I'll leave with one last song obsession.
God sees. And His grace is enough.
January 31, 2016
Goodbye
We are sad and sorry to say that this will be the last post on Tons and Bunches. We enjoyed sharing our lives and our hearts so very deeply but it is no longer a safe place. Thank you to those of you who shared our journey with us.
I'll leave with one last song obsession.
God sees. And His grace is enough.
I'll leave with one last song obsession.
God sees. And His grace is enough.
January 25, 2016
Weekending it
This weekend was epic. Over two feet of snow fell over our part of Brooklyn which resulted in a snow-day weekend! When I left for work this morning it was the first time I stepped outside of our apartment in over 62 hours. That's right, more than two solid days of total laziness with absolutely no guilt about any of it. Bliss, totally.
On Friday night I got home from work and arrived to pizza coming out of the oven.
Later I made chocolate chip cookies with half the batch omitting the chocolate chips, the way Dan likes them.
We stayed up way too late watching The Americans.
On Saturday morning we slept-in and woke up to lots of snow already on the ground and lots more as it fell throughout the day. This was the view outside our bedroom, its the back of our apartment building.
We finished watching season three of The Americans and stayed up super late watching X-Men Days of Future Past with popcorn.
On Sunday the snow was already beginning to melt. Dan went to shovel at the church office but came back and we spent the morning with leftover muffins in bed and another X-men movie.
The afternoon saw coloring, gaming, watching the snow melt, and the football game.
We rented The Martian on Amazon prime that night and really enjoyed it. By the end of Sunday night we felt totally relaxed and totally refreshed.
Here's what made this weekend so great:
1) We don't have kids yet. Being cooped-up inside for multiple days was not hard for us. We were not required to go outside for memory's sake or sanity's sake.
2) We love spending time together. Maybe it's our love language I'm not sure we haven't read that book yet. But anyways, we have yet to get tired of each other. We just click in each others company.
3) We are introverts. Not having to interact with lots of other people and be social for 48 hours was our jam.
4) Church was cancelled on Sunday. A true Sabbath. We didn't have our typical responsibilities and we didn't have the guilt of finding others to fill-in for us.
5) We had absolutely no reason to be productive and that never happens.
Now you all know I'm a summer girl through and through but a snowed in weekend is pretty nice too.
On Friday night I got home from work and arrived to pizza coming out of the oven.
Later I made chocolate chip cookies with half the batch omitting the chocolate chips, the way Dan likes them.
We stayed up way too late watching The Americans.
On Saturday morning we slept-in and woke up to lots of snow already on the ground and lots more as it fell throughout the day. This was the view outside our bedroom, its the back of our apartment building.
I made blueberry muffins and we snuggle in bed with muffins and Parks and Rec.
We eventually got around to get ready for the day but spent it inside admiring the snow, watching copious amounts of TV and playing games.
I made Terri Mom's Vegetable soup, with Dan's help. And we added dumplings for the first time.
We eventually got around to get ready for the day but spent it inside admiring the snow, watching copious amounts of TV and playing games.
I made Terri Mom's Vegetable soup, with Dan's help. And we added dumplings for the first time.
We finished watching season three of The Americans and stayed up super late watching X-Men Days of Future Past with popcorn.
On Sunday the snow was already beginning to melt. Dan went to shovel at the church office but came back and we spent the morning with leftover muffins in bed and another X-men movie.
The afternoon saw coloring, gaming, watching the snow melt, and the football game.
We rented The Martian on Amazon prime that night and really enjoyed it. By the end of Sunday night we felt totally relaxed and totally refreshed.
Here's what made this weekend so great:
1) We don't have kids yet. Being cooped-up inside for multiple days was not hard for us. We were not required to go outside for memory's sake or sanity's sake.
2) We love spending time together. Maybe it's our love language I'm not sure we haven't read that book yet. But anyways, we have yet to get tired of each other. We just click in each others company.
3) We are introverts. Not having to interact with lots of other people and be social for 48 hours was our jam.
4) Church was cancelled on Sunday. A true Sabbath. We didn't have our typical responsibilities and we didn't have the guilt of finding others to fill-in for us.
5) We had absolutely no reason to be productive and that never happens.
Now you all know I'm a summer girl through and through but a snowed in weekend is pretty nice too.
January 22, 2016
Peeks from the Week
I love short weeks. I love looking forward to a snow-packed weekend.
Apparently the eastern seaboard is going to get slammed this weekend with tons of snow. I'm not holding my breath, they always over hype these things. But, I am excited for any amount of snow since it is late January and we've yet to see anything significant.
