New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia

Gosh! How many states can a girl visit in one week??? In my last post, I had been in Mississippi for my niece's (and 2 cousins) baby baptisms. I flew from Mississippi to New Jersey for a work trip. Our mission was to see as much Snapple product in the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as possible. We not only saw a TON of Snapple, but also New York City! We had a lot of early mornings so that we could get to the city as soon as possible at night. We saw a lot of NYC in a very short amount of time! There is no way to share all of the pics with you, but trust me when I tell you that there was very little that we didn't view, experience, or drive by (ha!). We were only in NJ/NY for 3 nights...

Day 1: Times Square and Roof Top Bar
Tuesday was travel day. The 4 of us arrived at Newark, NJ by 3:00 and headed to the hotel to literally drop luggage and head to the city as quickly as possible. We were sitting on the Roof Top Bar at 230 Fifth in record time taking in the sights. Here is the view....


As we were walking back to the car, we passed a church that had a black iron gate around it. Tied on the iron were yellow ribbons...breathtaking. Each ribbon had 2-3 laminated cards with the name of a person serving overseas. Speechless.

As we were making our way to Times Square, we passed the Macy's Flagship store....it was like the Heaven's opened up and a light was beaconing us....too bad I was with 3 men who would not let me stop :(

Day 2: Ground Zero - The Freedom Towers

When we were talking about this trip, we all unanimously voiced that we could not leave NYC without visiting Ground Zero. We walked all around it for about 2.5 hours.

First sighting of Ground Zero...We were walking up to the area, but the barricades and fencing prohibited our view.

We found a raised crosswalk where we could peer down on where the action was happening...the area was HUGE! There really aren't any words to describe the emotions and realizations that we all experienced at this sight. I cannot imagine what it was like before construction started. I tried to imagine standing on a nearby sidewalk when the towers fell...there just are not words. We all were silent for most of the "tour" around the area. I believe that it is about 3 city blocks square (?)
We finally found the Fire Department across from Ground Zero. It has been nicely renovated and a bronze memorial on one full side of the building.

Here is a peep into the firehouse where the trucks are parked.

Part of the memorial along the side of the Firehouse

The other part of the memorial

Not exactly sure where this cross was located in relation to Ground Zero, but it did face the area on the side of the Federal Building. This gave me chills as it still had part of the debris on one side of the cross.

On our way home, we had to drive through the Financial District and see "The Bull." You'll notice that it seems to be "daylight." It was actually about 11:30 at night and the park right behind The Bull was host to a movie scene (The Scorcer, I think...) Really cool to see a 1920's Roadster parked nearby with all the movie equipment...

Day 3:

The last night of our NYC visit, we ate dinner at The Carnegie Deli. Afterward, we wanted to see our favorite TV networks since most all of them have street views into the studios. One wanted to see Fox, another wanted to see ESPN Sports News, and I wanted to see the Today Show. We had a great time trying to find all of the studios and really got to see a good piece of Manhattan on foot...ha!

PHILADELPHIA: Kenny Chesney Concert

Friday:

We worked our way down from New Jersey/New York to Philadelphia, PA. The reason for our trip was to go to the Kenny Chesney Stadium Concert. Can't really go into the Hows and Whys, but it was a work trip....I promise :)

On the recommendation of my good friend and neighbor, we had dinner on Sixth Street in downtown Philly. It is a very different sort of street. Kind of like Bourbon in NOLA, kind of grungy like Seattle, all sorts of cultures collide on this street. It goes without saying that we were a little surprised that Philly would have such a cross-cultural scene in it's downtown area...but we walked and walked taking it all in. We finally found our restaurant on the other end of the street (thank goodness!) and had a great experience! I am drawing a blank on the name of the restaurant, but it was some of the best Italian I've had in a while. It's in an old historic building and has a dinner theater in the basement. Very cool place...definitely not like the other end of Sixth...

Saturday:

If you have never been to a KC Stadium Concert, it is an experience that is unforgettable! People start showing up in the parking lot by early morning. They haul in sand, tiki torches, tents, more sand, grills, baby pools, and anything else that is not nailed or glued down! There is a competition for the best tailgate party as the winner wins front row tickets. For a lot of people, that is motivation enough to work very hard to create unique and interesting tailgate parties! I had NO idea that the state of PA had so much sand....ha!

