Date Night

Friday nights are date night. We're our on our way to getting into the routine of going to dinner and then hanging out. Boring. So on Friday Newel asked me on a date. He planned everything, I just got myself ready and hopped in the car! Off we went to downtown Salt Lake City for a night on the town. We went to dinner at The Garden. I had never been before so it was a lot of fun! You could look out and see the temple. It really does look like a castle! After dinner we went to the Church History Museum. They were having an art competition so we walked around and looked at the art. I wish I could be an amazing artist! (Left) Reminded me of Grandma Oka's quilt, except it was a painting. (Right) was a quilt! Can you believe that, we had to take a picture for Grandma Cusick!

 We walked around the rest of the museum and looked at the exhibits they always have up, but there was so much we'll definitely have to go back! It was a lot of fun I can't believe I have lived in Utah my whole life and I've never been there before! On our way out we walked through the temple grounds. We spent the night holding hands, joking about it being our first date, and having lots of fun.

Last.

Lots of lasts this week. Last weekend, last weekend in NYC and I had my last week of school! well at least for a week and then I'm back! It was so great to have that done, I came home from my test, turned on Friends and ate some frosting. Sounds gross I know, but I just needed to do something out of control after my test.

After the long awaited weekend we made our way to New York. A nice guy from the ward drove us down because it was ward temple night so we did a session. It was quite an interesting session to say the least. To sum it all up we got there at 6:45 PM to do the 7:15 session. We didn't get out of there until 10:30 PM. About 4 hours at the temple! It did make me realize how important volunteering to temple work can be, with all the other mishaps not having very many temple workers also contributed to the long session. Maybe when I get some time I'll volunteer in the temple! We hadn't eaten dinner yet because we wanted to wait to go in NYC so we were starving when we got out of there! We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and made our way to the pier by our hotel. We stopped at a seafood restaurant with $40 plates! So we got the cheap hamburgers, not very good. First time we were disappointed. We were also right by a party! The restaurant had a open bar so they were bumpin' the beats and lots of people were partying it up. Dinner at 12:30 AM is not something I think we'll do again.

Our hotel was pretty nice! We slept in, ate breakfast and made our way out to go shopping. We were 10 minutes away from the Seaport Pier where they had lots of shopping, museums, and restaurants. So we went to Superdry! Newel was so excited. We also went to a cute little printing shop where the man there prints his own cards and sells a lot of other cute things. We bought a fun calender I can frame and a magnet. It was fun being there it was a completely different part of New York, not like anywhere else. As we walked to Wall Street we passed by Oka Sushi! I felt obligated to eat there but seeing as it was 11:00 and we had eaten less then 2 hours ago we didn't. Wall street was pretty cool. Lots of cops with big guns. Made us want to go see Bateman again. Newel wanted to do some tours but all are advance tickets. So we made our way to China town. Newel did some bartering and got me a fake watch and we got him a new sock tie since he lost the one from our wedding! After China town we went to time square. In all the weekends we had been to NYC we still hadn't seen Time Square! It of course was full of tourists but it was really cool. The huge screens are just unreal! We walked around the stores and wrote wishes to be dropped on new years. We met up with Katie and Kevin and went to dinner at this yummy Italian place. After dinner we walked along the Brooklyn Bridge. We called it a night pretty early but went out again after resting to get the best gelato in the whole world! Real expensive but real worth it! After watching the Olympics all morning we stopped and got more gelato the next day. We didn't do anything in NY on Sunday we just made our way home. Last time in grand central. It was crazy traveling on Sundays! We spent the rest of our Sunday sleeping, skyping, eating and watching TV. Definitely just rested. 

 CAN YOU FIND US!?

 HERE WE ARE

It was a really good last weekend! Can't believe I'm coming home on Saturday!

The People You Meet

So it's been quite some time now but it's a typical finals week in this apartment for the two of us. Newel is done and now a college grad! Caps off to him! I still have one final to take tomorrow and then I have a week break before I dive into it again! (We're watching diving right now so yes Camie I believe that is a pun!)

