Preggie Update

So a few days ago I received a big package. It was the high chair I registered for!!! It is so pretty; I love it! My grandpa's girlfriend bought it for me and sent it here to Texas. I have never even met this this lady and she bought the most expensive item on my registry! I was shocked. But then I looked at the high chair and I love it.

So, just to update anyone who cares on the pregnancy, it's going along fine. I was getting kind of worried because when I would go into my OBGYN he would just check the baby's heart rate and the progress of the uterus and ask if we had any questions and then kick us out. I was like, that's it? That's all you're going to do? That has happened for the past couple of months. I don't even really know why I go in. I could probably do that on my own and call him up with the info. But then Drew and I were talking about it and we realized that it's probably a good thing that we don't have to be tested and questioned a lot. It means the baby is healthy (hopefully).

I had horrible pains from just sleeping. My hips felt like they were being jabbed with pins and needles when I would wake up. Very painful. I used a heating pad and that worked for a while but then the pains started up again. So Drew bought me a body pillow and I'm still using that and the pain seems to have gone away -- for the most part. Other than that, I don't have a lot to complain about with the pregnancy. I'm thirty weeks along which kind of scares me, but I'm excited at the same time. 10 more weeks!! Well, theoretically speaking, I guess.

Bethlehem Revisited

This past Saturday (Dec 13) we all went to this event called Bethlehem Revisited. It's in a smaller town called Waxahatchie and they transform what I think is a public park to look like Bethlehem when Christ was born. It was really neat. They had live camels and all the people that participated kept in character by speaking in "Biblical English" and acting the part. We saw Joseph and Mary (she was on a real donkey) and they went to the stable and she had her baby (that part wasn't real -- at least I hope it wasn't). Anyway, it was really fun to see the community of that city all get together and reproduce their version of Christ's birth.

I wish that that kind of celebration could happen in my home state of California. Unfortunately, Cali has gotten just a tad too liberal. I'm sure if a town were to put something like Bethlehem Revisited on there, someone would complain and there might possibly even be a lawsuit. It's CRAZY there, I tell you. Oh well, at least I'm in the good ol' South and here they still keep their traditions and beliefs alive (unlike stupid California).

Also, 8 more days until Drew and I go home for Christmas!!! I'm so excited to see my family. All my brothers and their families are going to be there and I can't wait to see everyone -- especially my niece and nephew! I hope my brothers aren't too weirded out by my big belly.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Time!!!

Yeah, yeah, Thanksgiving was great. Wonderful food! Oh man, we should have more holidays revolving around eating. Actually, aren't most holidays saturated with food of some kind? Anywho...I am so excited for

Christmas!!!!!

Normally, I'm pretty chill about Christmas. It's probably my pregnant hormones, but I is supa excited this year! Just think:

Chilliness -- I can actually appreciate the chilliness because I don't live in Utah anymore where you have to broom off your car in the morning. Texas chilliness is way better than Utah chilliness.

Christmas lights -- Okay, so we're probably better off energy-wise without Christmas lights, but I think they're just pretty.

Presents! -- I love presents. Drew and I got all our shopping done today so I wrapped all the presents and they were so pretty and I wanted to give them to everyone right then. I'm excited for people to open our presents!!

Anyway, Christmas is here. I'm excited. I love feeling the spirit of Christmas. I especially love seeing Nativities because I know that some people remember the true meaning of Christmas. I love this time to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Woman appreciation

Shhhhhh! Don't tell her I posted this.

As I laid on our bed watching my wife get ready for church, I had a thought come to my mind. The thought went something like this, "Dang! I could never make myself that pretty!" With each eye brow pluck and smidgen of makeup, my appreciation began to grow. And then I thought, what lengths women must go to to impress and keep impressing men. I then asked my wife if she will get one side of her ready - so I could examine how getting ready for the day changes the woman I hang out with before its time to get ready. This is the picture I took. Kinda interesting, actually. I personally think she is beautiful both ways, but if you put your hand on one side of the picture and look, and then switch to the other side of the picture and look, you can see a difference.

