New York Trip #2, and SNOW

Okay, finally posting about our second NYC trip, from January 7!  Looks like that New Year's resolution to be better about keeping up with my blog, isn't holding up so well.

Just two days after we got back from TX, we were on the road again for NYC.  We took the Amtrak down, a nice ride, and the Megabus back up (that was just $15 for the two of us!)

Soon after we arrived, we took the subway down to Wall Street for the "Financial Crisis Tour".  Brad had really been looking forward to this, and I'm glad we were able to go back before his classes started up again.  Our tour guide was excellent!

 Reaching for George Washington

 Museum of American Finance

 Yikes

On Saturday we went to the Top of the Rock.   We had tried to go on the previous NYC trip but there was "0% visibility"...luckily the weather was in our favor this time!

 Central Park

 Times Square ball from top of the rock

In the afternoon we went to the Museum of Math!  (super nerd) It was...kind of for kids, but I still enjoyed myself :)  

Fun with Fractals

Lovely way to round off our Christmastime break!  Since then it's been back to the grind...Brad has 4 classes and I'm keeping plenty busy with work.  We're looking forward to becoming 'official' members of our church...last weekend our life group had a get-together (I introduced them to my Chuy's jalapeno ranch dip and they were big fans!).  This morning we were supposed to attend a breakfast / information session on becoming a member and 'voting privileges', etc. but it was cancelled due to the snow.  We didn't find this out until after we had cleared all the snow off our cars, and driven to the church to find no one there!  I'm just saying, props to us Texans for getting out there and handling the snow.  No props for failing to check for a cancellation since many, many things are being cancelled this weekend :)

Here are some snow pictures for your entertainment!

 My car and Brad's truck on the right.  All the red on LuLu is covered!

 Large snow pile at the church

Gotta have a snow angel!  Neighbors probably think we're nuts...

Big Girl Job

Well today I started my big girl job...it was an orientation day, full of powerpoints and a long list of acronyms to learn...sounds like tomorrow I'll be given some projects!  I'm still pretty nervous about getting started and what expectations will be right off the bat, but it was good to get the first day behind me and start getting used to the company.  The people seem great to work with and I think it'll be a good work environment.

Here's my first day of work outfit:

So exciting...I woke Brad up just to take my picture, ha.

Also, funny story about our church visit yesterday: we visited a different place from last week, just seeing what's out there...this one was closer to home but we were still arriving right-on-time, maybe a minute late.  We walked up to the door and...it was locked!  We could see people in the church inside, but we pushed and tried the door and...nothing.  We wondered, would a church really lock people out for being late??  Seemed crazy, but we didn't know what else to do (no other entrances) so we headed for the car.  When we were almost to the car, we saw a guy park and start to walk in, so I asked him if the church was locked.  He said it shouldn't be, so we followed him to the door.  And...he pulled the door open, and voila.  Can't believe we both pushed and didn't think to try pulling it open!  Dummies.  So, we made it to church after all and were glad they didn't have a strict latecomers policy.

Also yesterday, we went back to our park that we found during the apartment-hunting trip.  We ventured into a new part of the running trail and found some beautiful scenery:



I could get used to this (especially this at temps in the 70s/80s and not in 100+ weather)



And finally, the conclusion to my pantry-closet adventure: it stands up, and it doesn't wobble!  We did end up having to lean it into the wall a bit so it doesn't tip forward, but overall I'd call it a success.  I used a drill for the first time!  Made Brad demonstrate it though, so I can't take full credit for the pantry.  Just most of the credit ;)

Tah-dah.





Somethin' Bout a Truck

Big news for today: Brad got a truck!  2005 F-150.  We've been sharing a vehicle for over a year so I'm really excited for him to have this.  We also found out it's already equipped with remote start...we paid to get remote start in LuLu before we left Texas, knowing we won't have a garage right away and wanting something for those cooold mornings ahead!  So it was a pleasant surprise to have that in this truck.  I just asked Brad if he will name the truck....he declines ;)

 NY license plate...weeeeird.

He was 'done' with pictures after the first one, but I snapped this too!

A couple other things not nearly as important and awesome:

This squirrel came up on our balcony yesterday and was just chillin on the rail, I got really excited for some reason.  I was talking to Brad and looked outside and said "whaaaat?"  then immediately took some pictures.  Kind of like that dog in the movie UP..."Squirrel!!"

Sunbathing...or plotting devious things 

Brad went out there to snap this pic:

...and then he scampered away (the squirrel, not Brad).  Hopefully our squirrel friend will return.  (Is this a sign that we need some human friends here in NY?)

