The End

I finally made it back to Provo, so this will be the end of my NYC blog.

I got to the airport this morning and luckily asked about my luggage because they had pulled it last night at 1am (I was long gone and asleep) and it wouldn't have made the flight. I had to pick it up and check it back in.

The flight was fine and I just got in to Salt Lake a few minutes late. Kira picked me up and it was good to see family again. We stopped at Walmart on the way home to pick up some hair stuff and then ate lunch at Sonic.

I got home, showered really quick and then headed to get my oil changed. I washed my car and did some grocery shopping. I attempted to do a little cleaning but didn't get too far.

Amanda and baby Cody came by to do Kira and I's hair and now its darker than before, but less red.

Well, I'm going to head to bed cause I've got to be to work in the morning.

Thanks for all of you dedicated readers who've read and participated in my NYC blog while I've been gone. It's good and weird to be back since I feel like I've only been gone for 2 weeks, yet find that so many things have changed.

Anyway, fair well bloggers. I might start a regular daily, but we'll see.

Hope to see you all soon!!!!

-mk

Chicago is the new Provo...apparently

So, I didn't quite make it home today like I had planned. Apparently it required a pit stop in Chicago tonight.

I got on the shuttle and everything was fine leaving the I-House...except for the fact that I pretty much cried the entire way to the airport. Man, it was really hard leaving.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 4pm and then at 3:30pm, when it was time to load the plane, there was an announcement that the departure time had been delayed until 5pm. So, they didn't load us until 4:30pm and we quickly got settled in. As we were getting ready to depart from the gate and had already received all the safetly information, an announcement was made by the pilot saying that we had been given a take-off time of 6:01pm. So, now our plane was going to be delayed another hour and we were all already loaded on the plane.

The lady in the row in front of me got off the plane, finding it absolutely pointless now for her trip, since she was just flying out to meet someone for dinner (crazy!). Since she only had carry-on items they let her leave the plane and replaced her with another standby passenger. Soon thereafter they backed the plane away from the gate so we could get in the take-off line. Apparently SEVERAL flights had been delayed and we spent an hour and a half in line to take off. We finally took off around 6:30pm and ended up getting to Chicago about 3 hours late.

My connecting flight had already left and there were no others that would be going to Salt Lake that night. They told me the next available flight was at 10:05am the next morning and I would have to stay in Chicago for the night. We were delayed by Air Traffic Control for weather, so American Airlines couldn't put me up for the night, but they could get me a discount. I ended up staying at the Wyndham.

I had a king size bed, but unfortunately all they had left were smoking rooms. Luckily my room didn't smell too bad, though and the shuttle between the hotel and the airport was free. I left my carry-ons in my room (cause I couldn't get the rest of my luggage) and headed down to the restaurant to get some dinner. It was almost 11pm so I had to hurry down there since they said it was still open. When I got down there though I found out that it was already closed and the bar was the only thing open. I ordered a takeout quesedilla and waited while it cooked because it wasn't smoking and I found some extreme entertainment there--old people hitting on each other! There was a group of singles ranging probably ages 40-65 and they were flirting with each other. It was sick and hilarious. I mean, granted it happens and they all want to find someone, but it was seriously entertaining. I wonder if some drinks added to their actions, but nonetheless it was entertaining.

I took my dinner upstairs and enjoyed some Oprah before heading to bed. My bed is AWESOME and very comfy, too.

Well, I've got to get up early to get to the airport. G'night!

-mk

"I'm leavin on a jet plane..."

"All my bags are packed
Im ready to go
Im standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
Hes blowin his horn
Already Im so lonesomeI could die

So kiss me (New York) and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Theres so many times Ive let you down
So many times Ive played around
I tell you now, they dont mean a thing
Evry place I go, Ill think of you
Evry song I sing, Ill sing for you
When I come back, Ill bring your wedding ring

So kiss me (New York) and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
Ill be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I wont have to leave alone
About the times, I wont have to say

Oh, kiss me (New York) and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me gocause
Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
But, Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go"
-------------------------------------------
Wow, I guess this is it. It feels so weird, unreal and extremely sad. Today I head back to Provo and leave the home I’ve known for the last 8 weeks: New York City. I have loved my time here and the many people that I’ve met, as well as those I’ve had the chance to meet. There are so many experiences that I’ve had and couldn’t have learned from any other way. I’ve met so many great people who have inspired me, changed me, taught me and molded me for the better.

