My Christmas Gift

What did I get for Christmas? I got SICK for Christmas! I think I have a cold or the flu, but it sucks. I just want to enjoy my last few days off of work... I don't want to be sick!

Mary's Bathroom Adventure

On our recent trip to New York City we noticed something different in Times Square. Right next to the Virgin Mega-Store there was a huge Charmin Tissue advertisement with an arrow pointing downward. The sign said "Gotta Go?" and the arrow pointed down to a door. Mary's brother Steven decided he wanted to try out the bathroom since there was this lady dressed in a toilet suit outside trying to rally up the masses to go in. Apparently Charmin, for the holiday season, thought it would be better for them to create some fancy free bathrooms for people to use rather then just post a billboard advertising their product. Steven returned from his experience claiming it to be the best bathroom he had ever used. Obviously we were intrigued so we decided that the next time we had to use the restroom we would return to the Charmin bathrooms.

The next day prior to attending a Broadway show we figured we would give the restrooms a try. This is where it got good. You start by ascending an escalator up to the second floor where the bathrooms are located. The building is blasting some Charmin theme song that when you get to the top you discover has a trademark dance to go along with it. There is a DJ that tells people what bathroom stall to use. As someone leaves the bathroom an attendant rushes in to clean it before its next use. I thought Steven was exaggerating when he was describing the place but if anything he was downplaying the scene. The bathrooms smelled great and were super clean. After you finished there was a stage where you could practice the Charmin dance, a slide for little kids, and a winter sleigh for photo ops.

The funny part of the whole situation was when I was in the bathroom and you could hear the DJ talking to someone in Stall 10. All I could hear was "No, number 10 you have to unlock the door first." "Quit pulling on the handle. Turn the lock." This went on for a little bit before the DJ send an attendant over to the door to help this person out. The DJ then said jokingly "Number 10 you are banned and can't come back." I was laughing inside my stall thinking how dumb someone had to be to not be able to unlock the door. When I stepped outside and saw Mary she told me she wasn't able to get out of the bathroom. She had been Stall 10. I joked about it the rest of the night. For some this bathroom experience was more of an adventure then anything else.

Lehmans and the City (Part 2)

Jimmy and I were lucky enough to take a second trip to New York City this year! This time, my mom and brother came with us. We stayed one block from Times Square, near the theater district. During our last visit we stayed in SoHo, so this area was much louder and fast paced (next time we are definitely staying in SoHo).

We had a fun time despite the freezing cold weather. The second day we were there, it snowed 8 inches! In the next few days, we also had more snow and freezing rain! New York City during Christmas time is beautiful, but hard to navigate through.

Day 1

We got into the city pretty late, but after we settled in, we were able to hit up Times Square and The Rockefeller Center. I was especially excited about seeing the famous Rockefeller Tree and ice skating. While we were there, they were filming a segment of the Today Show and we were able to see Al Roker and Ann Curry! They were standing about 10 feet away from us. We were also able to see one of Jimmy's favorite investment TV programs, Fast Money (on CNBC), do a live broadcast!

Rockefeller Center and Tree

Times Square

Al Roker and Ann Curry!

Fast Money Broadcast

Mom and Pacquiao Poster!

Day 2

Since we had been to the city before, Jimmy and I wanted to revisit a cute little restaurant in Tribeca called Mocca. We also visited Ground Zero and had plans to go to Chinatown and Wall Street. However, we ended up losing my brother and mom in the Subway and then the weather took a turn for the worse and the freezing rain, snow, strong winds, and freezing temperatures made it almost impossible to do anything! We went back to the hotel for a few hours to dry off and get warm.

Later that evening, we had dinner at the Times Square McDonald's then went to this EPIC bathroom hosted by Charmin. I actually got locked in the bathroom and someone had to come and save me, ha ha ha. It was in Times Square and they cleaned each stall after every use! They had a DJ, photo booth, playground area, and it was like an amusement park! After we freshened up, we went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. It was incredible and I was very impressed. After the show we got some hot dogs in Times Square for a midnight snack.

Freaking Cold!

On the Subway

Radio City Music Hall

Jimmy is excited about his cotton candy and soda

The Rockettes

Epic Bathroom

Midnight hot dog snack

With the New York City Cop

Day 3

We woke up super early and took the ferry to Liberty Island to check out the Statue of Liberty. Brrrrrr... it was so freaking cold! Jimmy was so cold, he had to buy a cheesy Statue of Liberty sweatshirt at the souvenir shop to stay warm, ha ha ha. Afterwards, we went to the Empire State Building, ate some New York pizza, and went shopping the "biggest store in the world," Macy's. We also went shopping on 5th Avenue and walked through Central Park. After hitting up the Times Square McDonald's again, we went to another Broadway show, Avenue Q. It was a great show and probably the funniest show on Broadway ;0) Jimmy was doing his crazy laugh, so I was embarrassed, but happy he loved it.

Freezing on Liberty Island

Jimmy showing off his new sweatshirt

Steven does the "daffy"

Top of the Empire State Building

Jimmy posing next to the Avenue Q poster

Freaking Cold!

