Mormon Helping Hands

Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.

The devastation of Hurricane Sandy is something that no one could have anticipated. Members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints have organized groups of volunteers to help those that were affected. It is so amazing to see what people can do when they come together and serve.

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!

Gotye and Parenthood

My friend Joanna sent this to me and I fell in love with it. I have been totally obsessed with this song ever since I heard the remake of it on American Idol a few weeks ago and can't get enough of it, and now I can't get enough of these kids singing it!

Being a "realist" who is pregnant I tend to gets moments of fear and anxiety for the change in my life that is about to take place. I envision sleepless nights, a crying baby, me struggling to get a carry a stroller up subway stairs, financial stresses, a totally stressed out mom, and more, more and more. However, being a "realist" doesn't mean that I should only focus on all the difficult times ahead, it means I must be realistic about all the happiness and fun Pat and I are going to have raising our kids. This video really made me get excited for those awesome times when kids just make you laugh. I can only hope our kids are this cool!

Spoiled Kitty

I haven't mentioned much about Montee lately, but he is still up to his quirky antics and had his one year birthday in March. His new thing lately is constantly wanting to take a bath. When he was a kitten he LOVED playing in the bath tub, however, in his teenage years he was being rebellious and didn't want anything to do with water. However, I am so glad that he has gotten back to his roots and now enjoys his bath at least a few times a week.


Almost everyday we hear him meowing in the bathroom (he hardly ever meows). When we go in to check on him he is sitting in the tub begging us to turn on the water. When we do fill up the tub for him, he just enjoys walking around and sitting in the warm water for a half an hour or so. 

This past week, Pat made up a bubble bath for Montee. What a spoiled kitty.

"Portrait for a free $0"

Remember when my best friend, Meghan, and her husband, Matt, came to visit us in December? Well, one evening while were were walking along 5th Avenue, enjoying the Christmas windows, we have a very funny experience. We all walked by an young Asian man squatting behind a small card table that had a very poorly written sign that said "Portrait for a free $0."

As typical New Yorkers, we just walked by because of the constant bombardment of beggars and solicitors encountered on a daily basis, but there seemed to be something different with this guy. We had to go back and see what it was all about.

I approached the man, who was squatting on the sidewalk, and told him I would be interested in a free portrait. He was a very jolly and happy fellow, but didn't speak much English. Although, he didn't speak our language, I quickly found out he was extremely fluent in body language! As he started my portrait he crouched down, squinted his eyes, swayed side to side in a jolted rhythm, and moved his arms with extreme motion. We all couldn't help but laugh, especially as a crowd started to form as passerby's saw the artistic performance.

Now, I can't say that this is the best depiction of Patrick and I, but I think it definitely resembles us and you gotta give credit where credit is due because he did do each under a minute and with such emotion!

Matt

(Mr. Ma-to, how your flesh outlines your body is beautiful, Let's meet again. love your neck! 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe)

Meghan

( "Meigen, Thank you, I could boldly draw you, your smile is too wonderful, please let me draw you again, 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe." )

Lindsay

Translation by my Japanese friend, Sayuri Katayama Lege: The message he wrote on yours says "Linzu-(his way of saying your name) 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe(his name), First time to draw an Ultra beautiful girl, See you! Please let me draw you again." 

Pat

Translation by my Japanese friend, Sayuri Katayama Lege: On Pat, he wrote "Patto(his way of saying the name), your lips are my Ultra favorite, Please let me draw you again! 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe(his name)" New York looks so fun!!

Next time you see a Japanese man squatting on the ground with a sign that reads "Portraits for a free" you gotta stop. Trust me, you will not regret it!

Nerf Gun Fun

Pat got a nerf gun. But of course he is not content with just shooting a few nerf here and there. Since he has had his gun I have been amazed at his creativity in creating new games to keep the whole family (Pat, Me and Montee) entertained. 

For this one particular game, Pat set up some target on our pass-through. He even went as far as pinning up a sheet and placing a box on the floor, so when the can were shot the sheet would stop them and then they would fall into the box for easy retrieval. 

