Pat's 30th Birthday

Unfortunately, Pat's 30th birthday fell two days after I had my surgery to remove my tumor. I was layed up in bed, totally drugged up, but I tried to make the day special. I had purchased a cold stone cake and Macbook Air a week before which I was pretty excited about surprising Pat with. However, I realized I didn't cover my tracks enough when our Mint.com account sent Pat and update of where our money went that week. It was pretty apparent that I had bought him the computer when Pat saw that $2,000 went towards electronics—DANG IT!

Even though Pat's birthday gift was a bust, Doug and Mariah were able to make it a little more special when drove out to visit us and made Pat a "Better than Sex Cake" from scratch. Such great friends. 

I am so thankful for this man in my life. The past six years of marriage have been total bliss as Pat is able to make me laugh when I am mad or sad, and knows exactly what I need. He is an example to me of how to love and be friends with everyone.

I wish I could have provided a more exciting birthday for him on this 30th, but I hope he knows how much I love him completely and am so lucky to call him mine. 

Pat — the Copy Writer

Recently, Pat was able to go the L.A. on a business trip to shoot a few commercials. This was the first time that he was able to travel for a shoot and consquently "live the high life." 

It was a little hard for me to sit on the side lines and just hear about all the fun things he was able to experience while filming. I know his days were long and filled with work; however, there was a lot of fun mixed in as well. 

 

Pat was able to work with Peter Berg who directed the commercial. Pat also was able to shoot on the  Warner Brother Lot which is the contains the of the famous homes from Bewitch, The Middle, and many more I can't remember. The Warner Brother's Lot also has the "Friends" fountain. 

My favorite house on the Warner Brother's house. I want to move in!

Thankfully, while Pat was in L.A. I was able to visit my family in Northern California so I wasn't too depressed when Pat would send me pictures from his trip of him on the beach, getting room service, visiting fancy restaurants,  run ins with famous people, and his room at the Four Season's in Hollywood. 

Pat met at Peter Bergs office one day and took this picture for me. Peter Berg filmed a few episode from "Friday Night Lights", and anyone that has seen Friday Night Lights is a Tim Riggins fan. Am I right? Or am I right!?

He might not make any money doing this, but at least he is having fun. 

Luckily, I with all the fun Pat was having, I knew I was going to joining him for a fun weekend getaway soon enough...

Home Teaching Limo Ride

By just living in NYC you are able to have experiences that would never happen any place else. This happened to Pat when he was going out visiting some member of our church, called Home Teaching, which he does on a monthly basis.

As Duane and he were walking to a member's apartment the driver of a limo called out to them asking them if they wanted a ride. So what did they do? They took it of course and snapped a pic while they were at it.

Cabin Fever

Pat doesn't do well with staying inside for long periods of time. Every year for Christmas he gets a little over a week off from work (pretty much the only good thing about advertising). This year, with having Hunter and it being cold outside, we haven't gotten out as much as in years past--and this means Pat starts going a bit crazy.

On one such day Pat decided to go to The Goodwill to see what they had. He found some cool vintage actions figures for a dollar each. He decided to buy a few. When he got home he looked them up on ebay and discovered that there were quite a few he bought and hadn't bought that were worth some good money.

With Cabin Fever setting in her decided to go and buy all the vintage action figures Goodwill had and list them on ebay.

Since having a baby Pat and I have been staying in doors a lot more than usual. When Hunter was first born Pat took some vacation time to help out; however, there is only so much a man can do to help a new mom so he found himself with some extra time on his hands.

He decided to paint and put together an International Scout model that he has had for 5+ years. He painted it the same color as the Scout that he had owned in high school and crashed only months after owning it.

He worked on this model for days. I am so glad that he had this little project because otherwise I am certain that Pat, the man who needs an adventure, would have gone insane inside our 450 sq/ft apt!