Central Park

We were sad to go, but excited to get back to warmer, dryer weather. Though it's very nostalgic to go to New York City during Christmas, we all decided that next time we would go in the Spring or Summer, ha ha ha.

L is for Lumpia

Whenever my mom comes to visit, we always make a bunch of lumpia. We made enough lumpia to last us for a few months... and even a little extra to share with friends. Jimmy and I are pretty good at rolling them up!

Special Visitor

Yay! My mom arrived yesterday and is going to be here until next Tuesday. We just finished rolling 150 lumpias (or in white people terms, egg rolls). We are leaving for New York City in the morning, so we are very excited!

Typical

This is what it looks like at my house most of the time... Steven and Jimmy playing Nintendo DS.

Cat Christmas

The cats LOVE to help me wrap gifts! Can you find the four Lehman cats in this picture? (Yes, Lucy is wearing a Christmas sweater)

Christmas Fun!

I can't believe we only have 2 more weeks until Christmas! Recently, the weather in Virginia has gotten very cold. We haven't had any snow, but it's just freezing outside! I don't like the cold weather because I can't wear skirts and I HATE wearing pants... oh well, what can you do??

On Friday, we went out to one of our favorite restaurants, The Tobacco Company, with some friends and had a good time! We were celebrating Jimmy and Frank's upcoming promotions and our 6 year wedding anniversary is on Sunday. We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for!

Here's a picture of Jimmy and Frank. Frank and his family have been good friends of ours for a long time. When we were stationed at Fort Sam, the two of them were deployed to Iraq together in 2005. Frank moved to Fort Lee and then we ended up there too!

I have been very involved with a program called Holiday Helper. It's a program that provides toys to children of Soldiers. Jimmy was helping me unload some toy donations and we had some fun trying to ride this little bike. Needless to say, I was more successful at riding it than Jimmy was :0)

I.LOVE.HELLO.KITTY.

Awwww, yeah! Jimmy got me a Hello Kitty cover for my Nintendo DS. I just beat MillionHeir... Now, I am working on Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I play Picross and Animal Crossing regularly too... I am the ultimate "casual gamer."

What comes before part b?

Three of four Lehman cats enjoying the Christmas quilt... Lucy is probably UNDER the couch :0)

Jimmy's coworker from the Kenner Laboratory at Fort Lee has an annual Christmas open house and we were able to attend it last weekend. We went last year, so we were prepared for the nearly 200 lighted Christmas houses (Department 56), 8 Christmas trees, and crazy decorating throughout the house. We were the youngest people there by about 20 years, but we had fun hanging with the older folks :0)

The Lab team!

Fort Drum

Jimmy left for Fort Drum this morning, so I am a little sad. Thankfully, he'll only be gone for a few days and should be back by late Tuesday night. I just worry because it's a 10 hour drive to Upstate New York (Fort Drum is near the Canadian boarder) and it's currently snowing there. I should be used to him being gone by now, but it's still hard... whether it's 3 days, 3 weeks, or even 3 months, I just miss him so much.

It's almost 6pm and the only thing I've eaten today is a granola bar and some Crasins! Ha ha ha, I forget to eat when Jimmy isn't here to cook and prepare me food :0) I am just too spoiled! Well, I better go and get some food to eat.

Our Christmas Tree

Our tradition is to put up our Christmas tree and decorations after Thanksgiving! Our cats are excited about hanging out in the tree... which they think is their new playground.

A very Happy Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was great! The fried turkey was incredible and we were able to pull it off without burning the house down. I would highly recommend fried turkey to anyone. My broccoli casserole turned out yummy and I only had to call my mother-in-law twice for help :0)

Ally was suspiciously eyeing our cherry pie...

Trying something new!

I thought I would start an "official blog," since I have such a hard time keeping up with friends and family. I usually try to send out email updates and keep things up to date on my Facebook and Myspace accounts, but I figured this would be the easiest option since I can easily post a links and pictures.

Things are going well for us so far, we are just anxiously waiting for what the Army's next move will be for us. If all goes well, we should be moving sometime next year. Jimmy and I are definitely ready for a change and hope to be closer to family.

We went hiking with Steven and Tyson in Richmond at a place called Belle's Island. It was pretty cold and windy, but we had so much fun. The James river was so low at one point, that we were able to cross it by jumping on the rocks... we felt very accomplished! We also got on the wrong trail and literally had to rock climb about 40 feet to get back on track. The scenery was gorgeous and it was just nice to be outside. Afterwards, we went to Carytown to have hot chocolate and apple cider at a hippie coffee shop 2 blocks from Steven and Tyson's house.

We are also preparing a small Thanksgiving at our house with Steven and Tyson. We are making everything from scratch, so it's going to be a big cooking day. The boys are going to spend the night Wednesday, so will help us in the morning with all the cooking. Our homemade menu: Deep fried turkey, stuffing, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin and cherry pie. I am making my mother-in-law's famous broccoli casserole, so i am nervous. I hope it turns out good because I am not the greatest cook!