So some fun topics that have come up here in Connecticut. You meet some really nice/crazy people walking down the street, it's quite fun! I was walking down the street and this girl pointed me up and down and told me I look so cute today! SO NICE! Another lady wanted to sit and gawk at some police men arresting this lady at the mall with me. People here love them some arresting! Another man quickly stuck out his arm and said, "Beautiful Day!" A security guard clapped and said, "Beautiful smile!" After I responded to his question, "Hi how are you?" I talked to a women walking home from Target who, "broke my (her) foot in the middle of the night when it was dead silent and all of a sudden you heard a scream." My favorite occurrence was with Katie. After being whistled at for the 5 minutes it took us to cross the street we finally got away from a scary group of men hooting and hollering. Then seconds later down the street someone whistled again from their car and Katie says, "oh my gosh I just want to flip them off so bad!" It definitely keeps the walking interesting. In Newel's words he would say I've made a lot of best friends, because he thinks every time someone tells me how cute I am they become my best friend which is kind of true I guess.

The only interesting thing this week was lunch and antique shopping with Katie yesterday! They have a street about 10 minutes away with about 6 antique shops. The antique shops are crazy here! You could never actually buy anything, unless you want to fork out $300 for a throw pillow. But it was incredible, lots of rooms with huge, beautiful furniture. If I were rich I'd make a special trip here and buy everything to decorate my house! We also stopped and got donuts, they are huge here! There are dunkin doughnuts everywhere! As well as walked to a really pretty church.

Just a few more fun details. We had cleaners come and clean the apartment yesterday. It comes with living here. Let me tell you it was quite weird being on the other end of the cleaning. I felt like I should stay and clean with them! But it was so nice to have them come, now I understand why people just tell us over and over that they are so happy we are there! I went to lunch with Newel today. It's always fun to see him in the middle of the day when I usually don't get to! Then I thought, everyone should get the lucky opportunity to see Newel's badge. Newel is always so handsome and photogenic but this was taken quite off guard. My cute honey!

It's a New York weekend again! We're staying in the Hampton right next to Seaport and we're going to do a session tomorrow! It should be lots of fun!

Sunburns, Tired Legs, Sandy Beach. Priceless.

Yesterday was quite an adventure! We woke up and left for Greenwich. On the way there we decided to stop at the French Farmers Market in Stamford. Not what I was expecting. I thought they might have cute little spots with crafts and french pastries. Nope, only fruit and veggies. Which is great but like I said not what I was expecting. Then we made our way to the train stop. We got to Greenwich, hopped on our bikes and went on our search for the Goodwill. After about 45 minutes of bike ridding we figure out where it is! We ride up and it was not what we were expecting. When I say that I mean it was not a Goodwill store but a Goodwill donation center. Which again is great but not what we were expecting. At this point we were tired and just wanted to go to the beach. So we make our way there get to the front and they said, "you need tickets! You can't get them here but you can get them really close 15 minute car drive." Unfortunately we don't have a car. So my sweet honey let me rest and read my book and he headed out for an hour adventure to get us tickets. He finally gets back and the day at the beach goes perfect! It was a beautiful beach! Lot's of sand, water that isn't too cold, shade, and a yummy beach side restaurant. We got ourselves some lunch, swam, read, and took naps. It ended up being a great day!

Cute picture huh! We ended our day with dinner at a cute little diner with Katie and Kevin. Wasn't exactly what we were hoping for, at least in the shakes/malt area, but I'd probably go there again if we happen to be in the area.
Today church was great. It was testimony meeting of course. Being in a place like this makes you realize how lucky we are to have LDS members all around us in Utah. After church we've just been doing homework, watching the olympics, skyping/talking to family, decorating cookies, and watching the lightening storm on our porch!

