First of December

Christmas in New York has such a festive and fun atmosphere, lights, Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, Ice skating at Bryant Park, and the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping to the holiday tunes. I've recently returned home from Utah for Thanksgiving- It was fun reuniting with family, hugging my adorable nieces and newphews, going to a Jazz game and catching up with my good and old friends in Utah. However I am back and grateful for it, and exciting to participate in upcoming festivities such as "Rockette Christmas specatular" "Nut cracker" and other Christmas parties.

Don't worry it's only been two weeks since I've updated my blog...

So I update my blog, yet never get a sense that people actually look at it, so then I am not as eager to update it as frequently. However I do get comments like you need to update your blog so here is my update:

Nov.3-5; It was NYC marathon weekend so my mom, sister and her friend came into town, to not run the marathon but to watch the olympic trial for a fellow Laverkinite was participating in it. We had so much fun went to "How the Gringe Stole Christmas" and "Wicked".

Happenstance that same weekend my friend Amy was in town with three of her friends, because she did run the NYC marathon, needless to say it was a busy weekend:)

Then the next week on Nov. 8, my friend Sherri connected me with a guy in an upcoming movie called "Stalking Santa" it was previewing in NYC and offered to give tickets away, so my friends and all went to the Preview and got a picture with him.

Then this last weekend last minute I ended up going to Cleveland to visit my sister, my mom and my aunt. We went to Kirtland and toured the Johnson Farm, and helped my sister decorate her house-

Happy Halloween!

Well here it is folks, the moment you've been waiting for to see me all dressed up for Halloween, seriously how old are we now, but I swear it gets more fun the older you get. My friends and I went to the stake halloween dance this last Saturday night, and if I must say it was one of the most fun halloween dances I have ever been. Such a great turn out and most everyone dressed up in some killer costumes, our fellow co-inhabitants of 45 Wall one the best costume contest with all four guys dressed up in their ghostbusters suits plus our friend Libby dressed as the funny secertary. It was purely a riot and so much fun getting ready for it. I hope you all have a great Halloween and can anyone guess what I am suppose to be...it's suppose to be a fashion era big in the sixty's, hint, hint.
P.S. Those hot guys are the famous models Hansel and Dereck Zoolander- wow!

Livin it up!

When I first arrived to New York, still trying to recover from being shell shock to this new life I had started for myself. My friend Amy texted me to see how I was doing, I texted back I think complaining, she then said "Live it up". (Almost as profound as when my mom said, "You need to step it up" when I only ran the 5 mile race and not the 13 miler) Anyways, this last week has been crazy busy with school work, field placement drama and then just trying to stay sane. So I have decided to embrace whatever opportunity comes my way, that will enhance and enrich my experience. So here I am, my friend Hiedi and I have become groupies of a local band called Jeff Jacobson, look him up and you will too become a fan. So we invited some other friends to join us for the local concert in a little lounge bar in the East Village. Then there is a picture of my girlfriends from social work and my friend Sarah's (one on the left) open house party, we made out 2009 with our hands, the year of graduation. Then last and not least a picture of two of my favorite people, Brenda and Heidi after going to our Institute class. The quaility of life is the people in your life and the activities you share with them, that is in my opinion:)

Boston Singles Conference

So some girls in my ward invited me to a singles conference in Boston, where Elder Holland was going to speak three times. Being the opportunist that I am, I took there offer and we headed out Friday afternoon, and took the infamous China town bus, don't worry about it six hours later, due to a crash and rush hour traffic. It was a bit cold, but really spiritually uplifting, I learned a lot and meet some cool people. The best was the "black and white" ball I attended in my pants- yet was glad to meet some very handsome and "sharp" cadets from West Point.

My NY Nightlife...aka "Eating out"

So people would ask in general what do you do for fun? Well, in New York there are many attractions, shows, museums, shopping etc. However what my friends and I tend to do the most is eat out- that is because it's a basic need right? So we can justify spending money on it, it's social and even though it is very expensive to eat in NY (ya don't worry about it, it cost $6 for a small frozen yogurt- you are not only paying for the great food, but the experience and ompionce (sp?). So what better way to explore and experience New York with it's great fine dinning, my personal favorites are the random little holes in the walls you find either by accident or by a reccommendation of a friend. One of the picture is of my friends from Social Work, Kimi D and i at the Cube, going out for sushi in the Lower East side- close to my work. Then there are the girls I love to hang out with (those who i go to Institute with), went out for some delicious Thai food in mid-town. Then the other picture is of my roommate, Brenda, Kimi D and I at the infamous Serendipity which let's be honest isn't the best food, but fanatastic frozen hot choculate, almost worth the $8 dollar price. Then the other picture with me and the good looking guy is of my favorite cousin Tyler who cam out for a quick visit and we got some brunch at Max Brenner, "Chocoulate made by the bald man" (it actually happened to be there when we were, don't know if that really counts as a celebrity sighting, but we'll pretend:) So one of the great highlights is the amazing food and atmosphere that New York has to offer and I take full advantage of that- no more going out to Chile's, however I won't lie I do miss Cafe Rio every once in awhile.

New York University

Who lied about grad school? Seriously, remember how I have serious ADD and can't stay longer in a place than a week without wanting to leave and explore, let alone surrend my life to the NYU Bobst Library. Let's just say it's been a bit of an adjustment. With talking four classes plus a 21 hour field placement, commuting to and fro, keeping up with the demands of New York life at the end of the day I am just plumb out T-I-R-E-D. New York definantly has it's challenges but it's highlights as well. I really am liking the people I work with (LoMA- lower manhattan arts academy), and really liking the friends I am making at School, it's hard to not find nice people in the field of Social Work.

