The weekend I'd been waiting for:)

As of last Friday, it had been 11 weeks since I'd seen Luke. January 4th was the day I had left him standing there, outside of the staff house at Zephyr, and drove away. I moved to New York knowing that it would be difficult to see him, but we planned on him visiting twice. Well, as the best laid usually do, these plans fell through. Between Luke's work schedule and me adjusting to life in the city, there wasn't much time for him to visit. We planned on him visiting for my birthday weekend, March 26th-28th, which was, again, 11 weeks since we'd seen each other. Before this semester, we had never gone more than about 6 weeks without seeing each other. Luke and I both knew that this was the kind of thing we were committing to when we decided to have a long distance relationship. But 11 weeks?? It didn't seem possible...

But, we made it:) And for the first time in 11 weeks, I saw Luke this weekend!! And it was the best weekend I've had in a LONG time. We had both missed each other, but with the craziness that is our lives, I don't think either of us had truly realized how much we had missed each other. As we were saying goodbye at the airport yesterday evening, I was crying my eyes out (this is a normal Sara and Luke goodbye for me) and Luke was even a little emotional. I know its hard for him to see me upset, but its that much harder when he's upset as well. We got through it though, and it was well worth it. We had a wonderful weekend and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present! I love that boy so much!!

Instead of going through every detail of our weekend, I'm just going to make a list of all the things Luke and I did:

1) Visited and ate lunch at Grand Central Station
2) Watched Phantom of the Opera on broadway
3) Walked through Times Square twice
4) Bought candy and a teddy bear at FAO Schwartz
5) Visited the under ground Apple store
6) Walked up and down 5th Ave., window shopped, and looked at diamonds at Tiffany's
7) Bought hotdogs and ate them in Central Park
8) Explored the Central Park Zoo
9) Watched crazy hip hop dancers dance outside of the park
10) Watched a virtual tour of New York City and went to the 86th and 102nd floors of the Empire State Building
11) Ate New York Pizza at some hole-in-the-wall pizza place
12) Visited Ground Zero
13) Hung out in Brookyln/visited my "hood" (ha!)
14) Walked Monatgue St. and ate at Five Guys
15) Walked the Brooklyn Promenade
16) Walked the Broklyn Bridge
17) And my favorite: cuddled a lot and watched tv

I know, it sounds simple and not very proper since we were in New York and all, but seriously, mine and Luke's absolute favorite thing to do together is just lay around cuddling and watching tv. I think it's because we're both so busy and never slow down. This was so needed and I'm glad we took that time together.

Even still, we did SO MUCH in a very fast 48 hours. I was proud of us! I'll cherish forever the memories we made this weekend. Luke actually liked New York a lot and I'm sure we'll be back to visit again after we're married. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

{Luke and I at the Majestic Theater for Phantom of the Opera}

{At the Central Park Zoo}

{In the jungle at the zoo}

{Freezing at the top of the Empire State Building!}

{Kisses at 1,250 feet!}

{One more Empire picture just because I Like this one}

{Luke and New York pizza for lunch!}

{At Love Lane in Brooklyn}

{Looking a little sleepy in Times Square}

You may be wondering why Luke is wearing the same thing in every picture. Well, he's not. My sweet boy, who is not used to the cold, was not as prepared for the weather in New York as he probably should have been. This was my fault though, because the weekend before he visited, it had be around 72 degrees and sunny. But once he got here, the high was in the 40s and lows in the 30s. Luke had to wear his hoodie and jacket over his shirts every day to keep warm. Oh well, it was all the more reason to snuggle closer! And we still had so much fun!!

And now, the countdown begins. I had been looking forward to Luke's visit for so long and now that it's over, there is one presentation, two finals, and 5 weeks that stand between me and moving back to Texas. I can't believe this adventure is almost over and I know that part of me is going to miss this city so much, but seeing Luke reminded me of why I'm doing this and what it is I'm working so hard for. I can't wait to get home to him and to GRADUATE! Ahhh!!! 39 days until I'm home and 47 days until graduation. I know that I should be more nervous and sad about this, but I'm not. I'm ready:):)