Pat also knows that if he can get me participating in a game, where there is a chance I might beat him, I become very competitive. Unfortunately, Pat has been practicing his nerf gun skills much longer that I have (excuses, excuses) so I failed to beat him. 

Nerf Gun Fun from Lindsay Koelling on Vimeo.

Pat's creativity and fun child-like nature, brings so much joy and excitement into my life. 

I am such a boring person, but Pat is the ying to my yang. 

Nutty Montee

Montee is nuts. This video just gives you a glimpse into what I mean.

Welcome to Canada

(Video courtesy of the best video blog out there: Shouldisendit2nate)

I know I have a weird sense of humor, since videos like the magic show kids make me practically pee my pants, but this video made me REALLY question my sense of humor. I mean, why did this make me laugh uncontrollably at work to a point where I had tears streaming down my face?

P.S. Ever since watching Beavers: IMAX (instant play on netflix) I have had a huge respect for this animal. Probably up there on my top 10 list of coolest animals.

P.P.S. And since I am on the topic of being really geeky and revealing my obsession with animals, we recently watched a really cool documentary on dogs, called Dogs Decoded (instant play on netflix). Definitely a good watch...if you're into that kind of thing.

Doug and Mariah visit NYC {Year Two}

Our good good friends, Doug and Mariah, came and visited us again this year. This is becoming a kind of tradition as this is the second year they came on the same weekend as last year. Doug has a Christmas party for his work in NYC around the second weekend of December. I am so glad that Doug and Mariah use this as an excuse to come visit us!

Mariah had just two things she wanted to do while she was in New York City.

1. Eat at Lombardis, the first pizzeria in the U.S.
2. Go to FAO Shwarz
3. Take pictures with Montee

I am happy to say we were able to do all of them!

I was lucky that I still had one vacation day while they were here, so I was able to take a day off and spend it with Mariah. 

First, we had lunch at a local crepe joint. Then we went to South Sea Port and got some discounted Broadway tickets at TKTS.  Then we walked on the Brooklyn bridge. Then we got cupcakes at Sprinkles. Then we went to FAO Shwarz and watch a "BIG PIANO" performance and got the chills. Then later that night we at the famous Halal Street food with the husbands, went to Rockefeller Center and saw the Christmas window displays. Yes, you can say it was a great day. 

The rest of the weekend was a blast, but unfortunately, unlike last year, Doug had to work a lot more. Bummer. But he still managed to meet up with us during the nights and even during the day to see the critically acclaimed Broadway show "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" which was great. 

I forgot to mention that Doug missed his flight coming to NYC due to work. And unfortunately, BOTH Doug and Mariah missed their flights leaving NYC due to Doughnut Plant. For some reason, I got it in my head that I really wanted to go to this famous Doughnut shop. I told Doug and Mariah about it and got it in their heads too. The whole weekend we tried to make it to the shop before it closed, but could never get around to it. So finally, the last day they were here, we knew we had to go. However, this unfounded little obsession of mine, along with us not being able to catch a cab, caused the Brewster's to miss their flight! Needless to say, I felt awful and the doughnuts weren't even good, but we did have an little adventure that we other wise wouldn't of had...fishing for ray bans in the subway. See video below. 

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee" Isaiah 41:10

This video is amazing. It spoke to my heart as it seems that I am more fearful these days, either because I am more aware of the world around me or because life just gets more complicated as one gets older.

Pat always says, in a somewhat cliche and joking manner, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future." Even though that is a really cheesy saying, it's true and something that I need to remember.

FB and PAT

I belong to Facebook but hardly ever use it or go on it. 

However, every so often I will go on an check out what Patrick has been up to.
Check out what I found:

Apparently Pat was Garth from "Waynes World" for Halloween while he was at work.  

His work partner, Nathan, took this picture of the city from the top of their work building and posted 

in on Facebook. Then I guess Patrick added his one creative genius to the scene and reposted it. 

Chicken Marinara Melt

Pat has started a new blog: Sub of the Month, honoring Subway's sub of the month in art form. 

