Appreciating the Small Things

When I first moved to New York City certain things about living here were really cool to me, mostly because while growing up I would see these novelties on TV or the movies.

One such novelty is our intercom/buzzer. When I first moved into our apartment I felt SO COOL when I would check to see who was buzzing us and then felt even cooler when I would buzz to let them in. It actually took a little bit of practice - the synchronization between speaking and pushing the right buttons at the right time is not as easy at it seems!

One time when we first moved in I had our Super over fixing something and someone buzzed our apartment. When I went to go see who it was I got all confused and flustered and pushed all the buttons at the wrong time. I was a little embarrassed as my Super laughed at me and my inexperience at city life.

The other day I was going through this process, of "buzzing" someone in. I did everything so unconsciously and I realized the "coolness factor" had totally worn off. I no longer felt "cool" when I went through this process. How sad!

It then made me think of all the novelties of the city that I no longer enjoy, get excited about and/or appreciate, such as:
-Riding the subway
-Going to Times Square
-Seeing dog walkers or dogs with shoes (okay...I still really like this)
-Swiping your subway card (there is actually an art to this. I was really excited when I finally got the technique down)
-Seeing movie shoots
-Living within a stones throw (literally) of a Laundromat, Indian Restaurant, Thia Restaurant, Deli, Argentinian Restaurant, Mexican Restaurant, Italian Restaurant, Nail Salon, and Dry Cleaner.
-Working on Park Avenue
-Living a few avenues from Central Park
-Wood floors in almost all apartments
-Hailing a cab
-It taking 4 minutes to walk to church
-Being able to get anywhere in the city (pretty much) by the subway
-Knowing exactly where to stand on the subway platform so when you exit the car at your destination stop you are exactly where you need to be so you can save those precious 30 seconds.
-Jaywalking everywhere, even in front of cop cars
-Riding the subway at rush hour (I thought this was the funniest thing the first time I did it)

I know there are so many unique things about living in a city that I have just gotten used. In an attempt to not forget ALL the little things, I wanted to compile this list, so perhaps next time I am stuck in a subway car during rush hour I will be able to revert back to my excitement of experiencing it for the first time.

Just think of how exciting life would be if every time we did something it felt like the first time! So if you can think of any more..please do tell!

(Items shown in the above picture:
Top from left to right:
-An Acrylic painting of Times Square purchase for $20 from street vendor in 2001 when I visited my best friend, Meghan, in her home state of NJ, during Thanksgiving. We took the train into NYC on Black Friday and when I saw Times Square for the first time I thought it was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen.
-"Barn's burnt down, now I can see the moon" framed card. Once again my best friend, Meghan, gave this card to me in 2002. I was reading a very odd short story in one of my classes called something like "Barn Burner." She gave this to me and it quickly became my favorite saying. It is the ultimate optimism quote. When everything seems to be at it worse (for instance your livelyhood being burned up in a fire) you can still find good in the situation. Meghan ultimately had this card costumed framed for me (isn't she the best!?)
Middle from left to right:
-Patrick's missionary tag from when he served his LDS mission in Orlando Florida. He wore this tag on his shirt or suit front pocket for 2 years from November 2003- November 2005
-The infamous intercom
-My missionary tag from where I served a Mormon/LDS mission in Salt Lake City, Utah, Temple Square. I wore this tag everyday for a year and a half from November 2004 - May 2006. The reason I have a U.S. flag is because on Temple Square there were 150 missionaries, serving for the Mormon church, just like me, from all over the world. I worked closely with ladies from Ukraine, Japan, Mexico, Spain, New Zealand, Russia, Germany, Ghana, Brazil, South Korea, and MUCH MUCH more. There is also a little gold pin with the ASL sign for "love." I "learned" American Sign Language on my mission; however, I only learned enough to give a tour of the historic temple ground and to explain about The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints.
Bottom from left to right:
-Light Switch (ha)
-A photograph that Patrick took from the "New Yorker" Hotel of the NYC skyline. It turned out so beautifully we just had to frame it.