Saturday is a special day

Today was another nice, fairly relaxing day, but I feel like I got some good things accomplished. I got up at 8am this morning to meet with the Comms elective class that I'm taking. We met down at City Hall, by the Brooklyn Bridge and looked at Park Row, where all the newspapers used to be housed. Park Row used to be synonymous for newspapers like Wall Street is for finance. We learned some pretty cool things, but several of the buildings were torn down.

We also saw Ground Zero which was near that area. It was a really humbling experience. I took some pictures on my disposable camera but obviously can't post them today. Some others that I was with will send me pictures and I'll post them when I can. You can see here I've included some I found on the web. The WTC area was pretty empty except for some of the subway construction over there (fixing the rails that were beneath the buildings). There was also a set of stairs that survived all the rubble. It's kind of a monument there because little survived all the damage. The famous cross formed by the burnt metal pillars was also there but had been moved closer to the fence to be surrounded by light at night for visitors (picture below shows the ceremony of when it was moved). There were stories, pictures, names and a timeline along the perimeter of the fence. Very humbling. I'm going to visit Battery Park sometime as well, and there is a gold ball statue that used to be in the WTC Plaza between the two buildings. It survived the events but sustained a large hole in its side. It is now on display in that park. The World Trade Center area used to be known as Radio Row, comparable to Park Row and newspapers. On our walk we also saw the American Stock Exchange.

We went to Trinity Church, which used to be the tallest structure in New York until the Brooklyn Bridge towers were built in the 1800s. There, we found the tomb of Alexander Hamilton and his widow, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. That's where we ended the class tour for the day, but on the way back to the subway Melissa and I saw Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, The Trump Building, as well as the location where George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States of America. I have pictures on Melissa's camera, but she isn't around right now so I'll post them another day.

We came back to the I-House for lunch and then I took a nap...for two hours! I was so exhausted I didn't even hear my phone ring 30 minutes into my nap and that's usually the thing I never sleep through. So, my body must have really needed it. I bought a mini refrigerator from another I-Houser for $20 so that was great. I played some web sudoku while I waited for Lyndsey and Meridith to get back and then we took our first grocery trip since we've been in New York. We went to Fairway Market which is about 3 blocks away and is located RIGHT on the bank of the Hudson River. Unfortunately it's all uphill from the market to the I-House. I got some stuff to make peanut butter & banana sandwiches, and tuna sandwiches, so that's exciting. Now that I have a fridge I was also able to get some milk, OJ, and other odds and ends. So, it should help save some money for sure.

Tonight Lyndsey needed to do some laundry so she, Meridith and I just stuck around the I-House (man I sound like a boring person these days!). Tonight there was a harbor cruise for the single's ward that we're apart of that was $20 a person. I would have liked to have gone, but it was mostly just a dance and I'm not big on dances, so it didn't seem entirely worth the $20 to me. Besides, I got a fridge instead. :o)

I did some reading in DaVinci Code and hung out with Lyndsey and Meridith, for the small amount of time we saw her tonight. :o) Her husband, Edward, who is back in Provo, found out today that he was accepted to a prestigious writing school in England to start in October. They're both ECSTATIC about it so she was making phone calls most of the night. Congrats, Edward! That'll be exciting.

Anyway, it's getting late.

-mk



In this picture you can see the Trinity Church, viewing it from Wall Street. The white building on the left is the side of the New York Stock Exchange. On the right, where the flags are, is a large statue of George Washington on the spot where he was sworn in as the first president of the United States of America. The Trump Building is just behind this picture, next to the statue.

T.G.I.F.

This week actually went surprisingly fast. Last week I worked three days at Alan Taylor. This week I worked five. Yet somehow I swear last week was three times longer than this one. I'm afraid that's how they're all going to start being, unfortunately.

Work was good. Like I said, things have picked up so I was busy. I ran an errand in the morning to pick something up from another company and I'm pretty sure I passed the bookstore that was used as the Shop Around the Corner in the movie You've Got Mail. So, that was cool. I went back to work and was busy the entire day. That's always a nice feeling.

Maria, one of the receptionists, has a birthday on Sunday so Melissa and I got her flowers for her birthday. She loved them and was sure to tell everyone in the office about them and where she got them. So, we made a friend and Maria is definitely someone to have like you. :o)

I came home after work, ate dinner with some other interns and then did laundry with Taylor (the girl I went to the Broadway show with last night). I had good intentions on just reading a book, but that never happens. I ended up talking with people online, then Lyndsey came back from seeing Spelling Bee and I talked to her. Then Laurel came back from her dance class and I talked to her for like 45 minutes+. I finally told Laurel I was kicking her out of my room to go to bed. :o) So, anyway, I'm out like a light. G'night!

-mk

WICKED!

Wow! What an AWESOME day!