The simple life of Kimi D and Lyndee in New York!!

This is a quick view of Kimi's visit to New York, she came with no agenda or check off list, which is very non-traditional of her. Her motto is wherever the wind blew, she went. Well the stars were aligned for her because we created a To do and see list as we went, we couldn't have planned a better experience. Just to name a few- we saw Xanado ("We believe we are magic"), Spamalot, we got backstage NFL passes last minute to see her brother play (dolphins) versus the NY JETS, we went to Serendipity, Rockerfeller Center, Mets game, Queens, New Jersey, Brooklyn etc. It was a real treat to have her, how I am going to miss my little NY buddie aka BFF

New York life!

So, after I made my first inital post on my blog, I got some comments about not having pictures, I simply say, one step at a time. So here is my next step, I hope it protrays and shows truly how happy I am here and how much fun I have been having. School has stared full blown, I have met some amazing and very different people, one girl is straight from China and told our class the whole reason she is here is because she watched" Sex in the City", which I think is purely funny and very misleading about our American culture. Since grad school is a bit more intense and serious than undergrad, I have been strifing to step up to the plate and take on the hundreds of readings each week, so I have spent many hours at the NYU library, however I think I might try out the Medical or Law library, there seems to be more options:) I also have been trying to adapt to the New York culture by particpating in Yoga classes, which at the end I had to "give off love to all of those who I shared that space with during the class," they are so weird.... I also had my very first Celebrity siting, you guessed it the very fine stars of Scooby Doo and Home Alone were haning out together... Malcuki Culkin (sp?), Freddy Prince Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar. My roommates and friends thought we were pretty cool and have more faith in the "Secret" since just hours before we literally wrote out a list of all the things we want to do in the city and one of them was Celebrity Sitings, "if you build it he will come".

Another great highlight about New York, is my roommate Courtnie and I discussed getting lottery discounted Broadway tickets, we then found the night before Phantom tickets for only $25, so we jumped on it and went the very next night. I love the sponentanity and excitement this city brings to my new fun life:) Then I've been privledged to have my very close and dear friend Kimi D, to come out and visit me. We've been busy going and doing, but simply enjoying the experience as we go, to name a couple of things, we had a delicious chocolate breakfast at Max Brenner, listened to a hip hopper's "newly released" cd in Washington Square, walked through Greenwhich Village to eat a cupcakes at the famous Magnolia's bakery, then got discounted Tickets to see "Xanadu" which was hilarious with some great Oliva Newton-John songs ("We Believe we are magic") We then went to Brooklyn to visit a good friend of hers and actually went to the Orthodox Jewsih community right after their Sabbath was done, wearing their tradtional sabath attire. We then went to the Trinity Church's Mass early this morning ( the church just up my street and where the ''National Treasure" was filmned in NY) it was very interesting and different however the organ music in that beautiful church was AMAZING! Went to church, and am getting ready to go to a Relief Society Dessert night then meet up with some people in my building for rootbeer floats- Life is good and things are well- look forward to seeing some of you out here to share the great things that New York has to offer:)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

I have arrived! Just want to give a shout out and let you all know I have made it save and sound into the great New York City, no I haven't been mugged, or seen any drive by shootings, but I will tell you my life has been very exciting, no need to watch TV or Movies, just walk around the streets and you will meet some very memorable and entertaining characters. I have a beautiful aparment, live right on Wall street, don't worry about it, the Stock Exchange is literally just a couple of buildings down. It is a only a walking street, which is nice and quiet, very beautiful. I feel very safe, there are many security guards who work late to stand by guard, which is a good thing, but if there was anywhere to bomb NY, I'm afraid it would be here. So it's always a doubled edge sword. No worries, I am also near by an Ann Taylor and the number one New York city discounted store, Century 21, so see you later TJ Maxx and Ross, I'm moving to the big leagues. I really do have an ideal location. I am near many subways, right across the street to a Duane and Reed for my conveniences and don't worry about Tiffany and Co. is getting built right next door, so by then I could find me a hunk at wall street and find the stone for me:) IN MY DREAMS!!

My apartment is very nice, my room is a lot bigger than I had anticipated, I actually am getting a full size bed, yeah! And the cloest is great for all the many clothing articles I own. I have five great roommates, all good, sweet and down to earth girls. One of them is from a rural farm in Oregon, she used to make all of her clothes and her favorite hobbie is cooking, so she cooks wonderful meals for us all the time, yeah, what a great roommate and there goes my wieght lost program. However in the midst of all this change I have stayed committed to my sugar fast and not cheated, however today is Sunday and will most likely cheat, because the cupcakes on the counter are calling out my name......

As for school, this is where I truly feel myself coming alive, the program is very enthusiast and inviting. I was very intimidated, feeling that people would be snobby and arogant, however, quite the opposite. It really promotes that the program is about human service and making a difference. It really is perfect for me and ignites my passion for the human services. I have been assigned to work in the Lower Manhattan Arts Academy, met with the Principal and school counselor, it is going to be a riot. The most entertaing staff meeting i've been too. It is the epitome of the inner city schools, with breeding caios, experiential learning and building rapport with the staff and students. This really is my time to grow and learn, which at times is hard and awkward, but very worthwhile. It's definantly going to be an experience. I just want to say thanks to all of my good, and dear friends for looking out for me and asking how i've been doing. Even though I've been busy and seem to keep my answers short, it really made a difference and made me feel loved. It's the only thing I am missing is having my good friends to join me on this new adventure in my life. I hope you will all continue to keep in touch with me and let me know how you are all doing..

Much love,

Lyndee