New York: Part 2

We came out of Wicked on Thursday night to a serious snowfall.  I thought it was pretty heavy snow, but when New Yorkers call it a 'snowstorm' I knew it was for real.  People were falling all over the place, and the wind was blowing so hard that the snow was just hitting us in the face.  The walk back to the hotel was pretty brutal, but it made for the most beautiful sight in the morning!

Outside the theatre after Wicked

 We walked through Central Park towards the Upper East Side.

 If you didn't know where you were stepping...you found yourself knee-deep in snow.

I love all the brightly colored coats on these kiddos!

We made our way to the Met, and were a little overwhelmed by the size of the museum.  But it was warm, and there were so many good exhibits.  We spent pretty much the rest of the day in the Met, and made it back to our hotel just in time to thaw out before our dinner and play that night.

Friday night was THE best!  We saw Newsies...and man.  It was just ridiculously good.  Not to mention, somehow, we were on the FRONT ROW!  It was just the perfect New York day: snow, a museum, a delicious dinner and the most perfect Broadway play.

Clay even caught a newspaper the cast threw into the audience during 'The World Will Know'!  He was pretty pumped.

The next morning we headed down to the financial district, really to see the 9/11 Memorial.

 I still dream about this bagel sandwich.  I am fully aware that a bagel is pretty much the same thing as eating 74 slices of bread.  I think that's why it's just so good.

We made it to the 9/11 Memorial, and it was so beautiful.

But...it was also FREEZING.  And there were mobs of people waiting to get in.

So we walked through SoHo towards Greenwich Village and hung around there before walking through Washington Square.

 While we were walking through Washington Square, Clay had the brilliant idea of going to Top of the Rock- and I'm SO glad we did this!  We bought our tickets online and made it to Rockefeller Center in time for our scheduled tour.

 We really didn't think too much about our time, but we had bought tickets for 4:30 or 4:45 and when we got up to the top of Rockefeller Plaza the sun was setting over the city.  It was just gorgeous, and we stayed up there until the sun was completely gone.

Our last night we saw 'The Book of Mormon'.  I can't, in good conscience, recommend this to any of my friends and family.  The music was just so catchy that you sort of didn't realize how offensive it was.  The story was so hilarious that you almost didn't catch how blasphemous it was.  If there ever was an exact opposite to 'Newsies' (think Disney movie...G rated), 'The Book of Mormon' is definitely it.  

I'm not saying it wasn't entertaining, but it sort of left Clay and me feeling a little embarrassed that we saw it.

Our trip home was really long miserable.

Flights had been cancelled since Thursday, and there were delays all across the country.  We finally made it home just before George's bedtime, and we were so excited to see him!

So, that's an overview of our New York trip.  

It was just a perfect trip to one of my favorite cities.

New York: Days 1 & 2

I realize this post (and the subsequent related posts) might not be of any interest to the general reader, but I always need my blog to help do our yearly family albums, and remember what in the world happened the year before.  At least there will be lots of pictures!

New Year's Day was such an exciting day for us.  As excited as we were to get to New York and get away together, we were pretty sad to leave this face behind.

After a hairy day of travel back to Birmingham last Sunday, Clay had to turn right back around and head to Charlotte, NC for the week for work.  I feel like this past weekend really was the first weekend of 2014 for us- and now we're all back under the same roof!  

New York was just so, so fun.  My mom (and various other travelers) and I have been to New York several times before, but this was my first time planning a trip without her.  And I've realized how much planning goes into a trip to the Big Apple, because, well, it's really big.  

Going to New York with Clay was just the ultimate in fun for me.  He just makes me laugh so hard, and after the year we've had, we really needed to laugh.  Our trip up to New York was incredible- all our flights were on time, and our bag made it safe and sound to the airport in New York.  We were checked in to our hotel pretty easily, and they upgraded us to a suite with an incredible city view(for NO reason...seriously, we just booked the absolute cheapest room possible, and I still talked them down a couple hundred dollars).  Our hotel was one of the best parts of our trip- everyone was over the top friendly, welcoming, helpful, and just one of the best hotel experiences either Clay or I have had.  

We were right around the corner from Central Park and The Plaza Hotel, so the first thing we did was, naturally, take a [freezing] carriage ride through the park!  Clay was such a trooper with all the cheesy New York things I wanted to do.

 From Central Park we walked down to Rockefeller Center...along with [seemingly] every other human being on the planet.  It was sort of comical how many people were crammed into one square block.

In an effort to maintain our sanity, and a normal blood pressure level, we thought heading to Times Square might be a good move.  By this point, we had just embraced the MASSIVE (I don't use those all-caps lightly) mobs of people taking pictures of every square inch of the city.  So...we jumped on the bandwagon and got our big camera out and started taking pictures standing in the middle of the street, too.

Everything was still decorated for Christmas...it just made me SO happy!

After a while we realized how freezing (we had no idea what was in store for us in later days...) and ridiculously starving.  What better cure to those ails?!  Legit New York pizza.  Oh this meal made us both so happy.

 After dinner, we walked back through Times Square, Rockefeller Center, etc. and made it back to our hotel.  We had reservations at Sarabeth's Central Park the next morning, and we did not want to miss those.

I'm still dreaming about this coffee, lemon ricotta pancakes, and the beautiful setting of Sarabeth's.

 After breakfast, we spent the morning in the Museum of Natural History.  That museum is just incredible!  We really spent four hours there.

 We couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to Shake Shack right across the street.

Yes.  That is Clay waiting in the line outside (I only got out of line to take this picture).  And yes.  It was freezing.  But the wait only made our lunch that much sweeter.