Women, I feel bad for you. I hope we men will someday change our expectations, but until then, at least you won one man over this week in appreciating what females go through.

Happy Birthday Drew!!!!

Today is Drew's birthday and I just wanted to tell him I love him tons and that he is the most amazing man in the entire universe!!!!! He is the bestest husband and I am so happy to know and be married to him. Happy 25th Birthday, honey!!!

Is the world ready....

Well, we found out what we're having. The only question is...



IS THE WORLD READY FOR ANOTHER PEPPER BOY?????

Oh geez. We're having a BOY!!!! Happy day, huh? I'm relieved and excited and I feel oh so blessed to be given such an amazing opportunity. Drew and I get to raise a beautiful son of God. A stripling warrior. Wow. Drew's really excited. He gets an ESPN buddy. One that may actually pay attention instead of reading a book. Anyway, on with the pictures...


Also, my mom came out from California just for the ultrasound. (She loves me.) We had a lot of fun and spent lots of money and I took off three days from working and it was FUN. Whoohoo! It was amazing to have my mom, Drew's mom, and Drew all with me when I found out I was having a boy. I was surprisingly emotional. Interesting. Anyway, yay for moms!!



Me and the Mama. And the belly.


Uhhh, lots of baby clothes. We bought these in one day.

30 Things You Might Not Have Known - Part 2

And now...Kathryn's turn!!!

1. I didn’t cut my hair until I was 12 years old.
2. I read magazines backwards
3. My brother bit me when I was a baby
4. I put in my two weeks’ notice on the first day of a job once
5. I’ve worked on Wall Street
6. I was drum major for my junior high band
7. I wanted to try out for the cheer team in junior high by my dad didn’t want me to
8. I had my first cell phone as a sophomore in high school
9. I am named after 2 of my great aunts
10. I called my little brothers “babies” until they were about 10 years old
11. One of my best friends and I got pregnant within a week of each other
12. I never want pets
13. My parents were high school sweethearts
14. I had my first kiss in college
15. I once performed ballet at the San Diego state fair
16. I have dyed my hair red, blonde, and black
17. I’ve done more traveling as a married woman than a single one
18. I would eat my mom’s stew and blueberry muffins as my death row meal
19. I was an English major. If I could go through again, I would either major in Home and Family Living, Communications (advertising), or desktop publishing
20. Three of my favorite novels are Jane Eyre, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Ella Enchanted
21. I worked in a California grape vineyard for the Church welfare growing up
22. I have climbed Half Dome in Yosemite National Park
23. I went to high school with my sister-in-law
24. I have been a Mariah Carey fan since I was 10
25. My favorite Girl Scout cookies are Thin Mints
26. One year I had Christmas in a hotel
27. I gave myself a swirly once
28. If I served a mission, I would have liked to go to Spain
29. The prettiest place I’ve been is Yosemite; most exciting is New York; the most interesting is San Francisco.
30. My husband proposed to me in the basement of the JFSB on BYU campus…with Little Caesar’s pizza.

30 Things You Might Not Have Known - Part 1

Drew and I decided to write down 30 things that were interesting about ourselves and share with all those who read our blog. It was fun to learn a couple new things about each other.

