NBC-Was Fun For Me

I know, I know lame title. That's all that I could think of. Ha!

We got off the bus and found the NBC store and Rockefeller Plaza.  Since Christina, CeeLo, Blake, and Adam were out, we took a spin in their chairs...because we are cool like that!

My sister-in-law took these for us.  We giggled at Mr. Incredible.

And Matt Lauer was kind enough to pose with my sister-in-law.  Ha!


We had enough time to get back to the Marriott, take a 30 minute siesta (we were up a the crack of dawn because I can't sleep in when I'm on vacation for fear that I will miss something. It's a sickness, I know), and freshened up a bit.

We waded through a crowd of well to do New Yorkers and made our reservation on time at Sardi's restaurant....note to self, don't ever get the stuffed chicken there again, and then made our way to our first Broadway show.

The birthday girl picked Mary Poppins...so off we went!

 

The theater was beautiful and the show was fantastic. My brother-in-law just might have taken a good nap, I'm just saying.

Our waiter at the View, the night before, gave us a wonderful piece of wisdom. He explained that if we wanted to see the Empire State Building, it would be best to wait until around 10:00 P.M.  And he was right.  We didn't wait in a single line!

Not wanting to walk thirty million blocks, we thought it would be fun to take three pedi-cabs.  Looks innocent right?  We now refer to our ride as the ride of terror.  A pregnant woman, not anyone in our group, stepped out into the street in front of us, our "driver" swerved to miss her and then we were nearly run over by a taxi cab driver.  Oh my!

Thankfully, we made it.  Mr. Incredible sprung for the extra Empire State Building upper floor tickets. The view was amazing.  We could see for miles!

On the first deck, we were frozen.  It was cold and the wind was really blowing.  Despite the huge winds and it being so dark, I was able to get a group image:

 

and then I handed my camera to my sister-in-law, and this is what she captured.  Lovely!

 

It makes me giggle every time that I see it.  Can you tell it was windy and we were frozen??? Me too!

And no, did not take a pedi-cab ride/ride of terror back to the hotel.  Ha!

NYC Adventure Day 2

We woke up bright and early and ready to see New York City in the daylight. I cannot believe we were hungry, but we were. We followed the scent of delicious bagels around the corner.

The waiter took us upstairs where the men in our group feasted on platters of locks and bagels. Um, fish in the morning just isn't my cup of tea, so I ordered a cup of coffee and a southwestern omelet instead. Here is my man strategically placing capers on his cream cheese bagel right before adding the locks:

There were not a lot of people out this morning.  In fact, there were more people out and about at three in the morning than there were at ten.  I know because I was looked out our window around that time just to see if anyone was out.  There were people everywhere.  Wow! Those people must have been sleeping because it wasn't overly crowded after breakfast.

While we waited for the tour bus to pick us up, we found our way to Hershey's.  Yum! The smell was incredible. They pass out samples at the door....I like this store!  My sister in law found a chocolate bar that is Emma-sized.  Emma is one of the cousins who adores anything chocolate.  She is a kindergartner this year. She would have loved this store!

On the bus tour, we saw a lot of buildings and then rounded the corner to see the Empire State building in the distance. 

This next image is iconic New York with all of the taxis:

If you are ever in NYC, the taxis are okay, the drivers can be a bit rude, but download the Uber app and you will have drivers close by whenever you need one.  One of the drivers had just dropped off Alex Rodriguez, the baseball player, before picking us up. That's pretty cool!

One of the neat things I noticed on the bus tour of the city, is there are churches amid the sea of buildings.  Beautiful churches with much history.

We were all getting a bit cool being on top of the tour buses so we decided to hop off and see if we could find gloves and hats for the men in our group and a scarf for the ladies.  I liked the displays.

Shane found a hat and was even willing to model it for me.

After having lunch at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, deliciousness, We found another blue tour bus and hopped on. 