Work was great, meeting was great, tonight was great! It was all just GREAT!

So, first off, I got to work and started with my normal media search tasks. Then, I was doing some research on Mexican schools for one of the employees. At 11am Melissa and I met with Alison, our internship supervisor at Alan Taylor. We had a GREAT meeting with her and it was really helpful. I felt like things were going better and I was officially added to the Staples account (yeah!). But wait, there's more.

I prepared or organized some files for a scholarship program one of the agency partners is head of and although it was simple and tedious, it made time pass, cause I was starting to worry that I wouldn't have anything to do after that. Thankfully I was wrong. Matt, one of the guys on the Staples account, came by my desk and was telling me about a meeting he's having with the editor of Family Circle next week about a product. I was like, oh that's cool. But then, he added in at the end,..."oh, and I want you to go with me." I WAS STOKED!! Inside I was screaming "YIPPEE!!! Things are finally happening! This is something that's for reals!" Later he came to me with some more stuff to do for Staples, where I will be completely in charge of this project and working with other magazine editors. It was awesome.

I left around 2:20pm for my PRSSA meeting and by the time I found the building in downtown Manhattan, it was almost 3pm (the time of the call). Since I hadn't had lunch I grabbed something from a nearby store really quick and went up the to meeting. It went very well and I loved being in the headquarters offices to see it all. It was great being right there with Brent and Jeneen. I was able to literally just pass them information or add in comments where I could sense confusion because I could see them. I really enjoyed it there. After the call ended around 4:30pm, I stayed and talked with Brent and Sara (the executive assistant) about New York while I waited for Taylor Simmons (one of our BYU interns working at PRSA) to get off. Taylor works for the professional version of the organization (know as PRSA) and Brent, Jeneen and Sara are with the student version (PRSSA). They're both in the same office and on the same floor, just opposite ends.

Today was the only day I knew that I would be able to go to the lottery for Wicked. I was hopeful to get in, but since I didn't know anything about the process, I wasn't really sure if I had much of a chance. Taylor and I went and put our names in, and then Taylor's friend (Malani) came as well. So, the three of us had put our name in, and then three other girls had put their name in, as well. It was a fairly large crowd with close to 100 people waiting and hoping for their name to be called. Before the Wicked lottery started, we had put our names in the lottery for Spelling Bee, which was right next door. I have never seen a Broadway musical, so seeing either would be exciting. Taylor's seen Spelling Bee twice and she said it was hilarious.

The way a lottery works is you put your name down on a note card they give you and then you write 1 Ticket or 2 Tickets. They draw so many names depending on the number of tickets they have available. These tickets are for the front row and cost $25, compared to the regular $100+ that people usually pay for the shows. So, you can see why it's a big deal.

So, we all stood together while we awaited to hear the results. Malani's name was one of the first called so she got 2 tickets. We waited at the Spelling Bee lottery afterwards and my name was called for 2 tickets. Shortly after, Malani and Taylor's names were called as well. Malani and Taylor did claim their tickets though because we didn't need them. The shows are all at the same time, but we had already decided what we would do. Because I was the only one who had never seen Wicked, I got one of the Wicked tickets. Malani had never seen Spelling Bee, so she went there. Taylor came to Wicked with me and they sold the 2nd ticket to Spelling Bee. We grabbed some dinner at Cosi down the street before the show and had a fabulous salad. Really good.

Taylor and I went in to find our seats and they were front and center...literally. Taylor and I were LITERALLY the very middle seats on the front row. I could have touch the orchestra director's head if I wanted to because he was sure right there. The show was great! The costumes, the music, the acting...it was awesome! There was one part that was really funny, when Glinda (the "good witch) and Elphaba (the "wicked witch") were going to fight. Glinda started spinning her long staff-like wand around...twirling it like a baton. On the top of the wand was a big silver ball type of thing. She had been spinning it and as she went to stop, the silver ball completely flew across the stage to behind the curtain. It was HILARIOUS!! Like I said, this was supposed to be a fighting seen where they were both irate at each other. But they were laughing so hard they couldn't get into character. So of course, the audience was dying laughing, as well. It was really funny because they tried to go on but every line came out with a smirk until it turned into a smile, the audience would bust up again and then it made it harder for them to get back. Luckily for them, the scene was only about another minute long. It was hilarious.

The costumes were great and being up close we were able to see all of the intricacies. Very detailed and fashionable. Anyone who sees it is going to love it. It really is great. I loved everything about it and for $25! That's a deal you just can't beat.

I'm going to try for Spelling Bee again another day because I can actually make that lottery on a regular basis. I'm glad I got to see Wicked tonight since it was my only chance. Woo hoo!

See what I mean, great day. Laurel had a great missionary experience on the subway tonight and exchanged numbers with this girl for them to go to each other's church on Sunday. Good for her.