30 Things You Might Not Have Know about Andrew William Pepper

1. I say the word Orange funny, according to my wife.
2. My mom misspelled my name on my scriptures with Willam. My name is Andrew William.
3. My first job was at a Sno-Cone Hut. It was six women and I.
4. I haven’t grown taller since I was 13, when I was 5’10. I have gained 50 lbs. since then, though.
5. When I was a kid, I stepped in an ant pile once. Twenty seconds later, I had more than 50 ant bites.
6. I was known as Andrew until I was 14. When I started attending youth dances, my older brother started introducing me as Drew. I have been Drew ever since.
7. I have lived in Manhattan and worked in the Empire State Building.
8. My favorite bread is a braided, Swiss bread called Butterzopf. It really is amazing.
9. I have used four cars for my personal transportation. Three of them have been some type and year of a Ford Taurus.
10. My death row last dinner would probably be Chips & Salsa, Apple Juice and Vanilla Ice-Cream.
11. In high school, I earned a letter jacket for qualifying and competing in the Texas state Debate tournament.
12. I was pulled over once for speeding on an Indian Reservation in New Mexico. I was going 101 in a 75 mph zone. Somehow, I got off.
13. I love learning history and learning about art.
14. My three favorite novels are Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men and Lord of the Flies.
15. Lion King is my favorite Disney cartoon movie. Remember the Titans is my favorite Disney movie.
16. Luzern, Switzerland is the prettiest place I have ever been. Times Square is the most exciting. Temple Square is the most interesting.
17. When I was a little kid, sometimes my body looked like it was the body of a muppet (see above picture).
18. I own a cowbell that you could fit your head into.
19. I had seen two musicals before I was married – The Wizard of Oz and West Side Story. Since I have been married, I have seen more than ten.
20. As a missionary, I visited six countries – United States, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria and Lichtenstein.
21. I love to experience new things.
22. My first email address was superdrewlds@yahoo.com I created it when I was 14. Once I was at BYU, my boss almost didn’t hire me because I was still using that email address. I now use drewpepper@gmail.com
23. My favorite sport was baseball until I was cut from my freshmen team in high school.
24. When I was 17, I karate chopped a 2-inch thick slab of concrete in two pieces. It kinda hurt, but I did it.
25. I had an adopted Grandma growing up. My mother visit taught her, and we treated her as our grandmother for the next ten years.
26. When I was a kid, we would go to Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors. I would always get Vanilla.
27. If I did whatever I wanted to for a living, I would probably write screenplays for films. Or play in the NBA.
28. My favorite comic strip is The Far Side by Gary Larson
29. Growing up, I spent every Friday night at my grandparent’s house.
30. One summer I attended four MLB games in four different stadiums: Shea, Yankee, Nationals Park, and Rangers Ballpark

Tune in next time for 30 things about Kathryn!!!

More later. A little now.

We have been chugging along lately. Right now we are working for a company called Mercer. It's not too bad but I am so exhausted all the time! We have to get up at 6:30 am and we get back home at 6:30 pm. It takes a toll on my poor pregnant body. Drew is so good to me, though. He always wants me to relax when we get home. And he always drives. Anyway, I just wanted to add a quick update before some other things happen soon. Tomorrow night we are going to watch the BYU game while wearing our BYU garb. Then it's General Conference weekend, which of course everybody loves. How can you not like a change up every now and then? Well, more when we've done more this weekend!!

Just some updates.

There has been lots of fun stuff going on in the lives of Kathryn and Andrew, so here is just a little update:

I went to California for a week to spend time with my family for my birthday week. I had so much fun and I loved being with my family, but I did miss Drew and his family. It seems like my heart can be in two places at once!! It was great to hang out with my brothers and parents. Of course my mom spoiled me rotten with maternity and baby stuff. I took one duffel bag and ended up leaving with a backpack, a rolling backpack, and the original duffel bag. I feel so loved!!

(My two crazy brothers and I on my birthday night)

Drew and I started our jobs this last week. We've gotten better at it but it took a while. At first there was a big learning curve and we didn't know what we were doing. I think we'll be fine when we're actually at work. It's getting there that's the hard part. There is always so much traffic on the way there . It takes us an hour and a half to get there and an hour and a half to get home. Pretty lame. Drew is good in traffic, though.

Hurricane Ike is supposedly comin' at us. I'm not gonna lie--it's kind of exciting for me. The biggest weather problem we had in Merced was fog. I've never had anything this scary coming my way, so we'll see how it goes. All that is supposed to come to us is wind and evacuees.

Well, I'm still pregnant. I'll be posting belly pictures (no skin) near the bottom to show how I'm growing. We get to find out what it is next month and I am so excited!!

