Tuesday, Sept 18, 2012

Now that our New York Pass has expired, we are spending our time doing the things less touristy.

While I lived in NYC, I enjoyed shopping at a store called Avenue. I especially like the clearance stuff online, but they would sometimes have good sales in the store. Sandy was wanting to shop there while we were in town. We grabbed a bus across town and walked to the Avenue store. It was no longer there. It was drizzling outside, so we walked the couple of blocks to Grand Central Station to get out of the rain and make a bathroom stop. It’s always fun to look around there, too.

We grabbed the shuttle train over to Times Square and walked as far underground as we could. Luckily the rain had stopped and we walked a few blocks more to Yum Yum Bangkok, a favorite Thai restaurant of mine. We had a nice lunch there and then walked a few blocks more to our hotel.

We rested a few hours in the hotel and then left at 5pm to travel by subway uptown to the last stop to have dinner with my friends, the Webers. I had looked at a couple of apartments in Inwood before I moved to NYC and knew it was a long ride. The express train still took about 45 minutes. Sandy said she couldn’t imagine that trip every day. We came out of the subway entrance and I promptly got us turned around and going the wrong way. Haha As we were turning around on the sidewalk, a bus was letting people out and I heard my name being called. It was Jenny, carrying Jack, on her way home. It was so good to see her. We walked to their apartment and settled in.

Jack is so precious. He is 7 months old and the first thing I noticed was that he has his daddy’s hairline. Anyone who knows Keith will understand that statement. I got to hold Jack for a little bit until he got tired and hungry. Then mama took over and tried to get him to nap a little bit. He wanted to be with the company, though, and joined us in the kitchen while mama was cooking. Keith got home from work and we all had dinner and then Jack headed to bed. I didn’t get a picture of me holding Jack and I’m so bummed about that. I just didn’t think about it when it was the perfect time. I told Jenny I would have to come back for another visit to that! We had a great time of visiting. It was so good to see Keith and Jenny and meet Jack. What a precious time.

Sandy and I found our way back to the train and made our trek back to our hotel. As we walked from the subway to our hotel, Sandy didn’t recognize ‘our neighborhood’. It looks different at night, I guess. It was our first night to get back after dark (like I’ve mentioned, we’re having a RELAXING time and don’t stay out late). We settled in and still got a few hours of HGTV in before we went to sleep. We’re so predictable!

It was a very nice day. God is really revealing things to me this week. Getting to spend time in NYC, where I have fond memories from living there, has helped me put my current life more into perspective. God is showing many ways in which He has been faithful to me and it helps to reinforce that He will always be there (ahead of ) for me. Whatever plans He has in store for me are always perfect. I just have to let Him show me how perfect in HIS will. He’s showing me many things lately and I’m thankful for all of the lessons and revelations (even when the learning experience is painful). He is truly FAITHFUL!