The Draegers Invade NYC

Before we leave Boston, we are trying to visit as many people as we can.  This past weekend we went to visit Carrina (Sarah's former roommate from Boston) and her her boyfriend Adam.  They live in Astoria, just 9 short subway stops from Times Square in Manhattan.  Carrina lives right on Astoria Blvd, which is a pretty busy street, but it wasn't very loud inside.

We left Boston at 5pm on Friday, which was taking a pretty big chance of getting caught in traffic.  It did end up taking us almost an hour to get to the Worcester area - about 40 miles.  After that it was pretty smooth sailing, except for the torrential rains and the ridiculous drivers going 40 mph on the interstate.  We crossed the Triboro Bridge (RFK Bridge) about 9:35 and spent about 10 minutes looking for a parking space.  Carrina eventually came out to stand in a spot in front of her apartment while we circled back around to park.  We hung out for a while that night and Sarah and I made plans to visit an old friend from Boston while Carrina was at work.

Little Sarah in the Big Apple

My friend, Kara is a manager with Starbucks near Times Square, so Sarah and I went down early to do some shopping and get a drink before we met her.  Sarah ended up finding an orange dress at GAP on super-sale.  That made both of us happy:)  You'll see her wearing said dress in later pictures.

After hanging out with Kara, Adam and Carrina met us downtown and took us to the High Line.  This place was awesome!  It is a park created on an old elevated train line running mostly parallel to 10th ave.  There is a decently wide walking trail and many varieties of plants and flowers.  It was pretty cool to see.

Sarah enjoyed seeing all of the water towers on most of the buildings.

Adam and Carrina. 

Bench.

 On Sunday morning we all went back into Manhattan to meet up with Kara, her boyfriend Brendan and Karl Vanderwoude (VW for short).  We went to a place called Southern Hospitality for brunch...co-owned by....Justin Timberlake.  It was amazing...pulled pork for brunch, check.  After that we all went to another restaurant where almost everyone indulged in a Bulldog.  This is a crazy concoction of a margarita, a shot of tequila, and a corona.  If you reacted the same way to that as I did, I ask you to hold your judgement.  The beer and margarita actually blended quite well.

After that, there was nothing to do but say our good-byes.  It was a short trip but we saw quite a bit and hung out with a lot of good friends.  We're are very glad that we got to go back to NYC before we left.

We made sure to get a shot of the Triboro Bridge from the subway platform on Astoria Blvd.  Nice sunset surrounded by tons of concrete and steel.  We liked NYC for a few days but being there always reminds us that we do not want to live in big city!  

Memorial Day Barbecue

For Memorial Day we had a bunch of our friends over for a BBQ and Just Dance Party.  It was a ton of fun and we had a lot of laughs. Thanks to the DeMuths, Puetzs, and Englehart/Passenos for coming over!

Many of the ladies spent time outside.

Not to be outdone (by anyone), Asher was rockin' the sweet fishing hat.

Of course, Buddy got in on that action.  He wouldn't sit still so the hat flipped up "Gilligan style".

Pete and Deb - oh yes, they got into it.

Having Tyson there was like having "Wedding Tyson" in your house for five hours.  He definitely danced almost non-stop and did rack up the highest score of the day. 

The ladies showing the guys how it's done, Brittany Spears style.

Deb, Monica and Ty doin' it Beyonce style.

This might be the only time Tyson sat down.

Sarah and I doing our favorite dance.  "Promiscuous Girl"

Toward the end of the night, they guys challenged the ladies to a dance off.  The guys won in decisive fashion.  As you play the game, you earn 'stars' for how well you mimic the dance...we routinely beat the ladies by two or three stars.  As an added incentive, we were trying to make it to 1000 cumulative stars since buying the game seven months or so ago.  I kept pushing people to keep playing because I wanted to see what would happen at 1000 stars.  Well, no one else was as dedicated as I was and they all left at 955 stars or so.  Sarah, being the amazing wife that she is, kept dancing with me.  We made it to 1002 stars AND nothing happened.  No extra song or new dance, not even a "Way to go!".  It was deflating.  I tried to post a video of one of the dances...but it didn't work.  I'll try again later. 

Here we go...

The decision has been made.  Michigan here we come!  I found a job working in Muskegon at Timberland Charter Academy, a K-8 school.  I'll be teaching middle-school inclusion to students with special needs.  I'm excited about changing grades and getting some different experiences under my belt.  Sarah has started looking for positions and there are some prospects...we're praying that she finds something she loves...it'll come:)  She has patience. 

We are excited to be very close to Sarah's family and much closer to my family.  While Colorado is still far, driving could be an option and flights are definitely cheaper.  We are looking to live on the northwestern side of Grand Rapids so that I can jump on the interstate and get to work.  We haven't found a place yet, but we are looking.  We think we will rent an apartment for at least the first year...just to get our stuff unpacked and ready in time for me to start work.  Anyway....we'll keep people updated, but we just wanted to put it out there: The Draegers are coming to Michigan!

Red Sox 2012

Baseball baby!  Well..since the epic Red Sox collapse of 2012, tickets were very cheap and we decided to squeeze a game into our busy schedule.  Little did we know our view would be obstructed by a massive beam.  As you will see, the organization has taken steps to ensure that we didn't miss anything in the game.  However, the Red Sox are celebrating their 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park, so Sarah got nostalgic.  AND, the previous two games we went to were rained out...we needed this one to be great...it was ok, but the food was GREAT. Shout out to Kettle Korn:)

If you ever buy tickets in the Grand Stands...look out for Section 4.  In the picture you can see that they put in a tv so that you can see home plate and first base, but it's just not the same.  From my seat I could see home plate, but not first base.  From Sarah's seat you could see first base, but not home plate.  Between the two of us, we could watch all the action.  The tv had a 5 second or so delay...so it was weird to be 5 seconds behind the rest of the crowd..who was watching it live. 

Watch out!

There they are: Youk at 3rd and Pedroia at 2nd.  They are our favorite members of the team. 

After the game we walked from Fenway to Downtown Crossing.  We took pictures along the way and this last one is part of Boston's skyline.  Sometimes we like living in this city.  This was one of those times.  It was almost 11:30pm and relatively quiet.  Everyone was out of town because most of the schools had graduated and it was Memorial Day weekend, so the working crowd wasn't there either. 

Boston Cantata Singers

 This semester, I got to sing with the Boston Cantata Singers.  They are a semi-professional chorus in the Boston area.  We rehearsed for 7 weeks, for 3 hours every Wednesday night.  The week of the performance we had rehearsal on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then the performance on Saturday night.  It was a big time commitment, but it was a good time.  

We realized that this was the first time Sarah had "seen" me sing.  Even though it wasn't solo, it was still a performance.  PLUS, I had to wear a tux...and she was excited about that.  I had bought a new suit for our wedding...so this was a first.  

 

Jordan Hall at NEC

The pictures are blurry because Sarah couldn't use flash.  I'm the "bald headed beauty" in the back row...as Sarah put it.

Buddy's Best Friend

While the Puetz's hosted Kelly's mom...we had the privilege of "dog-sitting" Buddy:)  Sarah is basically his favorite person ever.  He was "guarding" Sarah...possibly from me?