There were people from everywhere! I even ran into some guys from MISSISSIPPI! They had driven up from Meridian and donned Mississippi State gear! (don't have a picture, though). They had a great tailgate...Mississippi style, of course. They had filled the bed of the truck with water and then spread sand all around the back and into their tent. They brought their own stereo equipment and had a DJ! They really went all out...

Here are a few pics that I can share from the concert:

An early shot of the stadium parking lot.

After we made the parking lot round and checked on a few things, we decided to go sight-seeing in the historical part of Philly (downtown). First thing on the agenda? You guessed it...the Rocky Steps. These are the steps leading up to the Philadelphia Art Museum. Sylvester Stallone made them famous in his training scenes in the Rocky movies.

The State House. Did any of you watch the John Adams Series on HBO? Well, if you did, this building should look familiar. Continental Congress met here (and a whole bunch of other historical stuff that I cannot seem to remember right now). There are 3 buildings on this site, but I couldn't fit them into one frame.

LUNCH!! Pat's Philly Cheese Steak. The best in town! In case you ever need to know, here's how you order...(cheese wit)

The Concert:

The order of the concert was Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland, and Kenny Chesney. Because we were doing other things, I did not get to see Lady A or Montgomery Gentry, but I could hear them. I did get to see Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, and Kenny. All were terrific. The energy in the stadium was electric...have not seen anytihng quite like it. Great fun!

Christian Bush from Sugarland. He's good at interacting with the crowd while he's performing.

Miranda Lambert. A really good pre-concert show!

In between performers, I found my friend, Megan! I directed her wedding reception last June! Small world! She lives in Baltimore and had come up with some girlfriends for the concert. They had sandbar tickets....lucky girls!

And last, but not least...the reason we all trekked to Philly....

As I look back over this post, I realize that there is a lot of "white space". I saw and did so many things that there is no way to document it all without it taking days to write. Hopefully these highlights help paint the picture that I had a blast and loved every minute of the trip! Each day was packed and I had very little sleep (early mornings...and very late nights). What an incredible experience and I cannot wait to go back to NYC!

Sounds like life to me....

In the last 12 days, there have been a lot of exciting times and included in those 12 days are my 32nd birthday, high school graduations of 2 cousins, Uncle Robert's horrendous life-threatening wreck, and a triple baby baptism. And in there somewhere, I have held a more than full-time job. Sounds like life to me....

This blog entry will be the "mega blog" of all blogs. As most of you may know, I have purchased a new "grown up" camera and I enjoy it more than I should. So....enjoy the pics and forgive the amateur flaws. Events are chronological:

Birthday: I look forward to my birthday (June 10) every single year with more anticipation than the year before. Strange? Maybe...

Have you ever seen a white Iris? I had not and I just fell in love with them in this arrangement (front left) The arrangement on the right was sent my my parents and the gerber daisies (my everday favorites) were given to me by my team at work. I really love flowers, and I was not disappointed!

I've blogged about my friend who has a pre-teen daughter who is starting to really enjoy baking. Erin baked me these muffins for my birthday breakfast and made a card to go with it. They left them on my doorstep....so sweet and yummy! (muffins were blueberry)

GRADUATION 2009:

It is not uncommon for there to be multiple Sullivan graduates in any given year, but this year there were NO Sullivan graduates and TWO Joseph graduates! I cannot believe these 2 great cousins are actually old enough to graduate! I am so proud of the young man/lady that Craig and Stacy have become. Both are enrolled at Ole Miss this fall and plan to pledge (won't give away their secret until later as to which one they have chosen....)

CRAIG THOMAS JOSEPH

Briarcrest Christian School

Germantown, TN

Craig-man lined up and ready for the graduation march!

Craig receiving his diploma from the Headmaster

Uncle Tom, Aunt Andrea, Craig and Steven (reverse order) after the ceremony

The entire family in Memphis AFTER graduation...about to enjoy BBQ from Wild Hog at Tom & Andrea's house! (yours truly is never in any pictures because I am the photographer!)

The Joseph family waiting for Craig's name to be called...glad everyone is paying attention! (L-R)

Robert, Steven, Lisa, Tom, Andrea, Mamawgran, Grandaddy, Mom, Dad

(Drew & Laura Eidt and Donna, Andrea's parents and sister, were sitting right behing my parents)

STACY BROOKE JOSEPH

Myers Park High School

Charlotte, NC

This smile says it all.....