Bikes

Spent the day in the house doing homework. I hate homework. Yes I realize hate is a strong word, that is what I was going for! I was so enthralled in homework I didn't even realize I hadn't brushed my teeth until 3 in the afternoon. Gross I know. But hey I got what I needed to done! Newel almost got hit by a car twice biking home from work today so it just wasn't our day! After Newel got off work we met up with Katie and Kevin. We went to Subway and then walked/rode our bikes to the beach. Or what we thought was the beach. Come to find out it was more of a fishing place, no sand just rocks. So we sat and ate our dinner and walked/rode our bikes home. Now let me explain this walked/rode our bikes. Newel and I had our bikes, but we wanted to walk with Katie and Kevin! Then we decided we'd pump. Katie and I jumped on the seats and Kevin and Newel pumped. Harder, much harder than it sounds! Then we switched to handle bars. This was much better for me but Katie and Kevin were having a hard time. It was a lot of fun! Made the walk home 10 times funner and 10 times longer. We stopped and got ice cream on the way home and came back and watched the Olympics. At 9 we called in a night! We're getting old.

Technology Deprived.

So after we got home from Palmyra we noticed in the middle of skyping my family that we left our computer charger in Palmyra! Darn it! Radio shack wants $100 for a new one so sweet Grandma Cusick expressed us one we left at home! This is my excuse for blogs being on hold as of lately.
So to update on the things we've been up to.
Monday.
For family night we read a talk, wrote postcards to family, and decorated sugar cookies while watching the Olympics. Here's a guessing game for the night, I'll tell you what the cookies are decorated as and you have to figure out what cookie it is! (some MUCH harder than others!) Diver, American Flag, Olympic Rings, British Flag, Speedo, GO USA, volleyball, swimmer, horse. We had a lot of fun doing this! More fun than I thought! We need to have family night more often!  

Tuesday.
We went to the library after dinner because we both had homework and couldn't wait for the charger. The public library here is an interesting place. I was sitting by a homely main rocking out to some Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston. Every once in a while I'd get a little taste of his soulful voice. It was awesome. After dumb homework time we went to the mall and walked around. I want to buy everything at J. Crew right now, what's new! Newel got some nice pants and I got a cute shirt!
Wednesday.
Katie and I just shopped the day away! This was not planned! The fastest way to get to the post office is through the mall. When the new season of clothes is out this is a bad idea! We also went to the goodwill. They have T.M. Lewin (dress shirts from London) Newel LOVES for only $10. People were getting crazy up in there though! Pushing to get to the aisles, waiting in line to buy an $8 item for a half hour, women behind you getting crazy and yelling about waiting in line, another women not settling for a $6 shirt, "no four!" "Okay so do you want it since it's $6" "no it's four!". After the boys got home from work we took the train to Greenwich, this really nice town about 15 min. away. We had dinner at a diner and walked around all the closed boutiques. Everything's real expensive there but it's a cute little town. I think we're going to go back when things are actually open!
Thursday.
We fed the missionaries tonight. Newel loves the missionaries, he loves his mission. It was good! One's from Reno, one's from Bountiful. Shoot out to Patti, Whoa Whoa. They left a nice message with us and were on their way. Then our friends came over and we watched the Olympics! 

Ready for the weekend! Can't believe Camie gets home Monday! I wish we were in Ghana with her! Jef and Emily are there, Mrs. and Mr. Bachelorette. Camie keep your eye out. Mom by saying that I know that I'm married to Newel and I know I'm not the Bachelorette, no more weird dreams!
 

Palmyra

So after picking up the rental car, getting all the addresses and loading up on road trip essentials we headed out to Palmyra. Driving here in the east is beautiful. Everything is so green here. The sunset was beautiful. I hate driving in the dark, because I am so afraid of the dark and apparently being in the car doesn't make it any better. We arrived at our hotel at 12:30 AM. Much too late for me and yet we stayed up for another hour watching TV/reading? Our car roared like a race car the whole time and our hotel is not the nicest but we were just glad to be here!