 Now...the crowds inside were on a whole new level.  The 'standing room' offered to people waiting for a table was really just hovering over people who already had a table.  But I guess that's part of the New York ambiance?

$17 worth of pure delight.

After lunch Clay let me go to Saks and find some good rain/snow boots.  When people in the south talk about a 'winter storm' I don't get too worried.  When people in New York talk about a winter storm...I get scared.

 I just thought the inside of Saks looked so magical, it deserved a picture.

 This was dessert from our dinner Thursday night.  S'mores.

During dinner, the snow started falling.  It was one of those magical New York moments you see in the movies.

Wicked!  Oh this play is just so fun.

...and that pretty much sums up our first two days in the city!  

Overnight, about 8 inches of snow fell in New York.  Pictures to come!

Some Last Thoughts of 2013

Whew.  I sort of can't believe that we've found ourselves at the end of 2013.  I guess I've felt like this year might not ever end- but here we are on the brink of a new year.  

It might be easy to describe this year as the 'worst' one we've ever experienced, but I'm not sure that adjective is the right one to use.  Yes- our circumstances have been horrific.  Our house might drown under the tears that have been shed under this roof.  But while this year has certainly been difficult, at some moments even unbearable, it has not been without fruit, and His glory.  

What would be horrible, and what would make this the 'worst' year of our lives is if the Lord had been absent from us.  But what has made this the most 'meaningful' year for the three little Cochran's in Cahaba Heights, is Emmanuel- God with us.  My heart stops everytime I hear that Christmas song, because, certainly, the Lord Himself has wrapped us in His arms.  Clay and I haven't survived this by our own will, because, frankly, we couldn't do it.  The Lord has protected us, and has held us so near, and we know Him better because He has shown us His glory on this earth.

So, as we look forward to the start of a new year, we are excited to see what 2014 might hold for us.  I have learned that the Lord doesn't 'owe' us a 'good' year just because we've had a hard one.  But whatever He calls us to face, I do know that He will be ever-faithful to us.  He will sustain us, and lead us through every valley we find.  His Word promises us this, and I have experienced the fruition of this promise.  

As hard of a year as this has been, we have had some of the sweetest moments I can remember, too.

George started talking!  (...and singing, and playing instruments, and coloring, and asking questions, and studying mine and Clay's every word, and repeating what we say, and so on and so forth...)

We set up bunk beds for George...and he LOVES them!

George turned two years old.  And we had the most fun birthday party!

We ate some a lot of ice cream this summer.

We got a jump jump. It's like a built-in babysitter!

Clay and George had their first camping trip in September.

Clay and I went to the beach by ourselves in October.

George has started saying the blessing at each and every meal.  I'm not sure I've heard a sweeter sound than a two year old singing a blessing.  He's also become a musical prodigy per Nana and Adam Wright.  Two trusty sources.

 (He hasn't quite mastered the use of the guitar.  But Woody, Luigi, Sarge, and Red seem to enjoy it)

 I'm pretty sure we can single-handedly keep the book business afloat in the years to come.  No Kindles or Nooks for this kid!

Oh...2013.  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  But I sure do hope to cling to the goodness of the Lord as I look back over this season of life in the years to come.

"We trust upon the Sacred Word,

the oath and promise of the Lord;

And safely through each tempest sail;

O, the Christian's hope can never fail."

Why is Christmas?

George asked me this question on the way to school last week.  I have to say, lately, George's questions have been pretty loaded.  I also have to admit that I haven't really prepared myself to give him the answers I think he needs.

December is always a fun month.  We celebrate Christmas with my cousins, we celebrate my dad's birthday, and Mama Zo's birthday, Zoolight Safari, Christmas at the Alabama Theatre, and Clay and I make a point to do a whole lot just the three of us.  I started to wonder if this is what Christmas is to us- really sweet time with just our family.  

Ever since Nan was born, Jesus is a very real person to George.  So when I answered him that Christmas is because it's Jesus' birthday, I could see the wheels turning in his little brain that we would be going to Jesus' birthday party.  And that has made him so excited for Christmas to get here.  

To be honest, George's anticipation of Jesus' birthday has totally changed my preparation for Christmas, too.  I've really attached myself to traditions, and my favorite Christmas movies, and the parties and build-up to Christmas Day.  I'm not sure I've really celebrated it as Jesus' birth, and the promise of His return.  Thankfully, George is here to keep me in line.

 As much as George loves 'Frosty the Snowman' (which...trust me, is A LOT), he loves talking about the Nativity, and reading our Christmas books about Jesus' birth.  Just about everytime I put him to sleep he requests the same story from his storybook Bible (I tell you...that kiddo is a creature of habit).  He wants to hear the story of Jesus' birth, and frankly (and ashamedly) I sort of got tired of reading it.  But I obliged this "one last time" and started the story for the 40th time.  I got to the part where Gabriel appears to Mary, and the angel is described as a "messenger from Heaven", and George turned to me and said, "Just like Sissy, Mommy!"

Even as I type this, I get a little lump in my throat that my two-year-old son gets it better than I do.  Nan is our 'messenger of Heaven', because certainly no one has taught us more about God's Kingdom than our sweet daughter.  As hard as this season is for Clay and me, thinking of Nan being with our Savior, celebrating His birth, truly does give me joy.  I see the light in George's eye when he talks about Jesus, and it reminds me that there is so much joy in the sacrifice.

'the tide of time shall never His covenant remove,

His Name shall stand forever, that Name to us is Love.'

- Hail to the Lord's Anointed