The missing wife & the hottness files

So, this is the first time my wife and I have been apart for more than one night.

She left for California last Saturday and will return Friday - a little less than a week. She spent her birthday back home with her family. And I must admit, it's been a little weird.

I thought I would spend some time doing some man stuff, like play basketball and video games and garden. You know, the usual. But instead I have been house sitting and taking care of other errands and paperwork, and missing my wife.

I noticed one day that I was missing Kathryn a lot and I created a new set of pictures. We have been together for about 30 months, and have amassed a few pictures in that time period. I went through most of them and created the 'Hottness Files' - a series of my most favorite pictures of my beautiful wife. They are my favorites because A) I think she's really pretty in them, and B) They remind me of significant times in our lives.

I have attached a few examples:Kathryn and I met at BYU. When I see this photo it reminds me of our college years together.

Kathryn and I have attended several baseball games together. This was our first, and the first picture my parents ever saw of Kathryn. She is wearing my "Texas" hat.

This was our wedding day. She was so pretty that her 4-year old cousin had something to say about it. When she walked out of the temple, Darrian's comment was, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" His big smile prompted me to remind him she was my wife, not his.

This picture was on the front of our wedding announcement. I like her simple smile, too.

The longest time we have spent away from one another was the summer before we married. Kathryn was back home for seven weeks, and it was the longest seven weeks of my life. This picture was taken during that time.

Some good ole olympics

So the Olympics are over. And I never knew so much bonding could happen around one television.

This was one television activity that my wife and I really enjoyed together. Usually she wants to watch Gilmore Girls or Bringing Home Baby and I want to watch Sports Center or CNN. It is a constant underground skirmish of switching channels and programs until one of us finally gives in.

The olympics were quite different. Every night, from the Opening Ceremonies to the Closing Ceremonies, the main TV was tuned into NBC for the Olympics from 6:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. (and often during the day from 9 a.m. until noon since we were both unemployed). I can't lie, the job searching was a bit scarce in those 17 days. I can honestly say I have never had a time period where I was more happy to be unemployed.

But anyway. Kathryn and I had fun watching the many athletes perform and compete. Here are a few things we loved about the Beijing Olympics:

Kathryn's Top Five:
Gymnastics - especially the underage Chinese team
Swimming - especially Phelps events
Beach Volleyball - especially May-Treanor and Walsh
Track - especially Bolt
Diving

Drew's Top Five:
Men's Basketball
Swimming - especially Phelps events
Volleyball - especially Rogers/Dallhauser
Track & Field - especially Bolt
Gymnastics

Some Memorable Olympic Moments:
3 races, 3 new world records. Any Usain Bolt race was worth watching.

Michael Phelps' seventh gold medal. He beat the Serbian by .01 seconds in the 100m butterfly.

Leona Lewis and that Led Zeppelin guy. What was that crap about? Thanks England. Almost as bad as your London 2012 logo.

Jason Lezak's amazing race to clinch another Phelps gold. Lezak closed a seemingly uncloseable gap to overtake the Frenchies and win in world record time.

That crazy Cuban who kicked a judge in the head and is facing booted-for-life status.

Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson win gold and silver in women's all-around gymnastics. First time American athletes have been both gold and silver in that event.

How scared I got from the communist flag guys. Those dudes were a bit too much.

The crazy Chinese drummers. Not only was their performance seizure-inducing, but it was flawless. Impressive stuff.

The U.S. basketball team beating the Chinese by more than 30 points, including the Chinese spectators cheering after every American dunk (there were 12) on their team.

That Chinese rower who forgot to show up to his event, thus disqualifying himself from two events (and his partner).

Shawn Johnson's gold. After winning three silvers, she finally ended her Olympics with a gold.

Both American relay teams dropping the batons. Two dropped batons and eight lost medals all in 25 minutes.

The tension in the USA and Spain gold metal basketball game when we felt we could possibly lose. You could really feel it at 3:30 in the morning.

