Atlanitc City

So, Aaron and I spontaneously decided to head out to Atlantic City, New Jersey this past weekend and it was a lot of fun! It is honestly like Vegas on a boardwalk. There were so many people there and it was so so humid. We lounged at the beach for a lil while and then we went for a walk up the boardwalk. There are so many shops along the way and even a little carnival area with rides and games. Unfortunately the ferris-wheel wasn't open so we didn't get to take a ride. But we did get some ice cream! :) Yummy for our tummies! It was definitely a fun way to spend our time together!

The 4th of July!

The 4th of July was a lot of fun this year. Aaron and I have been a thing since we were in the 8th grade, which would put our relationship at out 7 years now. As we were enjoying the fireworks on the night of the 4th we realized that this was the first 4th of July that we have EVER spent together. CRAZY! Some how over the years we managed to either be broken up or apart each year on the 4th. So this was kinda monumental for both of us.
But anyway, the day started out kinda slow. Aaron left to start working for the day (Yes, they even work on Holidays) and I headed out to see a parade with some of the other APX wives. Celeste, Kynzie, Natasha, Stacy, and myself drove out to a little town nearby called Norristown. The parade was hilarious! I dont know if the parades in Utah are out of the ordinary- but in comparison to this one they are amazing! haha! The parade consisted of a septa bus (which is the bus tranportation here), the city fire department, a street sweeper, two clowns, and a few random cars with local figures. haha! None the less, we had a good time! It was almost better just because it was so bad. Natasha and I showed our patriotism with some american flags.
After that I had to work in the office until the guys finished selling. Since they didnt have a set time that they were going to be getting off, I was worried that Aarons and my 4th was going to consist of no fireworks or festivities :( Luckily they were able to be home by 8 and Aaron, myself, and our friends Ashley and Colt headed out to the city where we wanted to see the fireworks at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
The Traffic was insane and the parking was even worse. We figured that we would be better off finding a little park with a view and watching from there than walking a long long distance to the museum, and thats just what we did. The park was located in the middle of a kinda ghetto neighborhood on a hill on the opposite side of the railroad from the museum. From there we had an awesome view of the city and of the museum. The crowd there was colorful to say the leaste! Just sitting 20 feet from us on one side were a circle of college kids hanging out getting drunk and passing around their doobies along with smoking their Hooka pipes. Then on the other side was a number of different families of many ethnicities. There were a few scattered couples laying on their blankets and we could hear a group of black women singing the national anthem. There were random pops and explosions of fireworks every now and then all around us.
While we waited for the real fireworks to start it wasnt very hard to find some entertainment- while we were people watching, someone who had been drinking a little too much had lit a fire work accross the street from us just around 100 yards from where we were sitting and had started a seemingly small fire. But in a matter of seconds the fire caught the surounding dry grass and trees. haha! It actually grew into a large fire extremely fast and the crowd started growing around it. Within minutes the fire department was there and took care of it before it became a full blown hasard. haha! It was actually pretty funny and made the night quite memorable. When were weren't people watching we played 20 questions and had some fun conversations. Good times!
When the firewroks finally started it was around 10:45 and we were all exhausted. But we stayed and enjoyed the loud pops and beautiful colors of the show and remembered how grateful we are to live in such a wonderful place where we can be free. Being surrounded by all of those "colorful" people from all different races just confirmed that this country belongs to everyone and thats what makes it so beautiful. The end :)

GIRLS WEEK on the East Coast!