Well, it's almost 1am so I better get going.

I love NYC!

-mk

P.S. Sorry if you guys are running into spelling and grammar errors as you read. I'm usually not coherant when I write because it's so late, but feel free to let me know so I can correct them. Thanks!

"Goin to the temple and I'm gonna get"...proposed to???

Today was interesting to say the least. Work was the same...busy in the morning and slow in the afternoon. We're meeting with Alison, our internship supervisor and contact at Alan Taylor about hours and what not tomorrow, so hopefully things will pick up and adjust a little bit. She's been really good and kept in contact about everything. So, it should be good.

I also have a National Conference call tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be getting out early and heading to the Wall Street area to meet at PRSA headquarters for the conference call with Provo and Kate in Washington. Should be fun.

After work today I went to the Manhattan temple with some girls in the internship program. It was the married ward's temple night (and they're in that ward) so I tagged along with them to go. It was amazing! I have church in that same building and you would never know it from the way that they've set it up. It looked absolutely beautiful and was totally cut off from everything outside of the temple area. It was beautiful! The mural in the beginning room was INCREDIBLE! I could sit in there and look at it for hours. It was a very small temple but amazing. I loved it!

However, I did have quite a unique and interesting experience, which was DEFINITELY blog worthy. I was in the Celestial room waiting for the other two girls that I had gone with, when this guy came up to me and kneeled next to me. He asked my name, where I was from, etc. He really liked my last name (uh, don't ask me why cause I personally don't think it "pretty" as he called it) and acted kinda weird. So in my head I'm thinking, this can't be happening. This guy is totally going to ask me out...trust me, the way he was acting you would have thought so, too. I asked his name and he introduced himself as Hermano Juan Rulfo...Pina. He delayed telling me his last name and said it was Pina, not like the fruit (a.k.a. pineapple in Spanish), but spelled the same way. Doesn't that still make it like the fruit?

Anyway, then he pulls out a Book of Mormon and asks me to share with him my favorite scripture. I felt like such an idiot. I totally thought this guy was hitting on me in the Celestial room (don't ask me why) and then he asks me to share a scripture. So, I open up to 2 Nephi 25:26 and have him read it.

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

He read it and looked at me. "Wow," he said. "You shared a good one with me. But I'm going to share one that is two times good." (He didn't speak complete English) So he opens up to the index to look up a word and I'm content sitting there letting this guy share a scripture with me. I figured he was a new member who had recently just gone through the temple because he seemed filled with such excitement the whole time. Besides that, he introduced himself as Hermano Juan Rulfo. Having served a Spanish-speaking mission, I've seen many new members introduce themselves that way. To anyone! Member or not.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the Meridith had made it into the room, but that Melissa was still missing. He asked if I was leaving and I told him that we were still waiting on one more person. Content, he kept looking at the page in the topical guide. While he looked, he continued to tell me how beautiful the name Kunz was and how he wanted to make it his own. "You know that when people get married, they take the other person's last name. We could get married and I could take your last name. What do you think? We get married?" Uhh.....wow. Yep, there it was. I had been wrong. He wasn't asking me out, he flat out asked me to marry him. And oddly enough, he wasn't even kidding. He was full on serious! I smiled back at him and said, "No, I'm sorry." He looked at me with sad eyes, "You won't marry me?" Again, I confirmed his suspicions..."No, I'm sorry." By this time I had seen Melissa and Meridith come in and look over at me. I gave them one of those looks like, "OH DEAR! SAVE ME!" Hermano Juan was still looking for his favorite scripture. Meridith saw the desperation (I had been talking with this guy for nearly 10 minutes now!) and she came over. "We need to go. We don't want to be late," she said smoothly. I politely began to dismiss myself. "Wait!" he said. "I found it." So, he turned to Moroni 8:3.

" I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying
unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his
infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his
name to the end."

I'll admit reading the first 6 words of that verse was enough for me. I didn't even pay attention to the rest of the verse, I just scanned it back and forth to get out of there. I told him it was nice to meet him and wished him the best of luck. Meridith and Melissa were definitely anxious to hear about the story, but I waited until we got out of the temple...not exactly the place, ya know? Anyway...yeah, not just another Wednesday.

Well, that's all I've got for today. I'm working on getting some stuff done and completed for a phone conference with PRSSA tomorrow afternoon so I'm off. I'll be getting a camera soon and will start including my own pictures, so these will be a little less boring again, soon enough!

Love and miss you all!

-mk

Just another Tuesday

Some of you may recognize today's comments because they look strangely familiar to yesterday's in that they're pretty unadventurous. I decided to relax again today because my left foot has been giving me some grief, and for good reason. Yesterday I managed to trip on the stairs to the subway ramp as we attempted to run and catch one of the trains. In the process my foot kicked against the metal stairs and hasn't been very happy about the situation since then. But I'm getting some ice in the cafeteria tonight and putting it up while I read a good book. Man, working full-time is exhausting!

