A few folks I'd like you to meet

My family. Joe, my dad

Cathy, my mom





Bradley, my older brother (to the right)

Me :0)

Jeffrey, my younger brother (in the pic above with my parents)





Crystal. We've been friends since we were kids.
Pretty much have done life together. She knows it all: the good, the bad, and the real ugly! For some reason, she sticks around.



Below we have Crystal again. Plus, Brooke and Kristin. Wonderful friends. That's an understatement. I hope they know they can't get rid of me. Even if I do snort when I laugh!

Now the crazies. Ashley and Laryssa. Woot. Woot. Good friends. Friends that make you belly laugh. Especially watching youtube videos at all hours of the night.

Patricia, Me, Layna, Kelley, Adriana

ONE WORD: SQUAWK!!!!!!!!!!

Riding go carts and calling it Bible study: $5

Having to go on time out: $12
Secrets that won't be told:
priceless

Carrie H. Isley and I have been friends since 8th grade.
This is her little girl, Elizabeth that my mom is holding.

Crystal, Megs, Renee, Me, Tiff
Freaking amazing godly women!
Too many stories to tell!!!!

Campus Outreach Staff Girls 2007
Sassy Single Staff

Andrew and Lauren. Friends for a long time. Friends who tell me the truth. Amazing friends for life!

Frenchies friends. None can compare. Ca, c'est vrai. Clay. Pamela & Karim.

Lily. She is some of my dear friends, Kristin and Sam's, daughter. She is precious. We are reading the Bible together. I love this little one. She's a stinker. I'm teaching her well. She already likes my jewelry ;0).

Yeah, that's the office on in the back ground!






***If you don't see your face, don't worry. I'm not finished yet!!

So sad

I started this blog to write about my time in New York but right now I need to let everyone know what my family is going through. As I've mentioned before my family all grew up on my grandfather's farm. My cousin Darin passed away yesterday morning. He had been working on an industrial sized lawn mower and it fell on his chest. This is an amazing shock to my entire family. He was only 37 years old. He is married to Wendy and has 2 children. Britney is 8 and Grayson is 5. He worked with my uncle David his whole life as an electrician and also worked on my grandfather's farm a lot. His younger brother Brandon and his wife Kelli just had their second child. Branson was born on Feb. 15th. Kendal is their daughter. She is 3. We are going to the funeral home tonight and have the funeral tomorrow. Please, please pray for the family.

Observations and advice about New York City

Being here I've already observed some pretty strange things and found some advice that has helped. I thought I'd log it for myself and share them with you as well. The list will continue to grow....I'm sure. Add your thoughts, observations, and advice to help us all survive.

• Always carry something to read because you are going to have to wait for the bus, train, etc.
• It is like going back in time when it comes to places taking debit and credit cards. Ugh. Ugh. You have to have cash. I hate this.
  
• The subway trains come when they feel like it
• Rely on the buses on the weekends because they work on the subway lines
  
• The first week I saw everyone leaning and looking for their train in the subway. I thought, "Do they think they can make it come faster?" Just yesterday, I was doing it ;0).
• You know how sometimes you might see people in their cars singing to the radio, picking their noses, talking to themselves? Well, here, people just do that walking down the street or on the subway. Am I going to turn crazy too?
• Quiet is a relative term.
• Cheap is a relative term.
• Anything....I mean anything can be delivered
• Why are manicures and pedicures so cheap but everything else so expensive? Really a box of cereal is $6????
• Curb your dog????? What the crack?
• Good luck setting up your cable
• Buy some rain boots
• Don't honk $350 penalty. Can I write that ticket?
• Does Starbucks own New York?
• My roommate can hail a bus.
• You should try that restaurant. It is a little pricey. ;0) That's what everyone says!
  

Moving to New York City from Charlotte, NC

So a few people have asked me about starting a "blog" about moving from North Carolina to New York City, so here I am. I've been here 3 weeks and realize I have a lot of crazy thoughts that could actually be interesting to share with others about my new life here in this big city. So far so good with life here. I told my friend, Wendy, this morning that there were too many people here. I'm not saying that like I'm surprised that there are too many people. That is the chaos and the draw of this place.

I guess I should say that I moved from life in Charlotte to the Big Apple. Before that I lived in a smaller town and grew up on a farm. So, life in NYC is just slightly different ;0). I left a great life with loads of fun people, memories, family, my house, the farm, my car, space to just be, my church but I came here because I felt God moving me on to something new. My job was a lot of the pull to come here and also how different I knew my life was going to be. I've needed the opportunity to spread my wings a bit and I guess New York is the place to try and do that (though space is a high commodity in Manhattan). So, the adventure starts....you should come along. More to come!

The pic is from my grandfather's farm back in NC. This is where I grew up.

PS Please pray for my cousin Darin. He was in an accident this week. We need a lot of prayer right now. Pray for complete healing.