2008 starts in 1 month

and I couldn't be happier about it.

I am currently tired of 2007. Not that I dislike 2007, in fact quite the opposite - I loved it. In 2007 I traveled more than I had ever done in my entire life! In February I went with my brother to see the Grand Canyon for the very first time. In March my brother & I visited Maui for a very relaxing week that was paradise. In April, I traveled a few hours to see 3 days of music in Indio, California at the Coachella Music Festival. At the end of May and early June I traveled back to Ohio just to surprise a great friend for his 30th B-Day Celebration. For the month of September, I took my 3 week european vacation. In October, I took my brother to the island of Catalina for his birthday. In November, I traveled with my friend Adam to New York City.
As you can see, I was blessed with the opportunity to see many places and do so many things that I had never done before. So why, you might ask, am I tired of 2007? Quite simply: I can't wait to see what 2008 has in store for me. It might be crappy, but it also might just be awesome. I now have to wait out one more month of 2007 & historically December is a pretty good month, so I am hoping this year proves no exception. There are several specific things I hope to happen in the coming year, but they will only happen if I put my mind to it. So hopefully 2008 will prove to be just as good (or even better) than 2007.

New York - Day 1 & 2

OK, So I finally have some time to sit down and write a little!
It has been a blast to be here in NY the past 2 days. My friend Adam & I arrived on Wednesday afternoon & after an hour long taxi cab ride, we arrived at our hotel. We are staying at the Warwick hotel & it is only blocks from Times Square. Our first night here we walked down & took a look around Times Square.
It was nice & busy, but not too busy that we would have had trouble getting around. I haven't been here in over 10 years and what I find funny is that everything I remember from before is actually smaller than I remember. Well, after walking around & getting dinner we decided to call it a night & rest up for seeing the sights the next day.
Thursday morning Adam & I hopped on the subway (which I don't like as much as the ones I traveled on in Europe) and we traveled down to see the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. It was pretty cool to see something that is pretty much the symbol of our country. I was surprised that it was so close to land though, I always had the impression from TV & movies that it was further out away from land. After checking out the Statue, we hopped on the boat over to Ellis Island. They have a good museum in the mail building that documents what immigrants had to go through before being admitted into our country. After Ellis Island, we decided to visit ground zero, where the Would Trade Center towers were. There is construction happening 24/7 and what I found amazing was just how friggin large the site is. Just seeing where the towers were and how much space they took up was mind blowing. After ground zero we walked up to Wall street & the New York Stock Exchange. There is a statue of a charging bull that we wanted to get a picture of.


We then walked up wall street until we hit the river then walked along the side of the river and saw the Brooklyn Bridge. It was getting dark out so we hopped on the subway and got off around Grand Central Station. Grand Central is another place that seems smaller than I remember it being, probably all the traveling I have done since I was here last. We walked up to Rockefeller Plaza and saw the ice skating rink. I would have liked to go skating, but unfortunately I have all the grace and balance of a drunken elephant. In just writing about this day, I feel as if I am writing about a whole week, not 12 hours! After leaving the Plaza, we walked by Radio City Music Hall and back up to our hotel.
That night we met up with Rob (a friend from Ohio who lives out here now) and went out to a few bars. I didn't get back to the hotel until 5am this morning!!! Suffice to say, today is pretty much a recovery day. We might go to the Empire State building later, but right now it is all about getting some rest!

Tis the season..

To go broke!

Holy crap, I am spending money quicker than I am making it these days! I spend the weekend hiding from my wallet, hoping that it doesn't find me and force me to spend even more money!
I am flying to New York on Wednesday. I can't wait to see NYC again. It has been almost a decade since I was last there and I have become a traveling professional (NO, not THAT kind of professional - get your mind outta the gutter!) since the last visit there. I am looking forward to doing a little of the tourist thing there & also meeting up with my cousin LeAnn while I am there as well. This trip is going to be pretty damn expensive, but fun as well.
I just purchased airline tickets today for my Xmas travels as well (see what I mean about the spending!!) in December. I enjoy going home and seeing my folks and other family members at Christmas. I don't have very many friends left in the area though. I can count the friends left on one hand. I have lived out here in LA for 9 years as of 11/11. Time has certainly flown by & I have become a very different individual from the one who moved out here. I suppose that is to be expected, everyone changes if you measure them over a decade. Anyways, I am looking forward to the NY trip next week and I plan on posting as much as I can from the trip here on this blog.