And of course there is always the continual posting of Pat's video blog: ShouldIsendit2nate

Apparently, Pat has a whole virtual life I don't know about.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade & Dinner

This year Pat and I decided to be the ultimate tourists and to make sure we did all the NYC touristy things around the holidays. Last year, I was a bit of a bah-hum-bug and never wanted to put forth the effort and brave the crowds for those infamous New York celebrations. 

One such event, is the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Last year, I didn't want to wake up early and get seats for the parade, so we ended getting to the parade just as Santa passed by. Pat was very depressed that he missed it all, so I vowed we would do it the following year. I am proud to say I follow through with my promises, even if it does mean waking up at 4:45am on Thanksgiving morning. I don't feel like there are many things in life that warrant waking up before 5am; however, I am glad to say the Thanksgiving Parade is one of those exceptions. 

We claimed our seats by 5:45am, with our friends, Tommy and Amanda, when there were only a handful of people on the street. We kept ourselves warm, happy, and full by eating breakfast sandwiches and drinking hot cocoa. 

The time actually went by really quickly in the wee morning hours as we watched the sun rise above central park and the city. 

As the sidewalks fill with people and the parade was set to start any minute, Pat decides he needs to go to the bathroom. He has been holding it for a few hours and he can't bare it any longer. So minutes before the parade begins Pat has no choice but to leave and find a bathroom, no easy feat in NYC, let alone Thanksgiving morning. With the crowds of people I really didn't think Pat would ever be able to make it back in time. I couldn't believe that Pat was going to miss the parade for the second year in a row!

Niel Diamond was by far the most entertaining celebrity on a float.
He was singing and dancing with his old man dance moves
as he filmed the crowd from his own personal camera. I loved that
he was so excited to be on a float that he was documenting it himself!

I was really excited to see Scotty McCreery. He was one of our favorites last season on American Idol. 

Fully expecting not to see Pat until the parade was over, I watched the first hour of the parade feeling so sad for Pat that he was missing all the action. Finally, by some miracle, Pat was able to make it back to our seats, only after having to take a taxi to and back from his work over 30 blocks away. I was so happy he was able to make it for the remaining hour of the parade. 

I really couldn't believe how fun and entertaining the parade was. I really enjoyed the whole experience, especially with our friends Tommy and Amanda. I am surprised to say that I had so much fun that I would gladly do it all again next year.

After the parade I was totally exhausted. The minute I came home I jumped into bed and took a nap before our Thanksgiving dinner at our friends house, the Newmans. We volunteered to bring a few sides, mashed potatoes and yams, so I set my alarm to be able to wake up on time to make it. However, Pat being the wonderful husband he is, knowing that I was so tired, did it all himself! When I woke up, he told me to go back to bed and that he was already taking care of it! I couldn't believe, that was by fat the sweetest thing he could have possibly done. I didn't argue with him one bit. I just turned around and went back to bed until it was time to leave.

The dinner was amazing. However, I was so impressed with their decorations and preparations of the meal that I totally forgot to take pictures of the most important part...the PEOPLE!!!!  So sad and a major fail on my part.

Our friends, Maria and Matt, invited us to this dinner and I am so glad they did. We had such a fun time  having the a traditional Thanksgiving meal in NYC, no easy feat. We really enjoyed getting to know people we otherwise wouldn't have been able to spend time with and of course the food was amazing. 

We played a really fun game after dinner that is a tradition in the Newman family. After dinner everyone sat in a circle on the floor and each person was given three die. However, these were not normal die, but rather wooden die with a letter written on each side: J, O, and Y. A pile of candy was placed in the center of the circle, along with some big ticket items (king size candy bars). A timer was set for 60 or 90 seconds. When the time begins everyone rolling their die and tried to spell our the word "Joy." When your die spelled out the word you were able to pick a candy from the pile in the middle or take a candy from anyone else's pile. When the time ran out you got to keep any candy that is left in your pile. I know I didn't do a very good job at explaining how to play the game, but trust me, it was so much fun and I fully intend on stealing this tradition for future Thanksgivings.