Antici...

After a relatively calm couple of months, Mark and I are looking forward to a five-six month time span of absolute insanity. We're nervous, excited, in a state of disbelief, and thrilled. It should be a really fun time in our life, and we're so ready for it. 

Here's what's coming up. You can consider this a little preview of the future blogs to come.

1. San Diego/Oceanside/Disneyland/SLO/East Bay. 

Ok, if that sounds tiring it shouldn't. It should sound FUN AND AWESOME! It'll involve science (ACS conference for Mark), family, my niece's 3rd birthday, and house hunting. But most importantly-- family. 

2. Thirteen Point One

I'm going to be running a half marathon and at the same time Steph and Julia will be visiting! Training is going great so far, just gotta keep at it. 

3. Australia. 

What can I say? Opportunity comes within sight and we chase it down. Another conference for Mark, and a ton of sight seeing for both of us! CAN. NOT. WAIT. 

4. Another Trip to Cali

We figure we're going to have to make at least one more trip out to house hunt, and/or take care of closing and other house business. You might be seeing a reprise of House Hunters: Lingwood Edition. 

5. Moving

Not quite fifteen months after moving from California, we're going to pack everything up and move back. This time we'll have a dog and reasonable assurance that it'll be a one way trip. 

6. Santa Barbara Wedding

Some friends of ours from grad school are getting married in Santa Barbara shortly after our move. We hope to make it to the wedding and to spend some time in a town we thought we'd never miss. 

7. Beginning of Fall Semester

Mark starts his new job, with hope that he'll be working there for a long, long time. 

So with that, I'll let you breathe a sigh of relief that you're not the one logging in tens of thousands of miles on cars and planes, collecting cardboard boxes, committing to a 30 year relationship with a bank, and running until your toes bleed.

(pation)

New York City

A couple of weeks ago Mark and I stole away for a weekend to explore New York City. We celebrated our 5th anniversary and took the chance to check out NYC while we're living on the same side of the country. At just a two hour flight, it was so easy to get away for the weekend.

We stayed in a wonderful hotel right by Central Park, in the middle of Manhattan. It turns out that hotel rooms in NYC (or at least in Manhattan) are... small. Nice, but small. This was our room: 

We didn't let the room size bother us though as it reminded us how grateful we are to no longer live in a one bedroom apartment.

We landed on Friday afternoon and went on a run through Central Park. It was so fun being out in the park and running with so many other runners. I've never seen that many people running the same route who weren't running an official race of some sort. After our run (and showers) we went out to dinner, then headed to the MET. We were expecting rooms and rooms of canvas art (which they did have) but we were pleasantly surprised at the wide variety of stuff to enjoy. Everything was extremely well put together and it was a really pleasant experience.

One of the exhibits displayed musical instruments from around the world and from various points in history. Of course I especially liked the clarinet exhibit!

On Saturday we went to FAO Schwartz, the Apple Store, and some other shops. No pictures from shopping, but it was really fun to explore the huge stores! We spent a ton of time in FAO Schwarz, wishing we could buy the fun toys and play with them. After shopping through most of the day, we made it to Times Square. It was freezing and windy but a really neat experience.

We spent Saturday evening at dinner and a show. We saw Avenue Q, which did not disappoint. We laughed and laughed and we're still quoting funny lines from it and singing random songs we remember. 

On Sunday, we headed out to Battery Park so Mark could attempt some pictures of Lady Liberty. It was so bitterly cold and windy though that I hid behind a building and Mark just took as many pictures as he could before his fingers froze. But, we can say we saw the Statue of Liberty now.

Next we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge. The wind had died down (though it was still freezing) so we decided to walk across the bridge. It was an absolutely lovely walk.

We spent the late afternoon at the Top of the Rock, aka the top of 30 Rockefeller Ave. As much as I wanted to see a taping of something, we opted to just spent our money on the view. We were tipped off by our guidebook that this view was just as good as the empire state building, and there were no two hour waits. And it turned out to be good advice. They had three levels of viewing, one inside and two outside, and no wait times for the elevators. Because it was so windy and cold, I mostly stayed inside. Mark, of course, was determined to get some good shots and his determination paid off. You can see more pictures in our Picasa albums but here are some of the highlights.

We had such a wonderful time in NYC and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate 5 years of marriage than with another adventure!