Dan and I went to the grocery store last night at 9:45 pm - 15 minutes before closing. It was the best time to shop since it wasn't crowded and we felt like we beat the rush of people who will be acting like it's the end of the world before this storm arrives tomorrow. We got ingredients to make pizza tonight and Terri Mom's Vegetable Soup for tomorrow. I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, making a late breakfast of blueberry muffins, binge watching the rest of season three of The Americans, crafting, snuggling, and relaxing all day.
I don't have any pics of "peeks" this week because pretty much nothing happened. Wednesday we had small group and it was breakfast for dinner! My favorite. It has been a breakfast themed week. Waffle Party on Monday, Dan made egg in a pie shell thing on Tuesday, and then at small group we had frittatas, bacon, and pastries. We've been watching the last season of Parks and Rec on Netflix and saving The Americans for this weekend. That's about it.
Happy Friday!
Apparently the eastern seaboard is going to get slammed this weekend with tons of snow. I'm not holding my breath, they always over hype these things. But, I am excited for any amount of snow since it is late January and we've yet to see anything significant.
Dan and I went to the grocery store last night at 9:45 pm - 15 minutes before closing. It was the best time to shop since it wasn't crowded and we felt like we beat the rush of people who will be acting like it's the end of the world before this storm arrives tomorrow. We got ingredients to make pizza tonight and Terri Mom's Vegetable Soup for tomorrow. I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, making a late breakfast of blueberry muffins, binge watching the rest of season three of The Americans, crafting, snuggling, and relaxing all day.
I don't have any pics of "peeks" this week because pretty much nothing happened. Wednesday we had small group and it was breakfast for dinner! My favorite. It has been a breakfast themed week. Waffle Party on Monday, Dan made egg in a pie shell thing on Tuesday, and then at small group we had frittatas, bacon, and pastries. We've been watching the last season of Parks and Rec on Netflix and saving The Americans for this weekend. That's about it.
Happy Friday!
January 20, 2016
Birth Songs
This is a totally random post but I felt it deeply important to share.
When Mandy and I were little she was extremely possessive of the song "Kumbaya." She would get super mad if anyone was singing it. Sometimes I would sing it to piss her off. She was possessive of the song because she claimed it was her "birth song" - as in the song that was playing when she was born and therefore it was HER song. A few things with this, 1) I was born approximately 1 minute before her so shouldn't it be my song too? 2) I'm fairly sure that song was not playing when she was born and 3) birth song? what? is that a thing?
Anyways, I thought of this on Sunday when some guys at church were talking about the top billboard songs on the day they were born. So they looked mine up for me. August 7, 1986 the number one billboard song was "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera. When they told me that I was like who is that? and I've never heard that song. So I YouTube-d it (what did we do before youtube?) Well, I do know that song. It's an epic love ballad and its 8 minutes long!!! Also, the music video is basically a condensed version of Karate Kid Part II. It's ridiculous. Watch it!
Dan's song is "Sussuido" by Phil Collins - July 1, 1985. But I decided to round down to the last day in June because that song is "Heaven" by Bryan Adams which is also an epic love ballad and I love Bryan Adams. Did you know he is Canadian? Listen!
Anyways, Mandy, "Kumbaya" is not your birth song. If anything, it's "Glory of Love."
Go Google your birth song! It's fun. Jessy, I already looked yours up its "Let's Hear for the Boy."
When Mandy and I were little she was extremely possessive of the song "Kumbaya." She would get super mad if anyone was singing it. Sometimes I would sing it to piss her off. She was possessive of the song because she claimed it was her "birth song" - as in the song that was playing when she was born and therefore it was HER song. A few things with this, 1) I was born approximately 1 minute before her so shouldn't it be my song too? 2) I'm fairly sure that song was not playing when she was born and 3) birth song? what? is that a thing?
Anyways, I thought of this on Sunday when some guys at church were talking about the top billboard songs on the day they were born. So they looked mine up for me. August 7, 1986 the number one billboard song was "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera. When they told me that I was like who is that? and I've never heard that song. So I YouTube-d it (what did we do before youtube?) Well, I do know that song. It's an epic love ballad and its 8 minutes long!!! Also, the music video is basically a condensed version of Karate Kid Part II. It's ridiculous. Watch it!
Dan's song is "Sussuido" by Phil Collins - July 1, 1985. But I decided to round down to the last day in June because that song is "Heaven" by Bryan Adams which is also an epic love ballad and I love Bryan Adams. Did you know he is Canadian? Listen!