August Breakdown

I have been a stranger to my blog as of late because we/I have been just so busy. Also, since being pregnant I have lost all motivation for all things I used to enjoy, reading, cleaning, blogging, picture taking, among others. Dr. Laura (my BFF) says it's hormones, and I hope she is right because I miss the old Lindsay. 

During the month of August we had three sets of visitors: Pat's brother, David, Pat's friend, Ben, and his wife Patty, and Pat's mission bud "Fernusky". We love having visitors because it forces us to enjoy the city that we live in. Something that we often forget to do when we get caught up in our daily routines. 

When Pat's brother was here he did a lot of exploring of the city no his own when Pat and I were working. However, we were able to spend some good quality time with him on the weekend and during the evenings. One day we headed over to my favorite restaurant in the city- Katz's Deli.  

And of course while we were on our way there we had to take a picture with the Dietch Wall (1, 2, 3)

Here is a little story about Pat:
One Saturday we were going grocery shopping, because we were going to feed the missionaries that night. While I was picking out the needed ingredients for the dinner I lost track of Pat. When I called him up to see where he was at, I suddenly saw him at the sea food section being handed a lobster. While still on the phone with him, as we were out of hearing distance otherwise, I said "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He laughed looking around, not knowing where I was, and proceeded to tell me was going to save a lobster.

Apparently, Pat got a little side tracked when he walked by the lobsters in the sea food section. He started watching them, sitting on ice, waiting for their deaths. As he was watching and feeling sorry for them, the deli worker asked him if he needed anything. Without thinking he said "I will take one lobster."

Pat's plan was to take the lobster home and then go throw him in the East River (and yes, although the East River is called a river, it actually is not and is salt water), freeing him and giving him a second chance at life. At this point all I could do was smile and go along with his plan because who can't love Pat for his tender heart. (1, 2)

However, sadly, Pinchy (as Pat called him) didn't survive the trek home. We tried to revive him by putting him in a bucket of water but it seemed that we were a little too late (By the way, I was totally grossed out this whole time by the lobster and refused to even look at it). Yet,  we decided that Pinchy could not go to waste and that he death would not be in vain as we feed him to the missionaries that evening. RIP Pinchy.

It seemed that much of this month Pat had many adventures, while I was either resting at home, learning calligraphy, or at doctors appointments. However, thanks to i-phones, he was able to record some of his activities so I felt like I was almost there. 

I guess first and foremost, Pat got a new grill this month. This has been a two month process that has been very painful for him--poor guy--but hopefully it was all worth it in the end. When Pat was a teenager he knocked out two of his two front teeth while riding a jet ski. Because the work he had done so long ago was so out dated, our insurance would cover most of the cost for him to get the work done, so I thought this would be the best time to do it. 

Even though Pat is not convinced it was worth all the work and money, I told him he was super lucky to have such a nice smile and didn't have to go through the process of braces. He doesn't agree, but anyone who had braces would side with me. 

"The transformation is complete"

Two cool pictures Pat took with Instagram of the Chrysler building. 

We will miss living in a city that offers such good photo ops. 

One of the reasons I haven't seen much of Pat this month was due to the fact that Pat was shooting his first commercial. I think it was a really great learning experience for him and one that, in the end, I think he enjoyed. 

Pat has been in to raptors, or birds of prey, ever since shooting his Dorito's commercial, back in the day. So when his friend, Chad, told him about the raptor show, coming to NYC, he knew he had to go and that it would be awesome. Well, his high expectations were met head on and he enjoyed a day full of large and majestic birds. This is one picture he took, that I couldn't believe was real:  

Pat's missionary bud, Fernusky, came into town just for a few days and was nice enough to let Pat in on some of his hook ups, one of which were tickets to the U.S. Open. I wasn't able to go because I had a doctors appointment that I couldn't cancel, but it looked like so much fun even though I know NOTHING about tennis, except for that one time I was rich for a day and was able to be trained by a tennis pro--no biggy.

All in all it was a great month; however, after writing this post it looks like it was a better month for Pat as he had most of the adventures!

