what our independence day in new jersey looked like

so a small break from the past 3 weeks of our lives to share something we JUST did.

go me for posting about it so fast!

for the fourth of july we ventured over the the new jersey/new york border which means the hudson river to watch the macy's fireworks!

everything i read online said these were "the biggest in the nation"

we were excited to say the least!

casey worked a half day, came home, we got ourselves ready and went for the trek.

we didn't really want to deal with traffic this time so we spent a little more money and took in the train.

i got the terrible job of planning the whole excursion.

man that is stressful when you really don't know the area/where to go!

i finally decided for us to drive to the clifton train station and take the train into hoboken from there.

it was $20 roundtrip for the two of us but then we didn't have to deal with parking and traffic so it was well worth it.

we arrived in hoboken around 5:30.

from there we began walking along the coastline up north where i thought it was supposed to be a better view.

we kept hopping forward to new spots.

we'd think we found a good enough spot, kelly would wait there to save it, and we'd walk a little further forward to see if there was something better.

finally, the 3rd spot was just perfect!

it was actually more perfect than we thought it was going to be!

so we laid out in the sweltering hot grass for 3 hours waiting for "the best fireworks in the nation"

luckily, we did have a big building behind us that provided shade the whole time.

we did have a yucky group of people in front of us smoking out of some hose thing THE WHOLE time, losers.

i got really bored after an hour so casey and i went for a walk while wonderful kelly saved our spot.

we walked up and down washington street til casey's legs were dying.

at that point we decided to go back.

once we were almost back i remembered i had to go to the bathroom asap.

so we walked for another 1/2 hour trying to find somewhere.

during this time the new york fire department was going up and down the river shooting off fun colored water for all to enjoy.

really it was fun and the sunset at this time was gorgeous

 

after that we decided we needed pizza

after being unable to find the pizza place that everyone was coming from with pizza boxes for a half hour,

we found it :)

alas, but the wait was 25 minutes for our pie!

mind you this whole time, it's SWELTERING hot outside.

and we didn't have our water bottle.

at that point i kept apologizing to casey that he has to walk around outside all day everyday for his job,

poor thing, i love that man.

while we waited for the pizza, we went to the overpriced ice cream shop next door hoping it would cool us down.

it was slightly cooler in the place but not for long enough.

but then our pizza was done 10 minutes early!!!!!

thank goodnesss!!!!!!

it was all we could do to get back to our spot to just sit, and eat, and drink water!

sadly our spot did not prove to be any cooler than where we had been the past hour and a half.

we did enjoy the pineapple side of the pizza very much,

they were ginormo slices.

and our water went much to quickly,

blah.

but for the fireworks we continued to wait.

at 9:25 they STARTED!

and for 26 minutes the sky was lit brilliantly with every color of the rainbow,

all kinds of fireworks,

different heights,

booming so loud you could feel it in your heart,

4 barges synchronized perfectly together across the river,

reflecting off the water and the building,

the NY skyline directly behind the fireworks,

oohs and ahhs from the crowd.

it was surely the best fireworks we've ever seen in our lives.

well worth the wait, the heat, and the effort.

i don't think anything will ever compare

and to our surprise, a barge was DIRECTLY in front of our grass area where we were with the other 3 barges beautiful to the left so we could see it all.

but it was PACKED.

there were so many people there, i couldn't believe it, seriosuly, so busy.

but so part of the fun!

it will undoubtedly be a 4th of july hard to forget or a show to be beat.

BUT,

after the fireworks we literally ran for 15 minutes back to the train station to catch our 10:15 train, 

the next train wasn't for another hour!

that run was taxing in flipflops, hot humidity, no water, blah.

but we made it.

and the train was even conditioned :)

happy birthday america!

ps- casey and i kept talking about how next year we'll get to have a little baby with us to celebrate!

ahh!! i just can't imagine how fun that'll be!!!!!!!

here i am at 19 weeks!
(i'm awesome at sticking my bum extra out in these pictures...)

and the other pic is the epitome of my life this summer.

that stupid clipboard and me on the phone. i hate my job. so grateful i can still get my work done when we go out and do fun  things :)

 

pps- happy 500th blog post!
how crazy is that!?

