Marshmallow Game

I just think this is so funny. It makes me giggle whenever I watch it!

The Belgian Experience

A few weeks ago, we went out to dinner with our good friends, Nathan, Katrina, and Pablo. The point of the night: to celebrate three years in New York City (for Stephen, Nathan, and Katrina). Pablo grew up just outside the city, and well, you know how long I've been here. We decided to take everyone to the "B Cafe," which is this Belgian Beer Cafe, just around the corner from our place. We had been there a few times for beer and frites (fries) and love the atmosphere and since the frites were so delicious, we wanted to give a whole meal a try. Stephen got the Belgian traditional dinner: Moule Frites. They bring this pot of steamed mussels out and frites on the side with 3 dipping sauces. Stephen was in mussel heaven! After noticing a man at a nearby table, drinking the mussel broth from his pot, Stephen decided to give it a try. He said it was delicious! We will definitely be back to the B Cafe for dinner again sometime. This is one of the many things we love about the city -- lots of eating experiences that you can't have in most other cities.

Chopped the hair!

So, I decided to donate my hair to be used for making wigs for cancer patients. I donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths because they only require 8 inches of hair, versus others who require 10 or so inches. It was fun and I love my new cut!

Before shot:

After!

I decided that as long as my hair is growing long and healthy, I'll continue to donate it, so I'm already working on growing it out. :)

Seattle

Last week, Stephen and I flew to Seattle to see his brother, Erik and his wife, Julie. I had never been to Seattle before, so I loved seeing all the sites that everyone else had been to several times! We went to the Space Needle, the famous Pike Place Market, went on a Boeing tour (where Erik and Julie work), the Museum of Music, and Julie and I did some shopping damage, of course. One night, my cousin Aaron and his wife, Meghan were able to come over and Erik cooked for all of us. Stephen was excited to see Debo, the dog he and Erik adopted when they lived in Denver. Here are some pictures from our awesome trip.

Erik, Julie, Kyle (peeking), Stephen and Me

The famous counter where they throw the fish

You can see there were a lot of people waiting to see them throw SOMETHING!

People, people everywhere

So much fresh and locally grown produce

The original Starbucks! There was a little band playing music right outside. We didn't go in and get coffee because it was jam-packed full of people. Coffee is coffee, right?

Us

Debo

Stephen (opening more wine), Erik, and my cousin Aaron

Erik, plating the dinner he made: steak, wrapped in bacon, asparagus (also wrapped in bacon - is bacon ever not tasty?), broccolini, and fingerling potatoes

Out on the town one night - is Kyle always peeking?

This is the building that is the "hospital" on Grey's Anatomy - cool, huh?

At the top of the Space Needle - it was really windy and cold, so of course this venture outside was followed by hot chocolate inside

Views


Downtown view from the Space Needle

We had a great time! I can't wait to make it back there again. Thanks, Erik and Julie for so much fun.

New Niece

I'd like you all to meet our new (and only - so far) niece! Her name is Hannah Elizabeth. She was born to Kyle and Alexis on March 3rd, a few weeks early and is a tiny 5 lbs. 14 oz. and 19 inches long. I guess she really looks like Peterson, except lucky for her, she has her momma's eyes!

Alexis and Hannah

Proud Papa

All the grandparents went to Maryland to see the new grandchild this past weekend. Here are some pics from their time there.

Grandpa and Hannah

Grandma and Hannah

We are heading to DC for Easter, we think, so we can't wait to meet you, Hannah!

Just Married...Five Months Ago!

Stephen and I married each other on October 13, 2007 in Colorado Springs, CO, at my home church, Covenant Presbyterian Church. We had a small, intimate ceremony with 230 onlookers! People have asked me what my favorite part of that day was and I think it was the ceremony, itself. It was exactly how we wanted it: a true worship service.

So, what's been going on since October? We went on our honeymoon to Costa Rica, which was AMAZING, even though it rained most of the time we were there. The sun fully came out the morning we left and it was incredibly HOT, of course. However, it gives us an excuse to go back at another un-wet time of year. The pictures are on my desktop, which at the moment, does not work. I really need to start it up and work on getting my files off of it.

My sister, Kelsi, came up from North Carolina for Thanksgiving. We celebrated the day at our good friends' apartment, Nathan and Katrina's, along with Nathan's family. Nathan and Katrina are our family here in New York City.

This picture is NOT from Thanksgiving, but actually from the first weekend I ever spent in NYC, when I started dating Stephen. It's amazing how we have all changed in a year and a half-ish.

We went home to Colorado for Christmas and shared the time between both sets of parents' houses. It was good, quality time with family and both families were able to come together Christmas Day for dinner at my parents' house. We all have fun when we're together, so that works out great! We are both blessed with parents who have been married to each other for many years. Between the parents, there is about 60 years of marriage experience! Incredible, I think.

My parents came out to NYC at the end of January for a weekend. We wanted to show our thanks to them for their generosity with the gift of our wedding. We saw Mamma Mia on Broadway with them. For both of them, it was their first Broadway show and they really enjoyed it! We mostly showed them what it means to eat here in the city. Sushi, burgers, pizza, diner food, etc. Mom had never been to Central Park, so we went there and showed them where we got engaged, which is what the picture shows.

My good friends in Colorado, Tom and Ali, had their baby, Elijah James on January 22nd. He wasn't due until February 6, but I had planned on going to meet Eli at the end of February after Tom and Ali's parents had left to help out a little. It was good to be home for 6 days. My dad was out of town, so it was just me and my mom. Great quality time! And we were able to set up a girls' night so that I could see some of my ladies without taking away from my time with Ali and Eli. Now that I think about it, we didn't take a picture! I need to get better with taking pictures and getting them off my camera.

I went to West Palm Beach with Stephen two days after I got back last week. He had a business meeting and spouses were invited, so my sweet husband got me a plane ticket! We were only down there for two days, but it was so nice. It worked out great because Kelsi was there for a horse show (she competitively jumps horses) and my dad was down there, too. My dad drove over from Naples, where my grandparents live, with my Grandma. We all got to spend the afternoon together. Our trip back to LaGuardia was a nightmare, however. Our flight was supposed to leave at 12:15, didn't until about 3:00. The 3 hour flight turned into about 9. We were supposed to land in NY at 3:15 and finally landed at 9:15, after being diverted to Baltimore. It was one of the most insane flight days I've had. We were exhausted when we got back! Then, Stephen came home from work last night, saying his throat hurts and he's kind of achy. I loaded him up with drugs and he went to bed early, so hopefully he'll get enough rest and recover before we leave again on Thursday!

We are going to Seattle to visit Stephen's brother, Erik and his wife, Julie. Erik and Julie got married just 7 weeks before we did, in Portland. I'm really looking forward to it because I want to get to know Julie better. I feel like I know Erik pretty well, although there's always room for more! I've never been to Seattle before, so we're forcing them to do the touristy things that everyone always wants to do, I'm sure. My new resolution is that when I blog about our trip when we get back, I will have pics to put on the blog right away!

It will take some getting used to for me to be consistent with this blogging thing. I figured we should start one, like everyone else, and then those who are important in our lives can read about what we're up to, if they're interested. Let me know if you have a blog and I'll link it on here. I love reading everyone else's blogs, too.