Lady Liberty and Ellis Island

Today, Ashley and I went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island! (Hence the title of this blog post. I know, so creative, right?) It was quite a trip getting there, but we ended up having a great time and ended up with a few good pictures too!

So, out tickets for the ferry said 2 p.m. We decided leaving the dorm at 1:30 p.m. wasn't a bad time, because the ferry is only one stop up. Well, we didn't really consider the fact that the trains run slower on the weekend or the ridiculously long walk we'd have to make from Wall St. to catch the stupid ferry. We ended up running probably a mile to catch the ferry because we thought we were late, only to find out that the line of 300+ people wasn't going anywhere without us. "If only I was sweating...oh wait, I AM!" Yes, those are sweet Ashley's words after our award winning sprint to the end of the ferry line. Hey--at least it was a beautiful, sunny day! We got great seats on the ferry ride and our first stop was the Statue of Liberty!

[Isn't she a beaut?}

{The Lady and myself}

{My sightseeing partner and I}

After taking pictures with the Statue of Liberty, we grabbed a couple of quick pictures of the city. They look a little far away, but it was still a great view. The Hudson River is what lies between the city and the statue. Remember the 'Miracle on the Hudson'? Yeah, that one!

{It wouldn't have been a successful day if my squinty eyes hadn't made at least one picture}

Our last stop before we headed over to Ellis Island was at the cherry blossoms. I've been so jealous of all of my friends Facebook pictures with the cherry blossoms in D.C. because I think these trees are just beautiful. I was so excited to see that cherry blossoms were in full bloom at the Statue of Liberty! Can you say PHOTO-OP? Ashley and I took advantage, not only of the pictures, but of the trees! She and I both climbed these trees like little girls and it was so much fun! 

{Cherry blossoms}

{Climbing the cherry blossom trees!}

After our tree-climbing and picture-taking escapade, we jumped on the last ferry over to Ellis Island. We took an audio tour of the area where all of the immigrants arrived, where they were given medical and legal checks, and we got to stand in the area where families were reunited after the extremely hard process. I've never really studied this part of history and it made me sad to think of the family members that did not pass the inspections. They traveled for weeks on a cramped boat, looking to find a new life in a new world, only to be turned away. Many of their family members were allowed to stay while they were forced to return home. How sad is that? But so many more were allowed to stay and help build our country into what is it today. There is so much history on that little island. This trip made me appreciate my family and all of the families that made the sacrifice for me without even knowing it. God bless America! 

{Ashley and I at Ellis Island}

Now, I'm home and really tired. I guess with all of the running and sightseeing, I've worn myself out. Now it's time to play a little catch-up so that I can be ready for the new week. My childhood best friend, Millie, will be here next weekend so I'm going to start working on our itinerary for when she's here. Time is quickly passing and before I know, it will be time to go home a graduate. Three and a half more weeks in the city, eeek!! :)

Chips Ahoy! and Prom Memories

What a lazy weekend I'm having! Not lazy in the sense that I haven't gotten anything accomplished because I HAVE. It's just that the pace of this weekend has just been relatively slow compared to the pace of my work day routine. And I'm liking it:)

Yesterday I slept in until about 10 a.m. I told myself I could not sleep any later than this because I had to wake up and apply for jobs. Oh yessss...the life of a graduating senior. Well, I am please to report that this task was indeed successful and I've applied to many places that I would be thrilled to work for. I'm definitely looking for a job where what I do on a daily basis effects the greatest amount of people in a positive way. I know that sounds broad and this may sound corny to you, but I want my future career to have meaning. I want to serve people by doing a job I'm passionate about. I'll keep you posted on how the job search is going.

Ashley and I have been trying to eat healthy since it's almost bikini season and, for me, WEDDING SEASON! However, we caved last night and got Chinese food for dinner, lol. But we did the best we could. I ate chicken and broccoli and Ashley ate some kind of house chicken. There was so much food actually, that we brought half of it home. Mmmm, Chinese food leftovers! After we'd gotten back to the dorm and gone our separate ways, I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to find a pouting Ashley demanding that we find chocolate ASAP. You see, she's given up Chips Ahoy! cookies for now, but was having serious withdrawals. So, we went to our local grocery store to by baby cups of cookie dough ice cream so that she wouldn't cave and then we rented Princess and the Frog. GOOD MOVIE! This was the first cartoon movie I'd seen in a long time and I was pleasantly surprised! A little ice cream and a good movie is always better than caving and buying an entire bag of Chips Ahoy!, no doubt:)

Today I woke up around 10 a.m. and I was missing Texas A LOT. I had this incredible urge to pack a bag, jump on the first plane out, pick up all my friends and head straight to the beach. I want to go home so badly! I'm not homesick in the way the little kids get homesick at sleep-over camp. I just want to be back in Texas. I want sunshine at 90 degrees, not 65. I want the beach, Mexican food, my family and friends, Luke, etc. Thanks New York, it's been real. But you're just not Texas. No worries though, I only have 26 more days, and believe me, I'm counting!

