I have lots to share, but I'd like to start by sharing my first big realization... that I am no longer around the ones I love. Just days after our big move, my best friend shockingly lost her father. For the first time, I was not a quick car ride away from the ones I love the most. Even though I am physically in NYC, my heart has been in Dallas these past few days. I am beyond thankful for technology and for being able to stay in touch with those nearest and dearest to my heart. Praise God for His continued support these past few days and I ask that you keep Brenda and her family in your prayers.
In a mini-van we go...
Yep, that's right. We drove a mini-van. To New York....no, not just to NYC...through NYC. I think we deserve some type of medal. Note to self: street lanes and traffic lights are just a "guide" in The Big Apple. As you know, we pretty much sold everything we owned, donated a ton to charity and stuffed our little mini-van as full as we could...and when I say stuffed...I mean we popped open the windows accidentally because it was so full. Upon leaving Texas, we picked up Whataburger one last time...until we meet again!
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| Our mini-van on our street in NYC! |
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| Whataburger...until we meet again! |
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| Pickle and Sundae sleeping on the trip! |
Food
Is absolutely overwhelming here. It is everywhere you look! Every ethnicity you could think of and every hour of every single day. It's awesome. You can also order just about everything to your door!
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| Dinner at a Chinese Food Restaurant on 79th Street (our street). |
Public Transit
Is getting easier. Richard can definitely navigate the city better than me...thanks to smart phones, you can look up subway, bus and walking routes as you go. This is so helpful! I think buses are my favorite here. I'm getting better with the subway. I hate taxis.
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| Of course, our first picture in the city and Richard doesn't look at the camera! LOL :) |
Laundry...
Has been easy! As you know, we were using a community laundry facility in Dallas (due to our CARES placement). The machines here are SO much better and cost less. Who would have thought!? Richard picked up a super cool "laundry backpack"!
For the love of furniture...
We have spent 10+ hours at IKEA in one week (I'm not kidding). We've had 3 meals in that store...and taken a subway, bus, water taxi and taxi to get to and from IKEA in Brooklyn. I am happy to say that all of our furniture was delivered yesterday...now we just have to put it together (the fun part)! We have never been so excited to see furniture! Furnishing 450 square feet was fun - but definitely a challenge b/c everything needs to have a dual function.
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| Water Taxi to IKEA |
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| Our apartment: wall to wall furniture and boxes |
Pickle and Sundae do NYC!
The dogs are adjusting pretty well (although they will be happy when we have furniture too)! They have both been going to the bathroom outside on the concrete without any problems. We do have a huge park a few blocks away from us with 2 dog runs. They liked the "little dogs" dog run...not a fan of the "bigger dogs" dog run. However, Sundae doesn't really like to leave our side and Pickle just likes to chase balls around...the other dogs just get in her way! We also met another couple our age that moved from Dallas to NYC a year ago and they have a doxie too! :)
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| We saw this sign at Macy's (the largest Macy's in the world) while buying our mattress! Too cute. |
Dallas Friends
We have already seen several friends from Dallas due to work trips and pre-planned vacations! What a comfort to see familiar faces during such a big transition. That was a huge blessing!
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| Lunch with Annie and Kyle at Lenox Hill Grill in the Upper East Side. |
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| Meeting Amber at Grand Central Station! |
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| Drinks and wings with Steven at Blondie's in the Upper West Side. The wings are great here!! |
Weather
The temperature drastically dropped a few days after we got here...it is COLD. Well, Richard loves the weather. I'm freezing. Ha! We also got stuck in the rain without proper rain gear...however, that won't happen again! Check out Sundae in her cute raincoat!
As you know, NYC does not have central AC. We bought 2 AC units from Home Depot (yes! there is a Home Depot in the city!). They were installed today - woohoo! We have been told it gets very hot here in the summer and we will be happy with our purchase!
Overall
Everything is going well. It has been a very long transition process and I am sure it will take us a little while to get settled and into a normal routine. I've definitely had my moments due to lack of sleep, not having a functional places to live and adjusting to a new city. One of the biggest adjustments is walking all over the city (after a week, I am finally no longer sore)! Living in NYC is definitely a different lifestyle and takes a lot of learning...we have learned so many things in one week! We are still very excited about our new adventure, getting plugged into a church (we already tried one out) and living in this exciting city! Everyone here has been so nice and love hearing all the accents. NYC is such a melting pot - we love it. Stay tuned for more details....
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| The first church we tried! |