Girls week with my mom, and sisters Camille and Celeste was AMAZING! It was so so much fun and I was so happy to see some familiar faces and be able to spend time with my family! We spent the first day out here in Philly :) I drove them to the Philadelphia Art Museum where we took some pics with the "Rocky" statue and filmed ourselves running up the famous stairs. But just before we did that, we could'nt resist taking some pics with an old statue of a naked man on the fountain just across the street from the museum. It got a little heated. Even Miki, my mom, took a few. That is so rare!
It was a good time :) From there we took a tour through the art museum. It is insane. There are so many things to look at and we barely had enough time to get the upper floor. The museum is huge and so beautiful! After that we headed over to Ruths Chris Steak House and treated ourselves to some good food. I just loved being able to chat with the girls!
The next morning we headed off to NYC on a train- business class (which apparently everyone gets) we thought we were getting the special treatment. haha! I was the only one who managed to stay awake. I have a pic of camille asleep, my mom probably wouldn't want me to post the one of her, and I had the BEST pic of celeste asleep but she erased it before I could even upload it. I was SO SO MAD! Anyway, once we arrived at Penn station at Madison Square Garden we called for a taxi and headed to our hotel which was located right smack dab in the middle of time square. Our hotel was literally inside of one of the jumbo screens. I loved it! Each night we ate at the restaurant located in our hotel- the food was delicious and the view wasn't too shabby either. We were dinning with a 360 view of time square. We spent our first day in the Big Apple exploring Time Square and in the evening we headed to the Opera house to see the musical "South Pacific". It was so good! It would have been even better had there not been a woman sitting on the row just in front of us who had drenched herself in AVON perfume! We had to breath that scent in the entire time. Camille nearly threw up and I was just trying so hard to ignore it. But overall the play was fantastic!
The next morning we woke up bright and early to meet our private chauffeur, Bryan, outside our hotel. He was a really cool guy who was born and raised in NY so he knew all the sites we should see that you cant see on a tour. On our way to our first destination he drove past the hospital which was where the majority of the injured people went on 911. Across the street from the hospital there was a fence with tiles honoring those who passed away on that tragic day. It was extremely moving to stop and read each tile and read the names of real people who gave their lives that day. Some were even children who were victims on the planes or in the day care at the trade centers. It was so sad.
On a better note, we then went to the the mall on Pier 17 and did a lil shopping. At the end of the pier we had an awesome view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Since we didn't have time to eat breakfast that morning, I was starving and so was everyone else. We grabbed a quick bite before heading off to the site at 911. Once we got there it was hard to see the actual site because of all the construction going on so we peaked through some small holes in the fence to get a tiny view. So much has changed since I last saw it. They used to have a little memorial outside of the site but now they are solely dedicated to rebuilding and when they finish they are going to have a memorial museum that people will be able to go to. I'm sure that wont be finished for a few more years. But across the street from the site there was a big piece of Metal which was one of the last pieces of the 911 wreckage. It was left in the shape of a cross, on it there is still a piece of melted metal hanging from the top left corner. The cross will be put in the 911 memorial museum once it is constructed. We were lucky enough to run into some fire fighters right there at the sight just as they were leaving for a job. They were hurrying but we got to snap a couple of pics with the truck parked just next to the cross. It was a reminder of the sad events that happened right there just a few years ago.
After that, Bryan took us to a park with a far view of the Statue of Liberty. Since it was so rainy outside we didn't spend a lot of time embracing the view. We snapped a few pics and headed off to our next location. Next up was the Trinity Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in the city, which was so ornate and beautiful. The details on the walls and windows are always so mind boggling to me! Around the corner from the church there was the first sky scrapper ever built in NYC. Although now days the tallest buildings in the city could double or even tripple this one, at the time it was built it was the tallest building in the world. It was a beautiful building.
The vibes in New york are so cool- it kinda wakes you up and makes you want to move. I can see why they call it the city that never sleeps. Anyway, we saw the big bull on Wall Street which has been in a few movies. The first one to come to mind is Hitch-( the part where the jerk guy gets punched out and he lands right under the bulls butt. ) There is actually a cool story behind the bull and how it got there but it has to do with the stock market and competitors and I know that if I retold the story I would just slaughter it. Obviously I don't know anything about that kind of thing. So Ill have to look into it again and get the story right before I go into the details. I took a few pictures but it was hard to get a good one because there was a crowd of people who couldn't speak English all crowded around it. The pictures that i have will just have to do I guess.
After that we headed to China Town to get some purses! That was an adventure in itself. haha! Since technically its illegal for them to sell us the fake designer bags- its all like an underground thing. We had to use code words to the sales guys like " Can you take us BEHIND THE WALL?" that's code for "Show the the fake purses!" haha! It took us a little longer than we had anticipated to get our bags just because at first everyone was denying us when we would ask. We just kept trying though and finally one of the stores we went in came around. There was the cutest little couple working and they were so happy to help us. They explained to us that just 20 mins before we got there, an undercover cop had come through the area trying to catch any of them in the act of selling the fake bags. We then realized that was the reason we had been so hard to get the bags at the other stores near bye. I wish I had a picture of our funny Chinese bag salesman friends but Camille has the only one and I still haven't gotten it from her. China town was such an adventure!
Thanks to my mom and to our chauffeur Bryan we had a wonderful time in NY! Bryan knew all the history behind everything and was very informative. He also is in a band- we jammed out to his music. I was pleasantly surprised!
By the time we got back that night we were all exhausted! Camille and I hit up time square one more time and got ourselves the classic I LOVE NY t-shirts. We just couldn't get enough on New york! We were so sad to leave :(
My sisters last day on the east coast turned out to not be they're last day after all. haha! I insisted on taking them to the Liberty Bell on the way to the airport which actually caused them to miss their flight. Oopsy! But we got to see where our founding fathers signed the declaration of independence and touch the same buildings that they once roamed within. :) Thanks to me, we were able to see and feel the history behind this great nation!
I stayed the night with them at the Marriott hotel at the airport and we spent one more night together :) I was happy because that happened to be the night that Aaron had to spend in Delaware and I would have spent the night alone at our apartment otherwise.
The next morning was so sad for me because I had to say goodbye to my mom and sisters (tears)...
Girls week was AWESOME and I cant wait for the next one! I hope that it becomes a tradition for us! Thank you mom for planning everything and making it such a memorable time! xoxox!