kim schmidt

My parents came up from Oklahoma this weekend. We went into the city early Friday, did some shopping, had dinner at Tavern on the Green, saw In The Heights, stayed at The Muse, and came back Saturday morning. I’ve put together another collage of our ventures in NYC. Some where taken with my new Canon 135 f2.0L (the ornaments in front of Radio City, the jack in the box, and the picture of my parents in front of Rockefeller Center – just check out that beautiful bokeh!). The rest were with my P&S. For some reason they are looking pixelated on here and I will try to fix them. They are definitely not like that when I have them full size in PS.

I LOVED In The Heights. It was my selection and after watching the Tony’s this year I knew I wanted to see it. It did not disappoint even though Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the lyrics/music, created the musical up in college, and plays Usnavi, the main character was not there. His understudy was phenomenal. I would recommend anyone go see it if they get the chance.

We are leaving for Oklahoma this Wednesday. I am ready to see family and friends once again. It will be a nice relaxing trip back (hopefully anyways). My nephew is turning two on Thursday with his party on Friday, I’ll be taking Santa photos for my mother-in-law’s kindergarten class Thursday morning, and my cousin is getting married on Saturday. The first few days will be jam-packed, but it will be nice. I’ll continue to update while we are there.

Our good friends Megan and Jathan came to visit us this weekend.  They both are pharmacists and don’t get much time to spend together due to their different schedules so this was a welcome vacation for them.  We spent Friday around Princeton, showing them the seminary and other areas.  Then we went to NYC on Saturday.  Anthony and I had always talked about doing NYC at Christmas time before we even thought we’d be living up here and yesterday we got to experience it.  The train ride in was packed, we walked from the front car to near the last train on the car.  But I’m just glad we had a seat!

I needed to use the bathroom and the line in Penn Station was long so I mistakenly said, oh let’s just go to Macy’s and I’ll use theirs.  HA!  First off it took us about twenty minutes to even find where the restroom is (its in the basement and finding a way to get to the basement is a trip in itself!)  Then there was a huge line, so I said screw it.  There were WAY too many people in that store.  We walked across the street to Gap and there was no line and we got to hear an 8th grade orchestra group from Kipp. They were incredible and to know that they all come from zero musical backgrounds is even more impressive. I was super excited to take some pictures and sure enough my batteries in my 5D died. I did have my p&s (point and shoot) with me but I said screw it at that point.

We then went over to the Empire State Building. The lines were illusions – just when you thought you were close to the elevators, you’d walk around the corner and there was another amusement park like line. But we did make it up to the 86th story (walking the last 6 floors since there was another line to get on the elevators. You can see a picture of Anthony and I up there below.

We also went to NYC Public Library and saw a group of carolers (mix of moms, dads, and kids). The little boy in the 1st collage was really funny to watch. He was barely singing and was paying more attention to all those walking by. We stopped by John Lennon’s Memorial in Central Park.  None of us realized until I read a poem placed there that he died on December 8th (which is tomorrow) which is why there were so many flowers there.  It was a very sombering moment.  Like I said, I read a poem that someone placed there.  I had the priviledge to read it aloud as there were two older ladies standing there that couldn’t see the words.  There were cuss words in the poem – that was akward for me to read but it was touching poem.

Lastly we stopped into St. Patrick’s Cathedral and then ventured over to Rockefeller Center.  That was just a ZOO! We were able to get our pictures taken (which happen to the best from the whole day) and then went came back. It was a long day, but lots of fun.

We finished the day off watching our beloved OU Sooners kick some Missouri Tiger arse at our apartment. We’re going to the National Championship. 🙂

Anthony and I celebrated Thanksgiving in New Jersey this year. It was the first year we haven’t seen our families. But truth be told I enjoyed it being the two of us. I loved cooking all the goods and now we have tons of leftovers! Yes it was bittersweet but it will make Christmas time that much more enjoyable with our families. Here is the feast we had.

I am very thankful this year for Anthony and my family. They have supported me in very difficult times the past few months and I’m not sure I’d be where I am today without them.

I am also thankful for my health and the roof over our heads. In a time of difficulty for many families, I appreciate all that we have.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Last Sunday we put up our Christmas tree. It seems early but it has really put me in the mood for the holidays. It is in the middle of our house, I love sitting on the sofa staring at it. Anthony put the lights on and did a great job! Together we put the ornaments on – it was a nice time to spend with him.

I know this is old news but I wasn’t sure how to get the photos off my iphone. I still don’t know but I did email it to myself! The price of gas has dropped even more since I took this last week. I am blown away by this. I know its not great for the economy but maybe it will get people out there traveling again. Maybe there will be a drop in airline prices, huh?