on tuesday night, august 11th, my cousin (well, technically~ my mom's cousin's son's wife
) and i boarded a plane headed for new york city. after a quick layover in detroit, kate and i arrived at la guardia airport with a grand total of one hour of sleep. we purchased our metro passes and hopped on a more-than-crowded bus headed to manhattan at rush hour.
[subway station]
it dropped us off in downtown, and we took 2 subways to our destination on 32nd street...the house where we would be staying for the week. we quickly freshened up and headed out to see the sights!!! that first day we covered a ton....first stop was little italy (mmm....best manicotti ever!).
next we visited Ground Zero and the memorial museum....it was quite solemn and amazing to think what happened at that very sight on september 11th, 2001.
[let freedom ring!]
all day thursday, friday, and saturday we worked at the national flute convention at the marriott marquis in times square. that is the whole reason we were able to go on this whirlwind trip....a lady that i have worked for in the past asked me to come work at the convention. said i should bring a friend...this was a total God-thing...i had no clue that kate would ever be able to go~ she is a mom of three adorable little boys (ages 6, 4, and 2), and it didn't even enter my mind that she might go. about a month ago we were at the beach together and i told her i was planning to go to nyc. she jokingly said "take me with you!!" and i jumped on it and told her i could get her there totally free if she would work at the convention w/ me. within 24 hours we both had plane tickets and i was amazed at how God worked out every little detail, and it was awesome to be able to spend time with kate~ a wonderful, adorable, energetic, godly friend!! we had a blast together.
while at the convention, i was able to meet the best flautist in the world....sir james galway from ireland!
a highlight was seeing "in the heights"~ a broadway show that was amazing! we had fun dressing up.
the last night...we took a trip to the top of the empire state building and enjoyed the magnificent views!!!
this trip was an amazing reminder of how God works out every little detail~ and provide more than we could ask for. i realize sometimes he provides things we don't ask for (aka trials)....and there have been plenty of things come up in my life this summer that have brought a lot of questions and "why's," but i know God is faithful and his promise "i know the plans i have for you......" from jeremiah 29:11 is a great comfort and encouragement.
