I love autumn

 

Autumn in New York is absolutely beautiful.  We live just a few blocks from Riverside Park, where we can walk along the Hudson River.  I went on a walk with my friend Kate this week and we really enjoyed looking at all the colorful trees.  We also stopped by the Little Red Lighthouse located under the George Washington Bridge.  It looks so tiny next to that beastly bridge and is famous because of this book.  It was a very enjoyable walk.  On our way home, we happened upon a really small tunnel under the road.  As we were approaching the tunnel however, we saw 2 men in large jackets exchanging some goods.  needless to say, we turned around and walked quickly in the opposite direction.

Halloween is a time for baking

 We had a fabulous Halloween this year with lots of baking involved of course.  The week before Halloween, a few people in our ward were getting baptized.  As Ward Missionaries, we delighted in the opportunity to go and support.  I was also very excited to try these pumpkin cupcakes from my Hello Cupcake book.

Later that week, I decided that I wanted to meet our neighbors.  There are 4 other apartments on the 5th floor of our building and we hadn't really met anyone yet.  I invited my friend, Kate over and we made and decorated some sugar cookies.  When Landes got home, we gave plates of cookies to all of our neighbors.  Although most did not answer their doors, it was a successful venture.  The people next door were very excited about the cookies and invited us over for pizza that same night. They are native New Yorkers and very friendly.
Our ward Halloween Party was on Saturday afternoon, so of course I had to break out the Hello Cupcake book again.  These Werewolf cupcakes turned out pretty terrifying I think.  As for costumes, I decided to break out my prom dress and be a princess.  Since it happened to be snowing that day (very abnormal for New York I hear), we got very wet on the way to the church. 


On Halloween, we decided to go to the Village Halloween parade around 14th street.  It is a parade where anyone with a costume can march, so we saw some very exciting things.  It was a little crowded and I learned that if you are not pressed against the people in front of you, someone will sneak in and fill that gap so you can't see.  The parade was pretty fun.  My favorite were the giant skeletons and the band made of people dressed as eyeballs.

We made it!

       Our move from California to New York City went very well.  We rented a 16 foot Penske Truck (almost brand new with 2000 miles on it) which fit all our our stuff and still had ample space.  Landes drove the entire 3350 miles without even complaining.  We loaded the truck on Friday evening with ample help from family and our ward in Davis.  After getting everything out of our apartment and cleaning, we slept on the floor and left early the next morning, July 30th.

    We spent the first night in South Jordan, Utah at Derek's house.  It was fun playing with the nephews for awhile before beginning the journey into the unknown.  We went out to Cafe Rio for dinner with some of Landes' best high school friends and their wives.  The next day, we drove through most of Wyoming and stopped near the South Dakota border.  On Monday, we went to the Crazy Horse Monument which will be much larger than Mt. Rushmore if it is ever finished.  We are standing by a 1:32 scale model, but if you look in the background, you can see a face on the mountain.

     We also stopped by Mt. Rushmore.  It was very impressive.  We went on a short hike that brought us to the base of the mountain.  I am so impressed that somebody thought of carving a mountain and actually did it.  It is especially impressive when you consider that Mt Rushmore was carved with the technologies that existed before World War 2.

   On Tuesday, we drove to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Latter-day Saints built up a city in what was once a swamp.  We got to see how things were done in the 1800s.  My favorite parts were seeing where the leaders of the church used to live, including Brigham Young and John Taylor, the second and third prophets of this dispensation.  The temple in Nauvoo is beautiful as well.  Someday I want to go back to Nauvoo and see some of the shows we didn't get to see this trip.

    We hurried out of Nauvoo to make it to Carthage Jail.  This is where the prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum were martyred.  We stood in the room where they were shot and killed by the mob.  There are still bullet holes in the door.  I am so grateful that Joseph Smith stood for the truth until the end.  He never denied the truth he helped reveal to the world.  That takes a lot of courage.  I hope I can endure to the end as well.

 On Wednesday, we stopped in Kirtland, Ohio.  This is where the Saints first gathered and built the first temple of this dispensation.  The temple is still standing and represents a lot of sacrifices to build.  There were some glorious things that happened in this temple and I was so glad for the opportunity to see it for myself.  We took a guided tour of historic Kirtland and got to see several houses where the early saints lived. 

   This is the Newel K. Whitney Store.  This is the building where the school of the prophets was held and many of the revelations found in the Doctrine and Covenants were received.  I am so grateful for modern revelations received by prophets of God in these days. 

 On Thursday, we arrived at our final destination, New York City.  We are living in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan.  This is a view from our doorstep.  We live on the fifth floor of a walk up building, so moving in was quite a challenge.  We were so grateful that about 8 members of or new ward came to help us move in.  Within 2 hours, all of our belongings were safely in our apartment on the fifth floor.  We spent an arduous hour driving through lower Manhattan, trying to navigate the giant truck to the Penske drop off.  Once that was done, we were free to relax.  We got some pizza for dinner and took the subway home to our new apartment.  It feels strange living in such an enormous city, but I am excited to be a New Yorker.