How much Shawn Johnson looks like a bunny rabbit. It's a striking resemblance.

Did I forget any?

Do you ever have one of those days where you find out you're pregnant?

Well, we did.

I know, weird, huh? The baby is due early March and I am twelve weeks along. We went to have the first ultrasound and we heard the baby's heartbeat (183 beats per minute) and saw it jumping around. The end.

Che Sport & Photoshop

In high school I used to dollop (incorrect usage according to Kathryn) in graphic design. I had a class and we learned programs like Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. The other day I was wondering if my Photoshop skills were still relevant and I developed Che Sport. It is an imitation of the famous digitized photo from Albert Korda entitled "Heroic Guerilla" about the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara. The photo has been deemed the most recognizable photograph of all time. Often you see anarchists, communists, politically neutral Swiss teenagers without lives and other crazies wearing this shirt to protest democracy.
Now we have one of the most recognizable dogs of all time, my dog Sport. He makes a pretty good revolutionary dog.

Creepy Crawlers...

Look who we've seen wandering the streets on our last two walks.

Some Recent Things I Have Learned

It's true, you really do keep learning about your spouse the longer you are married to them. Honestly, I figured I had learned just about everything I could about Drew. We have recently been spending LOTS of time together, what both being unemployed and all.

Turns out there are some things I could learn. And where better to learn it than in his own home town, in his own home. One thing is that he knows how to play with those "Magic" cards. Um, I'm sorry, but I thought that was what "nerdy" kids did. Like the kids who went to the mall on Saturday afternoons and dueled with each other. Kevin pulled out some of his cards (that was a shock enough) but then when Drew started asking him questions and then actually volunteered to play with him...I was, to say the least, STARTLED. And slightly amused.

A few weeks ago, I also found out he loves Settlers of Catan. This game is perfectly legit (I think) but only because a lot of people at BYU liked it (including one of my best friends and roommates). Drew hadn't said anything about this game until a few Sundays ago when Kevin and Drew ganged up on me to play. I knew I hated the game. I tried to play once and I wanted to claw my eyes out of boredom. But, being the wonderful wife I am, I agreed. They promised it wouldn't take long. SEVERAL hours later, we were still playing it. To show the seriousness, my dad called on my in laws house phone because he hadn't heard from me all night. THAT is how long and depressing the game was.

Tonight, once again, they tried to rope me in. I successfully fended them off.

What is Drew going to pull out this next week? Or in the weeks to come? I don't even want to try to guess. It might turn out he's a closet Golden Girls fan or something. The surprises never cease.

Hill Yeah, Shih Tzu and other gems

My wife likes to fake swear sometimes. I'm not sure why. I'm not sure exactly how she developed this habit (probably something to do with a combination of Ghetto California and her other Mormon girl friends). Sometimes she does it on purpose. Sometimes she does it on accident, but either way, it usually makes me laugh. She is a sweet lady, but sometimes she just goes off and fake cuss words come sprawling out like a leaky facet.

So my question: Are fake cuss words bad, and are some worse than others?

Trip to Los Angeles?!

The Pepper family received a post card from Sarah at Family Feud this week. The official post card does not mean we will be on the show yet, but receiving the post card is the way Family Feud notifies you that your family is in the database of potential families to come on the show. According to Sarah, you only get a post card if they would be completely comfortable and willing to have you on the show. Taping ends in December, so if we don't get scheduled before December, then are chances of being on the show are slim. But it is still exciting to get the "call-backs" post card and know we have a good chance still.

Send Us to LA!!! C'mon John O'Hurley!!!

So, last Saturday we had the opportunity of a lifetime. Mama Pepper, Dad Pepper, Kevin, Drew and I went to Grand Prairie to audition for...

FAMILY FEUD!!!