And also, I started a building project tonight.  That was probably a mistake.  Brad and I attempted to build an etagerie (cabinet that stands over the toilet) for one of my Waco apartments...it mostly stood up on its own, as long as you didn't breathe too heavily on it...anyway, I don't think I've attempted many building projects after that but we really need a place to hold our food (wedding-gift kitchen gadgets have taken over every cupboard).  The one Albany Craigslist pre-assembled pantry closet was taken by the time I called...so we bought a some-assembly-required pantry closet from Target.

"some" assembly. 

Brad's been working on commissions this evening, and this pantry closet has been yearning to be built for a couple days, so I took it on tonight.  The first step is to "familiarize yourself with the parts".  Overwhelming already.

But somehow, after about an hour of wrestling with screws and giving myself blisters, I have a backless pantry:

The remaining steps involve hammering...and since it's almost 11:00, I'll save that for tomorrow.  I met our downstairs neighbor yesterday on a trip from the laundry room, and she seems very nice!  So I think about her when I think about those loud hammering noises, and I'd like to start off on the right foot with the neighbors :)

The big test will be standing this thing up...that's when I'll know if it wobbles like the ol' etagerie, or if it is a building project Win for Stephanie.  Stay tuned for the riveting conclusion to this adventure.





We're Here!

Well, we've made it to our new apartment in New York!  We arrived last Thursday and we've just been getting settled in.  Boxes are mostly unpacked...still have a ways to go with the organizing/decorating but I'm happy with our progress for only having been moved in for five days.

Since my last update...I had my dissertation defense!  I wasn't too nervous for the presentation part (we've had to do so many presentations in the program that it's "old hat" now) but for the "Q&A" with the committee afterward, I didn't know what to expect (guests leave the room and it's just you and the committee members, they can ask anything about your presentation/dissertation contents/whatever).  It didn't turn out to be very scary at all...then they sent me out of the room to "deliberate", then my advisor came out and shook my hand, saying "Dr. Doherty"...pretty cool :)  So, I passed...still trying to get all the paperwork cleared with the grad school to be able to really say I'm official and graduating in August, but basically the hard part is behind me.  I've been a student for 20 years, so it's weird to be entering this next phase in life...with a Big Girl Job.

Some pictures with my friends/fam who came to the defense:

"Fat Kids Club"...all defending this year, I'm proud of us!

After the defense, it was a week o' craziness trying to get our things for the move pulled together (thankfully, there wasn't MUCH work to do since the movers packed everything as part of our relocation package!)  The weekend right before we left, we headed to Hearne to see Brad's dad's side of the family...his grandma (Mimi) turned 80 this past Saturday, so we missed her big birthday bash by one week :(  it was good to be able to see her before our trip!

Monday was the big packing up day...it was a little awkward to just sit on our couch and watch the movers take care of everything...I wanted to help out with something, but it's all up to them.  We had Whataburger for lunch...last time for awhile :-/  They arrived around 9 in the morning and didn't finish up till 8 pm!  A big part of that was trying to fit the mattresses...they had 3 other households loaded into the same van, so we were the last on, and they underestimated how much stuff we have...whoops...they ended up wrapping up the mattresses in all sorts of waterproof things and putting them on an attachment off the back of the truck.  This took awhile.  We finished cleaning the apartment and just stared at them while they tried to figure it out.

Anyway, we finally go on our way and just made it to Dallas that night.  Slept in and got on the road late the next day (this was a general theme for our road trip...) We had time for just one "fun stop" along the way, so we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.  Also in Nashville, we did a Hotwire Hot Deal for our hotel, got a great deal on a 3.5-star hotel, and all they had left with a king bed was the "hospitality suite"...that thing was seriously bigger than our apartment that we just moved out of.  It was glorious.  Too bad we only spent about 8 hours in that hotel!  Some pics from the trip:

 It was our mission to load up on Shiner before we left TX...little did we know, there was a whole string of dry counties along our trip on 30 heading out of TX!  We learned this little bit of trivia: the Texas side of Texarkana is a dry county, while the Arkansas side of Texarkana is in a wet county!  Thank goodness the Arkansas side carried Shiner beer.

 Swanky hotel room in Nashville.  This place was great.

 Wall of gold records at the Country Music Hall of Fame

Yummy Nashville BBQ



 Finally in New York!

Our apartment door :)  So exciting.

It was a long couple of days for the drive but we saw some pretty scenery along the way, and LuLu held up beautifully!  (aside from having to get gas every 250 miles, bah...)  Check out the next post for a Grand Tour of our apartment :)