So proud!

The Joseph's waiting for the ceremony for 650 students to begin...

Robert, Ashley, Mom, Dad, Andrea, Tom, (Ron and Brenda Smith, Stacy's step-dad and Mom)

Pre-Graduation Dinner on Saturday

Ashley, Me, Stacy

Mom & Dad

(Dad asked me to count before I snapped the picture...guess he wanted to be candid...LOVE this picture!)

Tom & Andrea

Robert, Mom, Dad, Tom, Andrea, Ashley, Patsy, Stacy, and Me

Joseph Family after a fantastic meal at Village Tavern

(wonderful outdoor patio restaurant in downtown Charlotte)

After Graduation on Sunday afternoon, Robert, Mom, Dad, me, Stacy, and Ashley enjoyed the Charlotte Symphony in the Park. It is a wonderful evening of picnics, live bands, and then the Charlotte Symphony. We had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying just being together. Ashley is always a ham and I thought that this picture was so fitting of her personality....this reminds me of the Parent Trap movie scene when the twins are under water playing a trick on their soon to be step-mom...ha!

Ashley Barrett Joseph

ROBERT

Stacy's graduation was on Sunday, June 14. The next morning, we all headed to the airport to make our way back home to Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Robert had driven so that he would have a vehicle to run errands, take care of some business, and hang out with the girls (he came a few days before the rest of us). So, on Monday, he started driving to Mississippi instead of flying with the rest of us. He usually takes his time driving and this trip was no different. He broke the trip up into 2 days of driving. On Tuesday evening, when he was in Port Gibson, he hit the bridge on the Natchez Trace that crosses Hwy 18. He was airlifted to University Medical Center in Jackson, paralyzed from the chest down. He had fractures on C4-9 vertebrates and had to be put on a ventilator. In an instant, his life changed forever. Today is the 1 week anniversary of this accident. Today, he was taken off the ventilator and was able to breathe on his own. His legs moved involuntarily, but we are greatly encouraged! As he comes to our mind, please say a prayer for him. Pray for healing, guidance, and acceptance of God's second chance.

Robert and the girls (Stacy & Ashley) at Stacy's graduation on June 14.

Infant Baptism

This past weekend was a very special time for the Sullivan family at large. THREE Sullivan children were baptized at Meadville United Methodist Church: Callie Rivers Sullivan, Charles Verne Herring, and Kale Sullivan Thomas. They are the children of Chris & Stephanie Sullivan, Brett & Vista (Sullivan) Herring, and Scott & Summer (Sullivan/Robertson) Thomas. Adding to the speical meaning of this weekend is the fact that these children mark another generation of Sullivan baptisms at MUMC.

A little history: My Great-Grandparents, Herbert & Margie Kate (Cain) Babington, moved from Franklinton, LA to charter the Bank of Franklin, where he was a VP and she was active in teh community and started many organizations. They chose Meadville UMC as their home church. They raised their children: Herb, Mary Ann, and Margie Townes in this church. Herb and Mary Ann married and moved away, but Margie Townes married Verne Sullivan and also chose their home church as Meadville UMC. They raised their family in this church and each one was baptized there. Their children are Bo, Steve (my Dad), Bill, Rex, Pat, Cindy and Judy. Each of these married and raised their families in Meadville, but only my Dad kept MUMC as a home church. When my Mom and Dad had me, Chris and Sarah, we all were baptized as infants in MUMC. Now, Chris has a daughter and he and his wife, Stephanie, have chosen to come from Canton, MS to baptize Callie. Even though they do not live in Meadville and attend MUMC regularly, they claim it as their home church because "there just isn't any church in Jackson like it..."

Recently, Vista and Brett have moved from Oxford and have chosen MUMC as their home church. Summer and Scott live in a Chattanooga, TN surburb, but chose to have Kale baptized in MUMC because of the special family meaning of this church and the awesome opportunity to share this special day with other cousins. I am so glad that they did!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Saturday:

Kale and Callie

Kale wasn't real sure about the "green stuff" and Callie just loved it

Callie examining a flower in Sue-Baby's flower bed...wonder if she will be a future gardener like her Mom and Grandmothers????