Anyways, Mandy, "Kumbaya" is not your birth song. If anything, it's "Glory of Love."
Go Google your birth song! It's fun. Jessy, I already looked yours up its "Let's Hear for the Boy."
January 19, 2016
Weekending it
Three cheers for long weekends, well at least for those that got the extra holiday (sorry Dan). Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!
Sometimes I'm ashamed of our weekends when they slip away with so very little to show. Saturday dissolved into phone calls, cleaning the apartment, and watching football. The only item to note is we rearranged our bedroom. It feels like a brand new room!
On Sunday we were able to sit together in the adult service at church instead of being in with the kids classes. It was really nice and totally contributed to the positive attitudes throughout the rest of the day. In the afternoon it snowed! First snow of 2016 and of the season. It didn't leave much behind but still exciting.
Sunday night I made baked ziti from the Pioneer Woman cookbook I got for Christmas (thanks mom). It was super yum and made a ton so I split it in half and put one pan in the freezer for another time.
On Monday I got to sleep-in a little and then enjoy some time hanging out with Rebekah and drinking some of her special coffee with frothy creamer. Yummm. In the afternoon I went to a Waffle Party!! It was also super yum and super fun. There were two different types of waffles and like 15 toppings including homemade blueberry syrup and a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Also ice cream.
I had a really great time, at one point I laughed so hard I was crying! But I missed that Dan wasn't there, he would have had a blast too. So that night I decided to skip dance and we watched more Americans together.
Now Tuesday is nearly over and that's grand.
Sometimes I'm ashamed of our weekends when they slip away with so very little to show. Saturday dissolved into phone calls, cleaning the apartment, and watching football. The only item to note is we rearranged our bedroom. It feels like a brand new room!
On Sunday we were able to sit together in the adult service at church instead of being in with the kids classes. It was really nice and totally contributed to the positive attitudes throughout the rest of the day. In the afternoon it snowed! First snow of 2016 and of the season. It didn't leave much behind but still exciting.
Sunday night I made baked ziti from the Pioneer Woman cookbook I got for Christmas (thanks mom). It was super yum and made a ton so I split it in half and put one pan in the freezer for another time.
After dinner we broke down and decided to buy the third season of The Americans on Prime. I know I said last week I didn't think we could justify $2 per episode but it was only $20 for the whole season. Mandy reminded me that $20 is the cost of one meal out so we decided to get the season and skip our Shake Shack Thursday. Also, Mandy is now hooked on this show and she has high standards for entertainment so you should probably get on board too. If you have Amazon Prime the first two season are free! Go!
On Monday I got to sleep-in a little and then enjoy some time hanging out with Rebekah and drinking some of her special coffee with frothy creamer. Yummm. In the afternoon I went to a Waffle Party!! It was also super yum and super fun. There were two different types of waffles and like 15 toppings including homemade blueberry syrup and a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Also ice cream.
I had a really great time, at one point I laughed so hard I was crying! But I missed that Dan wasn't there, he would have had a blast too. So that night I decided to skip dance and we watched more Americans together.
Now Tuesday is nearly over and that's grand.
January 15, 2016
Peeks from the Week
Well there is just not a whole lot to share about life lately. The temps have dropped and we are surely in the winter doldrums but I am hoping we will see some snow soon. I'm excited for snow, the freshly fallen romantic kind. I will have none of it the next day when its dirty and gross.
Life seems so odd and upside down right now. I distinctly sense change. Bad change. But I don't know what, how, why, huh? Maybe I'm just feeling the vibrations of the changes people close to me are experiencing. Or maybe it's an itch for change. I don't know, whatever. Blah.
Anyways, here is what happened this week. I got a super cute tap shoes ornament from one of my tap classmates. She hadn't been to class since before Christmas and I was absent the week she handed them out. But look, so cute!
On Tuesday I had a dentist appointment. No cavities! Woot. And the cleaning cost $5!! So despite my gripes about my job and low pay and whatever, dental insurance is nice.
Tuesday night Dan and I got back into our Unplug Night routine. We had our traditional breakfast for dinner, this week German Pancake, and then listened to the radio while coloring. We zoned out for nearly two hours and it was bliss. I took these pictures when devices were allowed at the end of the night. Dan is working on the city and I did the snowflakes.
Remember on Monday when I mentioned how excited we were to see the show The Americans was filming on our block? So we went out late on Tuesday night to see if they were setting up yet or what was happening. Nothing was there and the signs were gone. Mega frown-y face. The filming must have been cancelled or the location moved or something but we were super disappointed. I really wanted a selfie with Elizabeth and Philip. Another sad note, we only have two free episodes left...after that they are $1.99 each on Amazon. Yeah, not sure we can justify that.
