Here are some photos from the trip - Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Welcome to NYC Mom and Dad
My parents were able to make it the New York last weekend and we had such a great time! They got in on Thursday night and left Monday morning and there wasn't much down time! We did the temple, Shake Shack (love that place), Broadway play - Promises, Promises (such a great show!), Time Square, Wall Street, Ground Zero, The YANKEES Game (Such a highlight - it was a great game and my parents enjoyed it so much! I think it was my Dad's favorite part of the trip:-)), Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Top of the Rock and Madison Square Gardens. I'm so glad they were able to come out! New York is some place everyone should come to visit. Now we need to get Don and Brenda out here - Let's plan something!
Here are some photos from the trip - Enjoy!
Here are some photos from the trip - Enjoy!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Brooke & Casey's Wedding in North Carolina
This past weekend my beautiful cousin Brooke was married in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. That morning it was raining and very foggy but by the time the wedding started it was perfect weather. It couldn't have been a better day for her and Casey! It was great seeing family and being in North Carolina...I really love that place
Niagara Falls and Palymra, NY
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Revelon 5K in Manhattan
Friday, March 19, 2010
Welcome to Greece!
Trip to Monterey, CA
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time in Brazil - Part I
Well, I'm just about to wrap up my time here in Sao Paulo and thought it was time to write another post. This was my first time south of the equator and it has been a truly amazing experience. I think the easiest way to sum up the past 3 weeks is to break it out in a few sections. Hope you enjoy!
Week #1 - Sau Paulo
I arrived on a Sunday after a pretty long flight (10.5 hours) and the first thing I noticed was the humidity! I guess I quickly forgot what humidity felt like. The driver was nice enough to meet me downstairs and help me with my bags. He only understood every 5th word I was saying so we basically ended up smiling a lot to each other and using sign language to communicate. The drive took about an hour to the hotel and I needed to take a shower badly. I met up with another co-worker for lunch and just laid by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
The first week of work was pretty grueling with some long hours at the office. The people we are working with are very friendly but they don't quite have the same "urgency" in business matters. They say it just takes "Brazil time" to get the things you requested. Other than a little delay here and there, they have been wonderful to work with. Most of the management team speaks functional english but a couple of the lower level employees just seem to smile back when you ask them a question. Can't blame them because I would probably do the same thing in their shoes.
The first week is always the hardest because you're trying to get to work immediately but at the same time you're battling a little jet lag. Sao Paulo is only 3 hours ahead of EST so I didn't have that hard of an adjustment. So, with the first week in the books I was ready to take off for the weekend to Rio de Janeiro!
Weekend #1 - Rio de Janeiro
It was pouring rain when we got into Rio. I haven't seen rain come down that hard since living in the Philippines. Traffic was awful as these little cars tried to drive through huge puddles. I was so excited to see the Christ the Redeemer statue but it would have to wait. Our hotel was right about a block away from Ipanema Beach. I was traveling with 2 co-workers and they both said that Ipanema was much safer and nicer than Copacabana. After a quick bite at a local restaurant we decided to call it an early night (it was only 1am :) ) because we had a big day ahead the next day.
We started off our Saturday with a little run right on the famous Copacabana Beach. I was amazed at how many people were already at the beach at 8am. The actual beach is in a cove shape but it's pretty impressive to see in person. There were people running with their dog, playing in the water...just about everything you would expect at a beach. Our plan was to run to the very end of the beach (about 2.5 miles) then turn back to the hotel. Well, maybe we were a little too ambitious because we were exhausted after the first half! We grabbed some fresh coconut water and jumped in a cab back to the hotel.
I told my other coworkers that I only wanted to do 2 things in Rio: 1) see the Christ statue and 2) go hang gliding off the cliffs. (fyi...I told Myriam about the second one beforehand so although she wasn't thrilled about the idea, she said "have fun"! I was in the clear!) We took a 15 minute cab ride over to the beach where the hang gliders wait for customers to show up. We made arrangements through the hotel for a guy named Ronaldo to be our "pilot". Since he was a one-man show, the plan was to take me up first then my co-worker would go next. The actual experience of hang gliding was one of the most amazing experiences in my life!! You literally feel like a bird up there. The ride only lasts for about 12-15 minutes but it's so peaceful. We landed on the beach without any problems. Surprisingly, I never had that overwhelming sense of fright, even during the whole rigging phase and standing on the platform. It was just an awesome experience and one that I will never forget.
After the hang gliding trip, we wanted to unwind a bit so we hit the beach. You have to personally see the beach scene to appreciate just how many people are crammed on the beaches in Rio. Every little inch is taken and it feels more like a social gathering than a time to relax. Here in Brazil, they have these "kiosks" where you can rent an umbrella and beach chairs. The guys who run these things can also get you snacks, drinks, cigarettes....basically anything you want. They're essentially a server who gets you things while on the beach and then you just pay him when you leave. It's actually a pretty smart business model and I think the US should adopt some form of it. It takes away the need to buy beach chairs and umbrellas and then having to haul them around.
