Happy Day

Emma is gone this weekend with grandma to see her cousins.  The rest of us spent Saturday in Lafayette.  We went to Happy Hollow park to enjoy the weather and the season.  We also did a little shopping and then went out to Texas Roadhouse.  They have the best rolls.  Well, them and the Beef House.

It was a great day and great family time.  Here's a few pictures from the park and the hike we took!

Flying to Atlanta for Dinner

Heather and I had a wonderful experience in NYC but I felt the trip wouldn't be complete without first taking her to Atlanta for dinner.  So, we rerouted to Atlanta first before flying back to Indy.  Where did I take her you ask?  Wendy's.  You just can't beat a good Wendy's in Atlanta. 

Ok, so there's more to this story. 

Our flight was cancelled because of the weather.  We were supposed to depart at 9:40 am but got put on a plane to Atlanta at 5:40 pm.  We had a long wait at LaGuardia.  I was going to title this post "Get Me Out of LaGuardia" but I didn't. 

So instead of getting home at 2 pm on Friday, we rolled in at 1:10 am on Saturday.  Nice.  But we got back safe and that's what matters.  It's just annoying to spend a day at LaGuardia.  I highly do NOT recommend it.

Broadway

Today was a longer conference day but the content was good.  Heather was out shopping during my lunch time so I took a walk up to 57th and 5th Avenue which is where the Trump Tower is located.  Tiffany & Co. happens to be right next door.

Trump Tower at 57th St. and 5th Ave.

Tiffany & Co.  (We did not have breakfast there.)

Afterwards, Heather and I walked over to the NBC store at Rockefeller Center and then to a deli for a pizza.  We stopped by Toys R Us at Times Square and got some ice cream there for dessert.  Heather did a little shopping.  Then we headed to the Majestic Theater for the highlight of the trip...a broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera.  We had great seats, front row, center stage in the balcony.  We could see everything perfectly.  The show was amazing from the music, both orchestra and vocals, to the costumes to the staging to the acting.  Neither Heather or I had ever seen it or knew much of what it was about but it was a wonderful evening.  I would definitely go to another show given the time and money!  When the show was over, all of Broadway was still hopping, about as much as it is during the day!  Stores were still open and there were a ton of people all over.  I can't imagine how nuts that place gets on New Years Eve!

Broadway

42nd St. and Times Square

At the Magestic Theater for The Phantom of the Opera.

The stage set before the start of the show.  We weren't allowed to take photographs during the production.

13th Wedding Anniversary

The conference started today w/ some fantastic sessions on CSS and web design.  I went to one session as well where Katie Couric spoke and then had a conversation w/ Tim O'Reilly.

Heather spent some time shopping while I was at the conference.  Afterwards, we went to the taping of the Late Show with David Letterman.  Jon Stewart was his guest.  It was fun to experience and the tickets were FREE!

After the show we went to the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center.  We watched a video on the history of it and how it was built around the time of the depression.

We celebrated our anniversary with dinner at Brasserie Ruhlmann.  It was a spectacular meal.  After dinner we walked around to a few stores and then back to the hotel to watch a movie in our room.

Central Park

raiNY

Heather and I traveled to NYC this week for a Web conference I am attending.  Due to rain, our flight to NY was delayed by an hour out of Indy.  We arrived to our hotel, Sheraton New York at around 12:30 EST.  We grabbed some lunch and went to our bus tour.

We took a tour of the city driving through the various neighborhoods - Greenwich village, Little Italy, SoHo, Chinatown, etc. and past Wall St., site of Ground Zero, Battery Park and Statue of Liberty.  We went by the UN HQ, the Trump World Tower, Brooklyn Bridge, Madison Square Garden, Empire State building and all kinds of NY sites.

The downside was that it was wet.  It rained and rained all day long.  So, we didn't tour around as much as we would have on a better day weather-wise.  We had fun and it was an easy way to see a bunch of the city w/ the limited time we have here.

We ate at the World's largest TGIFriday's near Times Square and then back to the hotel to relax and watch the Bears on MNF!

church near Ground Zero

United Nations HQ

Trump World Tower

Trying to stay dry.

Near Radio City Music Hall

Squatter Camp

I participated in a Squatter Camp project w/ our Brazil Missions Team over this past weekend.  It was an interesting experience to do this project.  Our church Missions Conference is this week and our keynote is a missionary in South Africa.  He gave us the idea for the squatter camp project.  We decided to do it at the start of our conference.  For more info, check out our church youth ministry blog post!


Friday night in front of our camp.



This is the shack I helped the most with and slept in on Friday and Saturday nights.



Inside my shack.  We had three guys in there each night.



Best Friend Doug Song

Several weeks ago, while listening to a sports radio station, I heard this song about a guy named 'Doug.'  Well it was in introducing a sports reporter that regularly comes on the show.  I thought to myself, "Self, you have a friend named 'Doug', you should find this song."  So I went home and searched for it a bit to no avail.  Then, I heard it again the other day and made better note of the lyrics so as to do a better search. 

I finally found it but it is part of a secular movie that, quite frankly, isn't wholesome at all.  I will note that I have not seen the film but I do know it's not a good one to see.  However, this portion of the song in it cracks me up.  Probably the only 30 seconds of the movie that would be worth watching.  So, I learned it on the piano and recorded it.  If you're my friend and your name is Doug, you'll really appreciate it.  Otherwise, maybe it will make you smile.

Lyrics:

then we're gonna find our best friend Doug

and then we're gonna give him a best friend hug

Doug, Dougie, Doug,

Oh, Doug, Dougie, Dougie, Doug, Doug

Doug, Dougie, Doug,

Oh, Doug, Dougie, Dougie, Doug, Doug