7 points of our life lately that i want to remember, the good, bad and ugly

i'm still too lazy to go through our pictures and do a hawaii post,

it will come later.

for now, random things lately.

1. the fireflies are out and beautiful!

they are so magical and wonderful i can't think of anything i like more about NJ

2. speaking of NJ, i officially am done with it.

ha, we came home from our trip and after 2 days i said out loud "i hate this place."

ha, i know pitiful me, but it's true!

mostly just because of the bugs i've been finding lately... ha

i'm just not a fan of the area.

i cannot wait to get ourselves back to the west.

nebraska can't come soon enough!!!!!

enough with my complaining, it has actually treated us really well and i should be more grateful for it.

i'm grateful for the experience and grateful i'm not here the next 4 years :)

3. i finished reading stephanie nielson's heaven is here, it was wonderful.

do read it when you have the chance.

other books of lately the ivy chronicles by karen quinn, very funny and completely crazy.

a book about THE CRAZY RICH people who live in NY and what they'd do to get their 4/5 year old in a good private school, ha, what a joke!!!!!!!

and bloom, by kelle hampton, do you read her blog?

well it was a beautifully written book and so inspiring to love.

next up: these is my words...

4. got an email from shake shack thanking me for my blog post!

what that's, twice in 2 months!

maybe i should keep blogging about places i eat at and they'll find my blog and give me more freebies!!!!!

5. i've decided i'd rather take 118 degree weather over any 90 degree humidity.

dry heat is so much more bearable than humid hot.

like for reals, people.

the last 2 days have been hot hot hot, and stupid me works out outside,

the grass that is shaded is little relief from the direct sun bc it's just more humid on the grass in the shade.

wo is me.

poor, wonderful husband, he works outside during the hottest part of the day :(

6. speaking of hot,

THE POOL AT THIS APARTMENT COMPLEX COSTS MONEY!

what the freak i'm so mad,

firstly, you don't open the pool til june 26

and then secondly, you want me to pay to go the pool ($75 for 1 person!!!!!!!!!) in the complex that i already pay rent for!?!!?!

you have got to be flipping kidding me.

new jersey is not on my good side...

7. lastly, on a happier note, my favorite moments from AZ while we were gone on the trip:

the 6 hours we played with nieces and nephews in AZ, we had such a blast.

i miss being around family, or at least semi close enough to drive to them.

well, the two most memorable moments:

A. casey, phoebe, and annalee in their swimsuits outside in the hot sun.

casey is squatted as low as he can go and the little ones follow because that's just what they do, they follow.

holding the hose.

teaching them how to drink out of it.

probably one of my most favorite moments i've seen thus far in my life.

something about it was just so perfect.

no picture, but i'll forever remember it.

B. we're all inside, trying to get swimsuits and sunscreen on the kiddlings.

casey, phoebe, tristan, and a little boy blair babysits all huddled around an ottoman in the family room.

their attention is completely on casey.

no wiggling, yelling, or anything.

just interested with what casey was doing.

later i came to find out that he was making them each do a "trick" he wanted them to do and then he'd give them a skittle.

boy i do love that man of mine...

burgers and parks in nyc

so we spent our saturday night in new york city last weekend.

it kinda stinks with how work works out,

but we do try to steal a few hours in of fun on saturday nights.

casey was the awesome brave driver as always.

he amazes me in driving situations, ha, sounds silly, but true.

i'm getting better at being prepared exactly where we need to be and he's getting better and getting us there somehow.

we went to the infamous shake shack in madison square garden.

we'd been to shake shack in DC with my uncle last summer and were excited for the burgers again!

they really do taste amazing.

and their zig zag fries are sure yummy.

we spent a good half hour or more in line, and after an hour finally got our food.

i was starving, to say the least, and thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

i got the single shack burger and casey the double.

we don't play around when it comes to fries anymore and got 2.

i couldn't believe how busy that place was,

for reals, the line did not ease up one bit the 2 hours we were there.

brooke, christian, and kelly were our wonderful company and made for great laughter through the night.

at 9:30 i realized that the park we wanted to go to closes at 10!

so we speed walked our way 5 blocks toward 10th ave and enjoyed the park for 15 minutes.

