Flushing II Ward- Primary Halloween Party

Brea is in the Primary and today they had their Halloween Party. Brea was in charge of all the games and activities. The youth (1 young woman and leaders) decorated for us and then we had; pumpkin face drawing, cupcake decorating, bobbing for apples, fishing, eating donuts from a string, and trick-or-treating from room to room. There are only about 12 kids in our primary (and not all came) so it was a pretty small ordeal, but we had a lot of adults and the missionaries all came- so it was a good and fun turn out.
(Brea dressed up as a witch, but Ben wouldn’t dress up- the bum!)

My Tuesday Morning Saga...

Yesterday, Monday, I was home sick- I have a very congested head, a sore
throat, and have been coughing flem all night. It was good to stay
home, I slept (a lot) and got a lot of rest, Ben was amazing and
pampered me (he is so great). This morning, Tuesday, I woke up sick
again, but decided I could not miss another day of work so I grudgingly
got up and ready for work. I ate some hot oatmeal for breakfast, took
my medicine and left for the hour ride to work. The bus was a little
rocky but I was feeling okay- I got a seat and so I was able to just
hunker down and rest. The subway was crowded and hot- like always- as I
crammed onto the subway, with no seats to be found, I claimed a pole and
leaned in for the long jerky ride to work. It was at this time that the
knot growing in my stomach began to grow at an exceedingly increased
pace. I could feel myself turning green- I needed to sit but there was
no where to sit- I didn't want to sit on the floor, because who knows
what's covering that. As I grew more and more sick I began shifting
trying to find a more comfortable, less rocky and bumpy, area of the
subway. A man noticed my sickness and offered me his seat. Not more
then a minute after sitting down did I throw up all over the F Train to
Manhattan. You would be surprised at how fast the subway clears out and
how un-willing people are to help when you are covered in your own vomit
and humiliation in a crowded public place. I tried cleaning it up as
best I could with the few Kleenex I had in my purse, then I grabbed all
I could in my hands and rushed out of the subway at the next stop.
There were no bathrooms in the subway so (after calling Ben and crying
at my humiliation) I was forced to get onto the next train and continue
to work. I would like to say that after throwing up I felt much better
but...that would be a lie. Still sick and nauseous I continued the
three express stops, got off the subway and walked 10 blocks, and am now
at work try to catch up from yesterday, keep up with today and trying
not to throw up yet again. And to make this even worse, my boss thinks I
am pregnant (and everyone says he is 'never wrong' about such
things).... so my morning has been a little under the weather. But
hopefully it will pick up soon and I will have a great Tuesday!

Sunday BBQ

Sunday (October 14, 2007) was a long, but exciting, day. We went to church and it was so great, we were able to feel the spirit so strongly. (Brea is in the primary and they are preparing for the program- which is a little stressful but great). After church there was a baptism for a woman in our ward, Jui Ting Mo. Brea was asked to give the baptismal talk, she was very nervous but did a great job. After the baptism we made our way through the weave of busses to the Gomez home (of Austin St). Brea’s boss is Alex Gomez and his wife is Julia Gomez, who is Ben’s boss- so its an interesting connective web. The Gomez family were so great to have us all over (friends, family and co-workers) to their beautiful home for a Sunday Afternoon BBQ. The food was amazing and the company was even better. It was so nice to be able to be there, get to know so many people and eat the amazing food. The Gomez family is amazing and so hospitable to in invite us all over to their home. It was such a fun day!

Flushing Main St

On Friday (October 12, 2007) we were planning on going to China Town but didn’t make it to Manhattan- so we went to Flushing Main St instead. Flushing Main St is like a mini China Town, or should we say a mini Asia Town. It had a lot of shopping, food, people and well….not English!!

Studley Apple Festival

21 years ago Mr Jullian Studley was driving through the country side in Northern New York (New Paltz) when he spotted an old barn on gorgeous land and decided to buy it and all the land around it. Each year since then he has held a party at the barn for his family, friends and coworkers. This year Eastside Rehab (the physical therapist office that Brea works at) was invited to the ‘21st Annual Studley Apple Festival’ this year (October 13, 2007). We were picked up in Manhattan by a big (greyhound like) bus and driven up to northern New York. There was tons of GREAT food, fresh apple cider, entertainment, dancing, pumpkin painting, pony rides (just for kids- Brea asked), hay rides and TONS of fun! Brea’s colleges and their families were there- so it was fun to spend time with them and be with kids again. It was beautiful countryside and so much fun. When the party was over they invited us to take home any of the decorations- so we brought home a pumpkin, two bags of apples/pears and some cider. It was such a fun opportunity and a great experience.

Conference Weekend

For the first time in two years I got to go to my mission reunion. I saw many of the young men I served with and met while in Argentina. It was amazing. I loved seeing all these familiar faces and hearing about lives that have continued since they touched mine. Many of my friends are now married and some even expecting babies. I was able show of the love of my life, Breanne. Many people were shocked to hear that we were in New York, working. Many of them were also a little bit jealous; at least, I know I would be. I loved every minute of it.
Another joy of going to the reunion was seeing the mission president. This man was like a father to me in one of the most challenging and changing times in my life. He saw me enter Argentina unable to speak Spanish, unconfident, shy and a little awkward. He watched and instructed and guided me as I would meet with him every 6 weeks. And when he left the mission he had complete confidence in me, that I would keep working and pushing myself and others even though he would not be there. I love this man – he is one of the most influential people in my life. Jerry Villarreal and Delia Villarreal (his wife) will always have a very special place in my heart.

