Landes will be attending Columbia

Landes also got accepted to Columbia University.  It is ranked slightly higher than NYU and is located in Upper Manhattan, so we will be going there.  We applied for an apartment near the George Washington bridge this morning.  Hopefully we get in so the housing search can be over. 

This last week has been a whirlwind for us.  Last Wednesday, we found out we would not be moving to Berkeley.  We were disappointed because it was the easiest to get into on paper.  I was shocked when Landes was accepted to NYU on Friday.  I began immediately filling out paperwork for a New York RN license and researching job opportunities.  We had a busy weekend with a Martineau Family Reunion which was probably a little saturated with talk of our future plans.  Orientation for NYU began on August 16th so we would only have a month to plan the move.  On Monday, he was accepted to Chicago, which didn't really change our plans.  On Wednesday, Landes was accepted to Columbia University which is an ivy league school and has a law school ranked 4th in the nation.  That definitely changed our minds.  The orientation at Columbia begins on August 8th.  So, giving ourselves a week to drive over 3000 miles and move, we will be moving in 2 weeks.  We started gathering boxes and packing yesterday.  I reserved a Penske truck and planned out a 6 day trip, stopping at Salt Lake, Mt. Rushmore, Nauvoo, and Kirtland.  I am really excited and nervous.  I finished all my nursing application stuff and mailed it off.  I am hoping it all gets processed soon so I can find a job and we don't live way beyond our means for long.

We are nervous, but really excited.  We have been so blessed in so many ways.  We love living in Davis, but Columbia Law School will give Landes many opportunities he would not otherwise have.  Plus there are a ton of hospitals in New York City.  School nursing is really fun, but I definitely want some acute care experience before I forget how to do everything.

Landes was accepted to NYU!!

Landes was accepted to transfer to the Law School at New York University.

School Webpage

Lately, I have been spending a lot of my work time trying to advertise the new TDAP requirement.  A few months ago, I set up a School Nurse Page at my school and helped the other nurses set up sites at their schools.  About a month, I was disappointed that the district had not yet placed a TDAP banner on their homepage.  I emailed one of the assistant superintendents about this and she said to build a site about TDAP at my school and she would link it to a TDAP banner on the district site.  Here is the TDAP site.

Children are funny

As a school nurse, I get to spend plenty of time with children and they are hilarious much of the time.

A few days ago, I wore scrubs to work.  As a passed the kindergarten table, one of them said: You're dressed like a doctor.  I replied that I was the school nurse and that nurses often wore scrubs.  She replied that her mom was also a nurse and that she dressed like a doctor.

Today, a 7th grade girl came in with stomach pain.  I asked if it felt like cramps and she said yes, so i got her a hot pack.  Since there was a 7th grade boy in the health office, I asked her whether it was the right time of the month for cramps.  She replied that she wasn't sure, but was too lazy to check.  Since the bathroom was 3 feet away, I told her to go check.  She came out saying that yes, it was in fact that time.  I gave her a few pads to hold her through the day.  The boy then proceeded to tell me that he knew exactly what we were talking about and had already had "the talk" twice with his parents.

There is a first grade boy who always calls me Mrs. Nurse.  It is pretty adorable.  He is mildly autistic and comes to the office quite often.  Last week, he came to the health office to use the bathroom.  I was busy doing some paperwork and thought nothing of it.  15 minutes later, I heard knocking from the inside of the bathroom.  He said, "Help me Mrs. Nurse, I can't get my pants on."  Hoping for the best, I opened the door to find his still-buttoned pants around his thighs.  I unbuttoned them for him and left while he proceeded to dress.  Afterward I walked him to class to make sure he actually got there.

I am having lots of fun just seeing children.  I am not as busy as I would like to be, but it is a wonderful job.  This week, I set up a Tdap plan for the district so we can be in compliance with the new law.  Also, I am apparently good at web design because after seeing my school nurse site at BWI, my boss asked if I could help set up the Special Education website for the district.

 

Since I have no recent pictures of us, this is the banner I added to the school website, taken from the California Department of Public Health.  

Picture Catchup

My Brother, Matthew, turned 18 in September and this is the cake Christine and I made for his party.

We had an awesome smoothie party with my family for my birthday

Landes and I at the Halloween 2010 Trunk or Treat

Our awesome pumpkins - Halloween 2010

The baby dress I made for a friend's bridal shower.  I am trying to develop a talent for sewing.

Bryce and Miriam gave us an awesome pizza stone for Christmas.  I finally found a pizza dough recipe I love and we have pizza once per week.  This is a chicken, corn, and onion pizza with sweet chili sauce as the base and a stuffed crust.

Landes is a genius!

As stated above, I married an incredible smart man.  Not only did Landes get a 4.0 his first semester of law school, he also had the highest grade in the class for both criminal law and legal research and writing.  Since he is ranked at the top of his class, he will apply as a transfer student to a few of the top-ranked schools including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford.  We will see how that goes.

I am still enjoying my work as a school nurse.  The hours are incredible.  I am often home by 3:30 in the afternoon which gives me plenty of time to play.  The kids are still adorable and yesterday one walked over and gave me a hug while I was walking across campus.

My sister-in-law, Essi, taught me how to crochet a few weeks ago and I have really been enjoying it in my free time.  This is the purse I made recently: