Memorial Day Weekend 2009

I finally got a chance to go to New York City...I loved it! What an exciting place to be....I don't think I am cut out for daily life in NYC, but a visitor for sure!!!! I plan on returning...I was impressed with how safe I felt & how much easier it was to get around than I had thought it would be. I do realize that we owe the easiness to the fact that Matt has been there multiple times and he understands the subway and trains...I would not want to know what the city would be like without someone who has that kind of knowledge...we used our time wisely and did a great deal! We ate great food, met new friends, saw the Statue of Liberty via Staten Island Ferry, Times Square, Central Park via Carriage ride (only the girls wanted to do that) Tiffanys on 5th Ave, Maddison Square Garden, the NBC building, looking for non-existent Hello Kitty store (Leah!), the best Toys R Us store, M&M store, China town, Little Italy, Little Mermaid on Broadway, & oh so much more! What an amazing trip...on the way home we stopped in Philly and saw the Liberty Bell and Independance Hall....the worst part about the trip was the let down feeling of walking into an empty house that was too quiet after the hussle and bussle of a big city...God was very good to us as always!

The impact of a stranger

It is amazing how a complete stranger has the power to impact our mood, self-image, and even our life! A week or so ago a complete stranger impacted me for life! It was a sweet older lady who started a conversation with me in a waiting room. As we talked, it turned out she and her husband had been married 55 years...she in turn asked me how long I had been married. I responded that I was single...she turned to face me and said with complete shock and honesty "I thought for sure that a girl as beautiful as you are, you would be married!" Oh, maybe it was a vain moment for me, but I felt beautiful looking into the elderly eyes of sweet, stranger, Elaine! Vanity or not, I believe we need those moments when we are reminded that God created us in His image and that we need to look at ourselves through older and wiser eyes as to what is truly beautiful...I don't know if Elaine will ever know the impact of her simple conversation, but it hit home with me that I am someone's "Elaine"! Someone who may be insecure, have a low self-esteem, may live in pain, or just feel like they can never be good enough....my words will either make them feel the way I did or make them feel the exact opposite...my words to a complete stranger can and will impact them.