November 2024

November so far has been fairly relaxing, which is so nice. 

We put up a Christmas tree the first week of November and we have really been staying at home as much as possible. It is hard that the sun goes out at 4:30 and we have really been struggling to go on our nightly walks because it's so cold. But I do really try to get out at least once a day during the day and make sure that I keep up with my workout classes. I'm not sure if I've talked about this already but on November 3, Tyson was confirmed to be part of the bishopric in our Lord. He is serving with Bishop Rogers and Tyson got called to be the first counselor. And we have brother KOA as the second counselor. This was actually a very hard decision and even though both Tyson and I prayed and felt good about saying yes it was still a big responsibility. I bet this first month. We've just been kind of getting used to seeing less Tyson, but the nice thing is is that I can genuinely see Tyson being really intentional about how he spends his time with us. And I am really grateful for it. I can already tell that he is really experiencing a lot of sweet and tender moments and is really staying close to the spirit and I love that for him because I think in in this life when you feel close to God and the spirit things just feel clear and hopeful, and I love that for him.

The end of November was again really, really relaxed. The girls and I attended sometime at Urban Air and played. London also had a very one of her longer nutcracker rehearsals and she got to get dressed up in all her pretty dresses and make up and she looks so so cute. We spent time at Barnes & Noble reading books. We did crafts to help decorate for the Relief Society Christmas party. We also hung out a lot at home. We played trivia. We played Nintendo Switch. 

Thanksgiving week was really fun and really chill. The girls had a full week off, and this was the first time we did not send them to Nathan's camp, and we took advantage of that time to do just things that we knew we needed to do. For example, we cut the girl's hair. We did cat-sitting and guinea pig-sitting for some friends. We also got to go watch the movie Wicked. It was excellent and I really really loved it. 

We sold and give away some stuff on Facebook marketplace. We also did a lot of touchup paint around the house which is something we normally do during a big break like this. Overall, I love that we just don't travel during the holidays. I feel that this is such a great time to get caught up on sleep, get caught up on projects, get caught up on just being together, and it feels great. 

Thanksgiving day itself we spend with the Blakely's. We got there early morning, and Iuliana and I attended a workout class. Then we went to see Wicked together and hung out at home the rest of the day. We watched the parade we watched football. We helped with cooking and cleaning. We ate a really delicious meal, and we left at 8 PM and came home to sleep in our own bed. 

Tyson and I spent a lot of time hanging out in our couch taking naps watching survivor and some of our favorite shows. Which just felt like such a needed mental break. It was a perfect mix of getting stuff done but, at the same time, really catching up on good sleep and enjoying the ability to stay in and really let our bodies and minds rest during the winter season. 

The days in Denver have been unusually warm, which means that we're still able to get out and walks during the day which has been some of my favorite things to do. And we didn't go out on Black Friday. We did not go out on cyber Monday, we just kind of hung out at home, and it almost feels like we're hibernating a little bit, but I also think that it's us really learning to slow down during the season and not worry so much about the hustle and bustle.

 I have been keeping up with my workout classes. It's been such a fun thing to be able to still go do four times a week and it makes my mental health so much better. So overall November has been wonderful and we are thankful for it. We are moving into December starting today and I just can't believe that there is one month left in 2024.

NYC Trip - November 2024

 I had a really fun and quick trip to New York City with Iuliana for a work trip. I got there on Thursday and worked, but we were able to go into the city and go to town Square and go see a new Broadway show called, and it was about the suffrage, treatment and women getting direct to vote. It was so incredible. The music was incredible and the audience was reall Friday to work all day at Conference and I just stayed at the hotel and worked all day too, which is really nice because I was able to stay caught up and not feel good when she got home to the hotel around 4 PM. We jumped on the bus from New Jersey and took the bus to New York. We then took the subway to Brooklyn and we walked in Broo dinner dessert and you decided to do the previous thing go to a "millennial party "that was from 5 PM to 10 and it was in Chinatown.

The next day was Saturday and it was our only full day to be there. He got up he got ready to have breakfast and hit straight to the subway in Central Park. We walked around Central Park and saw all the beautiful trees and then we went to the Met and saw awesome paintings in the museum. Then we went around fifth Avenue in the upper Eastside and look at all the beautiful brownstone houses that were there. It was really really nice after that. We decided that we wanted to try and go see another Broadway show so we rented electric bikes and brought them to Central Park to make it to the Lincoln Center where we got discounted tickets to go see the new Broadway show "waterfall elephant". We then went to Times Square to try and grab a bite of food and we did end up going to the restaurant, but they took forever to make a food so we actually did not eat and they felt so bad that they offered to give us for food but we would have to come back to the shop. So with 10 minutes is there we race across five blocks to get to the theater we made it just confirmed and watch the show. He sat next to the sweet sweet old couple who is there

And after the show was done, we didn't go back to the restaurant. The name of the restaurant was "the independent quote and we were able to have a good dinner. I had with veggies and mashed potatoes. So then we went back to the hotel, but that was about an hour and a half worth of commuting with the subway and the train and so it was the time we got back to shower and actually got to bed. It was past midnight, but it was a really really fun full day for us to get to know the city.

our final day was Sunday and it was really fun because my Tia Ninoska drove 30 minutes to come see us. She took us to an amazing brunch by the hotel and then we hopped right to it and went straight to the city. We took the ferry to go around the liberty and then we came back and we went to Ground Zero in southern Memorial in the mall and they were both really really amazing. It was a real bummer because on this day of my period started and was really really happy until it felt like to bathroom every hour and it was impossible. The lines were long felt yucky. It was kind of a big Deal. Well after all of that, we decided to come back to Times Square, but it was getting pretty close and we wanted to go get dinner before you headed to the airport so we took the subway, but we got on the wrong stop which meant we had a walk and then a bus was a little late. So overall we wanted to go to dinner but we didn't have time but my aunt was really sweet and took us to the airport. We have to get Uber. We got to the airport at 5 o'clock and then we grab something in there and then walked around until a flight to pop at seven. The flight back to Denver was super super calm, no turbulence what soever and it was super smooth, even coming right into Denver, which always has turbulence. We did not feel a single which I'm so grateful for we got back and we made it to the parking spot around 10:45 PM and we had a scrape off ice that had been accumulating in the storm while we were gone. I also fell on my butt with some black eyes and Iuliana almost out. So it was really funny but honestly, I was so glad to be back. I finally made it home around midnight. I took a shower cause it felt so dirty from all of the smells and touches of the city that I wanted to make sure I got clean before bed and then I finally hopped into bed just after midnight and I talked a little bit and often just enjoy being with each other again. I'm so glad it got his phone and it was an adventure and I'm glad to be home.