There is honestly no other family that deserved to be on the show as much as we did. Well, okay, there was this family called the Greathouses and they were pretty bomb diggety themselves. And we didn't actually sit and watch all the people but I know that we are a shoe-in. If we don't get in, I don't know what they wanted. But they had a mock Family Feud-ish table set up and they called up two families and had us go against each other for a round. There were about 30 families there. Fortunately for us, we had a pretty laid back family to go against. We were high-fiving and screaming and jumping up and down and the other family was just standing there smiling. BORING. We basically rocked da house.


This is us by the tables we played at. This is a group of people hoping to go to LA and be on Family Feud!! The Greathouses are the ones in the back on the left. They were pretty awesome.

Oh no you didn't! (Or, our 4th of July)

We spent July 4 weekend doing a few things. We slept in (like everyday these days), we had a waffle breakfast, then we took a nap (like everyday these days), then we went swimming, then we BBQed, and then we went and saw fireworks in Mansfield. (Did I mention we are both unemployed? We like to refer to it as a "little vacation.") While we were at the fireworks show, we tried to take a picture of our family. After that, Kathryn and I tried to take a picture, and it didn't work out so well - this was the result. I love this creepy picture. After the fireworks show, we asked my brother to take a picture of us. As we were clearly posed and Kevin was clearly ready to snap the photo, this fine citizen strolled on through the picture. I didn't think he was going to do it, but he did. And the look on Kathryn's face is priceless. I think that is a "I'm-trying-to-smile-but-I-am-also-getting-mad-that-you-are-ruining-
my-photo-but-I'm-a-good-Mormon-girl-and-I-am-trying-to-practice-
charity-by-not-smashing-your-face-in" face. I really like it. Charity never faileth.

U-Haulin' to Texas

Kathryn and I finished our trip down to Texas a week ago. We left Sandy, Utah after sacrament meeting and stopped right outside of Denver and stayed with Josiah Roueche's parents.
Leg 1: The trip across Wyoming and down through Colorado took about 10 hours. As we got closer to northern Colorado, the drive was really green and luscious. Leg 2: The second portion of the trip continued through Colorado, across Kansas (extremely very boring), down through Oklahoma and eventually into Texas. Leg 2 was about 14 hours.
The trip wasn't so bad to be honest. The worst part was the ease of driving with our U-Haul. It was very easy to turn, which would be good normally, but made it very difficult to drive straight on the highway going 75 mph. At times it was a bit dangerous.
One thing Kathryn and I decided as we drove was where we will never live. We will never live anywhere in Kansas, anywhere in Wyoming (except the south-eastern tip or maybe Flaming Gorge, Wyoming), probably not Oklahoma and probably never New Mexico (it's just not that much better than the first Mexico to be honest). We didn't travel through New Mexico, but I have before, and we aren't living there.
In total, we took two days, 24 hours, and around $600 of gasoline. And the U-Haul wasn't cheap either. If you are thinking about moving, talk to us first and we can talk you out of using a U-Haul or Pods or buying a bunch of junk and hoarding it like starving squirrels.

Friends + Haircut = LOVE

While we were in Utah, I tried to see as many of my lovely friends as I could. Alas, I could only really see the people who came up to Salt Lake, but of course there is always room for Aaron, Ryan, and John's house.

Can I just declare my love for my friends? I seriously would be lost in life without these two wonderful girls: Becca Weed Severson and Kellee Leandra Fremming. Two of the most amazing girls ever. They make me laugh like no other and while others think I may be odd, these girls actually think I'm funny. At least they make me think they do.

Another group of girls I love: 344. My roommates in 344 of The Colony were AWESOME. That was one of the best years of my life. I got to see Miss Chrissy Barnes while in Utah because we were going to Bev's wedding reception. Oh, and we watched Last Comic Standing the night before. I also miss Liberty Baker, who made me laugh so hard we would cry. If only our walls or Turbo could talk, they would bust out laughing. 'Cause we were crazy.

Anyway, that's my tribute to some of my best friends.

On to the next topic...

I got a haircut!! That's right, after a year and a half of not going near a haircutting salon, I decided to cut and cut big. It's way different from anything I have ever done, but I'm getting used to it. Drew especially likes it when I curl it. Plus Bec, Kellee, and Chrissy all stroked my ego by telling me it looked cute.

