Concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

Sean has never been out to the east coast and one of my best friends Rachel lives in New York City, so it seemed like the perfect time while Sean had a break from school to take a trip to NYC.  I took a few days off of work, we got some cheap standby tickets (beh..standby), and headed out to the east coast.  We had a lot of fun while we were there, and got to see some really fun stuff.  The last time I had been to NYC was three years ago, right before I started dental hygiene school and right when Rachel first moved there.  New York is such a cool city, so I was really excited to get back.  I will just apologize in advance for all the pictures, trust me there were a lot more.  I tried really hard to condense them into some of the highlights of the trip. 

The first night we were there we went and walked the Brooklyn Bridge.  When I went to visit Rach three years ago, it was both of our first times walking the bridge (interesting story).  Rachel says it's still one of her favorite things to do in the city.  :)

One of my favorite pics of the whole trip

Rach took us to this sweet little pizza place under the Brooklyn Bridge..delicious!

Empire State Building 

Sean found one of his relatives on a tombstone in some random graveyard in the city..cool huh?

Ferry ridge..as you can clearly see from my hair 

The Statue of Liberty 

Definitely Sean's favorite part of the trip...Yankee's game.  I will say,  it was a pretty sweet stadium.

We had horrible seats, but it was still really fun.

So this is basically the only time Sean takes pictures, at sporting events.  And more importantly the only time he will willingly participate/smile in pictures. 

Like I said... 

Canal Street...always one of my favorite stops in NYC.  I probably spent our life saving here.

Central Park

The reservoir in  Central Park that Rachel took us too, it was a long walk..but totally worth it :) 

Manhattan LDS Temple

Doesn't it look like a regular building?  The first time I saw it I just walked right past it! 

 Yes, we're THOSE dumb tourists on the red double-decker tour buses, it was actually really fun.  And yes, that is my favorite store conveniently located in Times Square.

Madison Square Garden, another picture taken by Sean. 

Ground Zero 

This is exactly what it looks like, serenity.  It was so hot in the city and none of the subways were air conditioned..so this is what happened every time a fan was spotted. 

Too funny not to put in, a break dancer on the subway dancing for cash.  Yes, I'm a sucker and gave him a dollar..it looked like hard work! 

Our last night we saw WICKED on Broadway!!! 

I had wanted to see it for a really long time and it was totally worth the wait. 

The show was just as everyone says, AMAZING.

Home to Chicago

About a month ago Sean and I went back to my parent's house for my little brother Dan's graduation open house.  It was only a quick weekend trip, but it was fun to be there, and I'm sure my parents really appreciated our help.  So according to Sean the idea of a graduation open house seems unnecessary and kind of ridiculous, but where I'm from it's a really big deal.  All of the high school graduates send out invitations, plan their party around all their friends', and basically have a big party with a bunch of food where everyone who comes brings you money.  It's awesome.  But, on the flip side for the family hosting it's a lot of work and strategic planning.  This time being my mom's fifth and final open house, she basically had it down.  She just needed work horses (Sean and me) to carry out all the delegations.

 Dan with a few of his friends

Besties

So, it's been a while since I've blogged.  We've taken a few trips in the last couple of months and I'll start with our first one. 

On Memorial Day weekend we went to Clinton, Mississippi to see my best friend Noel.  Noel and I have been best friends since we were 15 years old.  That's over 9 years!  Since our meeting at a stake dance we've been through a lot together.  Just a few things that come to mind are multiple bad/good boyfriends, school dances, high school, tons of all-nighters, our first cars, summers at the beach,  rooming together at BYU-Idaho, bridesmaids at each others weddings, plenty of tears, and even more laughing.  Noel has since passed me in the growing up phase-she now has two beautiful kids, Hyrum and Elizabeth.  Which brings us to our most recent visit to Mississippi, to see baby Elizabeth Paige!

Noel, Hyrum, Elizabeth, and me.