My Husband's Secret FB Life {Part III}

I feel old. When I go on Facebook I am confused and uninterested. I feel up to date on my technologies of the time, but I am totally lacking in the social media phenomenon. Perhaps it is because I don't have a I-phone, but regardless, what I do find interesting is stalking my husband via FB. 

Here are some of his Facebook posts as of late:

Just another day in the office w/ Klane Harding

west coast is the best coast — with Lindsay Storm Koelling. 

New Yorks crazy taxi ride.

Pat and Sean (bro-in-law) went on Las Vegas' New York, New York Rollercoaster. Right after this picture was taken. They stopped the ride and took away Sean's phone.

Introducing the Klane and Pat lunch break. It's a blast. All it takes is an hour in midtown, a severed squirrel head and The American Girl doll store. Fun.

Pat got this mounted squirrel head as a gift for his friend who got married. During his lunch break, while he was getting the married man's last name engraved on a gold plaque to put on the mount, they stopped by the American Girl Store to see if they needed to get some accessories. 

Now the cleaning lady will never mistake it for trash again! 

So there is a story to go along with this Crystal Pepsi can. When Pat applied to the BYU advertising program he had a segment that required a can of Crystal Pepsi. He actually found one and bought it off of Ebay and treasured the can for years and kept it on his desk at his work. Suddenly, one day the can was gone. It turns out the cleaning lady mistook it for trash and threw it away!!! How could she!?!? Pat was devastated. So of course he had to buy another one on Ebay and display is in a glass dome. 

Manhattanage

This is how we are spending our Friday night!

Ben and Patty (the other Patty)

 

Pat and I had the most exciting weekend. We were able to attend Pat's best friend, Ben's, wedding AND my brother, Tyler's, wedding, all in just a a few days. I called it our "Weekend Wedding Extravaganza!"

Our first stop on this "Wedding Extravaganza" was to Newport Beach, California for Ben and Patty's wedding. Yes, that is right. Patty. Ben is marrying a Patty and she is great, just like MY Patty. We arrived on Thursday afternoon, so we could attend a Bridal Party Dinner at Patty's parent's house.

It was so great to see the married couple, Pat's high school buds, and eat catered Cafe Rio (my most missed restaurant from Utah). However, the best part was seeing how in love Ben and Patty are. In some weird strange way I feel a special connection to Ben, almost as if he is my brother. It brought me such joy to see him in love and being loved by someone who is equally as special. I was/am so happy that they found each other and so excited for all the happy years ahead of them.

That night Pat went out for a "Bachelor Party" (Mormon style of course) where they went to Dave & Busters, hung out on a water fairy and whatnot. Pat's high school friends have special bond, they are more like "family" than "friends". They are really good at staying in touch with each other and it so fun to see them all together.

The next day was certainly a day to remember. Everything about it was perfect. The ceremony was a tearjerker and the reception...oh the reception! If I could do my wedding all over again, and have the budget to provide such a reception, I would copy EVERYTHING about it.

Pat's parents came to the wedding as well.

Handsome. Handsome. Handsome!

The reception was held on a yacht named "Eternity" (very appropriate for the day). It was three stories. One floor was the dinning area and the other stories were used for lounging, pictures, and dancing. The night was so much fun as we celebrated Ben and Patty's love. We danced the night away, with me and my pregnant belly and all. 

Pat was asked to give a groomsman speech last minute. And with only a few minutes of preparation he gave the best speech! I am always so in awe of Pat's public speaking abilities. He gave a heartfelt speech that made you laugh and cry--the perfect combination. I was so proud to be his wife (as always of course).

The kicker of the night was when Ben and Patty floated away on a fair tail gondola adorned with a candles, sparkling cider, and a white canopy. The gondola picked them up before we docked, rowed them around the yacht while everyone the boat cheered, and then floated away as it took them to their hotel. It was too perfect to be real!

But that was exactly how the whole day was: "too perfect to be real."