the highline is an old elevated railroad track converted into a beautiful park walkway in the midst of the city (and it's free, yay!)

it really was so pretty and fun plus it's like a little haven elevated from the hustle and bustle of the streets.

we will most definitely be going back to visit it in the daytime.

laughter abounded all night.
booke, christian, and kelly are 3 of the funniest people i know.
this summer will be do great with them around.
 

i'm so happy casey is eager and willing to do all the fun things with me.

we have the attitude of "when in rome" when it comes to visiting places and try to do it all and taste it all.

it's just the best.

we're very excited for the many more activities the summer will bring us!

if you've ever been to nyc or lived there at all we'll take all the tips we can get on food and activities!

iphone update

life from the iphones over the past month

graduation.
yayyyyy.

our time in arizona.
bahama bucks. casey's 2nd love.
they had a new size even bigger than their biggest size and casey had to get it.
it pretty much took 3 days to eat.
more on how awesome bahama bucks is later :)
in-n-out and ned's krazy subs with our trusty companion, annalee.
her and phoebe went everywhere with us that week which was a blast.
sadly, phoebe was always taking naps when we did lunch.

driving.
ugh.
driving in separate cars, even ugher.
finally getting to indiana, yay.
more on indiana and iowa later.

our first weekend in nj.
we went to the god father brick oven pizza.
pineapple and ham, of course, and it was yummo.
that night we also went and saw the avengers=awesome.
sunday lunch=green pancakes

our apartment complex.
yay/boo.
a walk a took one day to the cemetery across the street.
you know how on headstones they always say something like "the mother who loved all", "always inspiring" "a father and friend"
ya know?
i was thinking what if we all did our headstones like the i'm a mormon campaign?
 a wife, a mother, a mormon.
i just thought it'd be funny :)

 

and there is a small update

our first real excursion in new jersey

so this last weekend was when we really tried to do something cool here in new jersey!

we both were very long and hard hours on saturday so instead of going all the way in the NYC,

we just went close.

we went to the town called hoboken which is on the hudson river on the new jersey side.

firstly, washington street was crazy busy.

it's apparently the hot spot of the town which we did not know.

but we found our little pizza place i wanted to try, grimaldi's.

(not going to lie, I've been scurrying pinterest, a cup of jo blog, and the rockstar diaries blog for tips and good eats in the city.

rockstar diaries said grimaldi's was their favorite pizza place in NYC, and they had a shop in hoboken, NJ so we went to that one!).

it was a small little pizzeria but did not disappoint.

the seasoning on the pizza was outstanding.

and i did love the thin crust version, it was delicious.

 

the three of us each picked a topping for our pizza.

3 as in myself, casey and kelly.

let's introduce kelly bc i think we'll be seeing lots of him this summer.

kelly is my guy friend from high school who is actually out here selling with us.

he's super fun to be around and adds a great flare of fun to experiences.
plus he voluntarily will take pictures of the both of us when i don't even ask, 
he's so nice.

so he's cool and hangs out with us :)

back to toppings.

kimber- olives

casey- sausage

kelly- green peppers.

we devoured the pizza and splitting a large between the 3 of us was perfect.

after dinner we saw a little cupcake shop next door, crumbs,  and just wanted to take a peek inside.

we were thinking we'd go a few doors down to get ben and jerry's ice cream but once casey saw the cotton candy cupcake he was sold.

so casey got the cotton candy.

i asked the lady what a popular one was and she said the red velvet and i followed suit.

mine was spectacular.

so rich and so perfect.

casey said he could have used a little more cotton candy flavoring.
personally, i would totally like to go there again, it was yummo in my opinion.

kelly ended up getting the yummy ben and jerry's ice cream.

we went back to the car and found that a view of the manhattan skyline was right there by us at the water's front.

we stopped the car and took in the lights, shapes and vibe.

took a few pictures,

dreamed of all the fun we'll have in the city this summer and drove home.

twas a great end to our week.

coming up: how we spent our mother's day,

ps- happy mother's day to my incredible mummy! i love you!

and happy mother's day to my mother in law, you are so wonderful!

day 6 in new jersey

i feel like i have finally officially set up camp here in new jersey,

all food is bought.

all cleaning items are bought.

all random household items are bought.

we are beginning to get into a rhythm of how life will work around here for the summer.

we've been to church.

yes, i think we are setting ourselves in.

thank you one and all for your sweet comments on my first terribly traumatic day in NJ.

it is getting better.

i've just finally come to the realization of a few facts.