Wednesday night we had a friend over for chicken pot pie and games. It was really nice to catch-up with her and build a deeper connection.
Life seems so odd and upside down right now. I distinctly sense change. Bad change. But I don't know what, how, why, huh? Maybe I'm just feeling the vibrations of the changes people close to me are experiencing. Or maybe it's an itch for change. I don't know, whatever. Blah.
Anyways, here is what happened this week. I got a super cute tap shoes ornament from one of my tap classmates. She hadn't been to class since before Christmas and I was absent the week she handed them out. But look, so cute!
On Tuesday I had a dentist appointment. No cavities! Woot. And the cleaning cost $5!! So despite my gripes about my job and low pay and whatever, dental insurance is nice.
Tuesday night Dan and I got back into our Unplug Night routine. We had our traditional breakfast for dinner, this week German Pancake, and then listened to the radio while coloring. We zoned out for nearly two hours and it was bliss. I took these pictures when devices were allowed at the end of the night. Dan is working on the city and I did the snowflakes.
Remember on Monday when I mentioned how excited we were to see the show The Americans was filming on our block? So we went out late on Tuesday night to see if they were setting up yet or what was happening. Nothing was there and the signs were gone. Mega frown-y face. The filming must have been cancelled or the location moved or something but we were super disappointed. I really wanted a selfie with Elizabeth and Philip. Another sad note, we only have two free episodes left...after that they are $1.99 each on Amazon. Yeah, not sure we can justify that.
Wednesday night we had a friend over for chicken pot pie and games. It was really nice to catch-up with her and build a deeper connection.
Today is Friday! And I get a three day weekend. Woohoo! We have lots of chores to catch-up on tonight and tomorrow but I'm sure we will make time to sleep-in and be lazy. Dan wants to watch the Chiefs vs. Patriot game on Saturday and I suppose I will tolerate it, although I loathe the Patriots.
On Sunday, as of now, we will both get to sit in the adult service together. I truly do not remember the last time that happened and it will be only the second time I will get to hear our new head pastor preach...he has been here over six months now. I'm excited. But I'm keeping a dose of reality handy because the odds of one of us getting pulled to fill-in somewhere is in the realm of 80% likely.
January 11, 2016
Weekending it
This past week Dan and I have been binge watching the FX Series (we watch it on Amazon Prime) called The Americans. It's about Russian spies in the 1980s. Uncle Willy introduced us to it back at Thanksgiving and when we started it up last week we fell hard. We watched nearly an entire season this weekend. Our obsession with this show came at a perfect time because I noticed the signs below posted ON OUR BLOCK.
This is the sign you see when something is going to be filmed in the area. So, they will be filming something for the show this week, literally on our block. Uncle Willy wants us to get autographs but it's not like the actors are out roaming around. Even if we get a quick snapshot I'll be happy.
So Friday night we spent watching The Americans. We woke up Saturday morning and watched more until we had to get up and ready. We headed out to celebrate the first birthday of this cutie.
Oh my goodness, you guys, this princess was a lil newborn a whole year ago and I can remember holding her in my arms like it was yesterday.
After presents, lunch, and delicious cake we headed over to visit our other friends' to say hi on her birthday and snuggle their nearly two month old baby boy. I didn't take any pictures because they are super private but he snuggled-up on me and took a nap. It was bliss. And we enjoyed catching-up with our friends too. I miss seeing them as much now that they are parents.
Oh we need a baby. Oh how we are so far away from that being reality. Oh how that pisses me off.
We spent the rest of the day and night watching more episodes of The Americans.
Sunday was just bad. We'll leave it at that.
The Seahawks squeaked out a playoff win, we took a snuggle nap, and I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner.
And now we are at the start of a whole new week. Happy Monday!
This is the sign you see when something is going to be filmed in the area. So, they will be filming something for the show this week, literally on our block. Uncle Willy wants us to get autographs but it's not like the actors are out roaming around. Even if we get a quick snapshot I'll be happy.
So Friday night we spent watching The Americans. We woke up Saturday morning and watched more until we had to get up and ready. We headed out to celebrate the first birthday of this cutie.
Oh my goodness, you guys, this princess was a lil newborn a whole year ago and I can remember holding her in my arms like it was yesterday.
After presents, lunch, and delicious cake we headed over to visit our other friends' to say hi on her birthday and snuggle their nearly two month old baby boy. I didn't take any pictures because they are super private but he snuggled-up on me and took a nap. It was bliss. And we enjoyed catching-up with our friends too. I miss seeing them as much now that they are parents.