Fala Fubeca!!!! This is a favorite phrase for Moses Barreiro, my great friend and former mission companion, to scream at me when we see each other or when we speak on the phone. It means “speak ,…” well fubeca is slang for something not to good, but not too bad, like something useless. Don’t worry it is our term of endearment haha. Moses and his wife Silvia graciously had us in their home for one night of our trip. They are such great people. Both are doing very well learning English since both are from Brazil and are still learning. Moses and I went to the Priesthood session of conference in the conference center and it was great! We also took the time to have an Aargentine Asado. WOW! It was great! The pictures don’t do it justice. The meat was delicious. We had fun cooking and sharing conference together and are very glad we could catch up with each other.

























Jer and Heidi are so much fun. We got to stay at their house for a night and play with the kids. Hannah, Jared, Aimee, Samuel, and Eli are all so much fun. It was so great to be with them. I love seeing family and wish that they could come and see New York and all the fun places that we have been and share in this experience. Jer and Heidi showed us the new house they are building, which is going to be huge. We always eat so well there. Heidi made homemade rolls with soup and then we ate Marie Calendar Pies for dessert. It was Great! Thanks Jer and Heidi.
Jer also got to see his friend Rob from college. Rob and his son Nate came down from Toronto to see conference. We all went to a Thai restaurant and ate great food!

Cool Subway

On our way home from the Bronx we transfered subways and found this beautiful one- it sounds weird, but there aren't many well taken care of, clean and actually pretty subways- so this was cool. And they have been fixing some of the subways so there is a picture of the fixing crew right down by the train- that would so so scarey to stand less then a foot away from a train moving like the speed of light- ahhh.

The New York Botanical Gardens

Today (Saturday September 29, 2007) we went to the New York Botanical Gardens. It was Amazing! We really enjoyed it. It was kind of a quick trip but well worth it. The flowers and trees were beautiful. Adorning each tree was a small tag outlining the name and origin of the tree. Our mothers would have loved it. I was a little disappointed with the iris (because it wasn’t the season for them to be in bloom). There was a whole hallway of them, but being spoiled at a very young age with Green-thumbed parents who love iris, I have seen better and more of them in my own back yard.

Today was National Free Museum Day- so we decided to go to the Bontanical Gardens up in the Bronx (northern NYC) so we got on a train and went all the way up there. Then we got to the gardens they told us that we had to have printed something off to get in for free. So instead we just paid the student price for the grounds tickets (which was only $2.00 each) and we got to walk around the grounds- we weren’t able to go into any of the buildings and see the exhibits but there was still some really cool stuff to see on the grounds. We didn’t get to stay very long because we had to get going so that we could make it to the Court of Honor. On the way to the church we stopped at Joe’s Best Burger to eat- it was really good and they had some crazy soda (they had chocolate soda- which tasted like chocolate milk with fizz- it was…interesting).

Today they had the first Court of Honor in our ward that they have had for 6 years. B is working in the Young Men’s and so it was so great to go and see them get their merit badges and see their excitement in their success. After the Court of Honor I stayed for a service Relief Society activity and then the General Relief Society Women’s Conference. It was a great night and I was able to learn so much from the conference.

Papa Smurf's Trip

This past week we have had the Father in town. It has been great. He really enjoyed himself here and got to do and see a lot. One thing interesting that he said was that he would not have gone into the city without us there to guide him. He said it would be to intimidating. I really agree. It is a huge city and not very easy to find your way around if you do not know where you are going. Any city that you are not familiar with is hard to get around. I am glad that we got to be tour guides- it was really fun to see stuff again and to be able to absorb it (without the ‘tourist’ rush).
Monday night we went to Mormon Night at the Mets, the church got a lot of tickets and we were able to go to the Met’s game for really cheap- but cheap comes with a price (we were so high in the nose bleeds that we thought we were going to fall to our death- it was sooo high)- but it had a very good/different view of the field (kind of angelic- from the sky…haha jk) . The entire mission was there- and all the missionaries were passing out things- it was very cool to see them all. Elder Mackrory was there- he grew up in Longmont and even went to prom with B once. It was crazy but very fun to see him and be able to talk to him about everything. The Mets didn’t really make us proud. Most of the fans left with their heads hung low at the 6th inning because it looked like their was no help- in the end the Mets lost to the Washington Nationals 4 to 14.





Tuesday night we went to our wards Chinese Moon Celebration potluck- at this potluck the ward had tons of Chinese food- including squid (which B was to nervous to eat- because it was looking at her). The food was really good but very different and interesting- but a good taste and good experience.


Wednesday we went to Times Square. We ate at Bubba Gump- where B and Dad both could answer most if not all of the Forest Gump trivia (who knew I was related to such nerds- ha jk). It was good food and it was a fun atmosphere. Then we walked around Time Square so Dad could really get a ‘New York’ feel (we forgot a camera and so we went and bought a disposable camera- pictures will soon follow).
Thursday we went to the New York temple. On the way B and Dad got to walk through Central Park- so cool to see. The temple was great and it was cool to have that calming sense. Afterwards we went out for real New York style pizza.


When we got back to dad’s car (he parked it in Queens and we took the subway into Manhattan) we couldn’t find it and thought it was stolen. So we called the police and had to file a police report. After the police came (and lots of stress thinking that the rental car, his computer, camera and life were stolen) we found out that the car had been towed to New Jersey. So Dad came back to our house (we didn’t get there until 1:30am) until a cab could come and get him to take him (around 3:00 am) to the airport to get another car (still without his computer, camera, phone charger ect) so he could go to his hotel and get two hours of sleep before having to go to work. It was a hard night and was very frustrating and scary- but it all worked out for the best.
Friday, dad took me to the laundry mat and to get groceries (yay) and then we all went to Applebees to eat and then we all went home to sleep- after a long and tired day. It was so great to have Dad here this week- it was fun to see him and share our new life with someone in our family.