1. the roads will be stupid all summer, that's just how it is.

2. brigham young truly was inspired how he set up the utah road system.

3. if i get a ticket, it's alright, the tears will come easily and there will be no ticket.

4. it is alright to frantically yell at the other in order so they don't miss a turn.

5. always turn too early by mistake than too late.

so we live in a town called parsippany (par-sip-uh-nee).

it's full of indians :)

you run into foreign accents EVERYWHERE around here.

it's so fun.

and the names these guys are selling to have the funkiest last names, all of them.

there are mom and pop shops EVERYWHERE.

food/retail chains can be found but it feels even easier to find any small little place.

i think we kind of want to try lots of pizzeria around here and find the yummiest!

i called my mom on about the 2nd or third day here and told her how everything just felt so different.

the roads are different.

the names.

the walmart.

the people.

the prices.

the gas stations (all are full service!)

i almost feel like i've moved to foreign country (that speaks english).

FINALLY i went to COSTCO, and i felt home.

that place was THE EXACT same like the west.

the prices, the set up, everything.

i just love costco so much.

i should write them a letter to express my gratitude.

i might as well share the low down on our job out here,

i know i never have in the past, but i don't see why not.

we're doing summer sales pest control out here.

casey sells for terminix and goes out and finds customers everyday.

i'm the "office coordinator".

i set up all the appointments, organize paperwork, help with paying the guys, and am in constant contact with the local branch manager of terminix working out problems with accounts and technicians.

it's a pretty chill job but can also have lots of work sometimes.

i'm grateful for it though, it's flexible, it pays well, i help casey with his job, and i can still run the house (aka feed, shop, clean etc:)

casey is very good at his job to say the least.

it's very worth it to us to come out and sell during the summers.

it's not the most glamorous job but if you work really hard you can really do well financially.

so yes that's where we are, and yes, this is FOR SURE our last summer doing summer sales (hallelujiah).

what i've been doing lately,

organizing the house,

catching up and organizing all the office work/working out glitches,

listening to music,

listening to the presidents of the church lecture series, so fascinating,

editing pictures,

making food.

i sure wish i had a dog or cat out here, mmeh.

maybe you can see pictures next time :)

guess what? now we live in new jersey!

at long last, we have settled in somewhere after graduation!

wow, it has been a whirlwind of events over the last 2 weeks.

we had an amazing graduation weekend with family,

we had a wonderful time in AZ with family and went to mrs brooke's beautiful wedding.

and we then spent 40 hours in the car trekking to new jersey where we will be working this summer.

we packed up all our stuff and took it to nebraska, visited family in wyoming, iowa, and indiana as well as mission friends in pennsylvania

i am just so relieved to be done driving.

but my bum and back are killing me from sitting for so long.

let's talk about new jersey for just 1 second.

it's different than the west.

YOU CANNOT MAKE A LEFT TURN ANYWHERE and right turns are once in a blue moon

i want to scream every time i realize i need to turn.

 at nearly EVERY intersection there are signs saying NO TURNS.

that means no left, right, or U turns.

it's driving me bonkers and i've only driven around one day.

seriously!

and then there are BILLIONS of highways, freeways, numbered things everywhere that once you get on it or miss your turn you can't turn for another 2 or 3 miles.

it is flipping ridiculous.

i cling to our GPS for dear life when i'm in the car,

it's pathetic.

the roads by far won over my emotions yesterday when i was in the car for nearly 45 minutes, at night, alone, trying to find my way home, and crying hysterically.

the GPS would not take me home!

like i said, you can barely turn anywhere and it kept leading me back to this one entrance to a highway that was closed and i had no idea how to get on it.

it was utterly terrible.

at this point, i'm not the biggest new jersey fan yet...

i'm pretty sure it'll get better it just might take a little while.

updates of the past few weeks to come soon.