Oh we need a baby. Oh how we are so far away from that being reality. Oh how that pisses me off.
We spent the rest of the day and night watching more episodes of The Americans.
Sunday was just bad. We'll leave it at that.
The Seahawks squeaked out a playoff win, we took a snuggle nap, and I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner.
And now we are at the start of a whole new week. Happy Monday!
January 7, 2016
New Years grumpies
So yesterday I looked at my resolutions post from last January. I totally forgot that I had picked a word and made a plan to achieve it. Turns out we kind of succeeded in fulfilling that word of the year. I picked PLAY as the word because we were in our newlywed year and wanted to do lots of fun things together. In reviewing the blog for the Year in Review post I think we definitely capitalized on PLAY in 2015.
On Tuesday I mentioned that I didn't pick a resolution and I didn't pick a word for the year because I had never been successful. Well I guess that was wrong because we did hit our word pretty hard last year. Now I guilty and lazy for not picking a word for this year. But I just can't think of one. Part of me is excited for 2016 and new adventures and the other part of me is just so tired already. So tired. And it's not like my life is particularly hard or stressful and yet I'm tired. Who wants to join my petition for changing the New Year to the summer when life is good and there is motivation to share?
There are a lot of things I want to figure out this year. Things in our relationship, things for our future, security for our church, and mostly figuring out how to be confident in who I am and secure in God's will for us. I struggle really hard with insecurity. My brain is a constant internal dialogue of judgement. I feel ugly on the inside and the outside. I feel like we are failing miserably at a lot of things and the sense that we are always running uphill with things at church.
Don't get me wrong, I know life is good. We have an amazing family network, both Dan's side and mine. We have strong friendships and support from the people around us. We truly have all our needs met. We are comfortable and blessed. We are secure in Christ's love and we have hope. But the world feels dark. My heart feels dark with envy and anger. I need to have control over everything and I am constantly getting in the way of God. It's a very discontented place. I have enough energy to wallow about it but not enough energy to do anything about it, and that just makes me more angry with myself.
So yeah, no word for the year and still no resolutions. Really missing the Christmas cheer right now. It's ok, we'll carry on. Evidently I felt this same way on this exact day last year.
On Tuesday I mentioned that I didn't pick a resolution and I didn't pick a word for the year because I had never been successful. Well I guess that was wrong because we did hit our word pretty hard last year. Now I guilty and lazy for not picking a word for this year. But I just can't think of one. Part of me is excited for 2016 and new adventures and the other part of me is just so tired already. So tired. And it's not like my life is particularly hard or stressful and yet I'm tired. Who wants to join my petition for changing the New Year to the summer when life is good and there is motivation to share?
There are a lot of things I want to figure out this year. Things in our relationship, things for our future, security for our church, and mostly figuring out how to be confident in who I am and secure in God's will for us. I struggle really hard with insecurity. My brain is a constant internal dialogue of judgement. I feel ugly on the inside and the outside. I feel like we are failing miserably at a lot of things and the sense that we are always running uphill with things at church.
Don't get me wrong, I know life is good. We have an amazing family network, both Dan's side and mine. We have strong friendships and support from the people around us. We truly have all our needs met. We are comfortable and blessed. We are secure in Christ's love and we have hope. But the world feels dark. My heart feels dark with envy and anger. I need to have control over everything and I am constantly getting in the way of God. It's a very discontented place. I have enough energy to wallow about it but not enough energy to do anything about it, and that just makes me more angry with myself.
So yeah, no word for the year and still no resolutions. Really missing the Christmas cheer right now. It's ok, we'll carry on. Evidently I felt this same way on this exact day last year.
January 5, 2016
Show and Tell Tuesdays: 2016 Re-Introduction
I'm planning on joining Andrea again for her fun Show and Tell Tuesdays link-up. I won't be able to participate in all of them this year since some are meant for moms and, well, sadly I have no babies. But, I'll join when I can!
Today's prompt is to reintroduce yourself and share any New Years resolutions.
Well, my name is Stephanie and I would describe myself as plain, practical, and perfectionist. Here is my life in a nutshell: I grew-up in Denver Colorado with my identical twin sister, Mandy, and my older sister Jessy.
I went to Cornell College in Mount Vernon Iowa and majored in History and minored in Studio Art (for fun).
I graduated into the economic dumps of 2009 so I decided to head to graduate school at NYU and "study" Archives and Public History. I moved to Bay Ridge Brooklyn the same year I started grad school. I graduated in 2011 and started working at the 9/11 Museum that same spring. I've been working at the museum ever since.