I can’t believe it’s already over. Although some days it seemed like I had been here for months, others seemed like it had been a handful of days. This is one of those experiences you never really see ending until its too late.

I did everything I wanted to do, saw everything I wanted to see, and leave with no regrets. But this is a hard transition time for me. I’m not sure if its because I’m leaving the city or because I’m leaving all my friends, but I imagine it’s a combination of both. I’ll see some of the 37 people at BYU that I’ve become so close to over the last 2 months. But many of them will stay, others will move home while they look for jobs and all of us are moving on to new stages in our life. The ones that cause it all to come to an end.

I realize its just a part of growing up, but this is one of those “grown up moments” that I hope to never have to live again. It hurts too much to say goodbye to it all.

I’m excited to get back to “reality” and live my BYU life again, but I’ll miss the city and playing every night. I’ll miss my own room, but I won’t miss only being able to eat out or at a cafeteria. I’ll miss the atmosphere but I won’t miss the cigarette smoke plagued streets. I’ll miss the rain, but I won’t miss the humidity…too much (although I think my skin will). I’ll miss the street vendors but I won’t miss the bums. I’ll miss my job but I won’t miss the millions of media lists and tedious tasks delved out by one of the employees at ATC (Melissa, you know who I’m talking about). I’ll miss the fun group activities and our hallway parties, but I won’t miss the community bathroom and showering with flip flops.

There are so many great times that I’ve enjoyed and I’m glad that I was able to take all of you along for the ride. Thank you for your comments, your advice and support. Thanks for just being you! Please be patient with me as I adjust to my life in Utah and try to figure out where I’m going to go come December. I’m excited to see you all and share with you some more of my fondest NYC memories. It’s true; I HEART NEW YORK!

-mk

The end is here

Wow, this is all so surreal. This is it. This is the end. I didn’t really know what it would feel like because I tried not to think about it. It just seemed so far away that it was a waste of time and emotions. I’ve had so many great experiences here and I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I came. Thanks to those of you who were so supportive of me attending this program.

This morning Holly and I got up early and headed down to Canal Street, known in the city for its knock off vendors and souvenir shops. Holly wanted to get some purses so we went down there to see what they had. I’m not in to that, but we went to one of the shops that had a huge variety and even some air conditioning. Impressive, considering the condition of living down there. I picked up most of the souvenirs I needed and then we headed back to the I-House where Holly was supposed to meet the airport shuttle at 12:30pm. They showed up at 1:15pm. I dropped her off and then headed to get ready to head downtown to PRSA headquarters. I went to say goodbye to Brent, Jeneen and Sarah. It’s been great seeing them often and being so close to them with all the things going on with Conference these last 2 months. I took a picture with them and then when I went to say goodbye, Brent said “Alright, well, we’ll see you in November.” What?! It caught me off guard. I’ve seen them every other month since I first met them at the very beginning of February. Now they expect me to go without seeing them for 5 months?? That was weird.

I left there and headed up to 34th street to pick up something for myself and then headed to Times Square where I met up with Laurel. She was waiting for her parents who were flying in at 4:30pm. We looked around at some more gifts and stores before she headed off to meet them. I waited for Meridth, Brittany and Lyndsey at 50th and Broadway for about an hour and a half before we went to dinner. It was nice, just sitting there and reading my Ensign, until people kept sitting next to me or standing in front of me and smoking. It was gross so I left and walked around. They met up with me and we went to Bombay Express for some great Indian food. Afterwards we headed to Café Lalo on 83rd and Amsterdam. Many of you will recognize it from the pictures: it’s the place that Tom Hanks first discovered that Meg Ryan was his internet chat buddy in You’ve Got Mail. The place was nothing like it was in the movies, except for the outside really was as pretty as the movie shows. But the inside was very stuffy and gaudy. It was a lot like Serendipity. I got a dessert from there because I had heard they were they best. It was great, but I’ll admit I was pretty annoyed when they told me they were a cash only establishment. HELLO PEOPLE! It’s the 21st century and you live in the city of the world and you don’t take cards??? It still baffles me when I find places like that, and let me tell you, there are a lot of them.

I’ve just been doing some laundry tonight, sold my fridge and working on packing…although let’s be honest, I’m trying to avoid it. I hate packing, but I hate even more when I have to pack to move.