I absolutely LOVE this picture...Callie is just kicked back resting on Chris' legs. She doesn't have a care in the world and was watching Kale and the rest of the crew

It's near impossible to get this many babies coordinated for a picture, but I tried!

The babies and their parents: (L-R)

Vista, Brett, Charles Verne

Stephanie, Chris, Callie

Summer, Kale and Scott

The cousins and Mamaw Sullivan

Vista, Charles Verne, Callie, Chris, Mamaw, Summer, Kale

You will notice that the girl cousins had boy babies and THE boy had the girl

Callie's family (L-R)

Pete & Tina Robertson (Stephanie's parents from Huntsville, AL)

Stephanie, Chris, & Callie

Mom, Dad, me, Sarah & Elliott Stebbins

Tim & Cindy (Sullivan) Robertson

Summer, Kale and Scott Thomas

The Herrings:

Cliff/Clint (twins that I can never tell apart...)

Niki, one of the twins girlfriend (sorry, cannot remember whose!)

Vista, Charles Verne & Brett

Myra & Howard

I failed to get a picture of Uncle Rex and Vista, Charles Verne and Brett...he snuck away before I could get a photo! BUT he was there and very proud!

Callie has learned that pulling paci's out of other baby's mouths is very fun! Kale didn't think so...

(Callie doesn't take a paci, but prefers to play with hers...and everyone else's)

MONDAY:

I got to keep Callie on Monday ALL BY MYSELF! It never happens where I am able to do that, so I jumped at the opportunity! We had so much fun hanging out!

An added bonus to an already wonderful day was that my friends Lorrie and Crystal brought lunch out to me in Canton! I was SO excited to see them and am so thankful that they would take time out of a busy Monday to visit me! They were only able to visit for about 2 hours, but I am so THANKFUL!

Callie loves her swing outside on the porch. She fell asleep in it twice and on the 2nd time, I just had to snap a picture....

Notice that she has her "bracelet" and had been playing with her paci...

TRIPLETS:

Monday afternoon, Stephanie and I took Callie to meet the Triplets. These are the new babies of Josh and Elizabeth (Sullivan) Isles. The Triplets were born on April 28 at 33 weeks. They all were home within 4 weeks of birth. AMAZING! They are now 8 weeks old and have doubled their birth weight. Their original due date was June 20 (this past weekend) and they weigh 8, 7.5, and 5 lbs. They so sweet and tiny...see for yourselves:

Isabella Ann

She never cries and is SO GOOD!!

Ian Knight

He decided to yawn real big just as I snapped the picture. Guess he wanted us to see his tonsils?? Such a sweet boy!

Isaac William

He "wants to be an only child" according to his parents. He is independent already...definitely the leader of the bunch.

TUESDAY-SUNDAY

This week, I am in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. I am working up here, but already having a great time! Tonight, we spent the evening at 230 Fifth Avenue on a rooftop bar and then walked Times Square and had dinner (at 10:00) at a local NYC pizza by the slice place. Loving the city already....more to come on this trip later.

Birthday Celebrations

The 2nd week of June has always been a busy week in my family. My Dad (8th), cousin Savannah (9th), and me (10th) have always had to shared the week of birthday celebrations! In the last few years, we've added my sister-in-law, Stephanie, to the list as her birthday is on the 7th. So, yes, you are reading this right...we celebrate birthdays in my family June 7-10 without missing a beat. I don't know why my birthday is such a big deal for me, but I look forward to June 10th every single year with more anticipation than the year before....maybe because I don't have another day that is more personally special?? Maybe....probably....

Since moving to NW Arkansas 2.5 yrs ago, I have been blessed with 2 more friends to add to the week of "Birthday Celebrations." Michael is on the 6th and Richard is on the 11th. So now, I celebrate June Birthdays June 6-11. WOW!

This past Saturday night, "the birthday people" went out to celebrate our birthday week....we went to Theo's down on Dickson (Fayetteville for you non-NWArk folks). If you have not been to Theo's yet, it is the best place to go when the weather is nice or when it's not...just perfect! After dinner at Theo's we ended the night at Willy D's, the favored piano bar that is always a good time.

Here are a couple of pics from last night....

The Birthday People: Richard, me, Michael

The whole crew hanging out on the patio at Theo's waiting for our table:
Ashley, me, Holly, Michael, John, Melissa, Richard, & Liz