We woke up this morning to a down pour! Luckily it stopped by the time we were ready to head out. We ate breakfast at a cute little diner. Then we made our way to the Hill Cumorah visitor center. We saw costumes used in the pageant and watched videos talking about Joseph Smith. We then walked to the top of the hill. It was neat to think somewhere on this hill Joseph came and got the plates! There was a big monument of Moroni at the top.

Then we stopped at the temple. It was smaller then most but it was nice. It was interesting to me because every temple I have been too has been enclosed by gates. The temple here in Palmyra had a HUGE field behind it with lots of wild flowers, it was so pretty.

Our next stop was Joseph's family home, the frame house, and the sacred grove. We walked around with a tour and it was a great experience! The Smith family home was SO small for the 11 family members that lived there. It was hard to imagine we were standing in the place where Moroni came to visit Joseph! It just seems so unreal! An interesting thing I hadn't thought about was that Joseph shared a room with all his brothers, and they were all in the room when Moroni came to visit Joseph they just slept right through it! The frame home where they moved to was much more fitting for the large family. This is one of the many places Joseph hid the plates. Sensing a mob was coming he took out the bricks in front of the fire place, buried the plates, and replaced the bricks. A really cool thing they did was when someone died they planted a tree for that person. Alvin's tree is still growing strong. This type of tree is said to live for 80-100 years. Alvin's tree is working on about 200! The sacred grove was nice. They have lots of paths and benches to just sit and think. Newel said something in the grove that I really liked it went something along these lines, "It's not like this is the most beautiful place in the world and it's not like we worship this place like other religions worship places. Our father in heaven and savior just needed to visit Joseph so they came. We don't have to be in these really special places Heavenly Father can visit or speak to us wherever he needs to." It started pouring rain right as we were leaving.

 We then stopped at the Book of Mormon Publication site. This was a really neat place, they did a lot of really cool things to the building. They bought for little shops right next to the original shop so they could leave the original and build things around it. They had the shop where you could buy books. Then we went up to the top floor where we saw where the magic happened. It gives me a whole new appreciation for older books. They were made so carefully and so much time went into them! On the 2nd floor they showed us how they put the pages together, bond the books, and customized them, because every book was different. An interesting fact we learned today. For every page they had to find the steel letters and put them together into words. If you pay attention to the picture beneath there are rows of cases with an upper and lower section. The upper section holds upper case letters the lower section holds the lower case letters. That's where their names come from! They also had a gallery of original paintings we see all the time! It's amazing how beautiful the originals are.

After stopping at these sites we stopped for lunch at a hole in the wall place Katie and Kevin told us about called Chill and Grill. I was in shock to see the size of the ice cream people were walking out of there with! A medium cone, at least a foot high of ice cream. We then stopped at some antique shops, walked around main street, and went to the marina where we sat by the Erie Canal. Something really interesting to see was when you drive up to an intersection of main street on each corner you see these towering steeples of 4 different churches. A picture just couldn't do the scene justice, so we took a video, which still doesn't do it justice!

Our last stop was the Martin Harris home/farm. They don't have tours or anything like that and the original house is not there because it burned down. But the house was still really neat it was made of rocks so the outside looked so unique, nothing like I had ever seen before. Some of the missionaries live there right now.

 As we were going home we decided to stop at a cemetery on a large hill. We walked up and there were two visible headstones. The rest had been broken, moved, faded. You could tell it used to be a cemetery but very old. As we were walking around looking at the ones covered with moss we decided to go look at this one in the corner that was still standing. To our surprise it was Alvin Smith, Joseph's eldest brother! The head stone was new but when we walked around the back Alvin's old headstone had been put in this new head stone. Coolest headstone we had seen and we had no idea it was there!























Tonight we're going to go to the movies, hang out, and watch the Olympics. So far it has been a successful weekend.