The Last of the New York Fun.

Well, the time has finally come. We are officially done with the New York experience. It was definitely fun to go, but Drew and I agreed that we would never want to live there. We are now in Utah and have been since Wednesday night. It seems completely dead around here. Where are the thousands of people wandering around like in NYC? Oh well, I like it better like this.

For the last week in NY, Drew's parents came out and stayed with us. We had so much fun with them. I think they kind of wore themselves out, but I think all in all they enjoyed themselves. We showed them around, taking them to Times Square the night they came, to Grant's Tomb and Rockefeller Center and the American Girl Store (which was AWESOME) and the Empire State Building and the M&M store and the Hershey's factory (kinda lame) and then they went and saw Phantom of the Opera that night. The next day they had to wander around by themselves. Then we just kind of showed around. Sunday we went to Harlem 1st ward and Central Park and Little Italy. Lots of fun. And this was all a week after Drew's mom had surgery. She is a fighter.

Anyway, New York was good to us. I'm so glad we were able to go. Although Drew didn't LOVE his internship, I thinks it's better that we went. It looks snazzy on a resume.

Well, our next adventure is.........

TEXAS! That's right, we are officially going to Texas to work before Drew can apply to UT-Austin or BYU. We want to establish residency and since the standard of living is wayyyyy cheaper than Cali, we thought Texas would be more affordable.










Left: Drew;s parents licking a sucker at Dylan's Candy Bar. Center: Us at the Manhattan Temple. Right: At an awesome Italian restaurant in Little Italy.

That's it for now! More updates from Mansfield, Texas.

Carnegie, Canal, Lion King and Darcypants

The latter part of the week was pretty good. We went to a performance at Carnegie Hall, visited Soho and Canal St., and saw Lion King on Broadway.

Carnegie Hall
We saw the BYU Chamber Orchestra perform at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, which was amazing. The building was beautiful and the Orchestra played splendidly. It really was good. It was a 'good relations' PR stunt for the Church, actually. There were more than 100 ambassadors and dignitaries from more than 30 countries, and then the rest of us were members and other people that came. BYU has about 650 music students, with 400 performing in orchestras. There are five in total, and the BYU Chamber Orchestra has the best 49 students. They were pretty good. They performed Copland, Dayley, Rossini and Beethoven.



Canal St. and Soho
Canal St. is an area at the southern end of Manhattan infested with little shops with tons of stuff. When I say tons of stuff, I mean tons of the same stuff. Every shop is about 5 x 15 feet, with each shop owner selling perfume, purses, watches and shirts. I'm not sure if the merchandise is fake. Or if its stolen. Or if its fake, stolen merchandise, but it was cheap. Kathryn bought a few purses, we both bought some smellgood stuff, and I got a shirt. It was kind of fun because you get to bargain with everyone. They want your business so bad, that you tell them what you are willing to pay, and they will agree to sell it to you or not. If you can't agree, you just walk away. Kinda fun. Soho is one of the swankiest places in NYC (probably second to Fifth Ave.). The Tommy Hilfiger store had about ten racks of clothing and a live DJ spinning Usher. Naturally we went in to go check it out. Soho is filled with little shops and restaurants and I think we walked past Jay-Z and Beyonce. Not 100 percent sure on that, though.

Lion King
We saw Lion King on Saturday night. It was the one Broadway play that I wanted to see when we were planning what we wanted to do here (Kathryn's was Wicked). It is kinda different because the play is designed with muppet-like puppets and people. You have to use your imagination a bit to imagine the people aren't there, but its still pretty interesting to watch from an artistic point of view. Much of it is the same from the movie, with a few added songs. One of those songs is "He lives in you," which Kathryn and I saw performed by the BYU Young Ambassadors on our first date. It's originally about Mufasa, but BYU performs it and then sings "I am a child of God," focusing the message more on your relationship with Heavenly Father. It's cool.