The beach pretty much wiped us out (no pun intended) but we still had so much to see! We walked back to the hotel and after a quick shower we were off to a place called Sugarloaf. It's basically a HUGE rock on the water where you take a tram up to the very top. From there, you can have a beautiful view of the city below with the Christ Statue overlooking from on high. We timed it perfectly as the sun was setting over the mountatins. We took a lot of pictures so I'll have to post them when I get back to the States.
The next day we planned on going to the Christ Statue but so did evey other tourist in Rio! Just like Sugarloaf, you have to take a train up to the top. The line took us about an hour but then once we got to the ticket booth we were told our train would leave in 2 more hours. So we decided to grab a quick bite for lunch and try to get out of the heat. When we came back to the train station, I'm pretty sure it was close to 95 degrees! The train ride goes through some jungle so we were able to get some relief but once we hit the top of the mountain we were out in the bright sun again. The view from the top is just amazing as you can see all the main parts of Rio. There were a few hundred people up there with us braving the heat but it was well worth it! The pictures turned out great
Stay tuned for Part II...
Week #1 - Sau Paulo
I arrived on a Sunday after a pretty long flight (10.5 hours) and the first thing I noticed was the humidity! I guess I quickly forgot what humidity felt like. The driver was nice enough to meet me downstairs and help me with my bags. He only understood every 5th word I was saying so we basically ended up smiling a lot to each other and using sign language to communicate. The drive took about an hour to the hotel and I needed to take a shower badly. I met up with another co-worker for lunch and just laid by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
The first week of work was pretty grueling with some long hours at the office. The people we are working with are very friendly but they don't quite have the same "urgency" in business matters. They say it just takes "Brazil time" to get the things you requested. Other than a little delay here and there, they have been wonderful to work with. Most of the management team speaks functional english but a couple of the lower level employees just seem to smile back when you ask them a question. Can't blame them because I would probably do the same thing in their shoes.
The first week is always the hardest because you're trying to get to work immediately but at the same time you're battling a little jet lag. Sao Paulo is only 3 hours ahead of EST so I didn't have that hard of an adjustment. So, with the first week in the books I was ready to take off for the weekend to Rio de Janeiro!
Weekend #1 - Rio de Janeiro
It was pouring rain when we got into Rio. I haven't seen rain come down that hard since living in the Philippines. Traffic was awful as these little cars tried to drive through huge puddles. I was so excited to see the Christ the Redeemer statue but it would have to wait. Our hotel was right about a block away from Ipanema Beach. I was traveling with 2 co-workers and they both said that Ipanema was much safer and nicer than Copacabana. After a quick bite at a local restaurant we decided to call it an early night (it was only 1am :) ) because we had a big day ahead the next day.
We started off our Saturday with a little run right on the famous Copacabana Beach. I was amazed at how many people were already at the beach at 8am. The actual beach is in a cove shape but it's pretty impressive to see in person. There were people running with their dog, playing in the water...just about everything you would expect at a beach. Our plan was to run to the very end of the beach (about 2.5 miles) then turn back to the hotel. Well, maybe we were a little too ambitious because we were exhausted after the first half! We grabbed some fresh coconut water and jumped in a cab back to the hotel.
I told my other coworkers that I only wanted to do 2 things in Rio: 1) see the Christ statue and 2) go hang gliding off the cliffs. (fyi...I told Myriam about the second one beforehand so although she wasn't thrilled about the idea, she said "have fun"! I was in the clear!) We took a 15 minute cab ride over to the beach where the hang gliders wait for customers to show up. We made arrangements through the hotel for a guy named Ronaldo to be our "pilot". Since he was a one-man show, the plan was to take me up first then my co-worker would go next. The actual experience of hang gliding was one of the most amazing experiences in my life!! You literally feel like a bird up there. The ride only lasts for about 12-15 minutes but it's so peaceful. We landed on the beach without any problems. Surprisingly, I never had that overwhelming sense of fright, even during the whole rigging phase and standing on the platform. It was just an awesome experience and one that I will never forget.
After the hang gliding trip, we wanted to unwind a bit so we hit the beach. You have to personally see the beach scene to appreciate just how many people are crammed on the beaches in Rio. Every little inch is taken and it feels more like a social gathering than a time to relax. Here in Brazil, they have these "kiosks" where you can rent an umbrella and beach chairs. The guys who run these things can also get you snacks, drinks, cigarettes....basically anything you want. They're essentially a server who gets you things while on the beach and then you just pay him when you leave. It's actually a pretty smart business model and I think the US should adopt some form of it. It takes away the need to buy beach chairs and umbrellas and then having to haul them around.
The beach pretty much wiped us out (no pun intended) but we still had so much to see! We walked back to the hotel and after a quick shower we were off to a place called Sugarloaf. It's basically a HUGE rock on the water where you take a tram up to the very top. From there, you can have a beautiful view of the city below with the Christ Statue overlooking from on high. We timed it perfectly as the sun was setting over the mountatins. We took a lot of pictures so I'll have to post them when I get back to the States.