In 2010 I found a local church in my neighborhood and fell for the sweet blonde youth pastor named Dan. He remained clueless of my affection for two years while we grew closer as friends. In 2012 he finally asked me out and then a whole snowball of events and nearly two years later we were married in August 2014.
Now we are just growing as a married couple and planning our future together while documenting our adventures here on the blog (now over two years old!)
I love to craft, I like to cook, and my favorite genre of books and movies is crime/thriller. I am passionate about a clean house and sentimental about the small things in life (like napkin notes). I love history and I pride myself on my organizational skills. Also, I tap dance on the side.
So that's me! I think you have everything you need to steal my identity. As for resolutions, I don't have any. I used to be big with resolutions and then there was a stretch of years where I did that "pick a word for the year" thing. After three years of picking the word "SAVOR" and never quiet having it work out, I decided to give up. Resolutions are hard and rarely successful. You come off this holiday high into the bitter cold doldrums of winter and the every day pressures are enough so why create more? So at the mark of a new year I just try to be a little more motivated in general and expect it to last no more than 2.5 weeks. But I wish you the best of luck with your resolutions!
I'm looking forward to another year of Show and Tell Tuesdays. Thanks for stopping-by.
Read all of the 2015 Show and Tell Tuesday posts here.
Today's prompt is to reintroduce yourself and share any New Years resolutions.
Well, my name is Stephanie and I would describe myself as plain, practical, and perfectionist. Here is my life in a nutshell: I grew-up in Denver Colorado with my identical twin sister, Mandy, and my older sister Jessy.
I went to Cornell College in Mount Vernon Iowa and majored in History and minored in Studio Art (for fun).
I graduated into the economic dumps of 2009 so I decided to head to graduate school at NYU and "study" Archives and Public History. I moved to Bay Ridge Brooklyn the same year I started grad school. I graduated in 2011 and started working at the 9/11 Museum that same spring. I've been working at the museum ever since.
In 2010 I found a local church in my neighborhood and fell for the sweet blonde youth pastor named Dan. He remained clueless of my affection for two years while we grew closer as friends. In 2012 he finally asked me out and then a whole snowball of events and nearly two years later we were married in August 2014.
Now we are just growing as a married couple and planning our future together while documenting our adventures here on the blog (now over two years old!)
I love to craft, I like to cook, and my favorite genre of books and movies is crime/thriller. I am passionate about a clean house and sentimental about the small things in life (like napkin notes). I love history and I pride myself on my organizational skills. Also, I tap dance on the side.
So that's me! I think you have everything you need to steal my identity. As for resolutions, I don't have any. I used to be big with resolutions and then there was a stretch of years where I did that "pick a word for the year" thing. After three years of picking the word "SAVOR" and never quiet having it work out, I decided to give up. Resolutions are hard and rarely successful. You come off this holiday high into the bitter cold doldrums of winter and the every day pressures are enough so why create more? So at the mark of a new year I just try to be a little more motivated in general and expect it to last no more than 2.5 weeks. But I wish you the best of luck with your resolutions!
I'm looking forward to another year of Show and Tell Tuesdays. Thanks for stopping-by.
Read all of the 2015 Show and Tell Tuesday posts here.
January 4, 2016
Weekending it
Happy 2016 everyone!!! It's a brisk 30 degrees here. The subways are packed and everyone has returned to the office making it loud and giving it a decidedly un-holiday vibe. Well, back to real life.
Dan and I totally soaked-up the long weekend and checked a ton of things off of our winter bucket list.
On New Years eve we both got off of work early and packed-up the Christmas decor, tidied the apartment, and did all of our first of the month chores. I got our traditional goofy glasses at the dollar store and we headed to a friend's house for a New Years celebration.
We played some old-school games we had never heard of before...Rack-o and Pente and then learned how to make those giant three dimensional snowflakes. At midnight we went outside and blew horns and pulled party poppers.
We were back home and headed to bed not 10 minutes later.
On New Years Day we slept-in and then met friends for diner brunch which was sociable and fun! Maybe we can make that a tradition? That afternoon Dan and I went to see the new Star Wars movie. Dan really enjoyed it and I thought it was a fine movie but I'll admit I just don't "get" the hype. But overall we were entertained.
After the movie we walked through Prospect Park at dusk. It was so pretty! The destination was the ice skating rink which neither of us had been to before.
