Living in the city can be a bit claustrophobic at times. People that live here are always talk about "getting out of the city" and often leave during holidays when the tourists come in full swing.
Pat and I have been feeling this need to "get out" for a while now, so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and spend at day enjoying the destinations outside the city.
Pat had several destinations in mind this weekend, so all I had to do was jump on the motorcycle and enjoy the ride, while Pat took care of the rest. Our first destination was Bear Mountain, a state park upstate. It took about an hour to an hour an half to drive up there. I am not sure how long it would normally take, but since we weren't the only ones with the idea of getting out of the city, we saw a lot of this...
but thank goodness for motorcycles because we did a lot of this...
which cut out time in half.
Once we go to Bear Mountain we walked around a lake and enjoyed the smells and sounds of nature.
The park was really smart to strategically place ice cream machine dispensers throughout the park. We enjoyed a few ice creams to cool us off from the summer heat.
After Bear Mountain we drove to a well known outlet mall called Woodbury Commons. This mall was HUGE and had every store you could imagine. I am glad we took a motorcycle here, because if not it would have been hard to resist all the amazing deals. We knew that everything we bought had to fit into an already half full backpack, so we had to be very selective...thank goodness for our bank acounts sake.
The day was fun, but exhausing. Shopping and riding a motorcycle really takes the energy out of you. But after a good nights rest, we are ready to do it again.
My husband has hilarious friends from high school. It is always a riot when they get together. Two of his good buddies from high school, Jared and Jeff, are getting married on the same day, November 11, 2011 or 11.11.11.
Pat really wants to attend both weddings, but since one is in Colorado and the others in California, it's not possible.
Pat used Facebook as a tool for him to make this difficult decision. See the hilarious conversation that followed....
There has been a lot of hype about "Mormon's" in the media these days. With the success of "The Book of Mormon," the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, the recent NBA draft of BYU's Jimmer Fredette, and the entry of Mormon politician's, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, into the Republican primary field, it seems that Mormon's are all the buzz these days. I guess you can say this is "The Mormon Moment" as Newsweek stated on it's cover of a recent issue. The cover shows Mitt Romney's head photoshopped over an image from a poster for the play "The Book of Mormon."
How do Mormon's feel about all this attention? I can't speak for anyone besides myself, but I think it is just plain exciting. I guess it all goes back to the old saying "There's no such thing as bad publicity."
For some reason The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a greatly misunderstood church. Throughout my life I have been clearing up misconceptions and answering questions about Mormon's and their beliefs, which I greatly appreciate the opportunity to do so. Due to the fact that "Mormon's" are currently in the limelight, many doors have been opened for others to have their questions answered regarding what I believe, and I LOVE it.
Some of these questions and misconceptions include: -Do you believe in Jesus Christ? (The answer to this is a profound Yes! Mormon is our nick name, and this question can be answered if one knew the real name of our church, which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) -I didn't know you could wear makeup. (Why yes. Yes we can) -Do you worship Jon Smith? (The correct name is Joseph Smith, and no we do not, we worship Jesus Christ. We believe that God has always had prophets to communicate to people, like Moses and Noah. We believe he continues to communicate to us through prophets today. Joseph Smith was one of those prophets God chose to help bring back all the teachings that Christ's taught in their purity.more>>>) -How many moms do you have? Or how many wives does your dad have? (One.) -Can you cut your hair (yes) and do you have to wear skirts all the time (no)? -Do you believe in the Bible? (yes) -Why don't you live in Utah? (We live everywhere. Over half of Mormon's live out side the United States) -Are Mormons and Amish the same thing? (Nope) -Are woman suppressed in the Mormon church? (Nope. We actually have the oldest and largest woman's organization in the world) -Are you Christian? (Yes! See above. Christ is our Savior and central to our beliefs)
I am often the first Mormon they have ever met and people are often shocked when they find out I am Mormon. I do not know what they expect Mormons to be like, but apparently I am not it! haha I believe this is why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has launch their new advertising campaign.
Through research, the Mormon Church, "identified that almost half of the people in this country say they know nothing at all about Mormons, with many saying they do not know any Mormons personally. "
This was troubling to church officials who felt that "the best way to understand Mormons is to meet and come to know us," Since they couldn't arrange to get more Mormons to live in more neighborhoods around the country, church strategists decided to harness the power of the internet in general, and social media specifically.
"We determined to use mormon.org to help people get to know our members...the campaign directs people to the website, where thousands of members have created profiles about themselves describing their interests and how Church teachings and practices make them who they are."
They have recently launched this advertising campaign here in New York City with a billboard in Times Square and a few hundred advertisements on taxis.
It is exciting to see how the Mormon church is getting the message out how Mormons come from all walks of life and are Christians.
I liked the quote in an article that interviewed a few people on their impressions of this Times Square Billboard:
"'It's kind of neat,' said Dowd Timmerman, 35, of Augusta, Ga., who was staying at a nearby hotel and said the ad was one of the first he noticed in the crowded square. "I guess anybody can be a Mormon."
Monday night I had a girls night out. This wasn't your typical watch a chick flick and eat bon-bons girls night out. This was a dance your booty off, sing 'til you lose your voice and laugh 'til it hurts girls night out.
Once again, amazingly creative Rubi made my night when she planned an awesome night out with the girls karaoking. However, this was not your normal night out to the Karaoke bar where you get to sing a song or two and then watch some strangers who are wanna-be-super-stars sing their hearts out hoping to be "discovered." Rather, this was a rent your own Karaoke private room for 2 hours and have the time of your life as you sing your favorite songs and make a total fool in front of your friends kind of night. Much better.
The night was a total blast as I realized what an ABSOLUTE horrible singer I am, listened to Ashely's DEAD-ON Jessica Simpson impersonation, swore that Cher was actually with us singing in person, and took mental notes of everyone's dance moves.
With all the singing and dancing we worked up a quite and appetite so we ate some YUMMY Korean BBQ to top off our very Asian-esk evening. Nights like this get me wondering why I don't do stuff like this more often. Thanks everyone for such a memorable and hilarious night.
This past weekend we gave Montee his first bath. The breeder said he didn't mind the water, but I was so shocked when I saw how easily he took to being in a tub FULL of water. Actually, as I was filling up the tub he came and started drinking the water, then jumped in all by himself.
I think he really liked being in there because the water was so warm and he loves being warm because he is always so cold without any fur.
I am so glad that Montee likes his baths, because I have heard and read a lot of horror stories about sphynx owners and trying to give their cats a bath. Since we have to bathe Montee once a week, the fact that he actually enjoys them is going to make everyones lives much happier.