The next day we planned on going to the Christ Statue but so did evey other tourist in Rio! Just like Sugarloaf, you have to take a train up to the top. The line took us about an hour but then once we got to the ticket booth we were told our train would leave in 2 more hours. So we decided to grab a quick bite for lunch and try to get out of the heat. When we came back to the train station, I'm pretty sure it was close to 95 degrees! The train ride goes through some jungle so we were able to get some relief but once we hit the top of the mountain we were out in the bright sun again. The view from the top is just amazing as you can see all the main parts of Rio. There were a few hundred people up there with us braving the heat but it was well worth it! The pictures turned out great
Stay tuned for Part II...
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Leaving NYC for a bit...
I guess the cold has already gotten to us here in New York, because we are both leaving today for sunnier locations! Gary has to travel down to Brazil for a few weeks so I decided to head down to Nashville while he's gone. I keep on reminding him how dangerous it could be down there but he promises me that he'll only try to "limit" the amount of dangerous activities (aka hang gliding, shark diving). I just hope he comes back in one piece!
Well, I'll try to do better about writing on this blog even though i'm pretty sure just our family members check this :)
Love you all!
Well, I'll try to do better about writing on this blog even though i'm pretty sure just our family members check this :)
Love you all!
Monday, January 4, 2010
We finally made it!
Hi Everyone,
Well, we finally decided to get with the rest of the world and start a family blog. So we'll just give you a quick recap on what's been going on with our lives over the past 2 months.
We got married in Orlando on November 13 and you really couldn't ask for a nicer day. The weather was perfect and a lot of family and friends were able to make it. We had a wonderful reception the next day up in Macclenny with about 100 people attending (plus one random cat). We decided on Aruba for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it! The island is pretty small so after taking a jeep tour, there wasn't much else to do other than soaking up the nice, hot sun. After a week, we decided it was time to come back to reality and begin our life in New York.
We loaded up all of Myriam's things in Nashville into the moving truck and started to drive towards New York on Thanksgiving day. After driving for 7 straight hours and considering Taco Bell or Subway for our Thanksgiving feast we decided Shoney's was the place to share our first holiday together.
We finally arrived in NYC early Friday morning and were eager to unload our stuff. As if moving with just two people wasn't stressful enough, our apartment is directly across the street from the world's largest Macy's store. Needless to say, the streets were packed with coupon-clipping moms and bargain hunters looking for the best Christmas deals. Throughout the day, we needed to keep remembering how much we love each other and how it was a great blessing to be living in New York (since our stress levels were a bit off the charts with just the two of us unloading the Uhaul)! It took us about 4 days to finally unpack all of our stuff. We had to wait about 2 weeks for the cable company to install our cable/internet, so we got caught up on season 3 of Will & Grace (Myriam wasn't complaining) to pass the time.
Christmas this year was spent down in Florida with Myriam's family. Everyone was there (including Matt & Aubrey from Arizona and Glen and Anna from Georgia) and we had a blast catching up with all the nieces and nephews. Gary enjoyed some golf with the boys on Christmas eve and Myriam was able to get some well deserved R&R.
We have loved living in the city but are still adjusting to the cold! Our apartment isn't much bigger than a garage but we would love to have visitors. So if you want to come out to New York we would love to see you!
Well, we finally decided to get with the rest of the world and start a family blog. So we'll just give you a quick recap on what's been going on with our lives over the past 2 months.
We got married in Orlando on November 13 and you really couldn't ask for a nicer day. The weather was perfect and a lot of family and friends were able to make it. We had a wonderful reception the next day up in Macclenny with about 100 people attending (plus one random cat). We decided on Aruba for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it! The island is pretty small so after taking a jeep tour, there wasn't much else to do other than soaking up the nice, hot sun. After a week, we decided it was time to come back to reality and begin our life in New York.
We loaded up all of Myriam's things in Nashville into the moving truck and started to drive towards New York on Thanksgiving day. After driving for 7 straight hours and considering Taco Bell or Subway for our Thanksgiving feast we decided Shoney's was the place to share our first holiday together.
We finally arrived in NYC early Friday morning and were eager to unload our stuff. As if moving with just two people wasn't stressful enough, our apartment is directly across the street from the world's largest Macy's store. Needless to say, the streets were packed with coupon-clipping moms and bargain hunters looking for the best Christmas deals. Throughout the day, we needed to keep remembering how much we love each other and how it was a great blessing to be living in New York (since our stress levels were a bit off the charts with just the two of us unloading the Uhaul)! It took us about 4 days to finally unpack all of our stuff. We had to wait about 2 weeks for the cable company to install our cable/internet, so we got caught up on season 3 of Will & Grace (Myriam wasn't complaining) to pass the time.
Christmas this year was spent down in Florida with Myriam's family. Everyone was there (including Matt & Aubrey from Arizona and Glen and Anna from Georgia) and we had a blast catching up with all the nieces and nephews. Gary enjoyed some golf with the boys on Christmas eve and Myriam was able to get some well deserved R&R.
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