Have you read the Harbinger book yet?  If you have, you will recognize this church pictured below.  The new Freedom Tower is going up next to it.

We saw a lot of people and sites on the bus tour.  But, this one was funny to all of us:

How would you park your car there? About this time, Mr. Incredible and I kept seeing our brother-in-law pop out of his chair.  Every time he would stand up, he threw his ear buds in his chair and my radio connection would change channels.  On this tour bus, a lady would talk into a microphone and we could hear here through the on board station if we had our ear buds plugged into it. 

This happened several times, before he stood up, grabbed his ears and launched his ear buds.  I am laughing as I'm typing, and probably not doing the story justice.  Long story short, his radio channel/ear buds would short out and send him a pretty good shock which caused our channels to change. It was hilarious.  And he tells the story way better than I do.

I'll close for today, I loved seeing all of the American flags proudly displayed across the city!

Be My Valentine {Mini Sessions}

I only offer Mini Sessions a few times a year. I thought it would be fun to offer Be My Valentine Mini Sessions!

There are only a limited number of sessions; please book soon if you are interested.

The mini cards will make the cutest Valentines for Classroom Valentine Greetings. You could attach them to candy sacks, tie them on to Valentine Pencils, or simply add them to a box of candy hearts. Easy but adorable!!

Or you can simply order the 3 5x7s instead. The digital images are suitable for printing up to 8x10s. I will also be offering discounted a la carte images.

 Several of my Fall Mini Session clients had canvas images made from their session. That's pretty awesome coming from a quick 15 minute session.

Sibling sessions are welcome, and you can always add on additional Valentine cards. My email is {kristi(at)kikiscornerphotography (dot) com} I have to add my email this way to avoid all of the computer spam messages.

Will you be joining our Valentine Mini Sessions???

XOXOXOXO,
 Kiki's Corner Photography

We Went to New York, Ya'll!

My sister-in-law celebrated a pretty big birthday....the big 4-0 and she wanted to ring in the new decade in NYC style.  Three couples put our schedules together, carefully selected the date, and then counted the days.  New York City, here we come!

"Past the Sea of twirly, swirly gum drops and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel" Name that movie!!!  (If you guessed Elf, you are correct-love that movie!).

We didn't walk through the Lincoln Tunnel, that would be a bit scary, we took a taxi cab/van.  It was a little bit unnerving to think we were under the Hudson River but cool at the same time. We were here!

At last, we arrived at the Marriot Marquee! And this was our view from our suite (Mr. Incredible surprised me with a suite-so sweet!). Times Square!

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the beautiful View, the only revolving restaurant with 360 degree views.  I chose a Truffled Mushroom Bisque (so good) and my brother-in-law watched every bite that I took...he may have even drooled a bit. Ha! So, I let him finish it. The bisque was delicious but super rich and I knew I still had two more courses to go.  I can't remember the other two courses, I just remembered being so full and so ready to step foot on Times Square.

There were people everywhere.  Our trip was in early October and it was still packed with people!

Only a few minutes after our meal, the guys spotted a food cart.  That's my man on the left. 

My brother-in-law- who must have a bottomless stomach or a hollow leg, as my husband says, purchased some sort of meat on a stick...and ate the whole thing.  How on earth?!

While we checked out Times Square, I noticed several characters in costume. I learned quickly, from observing, that they would pose for you but only if you gave them a little donation.  Um, no thank you. I had shopping to do, so I snapped some images without them even knowing.  I'm good like that.  Ha!

We even saw a Ghost Buster...ha! 

We made our way to the giant red steps. That's my sister in law, the birthday girl above and noticed that we made the jumbo screen Dunk Tank.  Can you see us??? You may have to click on the image.  There are 4 arrows....I am the one with the camera in her face. 

We felt totally safe the entire time we were there.  The NYPD is every where.  I kept looking for Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg and the rest of the Blue Blood cast, but to no avail. We did see a guy get arrested though. 