Today things finally started to pick up work load wise. My first meeting was fine, but wasn't a brainstorming session like it was supposed to be. No one had done their brainstorming (except me) so they decided to postpone it until maybe Thursday or Friday. I told Chris, one of the group members that we've been working with, that Melissa and I had brainstormed the ideas as he had asked and wanted to know when we should plan to share those. So, he just asked me to email them to him and he would give me feedback. This afternoon, just before I left, he said the team had briefly been thinking along the same lines as the ideas I had sent him and that he liked the direction we took with them. So, we'll see what happens.

Poor Melissa has been ending up with a lot of the secretarial work that often gets dumped on interns. It's because she's the first person they see when they walk into our area and the way that her desk is set up, she faces them as they come in. My desk faces away from the entrance so they always get my back. She's going to talk to Alison, our internship supervisor about it tomorrow and we're going to try to clear up some things about hours and other details. So, that'll be good.

I started reading the DaVinci Code the other day and I must say, I'm a fan. So far its been good. I'm only like 50 pages in because I only have time to read on the subway, but it's enjoyable.

Well, I'm going to go get some ice and relax my foot for the rest of the night. I'll for sure have some pictures later this week. I just got an email from our faculty advisor out here and he got tickets for us all to go to the Yankee's game on Monday night against Texas. WOO HOO! Should be good.

-mk

Eh...nothing exciting.

Today was pretty much an unadventurous and I don't have any pictures to share tonight so this will be short.

Work was pretty slow as seems to be common lately. I constantly ask for more to do and maybe its just because they don't know what we can handle yet, but things are always slow and we're constantly begging. Eventually though I'm sure things will start to pick up. I started doing a little work on 2 new accounts today, so that was a good change and I actually get to sit it on a brainstorming meeting tomorrow...finally!

After work I came home to relax from all the hustle bustle of the last week and just have some me-time. It was really nice and I took my time coming home and doing everything. I watched the David Blaine spectacle on TV instead of going in person because I knew there would be a bazillion people there (and there were) and I had already seen him twice anyway. He's crazy but has some serious willpower. Wow.

Anyway, I really don't have anything to write about tonight so peace out!

-mk

New York...the deciding factor

Today was a good day.

I got to sleep in again...always a nice bonus. We had church at 12:40pm at the same building as the Manhattan temple. Church is on floors 3 & 4 and the temple is on floors 5 & 6.

We met some new people and I even found a girl from my freshman ward here. Her name is Caitlin Winmill and she served Long Beach (Spanish) the same time that I was in Carlsbad. So, it was kinda fun to see her and to already know someone in a random ward all the way across the country! :o)

After church I had some time to read before the cafeteria opened for dinner. Reading is a nice luxury I find a little time to enjoy around here so that was nice and I finally made a little more progress on book 6 of The Work & the Glory (Amy & Amber would be proud!).

Dinner was good and then we headed to the CES Fireside, where Pres. James E. Faust spoke from the Institute building on the University of Utah campus. I actually had a mission reunion in that same chapel 2 years ago so it was cool to see him there.

Today was a good reflection day for me and President Faust's talk just enhanced it all the more. I loved how he talked about making every moment a new beginning and bettering ourselves each day. He talked about being and doing our best, even on the smallest jobs, to help prepare us for the biggest ones; and to make time for regular and important spiritual renewals.

He shared six beginning measures for those spiritual renewals:

1. Have regular, ferverant prayer
2. Perform daily selfless service to another
3. Strive daily for increased obedience & perfection
4. Be a disciple of Christ
5. Study the scriptures daily
6. Do something!! (a.k.a. don't be lazy!)

He also talked about how we need to be doers of the word, not hearers only and that most of life's rewards come to those who prepare carefully.

I realized that there were a lot of things that I needed to be better at on this list, if not all of them.

On the way home from the fireside Laurel and I talked about our experiences of the day and had a really good reflective talk about everything. We decided that being out here in New York is a great opportunity for us to really develop who we are or we're going to be. I think it's a real turning point in my life and will influence a lot of my future decisions...where I want to be, what I want to do, etc.

I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to be out here. Tomorrow will be one week and I can hardly believe it. It seems like it's been so long...and yet...not. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks. I know they're going to fly by so its important to take advantage of each of them.

I haven't heard from most of you so please take some time when you get a chance and let me know what you're up to. Thanks to those of you who have made comments or have emailed me. It's fun to hear from you, too. :o) And yes Sarah, you should be jealous. I HIGHLY recommend New York! :o)

I hope you're well!

-mk