of fish oils for the last two and a half months. There have also been numerous people praying for that number to get to less than 5. Well, I had my blood tested again a couple of weeks ago, and by the grace of God, my CRP is now less than 5. It is pretty much a miracle and gives me motivation to continue on this diet. 3 months down, 21 to go :)

charity: water Training

2010-11-27T16:21:00.001-07:00

This is a schedule of my training for the charity: water 10k.

October 4 - 2.5 mile run (1 mile @ 5.3, 1 mile @ 5.5 and 0.5 mile @ 5.7)

October 5 - Strength (6:30am Total Body Conditioning class)

October 6 - 2.5 mile run (1 mile @ 5.3, 1 mile @ 5.5 and 0.5 mile @ 5.7)

October 8 - Cross train - 35 minutes on elliptical

October 9 - Long run (Central Park Loop - walked hill on west side and hill by Boathouse)

October 11 - 2.5 mile run (1 mile @ 5.5, 1 mile @ 5.7 and 0.5 mile @ 5.9)

October 12 - Strength (6:30am Total Body Conditioning class)

October 14 - 2 mile run and Strength (0.5 mile @ 5.5, 0.5 mile @ 5.7, 0.5 mile @ 5.9 and 0.5 mile @ 6.1 and Arms)

October 15 - Cross train - 35 minutes on elliptical

October 17 - Long run (Central Park Loop - with Jessica Joy and Dina)

October 18 - 2.5 mile run (1 mile @ 5.5, 1 mile @ 5.7 and 0.5 mile @ 5.9)

October 19 - Strength (6:30am Total Body Conditioning class)

October 20 - 3 mile run (1 mile @ 5.5, 1 mile @ 5.7 and 1 mile @ 5.9)

October 21 - 2 mile run and Strength (0.5 mile @ 5.6, 0.5 mile @ 5.8, 0.5 mile @ 6.0 and 0.5 mile @ 6.2 and Legs)

October 23 - 3 mile run (1 mile @ 5.6, 1 mile @ 5.8 and 1 mile @ 6.0)

October 24 - Long run (Run/Walk Central Park Loop with Jessica Joy)

October 25 - 3.5 mile run (1 mile @ 5.5, 0.5 mile @ 5.7, 0.25 mile @ 3.5, 1 mile @ 5.8, 0.25 mile @ 3.5 and 0.5 mile @ 6.0)

October 28 - 2 mile run and Strength (0.5 mile @ 5.5, 0.5 mile @ 5.7, 0.5 mile @ 5.9 and 0.5 mile @ 6.1 and Arms)

October 29 - Strength and Stretch (7pm Strength and Flexibility class at gym)

October 30 - ~3 mile run in Central Park (with Jessica Joy)

October 31 - Long run (Central Park Loop with Jessica Joy)

November 5 - Strength and Stretch (7pm Strength and Flexibility class at gym)

November 6 - 3 mile run (1 mile @ 5.5, 1 mile @ 5.7 and 1 mile @ 5.9)

November 7 - Long Run (1 mile @ 5.5, 1 mile @ 5.6, 1 mile @ 5.7, 1 mile @ 5.8 and 1 mile @ 5.9)

November 13 - 2 mile run and Strength (1 mile @ 5.8 and 1 mile @ 6.0 and Arms)

November 14 - Long run (Central Park Loop)

November 16 - 3 mile run @ 5.9

November 19 - 2 mile run and Strength (2 miles @ 5.9 and Arms)

November 20 - 10K!!!

charity: water 10k

2010-11-23T17:08:00.005-07:00

This last Saturday, November 20, we held the TrinityGraceChurchRun4Water to benefit charity: water. The idea started after Scott Harrison spoke at church over the summer. Jessica Joy took the lead on organizing the run - we had a total of 18 runners!

Pre-run picture - you can also see all the fall trees in Central Park.

Stretching before the run.

On your marks, get set, go! (This obviously was a posed picture.)

And we're off... We started at 72nd on the east side and headed north on the Central Park Loop. It was great - we got one hill out of the way right away, and then we just had deal with the "North Woods Hill" - that one is a killer.

This was somewhere between mile 4 and 5.

Finished! It was about 48 degrees - perfect weather for running.

High five with Jarrett

Jessica Joy, Dina and I

Jessica Joy was my weekend running buddy in training for the run.

Our goal was to raise $5,000 which is the cost to build one well in a community. We exceeded our goal!!! Once the well is built, it will have a plaque that says "Trinity Grace Runners" and we can go visit the community.

Sauna Rules

2010-11-20T12:24:00.003-07:00

I usually go sit in the sauna at the gym after working out - I will always go in during the winter to warm up before my 5-block walk back to my apartment. I turn my ipod to a slower song (usually Chris Tomlin or Nora Jones) and I take my phone and water bottle in with me. Anyway, a few weeks ago I was at the gym and I went and sat in the sauna after my workout. There were two others in there, and the conversation went something like this:

Crazy girl to me: "You can't have your shoes on in here!"

Me: Ignore her and just sit down.

Me: Change my ipod to a different song, and get my cell phone out and start looking at Facebook.

Crazy girl: "You have your phone in here too! That is a security violation." She gets up and leaves the sauna.

Normal girl to me: "I am glad you came in here - she said the exact same thing to me."

Me: "I always come in here with all my stuff after I workout - I am not worried about it. She's just weird."

5 minutes later...

NYSC Employee #1 to me and normal girl: "What is going on in here?"

Me: "This girl got upset with us since we had our shoes and phones in here - I don't know what her issue is."

NYSC Employee #1: "Yeah, you guys are not hurting anything. I come in here all the time in the winter with my shoes on just to warm up."

A few minutes later...

NYSC Employee #2: "You guys need to get out of the sauna - you can't have your shoes and clothes on in here."

Me: "I come in here all the time just like I am now. Did the rules change?"

NYSC Employee #2: "No, but this girl out there asked me to tell you to get out of here."

Me: "Ok, I will leave in a few minutes."

So...after all that, I noticed this sign on the door of the sauna a couple of days after the above incident.

I still don't obey these rules :)

Bucket List for 31

2010-11-16T19:11:00.002-07:00

Some things I want to do before I turn 32:

Run a timed 10-K (I say timed because the charity: water 10-K this Saturday is not timed)
New Years Eve in Times Square (this is already planned so I figured I would add it to the list)
Ride in the 5-borough bike ride
Scrapbook 2009 and 2010
Walk every street in the 80s from the East River to the Hudson (will have to do some detours through Central Park)
Learn all the features on my camera
Focus on living my life rather than building my life (Jon Tyson quote).