And that wraps up day 1 of our NYC adventure. 

My Girls!

Talking 'bout my girls. My girls!  Are you singing that song now too??? That's the only part I know. Ha!

Oh, I have loved every minute of both of my girls being home for Christmas break!  Hannah and I are soooooooooo NOT ready for Rachel to go back to school.  It has been the most wonderful time together...memories to treasure.

We have had lots of joy and laughter and sister moments, and just girl parties (Mr. Incredible had to go hunting-yay), and going to the movies, and watching movies at home in our pjs in front of a laughing fire in our fireplace. 

What a blessing these girls are...what a gift from the Lord!  I am so thankful He chose me to be their momma...and I try to live every day thanking Him for His wonderful gifts!!!!

Holy Cow!

I can't believe Christmas is already over. Everything except the tree (it is naked) is wrapped, boxed, and carefully put away. I am waiting on two rolling Christmas tree bags to arrive on my doorstep any day now.

I had to purchase rolling bags because apparently my man is tired of, "getting a hernia," every time he has to lug our humongo tree up into the attic. I reminded him that the kind man at Hobby Lobby (love and support that store) told me it was one of their lightest trees. And since my man is pretty manly (most days, unless you ask him to lug the humongo tree up to the attic) I thought it wouldn't be a problem. Guess I was wrong!

In fact, he refused to put our beautiful 9 foot, pre-lit tree up in the attic one more time. So, the naked tree sits alone in the corner waiting for the new rolling bags. Poor tree!

Okay, enough about that....one of my favorite things for Christmas, and you know that I have several favorite memories, but one of my favorite things was this Holy Cow toy that I purchased at Walgreens.

It's a plastic toy that shoots foam balls up to 24 feet.  And for every cow purchased, $2 went to Toys for Tots.  Win, win!I saw it on the Ellen Show and just knew they would bring some joy and lots of fun.   I was right!  I put one in my dad's stocking.  Surprise:

I love the glint of pure orneriness in his eyes in this image:

 

And my mom's face as she too knows that look very well!

 

Uh, huh!  I mean, Holy Cow!  Look out!  I'll give you two guesses as to whom he was aiming.

 

If you guessed my girls, his granddaughters, you were right!  Look out girls!

 

I took mine to school this week....and it was FUN!  It's a great stress reliever.  Maybe the state of Texas needs to issue teachers with one of these Holy Cow's the week of STARR/TAKS testing week.  Holy Cow! It's a great stress reliever!

Burning Lights

Ohhhhh! I LOVE this new CD. Chris Tomlin's new album hit Itunes Tuesday for purchase.  I have been counting the days after hearing, "Awake My Soul!"  Words that minister to the soul.

Words that say:

"I know Who goes before me, 

I know Who stands behind. 

The God of angel armies, is always on my side! 

The One who reigns for forever, He is a friend of mine. 

The God of angel armies is always on my side."  

(Lyrics by Chris Tomlin).  

Glory!  I woke up early Tuesday morning determined to download the new album from Itunes.  Here is the link.  And no, this post isn't sponsored by Itunes or Chris Tomlin...they have no idea who I am. 

I already knew that I would love this album....but then I listened to the second song.  Glory! It is straight from Ezekiel 37:

Then He said to me,
Prophesy to these bones and say to them,
Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones,
I will make breath enter you,
And you will come to life.
So I prophesied as I was commanded.

As I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound,
And the bones came together, bone to bone.
And I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them,
And skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then He said to me,
Prophesy to the breath,
Prophesy, son of man, and say to it,
Conjure the four winds of breath and breathe.

Chorus:
Awake, awake, awake my soul,
God resurrect these bones
From death to life, through you alone
Awake my soul

What an amazing gift God has blessed Chris Tomlin with! I'm so thankful he is sharing that gift with all of us.  You can click the link above to hear samples of each song. It is awesome God is awesome and so worthy of our best praise!!!