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8.31.2010

I quit.

So, yesterday, I quit my job.  Crazy?  Maybe.

I guess this is as good a time as any to announce…drum roll please…Ryan and I have decided to move to New Zealand and be missionaries. 

Wow.

It feels just about as scary as it sounds.  We’ve known for a few months now, but the timing is starting to become more clear and it was time to walk away from my job. 

Today is actually Ryan’s last day of work.  It’s a big day!  We’re excited, but scared.  I’m so thankful for all of you that have showered us with support and encouragement.  There are days when I wonder why in the world we are doing this, but you all remind us why and that Jesus is worth it all.

More posts to come now that the cat is out of the bag!  I’m excited to share this journey with you :)

8.24.2010

the State Fair

Corn dog anyone?  Ryan and I made a quick stop by the State Fair Saturday night to take a little break from packing.  And to grab some snacks :)

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Oh and why not have a huge statue of the American Gothic painting?

8.21.2010

New York – day 4

Our final day!  We only had a few hours before we flew out so Ryan and I decided to find a place near and dear to our hearts.  The apartment from FRIENDS!  Its located in Greenwich Village, in a very quiet little neighborhood, at 90 Bedford Street.

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And our last view of Times Square!  So long New York!

8.20.2010

New York – day 3

On Saturday morning, after checking out the FOX News weekend show (and being on tv with the weatherman if anyone was watching!), we went to Central Park and rented bikes.  This was probably my favorite part of the weekend! 

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I loved Central Park, and probably could have wondered around all day.  There were a ton of people out in the park on Saturday morning, and I was very impressed with how hilly it was!

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After Central Park, we hopped on the bus and headed to SoHo to do a little shopping.

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39214_10100134007654518_13713616_55197689_477932_n (Macys!)

That evening we went out for sushi, and to see a real Broadway show :).  We saw Memphis, and it was fantastic.  We all loved it.

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8.18.2010

New York – day 2

On our second day in New York, we woke up super early and headed to the Today show!  Trane was on that morning, and it was fun to see all of the anchors.  The Today show is filmed right next to Rockefeller Center (below):

38750_10100134005858118_13713616_55197564_245362_nAfterwards we decided to head to the next New York landmark, the Statue of Liberty!  We waited in line for a few hours and saw every inch of Battery Park in the process.  Once on the ferry, we hurried to the statue and to Ellis Island.

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Ellis Island was really neat.  There was a ton of info and we learned a lot.  Definitely a great spot to visit when you are in town!  I had no idea what immigrants went through to get here, and the hope they found in America.  Mostly likely, all of us have family which at some point made it though Ellis Island.

I mentioned we had to rush through the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island because we picked up free tickets to the Jimmy Fallon show.  It was our first at seeing a live filming of a tv show, and Jimmy didn’t disappoint.  We laughed very hard (even without being prompted with the APPLAUSE light).

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39212_10100134006706418_13713616_55197627_1218398_nAfterwards we enjoyed some delicious cupcakes from the famous Magnolia Bakery :)

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And the boys enjoyed them as well!

8.14.2010

New York City

Ryan and I had the pleasure of joining his family on vacation last weekend in New York City!  Both of us had never been before, and it was action packed.  After flying in Thursday morning, we started the day by checking out Times Square…

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And happened to find this guy! 

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We took a trip a few blocks south and found Wall St.  We did see a lot of people walking around in suits, it was weird to think people actually work on Wall St.

40292_10100133983757408_13713616_55196039_2970569_n (New York Stock Exchange)

And definitely had to find this little statue.  We learned that the bull statue doesn’t actually belong to the city of New York, and is technically still for sale if anyone is interested.

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We walked a few more blocks and saw Ground Zero.  I honestly can’t believe it’s been almost 9 years since Sept 11th.  A lot has changed in our world since then, and it’s hard to remember what it was like before we went through such strict airline security, and were required to have a passport, or the threat of terrorists was constantly in the news.  I can’t fully explain it but just being here was very moving.

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We walked a few more blocks (ok, I think we were up to walking about 20 miles at this point) to China Town and caught a glimpse of Little Italy.

After a little nap, and a delicious dinner, we were ready to head out and explore a little more.  But on the way we came across…Justin Timberlake!  Ok, you can’t really see him in my picture here, but I swear he is, and you can see some of the filming equipment.  Times Square was packed, at midnight, with everyone trying to catch a glimpse of Justin.  He was filming for a new movie or something, but still pretty exciting.

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Well, that was day 1, like I said, it was action packed, but I’ll be back with days 2, 3, and 4!

8.11.2010

Indians Game

One of our favorite summertime activities…

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Baseball!

8.04.2010

Canoeing

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This past weekend the girls went on a little canoeing adventure to kick off Angela’s bachelorette party.  I brought my spare waterproof disposable camera, and these are the pictures I ended up with!  A little grainy, but I think I kind of like it!

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Don’t they kind of look old?  Ha, this was the first time I’ve dropped off film in a very long time.  I even asked the lady at Meijer if they still did one hour photo (which they do).  It was a great day with the ladies!

8.02.2010

Froyo anyone?

So there is this new frozen yogurt place that just opened downtown and, lets just say, I’ve been a frequent customer.

CIMG0190 (with graham cracker crumbs, heath bar, and mini M&Ms)

The place is called Yogulatte, and it’s located on Mass Ave.  You fill your own ice cream cup with the amount you want and add your own toppings!  Oh, and the ice cream is pretty much fat free!  Anyway, if you’re close, check it out :)

In New York………..

Ryan and I are going to New York city here soon with Ryan’s fam and wanted to see if you guys had any “can’t miss” things we need to do.  We only have a few days, but don’t want to be kicking ourselves for missing something big!  Any thoughts??