We waited in an excruciatingly slow line for 40 minutes to get our tickets. Now, our only other city skating experience has been at Bryant Park where there is literally only one way to enter the rink. You have to sign a waiver (even if you have your own skates) and each person gets a wrist band so there is no way to skate without one. Well at the Prospect Park rink we waited in line because we assumed that was the only way to get in and because we knew there was a general admission fee even if you bring your own skates. After we purchased tickets and walked inside we realized there were about four different ways of by-passing the line, getting inside and onto the rink, and no one checking nor any way to check that you paid to skate. This annoyed us since we waited so long and paid but I guess we did the right thing and followed the rules. So we laced-up and skated off.
There are actually two rinks so there was plenty of room which was nice and spread out the crowd. However, the "skate guards" were worthless and monitored nothing including teenagers cutting people off, people skating in the wrong direction, and little kids intentionally wiping out to slide on the ice and cut people off. This highlighted the fact that the facility didn't require you to sign a liability form. Even though I am a fairly confident skater I was feeling really anxious because of all the chaos with other skaters.
We powered through and mostly enjoyed the hour that we skated but I am still bitter about how long we waited and how terribly mismanaged the facility was. Maybe it was because it was a holiday?
Anyways, we wandered out of the park and found a cute Mexican restaurant for dinner where we sat by the fireplace and enjoyed some super cheap and super yummy food.
On Saturday we slept-in again and stayed in our jim-jams until well after noon. We did exclusively one thing the entire day. Puzzle.
You know how when you go to an amusement park all day and that night in bed you still feel like you're on a roller coaster or teacups? Well, that happened to me on Saturday night. I saw puzzle pieces when I closed my eyes and the song "Smelly Cat" was stuck in my head.
On Sunday we had the the day off from church responsibilities! Dan managed to find gracious people to cover all of our tasks so that we could have a holiday. It is rare and a real treat. We slept-in and then went to the pottery shop to paint!
We were fortunate to be the only ones in the store for the majority of our painting. It was so peaceful and quiet. Can't wait to pick-up the final products next week!
Then we shared a pizza a Peppino's and did our shopping chores for the week.
It was a very long and very relaxing holiday weekend. We spent lots of great quality time together and already have some great memories stored in this new year.
Stop by tomorrow for the first Show and Tell Tuesday of 2016!
Dan and I totally soaked-up the long weekend and checked a ton of things off of our winter bucket list.
On New Years eve we both got off of work early and packed-up the Christmas decor, tidied the apartment, and did all of our first of the month chores. I got our traditional goofy glasses at the dollar store and we headed to a friend's house for a New Years celebration.
We played some old-school games we had never heard of before...Rack-o and Pente and then learned how to make those giant three dimensional snowflakes. At midnight we went outside and blew horns and pulled party poppers.
We were back home and headed to bed not 10 minutes later.
On New Years Day we slept-in and then met friends for diner brunch which was sociable and fun! Maybe we can make that a tradition? That afternoon Dan and I went to see the new Star Wars movie. Dan really enjoyed it and I thought it was a fine movie but I'll admit I just don't "get" the hype. But overall we were entertained.
We waited in an excruciatingly slow line for 40 minutes to get our tickets. Now, our only other city skating experience has been at Bryant Park where there is literally only one way to enter the rink. You have to sign a waiver (even if you have your own skates) and each person gets a wrist band so there is no way to skate without one. Well at the Prospect Park rink we waited in line because we assumed that was the only way to get in and because we knew there was a general admission fee even if you bring your own skates. After we purchased tickets and walked inside we realized there were about four different ways of by-passing the line, getting inside and onto the rink, and no one checking nor any way to check that you paid to skate. This annoyed us since we waited so long and paid but I guess we did the right thing and followed the rules. So we laced-up and skated off.
There are actually two rinks so there was plenty of room which was nice and spread out the crowd. However, the "skate guards" were worthless and monitored nothing including teenagers cutting people off, people skating in the wrong direction, and little kids intentionally wiping out to slide on the ice and cut people off. This highlighted the fact that the facility didn't require you to sign a liability form. Even though I am a fairly confident skater I was feeling really anxious because of all the chaos with other skaters.
We powered through and mostly enjoyed the hour that we skated but I am still bitter about how long we waited and how terribly mismanaged the facility was. Maybe it was because it was a holiday?
Anyways, we wandered out of the park and found a cute Mexican restaurant for dinner where we sat by the fireplace and enjoyed some super cheap and super yummy food.
On Saturday we slept-in again and stayed in our jim-jams until well after noon. We did exclusively one thing the entire day. Puzzle.
