Sunday, October 27, 2013

ONE WHOLE YEAR

today marks one whole year since we moved to new york. i cannot believe it has been a whole year, it has gone by so fast yet it feels like so much has happened and so much has changed.  
right now as i type this we're having proper flash backs to pre new york feelings because we're watching last years x factor you tube clips! all the intense feelings of excitement and sadness are coming rushing back. we couldn't wait for our new adventure, yet the goodbyes were so difficult that it made us wonder several times what we were doing! it felt like we were taking a massive risk, moving away from all that we knew, friends and family, a great church, my job, fantastic flat and neighbours. we were in such a good place that from the outside you would have said that we were crazy. but despite this past year being the hardest of times, the fact that nick and i have faced it together has made it into the best of times. its taught us that taking risks pays off, because its about the journey you go on, not the destination. 

so here are a few flash back i phone photos of our last few days in london and first week in the big apple. 

packing up our pimlico flat. such a stressful day!
all our belongings packed into a freight, not even half full!


one of the hardest days, family waving us off at the airport. walking through security check in just me and nick, starting our new adventure, alone. it was such a scary feeling. 


for those that don't know, we got a free upgrade on our flight over and this was probably our one and only time in business class! it was incredible, in fact the seven hour was too short to properly enjoy all the benefits!




our first week was pretty eventful with the 'sandy' storm hitting on our second day and so everything was shut down for the first week, which is unheard of in new york. we seriously wondered at this point what we had got ourselves into!
sand bags protecting shops from the storm
in our first month we lived just a few blocks from the crane that snapped in the storm. scary stuff.
first week figuring out how grocery shopping worked, and stocking up on american goodies!

Friday, October 25, 2013

WEEKENDERS


this weekend my brother and sister in law came to visit. it's times like this when i look on us living away as a positive...uninterrupted weekends together like the one just gone are so precious and having them stay at our home makes it feel like an fun sleepover! but, it does make the goodbyes all the harder. will and kate we miss you.





both will and kate had been to nyc before and so we wanted to make sure we showed them our nyc! so we started off in brooklyn heights, my favourite neighbourhood. 











we took them to smorsburg in williamsburg. this was also our first time and it did not disappoint. so much good food to try!









nick had an ice cream sandwich, which was basically ice cream sandwiched between two giant cookies. he loved it but was full for 2 days!





i had a smore (cinnamon crackers holding together a toasted marshmallow and melted chocolate). they're traditionally toasted on the bbq/camp fire, but in true nyc style these ones were blow torched! it was a taste sensation though!






will and kate chose teriyaki balls. not the best choice, especially after seeing the pulled pork sandwiches, but its all about the experience they kept reminding us after nick and i both felt sorry for them!




 






we grabbed a coffee in williamsburg in one of my favourite coffee shops. considering i'm not a massive coffee fanatic its obviously the decor that causes this place to rate so highly in my books!





in true boy fashion when we were meant to be 'resting' at home the guys got out their i pads to play games against each other!


on sunday we went bowling which i havent done for an age. we managed to capture some blurry bowling fun on camera too. 












we won't mention who won, but i can gloat that i beat nick (for once!).