Anyway, it’s getting late so I better head out. It’s the last night in my bed and room. L Oh well, at least tomorrow night I’ll be sleeping in A/C in Provo. J G’night.

-mk

The Good Ole Days

This morning Holly called the David Letterman show and was placed as number 15-17 for standby tickets for her, Laurel and myself. We had to be there at 6pm so we wanted to get started early this morning.

Holly and I got up and went to Central Park. She wanted to see the Alice in Wonderland statue so we stopped there and then walked around. We saw a group of artists painting a woman and a statue of Hans Christian Anderson. We also went by the Bethesda Fountain (the one from One Fine Day) and took pictures there again, too. We caught the bus and headed to FAO Schwartz and the Apple store. We danced on the piano from BIG and walked around.

Laurel met up with us and we walked to Rockefeller Center where Holly and I went to Top of the Rock, which is the observation deck at the top of Rockefeller Center. Laurel didn't want to go so she waited below as we went up. It was a quick trip but I would definitely recommend the view from Top of the Rock over Empire State Building. You can actually see Central park and you get a better overall view of the whole city. On our visit we also learned that this picture of the construction workers eating lunch on a beam is from the building of Rockefeller Center.

Afterwards we went down to Little Italy for lunch at Da Nico but got distracted by all the vendors on Canal Street. We ended up looking at the vendor shops and by the time we got to Da Nico it was almost 4:30pm. Their dinner prices started at 4pm and were way more expensive. We didn't have time really to sit down for dinner before we had to be at Letterman, so we sat down long enough to decide to leave. We walked up to Rice to Riches to get some rice pudding and then headed up to 50th to get in line for standby tickets. We hadn't eaten so I walked across the street for a Jamba Juice, just to find out shortly thereafter that there were no standby tickets available for the night so we couldn't go.

It was ok because it was Mormon Night at the Mets game, so we did a little more shopping, including souvenirs and Old Navy before we caught the train out to the Mets game. The Mets played the Cincinnati Reds and lost.

After the game, Holly and I met up with Mike Martin, a friend from high school. I hadn't seen Mike for about 9 years and Holly hadn't seen him for about 5, maybe more. We met up with him in Bryant Park and then headed over to Dave & Busters for drinks and dessert. It was so good to see Mike again and although he doesn't entirely look the same it was comforting to know he is the same. He's actually doing PR at some fashion place in New York while he continues to look for acting work. It was fun reminiscing about high school and some of our fun memories.

It was a great day and we're getting up again early in the morning to be down to Canal Street early. The shuttle is supposed to pick Holly up at 12:30pm so we've got to be out early to make it back in time.

-mk

Happy Father's Day

This morning we had joint sacrament meeting with the Morning Heights ward because of the Gladys Knight concert (it was twice yesterday and twice today). Before we headed inside the building for services, Holly wanted to take a picture of the temple/church. As we were walking acorss the street back towards the church, Holly twisted and sprained her ankle on the curb. It swole up pretty good and will probably do so the rest of her trip. I have an ace bandage and some ice in my room so I wrapped it up for her tonight so hopefully that'll help.

Sacrament was great with the family ward and part of me wishes I would have attended that ward the entire time I've been here. Because of all the equipment set up for the Gladys Knight performance, the organ wasn't able to be used so the "organist" played the piano. He was a very talented man and I felt like I was singing in a beautiful choir. He did transitions between verses and we sang in various parts. It made for a very powerful meeting, in addition to the great speakers.

After church Holly and I headed down to Penn Station to catch the train. We had been invited to dinner at Ken Goepfert's house in Long Island. Ken works in the same building as I do at BYU and he was coming out this weekend so we were invited for dinner. I didn't realize it was Father's Day when he asked and his family was having a big celebration so we met lots of extended family members. Ken picked Holly & I up from the train station and we went to his house for a BBQ in the backyard. It was a nice day and it was good to be out of the busy city and in a real neighborhood again. Later, Ken took us down to the boardwalk to see the Atlantic Ocean. We also walked down the beach and stuck our feet in the FREEZING cold water. It was cool. Ken took us back to Manhattan and we got lost and ended up in The Bronx instead, but we made it back to Manhattan eventually. It was fun and nice of his family to have us out there.

-mk

Picture of The Apollo