All day long we puzzled away until we finished. We had episodes of Friends playing continuously and must have gone through at least 25 episodes. Around 5 pm we finished the puzzle and did the laundry but otherwise it was a full day lost to a puzzle.
You know how when you go to an amusement park all day and that night in bed you still feel like you're on a roller coaster or teacups? Well, that happened to me on Saturday night. I saw puzzle pieces when I closed my eyes and the song "Smelly Cat" was stuck in my head.
On Sunday we had the the day off from church responsibilities! Dan managed to find gracious people to cover all of our tasks so that we could have a holiday. It is rare and a real treat. We slept-in and then went to the pottery shop to paint!
We were fortunate to be the only ones in the store for the majority of our painting. It was so peaceful and quiet. Can't wait to pick-up the final products next week!
Then we shared a pizza a Peppino's and did our shopping chores for the week.
It was a very long and very relaxing holiday weekend. We spent lots of great quality time together and already have some great memories stored in this new year.
Stop by tomorrow for the first Show and Tell Tuesday of 2016!
January 3, 2016
January 1, 2016
That one time I went to Times Square on New Years Eve
Dan here...So Steph wanted me to share about the one time I went to the New Years Eve in Times Square.
In 2010 my brother, Sam, came to Brooklyn for Christmas and stayed through New Years (2011). He wanted to do New Years at Times Square. I had never done it before and we decided we would go all in.
I had spoken with several people and all of them said you have to get there early so we took the train from Bay Ridge to Times Square and arrived around 1pm in the afternoon that day.
Something you might not know from watching the celebration on TV is that you can't stand where you want. The NYPD sets out metal gates to make into pens and check everyone that goes into the pen for security. We ended up making it into a pen around 2pm right by the Toys R Us store and one block from where the ball drops.
Once you are in your pen you can't leave, they won't let you back in. You can't leave to go get food, you can't leave to got to the bathroom. Nothing, you're stuck. A Domino's pizza guy did walk the crowd around 8pm offering a small pizza for $20. Delivery at a premium.
We had to wait in the pen until 7pm or 8pm when the festivities really started and singers got on the stages. We had nothing to occupy the time before then so if you ever go make sure you bring a DVD player or something. Sam had a great idea to have other people in the pen with us sign an "I [heart] NY" t-shirt. He brought a sharpie marker and people signed their name and where they were from. We met people from Florida, California, China, Iran, Peru and many others.
Later in the evening someone came around and passed out the foam hats and the inflatable stick things you see people with on TV. When the ball dropped it looked really tiny from the ground and all the confetti just appeared. It was SO LOUD when the countdown started and afterwards people were all hugging and kissing.
It was a once in a lifetime experience and very exciting to be right in the center of such a well-known event. We had a good time but it was extremely uncomfortable standing on asphalt for 10 plus hours and not being able to move around much or leave.
It was a fun way to ring in 2011.
And now it's 2016!! Wow! So if you ever come to New York for New Years Eve, make sure you know what you getting yourself into! It's a memory making occasion for sure.
In 2010 my brother, Sam, came to Brooklyn for Christmas and stayed through New Years (2011). He wanted to do New Years at Times Square. I had never done it before and we decided we would go all in.
I had spoken with several people and all of them said you have to get there early so we took the train from Bay Ridge to Times Square and arrived around 1pm in the afternoon that day.
Something you might not know from watching the celebration on TV is that you can't stand where you want. The NYPD sets out metal gates to make into pens and check everyone that goes into the pen for security. We ended up making it into a pen around 2pm right by the Toys R Us store and one block from where the ball drops.
Once you are in your pen you can't leave, they won't let you back in. You can't leave to go get food, you can't leave to got to the bathroom. Nothing, you're stuck. A Domino's pizza guy did walk the crowd around 8pm offering a small pizza for $20. Delivery at a premium.
We had to wait in the pen until 7pm or 8pm when the festivities really started and singers got on the stages. We had nothing to occupy the time before then so if you ever go make sure you bring a DVD player or something. Sam had a great idea to have other people in the pen with us sign an "I [heart] NY" t-shirt. He brought a sharpie marker and people signed their name and where they were from. We met people from Florida, California, China, Iran, Peru and many others.
It was a once in a lifetime experience and very exciting to be right in the center of such a well-known event. We had a good time but it was extremely uncomfortable standing on asphalt for 10 plus hours and not being able to move around much or leave.
It was a fun way to ring in 2011.
And now it's 2016!! Wow! So if you ever come to New York for New Years Eve, make sure you know what you getting yourself into! It's a memory making occasion for sure.
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| Sam on the left and Dan on the right |
