Flashback Friday-New York

Okay Ashli, I'm stealing this blogging idea too!

I'm a sentimental person, so FLASHING BACK to this time 7 years ago (holy cow), Jason and I were getting ready to move back from our two year stint in New York. What an experience that was! Jason and I chose to follow a calling to aid in the establishment of a church on the north shore of Long Island (Stony Brook)...about 45 minutes from Manhattan. Having no mortgage nor children, we decided to take off and experience a different area of our country. With all of our belongings and no jobs, we headed out in Sept. of 2000(we did eventually get jobs...Jason with Merill Lynch & I with Commack School District). We took advantage of every opportunity Long Island & New York City had available. We took weekend trips to the South Fork of Long Island through the Hamptons. We spent evenings after work at the beach. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was a favorite of ours...visiting at least a dozen times. We watched the amazing Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks on the banks of the Hudson river twice. We stood 6 hours in the freezing cold in Times Square outside MTV Studios just yards away as Muhammad Ali pushed the button that dropped the ball ushering in the year 2001. New Year's 2002, Jason froze along with other crazy spectators as I ran the New York Road Runners Midnight Run in Central Park (with champaign stops instead of water stops). He drove me to Central Park, Brooklyn and Queens for multiple road races. We went to events at Madison Square Garden and watched the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular....the list goes on and on. Sadly, we experienced 9/11 while there as well and saw first hand the impact it had on those who called NYC home.

We packed a lot of stuff into those two years and were amazed at how many of the native New Yorkers only experience a fraction of what is available at their doorstep living in one of the most culturally rich cities in the world.

...but once again, despite all that, nothing beats the good ol' Midwest. HOME.