Today is a wonderful day because today is my big sister's 27th birthday!
Nicole and me in Ireland
My sister is a huge blessing in my life. She has always been someone that I look up to and love incredibly! She is one of the biggest supports in my life and is always there for me. She is so selfless and has such a heart for others. Her faith is so encouraging and everything that she does comes from a desire to spread and glorify the name of Jesus. She is a wonderful wife and has taught me so much through watching her relationship with Chris. She has huge dreams and doesn't let the world say that she can't accomplish them but rather puts all that she has into them. She has the most beautiful voice and is the world's BEST music teacher! (I hope to someday be one-fourth as good as her.) She is one of the only people that I can go from having a long heart-to-heart talk with to immediately rolling on the floor in laughter. She loves traveling and studying different cultures. She's just the best!
Nicole and me in India
Near the top of a Himalayan mountain.
Just being silly!
Nicole, I love you so much! Thanks for being the world's best sister and friend! You Rock! Happy Birthday!
Tonight Matt and I were talking in our car, while waiting for me to go to work and a school bus drove by us. One of the students threw an empty HoHo's box out of the window as it passed. Matt and I were shocked! :) When it was time to go to work, we got out and Matt grabbed the box. His response was priceless!
"This is a perfect representation of American Kids today...
Spring Break started wonderfully this year with 5 days at home with my family. We worked on the house, did wedding things, the girls got manicures, and so many more things!! I love my family and it was so fun to be home with all of them again! They are such a blessing in my life. But then the travel started...
WEDNESDAY
-Left home around 3:00 and went back up to UNI.
-Had a choir rehearsal at 6:00 and KWWL Cameras were there.
-Did some last minute homework.
-Went to Old Chicago with a bunch of choir people and watched our choir on KWWL Nightly News.
-Went home and packed for New York City!!!
THURSDAY
-Woke up bright and early at 5:30 and left at 6:20.
-Rode a bus with the rest of the UNI choir members to Chicago… 5 hour ride.
-Got to the airport and found our gate without any hassel.
-Had a VERY bumpy airplane ride to Newark, NJ… 1.5 hours.
-Drove to our hotel in a SWEET bus with leather seats… what was supposed to be a 30 minute drive but took an hour and 30 minutes.
The toll payment was $8... we aren't in Iowa anymore.
-Toured Town Square…
-Dinner at Rosie O’Grady’s Irish Restaurant and Pub… it was St. Patrick’s Day as well.
-Checked out a bunch of local stores and took LOTS of pictures.
At the M&M store... those are all M&M's behind us.
In Time Square
It was St. Patrick's Day.
-Hung out in our room, had a dance party, and had lots of laughs.
FRIDAY
-Woke up and got ready by 7:30.
-Went to NBC’s Today Show
We had to ride the Subway.
-Took the Subway to Ground Zero
-Saw ground zero and the construction happening.
-Went to St. Paul’s Church and sang “Lux Aurumque” Erik Whitacre
-Looked at all of the memorials for 9/11 and the plan for the memorial site in progress.
-Had a 4 hour rehearsal for our concert.
-Went to Central Park and played Frisbee and walked around.
-Walked to the Top of the Rockefeller Center. IT WAS AMAZING!!!
The Empire State Building
-Went to Carnegie Deli and had $10 cheesecake. It was so worth it though!
-Saw our picture up on Carnegie Hall.
SATURDAY
-Had choir practice from 9:00-1:00
-Went to Chinatown from 1-3.
-We thought this would be a quick and easy trip with just a few people but instead it turned into almost the entire choir going. This made things much slower.
About half of the group that went to Chinatown... at the Subway
-We ate at a little chinese restaurant and went shopping on the streets. I almost felt like I was in India again and I was having so much fun.
We bought new hats!
-But then we realized that we only had 30 minutes to get back to the hotel so we RAN to the Subway, rode it to our stop, SPRINTED to rehearsal and got there 1 minute late.
Had some time to sleep on the subway.
-Another group of students that went to Chinatown however had a harder time getting back and were 30 minutes late. WOOPS!
-Had another choir practice from 3:30-5:00
-Went back to Central Park and walked around the lake… it was BEAUTIFUL!!!
Ashley, Lauren, Me, and Kate... ROOMIES!!!
-Got ready for Lion King and walked down to the Minscoff Theatre! The musical was SOO good! I loved it!
-Walked around Time Square and went to the World’s Largest Olive Garden! (Did you know that Waterloo has the world’s smallest Olive Garden… funny huh?!?)
At Olive Garden.
SUNDAY
-Had a sound check in CARNEGIE HALL from 9:30-11:45
-Ate lunch, got ready for the concert and went back over to Carnegie Hall.
-Had the concert which went REALLY well. Carnegie Hall is breath taking and had the best acoustics. It was really fun to sing in there.
-Got all fancy for our dinner cruise.
-Went on the dinner cruise, which was a HUGE cruise ship with a buffet, dessert, tour of the city (including the Statue of Liberty), and a dance.
-This was probably the best part of the trip. It was great to get to know people better and have so much fun dancing around with them!
The cruise started at Sunset!
Me and Jeremiah
The Entertainment by the waiters.
Part of our table with the skyline in the background.
IT WAS BREATHTAKING!
LADY LIBERTY!!!
-Came back to the hotel and then went out and walked around Time Square again.
-Went back to Carnegie Deli and had some more Cheesecake. It may take me 4 weeks to recuperate from this cheesecake but so worth it!
MONDAY
-Got up early, left for the airport, and flew to Chicago.
-Rode the bus for 5 hours back to UNI.
-Matt met me at the bus… it was amazing to see him!!!
This trip was amazing and it was so much fun to hang out with everyone. I am so proud of our choir and am really excited to see how this trip will help us as a group. This was such a wonderful experience!!! LOVED IT!
