The Year of the Ox

It's been awhile since I have posted anything. Time flies by huh! We have just been busy working and living life. It has been the coldest January I think I have ever seen. Only once has it reached a temperature above 30 degrees. New York is New York. Busy and crazy as usual. Oh and there was this plane crash not sure if anyone heard about that..... haha..


Saturday night the Stake did a celebration for Chinese New Year. We have a large Chinese branch on Canal Street. They had Chinese food and a Chinese program with the dancing lion. I am not sure if what it does is called dancing but it was interesting to see.



They also had these two little kids asking questions about The Chinese New Year. I wish I could have got a video of this little Chinese boy that should have his own game show. He would ask the question and then point at someone and yell 'COOOORRRRECT!' He had to be about five or six. Hilarious.....

Happy Hanukka!!!

Happy Holiday's to all. It is interesting to live in a city where Christianity is not the major religion. We now have a large Menorah outside our building. Also everyone is so politically correct by saying 'Happy Holidays' instead of Merry Christmas. Even the Consul General at my work wasn't sure if Mormon's celebrated Christmas so I got a 'Happy Holidays.... whatever you my celebrate!' Awkward...
We hope every one has a merry Christmas. And don't worry none of you were snubbed on Christmas cards this year. We just didn't bother with them! Rocky did not co-operate :o)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Surprise Parental Visit

My mom sent me an email Thursday night last week to tell me that her and my dad would be coming into town on Monday. WOW! That is some short notice. They were only going to be here until Wednesday morning. Quick trip. My mom had a conference to attend on Tuesday so I took the day off to entertain my old man. I took him downtown to Wall Street. As he likes to say....... he wanted to visit to watch his 401K drop. Then I took him to the Sports Museum of America. It was pretty cool to see the Heisman Trophy and actual Olympic Metals. Afterward I took him to a great New York hot spot for lunch..... Subway. Yeah I am a bad tour guide.
Later that night once my mom was out of her conference we went to Times Square, Bryant Park, and then to see the play Spam-A-Lot. It was a funny show that starred Clay Aiken. I was pretty impressed with his acting. I wasn't expecting much but he is pretty good in it.

It was a fun but very quick visit. Thanks for coming Parents!

Happy Thanksgving....

I had the bright idea to go and see the balloons inflate for the Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade. You can go the night before and watch them fill them up and sand bag them down. They do it on 81st and Broadway where the parade starts. That is pretty close to where we live. Just a few blocks walk. So I got home from work got the camera and went off. This is what I found....

Thousands and thousands of people crammed into police rails. I don't know if anyone knows this but there are two things I hate the most about this city. Crowds and Tourists. So a crowd of tourists is my worst nightmare!! I swear there was about 5 kids for every adult and for each of those kids a stroller. UGH!! But they make it so once you get in you can't get out until you get to the very end. So I pushed my way through like any good New Yorker! Here are some of the balloons that were up when I arrived...

I also finally found a dog that is bigger then Rocky....

I think that maybe Horton drew the short stick because he had to spend the whole night with his trunk here......That can not be nice with all those onion Shrek eats! The whole thing was almost like going to a Zoo for cartoon animals... Anyway it was a nice Thanksgiving and we hope it was nice for everyone else! I can't wait for Christmas now.... :0)

Solitary Man

One fun thing about living in Manhattan is that we get to see movie filming's all over the place. We have had two shooting in front of our building in the past week. Yesterday Adam got some photos of the one going on. I guess the movie is called 'Solitary Man' and stars Danny Devito, Michael Douglas, Mary Louise-Parker, and Susan Sarandon. Although he didn't get to see any celebs himself it is still fun to watch the set up of the production. It is amazing what they go through to get a 2 minute shot for a movie. The other movie that was there we were told was a Scarlett Johansson movie. It is always fun to see those movies and get to see our apartment building so that will be exciting.

Twilight Review

So it's finally here! The book that I fell in love with has finally come to the big screen. I had my doubts about if they could pull this off so I went to the movie last night with very low expectations. I also read a few reviews and they were not so good. Well I have to say I think they did a great job. I think if you didn't read the book and/or didn't fall in love with Edward and Bella then the movie may come off flat and slow. But for me I loved seeing the awkward moments between them. In the beginning I was not impressed with their choice for Edward. But Robert Pattinson did great. He brought out the Edward that makes Twilight loved by all. Really I think I love this story because I love Edward's character. Now don't get me wrong there were a few cheesy scenes that didn't come off so well. But the heart and gut of the story gave me the same feelings that the book did. I may just see it again!

Oh Danny Boy!

So I had my last job shadowing event last night. It was FANTASTIC!! The consulate held a party for the play Equus. If you have not heard of this play yet that would be astonishing. But let's just say Mr. Radcliffe shows every side of him possible in it. It has been a very popular play in both the UK and New York.

Only a handful of people from my work were invited and I was one of the lucky few. I have to say Daniel Radcliffe is a very down to earth guy for being a famous actor at such a young age. I think he managed to speak to everyone in the room. Not only speak to them actually have full conversations with everyone. Including me of course! We talked about obviously me being an American and working for the British Government. He said I had to learn how to say the words Research, Vitamin, and Oregano properly. And then wished me luck on....well being an American. Funny. He is still only 19 but I was very impressed with his maturity. I then left the party and just as the elevator was closing a hand popped in and it was Daniel's Bodyguard. I rode the elevator down with Daniel, his father, and bodyguard. I was too chicken to talk to them. It seemed like a decompressing time. It's hard to remember that for him last night was working but for us it was exciting and fun.

Also at the party was Richard Griffiths. He is in the play as well. You may remember him from Harry Potter as well. He played Harry's mean Uncle Vernon.

Unfortunately camera's were not allowed so I couldn't take pictures. There was a professional photographer there and I am hoping to bribe my friend Jenna to send me some so I can post them. But in the meantime this is the only picture I could find that 1-he is clothed and 2-this is pretty close to what he looks like now. Very different from his Harry Potter days. And another side note he is very very short. I think he is about 5'3 maybe 5'4. Shocking really.

I am so sad that my Job Shadowning for Press and Public Affairs section is over. They really do have a fun job. I will just have to try and stay close and hope for pity invites! :o)