NYC & The Infamous Marathon

We made it into Laguardia just fine, early Friday morning. We got in a cab, and what should've taken just a few minutes to get to my brother's appartment in Chelsea, took close to an hour and a half. Being that it was our first time in a cab, and our driver was way cool, it really turned out to be quite fun. He had to weave in and around town, all over the place, so we got a great tour.

He dropped us off at the expo and we went straight in to sign Matt in and get his tags.

You would not have believed the people! Thousands of people and all speaking different languages. It was amazing. Over 50% of the 47,000 who run in the NYC Marathon are from other countries. See all the "welcome" signs above Matt's head? Did I mention that Matt entered a lottery over a year ago to run in this marathon that over 100,000 other people enter to run in and he was chosen?!

Once we made our way through the craziness of the expo, we wheeled our luggage about 10 blocks to meet my bro and his wife for lunch. At this point they were still without power, but there were many places in the city where power had been restored. As a matter of fact, had we not known beforehand about the hurricane, we would've never noticed anything was different, other than the long cab ride. AJ and Elaina were originally going to be on a weekend retreat with their church staff and Matt and I were going to be staying at their little 1 bedroom appartment solo. For obvious reasons, that got cancelled, so our only inconvenience was that one of us (me) was going to have to sleep on the floor... Unless power came back on, (which it did that night!) and then in that case, we could blow up the air mattress.

My brother AJ and his wife Elaina.

AJ is the teaching pastor at Trinity Grace Church, Chelsea Parish. Isn't the church building breathtaking? Built in the 1800's.

That evening we all decided to WALK to Times Square. Yes, I said walk. Like 20 blocks of walking. As in, the subways were still not running and cabs were impossible to flag down. We had a blast and I loved wearing my fuzzy warm clothes for the first time in like... well, forever. Because last winter it hardly even cooled off here in FL.

Our first subway ride once they were back up and running.

The time spent with AJ and Elaina was such an unexpected blessing. The marathon did get cancelled, but it was no big deal, other than Matt said it was like being pregnant for 9 months only never to give birth (whatever). Matt and I realized while we were there just how much we needed this little break from reality. There is something about New York City that just lifts our spirits. We LOVE New York. AND, because the marathon was cancelled, we get to go back next year and try again! Matt is trying to find a way to move to NYC and cram our small family of 8 into a one-bedroom appartment that costs twice as much as our home mortgage. It ain't happenin'. Not to mention, trying to break into the real estate market there! Ever watch that show, "Selling New York" on HGTV??? Um, no thanks.

On Sunday we went to Central Park to watch many of the marathoners finish. Many of them still ran it unofficially.

So, we are back home now and refreshed. We are so thankful that the Lord gave us this time to be together, just the 2 of us. There's a lot coming our way and we feel ready to take it on.

God is so good.

Blessings,
Rebecca