Home Sweet Home!

I thought I'd post a few pictures of our apartment. I LOVE it! It's great to have a comfortable, relaxing place that you can come to after work and really feel like you're home!

Our apartment is on the 4th floor of a walk-up building with a cute little stoop out front. we live right across from a grocery store and around the corner from the 86th street subway station. There are AMAZING restaurants all up and down our street and we are 3 blocks away from the Museum of Natural History. I think that the most alluring restaurant that I visit probably once a week os Shake Shack.... LOVE IT! I really need to stop though, my jeans don't love it as much as I do..... :(

This is what you see when you walk into our apartment. We have two long hallways. Off to the right there is a hallway that goes to Libby's bedroom. this hallway leads to the living room and front bedrooms. It passes our *spacious* kitchen..... It's more like an alcove but MUCH better than most NYC kitchens...
This is our dining room as seen from the living room. Off to the right is that hallway that comes from the front door. We have one of our bathrooms on this side of the room as well.
Our lovely Living Room. It's finally finished!

This is y bedroom. It is almost done... I just need to finish making my duvet cover and some more pillows. I'm going to put a loveseat in the corner also. I LOVE my room!

Another view of my room. My windows face Columbus Ave. I get such great sunlight in my room and can see the coolest water towers all over the upper west side every morning as I'm waking up in bed.

Concrete Jungle

Well, it's official.... I am now a New Yorker. I have been living in the city since August and am still adjusting to all of the random characters I see on the subway during my commute, the rats that scurry around the streets at night, the dog urine that seems to coat all of the sidewalks, and the seemingly constant rain. BUT, I have to say that I am IN LOVE with my apartment, my neighborhood, Central Park, the INCREDIBLE restaurants that seem to be on every corner, The Shopping!, and all of my new friends here in the city. Yep, I'm falling in love with the Big Apple! It was definitely an adventure finding an apartment here but we got lucky. We found a beautiful 3 BR, 2 BA on the Upper West Side on 85th and Columbus. We're about a half a block away from Central Park and the subway. We have almost completed decorating the place and it finally feels like home.

One of my favorite things about where I live is how close I am to my brother and his family. I've been able to go out and spend a few weekends with him since the move. I am excited to spend Thanksgiving with the whole family in Pennsylvania.

Even though my life seems like it's all work at times, I've been able to squeeze in some really fun things.

During orientation at Citi they took us to the New York Stock Exchange and we got to be on the floor when they rang the bell. I felt really lucky to get to do something that hardly anyone gets to do anymore. I even got to execute a few rapid-fire high-volume trades while on the floor.

I fulfilled a lifelong dream and spent a weekend at the US Open. I took the subway with the Marshalls and the Smoots to Flushing, Queens and basked in some of the most beautiful tennis I've ever seen in person. We saw the men's semifinal matches and the women's finals. I thought Roger Federer was trying to give me a heart attack at times, but luckily I made it out of the match without being rushed to the emergency room... Roger, on the other hand, didn't fare so well... he lost that one.

I survived an earthquake and a hurricane in my first week of work. When the earthquake happened we were at work and I saw something I never thought I'd see... tons of traders on our floor running for the fire escapes. It made an interesting second day on the job, that's for sure. We hunkered down in Libby's apartment in the financial district during Hurricane Irene and watched as the rain and wind beat down on us. We even ventured out to Battery Park during the eye of the storm to see what the damage was like. Needless to say, we got soaked but enjoyed the chance to play in the "big kid size" puddles.

To give you a feel for my new home, watch this video... I LOVE how it really portrays so many different aspects of the city.

A Year in New York from Andrew Clancy on Vimeo.

Trump Card

I just woke up at 3AM... gotta love jetlag! But, I realized that I haven't blogged since last year! That's a little bit ridiculous! I've had some pretty amazing adventures since that last post, but the one that I just returned from would definitely be my trump card. I spent the last 19 days touring the Middle East. We did Jordan, Israel, and Egypt. While the sights that we saw were incredible and most of the time I just stood there in awe that I was actually at these places that I'd read about my whole life in the scriptures, I think that the greatest gift that this trip gave me was the associations that I gained with some of the most incredible people I have ever met. What a blessing!

The scriptures really came to life for me on this trip. As I was reading my New Testament on the flight home I could see the story more vividly and I felt like I understood more clearly. I kept thinking about how I wish I had been able to go there before I taught the New Testament in seminary or before I taught institute and how cool it would have been to have that understanding before I prepared to teach, but I am glad that I have it now. And if anything, I have gained such a desire to immerse myself in the scriptures even more and learn more about the people, places, and principles that they teach us.

Pictures to follow... I still need to get everything on my laptop. AND I still need to put up some pictures from all of my other adventures since my last post. Lots more to come!