New York: The Epilogue

It has been a while since I've updated our blog, and we are back in Dallas, but I can't leave our season in New York unfinished. So, here is the the last installation of our New York adventures...at least for now.

This was in Times Square right after we saw Mary Poppins on Broadway. Those of you who know us well, are aware that we are huge fans of "The Office," and in one episode, Michael Scott visits NYC and says he likes to go to the places that aren't so touristy, like Times Square. We joked about that every time we went there. Actually, we spend a lot of our time in general quoting The Office. That's what she said.

This was in Central Park on the North side. I didn't know this before living in New York, but the Northern part of Central Park is pretty different from the Southern. There are fewer people and some really beautiful waterfalls. Walking through the park was always a breath of fresh air for me, because its pretty much the only nature you get in Manhattan.

This was on top of the apartment building where our new friends the Asher's live (pictured below). Yes, it overlooks the front of Macy's, and they can watch the Thanksgiving parade from their roof. Yes, I am wildly jealous. I really like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it brings back so many holiday memories! They also have a perfect view of the Empire State Building. Such a neat place to live!

This sums up one of our absolute favorite things about New York. Right before we got married, Mark asked to join a small group from Redeemer Presbyterian, and little did we know how much we would love our new friends. From the left, Aileen (her husband Josh couldn't make it that night), Kristen and her husband Adam behind her, and Elyse and Jordan on the right. We are so thankful we got to know these fun couples, it was such a neat community for us to be a part of for a summer. It was amazing how God provided us with great friends during our short time there. We miss them a lot! Oh, and Kristen and Adam are expecting a baby almost any minute now and we can't wait to see pictures!

I'm sure most of the things we did made us look like tourists, but I never cared. I actually really liked pulling out my map every where I went because I liked figuring out the most efficient ways to get places.

This was the morning I left for Dallas, and as Mark's dad commented, we made sure we fit every last thing in we could. We went to the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx and it was so beautiful. Such a sweet ending to our time together in the city, it was hard to believe it was over.

We had an absolutely incredible time in New York filled with memories that I know we'll always cherish. We learned so much from this experience, about marriage, each other, the joy of meeting new friends, what it means to help the poor, how people are so unique and yet still so similar, and how wonderful a new lifestyle can be even when it makes you a little nervous at first (that one was mostly me). We are both looking forward to a lifetime of new adventures for as long as the Lord allows us!