On our way....

I know this will not come as a surprise to many, but we leave today for the beautiful islands of Hawaii! We are moving back to Hilo - where Aaron grew up. We are so excited to see our family, especially for the kids to get to know their relatives better. And there's also the beach, tropical breezes and yummy food to look forward too!

However, we shall miss all of our wonderful friends out here in the east terribly! We have been so blessed to get to know so many generous, kind people and for wonderful, giving neighbors! I will also miss the wealth of national history contained here, the colors of the seasons changing and the accessibility to great museums.

Please keep in touch. Much love and aloha!

New York Temple, Statue of Liberty & Central Park

Nestled in the concrete jungle New York, there is a temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That was where we attended our sacrament meeting on the Sunday we went to New York. The building was separated into two areas, a sacred ordinance section and a section for church services. A first for both of us! After sacrament meeting, we ran into a former member of the Chevy Chase ward - such a small world!

On our way to see the Statue of Liberty!

The vibrant city of Manhattan as a backdrop...The statue is enormous and is just breathtaking. I am so grateful for this country, the hope & liberty it promised my ancestors who immigrated to this country.
"Lady Liberty"

The seven spikes of her crown symbolize the seven continents, her torch symbolizes enlightenment, and engraved on her tablet is the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence in roman numerals.

"The Sphere & Eternal Flame", in Battery Park, near South Ferry. In memory of the victims of 9/11.

An arch in Central Park leading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Metropolitian Museum of Art. I am really a fan of our museums in DC, but I loved the stained glass displays in this one.

A most welcome sight: our kids having such a great time with their cousins, they didn't want to leave!! Sarah and Aley, thanks again for taking such great care of them!

I love New York: Broadway

It's always been a dream of mine to see a show on Broadway. Of course, I would have LOVED to have seen Wicked. However, the tickets for Mary Poppins were 50% off at the Times Square ticket booth that our friends told us about. We could not pass them up!

We sat by a really friendly, lovely couple from California. While we waited for the show to start we had fun chatting about everything from Hawaii & Taiwan (her family lived there for a while), to the churches we go to, their jobs (he works as an accountant), families and Prop 8. We found that we had many things in common.
Aaron and I loved the whole production. We were impressed by all of the actors, especially the children, but our favorite was Bert because he was just funny. It's mind-boggling what is possible in theatre; the effects were simply magical, the sets & costumes were gorgeous, and the music to me seemed flawless.

Alexandria Waterfront Festival 10K

Postrace, from left to right: Gina, Alexandra, me, Dana and her hubby, Tua.

Thanks, Dana for the great picture!

The day we left for New York, we woke up early and drove to Alexandria and so that I could first run a 10K with some of my favorite people! I must confess the only reason I ran this race was to hang out with friends and so that I could blog about it. I also confess that I haven't run very much since the marathon (3 months ago?) - terrible, it's true. I know better!

It was a muggy day, however it rained off and on through the run, which was refreshing - but that's why we look soggy. It actually worked out nicely so that we ran in pairs. Gina and Allie run at a slightly faster pace, and can hold a conversation while running so they ran it together and finished in 1 hr and 1 minute. They make it look so easy! I do wish I could've kept up with them, just to hear their conversation because they are always insightful and Allie is hilarious.

Tua, the one pulling the shaka, came in way before me so I didn't know how fast he ran it until I looked it up: 48 minutes and 10 seconds - speedy! Aaron said he was fast! Aaron loves Tua's Polynesian composure. He's studying to be a doctor, yet he is laid-back, funny and unpretentious.

Dana and I ran together and luckily we both didn't really feel like talking much, but it was nice to know someone was right there for you. Dana is pretty amazing... Not only did she have her 4th kid six months ago, she had taken meds before the race because she and her family had gotten a bug and she was still recovering! Even then she helped me run my fastest 10k so far and we finished in 1 hr, 1 minute and 20-22 seconds! I'm so happy for her because she qualifies to run the National Marathon next spring. Wish I could be here to run it with her and cheer her on!

I was trying to find a mud run because I thought it would be more memorable, but I'm grateful that this one was for a good cause. Apparently they were able to raise 30,000 dollars for the Alexandria Red Cross through the race. I'm glad we ran it. This was my last race on the east coast - oh, I'm already nostalgic...

I love New York: Times Square

Five years ago, Aaron and I were married in the Laie, Hawaii temple. happy times!

To celebrate our anniversary in June, Aaron and I left our kids with our wonderful cousins for two days and drove up to New York! It was a romantic, memorable little vacation.

To tour the Big Apple is unavoidably expensive, but we figured since we're leaving for Hawaii in a couple of weeks, we should take the opportunity. We saved a little on things like parking. I told my friend Gina that we found a spot on the street directly in front of our hotel lobby and she sounded surprised: "In Manhattan?" So, I guess that we got really lucky! We stayed in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, just a block from the Subway and a 20 minute walk from Central Park.


Thankfully, I had this guide to the city from Debi (below) which included maps, bits of history, restaurants and ratings, and was really fun to read on the four hour drive up. Times Square was aglow with lights and advertisements. It is so beautiful the way the streets are lit and alive with throngs of people. This is a city that never sleeps! After we bought Broadway tickets, Aaron and I just walked forever with no particular destination, just to see Times Square from all sorts of angles and bask in it's commercial glory. I like how Gina describes NYC as having a particular "energy."

It rained a little, so we ran for cover with our greasy Japanese food from a street vendor and then stopped into a funny wax museum just to get out of the rain, where we posed with Mogan Freeman. Funny!
more to come soon!