Go Giants!

The most exciting news I have this week is, I am going to have a new NIECE in June. I am so excited, I can't wait to meet her. Courtney, my sister, is having a girl for those who may not know she is pregnant.

This Week at Work

Things with William are getting better and better every week. He actually told me he missed me while I was off. During my days off, he usually sees me coming or going but since I went to Philadelphia during my time off he didn't see me at all. When I got home on Wednesday night he was actually happy to see me. It made me feel good. Last week he didn't want to go to his mom, he just wanted to stay with me and play. We have been laughing a lot and I haven't had many struggles with him. He even willingly gives me a hug every night. He has been really sweet. So last week I talked about our trip in the city and some of the things we did.

William and I are really getting along and already have little games or activities that are just for us. For some reason he loves to play with my little map of Manhattan. It folds down into a credit card size and he loves to fold it into different objects. He is always joking that he is going to hide it from me and I will get lost in the city. I don't think it is very funny.

So many of you may know that the New York Giants are going to the Super Bowl this Sunday. What you may not know is William's older half brothers' grandma owns half of the Giants. Charles, the oldest (16), and Henry, the next (14) are going to the Super Bowl. I am not neccessarily jealous of them going to the game but jealous that they are going to Arizona. They left Friday. I told them they better enjoy it and to let me know what they think of my home. They are extremely excited, well who wouldn't be excited to go to the Super Bowl in a private jet and sitting in the owners box. I know I would be extremely excited.

My Co-Workers

In one of my earlier blogs, I talked about Aurora, the cook/housekeeper. Well, I must say I have seen a different side of her. For some reason, she has reached out to me and has been extremely friendly with me. Everyone else calls her the queen. Mainly because she thinks she is. She has been here longer than most and thinks she knows everything. She hasn't really told me what to do lately, I sort of take that as a compliment. Lately, she has made sure I have had dinner and if I haven't she will cook something. She made me breakfast last Monday and it was great. When everyone started showing up for the day we were still eating and talking. I sort of felt a little guilty but she was been very nice. We talk all the time now. Just tonight she was telling me where she gets her nails done and offered to set up an appointment for me. Hopefully it stays like this, I like having someone cook for me. Just kidding, thats not the only reason I want things to stay like this. ;)

My First trip to Philadelphia, PA

It was sort of a last minute, just have to get out of the house trip. It is only about an hour by train from NYC to Philadelphia and with it being the off season, the price for hotels is fairly inexpensive for a big city. Below is a short slide show of my pictures.



While I was on my Big Bus tour of the city, I met this wonderful couple from Montana. The wife was hilarious. She had a wonderful accent and they adopted me for the day. We talked throughout the tour and afterwards we toured through some parts we wanted to go back through together. It was fun. They were an older couple, they have 2 children ages 41 and 30. So I am guessing they are in their 60s. They were in Philadelphia because the husband was going in the hospital to have a small tumor removed from his eye and apparently they have a good eye doctor for the specific surgery in Philadelphia. We had a great time. Throughout the day people thought we were a family, it was quite funny. When we went our separate ways, the wife gave me a hug and started to tell me it was great to see me again and then realized what she was saying and said it was great to meet me. It is amazing the wonderful people you meet all over the place. When I meet people like them I can't wait to tell my mom and let her know that no matter where I am there are people who will look out for me. I know she was really worried about me traveling to Philadelphia by myself.

While I was on the bus tour I was able to see the Reading Railroad, Water Works, Pennsylvania Avenue, & Pennsylvania Railroad. You may recognize these names, they are from Monopoly. It was great to see the real places that are from one of my favorite games. Liberty Bell was great. In the slide show above, one of the pictures is of a gold ball and you may remember it from the movie National Treasure. It is where the younger guy was sitting across the street from the library while he had the little boy go inside and get letters for him from the constitution. It was literally across the street from my hotel. Also, in the slide show you can see the steps that Rocky made famous. There is acutally a statue of Rocky in front of the museum. Throughout the whole city, there are statues of famous people everywhere. If there was an open area, there was a statue. I want to know the whole history of all of the people but that would take months to figure out. I hope to go back soon and see some things I didn't have time for. I also want to visit Washington DC.

Food Allergies

Most of you may not know that William has many life threatening allergies. Some of the foods he is allergic to is milk, eggs, shellfish, peanuts, and some other foods. Martha Stewart is having sort of contest for different "Big Ideas" and one of them is a publication for individuals with food allergies and intolerances. The big idea is to publish a special magazine that offers delicious allergy-friendly recipes, making life for people with food allergies and sensitivities easier and more delicious. Millions of people can't eat nuts, dairy, wheat or gluten, and I'd like to empower people to make great recipes even if they can't use all the standard ingredients. This idea was brought to you by Alexis, Deputy Home Editor from Martha Stewart.

The reason I am writing this, is I am asking you all to vote on Martha's website. This publication would be very beneficial for those with allergies and especially to me and William. This could make it easier for us to feed him foods that are fun, safe, and tasty that the whole family might enjoy. All you have to do is click on the following link and vote http://blogs1.marthastewart.com/martha/2008/01/the-big-idea.html?rsc=todaysidea_Homepage_Homepage; if you can't click it, copy and paste it.

There have been so many votes, just today that we were tied with the pet publication at 38% as of last night (Saturday) and this morning (Sunday) we were ahead 58% to 25%. So thank you for those who received my email and already started voting. I know we are ahead but keep on voting. THANKS!!

My New Church Calling

Well, today at church I was called at the new FHE co-chair. I am very excited for this calling but a little scared because I don't know this city very well and it will take time to figure out things to do and places to go. I can't wait to get started because it will force me to meet new people. I have already met some great people. The Relief Society pres has been great and we went to a movie a couple weeks ago. Last week I met a girl, Becca, from Utah. She just moved here and is a nanny also. She had really never been anywhere outside of Utah and has never been to New York before now. And I thought I was nuts for doing this. :) She is a nanny for a LDS family that goes to the family ward that meets prior to the singles ward. She has nights off and we plan to hang out on Tuesday & Wednesday.

Well, it is now just 7 days until I go home for my birthday. I can't wait! Hope all is well. Keep me posted on things going on back home. Love you all!