This afternoon I got a good hour-long workout in and now I'm going to work on a little wedding planning. I think I'll just lay low tonight and enjoy my evening. Tonight is Prom 2010 in Hallettsville and my baby sister, Becca, is a junior. This means that this year, her class was in charge of the theme/decorating/etc. I'm so excited for her because I remember how fun prom was when I was in high school. Getting my hair done, taking pictures before hand with friends, dancing all night...well, until my parents told me I had to come home, ha! Good memories. Here is a picture that Becca texted me of her before prom. How hot is this little girl?? She get's it from her big sister;)

{Have fun Becca Roo!}

Also, I was looking through mine and Luke's engagement pictures for the first time in a while yesterday and came across this picture. I don't know why I hadn't noticed it before, but I really like this one! It's now my new FB profile picture, of course. Taking those pictures was so fun! Jade will be taking our wedding pictures as well and I can't wait! She's just a great photographer. If you haven't checked out her website, you should! www.journeytreestudio.com

{Love you babe!}

Tomorrow I'm headed to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Be looking for pictures soon! Hope you're having a blessed weekend:)

Picture update because I'm lazy:)

I've been wanting to blog about this past weekend for a while now, but every time I start, I can't seem to get a good flow going. So, because of my inability to organize my thoughts, I'm just going to post pictures and explain through captions. Happy picture browsing!

{This is the precious box my wedding shoes came in. I bought them this past weekend!!}

Would you like to see what these sexy shoes look like? If I get a good response, I'll post a picture soon!

{A bunch of the girls went to Grimaldi's, a famous pizza place in Brooklyn, last Friday night for dinner. It was fun to have Jenny and Katie visiting!}

{On Saturday, Ashley and I went shopping. While she tried on clothes at Anthropologie, I admired all their cute kitchen decor and dishes. I LOVE their stuff and hope that Luke will allow me to selfishly spend a little of our wedding money on a few pieces. The blue/green/pink coffee cups and bowls are my favorite}

{Matchy matchy!}

{These make me want to bake}

{I know, it's so wifey...but I think these oven mits are adorable!)

{After Anthro, Ash and I did more shopping. H&M, Victoria's Secret, and Forever 21. In the middle of all the shopping, we made a stop by Macy's Flower Show. I'm glad I got the chance to capture a few pictures of the beautiful flowers in Macys. Spring is officially here, FINALLY!}

{Aren't those little birds too cute? My momma would have loved this flower show! I wish it would have been going on when she and my sisters visited}

This past weekend was really fun and very relaxing; much needed. So, besides these pictures, I have a few life updates. I've decided not to go to law school, for a couple of different reasons. There's no need to go into these reasons; God made the decision easy and that's that. So now, like all of the other college seniors anticipating graduation in 5ish weeks, I'm job searching. I'm been writing cover letters like a crazy person and sending those, plus the good old resume, to PR firms and PR departments all over Corpus Christi. Have I told y'all that CC is where I'm moving after graduation? Well, it is! Luke has one more semester of school after I'm done, so we'll be in Corpus for a little while at least. 

Wedding stuff is good, but I could talk about this kind of thing forever; that's for another post at another time. It's been tough planning from New York, but I'll be home in 4 weeks and then I'm hitting the ground running, both literally and figuratively! Speaking of running, here's another life update: Today, I started tracking what I eat and how much I'm working out. There is an awesome website, http://www.mydailyplate.com/, that is sort of like Weight Watchers, but FREE! When you enter in information such as you age, weight, height, amount of physical activity, etc., it calculates how many calories you should be eating according to how many pounds per week you want to lose. I don't want to lose a ton of weight of anything, but I definitely want to tone up before the wedding. I've heard multiple success stories about this website just today, so I'll keep you posted and let you know what kind of success I have. Wish me luck!

Ok, it's time for bed. After a 9 hour work day, a 3 hour class, and a 30 minute run over and back on the Brooklyn Bridge, this girl is beat. I hope you all had a wonderful day and have an even better night's sleep! Sweet dreams:)

Akward Elevator

I don't ride elevators very often in Texas. I guess the opportunity just doesn't present itself of a regular basis. But since I've been living in New York, I ride the elevator. Like, alot. I live of the 7th floor of my dorm building, I work on the 6th floor of the CBS Broadcasting Center, and I go to school on the 7th floor of some random build that I don't know the name of. But I think I've made my point. I ride the elevator multiple times a day.

It's been easy to note a difference between taking the elevator in Texas and taking it in New York. In Texas, if it's just me and one other person in the elevator, I'll strike up a conversation. "How's your day going?" or "Where are you headed?" I'm a talker naturally, but I also think that elevator rides are a good time to share Christ's love by engaging and noticing His people.

BUT NOT IN NEW YORK.

Riding the elevator in New York is awkward. No one looks up at you. No one talks. And if they're riding the elevator alone and you step on, they'll immediately pull out their Blackberry or iPhone and start pretending to be sending some uber important email. I mean, get real dude, I saw you playing Sudoku on your iPhone. These kind of people make me feel awkward by the way they act. And this is saying something since I don't feel awkward very often. Every once in a while, I get up the guts to speak to these anti-social New Yorkers. Sometimes there is a successful,

Me: Hi there.
New Yorker: Hi.
Me: How are you today?
New Yorker: Fine.
Me: Hope you have a nice day.
New Yorker: Thanks.

Other than that, these people refuse friendly conversaion. Oh well, it's not going to keep me from trying! These people need to watch Steel Magnolias. My favorite line from that movie is, "Smile. It increases your face value!"

Hey--make friendly small talk with someone today. You never know when they could use a friend and you may be the only Jesus that person ever sees. Happy Wednesday everyone!

**P.S. Sorry for the lack of posting recently. I've been busy with a lot of tedious work, but I have a lot to catch y'all up on. Be looking for a new (long) post soon!**