We decided this week we will be leaving NYC. We want to go live where we can establish residency and pay in-state tuition for when we begin graduate school. We are still debating the pros and cons of going to Texas or California.

P.S. I watched 'Pride & Prejudice' (2007) for the first time ever tonight (I promise). To be honest, it was not that bad. I thought it was worth my time to understand why women go crazy about this book/movie/whatever else. And as an added bonus, once we start earning some money, I have a new idea for my new wardrobe. You can't be wrong if you can find a million ways to annoy a million women in such a short time, still end up with the girl in the end, and look this good doin' it.

Weekend Update

So... more exciting sightseeing news from the Peppers. Hopefully no one is bored out of their minds yet. Yesterday Drew and I went to the Brooklyn bridge and walked across it. It took about 15-20 minutes but we have recently realized that we walk a lot slower than the average person.

Once we were across the bridge there is this pizza place that claims to be the best pizza in New York, so we checked it out. Turns out...

it's pretty good. A huge lined formed once we got in line so it turns out that walking slow has its benefits.

Today we checked out Central Park and went by Tom's Restaurant. This is the famous Seinfeld restaurant. We have already eaten there and it's actually not too bad.

We also went to see the Phantom of the Opera on Thursday. I thought it was awesome but Drew claimed there were "boring parts in the middle." That's probably when he went to sleep. Although it was awesome, and obviously the music was AMAZING, there was this group of middle schoolers that were sitting right behind us and they were so annoying. They would make comments to each other and hit the back of our chairs with their feet. Honestly, you'd think thirteen year old boys would be able to appreciate something like that better.






Kathryn at Phantom, the infamous Grimaldi's, and the fatty line to get into Grimaldi's (can you see me?)


The Brooklyn bridge, Drew doing his Kramer impression, and Central Park

Capitol, Capitol

For Memorial Day weekend, Drew and I went to Washington DC with some friends, one of Drew's fellow intern-ites. It was another couple, Jordan and Candace, and we had so much fun. Candace had bought a "What to do in Washington DC book" so we were all set. We got up and left super early on Saturday morning. Traveling at any extreme part of the day can be scary in New York. Scary people are out really early and really late.

So anyway, we saw tons of stuff. And here is a list:

White House
Washington Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
WWII Memorial
Vietnam Memorial
Korean War Memorial
Reflection Pool
Holocaust Museum
Botanical Gardens
Smithsonian--American Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum of Natural History
Capitol Building
The Nationals' baseball park



The White House, Drew and I at the Washington Monument, Us with the ORIGINAL Wright Brothers plane thingy.

Drew and I at the Nationals' Park, Me at the Vietnam Memorial, the Hope Diamond


We hit the ground running on Saturday and saw all the memorials because they are bunched together. It was really hot there in DC but it was such a difference to New York that it was actually kind of nice. We walked everywhere but luckily we got a hotel that was right by everything we wanted to see.

So Saturday was the memorials and then we decided to go to a Nationals game because we didn't really have anything to do at night. Then Sunday we went to church with one of Candace's friends. The church building was actually in Maryland, which I thought was pretty cool. We took the subway to get there. After sacrament meeting, we went and took a little nap and then we went to the National Mall, which isn't really a mall at all (I was only slightly disappointed). It's like a mall of museums. All the Smithsonian museums are on that strip of land so we saw those museums and then later that night we went and saw all the building lit up at night. That was really, really pretty.

Monday was our last day and we took a tour of the Capitol building and then went to the Holocaust museum where you go through as a person who actually went through the Holocaust. They give you an identification card and you go through as that person, seeing the Holocaust through their eyes. It was really intense and emotional but so worth it.

I think the thing Drew and I liked best about it was that almost everything was free. All the museums and tours were free. NOTHING is free in New York. They even make you pay to breathe. DC is so drenched in American culture and it is so beautiful. It was really refreshing to go there and have a respite from the noisy, chaotic life in New York. That was our Memorial Day weekend!