Goodbye, Albany

Well today is the day!  After a LOT of packing/selling/donating the ridiculous amount of things we own, we're finally moving out.  Living in Albany was an interesting adventure- full of some wonderful events (like Kristen and I meeting, for example) and some exceptionally shitty times (like...well, pretty much all this past year).  Regardless, this rowdy student-centric city served its purpose and for that, it will always have a small piece of our hearts.  Sort of.

One more visit to NYC as tourists

My Mom had to go down to NYC for a School Board Conference this week, so Kristen and I decided to head down with a car load of stuff to drop off at her parents house. We went into Manhattan both days to see my parents, who rarely get to NYC. It was a lot of fun! We wandered around Times Square and had dinner at Applebee's the first night and once my Mom got out of meetings the second day, we ran around the Theatre District, scrounging for tickets. We tried the "Wicked" lottery, but didnt get tickets. It was a fun experience though and my first lotto attempt. Then we tried a few more shows and finally voted on "Next to Normal", which is not your run-of-the-mill Broadway spectacle, but a good show nonetheless. We all enjoyed it and I'm glad I was able to experience NYC one last time as a tourist :)

Benefit for the Craven Family

Unfortunately, my cousin Traci died on September 6th of the swine flu. She was pregnant and the doctors delivered her fourth child, Calli Marie, who survived. The family decided to organize a benefit in Syracuse to raise some money for the kids and to help out Gary (Traci's husband). They sold stuff like T-shirts and bumper stickers as well as held a silent auction and raffles. I'm glad they did it, but it was a painful day overall. I miss Traci every day.

^my cousin Ashley with her new son Ryan^

^Kristen and Britt^

^Britt and I^