We had a lot of fun while we were there.  Joey took us fishing, we went bowling, went to a 'southern barbeque', and hung out with tons of family!

I caught a fish!  Hyrum really liked all the fish :)

Go Cubs!

Sean and I both love going to baseball games.  We feel really lucky because everywhere we've lived there's been either minor or major league baseball teams close to us.  The Texas Rangers' stadium is only about an hour away from us in Arlington.  A few weeks ago the Chicago Cubs were in town, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for us to go to our first Texas Rangers game.  I know the Cubs haven't always been the best team, but my dad and brothers might disown me if I didn't like them (and of course cheer for them).  Sean is really embarrassed about how much my family and I like the Cubs, so it's always fun to humiliate him a little bit more at the games.  :)  I will say it's a little bit frustrating watching a Cubs game with my Dad.  The poor guy, he's been a Cubs fan for over 50 years and will go to the grave loving them.  I remember when the Cubs went to the playoffs the fall of '03, he canceled all his patients for the week and flew himself and any of us kids who wanted to go down to Florida to see them play.  I asked him if he was sure that he wanted to do that and he said, "Rebekah, I've been a cubs fan all my life.  This might be the only chance I ever get to see them in the playoffs."  Haha, and he might be right.

So, we went to a Saturday night game with Gerret, Sarah, Kylie, and Mike.  And as always with our little group, it was a lot of fun.  The best part was probably when the game went into extra innings and the Cubs beat the Rangers.  I didn't know if they were going to be able to pull it off, but they did!  Hopefully this game will be the start of many more Rangers games.

Sean and me after the game.

Kylie and I were dying for some cotton candy.  

Little did we know it would take three entire innings to get some.  As always, totally worth it!

 Mike was cheering against me the whole game. 

This was right after the Cubs beat the Rangers, clearly he's still a little upset. :)

Camping

As many of you know Sean is obsessed with camping (and also is a pyro).  So, as soon as we got the chance we took a camping trip with Kylie, Mike, Gerret, and Sarah.  We took the trip a few weeks ago, but I'm a little behind in my blogging.  We decided to go to Turner Falls, Oklahoma.  It was actually a pretty neat campsite.  It had a little waterfall, some trails, a diving board, and slide.  Despite some scares from animals in the woods, we had a really great time. 

This is when we went hiking, little did Kylie and I know that we would be going through water :)

Sarah and I

Sean, the pyromaniac.

A Hygienist's High

This might not seem like a big deal to most of you, but something amazing happened today.  About six months ago I saw a 51 yr old patient who had 8 localized areas of  4-5mm pockets depths.  This means he had some localized areas of gingivitis.  As I do with all my patients I explained to him what this meant, how it is a big deal, and finally what he can do to arrest or reverse his gingivitis.  What I didn't expect was his concerned reaction.  Dr. Loftus told me that he always overreacts, but he seemed genuinely concerned with this new information. 

Well, as I said earlier he came back today.  The first think he said to me was, "I hope my gingivitis is gone, I've been 'C-shape flossing' everyday just like you told me to!"  Surprisingly there was only one interproximal area of 4mm pockets!  The best part about all of this was how excited my patient was.  He really cared about improving his oral health.  I helped and educated a patient who actually listened and changed. It happened, just like all my professors said it would. Oh the thrills of being a hygienist :)

24 sounds so much older than 23

I'm only a year older, but now when people ask me how old I am I have to say 24.  I know 24 isn't old, but it sounds a lot older than 23.  Some ages just sound older than others, like how 21 sounds so much older than 20, and how 50 sounds a lot older than 49.  So it's official...I'm 24, not 23..and there's nothing I can do about it.  Even though I had to work it was a great day.  The girls I work with treated me to Cheesecake Factory, and Sean made me a delicious steak dinner.  After dinner Sean invited some friends and family over for cake and ice cream.  It was a great day!

Our apartment is pretty small, I was was worried not everyone would fit but they did!

  

  

Sean did a great job decorating